What we do in life echoes in eternity

Day 16 - 2 June (Sat) The highlight of my trip to Rome was the Colosseum. To know that when you walk in you walk where the Emperors of one of the greatest civilizations of all time the might Roman Empire once walked and you stood where thousands of spectators once saw man battle man and beast, where Christians were fed to lions, you can not help but be in total and complete amazement. To be only a few yards from where some of the most violent blood was spilled, just for survival and the chance to fight again and earn freedom leaves and indescribable feeling. To stand in a building that defines a culture, a civilization and history is probably the most powerful experiences of a lifetime. The best part of it was, that it was a national holiday in remembrance of the day in 1946 when Italy voted to Make itself a republic instead of a Monarchy, so we got into the Colosseum for free! As we walked up too it and into it I could not help but have the movie and the music of Gladiator playing through my head, then I got out my iPod and actually started listening to the music, to give me a full experience. Again I could have just sat in there for hours and basked in the glory of it all. It was one of the most awesome experience of my life, and I will experience it again. Its times like these where I detest the new age and modern society. Think about what would have happened if the Colosseum had been torn down fro a night club or a Stadium, or a Shopping center. It might seem a bit outlandish that this would happen, but its the same basic principle that can be applied to what happened to the Kingdom in Seattle. The Kingdome was Seattle and Seattle was the Kingdome! The Colosseum is Rome, and Rome is the Colosseum. Think about if they removed the Golden Gate Bridge from San Fransisco, or the giant Jesus statue in Rio De Janeiro. Those things define their cities, tell stories about their past, define their culture, and set up the future. Another way to look at this situation is this. Think of removing Christ and the Bible from Christianity, when this happens you have Judaism. I am not pointing to one domination in particular because tons of people who practice "Christianity," do just this and many churches for that matter. There has been talk about renovating and restore the Colosseum, which is great, I would love to see it stand as in once stood almost 2000 years ago. Along with that I would love to see the same thing done with Christianity. Restore it to it's glory in the time of Christ and the apostles, to a time almost 2000 years ago. To a time when we see the glory of following Christ, and people hadn't become weighted down with doctrines and politics, and other things that had nothing to do with their Salvation. To a time when the apostles were spreading the message of Jesus as he called them to. I would lie to see a return to a faith that was about following the God, and His son, and our personal relationship with him, not which Church we attend on Sunday, and how much money we give to charities. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to my father except through me. " John 14:6 (NLT). It is time that we start to remember who Jesus was. I would like to see the removal of politics from religion because Jesus was not a political figure he was a religious one. He commanded us to do exactly what he did which was the will of God, not to sit in church on Sundays and sing hymns. I am not saying going to church is a bad thing, but expecting your salvation to come from that is mere foolishness. You should attend because of your love for Christ and your conviction to learn more about him, and his father our God. There needs to be a restoration to the foundation of our faith. To our religion. It is called Christianity because we believe Jesus is the messiah and our saviour. It is time we all start becoming Christ followers, not just Sunday "Christians". I feel it is fitting that I end this blog with a quote from Gladiator as well as one from the bible. "What we do in life echoes in eternity!" -Maximus Decimus Meridius "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to my father except through me." -John 14:6 (NLT)