Gifted

Ephesians 2:8-9

 For by grace you have been saved through faith. 

And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 

not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

    So many Christians like to look down their nose at the rest of the world. As if they are so much better than the unsaved. Somehow they either believe that they don't sin, or that their sin is not as bad because they're a Christian. Sometimes it even causes us to get a feeling of entitlement that makes us think we have the right to go to heaven because we saved ourselves by making a better choice than non-Christians.  

    

    It seems some Christians have forgotten that they are saved by grace and that they don't "sin better" than the unsaved, but that they are forgiven through Jesus' death on the cross. Our sin is still as ugly as it was before we became children of God and it is not looked upon as any more righteous.

    

    The fact is our salvation and forgiveness are a gift from God that we should never take for granted. This gift should cause us to be so grateful that we thank God for it every day and it should give us a desire to share the good news of God's free gift with everybody we meet.

    I guess what I'm trying to say is never forget why you are a Christian. It was a free gift from God, and nothing that any of us could ever do, could earn that ticket. If  heavens not a gift then I'm definitely not getting in and neither is anybody else.

Evolution vs Creation: Whats The Big Deal?

So God created man in his own image,
 in the image of God he created him;
 male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27

For you formed my inward parts;

 you knitted me together in

 my mothers womb.

Psalm 139:13

    What is the real significance of creation? So God created the world but that was a long time ago. What does that have to do with us today?

    Everything.

    Today creation is rejected in schools and is instead replace by the theory of evolution, which still today has not one shred of proof, and is accepted as fact not theory. In fact, any mention of "intelligent design", for lack of a better term, is mocked and rejected as a fairy tale and is said to be nonfactual. This is just another lie manufactured by atheists who can't stand that there is a God.   

    So whats the big deal if kids are taught that there is no God that created us in his image? The bid deal is that if you believe that all humans are evolved from a mucky pond millions and billions of years ago, than you reduce human kind into just the most intelligent animal, and you all but erase the importance of human life. 

    It is no wonder why such barbaric, gruesome things as abortion are so widely accepted in our culture. The fact that a parent who doesn't want the responsibility of supporting their own child, or that doesn't want to have to deal with a child with some sort of deformity or sever illness, can make the ultimate decision of murdering that child to prevent any inconvenience to thier obviously more important, self serving life. A absolutely gruesome process that requires a doctor to rip the arms and legs off the unborn child while it wiggles and squirms to get away and opens its mouth to scream if it could (as witnessed on ultrasound video by former leading abortionist Bernard Nathanson, who since seeing this has stopped abortions all together, converted to Christianity and fought for pro-life){How Now Shall We Live?, Charles Colson}.
 Then, there is the process of partial birth abortion which requires the baby to pass through the birth canal but just before pulling the head out so the baby can breath, the doctors puncture the back of the skull and suck all the brains out of and living but not breathing (yet) infant. This is widely accepted as more humane than letting an unwanted baby live and be adopted by parents who will actually love them.

    So don't try to make the argument that an unborn baby is just a fetus that is not living unless it passes a few inches down the birth canal. It's just an absolutely ridiculous attempt to try to justify an awful sin that people commit to escape the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy.

    This is all brought about by the notion that we are all just brought about by chance and that we were not created for God's purpose. Kids these days are taught at a very young age that their life has no meaning or purpose, through evolution, so the high rates of murder and suicide should not surprise you in the least bit either. After all, if man kind is not created by a loving God for His purpose, but instead just generated itself out of slime in a pond, than whats the true reason for living?


    So don't just ignore the teaching of evolution, and rejection of creation, in schools as no big deal. It's a huge deal and the way things are going who is to say where it will stop. I thank the Lord that He is coming back one day to redeem His people and put an end to this wretched world of sin we live in.

What is Christianity?

What is Christianity? Is it a religion? Is it a belief? Is it a title given to those who believe there is a god?
No, no, and no. Christianity is the world view of a Christian. 
   
First things first, a Christian is somebody who not only believes that Jesus came down from Heaven to be born of a virgin, crucified for all sin, and rose from death on the third day after He died (Easter Sunday) and now lives in Heaven. All of that is true and is essential for being a redeemed Christian, but it is also more than just believing. The word Christian also means to be a disciple of Jesus.
   
    What is a disciple? A disciple is somebody who gives up all worldly desires to follow Jesus and worship God with all that they have, as described by Jesus in Luke 14:26-33. ²⁶  “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters,yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.²⁸ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’³¹ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?³² And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.³³  So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." 


     So just saying that you are a Christian means absolutely nothing. You must also confess you are a sinner, believe in all that Jesus did for you and have a personal relationship with Him. I also believe, that if you are a Christian, than to live a life of true Christianity you must put all worldly desires behind you and strive to please the one and only God in ALL that you do. Including: thought, word, deed, and motive.


    So what does this all mean? This means that Christianity is a life of living to please the one true God. So in saying that it must also be your world view as a Christian. Meaning that you view the world as being created by God, as the first chapter of Genesis on accounts for, and that this world is a sinful place now, after the fall of man at Adam and Eve's first sin. Also you must believe that Jesus came to redeem His people by dying for their sin on the cross, and in doing so made a way (the only way) for his believers to live with Him forever in Heaven.


   Also Christianity is something you live all the time. Not just when it is convenient for you or when you feel like it. It is not just what you do on Sunday in church before you get on with the rest of your life. It is the rest of your life. People should know you are a Christian all the time, not just if it makes you look good at the time or as long as the conversation calls for it. You should never hide your faith from anybody like Peter did in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 18 when he denied Jesus 3 times. Which means when the conversation goes where it shouldn't then you need to do something about it. No matter how it makes you look to other people. Or when you are being pressured to do something you know is not pleasing to God you need to remember who you live for, and if it is not for God all the time, then maybe you need to re-examine your own "Christianity".