Tag: reconciliation

As you will find elsewhere in my ‘online profiles,’ it’s not about me.  This website is NOT a blog about me. Obviously this site is about Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. 

http://talkofJesus.com is a place for ALL to COMMENT & SHARE about Christ Jesus and anything that will help you and me talk of Jesus to others. 

Talk of Jesus.com fills a void for Christian Social Witness.  Think of it as a place where you can talk of Jesus openly.

(It’s more user friendly than facebook and other popular sites and not my blog anymore than facebook is Mark Z’s blog.)

All you have to do is copy and paste what you want to SHARE & Add your Comment.

However when I visit a corporate or church website, the FIRST things I want to know are:

1. Who they are (really, as people, not just what they do). AND
2. What they believe – what they stand for – OR in the case of a church of a “Christian (preaching) Author,” A STATEMENT OF FAITH. Where are they coming from?
3. What do they REALLY believe?  Do I agree OR understand their honest theological positions enough to trust that they are never-the-less FOR JESUS, and NOT against our Lord?

These are the kind of things I want to know about people trying to influence my thinking and my faith.  Therefore, so that I might DO UNTO YOU as I would have done unto me, I will attempt to answer some of the obvious questions about my faith.

I was raised in the Methodist Church (which later became the United Methodist Church).  An ugly incident on a ‘Youth Sunday’ led to my rebellion against ‘attending church’ every week.  My mom, a faithful believer, made arrangements for me to attend a couple of different churches: one, a Disciples of Christ, and the other a ‘Federated Methodist Church’ (whatever that is). The unfortunate witness of our Pastor against Christ and his marriage caused a scandal not too much later.  His children were my age and I was very grieved over them.

I began work on my music degree at Ohio State University and joined the campus Episcopal Church, because a friend asked me to come for the music. (I majored in instrumental music, but loved to sing.)  It was great.  I stayed in the Episcopal Church for years.  I was born again when a moving of the Holy Spirit began a short stay at our church in Gainesville FL.

We read the Creeds. I believe and affirm the Creeds.  Trinity. Jesus Christ crucified and risen and coming again: SOON.

I was a Lay Reader and Lay Eucharistic Minister.  Just prior to the public infilling of the Spirit (which made some of our services look rather Pentecostal), I was brought to my knees at the foot of the cross in a contemporary rendering of the Good Friday Stations of the Cross. I WAS BORN AGAIN!

When the Pastors were unable to keep authority over some false followers who quickly worked their way into the honest worship of our church, we left for another Episcopal church across town   (I should mention here that my wife of twenty-three years died and her funeral witnessed and celebrated our certain hope of the resurrection.)

I later left the church in another town over a failure of member coldness and an increasing embrace of liberal doctrine seeping into the denomination.  (Some faithful Bishops of the Lord actually broke away from the denomination to stand up for the Truth of Biblical faith in Jesus Christ.)

I joined a Southern Baptist Church, a wonderful fellowship of Bible believing lovers of Jesus and now dear friends – brothers and sisters – of mine.  I taught middle school Bible Study. (In another church, wouldn’t that qualify me for sainthood?)

Prior to that I nearly joined a Presbyterian Church (USA?), but a job change brought about another move.

I have since avoided a large local church with false teaching and non-Biblical embracing of sin by a divorced Pastor and others.  We joined the Methodist Church (again, for me), but when my current wife of blessing was uncomfortable with ‘the women’ there we followed the pastor’s suggestion to attend a local Mennonite Church, where I remain an active member.

There you have it. Good luck putting me into some theological box, but anytime you want to discuss theology, I’m all for it.  Let’s talk of Jesus – that’s what this is all about.

(Like most preachers, I have gone on too long; but due to the urgency of providing this to you, the next sermon will not continue next week.  You have the potatoes.  Read on for the meat.)

I might add that MANY Christian websites and Christian Authors tend to avoid anything that could look “controversial” in what they say publicly.  (Wouldn’t that be hypocrisy?)

Since I have already been called a scoundrel for a negative comment about a denominational leader who failed to mention Jesus or use even one scriptural verse in his public non-witness for Jesus, you can trust that I will not avoid any possible mention of my own opinions, hopefully guided by the Holy Spirit.

What we should have in common is a willingness to witness – to talk about Jesus Christ.

I am NOT an evangelist at heart.  I don’t really enjoy social networking online or in person, either.

You might even say that I am too timid with my mention of Jesus in the crowd at the football game.  My heart for ministry has always been teaching.  It is a gift of God.  I do love to preach, as well; however I am NOT QUALIFIED as a Pastor.  (You can pray for my wife, who asked me to leave long after she turned from the Lord.  I have faith that the Lord will draw her back to Him first.  She is my Blessing.)

Like so many, my wife’s salvation is MORE IMPORTANT to me than witness to ten thousand strangers.

“Many sins are swept under the church carpet rather than confessed and cleansed by grace.

Our small church, pastor and elders are working hard toward accountability for the fruit of our faith for which we pray.  Broken christian marriages are the church’s worst-kept secret from the worldly.  Although ALL churches need attention to this, witness against divorce is not top of my list, either.

 The driving purpose of http://talkofJesus.com is opportunity for Christians to GROW in our faith through social interaction.

If we do NOT SHARE Jesus Christ as part of our increasing time in SOCIAL time on the Internet, we are hypocrites in the eyes of our SOCIAL NETWORKING ‘FRIENDS.’

Are we ‘FRIENDS’ of the world?  NO.   Then let’s witness Jesus Christ in our SOCIAL circles online.

We want ALL of you to SHARE your faith HERE.  Lets’ share our CHRISTIAN SOCIAL WITNESS from http://talkofJesus.com  on your other social sites as your witness that Jesus IS Lord.

We do NOT require the limitation of a particular church (building), a carefully-crafted doctrine of a particular denomination, or a watchful oversight of a power-loving leadership.  NO, I’m not a rebel and this is not a place for personal crusades; but Jesus had radical faith. Our Lord would probably not fit in with most of our ‘christian’ churches and in some ways, neither do I.

I’m welcomed with the same caution of having an Old Testament Prophet present to sit under your preaching.  I listen, study, pray to the Lord, consider what Jesus would do in hearing this… and sometimes say what a Prophet must say to those responsible for the Flock of the Lord.  You might say that at times, I stick in the craw of a complacent church.

Our church leaders allow me to teach Bible study and actually encourage it sometimes.  (Too bad more members refuse to drag out of bed an hour earlier.)

Complacency in our faith is a cancerous sore in every church.

All of this said, the bottom line (for now) is that the Lord led me to another calling prior to any inspiration for http://talkofJesus.com – the inspiration of a book.  For that reason, this site is a secondary outlet for me to share my writing and witness of Christ Jesus, which I have done for many years in many formats and media.

Like so many other writers, I have SHARED much witness to be read by few.

For that reason, I pray to have AS MANY OF YOU AS POSSIBLE participate in our posts.

• NOT ENOUGH christians read the BIBLE.
• NOT ENOUGH christians read about the BIBLE.
• NOT ENOUGH christians read books by other Christians, rather than all of the worldly garbage that fills our immature christian minds and influences our ineffective lives of cheap grace.

(Is that doctrine enough for you?)

• NOT ENOUGH christians – yes, ‘christian’ with a small ‘c’ – talk of JESUS as IF HE matters in our daily lives.
• And certainly NOT ENOUGH christians SHARE our witness with our SOCIAL “Friends.”

It is time for ALL of us to GROW UP in our faith.   Why not join us?

May our Lord, Christ Jesus, lead you to participate and GROW UP in your own faith, and to help those whom you love to do so as well.

I pray for much more building up in our faith through

talk of Jesus.com

your HOME for Christian Social Witness.  SHARE your faith.

Pray also for me.

Roger Harned