"I've always dreamed of being an old philosopher. So far I've achieved one out of two!"

Welcome to Gerry Reid's
Faith and Inspiration Page

First Created, August 10, 1999 - Last updated on 10/03/06 09:50:34 AM -0500.

| Greeting | Web-Based Resources | True Life Experience | Bible Studies |
| Daily Devotions | Prayers and Reflections | Faith Lutheran Church | 

Greeting

Dear Visitor,

I feel very strongly called to actively share and witness to my belief in God. This page and its links have been created to expand my relationship with other believers in hopes that we will strengthen each other.

First and foremost, I sincerely respect any belief system that acknowledges God's existence. I find the history of religion to be fascinating and I especially enjoy learning about my Jewish heritage - after all Jesus was a Jew. I will not use this page to enter into arguments about which way is the right way to God. It is written (John 14:6) that the only way to God the Father is through his son, Jesus Christ. I believe this. 

I also most certainly believe that God is infinitely larger and vaster than we mortal humans could even expect to comprehend and therefore I do not presume to know the mind of God. The miniscule portion of the universe that God has allowed me to grasp includes the blessings of faith in Jesus Christ, the son of God. If you believe that there are other ways to a complete, loving relationship with God, that is between you and God. I respect your perspective and pray for you to discover the truth of Jesus Christ as savior of your life, but I will not respect your perspective if your belief disallows my belief. As for me, I will rest on the assurance that Jesus Christ is the messiah, the true Son of God, and that he died for me. He is my Lord.

An atheist recently told me that my arrogance was limited only by the smallness of my mind. The greatest arrogance is to NOT believe. As for the smallness of my mind, I thank God for the miniscule view He has allowed me to have of His infinite universe. 

God exists as surely as you and I exist. The universe in not a godless happenstance. If you believe there is no God, I pray to God for you. I will continue to respect you, but I cannot honor my God by respecting your denial of His existence. Contributions from that perspective will be used only to further inspire this work. 

What I intend to share through this page are simple things that mean something to this Christian on his daily journey. I pray that you might find inspiration for your faith imbedded in this page. 

Sincerely,

P.S. Please consider sharing your faith through your intellectual contribution to this page.

Web Based Resources

By far the site I use most frequently is BibleNet. They have many links to other places, and unfortunately many are "not found." However, their own internal links seem to work well. Be sure to read their Statement of Faith

BIBLE LOOKUP This link is to BibleNet's Library - once there, click on "Hypertext Bible(s)"

The Christian Clssics Ethereal Library (especially the "Classics" and "Hymnary" links) looks interesting.

The best daily devotion (in my opinion, of course) is Deb Grant's.

Crossdaily.com  may take a lifetime to explore fully.

Marriage Alive has some excellent tidbits.

If you are a C.S. Lewis fan, you'll love Mere Christianity

Jusiasm 101 is an outstanding resource for Jews and those interested in Judaism (aka B.C. Christian History). It is an wonderfully educational site. 

True Life Experience

I Would Give it to You - This is a short story I wrote about an adventure I had in Madrid in May of 1999. I chose to write the story as a witness to God's presence in my life and as self-assigned therapy. (For the record - I have never heard back from Beth.) 

Bible Study (By far, one of the most valuable forms of B.S!) 

I like studies that stimulate discussion and interaction with others and that have room for individual interpretation. Application in our daily walk is very important to me. Let me know what these studies bring to mind and how you use them.

Being a writer and speaker, I thoroughly enjoy creating materials for and facilitating group discussions. Here are some bible studies I created for my ChristCare group:

Prayers and Reflections

Daily Devotions

Pastor Deb Grant is the ELCA Campus Pastor at Texas A&M University and Associate Pastor at Peace Lutheran Church, College Station, TX. I love her daily devotions - they are short and to the point. If you wish to subscribe, send email to elogos-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. 

As I was creating the very first version of this page on 8/10/1999, the daily devotional from Pastor Deb arrived. I was touched by the irony of what I had written at the top of this page and what Pastor Deb was inspired to write for that day:

I John 5: 11-13
And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Sometimes the Either/Or statements in scripture sound harsh. Primarily it is because we have heard the words used like sledge hammers on those who do not profess a faith in Christ. John's word are written not as a weapon to threaten the faithless to believing but to comfort the faithful who from day to day are never entirely sure. It was never intended to create a burden for someone else, it was intended to ease yours. Let it.

May God richly bless you, always and all ways.