Friday, 27 March 2015

There is a God

There is a God

“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.
I have a great respect for Atheist. They believe this life is all there is. For me this takes more faith than I have.
Still if they are right I have nothing to fear as being a Christian means I have lived an honest and moral life.
But if I as a Christian am right as I truly believe I am, those who don’t believe in God have a great deal to fear.
C.S. Lewis put it this way,
“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.
It ultimately come down to an act of faith.
I once quoted Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” to a very well educated man.
I pointed out that the universe from the smallest part of an atom or cell to the biggest galaxy in the heavens is in perfect mathematical harmony. We may not have the parts of the formula yet, but the universe is mathematically perfect.
His answer to me was. “It just seems that way to us.”
I know I may not be able to convince the most ardent Atheist there is a God. Likewise they couldn’t convince me there is no God.
But what I ask is anyone reading this, at least read the New Testament. Read the words of Jesus. Visit a Church.
I recommend a Baptist church in most places in the word, or Assemblies of God in the United States and the Pentecostal Assemblies of God in Canada.
I urge people to ask questions of the pastors in these churches. They’ll give you strait answers. If they don’t have nothing to do with them and go some place else.
There are a lot of churches especially here in North America that will welcome anyone who is truly seeking God and a meaning to life.
Please think about it.

Thursday, 26 March 2015

Courage in a Despots Cell

Courage in a Despots Cell

The jailer’s push slams her
against the wall.
For a long moment,
she clings to its cool,
smooth surface.
Then in slow motion, slumps to the floor.
Her head dripping  blood, her arms and body bruised and aching from the beating she took.
For a moment, her jailer pauses, watching, as she lays motionless, assessing the enfeebled
figure for signs of life.  Then seeing her stir, he closes the door, causing it to make a cold, empty sound.

She is now alone.
Her face and legs swollen,
every inch of her being in agony.
Too exhausted to move,
she lays where she fell
and softly weeps. 
Though her tears she prays:
“Dear God:
  Protect my Sunday School children from this evil that has overcome me.
Let me show love toward them that beat me.”
In Jesus’ name
Amen.
Her
     Prayer
                        finished,
                                   Quietly she
                                               Passes into Eternity.

According to human watch groups a Christian is killed every eleven minutes for their faith.
In December 2013 MP Jim Shannon said “that although the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there are many countries in which these rights are not given.
Shannon alleged that 200 million Christians will be persecuted for their faith this year,(2013) while he said 500 million live in dangerous neighbourhoods.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that “Christianity is "the most persecuted religion in the world."
According to a report in Reuters news the top ten countries in which Christianity is persecuted in are, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Maldives, Mali, Iran, Yemen and Eritrea.
The question I always ask especially from to those who say there is no God, atheistic countries such as North Korea, is why do they fear Christianity?
To countries who’s majority religious groups are not Christians why do they persecute a faith that espouses love for God, Love for one’s neighbour and even love of one’s enemy.
C.S. Lewis made an interesting observation. He wrote,
“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.
For me as a Christian I can only think that because so many people want to persecute Christians, Christianity must be of infinite importance.

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

Not a Comfortable Faith

Not a comfortable faith
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.  
What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  
For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.”
Matthew 16:24-27
C.S. Lewis wrote,
“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend" Christianity.” 
          C.S. Lewis
Some people have told me my faith in Christ is a crutch. They are wrong. I came to the realization that Christ was real and that I needed him in my life when I was nineteen.
When I became a Christian I wanted all my friends to know. The majority rejected me. I was essentially left with those I’d met in church. Actually it didn’t really bother me.
If my old friends couldn’t accept my new way of life that was fine by me.
My experience in becoming a Christian is nothing compared to those in may parts of the world. They can face jail and or torture or even death without trial,

Kelly James Clark writing in the World Post said,
“In early November, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that Christianity is "the most persecuted religion in the world." Although met with predictable criticism, Rupert Short's recent research report for Civitas UK confirms Merkel's claim -- we may not want to hear it, but Christianity is in peril, like no other religion. While this is a contest no one wants to win, Short shows that "Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers." Short is the author of the recently published Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack. He is concerned that "200 million Christians (10 percent of the global total) are socially disadvantaged, harassed or actively oppressed for their beliefs....”
So in light of what Kelly James Clark writes why would I or anyone else become a Christian? Because we firmly believe Jesus is the Son of God. God incarnate and as Jesus himself put it,
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 
              John 14:6
C.S. Lewis 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
But if it is false why do governments and other groups persecute Christians so.
Think about it.

Tuesday, 24 March 2015

Faith

Faith

Paul says to Christians,
“We live by faith, not by sight.” 
                                           2 Corinthians 5:7.

Faith is one of the most difficult things for anyone to have. The writer of Hebrews states,
“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.
It is very easy to believe in what you can see, hear, and touch. It is much harder to believe in something or someone unseen as God is. Yet it is possible to know God exists.
I live with Bi-polar disorder. At this writing there is no test to determine if you have it or not. Unlike diabetes where you can take a simple blood test to know if you have it or not. There is no such test for Bi-polar. What they do is carefully examine the person and see if their actions and behaviour lines up with what is known about the actions and behaviour of those who have the illness.
It’s the same when it comes to recognizing God.
The psalmist states
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” 
                                                                                                                                   Psalm 19:1.
All we have to do is look around us in nature and we can see that it is perfectly made. That everything is in balance from the stars and galaxies above to the smallest part of an atom or single celled creature.
Everything in the universe is set in such away that we can exist on this world. Everything points to a divine creator.
It doesn’t matter whether you think it took billions of years for the world to come into existence or six days. The fact is the universe is in perfect order and that to my mind points to divine creation.
 Still it does take faith to believe there is a God, and that is a very hard thing for some people. It takes I believe even grater faith to believe that God entered this world in the form of His one and only Son Jesus Christ. To reconcile mankind to himself.
For me as a Christian I believe all of what I have said above. I know that I may not be able to convince you the reader to believe. But I believe it is my duty to present what I believe for you to at least consider.
Please take a few minutes to think about what I have written.
Thank you

Monday, 23 March 2015

The Way

The Way

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 
John 14:6
“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.
The above quotes by Jesus from the gospel of John make it clear what Jesus said about himself and what all Christians believe.
In his day and in his culture such statements were considered blasphemous and punishable by death. Yet Jesus made them. Claiming to be the only way to haven.
C.S. Lewis said about 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.
So the question becomes, what do you think of Christ?

Saturday, 21 March 2015

Man needs Absolutes

Man needs absolutes

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
                                                                       Genesis 1:1
The Bible makes no assumptions about God. It does not leave the subject of God’s existence up for debate. From the very first verse it states, “in the beginning God created...”
    That one line says it all.
    1/ There is a God above all things.
    2/ A God that created all things.
    In the new testament the gospel of John essentially reiterates the statement of Genesis 1:1 when it 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.” 
                        John 1:1-3.
The gospel of John however goes one step further stating that “He (Jesus)  was with God in the beginning.”
    John makes it clear “Through Him(Jesus) all things were made.”
Jesus is God incarnate. He came to show man how much he loved him. He demonstrated in very real terms His love for his created.
Man needs God. He may not realize it but he does.
The Greeks like every other civilization that has ever existed recognized there was more to life than just the physical. They worshipped many god’s, even erecting a temple “to an unknown god”. It was this temple to an unknown god that the apostle Paul picked up on while speaking to the Stoics and Epicureans at the Areopagus.
    Paul said,
    “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. 
                                             Acts 17:24-27
A favourite quote of mine is from Abba Hillel Silver who 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.”
Man needs absolutes in his life. Without absolute values in life our society will slip rapidly into anarchy. There is no such thing as one set of moral values for one person and a completely different set of values for someone else.
God has given men an absolute value system it starts with love. Deuteronomy states,
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5
    Jesus states,
“ ...‘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
Ultimately if we put God first in our lives and love as he loved the world would be a far better place.
 All morality ultimately comes down to love. God himself showed that love to us. He gave us a moral code that distilled to it’s simplest form is the ten commandments.
Within the Decalogue we are told by God how He expects us to live with respect to Himself and our fellow man.
God however did not stop there to quote Paul,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” 
Romans 5:8 
    Jesus was sent by God to demonstrate His love.
    God realized that mankind was and still is slipping away from the absolute value system He has given us.
Simply put we are sinning and sin separates us from God.
In sending Jesus, God is pointing out to anyone who will listen the way back to fellowship with Him.
Someone has said “we, all mankind, are sailing on a ship to eternity. What we do on board that ship will decide where we spend that eternity.”
The decision is ours. God has given us a free will and a choice. Either accept Him and the salvation Jesus Christ offers or reject Him.
It’s that cut and dry. The decision dear reader is up to you.
Where will you spend eternity?
       Think about it?

Friday, 20 March 2015

About Jesus, God, Heaven and Hell

About Jesus, God, Heaven and Hell

Some one challenged me to put down in less than three hundred words what I believe with respect to God, heaven, hell and Jesus. Here are those words.
According to a Gallup Poll, 70% of Americans believe in hell. Belief in hell is highest among regular churchgoers: 92%.
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.  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
Jesus made it clear who he was,
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 
John 14:6.
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
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
I leave the above here for you to think about.

Thursday, 19 March 2015

About God

About God

“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.
Can I prove God? Of course I can one just has to look around at the ordered universe. The Psalmist states,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” 
                                                                                                     Psalm 19:1.
The world and the universe in general is in perfect order to sustain life here on earth.
I believe that eventually through good science we will prove that there is one mathematical formula that links the universe together, proving it is created.
Atheism says there is no God I cannot buy into such a concept. If there is no God and a life after this one this life has no meaning.
The writer of Ecclesiastes after examining life makes the following statements
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”
Ecclesiastes 1:9
“I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
Ecclesiastes 1:14
If there is no God then the previous statements are true. However the writer after much contemplation writes,
“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.” 
Ecclesiastes12:13,14
For me to simply be born to procreate live a handful of years and die, seems senseless and a waste of that spark that makes us human, the human soul.
I have over the years examined Atheism among other things and find Atheism to be an empty abyss.
I also find the concept of atheism doesn’t hold up to logical thinking. Perhaps one of the best arguments I’ve read about Atheism was written by Wayne Jackson.  Writing in the Christian courier he says this of Atheism,
“Atheism adamantly argues that there is no God. No atheist, though, can consistently affirm emphatically that there is no God, unless he asserts both his omniscience and his omnipresence. Once he concedes that he does not know everything, he opens the door for the possibility that what he does not know may be the evidence for God’s existence. And if the atheist is not everywhere present, it logically must follow that where he is not might be the very place where proof of Deity is to be found! Thus, it is not reasonable to declare: “I know that God does not exist.” Atheism is merely a crude, irrational faith-system. There is — from the principle of cause and effect, universe design, the awareness of morality, the Scriptures, etc. — more than adequate evidence, for the thinking person, that God exists.”
                                                                  Wayne Jackson
Think about it.

Wednesday, 18 March 2015

A Fact and a Warning

A fact and a Warning

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 
          John 14:6
Jesus 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.
In a nutshell the above verses from the gospel of John state what Christians believe. We believe the only way to heaven is to believe that Jesus is the one and only Son of God. That he came to earth to die for our sins, that he rose from the dead, walked on the earth and that he ascended into heaven.
The Apostles creed while not wrote by the apostles of Jesus states what all Christians believe.
APOSTLES' CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
      creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
      who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
      and born of the virgin Mary.
      He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
      was crucified, died, and was buried;
      he descended to hell.
      The third day he rose again from the dead.
      He ascended to heaven
      and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
      From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
      the holy catholic* church,
      the communion of saints,
      the forgiveness of sins,
      the resurrection of the body,
      and the life everlasting. Amen.

(*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places)

It is up to you the reader whether you believe it or not.
Please think about it.

Tuesday, 17 March 2015

A Human Right

A Human Right

“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
It’s interesting to me when I look at the Americans fighting over universal health care and other things that affect the middle and lower income families.
Many of their politicians predominantly it seems republicans are under the false impression that you give tax breaks to the rich and create less government regulations things will trickle down to the poor and build them up. Sadly history has proven this not to be so.
Companies have had to be forced by legislation to make  cars safer by putting seat belts and other safety devices in them. They’ve had to be forced to pay their workers at least a minimum wage that is still woefully inadequate.
Universal health care is still a hot topic. With many politicians not realizing it is the right and moral thing to do to see that everyone has access to good health care without fear of going bankrupt.
In Canada we have a federal government that is also reluctant it seems to help the poor. With an election looming they are rolling out programs to help war vets which is needed and long past due. They are also rolling out programs that help the wealthy.
Yet they have not commented on a universal drug plan that all the research seems to point to saving Canadians billions and ensuring people can afford the medications they need.
Canada is the only country in the world with universal health care that does not have a universal drug plan.
Many government leaders remind me of the scribes and pharisees of Jesus day. Jesus said of them,
“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  
They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 
“Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’” 
                                                                                                                                     Matthew 23:2-7.
I heard one politician say “health care is too costly the government can’t afford it.” think of the logic of that statement. If the government can’t afford it how can the individual?
The government has at least more money than the individual and the power to regulate and make health care affordable.
Those who serve in government both here in Canada and in the United States have far better drug, healthcare benefits and pension plans than the average citizen. Why can’t the average citizen have the same benefits as their politicians are not all men equal?

Tony Campolo an American evangelist said,
“The reason why I buy into the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party is because there are over 2,000 verses of Scripture that deal with responding to the needs of the poor.”
Tony Campolo
He also said,
“These issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change.”
Tony Campolo
When Jesus walked this earth he healed the sick took care of the poor. We as Christians should be doing all we can to help our fellow man whoever they are.
The Talmud states,
“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.
What will you answer? What do you think our politicians will answer?
Please think about it.

Monday, 16 March 2015

Life

Life

“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 once gave a talk on mental illness to a group at a Church where I was quite well known. I live with Bi-polar disorder (Manic Depression).
Bipolar is an illness that causes your moods to swing from very high highs (the manic phase) to deep lows, (depression). For most that means people with the illness cycle between the highs and lows eight or ten times a year.
In my case I rapid cycle and can go between highs and lows several times a day. Still through a regiment of medications I live with it.
Never-the-less I do at time go through some very hard times. Time that are the equivalent of having a severe mental tooth ache that just wont go away. Depression that makes you think you can’t take it any more.
It’s during these times in particular that I turn to God for my strength to continue on.
During the question period at this particular group I happened to note that Bipolar was worse than cancer.
I noted that I am a cancer survivor and that as a Christian with cancer you either pass on to be in the arms of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and are thus cancer free. Or you are cured by the doctors and can continue to serve the Lord in this life.
After the talk a person came up to me and said. You must be careful giving the analogy between cancer and Bipolar when you talk to secular groups. They will not understand.
For many in the secular world death is the end and cancer a death sentence.
The person was right. I’d never thought of it that way. Christians see eternity in a different light.
I remember the death of my sister in law. She was only in her mid fifties and her death was very sudden. She knew the Lord as her Saviour.
As I looked at people during the visitation and the funeral there were basically two groups. The non-believers who were grieving deeply. Those who couldn’t comprehend she was in the arms of her Lord.
Then there was the believers those who knew she was in the arms of Jesus whom she served much of her life. While these people were grieving they had hope. They knew for certain she was in a far better place.
Billy Graham said,
“The Bible says that as Christians we don't grieve the same way people do who have no hope of eternity and of Heaven - but we still grieve.”
                                                                  Billy Graham.
We all grieved for my sister in law on the day she died but those of us who are Christians had hope.
My sister in law in this world had, had at times a rough life. She’d lived in what can only be called abject poverty for part of her life. She overcome alcoholism and a lot of other health problem.
Still through it all she’d found Jesus and made him Lord of her live. While she never became a great evangelist or preacher, she did serve her Lord in her church congregation and on brief mission trips overseas.
Tony Campolo the American evangelist wrote,
“When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this - when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?”
                                                                                             Tony Campolo
I’m certain my sister-in-law is happy because she knew Jesus as her saviour.
I’m certain as she passed into eternity she proved the words of Jesus are true when he 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.
  Do you know Christ as your Lord and Saviour?
What will be your answer to Tony Campolo’s question
“The only question that matters is this - when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?
You can have hope.
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
Ultimately 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
Jesus 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
“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.

Saturday, 14 March 2015

A message for today

A message for today

Two thousand years ago give or take a few years, the Apostle Paul was invited by the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers of Athens to speak to them about Christ. The book of Acts records the incident.
The message he gave is as relevant for today’s audience as it was back then. I put it hear for you to think about.

“While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.  
So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.  
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.  
Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  
You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”  
(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 
“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.” 
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 17:16-34