Sunday, October 7, 2007
The Switch
The switch is final. From now on you will find me here on my new blog. Hope to see you there. Oh yeah, when you get there leave a comment so I know you found me! Thanks.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Christians vs. The Real Jesus
First of all, for all of my readers (that would be you, Debra) I will soon be taking a journey over to wordpress. Don't fret though, I will let you know when the official "switch" has been thrown.
Now for my thoughts...
I am tired of "Christians"! There are probably some of you out there, especially those of you who are not Christians, who would agree. I know that mainstream TV and the majority of our society is.
The conversation came up as we were watching TV the other night and they showed a group of "Christian" teens who were a part of an abstinence group as being these wacko kids who ended up killing a classmate who was known to be a little "friendly" but was seeking to change her ways. All because they were all hypocrites hiding "sins" of their own that they didn't want to get out or do away with.
The question was asked, "Why do they always make Christians look bad or crazy on TV?" The answer came from my bride, "Because they honestly see us that way, at least most people do." I agree. I believe that "Christians" have been the reason society looks at Christianity, Jesus, and the church the way they do.
As Christians we are to be "little Christs" if you will; we are to portray and share Christ to those around us. We have done a poor job of this. "Christianity" has become nothing more than another world religion and the Christ being displayed isn't the Christ I find in the Bible.
This would bring us to a question that I have been toying around with in my mind for a little while now...
Who is Jesus really? Or should I say, who is the real Jesus?
I think this is important...no, vital that we know this as we are to be Christ to those around us.
I want to just point out a few things as we could go on for a while looking at the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
When we find Jesus we don't find Him saying one thing a doing another. He was true through and through. Even when He was alone and being tempted He remained true. (Matthew 4:1-11)
When we find Jesus He isn't condemning others for their sins, He was forgiving and restoring them. (John 8:1-11)
When we find Jesus He isn't turned off or annoyed by the hungry, nor did He turn them away. We find Him feeding them and having compassion on them. (Mark 8:1-8)
We don't find Jesus hiding within the walls of the synagogue or only hanging out with his "Holy Huddle". We find Him eating and fellowshipping with sinners, meeting them where they are, and ministering to them. (Luke 19:1-10)
He wasn't hating others and shunning them for who they were or what they have done. He sought those out to show them love and help them. (John 4:4-26)
Anyway, I could go on and on. We only have scratched the surface of who Jesus was and what He was really like. I also only gave you 1 example from Scripture on each point I made and there are in fact numerous examples for each.
My intent wasn't to tell you what to do or to give you an in depth study on the real person of Jesus Christ. My intent was to challenge you to look at who the real Jesus was, look at His teachings, and look at the examples of His life (I encourage you to do your own in depth study of the real Jesus) and then take a hard look at your own life and see if the Jesus you are portraying is truly the real Jesus...
Luke 9:56, "For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."
Mark 12:29-31, "Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
There is a story about Alexander the Great that tells of how cruel he could be. He had his brother and several leaders in his army killed on the grounds of treason. If you were fighting for Alexander the Great and happened to flee in the middle of battle you were considered guilty of treason and brought before ATG and executed. One day there was a young soldier who in the middle of battle was filled with fear and fled the battlefield. He was caught and brought before ATG to be executed. Before they executed him ATG asked him to step forward. "What is your name son?" ATG asked. With fear and a quiver in his voice the boy answered, "Alexander, sir."
There was silence and eventually ATG spoke up and did something he never had done before..."Alexander? Well today I am going to let you go but on 1 condition...you either change your name or live up to it!"
Think about it CHRISTian...
Now for my thoughts...
I am tired of "Christians"! There are probably some of you out there, especially those of you who are not Christians, who would agree. I know that mainstream TV and the majority of our society is.
The conversation came up as we were watching TV the other night and they showed a group of "Christian" teens who were a part of an abstinence group as being these wacko kids who ended up killing a classmate who was known to be a little "friendly" but was seeking to change her ways. All because they were all hypocrites hiding "sins" of their own that they didn't want to get out or do away with.
The question was asked, "Why do they always make Christians look bad or crazy on TV?" The answer came from my bride, "Because they honestly see us that way, at least most people do." I agree. I believe that "Christians" have been the reason society looks at Christianity, Jesus, and the church the way they do.
As Christians we are to be "little Christs" if you will; we are to portray and share Christ to those around us. We have done a poor job of this. "Christianity" has become nothing more than another world religion and the Christ being displayed isn't the Christ I find in the Bible.
This would bring us to a question that I have been toying around with in my mind for a little while now...
Who is Jesus really? Or should I say, who is the real Jesus?
I think this is important...no, vital that we know this as we are to be Christ to those around us.
I want to just point out a few things as we could go on for a while looking at the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
When we find Jesus we don't find Him saying one thing a doing another. He was true through and through. Even when He was alone and being tempted He remained true. (Matthew 4:1-11)
When we find Jesus He isn't condemning others for their sins, He was forgiving and restoring them. (John 8:1-11)
When we find Jesus He isn't turned off or annoyed by the hungry, nor did He turn them away. We find Him feeding them and having compassion on them. (Mark 8:1-8)
We don't find Jesus hiding within the walls of the synagogue or only hanging out with his "Holy Huddle". We find Him eating and fellowshipping with sinners, meeting them where they are, and ministering to them. (Luke 19:1-10)
He wasn't hating others and shunning them for who they were or what they have done. He sought those out to show them love and help them. (John 4:4-26)
Anyway, I could go on and on. We only have scratched the surface of who Jesus was and what He was really like. I also only gave you 1 example from Scripture on each point I made and there are in fact numerous examples for each.
My intent wasn't to tell you what to do or to give you an in depth study on the real person of Jesus Christ. My intent was to challenge you to look at who the real Jesus was, look at His teachings, and look at the examples of His life (I encourage you to do your own in depth study of the real Jesus) and then take a hard look at your own life and see if the Jesus you are portraying is truly the real Jesus...
Luke 9:56, "For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."
Mark 12:29-31, "Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
There is a story about Alexander the Great that tells of how cruel he could be. He had his brother and several leaders in his army killed on the grounds of treason. If you were fighting for Alexander the Great and happened to flee in the middle of battle you were considered guilty of treason and brought before ATG and executed. One day there was a young soldier who in the middle of battle was filled with fear and fled the battlefield. He was caught and brought before ATG to be executed. Before they executed him ATG asked him to step forward. "What is your name son?" ATG asked. With fear and a quiver in his voice the boy answered, "Alexander, sir."
There was silence and eventually ATG spoke up and did something he never had done before..."Alexander? Well today I am going to let you go but on 1 condition...you either change your name or live up to it!"
Think about it CHRISTian...
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