I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.

Monday, June 29, 2009

A Bad Week for Celebrities

This has been a bad week for celebrities. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays and Gale Storm all died this past week. You may or may not have known of some of them, but they all made their mark in entertainment in some way at some time. Now they are all gone.

Jackson seems to be getting the most public sympathy; even Congress had a moment of silence after the announcement of his death. I have to confess, I do not understand that. Jackson was an entertainer whose personal life followed a twisted path of self-medication, child endangerment and strange modifications done to his own body. I think the man is more to be pitied than glorified.

Nevertheless, these human beings are all dead. They entertained us, or tried to sell us products we may or may not have needed, and they entered our lives via public media, primary television. Another entertainer, a writer in England, once said that the whole world was a stage and the people on it were merely actors who came on stage to strut and fret their part, and then were gone. Come to think of it, the man who wrote that is also gone.

A friend of mine commented about this string of deaths by noting that we all should be patient because we will each get a turn as well. Dying, it would seem, is something we all face, something we all have in common.

The Bible states that it is appointed unto people to die once, and then face judgment, the judgment of God. The Bible further states that the paycheck people get for being sinners is death. It also says we are all sinners. You. Me. McMahon. Fawcett. Mays. Storm. And, yes, Jackson, too.

I am very thankful the Bible also says that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

I will die some day (if the Lord delays His return). But I will not perish. I have eternal life through Jesus Christ, my Lord. I have no indication that this was true for any of the entertainers who entered eternity this past week.

Is it true for you?

Friday, June 26, 2009

False Views of Christian Teachings

There are several profound errors concerning Christianity that keep getting repeated over and over in these posts, even though there is no basis for them either in contemporary or historical Christianity.

Christians display hatred when they state their belief that homosexuality is a sin. This is simply not true. Hatred is not the motivation for this belief. What the Bible teaches is the motivation. My belief that homosexuality is a perversion of the natural desire between men and women does not motivate me to hate anyone. Loving people does not demand that I endorse all the things they do.

Christianity teaches that heaven is gained by the good works you do. This is simply not true. Christianity teaches that heaven is gained only through a personal faith relationship with Jesus Christ. The motivation for doing good works is a desire to please God and to follow the example of Jesus, not a means of gaining points for heaven.

Everyone who claims to be a Christian is a Christian. This is simply not true. According to the Scriptures, the only way to become a Christian is to establish a faith relationship with Jesus Christ. Anyone can claim to be a Christian. But people are not born Christians. Having Christian parents, or growing up attending church regularly, or knowing the Bible stories does not make anyone a Christian. Coming to Christ with a recognition of one’s own sin and need, and trusting Jesus’ death on the cross to pay the penalty for one’s sin is the only way a person can become a Christian.

Christianity takes away one’s ability to think for one’s self. This is simply not true. Everyone has to have a world view which is based on presuppositions. The Christian has chosen to build his or her world view on the claims of Jesus Christ. Others might claim the presuppositions of Mohammed, or Darwin, or Freud. All world views are built on a set of presuppositions. We have all accepted our world view based on our faith in the reliability of someone else’s presuppositions. In effect, few of his think for ourselves. There are only so many possible world views available.

Finally, Catholicism is the primary manifestation of Christianity. This is simply not true. Catholicism is an aberration in the history of Christianity, an aberration I and many others totally reject. Catholicism does not reflect my beliefs or my practices. I have no allegiance to the pope, to the Catholic church or to Catholic dogma. My faith is in Christ, not in any church, including the one I am a member of.

Few seem willing even to try to understand what Christianity is really all about. It is one thing to find out what Christianity is all about and then reject it. It is another thing to accept vague notions and statements made by radical opponents of Christianity as true and reject the faith on that basis. That is a real example of not thinking for yourself.