Faith

What will happen to you when you die? Morbid question but one you need to think about because we all die one day. Is there nothing? Really? Enough people have been brought back from death by modern medicine and reported what we call 'Near Death Experiences', but should really just be called 'Death Experiences" because they did actually die. There are too many NDE's for there to be nothing after death.

So there is an afterlife - which means God could be real, the beauty and complexity of Creation, the universe and DNA scream that there is a God and the odds of human life being an accident are astronomical. I don't have enough Faith to be an atheist in the face of all the evidence for the existence of God. What about you?

Why Jesus?

Interestingly the major religions of the world, all worship the same God, even some of the not so major religions like the American Indians, worship the Great Creator Spirit (maybe the same God). But what does Christianity have that other religions don't? Christianity is the only religion where God is born as a man, becomes fully human, and gave his life to pay for YOUR sins, because HE LOVES YOU! Then he came back to life, raising from the dead and is a LIVING GOD! Compassionate, understanding, full of love and mercy, one whom when you call on Him will answer your prayers. All other religions teach that humans must work their way toward divinity trying to appease their God, Christianity teaches God did the work for us, out of love, as a free gift, although accepting that gift does have a cost.

If you choose to continue it means acknowledging that God is Holy, His standards of behavior are far greater than ours and we can never meet them, all of us are sinners. Becoming a Christian is about accepting God's gift of Love - salvation can not be earned, no one deserves it - Jesus paid for it with his blood - it can only be accepted as a gift. We all need forgiveness. We need to apologize to God, ask his forgiveness for the wrongs we have done to Him and to others. We need to believe that Jesus is real - we need to acknowledge He is God's divine son and if He wills it - He can wipe the slate clean for us, wipe away the stain of our sin and give us a fresh beginning. We need to trust the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us from within and give us new lives. Then commit our lives to loving God and treating all others with kindness and respect, forgiving them as we have been forgiven, and following Jesus as his disciple.

If you are taking the step to accept God’s gift of love for the first time, just pray this prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ
I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life.
Please forgive me.
I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.
Thank you that you died on the cross for me
so that I could be forgiven and set free.
Thank you that you offer me forgiveness
and the gift of your Holy Spirit.
I surrender my life to you Jesus.
Please come and live in my heart.
Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, you are now a Christian, a disciple of Jesus. Start reading the Bible, it is free online, or use this website where we have 3 short readings a day, usually one from the Old Testament, one from the Gospels and one from the New Testament letters. Find yourself a local Church that teaches the Gospel and arranged to get baptized as soon as you can.

Welcome to the Family

Remember Jesus is a gentleman he doesn't go where he is not invited and just as we can decide to turn to Him, we can also decide to turn our backs on Him and walk away – God's gift of free will is never removed. As humans, we continue to make mistakes and to sometimes fall into sin. You need to renew your commitment to follow Jesus every day, by talking to Him, and reading the instruction manual - The Bible.