On the Outside, Looking In

A week ago I posted about organized religion and promised future posts that distilled my own beliefs down to a pretty simple, but un-organized set of beliefs.

I currently belong to a relatively small Southern Baptist church in southwest Missouri. That church belongs to an association of about sixty other Southern Baptists churches. Together we belong to the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) and to the larger international Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).  Although each individual church is autonomous, you can see that we band together and are indeed a part of organized religion.

I didn't grow up in a Southern Baptist church and am still not a dyed in the wool Southern Baptist kind of guy. That will sound odd to many. I am an evangelist in the Fellowship of Missouri Baptist Evangelists and I serve on the Administrative Team for our local association. There are many Christians that seem to hold their denominational standing in pretty high regard as if being (place your denomination or church name here) makes you a better standard of Jesus follower.

I have to say that I truly struggle in my own efforts to follow Jesus and would probably detract from anyone's standing if I were to associate myself with them or wave their banner in claiming to be a Christian. I often feel so far removed from the organizational standard that I sense I am on the outside, looking in.
Because my focus has been on walking with Jesus, I haven't learned how to be a good Southern Baptist yet. I'm still trying to figure out how to be more like Jesus.

But I'm rambling and out of order.
I really want to begin by saying that I am a theist -- I believe in God.
I do not believe in many gods. I believe in just The One God.
I believe that God is The Creator of all things.

Why I believe in God is a pretty simple matter.
It's way easier than believing in no god.

The Cosmological Argument for God is an old one.
It basically says that every thing that has a beginning, has a cause. The universe has a beginning. Therefore, the universe has a cause -- something or someone outside of the universe had to act to create it.
Science says the universe has a beginning.
There was nothing; then there was the universe.
There has to be a cause. And it has to be outside of the universe that didn't exist in the moment before it did exist. As crazy as it sounds, a supernatural being is just way easier to believe than everything coming from nothing!

That's probably not the deep theological reasoning you were hoping for, but it's all I have.

Maybe you have a better argument for why you do believe or don't believe in God.
...or why you believe in multiple gods.
...or why you believe that everything is god (may the Force be with you).

Geez...
Re-reading that sounds pretty lame.
I sure hope my future posts explaining my beliefs are better. I may have to stick to the organized propaganda that is put out by the organized religious people...

John <><