Ask, Seek, Knock
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7,8.
I believe those words of Jesus quoted above. I believe that anyone who is truly looking for God will find Him.
I believe that provided we believe there is a God, that if we search enough we will find him.
Ben Zion Bokser wrote,
“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.”
For me it is inconceivable that the universe we live in was not made by God.
Albert Einstein said,
“Human beings vegetables or cosmic dust. We all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.”
Einstein whether he knew it or not, I believe got it right. The mysterious tune is life the invisible player is God.
The Psalmist said,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1.
I am no scientist. I am simply a well educated layman that throughout my life have put a premium on learning. I believe there is more to life than what we can see, hear, and touch.
I believe there is life after this and a God that wants to have a personal relationship with all mankind.
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.
I believe Jesus is the Son of God. That he came to this earth to point mankind to that personal relationship with God.
Think about it.
Friday, 20 February 2015
Thursday, 19 February 2015
Think about this
Think about this.
This message is written to believers by the Apostle John but it is the message Christians want the world to know,
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 1:5-2:2
Jesus did in deed pay the price for our sins. Paul writes,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8.
Jesus offers us eternal life. It is a free gift to all who would believe. We do not have to work for it.
Paul 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.
“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 1:12-13.
We Christians believe that you can indeed become Children of God. By simply believing that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and by confessing our sins to Him.
It’s that simple. Yet sadly many people can’t accept this.
Can you.
Think about it.
This message is written to believers by the Apostle John but it is the message Christians want the world to know,
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 1:5-2:2
Jesus did in deed pay the price for our sins. Paul writes,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8.
Jesus offers us eternal life. It is a free gift to all who would believe. We do not have to work for it.
Paul 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.
“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 1:12-13.
We Christians believe that you can indeed become Children of God. By simply believing that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and by confessing our sins to Him.
It’s that simple. Yet sadly many people can’t accept this.
Can you.
Think about it.
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Does Jesus Exist?
Does Jesus Exist?
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.
Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (37—100 AD), aka Joseph ben Mattathias, is one of the most important writers of antiquity. He survived Rome crushing the Jewish revolt in 66 AD. His book Jewish Antiquities has a passage most scholars accept as authentic,
“Around this time lived Jesus, a wise man. For he was a worker of amazing deeds and was a teacher of people who gladly accept the truth. He won over both many Jews and many Greeks. Pilate, when he heard him accused by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, [but] those who had first loved him did not cease [doing so]. To this day the tribe of Christians named after him has not disappeared.”
Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger (61-112 AD) was a powerful Roman lawyer, senator and intellectual famed for his letters which were turned into ten popular books. In his tenth book is a letter written, #96, to Emperor Trajan asking for help with trials of accused Christians. Three times he mentions the Christians of Christ. This letter is not suspected of being a forgery by most historians. Pliny writes, in part,
“They had met regularly before dawn on a determined day, and sung antiphonally a hymn to Christ as if to a god (carmenque Christo quasi deo dicere secum invicem). They also took an oath not for any crime, but to keep from theft, robbery and adultery, not to break any promise, and not to withhold a deposit when reclaimed."
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. Two of which I quoted above.
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 and from that evidence can see some of the basic beliefs of Christians.
You can read the Bible, and I believe God will, if you have an open mind, and are truly seeking the truth, will show you the truth about Jesus.
Think about it.
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.
Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (37—100 AD), aka Joseph ben Mattathias, is one of the most important writers of antiquity. He survived Rome crushing the Jewish revolt in 66 AD. His book Jewish Antiquities has a passage most scholars accept as authentic,
“Around this time lived Jesus, a wise man. For he was a worker of amazing deeds and was a teacher of people who gladly accept the truth. He won over both many Jews and many Greeks. Pilate, when he heard him accused by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, [but] those who had first loved him did not cease [doing so]. To this day the tribe of Christians named after him has not disappeared.”
Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger (61-112 AD) was a powerful Roman lawyer, senator and intellectual famed for his letters which were turned into ten popular books. In his tenth book is a letter written, #96, to Emperor Trajan asking for help with trials of accused Christians. Three times he mentions the Christians of Christ. This letter is not suspected of being a forgery by most historians. Pliny writes, in part,
“They had met regularly before dawn on a determined day, and sung antiphonally a hymn to Christ as if to a god (carmenque Christo quasi deo dicere secum invicem). They also took an oath not for any crime, but to keep from theft, robbery and adultery, not to break any promise, and not to withhold a deposit when reclaimed."
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. Two of which I quoted above.
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 and from that evidence can see some of the basic beliefs of Christians.
You can read the Bible, and I believe God will, if you have an open mind, and are truly seeking the truth, will show you the truth about Jesus.
Think about it.
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Words from some wise men
Words from some wise men
I believe there is a God. I cannot conceive of a universe without a loving God. Billions of people throughout the ages have believed in an after life and God. Today there are an estimated 2.2 billion Christians alone. I cannot believe what they believe is wrong. That is my belief take it or leave it.
C. S. Lewis wrote,
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.”
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Abba Hillel Silver wrote,
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society. Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.”
Abba Hillel Silver
C.S. Lewis said 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
Lewis also said,
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
C. S. Lewis
The Apostle John wrote,
“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.”
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
This is what I personally believe. All I ask is that you think about it.
I believe there is a God. I cannot conceive of a universe without a loving God. Billions of people throughout the ages have believed in an after life and God. Today there are an estimated 2.2 billion Christians alone. I cannot believe what they believe is wrong. That is my belief take it or leave it.
C. S. Lewis wrote,
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.”
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Abba Hillel Silver wrote,
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society. Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.”
Abba Hillel Silver
C.S. Lewis said 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
Lewis also said,
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
C. S. Lewis
The Apostle John wrote,
“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.”
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
This is what I personally believe. All I ask is that you think about it.
Monday, 16 February 2015
Foolishness
Foolishness
“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.
How true these words are. I as believer in God make the leap of faith and say there is a God because ultimately one must accept God by faith.
That being said there is plenty of evidence for God in the world.
I once met an astronomer. A brilliant man. He could calculate the exact moment some comet would appear in he sky.
Using mathematical formulas he could tell me exactly where the planets were. Exactly how far away the galaxies were. He could tell me their make up. It was incredible what he could tell me.
Yet in all of this he failed to see just how much in perfect order the universe is. He believed it all derived by pure chance during the big bang.
He couldn’t envision that God created the big bang.
He couldn’t accept that behind it all was the hand of God. A God of order.
The Psalmist wrote,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1.
Christianities message I believe is truly foolishness to many in the world.
After all why would God come down to man? Why would Jesus go to the cross when he could have called angels to help him?
God chose to come down I believe to not only save man but that he could more fully understand what it was like to be a man. In doing so he could more justly judge mankind on that final day.
He came down to call all men to walk by faith to him.
Yes he didn’t do it in what by mans logic would have been the right way.
Instead Jesus experienced what it was like to be among the average people of this world. The ninety nine percent of people who make a living by the sweat of their brow.
He in entering the world experienced the good in people and experienced the hate of people.
He taught love and respect for the individual. Showing that God loves each and every person no matter who they are. What their lifestyle is or where they come from.
God’s call to every man, and woman of this world is a call to a peace in one’s soul that passes all understanding.
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.
True it takes a leap of faith to believe in God. The Bible admits that. The writer of Hebrews saying,
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1
“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.
But scientist quite often work in faith. They present a theory that seems to be right then in faith do their best to prove that theory.
For those who would sincerely believe in God it is the same thing. They accept Christ by faith then through prayer, the Bible, and as they continue to follow God, personal experience, they prove there is truly a God.
But as I say in order to believe in God one needs to take a step of faith. Would you consider doing so?
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.
How true these words are. I as believer in God make the leap of faith and say there is a God because ultimately one must accept God by faith.
That being said there is plenty of evidence for God in the world.
I once met an astronomer. A brilliant man. He could calculate the exact moment some comet would appear in he sky.
Using mathematical formulas he could tell me exactly where the planets were. Exactly how far away the galaxies were. He could tell me their make up. It was incredible what he could tell me.
Yet in all of this he failed to see just how much in perfect order the universe is. He believed it all derived by pure chance during the big bang.
He couldn’t envision that God created the big bang.
He couldn’t accept that behind it all was the hand of God. A God of order.
The Psalmist wrote,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1.
Christianities message I believe is truly foolishness to many in the world.
After all why would God come down to man? Why would Jesus go to the cross when he could have called angels to help him?
God chose to come down I believe to not only save man but that he could more fully understand what it was like to be a man. In doing so he could more justly judge mankind on that final day.
He came down to call all men to walk by faith to him.
Yes he didn’t do it in what by mans logic would have been the right way.
Instead Jesus experienced what it was like to be among the average people of this world. The ninety nine percent of people who make a living by the sweat of their brow.
He in entering the world experienced the good in people and experienced the hate of people.
He taught love and respect for the individual. Showing that God loves each and every person no matter who they are. What their lifestyle is or where they come from.
God’s call to every man, and woman of this world is a call to a peace in one’s soul that passes all understanding.
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.
True it takes a leap of faith to believe in God. The Bible admits that. The writer of Hebrews saying,
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1
“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.
But scientist quite often work in faith. They present a theory that seems to be right then in faith do their best to prove that theory.
For those who would sincerely believe in God it is the same thing. They accept Christ by faith then through prayer, the Bible, and as they continue to follow God, personal experience, they prove there is truly a God.
But as I say in order to believe in God one needs to take a step of faith. Would you consider doing so?
Think about it.
Sunday, 15 February 2015
Of Jesus
Of Jesus
Napoleon Bonaparte said of Jesus
"You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers; but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory? My armies have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power.”
“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.”
“I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel. Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I believe got it right when he said,
“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison.”
Ernest Renan, French historian, religious scholar and linguist wrote,
“All history is incomprehensible without Christ.”
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 book of Acts recalls the Apostle Paul speaking in Athens and saying,
“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.
For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
Acts 17:22-31
The writer of Acts going on to say,
“When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”
At that, Paul left the Council.
A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.”
Acts 17:32-34.
If you were in Athens that day what would you do?
Think about it.
Napoleon Bonaparte said of Jesus
"You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers; but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory? My armies have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power.”
“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.”
“I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel. Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I believe got it right when he said,
“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison.”
Ernest Renan, French historian, religious scholar and linguist wrote,
“All history is incomprehensible without Christ.”
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 book of Acts recalls the Apostle Paul speaking in Athens and saying,
“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.
For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
Acts 17:22-31
The writer of Acts going on to say,
“When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”
At that, Paul left the Council.
A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.”
Acts 17:32-34.
If you were in Athens that day what would you do?
Think about it.
Saturday, 14 February 2015
True Love
True Love
What is true Love?
Some say it is a feeling. Some believe it is a physical act. Some say it’s both. But love is more than that. You see feelings end as does the physical act.
In Shakespear’s play Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence, warns Romeo and Juliet’s about physical love. He doesn’t question their love for one another but he warns about the ‘violent delights’ the emotion based dangers of physical love saying,
“These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey is loathsome in his own deliciousness and in the taste confounds the appetite.
Therefore love moderately. Long love doth so. Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.”
All too often what we perceive as a love relationship starts with a strong emotional feeling and leads quickly to physical act. Which might feel good at the beginning of a relationship but ultimately will fade to some degree.
If all one is basing their love for another person on is a feeling and a physical act one will ultimately learn that it is hollow love.
We are all human and strong positive feelings for someone does feel nice as does the sexual act. But love is more.
The apostle Paul writes,
Love continues on through the trials of life. It continues when the physical act is not possible. It continues through those dark days when the positive feelings are absent, or masked for whatever reason.
Love, true is...
What is true Love?
Some say it is a feeling. Some believe it is a physical act. Some say it’s both. But love is more than that. You see feelings end as does the physical act.
In Shakespear’s play Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence, warns Romeo and Juliet’s about physical love. He doesn’t question their love for one another but he warns about the ‘violent delights’ the emotion based dangers of physical love saying,
“These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey is loathsome in his own deliciousness and in the taste confounds the appetite.
Therefore love moderately. Long love doth so. Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.”
All too often what we perceive as a love relationship starts with a strong emotional feeling and leads quickly to physical act. Which might feel good at the beginning of a relationship but ultimately will fade to some degree.
If all one is basing their love for another person on is a feeling and a physical act one will ultimately learn that it is hollow love.
We are all human and strong positive feelings for someone does feel nice as does the sexual act. But love is more.
The apostle 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,13Love continues on through the trials of life. It continues when the physical act is not possible. It continues through those dark days when the positive feelings are absent, or masked for whatever reason.
Love, true is...
“... 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....
Think about it.
Friday, 13 February 2015
Commandments Ten
Commandments Ten
The ten commandments are there to show instruct mankind how to live with both God and ones fellow man.
At a time in history when life was cheap God gave Moses a set of laws that call on mankind to have but one God. The Lord God almighty.
The laws also provide a day of rest, stating,
“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.
Man was never meant to work 24/7. People need at least one day a week to rest from their labours.
Not only that there is a call to respect your parents, to honour them.
Then there are the laws without which our society would fall into anarchy,
The ancient Israelites recognized there was a God and acknowledged Him. The result was to make society better.
Abba Hillel Silver wrote,
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society. Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.”
Abba Hillel Silver
God gives us freedom.
It is when man starts to turn away from God and his moral principles that our society starts to slip into lawlessness and chaos.
Think about it.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make idols.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honour your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
You shall not covet. Above is the short form version of the most important code of conduct ever written. It appears in Exodus 20:2-17.The ten commandments are there to show instruct mankind how to live with both God and ones fellow man.
At a time in history when life was cheap God gave Moses a set of laws that call on mankind to have but one God. The Lord God almighty.
The laws also provide a day of rest, stating,
“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.
Man was never meant to work 24/7. People need at least one day a week to rest from their labours.
Not only that there is a call to respect your parents, to honour them.
Then there are the laws without which our society would fall into anarchy,
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
You shall not covet.
All of these were I believe written on the hearts and in the mind of everyone who has ever lived. God simply chose to give them in a written form to Moses so that no one could say I didn’t know.The ancient Israelites recognized there was a God and acknowledged Him. The result was to make society better.
Abba Hillel Silver wrote,
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society. Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.”
Abba Hillel Silver
God gives us freedom.
It is when man starts to turn away from God and his moral principles that our society starts to slip into lawlessness and chaos.
Think about it.
Thursday, 12 February 2015
The Poor
Poor,
The following is a poem from a book entitled Images.
Poor
Poor...
is relative,
The experts say.
Poor...
is criticism from those who
Don’t understand.
Ignorant uncaring haves!
Have...
Calling you a crook!
Screaming “get a job.”
When you have two.
Poor...
is having a job and another and more
And seeing the ends don’t meet.
It’s
work you can’t find because...
You have no skills or education,
Or the money to get it.
Or society telling you,
You’re too old.
Poor...
Is telling your children
No because you can’t afford it.
All the time.
Poor...
Is the despair of trying to help yourself,
While society intentionally or not
Beats you up.
In my years as a Christian here in North America I’ve heard a lot said against the poor by everyone from the person on the street, to politicians, to evangelical preachers.
There was and still is in some quarters the idea that the poor are somehow lazy and need to get a job.
The reality is there are many poor people who are working at two even three jobs. Families where both spouses are working and still there are more bills than money at the end of the week.
It has always amazed me that governments can give tax cuts to the rich that take millions out of the government coffers, yet they can’t put millions into giving the poor a legitimate hand up.
What is wrong with making the minimum wage a wage that ensures families will have enough to eat, clothing and a roof over their heads?
Yes I know it will cause those companies who pay their employees minimum wage to earn less profit. Still just because such companies are earning less profit doesn’t mean the owners and share holders of such companies are forced to skip meals so their children can eat.
Why should employees of any company that is making a profit have to go to food banks to try and make it through the month?
I think we as a society need to do all we can to help the poor.
The Jews have a practice called Tzedakah. I think it would be good for Christians to follow such practice. A Jewish website explained the concept this way,
“Tzedakah is the Hebrew word for acts that we call charity in English: giving assistance and money to the poor and needy or to other worthy causes. However the nature of tzedakah is very different from the idea of charity. The word “charity suggests benevolence and generosity, a magnanimous act by the wealthy and the powerful for the benefit of he poor and needy.
In Judaism giving to the poor is not viewed as a generous, magnanimous act, it is simply and act of righteousness, performance of a duty giving the poor their due.
Giving to the poor is an obligation in Judaism, a duty that cannot be forsaken even by those who are themselves in need. Some sages have said that tzedakah is the highest of all commandments, equal to all of them combined, and that a person who does not perform tzedaka is equivalent to an idol worshipper. This is probably hyperbole, but it illustrates the importance ot tzedakah in Jewish thought.
According to Jewish law, we are requiered to give one-tenth of our income to the poor. This generally interpreted as one-tenth of our net income after payment of taxes.”
The Talmud suggests different levels of Tzedaka and one Jewish scholar place the levels in order of least meritorious to most meritorious,
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?”
James 2:14-20.
Irrespective of who we are Christian, Jew, or for that matter someone from any faith, even atheists have to agree it is a human tragedy to let the poor go hungry, without adequate clothing and a roof over their head.
We all need to be doing something to help the most needy of our society.
Think about it
The following is a poem from a book entitled Images.
Poor
Poor...
is relative,
The experts say.
Poor...
is criticism from those who
Don’t understand.
Ignorant uncaring haves!
Have...
Calling you a crook!
Screaming “get a job.”
When you have two.
Poor...
is having a job and another and more
And seeing the ends don’t meet.
It’s
work you can’t find because...
You have no skills or education,
Or the money to get it.
Or society telling you,
You’re too old.
Poor...
Is telling your children
No because you can’t afford it.
All the time.
Poor...
Is the despair of trying to help yourself,
While society intentionally or not
Beats you up.
In my years as a Christian here in North America I’ve heard a lot said against the poor by everyone from the person on the street, to politicians, to evangelical preachers.
There was and still is in some quarters the idea that the poor are somehow lazy and need to get a job.
The reality is there are many poor people who are working at two even three jobs. Families where both spouses are working and still there are more bills than money at the end of the week.
It has always amazed me that governments can give tax cuts to the rich that take millions out of the government coffers, yet they can’t put millions into giving the poor a legitimate hand up.
What is wrong with making the minimum wage a wage that ensures families will have enough to eat, clothing and a roof over their heads?
Yes I know it will cause those companies who pay their employees minimum wage to earn less profit. Still just because such companies are earning less profit doesn’t mean the owners and share holders of such companies are forced to skip meals so their children can eat.
Why should employees of any company that is making a profit have to go to food banks to try and make it through the month?
I think we as a society need to do all we can to help the poor.
The Jews have a practice called Tzedakah. I think it would be good for Christians to follow such practice. A Jewish website explained the concept this way,
“Tzedakah is the Hebrew word for acts that we call charity in English: giving assistance and money to the poor and needy or to other worthy causes. However the nature of tzedakah is very different from the idea of charity. The word “charity suggests benevolence and generosity, a magnanimous act by the wealthy and the powerful for the benefit of he poor and needy.
In Judaism giving to the poor is not viewed as a generous, magnanimous act, it is simply and act of righteousness, performance of a duty giving the poor their due.
Giving to the poor is an obligation in Judaism, a duty that cannot be forsaken even by those who are themselves in need. Some sages have said that tzedakah is the highest of all commandments, equal to all of them combined, and that a person who does not perform tzedaka is equivalent to an idol worshipper. This is probably hyperbole, but it illustrates the importance ot tzedakah in Jewish thought.
According to Jewish law, we are requiered to give one-tenth of our income to the poor. This generally interpreted as one-tenth of our net income after payment of taxes.”
The Talmud suggests different levels of Tzedaka and one Jewish scholar place the levels in order of least meritorious to most meritorious,
“Giving begrudgingly
Giving less than you should, bu giving cheerfully,
Giving after being asked
Giving before being asked
Giving when you do not know the recipient’s identity, but the recipient knows yours
Giving when you know and the recipient’s identity, but the recipient doesn’t know yours.
Giving when neither party knows the other’s identity.
Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant.”
The Apostle James writes,“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?”
James 2:14-20.
Irrespective of who we are Christian, Jew, or for that matter someone from any faith, even atheists have to agree it is a human tragedy to let the poor go hungry, without adequate clothing and a roof over their head.
We all need to be doing something to help the most needy of our society.
Think about it
Wednesday, 11 February 2015
Let Love
Let Love
“My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man.”
Proverbs 3:1-4.
During the dark days of world war two Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver in December 22nd 1940 sermon said,
“There is one other fundamental difference between love and hate. Love is always a refuge. Hate is never a refuge. Only a mentally sick person can find refuge in his hates. But love is the enduring sanctuary of life. Life may rob you of many things. It often does. But it can never bereave us of love itself. That remains.”
Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver.
On the Web site Muslim village.com. They quote Mohammad as saying,
They quote Mohammad as saying,
“What actions are most excellent? To gladden the heart of human beings, to feed the hungry, to help the afflicted, to lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful, and to remove the sufferings of the injured.” (Bukhari)
“Allah will not give mercy to anyone, except those who give mercy to other creatures.” (Abdullah b. Amr: Abu Dawud & Tirmidhi)
“Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever is not kind has no faith.” (Muslim).
Admittedly I a Christian know little about Islam, but looking at these words of Mohammad quoted on a Muslim website, tells me he wanted those who followed him to show love.
I know Muslims claim to accept the teachings of Jesus and it was Jesus that said 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 neighbour as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus also said,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour 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.
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?”
Matthew 5:43-46.
It was a follower of Jesus, the Apostle Paul who wrote,
“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.
As I look at the world situation today I see a lot of hate in the world. Be that hate in the war zones of the middle east or on the streets of major world cities.
Be we Christian, Jew, Muslim, or of any other faith, even atheist we should be proclaiming love. Because it seems to me love of ones neighbour, ones friends, family and even ones enemies is the one common ideal we can all agree on.
It is only when love is forgotten that hate can grow.
Think about it.
“My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man.”
Proverbs 3:1-4.
During the dark days of world war two Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver in December 22nd 1940 sermon said,
“There is one other fundamental difference between love and hate. Love is always a refuge. Hate is never a refuge. Only a mentally sick person can find refuge in his hates. But love is the enduring sanctuary of life. Life may rob you of many things. It often does. But it can never bereave us of love itself. That remains.”
Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver.
On the Web site Muslim village.com. They quote Mohammad as saying,
They quote Mohammad as saying,
“What actions are most excellent? To gladden the heart of human beings, to feed the hungry, to help the afflicted, to lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful, and to remove the sufferings of the injured.” (Bukhari)
“Allah will not give mercy to anyone, except those who give mercy to other creatures.” (Abdullah b. Amr: Abu Dawud & Tirmidhi)
“Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever is not kind has no faith.” (Muslim).
Admittedly I a Christian know little about Islam, but looking at these words of Mohammad quoted on a Muslim website, tells me he wanted those who followed him to show love.
I know Muslims claim to accept the teachings of Jesus and it was Jesus that said 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 neighbour as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus also said,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour 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.
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?”
Matthew 5:43-46.
It was a follower of Jesus, the Apostle Paul who wrote,
“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.
As I look at the world situation today I see a lot of hate in the world. Be that hate in the war zones of the middle east or on the streets of major world cities.
Be we Christian, Jew, Muslim, or of any other faith, even atheist we should be proclaiming love. Because it seems to me love of ones neighbour, ones friends, family and even ones enemies is the one common ideal we can all agree on.
It is only when love is forgotten that hate can grow.
Think about it.
Tuesday, 10 February 2015
Signs
Signs
“The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
He replied,“When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’
and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.”
Matthew 16:1-4
Here the Pharisees and Sadducees normally enemies had got together against their perceived common enemy Jesus.
They demanded a sign that he was the Messiah. They had no faith in him which is more than likely why Jesus refused to give them a sign.
He said the only sign they would have was the sign of Jonah. It was something Jesus had spoke of previously. Matthew recording,
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Matthew 12:40.
The religious leaders of his day were against him. I don’t think it would have mattered how many signs Jesus gave it would not have been enough.
The same is true today.
There are many things that point to Jesus being who he said he was, Lord and God, the Savour of mankind, both inside and outside the Bible. Yet no matter how many proofs are given many will not believe.
I have found over the years that true seekers. People who are truly seeking meaning to life will see the truth about Jesus and accept him as Lord and Saviour of their life.
One sceptic of Christ was C. S. Lewis an Oxford University intellectual and author of the tales of Narnia, Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain among other things.
After studying the Bible he came to the following conclusion,
“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
Think about it
“The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
He replied,“When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’
and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.”
Matthew 16:1-4
Here the Pharisees and Sadducees normally enemies had got together against their perceived common enemy Jesus.
They demanded a sign that he was the Messiah. They had no faith in him which is more than likely why Jesus refused to give them a sign.
He said the only sign they would have was the sign of Jonah. It was something Jesus had spoke of previously. Matthew recording,
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Matthew 12:40.
The religious leaders of his day were against him. I don’t think it would have mattered how many signs Jesus gave it would not have been enough.
The same is true today.
There are many things that point to Jesus being who he said he was, Lord and God, the Savour of mankind, both inside and outside the Bible. Yet no matter how many proofs are given many will not believe.
I have found over the years that true seekers. People who are truly seeking meaning to life will see the truth about Jesus and accept him as Lord and Saviour of their life.
One sceptic of Christ was C. S. Lewis an Oxford University intellectual and author of the tales of Narnia, Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain among other things.
After studying the Bible he came to the following conclusion,
“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
Think about it
Monday, 9 February 2015
I Believe
I Believe
"Yet to all who received him,(Jesus) 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 1:12,13.
Someone asked me what do I believe. That is a tall question. Defining what I believe in detail could take pages.
The Apostles creed sums most of it up when it says,
1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:
5. The third day he rose again from the dead:
6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:
9. I believe in the holy catholic church(the true church, the Church universal, not the Roman Catholic church specifically): the communion of saints:
10. The forgiveness of sins:
11. The resurrection of the body:
12. And the life everlasting. Amen.
That being said I believe salvation is a free gift. The apostle Paul writing,
“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.
That the way to heaven is,ultimately an act of faith, 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
Faith defined as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1
Jesus make it clear that He is the way to heaven. The gospel of John recording,
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6,
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.”
John 3:16,17.
Paul writing to the Romans said,
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Romans 3:23,24.
Sinning is falling short of what God wants for you life. Sin separates us from God and everyone no matter who they are sins,
John noting,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
1 John 1:9,10.
Paul make it clear salvation is not something we can work for. Paul writing to the Ephesians stating,
“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
Ultimately however like I said, salvation is an act of faith, 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
Faith defined as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1.
This is what I believe and all Christians believe in brief.
It however comes down to you the reader as to what you believe.
C. S. Lewis stating,
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
C. S. Lewis
Think about it.
"Yet to all who received him,(Jesus) 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 1:12,13.
Someone asked me what do I believe. That is a tall question. Defining what I believe in detail could take pages.
The Apostles creed sums most of it up when it says,
1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:
5. The third day he rose again from the dead:
6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:
9. I believe in the holy catholic church(the true church, the Church universal, not the Roman Catholic church specifically): the communion of saints:
10. The forgiveness of sins:
11. The resurrection of the body:
12. And the life everlasting. Amen.
That being said I believe salvation is a free gift. The apostle Paul writing,
“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.
That the way to heaven is,ultimately an act of faith, 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
Faith defined as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1
Jesus make it clear that He is the way to heaven. The gospel of John recording,
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6,
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.”
John 3:16,17.
Paul writing to the Romans said,
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Romans 3:23,24.
Sinning is falling short of what God wants for you life. Sin separates us from God and everyone no matter who they are sins,
John noting,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
1 John 1:9,10.
Paul make it clear salvation is not something we can work for. Paul writing to the Ephesians stating,
“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
Ultimately however like I said, salvation is an act of faith, 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
Faith defined as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1.
This is what I believe and all Christians believe in brief.
It however comes down to you the reader as to what you believe.
C. S. Lewis stating,
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
C. S. Lewis
Think about it.
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