Why I talk about Jesus
I believe Jesus like all Christians believe. I believe Jesus when he said,
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.
When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
Matthew 13:44-46.
Think about it like this.
If you knew something that could change the life of someone for the better, or something that could save a life, wouldn’t you want to tell people about it?
That is what Christians believe. We believe that a true personal relationship with Jesus Christ can change your life. It can also assure you of where you will spend eternity.
Jesus said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
John 3:16-17
Being a Christian is knowing God the very creator of the universe. The gospel of John stating,
“In the beginning was the Word,(Jesus) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
John 1:1-4, 10-13.
This is why Christians want to tell everyone about their faith.
Jesus said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30.
From a personal prospective I can testify that to the above statement. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour when I was nineteen. I’m sixty plus now so I’ve had a life time of experience with respect to knowing what it’s like to follow Jesus.
In my life I have gone through many tragedies. I have survived cancer and I live each day with Bi-polar affective disorder (manic depression) along with an anxiety disorder, something that at times has drove me to the point of suicide.
I firmly believe that it is because of my personal relationship with Jesus that I have not committed suicide.
Jesus has been their for me through my darkest hours. I
I remember when I got the diagnosis for my cancer praying and asking for God’s peace. He answered my prayer and all went well.
A few weeks later as a side effect of the operation I was rushed to the hospital with blood clots on my lungs that almost killed me. Again I turned it all over the Jesus. Again I had a peace that passed understanding.
And remember through all of this I still had the Bi-polar disorder and the anxiety disorder that magnifies the worry, yet Jesus gave me peace.
I do not believe in forcing my faith on anyone. God gave everyone freedom of choice. That means they have the right to believe in Him and believe Jesus is the Son of God the Saviour of mankind, or not to believe.
The choice is yours. I can only say Jesus has had a profound effect on my life no matter the circumstance.
I leave the choice to accept Jesus into your life up to you.
Please think about it.
Saturday, 31 October 2015
Friday, 30 October 2015
Our Society
Our society
“I would recommend that we straighten out a few things before we contemplate any interplanetary transportation system. Suppose a man from Mars should suddenly appear on Earth? I think it would be terribly embarrassing if he learned that a second-rate singer in a night club makes four thousand dollars a week, and a high-school teacher makes three thousand eight hundred and ninety dollars a year. This and many other things should be straightened out first if we intend to maintain our dignity when planet folks start visiting us.”
Harry Golden.
Harry Golden is right. The Americans have a statement that stays “all men are created equal.” a good and noble statement. Yet when it comes to healthcare some people cannot afford it while their elected government officials all of whom are wealthy get excellent healthcare benefits.
People in one of the richest and most powerful nations in history go without food. Men and women who work all their lives end up with pensions that are below the poverty line.
And it’s not just the Americans. I live in Canada and while our healthcare system in far better than the American system there are some very serious deficiencies.
Pensions too are below the poverty line. Even private pensions governments urged people to sign onto are being lost because companies are backing out of them. While elected government officials after only a few years in office get a gold plated pension plan far more than the average Canadian can hope for.
Here in Canada also people are still living on the street. Men women and children go hungry. This in one of the richest countries in the world.
Think about it some guy who pushes a frozen piece of rubber around the ice or runs around a few bases earns more than a doctor, a policeman, fireman, or for that matter a garbage collector.
Tell me who would they notice first if they went on strike the baseball player or the garbage collector? I know from past strikes people scream pretty quickly when garbage collectors go on strike.
Our society has its priorities all mixed up. Now there is nothing wrong with paying professional sports players millions. It, after all is a business, and in a free society people can charge for their services what they feel other people are willing to pay.
However it is wrong to let people go hungry. To deny them adequate healthcare, pensions and other necessities of life.
The Talmud makes two interesting points. It states,
“Rabbi Akiba was asked by a Roman general, “Why does your God who loves the needy not provide for their support Himself?” He answered, “God the Father of both the rich and poor, wants the one to help the other so as to make the world a household of love.”
The Talmud.
In this world there are always going to be poor. People who need help. Not everyone can be rich. After all as someone has said if everyone was rich who’d do the jobs considered menial.
Still I believe it is the duty of those who can help the poor and needy of our society to do so.
I do believe God will hold people accountable when it comes to dealing with ones fellow man.
The Talmud stating,
“When a man appears before the Throne of Judgment, the first question he is asked is not, “Have you believed in God?” Or “Have you prayed and observed the ritual? “He is asked: “have you dealt honourably and faithfully in all your dealings with your fellow men?”
The Talmud.
I believe the writer of Ecclesiastes who said,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14.
Please think about it.
“I would recommend that we straighten out a few things before we contemplate any interplanetary transportation system. Suppose a man from Mars should suddenly appear on Earth? I think it would be terribly embarrassing if he learned that a second-rate singer in a night club makes four thousand dollars a week, and a high-school teacher makes three thousand eight hundred and ninety dollars a year. This and many other things should be straightened out first if we intend to maintain our dignity when planet folks start visiting us.”
Harry Golden.
Harry Golden is right. The Americans have a statement that stays “all men are created equal.” a good and noble statement. Yet when it comes to healthcare some people cannot afford it while their elected government officials all of whom are wealthy get excellent healthcare benefits.
People in one of the richest and most powerful nations in history go without food. Men and women who work all their lives end up with pensions that are below the poverty line.
And it’s not just the Americans. I live in Canada and while our healthcare system in far better than the American system there are some very serious deficiencies.
Pensions too are below the poverty line. Even private pensions governments urged people to sign onto are being lost because companies are backing out of them. While elected government officials after only a few years in office get a gold plated pension plan far more than the average Canadian can hope for.
Here in Canada also people are still living on the street. Men women and children go hungry. This in one of the richest countries in the world.
Think about it some guy who pushes a frozen piece of rubber around the ice or runs around a few bases earns more than a doctor, a policeman, fireman, or for that matter a garbage collector.
Tell me who would they notice first if they went on strike the baseball player or the garbage collector? I know from past strikes people scream pretty quickly when garbage collectors go on strike.
Our society has its priorities all mixed up. Now there is nothing wrong with paying professional sports players millions. It, after all is a business, and in a free society people can charge for their services what they feel other people are willing to pay.
However it is wrong to let people go hungry. To deny them adequate healthcare, pensions and other necessities of life.
The Talmud makes two interesting points. It states,
“Rabbi Akiba was asked by a Roman general, “Why does your God who loves the needy not provide for their support Himself?” He answered, “God the Father of both the rich and poor, wants the one to help the other so as to make the world a household of love.”
The Talmud.
In this world there are always going to be poor. People who need help. Not everyone can be rich. After all as someone has said if everyone was rich who’d do the jobs considered menial.
Still I believe it is the duty of those who can help the poor and needy of our society to do so.
I do believe God will hold people accountable when it comes to dealing with ones fellow man.
The Talmud stating,
“When a man appears before the Throne of Judgment, the first question he is asked is not, “Have you believed in God?” Or “Have you prayed and observed the ritual? “He is asked: “have you dealt honourably and faithfully in all your dealings with your fellow men?”
The Talmud.
I believe the writer of Ecclesiastes who said,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14.
Please think about it.
Thursday, 29 October 2015
About God
About God
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14
Here is I believe a simple truth. I as an individual can present what I believe about God from now to the day God calls me home. I can put all the proofs I can muster out there for people to read. And I know despite all that I do there will be people around me and people who read the blogs I post that will not believe in God.
The writer of Hebrews more or less admits to this, noting,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6.
Faith defined as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1.
I think that’s the hard part. Believing in what we cannot see. Yet it is a requirement of God that you believe in Him without seeing Him.
That’s not to say we cannot see his handy work all around us. The psalmist wrote,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1.
One just has to look at the perfection of the world around us to see that there has to be a creator of it all.
Do you believe?
Please think about it.
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14
Here is I believe a simple truth. I as an individual can present what I believe about God from now to the day God calls me home. I can put all the proofs I can muster out there for people to read. And I know despite all that I do there will be people around me and people who read the blogs I post that will not believe in God.
The writer of Hebrews more or less admits to this, noting,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6.
Faith defined as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1.
I think that’s the hard part. Believing in what we cannot see. Yet it is a requirement of God that you believe in Him without seeing Him.
That’s not to say we cannot see his handy work all around us. The psalmist wrote,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1.
One just has to look at the perfection of the world around us to see that there has to be a creator of it all.
Do you believe?
Please think about it.
Wednesday, 28 October 2015
Christians Believe
Christians believe
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father’” ?
Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” ?
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.”
But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
Hebrews 1:1-9.
Here the writer of Hebrews states what Christians believe about Jesus. He states,
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
The Son (Jesus) is the exact representation of God’s being. He provided purification for the sins of man and is now sitting at the right hand of God in heaven.
These are the core beliefs of Christianity. Without believing this you cannot be a Christian.
To the non-believer it presents a challenge. Either you believe this or you do not. There’s no in between. Jesus himself said,
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6.
He also said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18
To my knowledge no other religious leader has ever made such a statements. Yet they are the core belief of Christianity.
C. S. Lewis wrote,
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
The choice dear reader is yours.
Please think about it.
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father’” ?
Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” ?
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.”
But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
Hebrews 1:1-9.
Here the writer of Hebrews states what Christians believe about Jesus. He states,
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
The Son (Jesus) is the exact representation of God’s being. He provided purification for the sins of man and is now sitting at the right hand of God in heaven.
These are the core beliefs of Christianity. Without believing this you cannot be a Christian.
To the non-believer it presents a challenge. Either you believe this or you do not. There’s no in between. Jesus himself said,
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6.
He also said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18
To my knowledge no other religious leader has ever made such a statements. Yet they are the core belief of Christianity.
C. S. Lewis wrote,
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
The choice dear reader is yours.
Please think about it.
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
I Know
I know
“I have not seen the robin but I know he is there because I heard him singing through my window from the tree-top outside.
I have not seen God. But I have looked at my child’s eyes, and have been overwhelmed by the miracle of unfolding life.
I have watched the trees bedeck themselves with new garbs of green in the spring, and have been stirred by the miracle of continual rebirth.
I have looked at the stars, and have been overcome by the miracle of the grandeur and majesty of the universe.
I know that God exists, because I have heard the song of His presence from all the tree-tops of creation.”
Ben Zion Bokser
For me the above is true. I know God exists. I cannot conceive of a universe in which there is no God.
The majority of people through out history have believed in an afterlife and God. I cannot believe they were wrong.
I know for many if not most people it’s hard to believe in someone they cannot see or feel but that is the nature of faith. The writer of Hebrews stating,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6
The writer defining faith as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1.
And that perhaps is the hardest thing to do?
Please think about it.
“I have not seen the robin but I know he is there because I heard him singing through my window from the tree-top outside.
I have not seen God. But I have looked at my child’s eyes, and have been overwhelmed by the miracle of unfolding life.
I have watched the trees bedeck themselves with new garbs of green in the spring, and have been stirred by the miracle of continual rebirth.
I have looked at the stars, and have been overcome by the miracle of the grandeur and majesty of the universe.
I know that God exists, because I have heard the song of His presence from all the tree-tops of creation.”
Ben Zion Bokser
For me the above is true. I know God exists. I cannot conceive of a universe in which there is no God.
The majority of people through out history have believed in an afterlife and God. I cannot believe they were wrong.
I know for many if not most people it’s hard to believe in someone they cannot see or feel but that is the nature of faith. The writer of Hebrews stating,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6
The writer defining faith as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1.
And that perhaps is the hardest thing to do?
Please think about it.
Sunday, 25 October 2015
Jesus is
Jesus is
Flavius Josephus,(37AD-100AD) a Jewish historian, who became a Pharisee at 19, later commander, of the Jewish forces in Galilee. Who was captured by Romans and attached to their headquarters. Wrote this about Jesus,
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first, did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day.”
Does Jesus exist? Yes he does. There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus exists, but then I’m a Christian.
I know there are Atheist that claim he didn’t. There are people out there that dismiss out of hand all the historical evidence of Jesus both inside the Bible and outside.
That being said from all that I’ve read from credible historians the majority of Christian and Atheist historians both believe Jesus existed.
It, I believe is easy to say Jesus didn’t exist and say that the historical evidence is flawed. It’s much harder to believe he existed because once you admit he existed then you have to admit that what the bible says about him has to have some merit.
I believe Jesus existed not only because of the evidence inside the Bible but outside also.
I also believe the fastest way to turn people away from something is to make outrageous claims that if not true would turn people away and thus become counter productive to the movement one is starting.
Jesus made what to man’s way of thinking could be considered outrageous.
John in his gospel records this incident,
The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.”
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
John 10:24-32
Notice Jesus says “I and the Father are one”
That’s quite a statement considering in Jewish culture of the time making oneself equivalent to God was considered a heresy and punishable by death. As seen by the fact the Jews were going to stone him.
John also record an other incident this time with the apostle Philip,
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
John 14:8-11
C.S. Lewis wrote of Jesus,
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
In the end the choice to believe Jesus is all he said his or to reject him comes down to an act of informed faith.
You can read the evidence that Jesus existed from sources outside the bible. You can read what Jesus said about himself and what the disciples believed about him from the Bible.
Then you must make your decision.
Please think about it.
Flavius Josephus,(37AD-100AD) a Jewish historian, who became a Pharisee at 19, later commander, of the Jewish forces in Galilee. Who was captured by Romans and attached to their headquarters. Wrote this about Jesus,
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first, did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day.”
Does Jesus exist? Yes he does. There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus exists, but then I’m a Christian.
I know there are Atheist that claim he didn’t. There are people out there that dismiss out of hand all the historical evidence of Jesus both inside the Bible and outside.
That being said from all that I’ve read from credible historians the majority of Christian and Atheist historians both believe Jesus existed.
It, I believe is easy to say Jesus didn’t exist and say that the historical evidence is flawed. It’s much harder to believe he existed because once you admit he existed then you have to admit that what the bible says about him has to have some merit.
I believe Jesus existed not only because of the evidence inside the Bible but outside also.
I also believe the fastest way to turn people away from something is to make outrageous claims that if not true would turn people away and thus become counter productive to the movement one is starting.
Jesus made what to man’s way of thinking could be considered outrageous.
John in his gospel records this incident,
The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.”
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
John 10:24-32
Notice Jesus says “I and the Father are one”
That’s quite a statement considering in Jewish culture of the time making oneself equivalent to God was considered a heresy and punishable by death. As seen by the fact the Jews were going to stone him.
John also record an other incident this time with the apostle Philip,
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
John 14:8-11
C.S. Lewis wrote of Jesus,
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
In the end the choice to believe Jesus is all he said his or to reject him comes down to an act of informed faith.
You can read the evidence that Jesus existed from sources outside the bible. You can read what Jesus said about himself and what the disciples believed about him from the Bible.
Then you must make your decision.
Please think about it.
No Detour
No Detour
Hans Urs von Balthasar
“It is to the Cross that the Christian is challenged to follow his Master: no path of redemption can make a detour around it.”
Hans Urs von Balthasar.
Christians make no excuses about our beliefs. Paul writing to the Romans said,
“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:5-8
We as Christians believe we cannot live a life good enough for God so God reached down to us in the form of his one and only son Jesus Christ.
C.S. Lewis said,
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”
C.S. Lewis
Jesus said,
“...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10b
The apostle Paul wrote,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9.
We as Christians believe God in the form of Jesus Christ reached down to mankind giving him a choice.
Jesus saying,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
John 3:16-18.
I know there are many out there who would disagree. That is their choice. However I as a Christian feel obligated by God to present to the world what I believe.
If I am wrong and there is many ways to heaven I will have lived a good and moral life. If I am wrong those who don’t believe as I do have something to fear.
However if I am right those who have read this and fail to believe have a lot to fear.
Please think about it.
Hans Urs von Balthasar
“It is to the Cross that the Christian is challenged to follow his Master: no path of redemption can make a detour around it.”
Hans Urs von Balthasar.
Christians make no excuses about our beliefs. Paul writing to the Romans said,
“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:5-8
We as Christians believe we cannot live a life good enough for God so God reached down to us in the form of his one and only son Jesus Christ.
C.S. Lewis said,
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”
C.S. Lewis
Jesus said,
“...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10b
The apostle Paul wrote,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9.
We as Christians believe God in the form of Jesus Christ reached down to mankind giving him a choice.
Jesus saying,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
John 3:16-18.
I know there are many out there who would disagree. That is their choice. However I as a Christian feel obligated by God to present to the world what I believe.
If I am wrong and there is many ways to heaven I will have lived a good and moral life. If I am wrong those who don’t believe as I do have something to fear.
However if I am right those who have read this and fail to believe have a lot to fear.
Please think about it.
Saturday, 24 October 2015
Hanging on nothing
Hanging on nothing
“He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.”
Job26:7 .
Job to my mind had to have insight from God. He realized that the earth was if you will hovering over nothing.
Job was not a scientist yet he realized that the earth hung in space.
I enjoy science and in particularly astronomy. I watch with interest the space program. The latest pictures from Pluto fascinated me.
I remember as a teenager watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon for the first time.
As I look back at pictures of that day. Of the bulky space suites they had to wear just to survive on the moon, I’m reminded that we here on earth are blessed.
Scientist tell us that the earth is at the perfect place not only in the solar system but in the galaxy as a whole. Everything around the earth from the sun to the moon, the stars and a myriad of other factors are in prefect balance allowing life to exist.
I cannot believe this is by chance. There has to be a creator. The Bible tells me,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis 1:1.
I know it takes a leap of faith on my part. But to my way of thinking believing that things came together by chance takes more faith.
I see a mathematically perfect universe from the biggest Galaxy to the smallest subatomic particle all are in prefect order.
I also believe that the God who created it all loved man so much that he entered his creation in the form of Jesus.
The gospel of John stating,
“In the beginning was the Word,(Jesus) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth
John 1:1-4,10-14.
I believe God gave man a freewill to do and believe what he wanted. That freedom in order to be truly free had to extend to the point of believing whether or not God exists.
So what do you believe?
Please think about it.
Job26:7 .
Job to my mind had to have insight from God. He realized that the earth was if you will hovering over nothing.
Job was not a scientist yet he realized that the earth hung in space.
I enjoy science and in particularly astronomy. I watch with interest the space program. The latest pictures from Pluto fascinated me.
I remember as a teenager watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon for the first time.
As I look back at pictures of that day. Of the bulky space suites they had to wear just to survive on the moon, I’m reminded that we here on earth are blessed.
Scientist tell us that the earth is at the perfect place not only in the solar system but in the galaxy as a whole. Everything around the earth from the sun to the moon, the stars and a myriad of other factors are in prefect balance allowing life to exist.
I cannot believe this is by chance. There has to be a creator. The Bible tells me,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis 1:1.
I know it takes a leap of faith on my part. But to my way of thinking believing that things came together by chance takes more faith.
I see a mathematically perfect universe from the biggest Galaxy to the smallest subatomic particle all are in prefect order.
I also believe that the God who created it all loved man so much that he entered his creation in the form of Jesus.
The gospel of John stating,
“In the beginning was the Word,(Jesus) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth
John 1:1-4,10-14.
I believe God gave man a freewill to do and believe what he wanted. That freedom in order to be truly free had to extend to the point of believing whether or not God exists.
So what do you believe?
Please think about it.
Friday, 23 October 2015
God knit you
God knit you.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Psalm 139:13-16.
A while ago I heard a group of so called Christians attacking the LGBT community. It frankly upset me. While these people may have been Christians by the slimmest of margins they were way off base in what they were saying.
As it seems usual with people like this they held homosexuality up as some “special sin”. It’s a lot of garbage. It proved to me these people lacked understanding. And they definitely were not following the teachings of Jesus to love God, your neighbour and even your enemy.
No one knows what goes on in the heart and mind of an individual. No one truly knows what makes a person who they are. Only God knows that. The Psalmist wrote,
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Psalm 139:13-16.
When I hear any Christian attacking anyone it angers me. It reminds me of the story in the Gospel of John chapter eight of the women caught in adultery. These men were being hypercritical in bringing this woman before Jesus because they had sin in their life. Jesus said to them.
“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
John 8:7b.
The apostle Paul writing to Christians states,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
1 Corinthians 5:12.
Sadly many claiming to be Christians do judge those outside the church and as such turn them away from God.
The apostle Paul tells us Salvation is not through works but by the grace of God. He states,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9
Getting to heaven is believing Jesus is all he said he is when he said,
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
It is about making the right choice. A choice Jesus gave us when he said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18.
Salvation is an act of faith on the part of the individual. Believing Jesus is the one and only Son of God the saviour of mankind. It is a decision between the individual and God.
Do you believe this?
Please think about it.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Psalm 139:13-16.
A while ago I heard a group of so called Christians attacking the LGBT community. It frankly upset me. While these people may have been Christians by the slimmest of margins they were way off base in what they were saying.
As it seems usual with people like this they held homosexuality up as some “special sin”. It’s a lot of garbage. It proved to me these people lacked understanding. And they definitely were not following the teachings of Jesus to love God, your neighbour and even your enemy.
No one knows what goes on in the heart and mind of an individual. No one truly knows what makes a person who they are. Only God knows that. The Psalmist wrote,
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Psalm 139:13-16.
When I hear any Christian attacking anyone it angers me. It reminds me of the story in the Gospel of John chapter eight of the women caught in adultery. These men were being hypercritical in bringing this woman before Jesus because they had sin in their life. Jesus said to them.
“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
John 8:7b.
The apostle Paul writing to Christians states,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
1 Corinthians 5:12.
Sadly many claiming to be Christians do judge those outside the church and as such turn them away from God.
The apostle Paul tells us Salvation is not through works but by the grace of God. He states,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9
Getting to heaven is believing Jesus is all he said he is when he said,
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
It is about making the right choice. A choice Jesus gave us when he said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18.
Salvation is an act of faith on the part of the individual. Believing Jesus is the one and only Son of God the saviour of mankind. It is a decision between the individual and God.
Do you believe this?
Please think about it.
Thursday, 22 October 2015
About Jesus
About Jesus
The following is a quote about Jesus from the book of Hebrews. It make clear what Christians believe about Jesus,
“The Son (Jesus) is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father’” ?
Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” ?
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
Hebrews 1:3-6.
Jesus is the Son of God. He is God in the flesh. The Gospel of John states,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:1-14.
I know that to some God coming in the flesh seems unusual if not impossible. But to say its impossible or that God would not do it is to limit God.
When it comes to believing who Jesus is, people have a Choice. A choice Jesus himself gives when he says,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18.
Please think about it.
The following is a quote about Jesus from the book of Hebrews. It make clear what Christians believe about Jesus,
“The Son (Jesus) is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father’” ?
Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” ?
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
Hebrews 1:3-6.
Jesus is the Son of God. He is God in the flesh. The Gospel of John states,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:1-14.
I know that to some God coming in the flesh seems unusual if not impossible. But to say its impossible or that God would not do it is to limit God.
When it comes to believing who Jesus is, people have a Choice. A choice Jesus himself gives when he says,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18.
Please think about it.
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Love and Compromise
Love & Compromise
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.”
Proverbs 3:1-4.
Do you let love guide your way?
The apostle Paul writes of love,
Martin Luther King jr said,
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
More and more I see within North American society confrontation taking place simply because people disagree with what someone believes. We are becoming a confrontational society.
Be they Christians, those of other faiths or atheist we see confrontation happening over disagreements in everything from prayer in the schools, to what is being taught in schools, to abortion to same sex marriage, to the wearing of the face coverings by some Muslim women, and more. The list seems to go on and on.
Perhaps it’s time to take a break, save some money by not hiring lawyers and going to court.
Perhaps it time to come together in love as a society and have free and open dialogue over these things with out resorting to the courts.
To show respect and understanding of others. To respect one another’s beliefs and point of view. To live and let live.
I as a Christian wish to tell people of my faith. But I do not wish to impose my faith on anyone. That would be wrong and contrary to my faith.
At the same time I have no objection to listening to what an Atheist or those of other faiths have to say. Quite honestly I believe it’s a good thing.
As long as the government or individuals do not force anyone to do something contrary to what they believe we should live and let live.
The apostle Paul says something that is good for all people to do. When he wrote,
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Romans 12:18.
Jesus said,
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 7:12.
These while Christian words of wisdom are words I believe everyone can understand and put into practice.
Sadly in North American society it seems the very thing the founders of the constitutions of both Canada and the United States wrote to help people live in harmony, the assurance of “our rights” seems to be causing conflict.
People are demanding their rights without thinking that others have rights. They seem to fail to realize that living in the free secular democracy demands compromise from time to time.
Please think about it.
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.”
Proverbs 3:1-4.
Do you let love guide your way?
The apostle Paul writes of love,
“Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails....
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13.Martin Luther King jr said,
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
More and more I see within North American society confrontation taking place simply because people disagree with what someone believes. We are becoming a confrontational society.
Be they Christians, those of other faiths or atheist we see confrontation happening over disagreements in everything from prayer in the schools, to what is being taught in schools, to abortion to same sex marriage, to the wearing of the face coverings by some Muslim women, and more. The list seems to go on and on.
Perhaps it’s time to take a break, save some money by not hiring lawyers and going to court.
Perhaps it time to come together in love as a society and have free and open dialogue over these things with out resorting to the courts.
To show respect and understanding of others. To respect one another’s beliefs and point of view. To live and let live.
I as a Christian wish to tell people of my faith. But I do not wish to impose my faith on anyone. That would be wrong and contrary to my faith.
At the same time I have no objection to listening to what an Atheist or those of other faiths have to say. Quite honestly I believe it’s a good thing.
As long as the government or individuals do not force anyone to do something contrary to what they believe we should live and let live.
The apostle Paul says something that is good for all people to do. When he wrote,
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Romans 12:18.
Jesus said,
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 7:12.
These while Christian words of wisdom are words I believe everyone can understand and put into practice.
Sadly in North American society it seems the very thing the founders of the constitutions of both Canada and the United States wrote to help people live in harmony, the assurance of “our rights” seems to be causing conflict.
People are demanding their rights without thinking that others have rights. They seem to fail to realize that living in the free secular democracy demands compromise from time to time.
Please think about it.
Tuesday, 20 October 2015
Freedoms Rights and Respect
Freedoms, Rights and Respect
The apostle Paul wrote,
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive.
Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”
1 Corinthians 10:23,24.
In a previous blog I wrote that especially here in North America we have a habit of worshipping rights. Particularly the bill of rights. Some Christians and non-Christians are out there yelling about “THEIR RIGHTS!” .
They demand their rights while failing to realize others in a democracy have their rights also.
Sadly all to many people Christian and non. Hold their rights and freedom higher than the rights and freedom of others.
From the beginning of the world God gave man freedom. It is a fundamental right of every man and woman on the planet.
God gave this freedom to man, knowing that to truly have freedom God had to give man the right to even reject Him and deny His existence. That is the nature of true freedom. The right to believe what we wish.
Freedom also has another aspect,
Nelson Mandela said,
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
Nelson Mandela
I quoted above the apostle Paul who said,
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive.
Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”
1 Corinthians 10:23,24.
No matter who we are we should be respecting the rights and the freedoms of others. That includes the right to disagree.
The apostle Paul wrote,
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Romans 12:18.
That to me means allowing, even people whom we vehemently disagree with, to have the freedom to believe and do as they wish. The only proviso being they are not hurting or restricting the freedoms of others.
Please think about it.
The apostle Paul wrote,
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive.
Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”
1 Corinthians 10:23,24.
In a previous blog I wrote that especially here in North America we have a habit of worshipping rights. Particularly the bill of rights. Some Christians and non-Christians are out there yelling about “THEIR RIGHTS!” .
They demand their rights while failing to realize others in a democracy have their rights also.
Sadly all to many people Christian and non. Hold their rights and freedom higher than the rights and freedom of others.
From the beginning of the world God gave man freedom. It is a fundamental right of every man and woman on the planet.
God gave this freedom to man, knowing that to truly have freedom God had to give man the right to even reject Him and deny His existence. That is the nature of true freedom. The right to believe what we wish.
Freedom also has another aspect,
Nelson Mandela said,
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
Nelson Mandela
I quoted above the apostle Paul who said,
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive.
Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”
1 Corinthians 10:23,24.
No matter who we are we should be respecting the rights and the freedoms of others. That includes the right to disagree.
The apostle Paul wrote,
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Romans 12:18.
That to me means allowing, even people whom we vehemently disagree with, to have the freedom to believe and do as they wish. The only proviso being they are not hurting or restricting the freedoms of others.
Please think about it.
Monday, 19 October 2015
A Truth
A truth
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”...
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9,14.
Does your life seem like you are chasing after the wind? Does your life have meaning?
I would go as far as saying most people live their life in relative obscurity. They are born and die within a few hundred kilometres of where they were they were born. Throughout their life they may travel to different places but they are known to few.
The accomplishments of the average person are minor and although they may have brought a great deal of joy and happiness into the lives of those around them. Within a hundred years of their death they are only remembered if they are lucky by a name on a tombstone.
A few years ago as the Voyager space craft was billions of Kilometres from our solar system, NASA turned it around and it took a picture of Earth. It was described as a pail blue dot. That dot is not much bigger than the head of a pin.
It shows that in the vastness of space earth is very small yet it is where we live. It is where all of mankind since the dawn of time have lived.
If there is no God we as a species could pass into eternity and no one would ever know.
I believe there is however a God who loves and cares for us. A God who created not only that pale blue dot but he universe and everything in it.
He is a God who cares so much He, in the form of Jesus Christ, entered the world to show the world that he cared for each and every person.
John’s gospel records,
“In the beginning was the Word,(Jesus) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:1-4, 12-14.
It was this Jesus who said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18
It is through Jesus we can have a fulfilling life.
Jesus said,
“...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10.
I as a Christian have found those words to be true.
The word I quoted above I believe to be completely true. The apostle John saying,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
I know that this may not make sense to those who don’t know Christ but the apostle Paul even noted,
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:18
Ultimately it comes down to an act of faith. Either you believe Jesus is all he said he is or you do not it is your choice. The writer of Hebrews stating,
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him"
Hebrews 11:6
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1
Please think about it.
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”...
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9,14.
Does your life seem like you are chasing after the wind? Does your life have meaning?
I would go as far as saying most people live their life in relative obscurity. They are born and die within a few hundred kilometres of where they were they were born. Throughout their life they may travel to different places but they are known to few.
The accomplishments of the average person are minor and although they may have brought a great deal of joy and happiness into the lives of those around them. Within a hundred years of their death they are only remembered if they are lucky by a name on a tombstone.
A few years ago as the Voyager space craft was billions of Kilometres from our solar system, NASA turned it around and it took a picture of Earth. It was described as a pail blue dot. That dot is not much bigger than the head of a pin.It shows that in the vastness of space earth is very small yet it is where we live. It is where all of mankind since the dawn of time have lived.
If there is no God we as a species could pass into eternity and no one would ever know.
I believe there is however a God who loves and cares for us. A God who created not only that pale blue dot but he universe and everything in it.
He is a God who cares so much He, in the form of Jesus Christ, entered the world to show the world that he cared for each and every person.
John’s gospel records,
“In the beginning was the Word,(Jesus) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:1-4, 12-14.
It was this Jesus who said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18
It is through Jesus we can have a fulfilling life.
Jesus said,
“...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10.
I as a Christian have found those words to be true.
The word I quoted above I believe to be completely true. The apostle John saying,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
I know that this may not make sense to those who don’t know Christ but the apostle Paul even noted,
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:18
Ultimately it comes down to an act of faith. Either you believe Jesus is all he said he is or you do not it is your choice. The writer of Hebrews stating,
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him"
Hebrews 11:6
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1
Please think about it.
Sunday, 18 October 2015
True Love
True Love
Over the years I’ve heard many definitions of love. The most common is love equals sex with a few nice feelings thrown in for good measure. This is not necessary love. For some sex is simply a pleasant thing you do with someone you like physically.
Sadly that’s what some marriages are based on sex. Then one day when the pleasure becomes routine the relationship dies.
True love I believe was defined by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. I believe it is a definition that all people can understand whether they are Christians or not.
Paul writes,
Please think about it.
Over the years I’ve heard many definitions of love. The most common is love equals sex with a few nice feelings thrown in for good measure. This is not necessary love. For some sex is simply a pleasant thing you do with someone you like physically.
Sadly that’s what some marriages are based on sex. Then one day when the pleasure becomes routine the relationship dies.
True love I believe was defined by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. I believe it is a definition that all people can understand whether they are Christians or not.
Paul writes,
“Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails....
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13.Please think about it.
Saturday, 17 October 2015
A Principle
A principle
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.”
Exodus 20:8-10.
Here is a principle Muslims, Christians and Jews agree on. Taking one day to honour God. One day off from our labours.
As I look around the world today, particularly here in North America where I live I see men and women who are stressed out.
Statistics show that many don’t take all their allotted vacation time. Many take work on vacation with them and home during the week.
Over the years our world has moved away from the principles of God. Something as simple as stopping once a week to rest.
I can remember a time in Canada when I first arrived that stores had to be closed on Sunday’s. The law went as far as saying even transport trucks could not travel on Sunday’s. The exception was vehicles carrying perishable goods.
This was a break that allowed for family time. However secular forces mostly from retailers won the day and Sunday closings became a thing of the past.
The result is it can be hard to have family time.
On top of all of this we are bombarded by the media telling us we need the latest gadget.
When I was young I didn’t know I needed a smart cell phone, or a handy dandy tablet that can keep in touch with people 24/7. They simply were not around and we got by just fine. Now we can’t it seems get by without them.
Now while there is nothing wrong with the latest technology or wanting the best things in life. There is something wrong if you have to work ridiculously long hours to earn the money to get the best things in life at the expense of time with family and friends.
Sadly too many people today are doing just that. They are working long hours just to pay the bills so they can keep their nice house and gadgets.
Sadly over the years I’ve heard of many people who have simply committed suicide because they can’t take the strain of living in modern society.
God’s call through Jesus is clear. Jesus said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30.
I firmly believe that if we return to the basic principles of living a life God wants us to live, one of honouring God, loving one’s neighbours and even our enemies. Taking at least one day a week to relax without the thought of work, our society and we as individuals will be all the better for it.
Please think about it.
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.”
Exodus 20:8-10.
Here is a principle Muslims, Christians and Jews agree on. Taking one day to honour God. One day off from our labours.
As I look around the world today, particularly here in North America where I live I see men and women who are stressed out.
Statistics show that many don’t take all their allotted vacation time. Many take work on vacation with them and home during the week.
Over the years our world has moved away from the principles of God. Something as simple as stopping once a week to rest.
I can remember a time in Canada when I first arrived that stores had to be closed on Sunday’s. The law went as far as saying even transport trucks could not travel on Sunday’s. The exception was vehicles carrying perishable goods.
This was a break that allowed for family time. However secular forces mostly from retailers won the day and Sunday closings became a thing of the past.
The result is it can be hard to have family time.
On top of all of this we are bombarded by the media telling us we need the latest gadget.
When I was young I didn’t know I needed a smart cell phone, or a handy dandy tablet that can keep in touch with people 24/7. They simply were not around and we got by just fine. Now we can’t it seems get by without them.
Now while there is nothing wrong with the latest technology or wanting the best things in life. There is something wrong if you have to work ridiculously long hours to earn the money to get the best things in life at the expense of time with family and friends.
Sadly too many people today are doing just that. They are working long hours just to pay the bills so they can keep their nice house and gadgets.
Sadly over the years I’ve heard of many people who have simply committed suicide because they can’t take the strain of living in modern society.
God’s call through Jesus is clear. Jesus said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30.
I firmly believe that if we return to the basic principles of living a life God wants us to live, one of honouring God, loving one’s neighbours and even our enemies. Taking at least one day a week to relax without the thought of work, our society and we as individuals will be all the better for it.
Please think about it.
Friday, 16 October 2015
An Admission form a Christian
An admission from a Christian.
Jesus said,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
Matthew 7:21-23.
I write this to non-Christians with the intent of being honest.
The Church has been around a long time and like with any institution that has been around for millennia false teachers have entered the Church.
Unfortunately especially when it comes to those who espouse to be in the evangelical church there is no policing. Preachers in North America in particular can say what they want to say. They can pervert the words of Jesus and the teaching of the apostles for their own gain. In the above quoted Scripture from Matthew Jesus himself admits there will me many who say they did God’s work but were not Christians at all.
The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy said,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
2Timothy 4:3,4.
I see these men in the media all the time. You only have to Google the names of some of these preachers to see they are not Christians.
There is however a growing group of Christians in all denominations who are starting to take a hard look at the Bible and its teaching. They are turning back to the true teachings of Jesus. One of love for God, our neighbour and our enemy.
Men and women who believe the teachings of the Apostle Paul who said,
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Romans 12:18.
Who follow the teachings of Jesus who said,
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets”
Matthew 7:12
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Matthew 5:43-45
Jesus who when asked,
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40
Such men and women are the “new fundamentalist”. Men and women who know Jesus reached out to everyone irrespective of what they believed or their lifestyle.
Men and women like myself who dislike what passes for Christianity sometimes. People who wish to ensure that all people have the opportunity to feel the Joy and Peace only a relationship with Jesus can bring.
A relationship that costs nothing more than having faith in Christ.
As the apostle Paul put it,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9
Christianity is God reaching down to man. It is Jesus calling to each and every person saying,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30.
We believe as Christians have believed from the time of Jesus that the most important message we can give to the world is the words of Jesus who said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18..
Please think about asking Christ into you life today.
Jesus said,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
Matthew 7:21-23.
I write this to non-Christians with the intent of being honest.
The Church has been around a long time and like with any institution that has been around for millennia false teachers have entered the Church.
Unfortunately especially when it comes to those who espouse to be in the evangelical church there is no policing. Preachers in North America in particular can say what they want to say. They can pervert the words of Jesus and the teaching of the apostles for their own gain. In the above quoted Scripture from Matthew Jesus himself admits there will me many who say they did God’s work but were not Christians at all.
The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy said,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
2Timothy 4:3,4.
I see these men in the media all the time. You only have to Google the names of some of these preachers to see they are not Christians.
There is however a growing group of Christians in all denominations who are starting to take a hard look at the Bible and its teaching. They are turning back to the true teachings of Jesus. One of love for God, our neighbour and our enemy.
Men and women who believe the teachings of the Apostle Paul who said,
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Romans 12:18.
Who follow the teachings of Jesus who said,
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets”
Matthew 7:12
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Matthew 5:43-45
Jesus who when asked,
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40
Such men and women are the “new fundamentalist”. Men and women who know Jesus reached out to everyone irrespective of what they believed or their lifestyle.
Men and women like myself who dislike what passes for Christianity sometimes. People who wish to ensure that all people have the opportunity to feel the Joy and Peace only a relationship with Jesus can bring.
A relationship that costs nothing more than having faith in Christ.
As the apostle Paul put it,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9
Christianity is God reaching down to man. It is Jesus calling to each and every person saying,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30.
We believe as Christians have believed from the time of Jesus that the most important message we can give to the world is the words of Jesus who said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18..
Please think about asking Christ into you life today.
Thursday, 15 October 2015
A Death
A Death
“On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”...
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
“Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
John 11:17-27, 38-44
Here is the abbreviated story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. It is one of many miracles Jesus did.
Critics of Jesus and the Bible say such things didn’t happen. My question to them would be. Then why if these incidents are untrue would the gospel writers include them?
Keep in mind the gospels were written within living memory of the events.
Keep in mind also that the gospel writers were looking to make disciples and to lie or make something up that is so fantastic that it couldn’t possibly be true would hurt their cause.
No the accounts of the miracles of Jesus are true as are the accounts of miracles in the Old Testament.
Through these accounts God shows His power and love to mankind.
The apostle Paul noted,
“Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:22-24.
Throughout the Bible we see through the miracles proof of God’s power.
We also see the Bible is written logically with a purpose.
It contains wisdom for man to live by. Promoting a lifestyle of Love for God, Love for one’s neighbours and even for one’s enemies.
If followed correctly the lifestyle Jesus promoted, shows mankind how to live in harmony with one’s fellow man.
Please think about it.
“On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”...
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
“Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
John 11:17-27, 38-44
Here is the abbreviated story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. It is one of many miracles Jesus did.
Critics of Jesus and the Bible say such things didn’t happen. My question to them would be. Then why if these incidents are untrue would the gospel writers include them?
Keep in mind the gospels were written within living memory of the events.
Keep in mind also that the gospel writers were looking to make disciples and to lie or make something up that is so fantastic that it couldn’t possibly be true would hurt their cause.
No the accounts of the miracles of Jesus are true as are the accounts of miracles in the Old Testament.
Through these accounts God shows His power and love to mankind.
The apostle Paul noted,
“Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:22-24.
Throughout the Bible we see through the miracles proof of God’s power.
We also see the Bible is written logically with a purpose.
It contains wisdom for man to live by. Promoting a lifestyle of Love for God, Love for one’s neighbours and even for one’s enemies.
If followed correctly the lifestyle Jesus promoted, shows mankind how to live in harmony with one’s fellow man.
Please think about it.
Wednesday, 14 October 2015
Do you believe this?
Do you believe this?
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”
1 Corinthians 1:18-25.
One of the arguments I get all the time when I talk to people about Jesus is; How can God enter His creation? Or Why would he become a man? It just seems foolishness.
My answer to the first question is God being all powerful all knowing and omnipresent can do anything He wishes. To say he can’t do it is to diminish His power.
My answer to the second question why would he become a man is this.
Ultimately we will be judged by God. If God is a fair and just God as I believe He is. Then I believe he needed to have more than an intellectual knowledge of what it is to be a man.
It’s one thing to intellectually know something. It’s an entirely different thing to experience it.
I believe had God not entered the world and experience everything it is to be an man, we could stand before him and honestly say you don’t understand what it is to be human. You’ve never experienced it.
As it is in Jesus God experienced all it was to be human. From the mundane things such as feeling the rain, or the sun against His face. To the love of family and friends.
Through Jesus God experienced what it was to celebrate at a wedding from a human perspective.
He experienced temptation and all the emotions man experienced. The shortest verse in the Bible say’s “Jesus wept.”
He also knows what it’s like to fall pray to political enemies. To be beaten unmercifully. To be condemned to death for simple political expediency.
On top of all of this because God is all knowing. He knew beforehand what would happen to Jesus. Yet He still sent him. In doing so he showed his love for us. As the apostle Paul wrote,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
In other words God loved us. While we were not following Him. While we were falling short of His ideal for our lives.
And God gives everyone a choice.
The Apostle John writes,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18.
Do you believe this?
Please think about it.
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”
1 Corinthians 1:18-25.
One of the arguments I get all the time when I talk to people about Jesus is; How can God enter His creation? Or Why would he become a man? It just seems foolishness.
My answer to the first question is God being all powerful all knowing and omnipresent can do anything He wishes. To say he can’t do it is to diminish His power.
My answer to the second question why would he become a man is this.
Ultimately we will be judged by God. If God is a fair and just God as I believe He is. Then I believe he needed to have more than an intellectual knowledge of what it is to be a man.
It’s one thing to intellectually know something. It’s an entirely different thing to experience it.
I believe had God not entered the world and experience everything it is to be an man, we could stand before him and honestly say you don’t understand what it is to be human. You’ve never experienced it.
As it is in Jesus God experienced all it was to be human. From the mundane things such as feeling the rain, or the sun against His face. To the love of family and friends.
Through Jesus God experienced what it was to celebrate at a wedding from a human perspective.
He experienced temptation and all the emotions man experienced. The shortest verse in the Bible say’s “Jesus wept.”
He also knows what it’s like to fall pray to political enemies. To be beaten unmercifully. To be condemned to death for simple political expediency.
On top of all of this because God is all knowing. He knew beforehand what would happen to Jesus. Yet He still sent him. In doing so he showed his love for us. As the apostle Paul wrote,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
In other words God loved us. While we were not following Him. While we were falling short of His ideal for our lives.
And God gives everyone a choice.
The Apostle John writes,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18.
Do you believe this?
Please think about it.
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