A New Thing

Some of you already know me from my other blog. Some of you don't. Whether you know me or not, this is going to be a new start. An exploration into my "other" side, where I will discuss issues of my faith and how that impacts my life and the way I view the world. At least, I think that is where I'm heading with this blog. As I go, it could take an entirely different direction, and I'm totally fine with that.

Why two blogs? Well, my other blog is sort of a twelve-bean soup, and I wanted to do something a little more focused here. I've been reading several blogs that have a more theological slant, and I wanted to be able to reflect and respond to those blogs without alienating my five readers over at pOcOyAyo!.

So, without further rambling in the intro department, here's a little bit about the faith-full me. When I was little, my mom told me there is God, and I believed her without a doubt. I've in fact never doubted that. When I was six, I was in a "Good News" club for a while, and that's when I first learned about Jesus and started to know Him. I didn't grow up in the church, although my parents did start dropping me and my brothers at Sunday school when I was about eleven. I was in a Christian choir in high school. I was pretty non-observant in college, until my fourth year, when I decided to get baptized in the Catholic church. I was Catholic for about a year and a half. Then I met a guy who was a Reformed Baptist. So, I did that too, for about six months. After that, (about seven years ago) I joined a Presbyterian (P.C.A.) church, of which I am still "technically" a member. But something happened around that time, and denomination became less important to me. Almost unimportant. I defined myself as a Christian, period, and didn't label myself according to any denomination. I wanted to know God and the Bible, without the somewhat skewed framework that inevitably comes along with churches (because they are filled with imperfect people). I still went to church(es), but I didn't confine myself to any single denomination.

In all those years of learning and growing and exploring, I collected many translations of the Bible along the way. The most novel--Da Jesus Book, a Hawaii Pidgin translation of the New Testament. ("God wen get so plenny love an aloha fo da peopo inside da world, dat he wen send me, his one an ony Boy, so dat everybody dat trus me no get cut off from God, but get da real kine life dat stay to da max foeva." ~John 3:16) I love reading the Bible. In fact, I am taking a beginning Hebrew class, so that one day, if I keep at it, I will be able to read the Old(er) Testament in its original language.

That brings me to now. Well, it sort of brings me back to college, and then back to now. When I was in college, right around the time I was just getting immersed in Catholicism, my mom told me of this family rumor that some of our ancestors were Jews from Germany. So, that naturally sparked an interest in Judaism. I took a couple of classes on Judaism in college, and read up on that faith and tradition on my own. Somehow along the way, I learned of Messianic Jews, a growing number of Jews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah. And that brings me to now, where I am currently worshipping in a Messianic congregation, learning more deeply about Jesus and the Jewish life that he lived. Learning about Torah, and learning how to trust in God more and more.

At this point, you are probably thinking I am a flake. But, I truly hope that you don't flake out on me! Stick around to see what I learn and witness what God does in my life.