Justin Douglas Sayers
So who am I? Well, I am in my early twenties and working on getting my MSSW at the University of Louisville. I work part time and also spend a great deal of time being involved with my church. I enjoy reading, watching tv and spending time with my friends.
When I reflect on my life and my childhood there are many special moments that come to my mind. As a small child I can recall sitting outside my house and being able to hear the singing and shouting at the Pentecostal/Holiness church that my grandparents pastored. I remember my aunt letting me sit with her on the organ bench during services and I remember a summer night in 1998 when I received the Holy Spirit.
I love Pentecost and all that it offers, yet I also feel that us who grew up in Pentecostal/Holiness churches missed out on the beauty and history of religion that was passed down for thousands of years through other denominations. Since I was taught that Pentecostals (those baptized in Jesus' name) were the only ones making it to heaven, learning about other traditions was irrelevant.
As I have grown older and explored various religions and their beliefs, traditions and customs I can see the attraction that people have towards them. I see a validity in some of their practices and see adherents who are very satisfied with their precious faith. It has made me realize that not everyone wants a church that has high energy music, not everyone wants a church where extremely expressive acts of worship occur and that most Christians do not feel that their churches are "dead".
In 2010, I want to expand my mind even more and be able to gain a greater understanding of why various Christian denominations believe and practice as they do. I love Pentecost and will never deny the gift and work of the Holy Spirit, but I also have come to enjoy the solemn atmosphere of a Catholic mass.
Today I was working on a reflection for my Human Behaviors class it consisted of twenty questions on the the topic 'creating an identity'. One of the questions was, "What are your religious beliefs?"
At first thought this should be an easy question to answer, but then I realized that I could write several pages for this question alone. In order to keep the response to a minimum I decided to use the Apostles' Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended in heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.”
Growing up in the Pentecostal/Holiness church I would have never imagined that I would use the Apostles' creed, but as I have matured I see the beauty in these words that are recited daily by millions across the world in prayer. Sometimes it is good to be reminded of exactly what we believe as Christians and I believe that the Apostles' Creed does just that in a short paragraph.
My question to you is, "What do you believe?"
