Hey.
I am suppose to be writing an essay but I thought I would quickly write this. quickly I promise.
Prosperity Gospel. I hate the prosperity gospel. I hate that people think the prosperity gospel is correct. I hate that the prosperity gospel is being taught in churches across the UK. God hates the prosperity gospel. But God loves those who are following this so called "gospel".
Hate is a strong word to use so many times in one sentence, but I genuinely struggle with the idea that people think its is correct. There is NO teaching about the prosperity gospel in the bible, it is all man's conceived idea that they will adapt the gospel to reach their own potential and their own ideology.
The prosperity gospel is the idea that God wants us to prosper in success, whether this be in money, healthy, safety etc. As much as this is a lovely idea it is wrong. We all want to be successful, and we all want to make something of ourselves but sometimes this won't happen. This is not because God loves our richer friends more than us, this is simple down to God having a different plan for each individual.
If we look closely at 2 Corinthians 12 it says this:
1I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. 5I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.
7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I know it is a big chunk but there is so much to take from this, that simply disqualifies any fundamental "facts" about the prosperity gospel.
1) 'I will go on boasting although there is nothing to be gained"
Paul is clear that he knows that boasting about Christ is not about him and not about his gain. He knows that it is all for God and the advancement of God's kingdom. He is not boasting in himself and he is not for his own gain but he is boasting in CHRIST and for CHRIST'S GAIN.
2) I will not boast about myself- There is nothing that we can do here on Earth that is going to gain our salvation. There is nothing we can do that can better ourselves that will glorify God, which is something we should be aiming for.
3) My grace is sufficient enough for you, my power is made stronger in your weakness- This is the biggest fact. God' grace is enough. We do not NEED anything else but grace. When we are weak God is stronger. Why is that appealing? Through that we can be stronger but not through material things but through faith.
4) For Christ's sake I delight in my weakness- Through our weakness he is made strong. We delight in our weakness because it enables us to be clear and thankful for what God has already done.
Prosperity gospel is not evident in this at all. There is no place in God's kingdom for prosperity gospel. We are not saved so we can advance ourselves, we are saved through God's mercy and love. Nothing else.
If anything we should be asking God to be satisfied in him, as John Piper said God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him. When we are most satisfied in him and not the progression of our successes.
Please take a couple of minutes to watch this quite harrowing, hard-hitting video on the prosperity gospel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGzqIcbvARw
If this is something that you in believe in then maybe you should consider looking back into the word and really try discover for yourself the true meaning of self-sacrificing faith.
Til next time
xx
Friday, 20 March 2009
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
update on facebook loss....
I'd like to say that I am still not on facebook!!!
I have not once logged in. My status and picture changed because my housemate is running for union president, so my other housemate changed it for me to help Wood out!
Only a few more weeks to go!!!
Its going ok! woop!
Also, this updates my profile automatically without me logging on!!!
I have not once logged in. My status and picture changed because my housemate is running for union president, so my other housemate changed it for me to help Wood out!
Only a few more weeks to go!!!
Its going ok! woop!
Also, this updates my profile automatically without me logging on!!!
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Lent...facebook....power in his name.
Hey Guys,
Firstly, I can not believe it is March already!!! Its mental. I know people say it a lot but time really does fly. Gosh! I really need to crack on with my uni work. Essays...dissertations (actually singular...imagine plural dissertations!!) its all crazy times.
So, its lent....I usually don't do anything for lent because it doesn't really have any significance in my life. However, I had decided that this year I would abstain from chocolate, swearing and fast food. Thus far, I am doing very well in the chocolate region...the others not so much. I ate Domino's last night (for a justified reason) and I swore when I hurt myself!! Bad times.
As I was in church this morning the sermon was on Acts 19, this is when they reach Ephesus and there is the chaos concerning the Goddess Artemis.
So, basically in short they are really worshipping this Goddess, practicing occults etc and when they see the power in the name of Jesus when it rids a demon, they publicly burn their stuff associated with the occult and Luke says 'in this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew power'. (Act 19:20).
This got me thinking about my Lent actions and things that are in my life that can sometimes override the power of God in me. Unlike these people I am not bounded my witchcraft, occults or the worship of idols but there are things in my life that take up my time, effort and focus when it could be used something that is more beneficial. I am not necessarily saying that I am going to use this time to read my bible, pray etc, all of which I should do more of. However, I am very blessed to be at uni, getting a degree etc. Sometimes we think if we wasting our time we should be reading our bibles etc, which of course (I cannot stress enough) that we do need to be doing; but we need to look our lives and think am I putting in the effort in my school, uni, work that I should do. We are all so blessed to be where we are, in the west, with a house, food, clothes, job, education etc then why do we find it hard to get rid of things that aren't good for us?? Why do we put so much time in other things that distract us from reaching our potential that God has for us?
Like, this people we don't understand the power in the name of Jesus so we target our attention on other things. We forget the blessings we have around us and try our attention elsewhere. For me, its Facebook. I am terrible!!! I am literally on it all the time, for example I am logged in now and have been for the last three hours. Its not that I am logged on but when I am not doing anything I'll just look around!? This is not such a massive issue but when I am suppose to be doing uni work I'll open facebook every other minute...to the point its a little ridiculous. I need to metaphorically burn this addiction....it literally is an addiction. It sounds so trivial but I need to work hard at uni but something such as facebook is that hinderence. In Colossians 3:23 it says this
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men"
And to be honest, I am not doing that. So going back to Acts 19: I am not understanding the power of Jesus' name and I am in uni for a reason and I need to achieve something that is good, like I am giving God a thanksgiving. So what I have decided to do is give up facebook!! Just at least til Easter just to see if I can do it. Its not biggy if I don't but I really want to work hard and test my self-control. It will start as of tomorrow (Monday 2nd) and I will only change my status if I do another blog so people can read it.
If you're reading this and a regular visiting of my facebook profile please continuing writing on it and tagging me in pictures but I won't reply until its Easter or I've cracked. If you want to contact me then email me hollincross@gmail.com or just text me haha! I don't know how I am going to get on with this but who knows!
I'll try and write another blog but I do have a lot of work to do!!! Please think about what I'v said
Till next time
.
Firstly, I can not believe it is March already!!! Its mental. I know people say it a lot but time really does fly. Gosh! I really need to crack on with my uni work. Essays...dissertations (actually singular...imagine plural dissertations!!) its all crazy times.
So, its lent....I usually don't do anything for lent because it doesn't really have any significance in my life. However, I had decided that this year I would abstain from chocolate, swearing and fast food. Thus far, I am doing very well in the chocolate region...the others not so much. I ate Domino's last night (for a justified reason) and I swore when I hurt myself!! Bad times.
As I was in church this morning the sermon was on Acts 19, this is when they reach Ephesus and there is the chaos concerning the Goddess Artemis.
So, basically in short they are really worshipping this Goddess, practicing occults etc and when they see the power in the name of Jesus when it rids a demon, they publicly burn their stuff associated with the occult and Luke says 'in this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew power'. (Act 19:20).
This got me thinking about my Lent actions and things that are in my life that can sometimes override the power of God in me. Unlike these people I am not bounded my witchcraft, occults or the worship of idols but there are things in my life that take up my time, effort and focus when it could be used something that is more beneficial. I am not necessarily saying that I am going to use this time to read my bible, pray etc, all of which I should do more of. However, I am very blessed to be at uni, getting a degree etc. Sometimes we think if we wasting our time we should be reading our bibles etc, which of course (I cannot stress enough) that we do need to be doing; but we need to look our lives and think am I putting in the effort in my school, uni, work that I should do. We are all so blessed to be where we are, in the west, with a house, food, clothes, job, education etc then why do we find it hard to get rid of things that aren't good for us?? Why do we put so much time in other things that distract us from reaching our potential that God has for us?
Like, this people we don't understand the power in the name of Jesus so we target our attention on other things. We forget the blessings we have around us and try our attention elsewhere. For me, its Facebook. I am terrible!!! I am literally on it all the time, for example I am logged in now and have been for the last three hours. Its not that I am logged on but when I am not doing anything I'll just look around!? This is not such a massive issue but when I am suppose to be doing uni work I'll open facebook every other minute...to the point its a little ridiculous. I need to metaphorically burn this addiction....it literally is an addiction. It sounds so trivial but I need to work hard at uni but something such as facebook is that hinderence. In Colossians 3:23 it says this
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men"
And to be honest, I am not doing that. So going back to Acts 19: I am not understanding the power of Jesus' name and I am in uni for a reason and I need to achieve something that is good, like I am giving God a thanksgiving. So what I have decided to do is give up facebook!! Just at least til Easter just to see if I can do it. Its not biggy if I don't but I really want to work hard and test my self-control. It will start as of tomorrow (Monday 2nd) and I will only change my status if I do another blog so people can read it.
If you're reading this and a regular visiting of my facebook profile please continuing writing on it and tagging me in pictures but I won't reply until its Easter or I've cracked. If you want to contact me then email me hollincross@gmail.com or just text me haha! I don't know how I am going to get on with this but who knows!
I'll try and write another blog but I do have a lot of work to do!!! Please think about what I'v said
Till next time
.
Thursday, 15 January 2009
paths, plans, life....argh?!
'Ite,
It has been a while since I have written on here! Apologies to so many loyal people, haha! Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I am unsure about when it becomes a bit unacceptable to ask people if they had a nice Christmas. Although Christmas was only three works ago but it feels so much longer. Uni starts on Monday so its gonna be a week full of Christmas chat, which does feel slightly unnatural. Just a thought for you.
Anyways, enough rambling lets focus!! I am in my third year of university so currently the biggest questions I get asked (beside how my Christmas was) is what are you going to do after you leave? I have asked it to so many people because theoretically once you leave uni you're suppose to get on with your life and become a REAL grown-up. This is all well and good but to be honest not many students want to be real grown-ups. Unless there is a job where I can wake up at whatever time I want and check facebook every four minutes I am not that interested. Slowly I am coming to the conclusion that this is not going to become a reality, so because of this I need to start thinking seriously about my life, and more importantly what God wants for my life.
One of the most encouraging verses in the bible is Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"
I've heard this verse so many time before but it wasn't until I just copied it that I notice 'for I know the plans'. I know I love picking out words but here I am doing it again . When it says 'I know' the plans God has already decided, he has planned well before you even knew. Which is so amazing. However, this doesn't mean we can become lazy and just assume that opportunities are going to fall into our laps. God gives opportunities but we need to be ready to see and seize them.
Please check out this clip from Evan Almighty:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bkf-J9TjGPc
Like Morgan Freeman/God says we aren't just zapped with these things but we are presented with an opportunity to show them. This is exactly the same with God's plans, sadly we aren't presented with our life plan in 34 slide PowerPoint presentation. We are shown opportunities and ways to get there. As much has God opens doors he can close doors as well, so options that we might think are right maybe aren't. This isn't easy but we need to trust in God and believe him when he talks in Jeremiah that he has plans that give us hope and future.
I am not saying that once we trust God life is going to be easy and all our dreams are fulfilled, but what I am saying that with God we can ensure that he is going to keep us safe. With God there is hope and that hope is Jesus. Through trusting in him we can have the hope of grace, the hope of salvation and with that we can benefit the fullness of life. We do not need to worry about our future because if we have God in the centre he will clearly show our paths. We just need to be open to them and ready to take action.
Proverbs 16:9:
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps
We may have planned our lives out to the very small detail but this verse puts it in perspective. If our heart is with God's no matter what plans we have he decides our steps and will get us to that point he desires, with hope and safety.
Reassuring?
Til next time!
xx
It has been a while since I have written on here! Apologies to so many loyal people, haha! Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I am unsure about when it becomes a bit unacceptable to ask people if they had a nice Christmas. Although Christmas was only three works ago but it feels so much longer. Uni starts on Monday so its gonna be a week full of Christmas chat, which does feel slightly unnatural. Just a thought for you.
Anyways, enough rambling lets focus!! I am in my third year of university so currently the biggest questions I get asked (beside how my Christmas was) is what are you going to do after you leave? I have asked it to so many people because theoretically once you leave uni you're suppose to get on with your life and become a REAL grown-up. This is all well and good but to be honest not many students want to be real grown-ups. Unless there is a job where I can wake up at whatever time I want and check facebook every four minutes I am not that interested. Slowly I am coming to the conclusion that this is not going to become a reality, so because of this I need to start thinking seriously about my life, and more importantly what God wants for my life.
One of the most encouraging verses in the bible is Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"
I've heard this verse so many time before but it wasn't until I just copied it that I notice 'for I know the plans'. I know I love picking out words but here I am doing it again . When it says 'I know' the plans God has already decided, he has planned well before you even knew. Which is so amazing. However, this doesn't mean we can become lazy and just assume that opportunities are going to fall into our laps. God gives opportunities but we need to be ready to see and seize them.
Please check out this clip from Evan Almighty:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bkf-J9TjGPc
Like Morgan Freeman/God says we aren't just zapped with these things but we are presented with an opportunity to show them. This is exactly the same with God's plans, sadly we aren't presented with our life plan in 34 slide PowerPoint presentation. We are shown opportunities and ways to get there. As much has God opens doors he can close doors as well, so options that we might think are right maybe aren't. This isn't easy but we need to trust in God and believe him when he talks in Jeremiah that he has plans that give us hope and future.
I am not saying that once we trust God life is going to be easy and all our dreams are fulfilled, but what I am saying that with God we can ensure that he is going to keep us safe. With God there is hope and that hope is Jesus. Through trusting in him we can have the hope of grace, the hope of salvation and with that we can benefit the fullness of life. We do not need to worry about our future because if we have God in the centre he will clearly show our paths. We just need to be open to them and ready to take action.
Proverbs 16:9:
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps
We may have planned our lives out to the very small detail but this verse puts it in perspective. If our heart is with God's no matter what plans we have he decides our steps and will get us to that point he desires, with hope and safety.
Reassuring?
Til next time!
xx
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Your Grace is Enough....
Hey,
Firstly, I think it is wise to start off with an apology for the previous post as the majority of it made no grammatical sense! I hope you understood it regardless if not sorry! I am hoping this one will make more sense but who knows as it is 2.35 am and I should be writing an essay! Bad times!
I went to a wedding at the weekend which was amazing! During the signing of the register its tradition to have someone sing or a piece of music, well this is the case for the weddings I have been to. At this particular wedding they had 'I can only imagine' by MercyMe which is an awesome song. This got me thinking to my wedding and what song I would like to have. I don't often think about weddings (trust me) and what song I would have during this bit. Actually, I confess the only thing I think of when I think of my wedding is the music so I have all the important bits of music sorted and they aren't up for negotiation haha! Anyway...as I was walking to work I was thinking about this and wondering what song I would choose. I listed categories that the song would have to fit and these are as follows:
Firstly, I think it is wise to start off with an apology for the previous post as the majority of it made no grammatical sense! I hope you understood it regardless if not sorry! I am hoping this one will make more sense but who knows as it is 2.35 am and I should be writing an essay! Bad times!
I went to a wedding at the weekend which was amazing! During the signing of the register its tradition to have someone sing or a piece of music, well this is the case for the weddings I have been to. At this particular wedding they had 'I can only imagine' by MercyMe which is an awesome song. This got me thinking to my wedding and what song I would like to have. I don't often think about weddings (trust me) and what song I would have during this bit. Actually, I confess the only thing I think of when I think of my wedding is the music so I have all the important bits of music sorted and they aren't up for negotiation haha! Anyway...as I was walking to work I was thinking about this and wondering what song I would choose. I listed categories that the song would have to fit and these are as follows:
- Mean something to me personally and preferably to the groom
- Evangelistic but not overpowering
- Thought provoking
- Slightly emotional--- it is a wedding--I mean its the start of the end really isn't it?!
- Show Love
- Show God's awesomeness
Now to be honest this is quite a lot to ask of one song but it is a do-able, I am convinced. I was thinking of all the songs I can remember and actually accidentally singing out loud whilst walking, I came up with 'This is our God' by Hillsong. I am not the biggest Hillsong music fan when saying this I don't know all their songs and choose to listen to them as I do other Christian music. I first heard the song at Soul Survivor this year and it was my favourite because to me it just summed up God, what he did and continues to do for me. Below are listed the lyrics:
HillsongThis Is Our GodThis Is Our God
VERSE 1:
Your grace is enough more than I need. At Your word I will believe .I wait for You Draw near again Let Your Spirit make me new
CHORUS:I will fall at Your feet. I will fall at Your feet. And I will worship You here
VERSE 2:Your presence in me Jesus light the way. By the power of Your word I am restored I am redeemed. By Your Spirit I am free
BRIDGE:Freely You gave it all for us Surrendered Your life upon that cross. Great is the love Poured out for all. This is our God. Lifted on high from death to life. Forever our God is glorified. Servant and King Rescued the world. This is our God
Courtesy of: http://www.songlyrics.com/hillsong/this-is-our-god/277229/
The reason I think that this sums God up is just because it covers so much. It documents the trinity, talks about the act of grace, talks about worship, talks about God being glorified, talks the bible and finally how grace is all we need. It is so evangelistic it is unreal! If you listen to a recording of this song, particularly off the This is Our God album it is chilling (in a good way). The reason I want it at my wedding is because it covers everything in my list.
Mean something to me personally and preferably to the groom-- It had a massive impact on me
Evangelistic but not overpowering--It displays the gospel in a non-threatening way
Thought provoking--It provokes thought?! haha
Slightly emotional--- it is a wedding--I mean its the start of the end really isn't it?!-- I think its emotional
Show Love--Shows God's love
Show God's awesomeness---The bridge is a clear demonstration of this
God is glorified in this song as well which is something I adore.
One thing that I want to quickly focus on is right at the beginning when it says 'Your Grace is enough more than I need'. This refers to Paul's comments 2 Corinthians 12 when Paul is describing his thorn in his side which is the devil tormenting him. He cries out to God to get rid of it but God's reply is this v.9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". We try and fulfill out lives with so many things, materialistic, emotional, physical and everything else. We are asked what we want for our birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries. My entire wardrobe is full of things that I wanted. I was wondering through Asda searching for treacle for Mummy Cross and I was wondering passed all of these items thinking do we actually need any of this? I met a guy at a pub in Wales and he got his children to watch the adverts during Coronation Street one day and write down anything they saw that they needed. At the end of the break their papers were blank. We are told we need the latest fashion, the newest I-phone and car but do we really? Yes, they may make things easier or make us look good but do we need them? I haven't had a phone for 3 months, at this point it would be good to point out that this is not because of choice before you go think I am some amazing person. One thing I have realised that my phone isn't a necessity it is something that makes life that little bit easier but it is something I need. Ok, fair enough its irritating for my friends at times but it hasn't stopped friendships.
When God said to Paul 'my grace is sufficient for you' its like God saying 'It'll do'. We need nothing else but Grace. With Grace God will give us what we need and not always what we want. That's not because God wants to be unhappy but because if we had everything we wanted then we would be spoilt. Think about when your parents said no to things that you could of had, its not because they don't love you its because they want to make sure you grow up well-rounded and thankful. Paul had a massive problem but when God said his grace is enough it was because God was going to be glorified in Paul's weakness. So when we are struggling or we think we need that top from Topshop or the next I-phone and then we can't afford it or our struggles don't seem to be going away, remind yourself that His grace is sufficient and it will do. With this is mind we will able to 'fall at his feet' understanding how amazing Grace really is and he will be glorified.
Thanks...all done....apologises it was so long. I never intend it to be but once I get going you know.....
Until next time!!
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
How can I be sure of my faith
Hey!
Sorry its been so long. Below is a LONG post 2737 words to be precise! I apologise. It is my talk for youth alpha so when I state ask the idea is that they ask me then and there. If you wanna asl then comment!
Hope you're all good! Also I didn't spell check because it has taken me 2 hours and I can't be bothered!!!
Til next time!
xx
How Can I be Sure of my Faith?
This is probably one of the most difficult topics that is covered in youth alpha. There is nothing that I am going to say that is going to make you be sure of your faith. There are things that are going to get you thinking and ideas that may help you on your way but nothing that is going to completely “prove” the existence of God. Before all the Christians in the room scream “heathen” at me I think it would be necessary to explain myself before I continue. It is the age old argument “you can’t disprove God” with the reply “yes but you can’t prove him either”, it is one that many Christian struggle with when trying to defend their faith. The only thing that is going to make you sure of your faith is God himself.
Faith is explained in the bible as “1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” Hebrews 11:1. This is something that we will come back to later but I thought chucking a definition of faith would be a good idea to start off with.
It is slightly ironic that I, of all people have been chosen to speak on this particular topic. As far as I am aware it wasn’t intentional by the people running this course in choosing me to speak but as I was thinking and praying about doing this I realised that it is totally God. The reason it is so ironic/bizarre is because for the majority of my Christian life I have been ridden with doubt. I would measure, (not that you should measure) but I measured my faith on how many doubts I had. For example, if I had no doubts it was a good week for my faith, hurrah(!) but if I had loads of doubts it was a bad week. Firstly, this is ridiculous because we shouldn’t be measuring out faith because otherwise we’d be constantly feeling bad! Secondly, did I really have faith if I doubted? If you ask any Christian during their walk with God they have doubted one way or another. Whether that is for 20 minutes or 20 years there would have been so form of doubt. This doesn’t make them less of a Christian but what does matter is how they deal with their doubt.
The point of my talk is not to prove God because as I said only he can do that to you but simply to give you some background information that you can think and maybe pray over. There are a few things that I personally struggled with and I believe there are universal so they are not just attributed to me and me only. I have looked into many different non-biblical sources to try establish solid answers but of course I looked at the bible to see what it states about being sure of our faith.
Doubt is defined as something that you are uncertain about, a lack of confidence, some disbelief. There is some hope within these very negative definition if you look closely! Uncertainty and lack of confidence show hope because all is not lost, if you are uncertain it doesn’t mean you don’t agree you’re just not entirely sure. A lack of confidence can suggest that there needs to be a catalyst to trigger that significant confidence. I was speaking to someone about Christianity and they were saying that they were unsure, they weren’t Christian but they were still in the doubting stage. One thing that I said to them is that “It’s a good place to be but not a good place to dwell”. If this is you if you’re in that stage were your unsure this is obviously a good place because you’re in consideration but it’s a bad place to settle. It’s not only going to get you saved but it is also not healthy for your mentality as you there is a constant battle in your head.
Jesus himself discusses doubt and the dangers it can do to your faith. The famous story of doubting Thomas which I think is now a common phrase used here in the UK?! Anyway, this story takes place right at the end of John’s gospel when Jesus has died and resurrected and he is appearing to his disciples. John 20:24-30
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
Like many of us it is difficult to believe in something that isn’t physically there. So when we hear Christians banging on about the Love of Jesus and how we can be “saved” it is hard to understand because we haven’t seen it ourselves. Thomas was a massive doubter! He doubted more than anyone in history when you think about it because he had spend the last three years following Jesus around and being part of the miracles. You would think it would be hard for him to doubt when the disciples exclaim that they have seen Christ and Jesus has done what he came to do that Thomas would doubt unless he sees Jesus. When Jesus does present himself to Thomas he shows the holes in his hands he “says to him “stop doubting and believe” this is a cry to all of us. This was a cry to me! The biggest shout ever!! Stop doubting and believe! Jesus says we are blessed because we believe and have yet to see! This means we are highly favoured! This is good news! We doubt because we are uncertain but Jesus call to all of us is stop doubting and believe!
Another thing that we can learn from Thomas’ experience is his own personal experience of God. Like I said at the beginning there is nothing that I am going to say that will you convince you of your own faith it is something that you are going to need to explore and in time God will reveal himself to you. Thomas at the time was probably annoyed at God because his Messiah had died in front of him and it looked like the last three years of his life was wasted. It was such good timing when Jesus did reveal himself to Thomas because John records his anger and frustrating when he demands to see the wounds. At Christian events we learn of people’s testimonies, their stories about how they became Christians or how God has worked in their lives. These are often my favourite bits because they are so inspiring and relevant. In order to live as a Christian we need a personal relationship with God and in that personal relationship God will work in us. My second year of uni was by far the worst year in my life. It wasn’t overly dramatic in a sense that my life was threatened but everything that could of gone wrong went from. Financially, friends, uni work amd relationships was all going to pot. One thing that did stay true was my faith I just knew that God will take me out of this bigger and stronger. As the verse read at the beginning my faith showed me hope. Now a few months on my current friendship are so solid and strong, financially there is hope, uni is a lot better and relationship well lets not go there 4 out of 5 is not bad! My God through my faith carried me during this difficult times, I had hope that he was going to sort it out and he is still doing that now. That is my personal experience and I can look bad and stand here now being sure of my faith. Richard Dawkins, the guy who wrote “the God Delusion” states that this a ridiculous element of Christianity. The simple counter-argument to this is how can you know that unless you’ve experienced it! How can we be sure of our faith well we need to experience faith in order to be sure of it.
What about science and history? Aren’t them some inaccuracies about these in the bible? Just quickly science doesn’t disprove God. Science simply tells you how things work not how they were created. That is an argument that many non-christians try to argue but don’t often look at the bigger picture. In Max Lucado’s book ‘In the Grip of Grace’ he talks about the story of a cricket (I am no way going to explain it as amazingly as he does but I’ll give it a go!) in church. One day the cricket goes back to its whole in the wall with the other crickets and they start a discussion about where the light comes from. One cricket states “well its comes from that big light up there” but another cricket asks “but where does that light come from?”. They all sit there and ponder for weeks about this concern then one day another cricket had discovered a new idea! “It comes from the electricity” all the crickets are amazing by this but then another asks “but where does electricity come from?”. Once again they ponder this very big dilemma for another week. Finally after weeks of pondering a cricket watch a human turn on the light at the switch. We can go back and back and back trying to discover what created what but one thing that we have yet to discover is the original source. This direct quote from Lucado’s book is this “The loss in mystery has lead to the loss of majesty. Knowledge should negate wonder” simply meaning that because we think we know more we have lost sight of the creator. Just because we know more shouldn’t mean we wonder less. The bible has many examples of scientific accuracies and if you want to specifically then please ask me.
The bible wasn’t written as an historical document but does display many historical accuracies. It demonstrates the way of life during periods it was written. Whenever you open the bible you are likely to see a place name which can be traced back with archaeology. There is a lot of archaeology evidence in the bible and again if you want to know more ask me. We need to understand though that the bible was not written as an historical document but a spiritual handbook.
How about the authenticity of the bible? This simply means that many people have issues with the bible. The bible is one of the most important aspects of being a Christian. It teaches us about God’s character, it is a practical handbook to how to live and it tells us how we can get salvation! If we are unsure about the bible then this is a massive issue that needs to be addressed. Whether or not the bible could be the word of God, “the lost gospels” and how can it not be incorrect after years of copies?
All of these are very valid questions and ones that many question. Lets begin with the first question: could the bible be the word of God? The best place to start is to see what the bible suggests about the scripture being the word of God. In 2 Timothy 3-17 it states this “16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” This simply means that all scripture is from God and the reason that it is here is basically to act as practical guide on how to live like a Christian. How can God send what he thinks to the average human who physically wrote the bible? Throughout the old testament God spoke through prophets, we just need to simply look at Moses and the Ten Commandments where God gives him the laws to abide.
In the old testament “Then said the Lord” is mentioned over 400 times and when Jesus was preaching in Luke 24:44-45 he states “'These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. " He references the old testament and stating his role that he played in the old testament calling them his words. Jesus never said they contain the word of God instead his says they ARE the word of God.
What about contradictions within the bible? This is one massive problem when people try to defeat the Christian faith. One thing that we need to be sure of that the copies we have now of the bible are NOT inspired. The original documents were ones written by Peter, John, Matthew, Paul etc but the copies we have of those inspired documents are not inspired themselves. Does that mean we cannot trust the bible? No! The bible is 98.5% accurate which means on 1.5% of the bible is uncertain. The originals were inspired and inspiration comes from God so when he the bible was written it was perfect. Due to the high accuracy of the bible the inaccuracies are so small that it will not change the teaching of the bible. Inaccuracies such as Christ Jesus and not Jesus Christ, small grammatical errors. We would throw out a science textbook due to a some small spelling or grammatically errors? No, of course we wouldn’t so then why do that with the bible? There are many famous documents such as the work philosopher, playwright and author Plato which were written around 427 BC and it wasn’t until 900 AD around 1200 years after it was first written that the first copy was made and from that we only have around 9 copies to choose from.
The bible, however first copy was written around 130 years after the death and resurrection of Christ and we have over 24,000 copies that we can translate from. We would dismiss the bible as not being accurate but not Plato?
Another thing which TV programmes in particular have gone to town about are the supposed “lost gospels” or the “lost books of the bible” . I am not going to dwell on this but just to quickly say they were never lost. They were known by the Jews and Christians of the time but they were never considered inspired. They lack apostles authorship and were never claiming to be the word of God, one thing we understand to be important, they also contain serious historical inaccuracies which would deem them unreliable. There you go! Problem sorted!
I understand that is a lot information to take and a lot of numbers, dates and references but it is so important that if we doubt the bible then we need to ensure that we are corrected.
It is an age old question how can I be sure of my faith? I personally think it is down to you to answer that question. I just wanted to present some ideas that would hopefully clarify some issues you may have had with some elements of Christianity. Ask any Christian and they will be happy to tell you how they are sure of their faith. I am sure of my faith because of the amount of work he has done in my life.
Sorry its been so long. Below is a LONG post 2737 words to be precise! I apologise. It is my talk for youth alpha so when I state ask the idea is that they ask me then and there. If you wanna asl then comment!
Hope you're all good! Also I didn't spell check because it has taken me 2 hours and I can't be bothered!!!
Til next time!
xx
How Can I be Sure of my Faith?
This is probably one of the most difficult topics that is covered in youth alpha. There is nothing that I am going to say that is going to make you be sure of your faith. There are things that are going to get you thinking and ideas that may help you on your way but nothing that is going to completely “prove” the existence of God. Before all the Christians in the room scream “heathen” at me I think it would be necessary to explain myself before I continue. It is the age old argument “you can’t disprove God” with the reply “yes but you can’t prove him either”, it is one that many Christian struggle with when trying to defend their faith. The only thing that is going to make you sure of your faith is God himself.
Faith is explained in the bible as “1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” Hebrews 11:1. This is something that we will come back to later but I thought chucking a definition of faith would be a good idea to start off with.
It is slightly ironic that I, of all people have been chosen to speak on this particular topic. As far as I am aware it wasn’t intentional by the people running this course in choosing me to speak but as I was thinking and praying about doing this I realised that it is totally God. The reason it is so ironic/bizarre is because for the majority of my Christian life I have been ridden with doubt. I would measure, (not that you should measure) but I measured my faith on how many doubts I had. For example, if I had no doubts it was a good week for my faith, hurrah(!) but if I had loads of doubts it was a bad week. Firstly, this is ridiculous because we shouldn’t be measuring out faith because otherwise we’d be constantly feeling bad! Secondly, did I really have faith if I doubted? If you ask any Christian during their walk with God they have doubted one way or another. Whether that is for 20 minutes or 20 years there would have been so form of doubt. This doesn’t make them less of a Christian but what does matter is how they deal with their doubt.
The point of my talk is not to prove God because as I said only he can do that to you but simply to give you some background information that you can think and maybe pray over. There are a few things that I personally struggled with and I believe there are universal so they are not just attributed to me and me only. I have looked into many different non-biblical sources to try establish solid answers but of course I looked at the bible to see what it states about being sure of our faith.
Doubt is defined as something that you are uncertain about, a lack of confidence, some disbelief. There is some hope within these very negative definition if you look closely! Uncertainty and lack of confidence show hope because all is not lost, if you are uncertain it doesn’t mean you don’t agree you’re just not entirely sure. A lack of confidence can suggest that there needs to be a catalyst to trigger that significant confidence. I was speaking to someone about Christianity and they were saying that they were unsure, they weren’t Christian but they were still in the doubting stage. One thing that I said to them is that “It’s a good place to be but not a good place to dwell”. If this is you if you’re in that stage were your unsure this is obviously a good place because you’re in consideration but it’s a bad place to settle. It’s not only going to get you saved but it is also not healthy for your mentality as you there is a constant battle in your head.
Jesus himself discusses doubt and the dangers it can do to your faith. The famous story of doubting Thomas which I think is now a common phrase used here in the UK?! Anyway, this story takes place right at the end of John’s gospel when Jesus has died and resurrected and he is appearing to his disciples. John 20:24-30
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
Like many of us it is difficult to believe in something that isn’t physically there. So when we hear Christians banging on about the Love of Jesus and how we can be “saved” it is hard to understand because we haven’t seen it ourselves. Thomas was a massive doubter! He doubted more than anyone in history when you think about it because he had spend the last three years following Jesus around and being part of the miracles. You would think it would be hard for him to doubt when the disciples exclaim that they have seen Christ and Jesus has done what he came to do that Thomas would doubt unless he sees Jesus. When Jesus does present himself to Thomas he shows the holes in his hands he “says to him “stop doubting and believe” this is a cry to all of us. This was a cry to me! The biggest shout ever!! Stop doubting and believe! Jesus says we are blessed because we believe and have yet to see! This means we are highly favoured! This is good news! We doubt because we are uncertain but Jesus call to all of us is stop doubting and believe!
Another thing that we can learn from Thomas’ experience is his own personal experience of God. Like I said at the beginning there is nothing that I am going to say that will you convince you of your own faith it is something that you are going to need to explore and in time God will reveal himself to you. Thomas at the time was probably annoyed at God because his Messiah had died in front of him and it looked like the last three years of his life was wasted. It was such good timing when Jesus did reveal himself to Thomas because John records his anger and frustrating when he demands to see the wounds. At Christian events we learn of people’s testimonies, their stories about how they became Christians or how God has worked in their lives. These are often my favourite bits because they are so inspiring and relevant. In order to live as a Christian we need a personal relationship with God and in that personal relationship God will work in us. My second year of uni was by far the worst year in my life. It wasn’t overly dramatic in a sense that my life was threatened but everything that could of gone wrong went from. Financially, friends, uni work amd relationships was all going to pot. One thing that did stay true was my faith I just knew that God will take me out of this bigger and stronger. As the verse read at the beginning my faith showed me hope. Now a few months on my current friendship are so solid and strong, financially there is hope, uni is a lot better and relationship well lets not go there 4 out of 5 is not bad! My God through my faith carried me during this difficult times, I had hope that he was going to sort it out and he is still doing that now. That is my personal experience and I can look bad and stand here now being sure of my faith. Richard Dawkins, the guy who wrote “the God Delusion” states that this a ridiculous element of Christianity. The simple counter-argument to this is how can you know that unless you’ve experienced it! How can we be sure of our faith well we need to experience faith in order to be sure of it.
What about science and history? Aren’t them some inaccuracies about these in the bible? Just quickly science doesn’t disprove God. Science simply tells you how things work not how they were created. That is an argument that many non-christians try to argue but don’t often look at the bigger picture. In Max Lucado’s book ‘In the Grip of Grace’ he talks about the story of a cricket (I am no way going to explain it as amazingly as he does but I’ll give it a go!) in church. One day the cricket goes back to its whole in the wall with the other crickets and they start a discussion about where the light comes from. One cricket states “well its comes from that big light up there” but another cricket asks “but where does that light come from?”. They all sit there and ponder for weeks about this concern then one day another cricket had discovered a new idea! “It comes from the electricity” all the crickets are amazing by this but then another asks “but where does electricity come from?”. Once again they ponder this very big dilemma for another week. Finally after weeks of pondering a cricket watch a human turn on the light at the switch. We can go back and back and back trying to discover what created what but one thing that we have yet to discover is the original source. This direct quote from Lucado’s book is this “The loss in mystery has lead to the loss of majesty. Knowledge should negate wonder” simply meaning that because we think we know more we have lost sight of the creator. Just because we know more shouldn’t mean we wonder less. The bible has many examples of scientific accuracies and if you want to specifically then please ask me.
The bible wasn’t written as an historical document but does display many historical accuracies. It demonstrates the way of life during periods it was written. Whenever you open the bible you are likely to see a place name which can be traced back with archaeology. There is a lot of archaeology evidence in the bible and again if you want to know more ask me. We need to understand though that the bible was not written as an historical document but a spiritual handbook.
How about the authenticity of the bible? This simply means that many people have issues with the bible. The bible is one of the most important aspects of being a Christian. It teaches us about God’s character, it is a practical handbook to how to live and it tells us how we can get salvation! If we are unsure about the bible then this is a massive issue that needs to be addressed. Whether or not the bible could be the word of God, “the lost gospels” and how can it not be incorrect after years of copies?
All of these are very valid questions and ones that many question. Lets begin with the first question: could the bible be the word of God? The best place to start is to see what the bible suggests about the scripture being the word of God. In 2 Timothy 3-17 it states this “16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” This simply means that all scripture is from God and the reason that it is here is basically to act as practical guide on how to live like a Christian. How can God send what he thinks to the average human who physically wrote the bible? Throughout the old testament God spoke through prophets, we just need to simply look at Moses and the Ten Commandments where God gives him the laws to abide.
In the old testament “Then said the Lord” is mentioned over 400 times and when Jesus was preaching in Luke 24:44-45 he states “'These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. " He references the old testament and stating his role that he played in the old testament calling them his words. Jesus never said they contain the word of God instead his says they ARE the word of God.
What about contradictions within the bible? This is one massive problem when people try to defeat the Christian faith. One thing that we need to be sure of that the copies we have now of the bible are NOT inspired. The original documents were ones written by Peter, John, Matthew, Paul etc but the copies we have of those inspired documents are not inspired themselves. Does that mean we cannot trust the bible? No! The bible is 98.5% accurate which means on 1.5% of the bible is uncertain. The originals were inspired and inspiration comes from God so when he the bible was written it was perfect. Due to the high accuracy of the bible the inaccuracies are so small that it will not change the teaching of the bible. Inaccuracies such as Christ Jesus and not Jesus Christ, small grammatical errors. We would throw out a science textbook due to a some small spelling or grammatically errors? No, of course we wouldn’t so then why do that with the bible? There are many famous documents such as the work philosopher, playwright and author Plato which were written around 427 BC and it wasn’t until 900 AD around 1200 years after it was first written that the first copy was made and from that we only have around 9 copies to choose from.
The bible, however first copy was written around 130 years after the death and resurrection of Christ and we have over 24,000 copies that we can translate from. We would dismiss the bible as not being accurate but not Plato?
Another thing which TV programmes in particular have gone to town about are the supposed “lost gospels” or the “lost books of the bible” . I am not going to dwell on this but just to quickly say they were never lost. They were known by the Jews and Christians of the time but they were never considered inspired. They lack apostles authorship and were never claiming to be the word of God, one thing we understand to be important, they also contain serious historical inaccuracies which would deem them unreliable. There you go! Problem sorted!
I understand that is a lot information to take and a lot of numbers, dates and references but it is so important that if we doubt the bible then we need to ensure that we are corrected.
It is an age old question how can I be sure of my faith? I personally think it is down to you to answer that question. I just wanted to present some ideas that would hopefully clarify some issues you may have had with some elements of Christianity. Ask any Christian and they will be happy to tell you how they are sure of their faith. I am sure of my faith because of the amount of work he has done in my life.
Friday, 1 August 2008
When silence falls...
I've had questions without answers
I've known sorrow, I have known pain
But there's one thing that I cling to
You are faithful, Jesus You're true
When hope is lost
I call You Saviour
When pain surrounds
I call You Healer
When silence falls
You'll be the song within my heart
In the lone hour of my sorrow
Through the darkest night of my soul
You surround me, You sustain me
My defender for ever more
When hope is lost
I call You Saviour
When pain surrounds
I call You Healer
When silence falls
You'll be the song within my heart
And I will praise You
I will Praise You
When the tears fall
Still I will sing to You
I will praise You
Jesus praise You
Through the suffering
Still I will sing to You
Tim Hughes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAu939MVORk&NR=1
I've known sorrow, I have known pain
But there's one thing that I cling to
You are faithful, Jesus You're true
When hope is lost
I call You Saviour
When pain surrounds
I call You Healer
When silence falls
You'll be the song within my heart
In the lone hour of my sorrow
Through the darkest night of my soul
You surround me, You sustain me
My defender for ever more
When hope is lost
I call You Saviour
When pain surrounds
I call You Healer
When silence falls
You'll be the song within my heart
And I will praise You
I will Praise You
When the tears fall
Still I will sing to You
I will praise You
Jesus praise You
Through the suffering
Still I will sing to You
Tim Hughes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAu939MVORk&NR=1
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