simple

"If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation"
Rom. 10:9-10

I realize this will make me sound old, but...is it just me, or are things just getting more and more complicated? Things that used to be simple, are now elaborate, time consuming tasks. Last year I coached basketball at the local high school - something I really enjoy doing, and have done so, off and on in different places for years. When I first began volunteering at the school, it was a very simple process - meet with the coach and principal to get their permission, and that was it. This year, the New York State High School Athletic Association decided that all coaches (paid or volunteer) needed to take 3, 3 credit junior college courses on coaching, and receive training in 3 other seminars - all of this would have been at my expense, and I would have had to travel at least a half hour or so for the training.

Now, I am not really complaining - it is what it is. But wow, they sure made a simple thing very complicated.

I wonder if we've done that with salvation. You must attend a certain church for a certain amount of time, you must attend certain classes in said church, and know certain and particular things, you must tithe 10% of your income, you must listen to Christian music, you must have a Jesus fish bumper sticker, you must not smoke or chew or go with girls who do, you must be fluent in the language of the church - Christianese, you must dress a certain way, you must always bring your specialty to the potluck etc. etc.

You get the idea right...I wonder if we haven't made coming to Jesus more about conforming to some type of complex Christian sub-culture rather than the simple plan of the Bible.

The Bible can at times be difficult to understand, but I don't think the way to salvation is - it's simple.

Believe in your heart in the resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ - and confess this belief out loud for all to hear and see. This belief and confession might take many shapes and forms, but it's ultimately about the belief and confession and not the way one manifests them.

God still offers a simple plan of salvation to all through the life, death and resurrection of His Son Jesus. Believe it in your heart, and confess it with your mouth.

Be God's, Scott