WE NEED A NATIONAL CONVERSATION ABOUT FAITH IN AMERICA AND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN

We need a national conversation about faith in America and what it means to be a Christian and have faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus gave the commandment that we should love our neighbors as ourselves and that means, by my understanding, that we love and welcome people even when they are not of the Christian faith like ourselves and do not yet understand what the Christian faith is all about and how it offers grace to them from a loving Heavenly Father and Jesus' loving sacrifice of his life on the cross. Jesus did not just come to this earth to save and redeem a select group of people, he came to this earth for all of humanity to be healed, redeemed and restored through faith in what Jesus did on the cross to graciously forgive us of our sins and mistakes. We are all in need of healing, forgiveness and redemption, and the world that we live in today desperately needs the healing, love, forgiveness and compassion of Jesus. And then, on Pentecost, Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to live through us and do good and loving works of healing, seeking justice for the oppressed, caring for the sick, defending the weak and afflicted, providing for the impoverished, sharing the loving Good News of the Gospels and a variety of other acts that Our Heavenly Father wants for us as Christians to do in building a better, more loving, gracious and compassionate world of faith, hope and love for humanity. Our Heavenly Father and Jesus do not want us to judge one another because Jesus did not come into this world to condemn the world but rather to lovingly and graciously save it. And we need leaders in this country who are filled up with the Holy Spirit and working to lovingly and compassionately bring justice, peace, healing and hope to this hurting, broken and divided nation. LOVE ALWAYS, DIANE K. OLSON