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Posts Tagged ‘Jesus Christ’

THIS LIFE AND THE LIFE TO COME

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »

When I read this meme, helpfully created by an atheist, I started thinking hard about my spiritual path and about what Twain (1835-1910), the great American author/humourist/entrepreneur, had to say.

What “great” things have I given up in this life? Just look at the depiction of Twain in this meme. Can anyone credibly tell me smoking is a great thing?

As for alcohol (see the drink in his hand?), there is nothing in the original source biographies of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is God’s Son) that forbids enjoying the occasional beer or glass of wine.

Casual sex? Um, hasn’t the spread of sexually transmitted diseases taught us this isn’t necessarily the great thing that our culture says it is?

Money? God doesn’t forbid providing a comfortable life for people and their families. What He does frown upon is loving money more than people, more than honesty, more than integrity and more than generosity. In fact, one of Jesus’s earliest followers wrote “Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble”.

Power? There are all kinds of Jesus followers in important positions who are not corrupted by power. Just one example is John Tyson, chairman of the U.S. food giant Tyson Foods. He has served with several significant non-profit organizations, including the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependance.

Now, about the “mediocre things of an imaginary (life)”. Twain believed there is nothing beyond the existence you are I are living now — in other words, when we die, all that we are becomes nothing more than rancid worm food (sorry to be this blunt, but it’s necessary). Give this some serious thought; do you have this hopeless belief?

Consider the brokenness of our world — wars, human trafficking, man-made famines and ethnic cleansing. As far as I’m concerned, all this happens because people have rejected their creator, rejected the idea of a life beyond this one, and therefore believe they should do anything and everything to grab all the power, money and prestige they can.

If you’re willing to contemplate this ugly reality, then you might start to realize there MUST be something better than our 70-plus years on planet Earth.

And if you do that, you might question Twain’s opinion that what comes after this life is “mediocre”.

So how can you get in on the promise of a glorious life to come? It’s simple: God offers you the gift of His Son — His life, sacrificial death (for all the wrong things you’ve done and all the right things you’ve failed to do) and glorious resurrection.

Accept the gift. Commit yourself to learning about Jesus and what it means to love Him and follow Him. When you do that, He’ll come into your life and start to prepare you for eternity by slowly making you the kind of person He knows you can be.

Interested? Yes or now, comment below and let’s have a conversation.

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THE MYTH OF KNOWING IT ALL

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 19, 2017| 3 Comments »

Is there any truth to this viewpoint, which I found on an atheist Internet community? Unfortunately, yes.

Just visit some Christian or Muslim communities on social media and you’re sure to encounter a few “religious” people who believe they have all the answers to life’s questions.

But isn’t this the case for every group out there? I’ve spent time in atheist Internet communities and have encountered many, many people who announce their opinions — such as the assumption stated in this graphic — as if they were scientifically proven facts. It just ain’t so.

Most followers of Jesus of Nazareth that I know absolutely do not go around claiming to know it all. In fact, it just takes a few moments of mature, respectful conversation with thoughtful Jesus followers to discover they have all kinds of questions about the things they don’t know. And I’m one of them.

But here’s the thing: it’s not about what we don’t know. It’s about what we DO know. Here’s a brief summary:

1. God loves every person on this planet, no exceptions. How do serious Christians know this? Because one of the primary source documents about Jesus states God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.

2. God wants a living, breathing relationship with us. Consider these ancient writings, from prophets and Jesus followers:
Don’t worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks for what you have. Notice the word “everything” in what we are to pray for?
I came to give life—life that is full and good (the words of Jesus).
I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future.

3. The wrong things we’ve done, and the right things we’ve failed to do, have put a wall between us and God. Evidence? All have sinned and are not good enough to share God’s divine greatness (written by one of Jesus’ earliest followers).

4. God went to extraordinary lengths to knock down that wall, by offering Jesus — His life, his sacrificial death, His glorious resurrection — as a gift to anyone willing to accept Him. The evidence: Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us (written by the same early Jesus follower).

5. When you accept the gift of Jesus, God no longer sees the wrong things you’ve done and the right things you’ve failed to do. He only sees His Son’s perfection. And when you accept the gift of Jesus, He comes into your life and starts a process of change that doesn’t end until this life finishes and you spend eternity in Heaven with Him.

Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

 

 

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THE REALITY OF BEING A PAWN

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 29, 2017| 1 Comment »

Dictionary.com has several definitions for “pawn”. The one that seems most relevant to this atheist graphic is “someone who is used or manipulated to further another person’s purposes”.

Based on all this, I’m quite happy to report that the graphic is gloriously CORRECT.

Before I explain why, let me make one thing clear: every person on this planet is a pawn. Including YOU.

We are pawns of political parties, special interest groups, Hollywood stars, loved ones, sports “heroes”, big business, social media and almost anything else you can name.

We are constantly on the receiving end of manipulation, even as we seek — often unconsciously — to manipulate others. In fact, I could be accused of attempting to manipulate you right now.

So how is the graphic that inspired this blog so thoroughly right? Because people like me, who believe Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, WANT to be a pawn.

We want to be used or manipulated to further God’s agenda in a world that even optimistic people must admit isn’t doing well. His agenda starts and ends with bringing all of humanity back to Him.

Right now, most of us have little or no connection to our creator because we follow the agenda of our culture: Earn more money. Get more power. Buy bigger flat-screen TVs. Obsess about the lives of celebrities. Botox our way to better looks. Pamper ourselves with luxurious vacations.

Notice the common denominator? All these agenda items are about me-me-me.

Now consider God’s agenda:

  • Love your enemies and pray for them (spoken by Jesus).
  • Do for others what you would have them do for you (more words from Jesus). Notice how active this is? Jesus is saying don’t just avoid doing wrong things to others, get out there and do good things.
  • Avoid judging others, because how you judge them is how God will judge you (also from Jesus).
  • Put others ahead of yourself, just as Jesus did when he was physically on earth (from one of the people Jesus trained to follow Him).
  • Show mercy to others and leave judgement to God (from Jesus’ brother)
  • Help those who are in need (also from Jesus’ brother).
  • Live with a sense of thankfulness (from one of the people Jesus trained to follow Him).

Notice the common denominator? These agenda items are about others. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I write that if all of us strived to live this way, our world would be a better place.

But how can we make this a priority when we so often do wrong and fail to do right? I have a radical, life-changing answer: accept the gift of Jesus, who is offered to EVERYONE.

Accept that Jesus died to wipe all your moral crimes off the books. Welcome Him into your heart and mind. Then watch as He starts changing your life — a project that can begin NOW and end when you finish life on this planet and then spend eternity in Heaven with Him.

Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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FROM SICKENING THOUGHT TO BEAUTIFUL TRUTH

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 1, 2017| 41 Comments »

When I first encountered this atheist graphic, I experienced a moment of heart sickness because there are Christians out there who actually think like this.

I see this kind of horrific mindset every time someone who claims to follow Jesus of Nazareth (whom many people believe is the divine Son of God) almost gleefully tells gay people or atheist people that they’re going to burn in hell.

it’s almost as if they think God WANTS some people to burn. Not only is that a sickening thought, it’s also wrong, wrong, wrong.

Here’s the truth, according to the original-source biographies of Jesus and writings by His earliest followers:

  • God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost, but have eternal life.
  • God is being patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be lost. He wants everyone to change their ways and stop sinning.
  • God wants everyone to be saved and to fully understand the truth.

Does any of this sound like God is holding a lighter, just itching to turn you into a screaming torch?

These ancient quotes point to an important bottom line: every person on this planet has done wrong and failed to do right. No exceptions. And this is serious business because according to Jesus, God is perfect and that’s His standard for judging all of humanity.

When this life is finished, one of his earliest followers wrote that every one of us will appear before God and have to somehow explain away all the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do.

I guarantee you it’s not going to go well. But God offers a solution: Jesus. When Jesus was found guilty of ridiculous, trumped-up charges and crucified on a Roman cross, that death paid the penalty you and I would have to pay for our moral crimes. He took our punishment on His shoulders.

I call that an extraordinary, life-changing gift. And that gift is available to EVERYONE. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done (or not done). As author Philip Yancey put it so well in What’s So Amazing About Grace, “God gave up His own Son rather than give up on humanity”.

How can you get in on this gift? Just accept it. That’s all.

When you believe that Jesus took the penalty for your moral crimes and decide you want to follow Him, He’ll come into your heart and start a life-long process of making you the person God created you to be. And when this life ends and you stand before God, the only thing God will see is His Son’s perfection.

Are you interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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FROM ‘HATEFUL LEMMINGS’ TO AGENTS OF CHANGE

Posted in It's Not About 'Religion', tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 20, 2017| 17 Comments »

Elton John is being too kind here. The reality is, “organized religion” absolutely, overwhelmingly does not work.

In fact, “organized religion” is so wildly unsuccessful that just putting those two words together causes a negative reaction in people like me.

Because I follow Jesus of Nazareth — whom many people believe is the Son of God — you might not understand. Aren’t people like me all about “religion”? In a word, NO.

Serious followers of Jesus have zero interest in “religion” because it does exactly what Elton John says. Religious people seem addicted to:

  • harshly opposing anyone who doesn’t agree with them
  • judging others based on horribly superficial criteria like clothing, body jewelry, language and political positions
  • ignoring or downplaying their own weaknesses
  • isolating themselves from the world, instead of working to improve it

Where does this all lead? So often, it leads to religious people concluding that because they’re right, everyone else is wrong. It’s a pretty short trip from that conclusion to persecuting those “wrong” people.

Unfortunately, history overflows with horrifying examples of that thinking, from Christians rioting against Jews in the Middle Ages to present-day Islamic terrorists murdering Christians, Jews and anyone else who opposes their radical agenda.

There you have it; the hateful lemmings of “organized religion”.

Now let me advance to you the position of Jesus. In his book The End of Religion, Bruxy Cavey notes that in ancient biographries, Jesus “is not portrayed as the founder of a world religion, but the challenger of all religions. I am not suggesting that Jesus opposes all forms of organization, but that he opposes dependence on any one organization for our connection with God.”

Bruxy, a Canadian pastor, goes on to make this statement: “the primary mission of Jesus was to tear down religion as the foundation for people’s connection with God and to replace it with himself.”

Exactly. Being a Jesus follower is not about being part of a religion. It’s about establishing a relationship with the Son of God through prayer, reading the Bible and attending church. As that relationship deepens, Jesus followers open their heart, minds and souls to being led by Jesus to a place where we:

  1. Come to understand and support God’s position that all people, from terrorists to politicians, from blue-collar workers to billionaires, are worthy of His passionate love.
  2. Humbly agree that no one has the inside track on virtue; everyone has “sinned” — that is, missed the mark of what we can be — and that by following Jesus, God can and does change that through radical forgiveness.
  3. Recognize that we are Jesus’s loving ambassadors in a world that most of us will agree is not doing very well. In fact, as His ambassadors, Jesus followers are really God’s agents of change — allowing Him to work through us to make this planet a better place.

Do you want to be one of God’s agents of change? Yes or no, share your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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WHO GETS INTO HEAVEN?

Posted in It's Not About 'Religion', tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »

When I saw this meme, helpfully posted in an atheism community, it instantly grabbed my attention because most of us, me included, don’t really know who believes in Heaven.

So I did some research. According to Wikipedia:

Buddhists seem to believe Heaven is a temporary illusionary reality (though, to be honest, it’s hard to nail down exactly what Buddhism teaches in this respect).

Hindus believe Heaven is a place of eternal, sublime beauty for liberated souls, but it’s not Hinduism’s final pursuit. Like Buddhism (from which it springs), I find it’s difficult to discern an exact Hindu concept of Heaven.

Sikhs believe “Heaven and Hell are not places for living hereafter, they are part of spiritual topography of man and do not exist otherwise.”

Jews — at least the orthodox strain — believe Heaven is part of a three-level universe; it’s above, Earth is in the middle and the underworld is the realm of the dead.

Muslims believe Heaven is an afterlife in Eden for those who do good deeds.

So, in this way, the graphic meme has a good point: others besides Christians believe they could be going to Heaven when this life ends.

So why do most people who believe Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God claim that Heaven — the dwelling place of God, His angels, His Son and all truly committed followers of Jesus — is only open to those who follow Jesus?

The answer is simple: The Words of Jesus. He tells anyone willing to listen that “I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me”.

Is that exclusionary? In one sense, absolutely. In another sense, absolutely not. Anyone can accept God’s gift of Jesus — His miracles and teaching, His dying on a cross to make up for the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do, and His resurrection from the dead.

All these things are written about in ancient biographies of Jesus and there’s plenty of evidence to back up the key elements of His life. (Visit http://www.carm.org or http://www.ReasonableFaith.org and read the evidence for yourself.)

The important thing is — and this is the best news you’re ever going to read — it doesn’t matter if you’ve ignored God and His Son up ’til now. It doesn’t matter if you’ve followed another faith or guru. It doesn’t matter if you’ve committed moral crimes for which you can’t forgive yourself. All of it becomes secondary when you believe in Jesus and dedicate your life to following Him.

If you’ve done that, then all of Heaven is yours. And that Heaven, which includes an intimate relationship with God through His Son, starts right now, in THIS life.

Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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LINING UP WITH ATHEIST THOUGHT

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Have you noticed the stereotyping that guides pretty much every thought in this meme?

Yes, famed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair (1919-95) was doing a whole lot of spiritual profiling when she made this statement. Let me break it down for you:

1. The clear inference is people of faith will always construct a church before a hospital. Where on earth does this strange viewpoint come from?

I’m sure there are a few misguided followers of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the divine Son of God) who think this way, but most are smart enough to realize “church” is NOT a building; it’s a body of believers who are doing their imperfect best to live for their creator and be part of the work He is doing in this very broken world.

This accurate definition means a “church” can meet in a school gym (and many do), a community centre or even someone’s living room.

So, I’m glad to conclude that just like Madalyn, I’d rather have a hospital constructed before a church.

2. Why must a deed be done before a prayer said? Why can’t the two happen at the same time? Believe it or not, prayer is often a catalyst to doing deeds.

Through prayer, people who follow Jesus communicate with the creator and master of time, space and the universe. Through prayer, we discern what God wants us to do. Then we get out into the world and do it.

Evidence? check out the websites of groups like Samaritan’s Purse, Christian Blind Mission, World Vision, Compassion Canada, International Justice Mission and many more. All the amazing work these aid organizations do is before, during and after prayer.

3. I guess I need to undertake a search because so far, I’ve yet to encounter even one Jesus follower who strives to “escape into death”. Followers of Jesus are deeply involved in life.

In my family, two stepchildren are parents. While my stepson is being a father, he’s deeply involved in his church, sings in a community choir and performs in local musicals. Can anyone credibly tell me he’s striving to “escape into death”?

4. I’m happy to report that Jesus followers are absolutely in agreement with Madalyn Murray O’Hair: we, too, want disease conquered, poverty banished and war eliminated.

We want this because not only will it make the world a better place, it’s what God wants. That’s why there are Jesus-following doctors, anti-poverty groups and advocates for peace.

So, now that you know some facts about the people who follow Jesus, are you more open to checking out what it means to follow Him? Our culture says don’t waste your time, but this is important stuff — now and after this life ends.

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THE TOTALITY OF DOGMA

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Dogma: an official system of principles or tenets concerning faith, morals, behaviour; a settled or established opinion, belief or principle.

–Dictionary.com

This word has taken on a negative context in our culture, suggesting narrow-minded inflexibility that many people insist is simply wrong.

Now, read this meme (posted in an atheist Internet community) again. Doesn’t it sound a little…dogmatic? Consider the points it makes:

“Dogmatic” people lack freedom. Well, freedom to do what? I follow Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is the divine Son of God and I do my best to live my life according to His principles.

What freedom does Lindsey believe I lack? Can I not think the world is a beautiful place? Of course I can. And I do.

Does this mean I’m going to walk around with rose-coloured glasses and ignore the many, many human-caused problems that plague this planet? Absolutely not. That would be delusional. So should I wonder if Lindsey is deluding herself?

“Dogmatic” people’s vision is clouded and close-minded. Really? Yet another dogmatic assertion. My vision is clear enough to see the world is beautiful AND horribly messed up. One of the reasons I follow Jesus is I believe faith in Him is the starting point to fixing that mess.

As for the apparent horror of being “close-minded”, should my brain simply drift like an aimless amoeba for all time? Is that what Lindsey’s mind is doing?

I like what famed British writer and thinker G. K. Chesterton wrote about being open-minded: “Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”

I shut my mind on something solid when I decided to trust the evidence and believe that the sacrificial death of Jesus paid the price for all the wrong things I’ve done and all the right things I’ve failed to do (a price I could NEVER pay on my own). By doing this, one of the primary source documents of Jesus’ physical life on earth says I’ll “not be lost but have eternal life”.

What Jesus did is a gift that’s offered to everyone, including Lindsey. Including YOU. If you accept that gift, one of Jesus’ earliest followers says you’ll have “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness [and] faithfulness”.

This won’t happen overnight. But if you say ‘yes’ to faith in Jesus, a life-long construction project will begin. And it won’t end until this life ends and you spend eternity with your creator.

Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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THE FACTS ABOUT ‘BRAINWASHING’

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 18, 2017| 2 Comments »

Oh boy; there’s a lot of fabulous content in this atheist meme. So let’s get started.

1. Brainwashing: Is there brainwashing in among people who follow Jesus of Nazareth (who many believe is the Son of God)? Sadly, yes. I’m sure if you search long enough, you’ll find some parents who, in effect, brainwash their children to ensure they grow up without ever, ever questioning their beliefs.

Gee, wouldn’t that also apply to parents in other faiths, as well as atheist parents? YES.  In fact, whether Matthew Laramore likes it or not, all of us — including him — are brainwashed in some way. To deny that is to ignore reality.

2. Has the history of Jesus followers been marked by violence? Unfortunately, yes. People who are opposed to this faith often bring up the Crusades (a series of violent wars, in the 1100s and 1200s, aiming at retaking the Middle East from Islamic rule).

What most critics ignore, however, is at least some of the Crusade campaigns were a response to large-scale violence instigated by Muslim forces against Jesus followers. Investigate for yourself, if you don’t believe me.

Either way, except for the occasional lone-wolf lunatic, Jesus followers left violence behind many centuries ago. I thank God that Jesus followers understand that love, not violence, is the way to tell the world about Him.

3. The whole “wearing a half-naked dead man nailed against a crucifix” thing has nothing to do with promoting Jesus as non-violent.

It wasn’t Jesus followers who nailed Jesus to a cross; it was soldiers of the Roman Empire, acting on the orders of their leaders. Those leaders were responding to pressure from religious authorities, who believed Jesus was a threat to their power and the religious laws they forced on people. They were right.

This leads to a wonderful truth: Jesus came to free us from brainwashing, from violence and from religious laws.

Looking for evidence? Consider these passages from the ancient writers:

Give the Lord a chance to show you how good he is.
In other words, don’t be brainwashed; check out God for yourself.

Don’t fight back against someone who wants to do harm to you. If they hit you on the right cheek, let them hit the other cheek too. (from one of the four original-source accounts of Jesus’s physical time on earth).
In other words, don’t resort to violence, even if someone is violent against you.

Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. (the words of Jesus.)
In other words, it’s not about “religion”. It’s about a relationship with the Son of God that can start now and stretch into all eternity.

Consider all this carefully. Jesus is about good news, not about anything advanced by Matthew Laramore. Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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A CASE OF BAD TIMING?

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2017| 2 Comments »

JesusFollowing Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is the divine Son of God, can lead to a transformed life, now and for all eternity. So this graphic, posted on an atheism internet community, brings up a very good point.

Did the millions of people who lived and died before Jesus was physically on this earth, about 2,000 years ago, have any chance of going to Heaven? Maybe that’s a question that’s occurred to people like you, who are open to spirituality.

Ancient writings, including four original-source biographies of Jesus, do not provide an absolutely clear answer – as I’ve discovered while researching the question.

Depending on which website you visit, there are long essays that quote various parts of the Bible to make this or that point. I gotta admit, reading some of this stuff made my eyes glaze over.

But in the end, each website came to the same conclusion: people were granted admission into Heaven, where they will spend eternity with their creator, through faith. Not in themselves. Not in their ability to live good lives, to be kind to others and/or to attend church regularly.

They went to Heaven based on faith only in God. One of Jesus’s earliest and most influential followers explains how this faith thing worked in the life of Abraham, who (1) lived and died thousands of years before the arrival of Jesus, and (2) is often considered the common denominator in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths:

If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we’re given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story.

What we read in Scripture is, ‘Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own.’

Another ancient writing from an early Jesus follower mentions a number of other faith-filled people who were prominent in the centuries before Jesus arrived:

Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world.

People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted.

But they were after a far better country than that—Heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City [a place in Heaven] waiting for them.

I think it’s pretty plain, from these writings, that the atheist who created the meme that inspired this blog didn’t bother to research the character and principles of God before asking the question.

So what’s YOUR viewpoint? If you believe there’s a glorious life after this one, how do you think you’ll get in on it? By just being a “good person”? (If that’s where you stand, who defines “good” and how good is good enough?)

What about faith in Jesus of Nazareth? Does it make sense to you? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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