Christianity - Not what you think it is.

What is Christianity? What comes to mind?

For many outside of the faith, the first thing that comes to mind is that Christianity is part of a grand conspiracy. Come to our church service. Donate. Leave. And don't tolerate other views - take what we teach you blindly! (...Mind control anyone...)

The point of this post is to not convert anyone, but instead to demonstrate the error in some of the views of those who do not take part of the faith. To promote unity among the human community, so to speak.

Here are some very common objections that need clarification:

1.) Christians are discouraged from seeing if their faith is true. Same goes for Christians and science.

This pains me to see this every time. Christians are actually instructed to test everything, See 1 Thessalonians 5:21, ESV

"but test everything; hold fast to what is good."

What is good!?! What does that mean? Some arbitrary Christian definition? 

No - Christians define good through the lens of Love. Love is honest, kind, patient, and a whole host of other admirable quantities. For something to be honestly good, it must be true. So, we are actively (at least we should be) looking for the truth. If something is not true, it is rejected.

2.) Christians are intolerant. I will live my life, and you shouldn't say anything otherwise!

Christians receive a lot of flack for this. Because of point #1 in this post, we know that God is real, and our faith is true. Since we know God is real, and we follow Him, we detest what is evil. 

Want to be LGBT? Support abortion? Don't expect Christian support. And the same goes for a whole host of other practices. 

Why do we do this? 

These practices that Christians reject are known to be unloving and objected to by God. God is literally Love (1 John 4:8). Love seeks the best for others - and while objecting some things will upset some groups of people, when Love prevails, we all are better off for it.

3.) How can you even begin to claim your God is loving? He sends people to Hell that simply disagree with Him!

People send themselves to Hell. 

How?

By rejecting God. God desires that no one should perish, and go to hell - which is literally eternal separation from Him. All of mankind has offended God eternally, and all are deserving of this punishment. God, out of love, sent Jesus to be a stand-in replacement for us. Jesus took our punishment, so those who believe on Him dying and resurrecting from the dead may have eternal life. 

This is the Gospel message - God loves people. 

God's love has an intensity to it that humans will never be able to match. He will not force Himself on people. People in this life can either choose to follow Him, or to reject Him. Those that follow Him will be with Him for eternity. 

Those that reject Him are literally separated forever when they die. This is Hell.

So Why is Hell so bad? 

All good things come from God (James 1:17). Since Hell is the complete separation from God, there is nothing good there. No light. No joy. Only suffering, despair, and pain for eternity.

As I mentioned at the top of this post, This was not written to attempt to convert people. Christianity is not as shallow as some make it out to be - we are a faith based on history, reason, truth, and love. 

What do you think about this post? If you are Christian, please consider sharing with some of your friends, and open up a discussion. 

If you are not Christian, what do you think? Agree or disagree, please comment below! 

Killing Society's Sacred Cow

You are your brothers keeper.

Galatians 6:1 ESV

"Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted."

This is a simple message, but no less important. Christians reject sin. We repent of sin. We tell others the Gospel - a central component of which is to repent and accept salvation through Christ.

It is out of love that we should gently point out the sin of our brothers and sisters - not in a nagging manner, but with kindness. Repented sin is forgiven sin (Acts 3:19)!

Acts 3:19 ESV

"Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,"

This is an inconvenient truth for todays society - a society which worships self, rejects God, and promotes abhorrent behavior. Society teaches racism, hatred of our fellow man for different beliefs, promotes gender confusion and forced acceptance of LGBT 'values'. It preys on our young, those who are in schools and haven't developed critical thinking skills yet. The consequences of this will be devastating.

Believers cannot leave this unchecked. Some will go around in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15), and attack the church from the inside out. We MUST be accountable to others, especially in an environment where personal freedom in all areas in prized above all. 

Our faith is so important - your life depends on confessing and trusting Christ for salvation (Romans 10:9). 

People can be spiritually deceived - thinking one has lived a good life when they haven't. We must keep the faith, finish the race strong! (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

The alternative isn't pleasant.

Interested in Christianity? The Gospel in a Nutshell can be a good place to start! And Church of course :)

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Cited bible verses (ESV):

Matthew 7:15 ESV

"“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

Romans 10:9 ESV

"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified"

The Gospel in a nutshell

Maybe you are already Christian. Or leaning Christian. Or just thinking about it. Or maybe you just want a simple, clear, no frills info on the core of Christianity.

Anyway you slice it, this is for you. What you find below will affect you for eternity. Lets get to it!

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The basis of Christianity is Love. God's amazing love for humanity and the world. This is His story-  simplified.

The Backstory

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth(1), along with all that is in it(2). He is all-powerful, perfectly loving, and perfectly just. People were made in the image of God during this time.

He gave people free-will to make their own decisions.  He did this by giving early humanity a choice, by telling them not to eat the fruit of a certain tree. Their options were to follow His instruction or do otherwise.

Unfortunately they choose the latter. Their act of disobedience is called sin, and resulted in being cursed. This curse resulted in death and affected both people and the earth. Sin affects all people and creation.

Humanity was tarnished by sin. Imperfect people could not be in a clear relationship with a perfect and Holy God.

No matter how hard we tried to be 'good', it would  not be good enough(4).

The bad news

This sin results in death(5), and eternal separation from God, whom all good things come from(6). This is what Hell is, eternal separation from God(7). No person on earth can fix this, and all people must go to Hell because of sin....Unless they accept below🙂.

The Good news

God is perfectly loving! He loves you more than words could discribe, more even than you could understand. God IS love(8)!

Immediately after delivering the punishment for humanities sin, He began to tell of a way that people could be with Him(9).

That Way is our Savior, Jesus Christ(9).

Christ was fortold of long before He came(10). He was fully God and human - He is God's Son. He lived a perfect, sin-free life, and was then beaten, murdered, and separated from God for a time. He then rose from the dead three days later. By doing this, He took your eternal punishment for sin;  Allowing you to live eternally both in Heaven and the new Earth to come(11).

This is Life, Gods amazing gift to humanity. It can never be earned, but is given freely to those who believe in Christ.

To accept this, all you have to do is the following:

1.)Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Christ is your savior(12).

2.)Repent (turn away from, stop doing) of your sin(13).


Then What?

This is the Gospel. It is Gods amazing mercy on humanity, and possibly the greatest act of love. After we decide to follow Christ, we try our best to live a life of repentance from sin, following His commands, and sharing this amazing news with others(14).

Of course the above is a very simplified overview - but it is the core of our message. We teach Christs' work, commands and the repentance of sins. I am blessed to be able to share this with you!

Please share this with people you know, even other Christians. It is important to keep our focus on finishing the race strong, and to try to bring as many people to Christ as we can.

Praise God!


Footnotes, All verses from ESV bible:

(1) Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

(2)Please read Genesis for more on the creation event, and the fall of humanity.

(3) Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them"

(4) Romans 3:10 "...None is righteous, no, not one;"

(5) Genesis 3:19 "' By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”" - Part of the curse given

(6) James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

(7) 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 "in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,"

(8) 1 John 4:16 " So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

(9) Genesis 3:15 "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”"

(10) the entire old testament has well over 100+ prophecys telling of Christs' birth and life.

(11) Read the Gospels. Mark is the shortest and most concise, Luke and John are very detailed. The Gospels tell of Christ's life and death, His commands and His sacrifice.

(12) Romans 10:9 "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

(13) Acts 3:19  "Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,"

(14) Matthew 28:18-20 "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”"