Mar
2
Richard Aberdeen
Many intellectuals claim some of what Jesus taught was first said by other people and, Jesus himself might be the first to agree. Human rights, morality and ethics are clearly based on a shared human conscience, something the authors of the Bible, Thomas Jefferson and the historical evidence all strongly agree concerning and, something the ACLU, Richard Dawkins and many other ivory tower pedagogues apparently, have entirely overlooked.
Unlike many modern educators, Jesus is not about stroking his own ego by pushing his own private vision and agenda. Rather, Jesus is about promoting the “best” idea that will best help humanity. Thus, if an idea was already the best, Jesus used it, if it could be improved upon, he improved on it and, if he had a better idea, he taught that instead.
This is a far more advanced and “enlightened” concept of education than we find in this so-called “post-Enlightenment” age, where various “pop” pundits are out to make it big on best seller lists by pushing “their” supposedly “new” ideas. As the Bible says, “there is nothing new under the sun.” Regardless of how we change and re-arrange terminology, violence, human oppression, suffering, sorrow and, the solution for alleviating and eliminating them remains the same.
We live in an age of extreme soapbox bias, an age of defending various political, intellectual, religious and other “sides”, rather than an age centered on a search for what is really true and, what actually might be the best idea. Modern education is divided into distinct categories like “science”, “history” and, “religion”, as if we can divide up reality and expect to have any idea what is actually true. We conveniently place Jesus in “religion” category and thus, our children entirely lose out on the best ideas in human history.
Jesus taught that treating other people like we want them to treat us is the sum of all wisdom; does Richard Dawkins have a better foundation for human rights? Jesus implied the more we know what is true, the more free we will become; does Richard Dawkins have a better foundation for education? According to Jesus, a common grass flower is better clothed than Solomon was; does Richard Dawkins have a better foundation for environmental awareness?
Jesus taught the way to honor God is to love our neighbor as ourselves; does Richard Dawkins have a better foundation for morality and ethics? Jesus taught the way to achieve peace is to put away our swords and spread peace and goodwill, rather than like scientists, create more and bigger swords, which is the Greek, Roman, American and world civilization history method of “securing the peace.” Does Richard Dawkins have a better idea?
Why do modern scientists, after 10,000 years of moral education to the contrary, continue to create weapons of mass destruction? In a post-Enlightenment age of atheism, science and wonder, why does war and the poor still remain with us, as Jesus predicted they would?
While Richard Dawkins is prancing around pretending there is no God, apparently he assumes that nobody will notice that he’s not offering anything that will positively improve humanity, that Jesus didn’t long ago point out. And unlike Jesus, Freud, Jung and the modern science evidence clearly demonstrates, Dawkins seems to assume there is nothing wrong with human beings at the fundamental core level. Is it just me or, has anybody else noticed that Dawkin’s Darwinian Freudian slip is showing?
Richard Dawkins implies Jesus was delusional. Is he smarter than Jesus? Is anybody smarter than Jesus? You decide.
Link to footnotes and documentation for this article:
http://www.freedomtracks.com/500/dawkinsjesus.html
Many intellectuals claim some of what Jesus taught was first said by other people and, Jesus himself might be the first to agree. Human rights, morality and ethics are clearly based on a shared human conscience, something the authors of the Bible, Thomas Jefferson and the historical evidence all strongly agree concerning and, something the ACLU, Richard Dawkins and many other ivory tower pedagogues apparently, have entirely overlooked.
Unlike many modern educators, Jesus is not about stroking his own ego by pushing his own private vision and agenda. Rather, Jesus is about promoting the “best” idea that will best help humanity. Thus, if an idea was already the best, Jesus used it, if it could be improved upon, he improved on it and, if he had a better idea, he taught that instead.
This is a far more advanced and “enlightened” concept of education than we find in this so-called “post-Enlightenment” age, where various “pop” pundits are out to make it big on best seller lists by pushing “their” supposedly “new” ideas. As the Bible says, “there is nothing new under the sun.” Regardless of how we change and re-arrange terminology, violence, human oppression, suffering, sorrow and, the solution for alleviating and eliminating them remains the same.
We live in an age of extreme soapbox bias, an age of defending various political, intellectual, religious and other “sides”, rather than an age centered on a search for what is really true and, what actually might be the best idea. Modern education is divided into distinct categories like “science”, “history” and, “religion”, as if we can divide up reality and expect to have any idea what is actually true. We conveniently place Jesus in “religion” category and thus, our children entirely lose out on the best ideas in human history.
Jesus taught that treating other people like we want them to treat us is the sum of all wisdom; does Richard Dawkins have a better foundation for human rights? Jesus implied the more we know what is true, the more free we will become; does Richard Dawkins have a better foundation for education? According to Jesus, a common grass flower is better clothed than Solomon was; does Richard Dawkins have a better foundation for environmental awareness?
Jesus taught the way to honor God is to love our neighbor as ourselves; does Richard Dawkins have a better foundation for morality and ethics? Jesus taught the way to achieve peace is to put away our swords and spread peace and goodwill, rather than like scientists, create more and bigger swords, which is the Greek, Roman, American and world civilization history method of “securing the peace.” Does Richard Dawkins have a better idea?
Why do modern scientists, after 10,000 years of moral education to the contrary, continue to create weapons of mass destruction? In a post-Enlightenment age of atheism, science and wonder, why does war and the poor still remain with us, as Jesus predicted they would?
While Richard Dawkins is prancing around pretending there is no God, apparently he assumes that nobody will notice that he’s not offering anything that will positively improve humanity, that Jesus didn’t long ago point out. And unlike Jesus, Freud, Jung and the modern science evidence clearly demonstrates, Dawkins seems to assume there is nothing wrong with human beings at the fundamental core level. Is it just me or, has anybody else noticed that Dawkin’s Darwinian Freudian slip is showing?
Richard Dawkins implies Jesus was delusional. Is he smarter than Jesus? Is anybody smarter than Jesus? You decide.
Link to footnotes and documentation for this article:
http://www.freedomtracks.com/500/dawkinsjesus.html
Feb
27
Nick Poulios
Religion and everything philosophical about religion, started during the prehistoric period when people faced with ignorance, and covered with fears about what they could not explain, begun the journey of believing in something bigger than themselves, gods that deserve their obedience and servitude.
We see this at the extreme when the Greeks, who while able to explain that all matter is made of atoms, they worshiped not one, but twelve gods, who were there to help them anytime there was something difficult to deal with. In fact, gods were there regardless of human difficulty; there was even a god to join the wine party!
We have made progress with regards to the teachings about morality but they still carry some unexplained, if not unwise – unwritten laws that do not make sense. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; he that without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her (from the woman adultery story), seem to imply that only non-sinners are allowed to punish. Hence the dilemma about how imperfect societies are supposed to punish their sinners. Even Jesus’ authority to forgive implies that people who had to be done wrong were left without compensation. We also see the gender bias in the woman adultery case, where Mosaic Law required that her male partner must also undergo the stoning. But where is he?
Then, we have the miracles. If we define a miracle as modification or alteration of the expected and/or established course of things, this of course would involve anything and everything, from apples falling inversely from the ground to the trees, tides going into the seas, to the sun rising in the west, etc., etc. The presentation of a miracle has to have two derivatives: one has to do with the laws of physics being violated, and the second has to do with the observation that the party witnessing this miracle is suffering from infinite imagination.
Modern day miracles, the Harry Houdini types, or the UFO sightings, have to be put in contrast to the ones described in the New Testament. Just about all types are being witnessed today, with the exception of course of the resurrection. We have been told that Jesus managed this task three times: one by raising Lazarus and two by raising the daughter of Jairus and three by raising himself. Following the “Murder at Golgotha” reasoning of forensic investigator, you would think that someone would have taken the time to interview all survivors and document their amazing extra-humane experience. In any case, what happened to them? Why did they vanish from history?
Questions about Jesus, and in general about religion are of paramount importance, given the cost of human life and sacrifices that humanity has endured over thousands of years. One can accept the fact that Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem, and by most accounts suffered a brutal death. But, what about his father, what about God? What about paradise or the afterlife? What if there is God but not afterlife? What about if there is afterlife, but not God?
What about humans? Are they to remain mortals? Latest scientific discoveries have shown that life, in its primitive ameba form, can be artificially recreated. Religion on the other hand, claims to know all about “the end”, a process of thought known as “eschatology”. In the end, we are all after the truth, although the truth can take several interpretations depending on the ends that intends to justify.
The Greeks proclaim “know thyself”, i.e., you need to learn about yourself, your inner-soul, first, if you are to know anything about anything else. After all, the truth is not a function of possessions, nor are possessions required to know the truth. It is rather a process, the truth, that takes you to a place where you perhaps have never expected to arrive, but nevertheless have painstakingly worked to get there – and when there, you feel fulfilled.
One wonders how the brightest minds approach these concepts. For example, how would Einstein feel about Jesus, religion? According to Einstein, “science is the century-old endeavor to bring together by means of systematic thought the perceptible phenomena of this world into as thorough-going an association as possible. To put boldly, it is the attempt at the posterior reconstruction of existence by the process of conceptualization.”
How does the idea of an omnipotent personal God stand up to the might accumulation of science? For one thing, the idea that God is able to help man while in solace and guide towards the good deeds is not necessarily unreasonable. However, this is where the weaknesses appear with respect to defending beliefs and feelings and taken them in a dogmatic sense; if God is omnipotent, then everything we do, every action we take, everything we think is the result of his work. And if this is the case, how can men be held accountable for their actions, if these actions are God’s anyway?
Assuming that punishments and rewards are the results of our actions, then one would conclude that God holds himself accountable, i.e., punishes himself. Some would argue that this is precisely why Jesus came to our world, to serve as the extension of God, hence allow us to sin and in the process take the punishment himself. But, it has been argued before that if Jesus is godly, punishment offers no pain, no deterrent, so how does this help humanity? There is obviously a duality here, good and evil, right and wrong, and how you see each one evolving is relative to where you are sitting and observing the world while the world is evolving.
In the end, perhaps it is not so important if Jesus was a man, god or Son of God, or even whether his existence is a myth. What is important is whether we live our lives according to some order, an order that follows a reasonable approximation of the true values Jesus presumably taught us to live by. If we do that, the world will be a better place and perhaps we can spend more time thinking about how to do good in this world – and less about the afterlife. We know – or at least have an approximate knowledge of, our small-immediate world, and we can therefore spend time trying to improve it, rather than spending time and resources planning for some unknown afterlife.
Religion and everything philosophical about religion, started during the prehistoric period when people faced with ignorance, and covered with fears about what they could not explain, begun the journey of believing in something bigger than themselves, gods that deserve their obedience and servitude.
We see this at the extreme when the Greeks, who while able to explain that all matter is made of atoms, they worshiped not one, but twelve gods, who were there to help them anytime there was something difficult to deal with. In fact, gods were there regardless of human difficulty; there was even a god to join the wine party!
We have made progress with regards to the teachings about morality but they still carry some unexplained, if not unwise – unwritten laws that do not make sense. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; he that without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her (from the woman adultery story), seem to imply that only non-sinners are allowed to punish. Hence the dilemma about how imperfect societies are supposed to punish their sinners. Even Jesus’ authority to forgive implies that people who had to be done wrong were left without compensation. We also see the gender bias in the woman adultery case, where Mosaic Law required that her male partner must also undergo the stoning. But where is he?
Then, we have the miracles. If we define a miracle as modification or alteration of the expected and/or established course of things, this of course would involve anything and everything, from apples falling inversely from the ground to the trees, tides going into the seas, to the sun rising in the west, etc., etc. The presentation of a miracle has to have two derivatives: one has to do with the laws of physics being violated, and the second has to do with the observation that the party witnessing this miracle is suffering from infinite imagination.
Modern day miracles, the Harry Houdini types, or the UFO sightings, have to be put in contrast to the ones described in the New Testament. Just about all types are being witnessed today, with the exception of course of the resurrection. We have been told that Jesus managed this task three times: one by raising Lazarus and two by raising the daughter of Jairus and three by raising himself. Following the “Murder at Golgotha” reasoning of forensic investigator, you would think that someone would have taken the time to interview all survivors and document their amazing extra-humane experience. In any case, what happened to them? Why did they vanish from history?
Questions about Jesus, and in general about religion are of paramount importance, given the cost of human life and sacrifices that humanity has endured over thousands of years. One can accept the fact that Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem, and by most accounts suffered a brutal death. But, what about his father, what about God? What about paradise or the afterlife? What if there is God but not afterlife? What about if there is afterlife, but not God?
What about humans? Are they to remain mortals? Latest scientific discoveries have shown that life, in its primitive ameba form, can be artificially recreated. Religion on the other hand, claims to know all about “the end”, a process of thought known as “eschatology”. In the end, we are all after the truth, although the truth can take several interpretations depending on the ends that intends to justify.
The Greeks proclaim “know thyself”, i.e., you need to learn about yourself, your inner-soul, first, if you are to know anything about anything else. After all, the truth is not a function of possessions, nor are possessions required to know the truth. It is rather a process, the truth, that takes you to a place where you perhaps have never expected to arrive, but nevertheless have painstakingly worked to get there – and when there, you feel fulfilled.
One wonders how the brightest minds approach these concepts. For example, how would Einstein feel about Jesus, religion? According to Einstein, “science is the century-old endeavor to bring together by means of systematic thought the perceptible phenomena of this world into as thorough-going an association as possible. To put boldly, it is the attempt at the posterior reconstruction of existence by the process of conceptualization.”
How does the idea of an omnipotent personal God stand up to the might accumulation of science? For one thing, the idea that God is able to help man while in solace and guide towards the good deeds is not necessarily unreasonable. However, this is where the weaknesses appear with respect to defending beliefs and feelings and taken them in a dogmatic sense; if God is omnipotent, then everything we do, every action we take, everything we think is the result of his work. And if this is the case, how can men be held accountable for their actions, if these actions are God’s anyway?
Assuming that punishments and rewards are the results of our actions, then one would conclude that God holds himself accountable, i.e., punishes himself. Some would argue that this is precisely why Jesus came to our world, to serve as the extension of God, hence allow us to sin and in the process take the punishment himself. But, it has been argued before that if Jesus is godly, punishment offers no pain, no deterrent, so how does this help humanity? There is obviously a duality here, good and evil, right and wrong, and how you see each one evolving is relative to where you are sitting and observing the world while the world is evolving.
In the end, perhaps it is not so important if Jesus was a man, god or Son of God, or even whether his existence is a myth. What is important is whether we live our lives according to some order, an order that follows a reasonable approximation of the true values Jesus presumably taught us to live by. If we do that, the world will be a better place and perhaps we can spend more time thinking about how to do good in this world – and less about the afterlife. We know – or at least have an approximate knowledge of, our small-immediate world, and we can therefore spend time trying to improve it, rather than spending time and resources planning for some unknown afterlife.
Feb
25
Is Modern Religion Teaching God’s Word Through Jesus Or is it a Hoax?
Filed Under News And Society | Leave a Comment
Atman Zaza
The Bible has everyone talking the talk, but who is walking the walk? Let us listen to what Jesus had to say. One can certainly say, From what we may know of Jesus, That he spoke of peace and love for your fellow man. This means everybody living upon God’s Earth.
Well actually, we must say every man born of woman, which means almost every man. We are all children of God. Jesus was a man, a child of God, just like you and me. God created man in his (God’s) own image. He breathed his breath into man to animate him.
We do not study the intangible power of man. Man seems satisfied going to a church, praying, and accepting what he is being taught. Lets briefly touch upon the churches. Most churches consider themselves as a not for profit organization. Although they are run like a business, dealing (a lot of them) with a lot of money. Most of them with a priestly caste. This money is spent on the operation, and beautification, of that particular church. I do not think that is what Jesus came to this earth to speak of.
Jesus spoke of the body as the temple of God. God does not live in a temple, with a device of torture ( Jesus’ torture ) reaching high into the sky, Golden or not. Yes that is right, God does not like what we call the holy cross.
I may have just lost some readers, but the truth stands, What if we used a guillotine to execute Jesus? We should celebrate his life, and not dwell upon his crucifixion. Ask yourself this, Who killed Jesus? Whatever your answer, I am sure its nothing to be proud of. I know it was one of your brothers, which God loves as much as you.
Look around you. we are a people at war with ourselves. Killing one another in the name of God. Trust me when I say this was not Jesus message. I am sure God is not proud of Christianity, among other religions, which was spread through senseless bloodshed. This and more is kinda why I say we missed Jesus point.
Through a religion called Islam, God told Mohammed to unite the world under this new religion. It was excellent in theory. But hen the Christians and the Jews caught wind of this, they strongly opposed a religion that would eliminate their religions. As Islam grew and became a thorn in Christianity’s side, They degraded and killed every muslim they could. Millions died. Then arose another holy war, The Jihad. How can you justify all this in the name of God.
Now I would like to send a message to the leaders of the very powerful Jihad. If you do succeed in taking over the world. who would you then make war with?
“When you fight monsters long enough, you will become a monster yourself…”
The Bible has everyone talking the talk, but who is walking the walk? Let us listen to what Jesus had to say. One can certainly say, From what we may know of Jesus, That he spoke of peace and love for your fellow man. This means everybody living upon God’s Earth.
Well actually, we must say every man born of woman, which means almost every man. We are all children of God. Jesus was a man, a child of God, just like you and me. God created man in his (God’s) own image. He breathed his breath into man to animate him.
We do not study the intangible power of man. Man seems satisfied going to a church, praying, and accepting what he is being taught. Lets briefly touch upon the churches. Most churches consider themselves as a not for profit organization. Although they are run like a business, dealing (a lot of them) with a lot of money. Most of them with a priestly caste. This money is spent on the operation, and beautification, of that particular church. I do not think that is what Jesus came to this earth to speak of.
Jesus spoke of the body as the temple of God. God does not live in a temple, with a device of torture ( Jesus’ torture ) reaching high into the sky, Golden or not. Yes that is right, God does not like what we call the holy cross.
I may have just lost some readers, but the truth stands, What if we used a guillotine to execute Jesus? We should celebrate his life, and not dwell upon his crucifixion. Ask yourself this, Who killed Jesus? Whatever your answer, I am sure its nothing to be proud of. I know it was one of your brothers, which God loves as much as you.
Look around you. we are a people at war with ourselves. Killing one another in the name of God. Trust me when I say this was not Jesus message. I am sure God is not proud of Christianity, among other religions, which was spread through senseless bloodshed. This and more is kinda why I say we missed Jesus point.
Through a religion called Islam, God told Mohammed to unite the world under this new religion. It was excellent in theory. But hen the Christians and the Jews caught wind of this, they strongly opposed a religion that would eliminate their religions. As Islam grew and became a thorn in Christianity’s side, They degraded and killed every muslim they could. Millions died. Then arose another holy war, The Jihad. How can you justify all this in the name of God.
Now I would like to send a message to the leaders of the very powerful Jihad. If you do succeed in taking over the world. who would you then make war with?
“When you fight monsters long enough, you will become a monster yourself…”
Feb
22
I came to divide.
Filed Under News And Society | Leave a Comment
Anthony Smith
I came to divide.
There are more religions in the world today than ever. Many have sprung up in the last 35 years and a new one has just came upon the scene. Many of these religions are calling for a joint unity between all religions that will lead us all into one big happy family with world peace assured. The biggest thing that divides the world today is religion.
For those that call for unity of religions, Please answer this one question, Which religions are willing to adapt all religions as being true?
There are none, even between the peoples of many religions, there are variances between themselves. Let’s take Islam for example. These people fight among themselves, having the same religion. They are known to kill others of the Same Religion for little or no cause. Islam, Hindi and other religions around the world accept Jesus as being a Man of God and a Prophet, but as Jesus told the Pharisees,
“You do not accept a prophet of God in His own country and have killed the others that God has sent unto you.” If Jesus was a prophet of God, why didn’t all these other religions listen to His message?
Jesus said, “I come not to send peace on the earth but a sword. I came to divide.” The word that we preach also continues to divide, putting families and friends at odds with each other. Matthew 10:34, Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
(Mic-7:6) Christ being the prince of Peace was not going to do the Dividing but His message would set in motion the things covered by prophecy. His message caused wide hatred of Him and does us also. We are the most hated Religion by all peoples and even by some of our own.
The message of the Bible separates family’s, friends, countries and nations. Jesus said that there would be lords many and Christ many, but go not unto them, for they are false. We either believe Jesus is Lord or we don’t. Its that simple. Why are we so hated?
The message that we preach is controversial in all aspects. We balance Preaching Love and Preaching Fear. Jude 1:22-23; And of some have compassion, making a difference: (These are the tender hearted.)And others save with fear (These are the Hard Hearted.), pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
The message that Jesus left to us, rejects all other religions for there are none that can save the Soul of man except one. His message doesn’t give any leeway for any occasion to sin nor to join forces with the darkness of unbelief.
There is one central theam that all religions have, except for Christianity, Refusal to Declare Jesus as, Lord, Christ and Son of God. All religions believe in a god, weather it be one or multiple.
They all believe in a here after and a punishment. They all believe that their religion is better than the rest but they all lack substance, they all lack insight and they all lack Spirit. God can not denigh His Son nor can He denigh Himself. Those that say, we will be reincarnated. If you can’t get it right in this life how can you expect to get it right in the next?
There are three major religions in the world and all three say they worship the True God, “Jehovah”. Worshiping God, “Jehovah”, brings about a responsibility to man to believe in Gods Word, letter by letter, word by word and passage by passage. Only 1 religion actually does.
Mat 10:35 For I am come to set a man at variance (a conflict.) against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. The conflict spoken of here is not one of family ties or love but of religious differences, in other words, we **** what our children do but we still love the children.
Mat 10:36 And a man’s foes (Enemies) shall be they of his own household. The Bible states very clearly that in the end of days that even the family will be at odds with each other and the children will have the parents put to death and the parents will also put their children to death.
Here are two verses that prove this; Matthew 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. Zec 13:3 And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through(Kill) when he prophesieth.
This is not a contradiction of Matthew 10:35, but a revelation on the state of mans’ changing attitude toward his relationships within his own family.
Governmental regulations have almost destroyed the family unit by their interferences with the parental rights under God to correct their children and raise them up as called for by God.
Do you think that this can’t come about? Well think again, todays’ society has gone the way of family murders, children killing parents and parents killing entire households, and remember the Civil War? But what we are speaking of is religious differences that will cause this same type of behavior, it is inevitable. Everyone is preoccupied with the past and trying to make sense of what happened but very few are considering the future.
We must consider that tomorrow never comes, the future of mans’ soul is today. Sometimes our own love, for our family and even our children, put us at odds with the Creator. Many times we will think of our family, wife, husband, daughter and son, before we even think about considering God. Jesus knew that this would take place even more in the times of the end. I have seen this myself in my life and in the lives of others.
Jesus told us in Matthew 10:37-39;
“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: (This is not physical love, for God and Jesus are Spirit, but this is a spiritual love and arrangement of our spiritual priorities.) and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.(His demands for total regard and love is all inclusive.) And he that taketh not his cross (The word,”Cross” is speaking of responsibility and labors due to God.), and followeth after me (To follow Jesus is to follow His example of obedience to God and His will. Even prior to His Death, the thoughts of Jesus, were on only fulfilling the will of His Father.), is not worthy of me.
He that findeth his life shall lose it ( Refusing to follow after Jesus, and taking the easy way thru this life may give you, Joy, Love, Pleasure and fulfillment in the flesh but in the end you will lose your everlasting soul.): and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Obedience unto death.) The last division I want to mention is within the Christian Community itself.
There are many different Churches that dislike and even **** other Christian Churches because they worship God in different ways and with different Names over the Door. Baptist, (Which do not accept the gifts of the Spirit for todays Church.)1St. Baptist, 2ND Baptist, Independent Baptist, Southern Baptist, Northern Baptist, Apostolic (Which does not accept a Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Ghost.) Pentecost(Which does accept the gifts of the Spirit for todays Church.) , Nazarene, Catholic (Believes that common man does not have the intelligence to read and interpret the Bible for themselves.), New Life Baptist, Church of God, ect, ect, ect. Each of these Churches must look at each other as fellow brothers in Christ, follow His Doctrine, as lined out in the Book of Acts, and accept each other as fellow workers in the search for lost souls.
What causes this division? Doctrine. Mans doctrine started to get a foot hold in the Church many years ago, starting with the separation of the Catholic Church (Which sought to control the minds of its followers, not allowing them to read the Bible for themselves.) and the Protestant Movement,(Which believed that the Gospel of Jesus should, be open to all men, to be able to read and interpret within themselves.)
If you would take the time and look at most Church Doctrines, you would see that it doesn’t line up with the word of God and many are contrary to it. An evangelist, that is preaching the Gospel, should be able to go into any Christian Church and Preach Salvation, no matter what name is on the door. Just because a man of God is not affiliated with any specific Church that He enters, does mean that He is a wolf at the door. Its time the Church woke up. The End is near.
1 Co. 14:26; How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. We must either join hands and quit this division and bickering or we will have a hard time walking together. We must all walk together, hand in hand, or we might miss Heaven altogether. ars
I came to divide.
There are more religions in the world today than ever. Many have sprung up in the last 35 years and a new one has just came upon the scene. Many of these religions are calling for a joint unity between all religions that will lead us all into one big happy family with world peace assured. The biggest thing that divides the world today is religion.
For those that call for unity of religions, Please answer this one question, Which religions are willing to adapt all religions as being true?
There are none, even between the peoples of many religions, there are variances between themselves. Let’s take Islam for example. These people fight among themselves, having the same religion. They are known to kill others of the Same Religion for little or no cause. Islam, Hindi and other religions around the world accept Jesus as being a Man of God and a Prophet, but as Jesus told the Pharisees,
“You do not accept a prophet of God in His own country and have killed the others that God has sent unto you.” If Jesus was a prophet of God, why didn’t all these other religions listen to His message?
Jesus said, “I come not to send peace on the earth but a sword. I came to divide.” The word that we preach also continues to divide, putting families and friends at odds with each other. Matthew 10:34, Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
(Mic-7:6) Christ being the prince of Peace was not going to do the Dividing but His message would set in motion the things covered by prophecy. His message caused wide hatred of Him and does us also. We are the most hated Religion by all peoples and even by some of our own.
The message of the Bible separates family’s, friends, countries and nations. Jesus said that there would be lords many and Christ many, but go not unto them, for they are false. We either believe Jesus is Lord or we don’t. Its that simple. Why are we so hated?
The message that we preach is controversial in all aspects. We balance Preaching Love and Preaching Fear. Jude 1:22-23; And of some have compassion, making a difference: (These are the tender hearted.)And others save with fear (These are the Hard Hearted.), pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
The message that Jesus left to us, rejects all other religions for there are none that can save the Soul of man except one. His message doesn’t give any leeway for any occasion to sin nor to join forces with the darkness of unbelief.
There is one central theam that all religions have, except for Christianity, Refusal to Declare Jesus as, Lord, Christ and Son of God. All religions believe in a god, weather it be one or multiple.
They all believe in a here after and a punishment. They all believe that their religion is better than the rest but they all lack substance, they all lack insight and they all lack Spirit. God can not denigh His Son nor can He denigh Himself. Those that say, we will be reincarnated. If you can’t get it right in this life how can you expect to get it right in the next?
There are three major religions in the world and all three say they worship the True God, “Jehovah”. Worshiping God, “Jehovah”, brings about a responsibility to man to believe in Gods Word, letter by letter, word by word and passage by passage. Only 1 religion actually does.
Mat 10:35 For I am come to set a man at variance (a conflict.) against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. The conflict spoken of here is not one of family ties or love but of religious differences, in other words, we **** what our children do but we still love the children.
Mat 10:36 And a man’s foes (Enemies) shall be they of his own household. The Bible states very clearly that in the end of days that even the family will be at odds with each other and the children will have the parents put to death and the parents will also put their children to death.
Here are two verses that prove this; Matthew 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. Zec 13:3 And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through(Kill) when he prophesieth.
This is not a contradiction of Matthew 10:35, but a revelation on the state of mans’ changing attitude toward his relationships within his own family.
Governmental regulations have almost destroyed the family unit by their interferences with the parental rights under God to correct their children and raise them up as called for by God.
Do you think that this can’t come about? Well think again, todays’ society has gone the way of family murders, children killing parents and parents killing entire households, and remember the Civil War? But what we are speaking of is religious differences that will cause this same type of behavior, it is inevitable. Everyone is preoccupied with the past and trying to make sense of what happened but very few are considering the future.
We must consider that tomorrow never comes, the future of mans’ soul is today. Sometimes our own love, for our family and even our children, put us at odds with the Creator. Many times we will think of our family, wife, husband, daughter and son, before we even think about considering God. Jesus knew that this would take place even more in the times of the end. I have seen this myself in my life and in the lives of others.
Jesus told us in Matthew 10:37-39;
“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: (This is not physical love, for God and Jesus are Spirit, but this is a spiritual love and arrangement of our spiritual priorities.) and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.(His demands for total regard and love is all inclusive.) And he that taketh not his cross (The word,”Cross” is speaking of responsibility and labors due to God.), and followeth after me (To follow Jesus is to follow His example of obedience to God and His will. Even prior to His Death, the thoughts of Jesus, were on only fulfilling the will of His Father.), is not worthy of me.
He that findeth his life shall lose it ( Refusing to follow after Jesus, and taking the easy way thru this life may give you, Joy, Love, Pleasure and fulfillment in the flesh but in the end you will lose your everlasting soul.): and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Obedience unto death.) The last division I want to mention is within the Christian Community itself.
There are many different Churches that dislike and even **** other Christian Churches because they worship God in different ways and with different Names over the Door. Baptist, (Which do not accept the gifts of the Spirit for todays Church.)1St. Baptist, 2ND Baptist, Independent Baptist, Southern Baptist, Northern Baptist, Apostolic (Which does not accept a Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Ghost.) Pentecost(Which does accept the gifts of the Spirit for todays Church.) , Nazarene, Catholic (Believes that common man does not have the intelligence to read and interpret the Bible for themselves.), New Life Baptist, Church of God, ect, ect, ect. Each of these Churches must look at each other as fellow brothers in Christ, follow His Doctrine, as lined out in the Book of Acts, and accept each other as fellow workers in the search for lost souls.
What causes this division? Doctrine. Mans doctrine started to get a foot hold in the Church many years ago, starting with the separation of the Catholic Church (Which sought to control the minds of its followers, not allowing them to read the Bible for themselves.) and the Protestant Movement,(Which believed that the Gospel of Jesus should, be open to all men, to be able to read and interpret within themselves.)
If you would take the time and look at most Church Doctrines, you would see that it doesn’t line up with the word of God and many are contrary to it. An evangelist, that is preaching the Gospel, should be able to go into any Christian Church and Preach Salvation, no matter what name is on the door. Just because a man of God is not affiliated with any specific Church that He enters, does mean that He is a wolf at the door. Its time the Church woke up. The End is near.
1 Co. 14:26; How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. We must either join hands and quit this division and bickering or we will have a hard time walking together. We must all walk together, hand in hand, or we might miss Heaven altogether. ars
Feb
18
Jesus Christ and Other Religious Leaders – 5 Tips to Finding a True Religion
Filed Under News And Society | Leave a Comment
Tumwesigye Wycliffe
Many people in the whole world claim to be religious and subscribe to one or more religious authorities. However, some people have remained uncertain and they move from one religion to the other looking for a true religion. A good number of people have lost their property and some their own lives following false teachers who claim to be very religious and godly. This article provides five tips to guide people on how to find a true religion/church to stay in with a peace of mind. These include: source of authority, literature, Trinity, actions and concept of Jesus Christ.
The source of authority
False religions usually exalt the leader of their religion instead of God who created the heavens and earth. They pay tribute and worship a personality or the founder of their religion. Such people obey their religious leader without questions and they take his/her to be the final authority. A true religion recognizes God and His son Jesus Christ as the final authority in all matters of faith.
The literature they use
True religion believes in the Bible as the infallible word of God. It is the creators manual to guide all his creation to live in harmony for the glory of God. It talks about the creation of the universe, the present downfall of mankind, God’s redemptive plan and the future destiny of man. Any other religion that does not believe in the Bible as the true word of God and tries to supplement it with other books or uses other books as their major source of authority is questionable.
The trinity
God exists in three personalities, God the father, God the son (Jesus) and God the Holly Spirit. The father is the creator, the son is the savior and the Holly spirit is the giver of life/counselor. He is the same God but existing in three personalities to provide sufficient services to His people. A religion that does not believe in the trinity of God is a false religion. This trinity is depicted in God’s creation such as three parts of an insect, tree parts of a tree or a person.
The words and actions
False teachers usually promote the attitude to ‘do as I say and not as I do’. They are hypocrites and do the opposite of what they teach their followers. May religions have caused a global moral crisis and the genuine seekers remain puzzled as to which one is the true region? You will know them by their fruit. Any religion that does the opposite of what it teaches is a false religion and misleading. So take heed!
The concept of Jesus
Jesus is the son of God who came from heaven to the planet earth to redeem mankind from both the penalty and consequences of sin. He sacrificed his life, died, was buried, and resurrected on the third day thereby reconciling man back to God. This is the only way God could reach mankind, talk with him in order to know and attend to his problems. God was pleased to have all his authority vested in Jesus Christ. Any religion that does not believe in this truth is considered to be false hence questionable.
It is not a simple task to get a true religion but a close look at the source of their authority, attitude towards the Bible, the Trinity, their actions and the position they give to Jesus Christ would help you to differentiate between a false and true religion and the right church to stay in.
Many people in the whole world claim to be religious and subscribe to one or more religious authorities. However, some people have remained uncertain and they move from one religion to the other looking for a true religion. A good number of people have lost their property and some their own lives following false teachers who claim to be very religious and godly. This article provides five tips to guide people on how to find a true religion/church to stay in with a peace of mind. These include: source of authority, literature, Trinity, actions and concept of Jesus Christ.
The source of authority
False religions usually exalt the leader of their religion instead of God who created the heavens and earth. They pay tribute and worship a personality or the founder of their religion. Such people obey their religious leader without questions and they take his/her to be the final authority. A true religion recognizes God and His son Jesus Christ as the final authority in all matters of faith.
The literature they use
True religion believes in the Bible as the infallible word of God. It is the creators manual to guide all his creation to live in harmony for the glory of God. It talks about the creation of the universe, the present downfall of mankind, God’s redemptive plan and the future destiny of man. Any other religion that does not believe in the Bible as the true word of God and tries to supplement it with other books or uses other books as their major source of authority is questionable.
The trinity
God exists in three personalities, God the father, God the son (Jesus) and God the Holly Spirit. The father is the creator, the son is the savior and the Holly spirit is the giver of life/counselor. He is the same God but existing in three personalities to provide sufficient services to His people. A religion that does not believe in the trinity of God is a false religion. This trinity is depicted in God’s creation such as three parts of an insect, tree parts of a tree or a person.
The words and actions
False teachers usually promote the attitude to ‘do as I say and not as I do’. They are hypocrites and do the opposite of what they teach their followers. May religions have caused a global moral crisis and the genuine seekers remain puzzled as to which one is the true region? You will know them by their fruit. Any religion that does the opposite of what it teaches is a false religion and misleading. So take heed!
The concept of Jesus
Jesus is the son of God who came from heaven to the planet earth to redeem mankind from both the penalty and consequences of sin. He sacrificed his life, died, was buried, and resurrected on the third day thereby reconciling man back to God. This is the only way God could reach mankind, talk with him in order to know and attend to his problems. God was pleased to have all his authority vested in Jesus Christ. Any religion that does not believe in this truth is considered to be false hence questionable.
It is not a simple task to get a true religion but a close look at the source of their authority, attitude towards the Bible, the Trinity, their actions and the position they give to Jesus Christ would help you to differentiate between a false and true religion and the right church to stay in.
Feb
15
Love Jesus or Burn Forever in Hell. You’re Basic "Love Me or I will Kill You" Religion
Filed Under Self Improvement | Leave a Comment
Dennis Diehl
“Love Jesus or Burn Forever in Hell.” I first saw this wonderfully encouraging statement emblazoned on the roof of a barn in rural South Carolina. Actually just about where I would expect to find it.
Boy does this little bit of encouragement say reams about the either/or mentality that goes with many fundamentalist teachings. So here is the lesson for the day evidently. EITHER I love Jesus, which I assume means confess him, promote him and do everything he is thought to have said and taught, or burn, not just up, but FOREVER in hell. Whoa moma, what a choice and even better, what a reason to love Jesus! Obey out of sheer fear of annihilation. Spirituality doesn’t get any better than this!
In effect this would be the same as me, a loving parent, telling my kids, either you love your daddy, or I will kill you and not in a good or easy way. Any parent that was reported to have said this to a child would be arrested and probably loose custody of the child. But not “God.” of course. Now any real God would never have such a flawed “these are the rules of love” mentality and this is more a reflection of the human who thought it up as cute or threatening, depending on the desired effect. It’s also hogwash.
The bible often gives rather Taliban-like solutions to loving ones children. Sometimes a “rod of correction” is advised to get rid of children being children. That has proven to be a real hit in modern child rearing results. Opps, nuther pun there! This rod is supposed to “drive it far from them.” It can be used for anything from disobeying “god” to not agreeing with dad, even though dad is dead wrong, again. Of course it is a rule used to control and keep the tribe happy. Actually it makes them turn inward and resentful, or compliant until they have a chance to not be.
Why if we are lucky enough to live until Jesus comes again, we get to see that even He is coming with a great big Rod of Iron to bash his people and all people into submission. He rides a White Horse, no doubt, and pours out plagues, vials, trumpets and trombones upon the world until we all scream in pain, “Ok, OK, you win, we LOVE you.” Is it impossible for these kinds of gods and offspring to set up seminars or classes on why, we as humans can do better and live lives more peaceful and meaningful? Bashing never seems to work. Are we forever going to be motivated by fear of a good bashing so we comply, or as I like to stay, “sit down on the outside, but stand up on the inside,” and be duplistic? I guess so if we don’t come up with another way to be and think.
We’re even told in the Old Testament that as parents we should get up all our courage and stone to death our rebellious kids. Great idea! That’s been a chosen winner in effective child rearing practices through all of human family history. Of course, no parents of those kids would not have gotten old enough to have them under those guidelines either, but that’s another issue. What a great time the parents must have had actually getting to throw rocks at their own kids, and not just to scare them, but to kill them! You know how long it takes to be stoned to death? Long time.
Mom must have been beside herself with glee seeing the child beg for help only to have mom say “ha! You think that was a great hit, just watch this!” Maybe dad actually helped the mom get her shots more dead on as it’s not the kind of thing most parents practice. Or who knows? Wonder if they went out for dinner that evening and discussed how they could have done it better and whether or not they will miss Schlomo. I wonder if dad kept a stone on the mantel and whenever any of the surviving kids goofed off, he gave it loving glance and gave the kid a knowing smile? Maybe child rearing classes in the Old Testament included a segment on “Effective Stoning Techniques Should the Need Arise.”
Actually, a parent being required by religious law to stone their own child is beyond comprehension to me and certainly not a teaching any real god. No, these are pretty much made up gods with made up rules to instill fear. Definitely your “Love Jesus or Burn Forever in Hell,” mentality. So please, don’t stone your kids for being human and forget the rod of iron thing.
There is a lot of “love me or I will kill you,” religion loose on the planet these days. Other forms of this ridiculous idea are “Obey Me, or I will kill you.” “Believe me, or I will kill you.” And perhaps, “Give Dad a big hug, or I will choke your guts out.” All very effective and genuine expressions of a deep understanding of true love and compassion. Almost brings tears to my eyes thinking of how loved I am with this kind of love out there just waiting to pour itself down on me.
Well, at any rate, just kidding. “Love Jesus or burn forever in hell,” is a pathetic statement of what is wrong with fundamentalist religious thinking. It’s all fear, shame and guilt based. It’s key motivator is fear of consequences if one does not comply, and it so often neither works nor inspires compassion or encouragement. I’d love to meet the kids of anyone that would paint on a huge barn roof, this little bit of sage Biblical advice. I wonder if they ever come home to the farm for Thanksgiving or Christmas, or dads birthday? I wonder if they even sends cards? I wonder if they are close to their parents or enjoy their company and perspectives on how life works and what to do when it doesn’t seem to. Naw, I bet not. I bet these kids were stoned to death long ago.
“Love Jesus or Burn Forever in Hell.” I first saw this wonderfully encouraging statement emblazoned on the roof of a barn in rural South Carolina. Actually just about where I would expect to find it.
Boy does this little bit of encouragement say reams about the either/or mentality that goes with many fundamentalist teachings. So here is the lesson for the day evidently. EITHER I love Jesus, which I assume means confess him, promote him and do everything he is thought to have said and taught, or burn, not just up, but FOREVER in hell. Whoa moma, what a choice and even better, what a reason to love Jesus! Obey out of sheer fear of annihilation. Spirituality doesn’t get any better than this!
In effect this would be the same as me, a loving parent, telling my kids, either you love your daddy, or I will kill you and not in a good or easy way. Any parent that was reported to have said this to a child would be arrested and probably loose custody of the child. But not “God.” of course. Now any real God would never have such a flawed “these are the rules of love” mentality and this is more a reflection of the human who thought it up as cute or threatening, depending on the desired effect. It’s also hogwash.
The bible often gives rather Taliban-like solutions to loving ones children. Sometimes a “rod of correction” is advised to get rid of children being children. That has proven to be a real hit in modern child rearing results. Opps, nuther pun there! This rod is supposed to “drive it far from them.” It can be used for anything from disobeying “god” to not agreeing with dad, even though dad is dead wrong, again. Of course it is a rule used to control and keep the tribe happy. Actually it makes them turn inward and resentful, or compliant until they have a chance to not be.
Why if we are lucky enough to live until Jesus comes again, we get to see that even He is coming with a great big Rod of Iron to bash his people and all people into submission. He rides a White Horse, no doubt, and pours out plagues, vials, trumpets and trombones upon the world until we all scream in pain, “Ok, OK, you win, we LOVE you.” Is it impossible for these kinds of gods and offspring to set up seminars or classes on why, we as humans can do better and live lives more peaceful and meaningful? Bashing never seems to work. Are we forever going to be motivated by fear of a good bashing so we comply, or as I like to stay, “sit down on the outside, but stand up on the inside,” and be duplistic? I guess so if we don’t come up with another way to be and think.
We’re even told in the Old Testament that as parents we should get up all our courage and stone to death our rebellious kids. Great idea! That’s been a chosen winner in effective child rearing practices through all of human family history. Of course, no parents of those kids would not have gotten old enough to have them under those guidelines either, but that’s another issue. What a great time the parents must have had actually getting to throw rocks at their own kids, and not just to scare them, but to kill them! You know how long it takes to be stoned to death? Long time.
Mom must have been beside herself with glee seeing the child beg for help only to have mom say “ha! You think that was a great hit, just watch this!” Maybe dad actually helped the mom get her shots more dead on as it’s not the kind of thing most parents practice. Or who knows? Wonder if they went out for dinner that evening and discussed how they could have done it better and whether or not they will miss Schlomo. I wonder if dad kept a stone on the mantel and whenever any of the surviving kids goofed off, he gave it loving glance and gave the kid a knowing smile? Maybe child rearing classes in the Old Testament included a segment on “Effective Stoning Techniques Should the Need Arise.”
Actually, a parent being required by religious law to stone their own child is beyond comprehension to me and certainly not a teaching any real god. No, these are pretty much made up gods with made up rules to instill fear. Definitely your “Love Jesus or Burn Forever in Hell,” mentality. So please, don’t stone your kids for being human and forget the rod of iron thing.
There is a lot of “love me or I will kill you,” religion loose on the planet these days. Other forms of this ridiculous idea are “Obey Me, or I will kill you.” “Believe me, or I will kill you.” And perhaps, “Give Dad a big hug, or I will choke your guts out.” All very effective and genuine expressions of a deep understanding of true love and compassion. Almost brings tears to my eyes thinking of how loved I am with this kind of love out there just waiting to pour itself down on me.
Well, at any rate, just kidding. “Love Jesus or burn forever in hell,” is a pathetic statement of what is wrong with fundamentalist religious thinking. It’s all fear, shame and guilt based. It’s key motivator is fear of consequences if one does not comply, and it so often neither works nor inspires compassion or encouragement. I’d love to meet the kids of anyone that would paint on a huge barn roof, this little bit of sage Biblical advice. I wonder if they ever come home to the farm for Thanksgiving or Christmas, or dads birthday? I wonder if they even sends cards? I wonder if they are close to their parents or enjoy their company and perspectives on how life works and what to do when it doesn’t seem to. Naw, I bet not. I bet these kids were stoned to death long ago.
Feb
14
Jesus, Your Strength – Hart To Heart Ministries By Mike Echterling
Filed Under Sagittarius Men | Leave a Comment
Hart To Heart Ministries ℠
“The Lord is the Strength of my Life” (Psalm 27:1). How strong is the Lord? The Lord is ALL Powerful, one of His names is Almighty. That means that He is All Powerful! He doesn’t lack the power to perform any miracle.
Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing will be impossible.”
All things are possible because He is:
1. He is all powerful to preform all miracles.
2. He is all knowing, He knows how to make happen what mankind could never figure out.
3. He is all present. Where ever He is needed for a miracle to happen. He is there to perform the miracle.
I have some very good news.
For with God nothing will be impossible to heal.
For with God nothing will be impossible to prosper.
For with God nothing will be impossible in your life.
For with God nothing will be impossible in 2009.
For with God nothing will be impossible. He is not a respecter of persons. If He said it to one He says it to you. Only believe. He is powerful to perform miracles for you.
Think of this, if the devil can cause great distress, poverty and sickness then how much more can Jesus who is All Powerful do for you! However, Jesus will only do good. He will only give Peace because He is the Prince of Peace. He will only give prosperity because He came to give life and life more abundantly. He will only come to heal because by His stripes we are healed!
This All Powerful One is in you!
When you accepted the sacrifice of Jesus (His death on the cross, His burial, His ascent into heaven on the fortieth day after the Resurrection) when you made Him Lord of your life and when you were born again, He came into your heart. Now you cannot fail again because your Savior Who is All Powerful, lives in you.
Because of His presence in you it is impossible for you not to be more than a conqueror, abounding in victory and fearless in the face of any challenge. You cannot be defeated because Jesus your Strength lives in you.
I Jn. 4:4 “Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.”
Jesus in you is greater than the devil.
Jesus in you is greater than anything the devil can throw at you.
Jesus in you is greater than any sickness, disease or infirmity you may face.
Jesus in you is greater than any financial lack.
Jesus in you is greater!
Jesus lives in you. Jesus is the same in you as He was 2,000 years ago.
He overcame everything that was in opposition to Him 2,000 years ago and He has not changed. He is the same today. Inside you and through you, He desires to overcome every the devil is coming against you with today that you are facing.
He is your strength. Call on Him. Give Him permission to move in power in your life, your body, your finances and your relationships. Thank Him for working quickly, thank Him for being so faithful, thank Him for His goodness and mercy to you. Rejoice that He is moving on your behalf. This is faith, calling those things that are not as though they were.
“The Lord is the Strength of my Life” (Psalm 27:1). What is your life? The part of your life you have allowed Him to be Lord of is the part He can be the Strength of. Trust Him with you whole life and watch His Strength empower and infuse it with His life.
© Hart To Heart Ministries
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Hart To Heart Ministries.
Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By Mike and Denise Hartmann-Echterling. © Hart To Heart Ministries. Website: www.h2hm.org
“The Lord is the Strength of my Life” (Psalm 27:1). How strong is the Lord? The Lord is ALL Powerful, one of His names is Almighty. That means that He is All Powerful! He doesn’t lack the power to perform any miracle.
Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing will be impossible.”
All things are possible because He is:
1. He is all powerful to preform all miracles.
2. He is all knowing, He knows how to make happen what mankind could never figure out.
3. He is all present. Where ever He is needed for a miracle to happen. He is there to perform the miracle.
I have some very good news.
For with God nothing will be impossible to heal.
For with God nothing will be impossible to prosper.
For with God nothing will be impossible in your life.
For with God nothing will be impossible in 2009.
For with God nothing will be impossible. He is not a respecter of persons. If He said it to one He says it to you. Only believe. He is powerful to perform miracles for you.
Think of this, if the devil can cause great distress, poverty and sickness then how much more can Jesus who is All Powerful do for you! However, Jesus will only do good. He will only give Peace because He is the Prince of Peace. He will only give prosperity because He came to give life and life more abundantly. He will only come to heal because by His stripes we are healed!
This All Powerful One is in you!
When you accepted the sacrifice of Jesus (His death on the cross, His burial, His ascent into heaven on the fortieth day after the Resurrection) when you made Him Lord of your life and when you were born again, He came into your heart. Now you cannot fail again because your Savior Who is All Powerful, lives in you.
Because of His presence in you it is impossible for you not to be more than a conqueror, abounding in victory and fearless in the face of any challenge. You cannot be defeated because Jesus your Strength lives in you.
I Jn. 4:4 “Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.”
Jesus in you is greater than the devil.
Jesus in you is greater than anything the devil can throw at you.
Jesus in you is greater than any sickness, disease or infirmity you may face.
Jesus in you is greater than any financial lack.
Jesus in you is greater!
Jesus lives in you. Jesus is the same in you as He was 2,000 years ago.
He overcame everything that was in opposition to Him 2,000 years ago and He has not changed. He is the same today. Inside you and through you, He desires to overcome every the devil is coming against you with today that you are facing.
He is your strength. Call on Him. Give Him permission to move in power in your life, your body, your finances and your relationships. Thank Him for working quickly, thank Him for being so faithful, thank Him for His goodness and mercy to you. Rejoice that He is moving on your behalf. This is faith, calling those things that are not as though they were.
“The Lord is the Strength of my Life” (Psalm 27:1). What is your life? The part of your life you have allowed Him to be Lord of is the part He can be the Strength of. Trust Him with you whole life and watch His Strength empower and infuse it with His life.
© Hart To Heart Ministries
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Hart To Heart Ministries.
Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By Mike and Denise Hartmann-Echterling. © Hart To Heart Ministries. Website: www.h2hm.org
Feb
6
Jesus Christ: Angels set the Myth of Miracles Straight
Filed Under This Is What I Believe | Leave a Comment
Glenn Harrison
It was September 2005, and I was with my wife Jill, who is a Spiritual Avatara. She has the gift of being able to receive telepathic messages from the Godhead, as well as allowing angels to control her body to speak.
You need to understand that I was an athiest and non-believer in spiritual matters, until this epiphany.
This is what Archangel Metatron, who is the voice of God, wanted to tell us:
“Archangel Metatron: At last, we are able to commune together for the betterment of mankind. May the North, South, West and East bring forth the energies that are able to assist God in his plan for humanity.
We are pleased with your progress; yet it seems there are many mental blocks, or should we say negative levels, that you allow to affect your ethereal layer. Despite our promises to you both, you still lack faith. Faith is the one true constant that must be attained to ensure your connection to spirit. This is why so many people fail to see or hear the word of God.
We understand Glenn’s reluctance to utilise the naming called God, but it is the only way that we can get people to begin to listen to the lessons that must be learnt.
You ask of Jesus and his role, Jesus was a mere mortal, who was and is, the one constant link that connects humans to God. He was a channeller far beyond his time. His healing ministries were not magic or supernatural as portrayed by the writers of that time. He was a special soul chosen by God, to bring forth the lessons that needed to be learnt.
Alas with time, these lessons have been eradicated for man’s own use and power.
We are aware that people who follow the Christian faith will challenge what we say. But let it be known, that we are from God. We bring forth his new teachings. As people must evolve, so God learns too, that changes need to be made. What worked then, perhaps does not work now.
Jesus was chosen specifically by God, to bring forth God’s hopes and desires for mankind. That they learn to have compassion and tolerance for all living things.
Unfortunately, the religions of this world have become so chipped in stone, that humans neglect to connect with their hearts and feel what God wishes them to know.
Humans, as God’s creatures, must realise that the way they have worshiped him is no longer the way. Mankind must learn to look within. For only when they know themselves, for they are of God, will they find God. So many souls are searching for God, yet like the blind, they do not see.”
It was September 2005, and I was with my wife Jill, who is a Spiritual Avatara. She has the gift of being able to receive telepathic messages from the Godhead, as well as allowing angels to control her body to speak.
You need to understand that I was an athiest and non-believer in spiritual matters, until this epiphany.
This is what Archangel Metatron, who is the voice of God, wanted to tell us:
“Archangel Metatron: At last, we are able to commune together for the betterment of mankind. May the North, South, West and East bring forth the energies that are able to assist God in his plan for humanity.
We are pleased with your progress; yet it seems there are many mental blocks, or should we say negative levels, that you allow to affect your ethereal layer. Despite our promises to you both, you still lack faith. Faith is the one true constant that must be attained to ensure your connection to spirit. This is why so many people fail to see or hear the word of God.
We understand Glenn’s reluctance to utilise the naming called God, but it is the only way that we can get people to begin to listen to the lessons that must be learnt.
You ask of Jesus and his role, Jesus was a mere mortal, who was and is, the one constant link that connects humans to God. He was a channeller far beyond his time. His healing ministries were not magic or supernatural as portrayed by the writers of that time. He was a special soul chosen by God, to bring forth the lessons that needed to be learnt.
Alas with time, these lessons have been eradicated for man’s own use and power.
We are aware that people who follow the Christian faith will challenge what we say. But let it be known, that we are from God. We bring forth his new teachings. As people must evolve, so God learns too, that changes need to be made. What worked then, perhaps does not work now.
Jesus was chosen specifically by God, to bring forth God’s hopes and desires for mankind. That they learn to have compassion and tolerance for all living things.
Unfortunately, the religions of this world have become so chipped in stone, that humans neglect to connect with their hearts and feel what God wishes them to know.
Humans, as God’s creatures, must realise that the way they have worshiped him is no longer the way. Mankind must learn to look within. For only when they know themselves, for they are of God, will they find God. So many souls are searching for God, yet like the blind, they do not see.”
Feb
3
The Pagan Jesus – Did Jesus Come From Pagan Religions?
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Gregory E Hanson
A popular and growing belief is that the Christian Jesus is just a copycat of pagan religious figures. This is the claim that the early Christians merely “borrowed” from the pagan religions of the day. Essentially, Christianity absorbed these other figures, mixed them together, and created the person named Jesus.
In recent years, promoting this view has become big business. It has climbed the best-sellers list (The Pagan Christ) and has hit the big screen (The DaVinci Code). And on the surface, it sounds plausible. But is it true?
This view of Jesus emerged in the late 1800s, and was propelled by a book by Kersey Graves entitled, The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors (1875). This book claimed that Jesus was not a real person but was instead a compilation of stories of other “deities or god-men saviors who had been crucified, and descended to and ascended from the underworld.”
However, Graves’ research was unreliable. For example, number 16 on his list was Mohammed. But Islam does not teach that Mohammed died and rose again. Besides, Mohammed came centuries after Jesus. So it is obvious that Christian beliefs about Jesus did not come from Mohammed.
Among scholars, both Christian and atheist, The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors has been almost universally rejected, and Graves has been dismissed as a conspiracy theorist. Even the secular website Infidels.org warns, “Readers should be extremely cautious in trusting anything in this book.” However, the belief the book promoted persists to this day, and it has given rise to what is known as the Jesus Myth Hypothesis.
The most common comparison between Jesus and pagan religions involves the Persian sun god Mithras. Mithras, who was popular in the Roman Empire particularly among the military, supposedly had a virgin birth on December 25. That is what advocates of the Jesus Myth Hypothesis will argue. But actually, the Mithras cult claims that he emerged fully grown from a rock. That was his “virgin birth.”
Furthermore, while the Mithras cult did exist before the time of Jesus, many of the beliefs about Mithras were not developed until at least half way through the second century after Jesus. So it would really be Mithras borrowing from Jesus, not the other way around.
As for the December 25 birthday, Christianity does not claim to know the date of Jesus’ birth. In fact, throughout the centuries his birth has been celebrated on a variety of dates including May 20 and March 28. Even today in Armenia, his birth is celebrated on January 6. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates his birth on January 7. December 25 is an arbitrary date and is not relevant to doctrinal beliefs about Jesus.
Another pagan icon, Attis, was killed in a hunting accident. One of the people assigned to protect him threw a spear at a wild boar and hit Attis accidentally. So Attis was impaled by a spear; Jesus was impaled by nails. According to the Jesus Myth Hypothesis, this story of Attis is supposed to be a parallel to the crucifixion story. But that conclusion is a stretch.
The pagan god Osiris allegedly had a resurrection. But his actual story is that after he died he came to life in the Underworld. He rules there over the dead, not the living. Osiris is reminiscent of an Egyptian mummy, and his story is nothing like the resurrection of Jesus.
Without knowing the facts, the Jesus Myth Hypothesis sounds plausible. But with a little investigation, it becomes apparent that there is very little support for it.
There are, however, some valid comparisons that can be made between paganism and Christianity. For example, baptism was a pre-Christian concept which was practiced as a pagan religious ritual. Jesus took this practice that was already in existence and infused it with new meaning, identifying it with his own death and resurrection.
Easter was once a pagan holiday and a pagan term. So how did it become a Christian holiday? Well, the pagan holiday happened to coincide with the Jewish Passover, which was also the weekend of Jesus’ death and resurrection. So today, this pagan holiday has been infused with new meaning and is now a commemoration of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. It is no longer the same pagan celebration; it’s a thoroughly Christian celebration.
Some people suggest that Christians worship on Sunday because it was a day set aside to worship the sun-god. But in reality, Christians worship on that day because it was on a Sunday that Jesus rose from the dead. This switch from Saturday to Sunday worship occurred fairly quickly after the Resurrection.
As James Garlow, an expert on church history, explains, “The issue is less about the church ‘borrowing’ pagan concepts and more about authentic Christianity’s magnificent capacity to adapt and adopt without losing the core of its Christocentric message.”
Plus, remember that every significant detail about Jesus was foretold centuries earlier. Jesus was the fulfillment of Jewish prophecies, some dating back 1000 years before his birth. Christianity emerged from Judaism, not paganism.
The claim that Jesus is a merging of pagan beliefs is false. Whether or not a person accepts the Christian view of Jesus, it is clear that he did not come from pagan religions.
(This article is adapted from an excerpt of Who Is Jesus? Discovering the Man, the Message and the Mission by Gregory E. Hanson.)
A popular and growing belief is that the Christian Jesus is just a copycat of pagan religious figures. This is the claim that the early Christians merely “borrowed” from the pagan religions of the day. Essentially, Christianity absorbed these other figures, mixed them together, and created the person named Jesus.
In recent years, promoting this view has become big business. It has climbed the best-sellers list (The Pagan Christ) and has hit the big screen (The DaVinci Code). And on the surface, it sounds plausible. But is it true?
This view of Jesus emerged in the late 1800s, and was propelled by a book by Kersey Graves entitled, The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors (1875). This book claimed that Jesus was not a real person but was instead a compilation of stories of other “deities or god-men saviors who had been crucified, and descended to and ascended from the underworld.”
However, Graves’ research was unreliable. For example, number 16 on his list was Mohammed. But Islam does not teach that Mohammed died and rose again. Besides, Mohammed came centuries after Jesus. So it is obvious that Christian beliefs about Jesus did not come from Mohammed.
Among scholars, both Christian and atheist, The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors has been almost universally rejected, and Graves has been dismissed as a conspiracy theorist. Even the secular website Infidels.org warns, “Readers should be extremely cautious in trusting anything in this book.” However, the belief the book promoted persists to this day, and it has given rise to what is known as the Jesus Myth Hypothesis.
The most common comparison between Jesus and pagan religions involves the Persian sun god Mithras. Mithras, who was popular in the Roman Empire particularly among the military, supposedly had a virgin birth on December 25. That is what advocates of the Jesus Myth Hypothesis will argue. But actually, the Mithras cult claims that he emerged fully grown from a rock. That was his “virgin birth.”
Furthermore, while the Mithras cult did exist before the time of Jesus, many of the beliefs about Mithras were not developed until at least half way through the second century after Jesus. So it would really be Mithras borrowing from Jesus, not the other way around.
As for the December 25 birthday, Christianity does not claim to know the date of Jesus’ birth. In fact, throughout the centuries his birth has been celebrated on a variety of dates including May 20 and March 28. Even today in Armenia, his birth is celebrated on January 6. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates his birth on January 7. December 25 is an arbitrary date and is not relevant to doctrinal beliefs about Jesus.
Another pagan icon, Attis, was killed in a hunting accident. One of the people assigned to protect him threw a spear at a wild boar and hit Attis accidentally. So Attis was impaled by a spear; Jesus was impaled by nails. According to the Jesus Myth Hypothesis, this story of Attis is supposed to be a parallel to the crucifixion story. But that conclusion is a stretch.
The pagan god Osiris allegedly had a resurrection. But his actual story is that after he died he came to life in the Underworld. He rules there over the dead, not the living. Osiris is reminiscent of an Egyptian mummy, and his story is nothing like the resurrection of Jesus.
Without knowing the facts, the Jesus Myth Hypothesis sounds plausible. But with a little investigation, it becomes apparent that there is very little support for it.
There are, however, some valid comparisons that can be made between paganism and Christianity. For example, baptism was a pre-Christian concept which was practiced as a pagan religious ritual. Jesus took this practice that was already in existence and infused it with new meaning, identifying it with his own death and resurrection.
Easter was once a pagan holiday and a pagan term. So how did it become a Christian holiday? Well, the pagan holiday happened to coincide with the Jewish Passover, which was also the weekend of Jesus’ death and resurrection. So today, this pagan holiday has been infused with new meaning and is now a commemoration of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. It is no longer the same pagan celebration; it’s a thoroughly Christian celebration.
Some people suggest that Christians worship on Sunday because it was a day set aside to worship the sun-god. But in reality, Christians worship on that day because it was on a Sunday that Jesus rose from the dead. This switch from Saturday to Sunday worship occurred fairly quickly after the Resurrection.
As James Garlow, an expert on church history, explains, “The issue is less about the church ‘borrowing’ pagan concepts and more about authentic Christianity’s magnificent capacity to adapt and adopt without losing the core of its Christocentric message.”
Plus, remember that every significant detail about Jesus was foretold centuries earlier. Jesus was the fulfillment of Jewish prophecies, some dating back 1000 years before his birth. Christianity emerged from Judaism, not paganism.
The claim that Jesus is a merging of pagan beliefs is false. Whether or not a person accepts the Christian view of Jesus, it is clear that he did not come from pagan religions.
(This article is adapted from an excerpt of Who Is Jesus? Discovering the Man, the Message and the Mission by Gregory E. Hanson.)
Feb
2
Glen D. Williams
Comparative Religion is taught in many colleges and universities, often looking at 3 major religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) in a supposed clinical, objective way. There is evidence that our multi-cultural philosophy has resulted in many thinking these beliefs are equal, peaceful and compatible. The popular thought even goes so far as to describe them as worshiping the same God. While these assumptions are mostly true of Judaism and Christianity, Islam is an opposing belief in every respect. The Catholic Pope has recently been criticized for regarding Islam as a religion of violence and, as recent behavior suggests, the Pope is right. With so many regarding the religion of Islam as above criticism, it’s important to get some facts out so Christians won’t be fooled. While, as Christians, we are to love the Muslim people, their religion is one of violence, with a goal to kill all Christians and Jews who don’t deny their God and convert to Islam.
Religion Of Peace: After the Pope spoke, as if to prove him right, violence and death threats erupted all over the Islamic world. So far, 2 murders have been attributed to the Muslim furor over his speech. This violent behavior confirms the truth of the Pope’s words and, more importantly, the bankruptcy of Islam as a faith of peace. Given how little objection “moderate” Muslims have made in the last 10 years to all the bombings, hijackings, kidnappings and missile attacks murdering tens of thousands of innocents, it seems rather silly that anyone would claim Islam to be a peaceful religion. Christianity, on the other hand, is unquestionably a faith of peace, from the teachings of Jesus to love our enemies to His example on the cross, praying for His own murderers. I suppose this is a good time to give you the obligatory, “I’m not attacking Islam,” statement. But, I’m getting very tired of Muslims attacking us, with the conspicuous silence of “moderate” Islamic leaders. We pray that all Muslims find the Truth of God and the Way of peace.
Making Disciples: According to the Bible, Jesus taught us to make disciples by Christian love and good deeds and by proclaiming the good news that Jesus Christ, God With Us, will forgive our wrongs and give us life in paradise with Him, forever. We pray this forgiveness and eternal life be granted to every Muslim, everywhere…that we could become one loving family in Christ. What do you have to do to receive this eternal life? Believe in Jesus…that’s it! What if you don’t? We’ll still love you and pray for you. It’s between you and Him! How does the Koran tell Muslims to make Islamic disciples? According to the book “Islamic Invasion” by Robert Morey, the Koran says “Fight and slay the pagans (infidels) wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war.” Sura 9:5, and, “Their punishment is…execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from the opposite sides, or exile from the land.” Sura 5:33. Just in case you missed it, “pagans” refers to anyone not following Islam…in other words…us. As you can tell from the headlines the last couple decades, these guys take their Koran literally. This is why many refer to Islam as a death cult, promoting violence and murder in the name of religion.
Dead Idol-vs-Living God: According to Mr. Morey, Allah is the personal name of the ancient Arabic moon-god, which is why the name needs no explanation in the Koran. This differs greatly from the false assumption of many Christians, myself included, that the name was taken from the Biblical name for God, “El.” The crescent moon symbolizes the worship of the moon-god, Allah, and is the symbol for Islam. This understanding is further reinforced by the fact that all Muslims are required to pray toward the Kabah, in Mecca, the home of the moon-god idol. This isn’t to minimize anyone’s faith in Allah but to make it clear that the God of Christians and the one of Muslims are not the same. The claims that Jesus was a prophet of Allah are false. Jesus is God, the Son, who created us all, was born of a virgin, crucified and rose again to offer us His eternal forgiveness and love. God has chosen to express Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Anyone claiming the deity of someone or something other than this God is working against his own Creator and risking an eternity without God.
Whether or not you follow Jesus, we Christians and our God still love you. Even while the followers of Islam are murdering us all over the world, we’re praying for them, for Jesus to forgive them and bring them into true faith in the one true God. The Muslims regard our Christian love and forgiveness as weakness but it is the sign of true strength from the one God. Love, more than anything else, highlights the vast difference between the obsession of Islam and the faith in Jesus Christ.
Comparative Religion is taught in many colleges and universities, often looking at 3 major religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) in a supposed clinical, objective way. There is evidence that our multi-cultural philosophy has resulted in many thinking these beliefs are equal, peaceful and compatible. The popular thought even goes so far as to describe them as worshiping the same God. While these assumptions are mostly true of Judaism and Christianity, Islam is an opposing belief in every respect. The Catholic Pope has recently been criticized for regarding Islam as a religion of violence and, as recent behavior suggests, the Pope is right. With so many regarding the religion of Islam as above criticism, it’s important to get some facts out so Christians won’t be fooled. While, as Christians, we are to love the Muslim people, their religion is one of violence, with a goal to kill all Christians and Jews who don’t deny their God and convert to Islam.
Religion Of Peace: After the Pope spoke, as if to prove him right, violence and death threats erupted all over the Islamic world. So far, 2 murders have been attributed to the Muslim furor over his speech. This violent behavior confirms the truth of the Pope’s words and, more importantly, the bankruptcy of Islam as a faith of peace. Given how little objection “moderate” Muslims have made in the last 10 years to all the bombings, hijackings, kidnappings and missile attacks murdering tens of thousands of innocents, it seems rather silly that anyone would claim Islam to be a peaceful religion. Christianity, on the other hand, is unquestionably a faith of peace, from the teachings of Jesus to love our enemies to His example on the cross, praying for His own murderers. I suppose this is a good time to give you the obligatory, “I’m not attacking Islam,” statement. But, I’m getting very tired of Muslims attacking us, with the conspicuous silence of “moderate” Islamic leaders. We pray that all Muslims find the Truth of God and the Way of peace.
Making Disciples: According to the Bible, Jesus taught us to make disciples by Christian love and good deeds and by proclaiming the good news that Jesus Christ, God With Us, will forgive our wrongs and give us life in paradise with Him, forever. We pray this forgiveness and eternal life be granted to every Muslim, everywhere…that we could become one loving family in Christ. What do you have to do to receive this eternal life? Believe in Jesus…that’s it! What if you don’t? We’ll still love you and pray for you. It’s between you and Him! How does the Koran tell Muslims to make Islamic disciples? According to the book “Islamic Invasion” by Robert Morey, the Koran says “Fight and slay the pagans (infidels) wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war.” Sura 9:5, and, “Their punishment is…execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from the opposite sides, or exile from the land.” Sura 5:33. Just in case you missed it, “pagans” refers to anyone not following Islam…in other words…us. As you can tell from the headlines the last couple decades, these guys take their Koran literally. This is why many refer to Islam as a death cult, promoting violence and murder in the name of religion.
Dead Idol-vs-Living God: According to Mr. Morey, Allah is the personal name of the ancient Arabic moon-god, which is why the name needs no explanation in the Koran. This differs greatly from the false assumption of many Christians, myself included, that the name was taken from the Biblical name for God, “El.” The crescent moon symbolizes the worship of the moon-god, Allah, and is the symbol for Islam. This understanding is further reinforced by the fact that all Muslims are required to pray toward the Kabah, in Mecca, the home of the moon-god idol. This isn’t to minimize anyone’s faith in Allah but to make it clear that the God of Christians and the one of Muslims are not the same. The claims that Jesus was a prophet of Allah are false. Jesus is God, the Son, who created us all, was born of a virgin, crucified and rose again to offer us His eternal forgiveness and love. God has chosen to express Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Anyone claiming the deity of someone or something other than this God is working against his own Creator and risking an eternity without God.
Whether or not you follow Jesus, we Christians and our God still love you. Even while the followers of Islam are murdering us all over the world, we’re praying for them, for Jesus to forgive them and bring them into true faith in the one true God. The Muslims regard our Christian love and forgiveness as weakness but it is the sign of true strength from the one God. Love, more than anything else, highlights the vast difference between the obsession of Islam and the faith in Jesus Christ.