ChristAliveHere.com
Welcome
Whether you are a Christian or are Religionless, we hope you will find some things of interest here. Please explore and inquire our website with an open mind. And let us know how we can do better.
Discover our website where we start with a man, who came to be known as Jesus the Christ and is now to be discovered in canyons and vistas of Earth and its inhabitants, some of whom left oral and written records of HisStory and theirs.
Sunday School Reflections
1st Free Will Baptist Church
Duncanville, Texas
​Along the way, in our blog, you will meet people who got to know this man and became his followers. But they are ordinary people, unordained or robed with no official status or prominence.
This website is not written by experts such as theologians, or preachers, but by lay people who are also in the vessel on their own journey where they have learned much from many sources and are eager to share their learning with you. Yes, you will hear from theologians, scholars, and specialists, but their work will be framed to make their writing accessible to non-experts like us. We do not shy away from our beliefs and they will become clear, but we want to meet you where you are.
​
Please join us.
- Glenn Currier, Editor, Christian
- Helen E. Currier, Co-editor, Professional Educator, Christian
Jesus of Nazareth lived a life of love, compassion and dedication to those with the least social power. He came to show us how to be human as well as how to be spiritual. But Christ's love embraces all of humanity. Christ shows us who God is, a God in love with the creatures of our planet, no matter how small in stature, character or temperament or how large their darkness. Christ's very being is for us. He cannot live alone in the universe or beyond. These truths are what this website is about. Over and over, on every page we start with our logo which declares, Christ Alive Here. No matter how hard we try we cannot escape him because he is in everything.
If you are wary of the Bible, listen to what Eugene Peterson says about the stories and message you will find there:
The stories show clearly that we are never outsiders or spectators to anything in "heaven and earth." God doesn't work impersonally from space; he works with us where we are, as he finds us. No matter what we do, whether good or bad, we continue to be part of everything that God is doing. Nobody can drop out -- there's no place to drop out to. So we may as well get started and take our place in the story...
The Message, p. 19
A Life on Earth
Jesus was rich, but he didn’t have a dime to his name. His wealth was his love for others. It seemed endless. It was not a romantic glamorous kind of love that would catch the audience of Entertainment Tonight. It was a bottom-up kind of love for the poor, the sick, the friendless, the deviant and rejected. Jesus taught “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (LK 12:34) and just before that statement in the Bible's book of Luke he urges people to sell all they have and give it to the needy. This doesn’t sound like a good investment strategy, nevertheless Jesus was urging people to invest in something that would last forever even after their bodies were dust. He said that we should give our lives over to loving others. This kind of outlay would pay off in fulfilment in this life and in the next.
Maybe a reason Jesus loved outcasts was because he too was to become an outcast. He had time for the lame. He also has time for us who are emotionally and/or spiritually disabled. Eventually he was killed by the powerful, by the crowds thirsty for blood. [1]
​
We want to emphasize the importance of how Jesus lived and who he was as a person. Because all humans must die, Jesus who became human did too. Many people around the globe know this because his death - and I think, his life - is symbolized by the crosses seen in almost every part of the world. There is an emphasis among many Christians that Jesus died for the sins of human kind. Wouldn't it be wonderful if each of us was willing to die for others, even for people we don't know? But I think a better question is, wouldn't it be wonderful if each of us is willing to live for other sinners, sinners like us? Some people don't like the word sin because it smacks of condemnation and punishment. So maybe it would be better to speak of human fallibility and pride. That characterization would fit everybody.
​
Look at the people who were closest to Jesus during his life on Earth. The apostles were twelve ordinary men. Each had obvious limitations and faults. Yet, by their association with Jesus, they became transformed. He eventually changed each and every one of them. He changed them so much that they became the seeds of a great movement and church.
Alive Here and Now
Acts 1:3 says: “After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”
If we believe that Jesus died on the cross, then rose, we believe that he overcame death. And if we believe that Jesus the Christ overcame death, he must be God. If we believe that he was and is God and that God is eternal, then it must be that Jesus Christ is still living. Christians know Christ lives because we pray to him and in his name so often. Even more important many of us proclaim that we have a personal relationship with him. In other words, our faith and trust in God in Christ makes us aware of Jesus’s presence here and now. That presence is palpable and real. For most practicing Christians that is enough proof of Christ Alive Here.
​
Some believe that Jesus lived way back more than 2000 years ago but now is the Christ and not Jesus anymore. The incarnation was/is not temporary and does not go away. Jesus' body is now eternal. Christians speak of his glorified body, the one that Mary Magdalene saw in the tomb. "She turned and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t recognize him" (John 29:14) That was because his body was transformed. It was the same Jesus who walked with the apostles on the road to Emmaus, and later, the doors being locked to the room where the apostles were.
​
One of the enduring and present doctrines and images for Christ being alive here and now is the Body of Christ as described in 1 Corinthians 12:13-14. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body…and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.”
​
​
For me, the way that I think of the Body of Christ is to think of the body of believers in the church community of which I am a part. But beyond us, Christians are members of the universal body of Christ not because of identification with the institution of the Church, but through identification with Christ directly through faith. In Colossians 1:18-19 Paul affirms Christ as the head of the Body of Christ, and that God and all of his fullness dwells in him. Dwells – present tense, not dwelled - past tense.
All of these passages are not merely talking about Jesus of Nazareth who died more than 2000 years ago, but Christ Jesus who is alive in each one of us individually, in us as a community, and in the Bible, because it is the living Word of God. Death has passed and now God is alive in the Body of Christ.
For the Religionless and Non-believers
This website cares about you and wants to approach you about a possibility. It might be that you are open to hearing other ideas about God and Jesus Christ. If so, click here - some of us were once religiousless or non-believers but have changed.
In Romans 8: 34-49 Paul says that God is on our side. And if that is true then “who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen?” Paul says: “Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! … Nothing fazes us because Jesus loves us. …nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.”
Where to Find Him Here
How is Christ present here and now on Earth? Jesus of Nazareth was known for being approachable, though not manageable, for human beings. According to writer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Christians today encounter Christ in the church-community and in other ways. Another term for church is The Body of Christ, a Body that transcends denominations.
Jesus the Christ is also a mediator between God and humankind (1 Timothy 2:5). Christians knowing this, helps to put them at a distance from the world, allowing them to engage with the world critically, to stand back from the world and look at it from a different perspective. This standpoint is not the same as the disciples had of Jesus of Nazareth. [4]
In trying to explain what the name of this website means, I have discovered that the doctrine of immanence, although very heady, tells us much about how Christ is alive here and now. The doctrine holds that the divine encompasses or is manifested in humans and the material world, but is not limited to it or by it.
Read More on these topics: Immanence, Transcendence, Christology, meaning of "My personal savior," The Historical Jesus, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Tell the world your faithwalk story
including doubts and struggles with God
Let your light shine! (Matthew 5:16)
Prompts, questions and aids to help you write or tell your story
The Blog: All About Our Stories
Each of us as individuals has a story about the spiritual side of our selves.
-- It might be the story of how God/Christ has acted in our lives and we might describe that as our Witness or Testimony, for example, being a born again Christian or being evangelical or being Catholic.
-- For some, their story is about their religion and how they grew in it or maybe rejected it or changed religious-spiritual orientation or changed their religion or denomination.
-- Others would say they are spiritual but not religious and there is a story behind that statement.
Major Website Sections Community - The Word - Spiritual Growth
Community
This section of the website provides Information about how Christians relate to each other as part of the Body of Christ in groups, church and community. There will be articles from pastors, community members, and others who will describe what Christian community means to them. Of course, the stories presented on the blog also talk about community.
Community vs Individual
There is usually a tension in people between themselves as individuals and themselves as social beings. That social self varies depending on their relationship with God, their experiences, socialization, and family. People can find out more about themselves as individuals by looking at personality patterns. Personality inventories analyze different types of patterns, for example, introvert or extrovert, or other factors.
​
Of course, we cannot be completely human apart from groups and relationships. Aside from the social influences in our lives, God always has us in the palm of his hand.
The Word
Most people have at least heard of the Bible because it is the highest selling book of all times.
Most of us Christians believe or know that the Bible is the inspired word of God, penned by human persons (e.g. Moses, the prophets, New Testament saints like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul). For many the Word of God (Bible) has a profound influence on their lives and they cannot imagine living without it. This website and its owner (Glenn Currier) are committed to the Bible as the foundation of our spiritual lives and that is the belief portrayed in this website/blog.
On the other hand, some believe the Bible is just a wisdom book written solely by humans, and these people have varying attitudes toward the Bible from bemusement, interest, and commitment, to downright rejection as fiction.
Spiritual Growth, Devotion, Sanctification
What is Devotion?
Devotion refers to a dedication to a spiritual discipline or practice. It is how we experience God's presence in our lives at various times, for example in joyful moments and even in sadness or grief. Most people are not comfortable calling themselves holy or even devoted, so many refer to themselves as spiritually-oriented, enlightened, or reflective.
​
Faith Walk
Christians speak of their faith walk or their journey with Jesus and or the Father. And others want to become devoted disciples of Jesus Christ or evangelists .
Our Mission
To make Jesus Christ recognizable to both Christians and non-Christians, to make Christian ideas and ideals understandable yet challenging to everyone, and to give people a place to tell their stories about how they relate to God and Jesus Christ including their doubts and challenges as well as their moments of love joy and truth.