"Begin, the Rest is Easy"

So goes the cliche signboard in several locations around my place of secular employment.
The quote is attributed to George Jenkins, founder of the Publix chain of grocery stores. It might work for your basic grocery store employee, but this Jesus thing is a whole new ballgame. Persistance is the key to the Christian life. Beginning means nothing without persistance. In an effort to keep myself consistant, I want to give a few posts about my theology, how that theology is applied, and what my theology implies. Ultimately, I will give my philosophy of ministry.
To Begin:

I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ and the Son of God.

There's a lot of things that are packed into that one statement, and because it is so meaningful it is the only thing that I confess that could possibly be construed as a Creed. Think about what "Christ" implies: He is annointed of God, the One spoken of in the Old Testament, the "Crusher" of Genesis 3, the "Healer" of Isaiah 53, the "Forsaken" of Psalm 22, the "root" the "vine" the "branch" of all the prophets, a prophet like Moses (who saw God and revealed Him to us). The list goes on and on. I think to confess that Jesus is Christ makes the Nicene Creed redundant. So does the confession that He is the Son of God.
What a scandal!
As a church, few things should impact us as much as the fact that Jesus is God's only Begotten Son. Think about how that impacts the relationship between God and man.
It drives me crazy just to think about it.
So I've begun.
I don't think it can stop...
GB HOYT