By the Numbers

Showing posts with label Student Questions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Student Questions. Show all posts

Monday, July 20, 2015

The Ultimate Cause of Human Sufferings!

                 The Ultimate Cause of Human Sufferings!

The Ultimate Cause of Human Sufferings is our Human Free Will Rejection of God. Even those who claim science shows we are programmed expect you to freely believe their arguments against free will-- Say, isn't this being a bit hypocritical? Free will means our mind can weigh alternatives and make rational choices. No free will makes us either instinctual animals or programmed machines without dignity, freedom, purpose, destiny, or hope. We struggle to survive, reproduce, and then our lights go out. 
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Our acts then can't be either praised or blamed, and all sense of responsibility degenerates into lawless anarchy and warfare until some strong man and group usurp control and dictates who lives or dies by their rules. That seems to be the way we're headed.
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We reject the God made known to us in creation, conscience, and Christ. Most scientists today admit that, like a wound-up clock, the universe is running down. That means it's not permanent, but had a beginning and will have an end. Nothing (no non existent thing), can create itself, and any beginning thing must have a cause.
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What then is required of the sourse or cause of the universe's origion? It must exist prior to and independently of the space, time, and matter it created. It would be outside time, eternal, and unchanging, thus self-existent. An immense universe of energy too, would require its sourse be a power that exists throughout the universe. And the source would be an infinite mind and will to account for things showin undeniable specific complex design of means adapted to ends. No mindless force, nor random process, can be the source of our universe.  Just as red, white, and blue, confetti thrown from an airplane billions of times for billions years is unlikely to form the American flag.
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Creation's source, then seems to exhibit these characteristics. The source of the universe's origion is self-existent, eternal, immutable, immaterial, outside time, everywhere present, and an infinitely powerful, everpresent, intelligent mind and will. Now, if we consult the Bible with an honest, open mind, isn't this exactly the sort of things its describes about God as creation's Source. Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14; Col. 1:15-17; John 1:1-4, and multitudes of others?
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Can non living mindless chemicals organize themselves into all the specified complex life forms we see on our planet? Didn't Louis Pasture and others demonstrate long ago that life only comes from life? Isn't there incredible genetic steps mindless molecules by random process must overcome? Isn't what we actually know, biologically, that mutations are usually destructive, are weeded out, and would require a multiple simultaneous changes to occur at once to make real permanent change? Isn't the supposed genetic tree an unproved "evolutionary gaps argument?" Do extinct dinosaur bones prove anything more than that some animals died out as some are becoming extinct today? What do artist drawings of a monkey becoming an erect man prove other than a lack of real evidence to support a dogmatic theory?  We see every day that animals reproducee after their own kind as dogs birth verities of dogs, but never horses? We know life forms are genetically programmed to have limits. 
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And what does our human conscience showing compassion, guilt, and shame mean? Yes, we can harden our hearts to the point of indifference, yet conscience seems to be a natural, rational, objective trait in everyone. Everywhere people show moral beliefs saying some acts are not fair, shouldn't happen, etc. We unavoidably make moral judgments. Such moral judgments point to an ultimate standard to judge our behavior as right or wrong. It is a moral law, we feel constrained to make excuses when we break it. We feel guilt and shame when we do. It's not like mathematics, but discovered, not invented. We may risk our own lives in a sense of duty to save others. Acts of genocide and rape are regarded as evil in all cultures. And we condemn others who would cheat, steal, kill and betray us.
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 Christians say this moral standard or law doesn't make sense unless there is a higher Moral Standard we're all responsible to. The forces of nature or nothing in the natural world can know our actions or motives. Atheists admit evils abound but nothing can we absolutely right or wrong if limited, conflicting human opinion of dying persons are all we have as a basis. Science can only describe what is, not tell us how things ought to be. Monist religions that claim everything is God have no basis to say anything is really good or evil. The only thing that makes sense is that the infinite Creator God exists as our Moral Standard and Righteous Lawgiver. He would know all our acts and motives, and could hold us accountable. Yes! a Righteous Judge is scary! And still leaves crucial questions unanswered.
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A Creator God can explain the universe as rational, understandable, accounts for specified complex life forms,  for our human conscience, and does make sense of so much of our world. But even supposing this God exists, the big unanswered questions are: Does he love us? Can he make himself know to us in personal relationship? Is there hope we human beings don't just reproduce and die, lights out?
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Only Biblical Christianity can answer all those questions affirmatively in the person of Jesus Christ. "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son (the sinless God-man), so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes (surrenders themselves in truth). But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact. God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants (John 3:16-21). "For the Son of man came to seek and save those who are lost (Luke 19:10)." Only Jesus arose from the dead, we who trust ourselves to Him will arise too and live with him forever. I love you Lord, praise you, and thank you Lord.
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Dear reader friend, from our first parents unto today the ultimate cause of suffering is our choice to reject God. He offers us dignity & destiny, not of compulsion, but of love. Eternal fulfillment are offered you in relationship with God in Christ now and forever in Heaven. But if you prefer your way, the Bible calls it darkness, torment, and Hell.  God  loves you. Jesus died to save you. Trust in God's love and light. Won't you say, "I trust you now Lord Jesus to forgive my sins, save me, and guide me as your child." Now get a Bible to learn God's will for you. Get with God's people for encouragment and ministry. God bless.
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Thursday, March 5, 2015

A Letter to Buddhist Friends in Eastern Nations


                A Letter to Buddhist Friends in Eastern Nations 

Buddhist teachings written down four centuries after Buddha's death, resulted in many conflicting traditions, beliefs, and practices within eastern nations. Among these nations are Burma, Tibet, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Mongolia, even Hawaii. Different schools of thought spread to countries at different periods of time. Persons may consider themselves Buddhist and claim other religions as well. Let's look at Buddhism's background, some difficulties of Buddhism, and how Christian beliefs differ.
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                                     The Background and teachings of Buddhism
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Buddha was a reformer rejecting Hindu gods, its caste system, and occultism. He also rejected a personal God, prayer, worship, priesthood, and the human soul. Yet, in some of its many forms, Buddha idols are regarded as god, worshipped, and prayed too. In some Buddhist sects there are Savior gods and  heavens and hells. Persons who say they are Buddhists may be polytheists, atheists, pantheists, animists, or folk traditionalists.
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Siddhartha Gautama (563 B.C-483 B.C.) was born as a Prince of India with all the advantages of wealth, finery, handsome appearance. His father built him three palaces and he married a beautiful girl who bore him a son named Rahula. His parents sought to protect him from the world. But he wasn't satisfied with all that affluence, dancing girls, music and finery. One day he saw four things which aroused his compassion: an old man, diseased man, corpse and a begging monk. Disease, decay, death, makes life so impermanent and futile. Seeing that such great suffering exists, at age 29, he abandoned his family in search of enlightenment.
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He sought satisfaction among Hindu masters for six years eating so little he became skin rapped around bone, and decided asceticism was not the way to enlightenment. One day sitting under a fig tree (later called wisdom tree), he became the Buddha, the enlightened or awakened one. He believed humanity's problem can be explained in Four Noble Truths. (1) Life is without purpose, full of pain, sufferings, anguish, death. (2) Suffering is caused by desire, cravings for pleasure, prosperity, success, existence. (3) The cure for sufferings is to eliminate our cravings. (4) We can do this by following this Noble Eightfold Path.
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The Noble Eightfold Path is:  (1) Right knowledge (the Four Noble Truths). (2) Right intentions. (3) Right speech (truth). (4) Right conduct meaning no killing animals, stealing, lying, adultery, alcohol or drugs to dull the mind or harm the body. (5) Right livelihood. (must not be a slave trader, tax collector, or butcher, (Buddha thought meat-eating is wrong). (6) Right effort. (7) Right self-analysis. (8) Right meditation, Yoga. Buddha called his enlightenment The Middle Way between affluence and asceticism. Wise and wealthy King Solomon, agreed with Buddha that having everything under the sun is meaningless and vanity (Eccl. 1:8).
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Buddhism split over the issue of who can be enlightened, if everyone, or only a few. Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism seem like different religions. Theravada Buddhism is strict and for monks with shaved heads wearing robes. It goes by Buddha's early teachings. It's concern is insight and wisdom. Salvation or enlightenment is wholly self-effort. It's for a saint or arhat. It avoids speculation about heavens and hells. It's atheistic. It uses the original Buddhist cannon, The Three Baskets. It assures one will achieve nivana or release from the cycle of rebirths, sansara.
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Mahayana Buddhism is for laymen. It emphasis Buddha's life. It stresses feeling and compassion. Others can help one become enlightened. Buddha is a Savior or Bodhisattva. It adds many other books to cannon and many sub sects as Pure Land Buddhism. Zen Buddhism stressing gardening and irrationality. Nichiren Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism combined with occult and magical religion. It has many Buddha's and The Dali Lamia is worshiped as one.
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                                  What Might People Find Difficult About Buddhism?
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1. Buddhist's have no authoritative basis for their beliefs. Within Buddhism we have so many different, even conflicting schools of belief. It was four hundred years after Buddha's death before anything was written down about his life and teachings. Some Buddhists claim The Three Baskets as the earliest of the accounts and it was written in the Pali language and translated later and many times into each countries language. Others add many more later books to their canon.The Buddhist canon is a virtual library of books. So, if there is even one way to get off the cycle of multiple whatevers (samsara), to achieve nirvana, we can't be sure which one it is. It's all guesses.
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2. Isn't worship of man-made idols a foolish waste of time? Does it do any good  to bow and pray to gods made of wood, stone, metal as many Buddhists do? Man made gods have no ability to hear our prayers, know our needs, help us in any way. Our power created them and we take them in at night so they won't be stolen or destroyed.
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3. How can Buddha know we have no soul?  If Buddha believed each person consists of five "aggregates" or parts: the physical body, emotions, perception, will, and consciousness, and death causes these parts to come apart. All we can say from appearance is that at death our body becomes cold and stiff, and that life is no longer present in the body. Some persons have even claimed to have out-of-the-body experiences who see things and describe events that took place while their mind was unconscious. So it seems we can't say that our life, soul, or self hasn't gone to some other place.
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4. Is there any visible evidence in Buddhism that there is a cycle of rebirths. If Buddha said whatever exists in another life is disconnected parts "aggregates", then those parts can't tell us anything about there former life. Dreams, birthmarks, injustices in life, natures yearly cycles, and mere claims are no visible evidence of former lives. It seems to require a known person risen from the dead, as 500 people saw Jesus (1 Cor. 15:1-8). If we shouldn't help suffers work off their karma, doesn't that immensely prolongs suffering and defeat Buddha's thinking? So, there seems to be no real evidence for reincarnation of any kind.
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                                      Christians Differ from Buddhists in Crucial ways.
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Christians find much to praise in Buddha's path to enlightenment. It's very comprehensive and in depth. It's most relative to real life concerns. It's beneficial to human well-being. It's ethical principles against stealing, lying, sexual misconduct, and slave trading are commendable.  But isn't the Noble Eightfold Path the very things we have to desire? And, surely it's good to desire food, drink, sleep, clothes, and good health. And if we abandon our families, wouldn't that be the cause of even their greater suffering? Maybe then, desire is not the basic cause of suffering. Christians believe the real cause is wrong behavior and rebellion against our Creator that results in frustration, emptiness, guilt, shame, and death.
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Christian beliefs have a solid foundation in the Bible. The Bible accounts are not speculative philosophy, myths, or accounts written centuries later. They are true accounts of God acting in our world in ways we can see and recognize. Bible prophets and apostles published shortly after the events while persons living could know that they were true. God's spokesmen predicted detailed events of their day and of centuries later that occurred as predicted. Only an all knowing God can tell us about the future. Further, these events are of healing the blind, lame, deaf, walking on water, raising the dead which only God's known spokesmen with God's power can do. All this may be new and seem strange to you my friends, but please pray for God to give you understanding. There's hope.
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Jesus, our Creator, invites us to an eternal, permanent, love-trust relationship with Him. He came into our world, to bear the just punishment of our guilt and shame that is the real cause of our sufferings, anxiety, futility, disease, and death. If we will believe, trust in, rely on Jesus, we can know the love, peace, purpose, truth, self-esteem, and joy that is: The Jesus Way. It is eternal life and fulfillment God made us to have with Him (John 1:1-3,14; 3:16-21; 10:9-10).
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Friends, I invite you to get a Christian Bible in your own language if you can. In English, I recommend the Life Application Study Bible, NLT, large print. It's virtually a Bible college education. Friends in Christ, pray for the people of Asia, link, and send them these gospel articles WWW as ministers of faith and love. Translate them into their language if you can. God bless you and thank you for your ministry to very needy people. We will meet them in Heaven one day. God's love, peace, and joy to everyone.
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Saturday, November 19, 2011

College Students Question Biblical Christianity!

                        College Students Question Biblical Christianity!  
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We've grown up hearing what our parents and religious teachers said was true.  College professors often challenge that view. We want to base our beliefs upon good evidence and logic?
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 Too often, we base what we think upon hearsay, bias, misunderstandings, or falsehoods. That's not fair or right with any ones beliefs. Honest thinking persons' ask these questions and they deserve good answers. They concern the most serious issues of our lives so we should give these questions our utmost attention and thoughtful consideration.
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What Are the Consequences of Denying Existence of the Biblical God?
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Affirming the biblical God has seriously good consequences. Nature, an impersonal force,  carved pieces of wood or stone, can be called gods But they are dead objects that can neither know nor care about us. But the Bible's God is a Creator and Upholder of the universe who is personally and ethically aware of everything we think or do. His will is that we live in obedience to Him. We will one-day kneel before Him who will either condemn or commend our every action. Biblical Christianity makes all life purposeful and bursting with meaning. It gives people dignity, freedom, ethical responsibility, security, purpose, hope, love, joy, and a destiny of their choice.
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Denying the Bible's God has terribly serious consequences. It means as far as we know there's no life after death. Ethics has no higher authority than each person's preference--some eat chicken, others prefer to eat people. The world will one-day be destroyed and our lives have no purpose except to satisfy our own desires. Everything is evolving so there's no final or ultimate truth--my truth verses your truth. We're all just evolving animals waiting to die--lights out!
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What  Arguments Supposedly Show Non-existence of the Biblical God?
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One major argument is that evil disproves God. If there is a good and powerful God, then why is there so much evil? If God were good, He would destroy evil, and if He is almighty, He could destroy evil, but evil remains--so no good or powerful God exists. But if so, why do some atheists seem to hate a non-existent deity? Do they demand God tailor all life to their interests? Is it the true God they hate? Could God have a good reason for delay?
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Several replies deserve mention. First, God didn't bring evil into the world--man did and still does. Evil is a corruption of the good world God made like blindness in an eye made to see. We often blame God for the evil and suffering we cause. Second, if there is no God, evil has no meaning--it's just the way things are. Third, evil is always an alternative option when we have free choice. But our having free choice gives us dignity and is far better than being robots. Fourth, if God destroyed evil, he would have to destroy us all since we're none perfect. And, any degree of evil is always up for objection. Fifth, our Lifegiver, Owner, and Lawgiver's purpose and plan is sovereign over all. Finally, our infinite Creator may have a purpose we self-centered limited people have overlooked--such as His greater glory. Apart from our fall into sin and salvation in Christ, we're unable to understand experiencially God's great forgiveness, purity, goodness, mercy, love, peace, truth, joy, or even our need of Him. Praise the Lord for His gracious provision for our limited understanding!
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The other major argument is that evolution makes God unnecessary. Evolution is the belief that all life originated by chance over time from one primary life form. In other words, molecules arranged themselves over time  into all life forms including man. Evolutionists claim we don't need God since evolution explains everything. Just a thought: If there's no God, does anything we think or do ultimately matter? 
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But does evolutions explain everything? Evolution destroys human dignity reducing us to soulless evolving dirt. It destroys hope for life after death. It reduces ethics to each person's preference--deception, adultery, rape, murder, incest, sodomy, sex slaves, sex with animals--there can be no absolute law against them. It destroys absolute truth as everything is in flux. It results in the irrational chaotic destructive world that we see increasing today. Doesn't evolution ultimately make us mindless matter? 
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The evolution claim ignores all the facts that disprove it. First, this dependent universe with all its galaxies and design didn't pop into existence from a powerless nothing--it took a cause that is eternal, self-existent, intelligent all-powerful will or person or God to bring it about. Second, we know scientifically that heat energy is cooling and that we can't backtrack eternally. Third, we know life doesn't arise from non-living chemicals over any amount of time but requires a Life-giver. Four, we know that life forms left alone don't improve but break down which shows evolution impossible. Fifth, we know life forms show specified irreducible complex systems and organs working together. Animals can't exist with partly developed reproductive or digestive systems, eyes and legs. Such had to exist and be functional at the outset. They cannot be attributed to blind mindless chance, but require an intelligent mind and will--God.
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Sixth, no known mechanism exists for evolution to take place--natural selection doesn't add anything new to the gene pool and mutations are destructive mistakes like a monkey wrench thrown into a machine. Seventh, breeding is selective design. we do observe small adaptations within microbes, monkeys, and men, but they don't change into different life forms. And, of course, some life forms didn't adapt to a changing environment and died out. Eight if true science proves its theories by experimentation, what experiment proves evolution? NONE! Nine, the real proof of evolution would be thousands of intermediate fossils showing each step in the evolutionary process. But with millions of fossils found since Darwin only a handful are claimed to show anything and even they are disputed. Tenth, what we actually know is best explained by a Divine Designer throughout life's forms rather than by a common ancestor. Evolution is based upon naturalistic philosophy, not true scientific research. Moreover, it takes away everything good biblical Christianity gives humanity--the biblical God is the most reasonable.
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Why Couldn't a Creator of the Universe Take on a Human Nature, Body and Walk Among Us?
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In agreement with the above, the Bible says, "All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist (Col. 1:16-17).  The Creator and Upholderer of this vast universe of matter, space, and time can do anything that suits His purpose. He is an infinite, self-existent, perfect Spirit everywhere present with all power, knowledge, wisdom, goodness, and truth. The Bible further says, "God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27). So while God created all things, only man was created in God's image because God wanted relationship with us.
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God walked and talked with man in the garden paradise and gave him instructions to test his obedience whether he would trust and love God above all else. But man failed. So God set in motion His plan and purpose to save us self-centered rebellious persons hinted at in Genesis 3:15. Satan's seed is unbelievers (John 8:44), and the woman's seed is Christ and believers who will one day defeat them (Rom. 16:20; Heb.2:14-15; Rev. 20:10). God tests us human beings every day in the thoughts we allow and decisions we make for or against Him. Are our thoughts of love and gratitude for our Life-giver and one day Judge?
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Why couldn't Jesus the God-man die for sinners and arise from the dead it that's His will? "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians. 1:7). There's no problem for man's Maker to take on a human nature and body in a holy virgin birth (Matt. 1:18-23). Jesus walked among us experiencing firsthand all that we do, yet without sin qualifying Him to be our Savior. Jesus" death for our sins was God's plan and purpose. Foolishness calls  Jesus bearing our sin and counting believers righteous unjust. As our omniscient Creator, He alone qualifies as the standard of justice and the Judge to execute it. Limited, conflicting, changing human opinions amount to very little.
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What benefits does Christ's resurrection mean for our world? There's life after death. Jesus is the God-man with power of life and death. As God, all Jesus taught in and of Scripture is absolute truth. Humans created in God's mental, moral immortal image have dignity and freedom. Ethics made sense--our thoughts, words, deeds are accountable to God so life has purpose. Our conscience, justice and love make sense. As created and controlled by a rational God, the world is meaningfully moving toward a climax. Experimental science is possible.
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Jesus divided our thinking about history into Before Christ and After His Death. This personal ethically perfect God offers us wayward rebels forgiveness, cleansing, and eternal life with Him forever through faith in Jesus, the Lord and Savior of sinners. Spreading this hope and love is imperative education--without it, all is lost.
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We decide how we want to live whether for self, the world and the devil. or for the God who loves us and died to give us abundant and eternal life. We're never going to be perfect in this life (Jn.  8:7; 1 Jn. 1:8-10). We're never going to understand everything (Isa. 55:6-9; 1 Cor. 13:12). We can experience peace, love, joy in Christ but should not depend upon feelings but upon our love-trust relationship with Him that issues in obedience (John 15).

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Won't you say, Lord Jesus Christ, I turn from sin to trust in You as my Savior, Lord and Guide throughout life? If you pray this honestly trusting in Him, you will become a child of God. Then grow in Christ through prayer, study of God's Word, worship with His people, and sharing this good news with others. NOW, God bless you on your journey to the promised land, Heaven.
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