LXXXI. Cult of Personality

Many "religions" speak of Christ. Even religions that are not compatible with Christianity often speak of Jesus. But this does not mean that these religions are correct. What does the Bible say the main ideas of Christianity are? The following are just small pieces of what Christians believe but are the most important and perhaps explains Christianity:

1. God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Now the Bible does not use these words specifically but do not get bogged down with that. There are things called concepts. Psalm 139:7-12 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
2. Jesus was fully man and fully God. Jesus was God but He was also man. He felt the same things do. He knows what the flesh is all about. But He is also God because only He can forgive sins. John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. John 10:30, I and the Father are one.
3. Jesus was the Son of God (as man) and came to die for all mankind. How could He be the Son of God yet God at the same time? Think of it as when you give something of yours to somebody. It is from you, it is of you, it shows who you are. Now try and put yourself in that place. That is why you are not God (L. Ron Hubbard). You can't do it. But God manifested Himself into the flesh and was called Jesus. The second part is the important part here. 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed."
4. Jesus rose from the dead. Without this, our faith means nothing. If God can not raise the dead then there is no hope. Acts 10:40, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.
5. Jesus will return for those who believe in Him. If He does not return then His promise is a lie. If He is a liar then no one should believe in Him. John 14:2-3, My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
6. Jesus is the only medium, or mediator, between God and man. Now that does not mean the only messenger of God. It means that there is only one way to God and that is through Jesus, no other being. If someone claims they are the only one to interpret things or the only one who knows God then they are delusional. 1 Timothy 2:5, For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus.
7. Solo Scriptura. This idea is that the Bible alone is the sole authority by which we live. It trumps tradition and any other liturgical ideas. The Bible was written by the Apostles and fathers of the Church in 1st century AD. When John wrote the final words, the Bible can not be added to.

Beyond these that are mentioned is mostly about comfortability and practice. Such as the type of music or to use music at all is strictly based on opinion. Should leaders be called priests, pastors, ministers, or elders is also another issue that is just based on comfort or opinion (semantics), for all who are called to Christ are ministers (those who serve). Now some issues are based on translation and are open for discussion such as is water baptism necessary or just a sign of obedience. And the answer is, yes. Because as long as someone believes in Jesus then it is a personal relationship with Him. Does communion really become the body and blood of Christ or is it just a symbol of what He did? The answer is, yes. Because it really doesn't matter what you believe. If you take communion with the right heart and mind then God will honor that. If it becomes God then great. If not then you still took it with Him in mind. All that was commanded here its that you do it in remembrance of Him. These issues should not distinguish between a practitioner of Baptist or Methodist or anything else, although people do overstate these differences, and that is a shame. But if one deviates from the seven points above then they could be considered a cult.

Here are the results of last month's poll: Which of the following groups that speak of Christ, one way or another, would you consider a cult?

• 100% said, Christian Science. This should not be confused with Scientology, the bogus religion created by L. Ron Hubbard and his book, Dianetics, which was actually just a science fiction book. One major problem for this group is that they put so much emphasis on Mary Baker Eddy. It is like her words have authority, see #6 and #7. But the major problem is that CS do not believe Jesus was God. They even think He went out of His way saying He wasn't by always referring to God as the Father. See #2. For more information about CS here is the link. http://christianscience.com/what-is-christian-science
• 77% said, Mormonism. Humanitarians? Yes! Pacifists? Yes! Great people? Yes! True Christians? Well they have a special book called, the Book of Mormon, written by Joseph Smith. Smith found these writings on a plate in North America. He was the only one who could dictate what the plates meant. And like CS the LDS do not say that Jesus is God but only the Son of God. See #2, #6, and #7. For more information about LDS here is the link. http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng
• 77% said, Jehovah's Witness. They are also pacifists who believe all violence is wrong which is great. But they are another group that specifically denies that Jesus is God. They even use the same scripture in point #2 above but they say it is an analogy. This group was started by Charles Taze Russell. They have created their own literature called the Watch Tower claiming they are the prophets of God, see #7. They believe that the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation is a specific number of prophets for the end times. Oddly enough there are about 115,000 JW today in the world, almost the number. They also believe in a literal 1000 year reign but that reign will only be those who are part of this 144,000. For more information on JW here is the link. http://www.watchtower.org/
• 66% said, Deism/Theism. This just means that they believe in God but not an active one. One that just lets the universe run its course. See all the above. For more on Deism, read about John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu and someone's modern description because it is not an organized religion. http://www.moderndeism.com/html/deism_defined.html
• 55% said, British Israelism/Christian Identity. They also may be known as the Worldwide Church of God, not to be confused with local churches of God. This group believes that European/American/Caucasians are what is known the lost tribes of Israel. When the Israelites were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar and were then released this group thinks instead of going back to Israel they went to places in Europe. They claim to know their ancestry and have long lists of people who may or may not have lived. They hold all beliefs of mainstream Christianity. But they believe that only those who have European blood in them are called to be with God. All of those who are not white, do not have a soul and therefore can not be saved by God. See #3. England is the new throne of David and again they can trace the lineage of Queen Elizabeth back to David. This is the same belief that started apartheid in South Africa and the ideas behind eugenics.
• 16% said, Catholicism. The only major problem with the RC is when they pray. Many times they call to saints to stand in for them thinking they can get away with lifestyles by asking a saint to help. See #6. But the difference here is that they do pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Not perfect people but do adhere to all 7 points.
• 5% said, Messianic Jews. Not one deviation from all seven points. The people who said this are just upset with religion. The only major difference is that this group finds their Jewish roots and uses them to gain a more clear understanding of who and why Jesus is.
• 5% said, Protestantism. Not one deviation from all seven points. The people who said this are just upset with religion. yes. There are differences among themselves but they should not be separated from each other.
• 44% said, Other. Explain. Seventh-Day Adventist? Unitarian?
• 0% said, None, all roads lead to God. This is correct. No one should have said this.

What is a cult? A cult is any belief system that takes away the importance of Jesus Christ and what He did. Out of the groups that are mentioned, only three agree to all seven points. You be the judge.

(Note:  This was originally posted on Bible Lessons but was moved due to nature of content)

LIV. The Wages of Pascal

Blaise Pascal, a famous mathematician and scientist who lived in the mid 1600's, came up with a philosophical puzzle about God.  He basically claimed that if you are to argue either for or against the existence of God it is better to error on the side that there is one so that one can reap the benefits and not suffer the consequence.  Even if then there is no God and you lived life according to scripture then you wouldn't have lost anything anyway.  This is now known as Pascal's Wager.  This is also a huge argument that atheists will use to say that there is no God.  How?  Because the argument can go as far as:  well who is to say which God this argument is referring to?.  What if Allah is the one true God, then shouldn't it be beneficial for all of us to live according to the writings of Mohammed?  Or what about Buddha?  Confucius or any other known deity?  So if the wager can be used on any religion and if there can be only one of them right then how can the same be said about all of them?  Therefore all religions must be wrong.  Therefore since all claim to worship a deity then there must be no deity.

Probably one thing the atheist has a problem with is the fact that during Pascal's life a new way of thinking called Enlightenment was taking hold.  One idea of the Enlightenment was that God may exist but He doesn't intervene.  Many of the Enlightenment thinkers (Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu and some even say the likes of Jefferson and Franklin) thought that it may be a waste of time worrying about the afterlife and that you should seek happiness in this one.  Pascal did not hold onto these theories and yet remained "enlightened", helping lead the way to discoveries about number probabilities and space theories.

So here is the question:  is Pascal's Wager valid for Christianity only, open the door for all religions, or doesn't matter anyway?

The answer:  It doesn't matter anyway.  Whether we want to believe in God or not does not take away the fact that He does exist.  He is there whether we live by His rules or our own.  If we believe in Islam, so what.  God still exists.  If we choose not to believe in any deity, so what.  God will still exist.

The more important question is:  Why is Christ the one True God and not the others?

The answer:  Here is the view of the writer.

1. Being raised in a family that believed in God was a starting point.  There was a foundation built on Christian principles. But that is not where it had been left.   Journeys in life are not just about what one has been taught but what one can learn.
2. One can get a lot from reading the Bible. It is filled with relevant information that can calm, encouragement, and lead people onto the right paths and can make people think of what they want to be like in terms of what they are now.
3. Even if one was born to different parents than the ones they have now with different ideas, they could still think for themselves as an adult. One can get the same rendering. There are other self-help books and religious ideas that may do the same thing.
4. There is a book you may want to read.  It is short and simple to read. It is by Josh McDowell called, More Than a Carpenter. McDowell says that there are only three things you can think about Christ. You either think He was a liar, a lunatic, or He was in fact the Lord. In short, if He was a liar, why would he tell others to tell the truth? If He was a liar why would he ultimately go to the cross and be executed for his ideas? Maybe He was a lunatic. But He didn’t do any pathological activity that would classify him as one. Unlike David Koresh, He didn’t make people live in communes locked away. He didn’t have a harem for his own benefits. Everything recorded by Christ has beneficial consequences and not one thing contradicts anything else He said. If He was not a liar or a lunatic then He must be what He said He was: God.
5. Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius. What do they all have in common?  They all are “founders” of a religion. They all teach about how to live a life that will bring you peace. They all have left a book for others to read and learn. What is the main difference? Only one claimed to be God. The others only claimed to either be a messenger of God or not even that.  Jesus said He was God. Liar? Lunatic? Or Lord? Some other differences: Buddha said there is a harmony in this world. If there is good there is an equal amount of bad. In other words, there is no reward for doing good because it causes someone else to do bad. Mohammed tells people to kill the infidel and claims that we all will get 72 virgins in the afterlife in we do such an act. Confucius was just a poet. Christ had life lessons. We actually read about his life and not just thoughts of one person.
6. Nothing else makes sense. Primordial soup? An accident that created life as delicate, complicated and sophisticated as we know it…an accident? If you look to the vastness of creation and you can see too much beauty and too many intricacies of every day life to think it was all an accident. http://ideasoftimreligion.blogspot.com/2009/12/xlv-dark-side.html
7. People have life experiences. They have seen miracles. They have witnessed the power of God in their own lives. They feel a presence of a the Spirit. Now, that may sound strange to you. But until you have been in their shoes then that will have to do. And yes, this is where faith comes in. The thing that all atheists have a problem with is faith. If you see something, hear something, feel something but you can’t explain why, then faith has to start to take over. We all have faith whether you believe it or not. Each time you drive a car you faith in your abilities to get out of an accident. You have faith in the brake you step on, even without thinking about it.

There is 7 reasons right now, but all the atheist can say is: Prove God exists. And that is enough for them to not believe. Well, the actual burden is on disproving God. Science can’t do it. Just ask Josh McDowell, CS Lewis, Lee Strobl, and Blaise Pascal who all had problems believing and tried to disprove God. But all came to the conclusion, there is a God and Christ is He.

XXXIII. What are we up against?

Do you know what you are up against in this world? First of all, 2000 years ago Jesus said that the world will hate you because of Him. Two thousand years have passed and His words ring true.

If you are a Christian, you are hated!

If you talk about God in public, it has to be a generic god. It can be a supreme being. It can be an intelligent designer. It can even be a creator in a sense. You can mention Mohammed. You can give facts about Buddha. You can quote Confucius. But mention Christ and you are an idiot.

You can become a Muslim terrorist and you are separated from other Muslims. But if an abortion clinic bomber happens to be "Christian" then all of a sudden we are thrown into the same bunch as that one person.

You can be a liberal and you are considered passionate. You can be a moderate and you are considered mainstreamed. You can be a conservative and just be considered old. But if you are a Christian conservative then you are a right-winged fanatic.

You can teach science and you are allowed to because you are helping someone learn fact. You can teach language arts to help develop some one's speaking abilities. You can teach history because you are using the past to explain the present and future. You can teach all of these because you are teaching someone how to better themselves. But if you use this education to teach about Christ then you are "preaching" and forcing it down other's throats.

You can send someone to a psychologist because they need help with their mind. You can send someone to a physical therapist because they need help with their body. You can send someone to see a psychiatrist because they help with their feelings. But you can not send someone to see a minister, even though they need spiritual help (and they usually need spiritual help first) because apparently God doesn't intervene or the problem is with our surroundings and has nothing to do with spirituality.

Have you ever tried to surf the net for blogs and/or discussion groups? The following is not an endorsement: but there are mock presidential election sites that let you run for president by allowing you to develop your own platform, debate, and run against others. Blog sites are filled with angry people who are missing life. Many are those who have become atheists in their walks of life. If you take time to read some of these people's ideas, you would realize how sick of a human race we have become. You would learn how distorted true relationships with the eternal God are. You would see hatred come across in so many ways and you feel so alone with your thoughts because once someone finds out that you are a Christian, you become a target for their hostilities.

Stand strong. Keep your faith. Learn what you can and do not become content with where you are. Be passionate and show compassion. Be encouraged and be encouraging. Live to learn. Love to live. Learn to love. Because you may not know what you are up against.