Tag Archives: Relationship with Jesus Christ

My perspective: Virtual v Physical church attendance

After several months having the churches being closed, people now allowed again to meet in small circles (with the Covid Safe Ticket or Pass) every individual should check for himself or herself and should examine for the family if it would already be safe to go to gatherings, be it for relaxation, Bible study or church service.

Going to “the grocery store, the restaurants, the beauty shop, the office, the classroom, the gym, and the doctor” is something totally different than going to a church, where people are sitting close together and normally also would sing and say prayers together in an enclosed space making it very easy for a virus to spread.

When people go to the supermarket, they are only limited by the amount of people allowed per square metre, and as such have to follow the red and green light indications or the stewards allowing only the right amount of people entering the wide space. To enter the shops only a regulated amount of people per square metre is allowed and often only two at a time, plus always with a mouth mask.

To go to a café, snackbar or restaurant a person has to have the Covid Safe Ticket or Pass and the same regulation is there for other places (as churches) and events.

For going to a gp or doctor one must make an appointment and maximum two people are allowed in the waiting room, which should be ventilated and normally is spacey enough to receive much more people than two.

For going to church there is in many cases no controlling system, though there should be someone at the door asking and checking your CST.

Worship and Bible class are not simply about our being fed spiritually and matters that can be done on our own or via online meetings. Such online meetings can never take in the place of an actual real-life meeting. But we must be fully aware of the present conditions and dangers for each other when coming together in real life.
For every follower of Christ and every lover of God the gathering between all members of the faith community should be very important and not negligible. But, and a great But, we should be fully aware of the situation.

We must consider one another to stimulate unto love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24), and that the best way to do that would be in connection with assembling together (Heb. 10:25), but this also can be done by going in conversation online by the present technical progress. There are Zoom, Jitsi a.o. to have interaction when meeting online.

That people would stay away from the assembly in present times does not mean that they would be less religious or would have abandoned their faith. It is essential to protect the own health as well as the health of others. This can mean that we still have to wait sometime before coming together in real-time and/or real life.

Our relationship with God and with His beloved son shall not be less or of less value. It is from the depth of our heart that the love for God should rise above all our present limitations.

 

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Preceding

Ideas about Religiosity

May we have doubts

Religious Resistance against vaccination

Covid-19 update | Covid Safe Ticket

New rules in Belgium to stop the spread of coronavirus

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Additional reading

  1. Christian in Christendom or in Christianity
  2. Daily thought for July the 8th and the Summer months
  3. Not created to be on our own
  4. No time yet to relax the CoViD-19 restriction measures
  5. Fourth wave of COVID-19 a pandemic of the unvaccinated
  6. According to Pew Most White Evangelicals Don’t Think COVID-19 is a Medical Crisis
  7. Did the first followers of Jesus have ‘church’
  8. Priorities for our Christadelphian community and for the spreading of Good News
  9. Worship

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Related

  1. Get Back to Church
  2. Is church attendance linked to higher rates of coronavirus?
  3. Enjoying Christian Fellowship
  4. Church attendance is often a distraction from biblical Christianity
  5. Normal Christian Doctrine Explained: Church Attendance
  6. Three good reasons to come back to church
  7. Millions skipped church during pandemic; will they return?
  8. No Family Is Too Busy for Church by Desiring God
  9. Why are people attending church less frequently?
  10. Why We’re Not Going Back to Church

OMT's Digest

This post is dedicated to all the virtual churchgoers like myself and those who are still unsure about whether it is best to worship virtually or physically in a church every Sunday. If this is the first time reading any of my blog posts and you want a straight answer, then please don’t proceed because this post is meant to get you thinking to find the answer within yourself.

Prior to COVID, I wouldn’t say I was a consistent church goer. If there was an attendance register, I am sure I would be called to ask why I get in late or why I have been absenting myself from church. COVID however resulted in a lot of churches going online because of physical safety restrictions so I guess I found it very convenient to wake up and have church right in the comfort of my living room.

Afterall, we learn…

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Religion and the essence of devotion

Necessary parts in the daily walk with God

A proud Christ-follower who believes that we are all on a journey in life writes:

Religion is the essence of devotion. Our religious activities are to be an outpouring our our absolute devotion to God. Religion and relationship are necessary parts in the daily walk with God. And in speaking of religion in this way we can get a better glimpse at Christianity in a global sense. There are many traditions throughout Christendom that seem quite strikingly different than what any one of us may be used to, but they are simply unique ways to express the relational devotion we have to God. {The R&R of Christianity}

In the previous two writings, we talked about people who have a very restricted view of what a Christian would or should be. Lots of Christians are convinced that people who do not believe the human doctrine of the Trinity may not or can not call themselves Christian. They forget that the word Christian is made up of “Christ” and the suffix” ian”, denoting a follower of Christ. Then they should come to see and know who Christ is. For non-Trinitarians Christ is the Nazarene Jewish master teacher (or rebbe) Jeshua ben Yosef, Jesus the son of Mary (Miriam) and Joseph, born in Bethlehem. The word Christian gives an indication that it is about a follower of Christ or Kristos, the anointed Messiah. Naturally, it depends on what or whom, one wants to accept as a “follower”.

Christians, Lutherans, Wesleyans, and other followers

Normally a follower is considered to be someone who believes in a particular system of ideas, or who supports a leader who teaches these ideas. In the case of Christians it are people who follow the opinions or teachings of Christ Jesus, in particular, those teachings notated in the Messianic Scriptures (or New Testament: the four gospels and writings of the apostles and the revelation of St. John).

As the world accepts a Lutheran is a follower of Luther or a ‘belonger’ or accessory and supporter of the Lutheran community or Lutheranism, around that what was started by the German theologian and religious reformer who was the catalyst of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. When we speak about a Lutheran we think of a person of or relating to the religious doctrines of Martin Luther, or relating to the Protestant denomination adhering to these doctrines. especially the doctrine of Sola fide or justification by faith alone.

According to similar usage, a Christian is a follower or someone who has a strong interest or pays close attention to Jesus Christ and is willing to follow his guidance, command, or leadership. For that guidance of Christ the person must Not follow the rules of other human beings, but can follow the trusted Word like it is notated in the Holy Scriptures.

A Lutheran should follow the writings of Luther, but when we look at the Lutheran Church we can see there are a lot of changes in that church which would not be liked by Luther (take for example the role of the women in that church today.) With Christians we see a similar gross deviation from the teachings of the teacher Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus leading his followers out of a system of oppression

It should not be forgotten that Jesus came along to lead his followers out of the ungodly Roman system. He also wanted to show to Jews and non-Jews how important it is to come back to the Divine Creator and to worship only One True God instead of the many gods of that time. Jesus was a very devout Jew, who did not worship himself (as several name Christians want us to believe). Jesus remained faithful all his life to the God of Israel, Who is a Singular Eternal Omniscient Supreme Spirit Being. No man can see God, but Jesus wanted everybody to figuratively come to see God and to accept Him as their heavenly Father.

There was not only the Roman oppressor; there were also the priests, Pharisees and Sadducees, who wanted to have power over the people. Like many theologians today, they too wanted to make Scriptures more complicated than they really are. Jesus explained the scrolls and showed how people have to live more to the spirit of the letter, than to the interpretation of those temple workers. Jesus also preached an alternative form of government, speaking of a jurisdiction outside the Roman state, based on the perfect law of freedom, outside the tyranny of men who would rule over their brothers and neighbours. He first chose Jewish people who believed in One Singular God, (the God of the Jews), the God of Abraham, Who is One and not two or three. A real Jew never would agree with the Trinity. At first, the people who joined the Jewish sect (or group) the Way, were all Jehudiem or Jews who did not betray their Jewish faith. It was only later when goyim or people from other nations, cultures and other faiths started joining the group of followers of Christ, problems raised under the Jewish community, of which many did not want non-Jews in their ranks and in their synagogues or prayer houses.

First-century Christians

The Way to God

Jesus always said people had not to thank him but God. He always said he was less than God, but that he was the way for people to come to God and the way to life, and that people should believe in him and be in union with him, like he is in union with God.

“I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (Joh 10:9 KJ21)

“But if I do, though ye believe not Me, believe the works, that ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”” (Joh 10:38 KJ21)

“Jesus said unto him, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” (Joh 14:6 KJ21)

“9 Jesus said unto him, “Have I been so long a time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself; but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the very works’ sake.”

“12  Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth in Me, the works that I do he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto My Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

“15  “If ye love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever” 17 even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him. But ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

“18  “I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world seeth Me no more, but ye see Me. Because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him.”” (Joh 14:9-21 KJ21)

“that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” (Joh 17:21 KJ21)

“by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Ro 5:2 KJ21)

“for through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” (Eph 2:18 KJ21)

“by a new and living Way, which He hath consecrated for us through the veil (that is to say, His flesh),” (Heb 10:20 KJ21)

Following teachings based on Jesus his teachings

In the first century of this common era, more and more people came to follow the apostles their teachings, which were based on those of their master teacher Jeshua (Jesus Christ). They all agreed with the teachings of Jesus and became unified, forming the early Christian church with a system of charity, hope and respect for the rights of each other, requiring that each person would love their neighbour as themselves in a system of mutual, not governmental support.
Those joining the movement of The Way did agree to those Jewish teachings of Jesus and his apostles. For them, it was also clear that Jesus was showing a way to untangle people from the captivity of the social contracts they had made with the state of Rome and Judea, and the tribute and obligations they had become snared by. He proclaimed to call no man “Father”, as they called their Roman benefactors, but stated that the One Who made them alive is their Father Who is in heaven. The perfect law of freedom indicated that man’s unalienable rights stemmed from God and nature, and not governments of men. This was a system of anarchy, by strict definition, without the complex system of tribute that led to the decadence and decline of society, and the corruptible force of the state to back it up.

Not believing in a different God than the Jews

The early Christian church was not persecuted for their belief in a different God or a Kingdom in Heaven, but for their opting out of the mutual taxation system and seeking to live apart from the kings and overlords, the gods many, who demanded their tribute.

Path to walk

For those early followers of Christ it was important to give worship to the same God Jesus worshipped and to leave all those other gods at the side, non touched and not glorified. For them, it was clear that all glory belonged to God. They knew they had not to bow down in front of graven images, and always had to keep their soul diligently, all the time loving Jehovah as their God of gods, and not somebody else. It was also clear they, like God’s People (the Jews), had to walk in God His ways and not following human traditions which were not according to God’s Will,  for they had to keep Jehovah God His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances. Their devotion should fully be for Jehovah God and not for any other god, be it the Caesar, Baal, Apollo, Zeus or any other.  Those who were drawn away, and came to worship other gods, and came to serve them, were turning aside from the way which Jesus and his God have commanded mankind. Though God warned already in the past that the world would turn away from God and shall have false worship. He warned that evil will befall mankind in the latter days; because they will do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger through the work of their hands.

“”Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them to thy sons and thy sons’ sons,” (De 4:9 KJ21)

“16 in that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply; and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. 17 But if thine heart turn away so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,” (De 30:16-17 KJ21)

“For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the latter days, because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”” (De 31:29 KJ21)

“For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.” (Ps 96:5 KJ21)

“He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul, but he that despiseth His ways shall die.” (Pr 19:16 KJ21)

“Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.” (1Co 7:19 KJ21)

A God demanding exclusive devotion

Today we see how lots of people have made or taken themselves other gods than the Only One True God, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah. Even from those who call themselves “Christian” there are many who bow down in front to graven images or kisses books and pictures as a sign of their devotion. They should know that Jehovah God requires exclusive devotion.

“But I had pity for Mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen whither they went.” (Eze 36:21 KJ21)

“”Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Now will I bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for My holy name” (Eze 39:25 KJ21)

“God is jealous, and the LORD avengeth; the LORD avengeth and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies.” (Na 1:2 KJ21)

“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I, the LORD thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me,” (Ex 20:5 KJ21)

“For thou shalt worship no other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God,” (Ex 34:14 KJ21)

“For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.” (De 4:24 KJ21)

“And Joshua said unto the people, “Ye cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins:” (Jos 24:19 KJ21)

“And further, my son, by these words be admonished: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness to the flesh.” (Ec 12:12 KJ21)

“For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription: ‘To the Unknown God’. Whom therefore ye worship in ignorance, Him I declare unto you.” (Ac 17:23 KJ21)

The God greater than Jesus

Jesus not able to do anything without God

Jesus, his talmidim and the apostle Paul declared The God Who is greater than Jesus and without Him Jesus could not do anything.

“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, “Verily, verily I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do; for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” (Joh 5:19 KJ21)

“Ye have heard how I said unto you, ‘I go away and come again unto you.’ If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice because I said, ‘I go unto the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.” (Joh 14:28 KJ21)

Jesus submissive to his God

Jesus his disciples also knew and wanted others to know that even their master was submissive to God and also submitted to Him whom he beheld as the only True God.

“5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in the fashion of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death—even the death of the cross.” (Php 2:5-8 KJ21)

“But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.” (1Co 11:3 KJ21)

“And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son Himself also be subject unto Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.” (1Co 15:28 KJ21)

The churches and gods of man

But today many have several gods, like “material possession” (Mammon) or find themselves under slothful tribute to an emperor and a system that is not for their benefit. For many, their eye and worship is on material goods or on people who can gloriously show off their acquired wealth. Many covet their neighbour’s goods in a vain pursuit of “free” health care, education, welfare, unemployment benefits, social security and government protection. They have traded their inalienable God-given rights through social contracts both implied and explicit. Their churches are not ordained by God, but are corporations granted status by the state. Many want even bigger churches and want to spread hate for those churches which do not want to align with them. In many of those main churches they denounce the followers of whom they consider an anarchist, because for them Jesus is God and all who contradict that are not just contradictors but objectionable individuals. Those Trinitarians do not want to see that real followers of Christ have to be like Christ, united with Jesus and be one with him the same way as Jesus is one with God.

God in Christians

For real followers of Christ, there is the belief that God is in all of them, and that they have to attract others to come also under Christ, to become children of God.

“3 Know ye not that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, so we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this: that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.” (Ro 6:3-7 KJ21)

“And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1Co 15:49 KJ21)

“But because of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who from God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption,” (1Co 1:30 KJ21)

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2Co 5:17 KJ21)

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” (Ga 6:15 KJ21)

United in Christ serving the God of Christ

Those in Christ should be united and serve the same God Jesus served. They should fully be devoted to Jehovah God, having no other gods than Him. Real Christians are those willing to have only One God and to study His Word, His ordinances so that they too can do God’s Will, like Jesus did not his own will but did the Will of his heavenly Father and asked his followers also to do the Will of his heavenly Father, Jehovah God. In case Jesus is God he naturally would always have done his own will and then he was all the time misleading people and praying to himself.

Jesus not knowing many who call themself Christian

Several people, calling themselves Christian forget that at the end times, when they would be coming in front of Christ, there could be a possibility that Jesus shall say not to know them, because they did not do the Will of his Father. To call oneself Christian or to become part of the Body of Christ one has to do the Will of God and be as a brother or sister of Christ Jesus and those following him.

“But the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest’s.” (Le 27:21 KJ21)

“And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven. This sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.” (Ec 1:13 KJ21)

“”Not every one that saith unto Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father who is in Heaven.” (Mt 7:21 KJ21)

“For whosoever shall do the will of My Father who is in Heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.”” (Mt 12:50 KJ21)

“And He went a little farther, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”” (Mt 26:39 KJ21)

“He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, unless I drink it, Thy will be done.”” (Mt 26:42 KJ21)

“For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother.”” (Mr 3:35 KJ21)

“And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee. Take away this cup from Me; nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou wilt.”” (Mr 14:36 KJ21)

“And that servant, who knew his lord’s will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.” (Lu 12:47 KJ21)

“saying, “Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done.”” (Lu 22:42 KJ21)

“Jesus said unto them, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.” (Joh 4:34 KJ21)

“38 For I came down from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. 39 And this is the Father’s will who hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the Last Day. 40 And this is the will of Him that sent Me: that every one who seeth the Son and believeth in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the Last Day.”” (Joh 6:38-40 KJ21)

“but bade them farewell, saying, “I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem, but I will return again unto you, if God wills.” And he sailed from Ephesus.” (Ac 18:21 KJ21)

“Take them and purify thyself with them, and bear their charges with them, that they may shave their heads; and all may know that those things of which they have been informed concerning thee are nothing, but that thou thyself also walkest orderly and keepest the law.” (Ac 21:24 KJ21)

Picking and choosing like a kid

Lots of people who call themselves “Christian” not at all follow the teachings of Jesus and pick and choose texts from Sriptures how it soots them best.

But you don’t pay attention to that do you my little lambs? No, you pick and choose like a kid going through a candy store deciding what to spend his quarters on. You choose what fits your sick sense of morality, and then toss the rest like it never existed. The fact that you become utter hypocrites apparently doesn’t bother you. Neither does the fact that it doesn’t fit my morality. But you care just as much about my definition of morality as I do yours. The only difference between us, is I’m not forcing you to try to live by my morality. {Of Christianity and Modern Morality}

rightly remarks someone who calls himself The Bastards 2013 (Where The Bastards come to share the word!) He, like lots of atheists saw how a bunch of Evangelical pastors were laying hands on Donald Trump in the White House and how one prominent evangelical leader immediately tweeted out the image with the caption:

“President Trump is bringing God back to America.” {In God We Obfuscate}

This “Bastards 2013” also wrote:

You talk about love and tolerance and yet your actions speak of hate and seclusion. You talk about America needing to find it’s moral center and returning to respecting one another and finding joys in the diversity of America. Then you back a man who is none of those. Donald Trump is your reflecting God. He is the face of your fake bullshit religion and from this day forth you will be forever known as the frauds and charlatans you are. Your speeches about god and love will be laughed at and ignored. Your attempts to say that this is Christianity will be endlessly mocked by those of us who know better. More importantly, when your god falls, and his presidency is nothing but a pile of ashes, you will have nowhere to run. Your sins will be laid bare and the scarlet letter of hypocrisy will be forever tattoed onto your forehead. While you preach the word of a megalomaniac, he is busy mocking Puerto Ricans as they struggle to survive after back to back hurricanes. As you attempt to speak about love and kindness (which you know nothing about) your god calls black men who are peacefully protesting inequality “Sons of bitches” and “traitors.” Meanwhile he speaks in front of a group of neo nazis and homophobes and says “It’s so nice to be around friends. So many friends.” You are the lowest form of human. ISIS is evil and should be eradicated, but at least they own who they are. They make no false speeches about love and acceptance when they don’t believe in it. They don’t shake the hands of the people while silently prepping to stab them in the back. You are nothing but low level talentless snake oil salesmen. You prey upon those who have been stricken desperate by your shitty unethical policies. You sell them a cure and make them believe that you and only you can help them. Then you sit back in your six homes, watching the peasants stumble around trying to find some sort of relief. {The Reflecting God}

Traditions of man

Throughout the ages, mankind had several gods and had celebrations for them. The Roman Catholic Church willing to capture as many heathen as they could, integrated many heathen festivals in their system. Christmas and Easter are the two most important ones still celebrated by the majority of Christians.

Lots of human traditions entered the life of those who call themselves Christian, though not many of them seem to wonder if they would be all right in the Eyes of God. That way Christendom became totally different from first-century Christianity.

A Religion of a relationship

Bringing a “Thought from a Pilgrim of Truth”, , a father, husband, and a pastor writes

There is another thing that tends to happen when someone views Christianity as a relationship rather than a religion. The terms of the relationship begin to get a bit blurry. God and King, Master and Lord, get discarded for the much easier to handle Friend. When God becomes solely our friend, we lose the fear of the LORD, and our relationship with Him becomes unbiblical. Again, this is where religious devotion comes in. We are His servants, His children even. We must remember that God has been and will always be great, higher and holier than we are. {The R&R of Christianity}

Christianity should be a religion of a relationship with Jesus Christ and with Christ his God, Jehovah the God above all kings and gods, but also about the relationship with others and other things (human beings, nature – plants and animals).

Fear God

Many who have made Jesus as their god have lost the fear of God or fear for God. Our religion should be an expression of that fear for God. In the end it will be Him that preserves the faithful, and plentifully shall reward him that deals proudly with the Truth, having the courage to speak out and show the world That Only One True God, the God of the kings David, Solomon and Christ. Strangely enough Trinitarians are giving the word Christian an othe meaning than then “ian” to the “Christ” would suggest. They do not see the fundamentals connected to being a Christian, nor the need to know about the God of Christ, Who is the God of the Bible. Those Trinitarians minimalise the act of Christ and do not value Jesus his act of submission to God and his complete sacrifice for humanity. Strangely enough many who call themselves Christian but worship a three-headed god dare to say, like the pharmacy student Teni:

God wanted His people to stand out from the people around them.

The bible makes us understand that God Almighty the creator of the whole universe is the One and Only true God. That means, every other god, is actually non-existent and made up by people’s imagination and craftiness. {4 Mmisconceptions that need to be cleared about being a christian}

though they do not believe in that Only One True God.

Bringing honour to the Only Right God

Bringing honour to such false gods is at the same time dishonouring God and misusing God’s Name and God’s Title. those who call themselves Christian should witness to the goodness of God in a world that has ceased to acknowledge His existence, let alone His sovereignty over the Cosmos. It was God’s son, Jesus who gave his followers an assignment to tell those around them about the Divine Creator and His promises, the good news of the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God.

Those calling themselves Christian, should as followers of Jesus Christ, not only keep to his teachings, but follow the example of Christ, being servants of God, Jesus and others, and this even to their own peril. We should have a friendship realtionship with Christ as our brotherbut we are not to consider ourselves as equals with God, in the same way Jesus never considered himself equal with God. We owe only Jesus his God, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah, all of our devotion and allegiance.

 

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Preceding

Not About The Name Of The Godhead Of Jesus

Rhetoric and Biblical Truth

Confrontation by people telling lies to force others to avoid the targetted groups

Religions and Mainliners

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Additional reading

  1. People are turning their back on Christianity
  2. Blindness in the Christian world
  3. Not liking your Christians
  4. Not all christians are followers of a Greco-Roman culture
  5. Christian in Christendom or in Christianity
  6. Christianity is a love affair
  7. To be chained by love for another one
  8. Many forgot how Christ should be our anchor and our focus
  9. Jesus and God
  10. Only one God
  11. A Father Who begat a son
  12. Jahushua, Joshua, Jeshua or Jesus an Immanuel or God with us an incarnated God or a human being?
  13. The sent one from God
  14. Knowing Jesus Rabboni
  15. Jesus son of God or God the son
  16. Jesus son of God
  17. Jesus Christ the Messiah
  18. Seeing Jesus
  19. Reasons that Jesus is Not God
  20. God son king and his subjects
  21. Not saying Jeshua is God
  22. Sayings of Jesus, what to believe and being or not of the devil
  23. Jesus begotten Son of God #19 Compromising fact
  24. On the Nature of Christ
  25. The Son can do nothing of his own accord
  26. The son of man given authority by God
  27. The Nazarene master teacher learning people how they should behave
  28. Doctrine of Christ
  29. One Mediator
  30. Commandements of Christ
  31. Statutes given unto us
  32. Relationship with God, Jesus and each other
  33. Memorizing wonderfully – Additional verses: Psalm 34 Tasting and blessing Jehovah God
  34. Extra verses to remember by the reading of Psalm 45 A Great name to Praise God
  35. Not words of any organisation should bind you, but the Word of God
  36. A learning process for each of us
  37. Paul’s warning about false stories and his call to quit touching the unclean thing
  38. Matthew 15 Calvin’s view
  39. Matthew 20 It is never too late
  40. Matthew 20 Are you willing to work for Jesus?
  41. Matthew 25 Jesus ministry drawing to its dramatic conclusion and warning to be ready
  42. A strange thing might happen when you come under Christ
  43. As brothers and sisters showing that you are followers of the real Jesus or being a Jeshuaist sharing responsibilities
  44. Demanding signs or denying yourself
  45. Attitude of a Christian
  46. As Christ’s slaves doing the Will of God in gratitude
  47. A heart full of love is a fundamental requirement
  48. Christianity without the Trinity
  49. Doubting and going astray
  50. Main churches losing population share
  51. How do trinitarians equate divine nature
  52. Europe and much-vaunted bastions of multiculturalism becoming No God Zones
  53. Thought for today November the 6th: Indifference
  54. Is it a Jewish or a Christian faith
  55. Religious imagery used by pop artists
  56. Avoiding friction and distraction in the body of Christ
  57. Today’s thought “Fools despise wisdom” (March 23)
  58. False opposite true worship which exalts the God of Israel
  59. How should we worship God? #14 True worship
  60. In a time when we must remain in our place
  61. Memorizing wonderfully 18 Proverbs – Fear of God, Wisdom and instruction
  62. Symptom of tzara’at a white spot on the flesh
  63. Today’s thought “Folly and Wickedness of Men” (January 06)
  64. Today’s thought “Sound an alarm for the day of Jehovah that comes” (November 19)

 

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Further related

  1. Pouring Into Others (comeawake.org)
  2. Being Christian
  3. Being Christian Takes Practice
  4. Being Christian On Day One
  5. What Does It Mean to be a True Christian?
  6. Being A Cultural Christian Is Not Enough
  7. The Quiet in the Land
  8. Martin Luther’s Seal
  9. ROFLMAO — what would Luther’s 95 Theses sound like in an corporate office email memo to all staff?
  10. Swedish Lutherans: Synodical and congregational minutes on baptism and membership in the 1850s
  11. A Bonhoeffer moment and a barstool conversation between Luther, Bonhoeffer and a Finnish theologian — links and quotes for future reference
  12. Lutheran Women and Their Impact on History
  13. Luther an’ Me
  14. Dear Church’: A tapestry of discipleship and a call for white folks to ‘do good white folk work’ to help dismantle racism
  15. Progressive Christianity
  16. Check Yourself, Christian
  17. Unchurched
  18. Come To Me To Have Life
  19. Sheep and Goats, Faith and Mercy
  20. Reformation 2020. The Righteousness of God at the Present Time
  21. It Matters
  22. Commitment to Christ Means Commitment to His Church (Blogs Revisited)
  23. What the Coronavirus Reveals about Protestant Piety
  24. Lutherans vs. Coronavirus
  25. Attitude is Everything
  26. Is the Trinity scriptural – or is it pagan nonsense
  27. Fully God and Fully Man
  28. December 11,2020: Finding the “O’s” in God’s message
    Satan’s Lie: You Can Become God
  29. Is Jesus God? – Adnan Rashid vs Samuel Green
  30. Proof that the disciples did not preach the trinity!
  31. How the Trinity Debate has Influenced Our Reading
  32. A Trinitarian Christian claims he can explain the trinity…guess what happens next?
  33. Mohammed Hijab vs David Wood, Tawheed vs Trinity
  34. Is Jesus God? Debate between Pastor Stanley Sjoberg and Sheikh Ahmed Deedat
  35. Trinity vs Tawheed, Adnan Rashid vs Samuel Green (Part 1)
  36. Trinity vs Tawheed – Adnan Rashid vs Samuel Green (Part 2)
  37. Of Christianity and Modern Morality
  38. 4 Mmisconceptions that need to be cleared about being a christian
  39. Matthew 20:26
  40. Heaven, work, and duty
  41. The Church – Body of Christ
  42. Funhouse God
  43. Our Heavenly Home 
  44. Listening While White: Respecting the Image of God in People of Color
  45. Deepening our Faith: 2nd Sunday of Advent 2020
  46. He is Faithful
  47. Catholicism – a False religion based on idolatry man made doctrines pagan traditions
  48. Completing the great commission
  49. Where is wisdom found?
  50. the high cost of not trusting God
  51. Above the voice of men
  52. Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
  53. Fear of God – Temor de Dios
  54. The Fear of God
  55. Fear Brings Contentment
  56. Pleasing and Not Pleasing People for the Glory of God
  57. You´ve overcome

13 Comments

Filed under Being and Feeling, Lifestyle, Quotations from Holy Scriptures, Religious affairs, Social affairs, Spiritual affairs, World affairs

Jesus, A way given to find the right way to God

More than once the Nazarene preacher Jeshua asked people around him what they thought he was.

Still today there are people who have never heard about Jesus. These people don’t know anything about Jesus. In our regions most people have somehow already heard about Jesus. They have very different ideas about that person. Lots of people think christians take him as their god. About that idea that all christians would worship Jesus as their god, they are totally wrong. There are loads of Christians who do not consider Jesus to be God, but believe in what the Bible says, that he is the son of God (and not a son god or a god the son).

Around us we may find people who have heard about Jesus. These people have heard about Jesus through Bible stories, their parents, a friend, media, etc., but they did not come to a point to believe  in him and/or to accept him as the son of God or the Way to God. They are also not interested in having a personal relationship with him.

Luckily we also do find people who say they want a personal relationship with Christ and people they say they want a personal relationship with God. Pity that lots of people think it is all right to take Jesus as their god and to have pictures of him in their house and at other places. Many think having Jesus as their god means that they can have a good relationship with God. They are caught in the human doctrines of their church which preaches about a three-headed god. In fact they do not hear enough bible words to convince them who Jesus really is and why it is so important to know him.

Some Christians may think that they know enough about Christ from what is told in their church at service. They think it is sufficient just to hear a few phrases or one or two paragraphs once a week to have some proper idea.

Those from the Roman Catholic Church do not worry so much about the Bible. With reason some say

If you are a life-long Catholic, you think you would be somewhat “fluent” in the Word of God.  {the musings of a Franciscan friar… Knowing Jesus}

Some friars and certain priests of that denomination may have a comfort level with Sacred Scripture, but that can not be said of many Catholics. Also when you ask them about Scripture and their relationship with Jesus, they

get a bit tongue-tied, flummoxed, bewildered, and feel this inner desire to change the subject. Why is that? {the musings of a Franciscan friar… Knowing Jesus}

We should not expect people to be able to quote all particular parts of the Bible. From those who call themself Christian we should think they can at least tell some Biblical stories with their own words.

Fr. George Corrigan, OFM

A Franciscan Friar writes

When you know the stories of Jesus and can tell them in your own words, hitting the high points, now you are truly meeting Jesus in a whole new way.

And that is what is missing today by a lot of people who call themselves Christian. They do not know much about that Jesus. somehow it is a vague figure. They mostly cannot tell much about him. They also feel not or have no relation to him.

Lots of people do not know he is the Way to God. He is the bringer of light in life, the one who took care that we shall have the right to enter the small gate to the Kingdom of God. Though we all are sinners, we shall have the possibility to come before God and say

Abba. (Father)

But to become accepted a children of God we do have to behave as children of Him. And by our willingness to come to God we also should come to recognise the other children of God, our brothers and sisters in Christ. Those who come to recognise Jesus as the sent one from God, should unite under him and follow his path, by worshipping the only One True God, the heavenly Father.

All people should know they may say a lot against people or at the son of man, Jesus Christ, but when they keep saying awful things of his heavenly Father they will be in problems.

Luke 12:8-12 RNT But I tell you every one who confesses me before men, him will the Son of Man confess before the angels of God. (9) And he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. (10) Every one who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who says profane words against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. (11) When they bring you in before synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not be anxious about how to defend yourselves or what to say. (12) For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you must say.”

Therefore it is important that people come to know more about that Spirit God, the heavenly Father of Christ. To do that the easiest way is to come to know Christ.

Before Paul came to believe in the Nazarene master-teacher Jeshua (Jesus Christ), he spoke evil of Jesus and went against all who were willing to follow that man. Saul, like he was then called, oppressed the followers of Jesus, and exalted himself.

“I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man.”

he came to admit. Yet, God called Paul from this ungodly religious life and made him a faithful, fruitful servant of the Lord.

Such transitions are possible. No man is lost. God keeps calling people. God gave the world his son to show people the Way to God. It is now up to man to find Jesus and to find that way to the Most High Divine Creator.

Once more we will see this can only happen by exceedingly abundant grace for transformation.
This magnificent transformation process began with mercy, the necessary companion of grace, which came unto man by Jesus putting his own will aside for doing the Will of God.

For Saul there was also the ministry of grace that God eventually gave to him even to become one of the major scribes of the group the Way, whose epistles or letters are still of great importance for the church today. God chose Paul to be a distinctive example of His rich mercy.

1 Timothy 1:16 RNT But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might show all of his long-suffering for an example for those who are to believe in him and gain life eternal.

Nobody is excluded to receive mercy. Like for Saul first Jesus Christ came to show all long-suffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting life, all followers should be grateful they can be under Christ, partakers of a grand project of transformation for people around us.

Paul told the people around him that they should ask for insight, wisdom and revelation, so that they could come to know Jesus and his God better. He tried to convince others to do like him and to put the world aside and to come to follow Jesus. He also tried to convince them that in knowing Jesus better every day people could come to wisdom. Jesus had his focus on his heavenly Father and only did what he saw his Father doing. He set the clear example for all people, who from his public life onwards have the free choice to become his followers.

Being called Christian one should be a follower of Christ, keeping to his teachings and to his commands; One command being to go out into the world and spreading the Good News. When having found Christ Jesus, one shall feel him in the ‘soul’ and be conscious of the bountiful grace having brought two spiritual blessings (faith and love).

Being reborn when one got baptised does not mean it ends there. Several Christians do think they have not to study any more. They forget that the Christian’s experience is a continual schooling. Every day we should be ready to be ready for Christ and be ready for those around us, willing to show them Jesus in us. Being under Christ we should be willing to listen to his words regularly and be prepared to learn each day.

The Book of books God has given mankind is the ideal tool for man to learn about God and about his only begotten beloved son. In Jesus we should find our example. Looking at him each day we should give ourself the opportunity to reprobate and correct in ourselves. In thus discovering our own imperfections, we should learn, as a matter of course, not to expect perfection in others; and we should give them credit for doing their best to exemplify the highest ideals which they have in respect to the unity and perfection required for membership in the body of Christ.

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Preceding article

Are we sometimes like Peter and say we do not know Jesus

Witnesses of Christ and of his gospel

May we have doubts

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Additional reading

  1. The saviour Jesus his human side
  2. To know Christ is filling life with meaning
  3. The Son can do nothing of his own accord
  4. Redemption #7 Christ alive in the faithful
  5. Through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe
  6. Luck
  7. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love
  8. Omniscient God opposite a not knowing Jesus
  9. Relating to God is it possible
  10. Several Christians fail to recognise the Chosen ones of God and are not taking on a Christian attitude
  11. Beautiful feet of those who announce the good news

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Related

  1. Barely knowing Jesus …
  2. Knowing Jesus
  3. Know Jesus Know Peace
  4. The Biggest Lie I Ever Told
  5. Knowing Jesus Christ gives you a completely new attitude
  6. The Kingdom Of God: Luke’s Gospel

13 Comments

Filed under Religious affairs, Welfare matters

To will being present in us but to do it not always evident

Looking at today’s reading we do find the apostle Paul who laments not understanding his own actions, even acknowledging that he even comes to do things he more than not likes.

Romans 7:15 (RNKJV)
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

English: Apostle Paul in the apse

Apostle Paul in the apse (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How often do we notice we have done something to some one else what we hate ourselves.  When we loo at our actions we can even see that we sometimes do the very thing we hate, but that we also sometimes have the desire to do what is right but not the ability to carry it out.

Romans 7:18 (RNKJV)
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

It can well be that the will to do good may be present with you and me, but how often we do not have to admit that in us there where more stronger elements that hindered us to do the right thing. We must admit that our flesh is weak.

Matthew 26:41 (RNKJV)
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

We know we do have to do good. We do know that we have been given an example and that we should follow him, who gave his life for us. We do know that Nazarene asked his followers to go out into the world and to preach the coming Kingdom of God. But much too often we are too afraid to open our mouth and tell others that we are following Jesus and trust his judgement and look forward to his and his heavenly Father’s Kingdom.

That fear for what people might think lets many not dare to talk about God and His son.

We are confronted with our “will” and our “performance” and must confess they are not in line with each other and often not in balance to.

We must be aware that first of all we must recognise that we can  either live according to the flesh setting our minds on the things of the flesh, or go for the things we might perhaps not see so clear and live according to the Spirit setting our minds on the things of the Spirit, believing what the Word of God brings to mankind black on white and not according human doctrines.

We should know that a lot of people prefer to hold on to human traditions, having the different feasts, not in accordance to God’s feasts. There are lots of people who prefer to hold on the ‘stories’ or ‘tales’ about parts of our body that might go to other places when we die. Lots of people love to have someone else to blame for the faults they do themselves. They like it to shift the guilt from themselves to a demon, they call Satan. They think by doing so they will be found less guilty. Others love to use that figure and places of torture to frighten others, so that they can keep power over them or can have them join their community, where fear preaching is the core business next to the entertainment they try to offer to please people, instead of spending more time to the Bible writings.

Lots of people want to find a church which can bring them worldly pleasures, nice songs and something exiting, like thriller stories, tales about places where people shall be tortured for ever, though they are the lucky ones that can escape because they are saved and should not worry. They love to hear that they do not have to do any work any more and that they can sleep on their two ears.

The majority of people prefer to set the mind on the flesh, not willing to know that it is death, whilst setting the mind on the Spirit shall be life and peace.

When we do know that even a called one of Christ knew the difficulty of what was going on in his body, we should have hope.

Romans 7:18 (RNKJV)
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

We should know that we are better to leave the world for what it is and be not afraid to tell it how we go for the sent one from God and putting our trust in God. There is no “life and peace” until we develop a spiritual relationship with our Lord. Those who do this are no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

In case we do trust God and feel it more important to live according to His Will instead of living according to the will of the people around us that we shall find it easier to live without fear, with at a spirit of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:7 (RNKJV)
7 For יהוה hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

With that spirit Jehovah has given us we can move mountains. Setting our minds on the by Christ renewed relationship we are “set free” and experience the reality of the Proverb,

Proverbs 4:18 (RNKJV)
18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

When you find that we are living in dark days please do see the light provided by the Most High and try to take others with you too on the right path of the righteous, being prepared for the day when Jesus is going to return.

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Preceding articles

How to Find the Meaning of Life and Reach a State of Peace

Facing our existence every day

Comments to James remarks, about Faith and works

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Additional literature

  1. Coming to understanding from sayings written long ago
  2. Not or well Ashamed of the gospel and admitting to be a God loving person
  3. Today’s thought “Ability to see that God is not dead” (May 12)
  4. Today’s thought “Blessed people …” (July 27)
  5. Today’s thought “nonsense surrounding the many gods” (July 28)

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12 Comments

Filed under Activism and Peace Work, Being and Feeling, Knowledge & Wisdom, Lifestyle, Religious affairs

Christians remaining hidden not sharing the gospel

Witness well Net knows that we are not human beings who like to come in the open easily. It says

we have a tendency to remain hidden and not share the gospel. {How pre-judging others has a serious effect on evangelism}

Some of us want to be so much like God and cast judgement on a person’s receptivity toward the message of salvation that they forget the love message.

Placing a gag over our mouth that keeps us from proclaiming His name rather than allow His Words to overflow from our hearts can be a result of pre-judging the condition of a person’s soil. {How pre-judging others has a serious effect on evangelism}

Talking about a saving relationship with ChristDave Malnes from the website Witness well tells us that we should trust his promises that our righteousness is secure because of his faithfulness – not our own; his obedience and not our own; his trustworthiness and not our own. {How evangelism rests on trust and what you possess}

He writes that

Evangelism

Evangelism (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

World religions attempt to search within to find true meaning and purpose. The object of their faith is themselves. Biblical Christians trust squarely on Jesus promises as the object of their faith. Peace and joy is not something that is self-generated, but Spirit-filled. {How evangelism rests on trust and what you possess}

Jesus-army-bus

Jesus-army-bus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Though we do find still  too many Christians counting too much on worldly arrangements and governments. Also a lot of Christians do not know their Bible. Some of them know perhaps several phrases from the New Testament, but do not see the whole picture.

The same about one of the tasks Jesus has given and as such has to be one of the many works of faith we do have to do. We do have to become one in Christ, like Christ is one with his heavenly Father. In case we would think like trinitarians, that would mean they have to become like God and some of them consider themselves to be like Christ, to be God.

The Elohim, who has sent His only begotten son to this world, commissions believers in Christ to sow the seeds of the gospel and to become humble like Jesus humbled himself. By embracing this role, Christians find joy and peace in encouraging and equipping others with the faith in Christ and in Only One true God (the heavenly Father of Jesus).

When we call ourselves Christian we should show others that we are willing to become like Christ and like him have faithfully responded God’s call to sow the seeds of the gospel and trusting God His promise that the harvest may be plentiful.

English: 4 days of Evangelism Training in Sout...

4 days of Evangelism Training in Southern California provided by LivingWaters Ministry. Obeying the great commission of Jesus Christ. “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to everyone” Mark 16:15 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Full enjoyment and trust we should bear the Good News in our mind and be of full courage to share the message of encouragement and uplifted spirit of rejoicing being presented to us by the acts of the apostles. Their work must have been an amazing experience, but is not finished yet. We do have to continue the work of the apostles and those first Christians.

Followers of Christ should be giving themselves totally to Jesus, willing to become in Christ Jesus, a part of a bigger picture as partakers of the Body of Christ, being those who have been set apart as God’s children through God’s grace.

It is by grace, God’s undeserved love that makes us Christians. No wonder we can rejoice through any circumstance that comes our way when we can be assured of our status before God, not by what we have done or what we are doing, but what God has already done for us. {An appropriate benediction}

We should be so tankful for Jesus proving to us that man is able to put his own will aside for doing God’s Will, and giving himself for atonement, paying the ransom prize for the sins we did.

For this liberation we can have joy which comes from trusting God’s promises that we will receive liberation from the curse of the Fall and that Jesus restored the relationship between God and man and has received authority to be the mediator between God and man and the judge at the end times, where it is him who shall decide who shall be able to enter the Kingdom of God.

An evangelist fully trusts God’s promises associated with being His messenger. Sharing the message of the gospel is not about us, but proclaiming the power of the message. In Christ, we conquer fear, worry, and guilt. By remaining in Christ, we bear fruits of the Spirit that reflects the light of Christ and introduces His presence to the world. {How evangelism rests on trust and what you possess}

The Bible teaches that God “gave” to certain people the gift of evangelism to build up the church (Eph. 4:11). We marvel and rejoice at these gifts as one who has the gift of music. Most believers like myself do not have the gift of evangelism, but we are not excused from the work of evangelism (2 Tim. 4:5). God commissions all believers to go, teach, and baptize (Matthew 28:19-20). {Twelve Things Successful Evangelists Do}

Dave Malnes believes these are twelve things that successful evangelists do:

Love Successful evangelists speak the truth that is prompted by love and concern for the soul.

Joy Evangelists reflect the gospel light in their own lives that attracts unbelievers.

Peace   Evangelists find their identity in Christ that washes away guilt.

Patience Evangelists understands the fruit of patience ripens into persistence by keeping God’s timetable and not our own.

Kindness Evangelists sacrifice acts of kindness and generosity with no strings attached.

Self-control Evangelists resist the need to win the argument and focus on winning the soul.

Goodness Evangelists consistently extend grace to those who are least deserving.

Gentleness Evangelists express humility and give all credit and glory to God.

Pray continually Evangelists give thanks in all circumstances and reflects this pattern in an ongoing prayer life.

Perseverance Evangelists never, never, never give up.

Faithfulness Evangelists rely on God’s faithfulness to renew their own faithfulness by regularly reading, studying, and praying over God’s Word. {Twelve Things Successful Evangelists Do}

We have to set our mind on Christ Jesus and nurture our and others their need for a goal, a focus, instructions, and a hero. When we are afraid to tell others about our faith we do need to conquer our fear with our faith. We also should remember that “Everything God has made is an assignment”. In the knowledge that our future is the seed for the one we chose to honour we should be pleased, showing our joy in the Messiah. Our gratitude should be a seed for more. and we should not be afraid to sow seed wrapped with expectation and faith in the harvest.

When having become a Christian we have come into a covenant with Jesus that gives purpose and then we should follow his rules and given tasks, sowing our seed for a desired harvest.

Oxbow sunset #2

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Preceding

Witnessing because we love

Is being a humanitarian enough to convey the full love of Christ?

Preaching Christ Is Not Enough

A Christian has to have eyes and ears and a tongue to use in good ways

Beautiful feet of those who announce the good news

An uncovering book to explore

Preaching by example

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Additional reading

  1. A question to be posed
  2. Creator and Blogger God 2 Image and likeness
  3. Written down in God’s Name for righteousness
  4. A way to look for Christ, the Bible, Word of God
  5. The Right One to follow and to worship
  6. The Almighty Lord God of gods King above all gods
  7. Glory of only One God Who gives His Word
  8. Necessary to be known all over the earth
  9. Appointed to be read
  10. Focussing on oneness with Jesus like Jesus is one with God
  11. Not able to make contact with God because to busy
  12. Salvation, trust and action in Jesus #3 as a Christian
  13. Atonement and the race been bought
  14. Atonement And Fellowship 1/8
  15. Atonement And Fellowship 2/8
  16. Atonement And Fellowship 3/8
  17. Atonement And Fellowship 4/8
  18. Atonement And Fellowship 5/8
  19. Atonement And Fellowship 6/8
  20. Atonement And Fellowship 7/8
  21. Atonement And Fellowship 8/8
  22. The manager and Word of God
  23. The Metaphorical language of the Bible
  24. Scripture alone Sola Scriptora
  25. Let us become nothing, and Christ everything
  26. Be an Encourager
  27. Foundation for a good relationship with God
  28. Apple of Gods eye
  29. A “seed” for the blessing of all mankind would come through the family of Abraham
  30. Our relationship with God, Jesus and eachother
  31. Sow and harvests in the garden of your heart
  32. Bearing fruit
  33. Rejoicing in the day
  34. She who sows thistles will reap prickles
  35. You cannot change anything in your life with intention alone
  36. Picking Stones
  37. The Big Conversation
  38. John 4 according to the Scriptures

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Further reading

  1. Simple John
  2. Seeds that you plant
  3. With the Patience of a Saint
  4. 7 Laws to Create Uncommon Success
  5. The Good Gardener
  6. Others before myself
  7. Leviticus 2:8-16: The First-Fruits Offering
  8. A Spiritual Harvest
  9. Sharpen Your Blade!
  10. The Secret to Successful Gardening
  11. Your Mind is the Garden
  12. No Soup For You!
  13. Who is Going to Tell Them?
  14. Dying Field
  15. IF: I listen, can I hear You?

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Filed under Uncategorized

More on Grace and Spiritual Fruit – Abide in Me, and I in you


Abide in Me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  (John 15:4-5)

Although these verses do not mention grace, they are a classic biblical explanation of grace bringing forth fruit in lives.
The language depicts an actual vineyard, where fruit grows on branches that are properly related to a vine. Then, this physical reality is applied figuratively to spiritual fruit developing in our lives, if we are relating correctly to Jesus.

In this teaching, our Lord reminds us that literal branches are not able to produce fruit themselves.
“The branch cannot bear fruit of itself.”
We are spiritual branches, so we will not be able to produce fruit either.
“Neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
In fact, our potential for manufacturing genuine spiritual fruit is zero.
“Without Me you can do nothing.”
The best we could ever hope to produce would be religious, wax fruit. Such would come from our fleshly attempts to appear godly or effective. People may be fooled by this, but God never will be. Furthermore, people cannot be edified by partaking of such, and God cannot be glorified.

True fruit results from the ongoing development of life.
Life is only innate to vines, not branches.
For a grape to develop on any grape branch, the life of the vine must flow into, and work within, the branch. So it is with us. “I am the vine, you are the branches.” This distinction is vital. We must never forget the difference, if we desire to bear fruit.
The life we need for fruitfulness is in Him, not in us.

How do we avail ourselves of that life which is essential for fruit?
“Abide in Me, and I in you.”
We are to look to Jesus for life, counting on Him to live in and through us. Then, His life, working in us, brings forth Christlike fruit.
How do we know if we are abiding?
If we are willing to depend upon Jesus for spiritual fruit as a grape branch relies upon its vine for grapes, then we are truly abiding in Christ. Such dependency brings valid expectation for great measures of Christlikeness to be developing in and through our lives. “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.”

This is clearly grace at work, as seen in the relational realities of humility and faith.
Humility is operating as we acknowledge”without Me you can do nothing.”
Faith is exercised as we believe” that He who abides in Me . . . bears much fruit.”

Lord Jesus, my true vine, I humbly agree with You that I cannot produce spiritual fruit on my own. I admit that apart from You at work in me, I could never manifest any genuine godliness. So, with great expectation I look to You to provide the life I need for much fruitfulness, Amen. 

 

We pray to the great Spiritual Power in which
We pray, above all, for peace throughout the world.
prayer for … – name


  • Bob Hoekstra


Preceding

100-Day Identity Makeover: Day 56

Paul giving notice of the works we have to do

The works we have to do according to James the brother of Christ

Our life depending on faith

Which is worse–works without faith, or faith without works?

James 2:24 – You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only

Passion fruit still on the vine

Passion fruit still on the vine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Additional reading

  1. The way of salvation
  2. Faith Requires a Basis
  3. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
  4. A Living Faith #4 Effort
  5. A Living Faith #5 Perseverance
  6. Faith and works
  7. Sharing your faith
  8. Bearing fruit
  9. Observing the commandments and becoming doers of the Word
  10. The first on the list of the concerns of the saint
  11. Be holy
  12. 1 Corinthians 15 Hope in action
  13. Chief means by which men are built up
  14. Not to play at Christianity
  15. To be established in the present truth
  16. She who sows thistles will reap prickles
  17. Love for each other attracting others
  18. Share your faith
  19. Outflow of foundational relationship based on acceptance of Jesus
  20. Faith, storms and actions to be taken
  21. The longer you wait
  22. A call easy to understand

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11 Comments

Filed under Lifestyle, Reflection Texts, Religious affairs

The Mountain: Radical Love

In our second reposting from the paraphrased chronological harmony of the four gospels, by Frank Boulet we look once more at the central message of Jesus which is simply this:

 Love God by loving people, even your enemies.

with From Guestwriters we do want to spread this message of love and want to get enough people to see how we do have to control ourselves first before we can try to get a better world.

Our aim is also that those who come along our site, shall make the effort to read the appropriate Bible text and shall take time to meditate on the material.

Insofar as they convey that message, these meditations may be helpful as an introduction to the complete texts of the New Testament, or for daily devotional reading.

Those who call themselves Christian always should remember that they have to be followers of Christ longing for God’s Spirit to feed them. They cannot be called Christian when they do not keep to the laws and teachings Christ adhered to.

The spirit that God wants reflected to the world by your life is revealed in the law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. {The Mountain: God’s Word}

As believers in Christ we do have to be believers in the One True God and become children of Him.

In order to live as God’s child, you must be faithful to the essential spirit of God’s word. {The Mountain: God’s Word}

It was on a mountain that Jesus began giving examples of the spirit of God’s Word. From that sermon on the mountain we should get to know that our faith needs those works Jesus spoke about.

As a Christians we should not only have a good relationship with Christ Jesus, but also with God and God His creatures.

If you’re about to worship God in any way, and you remember an unsettled dispute with another person, first go & make peace with that person, and then return to worship God. {The Mountain: Anger}

As a Christian we should follow Christ’s teachings and God’s commandments.

God’s law says, do not engage in sexual cheating (meaning sexual relations are to be enjoyed only with your husband or wife). {The Mountain: Sexual Cheating}

This means we have to be faithful to the partner we have chosen to share our life with. That faithfulness demands control and requires acts of love. The keeping our minds focused on the right persons is one of the works we do have to do. Because we should know that we may not even look with lust at a woman, because for God that is considered the same as sexual cheating in your heart!

We also should be careful which words  we use and what sort of promises we make.

It has also been said, ‘Do not break your promise to God.’

But I say, do not even make promises to God.

Yes we are told not to promise by heaven, by the earth, by Jerusalem, not even by your own head, because it’s sinful to try to add emphasis to your promises in that way.

We should not do the wrong things but the right things and as such

Instead of promising to do what God says, just do what God says. {The Mountain: Promises to God}

heart-of-a-good-samaritan-reveals

We also may not seek revenge against any other person, which again shall demand control of ourselves and not getting into anger which would bring us to do wrong.

extra_mile

Jesus gives an indication how in our relation to others we should care for them and even be willing to go with them.

If a soldier demands that you carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles.

Whenever another person asks you for something, give it to him.

Whenever another person wants to borrow something, lend it to him.

Matthew 5:38-42

Also to love your enemies we shall need to be stronger than the first reaction most people get against their enemies or to those they hate.

Jesus concluded:

Instead of being like everybody else, God wants you to love perfectly — just as God himself loves perfectly. (Matthew 5:43-48) {The Mountain: Loving Enemies}

Living for God in this life means you need to have different goals than most people.

For instance, you must love your enemies. {The Mountain: Radical Love}

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We should remember

  • things essential to gain all of God’s blessings:

• Admitting + Mourning self-inflicted spiritual poverty.
• Regretting your self-inflicted separation from God.
• Desiring to live God’s way
• Expecting & accepting trouble living God’s way will bring in this life.

  • Living for yourself in this life will never lead to God’s blessings in the next life:

Then the author says:

  • • goal in this life to be rich => poor in the next life.

  • • goal in this life to be full => hungry in the next life.

  • • goal in this life to be happy => sad in the next life.

  • • goal in this life for other people to speak well of you => no one will speak well of you in the next life.

But with death we have paid for our sins and then there comes an end to our life. When we die it shall be too late to do anything. there shall be no “next life”, except the life we shall continue to live on this earth in this system of things when we have done wrong and do not repent, or after Armageddon and the judgement when we shall be rejected or receive the entrance to God’s Kingdom, being able to live in the restored ‘Garden of Eden‘, the paradise, God’s Kingdom.

It is here, now or never that we shall have to do and make it. Several parables of Christ show us how for many it will be too late for them to change anything for their entrance in the Kingdom of God … they just shall miss it … because they have not done the required works to be saved.

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Preceding articles

Illusion of control

First man’s task still counting today

He who knows himself, is kind to others

Luther’s misunderstanding

January 27, 417, Pope Innocent I condemning Pelagius about Faith and Works

Our life depending on faith

Romans 4 and the Sacraments

Is Justification a process?

Letter to the Romans, chapter 3

Letter to the Romans, chapter 4

Additional comments to the 3rd Letter to the Romans

Additional comments to the Letter to the Romans 4

Comments to James remarks, about Faith and works

The Mountain: Radical Obedience

Restitution

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Also of interest

  1. יהוה , YHWH and Love: Four-letter words
  2. Creator and Blogger God 3 Lesson and solution
  3. Christ’s ethical teaching
  4. The business of this life
  5. The first on the list of the concerns of the saint
  6. Running away from the past
  7. Be holy
  8. Love for each other attracting others
  9. The Greatest of These is Love
  10. Unconditional love
  11. Love is like playing the piano
  12. Agape, a love to share with others from the Fruit of the Spirit
  13. Relying on the Love of God
  14. No person has greater love than this one who surrendered his soul in behalf of his friends
  15. Work with joy and pray with love
  16. The Spirit of God imparts love,inspires hope, and gives liberty
  17. We love because he first loved us
  18. Malefactors becoming your master
  19. 112314 – A Peculiar People
  20. Be ye angry and sin not
  21. She who sows thistles will reap prickles
  22. He who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger
  23. Singing gift from God
  24. God does not change

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Further related articles

  1. “Week One Reflection” by Dr.J. 2016 Fast Post 19
  2. The Difference Between Healthy And Unhealthy Shame
  3. God Can Set You Free From Your Shame
  4. The Surprising Key to Increasing Your Willpower
  5. How to gain self-control & self-discipline
  6. Control When It Counts
  7. Bible study: Blessed are the meek: For they shall inherit the earth (Mt 5:5)
  8. Frank Sinatra quotes from Sermon on the Mount
  9. You are the Way Jesus!
  10. Who gets your attention?
  11. Building on the Rock
  12. The Jesus Revolution
  13. Class #1: Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount
  14. sermon on the mount – an introduction
  15. The King’s Sermon (Matt. 4:23, 25, 5:1-2)
  16. Blessed are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
  17. Sermon on the Mount: Ask, Seek, Knock
  18. Sermon On The Mount – Blessed are the meek
  19. Blessed are the Meek
  20. Sermon on the Mount: In the Eye
  21. January 17 Matthew 7:1-14
  22. Misreading the Bible: “Judge Not”
  23. The Sermon on the Mount (18)
  24. The Poor in Spirit
  25. Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
  26. Blessed Are They That Mourn
  27. Sermon on the Mount: Wisdom
  28. The Sermon on the Mount is not a Guide to Christian Salvation
  29. God give us grace to face the Sermon on the Mount
  30. Sermon on the Mount: Blindness
  31. Salt and Light
  32. Sermon on the Mount by Vance Stinson
  33. The Lord’s Prayer
  34. The Third Way: Nonviolent Resistance
  35. Loving the Unlovables – Part One
  36. Be Different in Your Purity
  37. The Poor in Spirit (Matt. 5:3)
  38. Like A Bull In A China Shop
  39. God is Jehovah Jireh – The LORD Will Provide
  40. Thesis of Jesus
  41. Be Different in Your Anger
  42. Class #3: Three you are statements. Matthew 5:11-16
  43. January 12 Matthew 5:21-32
  44. January 13 Matthew 5:33-48
  45. Borrowed Trouble — Being Perfect, Part 4
  46. When Grief is Good
  47. Lay Down Your Blessings
  48. Teacher
  49. Master, teach us how to pray – The Lord’s Prayer
  50. James 1
  51. Be Your Attitudes
  52. beatitude
  53. The Beatitudes: Growing into the Kingdom of Heaven. Already.
  54. In Search of Eternity
  55. Be Different in Your Righteousness
  56. Daily Riches: Can One Obey Without Actually Obeying? (James Hannay and William James)
  57. A Greater Righteousness
  58. Out with the old, in with almost nothing
  59. Be Different in Your Influence
  60. Rain or Shine — Being Perfect, Part 1
  61. Virtue Signaling — Being Perfect, Part 2
  62. The Business of Blessing Others

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Filed under Activism and Peace Work, Being and Feeling, Crimes & Atrocities, Lifestyle, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs, Religious affairs, Social affairs

A Christian has to have eyes and ears and a tongue to use in good ways

When looking at the world which drifts further away form the knowledge of God, it becomes very important that those who do believe in the Most High Divine Creator let others know the Master Mind behind everything.
Living in this evolving materialistic world we also should bring the more spiritual important matters forward and present them to those around us. We should not be afraid to talk about the higher values and our great hopes.
Even when we may have the impression that all others want to stay blind and deaf, we should try to open their eyes and ears.
Jesus said,
“Having eyes, do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? …Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:18,21).
Are we, who call ourselves Christian, really wanting to be true followers of Christ? Are we ourselves willing to have our ears and eyes open for the master teacher’s teaching? Let us apply our God-given intellect ever more diligently to what we read and then make sure we meditate upon it. A true blessing for us – every day – only by this means will we be
“wholly true to the Lord”.
And when true to the Lord we want to share the Good News and show our love for the Lord and His Precious Gift. Our thankfulness should be seen by our works. Our title of being Christian should mean we are following the teachings of Christ and are following up the tasks given by him to his disciples.
With the preaching work of Christ Jesus in our mind we also should not be afraid to go out into the world and preaching that Good News of the saviour.

Thought for August 13

“… wholly true to the LORD”

English: Solomon and the Plan for the Temple, ...

Solomon and the Plan for the Temple, as in 1 Kings 6, illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the end there can be no half measures in truly believing, and, as a result, having a daily relationship with our Saviour. The completion of this relationship leads us to more and more fully sense the wonder of the Creator of all things – and the unlimited nature of those “all things”.

In First Kings today we read one of the longest chapters in the Bible: it describes the awesome glory of the Temple in which just about everything was overlaid with gold. Solomon had just completed it and we read his words of benediction. First he offers an emotional prayer to God,

“that all the peoples of the earth may know your name” (8:43).

When he finishes his prayer

“he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, ‘Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel …’” (verse 56)

and we ponder how even greater, far greater, must be the blessing and the joy, and the greater “rest” when, as we will read soon, Jesus the greatest king of all opens

“the house of prayer for all nations” (Mark 11:17).

Solomon brings his benediction to a climax with a petition to the Lord

“that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other”

and then utters the even more significant words,

“Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day” (verse 61).

Human nature is such that the challenge to be “wholly true to the LORD” is only accomplished when we have a real living relationship with Him and his Son, and how thought provoking is our chapter in Mark in showing us how the disciples failed to be fully committed, despite constantly witnessing remarkable miracles and hearing his teaching.

Jesus said to them,

“Having eyes, do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? …Do you not yet understand?” (8:18,21).

And for ourselves, having eyes, do we not read, and having brains, do we not yet understand? Let us apply our God-given intellect ever more diligently to what we read and then make sure we meditate upon it. A true blessing for us – every day – only by this means will we be

wholly true to the Lord”.

the Christadelphian

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Filed under Being and Feeling, Lifestyle, Religious affairs

Summermonths and consumerism

Summertime seems to have difficulties to show her face this year. Over a few days the days will shorten again and we did not have yet some real good nice warm days.

In the supermarkets they feel the consumption of meat not taking off like they want and therefore they are presenting special bargain prices, advertising against other trying to present the cheapest products. If they would be the best products would be an other matter. Also if they would be produced in a decent ethical way is for many of no concern.

We can imagine Middle School teacher Bob James throughout the year has to face his pupils with all sorts of gadgets, disturbed and tempted by lots of consumer products and market activities.

Real teachers do find it necessary to help others. Bob James also is firmly convinced that all of us need to be more proactive in helping others.

We need to help them when disaster strikes, when they are recovering and then when developing their lives to be the people that God intended them to be. We are meant to be independent of all except for God. On Him alone should we be dependent. Thus, as I seek to help others, I seek to move beyond mere relief and am focusing on rehabilitation and reconciliation. We are to be reconciled with God, with our fellow human beings and with our environment. If any one of these is missing, we will have problems. This is a tall order, but I will always seek to bring reconciliation. {About Me}

He, like many teachers are daily confronted with the non-interest for God, is probably also seeing that today the kids, but also their parents, have made new gods and have more interest in the material belongings than the spiritual.

The Human Use of Human Beings

The Human Use of Human Beings (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In previous articles on this blog we pointed out to this behaviour which is destroying our society like CO poisoning, not seen, not smelled, not heard. We are living in a society where eyes are directed on gaining capital, even if we need not to take notice of necessary protection for man or do not mind bringing shortage or harm to others, to get more money.

Our economy is based on consumerism. Ads are designed to appeal to people like me and make me not just want, but Need, the latest thing – whether that be a soft drink or the latest model car. {June 8 – What I Really Need}

In the years straight after the World Wars people seemed to know again the value of the necessities of life. Folks appreciated again the small things. (We remember sitting with three on a bench, having one study book, which we savoured like the best we could have to receive knowledge. We never wanted to have it for ourselves alone and where pleased when we could share things with others.) They were pleased with what they could get. They also wanted to show to others who they were and used their cloths to present their identity.

Today everybody seems to be hiding behind their clothes. They now have to be from one or the other brand, design and colour which is in fashion. All want to belong to the group and hide their own self behind brands which are ‘in’. Everything must be dictated by the market. Nobody wants to go against what the market dictates.

English: RedEye Sailboat Category:Images of Ch...

RedEye Sailboat one of the things people like to have for enjoying themselves and to show off (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In Summer this is made even more clear by everybody wanting to go in the garden and show off with what the market advertises and wants to press on everybody. As such, once it is beautiful weather, we can not sit outdoors without having to smell all the combustion products, from the people who do not know how to use properly those advertised and bought barbecue sets.

Having holiday also became equivalent to travelling. When people to day are saying they go on holiday, they mostly mean and want the other person to think they are going to travel abroad. For many taking a holiday in the own garden or in the own country is not having a holiday any more. The market made them to believe to relax and to take vacation or to take leave has to be going abroad and spending a lot of money at enjoyment, entertainment parks, luxury meals and pampering and health treatments.

People have to believe they only count in this society when they can show that they are using the latest gadgets and are ‘by the time’. All people who have not the newest things are ‘old’ or ‘out of date’. They best are ignored or put aside, as not being the right people to associate with. Or they are laughed at as old fashioned or ‘nerds’.

Bob James remarks:

How easily we buy the latest thing and throw away the old. One of the problems is that we not only throw away things, we also tend to throw away people or relationships if they don’t “meet our needs.” {June 8 – What I Really Need}

Those needs have become very selfish. Everything is directed to the ‘I’ and to the ‘what can I gain from this relationship’. Most people want to associate with other people in such a way that they may be sure others will find them interesting for the knowledge and acquaintances of such people. Most relations are build on the use they can provide for the self. Not the giving away has become important, nor the meaning something for some one else, but the meaning for the person him or herself, has become the landmark.

Clearly the focus of most people came on to the wrong things. This also made many relationships not last and break down. Often we see the other person has become of no real value, when not usable any more. We see that at work. As son as a person gets to ‘old’ or to ‘experienced’ and to ‘expensive because of ‘seniority’ he is made redundant.

But also the material things do not get time to stay in use as valuable. As soon there is a new model, the old one is considered as ‘passée’ .
Most people have placed their mind on things which are disposable.

What we should be thinking about is not “things,” but people. {June 8 – What I Really Need}

writes Bob James.

What we should be focusing on more than anything is our relationship with God. {June 8 – What I Really Need} (Though in his article gives a quote about focussing on Jesus, who is not God but the son of God, but who also deserves our attention.)

Today, we can see that a lot of people who are debtors to the material things of this world. Most have forgotten that their body should be a temple, a place for clean things. Natural products for many are a laugh-stock. Biological products for many are either for the ‘loonies’ or have become a way to show off, because they are much more expensive and a way to proof they can afford it and belong to such a class of people, having enough money to buy such things.

Instead of respect for nature and respect for the Creator of all those things man shows more interest to the highly perishable idols presented on television and more and more on the internet, which brings totally new sorts of idols in the living room. All those living according to flesh, often forget that they too, like anybody else, are going to die, but if in spirit they kill the deeds of the body, and that they have much better prospects. For those who live in the spirit can find real intense worthwhile life.

Part of our problem with this issue is that our desires have been made to seem like needs. If we began each day with a focus on Jesus Christ, many of those things we think are “needs” would be shown to be desires. {June 8 – What I Really Need}

Christ Jesus is the man of flesh and blood who gave the world an example how to live according to the will of the Only One God, Whom we should consider the Most High and the Most Valuable. Jesus knew he could not do anything without God. Jesus never did his own will but always wanted to do the Will of God.  Today most consider God a flaw or useless invention.

Lots of people, having all those modern gadgets still do not feel happy. Having so many things they do not yet feel satisfied. They still have a hunger …

They are starving for the real better thing which they do not seem to see by the mist of consumerism. Lots of people are running into problems when they work so hard to take care of all their desires for material things, that they forget to spend more time to build up good relations.

Most people do not see or forget about what they really need.

Bob James thinks about a strong relationship with Jesus Christ, but seems to forget an even more important relationship, namely that with the heavenly Father of Jesus, the Only One True God.

This world needs to find the way back to God. It has lost connection with the Creator. The world has become strayed. We have to take care we become not astray by the temptations around us.

Keep your eyes on Jesus and as such find the Way to God and the way to God’s Kingdom.

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Preceding articles:

Lonely in the crowd

Misleading world, stress, technique, superficiality, past, future and positivism

Less… is still enough

Less for more

Contentment: The five senses

How to Find the Meaning of Life and Reach a State of Peace

See the conquest and believe that we can gain the victory

The Cares of Life

The natural beauties of life

Engagement in an actual two-way conversation with your deities

Just be yourself…

A Snippet of Advice on Cultural Analysis

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Find additional literature:

  1. Capitalism
  2. Increasing wealth gap of immense proportions in the Capitalist World
  3. Classes of people and Cronyism
  4. Uncertainty, shame and no time for vacillation
  5. Because men choose to go their own way
  6. Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #9 Consumption
  7. A risk taking society
  8. What IF you’re only driven by stress?
  9. Ecological economics in the stomach #2 Resources
  10. How do you keep people from stealing your joy?
  11. 2014 Social contacts
  12. Justififiable anger or just anarchism
  13. Ability for a community to come back from a crisis
  14. Green Claims in Europe
  15. Greenpeace demands scale up of ecological farming
  16. Happy International Happiness Day!
  17. Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience
  18. Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual
  19. Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious
  20. Looking for True Spirituality 2 Not restricted to an elite
  21. How long to wait before bringing religiousness and spirituality in practice
  22. Sharing thoughts and philosophical writings
  23. Lovers of God, seekers and lovers of truth
  24. Fools despise wisdom and instruction
  25. In a world which knows no peace sharing blessed hope
  26. The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places
  27. Cleanliness and worrying or not about purity
  28. Cognizance at the doorstep or at the internet socket
  29. Jehovah steep rock and fortress, source of insight
  30. Perishable non theologians daring to go out to preach
  31. Bringing Good News into the world
  32. How should we preach?
  33. Thanksgiving wisdom: Why gratitude is good for your health
  34. Food as a Therapeutic Aid
  35. Remember there’s a light in the next day
  36. It is a free will choice
  37. To know Christ is filling life with meaning
  38. Heed of the Saviour
  39. Songs in the night Worship God only
  40. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

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16 Comments

Filed under Economical affairs, Food, Lifestyle, Spiritual affairs

May we have doubts

Not all of us are sure about all things. Lots of matters may bring questions onto our mind.

Some may say doubt originates in a double minded person. Others say it is because a person is not enough believing in God. Others say he is not believing in Christ. Several Christians look at a doubter as a person not trusting Jesus.

Is this really so. Are we less better than other Christians when we have questions about certain matters? No, not at all.
Is doubt a sign of lacking faith? Perhaps. But it can be that you really do your best to walk in faith.
Is it because you do not believe in Jesus his victory over circumstances and trials? Perhaps, but not necessary so.

Is it because you cannot see the victory in your life you are seeking? Did you try already to check if you are really looking for the right victory?

Have you ever tried to think that what you would love to have and to see for yourself might not be in God His Will?

We are all human beings with our limitations and ‘malfunctions’.  We all have our little problems and as such we should know that every house carries its own cross.

Having all those difficulties coming over us, no wonder that we sometimes worry and question of we are doing it right or if we are following the right coarse.

In the Holy Scriptures we are advised to question everything. This means that God does understand that we more than once shall have questions with what we hear or read, and that is good, because we should question all those sayings.

For many life is an ongoing cycle of wandering and restoration. And though many would wish it were otherwise, this makes many sometimes going to and fro, coming close to God and at other moments being far away from God. Though some may desire to never depart from God, they keep losing track. Also for Jesus it seems for many Christians often difficult to keep feeling him nearby. On many occasions confronted with the realities of life we may have lots of doubts about many things.

The reality of our sinful human condition makes it so that we also have periods where our relationship with other human beings, with Christ and/or with God is disturbed a lot.

In our technological age of communication it looks like many have lost the good communication with the Most High Divine Creator.

James Paulgaard, a fellow traveller on the journey of life, also sees some problems of this time and age. He writes:

For centuries, up until the Sixties, the Church was perfectly designed for our culture. When a group of immigrants settled in a new area, one of the first things that they did was to build a church in the centre of the community. People valued going to church as a good thing. It made people into good citizens. Encouraging the Christian faith was seen as a valuable in our society at the time. There were benefits to going to church. You could build your network of social and business contacts and perhaps even meet your future spouse there. The church was perfectly designed to develop people in that environment into followers of Jesus. {Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things}

Today people have found other networks which they do find more important.

Choluteca Bridge

This bridge was a well-designed and fully functional bridge, but in 1998 Hurricane Mitch dumped 36 inches of rain on the area in just a few days and amidst all the other damage caused by the hurricane, the deluge of water carved a new channel for the river around the bridge and the bridge now spans dry ground. It is a perfectly designed bridge that doesn’t work anymore because the river moved. (Photo from the article: Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things)

Now, being part of a Christian Church is no longer seen as a desirable by our culture. Encouraging the Christian faith is no longer valued by our society. People do not need the church for social or business contacts or to find a spouse. We have websites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Plenty of Fish for all those things. A church that was perfectly designed to make disciples in the world of sixty years ago and older struggles to engage with the mission of Jesus Christ in the world of today because the river has moved. {Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things}

When you follow the articles on Our World and perhaps form your newspapers or journals on television, you are probably aware how bad the state of church attendance is. All over the industrialised countries we do find a secularized community. In some countries there may still be a solid core of people continue to value faith; but a growing core do not. { find a.o. Reginald Bibby, A New Day: The Resilience and Restructuring of Religion in Canada (Lethbridge: Project Canada Books, 2012), 5, 10, 34.}

Lots of people got to hear from their preachers that Jesus is God because no human being is ever able to follow God’s Will. Because of that lie, people have no trust in that Jesus any more and do find it rubbish that at other moments priests or pastors say they have to take the armour of Christ and become like Christ. That then would mean they  had to become like God, which is something impossible.

And in case it is impossible fro any human being to follow the Will of God, what use would it than be to even try, if no man ever could succeed.

Lots of people do forget that Jesus was a man who lived some two thousand years ago. He was a real person, others could see and not fall death (In the Bible is written that people cannot see God and live). That man, born in an Essene family from the tribe of king David, had to learn everything. People should know that God knows everything but this Jesus did not. He also had to disappoint those who wanted to know where they would be seated with him in God’s Kingdom. In case Jesus was God he could have told them because he would have known, but Jesus did not know it and had also to disappoint those who wanted to know when he would come back. Jesus always wanted to do the will of his heavenly Father and did not want to lie, like his heavenly Father does not tell lies. Not knowing when the end times or Last Days of this time system would fall, Jesus could not tell them, nor us, when he would be coming back.

In the Gospels we also can see that Jesus at moments had doubts and even wondered why God had abandoned him. So, in case Jesus dares already to ask God why He had left him, why should not such thoughts may or could come up in our minds.
What is important is how we cope with such thoughts. How we cope with our questioning God? And how we dare to question God.

We may ask God lots of things, but we have to do it in a proper manner. We also may request Him things, but we should know that God knows best for us.

Jesus has already done the hard work of living a perfect human life, dying on the cross and rising from the dead to reconcile all of creation to God. Jesus is the one doing the supernatural work of drawing people close to him and planting faith in their hearts.

as Greg Finke, {Joining Jesus on His Mission: How to Be an Everyday Missionary (Tyler TX: Tenth Power Publishing, 2014), 42-43} and James Paulgaard  {Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things} puts it.

English: A statue of Jesus Christ at a church ...

A statue of Jesus Christ at a church in India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jesus paved the path to God; He restored the relation between God and man and has become our mediator, now sitting at the right hand of God (notice: not on God’s throne).

The problem of today is that most people do not know the real Jesus.

To help to find Jesus and to get to see better the importance of what he really did, dying for us all, whitewashing our sins, there has been started a new website. “Messiah for all” wants to show the world that Christ Jesus was and is there for the whole world. He does not want to miss any body. He gives everybody the opportunity to get to know him and to get to know the way to the Kingdom of God.

“Messiah for all” is there for you to help you find Jesus and to find he is worth all your trust and all your faith.

Please do find that site for you and me, and start reading: Are people allowed to have doubts

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Find additional reading:

  1. What’s church for, anyway?
  2. Obstacles to effective evangelism
  3. To be prepared and very well oiled
  4. Impediments in our way
  5. Evangelisation, local preaching opposite overseas evangelism
  6. Looking for Free Blogs and blogging
  7. Those who love Jesus
  8. Humbleness
  9. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God
  10. Humility and the Fear of the Lord
  11. No time for immorality

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  • Augustine on the Difference between Christianity and Platonism (booksontrial.wordpress.com)
    The difference between Platonism and Christianity is not merely a difference of interpretation, but the difference between perception/speculation on one side, and reality/true knowledge on the other. To use a Biblical imagery, there is a great gulf fixed between them. It is the difference between death and Life, between an inanimate object and a living being. Though philosophy may delight man with a magnificent picture of truth and beauty, it is nevertheless dead, and so the greatest philosophical ideas cannot be compared with the smallest life-giving word of God.
  • Most Blessed State of Being for Now (relijournal.com)
    A Christian is saying “I’ve got to be me” when the Holy Scriptures indicate we are to be crucified in Christ? I have to wonder how much spiritual damage was done to other by that worldly thinking. What “Christian” singers sing does not supercede the written Word of God. The Holy Bible does not indicate we have got to be “ourselves,” but it does state we are to be like Christ.
  • Living in the Wrong Time (histruthwillsetyoufree.wordpress.com)
    The best days are when I live in the present,  with my friend, the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ.  With Him, there is no room for Regret or Worry.
  • Evangelists Want to Convert Heathen Computers To Christianity, Create Army Of ‘Robot Pastors’ (addictinginfo.org)
    On Wednesday, Gizmodo’s Zoltan Istvan reminded us that, soon, the world will be full of “autonomous, self-aware super intelligences” created by humans. Obviously, some Christians see this as an opportunity to convert something to their religion.

    Evangelists told Gizmodo that these sciencey, autonomous computer brains probably can, and definitely should, be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

  • Equal to Christ. Septuagesima 2015 (deprofundisclamaviadtedomine.wordpress.com)
    Jesus gave Himself for us to make us His own people who are zealous, eager, passionate about doing good works.  Christians have been born again so that they may live a new life of service to God in good works.
  • The Journey of Love and Commitment (vineandbranchworldministries.com)
    When we wonder about in life, do we ponder the meaning of the many gifts before us and offer praise and thanksgiving or do we literally take life for-granted.  Sanctification sets us apart and instills our hearts and spirit with the desire to follow the pattern Jesus gave.
  • Excuse My Scepticism (pastorcharleschipere.wordpress.com)
    In our Christian Faith, we are taught to believe rather than to be a doubting Thomas. We are taught to trust rather than mistrust. We are taught to give a person the benefit of the doubt before we dismiss them. But my journey of faith has had some encounters with reality leading me to embrace some sceptical attitude towards some things I have observed in the land of the living. Before I delve into my observations, please excuse my scepticism. But this scepticism does not take away my faith in God.
  • An Unfathomable Gift (connywithay.wordpress.com)
    “All other religions and sects teach that man has to perform many good works in order to gain bliss – salvation is dependent on man. The Christian faith is completely the opposite. It is God working salvation on behalf of man – salvation is dependent on God,” Jan Blonk writes in his book, The Unfathomable Gift: God’s Astonishing Grace.
  • The Other Side (culturalatheist.wordpress.com)
    Do you have a people or place that you have determined God is not present and the places and people are demonic and unclean?
  • The Call of God (mississippipep.wordpress.com)
    If God were human, how sick and tired He would be of the constant requests we make for our salvation and for our sanctification. We burden His energies from morning till night asking for things for ourselves or for something from which we want to be delivered! When we finally touch the underlying foundation of the reality of the gospel of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complaints.

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