Confessions of a cussing christian

You gotta love catchy titles. I think i need to write a book one day with this title.

I became a follower of Jesus when i was 20. That doesn't exactly qualify as a lifetime before i became a believer, but it was chock full of my history. And the funny thing is that my story is opposite of most people who didn't become a Christian when they were a child. I was a straight-laced kid who did not want to get into trouble. I didn't drink because i didn't see the point. I didn't have sex for i was scared to death to get someone pregnant. And i rarely, if ever, cussed.

Since becoming a believer i now occasionally engage in colorful metaphors, imbibe a nice German beer or wine, and have multiple tattoos and piercings. Like i said, opposite of what you might expect. For example, all of my tattoos have a deep meaning and spiritual significance to me. My wife sees them as murals that testify to what Jesus is making me and where He is taking me. I would say it takes a unique person to have that perspective.

The switch came in that after accepting Christ's offer of salvation He began to tell me who i was. Before that day i was a sad and confusing amalgamation of what i thought others wanted me to be. I was all things to all people for all of the wrong reasons. It was truly an independence day for i began to realize that i did have an identity after all. That i was Matthew, gift of Jehovah, an adopted son of the Creator of the Universe. People of antiquity commonly derived part of their identity from their fathers, "Simon bar Jonah" Or Simon son of Jonah. I began to see myself as my true Father saw me.

All of this to say that my aim is to be a 'genuine' follower of Jesus. Pain is pain and life sometimes cannot be described in Sunday School language. I want Believers and Non to have the freedom to be themselves around me. It almost saddens me when the type of relationship i have with someone causes them to censor their speech around me. I don't want to be that catalyst. I want communion with the Living GOD to enact change in their lives. To further demonstrate this i have seen guys come to Christ over a beer having just watched Fight Club. And in that is a beautiful testimony. So, needless to say you might occasionally see colorful metaphors in my posts.