TGIF - Thank God I'm Forgiven!!
For the last week or so, thoughts of Apologetics have been running through my head continuously. One argument in particular seemed to recur in my mind more often than any other: the argument of Jesus and His disciples. Defending my faith is something I'm very interested in, and I felt like this might help some people, whether Atheist, Jew, Muslim, or even Christians wanting help arguing for the plausibility of Christianity.
I would just like to make it clear that most of this is paraphrased from different books I've read, although I have thought the arguments through and reasoned that they are believable; however, I am not looking at the books as I type this, so the thought processes are my own (with God's help), which just happen to agree with what I remember from what I read.
Anyway, here we go.
Let's start by assuming Jesus existed. The story of His life happened exactly how it's read in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, He grew up in Nazareth, He preached salvation to the Jews through the Son of God, He healed the sick and disabled and raised the dead to life, He lived a sinless life and was crucified unjustly, and He rose from the grave on the third day and ascended into heaven after spending forty days with His disciples.
But let's say someone believes that Jesus was not the Son of God and that He was, in fact, a normal sinful human being. My favorite response to this is the "Lord, Liar, or Lunatic" argument. There are only three types of person Jesus could have been. He could be Lord, the Son of God and God Himself, exactly the person He said He was. If He wasn't God, then He would either have to be a liar or a lunatic. But how could He be a liar? Why would someone who knew He was not telling the truth die for something He preached but didn't even follow? That seems pretty dumb to me. And if He was a liar, then He even had His disciples, who followed Him around everywhere He went, deceived. And how could He be a lunatic? How could someone come up with such amazing teachings like serving and loving one another if they weren't in their right mind? His teachings were (and are) so relevant to human living that there is no way He could have been insane. So with the options of liar and lunatic ruled out, that leaves Lord as the only possibility for who Jesus was (and is).
Some people argue that Jesus could have just been a "great moral teacher." But again, if He was only a great moral teacher, that would make Him a liar because He told His disciples and even the Pharisees and Sadducees that He was the Son of God. And if He was a liar, then He would have been a hypocrite because He constantly referred to the Scriptures, which teach that lying is a sin that separates humans from God. And if He were a hypocrite, He would have died knowing that. And He didn't even try to get out of bearing the punishment of being hung on a cross. So much for that argument.
So clearly, if Jesus existed, then there is no option other than the fact that He was and is and always will be God and the Son of God, Lord of all Creation.
But what if He didn't exist? That's where the disciples come in.
If Jesus didn't exist, I'm still convinced that His disciples did (even though they wouldn't really have been His disciples). Now why would twelve fishermen and tax collectors band together with a common belief that completely went against the religious teachings of the time and go out and tell the world about it, angering many? That seems more than a little masochistic to me. And in case you don't know the history of the eleven disciples (leaving out Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus, although that wouldn't be important if Jesus never lived), ten of them died a martyr's death. That means that ten of the eleven died for what they believed. Only one died of natural causes. So why would eleven of the world's average fishermen and hated tax collectors go out into the world teaching of an imaginary Person who would bring salvation to anyone who believed in Him? And why would they be willing to die for something they knew was false? That would just be ridiculous!
Now let's backtrack again and assume Jesus did, in fact, exist, and that He lived and died exactly how the Bible tells. But that's where the story ends: He died. He never rose from the dead. Instead, the disciples deceived the world by stealing His body from the grave. First off, one of the twelve disciples betrayed Jesus, and the other eleven abandoned Him when He was arrested, including John the Beloved and Peter, His two closest friends. When He was hung on the cross, only John and Mary, Jesus' mother, were there to see Him as He died. If the disciples weren't there for Him when He was dying, why would they be there for Him when He was already dead? Plus, Jesus' grave was sealed by a boulder that required (I think) twelve Roman soldiers to move it, as well as the Roman seal, which was kind of like special glue that marked the grave as Roman property. The disciples fled from the Roman guard when they arrested Jesus. If they were to steal Jesus' body from His tomb, they would have to face the Roman guard, overpower them all, break the Roman seal, and roll the boulder away, not to mention that the boulder was stuck in a ditch in front of the tomb entrance that locked it in place. Eleven fishermen and tax collectors against twelve highly trained Roman soldiers... The odds in favor of the disciples don't sound too good to me. And how did they plan on breaking the Roman seal and rolling the stone out of the ditch if they did manage to get past the guard? If it took twelve strong soldiers to roll the stone into the ditch, how could twelve fishermen and tax collectors roll it out of it?
The Bible also says that the soldiers on duty at the tomb were left alive. They only fell unconscious. If the disciples were trying to steal Jesus' body secretly, shouldn't they have killed the soldiers rather than let them live to report the event to Pontius Pilate, Caesar's governor in the area? But no, the soldiers remained alive, and they reported to Pilate only that Jesus' body was missing. They mentioned nothing about the disciples stealing the body.
The soldiers also experienced a massive earthquake while they were standing guard. Even the two Marys, who were on their way to visit the grave, felt it while they were on their way there. Something like that could not have been caused by the disciples, especially with the technology of the time.
The only explanation I can find is that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of Jewish prophecy, the King of kings and Lord of lords, God of all Creation. He lived, died, and rose again for the sins of the world so that we humans can have a relationship with our heavenly Father and live with Him forever in heaven. He saved us from hell, the punishment for our sins, which separated us from our Creator. And He gave us His word, the Bible, through over forty different authors over a period of just under 2000 years so that we could know Him and the good news of salvation by the cross.
All because He loves us.
That sounds like some pretty good news to me.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
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"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Snowbird
A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a camp called Snowbird. Within Snowbird, there are three main groups: SWO (Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters), which is the normal camp where campers participate in a variety of games and recreational activities (recs); SMO (Snowbird Missions and Outreach), which is basically a mini-mission trip; and OLD School (Outdoor Leadership and Discipleship School), which is where campers are sent out into the woods for old-fashioned camping, along with several adventurous activities. I chose to participate in SMO so I could get a chance to do some kind of mission trip before heading off to college this fall. And it was amazing. We walked to a house just down the street from the camp site, and our group painted the house for a family that Brody, one of the founders of Snowbird, has been pouring into, showing them God's love. We almost finished the house in two days, leaving only a few details to polish up on the third day. So instead of taking the whole group back, we had planned to have half the group go back while the other half went to a nursing home to spend time with the elderly. But it rained... So the half that was supposed to go back to the house just stayed at the camp site and did recs instead.
The last two nights hit me hard. Thursday night, the SWO staff did what they call "the Revelation skit." As the name suggests, it's a skit based on the book of Revelation in the Bible. They did an amazing job, and it really moved me. It reminded me of what we Christians look forward to: the return of our Savior and King Jesus Christ.
Then came Friday night... Brody spoke about missionary work and spreading the Gospel to those who have never heard it, and the message really struck a chord with me. After the sermon, I went up to the Prayer Chapel, which is a special building the SWO staff set up in honor of missionaries and persecuted Christians around the world. There were a bunch of things to read for personal spiritual growth, and there were stations where you could write your thoughts or write to a missionary or imprisoned Christian to encourage them. During Brody's sermon, I got the feeling that God wanted me to become a missionary, and He placed India in my thoughts because there are so many unreached people groups there. When I went to the Prayer Chapel, there were three main areas in India that were marked as unreached. I think God had me focus on a particular area for a reason, and I felt like He wanted me to take the Gospel there. After looking around on Google Maps some, I've set my sights on Shahpura, Madhya Pradesh, India. I'm still not sure about any of the details, like when I'll go, if that's really where God wants me, how I'll get the money to go, and what I'll be doing there, but right now I just need prayer.
One of the verses written on the walls of the Prayer Chapel really spoke to me. It said, "How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'" (Romans 10:14-15).
So please pray for me. Pray that God would reveal His plan for me, that I would grow in wisdom and faith so that I can share His love and His word if/when I go, for safety if/when I go, for godly fellowship to keep me moving forward, and that God would work through me to reach out to His people who have yet to hear the name of Jesus.
Also, Birju, if you read this, I could use some Indian language/culture lessons. Haha.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
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"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
The last two nights hit me hard. Thursday night, the SWO staff did what they call "the Revelation skit." As the name suggests, it's a skit based on the book of Revelation in the Bible. They did an amazing job, and it really moved me. It reminded me of what we Christians look forward to: the return of our Savior and King Jesus Christ.
Then came Friday night... Brody spoke about missionary work and spreading the Gospel to those who have never heard it, and the message really struck a chord with me. After the sermon, I went up to the Prayer Chapel, which is a special building the SWO staff set up in honor of missionaries and persecuted Christians around the world. There were a bunch of things to read for personal spiritual growth, and there were stations where you could write your thoughts or write to a missionary or imprisoned Christian to encourage them. During Brody's sermon, I got the feeling that God wanted me to become a missionary, and He placed India in my thoughts because there are so many unreached people groups there. When I went to the Prayer Chapel, there were three main areas in India that were marked as unreached. I think God had me focus on a particular area for a reason, and I felt like He wanted me to take the Gospel there. After looking around on Google Maps some, I've set my sights on Shahpura, Madhya Pradesh, India. I'm still not sure about any of the details, like when I'll go, if that's really where God wants me, how I'll get the money to go, and what I'll be doing there, but right now I just need prayer.
One of the verses written on the walls of the Prayer Chapel really spoke to me. It said, "How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'" (Romans 10:14-15).
So please pray for me. Pray that God would reveal His plan for me, that I would grow in wisdom and faith so that I can share His love and His word if/when I go, for safety if/when I go, for godly fellowship to keep me moving forward, and that God would work through me to reach out to His people who have yet to hear the name of Jesus.
Also, Birju, if you read this, I could use some Indian language/culture lessons. Haha.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
Friday, June 11, 2010
On Shirley Phelps Roper and the Westboro Baptist Church
Okay, so a couple weeks ago, my friend showed me some video interviews of Mrs. Shirley Phelps Roper, the daughter of the founding pastor of Westboro Baptist Church. They were... interesting. My friend sent a letter to Mrs. Roper asking a few questions and making some comments on her actions, and he shared his letter with several friends.
A week later, my cousin came to visit for my high school graduation ceremony. He is very interested in God's word, so I decided to show him the video interviews to get his opinion on them. Clearly, he felt the same way I did, to an even greater extreme. When I told him about my friend's letter, he was more than eager to write a letter of his own. I was slowly persuaded to write a letter as well. So rather than send two separate messages to Mrs. Roper, my cousin and I teamed up to write one long letter.
Before I share the message, I would like to briefly explain what the Westboro Baptist Church preaches and why it and its congregation are so interesting. Founded in 1955 by Pastor Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church preaches that salvation is primarily through works. They travel the world protesting the funerals of American soldiers, claiming that they deserved to die for supporting America. Why would WBC be against America? Because this nation is filled with homosexuals and people who do nothing to oppose homosexuality, according to WBC. (The members of WBC use a different word for "homosexual," but I feel uncomfortable saying it, or even typing it. The word is even used in the URL for their website.) Mrs. Roper and her congregation go out on the streets, preaching that obedience is the only way to salvation and that, otherwise, we are all going to hell. (That is not the true message of the Bible, but I will let my letter do the explaining on that.) To make a long story short, WBC seems to believe that they are the only true Christians, the only ones righteous in the world, and that their mission is to make that known while hardening the hearts of men, blinding their eyes, and deafening their ears so that no others will obtain redemption.
If you would like more information, please feel free to look up Shirley Phelps Roper on YouTube. Her interviews are everywhere.
And now, without further ado, here is the letter that my cousin and I put together for Mrs. Roper.
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Hello, Mrs. Roper.
Our names are Michael and Eddie, and we are two teenage cousins with a love of God and a deep interest in Christian beliefs. We have seen several videos of your interviews and are very interested in your views and your reasons for your actions. We have several questions and comments we would like to make, which we will try to do respectfully, and we would very much appreciate it if you would give us a timely reply with the same respect.
First, we would like to apologize for the length of this letter. There are just so many points that we would like to address, and there was no way we could abbreviate it.
Also, please seriously consider what we are saying. We may be young, but we are simply trying to obey the words of 1 Timothy 4:12: "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."
Eddie and I both attend church regularly, and we spend a great deal of time in the Scriptures so that we can grow closer to God. We have experience in several different denominations, including Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, and Wesleyan churches. But we have never heard of any church that preaches what you preach. We were very surprised and, to be honest, somewhat indignant when we heard some of the things you said in news reports.
In one such interview, you clearly stated that God controls the hearts of men. We have come to believe over the years that, although God does have the ability to control our actions, often He does not use that ability. After all, if He did, then sin would be nonexistent. In fact, it never would have come into existence at all. We believe that our heavenly Father has given us free will to decide what to do for ourselves. As He says through John in 1 John 4:16, "God is love." The way I have come to understand love is this: the relationship between two humans is not forced but a mutual act of free will. Eddie and I believe that this understanding of love also applies to the relationship between God and men. God sent His Son to die for us out of love. He chose us, so now it is up to us as humans to choose Him and complete the relationship. In this way, God gives us freedom to choose our own courses of action. It is only when we give our lives to Him that He reveals His will to us so that we can act upon it, but even then He does not control us. We have to continually choose to follow Him.
We would like to bring an idea to mind. Have you ever considered that when young men and women die, God allows them to die rather than killing them? What we mean is this: there may be plenty of cases where God allows His people to die so that they can return home to heaven to be with Him, like Elijah and Enoch (2 Kings 2:1-14; Genesis 5:24). Just because someone dies does not mean that God hates him or her. I don't know about you, but we haven't heard of any more cases like Elijah or Enoch outside of the Bible. So by your reasoning, it seems that this must mean that God hates everyone. But it seems to me that you believe that you and your followers are the only people who will go to heaven. But I would like to remind you of Romans 3:10: "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one.'"
Human death is not a thing to be ashamed of. In fact, aside from the coming of our Lord, it is the one thing we Christians look forward to the most in this life. After all, death of the flesh means entrance into the new life. We remain in this life only to do good works that glorify God and to spread the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
As I understand from your interviews, you believe that only those who obey the Lord's Commandments will be saved. But look back at Romans 3:10 again. Nobody can live their lives without breaking the Commandments. It seems to me that you are preaching salvation by works, not by faith. But the Bible clearly states that faith is what saves us, and works are merely the evidence of our faith. For example, the famous words of John 3:16 say, "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." "Whoever believes in Him"—not whoever obeys the commandments flawlessly, not those God likes: those who believe in Him. Now I do agree that faith alone cannot save us. In fact, Jesus' brother James says so in James 2:17. But that does not mean that our deeds can save us. See Ephesians 2:8-9: "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." "It is the gift of God"—God was under no obligation to give us salvation. He did it out of love for us. Paul then goes on in his letter to the Ephesians to say that we have been made to do good works. But this means that we are to serve others and glorify God, not judge others and condemn them by their deeds.
Romans 3:21-24 says, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 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." "A righteousness from God, apart from the law"—again, Paul makes it clear that we are not to rely on our works to gain salvation for us. Our works cannot save us; that is why Jesus came to die for us, in order to serve as the ultimate Sacrifice for our sins. "Through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe"—anyone can be saved if they believe in Jesus. To me, to "believe in" Jesus means that we thankfully accept His gift of salvation and turn from our sinful ways. And by "turn from our sinful ways," I mean, "wholeheartedly apologize to God and make an honest attempt to choose Him over our sinful desires." And of course you know Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Now before you zone us out, let me say this: I understand how annoyed you must get when you hear others tell you not to judge people when they themselves seem to be judging you. Allow me to apologize now for anything we may say that offends you or that sounds like we are being judgmental.
With that being said, I would like to direct your attention to James 4:11-12: "Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?" Do any of us have any right to judge a fellow human? James seems to think not. And if what we, as Christians, believe is true, then we can take James' words to be the words of God Himself.
We have a question for you. Any time an interviewer says, "Judge not," to you, you become indignant and retort that they are the ones judging you. That may be true, but seriously reconsider what you have been doing and saying. Take a minute and step into the shoes of the wife of a soldier who died in Iraq. Let's say, hypothetically, that this soldier was a devout member of the church (nondenominational); he read his Bible every day and spent time alone with God for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening each day; he led Bible studies at church every week, and he actively took notes on the sermon every Sunday morning and studied them throughout the week, applying them to his life along with the words of the Bible; through his actions and words over the last three years, he has brought ten people to Christ and has introduced God to hundreds. If someone came to you protesting your husband's funeral and claiming that he deserved to die, what would you think? Would you automatically think and say, "Thank you for warning me. Clearly God used my husband's death in order to save me"? Although it may be true that that is God's purpose in the deaths of some, that is not the case in all situations. I honestly cannot imagine you being so driven by your beliefs that you would stand by and let your own husband's funeral be protested. What do you think is running through the minds of those men and women whose loved ones have passed away, whose funerals you and your church are protesting? I highly doubt it is gratitude. If you were in their shoes, I believe you would be thinking the same thing so many people have been telling you: "Judge not."
Now please tell me, do you consider your actions to be acts of love? Again, I may only be a teenager, but I believe acts of love are recognizable as acts of love. Whether a parent's rebuke or a friendly hug, it is understood that these things are done out of love. But I cannot truthfully say that I believe saying, "Gays deserve to die," is very loving. Sure, the Bible forbids homosexuality, but God forgives sinners when we repent and turn our lives over to Christ. (Just to clarify, no, I am not gay.) In one interview, you repeatedly avoided the accusation that you had a child out of wedlock. If the accusation is true, then thank God that He is a forgiving God. (If it is false, thank God for helping you to keep His Commandment against adultery.) And because He is a forgiving God, He forgives all who call on His name and turn from their sinful desires. It is not for us but for God alone to decide who will live in heaven and who will die in hell.
1 Peter 3:8-9 says, "Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." And Galatians 6:1a says, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently." When I see these verses, I think of a mother warning a toddler not to hit his or her siblings, or two brothers in Christ keeping each other accountable in staying away from lustful temptations. I ask you to reconsider your actions and see if there may be a better way to get the message across that Jesus is the only way to eternal life.
On the WBC website, there is a verse (Proverbs 1:22) that says that God doesn't love everyone. First, I would just like to say that my New International Version Bible does not say that. Second, I would like to show another verse that, I believe, contradicts that statement: Romans 5:6-8. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." "Christ died for the ungodly"—that's great news for everyone, including you and me. After all, we are sinful human beings. Until we had Christ, we too were ungodly. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us"—thank God! Think about it this way: If Jesus didn't die for the sinners but only for the righteous, what was the point of His death? After all, I don't know of anyone other than Jesus Himself who managed to live perfectly for his or her entire life. That means that there was no one for Him to die for. If that is the case, then Jesus died only for Himself... and what good does that do anyone?
As I came to this part of the letter, I began to think of a good way to wrap things up. I wanted to bring up John 3:16 again, and I thought it would be cool if I started and ended this message with the same verse. But then I realized that I didn't start the letter with John 3:16, and it turns out I won't be ending with it either, so I gave up on that idea. But I would still like to bring up John 3:16 again anyway. "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 so loved the world"—He sent Jesus to die for us because He loved the world. He loved His creation. He loved all of mankind. Not just those who loved Him, but everyone. If you've ever had a crush on someone when you were a kid, and you didn't know how he felt about you, but you continued to like him anyway, hoping that he would eventually come around and tell you that he liked you too, that is how God felt about all of mankind, on a microscopic level. He hoped to demonstrate His love for us through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. It is up to us as humans to decide whether we love Him back or not.
I enjoy doing Bible studies with my small group at church. A couple months ago, we were reading our way through 1 Corinthians. My small group leader stressed to us the importance of the message in 1 Corinthians 8, which I believe is summed up in 1 Corinthians 10:31-33: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved." In an interview I saw on YouTube, you said that your mission as a church is summarized in Isaiah in the verse that says that the people will be "ever seeing but not perceiving" and "ever hearing but not understanding" and their hearts will be hardened. I would like to offer an alternative mission. Rather than harden the hearts of men so that they will not gain salvation, try sharing the Gospel. God loves His people: He hates sin and desires for everyone to be free of sin so that we can all live with Him forever. Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20 to "go and make disciples of all nations." Not just His chosen people, Israel. All nations. So rather than cause the hearts of the unfaithful to become even more hardened and the newborn believers to become unsure of their beliefs, encourage new believers and show the positive side of the Gospel. Show love and compassion, and use all the publicity you have gotten to tell the world that God loves them and wants them to love Him back.
Now, to end, Eddie and I have a few questions for you, just to lighten the mood a bit (we hope).
Just out of curiosity, how many children do you have? We saw a couple video interviews, and in one you said you had eight children, and in the other you said you had eleven. So we were just wondering how many you have now.
I would also like to know (as if we haven't already given you enough to talk about), what is your view on the Harry Potter books? Are they permissible, or should Christians steer clear of them?
One more question: Where did you and your husband take your theological training? Just curious.
Again, we apologize for the length of this letter. And I sincerely apologize if anything we have said has offended you. (My cousin would not agree with my apology, but that is why I am the one writing, not him.) Thank you for your time, and God bless!
Michael and Eddie
---"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21---
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As I said to Mrs. Roper, I apologize for the length of this post. But I hope that it cleared some things up for anyone who had any questions on what Christians truly believe.
If, and when, I receive a response, I will be sure to post it. If you would like to send a message to Mrs. Roper and the WBC, visit the church's website (look up Westboro Baptist Church on Google, and it should be the first result) and click "Contact" in the upper-right corner.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
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"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
A week later, my cousin came to visit for my high school graduation ceremony. He is very interested in God's word, so I decided to show him the video interviews to get his opinion on them. Clearly, he felt the same way I did, to an even greater extreme. When I told him about my friend's letter, he was more than eager to write a letter of his own. I was slowly persuaded to write a letter as well. So rather than send two separate messages to Mrs. Roper, my cousin and I teamed up to write one long letter.
Before I share the message, I would like to briefly explain what the Westboro Baptist Church preaches and why it and its congregation are so interesting. Founded in 1955 by Pastor Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church preaches that salvation is primarily through works. They travel the world protesting the funerals of American soldiers, claiming that they deserved to die for supporting America. Why would WBC be against America? Because this nation is filled with homosexuals and people who do nothing to oppose homosexuality, according to WBC. (The members of WBC use a different word for "homosexual," but I feel uncomfortable saying it, or even typing it. The word is even used in the URL for their website.) Mrs. Roper and her congregation go out on the streets, preaching that obedience is the only way to salvation and that, otherwise, we are all going to hell. (That is not the true message of the Bible, but I will let my letter do the explaining on that.) To make a long story short, WBC seems to believe that they are the only true Christians, the only ones righteous in the world, and that their mission is to make that known while hardening the hearts of men, blinding their eyes, and deafening their ears so that no others will obtain redemption.
If you would like more information, please feel free to look up Shirley Phelps Roper on YouTube. Her interviews are everywhere.
And now, without further ado, here is the letter that my cousin and I put together for Mrs. Roper.
——————————————————————————————————————
Hello, Mrs. Roper.
Our names are Michael and Eddie, and we are two teenage cousins with a love of God and a deep interest in Christian beliefs. We have seen several videos of your interviews and are very interested in your views and your reasons for your actions. We have several questions and comments we would like to make, which we will try to do respectfully, and we would very much appreciate it if you would give us a timely reply with the same respect.
First, we would like to apologize for the length of this letter. There are just so many points that we would like to address, and there was no way we could abbreviate it.
Also, please seriously consider what we are saying. We may be young, but we are simply trying to obey the words of 1 Timothy 4:12: "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."
Eddie and I both attend church regularly, and we spend a great deal of time in the Scriptures so that we can grow closer to God. We have experience in several different denominations, including Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, and Wesleyan churches. But we have never heard of any church that preaches what you preach. We were very surprised and, to be honest, somewhat indignant when we heard some of the things you said in news reports.
In one such interview, you clearly stated that God controls the hearts of men. We have come to believe over the years that, although God does have the ability to control our actions, often He does not use that ability. After all, if He did, then sin would be nonexistent. In fact, it never would have come into existence at all. We believe that our heavenly Father has given us free will to decide what to do for ourselves. As He says through John in 1 John 4:16, "God is love." The way I have come to understand love is this: the relationship between two humans is not forced but a mutual act of free will. Eddie and I believe that this understanding of love also applies to the relationship between God and men. God sent His Son to die for us out of love. He chose us, so now it is up to us as humans to choose Him and complete the relationship. In this way, God gives us freedom to choose our own courses of action. It is only when we give our lives to Him that He reveals His will to us so that we can act upon it, but even then He does not control us. We have to continually choose to follow Him.
We would like to bring an idea to mind. Have you ever considered that when young men and women die, God allows them to die rather than killing them? What we mean is this: there may be plenty of cases where God allows His people to die so that they can return home to heaven to be with Him, like Elijah and Enoch (2 Kings 2:1-14; Genesis 5:24). Just because someone dies does not mean that God hates him or her. I don't know about you, but we haven't heard of any more cases like Elijah or Enoch outside of the Bible. So by your reasoning, it seems that this must mean that God hates everyone. But it seems to me that you believe that you and your followers are the only people who will go to heaven. But I would like to remind you of Romans 3:10: "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one.'"
Human death is not a thing to be ashamed of. In fact, aside from the coming of our Lord, it is the one thing we Christians look forward to the most in this life. After all, death of the flesh means entrance into the new life. We remain in this life only to do good works that glorify God and to spread the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
As I understand from your interviews, you believe that only those who obey the Lord's Commandments will be saved. But look back at Romans 3:10 again. Nobody can live their lives without breaking the Commandments. It seems to me that you are preaching salvation by works, not by faith. But the Bible clearly states that faith is what saves us, and works are merely the evidence of our faith. For example, the famous words of John 3:16 say, "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." "Whoever believes in Him"—not whoever obeys the commandments flawlessly, not those God likes: those who believe in Him. Now I do agree that faith alone cannot save us. In fact, Jesus' brother James says so in James 2:17. But that does not mean that our deeds can save us. See Ephesians 2:8-9: "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." "It is the gift of God"—God was under no obligation to give us salvation. He did it out of love for us. Paul then goes on in his letter to the Ephesians to say that we have been made to do good works. But this means that we are to serve others and glorify God, not judge others and condemn them by their deeds.
Romans 3:21-24 says, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 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." "A righteousness from God, apart from the law"—again, Paul makes it clear that we are not to rely on our works to gain salvation for us. Our works cannot save us; that is why Jesus came to die for us, in order to serve as the ultimate Sacrifice for our sins. "Through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe"—anyone can be saved if they believe in Jesus. To me, to "believe in" Jesus means that we thankfully accept His gift of salvation and turn from our sinful ways. And by "turn from our sinful ways," I mean, "wholeheartedly apologize to God and make an honest attempt to choose Him over our sinful desires." And of course you know Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Now before you zone us out, let me say this: I understand how annoyed you must get when you hear others tell you not to judge people when they themselves seem to be judging you. Allow me to apologize now for anything we may say that offends you or that sounds like we are being judgmental.
With that being said, I would like to direct your attention to James 4:11-12: "Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?" Do any of us have any right to judge a fellow human? James seems to think not. And if what we, as Christians, believe is true, then we can take James' words to be the words of God Himself.
We have a question for you. Any time an interviewer says, "Judge not," to you, you become indignant and retort that they are the ones judging you. That may be true, but seriously reconsider what you have been doing and saying. Take a minute and step into the shoes of the wife of a soldier who died in Iraq. Let's say, hypothetically, that this soldier was a devout member of the church (nondenominational); he read his Bible every day and spent time alone with God for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening each day; he led Bible studies at church every week, and he actively took notes on the sermon every Sunday morning and studied them throughout the week, applying them to his life along with the words of the Bible; through his actions and words over the last three years, he has brought ten people to Christ and has introduced God to hundreds. If someone came to you protesting your husband's funeral and claiming that he deserved to die, what would you think? Would you automatically think and say, "Thank you for warning me. Clearly God used my husband's death in order to save me"? Although it may be true that that is God's purpose in the deaths of some, that is not the case in all situations. I honestly cannot imagine you being so driven by your beliefs that you would stand by and let your own husband's funeral be protested. What do you think is running through the minds of those men and women whose loved ones have passed away, whose funerals you and your church are protesting? I highly doubt it is gratitude. If you were in their shoes, I believe you would be thinking the same thing so many people have been telling you: "Judge not."
Now please tell me, do you consider your actions to be acts of love? Again, I may only be a teenager, but I believe acts of love are recognizable as acts of love. Whether a parent's rebuke or a friendly hug, it is understood that these things are done out of love. But I cannot truthfully say that I believe saying, "Gays deserve to die," is very loving. Sure, the Bible forbids homosexuality, but God forgives sinners when we repent and turn our lives over to Christ. (Just to clarify, no, I am not gay.) In one interview, you repeatedly avoided the accusation that you had a child out of wedlock. If the accusation is true, then thank God that He is a forgiving God. (If it is false, thank God for helping you to keep His Commandment against adultery.) And because He is a forgiving God, He forgives all who call on His name and turn from their sinful desires. It is not for us but for God alone to decide who will live in heaven and who will die in hell.
1 Peter 3:8-9 says, "Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." And Galatians 6:1a says, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently." When I see these verses, I think of a mother warning a toddler not to hit his or her siblings, or two brothers in Christ keeping each other accountable in staying away from lustful temptations. I ask you to reconsider your actions and see if there may be a better way to get the message across that Jesus is the only way to eternal life.
On the WBC website, there is a verse (Proverbs 1:22) that says that God doesn't love everyone. First, I would just like to say that my New International Version Bible does not say that. Second, I would like to show another verse that, I believe, contradicts that statement: Romans 5:6-8. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." "Christ died for the ungodly"—that's great news for everyone, including you and me. After all, we are sinful human beings. Until we had Christ, we too were ungodly. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us"—thank God! Think about it this way: If Jesus didn't die for the sinners but only for the righteous, what was the point of His death? After all, I don't know of anyone other than Jesus Himself who managed to live perfectly for his or her entire life. That means that there was no one for Him to die for. If that is the case, then Jesus died only for Himself... and what good does that do anyone?
As I came to this part of the letter, I began to think of a good way to wrap things up. I wanted to bring up John 3:16 again, and I thought it would be cool if I started and ended this message with the same verse. But then I realized that I didn't start the letter with John 3:16, and it turns out I won't be ending with it either, so I gave up on that idea. But I would still like to bring up John 3:16 again anyway. "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 so loved the world"—He sent Jesus to die for us because He loved the world. He loved His creation. He loved all of mankind. Not just those who loved Him, but everyone. If you've ever had a crush on someone when you were a kid, and you didn't know how he felt about you, but you continued to like him anyway, hoping that he would eventually come around and tell you that he liked you too, that is how God felt about all of mankind, on a microscopic level. He hoped to demonstrate His love for us through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. It is up to us as humans to decide whether we love Him back or not.
I enjoy doing Bible studies with my small group at church. A couple months ago, we were reading our way through 1 Corinthians. My small group leader stressed to us the importance of the message in 1 Corinthians 8, which I believe is summed up in 1 Corinthians 10:31-33: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved." In an interview I saw on YouTube, you said that your mission as a church is summarized in Isaiah in the verse that says that the people will be "ever seeing but not perceiving" and "ever hearing but not understanding" and their hearts will be hardened. I would like to offer an alternative mission. Rather than harden the hearts of men so that they will not gain salvation, try sharing the Gospel. God loves His people: He hates sin and desires for everyone to be free of sin so that we can all live with Him forever. Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20 to "go and make disciples of all nations." Not just His chosen people, Israel. All nations. So rather than cause the hearts of the unfaithful to become even more hardened and the newborn believers to become unsure of their beliefs, encourage new believers and show the positive side of the Gospel. Show love and compassion, and use all the publicity you have gotten to tell the world that God loves them and wants them to love Him back.
Now, to end, Eddie and I have a few questions for you, just to lighten the mood a bit (we hope).
Just out of curiosity, how many children do you have? We saw a couple video interviews, and in one you said you had eight children, and in the other you said you had eleven. So we were just wondering how many you have now.
I would also like to know (as if we haven't already given you enough to talk about), what is your view on the Harry Potter books? Are they permissible, or should Christians steer clear of them?
One more question: Where did you and your husband take your theological training? Just curious.
Again, we apologize for the length of this letter. And I sincerely apologize if anything we have said has offended you. (My cousin would not agree with my apology, but that is why I am the one writing, not him.) Thank you for your time, and God bless!
Michael and Eddie
---"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21---
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As I said to Mrs. Roper, I apologize for the length of this post. But I hope that it cleared some things up for anyone who had any questions on what Christians truly believe.
If, and when, I receive a response, I will be sure to post it. If you would like to send a message to Mrs. Roper and the WBC, visit the church's website (look up Westboro Baptist Church on Google, and it should be the first result) and click "Contact" in the upper-right corner.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
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"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
Nonconformity
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will." ~ Romans 12:1-2
This is a very challenging verse. Paul never fails to remind God's people that we are to keep our eyes on the goal of heaven. As he says in 2 Corinthians 4:18, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Romans 12:2 has a very similar message to 2 Corinthians 4:18: leave behind the ways of the world and follow Jesus so that you can gain eternal life through Him.
When we first turn to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, He sends His Holy Spirit to us to fill us and teach us His will. The Spirit guides us—guides our thinking and reasoning—so that we can do what God has set before us to do. And more often than not, His ways are not the ways of the world. As we grow in our faith, the Spirit urges us more and more to rely on God and allow Him to work in us and through us. In doing so, we set aside our earthly desires in favor of a godly life.
I apologize if it seems like I'm talking in circles; it seems that way to me, so I'll move on.
In Romans 12:1, we are told to give our bodies as "living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God." This does not mean that we should go commit suicide for the sake of sacrificing ourselves to God. That is not what Paul is saying here at all. What he means is that we should, as Jesus put it, deny ourselves and follow Him. We are to give ourselves wholly to the work of God.
Verse 2 expands on this. Not only are we to serve God with our entire being, we are also told to put aside the ways of the world: the ways many of our friends follow.
So where am I headed with all of this? To tell the truth, I don't exactly know. I had originally planned to only have one point to make in this message. Now it seems that I am still only making one point (not the one I had intended), but expanding on it more and more. Maybe I'm rambling because it's so late. So I guess I'd better hurry and wrap things up.
A couple days ago, I had the privilege of going to the Creation Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. The speaker while I was there, Bodie Hodge, did a brief (one hour) presentation on the creation of the world and the conflict between evolution and the Bible. Although I felt like he was being a little imposing, forcing his ideas, he did have a point when he said this: "We so often try to force-fit evolution into the Bible. But which one always gets compromised when we do that: evolution or the Bible? The Bible." Sadly, he's right. When presented with the idea that the earth is billions of years old, rather than going to the Bible and calculating the earth's age to be about 6000 years, we accept the proposal that the earth is, in fact, billions of years old, and then we look for ways to fit those extra years into the Bible. Instead of accepting the Bible as fact and adjusting our scientific beliefs to fit the Bible, we accept science as fact and adjust the Bible to fit science.
Bodie commented on this tendency to force-fit evolution into the Bible, saying, "We take the Bible and say, 'God, I know what You've told me in Your word, but here's what I know.' (Speaking about evolution.) We take the word of God and try to force-fit evolution into it. We're telling God He's wrong and that science has proven it. Who are we to tell God He's wrong?"
Who are we...?
As a Christian who was unsure about what I believed when it came to the age of the earth, this struck me hard. For a while, I had been willing to accept that the world may be billions of years old if you can find a way to fit those billions of years into the Bible. But Bodie made several convincing points that disprove the theory that the earth is billions of years old. To give an example, scientists have found rocks (volcanic rocks, I think) that they have dated back millions of years through the method of carbon dating. One problem: inside the rocks is contained helium gas, which leaks out of the rocks at a rate that would have depleted the helium supply in the rocks several million years ago if the earth really was billions of years old. So the world couldn't be more than a few thousand years old, as shown in the Bible by adding up genealogies.
Science is not infallible. That's why scientists use variables and multiple trials when conducting experiments. And everyone knows that nobody's perfect. So could it be possible that radio-carbon dating is inaccurate? To a certain point, I believe carbon dating is very useful and accurate. But when you get past that point, I think it is more than likely that the accuracy of radio-carbon dating decays along with its mass.
So when faced with the decision between evolution and the Bible, what should we do? To sum up Bodie's message in just a few words, rather than trying to change the Bible to fit science, change science to fit the Bible. If a scientific conclusion doesn't fit the Bible, it doesn't belong there and needs to be rethought. And the same goes for anything in life. If it doesn't fit the Bible, it needs to be changed.
So to get back on track, the whole section about nonconformity at the beginning of this post has to do with the acceptance of evolutionary theories. We should not conform to the ideas of the world, but should stay true to God's word. When we do that, all things will fall into place.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
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"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
This is a very challenging verse. Paul never fails to remind God's people that we are to keep our eyes on the goal of heaven. As he says in 2 Corinthians 4:18, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Romans 12:2 has a very similar message to 2 Corinthians 4:18: leave behind the ways of the world and follow Jesus so that you can gain eternal life through Him.
When we first turn to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, He sends His Holy Spirit to us to fill us and teach us His will. The Spirit guides us—guides our thinking and reasoning—so that we can do what God has set before us to do. And more often than not, His ways are not the ways of the world. As we grow in our faith, the Spirit urges us more and more to rely on God and allow Him to work in us and through us. In doing so, we set aside our earthly desires in favor of a godly life.
I apologize if it seems like I'm talking in circles; it seems that way to me, so I'll move on.
In Romans 12:1, we are told to give our bodies as "living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God." This does not mean that we should go commit suicide for the sake of sacrificing ourselves to God. That is not what Paul is saying here at all. What he means is that we should, as Jesus put it, deny ourselves and follow Him. We are to give ourselves wholly to the work of God.
Verse 2 expands on this. Not only are we to serve God with our entire being, we are also told to put aside the ways of the world: the ways many of our friends follow.
So where am I headed with all of this? To tell the truth, I don't exactly know. I had originally planned to only have one point to make in this message. Now it seems that I am still only making one point (not the one I had intended), but expanding on it more and more. Maybe I'm rambling because it's so late. So I guess I'd better hurry and wrap things up.
A couple days ago, I had the privilege of going to the Creation Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. The speaker while I was there, Bodie Hodge, did a brief (one hour) presentation on the creation of the world and the conflict between evolution and the Bible. Although I felt like he was being a little imposing, forcing his ideas, he did have a point when he said this: "We so often try to force-fit evolution into the Bible. But which one always gets compromised when we do that: evolution or the Bible? The Bible." Sadly, he's right. When presented with the idea that the earth is billions of years old, rather than going to the Bible and calculating the earth's age to be about 6000 years, we accept the proposal that the earth is, in fact, billions of years old, and then we look for ways to fit those extra years into the Bible. Instead of accepting the Bible as fact and adjusting our scientific beliefs to fit the Bible, we accept science as fact and adjust the Bible to fit science.
Bodie commented on this tendency to force-fit evolution into the Bible, saying, "We take the Bible and say, 'God, I know what You've told me in Your word, but here's what I know.' (Speaking about evolution.) We take the word of God and try to force-fit evolution into it. We're telling God He's wrong and that science has proven it. Who are we to tell God He's wrong?"
Who are we...?
As a Christian who was unsure about what I believed when it came to the age of the earth, this struck me hard. For a while, I had been willing to accept that the world may be billions of years old if you can find a way to fit those billions of years into the Bible. But Bodie made several convincing points that disprove the theory that the earth is billions of years old. To give an example, scientists have found rocks (volcanic rocks, I think) that they have dated back millions of years through the method of carbon dating. One problem: inside the rocks is contained helium gas, which leaks out of the rocks at a rate that would have depleted the helium supply in the rocks several million years ago if the earth really was billions of years old. So the world couldn't be more than a few thousand years old, as shown in the Bible by adding up genealogies.
Science is not infallible. That's why scientists use variables and multiple trials when conducting experiments. And everyone knows that nobody's perfect. So could it be possible that radio-carbon dating is inaccurate? To a certain point, I believe carbon dating is very useful and accurate. But when you get past that point, I think it is more than likely that the accuracy of radio-carbon dating decays along with its mass.
So when faced with the decision between evolution and the Bible, what should we do? To sum up Bodie's message in just a few words, rather than trying to change the Bible to fit science, change science to fit the Bible. If a scientific conclusion doesn't fit the Bible, it doesn't belong there and needs to be rethought. And the same goes for anything in life. If it doesn't fit the Bible, it needs to be changed.
So to get back on track, the whole section about nonconformity at the beginning of this post has to do with the acceptance of evolutionary theories. We should not conform to the ideas of the world, but should stay true to God's word. When we do that, all things will fall into place.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Christians: Working Hard or Hardly Working
I was at church a few days ago listening to the pastor when something he said hit me. He said, "Being a Christian is the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life." And it's true; I definitely agree that being a Christian is not easy.
But how do so many people make it look so easy?
Well, I have two answers for that. 1) They love God and trust Him so much that He gives them joy all the time, even when the going gets tough. 2) They say they've accepted Christ as their Savior, but they really aren't doing anything to serve the Lord; they haven't really repented.
Being a Christian means that you have turned from your old life and given up everything to God. The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" And what an amazing thing to hear coming from Paul himself, who went from being a devout Pharisee bent on destroying the Christian population to one of the most dedicated messengers of the Gospel!
But for most, unlike Paul, this becoming a new creation is a process, not an event. Although there is a point where we turn our lives over to God and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, the removal of sin from our lives is a gradual process. And that is what makes being a Christian so hard: we must continually strive to choose God rather than sin. And I'm sure you all know just how hard that can be when Satan has devoted his existence to making sin look as appealing as possible. "It's only one question. It's not like you're cheating on the entire test." "Come on, take a sip. Enjoy it! One glass of beer isn't going to hurt you." "Are you going to take that? How dare he talk to you like that? You deserve better than that! The Bible says that you should do to others as you want to be treated. Go give him what he asked for!" We have to fight Satan and our desires daily and refuse to give in to temptation. No wonder my pastor said being a Christian is so hard.
So now I've shown how hard Christianity can be. But why does it look so easy for many people?
Let's start with my second answer. One of the arguments many people have for not becoming a Christian is that so many of us seem like hypocrites. We talk about how God loves us and how Jesus saved us from death and that we should live our lives for Him because He gave His for us, and then we go on sinning like before. I have to confess that I find myself being a hypocrite too a lot of times. (Thank God that He forgives!) I'm sad to say that the people who make that argument do have a point. Why claim to be a Christian if you're not going to let it make a difference in your life? But on the other hand, if those people are so annoyed by all the hypocrites, I think they could become some of the most devoted followers of Christ because they hate hypocrisy so much.
But continuing with my original point, many people simply don't get what it means to be a Christian. They say, "Jesus, thank You for dying for my sins. Thank You for saving me from death. Amen," and then they're done. They go back out into the world of drugs, sex, and hatred. Some will argue that this is okay because God will forgive us. But Paul makes it clear in Romans 6 that this is not the case. And in 2 Corinthians 7:1, he says, "Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."
And that leads us to my first answer. Because God gave us the ultimate gift of salvation through Christ, we thankfully and joyfully serve Him. When I receive a gift from someone on a random occasion (not my birthday or Christmas or any other time you'd expect a gift), I naturally feel the need and desire to give something back out of thanks. This is how we should feel toward God. After all, He sent His Son to die for us. I don't know about you, but if my brother gave his life for me, I'd want to live in a way that would honor him. And Matthew 12:48-50 says that we are Jesus' brothers and sisters.
The Christians who daily deny themselves and their earthly desires, those who take up the cross and follow Christ (Luke 9:23) — these men and women, boys and girls make Christianity look easy because they have their eyes set on the prize in heaven (Colossians 3:1-4). 2 Corinthians 4:18 explains these people's lives perfectly: "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Eternal life with our Maker in heaven is so much more rewarding than a few momentary pleasures.
To sum things up, there are two types of Christians in my mind: those who are content to live in sin, and those who will settle for nothing less than Christ. The Bible says in John 3:16, "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." But it also says, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38) and "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). So will the unrepentant believers be saved? The way I see it, if a person makes no conscious effort to turn from his or her sinful ways, that person never really believed and did not truly accept Jesus as his or her Savior. But that question is for God alone to answer on Judgment Day. I hope that I will be proven wrong.
Christianity is as hard or as easy as you make it. We have a few choices. 1) Accept Christ as our Savior and go on sinning and refusing to repent, living as hypocrites seeking temporary earthly pleasures rather than the eternal joy of the kingdom of heaven. 2) Live for Christ reluctantly, as if under obligation. 3) Live for Christ joyfully and thankfully, filled with His Spirit and eager to serve, and chasing after the greatest prize in the universe. The first choice is easy. The second is hard. And the third is difficult, but more than worth it. It's your choice.
So what does a Christian look like? We strive to look like one thing. The answer is two short, simple, powerful words:
Jesus Christ.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
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"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
But how do so many people make it look so easy?
Well, I have two answers for that. 1) They love God and trust Him so much that He gives them joy all the time, even when the going gets tough. 2) They say they've accepted Christ as their Savior, but they really aren't doing anything to serve the Lord; they haven't really repented.
Being a Christian means that you have turned from your old life and given up everything to God. The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" And what an amazing thing to hear coming from Paul himself, who went from being a devout Pharisee bent on destroying the Christian population to one of the most dedicated messengers of the Gospel!
But for most, unlike Paul, this becoming a new creation is a process, not an event. Although there is a point where we turn our lives over to God and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, the removal of sin from our lives is a gradual process. And that is what makes being a Christian so hard: we must continually strive to choose God rather than sin. And I'm sure you all know just how hard that can be when Satan has devoted his existence to making sin look as appealing as possible. "It's only one question. It's not like you're cheating on the entire test." "Come on, take a sip. Enjoy it! One glass of beer isn't going to hurt you." "Are you going to take that? How dare he talk to you like that? You deserve better than that! The Bible says that you should do to others as you want to be treated. Go give him what he asked for!" We have to fight Satan and our desires daily and refuse to give in to temptation. No wonder my pastor said being a Christian is so hard.
So now I've shown how hard Christianity can be. But why does it look so easy for many people?
Let's start with my second answer. One of the arguments many people have for not becoming a Christian is that so many of us seem like hypocrites. We talk about how God loves us and how Jesus saved us from death and that we should live our lives for Him because He gave His for us, and then we go on sinning like before. I have to confess that I find myself being a hypocrite too a lot of times. (Thank God that He forgives!) I'm sad to say that the people who make that argument do have a point. Why claim to be a Christian if you're not going to let it make a difference in your life? But on the other hand, if those people are so annoyed by all the hypocrites, I think they could become some of the most devoted followers of Christ because they hate hypocrisy so much.
But continuing with my original point, many people simply don't get what it means to be a Christian. They say, "Jesus, thank You for dying for my sins. Thank You for saving me from death. Amen," and then they're done. They go back out into the world of drugs, sex, and hatred. Some will argue that this is okay because God will forgive us. But Paul makes it clear in Romans 6 that this is not the case. And in 2 Corinthians 7:1, he says, "Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."
And that leads us to my first answer. Because God gave us the ultimate gift of salvation through Christ, we thankfully and joyfully serve Him. When I receive a gift from someone on a random occasion (not my birthday or Christmas or any other time you'd expect a gift), I naturally feel the need and desire to give something back out of thanks. This is how we should feel toward God. After all, He sent His Son to die for us. I don't know about you, but if my brother gave his life for me, I'd want to live in a way that would honor him. And Matthew 12:48-50 says that we are Jesus' brothers and sisters.
The Christians who daily deny themselves and their earthly desires, those who take up the cross and follow Christ (Luke 9:23) — these men and women, boys and girls make Christianity look easy because they have their eyes set on the prize in heaven (Colossians 3:1-4). 2 Corinthians 4:18 explains these people's lives perfectly: "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Eternal life with our Maker in heaven is so much more rewarding than a few momentary pleasures.
To sum things up, there are two types of Christians in my mind: those who are content to live in sin, and those who will settle for nothing less than Christ. The Bible says in John 3:16, "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." But it also says, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38) and "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). So will the unrepentant believers be saved? The way I see it, if a person makes no conscious effort to turn from his or her sinful ways, that person never really believed and did not truly accept Jesus as his or her Savior. But that question is for God alone to answer on Judgment Day. I hope that I will be proven wrong.
Christianity is as hard or as easy as you make it. We have a few choices. 1) Accept Christ as our Savior and go on sinning and refusing to repent, living as hypocrites seeking temporary earthly pleasures rather than the eternal joy of the kingdom of heaven. 2) Live for Christ reluctantly, as if under obligation. 3) Live for Christ joyfully and thankfully, filled with His Spirit and eager to serve, and chasing after the greatest prize in the universe. The first choice is easy. The second is hard. And the third is difficult, but more than worth it. It's your choice.
So what does a Christian look like? We strive to look like one thing. The answer is two short, simple, powerful words:
Jesus Christ.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
The Message of the Gospel
So up until now, all of my posts have been about spreading God's love, whether through words or through actions. Everything has been primarily to build up my brothers and sisters in Christ. But now I have a special message. This one is for those who have not yet allowed the Holy Spirit to change their lives.
First off, Christianity is not just a message of condemnation and numerous rules and laws that must be obeyed in order to avoid that fate. If it were, then there would be no hope for humanity because nobody can obey all rules and laws perfectly all the time. Chances are, you've lied to your parents or stolen a piece of candy from the Halloween bowl when nobody was looking or yelled at your siblings. We all have. The truth is, we are sinful creatures. We cannot achieve perfection and, therefore, we cannot reach Heaven on our own. We need Someone to open the gate for us, to bridge the gap.
Thankfully, Christianity is not just a message of condemnation, but a message of love. It has been said that God is love, and this has been quoted by many people over and over again. In fact, it even says so in the Bible in 1 John 4:8, which is the source of the quote. Because of His great love, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sins through the penalty of death.
The message of Christianity is a message of grace. Grace can be defined as an undeserved gift. And if the gift of salvation isn't grace, then I don't know what is. After all, we humans sin all the time, angering God. But God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins, and through Him, He forgave us. We do not, in the least, deserve eternal life after all we have done to disappoint our Creator. But He allows us to live with Him forever anyway — as long as we let Him give us that great gift.
We are called to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, allowing Him to be like a brother and friend to us, while God becomes our Father, and the Holy Spirit replaces our conscience. We are no longer bound by sin but are now free to live pure, holy lives, pleasing to God, to ourselves, and to others. When we dedicate our lives to serving Christ, we dedicate our lives to the good of His people. This means that we do everything within our power to be loving toward others and demonstrate Jesus' love through our words and actions.
So to sum things up, believe that Jesus was and is the Son of God and trust in Him, be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with water as a display of your repentance, and live your life in such a way as to please God. This does not mean you have to follow a strict set of rules, but it does mean that we should strive to live as Jesus lived. And if you fall short, which we all do, then ask for forgiveness, repent, and move on. If you trust in Jesus, you will be saved, and if we live like Jesus, we can't help but improve the world.
Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Trust God, be good, and apologize when you make mistakes. So why not turn to Christ now? Ask Him for forgiveness of your sins and ask Him to come into your life so that you can live with Him forever in Heaven. Ask Him to help you to live like Him so that others will see the change inside of you and be moved to consider Christianity.
With such a simple process, you really having nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
First off, Christianity is not just a message of condemnation and numerous rules and laws that must be obeyed in order to avoid that fate. If it were, then there would be no hope for humanity because nobody can obey all rules and laws perfectly all the time. Chances are, you've lied to your parents or stolen a piece of candy from the Halloween bowl when nobody was looking or yelled at your siblings. We all have. The truth is, we are sinful creatures. We cannot achieve perfection and, therefore, we cannot reach Heaven on our own. We need Someone to open the gate for us, to bridge the gap.
Thankfully, Christianity is not just a message of condemnation, but a message of love. It has been said that God is love, and this has been quoted by many people over and over again. In fact, it even says so in the Bible in 1 John 4:8, which is the source of the quote. Because of His great love, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sins through the penalty of death.
The message of Christianity is a message of grace. Grace can be defined as an undeserved gift. And if the gift of salvation isn't grace, then I don't know what is. After all, we humans sin all the time, angering God. But God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins, and through Him, He forgave us. We do not, in the least, deserve eternal life after all we have done to disappoint our Creator. But He allows us to live with Him forever anyway — as long as we let Him give us that great gift.
We are called to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, allowing Him to be like a brother and friend to us, while God becomes our Father, and the Holy Spirit replaces our conscience. We are no longer bound by sin but are now free to live pure, holy lives, pleasing to God, to ourselves, and to others. When we dedicate our lives to serving Christ, we dedicate our lives to the good of His people. This means that we do everything within our power to be loving toward others and demonstrate Jesus' love through our words and actions.
So to sum things up, believe that Jesus was and is the Son of God and trust in Him, be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with water as a display of your repentance, and live your life in such a way as to please God. This does not mean you have to follow a strict set of rules, but it does mean that we should strive to live as Jesus lived. And if you fall short, which we all do, then ask for forgiveness, repent, and move on. If you trust in Jesus, you will be saved, and if we live like Jesus, we can't help but improve the world.
Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Trust God, be good, and apologize when you make mistakes. So why not turn to Christ now? Ask Him for forgiveness of your sins and ask Him to come into your life so that you can live with Him forever in Heaven. Ask Him to help you to live like Him so that others will see the change inside of you and be moved to consider Christianity.
With such a simple process, you really having nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
The World's Best Kept Secret
Skillet has a song called "Best Kept Secret" on their album Invincible. The lyrics include lines such as "And I can't pretend I don't know, and I can't leave it alone," and "And I can't live for myself; I can't keep this all to myself." And the chorus reveals exactly what Christianity is: the best-kept secret of all time.
This should not be. Jesus called us, as His followers, to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). And as I said last time, we are given the promise that God will bless us if we "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). Why, then, do we so often fail to share the best news the world has ever known and will ever know?
For most of us, our stumbling block is the desire for immediate gratification. We would rather not give up our reputations or our friends for the sake of sharing the Gospel. We decide we'd rather live life our way and leave discipleship for the years immediately preceding death. After all, the reward for serving God doesn't come until we reach heaven, right?
Wrong. Look at King David, one of the most well-known people in the Bible. David was "a man after God's own heart." He was the youngest of eight brothers, a shepherd among warriors, the weakest and least valuable in the time of Israel's dispute with the Philistines. But because David served the Lord with all his heart, God sent His prophet Samuel to anoint the young boy to become king. It was not long after that the scrawny teen took down the Philistine giant, Goliath, with a sling and a single stone. David eventually took his place on the throne of Israel, and he prospered under God's hand. He became one of the wealthiest and most powerful men on the planet, all because he submitted himself to God's will. This psalmist-turned-conqueror is the ultimate example of the rewards we may possibly receive in this life by serving God; however, these rewards are not guaranteed. But one that is guaranteed is the promise that we will get to spend eternity in Heaven with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and escape the torture of hell.
Let's look at James 1:25 again. "But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does." We see that even here God reveals the opportunity for reward in this life. When we want what the Father wants, why wouldn't He want to help us carry out His plans?
But still we make excuses in order to avoid spreading the Good News. We're worried about the impression we'll make. We don't want to be judged. But we know that those things shouldn't matter. But we refuse to witness anyway.
There are two particular stories, or parables, that I like that illustrate this situation well. Picture one of your non-believing friends in the middle of a street. Now imagine a semi-truck is barreling down a hill toward him or her and closing in fast. You have the chance to save him/her. But when you refuse to witness to that person, you leave him or her at the mercy of the truck driver. Or imagine that your friend is drowning in the ocean while you're sitting comfortably on the beach. You have a choice to make: a) relax and let him/her take care of him/herself, b) or go save the poor guy/girl. When we witness to non-believers, we are throwing them a life raft. The decision now lies with them to either grab the raft or ignore it and drown. It's your choice. But it's your friend's life you're betting. As James says in chapter 4, verse 17, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." Don't let the "good he ought to do" be just that; make it the "good he has done."
We live in a drowning world. Jesus came to us to keep us afloat. Now it's up to us to be the lifeguards of humankind.
"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." ~ John 3:16
This gift is for all. Share it freely.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
This should not be. Jesus called us, as His followers, to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). And as I said last time, we are given the promise that God will bless us if we "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). Why, then, do we so often fail to share the best news the world has ever known and will ever know?
For most of us, our stumbling block is the desire for immediate gratification. We would rather not give up our reputations or our friends for the sake of sharing the Gospel. We decide we'd rather live life our way and leave discipleship for the years immediately preceding death. After all, the reward for serving God doesn't come until we reach heaven, right?
Wrong. Look at King David, one of the most well-known people in the Bible. David was "a man after God's own heart." He was the youngest of eight brothers, a shepherd among warriors, the weakest and least valuable in the time of Israel's dispute with the Philistines. But because David served the Lord with all his heart, God sent His prophet Samuel to anoint the young boy to become king. It was not long after that the scrawny teen took down the Philistine giant, Goliath, with a sling and a single stone. David eventually took his place on the throne of Israel, and he prospered under God's hand. He became one of the wealthiest and most powerful men on the planet, all because he submitted himself to God's will. This psalmist-turned-conqueror is the ultimate example of the rewards we may possibly receive in this life by serving God; however, these rewards are not guaranteed. But one that is guaranteed is the promise that we will get to spend eternity in Heaven with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and escape the torture of hell.
Let's look at James 1:25 again. "But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does." We see that even here God reveals the opportunity for reward in this life. When we want what the Father wants, why wouldn't He want to help us carry out His plans?
But still we make excuses in order to avoid spreading the Good News. We're worried about the impression we'll make. We don't want to be judged. But we know that those things shouldn't matter. But we refuse to witness anyway.
There are two particular stories, or parables, that I like that illustrate this situation well. Picture one of your non-believing friends in the middle of a street. Now imagine a semi-truck is barreling down a hill toward him or her and closing in fast. You have the chance to save him/her. But when you refuse to witness to that person, you leave him or her at the mercy of the truck driver. Or imagine that your friend is drowning in the ocean while you're sitting comfortably on the beach. You have a choice to make: a) relax and let him/her take care of him/herself, b) or go save the poor guy/girl. When we witness to non-believers, we are throwing them a life raft. The decision now lies with them to either grab the raft or ignore it and drown. It's your choice. But it's your friend's life you're betting. As James says in chapter 4, verse 17, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." Don't let the "good he ought to do" be just that; make it the "good he has done."
We live in a drowning world. Jesus came to us to keep us afloat. Now it's up to us to be the lifeguards of humankind.
"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." ~ John 3:16
This gift is for all. Share it freely.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
Christian Living
One of my favorite verses is Matthew 6:33:
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
This verse sums up the ideal Christian life so well. "Seek first His Kingdom" — simply put, place God at the top of your priorities. Base all your decisions on His word and the life He lived and died for us — "and His righteousness" — live your life in a way you believe Jesus would live. Seek to be right with God. At church this morning, the guest youth pastor spoke about Matthew 25:31-46, the parable of the sheep and the goats: the sheep, the righteous, were on the Shepherd's right side, and the goats, everyone else, were on His left. Here in Matthew 6:33, the word righteousness means being right with God: as the pastor put it today, be right with God; don't be left out.
Finally, the last phrase assures us that, "all these things will be given to you as well." In context, Jesus was reprimanding the Jews for worrying about having clothing and sufficient food; so here, Jesus tells the Jews that by following Him and putting Him above everything else, their needs would be provided for.
This verse is much like James 1:23:
"But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does." James, Jesus' own brother, writes to the Jews, who have been living in sin, claiming that they believe the Gospel but not taking any resultant action. The book of James focuses largely on faith and deeds, and in this verse, he shows the motivation for taking action. The one who studies the word and hides it in his heart then goes out and acts on it will be blessed by God. The Father will ensure that His will be carried out through that person because the person has submitted him- or herself to doing His will.
Again, in James 4:10, the apostle writes, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." Still more motivation to take action. When we allow God's will to take priority over our own, He rewards us. That reward may not be in this life, but that is not what we live for anyway. We live for the reward we will receive in Heaven. We live for the Father. And we live for the Son, who died for us. How could anyone want to do anything but serve the One who did the ultimate service for humankind?
Many of us struggle with sharing God's word with non-believers. I know I do. Part of it is that I'm not a very vocal person; I prefer to share my thoughts through writing and typing. So that's why I felt like I had to share this. The message of these verses is not complicated. In fact, if you were to read the verses on your own, I can just about guarantee that you would have figured out on your own what I've been saying. But the problem is actually doing what the verses say. James 1:22 says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." But even this does not convince many people. The world goes on even if we don't do anything, and God still loves us anyway. But James later says in chapter 2, verse 17, that faith alone, without accompanying action, is dead. If you won't let Christ's power work in you to change your life, don't even bother believing. There's a reason Peter said the steps to being saved are to 1) repent and 2) be baptized (Acts 2:38). To repent is to turn, to do a complete 180, and run away from sin and toward the loving arms of the Father. If we don't make a conscious effort to turn from our previous ways... well, then what good does believing do us?
So how do we share God's word with others? Honestly, I'm not the one to ask. I've never consciously witnessed to anyone successfully, as far as I know. But maybe that will change. All I can offer in terms of advice is this: Forget what everyone else thinks of you. Who cares if people judge you for being "religious"? After all, "what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). Look back at Matthew 6:33. Witness, and God will provide. He will give you the words to speak, the Scripture to refer back to, and the wisdom and love to know what to share and how to share it.
Even doing this is a little uncomfortable for me because, in his letter to the Jews, James warns against being too eager to become teachers because they will be judged more strictly. I know I'm not perfect, and I also struggle with this area of my walk with God, but I felt like I needed to share this because "all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
So I ask that you think about this. Consider the pros and cons of sharing God's word with others. I pray that God will move in someone in some way through this and that someone will come away changed. And always remember, when it comes to living for Christ, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
This verse sums up the ideal Christian life so well. "Seek first His Kingdom" — simply put, place God at the top of your priorities. Base all your decisions on His word and the life He lived and died for us — "and His righteousness" — live your life in a way you believe Jesus would live. Seek to be right with God. At church this morning, the guest youth pastor spoke about Matthew 25:31-46, the parable of the sheep and the goats: the sheep, the righteous, were on the Shepherd's right side, and the goats, everyone else, were on His left. Here in Matthew 6:33, the word righteousness means being right with God: as the pastor put it today, be right with God; don't be left out.
Finally, the last phrase assures us that, "all these things will be given to you as well." In context, Jesus was reprimanding the Jews for worrying about having clothing and sufficient food; so here, Jesus tells the Jews that by following Him and putting Him above everything else, their needs would be provided for.
This verse is much like James 1:23:
"But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does." James, Jesus' own brother, writes to the Jews, who have been living in sin, claiming that they believe the Gospel but not taking any resultant action. The book of James focuses largely on faith and deeds, and in this verse, he shows the motivation for taking action. The one who studies the word and hides it in his heart then goes out and acts on it will be blessed by God. The Father will ensure that His will be carried out through that person because the person has submitted him- or herself to doing His will.
Again, in James 4:10, the apostle writes, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." Still more motivation to take action. When we allow God's will to take priority over our own, He rewards us. That reward may not be in this life, but that is not what we live for anyway. We live for the reward we will receive in Heaven. We live for the Father. And we live for the Son, who died for us. How could anyone want to do anything but serve the One who did the ultimate service for humankind?
Many of us struggle with sharing God's word with non-believers. I know I do. Part of it is that I'm not a very vocal person; I prefer to share my thoughts through writing and typing. So that's why I felt like I had to share this. The message of these verses is not complicated. In fact, if you were to read the verses on your own, I can just about guarantee that you would have figured out on your own what I've been saying. But the problem is actually doing what the verses say. James 1:22 says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." But even this does not convince many people. The world goes on even if we don't do anything, and God still loves us anyway. But James later says in chapter 2, verse 17, that faith alone, without accompanying action, is dead. If you won't let Christ's power work in you to change your life, don't even bother believing. There's a reason Peter said the steps to being saved are to 1) repent and 2) be baptized (Acts 2:38). To repent is to turn, to do a complete 180, and run away from sin and toward the loving arms of the Father. If we don't make a conscious effort to turn from our previous ways... well, then what good does believing do us?
So how do we share God's word with others? Honestly, I'm not the one to ask. I've never consciously witnessed to anyone successfully, as far as I know. But maybe that will change. All I can offer in terms of advice is this: Forget what everyone else thinks of you. Who cares if people judge you for being "religious"? After all, "what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). Look back at Matthew 6:33. Witness, and God will provide. He will give you the words to speak, the Scripture to refer back to, and the wisdom and love to know what to share and how to share it.
Even doing this is a little uncomfortable for me because, in his letter to the Jews, James warns against being too eager to become teachers because they will be judged more strictly. I know I'm not perfect, and I also struggle with this area of my walk with God, but I felt like I needed to share this because "all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
So I ask that you think about this. Consider the pros and cons of sharing God's word with others. I pray that God will move in someone in some way through this and that someone will come away changed. And always remember, when it comes to living for Christ, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
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