Friday, 19 June 2015

The hardest thing

The hardest thing to do

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  
This is what the ancients were commended for. 
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”        
                               Hebrews 11:1-3.
There is one thing scientist and Christians have in common, faith.
A good scientist postulates a theory of why things work based on the facts at hand. He studies the facts and has faith that they add up to the conclusion he has made. He then presents that theory to his peers for scrutiny. They weigh the facts and agree or disagree with him as the case may be.
Eienstein’s theory of relativity, the big bang theory are all examples of this.
Christians are the same. They have studied the facts before them and come to the conclusion that God is real.
They have read what the psalmist wrote,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” 
                                                                                                                                Psalm 19:1.
They have looked at the world around them. They have looked at the mathematical perfection of the universe around them, from the largest galaxies to the smallest subatomic particle and have concluded this can’t be by chance. There must be a creator. And yes perhaps he did use the big bang to do it. How he did it however is immaterial to their faith. They have simple taken what the Bible says and the basic facts they see around them in the world and, I believe rightly conclude, that God exists.
They then present this for the people of the world to judge.
Christians ask that people read the Bible carefully and weigh the facts. Asking God to show His reality in the words of the scriptures.
Christians go one step further than any other faith however they ask people to read the New Testament and make the decision as to whether they believe Jesus when he 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
 That his words when speaking to Martha are true, when he said,
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 
                                                                                                                                   John 11:25, 26
Jesus even asked his disciple to make a decision as to what they thought he was. Matthew recording,
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”  
                         Matthew 16:13-17
So the question for you dear reader becomes,
What think ye of Christ?

Thursday, 18 June 2015

Love

Love
“Love is patient, love is kind. 
It does not envy, it does not boast,
 it is not proud.  
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
 it is not easily angered, 
it keeps no record of wrongs. 
Love does not delight in evil 
but rejoices with the truth.  
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
 always perseveres. 
Love never fails....
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  
                                                                                              1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13
Here is a lesson on love I think everyone can understand irrespective of their faith. It is something I believe even atheist can relate to.
The above is a quote from the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. It to my mind is the purest definition of love ever written. It defines love perfectly.
Notice there is no conditions set on the love Paul writes about. No “buts”
When Jesus calls us to Love God, our neighbour and our enemy this is the kind of love he wishes us to have.
It’s not about “I have my rights!” or “you are wrong and I am right!”
It’s about humility and understanding.
Love is a door we open even to our enemy. It is the highest idea of Christianity spoken of by Jesus himself in John 3:16,17
“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.”
In Matthew Jesus is quotes as saying
“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,”  
                                                                     Matthew 5:43.44.
Jesus when asked,
 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  
This is the first and greatest commandment.  
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 
                                                              Matthew 22:37-40.
Long before I became a Christian I watched a movie called “Good by Mr. Chips.” the theme song for the musical version was called Fill the World with Love it had these words,
In the Morning of My Life

In the morning of my life
I will look to the Sunrise
At a moment in my life 
When the world is new.

And the Question
I shall ask only God can answer.
Will I be brave and strong and true,
Will I fill the world with love my whole life through?
Will I fill the world with love my whole life through?

In the evening of my life
I will look to the sunset
At a moment in my life 
When my life is through.

And the question I shall ask only I can answer 
Was I brave and strong and true.
Did I fill the world with love my whole life through?
Did I fill the world with love my whole life through?
                                                                                  From the Musical Good by Mr Chips

      At the end of your life will people say of you that you filled the world with Love?
Will God?
Please think about it.

Wednesday, 17 June 2015

About Jesus

About Jesus
I believe God has given us a choice with respect to who we think Jesus is. Written below are thoughts on Jesus by various people throughout history. I place them their for you the reader to ponder.

Ernest Renan, French historian, religious scholar and linguist said,
“All history is incomprehensible without Christ.”
                                                                     Ernest Renan
C. S. Lewis said,
“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

Flavius Josephus (37AD-100AD) Jewish Roman historian, who became a Pharisee at 19 wrote
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first, did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day.”
                                                                                        Flavius Josephus
Napoleon Bonaparte
"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,

Julian the Apostate, Roman Emperor (361-363 A. D.) Considered one of the most gifted ancient adversaries to Christianity. In his work against Christianity said,
“Jesus…has now been celebrated about three hundred years having done nothing in his lifetime worthy of fame, unless anyone thinks it is a very great work to heal lame and blind people and exorcise demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany.”
At the end of his life he wrote, “Thou has conquered, O Galilean!”
                                                                         Julian the Apostate Emperor of Rome
Matthews Gospel records this conversation between Jesus and his disciples,
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”  
                          Matthew 16:13-17
The last words go to C. S. Lewis who 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.
Please think about it

Tuesday, 16 June 2015

Christians believe

Christians believe
“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.” 
1John 1:9-10

For the most part people believe in an after life. They believe in a heaven and a hell. Most people however believe that if you live a good life, a life where the good outweighs the bad you’ll get to heaven. Christians don’t believe it’s quite  that way.
While Christians believe you must do as much good in this life as you can we are still not perfect enough to stand before a Holy God.
Christians acknowledge that man makes mistakes big ones, and little ones. That no man is completely good. That even the best people has the potential to do evil things. That even the most evil of men have the potential to repent of their wrong doing.
C. S. Lewis said,
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” 
                                                      C.S. Lewis
Lewis also said,
“He (Jesus) died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.” 
                                        C.S. Lewis
The story of the crucifixion illustrates what I am saying. Luke records,
“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  
We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” 
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” 
                                                                                                                  Luke 23:39-43.
The condemned man admitted he was a sinner, that he had done wrong. He believed Jesus to be who he said he was, The Son of God and asked Jesus to simply remember him when He entered his Kingdom.
This is the message true Christians take to all the world.
If you think about it we are all condemned to die. We do not get out of this life alive. All of us will one day enter eternity. The question becomes however where will you spend eternity.
You can know today.
The following is what I as a Christian believe is the way to heaven I put it here for you to consider.
The way to heaven is I believe simple and open to anyone, and I mean anyone to follow.
It come down to who you think Jesus is, and what his purpose on this earth was for,
“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.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 
                     John 14:6
   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.
Isaiah telling us, 
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” 
                                                                                                           Isaiah 64:6
  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 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
All anyone needs to do is to simply bow their heads in prayer acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, the Saviour of mankind. Then admit that they are a sinner. That they fall short of what God wants for their life, and ask forgiveness for the wrongs however minor or major they are.
It can be a prayer as simple as this.
Dear Heavenly Father
I admit I am a sinner in need of your saving grace. I acknowledge Jesus as your One and Only Son, the Saviour of mankind. 
Please forgive my sins and come into my life and heart today.
Amen.
If you believe what I have said. If you prayed the prayer in all sincerity then I would ask you to start reading the New Testament, praying as you do, asking God to show you the truths there in.
I would then suggest you find a good Bible believing church. I recommend Baptist churches in most of the world. In North America I also suggest an Assemblies of God Church in the United States and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada Church in Canada. All are good solid bible believing churches.
Also don’t be afraid to ask to speak to the senior pastor and ask him or her questions about the bible and their faith. A good pastor will take the time to speak to you.
Please think about what I have said.

Monday, 15 June 2015

The Poet Wrote

The Poet Wrote
“Ticket”

“Where am I?
What, am...
I doing here?”

“You are her.”
Says the Conductor.
“Your ticket please.”

“I bought no ticket.
I took no ride.
Where am I?”

“Your ride is over, You are here. All take the ride.
Your ticket’s paid for, Says the Conductor You are here.
Your ticket please, Please your ticket. Your ticket.
please.”
“I took no ride!
Where am I?
I demand to know!

I took no...
ride...
Am I...”

“You are here.
All take the ride.
The ticket paid for,
With My blood.

“I am here...
I have no ticket...
And you are...”

“Jesus.”
Dear reader,
Do you have your ticket to eternity.  The ultimate statistic states that we will all one day enter eternity. The question is where will you spend that eternity. With God or without Him?
You can know this side of eternity where you will spend eternity 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
The choice is yours to believe Jesus or not.
Please think about it.

Saturday, 13 June 2015

For you to think about

For you to think about

The Psalmist wrote
“Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; 
let me know how fleeting is my life. 
You have made my days a mere handbreadth; 
the span of my years is as nothing before you. 
Each man’s life is but a breath. 
                                                 Psalms 39:4,5

Jesus said,
‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. 
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, 
I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.’ 
                                                               Revelations 3:20
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— 
Ephesians 2:8

The writer of Hebrews wrote, 
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 
and certain of what we do not see...
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 11:1,6

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

The choice is yours. Where will you spend eternity?
Will you accept Jesus Christ into your heart and life today?
Will you pray.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I recognize that Jesus is your one and only Son.
That he came to earth to die for my sins.
I confess I am a sinner and that I fall short of what you want for my life.
Please forgive me of my sins and come into my life.
That I may spend eternity with you

                                      In Jesus name I pray
                                                   Amen.
Please think about it.

Of God and Atheism

Of God and Atheism
Peter John Kreeft wrote,
“Atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? Atheism cheapens everything it touches, look at the results of communism, the most powerful form of atheism on earth.
And in the end, when the atheist dies and encounters God instead of nothingness he had predicted he’ll recognize that atheism was a cheap answer because it refused the only thing that’s not cheap the God of infinite value”
                                      Peter John Kreeft ph.d
Over the years I’ve had people say to me. “This life is all we have, he who has all the toys at the end wins.”
To which I reply “In the end you don’t have all the toys because you can’t take them with you.”
The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote,
“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labour. 
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” 
                                                                                   Ecclesiastes 2:10,11.
If this world is all there is then it’s a waist of a soul, that spark that makes us sentient  beings that makes us makes us higher than the animals.
Every civilization that has ever been has believed in an afterlife. I for one cannot believe that the majority of people who have ever lived are wrong about their belief in life after death.
Life without God has for me no meaning. Why be born in the first place if all we have is this world.
The poet wrote,
Where are the people?
Where?

Are they but shadows in the mall?
Are they?

Are they shadows in time,
Shadows wandering looking for the latest trinkets, bobbles or beads.

What is life?
What?

Is life but a wisp of smoke carried in the air?
A wisp in the eternal ether 

Are people wisps?

What of man’s or woman’s! accomplishments?
What of them?

Is the sum total of all ones life simply a pile of shinny tin, brass, and wood?
Is that life?

Is life simply a cacophony of sounds travelling through endless time?
Is it?

Or 

Is a life.
Yours or mine more?

Is it a divine opera?
An opera played out on a high mesa 

A stage suspended between heaven and hell.
Are we as Shakespeare said simply actors?

Life is an opera played out before God.
On a high mesa between heaven and hell.

Are we but actors in a play?
Actors awaiting the final curtain call sending us to eternity?
Are you ready for the final curtain call?
Are you?

What is the sum total of your life?
What?

What will “they” say about you as you pass on?
What will God say?

If this life is all there is, I’ve live a good one. Believing in God and Jesus and all He stands for has enriched my life immensely.
If I am right there are many atheist out there who have a lot to worry about because they one day stand before and  be judged by a just and holy God.
Please think about it.

Friday, 12 June 2015

God Exists

God exists

“I have not seen the robin but I know he is there because I heard him singing through my window from the tree-top outside.
I have not seen God.  But I have looked at my child’s eyes, and have been overwhelmed by the miracle of unfolding life.
I have watched the trees bedeck themselves with new garbs of green in the spring, and have been stirred by the miracle of continual rebirth.
I have looked at the stars, and have been overcome by the miracle of the grandeur and majesty of the universe.
I know that God exists, because I have heard the song of His presence from all the tree-tops of creation.”
                     Ben Zion Bokser
I am a believer in God. For me knowing there is a God who loves me is simply comforting. Knowing there is a life with God after this life ends is what makes life worthwhile.
Atheism to my way of thinking takes away all meaning to life.
Peter John Kreeft states,
“Atheism is cheap on people through because it snobbishly says nine out of ten people through history have been wrong about God and have had a lie at the core of their hearts.”
Peter John Kreeft ph.d 
From as far back as we can see in history to the present day mankind has believed in a God and an afterlife. It just seems to be in man’s psyche.
People may deny there is a God and an afterlife but that does not make it so. 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.
Even if man evolved as some believe it doesn’t explain how man came up with his moral code.
One key pillar of our moral code, do not kill, had to have arisen simultaneously across every tribe on the face of the earth. Otherwise it would be a case that those who did not believe in the do not kill code of conduct would kill those who do. It would be survival of the fittest. The most violent society would survive.  Yet that is not the case.
Every culture that we know of has had a similar moral code. Such a code has to have come from God.
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 
I do not buy into the theory that there is no God. That this life is all there is. For me my faith in God enriches my life and offers me the hope of eternal life and peace with God.
I know I will never be able to persuade the ardent atheist. I know there will always be men and women in the world that no matter the evidence will not believe. That is their choice.
I would however ask respectfully that they at least read the New Testament with an open mind and see what God has to offer them.

Thursday, 11 June 2015

Of God

Of God

A couple of Jesus’ disciples shortly after his death who had been warned by the religious leadership not to preach about Jesus were caught doing so. They were brought before the leaders and the book of acts records what happened,
“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” 
Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!  
The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.  
God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.  
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 
When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.  
But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while.  
Then he addressed them: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.  
Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.  
After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.  
Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  
But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” 
       Acts 5:28-39
I believe Gamaliel got it right. The message of Salvation through Jesus Christ has been around now for over two thousand years. It’s message of love for God, one’s fellow man and one’s enemies is still going strong.
It’s message that there is salvation in no one other than Jesus Christ is still as strong as ever.
An anonymous poet wrote,
Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door,
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

“How many anvils have you had,” said I,
“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” said he, and then, with twinkling eye,
The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”

And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed - and hammers gone.
                                                                                                          Anonymous
Isaiah the prophet wrote,
“A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” 
“All men are like grass ,and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 
The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” 
                                                                                                                  Isaiah 40:6-8.
I believe the words of Jesus who said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” 
                                                                                                            John 3:16-18
God gave man a choice. Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Saviour of the World or not. The choice is yours.
Please think about it.

Wednesday, 10 June 2015

On Jesus

On Jesus

Albert Einstein stated,
“No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.… No man can deny the fact that Jesus existed, nor that his sayings are beautiful.”
                                                                        Albert Einstein.
The words of Jesus are far more than beautiful they are words that lead to eternal life.
The Gospel of Matthew records this,
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”  
                                Matthew 16:13-17.
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 Apostle Paul speaking about Jesus to the Athenians 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.  
‘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: 24-34
Jesus from the day of his birth has been controversial. Some have called him simply a good man, others a heretic deserving of death. His disciples and followers call him the Christ. The One and Only Son of God.
As to who Jesus is, it is a decision everyone must make for themselves.
Is Jesus all he said he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God or not? The decision is yours.
Please think about it.

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Christian Belief

Christian Belief

Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote,
“It is to the Cross that the Christian is challenged to follow his Master: no path of redemption can make a detour around it.” 
                          Hans Urs von Balthasar.

The Apostle Paul wrote,
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
C.S. Lewis wrote,
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” 
                                          C.S. Lewis.
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.
Christians do not believe we can work our way to heaven. Salvation and eternity with God is a free gift from God. It is God reaching down to mankind and saying I love you.
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 when he 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
It is a choice everyone who is reading this must make for themselves. You either believe what Jesus and the writers of the New Testament said about him or you do not. God will not force you to believe anything you do not want to believe.
So please consider what I have said carefully.

Monday, 8 June 2015

About Jesus

About Jesus

“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.
These who wrote the New Testament told everything. They recorded that there were those who didn’t believe Jesus was who he claimed to be. Those who wanted to kill Jesus as a heretic.    They also told of the miracles Jesus performed. They knew that they really happened.
They recorded Jesus on numerous occasions saying he was the Son of God or as John records in the above quot, Jesus saying “I and my Father are one.” something that could have got Jesus stoned to death.
The New Testament authors layed it all out there and in essence said this is what we witnessed. This is what we believe is the most important message for every man and woman in the world, believe it or not.
Matthews gospel records
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 
                                                                                Matthew 16:13-16.
This is the question every man and woman on this earth must answer. That answer in my opinion will determine their eternal resting place.
Please think carefully about it.