Repent

"Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is near." -- Matthew 4:17 The very first instructions Jesus gives, to anyone, can be found at the very beginning of the Gospels. To repent. Many people think that to repent means to tell God your sins. But that is actually confession. Really, you don't need to admit your sins to God. Frankly, He sees everything. He already knows what you did. He already knows about that rumor you spread about your annoying coworker (that turned out not to be true) that ruined his reputation. He already knows about that $20 you "borrowed" from your friend, that was all the cash she had til next paycheck. He already knows about the lie you told your pastor when he asked how things were going between you and your significant other, which he didn't believe anyway because he can see the truth written all over your face. Then why do we confess? To admit to OURSELVES what we have done. Yes, we already know too, but in order to repent, we have to own our sins, to recognize that we did do something wrong. Repent comes after confession. Repent is to promise you will not commit the same sin again. Mote to cone.

The Purpose of This Blog

I am getting sick of labels. Specifically religious ones. My husband and I are Catholic (he by choice, me by birth) and we get some flack sometimes from folks who tell us we are doing things wrong. We state quite readily that we are Christ-followers first, but I began getting fed up with that and thought two things: 1. If that is true, what does it mean? And how do I follow Christ in truth? The answers I realized were not pretty. We don't go to Church, we don't pray enough, we don't consider what Jesus thinks, wants or teaches before we do things. All in all, for people who claim to be Christ-followers first, we sure have wandered off the path to look at the shiny things around us. What's more, I can't say "I'm a vegetarian" and then eat steak. I can't say, "I am an environmentalist", and then drive a Hummer. So I can't say "I'm a Christ-follower" and not know how what He teaches! So in order to be a Christ-follower. I need to learn and better understand what He teaches. 2. Before I profess to being any particular denomination, I had better know what that denomination teaches and what it has to say on correspondence with His instructions. If I were to discover, for instance, that I don't agree with sainthood, then that puts a lot of denominations in question. So for now, I had better put the labels away and focus solely on Christ. So here you will discover a comprehensive list of the instructions that Jesus gave His disciples, everything from the Four Gospels. I will deal with the teachings of the Apostles, Prophets and Patriarchs at another time (and likely another blog). For now, get ready for a slew of Bible-isms and Jesus-talk. Gonna be a fun and funky ride!