www.thegilmours.co.uk

Did you hear about the agnostic dyslexic insomniac?

He spent the entire night pondering whether there really was a dog!

We hope you won’t spend nights wondering if there really is a God. In fact, we hope that after reading this, you will wonder at the amazing God that we know and love.

We believe in a God who is loving and gracious and generous. God created you, whether you believe you are agnostic or not, whether you are dyslexic or not and whether you are an insomniac or not! He made you in his image and we believe you can celebrate that creation every day, by living in relationship with Him.

We believe this loving, creative God has revealled himself to us through His son, Jesus Christ. You can read loads about Jesus in the Bible. No matter which version you read, he was a pretty amazing man. Some say you can’t deny the existence of Jesus but instead you must decide whether he was mad, bad or God incarnate (as C.S. Lewis put it).

We believe Jesus was God on this earth (thats option 3 above!) and that He came with a purpose. His purpose was to take the punishment that we rightly deserve for the wrong things that we think and do. We all get things wrong not just in our own eyes (how often have you been angry with someone for something they’ve said or done?) but in the eyes of God (”all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23) who set his standards before all people (this is documented in the early bits of the bible).

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And so God provided Jesus Christ to live by His standards, to set and example and then to take our due punishment. He died a pretty nasty death by the worst method the Romans knew- crucifixion. Even then, some doubted who Jesus really was. But for many of us, it is what happened afterwards that is both more surprising, convincing and more important. Jesus was said to be seen by more than 500. He was even touched by a guy named Thomas (John 20:27). He was resurrected and, later, God welcomed His son back into heaven, promising the return of Jesus one day.

These events are difficult to imagine and even more difficult to believe. It’s also easy to be distracted. We know. But it is important. Paul, a Roman governor in the Bible who came to know God and radically changed his life-plans, wrote this to Christians; “Many things in heaven and on earth are called gods and lords, but none of them really are gods or lords. We have only one God, and he is the Father. He created everything, and we live for him. Jesus Christ is our only Lord. Everything was made by him, and by him life was given to us.”

If you haven’t looked at the evidence, please do. Consider the many cross-correlating experiences written in the Bible. Consider God’s realm, a universe measured on His scale, a nation built not on the values and vulnerable finances of this world but on the values God himself suggests. And consider whether or how God is working today.

Finally, ask Him to show you, by praying. Its not rocket science. Nor is it simply meditation… In some ways praying is like worrying: focussed thought on God’s character, asking for His love or assistance or guidance, with thanksgiving. For a chance to pray or to give thanks to God, visit your local church.

Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater… don’t be distracted by the superficial, big-brother style things of life. Don’t even be distracted by what you own or love. Seek first God and what he is doing and He will bless you with wisdom, confidence in Him, love and forgiveness. You might not think these things are important to you, but ask yourself what you want to take with you if you got hit by a car today… God tells us in the Bible that the only treasures worth having are those found in your heart.

Being a Christian doesn’t suddenly make for an easy life…As Christians, we struggle with doubts and questions every day. Some Christians around the world also suffer persecution or violence as a result of their beliefs. But we and other Christians, are encouraged by our own experiences of relationship with God, of other people’s experiences and by what is written in the Bible. If you are one of our Christian family (as Christians, we are all brothers and sisters of Christ), thank you for your support and encouragement over the years.

For more about how we became Christians, click here.