You like Pepsi, I like Coke. I’m a Christian, Your a Muslim.
Posted on June 14, 2008
Filed Under Christianity, Gospel | 1 Comment
My last post got me thinking about something the Imam said on the show. He said that when he prays to Allah and Muhammad, and we pray to Jesus we are really praying to the same god. While this has always seemed absurd to me it has puzzled me why people would actually believe it. In essence, we are equating religion to a cosmic soda choice.
When choosing a soda, you have a preference (Coke, Pepsi, Dr. pepper) but you don’t deny that they others are soda. Have we really boiled our eternity down to the same process as choosing a soda?
The fact of the matter is that there is only one way to God and His name is Jesus Christ. You cannot call on Buddha, Allah, and other false gods and you will not reach God.
It is funny to me that “Christians” can join with these other religions and have joint prayer services. They are denying the Bible and Jesus’ words the He is the only way, only truth and only life. I would even go so far to say that when you participate in such a service, you are deceiving others into thinking they can get into Heaven by serving their god.
So next time you hear someone degrading the majesty of Christ to the difference between root beer and dr. pepper correct them and share the one true Gospel.
God bless,
Anthony
What we Can Learn From Extreme Religions
Posted on June 11, 2008
Filed Under Christianity, Gospel, Youth | Leave a Comment
Recently I was watching a program called 30 days. The point of the show is a person spends 30 days in someone elses shoes. some of the episodes are 30 days in jail, ” ” living off of minimum wage, ” ” as a coal worker and various other things. But one particular episode stuck out to me and was very interesting. The episode was 30 days as a Muslim. The person was to spend 30 full days in a Muslim community in Michigan and was to read the Koran and observe the 5 daily prayers (he didn’t have to pray just had to observe them) as well as eat to the Muslim customs and attend the Friday weekly prayer at the mosque. At one point the Imam of the local mosque told to man the be it Jesus or Allah you are praying to the same god (obviously not true BTW). The show got me thinking about the extreme religions of the world and how devoted their followers are and I think there is something Christians can learn about raising kids and discipling from these religions.
When raising children I think it is important for a child to see their parents completely sold out to Christ and willing to serve Him over all. This seems to be the key the extreme religions have to raising kids to become part of their faith. If a parent doesn’t 100% believe and trust in what he/she is teaching their child the child will never believe it either. One example is prayer. In the Muslim faith, children are raised to pray 5 times daily with their family and are held to it. It’s a miracle if a Christian child prays with his parents once a week at home (blessing the meals doesn’t count).
Another important part of getting children and teens to be committed to the faith of their parents is to see sacrifice. Sacrifice shows that you believe in God enough to inconvenience your self to further His work (be it physically, time wise or financially). Those in Extreme religions give their all to their faith. The Amish give up all the modern comforts of life to because they think it makes them holy. Most Christians won’t give up their Starbucks. Some parents expect to teach their children sacrifice by making them give an offering while never showing their children by example. I think that children should know about their parents giving and tithes because even though parents may do it, the kids may not know. Radical Muslims give their lives in suicide bombings for their religion. Christians won’t even wake up an hour early to pray and read their Bible.
I do not claim to be a parenting expert, which would be silly seeing that I have no children (or a wife for that matter) nor am I saying that i think parents are doing a bad job. I do think however, that as parents and as a church (who should back parents) we are missing something in keeping our kids in church once they turn 18. I have lived and grown up in two different states and I can only think of a few Christians kids I grew up with that are still serving Christ.
Above all, preach the Gospel to your children and never stop praying for them. I don’t know how many times I have heard stories of parents praying for their children for years and years and finally seeing a breakthrough after a long, rough road.
What do you think we can learn from these extreme religions? What do you think about the notion of including the children in the offering and tithing process?
God bless,
Anthony
Do Hard things Class
Posted on June 10, 2008
Filed Under Christianity, Do hard things, Youth, evangelism | Leave a Comment
Since I am not doing the relationship class this session, I am excited to have the privilege teaching a class to the new book Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. The book was written by teens for teens in order to motivate them to stand against the low expectations society has for teenagers and do things for Christ. The class will be 8 weeks long and each student will read the book and be challenged to do hard things.
I am excited to do the class because my heart is for teens. Teens have been told that they can have the freedom of an adult without the responsibility or maturity of an adult. This view by society has created a generation with no motavation to do anything and no reason to change that. My hope of the class is to recharge and empower the students to stand against that notion and influence and change their generation for Christ.
I am working on the curriculum and once I have it set up I will post it as a page like the Relationship class.
Has society effected how teens treat the teen years? Should we expect more from those in their teen years? If you have read the book what did you think of it? I am curious to see what others think about motavating teens.
More new posts to come. Stay tuned.
God bless.
Anthony
Relationship Class Review
Posted on June 9, 2008
Filed Under Christianity, Relationships class | Leave a Comment
Hi all,
My 8 week Relationships class has come to an end. Over all, I think it was very benificial to both those in my class as well as myself. The conversations covered everything from thoughts on what dating is see as and what it should be to sex and avoiding temptation. It was great discussion.
At the end of the last class, i asked each student whether or not they planned on dating. All of them said that they will be dating at some point but their reasons for the decision were different. One said that the class had convinced him to put off dating until he was prepared to be ready for marrage. This is a big step for teens because dating is seen as such a social necessity. One teen said that he was going to date through high school because he could. This reaction troubled me a little bit because of the rebellious attitude the statement was made with. After a little bit of discussion and clarification, he said that he wanted to wait but felt that it was ok to date.
One question was posed to me was if you are going to date is it better to date someone in the youth group or to go outside to date. My first answer was that no matter where you look for someone to date, he/she needs to be a Christian. Not just a person that goes to church on Sunday but a real on-fire Christian. After that, each has their positives and negatives. Dating inside a youth group is easier because you can speak to your youth pastor about the person and they know where they are spiritually but the drama of dating a small circle of friends can ruin a relationship before it starts. It can be more difficult to date outside of a youth group because you don’t know the persons walk with Christ as well and you may have to talk to their youth pastor to find out where they are spiritually but it helps avoid the drama of dating within the circle of friends.
My advice overall is for those under 18 to wait to date until they are physically and spiritually mature as well as prepared to get married. This is because it is not wise to awaken the feelings of passion when you are no where near prepared to get married thus you are just tempting yourself. The time to date is not an age but rather a spiritual decision that should be made with the help of parents and Pastor/youth pastor.
My class has been put on hold for this next session of 8 weeks because we have the opportunity for Worth the Wait of Nevada to come in and teach a class of teen abstinence and relationships. I will however be teaching a class on the book Do Hard Things. I will give a description of the class tomorrow.
Sorry about the lack of writing. I have a bunch of posts I am working on that will be up soon. I also want to say that I am honored by the people at 2CJC adding me to their blogroll.
God bless,
Anthony
Selfless or Selfish?
Posted on May 23, 2008
Filed Under Christianity, Gospel, evangelism | Leave a Comment
At my churches Bible study earlier this week, my pastor had a thought provoking question. If you had access to a machine that would transport you to Heaven instantly for the rest of eternity would you leave now?
What was your first reaction to the question?
If you are anything like me, you probably said show me the door but then Pastor said “What about all the people that aren’t saved?”
After hearing the question, a couple of the people in the row behind me began murmuring things such as “I’m sorry but someone else can witness to them”, “There will always be lost souls so I would just go”.
What if every Christian said that? Who would witness? Would you stay if all the other Christians left?
As Christians, we are called to be selfless. That means preaching the Gospel till you drop. If you cut out because life was getting hard is that being selfless?
While the concept may be extreme, this brings to light a very common sentiment among Christians. Some Christians may share the Gospel for a while and then decided that they have done enough. Others never preach the Gospel at all. This is a selfish way to live. As Christians, we hold the Truth and it is our job to share it with those in darkness. If we hold the truth, shouldn’t we want to tell every person possible about it.
If you preach the Gospel, you will most likely not be the most popular and you may offend some but I think I would rather offend some to Heaven rather than comfort them to Hell.
We are to preach the gospel to all nations (Mar 13:10, Mat 28:19). In order to reach all we need to give our whole life not just until it gets old.
God bless,
Anthony
Mark Driscoll and Relationships
Posted on May 19, 2008
Filed Under Relationships class, sex | Leave a Comment
In the last few weeks of the relationship class, we will be listening to three sermons by Mark Driscoll:
Mark is a little more…. open about the talk of sex than Harris. My hope by listening to these sermons is to spark a open discussion about sex and the physical side of relationships.
God bless,
Anthony
Joshua Harris “Purity” part 5 & 6
Posted on May 5, 2008
Filed Under Relationships class | Leave a Comment
Here are the Final two sermons in the Purity series
Next in my relationship class we will be listening to 3 sermons by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. You can find the titles on the class page and I will post them like I have these sermons.
God bless,
Anthony
Somthing to do with Jesus
Posted on May 3, 2008
Filed Under Christianity, Gospel | 1 Comment
tWhile at Aquire the Fire, I purchased a bracelet for the 2CJC campaign. It stands for To See Jesus Christ as well as Second Coming of Jesus Christ . It is meant to serve as a witnessing tool (meaning one) as well as a reminder to Christians the Christ is coming so we need to witness. I wear this practically all the time and everywhere and get asked about it often. While at work, I was asked about the bracelet to which I explained the meaning. The girls reply was “oh, I figured it has something to do with Jesus”.
I began thinking about the seemingly unimportant response and have come to realize something. Our live are supposed to just be a bunch of somethings to do with Jesus but rather every thing in life should be for and about Jesus. Jesus is the reason I live. He saved and changed me. The least I could do is give Him my entire life. It may not be an easy task but it is something to strive for.
God bless,
Anthony
What are you Thinking About Right Now?
Posted on May 2, 2008
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What are you thinking about right now? Depending on when you are reading this it could be about what you have to do for the day or winding down from a day. It could be planning your weekends activities or homework you need to do.
When was the last time you thought about Jesus or what He has do in/to your life? Sometimes I find myself taking for granted all the things Christ has done for me. Rather than thanking Him for a roof over my head, I mutter to myself that I wish I could afford a better apartment.
All throughout the day we should be thinking of Christ and what He has done and what He wants to do. If we fail to have Him in our thoughts we could become occupied with the hustle and bustle of the day and miss a blessing or evangelism opportunity.
I strive to allways be thinking of the things of God be it the Bible, blessings He has given me, and what I can do for Him.
Once we realize that our day is another way to worship Christ, our day to day life is transformed and even the most monotonous things have purpose.
God bless,
Anthony
Joshua Harris “Purity” part 4 slight book recap
Posted on April 29, 2008
Filed Under Christianity, Purity, Relationships class, sex | Leave a Comment
Here is Part 4 of the series on Purity.
The book has so far been very insightful. Josh starts out with telling of a girl at the alter. as Her groom begins to say his vows, a line of girls walk up to the isle and hold his hand.
“I thought your heart was mine”
“It is, it is” he pleaded. “Everything thats left is yours”
This puts the risks of the dating game in perspective. The reactions to this dream from my class were that of amazment. It seemed like they were shocked that their actions now could eventually affect their marriage.
In the other chapters of Part one, he highlights 7 habits of defective dating and 5 attitude changes to avoid defective dating.
They are very great principles and josh does a good job of bringing to light the problems with society’s’ view on dating.
I would tell you more but you should really read the book. Its pretty cheap and worth it.
If you are reading or have read the book I would love to hear your thoughts on the first section. Also, any thoughts/testimonies you have on dating and on the topic of “to date or not to date”. I want to see what everyone thinks and I will give my thoughts later.
God bless,
Anthony
