I hail from South Africa and my name is Bernie. I am married with a son and a daughter.
I came to Christ in 1991 outside the influences of any church directly.
I discovered what Christian Universalism (CU) was in February 2007. Intrigued, I looked into it and I was blessed to find there were other "cracked pots" like me in this world. I had always wondered, since I was saved, why God was showing me things others could not see and I thought for a long time I was "unsaved" even though my encounter with Jesus was very real and that God uses me in five of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Skeptical, it forced me back into the word, which I had neglected a long while in my Christian life. The more I looked to disprove it, the more I found it to be true. Having grown up in a Christian cult that I rejected at the age of 16, then having done the rounds with many other faiths, all I found was religion and tradition and no truth. I am very anti tradition as IMO that is what drives many away from the church. I guess I am a non-conformist.
I did the see-saw between apologetics, asking questions of the scholars in all camps and what I discovered was a keener understanding of Rhema and Agape Love in the CU camp. I have always sought to find a deeper relationship with the Father. There are so many points of view and I do not claim to have all truth; we each have a piece of the puzzle and all the pieces together make up the body.
I have posted so much on different forums so I thought I should try and get these thoughts of mine in one safe place that does not crash hopefully.
So what do I believe? Well that is a loaded question seeing I follow only Christ and no single man's teaching. What I believe today I may have a new view tomorrow so I cannot even reduce this to a creed. The one thing I do know that will not change is that Jesus came to save ALL mankind and died for all our sins past, present and future. Can he do it? I reckon so, He said it. If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me; Yes all men.
While still in the mainstream church system, I was a Praise and Worship musician and I have written many songs. The Lord really revealed Himself to me in this small ministry of helps.
Well I hope you will get to know me better as I post my thoughts here.
Actually, after 17 years of study, I still battle to quote scripture and verse from memory, I even have to look up John 3:16. However, the meaning of scripture is ingrained in my heart as that has been revealed to me by the Holy Spirit.
Like my Avatar suggests, TRVTH is what makes me tick and most of all Father's Love. Be Blessed in Christ.
I have grabbed all my gospel to compressed mp3 format and have over 18.7GB of gospel. Worked it out once to listen to everything once will take about 4-1/2 months
Television
Discovery, THC, National Geographic. Most other programs suck esp. CNN
