What gets you into heaven?

Faith gets you into heaven. Whose faith? Faith in what? One time faith? What is heaven? Do dogs go to heaven? Just the utterance of the word faith conjures up many thoughts, topics, ideas, and beliefs. I have faith in God the Father almighty, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Does that mean I understand completely the work and persons who make up the triune God? Absolutely not. Our faith as Christians is not an end all stopping point for what we believe. It is an entry point. It will not get us into heaven, but it will start us on a path with God who nurtures, cares, and loves us. It is important to know that we are not alone because God is with us, but also because we are brought into a community of faith built upon belief.

Abraham had faith, and turned into an action--to follow and trust God. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus. It seems that those familiar words hinder us, lock us down because of our free choice. We want to be able to choose whether to obey or not. Our faith in God is a submissive faith. It is an obedient faith. Sure, we mess up; try and fail. However, because God is a loving God, we find ourselves in the midst of God's embrace. Our goal as heaven is not a goal as a reward for obedience, for faith, for belief or defense of the faith. Heaven as our goal is a place where we can be with the Lord, where our obedience continues not because we are seeking a reward. Heaven--being in the house of the LORD, in the presence of God--is a reward unto itself. Oh, that we would all be gatekeepers in the house of the LORD.

Deception/Perception

As I begin today, I wonder what people will think. Most of us, on a daily basis, worry, fret, or get anxious about what people think of us, how we are perceived. Perhaps this is why I am taken with 2 Corinthians as of late.
In chapter 5, Paul talks about how people perceive the Christians. "If we are beside ourselves, it is for God. If we are in our right mind it is for you." There is word play here, in which the perception of man is the norm, but our relationship towards God is something which the world does not understand, calling us beside ourselves. I believe this is our call--reconciliation in the face of violence, forgiveness in the face of slander, love in the face of malice. The world in which we live wants us to retaliate, yet it is God who judges. On that big day, it will be God's judgment, not ours, which will win out. I believe God's judgment is a deep, penetrating grace which shakes us to the core.

So today, as I start my first day in the offices of Peachtree Road UMC, I am excited, nervous, scared, but grateful for the opportunity to serve the LORD. I know that my perception of myself is one in which I am out of my mind for God, living a lifestyle counter to the world. Yet, for those around me, I will be in my right mind. This chameleon-like living, I pray is not about self-deception, but how God perceives, receives, and loves us all.