This Life of Salvation

Dear friends, I've dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. Jude 1:3(TM)

Rob Bell, founding Pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, writes:
"The point is not me; it's God.

It is possible to be "saved" and not be a healthy, whole, life-giving person. It is possible for the cross to have done something for a person but not in them.

That's what happened to me. I realized I believed in Jesus and thought of myself as "saved" and "reborn," yet massive areas of my life were unaffected. I learned that salvation is for all of me. And for Jesus to heal my soul, I had to stare my junk right in the face.

It has only just begun for me, but a few things have become quite clear.

First, no amount of success can heal a person's soul. In fact, success makes it worse. I started a church and lots of people were coming to hear me speak, but I had things I had never dealt with and they were still there. . . Success doesn't fix our problems and compulsions and addictions.

. . . It is scary to hit the wall because you don't know what's going to happen. And you might get hurt.

. . . We put on the mask, suck it up, and keep going, like it's no big deal. But it is a big deal.

It's a sign that we are barely hanging on. And it is only when something deep within us snaps that we are ready to start over and get help. We have to let the game stop.

I realize this is not groundbreaking news, but when we get desperate and realize we cannot keep living this way, then we have to change."

Salvation is not a future reward it is a lifestyle - "this life of salvation we have in common."


(c)2006 Timothy L. Hudson, UGA Christian Campus Fellowship