Who's the fool?

  Who’s the fool?

The Psalmist writes,

"The fool says in his heart, 

"There is no God." 

                                 Psalm 14:1.

The question comes down to who’s truly the fool? Those who believe in God or those who do not believe in God.

Blaise Pascal wrote,

“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.” Blaise Pascal.

Please think about it.

The Trial of Jesus

The trial of Jesus
John’s gospel records this about the trial of Jesus before the Roman governor Pilate. John notes,
“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.  
The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck him in the face. 
Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”  
When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” 
As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” 
The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” 
When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.  
“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” 
Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 
From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” 
When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).  
It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. 
But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. 
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.” John 19:1-16.
Pilate had found Jesus not guilty of braking any Roman law that would deserve the death penalty. To placate the religious leaders and the crowd that day however he had Jesus flogged. Still however they were not satisfied. They demanded his death.
Pilate possibly fearing a riot played politics and gave Jesus to them to crucify. But note the conversation between Jesus and Pilot here. John records,
“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” 
Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 
Jesus was telling Pilate that the power he, Pilate, had came from God. Not only that he pointed out that those, meaning the religious leaders, had the greater sin because they should have recognized the Messiah.
John notes that upon hearing that Pilate tried to release Jesus, but the crowds whipped up by the religious leaders who feared Jesus at least in a political sense yelled “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
Finally Pilate yielded to the crowd and Jesus was put to death.
The choice Pilate, the religious leaders and the crowd had that day is the same choice we in the twenty-first century face. Who is Jesus?
True believers in Christ Jesus believe him to be the Son of God, The Saviour of Mankind. God incarnate who was and is The Creator of the world.
John’s gospel records,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”John 1:1-4,14
  John records Jesus speaking of himself saying,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. John 3:16-18.
Thus the choice is up to you the reader. Who do you think Jesus is?
Please think about it.

Suffering for the right thing

Suffer for the right thing
The apostle Peter tells us,
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  
But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.  
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.  
If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.  
However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” 1 Peter 4:12-16 
I like what Peter states here. He states,
“If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”
Notice, what Peter is saying is you blessed if you are insulted for associating with Christ. Jesus said,
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11,12.
Again Jesus states, we are blessed if we are persecuted for our belief in Christ.
Many people well meaning Christians here in North America protest against the government for passing certain laws they disagree with. They yell insults and protest against groups they disagree with. Then when there is a negative backlash for what they do, they say they are being persecuted for their faith in Christ.
This is not so. They are being persecuted for their actions.
Jesus never protested. Jesus and the disciples never spoke against anyone outside their faith. Nor should we.
As believers in Christ, if we are to suffer persecution, let us be persecuted for believing in Christ Jesus.
Please think about it.   

Sound Doctrine

Sound Doctrine
The apostle Paul writes,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4.
There are times when I listen to men and women calling themselves Christians in the media and wonder where they get their information from. They are certainly not preaching the word of God. They may sound like it but they are not.
I know there is a lot of diversity in Christianity, that is to be expected. We within Christianity have various denominations and church congregation which at times will disagree with one another over the interpretation of certain what amount to minor parts of scripture or for that matter how best to worship God.
This for the most part is not a problem.
I personally believe God allows that diversity so that people of all backgrounds and lifestyles have a choice as to how they want to worship God.
The problem comes when people calling themselves Christians fail to correctly administer the word of God.
The apostle Paul tells us,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15.
If we are not doing this we God will judge us.
Christians are told by the Apostle Paul,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:12,13.
Notice he told the church not to judge those outside it. That is God’s job. However we have the right to judge anyone who calls themself a Christian in order to see that they are administering the world of God correctly. If they are not we are to expel them from our congregations.
Core Christian beliefs I believe are expressed in what is called the Apostles Creed. While not written by one of Christ’s apostles it is scripturally based. It states,
1.I believe in God the Father the almighty maker of heaven and earth
2. I believe in Jesus Christ God’s on and only Son, our Lord and Saviour.
3. I believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary
4. I believe Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate; That He was Crucified, died, was buried. That he descended in hell.
5. I believe He rose again on the third day from the dead.
6. I believe that he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
7. I believe Jesus will one day Judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost
9. I believe in the Church which is the communion of the saints,
10. I believe in the forgiveness of sin.
11. I believe in the resurrection of the body.
12. I believe in life everlasting.
The Writer of Hebrews tells us,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3  
The apostle John states,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” John 1:1-4,14.
The Apostle Paul tells us,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9.
It is by the grace of God we are saved, by having faith in the salvation Christ Jesus offers. Jesus himself saying,

“...“I am the way and the truth and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

                                                                     John 14:6.

John’s Gospel also quoting Jesus as saying,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. John 3:16-18
These are very basic beliefs of all who would call themselves Christians. You cannot believe anything else and be truly Christian.
Please think about it.

God is There

God is there
C. S. Lewis speaking of God said,
“He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others-not because He has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition.”  C. S. Lewis.
The way I interpret this is we have to at the very least have an open mind as to whether God exists. If we close our mind to the existence of God then we will never see Him.
The Bible does not debate the existence of God. It opens with the words,

“In the beginning 

God created the heavens and the earth.” 

Genesis 1:1.

Believing in God is an act of faith. Billy Graham the great American evangelist said,
“I can't prove it scientifically, that there's a God, but I believe.” Billy Graham.
God asks the individual accept by faith He exists, but not blind faith. He shows himself to all those who cares to look.
The psalmist states,

“The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” 

Psalm 19:1.

The writer of Hebrews tells us,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3.
Ultimately what you the individual believe about God comes down to an act of faith as to whether He exists or not, for that is what God asks of each individual. The writer of Hebrews stating,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for

 and certain of what we do not see.”  

Hebrews 11:1

“And without faith it is impossible to please God,

 because anyone who comes to him must believe 

that he exists 

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” 

Hebrews 11:6.

Thus dear reader the choice is yours. Do you believe in God?
Please think about it.