Out of curiosity, more than any other motivation at the time, I started reading the bible many years ago, and one of the first things that caused me to scratch my head in wonder was the sometimes stark contrast between what I was reading and what I was taught when young. Before I became a Christian in my mid-thirties, I waffled between agnostic and atheist. Yet, I always lived on the fringe of the church, with both my stepfather and stepmother being Catholic. Later, with my bible in hand I saw many contradictions between what I was reading and what I had heard while on the sidelines of the Catholic Church. This led to confusion, sadness and sometimes anger. I eventually joined a protestant church and soon discovered it was not immune to similar examples of conflict.
And I was not immune either. I still cling to certain beliefs that are contrary to what is clearly stated in the bible, mainly because it takes more strength than I can muster to believe and accept certain doctrines. Yet, with the strength that can only come from the Holy Spirit, I am making progress and slowly letting go of my more favorite beliefs. Letting go of traditions can be difficult, as change is difficult.
After many years of simply observing the conflicts between truth and traditions, I began to wonder what Jesus might have to say, when presented with an erroneous belief or behavior. The buzz phrase, “What Would Jesus Say?” was a natural, and probably something I had heard in the past and then forgotten. I have since seen it on many web sites and books. Then God must have prompted me to start a blog focusing on WWJS, because I have never been a fan of blogs. Yet here I am.
The WWJS idea was then transformed into a deep concern about the truth of Jesus. And somewhere along the line, while thinking and praying about starting a blog, I began to understand what Jesus meant when He said, “…the truth will set you free.” From there a passion grew; a deep passion to shout out the truth of Jesus and perhaps help people find freedom from deception.
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
(John 8:32, NIV)
