Life. Faith. Jesus.

Did you know that I am writing a series on the cross?

Some of you Old Testament junkies will enjoy this.

I’m taking my sweet ole’ time with it too. I have recently finished answering the second question in the series and wanted to give you a snippet of the article. There you will find more information, along with an entire table of Old Testament prophesies fulfilled in Jesus.

This is a series where I will leave the comment section open in the articles. That way, if people have questions (specifically, people who don’t know Jesus) they can ask them openly.

Take a moment to give it a read. Leave some feedback in the comments below.

Question #2: What did Jesus die for?

Let’s take a look at 1 Corinthians 15:3. Starting at verse 3, it says, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures . . .”

Jesus died for our sins according to Scripture. This is important, because if it was not according to Scripture He would not have been the Deliverer. What I mean by that is all the prophecies—or foretelling—of Christ in the Old Testament regarding the coming Messiah was fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Everything had to line up with all the hundreds of prophecies in order for this to actually be what it is.

Our first introduction to the promise of a deliverer is found in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This is called the protoevangelium. In other words, the first gospel, or “good news”. The wording for offspring is singular. The word “offspring” is the Hebrew word “zera`” (zeh’-rah), which may be better translated “seed.” This is singular, not plural—The Seed. From that point on, the Bible records that God’s people long for the promised Messiah.

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Guest article written by Demian Farnworth, keynote blogger at FallenandFlawed.com.

There are two people in the world: Those who go to church and those who don’t.

Let’s talk about those who go to church.

We all know a man who never misses a Sunday morning service–not because he wants to be there… But because it’s his duty.

Dad would roll over in his grave if he didn’t.

A duty he symbolically checks off his list as he kisses his shaky, silver-haired mother on the cheek and then slips out the door, never to give church, God or Christ a second thought.

This man “goes” to church.

On the other hand, we have the man who manically drags his family to church every Sunday only to break down midway through the sermon, struck dumb by the conviction of the Holy Spirit on some secret sin holed up in his heart.

Fortunately he eventually pulls himself together and rejoices when God reminds him of Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

But this man’s not done.

Throughout the week he nurses that tension between conviction and joy–his thoughts always hovering between shame from sin and pride in Christ.

Yes, he goes to church. But as you can see, he’s manifestly different than the first man and church doesn’t define him. What gives?

The truth is really very simple.
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Guest article by Don Dudley, keynote blogger at YouSeeDryBones.com.

I own books. Let me explain.

I own a history book. I can look in it and learn all about the people who lived in the ancient Sumerian culture. There are early samples of their writings like the epic known as Ishtar’s Descent into the Netherworld. How awesome is that? In the appendix it shows how cuneiform evolved into Hebrew and later Greek.

However, I am not an ancient history scholar.

I have a diet book. It’s all about getting good abs. It shows me how to eat correctly and what exercises I can do to have a sweet upper body. It has a special chapter devoted to building “explosive” speed by correctly developing my muscles.

Judging by my waistline, I am not a body builder.

Another awesome book I own is called The Blair Handbook. It is an extensive volume to help writers know the grammatical rules. This book includes sections on how to notate academic papers in MLA and APA.

Despite this, I can barely spell my own name and homonyms trip me up.

Oh, I also own a Bible.
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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

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?
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**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?
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