Statement of Belief - Updated 2nd December 2006
Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"
- Mark 9:23-24 (New King James Version)
I am a Christian. This means that I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and I have accepted His free offer of forgiveness. I became a Christian in my teens, and was baptised (which is, in part, a formal, public statement of belief) on the 28th July 2002.
I believe that Jesus, the son of God, came down from heaven, and entered this sinful world. He endured all the pains and hardships of this world, and He experienced its joys. Jesus died a perfect man; He took the sins of the world on Himself and in doing so allowed anyone who believes to come before God. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead after three days, and promised eternal life to those who believe in him (John 3:16). (see the Nicene Creed for a formal description of my beliefs)
God has demonstrated His mighty love by putting good people, Christians and non-Christians, in my path and by working in my heart through his Holy Spirit to change me. I still have many fears and doubts, but all are in myself, not in Him. God is perfect and offers forgiveness.
I believe that the Lord is truly the only true hope in these dark times. I have learned that His power is boundless, and that He accepts all who come to Him! The Jesus I love is the Jesus who, in His dying hours, granted salvation to a thief dying on the cross beside him, just because the thief asked!
That's not to say that being a Christian is easy - it's the most difficult challenge I face. I struggle every day and I fail every day - but that's kind of the point of a lot of what Jesus taught - to recognise that I'm not perfect, but I am valued and loved anyway.
In 2003 I went to Uganda on missionary work. It spun my head out. I felt when I returned that everything I'd held dear in this life was kind of shallow; the love and suffering of people out there was something I wasn't equipped to deal with. I left church for a long time, and began to doubt the Bible, doubt whether this was the best way to live, in fact question everything. I removed my testimony from my website because I felt that it was dishonest for me to profess faith when I was struggling so badly; this does not mean that I became apostate (what I mean by that is that I didn't ever renounce my faith), rather that I wanted anything I said here to be truth that I was living, not just here for the sake of it. I came to this conclusion - that I have tested my faith, and I've found it to be the only solid and real thing in my life. It is agonising to try to look into what you believe in a rational and fair manner, but it was something I had to do. You know what? Everything that wasn't essential was burned away, and what I was left with was like solid gold, with everything else burned away - that Jesus is who He said He was, the Son of the living God, and I believe that He was raised from the dead.
I still struggle with many parts of the Bible and I guess I always will. I believe that many true believers will wrestle with the scriptures. I know I have. My political views (generally quite left of centre, I vote Lib Dem and oppose ID cards) are not popular in many churches. I find it hard to reconcile a God of judgement and vengeance with a God of love, but that is part of faith - to trust that He has a plan.
I believe that the Spirit of God comes and dwells in people at the moment of belief, and thereafter He seals us as God's for eternity, and guides us into all truth. Make no mistake, I have done more bad stuff than most people would suspect; I've hurt more people than I can bear to recollect. Nevertheless, God keeps drawing me back, urging me on, until one day the pain, the questioning, the anxiety will be over. Until then, I believe that Christians are here to bring Heaven to Earth by living a life that is an outpouring of love.
Want to know more?
So you've heard what I believe... If you have any questions you'd like to ask me, feel free to email me at gavindavies@hotmail.com. I don't have all the answers for myself, let alone for anyone else, but if you've got anything you'd like to chat about, feel free to get in touch!
Links
Come to Him and he shall in no wise cast you out - an absolutely beautiful piece on forgiveness - how I have struggled to believe that the Father forgives me, but forgive He does!
In 2003, I went to Uganda on missionary work. You can read a full account of that trip and how much it turned my world view around, and view photos, in this PDF.
My favourite Christian website is ship-of-fools.com. It's kind of funny, and largely free of the hypocrisy or judgementalism that some Christian sites exhibit.
A site that tells you how to become a Christian is jesus-christ.com/howtof.htm
