last sunday

So, part of the sermon last Sunday was about things that we give up, or change our beliefs in. Did I end that sentence with a preposition?

The idea is that life changes, times change and my brain changes. Things that I believed once, I must recognize that I may no longer believe. Some people will tell you that truth doesn't change, and that is true. But there are certainly things that we believe to be true, that we at one time insisted were true, that we later decide were optional and we were just being dogmatic.

Here are two examples from the sermon Sunday:

I no longer believe the Christians should spend their time worrying about or studying the second coming. I used to do a bunch of this. Now I do not. I still believe in the second coming of Jesus, O yes. But I don't want to waste my life speculating about how it will happen. We cannot know this. Of the day and hour knows no man, yet we spend our time studying all about it. Much of what is written on the subject is based on dispensational theology which came on the scene in the 1850's. Most of the theories espoused about the second coming today, were not a part of the theology of the church for the first 1800 years of it's existence.

So, I believe in the second coming, but I am not worried about it. Live your live as a follower of Jesus and you will have nothing to worry about regarding his return because you will be ready no matter how or when it happens. When we get love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, etc down, then lets study speculative theology.

Marriage. I was not able to develop this thought as I should have during the sermon. So now, let me explain what I meant when I said in the sermon that "I have changed my views on marriage." I was taught as a teen that the man was the head of the home. Women were to submit. Also I came to believe that somehow, your marriage partner was supposed to make you happy. Obviously, I have changed my thinking. Here is what I now believe about Christian marriage.

Marriage is based on mutual love and respect. Not women submitting, but mutual submission. Leadership is to be shared. Each partner brings gifts to living and to marriage. Only you can make yourself happy. Your spouse's job is not to make you happy. The best marriages exist between people who are mentally healthy and happy by themselves, before they get married. Christian couples should serve one another.

Ok, so part of the sermon was about how we need to let some beliefs go. How we need to change some of the box that we have put God into. There are two examples of things that have changed in the practice of Christianity for me. Are there things that you need to let go of?

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.