You and I obviously have opposite interpretations of the same things. I find crosses gruesome. If Jesus was beheaded would you find Guillotines' acceptable? Yet you have a more gruesome torture and killing method for an avatar. I'm middle of the road like Jimmy Carter and I'm going to stay. Trying to cajole me into becoming more conservative will have the opposite effect, so please stop. I won't criticize you for being Republican so please lay off of me. We can agree that Jesus is Lord and that's the most important part of the story.
But have you EVER received Him in your Heart as LORD meaning Master?
The HEART, is where the human spirit lies and after you are born again, you will realize, it thinks too, so I am not talking about the brain that lies between your ears.
You said,
"We can agree that Jesus is Lord and that's the most important part of the story."
But that Intellectual ONLY faith, is what even the DEMONS HAVE. Here let me show you:
Mark 5:1-19 (NKJV)
1 Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.
2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 who had
his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains,
4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. {In an kneeling or prostrate position.}
7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said,
"What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me." {Mark only chose to focus on the Spokesperson, and in Matthew, he mentions there were actually two demoniacs there. So about a 1000 Demons in each.}
8 For He said to him,
"Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"
9 Then He asked him,
"What is your name?" And he answered, saying,
"My name is Legion; for we are many."
10 Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.
11 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains.
12 So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."
13 And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine
(there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.
14 So those who fed the swine fled, and they told
it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened.
15 Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one
who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
16 And those who saw it told them how it happened to him
who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine.
17 Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.
18 And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.
19 However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."
Matthew 8:28-29 (HCSB)
28 When He had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met Him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
29 Suddenly they shouted,
“What do You have to do with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
So you can see that DEMONS have Faith between their ears, but GENUINE FAITH is in the HEART (HUMAN SPIRIT), and that is the Kind of Faith that SAVES.
James 2:19 (HCSB)
19 You believe that God is one; you do well.
The demons also believe—and they shudder.
You have to have that deeper FAITH in your HEART, to be SAVED. You can have it too, but Jesus will not kick the door of your HEART OPEN. All you have to do, is OPEN THE DOOR OF YOUR HEART OPEN, AND INVITE HIM IN.
Revelation 3:19-20 (NKJV)
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.