THE LIES - THE TRUTH - THE WAY...
A PILGRIM'S PROGRESS
THIS COULD BE the most important book you will ever read, not only for yourself but for your family, friends, and maybe the entire world! Why? Because it is filled with great insights, astounding logic and incredible revelations? Absolutely not. Quite the opposite. This book takes some simple and long overlooked truths down from the shelves of time, dusts them off, and presents them to you. They're probably nothing you haven't heard before. I'd heard them all my life. I just ignored them. Now I don't. And you know what? Following these truths have made all the difference in my life! They can for you, too.
Sometimes you and I get all bogged down in stuff that do us little good and keep us from going anywhere at all. Book One: The Lies is, for some, a bitter pill. Trust me, I know how some of the things in Book One sounds. The words would have been hard for me, too, once upon a time. They're things you need to hear, though, especially if you're caught up in an American Protestantism that doesn't seem to really go anywhere. There are reasons so many are confused, misguided, and spiritually squashed. You'll discover what they are when you read Book One.
You don't really have to read Book One to get the message. You can skip right over it. You shouldn't. Even if some of the things I write grate against you like fingernails on a chalkboard, you should push through rather than skip over. You don't even have to agree with me on some of the observations I make and opinions I offer. In fact, you probably won't. But there are some things you just might need to hear, too, even if you don't want to. So go ahead, read the first section. Use a red pen, mark up what you don't like, and when you're done send it to me. I'd like to know what you think. I'll send you a fresh new copy for absolutely nothing! Promise! How's that? Ever heard an author promise that before?
I do not promulgate existential metaphysical nomenclature.... whatever that means, in Book Two: The Truth. Book Two is a simple, straightforward attempt to provide a logical path from knowledge to faith. I don't even try to "convince" non-believers, skeptics or atheists. Those guys will find so many holes in my logic they'll think I live on swiss cheese. Doesn't matter. I've never heard any arguments to "disprove" Christianity or a belief in Jesus the Christ I didn't see a whole bunch of holes in myself. Name calling and finger pointing and one-up-manship is useless and counterproductive. Jesus never tried to convince anybody of anything. Neither shall I. Besides, our duty is to follow The Way. We prove the validity of our faith in a million ways by following it, ways that could never be proven with mere words.
In Book Two all I'm trying to do is help a few people clear up some doubts they may have. When some reach the end of Book One they may have a bucket full. (Those who are not ready to lynch me!) Religion is based upon faith. If it's not, it's not religion, it's science--though science itself is based on faith more than anything else, too. Faith, however, to be valid must have a foot-hold in known Truth. Blind Faith may be soothing or comforting or whatever for those who can convince themselves of its validity but in the end it will have no use at all. Book Two looks to everything in the known world to point to the right heading beyond the known so that we can know where to go.
The final section, Book Three: The Truth, is NOT a revelation. I keep saying that. Neither am I trying to "push my beliefs" off on anyone. I'm not being self-righteous, pious, or a smarty-pants know-it-all. Sometimes I just don't know nutthin! All I do in Book Three is review the words of Jesus and the lifestyle he lived and show how we're supposed to apply both in our lives. Like so many Christians, I read the words he spoke and read about how he lived and just passed right over them both. "I... um, I can't, no, um... besides, I mean, that was then... how can I do that? I mean, give up everything? Hmm, no, well, anyway, nobody is perfect! And besides, what about... and then... I'll do the best I can do, what's wrong with that?" Been there. Done that. Wanna T-shirt?
The Way of Jesus is as simple, as pure, as obvious and as incredible as anything can be. It is a Way of revolution. Not revolution in the political sense, though. It's not a creed or plan to establish governments or lead peoples. The Way of Jesus is an absolutely perfect way to cause a personal revolution, an inner revolution, a revolution of mind, body and spirit, that will, if you're determined and persistent, change your entire life for the better. The nuts and bolts of following Jesus sounded hard and harsh... give up, forgive, love enemies, all that. But even beyond all that, how could the plan be so simple and still work? Jesus actually gave us two commandments. Two very vague, greatly-open-to-interpretation commandments. How can they work? Beats me. But they do work! In fact, they work better than anything else any religious brainiac or guru has ever come up with.
You can live without this book. The overwhelming majority will never read it. Too bad. Not for me, but for them. And not because the meager words themselves are so all-fired important. It's too bad because in this world there are so few saying what this book says and far fewer listening and then far, far fewer actually putting into practice The Way of Jesus. How I wish someone would have said this stuff to me a few decades ago and maybe even whacked me up'side the head with it. How much better my life would have been!
I have not written this book to be rich or famous or to get stars in my crown or buttons on my banner. My name is on the front more so some will know who to blame rather than whom to thank. I wrote this book because nobody else has. I wrote it because this stuff should be shouted from the rooftops. I wrote it because I long for a world where there is peace, kindness, courtesy, all those things we've never really had. That kind of world is not only possible, it should exist, and would exist, if only.... if only those who profess Jesus the Christ as their Savior would apply his commandments in every single aspect of their lives not as they've been taught or their doctrine says or right along the razor's edge of what they can "get away with" but with their whole heart, mind and soul.
My kids run to my wife and I dozens and dozens of times a day. "Daddy," they say, "Look here!" Or, "Mommy, see what I did!" Or, "Look, daddy, I did it. Are you proud of me?" Indeed I am so very proud! Every artistic effort on the Doodleboard has to be approved by daddy or mommy before it is swiped away and a new one created. That's what this book is all about. It's the same thing. I found this incredible, this wonderful, this exciting Way to live and now I'm running up to your door and saying, "Hey, friend, listen, this is TOO COOL!" So, here it is. What do you think? You proud of me?!