Let's keep it simple, folks

That's one of the crazy things down here, I think. The Catholic church is a very strong presence here in Brazil, which is one reason I'm so anxious for people to come down and get a taste of the misinformation that people are given, even from within the church! I asked someone one day if he was going to heaven. He said "Yes." I asked him then, "Why?" And he said, "Because I'm a boa Catolica (a good Catholic)." I asked him how he was saved. He answered "Mary." No mention of Jesus anywhere. It's an amazing thing to me how corrupt religion as a whole has actually become. Does that disillusion me? Actually, no. It's frustrating some days, but it motivates me even more to spread the message of Jesus's death and resurrection. Some days, I have to stop and think about what it is that I truly believe. Before I came down here, I wrote The Apostle's Creed in the front of my journal. We grew up saying it every Sunday in church. For awhile I didn't hear it because I was in my first few of years in college and not going to any church regularly, but I have begun to hear it again in the past few years. It's sweet music to my ears now, because with all that is in the New Testament, it's a concise list of my basic beliefs.
I think that even I have made Christianity complicated. We in America have become apologetic about the gospel. Jesus was not. The gospel is what it is, just as God said to Moses, "I AM who I AM." It is simple and basic. Let's keep it that way.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, one holy church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.