What Really Matters
There are some problems. There are some questions that demand our attention. Who are we? Are we simply a populous without a cause? Are we a string of chance that echoes the preposterous random fate of evolution? Are most Christians so convinced of our own self-righteousness that we fail to show the love of Christ to others? What has gone wrong? Why are we afraid to share our faith? Why aren't we rocking America for Jesus like we should?
I have seen a disturbing trend which suggests that all religions have enough truth in them to work. The main idea is that all religions are equally valid paths to liberating your soul. In other words, Christianity is valid, but only one of many paths. That's simply not true. Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Taoism, Maoism, Legalism, Confucianism, etc., will not get me to any "oneness" or "unity with a greater power" because I can only be saved by confessing my sins and believing that Jesus Christ is Lord.
We could very well look at this secular humanistic approach as if it were a method of cooking a nice tasty cake. I think the instructions would read something like this: "Now everybody 'mix and match' all the different religions together, shake well with a dose of tolerance toward all other beliefs and make your very own batch of truth. Mmmm, isn't that tasty? Now that we have a little bit of everything in here ,nobody's feelings will get hurt! Isn't this the most wonderfullest cake you've ever tasted? I think we could use a pinch more of Jainism in there though." It's like, "Whatever I believe is truth is okay for me. It's all relative."
It’s not relative. There is a black and white line drawn in the sand. Jesus and heaven on one side, satan and hell on the other. There is no middle ground. No religion can get us to heaven. Christianity itself, purely as a set of strict rules and regulations and going to church will not get any of us to heaven. Even doing good deeds and helping the poor, although those are great things to do, will not get us to heaven. Only believing that Jesus Christ is Lord and He died for our sins and living out a lifestyle of His love will get us to heaven. ANYTHING else is a perversion of truth and, as good as some religions look on the surface, will lead you straight to hell.
Please don't misunderstand me. It is absolutely essential that we respect others' beliefs. I have a big problem with someone who claims to be a Christian but who is always condemning others and saying they are "going to hell". I do believe that hell is real and the only way to escape it is through Jesus, but Jesus gave us an example of love, not hate, for those sinners. Jesus ate and drank with sinners, He healed them and He touched them. He loved them when nobody else would. But does that mean that He didn’t inform them of their sin and that they were headed to hell unless they repented? Of course not! Jesus loved, but He also corrected. When Jesus told the Pharisees that "he who is without sin should cast the first stone," the Pharisees were going to stone a prostitute, but Jesus forgave her sin of prostitution. Because of this, many people say that we shouldn’t tell someone they are sinning because we all have sin in our lives. Jesus didn't just forgive the prostitute and tell her everything was okey-dokey, He also told the prostitute go and sin no more. That means that the prostitute was loved by Jesus but since she was living in sin,she had to stop her life of sin and serve Jesus with a life of love.
So, if we as Christians are always condemning, judgmental and always telling people their beliefs are wrong then we have as big a problem, if not bigger, than they do. We must find a balance between sharing Christ's love and sharing the sobering truth of Christ's eternal justice rewarding the righteous in heaven and punishing the unrepentant in hell.
If our schools are to be truly changed for Jesus, we must make sure we are doing our best to live right ourselves before we try to share our faith with others. If we aren't doing our best to show God's love to others in every area of our lives and if we aren't humble enough to ask non-Christians' forgiveness when we have obviously blown it, then we shouldn't expect others to listen. I know I wouldn't want to listen to a hypocrite.
Someone who does not believe what he is saying cannot fool those he is close to for long. If we don't believe, and live out what we say, then an unbeliever will reject God's message, not because of the message itself, but because of our shoddy representation of the gospel. On judgment day the blood of my friends to whom I never witnessed will be on my hands.
Let's not try to cram religion down someone's throat, they will reject it. Religion is not what people want, it is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that brings inner peace. What people want is authentic Christianity.
I would define authentic Christianity as this: When someone who has accepted Jesus as their personal savior and Lord makes their best effort every day to get closer to Him and to spread the Good News to others. When a true Christian falls down they ask for God's forgiveness and get up again. That is what a Christian is. Not someone who is perfect, but someone who falls forward when they fail, not backwards.
When we fall in sin it's like exercising for a championship in sports. When you workout you are tearing down your muscles, but if you rest after a workout your muscles get bigger and stronger. Ff you don't rest, you feel really nasty! It's the same way in our spiritual lives, except instead of rest to get stronger, we need prayer. Just like we build ourselves up in private before we play a championship game in public, we must make ourselves strong privately before we try to be strong publicly.
How can we make ourselves strong privately? Pray. Pray a lot. Pray every day. Pray in every way. Pray specifically for God's Will to be done in your life. "Thy will be done..." Ask God to replace your own desires with His desires. Ask for His guidance in everything you do.
This next part is the most important of all. READ THE BIBLE! So many people think they are Christians but have no idea how much their beliefs contradict the Bible. If you have trouble reading, get someone to read the Bible for you. Do whatever it takes! You might think the Bible is boring, I know I used to, but now I get fired up about the Bible because it tells me all about how I should live. It talks about sex, money, power, love, death, suffering, redemption, wars, dragons, kings, empires, and the omnipotent culmination of all things, the Lord Jesus Christ! Dig into the Bible today, it rocks!
Let me say this again, READ THE BIBLE! It's the eternal spring from which the Spirit of God flows. The Bible is what tells us what we believe, so if we don't read it and pray for God to help us understand it, then we won't know what we really believe. We must pray and read the Bible. It's essential. As Nike says: "Just do it!"
Let's work together and encourage each other to allow God to work through us in the utmost way possible. How do we do this? Start by being nice. It is amazing how hard it can be to be nice to people if you are not in a close relationship to God. Respect your fellow Christians. We are all going to live in heaven together for eternity, so let's get ready for it by being friends now. Let's encourage each other in our walks with God. I love you all with the love of Christ and sincerely appreciate your taking the time to read this! I hope to meet you all in heaven!
I don’t want to sound like a self-righteous hypocrite pounding others over the head with a set of rules that I can’t even live up to. I want people to be real with me, so I'll be real with you.
I have been pontificating the validity of Christianity recently. I know there is something about Christianity that sets it apart and makes it true. But in my frail mind I have also considered: What if I am wrong? I have concluded this: I have dedicated almost my entire life to being a Christian and I believe I would die for my faith but I don't know for sure because I've never been put in that situation. I know that in those moments when I am truly worshiping God there is a spark of complete and total satisfaction that I get, but for an instant, that convinces me that Christianity is true. These moments are moments of complete and total satisfaction of mind, body and soul. You are complete because in that split second God actually fills you with His joy and you disappear in the shadow of Him.
I know I am not the only one who has felt this divine spark. I recently saw a young man who was immersed in worshiping God and I saw a smile flicker across his face. I recognized that smile. It is the smile of God's joy that swells within your soul and bursts out into the world as a happiness that cannot be contained.
When we are really in touch with God we will contain the life-giving message of Jesus Christ.
The life-giving message of Jesus Christ is about love. If we truly believe in love shouldn't we at least be opening doors for people in places such as malls and restaurants? Shouldn't Christ's love within us result in at least showing people we don't even know the courtesy of openings doors for them? Shouldn't we be caring enough to take a minute out of our busy schedule and talk to someone that most other people ignore because they're not popular? When I become too self-centered to care about others, I realize I need to fall on my knees before the One who created me and ask for forgiveness. God cares for me; for me not to care for others is a rejection of His love.
So what does all this mean? Well when you really get down to it, the Core's core is this: The Bible holds the answers to all of life's problems, the only way to salvation is through Jesus and once you have committed your life to Christ you will have so much fun you won't ever want to go back!
With a renewing heart,
G.I. Joe :-)
Feel free to use this piece of writing for ministry purposes but please give www.fishnetministries.org credit. Thank you and God bless.
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I have seen a disturbing trend which suggests that all religions have enough truth in them to work. The main idea is that all religions are equally valid paths to liberating your soul. In other words, Christianity is valid, but only one of many paths. That's simply not true. Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Taoism, Maoism, Legalism, Confucianism, etc., will not get me to any "oneness" or "unity with a greater power" because I can only be saved by confessing my sins and believing that Jesus Christ is Lord.
We could very well look at this secular humanistic approach as if it were a method of cooking a nice tasty cake. I think the instructions would read something like this: "Now everybody 'mix and match' all the different religions together, shake well with a dose of tolerance toward all other beliefs and make your very own batch of truth. Mmmm, isn't that tasty? Now that we have a little bit of everything in here ,nobody's feelings will get hurt! Isn't this the most wonderfullest cake you've ever tasted? I think we could use a pinch more of Jainism in there though." It's like, "Whatever I believe is truth is okay for me. It's all relative."
It’s not relative. There is a black and white line drawn in the sand. Jesus and heaven on one side, satan and hell on the other. There is no middle ground. No religion can get us to heaven. Christianity itself, purely as a set of strict rules and regulations and going to church will not get any of us to heaven. Even doing good deeds and helping the poor, although those are great things to do, will not get us to heaven. Only believing that Jesus Christ is Lord and He died for our sins and living out a lifestyle of His love will get us to heaven. ANYTHING else is a perversion of truth and, as good as some religions look on the surface, will lead you straight to hell.
Please don't misunderstand me. It is absolutely essential that we respect others' beliefs. I have a big problem with someone who claims to be a Christian but who is always condemning others and saying they are "going to hell". I do believe that hell is real and the only way to escape it is through Jesus, but Jesus gave us an example of love, not hate, for those sinners. Jesus ate and drank with sinners, He healed them and He touched them. He loved them when nobody else would. But does that mean that He didn’t inform them of their sin and that they were headed to hell unless they repented? Of course not! Jesus loved, but He also corrected. When Jesus told the Pharisees that "he who is without sin should cast the first stone," the Pharisees were going to stone a prostitute, but Jesus forgave her sin of prostitution. Because of this, many people say that we shouldn’t tell someone they are sinning because we all have sin in our lives. Jesus didn't just forgive the prostitute and tell her everything was okey-dokey, He also told the prostitute go and sin no more. That means that the prostitute was loved by Jesus but since she was living in sin,she had to stop her life of sin and serve Jesus with a life of love.
So, if we as Christians are always condemning, judgmental and always telling people their beliefs are wrong then we have as big a problem, if not bigger, than they do. We must find a balance between sharing Christ's love and sharing the sobering truth of Christ's eternal justice rewarding the righteous in heaven and punishing the unrepentant in hell.
If our schools are to be truly changed for Jesus, we must make sure we are doing our best to live right ourselves before we try to share our faith with others. If we aren't doing our best to show God's love to others in every area of our lives and if we aren't humble enough to ask non-Christians' forgiveness when we have obviously blown it, then we shouldn't expect others to listen. I know I wouldn't want to listen to a hypocrite.
Someone who does not believe what he is saying cannot fool those he is close to for long. If we don't believe, and live out what we say, then an unbeliever will reject God's message, not because of the message itself, but because of our shoddy representation of the gospel. On judgment day the blood of my friends to whom I never witnessed will be on my hands.
Let's not try to cram religion down someone's throat, they will reject it. Religion is not what people want, it is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that brings inner peace. What people want is authentic Christianity.
I would define authentic Christianity as this: When someone who has accepted Jesus as their personal savior and Lord makes their best effort every day to get closer to Him and to spread the Good News to others. When a true Christian falls down they ask for God's forgiveness and get up again. That is what a Christian is. Not someone who is perfect, but someone who falls forward when they fail, not backwards.
When we fall in sin it's like exercising for a championship in sports. When you workout you are tearing down your muscles, but if you rest after a workout your muscles get bigger and stronger. Ff you don't rest, you feel really nasty! It's the same way in our spiritual lives, except instead of rest to get stronger, we need prayer. Just like we build ourselves up in private before we play a championship game in public, we must make ourselves strong privately before we try to be strong publicly.
How can we make ourselves strong privately? Pray. Pray a lot. Pray every day. Pray in every way. Pray specifically for God's Will to be done in your life. "Thy will be done..." Ask God to replace your own desires with His desires. Ask for His guidance in everything you do.
This next part is the most important of all. READ THE BIBLE! So many people think they are Christians but have no idea how much their beliefs contradict the Bible. If you have trouble reading, get someone to read the Bible for you. Do whatever it takes! You might think the Bible is boring, I know I used to, but now I get fired up about the Bible because it tells me all about how I should live. It talks about sex, money, power, love, death, suffering, redemption, wars, dragons, kings, empires, and the omnipotent culmination of all things, the Lord Jesus Christ! Dig into the Bible today, it rocks!
Let me say this again, READ THE BIBLE! It's the eternal spring from which the Spirit of God flows. The Bible is what tells us what we believe, so if we don't read it and pray for God to help us understand it, then we won't know what we really believe. We must pray and read the Bible. It's essential. As Nike says: "Just do it!"
Let's work together and encourage each other to allow God to work through us in the utmost way possible. How do we do this? Start by being nice. It is amazing how hard it can be to be nice to people if you are not in a close relationship to God. Respect your fellow Christians. We are all going to live in heaven together for eternity, so let's get ready for it by being friends now. Let's encourage each other in our walks with God. I love you all with the love of Christ and sincerely appreciate your taking the time to read this! I hope to meet you all in heaven!
I don’t want to sound like a self-righteous hypocrite pounding others over the head with a set of rules that I can’t even live up to. I want people to be real with me, so I'll be real with you.
I have been pontificating the validity of Christianity recently. I know there is something about Christianity that sets it apart and makes it true. But in my frail mind I have also considered: What if I am wrong? I have concluded this: I have dedicated almost my entire life to being a Christian and I believe I would die for my faith but I don't know for sure because I've never been put in that situation. I know that in those moments when I am truly worshiping God there is a spark of complete and total satisfaction that I get, but for an instant, that convinces me that Christianity is true. These moments are moments of complete and total satisfaction of mind, body and soul. You are complete because in that split second God actually fills you with His joy and you disappear in the shadow of Him.
I know I am not the only one who has felt this divine spark. I recently saw a young man who was immersed in worshiping God and I saw a smile flicker across his face. I recognized that smile. It is the smile of God's joy that swells within your soul and bursts out into the world as a happiness that cannot be contained.
When we are really in touch with God we will contain the life-giving message of Jesus Christ.
The life-giving message of Jesus Christ is about love. If we truly believe in love shouldn't we at least be opening doors for people in places such as malls and restaurants? Shouldn't Christ's love within us result in at least showing people we don't even know the courtesy of openings doors for them? Shouldn't we be caring enough to take a minute out of our busy schedule and talk to someone that most other people ignore because they're not popular? When I become too self-centered to care about others, I realize I need to fall on my knees before the One who created me and ask for forgiveness. God cares for me; for me not to care for others is a rejection of His love.
So what does all this mean? Well when you really get down to it, the Core's core is this: The Bible holds the answers to all of life's problems, the only way to salvation is through Jesus and once you have committed your life to Christ you will have so much fun you won't ever want to go back!
With a renewing heart,
G.I. Joe :-)
Feel free to use this piece of writing for ministry purposes but please give www.fishnetministries.org credit. Thank you and God bless.
More Teen Articles
Dating Teen Article
Living Life to the Fullest Teen Article
"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." Hebrews 12:1-2.