In Jewish and Greco-Roman culture women were seen as secondary citizens. The male Jew could at any time for no reason write a letter of dismissal to divorce his wife. In fact, the devout Jew would recite a prayer daily thanking God that he was not a woman. Such behavior was well understood to Paul, who being a devout Jew himself. Paul begins his lesson on marriage by first stating that women are to be subject/submissive to their husband as an expression of their submission to Jesus. Paul does not say that they are to be just as submissive to their husband as they are to Jesus nor that women were to be submissive to all men nor that women were inferior to men. Submission does not mean inferiority or a loss of one’s identity it means giving oneself up to someone else. Our universe is an example of authority and submission; which is a natural necessity to maintain order: God has authority over man, man has authority over nature, husbands have authority over their wives, parents over their children, governors over which they govern, employers over their employees, and spiritual leaders over those they lead spiritually. I believe Paul is trying to show that submission leads to voluntary organization which leads to completeness and oneness in marriage. In Greco-Roman culture men had no responsibilities towards their wives, as wives had many toward their husbands. Paul summarizes the wives duty as submission and the men’s job as love (agapate) which means seeking the highest good for another person; just as Christ gave up his life for the salvation of mankind. He gave up his rights in order to fulfill his responsibilities, so must the man in relation to his wife. This love must consist of unconditional acceptance, sacrificial action, and self-denial of your passions when hers are at risk.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Abortion: Systematic Injustice
An essay I wrote for my English class.
In almost all societies over the span of history, systematic injustice has always existed in one form or another. During those times in history, many groups spoke out against whatever they believed were systematic injustices, but were received as “radical” because these acts of injustice were culturally acceptable. Time proves most of these cultural norms to be inherently wrong. One of the most (at the time) culturally acceptable injustices to take place in recent centuries would have to be the Jewish Holocaust, in which five million Jews lost their lives under Nazi Germany. Tragic, as the Jewish Holocaust was, there exists an injustice even more culturally accepted today that is claiming even more lives. Abortion is the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo before fetal viability. Abortions claims more than 1.21 million deaths a year in the United States and are responsible for 50 million total deaths since it was legalized. Abortion is an injustice; as it intentionally deprives potential life of experience and enjoyment, the loss of one’s life is the greatest loss one can suffer. Pro-life and pro-choice supporters often debate and get distracted by the definition of life and the point at which it starts. The definition of when life begins does have a major role in determining whether abortion is an injustice or not in many people’s minds. Even if life is to be agreed to start at birth, it does not undermine all Pro-choice choice arguments that are readily available in the public realm.
If anything, history teaches us that humans have a capacity for abusing other human beings. These abuses extend past an individual or a small group, to crimes against humanity. The concept of “Crimes against humanity” was created by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin. Lemkin was influenced by the slaughter of the Armenians by the Turks in World War One. But, his proposals were not passed until 1943 when leaders of Nazi Germany were charged with genocide during the Nuremberg Trails. Genocide is defined as “The deliberate and systematic destruction of a national, racial, religious, political, cultural, ethnic, or other group defined by the exterminators as undesirable.”(Webster’s New World Encyclopedia) Abortion is an act of genocide because it targets a very specific group of human beings: unwanted, unborn children. Americans in many instances tend to dehumanize a group of people who stand in the way of something we want or are working for, as do pro-choice supporters who dehumanize the fetus to justify its elimination. Many take offense to comparing abortion to other crimes against humanity because it reveals a scandal. Such was the case when Dr. King compared the abuse of black Americans to the Holocaust. It is easy to condemn crimes that happen in another time-period. It is much harder to condemn crimes when they are a cultural norm and are running swiftly throughout our society. Pro-choice supporters often argue that the unborn aren’t really people and cannot be compared to any atrocities committed against humanity; not realizing that this is exactly what Hitler argued against the Jews, and earlier when America said African-Americans were only three-fifths of a person. Abortion is a form of genocide, and is a form of systematic injustice that is presently taking place in the majority of the world’s superpowers, with the exception of Middle-East, islands in East Asia, and some South American nations.
What if (for argument’s sake), that the abortion of an unborn fetus isn’t immoral, that it does not constitute as a human being and therefore the termination of it isn’t unobjectionably immoral? What if the actual taking of physical life isn’t what makes abortion wrong? Philosopher Don Marquis of the University of Kansas wrote an article, "Why Abortion Is Immoral," which appeared in the Journal of Philosophy.(Marquis 86:4) Marquis argues that killing is not wrong because it shows the killer to be barbaric, or because it saddens the state of the family and relatives. Instead, killing is wrong because it deprives the victim of life. The loss of a life is the greatest possible loss anyone can suffer. It eradicates all the experiences, activities, projects, and enjoyments that one’s future self could have experienced. Injustice applies to any act that involves unfairness to another or violation of one's rights. Our government has passed laws supporting the view that it is morally acceptable to abort an unborn child. This, as have other events in the history of mankind, seems acceptable at the time; but in order to stop the deprivation of millions of lives every single year, we must fight injustice. If the death of three-thousand potential humans along with their memories, experiences, and their future accomplishments everyday isn’t enough to protest and act out upon; then nothing else is. If this is to be stopped; awareness is necessary; we need to direct our voices to the common citizen in public and private about this injustice, letters are to be written to the appropriate offices by the opponents of this injustice, and civil protest at the places of injustice is a must. To lay one’s freedom down for another’s, especially one without a voice, is one of the noblest acts of all.
There is an injustice greater than any other injustice witnessed by mankind in today’s society. Even more upsetting, this injustice is culturally acceptable by the citizens of the government that made it legal, and ultimately morally acceptable. Though some argue concerning the morality of aborting an unborn fetus, it is apparent that aborting them robs them of any future experiences, activities, projects, and enjoyments in their potential life. Aborting is not just about the physical death of a fetus, but instead the possibilities of its potential future. We must stand firm against injustice and reveal the ugly truths that reside within our society, just as Lemkin and Dr. King have done. This systematic injustice is robbing others, as Lemkin puts it simply, “A future like ours,” (Marquis 86:4) and ultimately everything that makes up who each individual human being consists of, memories.
Works Cited
1 Webster's New World Encyclopedia, Prentice Hall General Reference, 1992
2 Marquis, D. "Why Abortion Is Immoral". Journal of Philosophy 86:4 (April 1989): 183-202.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Perseverance of the Saints
Well, though I have one follow at this moment, I still feel terrible for not blogging. I'm sure my follow doesn't even check on any blogs so... I will be writing this to me.
Ah... T.U.L.I.P., how the majority of Christianity ignores you and bases your affirmations on a tyrant-God like deity. I for one (as I continually hope) am always open to theology, especially theology that we tend to overlook when we attend an either Arminian or Calvinist based church. Now many people do not like these labels put towards certain groups of believers, but for the sake of theology why not? I attend a Arminian college for my Bachelors in Practical Theology. Though the core of my classes at this very moment are not deeply rooted in theology, there still exists a certain bias towards Arminianism; which it should be.
One thing that always sets in the back of my mind when discussing theology is Calvinism. Early in my studies of theology when I first received the grace of salvation (converted in late high school), I intensely studied why certain people believed Calvinism and Arminianism (mainly ministry leaders). Now I will be honest, the idea of a completely sovereign God that wills things into being continuously completed, which has total control over everything that He wills, and the idea the humanity cannot please God; therefore God must reconcile humanity to Himself seems to be perfect in all ways logically.
I soon spoke to my leaders in church and other people which eventually persuaded me into a Arminianistic ideology. Thus leading me to for many years ignore Calvinistic theology (though realizing it was Christian).
Through the years and the broadening of my horizon due to college and growing in maturity has brought me to an odd and interesting view on the concept of being saved. This topic has been widely debated since the Reformation, to be completely honest, there are many verses to support both sides of "once-saved always saved, and being capable of falling away." But with my limited understanding I have come to a conclusion that indeed it is both. Now putting aside all theological implications of believing either or I think logically it works.
Now I will attempt to explain my view with as little scripture as possible for less confusion and chances of "exegetical" responses. Firstly, I have experienced friends and acquaintances come to know Christ at a moment (not a certain point of time but a period of time) of repentance. These people realized the need for something stable and truthful in their life that would help them overcome their current state in life. But, as do many they fall away after returning to the daily routine of the world because it is either to much work or they forget that experience in which the Spirit softened their minds to realize their need for Christ. Their are others (which I am included) that come to a state of repentance and need, fight the good fight (sometimes slipping and walking away), but always returns with a sense of security and acceptance. I have many times forgotten about the ways in which a Christian should conduct themselves and the ways in which to keep God at the top of your mind to avoid straying away. No matter the event or obstacle I always will know that there is a God who has a plan.
Now colliding these views is not that difficult. Firstly, (in my opinion) there are two states of saving knowledge. All Christians will go through the first state, that being the coming to knowledge of the Holy Other. We all experience a sense of comfort, security, and love radiating from the invisible as I say with trembling hands "Concept" (only at first of course) that has brought these emotions into our lives. Now next is what leads us to the next state, The current believer or repentant heart is at this moment saved. They have experienced Christ, repented and realized the need for something bigger than them in their lives that has it all figured out, and most importantly has a plan. Either this person can pursue God after this moment and press more into his presence or they can fall away and return to life and go about their life. If someone were to "supposedly" remain in their current state of knowledge and so called "stay in church" they are not in fact pursuing God and obviously are going for some alternative motive; they have gone astray. Now to the one whom pursues God, Holy Spirit permitting, they will become more knowledgeable about God and come to a true and realistic understanding to the work of Christ and to the extents in which he went to accomplish his promise. Thus, being engraved in their mind have come to an understanding of their fallen state and the need to continue on the straight and narrow path in which only Christ can provide.
With this said and unfortunately not going into great detail, I believe that Someone can repent and believe, but soon as the weeds overcome grass, will fall away. However, I also believe that anyone who comes to a true and realistic understanding as to who God is and what exactly he has done for humanity;knowing their fallen nature as a human cannot fall away from God for they know the good they ought to do. God with his grace has bestowed via the Holy Spirit the knowledge that no matter what God is real and present in your life, whether you like it or not
Thanks for reading, I will at some point edit and revise this time permitting.
Godspeed.
Ah... T.U.L.I.P., how the majority of Christianity ignores you and bases your affirmations on a tyrant-God like deity. I for one (as I continually hope) am always open to theology, especially theology that we tend to overlook when we attend an either Arminian or Calvinist based church. Now many people do not like these labels put towards certain groups of believers, but for the sake of theology why not? I attend a Arminian college for my Bachelors in Practical Theology. Though the core of my classes at this very moment are not deeply rooted in theology, there still exists a certain bias towards Arminianism; which it should be.
One thing that always sets in the back of my mind when discussing theology is Calvinism. Early in my studies of theology when I first received the grace of salvation (converted in late high school), I intensely studied why certain people believed Calvinism and Arminianism (mainly ministry leaders). Now I will be honest, the idea of a completely sovereign God that wills things into being continuously completed, which has total control over everything that He wills, and the idea the humanity cannot please God; therefore God must reconcile humanity to Himself seems to be perfect in all ways logically.
I soon spoke to my leaders in church and other people which eventually persuaded me into a Arminianistic ideology. Thus leading me to for many years ignore Calvinistic theology (though realizing it was Christian).
Through the years and the broadening of my horizon due to college and growing in maturity has brought me to an odd and interesting view on the concept of being saved. This topic has been widely debated since the Reformation, to be completely honest, there are many verses to support both sides of "once-saved always saved, and being capable of falling away." But with my limited understanding I have come to a conclusion that indeed it is both. Now putting aside all theological implications of believing either or I think logically it works.
Now I will attempt to explain my view with as little scripture as possible for less confusion and chances of "exegetical" responses. Firstly, I have experienced friends and acquaintances come to know Christ at a moment (not a certain point of time but a period of time) of repentance. These people realized the need for something stable and truthful in their life that would help them overcome their current state in life. But, as do many they fall away after returning to the daily routine of the world because it is either to much work or they forget that experience in which the Spirit softened their minds to realize their need for Christ. Their are others (which I am included) that come to a state of repentance and need, fight the good fight (sometimes slipping and walking away), but always returns with a sense of security and acceptance. I have many times forgotten about the ways in which a Christian should conduct themselves and the ways in which to keep God at the top of your mind to avoid straying away. No matter the event or obstacle I always will know that there is a God who has a plan.
Now colliding these views is not that difficult. Firstly, (in my opinion) there are two states of saving knowledge. All Christians will go through the first state, that being the coming to knowledge of the Holy Other. We all experience a sense of comfort, security, and love radiating from the invisible as I say with trembling hands "Concept" (only at first of course) that has brought these emotions into our lives. Now next is what leads us to the next state, The current believer or repentant heart is at this moment saved. They have experienced Christ, repented and realized the need for something bigger than them in their lives that has it all figured out, and most importantly has a plan. Either this person can pursue God after this moment and press more into his presence or they can fall away and return to life and go about their life. If someone were to "supposedly" remain in their current state of knowledge and so called "stay in church" they are not in fact pursuing God and obviously are going for some alternative motive; they have gone astray. Now to the one whom pursues God, Holy Spirit permitting, they will become more knowledgeable about God and come to a true and realistic understanding to the work of Christ and to the extents in which he went to accomplish his promise. Thus, being engraved in their mind have come to an understanding of their fallen state and the need to continue on the straight and narrow path in which only Christ can provide.
With this said and unfortunately not going into great detail, I believe that Someone can repent and believe, but soon as the weeds overcome grass, will fall away. However, I also believe that anyone who comes to a true and realistic understanding as to who God is and what exactly he has done for humanity;knowing their fallen nature as a human cannot fall away from God for they know the good they ought to do. God with his grace has bestowed via the Holy Spirit the knowledge that no matter what God is real and present in your life, whether you like it or not
Thanks for reading, I will at some point edit and revise this time permitting.
Godspeed.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Christ's Diety
This Topic has been under discussion for around 2,000 years, there is nothing new under the sun. These arguments and examples are just basic scriptural support for the view of Jesus' deity. If you have objections to whatever is in this essay message me and I will respond to it. If you want a more in depth (with some greek scholarship) I can provide that to if you wish. Again this is basic Christian theology 101.
Many people in the world today consider Jesus (if they believe He existed) to be a good person or a good moral teacher and nothing else. There is quite a huge problem with that claim, if any one of them ever read the claims or teachings of Jesus recorded in the Bible and especially what John the Apostle recorded their stance would be slightly rendered. With what Jesus claimed, He was either a complete lunatic or He was God in flesh.
Most people I talk to or have conversations with have never grasped the concept that Jesus Christ is God,
even students in my old youth group never knew in detail the claims of Jesus. And to me that is one of the most exciting things about Christianity. Christianity is not just another religion that claims it can help you find the path to an afterlife or complete knowledge it is based on a man who started a revolution which sole purpose was to drastically change the way people thought about God.
Today i am going to talk about Jesus Christ and how we know that He is Divine. For this short period i will be teaching out of the Gospel of John which is considered to be centered more around Jesus' divinity then any of the other gospels.Firstly We will begin by examining seven claims that should not be taken lightly. In exodus chapter three verses 14 through 15 Moses asks God what he should tell the Egyptians that he is to go and
free from captivity who sent him to their rescue and God declares to him tell them "I AM sent you". We are focusing here on the I AM statement. Now in the Gospel of John, John records seven statements by Jesus claiming the "I AM". Here they are "I AM the bread of life" (John 6:35). " I AM the light of the world" John 8:12, "I AM the door" John 10:9, " I AM the Good Shepherd "John 10:11," I AM the Resurrection and the Life" John 11:25, Sixth which is the most famous" I AM the way, the truth, and the life "John 14:6, finally " I AM the true vine" John 15:1. The origin of the I AM statement from the Hebrew language and used 6828 times in the Old Testament means "To Be", so Jesus' claim is to be, leaving no room for speculation as to His divinity.
There is one more "I AM" statement that proves of Jesus' divinity, in John chapter 8 verse 58 Jesus makes a tremendous claim by saying. "Before Abraham was, I AM" Now Abraham was considered the Father of righteousness to the Jews, and also the Jews took pride in being the descendants of Abraham Issac and Jacob. There are two important aspects to this claim first is "BEfore Abraham was" reveals the Jesus
existed before Abraham who lived 2,000 years before Him. A couple verses before this statement Jesus tells the jews that "Abraham rejoicedto see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
# "In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw Yahweh sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. " Isaiah 6:1
# "For my eyes have seen the King, Yahwah of hosts." Isaiah 6:5
# "Then I heard the voice of Yahweh, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!" " Isaiah 6:8
# "These things Isaiah said because he (Isaiah) saw His (Christ's) glory, and he spoke of Him (Christ)." John 12:41
Jesus in these passages makes the same claims YHWH or Jehovah of the Old Testament made, which elevates Jesus to equality with The Father,
The second thing we are going to look at is The very first verses in the first chapter of John. John 1:1-2; 14 states " In the beggining was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And Verse 14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The WORD or LOGOS in the greek, is Jesus Christ as signified in verse 14 when it states "dwelt among us," notice how John descibes how the WORD was
present in the beginning of the universe, also how He was with (face to face with) God and was God. As stated before John 1:14 states the Word became flesh, if you put the words together you can say without a doubt that, In the beggining was Jesus, Jesus was with God and Jesus
was God.
In John 20:27-29 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Thomas calls Jesus his Lord and His God, some will go to the lengths of saying that Thomas committed blasphemy when hesaw Jesus, but if that is so why did Jesus compliment Thomas right after and say "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." IF Thomas did commit blasphemy Jesus would have certainly corrected Him.
A few more verses to conclude this topic is
JOHN 5:18
For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was
calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
John 10:33
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For
which of these do you stone me?"
33"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
In conclusion the bible clearly states that Jesus Christ is God, The he has existed forever and took the form of a man and died so that we may have ternal life through and with Him. The bible is not just a fable made up but, a historically accurate account of the days of Jesus Christ, and testifies of a God who is Love.
These are only passages out of the Gospel of John there are 26 other New Testament books that testifies as does this Gospel that, Jesus Christ is God over all blessed forever amen...
Many people in the world today consider Jesus (if they believe He existed) to be a good person or a good moral teacher and nothing else. There is quite a huge problem with that claim, if any one of them ever read the claims or teachings of Jesus recorded in the Bible and especially what John the Apostle recorded their stance would be slightly rendered. With what Jesus claimed, He was either a complete lunatic or He was God in flesh.
Most people I talk to or have conversations with have never grasped the concept that Jesus Christ is God,
even students in my old youth group never knew in detail the claims of Jesus. And to me that is one of the most exciting things about Christianity. Christianity is not just another religion that claims it can help you find the path to an afterlife or complete knowledge it is based on a man who started a revolution which sole purpose was to drastically change the way people thought about God.
Today i am going to talk about Jesus Christ and how we know that He is Divine. For this short period i will be teaching out of the Gospel of John which is considered to be centered more around Jesus' divinity then any of the other gospels.Firstly We will begin by examining seven claims that should not be taken lightly. In exodus chapter three verses 14 through 15 Moses asks God what he should tell the Egyptians that he is to go and
free from captivity who sent him to their rescue and God declares to him tell them "I AM sent you". We are focusing here on the I AM statement. Now in the Gospel of John, John records seven statements by Jesus claiming the "I AM". Here they are "I AM the bread of life" (John 6:35). " I AM the light of the world" John 8:12, "I AM the door" John 10:9, " I AM the Good Shepherd "John 10:11," I AM the Resurrection and the Life" John 11:25, Sixth which is the most famous" I AM the way, the truth, and the life "John 14:6, finally " I AM the true vine" John 15:1. The origin of the I AM statement from the Hebrew language and used 6828 times in the Old Testament means "To Be", so Jesus' claim is to be, leaving no room for speculation as to His divinity.
There is one more "I AM" statement that proves of Jesus' divinity, in John chapter 8 verse 58 Jesus makes a tremendous claim by saying. "Before Abraham was, I AM" Now Abraham was considered the Father of righteousness to the Jews, and also the Jews took pride in being the descendants of Abraham Issac and Jacob. There are two important aspects to this claim first is "BEfore Abraham was" reveals the Jesus
existed before Abraham who lived 2,000 years before Him. A couple verses before this statement Jesus tells the jews that "Abraham rejoicedto see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
# "In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw Yahweh sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. " Isaiah 6:1
# "For my eyes have seen the King, Yahwah of hosts." Isaiah 6:5
# "Then I heard the voice of Yahweh, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!" " Isaiah 6:8
# "These things Isaiah said because he (Isaiah) saw His (Christ's) glory, and he spoke of Him (Christ)." John 12:41
Jesus in these passages makes the same claims YHWH or Jehovah of the Old Testament made, which elevates Jesus to equality with The Father,
The second thing we are going to look at is The very first verses in the first chapter of John. John 1:1-2; 14 states " In the beggining was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And Verse 14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The WORD or LOGOS in the greek, is Jesus Christ as signified in verse 14 when it states "dwelt among us," notice how John descibes how the WORD was
present in the beginning of the universe, also how He was with (face to face with) God and was God. As stated before John 1:14 states the Word became flesh, if you put the words together you can say without a doubt that, In the beggining was Jesus, Jesus was with God and Jesus
was God.
In John 20:27-29 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Thomas calls Jesus his Lord and His God, some will go to the lengths of saying that Thomas committed blasphemy when hesaw Jesus, but if that is so why did Jesus compliment Thomas right after and say "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." IF Thomas did commit blasphemy Jesus would have certainly corrected Him.
A few more verses to conclude this topic is
JOHN 5:18
For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was
calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
John 10:33
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For
which of these do you stone me?"
33"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
In conclusion the bible clearly states that Jesus Christ is God, The he has existed forever and took the form of a man and died so that we may have ternal life through and with Him. The bible is not just a fable made up but, a historically accurate account of the days of Jesus Christ, and testifies of a God who is Love.
These are only passages out of the Gospel of John there are 26 other New Testament books that testifies as does this Gospel that, Jesus Christ is God over all blessed forever amen...
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Character of the Regenerated
I'm not sure why I'm picking this topic as my first blog but, it's one that is very interesting. Now when speaking of regenerated I mean "saved" or "born-again" but, like most terms used within the Christian faith these seem to be added to the massive bowl of cliché's. So when referring to "born-again" or "saved" I often used regenerated. (Also, cause well, it just sounds cool to) Anyway, the character of the saved is one revealed to us through A. the bible and B. the Christian lifestyle.
Now throughout the New Testament it is very apparent that regenerated people evangelize; in today's church especially evangelism is completely dead. As the "collective" Catholic (Universal) church increases is membership, the percentage of Christians in the world compared to other religions are decreasing. This is not because of the rising Islamic movement in Europe, or the eastern religions of Buddhism and Hinduism. It is because of an outdated version of evangelizing. We don't live in the time of Jesus anymore where the majority of believers believe in a god, on the contrary it seems like the opposite. Instead of just preaching Jesus loves you and wants you to repent because, you need to be purged of your sins and start a new life. We the Church needs to be on the offense of God instead of on the defense. We need to publicly affirm and promote ration reasoning for believing in Deity. It is a WAR out there which needs to be played strategically. Though through the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the cross people do get converted and convicted. That simply cannot be the only means of evangelizing. Don't get me wrong it is important but, it has it's place.
Now how I got on that whole subject I really have no clue... but! I was leading into the fact that regenerate Christians need to follow the example of 1 Peter 3:15 and prepare a defense for the hope that we have in Christ Jesus. Not only a rational and intellectual defense but, one in which we can patiently listen, understand, and respectfully discuss with others outside of our faith. The Christian character needs to be patient and kind there is no getting around it. If you loudly rebuke (even curse) people in response to what they have not only said but, maybe do. You are a perfect example to base all other Christians off; you have now given this person justification to turn away from your faith and any future encounters other Christians may have of preaching to them.
Integrity is among the very dieing characteristics in today's society. It is such a beautiful and amazing thing to do upon others when given no credit or reward. I have watched countless times in my life "Christians" trying to seek credit; most of the time it was not openly or even noticeable to most. I count myself as a very observant person; some call me rude, or anti-social, and even judgmental because, I love to sit back and just watch how people interact with others. These"Christians" often get what they want to and it becomes a tangled mess of pride and selfishness mixed in with their outlook on life. It kills me to see people who were "once" on "fire" for God become victims of pride and simply degrade spiritually and physically. Some may think I'm exaggerating but, never the less it is apparent.
Back to the point... Regenerate Christians should go out of their way to show and do loving acts toward others when no one is watching or can ever find out. There you will find joy unspeakable.
Martin Luther is often quoted for saying "Christian life consists of faith and charity."
Christian character is also one that does not back down from a fight (no hitting involved.) If someone lets says most likely "post-modernists" makes irrational claims about God but, yet as no proof to substantiate that claim other than their infinite knowledge... should be flat out rebuked or for that matter at least challenged. The United States (and some still think it is) is considered a Christian nation but, it seems to us as Christians society as in a way built up around us, absorbing some of our holidays and beliefs and incorporated it in their society but, in the root of it all it is not Christian. We are surrounded by the media, public schools, and stupid religious bashers like "Richard Dawkins" who use the ill-minded and ignorant college students to promote this "new Atheism" which is taught to our kids in grade school and taught as if it is an indisputable fact... We as Christians need to win back the minds of our society by all means necessary.
It's late and I want to go to bed, I didn't cover everything I wanted to about Christian character but, it's at least a start =)
Now throughout the New Testament it is very apparent that regenerated people evangelize; in today's church especially evangelism is completely dead. As the "collective" Catholic (Universal) church increases is membership, the percentage of Christians in the world compared to other religions are decreasing. This is not because of the rising Islamic movement in Europe, or the eastern religions of Buddhism and Hinduism. It is because of an outdated version of evangelizing. We don't live in the time of Jesus anymore where the majority of believers believe in a god, on the contrary it seems like the opposite. Instead of just preaching Jesus loves you and wants you to repent because, you need to be purged of your sins and start a new life. We the Church needs to be on the offense of God instead of on the defense. We need to publicly affirm and promote ration reasoning for believing in Deity. It is a WAR out there which needs to be played strategically. Though through the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the cross people do get converted and convicted. That simply cannot be the only means of evangelizing. Don't get me wrong it is important but, it has it's place.
Now how I got on that whole subject I really have no clue... but! I was leading into the fact that regenerate Christians need to follow the example of 1 Peter 3:15 and prepare a defense for the hope that we have in Christ Jesus. Not only a rational and intellectual defense but, one in which we can patiently listen, understand, and respectfully discuss with others outside of our faith. The Christian character needs to be patient and kind there is no getting around it. If you loudly rebuke (even curse) people in response to what they have not only said but, maybe do. You are a perfect example to base all other Christians off; you have now given this person justification to turn away from your faith and any future encounters other Christians may have of preaching to them.
Integrity is among the very dieing characteristics in today's society. It is such a beautiful and amazing thing to do upon others when given no credit or reward. I have watched countless times in my life "Christians" trying to seek credit; most of the time it was not openly or even noticeable to most. I count myself as a very observant person; some call me rude, or anti-social, and even judgmental because, I love to sit back and just watch how people interact with others. These"Christians" often get what they want to and it becomes a tangled mess of pride and selfishness mixed in with their outlook on life. It kills me to see people who were "once" on "fire" for God become victims of pride and simply degrade spiritually and physically. Some may think I'm exaggerating but, never the less it is apparent.
Back to the point... Regenerate Christians should go out of their way to show and do loving acts toward others when no one is watching or can ever find out. There you will find joy unspeakable.
Martin Luther is often quoted for saying "Christian life consists of faith and charity."
Christian character is also one that does not back down from a fight (no hitting involved.) If someone lets says most likely "post-modernists" makes irrational claims about God but, yet as no proof to substantiate that claim other than their infinite knowledge... should be flat out rebuked or for that matter at least challenged. The United States (and some still think it is) is considered a Christian nation but, it seems to us as Christians society as in a way built up around us, absorbing some of our holidays and beliefs and incorporated it in their society but, in the root of it all it is not Christian. We are surrounded by the media, public schools, and stupid religious bashers like "Richard Dawkins" who use the ill-minded and ignorant college students to promote this "new Atheism" which is taught to our kids in grade school and taught as if it is an indisputable fact... We as Christians need to win back the minds of our society by all means necessary.
It's late and I want to go to bed, I didn't cover everything I wanted to about Christian character but, it's at least a start =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)