As it is the fourth Sunday of Advent, it seems only fair that I speak of the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. (besides, i wont be posting on Christmas... i'll be with my family:)
Jesus' basic story is this- Mary, a virgin of immaculate conception and betrothed to Joseph, is visited by the angel Gabriel and told that she will bear a son for God. Mary is confused and asks how she can bear a child (she isn't married yet)and Gabriel tells her that the Holy Spirit will bless her with her boy. Mary consents to God's will.
This acceptance of the Lord's will is what makes Mary so important to Christians today. Mary really put herself in an awkward position when she accepted God's will- she was betrothed, but pregnant. In her time, Mary would have been killed if anyone found out the baby was not Joseph's.
When Joseph sees that Mary is pregnant, he plans to divorce her quietly. He is not suppose to marry a pregnant woman, but he cannot divorce Mary publicly because she would be stoned to death. But before he divorces her, Joseph is visited by an angel in a dream. The angel tells him that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit and that God wants Joseph to take Mary into his home. So Joseph does.
During her pregnancy, Mary visits her cousin, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was also pregnant though she and her husband were old and thought to be infertile. Elizabeth greets Mary with, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." - part of our 'Hail Mary' prayer. Elizabeth will give birth to John, a man who becomes a saint and will prepare Jesus' way.
Also during Mary's pregnancy, Caesar Augustus sends out a decree that all of his people need to be enrolled. So Joseph takes Mary to the town in which he was descended from- Bethlehem. When the reach Bethlehem, the inns are so crowded that they are forced to sleep in a barn. Mary births Jesus in this barn and lays him in a manger for a bed. Swaddling clothes are wrapped around the baby... even though he will become the king of kings. God shows us that worldly symbols are unimportant, what really matters is who you are.
Angels come and sing praises to the newborn Jesus. They give directions to nearby shepherds so that they may come and see the newborn Jesus. These plain shepherds are the first (excluding Mary and Joseph) to worship Jesus.
Wise men see the new star that formed on the night of Jesus' birth, and follow it to Jesus. When the reach the baby, they give him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These significant gifts foreshadow much of what is to come. Gold for the baby who will become king over all kings. Frankincense and myrrh for the baby who would die for our sins- frankincense was used in funerals as incense and myrrh was used as embalming oil for the body.
The three wise men came to worship the baby as well... even though they were richer and of a higher class with more respect and money than Mary or Joseph.
This celebration of Jesus' birth is what Christmas is all about.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
The Fourth Commandment
Keep holy the Sabbath day
Is also fairly straightforward. Just attend Church every Sunday. God gave us seven days each week- is it too much to ask that for one day, for one hour, we go to mass and devote ourselves to Him?
For some, yes, it is too much to ask. Yes, don't go if you are sick, but you should make up for the mass you missed. Pray for an hour in your room, attend mass during the week, do something to make Sunday holy. But some people skip mass even if they are not sick. "I'm too busy." "I don't get anything out of mass." "It's boring." "It's just the same thing every time." Are some of the many excuses I have heard. So let's break down each one.
I'm too busy.
Is God too busy for you? Too often have I fallen into the trap of thinking that I am too busy with track or with homework for mass. But then I think. Every time we pray, God listens. No matter the day, the hour, the second, God is watching over us. He made us, gave us all that is good, listens to us when we need Him, yet we cannot spend a single hour a week in mass? You cannot possibly have better things to do. God is more important than everything and everyone. And it's not as if there is just one time for mass- there are many masses every Sunday. Find one that works for you. Fit it in.
I don't get anything our of mass.
You must not be paying attention hard enough. You get counseling form a priest,hear the words of God, and receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ each mass. Who could ask for more?
It's boring.
How? You get a different readying each mass, different priests with different interpretations of God's word, different songs, different seasons of mass. If I feel myself beginning to zone out during mass, I find it helpful to think about what we say, or sing or hear throughout mass. We make promises to God and to others to be the best we can be. Are you being your best? I, for one, know that I can certainly be better... so mass can't be boring. It can transform into something exciting, because we are learning how to better our lives to become our best.
It's just the same thing every time.
If it was the same thing every time, then why does the Pope attend mass? Why does God tell us to go every Sunday? Because mass is not repetition. As I said before, mass is constantly changing. Yes, we do repeat some old tradition, but mass is in no way the exact same each time. Just because you greet your host, eat pizza, and dance at different parties, doesn't mean that those parties are the same old same old. Each is different and unique, yet follows the same basic tradition. Just like mass.
But what if mass was boring and repetitive and useless but God still said we should go to it? We would still need to go to it. But mass is new and inspiring and holy and good and God wants us to go. Why not go?
Is also fairly straightforward. Just attend Church every Sunday. God gave us seven days each week- is it too much to ask that for one day, for one hour, we go to mass and devote ourselves to Him?
For some, yes, it is too much to ask. Yes, don't go if you are sick, but you should make up for the mass you missed. Pray for an hour in your room, attend mass during the week, do something to make Sunday holy. But some people skip mass even if they are not sick. "I'm too busy." "I don't get anything out of mass." "It's boring." "It's just the same thing every time." Are some of the many excuses I have heard. So let's break down each one.
I'm too busy.
Is God too busy for you? Too often have I fallen into the trap of thinking that I am too busy with track or with homework for mass. But then I think. Every time we pray, God listens. No matter the day, the hour, the second, God is watching over us. He made us, gave us all that is good, listens to us when we need Him, yet we cannot spend a single hour a week in mass? You cannot possibly have better things to do. God is more important than everything and everyone. And it's not as if there is just one time for mass- there are many masses every Sunday. Find one that works for you. Fit it in.
I don't get anything our of mass.
You must not be paying attention hard enough. You get counseling form a priest,hear the words of God, and receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ each mass. Who could ask for more?
It's boring.
How? You get a different readying each mass, different priests with different interpretations of God's word, different songs, different seasons of mass. If I feel myself beginning to zone out during mass, I find it helpful to think about what we say, or sing or hear throughout mass. We make promises to God and to others to be the best we can be. Are you being your best? I, for one, know that I can certainly be better... so mass can't be boring. It can transform into something exciting, because we are learning how to better our lives to become our best.
It's just the same thing every time.
If it was the same thing every time, then why does the Pope attend mass? Why does God tell us to go every Sunday? Because mass is not repetition. As I said before, mass is constantly changing. Yes, we do repeat some old tradition, but mass is in no way the exact same each time. Just because you greet your host, eat pizza, and dance at different parties, doesn't mean that those parties are the same old same old. Each is different and unique, yet follows the same basic tradition. Just like mass.
But what if mass was boring and repetitive and useless but God still said we should go to it? We would still need to go to it. But mass is new and inspiring and holy and good and God wants us to go. Why not go?
Sunday, December 7, 2008
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
We, as Christians, cross ourselves before and after we pray. As we do this, we say, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen." But what does this mean? The Father is God. The Son is Jesus. And the Holy Spirit is the Spirit that inspires our souls to do great deeds and be holy. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are united with each other, separate, yet part of the one body of God. St. Patrick described this well. He compared the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) to a clover and its three leaves. Each leaf represents either the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. Each is separate, yet part of the same body. In Church, we summarize this by saying the Apostle's Creed each mass.
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is seen and unseen.
We believe in in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake He was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended into hell.
On the third day He rose again, in fulfillment of the scriptures;
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated on the right hand of the Father;
in glory He will come to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
the Lord, the giver of life;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is seen and unseen.
We believe in in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake He was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended into hell.
On the third day He rose again, in fulfillment of the scriptures;
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated on the right hand of the Father;
in glory He will come to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
the Lord, the giver of life;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
The Third Commandment
Do not take the Lord's name in vain.
This one is pretty straightforward- only say "God" when you are talking to Him or about Him. Sadly, though this seems to be the simplest commandment, it is probably the one that is broken most often. How many times a day do you hear someone say, "Oh my God," as an exclamation instead of a way to connect with God?
It's sad how many people misuse the name of our Lord, but even worse still is the fact that many do not even realize they are sinning! As Christians, as God's children, we must stop this. The maltreatment of God's name is a disease that we are obligated to keep from spreading. We owe it to God.
The simplest way to cure this would be to just ask someone who says, "Oh my God" to stop. Hopefully, that person won't say "Oh my God" anymore, but if they persist, the best thing to do is to tell the person what what they say bothers you.
"Would you please not say 'Oh my God'?"
-It bothers me when people say his name incorrectly."
-I don't think it's right to use God's name unless you're talking to Him."
-It can't be right to misuse God's name."
-I don't know if you mean to, but you're kind of insulting Him."
Another word that insults God is 'goddammit'. Again, though they may not realize it, when people say 'goddammit' they are actually asking for Him to dam (send to Hell) whatever they are talking about.
And who are we to tell God that someone should suffer eternal damnation? He alone is the judge of that.
God's name is and always will be sacred. He made us, gave us all of our gifts, all of our abilities, all our our friends and family members... He has given us everything good in our lives. All good things come from our Lord, because He is purely good. And He loves us.
And even though we have sinned, He loves us. He sent us His only son, Jesus, down to us. And Jesus showed us how deep love truly is... even when the Church sentenced Jesus to death He still loved us. As One Bread, One Body states, "He knows all the skeletons in our closets, yet He chooses to be with us and within us. He wants to be with us, even when we don't want to be with ourselves. Jesus loves us even when we don't love ourselves. He loves us." The least we could do is respect His name.
This one is pretty straightforward- only say "God" when you are talking to Him or about Him. Sadly, though this seems to be the simplest commandment, it is probably the one that is broken most often. How many times a day do you hear someone say, "Oh my God," as an exclamation instead of a way to connect with God?
It's sad how many people misuse the name of our Lord, but even worse still is the fact that many do not even realize they are sinning! As Christians, as God's children, we must stop this. The maltreatment of God's name is a disease that we are obligated to keep from spreading. We owe it to God.
The simplest way to cure this would be to just ask someone who says, "Oh my God" to stop. Hopefully, that person won't say "Oh my God" anymore, but if they persist, the best thing to do is to tell the person what what they say bothers you.
"Would you please not say 'Oh my God'?"
-It bothers me when people say his name incorrectly."
-I don't think it's right to use God's name unless you're talking to Him."
-It can't be right to misuse God's name."
-I don't know if you mean to, but you're kind of insulting Him."
Another word that insults God is 'goddammit'. Again, though they may not realize it, when people say 'goddammit' they are actually asking for Him to dam (send to Hell) whatever they are talking about.
And who are we to tell God that someone should suffer eternal damnation? He alone is the judge of that.
God's name is and always will be sacred. He made us, gave us all of our gifts, all of our abilities, all our our friends and family members... He has given us everything good in our lives. All good things come from our Lord, because He is purely good. And He loves us.
And even though we have sinned, He loves us. He sent us His only son, Jesus, down to us. And Jesus showed us how deep love truly is... even when the Church sentenced Jesus to death He still loved us. As One Bread, One Body states, "He knows all the skeletons in our closets, yet He chooses to be with us and within us. He wants to be with us, even when we don't want to be with ourselves. Jesus loves us even when we don't love ourselves. He loves us." The least we could do is respect His name.
Monday, December 1, 2008
The Second Commandment
The second commandment: Do not worship false Gods.
Many people group this commandment in with the first one... Worship God above all things. Because if we worship God above all other things, then aren't we following the second commandment? Not really.
God is telling us that there are no minor gods or idols that we need to worship. We should merely worship Him and Him alone. This also means that we need not worship any other living being. We do not need to bow down to kings, to bow down to our rulers or bosses or so called 'superiors'. We need only worship God.
Yet this is so much harder than it seems... for it is not just people who tempt us to worship them. There are also items. We have to avoid worshiping money, our cell phones, our houses. We must put God above all else.
It's easy to think, "I do that. I don't bow down to my cellphone... I mean, it's a PHONE. Who does that?" But then you have to stop and think. How many hours a day to you spend on your cellphone? How many hours a day to you spend with God?
If God is your all, then do you talk to him more than your family? Your friends? Your computer?
If the reason that we were made was to prove to God that we were worthy of heaven, then why would we spend our lives doing anything else? Everything we do in life should be either participating in good works or doing something to build up to participating in God's good works. This doesn't mean God wants you to quit school and go off and serve the poor. But it does mean that you should work hard to get a job that involves helping people or spreading God's word. Or a job in which you act as an example of a true Christian for your co-workers. Or a job where you give a lot of your salary to the poor.
There are so many ways to serve God, one just has to remember that serving God is the goal. As a Haitian prayer from "God is no Stranger" says, "Help us to sow good seed, since we will be the ones eating from the harvest."
We must sow our good deeds like seeds, sow new people into the ground of Christianity, for we will be the ones reaping the benefits of heaven when the harvest comes and God judges us.
Many people group this commandment in with the first one... Worship God above all things. Because if we worship God above all other things, then aren't we following the second commandment? Not really.
God is telling us that there are no minor gods or idols that we need to worship. We should merely worship Him and Him alone. This also means that we need not worship any other living being. We do not need to bow down to kings, to bow down to our rulers or bosses or so called 'superiors'. We need only worship God.
Yet this is so much harder than it seems... for it is not just people who tempt us to worship them. There are also items. We have to avoid worshiping money, our cell phones, our houses. We must put God above all else.
It's easy to think, "I do that. I don't bow down to my cellphone... I mean, it's a PHONE. Who does that?" But then you have to stop and think. How many hours a day to you spend on your cellphone? How many hours a day to you spend with God?
If God is your all, then do you talk to him more than your family? Your friends? Your computer?
If the reason that we were made was to prove to God that we were worthy of heaven, then why would we spend our lives doing anything else? Everything we do in life should be either participating in good works or doing something to build up to participating in God's good works. This doesn't mean God wants you to quit school and go off and serve the poor. But it does mean that you should work hard to get a job that involves helping people or spreading God's word. Or a job in which you act as an example of a true Christian for your co-workers. Or a job where you give a lot of your salary to the poor.
There are so many ways to serve God, one just has to remember that serving God is the goal. As a Haitian prayer from "God is no Stranger" says, "Help us to sow good seed, since we will be the ones eating from the harvest."
We must sow our good deeds like seeds, sow new people into the ground of Christianity, for we will be the ones reaping the benefits of heaven when the harvest comes and God judges us.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
The First Commandment
So let's take a look at the first commandment.
-Worship God above all things
This seems simple enough- because God created us and everything good for us, we should respect him above all else. Yet for many, this is the most difficult commandment to follow. To respect God above all else is to put him before absolutely everything else in your life. God must be more important than your family, friends, spouse, country, exc. For many it is hard to hear this, but I must stress to you that God's way is the right and perfect way. We must simply trust our all-knowing Father.
To help me understand this, a priest once told me a story about a young girl that went something like this:
A young girl was standing next to the casket at her mother's funeral. The little girl looked at her dead mother, then turned to her father and said, "Daddy, why did God let Mommy die?"
Her father looked at her, picked up a piece of needlework that was close by, and said, "What can you see here?"
The girl looked at the bottom of the needlework, which was matted with knots and ties and tangles, and said, "I don't know."
Her father said, "This is what we see." He then flipped the needlework over to show his daughter the beautiful picture on its front. "This is what God sees."
This story shows that we must trust in God and His ways because he sees all and knows all; whereas we are merely human.
But the young girl's question brings up another- Why, if God is perfect and loves us, does He allow for bad things to happen? The truth of the matter is, it isn't God who made those bad things. It's the devil. And instead of asking God how such a horrible thing could have happened, we should really be cursing Satan for causing the horrible thing. And when something bad happens, we have a choice.
We can pray to God for strength to get us through the bad time. We can ask Him to help us understand why that bad thing happened. We can forgive those who did that bad thing to us. We can praise God that we survived that bad thing.
Or...
We could renounce God's name. We could forget Him and turn away. We could allow the one who caused the bad thing, Satan, to win. By getting us to turn away from God, Satan succeeds in getting what he wanted all along- for us to forget God. I don't know about you, but I am sure not going to let the one who causes all my misery win.
But I'm not saying that putting God above all else is easy. It's not. You have to be strong, brave, and smart. You have to be able to love with all your heat, soul, and mind. You have to have strength beyond modern day strength (if someone punches you what's harder to do, punch them back or smile and walk away?) But the end result of a perfect eternal life will be well worth it.
Eternal adj.-lasting forever; always existing, perpetual; ceaseless; endless
Imagine that our eternal life was a library. Our current lives that we are living right now would not even be as long as a period on the end of a sentence in one of the library books. So we might as well try all we can now so that we may live forever. We may as well put up with a little suffering now to gain eternal happiness. As one of the Haitian prayers in the book God is no Stranger says:
'If we are alive today in spite of hunger, hurricanes, and sickness, we should say, "Thank you Lord. We must be here for a purpose." '
And that purpose is to follow God.
-Worship God above all things
This seems simple enough- because God created us and everything good for us, we should respect him above all else. Yet for many, this is the most difficult commandment to follow. To respect God above all else is to put him before absolutely everything else in your life. God must be more important than your family, friends, spouse, country, exc. For many it is hard to hear this, but I must stress to you that God's way is the right and perfect way. We must simply trust our all-knowing Father.
To help me understand this, a priest once told me a story about a young girl that went something like this:
A young girl was standing next to the casket at her mother's funeral. The little girl looked at her dead mother, then turned to her father and said, "Daddy, why did God let Mommy die?"
Her father looked at her, picked up a piece of needlework that was close by, and said, "What can you see here?"
The girl looked at the bottom of the needlework, which was matted with knots and ties and tangles, and said, "I don't know."
Her father said, "This is what we see." He then flipped the needlework over to show his daughter the beautiful picture on its front. "This is what God sees."
This story shows that we must trust in God and His ways because he sees all and knows all; whereas we are merely human.
But the young girl's question brings up another- Why, if God is perfect and loves us, does He allow for bad things to happen? The truth of the matter is, it isn't God who made those bad things. It's the devil. And instead of asking God how such a horrible thing could have happened, we should really be cursing Satan for causing the horrible thing. And when something bad happens, we have a choice.
We can pray to God for strength to get us through the bad time. We can ask Him to help us understand why that bad thing happened. We can forgive those who did that bad thing to us. We can praise God that we survived that bad thing.
Or...
We could renounce God's name. We could forget Him and turn away. We could allow the one who caused the bad thing, Satan, to win. By getting us to turn away from God, Satan succeeds in getting what he wanted all along- for us to forget God. I don't know about you, but I am sure not going to let the one who causes all my misery win.
But I'm not saying that putting God above all else is easy. It's not. You have to be strong, brave, and smart. You have to be able to love with all your heat, soul, and mind. You have to have strength beyond modern day strength (if someone punches you what's harder to do, punch them back or smile and walk away?) But the end result of a perfect eternal life will be well worth it.
Eternal adj.-lasting forever; always existing, perpetual; ceaseless; endless
Imagine that our eternal life was a library. Our current lives that we are living right now would not even be as long as a period on the end of a sentence in one of the library books. So we might as well try all we can now so that we may live forever. We may as well put up with a little suffering now to gain eternal happiness. As one of the Haitian prayers in the book God is no Stranger says:
'If we are alive today in spite of hunger, hurricanes, and sickness, we should say, "Thank you Lord. We must be here for a purpose." '
And that purpose is to follow God.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Introduction
I don't understand how a person could not want to be Christian.
I know that anyone could come up with dozens of ill-formed excuses, but if a person really and truly researched what it meant to follow Christ, they could not possibly ignore Him. He is simply too wonderful.
Yet people do. They make lame excuses to get out of worship. Being a teenager, I know that one of the most common excuses that I've heard for not following Jesus is the fact that "you have to follow rules." In modern day society, nobody wants to do things when they are told to do them; we want to do things when we decide that we want to do them. Especially us Americans.
Yet when I hear the "rules" complaint, I always find it an interesting, if ill-prepared, excuse. We always, no matter what we do, must comply to rules. Rules in school, in society, even in our own homes. Some of these rules are wonderful ideas, others, questionable or downright bad. Yet the rules of God are all perfect.
Perfect adj. -entirely without any flaws, defects, or shortcomings
And while our lives are drowning in a suffocating flood of thousands of rules, God only gives us ten. Just ten.
-Worship God above all things
-Do not worship false Gods
-Do not take the Lord's name in vain
(don't say 'God' unless you're talking about Him)
-Keep the Sabbath holy
(go to church on Sunday)
-Honor your father and mother
-You shall not kill
-You shall not commit adultery
-You shall not steal
-You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
(don't lie)
-You shall not covet your neighbor's possessions
All of these rules come from God, delivered to Moses on Mt. Sinai. All of these rules are perfect. So why should we not adhere to them? God gives us these rules so that we may be happy and live eternally. And though He has the power to make us follow Him, he lets us choose.
Why? Because he loves us enough to give us the freedom to decide our own fate. It is as if He is the coach, telling us the rules to a game. When you know the rules and then go onto the field to compete, you are much more likely to win than those who do not know the rules. Those who run around recklessly without rules to guide them are unhappy and dangerous not only to others, but to themselves. Those who know the rules are God's followers, and they go out onto the field of the world to win the prize of heaven. Those who do not know the rules are those who choose to ignore God's call, and they try to play the game without knowing its purpose. They search for the meaning of life, yet they only have to look to the rules to find them. God is the meaning of life.
Still wary of the rules? Are you tentative to follow them because you cannot bring yourself to believe? Then I shall tell you how to believe.
Pray.
Look to your heart.
Research the proof of God's miracles.
Think.
There are certain things each human is born with, certain values we so not have to be taught, but already know. Killing, lying, stealing, being disrespectful, all of these are wrong. And all of these things are covered int the ten commandments. How can we possibly be born knowing these things unless God, our creator, placed the knowledge in out souls?
I know that anyone could come up with dozens of ill-formed excuses, but if a person really and truly researched what it meant to follow Christ, they could not possibly ignore Him. He is simply too wonderful.
Yet people do. They make lame excuses to get out of worship. Being a teenager, I know that one of the most common excuses that I've heard for not following Jesus is the fact that "you have to follow rules." In modern day society, nobody wants to do things when they are told to do them; we want to do things when we decide that we want to do them. Especially us Americans.
Yet when I hear the "rules" complaint, I always find it an interesting, if ill-prepared, excuse. We always, no matter what we do, must comply to rules. Rules in school, in society, even in our own homes. Some of these rules are wonderful ideas, others, questionable or downright bad. Yet the rules of God are all perfect.
Perfect adj. -entirely without any flaws, defects, or shortcomings
And while our lives are drowning in a suffocating flood of thousands of rules, God only gives us ten. Just ten.
-Worship God above all things
-Do not worship false Gods
-Do not take the Lord's name in vain
(don't say 'God' unless you're talking about Him)
-Keep the Sabbath holy
(go to church on Sunday)
-Honor your father and mother
-You shall not kill
-You shall not commit adultery
-You shall not steal
-You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
(don't lie)
-You shall not covet your neighbor's possessions
All of these rules come from God, delivered to Moses on Mt. Sinai. All of these rules are perfect. So why should we not adhere to them? God gives us these rules so that we may be happy and live eternally. And though He has the power to make us follow Him, he lets us choose.
Why? Because he loves us enough to give us the freedom to decide our own fate. It is as if He is the coach, telling us the rules to a game. When you know the rules and then go onto the field to compete, you are much more likely to win than those who do not know the rules. Those who run around recklessly without rules to guide them are unhappy and dangerous not only to others, but to themselves. Those who know the rules are God's followers, and they go out onto the field of the world to win the prize of heaven. Those who do not know the rules are those who choose to ignore God's call, and they try to play the game without knowing its purpose. They search for the meaning of life, yet they only have to look to the rules to find them. God is the meaning of life.
Still wary of the rules? Are you tentative to follow them because you cannot bring yourself to believe? Then I shall tell you how to believe.
Pray.
Look to your heart.
Research the proof of God's miracles.
Think.
There are certain things each human is born with, certain values we so not have to be taught, but already know. Killing, lying, stealing, being disrespectful, all of these are wrong. And all of these things are covered int the ten commandments. How can we possibly be born knowing these things unless God, our creator, placed the knowledge in out souls?
The Beginning
Welcome! This blog is pretty much just a way to get my views about God and my religion out there. I just want to share the good news of God with everyone. To those who are already Christians and enjoy discussion, welcome! To those who are not Christians and wish to ask questions about God and his ways, welcome! I will be posting every Sunday, and maybe a bit during the week, depending on how busy I am. Feel free to ask any questions you have about what I've posted, quoted, or anything about God in general. Thanks for reading!
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