Showing posts with label Christians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christians. Show all posts

Monday 13 July 2015

Believing in God part of being American for Discriminating Americans who feel discrimiated

"And don't ye forget it" Sign in Jac...
"And don't ye forget it" Sign in Jackson, Mississippi for "Trinity Gospel Fellowship" has lettering "AMERICA IS STILL A CHRISTIAN NATION" (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute released new data on American perspectives on what makes someone truly American and what makes the U.S. unique in the world.
 The survey found that a majority (63 percent) of Americans believe that protests challenging unfair treatment by the government make the country a better place. However, perspectives among white Americans on protests change dramatically when the protesters are identified as black. Two-thirds (67 percent) of white Americans believe that public protests against mistreatment by the government improve the country, but fewer than half (48 percent) of whites say the same when asked specifically about black Americans speaking out against mistreatment.

The nationwide survey of 1,007 adults was conducted from June 10 to June 14, 2015. The survey measures public views on patriotism, the role that protest plays in improving our country, what makes someone “truly American,” America’s moral standing, discrimination against Christians in the U.S. and immigration.

the idea that Americans believe they are a preferred nation by God is confirmed by the ciphers of the review. More than six in ten (62 percent) Americans believe that God has granted the country a special role in human history.

We also know the Americans to be a proud race, finding their country the best in the world. They often also carry strange ideas about other countries which do not coincide with reality. but even when some things may be better in other countries 63 percent of U.S. adults say there has never been a time when they were not proud to be an American. At the same time, only 43 percent of Americans believe that the U.S. sets a good moral example for the world, while 53 percent disagree.

About those morals and ethics is a lot of discussion going on in the Christian American community. Several Christians there do believe they are the higher race and the better people of the world. They also consider that those who want to come to live in America should all take on their own belief, which they consider the only true faith.

Though there they seem to be in conflict with themselves and their nation, because most Americans do not believe the U.S. is a Christian nation any more. Often they want to refer to their founding fathers being real Christians having founded their Christian Nation. But with the years they do find the government went astray from the ruling of the pilgrims and founding fathers.
Only about one-third (35 percent) say that the U.S. is a Christian nation today, while 14 percent say that the U.S. has never been a Christian nation. Nearly half (45 percent) of the public believes that it once was a Christian nation but is not any-more. However, among Americans who believe the U.S. is no longer a Christian nation, most (61 percent) say this change is a bad thing.

Close to seven in ten (69 percent) say that believing in God is essential to a truly American identity.  those who do not belief in God the Christian way of trinitarianism, can not be real believers nor real Americans. Not accepting the trinity seems blasphemy for most Americans, who do not seem to know there are many sorts of non-trinitarian religious groups.
“Young adults are roughly half as likely as seniors to say that being Christian is an important part of the American identity. Young adults are also much less likely to believe the U.S. is a Christian nation, an idea largely embraced by older Americans.”
says Dan Cox, Research Director at Public Religion Research Institute.

Younger and older Americans disagree sharply over what they believe is central to being American. While roughly two-thirds (66 percent) of seniors (age 65 and older) say that being a Christian is an important part of being American, only about one-third (35 percent) of young adults (age 18 to 29) agree. More than three-quarters (77 percent) of seniors say believing in God is an important part of the American identity, while young people are closely divided: 52 percent say that believing in God is an important part of being American, while 45 percent say that it is not. A significant divide also exists when it comes to place of birth. While 67 percent of seniors say that being born in the U.S. is important, fewer than half (45 percent) of young Americans agree.

When we do hear Americans protesting about the ways going on in their country and how they do not like it how the government handles religious issues we can find under the forty-nine percent of the Americans surveyed, who believe that discrimination against Christians is becoming as big of a problem as discrimination against other groups, we see that most of them can not stand it that others have different ideas about faith than they. Lots of American Christians would like to see all Christians all over the world to think like they. Those who only believe in the One True God Jehovah, can not be real Christians according lots of them, because Jesus is God and was the first Christian killed by the Jews, which are trying to conquer the world again.


Out of all the white evangelical Protestants surveyed, 70 percent said Christian discrimination has become a serious issue, while just 28 percent disagreed. Several evangelical protestants do not like to argue and consider each discussion about their faith as an attack on their faith but also as an attack on the American freedom of speech, though they do not want others to give their right of speech.

We also see that after 9/11 the stand against Muslims has not yet improved much. Many consider the Islam a great danger and even think their president has Muslim connections which he hides to bring in the Muslim warriors and give them more power.
 
The Polling Company for the Center for Security Policy (CSP), suggests that a substantial number of Muslims living in the United States see the country very differently than does the population overall.  The sentiments of the latter were sampled in late May in another CSP-commissioned Polling Company nationwide survey.
 
According to the just-released survey of Muslims, a majority (51%) agreed that “Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to shariah.”  This is naturally a matter which would bring lots of Americans and Europeans to have their ears and eyes wide open questioning the liberty of men and women. When that question was put to the broader U.S. population, the overwhelming majority held that shariah should not displace the U.S. Constitution (86% to 2%).

We do think Americans are probably too much worried because more than half (51%) of U.S. Muslims polled also believe either that they should have the choice of American or shariah courts. Though they could have reason when there are also may who think they should have their own tribunals to apply shariah, because only 39% of those polled said that Muslims in the U.S. should be subject to American courts.

These notions were powerfully rejected by the broader population according to the Center’s earlier national survey.  It found by a margin of 92%-2% that Muslims should be subject to the same courts as other citizens, rather than have their own courts and tribunals in the U.S.

Several Christians want to ring the alarm bell because according to them it is estimated that the number of Muslims in the United States was 2.75 million in 2011, and growing at a rate of 80-90 thousand a year.
If those estimates are accurate, the United States would have approximately 3 million Muslims today.  That would translate into roughly 300,000 Muslims living in the United States who believe that shariah is “The Muslim God Allah’s law that Muslims must follow and impose worldwide by Jihad.” {Poll of U.S. Muslims Reveals Ominous Levels Of Support For Islamic Supremacists’ Doctrine of Shariah, Jihad}
People unaffiliated with Christianity leaned more toward discrimination not being as big of a problem as discrimination against other groups, as 59 percent disagreed with the statement with only 34 percent agreeing.

Tuesday 2 June 2015

Which Christian sect is the only true Christian church?


Lunatic outpost poses good question: Which Christian sect is the only true Christian church?

How many times do we not hear one or the other church saying they are the only one right church? How often do we not hear people saying they belong to the one one true church?

TrolLOP had a former Baptist, now Jehovah Witness, come to his/her door the other day. After talking to her for awhile, he/she asked her if she now believes that the Jehovah Witnesses are the only true Christians. She said yes. But TrolLOP was taught that if you weren't Catholic you weren't really Christian. And that is what we often hear Catholics saying that they are the only true universal church of God, based on the task given to saint Peter the first pope of their church.







LoP Guest remarked that the Roman Church banned the Bible, and changed the word;
 claims the pope is the 'vicar of christ'
When we look at the Roman Catholic Church we also can see that they do not mind bowing down in front of graven images of the one they claim to be God and of human beings they consider to be 'saints' who can do holy or sacred things for them. Though the God of the Bible is clear we may not have other gods in front of the God of gods and may not bow down in front of graven images which can do nothing for us.

Those Catholics we could also see in the journals on television yesterday also like to burn candles as an 'offering' for god and talisman to succeed in certain things (this time of year the final exams).

LoP Guest considers all Protestants God's people and gives the impression she thinks all of them belong to the true church of God.
Whether they are Jehovah's Witness and do not believe in this or not. We are all God's people, although some may interpret the Bible differently, some more wrong than others.


TrolLOP wants
to ask the Christians here, is there only one true Christian sect/church and which one is it?


> http://lunaticoutpost.com/thread-548525.html

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Thursday 2 January 2014

Which Christians Actually Evangelize

A Christian is one who should follow the teachings of Jeshua, the Nazarene born in the tribe of king David, who is been called the son of God and the Messiah or Christ Jesus. One of those tasks Jesus has given to his followers is to go out into the world and to evangelize or witness.

According to a new survey from Barna Group. "Is Evangelism Going Out of Style?" evangelism is fading fastest among the middle class.

On Stepping toes I talk about my frustration when I look at the current position of people willing to bring the Good News to others.

73% of born again Christians say they have a personal responsibility to share their faith with others, but I can not see that they live or take action according to what they believe. Only half (52%) of born again Christians say they actually did share the Gospel at least once this past year to someone with different beliefs, in the hope that they might accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Evangelicals have the highest rate of failure to follow through (31% did not evangelize in the past year). By contrast, Catholics are the least likely to believe evangelism is their personal responsibility (34%), but in the United States have the highest success rate (33% did evangelize in the past year).

The study brings out that millennials are the one generation of "born-again" Christians where "the practice of evangelism is notably on the rise." But also that I can not really notice when I do look at the 'preaching world". Despite being known as the "social justice" generation — alleged to be trading spiritual causes for physical ones — evangelism among millennials increased nine percent in recent years, according to Barna. Other generations either stayed the same or declined in their evangelism practices.

Middle-class "born-again" Christians have the lowest rate of evangelism among other household income groups. 
Notes Barna:
This is particularly paradoxical since born again, middle-income adults are the most likely out of all income groups to affirm their personal responsibility to evangelize—76% do so. Yet only 37% of those adults have shared their faith this past year. Furthermore, born again, middle-income adults are evangelizing less and less. For example, from 2010 to today alone, their outreach efforts dropped from 51% to 37%.


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Friday 15 November 2013

Christian clergyman defiling book which did not belong to him

Like there are many misconception about different Muslims there are also many wrong ideas about Christians. Not all people who receive a correction on what they are saying on the others like that reaction.

Adnan Masih, 26 is a young Christian clergyman accused of blasphemy after he sought to correct misconceptions about Christianity in a Muslim book.
The Islamic extremist Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD) and the police from Lahore, Pakistan are searching for him because they do find this man did something terrible against the prophet and the Pakistani judicial system, makes blasphemy against Islam’s prophet punishable by death.

The story began on 7 October with a misunderstanding. Adnan Masih was replacing his brother at an eyeglass store, the Diamond Glass, where the latter worked. Whilst there, the Christian clergyman saw a book on a shelf by a Muslim leader who heads an outlawed extremist organisation, the Jamat-ul-Dawa. He noted errors in the book about the Bible and penned corrections in it. He then left the store.
The next day Abid Mehmood, a colleague of his brother, filed a complaint against Masih at a police station, accusing him of blasphemy (under Article 295, sections A, B and C of the Pakistan Penal Code). When he heard about the complaint against him, the Christian man denied the accusations.
However, he became the subject of death threats from Jamat-ul-Dawa and eventually a fatwa. Fearing for himself and his loved ones, on 8 November, he turned himself in to local police, asking for protection.
"We're scared," family members said. "Adnan has not written anything against Islam. He only corrected some things about Jesus Christ."
"This is the third case of persecution against Christians based on the blasphemy law in just two months," Fr Arshed John, from the Diocese of Lahore, told AsiaNews. "I hope the police is able to protect him. I call on everyone, without distinction of religion, to pray for this man and his family. "

What the christian family does not seem to understand that first of all you can not write something in a book which you do not buy and is not your own. He should have bought it, read it and returned it with his corrections. But now just writing in something which did not belong to him we can not justify.

The man writing in the book has also doctrinal teachings which are not justifiable with the Biblical teachings. According to him the Old Testament demonstrates a plurality in the Godhead that is a united One, and this distinction is reaffirmed in the New Testament, but that is not at all so. According to the Holy Scriptures, which we consider to be the word of God, there is only One God.

The Theotokos of Vladimir, one of the most ven...
The Theotokos of Vladimir, one of the most venerated of Orthodox Christian icons of the Virgin Mary. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Some may say "Because of Mohammed’s misunderstanding of what
Christians believed and practiced, Islam teaches that the Christian belief of the Trinity is a polytheistic teaching of  “three gods”, characterized as the “Father”, and the “Son” and the “Virgin Mary”. " They overlook that the Islamic prophet recognises the Jews and Christians who follow good teachings but also see the Jews and Chrisitians who follow false teachings. One of those false teachings of that group of Christians which went the wrong way according Muhammad is the Holy Trinity. That is not about a virgin Mary being God, though at his time and also still today there are Christians, like several Catholics who honour Myriam the mother of Jeshua as Maria or Mary, mother of Jesus and mother of God.

Text of
Text of "Our Father" prayer with Trinity in central column (God the Father, dove of the Holy Spirit, Jesus) and Biblical and symbolic scenes in left and right columns. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The “Virgin Mary” has nothing to do with the Trinity (it is the Holy Spirit, not Mary) which is according many Christians a person or figure. Those Christians do forget that God Himself is only One and is Spirit, not anything of flesh and blood, male or female in the strict sense like they see a human being. Lots of Christians do have 1 God the Father + 1 god the son + 1 god the Holy Spirit, and to our and to the Muslim mathematical thinking 1+1+1= 3. for that we can not say the prophet of that religious group had a wrong impression of those Christians who believe in a Tri-une God. Such a teaching is totally against the Words of God which can be found in many old writings, older than the quran.

Archaeological discoveries have repeatedly confirmed what Christians have already believed, that Biblical manuscripts and fragments dated even hundreds of years before Mohammed are virtually identical to the canonized Biblical texts we have today. From those old textfragments we can see that in later  centuries some alterations may have been brought in the Bible Translations, like the taking away of God His name and putting 'Lord' everywhere the tetragram or the Name of God was written, so that people could not figure out any more who it was that was been spoken of, god or Jesus. This alteration made to fit specific doctrinal teaching could not erase the essence of the real message, which each person still can find when he reads the whole assembly of 66 books.
The Biblical Tetragrammaton, the Hebrew Name f...
The Biblical Tetragrammaton, the Hebrew Name for God the Father. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Those who read the bible and compare the many translations with the old manuscripts will see how much conformity they still have.

When Muhammad recited the Qur’an, he clearly stated that he did not believe that the Bible was corrupt at that time and called upon Christians to adhere to the Scriptures that they already possessed.

Today, looking at some fundamentalist Muslims and hearing what they say about the Christian Scriptures, comparing them with the texts archeologist found until now, we could question them: "Since the Scriptures we have today are the same Scriptures that Christians had even well before the time of Muhammad, when do you believe the Bible could have possibly been corrupted, who corrupted it, and how was it corrupted?"

It is true that there are many Christians believe in something wich is nowhere noted in the Scriptures. We still offer 1000 € to the first Christians who can show us where in the original bible texts was written the word 'Trinity'.

The Muslims, like many Christians, Jews and gentiles should know that there are Christians who do not believe in a Tri-une God, but believe the Only One God, who does not tell lies and said about the Nazarene Jew Jeshua, whom we believe to be Jesus Christ the Messiah: "This is my only begotten beloved son". Jesus is the son of God and not god the son, nor the god the sun, nor god the light which we should honour. Jesus prayed unto his Father and told us to do likewise. We only should believe in One God only and One God that is not Triune.  Not three gods.

Islamic picture of Annunciation (Mariam)
Islamic picture of Annunciation (Mariam) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


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Monday 11 November 2013

Small churches of the few Christadelphians

The big difficulty we do encounter in Belgium is that when people do ask where we meet with how many, they hesitate to come to our meetings because we are not with enough people attending a service.
they all prefer to come to a church where they can hide in the massa's of people. When there are many people they can just be an unnoticed onlooker; but when there are just a handful of people present they shall be noticed by the others, and that is something what they do not like so much.

Today we also do hear about the empty Roman Catholic Churches but the growing attendance in the Pentecostal churches. On television people also can find many mega churches where enough entertainment is given to enjoy the show.

Most people have their instinctive opinions about “big church.”  Some may prefer to be a nobody in the amount of people present at a service, others may not like the feeling to be swallowed up in such a congregation.

We wonder if there are enough people who have a dislike for “big church,” because it seems so impersonal and also perhaps because in those churches the accent is not always on the right things. It is not the amount of people , the quantity in church, but should be more of the quality in church.

Those who do not want to come to our services because we are not with enough people should reconsider what they like to see in church and what would be that "Big church".

Don’t critique or judge getting big. Look the “bigness” right in the face. And ask, “What does big really mean?”
English: Jesus, followed by Simon Peter and Andrew
English: Jesus, followed by Simon Peter and Andrew (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Matthew 16:16-18 (NIV) says, “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”"
Well, if you are wanting to see a "Big Church" or going to go big, go really big!
When you accept that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God … you better also look at him as the one building his church!

Church of the Primacy of St. Peter on the Sea ...
Church of the Primacy of St. Peter on the Sea of Galilee. Traditional site where Jesus Christ appeared to his disciples after his resurrection and, according to Catholic tradition, established Peter's supreme jurisdiction over the Christian church. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Jesus is the one who makes church. Jesus is the church. Church is not a specific 'church-building' with a tower and a cross shape directed to the east.

It is also not the construction of people. Though we would like it, it is not us building the church. It’s not the pastor on the stage or the priest in the pulpit.  It is Jesus, the Son of the living God, who is building His Church.

The Church is a big idea. Because Jesus is a big idea. And because Jesus gives his disciples a big task.

All those who call themselves Christians, should be followers of Christ. they should not only be name Christians, but doers of the Word. In Acts, Jesus describes how big of a task he is giving the disciples.  Acts 1:7-8 (MSG) states,
 “He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”
Imagine if Jesus came to us and said,
 “…you will be my witness in Leefdaal, all over Flemish Brabant and the Low countries, even to the ends of the world.”
 Yeah, that’s pretty big too.   The church is a big idea, and it will expand. It started with 12 disciples and it has grown across the world to nations with more than 100 different languages.
In Acts 2:21 (NIV), it says, ”Everyone who calls on the name of The Lord will be saved.”
That saving should we proclaim and we should bring the hearts into fire for the name of Jesus. Christians should bring forwards the Gospel of the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God.  Every person coming to believe in Jesus as the saviour send by the Most High Saviour Jehovah God, would have to become partaker of the body of Christ and as such being a member of the Church of God, which has Christ Jesus as its High priest.

All those believing individuals in their own houses, who believe in the offer Jesus made and accept him as their saviour, willing to become part of that Body of Christ, are part of the church.

Here is another example of ‘big church’ in the Bible.
  In Acts 2:41-47 is the story of the 3,000 who were baptized… imagine that in present day. How many kids rooms would we need from one week to the next? How many new greeters? How many overflow rooms? How many extra chairs? The Church basically went from meeting in a living room to needing a stadium! And that was just one day.

Now to transition just a little bit, it is one thing to agree and say, yes, we agree with you, Jesus that the church should probably be big. But what does is truly mean to be a disciple? Great question.
In John 13:34-35 (MSG) Jesus states,
 ““Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples — when they see the love you have for each other.”
Well, that sounds pretty simple doesn’t it? Love one another, cool! I’ve got it. But what does it really mean to live out your love for each other?

The first part of loving one another is building relationships with one another.  The church is not just based out of a building or a temple, it is based out of homes. Faith is centered on two places: temple and homes.
To love one another in the old church knew they needed to meet and know each other in their homes. Meeting at the temple was important, but they had to eat with each other and know each other in order to love each other like Jesus loved.  This is such a critical part of today’s church as well! That is also the reason why we meet in houses, cafetaria's, parks, have something to eat or drink with each other and not sit on benches or ordered chairs in a row.

We need our small groups and relationships to truly know each other and love each other.

It’s a great first step to agree with Jesus. But how do we actually Do what Jesus said? How do we love one another despite the chaos of life? Despite our differences?
 Jesus directs us to do the following:
Submit to one another. Honor one another. Bear with one another. Forgive one another. Accept one another. Care for one another. Encourage one another. Restore one another. Love one another.
Most of this cannot happen on Sunday morning. We have to be in each other’s lives daily.
“We, the church family, want to get bigger for the sake of eternity and smaller for the value of each individual.”
We all should feel like brothers and sisters in Christ.

As brethren and sisters we do have to help each other to grow spiritually. It is by sharing ideas that we can help each other to see other things or to think about other things or to think in another way. As such we can grow and get more strength, because others share their messes, and we share our messes, yet we are still there for each other, serving one another and loving one another despite the chaos of life.
“Let’s share our messes so that we can see grace move in each other as light is shed on our mess.”
“Is big church healthy?
Size doesn’t have anything to do with health. Health has everything to do with our relationships.”

When we want to become good Christians, this shall not only become by becoming 'churchgoers'. We do need to make church, but making church happens in the own heart. It is the willingness to become part of the Body of Christ and willing to share that feeling with others, in love, by taking their bad and good elements, overlooking their peculiarities. Willing to take every person like he or she is, and considering him or her as your brother or sister.

This brotherly love is what makes the church, not the building or the presence of just material bodies in one specific place.

The Christadelphians may gather with not so many people, but the love of those people for each other and their love for God is what binds them all over the world. In one specific place they are perhaps not with many, but they do feel connected with others in many different countries, speaking many different languages, which we even not always understand. But we understand each other in the love of God, and that is what binds us forever.

Next time when you are looking for a church, question what you are looking for. Are you looking to find a place where you can find some nice entertainment? Are you looking for some enjoyable socialising? Or are you looking for the genuine love Christ has given mankind?
Are you submitting to one another? Are you letting others go first? Are we honoring one another in how we speak to each other? Are we caring for one another? 
When was the last time we went out of our way to appreciate and love on someone else? How are you loving each other as Jesus loves?
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