Section 1 - 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. HERE

And why is this important?

The Message of The Bible: All too many people, picking out a random phrase or two think 'love' was Jesus' core message. They couldn’t be more wrong. 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 In other words, Christianity that many think of as outdated, out of touch, and largely irrelevant to modern society, promises exactly the utopian world that mankind can only dream of.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: This is Chapter 13 of ‘Choose Life That You May Live’ (above). 

Section 3A - Barriers to Faith
The absence of anything even faintly resembling peace in our world and the sheer scale of many natural calamities cause many to question God's goodness or even His very existence. Section includes, Does God violate His own commandment? Joshua's Conquest: How could a good God commission Israel to destroy women and children? The Dark Side Of Church History. The Real Murderers: Atheism or Christianity? Hypocrisy in the church. Slavery and Polygamy. The First-born of Egypt .. and more. HERE

Section 3B - Questions Skeptics Ask
Alleged Biblical Contradictions, Errors and Discrepancies, Did Christianity evolve from pagan religions? Noah's Ark, Methuselah, The Flood and more.  HERE

Section 2 - God, Jesus, and 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, some so specific that they gave places and dates.

God: Does God exist? Is the God of the Bible really God and has anyone ever seen Him? Is God male or female? God's foreknowledge and 'jealousy'. Can God change his mind or be influenced by humans? Is God 'different' in the Old & New Testaments? Does God love everyone? The wrath of God. The trinity: Although most people cannot wrap their heads around, much less explain the concept of the trinity, the vast majority of Christians believe it to be an unassailable and inviolable doctrine that comes straight from the pages of Scripture itself. But does it?

The Bible: Academia's asinine assault on the Bible - Was the New Testament influenced by pagan religions or philosophy?  Also, 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.. 

Jesus: Unlike many religions that depend upon ideas rather than events, Christianity rests solely on the person of Jesus. Christianity does not exist without Christ. Therefore one has to ask whether He ever actually lived and, if so, who He was - A great moral teacher, deluded mad man, or Son of God? Also was the Resurrection fact or fiction? HERE

Section 5 - Other Beliefs
Other Religions: A look at some of the world's major religions. In spite of the vacuous political declarations to the contrary, one has to ask whether Islam actually promotes peace. Are an uncountable number of Muslims peaceful because or in spite of the Quran?

World Views: People have failed to see that permissiveness, pornography, the breakdown of the family etc. has come about due to a shift in people's world view - a fundamental change in the overall way people think and view the world and life.

Atheism: To claim you know there is no God is to claim you have exhaustively searched every part of every universe and dimension with an infallibly accurate method of detecting every non-physical entity that could possibly exist.

Evolution: Many believe in evolution for the simple reason that they think science has proven it to be a 'fact' and, therefore, it must be accepted. Much to the contrary, a gigantic tower called "evolution" was patched together (with spit and chewing gum) out of the tiny fragments of so-called evidence. This done in order to exclude the possibility of intelligent design. Why? Probably because another name for intelligent design is "God". Numerous articles. HERE

Section 7 - Living The Faith
Holiness: There is little or no emphasis on sin in the modern church. It lies breathing its last, buried below mega star preachers, flamboyant preaching, worship teams that could find work in many Broadway productions, large crusades, exciting revivals, one manmade creative program after the other. Glitz and glamour that Hollywood could be proud of. Yet the Bible says "Without Holiness, No Man Shall See God!" (Hebrews 12:14)

The Myth of Faith Alone: Perhaps one of the all time greatest delusions in the Christian world, is the innumerable number of people who are under the impression that in order to be forgiven their sins and inherit eternal life, all they have to do is believe Jesus died for their sins on the cross. But does the Bible substantiate this?

The Christian and Knowledge: In part, because the two words are widely misunderstood, all too many Christians seem to be under the impression that "theology" and "doctrine" are of minimal importance - five dollar words best left to those who have a string of letters after their names. Or perhaps they want no challenges to their shallow and undemanding Christianity that requiring no intellectual effort allows people to coast along on clichés and daily devotionals of familiar passages of Scripture, preferably well sprinkled with inspirational stories and jokes. The fact is that both theology and doctrine are crucial to authentic Christian faith.

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 covers up the fact that they are spiritually dead as dodos - social clubs with God sprinkled in to legitimize the word 'church'. So what would it take to pray down revival?

Baptism: One would imagine that the simple act of dipping another human being into water would escape the controversies of weightier and more complicated topics in Scripture. But no! Baptism is one of the most controversial subjects in all of Christendom.

Women in The Church: Several articles on the role of women in the church... Including, Should Women Teach in Church, Women's lib, head covering and modesty. Feminism and The Bible: Unfortunately both feminists and an numerous traditional church leaders have myopically focused on what they think is Scripture's attitude towards the sexes - Needless to say, this is done with complete disregard for what the Scriptures actually say.  AND MORE HERE

Section 6 - 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 Overviews of the Old and New Testament, Guide To Reading The Bible, How The Bible Came to Us, A Brief History Of The Bible, Helpful Hints, What Not to Do...etc. HERE
 

Section 7A - Defending The Faith
Unfortunately, much of the Christian world seems to regard debating the Gospel as condemned by Scripture. It is tragic how many wrong beliefs have come in from a biased translation of certain passages of Scripture. In this case the King James version conveys the impression that 'debates' are to be avoided at all cost. Much to the contrary... HERE

Section 7B - Sharing The Faith
The Gospel is the greatest story ever told, about the greatest person who has ever lived, who is making to men and women the greatest offer that has ever been made. So why is it often so difficult to tell others? Additionally, as Greg Koukl says "Christians have to be able to  make coherent sense of our message, even before we demonstrate that our message is actually true". These articles may give you a nudge in the right direction, providing some help and guidelines. HERE

Section 8A - A Question Of Salvation
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 those who apparently were very partial to the sound of their own voices got a hold of the extremely uncomplicated message of salvation, they turned the Gospel into something complex and bewildering - to say nothing of incomprehensible. Furthermore it is presented with a deluge of words, intricate arguments and endless repetition.

  The Two Phase Atonement The New Testament sometimes says that salvation is an accomplished reality, and at other times says it is still in the future. This seeming contradiction  is not limited to salvation alone but also occurs with confusing regularity in statements about  justification, redemption, glorification, and adoption. Check it for yourself. Either the authors of the New Testament were talking through their collective hats, or what we believe does not entirely square with what the Bible says. So what is the answer? Are we saved now, or not? If you take the time to understand the Old Testament ritual of Yom Kippur and how it relates to our salvation will find that there is no contradiction but all the tenses are correct in every instance. 

Also: OSAS - The Doctrine of Eternal Security - If this doctrine is true, one is forced to the conclusion that both Jesus and Paul were completely wrong when they prophesied that people would fall away from the faith in the final days. A "Deposit" That "Guarantees" our Inheritance?- truth or biased translations? The Assurance of Salvation: very different from unconditional eternal security - that is if we read it in context. The Carnal Christian. Universalism. HERE

 Section 9 -The Future
  The Days Of Noah: In Luke 17:26 and Matthew 24:37, our Lord  linked  two epochs together - “the days of Noah” and “the days of the coming of the Son of Man". 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 God’s 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. It is almost as if there is a disconnect between the Bible stories well known to all Christians and the God they profess to serve. And that what we need to be saved from is the Father Himself.

 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. God's kingdom will be preceded by a devastating period of time when even the heavens and earth will tremble at His power and fury. Not only does the imagery and symbolism of Revelation describe the horrendous conditions of the last days, but tells us in what order they will occur.

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. It is a tragic fact that in order to support what they thought was is right, various translations have rendered several Hebrew and Greek word according to preconceived ideas. Thus anyone interested in the truth cannot rely on a shallow, first-glance interpretations of certain passages, but has to 1) dig into the Hebrew and Greek words used by the authors and 2) differentiate between symbolic and literal passages.

 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. Either they have vague, half formed ideas about some ethereal place 'out there' (that side of Pluto anyone?) or resort to pious phrases that amount to little more than spiritual gobbledy gook. If this is the best we can do then it is little wonder that we rarely seem to look forward to the coming of the kingdom, and Christians are not in the slightest bit interested in our "heaven”. Thankfully, the Bible's description of the kingdom is far more practical and far less sanctimonious than that of our theologians.

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. HERE

 Section 10 A - The Contemporary Church, The Devil's Playground
Today's fad driven church not only pushes the tacky, the trashy, and the trivial, but 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.

  Shepherds or Wolves: The church is flooded with well known so called ‘Christian’ leaders, many of whom are wealthy, charismatic, and very convincing celebrity preachers who pastor mile wide and inch deep flashy mega-churches. Others who fraternized with Eastern mystics and embraced the spiritual philosophies of Buddhism and Hinduism teach contemplative prayer. Yet others claim to be rethinking Christianity or hide behind titles such as "motivational speakers" who's aim is to develop leaders. Perhaps worst of all are the very dangerous Dominionists who believe they are equal or even superior to the New Testament Apostles and, one way or another, their job is to prepare the world for the millennial reign of Christ. The sheer arrogance of this man centered ideology is staggering. All of the above are wolves in sheep's clothing who do little but lead people away from salvation and life.

  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. Very many modern believers are being re-introduced to ancient practices as ways to get closer to and communicate with God. However, few have taken the time to find out what is behind these practices and the people that endorse and teach them. We cheerfully walk labyrinths, waste countless hours emptying our minds in the pursuit of mystical encounters with the Father. We think nothing of babbling in a meaningless confusion of sounds.\, laughing hysterically, or simply falling over on the church floor - often having what looks suspiciously like convulsions. As Einstein once said “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.

  The Church... Then and Now: The church has drifted so far from the original blueprint, that there is little resemblance between what takes place now and what took place when James headed up the church in Jerusalem. In fact, after studying the New Testament, one can only come to the conclusion that much of the modern church has little or no idea why it exists at all, or what it is meant to do - much less how the meetings are supposed to be structured and who they are supposed to be led by.

  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. (Most people love to quote the phrase "Judge Not". They are not sure where it is found, but they do know that those were Jesus' words. 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, The Problem With Creeds, Seeker Friendly Church Growth Failures in The Bible , The Emerging Church, The Fad Driven Church, The Anointing, The Deification of Man, Self Esteem, False Prophets, and more.  HERE