|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Translate This Page
Click on link - copy and paste the URL(address) of the page you want translated, then choose a language.
|
|
|
|
|
Challenging the false beliefs of a lost and dying world and a church a large segment of which has wandered so far from the truth that it has become not only impotent but equally lost.
Christians - It is pointless to embark on a investigation unless one is prepared to set aside one's preconceived ideas, denominational presuppositions, experiences etc. and rely strictly on what the Word says. For the thousands who 'believe' one thing, there are thousands who deny it. SOMEONE is wrong. Unless we are willing to go back to square one and ask what the Bible actually says, we are never going to affirm God's truth on the matter. Gullibility and spirituality are not synonymous. See Mishandling The Word of God
Non-Christians - If you are unfamiliar with Christianity and the message of the hope it offers, I would suggest you first take a look at Choose Life That You May Live (part of Section 1 below) that presents the evidence that Bible is unarguably the word of God. Also An Extraordinary book called the Bible (Section 2 below). The next logical step would be Section 4 - The Heart of The Matter.
Appreciation and Disclaimer: I am very grateful to the many Christian authors whose work I have included. However, this does not mean I necessarily agree with everything (or even anything) else that person or the organization they may belong to believes. And, in all fairness, I am sure it works the other way around as well... the inclusion of someone's work does not mean they necessarily agree with everything on this site.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Section 1 - Reasons To Believe
Faith and Facts: Faith isn’t believing the impossible or ignoring reality. It isn’t religious wishful thinking or believing that which is contrary to fact and evidence.
Critically Examine Everything? The Judeo-Christian faith is surprisingly ruthless in its insistence on evidence and truth and welcomes 'cordial skepticism’.
Do Extraordinary Events Require Extraordinary Evidence?
The Impossible Faith: 17 factors where Christianity "did the wrong thing" in order to be successful.
Choose Life That You May Live
It is tragically true that few of those who believe 'all spiritual beliefs are valid paths to God" seem to have made an in depth study of various religions to see if their claims are based on fact or fairy dust. Most non-Christians assume that Christians believe contrary to all evidence and facts. Much to the contrary, the Christian faith is based on evidence that includes scientific, historical, and archaeological corroboration, to say nothing of the many fulfilled prophecies.
And why is this important? Simply because Jesus' core message wasn’t ‘love’ as so many believe. The “Kingdom of God” a phrase used over 50 times in the four Gospels was at the heart of Jesus' ministry. The Bible's description of this kingdom of God (also called heaven) matches the world most men and women would choose to live in. A place of peace and safety where there is no crime, hunger and disease, war and above all no death. In other words, Christianity that many think of as outdated, out of touch, and largely irrelevant to modern society, promises exactly the utopian world that mankind can only dream of. Now, you have to decide if you want to be there. Note: Details in The Message of The Bible (Chapter 13 of article Choose Life)
|
|
|
|
Section 3 - God And Jesus
God: The many articles include is the God of the Bible really God, has anyone ever seen Him, is He male or female? Can He change his mind or be influenced by humans? Does He love everyone and was He 'different' in the Old & New Testaments? What about His foreknowledge - His 'jealousy'? The trinity: Although most people cannot wrap their heads around the concept of the trinity the vast majority of Christians believe it to be an unassailable doctrine that comes straight from the pages of Scripture itself. But does it?
Jesus: Unlike many religions that depend upon ideas Christianity rests solely on the person of Jesus without whom it would not even exist. Therefore, one has to ask whether He ever actually lived and, if so, who was He - a great moral teacher, deluded nut job, or Son of God? Was the Resurrection fact or fiction?
|
|
|
|
Section 5 - Misleading Salvation Teachings
Original Sin... Fact or Fable: I have to wonder how many of those that profess to believe in "Original Sin" have given any thought to the fact that sin is not a substance with physical properties that, like a virus, can be transmitted from person to person.
 Original Sin Or Epigenetics: There are innumerable passages of Scripture that clearly and unambiguously tell us that that everyone will answer for their own sins and misdeeds. On the other hand, we cannot ignore the fact that Paul made a direct connection between Adam’s sin and the fallen condition of the entire race. This begs the question - What exactly did Adam pass down to his descendants?
Filthy Rags: Isaiah 64:6 has long been used as a 'proof-text' for two totally distinct yet equally unfounded beliefs.
None That Seeketh? Romans 3:11-18 is often quoted to bolster the claims of universal depravity - that no one ever seeks after God. However, if you were to examine the source of Paul's quotes, you would realize that the Psalms in question often spoke of God's protection and favor towards the virtuous people of the day.
Doctrines of Grace or Calvinism: If, as claimed, Calvinism is a very "high view" of Scripture, it is no wonder that God first proclaimed his message of salvation to peasants tending their sheep. Once the ‘highly educated’ got a hold of the extremely uncomplicated message of salvation, they turned the Gospel into something complex and bewildering presented with a deluge of words, intricate arguments and endless repetition.
OSAS - The Doctrine of Eternal Security: If this doctrine is true one is forced to the conclusion that both Jesus and Paul were false prophets.
A "Deposit" That "Guarantees" our Inheritance - truth or biased translations?
The Assurance of Salvation: does not mean unconditional eternal security - that is if we read it in context.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Section 2 - The Bible
A Very Extraordinary Book very writing of the Bible is a literary miracle - impossible to achieve by human effort alone. Besides which, before you laugh at stupid Christians remember that the Scriptures demonstrate scientific knowledge that predate by hundreds of years corresponding discoveries made by the modern scientific world. Also academia's asinine assault on the Bible.
Prophecy Consistently and precisely predicting the future in detail is the sole purview of the Supreme Being. The Bible predicts literally hundreds of future events. For example, in an extraordinary display of prophetic foreknowledge Daniel foretold the succession of empires from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian king
(600 B.C.) to the Roman Empire.
Reading And Understanding Your Bible
God gave His word to ALL people, not only to Hebrew or Greek scholars or those with a theological degree. Paying a professional to spoon-feed us one or more times a week is simply taking the easy way out and has had devastating consequences. However, we need to remember that although obtaining Scriptural knowledge often seems like a daunting task, it happens by degrees. Section includes Overview of the Old and New Testaments, Guide To Reading The Bible, Helpful Hints, What Not to Do etc.
Section includes The Canon of Scripture, The Apocrypha, The Gnostic Gospels, and The Septuagint;
|
|
|
|
 Section 4 - The Heart Of The Matter
Sin: Sin and salvation being the warp and weft of the Bible the million dollar question is how the Bible defines sin.
Repentance - The Missing Message: Do not be fooled by the watered down 'believe and be saved' Gospel message heard in so many churches today. What you believe about Biblical repentance is quite literally a matter of life or death. The Scriptures repeatedly stress that God will only have mercy on those whose repentance is real and who turn from their sin. Others? Not so much.
Salvation: When all is said and done, virtually all humans have two things in common - almost everyone is searching for a 'better life' and no one wants to eventually become worm food. This section is aimed at those who do not wish to arrive at death's door without being certain of where it leads.
Dangerous Misconceptions About Salvation Include 1) We are fully and finally saved 2) We are saved by faith alone and 3) We will see God without holiness. Also abbreviated, shallow and highly inaccurate salvation messages. This includes the commonly taught “free gift” even though the word free doesn’t exist in the original Greek and gift does not mean what we have been led to believe
|
|
|
The Days Of Noah: In Luke 17:26 and Matthew 24:37, our Lord linked these two epochs together and said that one is the parallel of the other. In other words, in the days immediately preceding the return of Jesus Christ, we shall see strikingly similar conditions to those that existed just prior to the Great Flood (the days of Noah). It is critical we understand what was so different about those days.
The Wrath of God: Both Testaments equally emphasize Gods' love and the reality and terror of His wrath yet today's self-indulgent, pleasure-seeking Christianity has chosen to babble on and on about the former, but totally ignore the latter.
End of Days: There is a day looming on the horizon when mankind's iniquity will exhaust God's patience, at which point in time He will pour out His wrath punishing transgressors and ending all the injustice and suffering in this world.
What and Where is Hell? The belief that Hell is a place of unending torment has been so strongly held throughout the history of Christianity that few have dared to challenge it.
What And Where is Heaven? Christians who believe they will spend an eternity in "heaven", seem to have little or no idea where this heaven is, what it will look like, or what they will do after they arrive. Thankfully, the Bible's description of the kingdom is far more practical and far less sanctimonious than that of our theologians. Section includes No More Sea? Beside the Seven Feasts of Israel, this is one of the most fascinating studies in the Bible. Unfortunately, what most seem to have done is pick up on six words in Revelation - assume John is talking about the oceans and go from there.
Also: The Signs Of The Times, Dating and Overview of Revelation, The Antichrist, The Intermediate State, The Millennium, The Two Witnesses, The 144,000 etc.
|
|
|
|
|
Why The Fire Hasn't Fallen: We are apparently blind to the fact that because we are comfortable, complacent and lack passion (Jesus called it lukewarm) God has withdrawn His presence from us. We want to pack our pews, double our offerings, hear sermons on encouragement, love, leadership, and being the best you can be. We have fund-raisers to build bigger buildings and more 'youth centers', but through it all we never seem to realize that the glory and power of the Lord are conspicuous by their absence. Too many churches, substituting an endless cycle of activity for the Holy Spirit, very effectively cover up the fact that they are spiritually dead as dodos - social clubs with God sprinkled in to legitimize the word 'church'. Thus the question is what it would take to reverse this situation and pray down revival.
 Shepherds or Wolves:
Today's fad driven church has deviated so far from what the Scriptures say to be unworthy to bear the name Christian. May God, in His mercy send us a Nathan to accuse, a Jonah to warn, and an Elijah to threaten before it is too late.
Doctrines of Demons: The church that should have been a bulwark against evil has, with apostate leaders and a Biblically illiterate population, latched on to the coat tails of the world and adopted practices that are DIRECTLY derived from the Occult. We cheerfully walk labyrinths, waste countless hours emptying our minds in the pursuit of mystical encounters with the Father etc. etc. Few take the time to find out what is behind these practices and the people that endorse and teach them. As Einstein once said “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Modern Day “Apostles”: There exists today an astonishing number of men who not only claim the title of "apostle" but claim they get their authority directly from God. Many of them hold that they are equal or even superior to the New Testament Apostles. Perhaps worst of all are the very dangerous Dominionists who believe their job is to prepare the world for the millennial reign of Christ.
False Prophets: The Bible tells us that that if a prophet presumes to speak a word in God's name that God has not commanded him to speak, that prophet shall die. Yet false prophets abound and thrive in the Christian world.
Lavish Lifestyles: The church is flooded with very convincing (and very wealthy) celebrity preachers who pastor mile wide and inch deep flashy mega churches.
The Four Most Dangerous Mistakes Any Christian Can Make: are (not necessarily in any particular order) 1) Believe that we, or our pastor/denomination/spiritual leader cannot be fooled, 2) Attribute every personal testimony and 'sign' as being of or from God, 3) Take Bible verses out of context and 4) believe that we, as Christians, are not to judge anything or any one. People love to quote the phrase "Judge Not" when all they know about it is that it is something that Jesus said. However, few realize that this is not a stand alone statement that the Messiah pulled out of thin air, then went off to try his hand at fishing for his lunch on the Sea of Tiberias, saying no more on the matter. In fact it has been terribly wrested from it's context)
Also Fraternizing With The Enemy, True and False Unity, , Seeker Friendly Church Growth Failures in The Bible, The Problem With Creeds, The Fad Driven Church, The Anointing, The Deification of Man, Self Esteem and more.
|
|
|
|
