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Being a Christian: It Means More than “Believing”

February 18, 2010 in Apologetics, Discipleship, Theology with 6 Comments

How long before you actually followed Christ did you say that you “believed” in God?

I can speak for myself here. It was for all my life. I’ve always “believed” in God.

But I didn’t trust in Him. I didn’t love Him. I didn’t worship Him.

There have been numerous people with whom I’ve talked and have told me that they believe in God. Of course, this used to satisfy my inquiry. But not now.

Now, however, when someone tells me they believe in God, I ask them, “Oh yea? That’s great!” And then follow with, “What do you mean by that?”

So why does it take more than just believing?

Whoever follows Jesus knows his voice. They discern from the voice of the enemy, and the voice of their Savior. To put it plainly in the words of Jesus, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

But what does it mean to follow Jesus? I suppose we could write a book about this, but this article does not afford the time and space. So I will break it down into two things for now that are most protuberant: Loving God and Loving Others.

This comes from Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:36-40: Continue Reading…

Being a Christian: It Means More Than Being Nice

February 15, 2010 in Apologetics, Discipleship, Theology with 16 Comments

I have been known to do personal surveys from time to time.

Not the kind where you have a seat and fill out a form, but the kind where I would just ask specific questions to random people as I encounter them usually about the topic of faith.

Some of the surveys I have done have been

Asking people why they wear a cross

Asking people why they believe in God

Asking people why they believe in Jesus

Asking people what it means to be a Christian

Asking people why they believe whatever it is they believe

There have been more, but these are the ones I have done the most. I especially enjoy asking people why they wear a cross or what it means to be a Christian.

And honestly, people have been quite offended by these questions. I suppose it is because they had to give a reason for something they were unsure of.

But do we really understand what it means to be a Christian?
Continue Reading…

Don’t Miss Out On These

February 12, 2010 in Resources with 7 Comments

For this Friday I thought I would provide you with a list of articles that you would do well to read.

In fact, if you read them you will gain access to the most protected knowledge in the world.

That’s right, these articles will make you super smart—smarter than all your peers and spiritually superior. . .

Okay, maybe not. But they are good articles! And you should read them!

So here they are. Read them all!
Continue Reading…

Moral Obligations in Pop Culture. Make Sense?

February 11, 2010 in Apologetics, Philosophy, Theology with 4 Comments

Popular culture can have a tendency to wear on the Christian so as to fade his or her colorful faith that most evidences itself—I think—in his or her visible moral framework.

Moral Framework and Christian Identity

Please understand that I do not suggest here that moral framework alone constitutes for Christian identity, but a Christian identity necessitates a moral framework.

To be sure, Christians are convicted by and large through their moral framework. This moral framework comes from their Biblical worldview, which states that they are to behave though the filter of a transcendent moral framework because they are children of the transcendent God (Romans 8:12-14).

Being a child of God, though, does not come by observing a moral law, but instead by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit (John 1:12-13). What is then produced as a result of this regeneration is then the desire for moral obligation.

Therefore, their sense of awe and gratitude of their salvation gives them a continual reminder that their adoptions as sons and daughters of God had nothing to do with their own efforts or “goodness.”

This gratitude then drives them to the humility of their Savior (Phil. 2:7-9) and the desire to honor Him with their lives. Thus, a moral framework is realized and becomes visible to the world.
Continue Reading…

Is Jesus the Only Way to God?

February 4, 2010 in Theology with 30 Comments

**Guest post by Demian Farnworth at Fallen and Flawed.**

Great question. It’s one I’ve often struggled with and felt very awkward at times defending, whether that be with friends or family or strangers.

But what I’ve found is simply this: Jesus is very explicit that he—and he alone—is the only way to God.

Think John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”

How do people who reject Jesus as the only way to God deal with that?

They can’t.

See, if anyone reads the Gospels it’s clear that Jesus thought of himself as God. And also thought of himself as the way to God.

The rest of the letters in the NT bear witness to this.

What this means is that either Jesus was a liar or a lunatic. If he was either of those, then why grant him the status of “great teacher” who is just among many to point us to God. Why trust what he says?
Continue Reading…

Get Media

January 18, 2010 in Resources with 9 Comments

At Media.SortingBeans.com

I have decided to add a “Media” section to this website, making it easier to tap into resources. This new addition—www.media.sortingbeans.com—will be for the sake of videos, podcasting, sermons, etc.

My purpose in this sub-domain is to provide more ways for people to grow in Christ through Visual Scriptural Interaction. You will find sermons, discussions, podcasts, and other categories of media to help cultivate learning Scripture and growth in Christ

If you are anything like me, you find yourself spending much time surfing the net, finding interesting media and videos to learn from.
Continue Reading…

How Do You Stand?

December 30, 2009 in Apologetics with 13 Comments

: Image by mrdorkesq via Flickr

That is, in your faith.

I used to get involved in debates quite frequently.

Most of them were online, and sometimes in some kind of forum. Other times they have been personal.

But never have I participated in a formal debate—I still wonder about that.

Recently, though, I have been involved in a bit of a debate with another person in a comment thread on a website I often read.

It’s been a back-and-forth commenting on the issue of the Bible Continue Reading…

Christians Sometimes Annoy Me

December 4, 2009 in Life with 3 Comments

I had a conversation today with a Christian co-worker.

We were on a job where there were many, many cubicles. I had walked around the corner of one cubicle and surprised one of my Christian co-workers. To this, he said something to the effect, “Woh, I didn’t even see you there. So, I thought I’d be a little funny and say, “I’m mysterious.” All the while I was thinking about how God moves in mysterious ways. Here’s somewhat how the conversation preceded from there.

To this, he said (paraphrase) “No! That’s not good! That’s witchcraft!” Continue Reading…

Preaching or Witnessing: That is the Question

December 3, 2009 in Preaching with 15 Comments

I’ve put a lot of thought into this idea

Recently, since I’ve found a new job, I’ve had the opportunity to share the Gospel a LOT! This is awesome! I never expected to be able to talk about Jesus and the Scriptures so much in my new workplace. What makes this even more interesting is that I had determined to not just bring up the topic of Jesus right away to new people I haven’t met. It turns out, though, that they are the ones who brought it up to me.

This seems very suspicious.

I wonder if God is doing this. I mean, come on… I resolve not to saturate my co-workers with Jesus, and they end up being the ones who ask me about it—all the time! I have no idea why these people would think I would have some kind of answer or insight to spiritual things, but for some reason they ask me questions. Most of them are not Christian and are opposed to the Bible, and one of them is actually a word-of-faith guy. All of them really need a better understanding of Jesus and the message of the Bible. I hope God does something through my brokenness to bring about change and influence in their lives.

But today has topped out all other days.
Continue Reading…

Keeping God In The Spice Cabinet

November 23, 2009 in Discipleship with 13 Comments

I Keep God In My Spice Cabinet

Lately I have been thinking about prayer.

I recently was able to do some outreach to a few homes. We gave away Turkey meals from Passage Church. This was cool in many ways. For one, it’s been a while since I’ve done an outreach like this and I was really excited about going. Next, I was praying that God would show up and He did. Also, it was my birthday, so what a gift, eh!

During our outreaching we delivered a meal to an family of 6. It was really neat. To make a long story short, Continue Reading…

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