This morning in church, I was reminded of an illustration my dad used to use on me when I had done something wrong. You see, my father used to be a Baptist Minister and, as such, he usually had some way to tie our behavior back to the Bible. So a popular illustration when I was growing up in the Bay Area was comparing the Bay to the Ten Commandments. He would say, "If you jump across the Bay and you only make it half way, then you still drown." Compare that with the Ten Commandments and you see my point. I could not possibly follow ALL Ten Commandments, so I just gave up and told myself it didn't matter, I was going to Hell. It wasn't until I showed up at Vineyard of Faith, where I met Joe, that I finally realized the flaw in that theology, and this morning, at church, I was shown a beautiful example of just such a flaw.

The speaker was answering the question, "How can I be assured of my salvation?" He just happened to use a picture of a river with a bridge crossing over it. I was immediately reminded of my father's illustration and wondered where he was going with it. You see, we can't jump over the river and make it on our own, but Jesus came down and built a bridge for us to cross over. So when my dad asked me about jumping across the Bay, I should have just reminded him about the Golden Gate Bridge. I don't have to follow all the Commandments to be a 'good' Christian, God loves me anyway. And if I'm good enough for Him, well, that's all I really need!