Predestination or Free will?

Hello readers, if you are out there.  Yes, it is again time to listen to a thought that I had while studying my Bible earlier this week.  This is an issue that I find to be rather troublesome and overlooked many times in Christian circles:  Where do you stand?  Are you on the left of right?  John Calvin or Jacobus Arminius?  I feel like it is really important that we decide which one of these approaches to salvation is correct!

Wait... where does the Bible say anything about John Calvin or Jacobus Arminius?  Nowhere!  This is just one issue among many discussed in the church today.  Others consist of:  baptism techniques, female role in church, homosexuality, spiritual gifts, Lord's table (communion), pre-min post min, ect...  I realize that some of these issues ARE addressed in the Bible, but compared to the main message conveyed by the Bible--the message that man sins and the only way to reach salvation is through the sacrificial blood of Christ--these topics mean virtually nothing.  So many churches split over little ideas that mean nothing compared to Gospel.  So many Christians are all caught up in issues that don't even come close to the core beliefs in Christianity.

The fact is, many Christians get caught up in small, detailed doctrine and this really bothers me.  There is this passage in 1 Timothy 1:3-7 where Paul encourages Timothy to "...stop those whose teaching is contrary to the truth (1 Timothy 1:3)."  Paul then continues by mentioning different sorts of false teachings that are going around during that time, I am not going to go into detail about which teachings he says but feel free to read for yourself.  Regardless of what Paul says there is a common theme with today:  Christians have always dwelt on things that are virtually meaningless to salvation.  Now many of you are going to be like, "Chris, you are taking these verses out of context!"  I disagree, regardless of what was being discussed back then it has the same effect as what we discuss  today... DISTRACTION from what REALLY MATTERS.

I think that Satan finds good ways to distract us then continues to use them.  Back during the 1st century AD the Gospel started to spread like wild fire, Satan had to come up with a way to distract/pollute the message from being spread.  To do so he fills the world with all these false/distracting messages that mean nothing vs. the Gospel; regardless if they are correct or not.  Today, he distracts us, again, with doctrine that weigh nothing against the gospel message of Jesus Christ.

Why don't we stop wasting so much time trying to decided if God chooses us or if we choose God and start saving people regardless!

Until next time...

-laterDays

Snooki to sign autographs for community service

Ha got ya there.  Now lets talk:

What is it that influences you in your life?  How do you identify yourself in this world?  What do you measure yourself up against?  I have recently been very troubled by these questions, not so much for myself but in response to what I see in our world today.  I know that many of you will say, "Chris, that is just the reality of life," but I disagree.  We who call ourselves Christians are held to a different standard.  There is this little verse in John 17:16 that reads, "They do not belong to this world any more than I do."  To not take this verse out of context I want you to understand that Jesus is praying to God, his father, that the disciples will not fall into influences the world, and that just has he [Jesus] was sent into the world they [12 disciples] too will be sent into the world to continue his work.  Another thing to understand about this passage, it is not a teaching, it is a prayer.  A conversation that Jesus Christ is having with his Father.

Now, after saying that I want to bring up a passage that appears in Matthew 16:6 and again in Mark 8:15:  "'Watch out!' Jesus warned them. 'Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.'"  Now you will probably say, "Chris, what does bread and Pharisees have  to do with being a Christian in the 21 century?"  And I will tell you, "Everything."  To understand better let me explain the idea of what this meant to the Jews of Jesus' time.  Your average Jewish male in that time was illiterate, poor, and had one goal in mind, fallow the Torah and live out the laws of Moses.  Being illiterate meant that Jews in Jesus' day relied on the Religious leaders (aka the Pharisees/Sadducees) for instructions on how to live out the Torah.  The problem lies in the Pharisees/Sadducees and the picture they used to paint to the rest of the Jewish community.  They had all these laws that protected Jews from breaking the Torah kind of like fences.  Some of these laws contradicted the laws of God ex. Matthew 15:3-7.  Understand how the Jews fallowed/obeyed every move that the Pharisees made and how this presents a problem?  Now, back to the passage, Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees.  Here the word yeast=influence.  The Pharasees' influence was huge in their world, and Jesus was telling his disciples to beware of their yeast/influence.

Now today.  What is it that influences the way we speak, act, think, and shape our life goals?  The media!!!  What kind of ideas does the media put in our head?  How does even the American Dream influence our choice of college career and how we measure our success in life?  All ideas to think about.

Jesus clearly states that we are not of this world if we are a follower of his.  He also tells us to beware of the influences of OUR culture.  I think we all need to take a step back from our lives and look at what influence us and how these influences are shaping our identity and even our life goals.

Until next time...

-laterDays

Money Buys Happiness?

Here is a new article for everyone to check out, 11 Ways Money Buys Happiness.  I have one word for this article, DISGUSTING!  I realize that it has been a really long time since I have written any sort of blog, and part of that reason is I just haven't really felt like I have had something good enough to write about yet.  I am starting to compile all of these ideas/articles/observations that convey one common theme:  how screwed up our world really is!  I realize that our world has always been this way; however, I feel like today more than ever before, it is really easy to get caught up in the lie that as a Christian all of this stuff is still okay.  My goal is take a journey that begins to show how wrong our conception of God, Jesus, and being a Christian really is.  I want everyone to realize that a lot of these ideas may not be mine, I am just willing to do the research so that YOU don't have to.

-laterDays