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Developing a personal relationship with the Christ is the intended result of embracing the teachings of Christian religious traditions and expressions. Claiming to be a Christian without knowledge, belief and understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ is unfathomable. Christianity cannot exist without the living presence of the Christ. That presence exists in all who engage in personal relationships with Jesus, listen to his words, participate in worship, and actively practice and live their commitments to discipleship.

Listening to the messages of many Christian denominations, one would think that it is impossible to be a Christian unless one belongs to that particular church body. The Gospels do not make mention of various denominations and membership in them. Jesus came into the world, not to found a church, but to offer a new understanding of God and our responsibilities as religious people, both to God and to one another.

Christianity has not abandoned all laws that do nothing to help us establish personal relationships with the Christ and humankind. Some church bodies require fasting for at least one hour before receiving Communion. Others not only preach that "God hates Fags" but they take their children when they protest in public venues. Many church members have been taught that the only position for pray is that of kneeling and they are disturbed when worshippers stand and speak/sing God's praises.unfortunately, there are also persons who so distort the Word of God, that they form cults and demand that they are the only way to salvation.

The most important step that we must take is to get to know Jesus Christ. The over used question, "What would Jesus do?" is an important question for us to ask often. When we cannot decide whether or not to give someone standing at the off ramp of the freeway, money or not, we must ask, "what would Jesus do?" When we wrestle with questions of right to die, abortion, stem cell research, and others, we must ask, "what would Jesus do?" The answers to these questions will not necessarily be those of Christian religious bodies, but we must still follow the lead of the Ultimate leader in our lives, Jesus Christ.

As Jesus walks through us, understanding of his teachings evolve and we must grow and evolve with them. Those Christian denominations that preach, "Thou shalt not kill" when speaking of the right to die, advance care directives, abortion and other concerns, do not encourage the soul searching that we practice

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