“For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved … Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” ~ Paul (Romans 10:10 + Acts 16:31)

God bless the “apostle” Paul — he tried so hard to do the right thing; of that I am almost sure. Suffering from an immense weight of guilt over persecuting the original adherents of Jesus’ teachings (known as “Followers of The Way” — Acts 9:2 & Acts 11:26 & Acts 22:4) and burdened by possibly the lowest self-esteem of all the prophets in human history, he was earnestly desperate to make good on his past failings and to make up for his past misdeeds. The only problem was, he had never seen Jesus in the flesh and he had never himself heard Jesus speak or teach.

So what did he do? Well, the next best thing: he simply made stuff up and attached Jesus’ name to it. Granted, it was “good stuff” — at least if you happened to agree with it — and yet the fact remains that it was certainly NOT Jesus’ stuff. Where Jesus proclaimed a Heaven that was & remains Here&Now (luke 17:20-21 + all of his parables), Paul shouted of a paradise post-mortem … Where Jesus proclaimed that God’s LOVE was perfectly unconditional and that His forgiveness knows no limit (Matthew 5:40-48 + Matthew 18:22), Paul spoke of a God who only gave the same to the “worthy” few … And where Jesus proclaimed a Salvation through deeds of selfless Kindness (especially those done for strangers, for the downtrodden &/or for one’s enemies — John 13:15-17), Paul’s redemption could only come from bowing down to Jesus himself in thought &/or from worshiping Jesus himself by word or song.

And what happened next is well known to all — Paul’s teachings became the foundation of the now complicated & condemnatory dogma of the modern-day Christian church, while Jesus’ Way of selfless & humble LOVE has all but disappeared from the Christian landscape.

Of course, you can & will believe whatever you wish … and I publicly admit that I most certainly do not have THE answers, that I most certainly lay no claim to THE Truth; and that I most certainly will not Love any of you one bit less for choosing to follow the theology of Paul instead of the teachings of Christ.

That having been said, I WILL gently remind each of you that the Salvation of Jesus is waiting for you — right here & right now, and that this is true regardless of your particular religious inclinations (or even complete lack thereof) … And I will also softly remind you that entry into the sheer Bliss of this “Kingdom of Heaven” cannot be attained by “believing with your heart” or by “professing with your mouth”. Indeed, it doesn’t matter one bit how deep your feelings or how passionate your faith or how earnest your words of praise — for the Heaven of Jesus Christ can only be entered by first setting aside all your pride & all your hubris, by then looking intensely & earnestly for someone nearby who is suffering from pain or worry or indecision or sadness, and then finally by reaching out to those downtrodden with open, radical acts of Kindness & Caring.

Amen … Let it be so.

“And because iniquity shall abound, the Love of many shall wax cold. But those that endure unto the end [in Love] shall be saved. And THIS Gospel of the Kingdom shall be shared with all the people and unto all nations … Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing … If you follow my teachings, you are truly my disciples … And by this everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you show LOVE for one another … If you truly Love me, then keep my Commandments … And this is my Commandment: Love one another just as I have Loved you.” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:12-14, John 14:12, John 8:31, John 13:35, JOHN 14:15 & JOHN 15:12)