One night while standing at the bar waiting for a cocktail, a young man in his leather jacket and beard looked down at me and saw the cross around my neck. “You’re not a f’ckin Christian, are you?” he asked surprised.

“I am. Are you judging me?” I said jokingly.

“Yes, I am,” he replied

“Let’s talk about it.”

We got into a conversation about faith, but mostly church. He grew up in a church that turned him away from God, made him feel like like he wasn’t accepted, and it has scarred him.

I shared my story with him, my family leaving the church we grew up in only to come back to God and a new church 20+ years later when I began to see that God’s love is so much more about a relationship and not rules and regulations.

I felt a little nervous about stepping out in my faith in the moment. It’s uncomfortable because there can be judgement. But as soon as we began to talk about it and relate to each other, a new friendship opened up. Even if it was a brief conversation one night in a bar, it was being real.

I have been faced with some harsh judgement, people who have told me that I’m weak for being a Christian, amongst other hurtful things. Even though the words hurt, I have to remember where my heart is, what is true to me and not let others words bring me down or tear at my faith.

Before I really began to dive into the word and step out in faith, I would hear other Christians talking about “the enemy” and I used to hear words like this and think they were a little crazy. But now I get it. The enemy, spiritual warfare, attack on faith. If it’s not positive, and full of love, it’s not coming from God. Whether one believes that the enemy is satan himself or just the evil in the world (same thing?), it is an attack.

The more I open up, the more that I may be open to attack, the more that my faith becomes stronger in God.

I’m not perfect. I don’t claim to be perfect. I am me… “Walking like a drunkard down the path of God’s will: an unlikely route guided by the Spirit!” – Mark Tidd and Brooke Rundle from last weekend’s sermon.

Listen to it here… it’s GOOD!