Jesus' love working through Christians Drew me to Jesus

Before I knew the Lord, I was depraved. I was into the occult, wicca to be exact. I was a chronic LSD and pot user and I wanted witchcraft to be the official religion of the USA and Christianity overthrown. I then met an autistc girl who was a Christian who told me that Jesus loves everyone and that He wants to have a relationship with me. At the time, I thought God hated me and was waiting for me to die so he can send me to hell to roast forever. My autistic friend told me that God loves me and does not want me to go to hell - that all I have to do is ask for his forgiveness and turn from sin. I did so, and soon after I joined a small street church that encouraged and loved me as well as taught and prayed for me. I was a member of that church for two years and I still have relationships with those people. This was not my image of Christians that I thought. I thought Christians wanted to bomb abortion clinics, turn the middle east into glass and hang gay people from trees. These Christians I knew were loving.

When I started fall term at PSU, I joined a church that did outreach on campus. We meet on campus and it is another small loving church where everyone knows each other. This is ideal for me, because those megachurches are just too big to be personal. Small churches are better to form loving relationships in.

All too often, Chistians will preach a "turn or burn" message to people. This message, one that I have heard many times, offered me little hope. It never worked to bring me to Jesus - it did the opposite. Christians who loved me unconditionally drew me to Jesus - not someone trying to scare me out of hell.

Jesus did not come to scare us. He did not come to condemn us either. He came to love us and save this world.

Christian Unity, Christian Love

Ever since the Great Schism which divided the Eastern Orthodox Church from the Roman Catholic church, divisions have spilt the body of Christ. We need to have more unity in the church. There seems to be divisions in America - liberal Christians and conservative Christians, black Chrisitians and white Christians. Despite our differences, we need to work together. I have seen various churches and youth groups come together and serve under the Burnside Bridge in Portland, Oregon. The ministry is called Night Strike. What they do is feed and generally care for the homeless and poor under the bridge. At Portland State University, there is a student group who's purpose is to promote unity among Christians and Christian student groups on campus. We all have one goal - to share Jesus' love by serving and loving ones in need. Then God does the work of bringing that person to the point of giving his life to Christ. It is through giving unconditional love to people through Christians that will win them to Christ - not telling them how bad they are. People already know how bad they are. Our job is to show them that God loves them. Often times, these people think God hates them. People are often times the way they are because they have been abused in some way. A little kindness from God's people will go a long way to bring them to Jesus.

We must love everyone, no matter who they are. Some Christians hate homosexuals, for instance. We are supposed to love them, even though we don't condone thier lifestyle. We are supposed to even love our enemies as Jesus commanded us to do. We must forgive as God forgave us, because if you don't forgive others, God will not forgive you. Remember, people who are in sin are enslaved to it. We need to pray to God to set them free. We must pray for our unsaved loved ones, friends and family, as well as coworkers. Lastly, we must love each other and pray for each other and we must quit gossiping about each other. Gossip kills a church faster than anything does.

We really do need to come together as a church and start loving each other and loving and serving people outside the church. We need to care more for the needy and poor among us and in our communities and pursue God with all our hearts.

>Jesus|Freak