I believe.... 1. That GOD IS REAL 2. That He sent Christ to die for my sins to serve as the bridge so I may be dead to sin and be reunited with my Creator. 3. That I'm everything except perfect, but in my being a valued child of God, I am made perfect in God's eyes. I am finally alive because of Christ. 4. That that's no excuse to surrender to myself and my sinful nature. 5. That premarital sex is wrong BECAUSE it is taking a beautiful gift from God and using it to an excess and excess in general is sinful because it displays a lack of surrender to Christ. 6. That doing drugs and getting drunk is wrong BECAUSE it distorts our mind and sense of who and what we are and Christ teaches us to keep a clear mind. 7. That trying to predict when the "rapture" is or describing what heaven is like outside of the ideas of the state of mind described in the Bible is overstepping one's bounds and, frankly, annoying as hell (no pun intended). 8. That we are to make the most of what God gives us and let God be the lamp at our feet and not ask Him to light all the ground to the horizon. 9. That swearing and "foul" language is strictly an issue of judgment and a matter of courtesy to society (asked of us by Christ) and self-control. I don't consider a Christian that swears any less of a Christian. But i do feel that there are cases where swearing is not helpful but harmful to one's witness. 10. That LOVE IS A CHOICE AND AN ACTION, NOT AN EMOTION TO WHICH YOU ARE HELPLESS!! 11. That to be "in love" requires a situation where 2 people choose to love one another through their actions. Being "in love" can not simply go one way. It's impossible. 12. That because who you love is a choice, homosexuality/bisexuality is wrong. I'm sorry if that offended anyone, I've struggled with the question for a long time and this is my conclusion. Even if you're gay or bi, I will be your friend even if I don't agree with your choice of lifestyle. 13. That as Christians, we should not push our beliefs or personal doctrine on those who don't understand or follow. 14. That once someone becomes a Christian, what follows is not a matter of action but a matter of learning who you are in Christ. When you are confident in who you are in Christ, the actions are second-nature. 15. That logic and science is, in fact, an instrument of God--not an enemy. 16. That doctrine and belief system is personal and learned over time. No one denomination is right! No matter how different our personal doctrine, we are ALL united in Christ! It's in the Bible--repeatedly. SO CHRISTIANS, QUIT SQWABBLING LIKE CHILDREN!!!!! 17. That with doctrine-based denomination, we spit on what Christ taught and downgrade His teachings to mere religion, which He condemned in His teachings.. WHEN HE'S TALKING TO THE PHARASEES, HE'S NOT JUST TALKING TO THE JEWS! 18. That Christianity is, in effect, the way for gentiles to become jewish (in the since of joining the ranks among God's people) ergo, anti-semitism among Christians is the most ignorant piece of doctrine imaginable. 19. That women are equal to men and have the right to any function among the Body (Christians). Don't approach me with the verse in 1 Timothy and say women have no place in the Body. In the context, Paul was also speaking of civil obedience concerning flexible parts of doctrine so that the Christians of EPHASUS could live peacefully and the comments were exclusive to the Church in Ephasus. The statement also counteracts how all of the other churches Paul wrote to functioned and felt towards women. Women played a huge role in the early church, Christ treated women higher than He did the men among His disciples (Mary Magdalene), and the Bible is full of stories of strong women taking stands and stepping up when men fell short (Esther, Ruth, etc etc). anyway.... 20. That to downgrade one's role among the Body is being disobediant to God. 21. That WE ARE ALL SAINTS IN CHRIST!!!!! NO ONE PERSON IS TO BE EXALTED THROUGH EMPTY ACTIONS!!! WE ARE TO EXALT ONE ANOTHER BECAUSE WE ARE ALL SAINTS IN CHRIST BECAUSE OF OUR RENEWED HEART!!! Why else would Paul refer to ENTIRE CONGREGATIONS as saints? 22. That because I believe these things, I am not better than you, nor am I perfect. I am human, I screw up, I fall short, and I will admit to my mistakes because my sin hurts my relationship with God but has no ability to end it. 23. That any sound personal doctrine can withstand the test of Scripture. 24. That all things were created by God for a purpose glorifying to Him but when missused, become sinful. 25. That CHOICE is the bottomline. Choice is what makes us human, and the answer to pretty much everything is choice. You can choose to love God or choose to hate Him--that's what makes Him love us so much--but it's this choice that decides the rest of our lives. Any preacher that downgrades the idea of choice is lost. This is what I choose to believe, personally. If you don't believe all of it or any of it, that's fine. I still enjoy meeting people and making friends. I hold nothing against anyone. I disagree with people, but I don't hold disagreement against someone. Holding onto something like that is all thats wrong with the world. So for me to hold something against you because I disagree with you would make me a bigger hypocrite than I already am. And personally, I'd rather shy away from hypocracy.