Our church urges members to invite the un-churched to come to New Life, especially on Easter and Christmas. Those are the Sundays that people are most recognized as "holidays" for those that don't really know Jesus. Many in my family live pretty far from the church I go to and are self-described agnostics. Many may or may not have attended church in the past. I also have a family member who declares himself a "Non-attending Believer." The mission statement of my SF church is "To know Him and to Make Him Known." I'm finally getting to the part where I feel I know Him, but am failing at the making him known part.
EASY: The greatest commandments were to love God and love your neighbors. It's easy to love God, although many strictly use Him as a "Magic 8 Ball" when asking questions or for help (instead of thanking, praising and worshipping Him.)
HARD: Once you get to the part where you're both praising and asking Him, it's definitely hard to love our neighbors (especially the Trumps, Bannons, Putins, etc of the world).
HARDEST: The great commission is, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt 28:19-20
This is the hardest for me because there are so many I love that don't really even have the "easy" step down yet. In retrospect, it took me almost 50 years to get that down, so I guess it isn't that easy after all. The hardest part is helping others get to the "easy" step and to guide them to the "hardest" step. Some people talk about their faith easily, but it's never been easy for me to talk about my feelings (much less faith). But I'll pray that God gives me the wisdom and knowledge on how to spread His love to others - to help them see that it is Jesus who's blessed me and urges me to be loving.
Earth Day was yesterday and Creation was God's first Bible for mankind. It is evidence of His greatness. I once asked my uncle if he believed in God while we were in Lake Tahoe, and he said, "It's hard not to when you see all this." Even when I was an agnostic, I agreed wholeheartedly with this statement. Whether I believe in climate change or not, I certainly believe that God created the Earth and we are stewards of it. Since fossil fuels and coal are finite resources, it behooves us to find alternative renewable energy. Drilling and mining for coal is bad for the environment and drilling puts water sources at risk... not to mention the health issues the miners face when mining coal. I'll keep praying that we can care for the Earth and each other....
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