getting personal with Jesus

Christianity is Jesus.

Books about Christian "principles" bug me, because I feel I'm being taught a system rather than encouraged in my relationship with Jesus.

Here in Thailand, almost everyone has a Thai Buddhist mindset, and even Thai Christians lose that only slowly. They are inclined to think of their new religion in similar terms to their old one: a matrix of principles for how to conduct life. Preachers who focus on how Christians should behave, are guaranteed a warm reception; those who venture into the territory of what Christians believe, of how we think, may be viewed with suspicion or seen as irrelevant.

We studied Ephesians 5:21-33 in our Bible study group on Wednesday night, and then quite unaware of that, on Thursday morning a colleague praying with me gave thanks that "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her". He subsequently explained that he feels those words from Ephesians 5:25 are more personal, more intimate, than John 3:16.

Indeed, our Bible study on Wednesday evening was not a study about marriage. Rather, the foundation of the study was 5:32, "This is a profound mystery -- but I am talking about Christ and the church. Throughout our study of 5:21-33, our constant guide was the question: What does this verse teach us about Christ and the church? There were some tender moments as we began to see Christ's love for us -corporately- as more intimate than we often consider.

And so we see, also, that our response should be first and most of all to Jesus the Christ personally. We are to hear and know and follow his voice. To "look full in his wonderful face".