I am the God who Brought You: Is Salvation Real?

The question above may seem strange, coming from a pastor, but allow me to explain the sentiment behind the question: "Is salvation real?" I see a lot of resignation in Christianity. I see resignation in our personal lives, and I see resignation in how Christians interact with the world. The resignation seems to be that true transformation is not possible, and therefore salvation is a strictly future reality. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When God delivered the Israelites to Sinai and gave them the Ten Words, God was creating something new, this much I said on Sunday. And this new thing was meant to make a difference. It was supposed to model a completely new way of living, and God was going to lead them along. The world was supposed to be different because of them. As we know, the people broke faith and did not do what they were called to do. God then sent Jesus into the world, who did do it, made a tremendous difference, and passed His mission and His Spirit on to the Church to continue His work. And yet... there is tremendous resignation that things are going to stay the way they are forever, until the end of all things has come and past, and so our primary job is to wait. That, and get other people to wait with us. Here is an example. In the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit came, people were healed, the poor were taken care of, boundaries of language were removed and people experienced God. Today, I most often hear the movement of the Spirit associated with a great emotional experience related to a super-charged worship service. So, it salvation real? Are we meant to experience transformation in this life? Is that transformation meant to change the world? Check out this video from TED. This guy organized a day of peace that even the Taliban honored (there was a 70% reduction in violence on this day). Then let's have a conversation about the possibility of transformation and how salvation is real and experienced. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jeremy_gilley_one_day_of_peace.html