by BrianRegrut | Jan 13, 2021 | Guide for Living, Hope, Jesus' Teaching
So far as we know, humans are the only beings that feel the need for a power beyond themselves and then define that power from their own perspective. We makes images and fashions theologies to negotiate and “cut’ deals with God developing rituals which often misrepresent God.
Christianity draws on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God’s son who came to earth to teach us how to live and to serve as the sacrifice for our sins. Christianity represents God as all-powerful, all-knowing, and present everywhere. This God, whose nature is Love, redeems and empowers those who accept and trust God’s Grace. (i.e. salvation in Jesus Christ)
In short, world religions are man made. Christianity is God Inspired. (For additional perspective, read the answer posted on November 4, 2020)
If you would like to learn more about Jesus and his power to set you free from sin while offering you an opportunity to enjoy an eternity free from guilt, pain and shame, please go to our Next Steps page.
by BrianRegrut | Jan 6, 2021 | Hope, Jesus' Teaching, Trust
That depends on who is defining Christianity. Basic Christianity is the understanding that a person cannot do anything, including good works or good deeds, to win a place in heaven. Christianity alone teaches that forgiveness of individual sin and the promise of eternal life with God are gifts offered to an individual by God. To receive these gifts of both forgiveness and eternal life, one only has to accept the gift by faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. So the question becomes, is Jesus true? Is what he says about himself truthful?
Jesus, the first century teacher, is documented in the Bible and by historians of that period, Josephus and Tacitus. His teachings are among the best preserved words from antiquity. His birth, life, teachings, miracles, death and resurrection were all prophesied more than 500 years before he was born. Only God, who exists beyond both time and space, could know the future. Jesus’ miracles demonstrated his divine power. In his three and a half years of ministry, thousands were healed of all sorts of diseases and these events had many witnesses to testify to their authenticity. His death and resurrection are documented historical facts. The raised-from-the-dead-Jesus was seen by more than 500 people, including the eleven apostles, during the 40 days he stayed on earth after his resurrection.
Jesus’ ascension back into heaven had many witnesses proving again he was the Son of God. In addition, there are thousands of verified reports of Jesus appearing to people throughout the world, even to Muslims, who are accepting in great numbers the truth of Jesus as the human manifestation of God. They are recognizing that Jesus is the only path to an eternal relationship with God, the creator of the universe–the only entity who can bring true peace to the human soul and to the world.
Throughout history, many people have tried to hijack Christianity, to use the religion to advance their personal agendas. They have distorted the teachings of Jesus. They have killed and bullied and destroyed in the name of Jesus. However, even a casual reading of the Bible clearly demonstrates that Christians are called to love their enemies, to serve the poor, care for widows and orphans, and to reflect the love of Jesus in all they do. They are called into a life of service on behalf of God, not because God demands it, but because they are so thankful for what he has already done for them. This is the truth of Christianity.
By contrast, all other religious systems are either unverifiable or irrational, thereby disqualifying them as being true. For these reasons alone you can know for certain that Christianity is true, but the question is, ‘Do you believe it?’ Every individual has the free will to receive God’s gift of salvation or reject it and pursue their own self-centered life. Heaven and Hell hang in the balance of this decision. All other religions propose a path to God. Unfortunately, the fact is these are all dead ends leading to eternal destruction. There is no path. There is only the Way of Jesus Christ because he is the Truth and he is God. (John 14:6)
by BrianRegrut | Dec 30, 2020 | Guide for Living, Hope
This life is tough and the hardest things are relationships, especially when they aren’t healthy. For the most part, we can control ourselves and our actions; we can’t (or shouldn’t) control others. People offend us and we will get hurt. There’s no hiding from that. Sometimes, it’s intentional and other times it’s not; sometimes others aren’t aware of how and when they have hurt us.
God understands broken relationships better than we can imagine. After all, He created the perfect relationship between mankind and himself and we broke it. The first man, Adam, disobeyed God and broke that perfect relationship. God’s response to this rejection was to send his son, Jesus, to bring about reconciliation. It cost Jesus his life on the cross to atone for all the hurt that men and woman have caused throughout the ages. Now we have a pattern for dealing with broken relationships in our lives.
The Bible tells us to forgive in all things. Forgiveness can be hard, and while it may not heal a relationship, it helps lift the burden of the brokeness from the forgiver. When relationships are fractured, confronting the other person who you perceive to be the one doing the breaking may be appropriate, but it must be done in love. Jesus provided a pattern for confrontation. First you try to resolve the issue one-on-one. When that fails to work, take a friend and try again. If that fails, then you are to bring the situation before the congregation of believers with whom you worship. (Matt. 18:15-17). But you must understand that some broken relationships will not be resolved to your satisfaction, but once you offer forgiveness and allow yourself to grieve the loss, God will help you move forward.
God’s solution to the ultimate broken relationship was to love mankind so completely that he allowed Jesus to die for our sins. God’s grace and mercy extend to all, and should be passed through you to others. He forgave us even before we even asked for forgiveness. Jesus told us He would forgive our sins, as we forgive others (Matt. 6:14-15). It is a hard thing to forgive somone who has hurt you, but that forgiveness is what opens the doorfor God to grant you the peace you seek. God’s Holy Spirit inside of believers enables us to forgive. Ask God for the power, wisdom and make the choice to forgive today and watch the healing begin.
Image by AD_Images from Pixabay
by BrianRegrut | Dec 23, 2020 | Hope
The popular Christmas carol, “We Three Kings of Orient Are” is most likely inaccurate for two reasons: the visitors probably weren’t rulers of nations, nor are they likely to have come from what we think of as the Orient, western Asia.
The Kings or “Magi” were most probably Zoroastrian astrologers who were advisers to the rulers of the Parthian Empire (Iran and Iraq), Rome’s rival to the east at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ. These highly educated men believed in a cosmic struggle of Good and Evil and that a savior would eventually come to restore the world by getting rid of the evil one. Their founder, Zoroaster, may have been a contemporary of Daniel and the other Jewish scholars who were held in captivity in Babylon, almost 600 years earlier. Zoroaster, and his followers in succeeding centuries, would have known about Judaism and would have studied its sacred texts.
Therefore, when an alignment of stars led them to believe that they were seeing a sign that indicated the birth of a Jewish King, some (we don’t know how many) traveled to Jerusalem to pay tribute to the newborn royalty. Since Herod, the current King didn’t have a baby, and was very worried that a usurper was in his land, he asked his own priests about a future King of the Jews and learned that the scriptures said he would was to be been born in Bethlehem, a town six miles from the palace in Jerusalem.
Rather than stir up trouble with his Iranian guests, Herod sent them to Bethlehem to find the “baby king” and report back to him, ostensibly to go and worship this child. When the Magi didn’t return, Herod, who had nearly lost his life and family to Parthians 30 years earlier, did not pursue the Magi and demand the information he wanted. He didn’t order their capture and punishment for their disobedience despite his proclivity for killing anyone who challenged his authority. He took it upon himself to handle the “problem” of having a new king in his land.
Herod ordered the murder of all the baby boys under two years of age, who lived in and around Bethlehem. Since Jesus and his parents must have still been in Bethlehem when the decree was announced because they were warned by an angel to immediately leave for Egypt. There they remained refugees for months or maybe years before returning to Joseph’s home town of Nazareth, almost 100 miles north of Bethlehem.
We read nothing more of the “kings” from Parthia, but will never forget their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the King of Kings.
by BrianRegrut | Dec 16, 2020 | Hope
The short answer is he probably wasn’t. The more important answer is that there was a reason for the humble birth of God’s son–a reason that predates time itself.
First, let’s address the place of Christ’s birth. Joseph and his betrothed wife, Mary most likely walked the 100 miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem in a caravan of others heading to their ancestral homes in the south to register for a census decreed by Caesar Augustus. Since Jews avoided contact with Samaritans, those who lived between Nazareth and Bethlehem, they would have traveled on a route that followed the Jordan River east of Samaria. The one-to two-week, 100-mile journey, brought them to the small village six miles south of the temple in Jerusalem.
There, like most of their fellow travelers, they would have sought lodging with relatives. The Bible tells us there was no room for them in the guest room, (mistranslated “stable”) that would have been on the upper level of the house where people slept, so they likely bedded down in the general living area on the first floor. A common practice then was to bring animals inside at night to protect them from cold, thieves and other dangers. That may be why Mary, after delivering her baby, lay him in a feeding trough (manager), that then served as Jesus’ bassinet.
Of greater importance is understanding why Jesus would be born in such lowly circumstances. Jesus was with God when the universe was created. He was the instrument of creation of everything, including mankind, with whom he wanted to have a relationship, and on whom he could bestow his love and affection. However, man abused the relationship and rebelled and in the process became lost to God’s companionship and his love. God never stopped loving man, and prescribed a system of sacrifice by which man could atone for his rebellion, generally known as sin. The blood of an unblemished lamb was let each year for the forgiveness of sin, but it was a temporary measure that had to be performed annually, forever.
Jesus, the creator of the universe, came to earth to take the place of the lamb, shedding his blood once for all time. How better for Him to become the perfect sacrifice than to be born in the lowliest of conditions taking the place of the unblemished lamb. God loved us so much that he sent Jesus in total humility to provide a pathway for the restoration of our relationship with Him.
by BrianRegrut | Dec 9, 2020 | Hope
The winter celebration of the birth of Christ dates first appears on a Roman calendar in 336 AD, centuries after the event took place. Scholars believe that there may have been an attempt to co-opt an existing pagan festival that marked the coming of the light after the shortest day of the year. Clues in the Bible suggest another time of year, because shepherds would not likely be in the fields with sheep during the cold winter. Some scholars suggest a spring birth when lambs would have been in the fields with their mothers. Others identify fall, perhaps September as the likely month of birth. If the latter, the celebration on December 25th could mark the moment that light entered the world when God entered Mary’s womb.
When we celebrate is not nearly as important as why we celebrate. Since the beginning of time, God created man and women in his image so that he could commune with them, to let them enjoy a perfect world communicating with the creator of everything. When man and woman broke the covenant with God, the perfect world fell apart as evil reared its head and brought death and destruction to all that had been right.
A penalty had to be paid for the violation of God, and He knew that only a perfect sacrifice could atone for the great injustice of all men and women–past, present and future. God knew that the only perfect sacrifice would be himself, in the form of his son, Jesus, who was born to die. We celebrate this coming of God to be our savior and redeemer each year at a time called Christmas. The word itself describes this event as many scholars believe that Christmas is an ancient combining of the Christós, the Greek word for “anointed” and the Old Hebrew word, missah, meaning “unleavened bread”, the kind broken and eaten at Passover.
Jesus, the Christ, came as a baby and grew up to become the sacrificial lamb for all of humankind. He died in our place that we may be pardoned and be returned to a right relationship with God. Therefore, while we celebrate the arrival of a baby born of a virgin, the true celebration is that of the birth of a savior who would provide the gateway for us to be restored to a right relationship with the almighty God of the universe.
