I am a Christian

  I accepted Christ as my savior Palm Sunday, 1985.  I was growing up and going to a "church of the bretheren" in Hagerstown, Maryland.  I went down front for the alter call, accepted Jesus Christ as my savior through a short humble prayer asking forgiveness of my sins.  The next week I was baptised and officially joined the church.  This was a neat time for me as a young child.  People treated me differently, as if I was "grown up" or somehow looked different on the outside.  All I know is that I felt different on the inside.  Christ had become a part of my life and I must have glowed.

  Since then, I have had my times of turning away and turning back.  Thank God He is a loving Father who is always waiting with open arms.  He loves me, no matter the mistakes I have made in the past, or the ones to come.  He only asks that I continue to trust him and obey His Word.  Simply put, he wants me to "Love God and love people!" (paraphrased by my father-in-law Virgil Swearingen).  This is what I strive to do daily.  It is my hope that I am making the Father proud.

  I feel as though God has given me a gift.  I have a love of music and have been playing and singing for 21 years.  I have used my gift primarily for ministry and this is a great joy.  As a vocalist, I have had the opportunity to sing many styles of music in a variety of languages.  I believe my favorite style, the most meaningful and deeply spiritual for me is singing a mass in Latin.  I feel the presence of the Lord when we sing his praises in this manner.  So, when I ask myself the question, "Edi, what do you believe?" my thoughts are immediately drawn to a mass I had the pleasure of singing in highschool under the direction of Mr. Randy Hyatt; Franz Schubert's "Mass in G".  The "Credo" section of the mass grips my heart as I recall what it is, as a Christian, that I believe.  The text in Latin and English follows.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Credo in unum Deum
Patrem omnipotentem,
factorem coeli et tarrae,
visibilium omnium
et invisibilium
in unum Dominum, Jesum Christum,
Filium Dei unigenitum,
ex Patre natum,
ante omnia saecula,
Deum de Deo, lumin de lumine,
Deum verum de Deo vero
genitum non factum,
con substantialem Patri,
per quem omnia facta sunt,
Qui propter nos homines
et nostram salutem
descendit de coelis.
Et incarnatus est
de spiritu sancto
ex Maria Virgine
et homo factus est,
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis
sub Pontio Pilato
passus et sepultus est,
Et resurrexit tertia die
secundum scripturas,
et ascendit in coelum,
sedet ad dexteram Patris,
et interum venturus est
cum gloria
judicare vivos et mortuos,
cujus regni non erit finis.
Et in spiritum sanctum,
Dominum et vivficantem,
qui ex Patre Filioque precedit,
Qui cum Patre et Filia
simul adoratur et conglorificatur,
qui locutus est per prophetas,
Confiteor unum baptisma
in remissionem preccatorum
mortuorum,
et vitam venturi saeculli,
Amen.

I believe in one God,
Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things visible
and invisible,
in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
born of the Father
before all ages,
God of God, light of light,
Very God of Very God
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father
by whom all things were made,
Who for us men
and our salvation
came down from heaven.
And became incarnate by the Holy Ghost
of the Virgin Mary
and was made man,
And was crucified also for us
under Pontius Pilate,
suffered and was buried,
And the third day he rose again,
according to the scriptures,
and ascended into heaven
and sitteth on the right hand of the Father,
and he shall come again
with glory
to judge the living and the dead
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Ghost
the lord and life-giver,
who proceedeth from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
together is adored and glorified,
who spake by the prophets,
I acknowledge one baptism
for the remission of sins,
of the dead,
and the life of the world to come,
Amen.