A Few Links on Christianity

I am an unashamed Christian. After growing up in an intellectual home, going to church with my family, and listening to a lot of sermons, I had never understood the simple gospel of Christ. At the age of 17, a teacher friend asked me to go fossil hunting with him one summer early in the summer break. He had shared about his dramatic conversion to Christianity from an agnostic background during class the previous year.

While searching for a kind of trilobite fossil, he said something like: "Rick, you have become a friend. It is important to me to know if you are a Christian." I answered that I was, and had been confirmed as an Episcopalian several years previously. He then asked me a simple question: "Rick, could you explain what being a Christian means to you?" This too me back a bit, but after a few minutes I gave him a well phrased and concise answer. I told him that being a Christian meant "doing what Christ had asked us to do."

My teacher-friend looked straight at me and said that I had given a great answer. (Whew, I thought.) Then he asked me a follow-up question that changed my life. He said, "And what is it that Christ asked us to do?"

I fumbled a little at saying something about the sermon on the mount, the golden rule, and the 10 commandments. I'm now sure it was obvious that I had no concept of the central teaching of Christianity.

We spent the next couple hours driving through the country side as my friend patiently explained what he had learned about what "we" Christians believe. Essentially, he explained our need for the saving work of Christ, and the complete and satisfactory sacrifice that Christ had made to legally justify me in the eyes of the Holy God.

I have learned a lot since that summer, but I have never learned anything more important or more central to life. If you would like to talk to me about Christ's meaning in my life, share what you have learned about Christ, or would like to know more you can send me a message at my eMail at [email protected]. God Bless you.

At the beginning of the page are a couple good links to explain in more detail about the Good News of Christ.