Category Archives: Comparisons with other religions

Comparisons with other religions

Stats

Published by:

SO weird!

For a long time our visit count was geometrically higher than our visitor count. Then, that stopped abruptly. So I can guess what that was about. Still, we are getting a steady stream of people. Fifteen a day. I like that.

Now, I see that Saudia Arabia and India, and to a lesser but still high degree, Tunisia are all trying to hack this site. Wow, guys, you don’t have enough to do if you are trying to hack a site that is so small, is used by so few people. With no possible monetary return, since the site doesn’t sell anything and is easy to rebuild. You must hate Jesus a lot. Think of that. It proves Jesus is pretty important.

Hahahaha LOL falling on the floor and luxuriating in the Spirit Hahahah

Comparisons with other religions Controversial Issues Holy Spirit guidance

Pentecost 2

Published by:

We are zooming again. Not for Covid019! But by agreement. we still believe in “assembling ourselves together” so we look forward to having face to face meetings again. THE INVITE WILL SENT OUT AND THE ONE I SENT OUT ARE THE SAME. If you did not get an invite, please introduce yourself and send an email. We will be happy to have you if you want to do what we are doing. We are a diverse group.

Today we are going to take another look at Acts 2. Last time we focused on empowerment by the Spirit. Today, we are going to focus on “in one place and in one accord” –or being together. Yet the story also includes people being from many nations, different ages, and both sex.

We have had some decades now of identify politics, and “consciousness raising” based on resentment. The result has been continued injustice, burning cities, one ethnic group shooting their own and tearing downs businesses of their own, and everyone being “played.”

Examples: People being flown in to spark looting. People stealing electronics only to have them stolen from them when they get out of the store. People stealing iphones and iMacs only to have apple catch them. People being encouraged to loot and throw bricks, only to find out that that were filmed or their licenses plates pictured, they arrested a week later, and not reported in the media. Later they discover they took the fall for the (elite) organizers. Even real community organizers calling just protests (as opposed to riots) but following Saul Alinsky’s rules, asking for things already granted, so the organizer looks good, gains more power in the community, but nothing really changed. Except then people more willingly follow the organizer.

Then, did you see on TV that one must continue to keep social distancing — unless you are protesting? What? Are they hoping to get protestors die? Doubtful given the extraordinarily low death rate. Maybe it is just the second kind of fear just extends the first — and the population is even more easily controlled.

Examples: pictures of the bad cop, that intentionally hide the multi-racial team doing the same thing. Reporting that intentionally hid fact that there was meta-amphetamine in Floyd’s body. Reporting that intentionally suppress what his family says.

Reactions to other things lumped into this. Reactions to this that are legitimate and non-racist that are causing people to lose their livelihoods. Reactions to the the police brutality against a black man that now include killing other blacks, both protestors and law enforcement.

Making people afraid to say anything, while at the same time making people afraid to say nothing. It is fear, control, enslavement, impoverishment and death.

A bunch of nonsense.

By contrast, The Lord has the same peace love and joy, based on the same principles, that have worked across the generations and across the planet. Really. Check it out with history and science — oh, actual history and actual science — you know, where you count and measure.

So, here are some ancient words toward peace
Acts 2: 1 they were in one accord and in one place… or… they were together… the point is that were more than geographically together.
John 17 Jesus prayed that we would be one
James 3: 16 strife, division ends in all evil works; jealousy and selfish ambition are tools that Satan uses to create moral degradation

Satan divides black against whites and women against men and young against old and on and on. Everybody fights from hurt and offense and resentment. And everyone gets more hurt. Jesus, by contrast, offers healing.

By contrast, the forgiveness, and the goodness of God, bring all peoples together. Living in Holy Spirit, on a higher plane, makes one thankful and generous and patient. Living acccording to the instructions of the Word of God make one good, righteous, just, merciful and giving. Lots of folks living like this would make the world a much better place. Starts with hearts.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhnb2GS8llo

Hope to see you soon.

Austin events Blessings Campaign Austin Church growth Comparisons with other religions Controversial Issues Discipleship launch Leadership Replication Maturity Mission

A New and More Biblical Prosperity Gospel — A Call to Commitment to Assignment

Published by:

Studying Haggai. There we are in endtime prophecy. The Lord calls the church to repentance, because it has been building its own house and not his.
This is a new and clearly Biblical prosperity teaching. God would like to bless your house, but can’t if you aren’t building His.
There are a lot of people God has called to leadership. But there are leadership tests that need to be passed. Without a commitment to learn, it is pretty hard to be a Christian. Without commitment to work, you are not a leader. Without a commitment to pull together, you can’t be on a team of leaders.
And yes, sure, there are wounds of previous top leaders who didn’t deploy you, but there needs to be a commitment to healing, too. Come to the Lord.
It is a call to commitment, my friends.

Comparisons with other religions

Christianity is The Better Way

Published by:

We are now to Hebrews in our quick fly-over of the New Testament. The theme of Hebrews is “now we have a better covenant.”(See Heb 1:4, 7:22, 8:6 , 9;23, 10:34, 11:16, 11:40, 12>24>)The writer is comparing the new way through Jesus, the new covenant based on grace through faith, with the covenant God made through Moses, based on the Mosaic Law. Actually, that covenant was of grace too. The Jews understand it that way. Nevertheless, it requires the keeping of the law. Yet, we have better promises. We are required only to believer, to trust in, to rely on Jesus (Ep.2:8&9) and his finished work (jn7:14, Hb 4:3). And of course, that belief issues forth in good works (Ep2:10, Titus2:17). Indeed, Christ lives through us to do these good works (Gal2:21).

If the faith way of Jesus is better than that of the grace covenant brought to the people of Israel, how much more than the other ways to God offered. And lots better than nothing at all!

Hinduism has gurus who suggest that they can bring you back to union with God if you follow them through thousands of lifetimes. But how can you tell they are telling your the truth? Buddha said he did not know about the supernatural, but will offer you right living now. Even should you find someone who actually teaches what Buddha actually taught, and doesn’t mix it with stuff Buddha didn’t know about, can you really follow that? The best Buddhist students I know of stay in their room on the day they promise not to hurt anything. In Islam, you will find out just after you die if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds. Trouble is that many verses in the Koran contradict others. What is taught as the path toward the best reward sound to everyone else as doing what is most bad, most universally condemned. You know: the seven virgins on seven sheet thing. After you left your body, remember. Then there are some animist ways, which in the USA are idealized from movies about Native Americans, however, from Asia and Africa where people follow these ways, we hear of stories of gross fear and degradation. (I am reading about them in Mountain Rain from China and Burma, but I am hearing stories from my students today. They are afraid of demons attacking them, and not without experience.)

God’s way of love, peace and joy, based on Jesus’ finished work, taken by faith, and walked out with a community sounds like the best offer to me!

So you think that Christianity makes you do a lot of stuff?!?!?!?! Poppycock. How would you like to have no path and just have to figure out what works? That is not good. How would you like to have a way of acesticism, following some guru through thousands of lifetimes — maybe? How would you like a religion that sees women as chattel? and violence as a way to heaven? How is Buddhism working out in the lands where it is regnant? For all the good claims of Buddhsim, for which it is loved in the US, like compassion and peace, how does it look like in the army of Myanmar? Or the passivity of the orders in China? Or the prosperity and restraint in the rest of Asia?

That is a very personal argument. Christianity gives guidance, restrains the community from harming the individual, gives the best offer with the least requirements — by far. It is only logical to follow.

Let’s use the sociological argument. Where in the world did equality, democracy, and economic prosperity arise? In the specifically Christian world. See Rodney Stark’s sociological history the Victory of Reason for a fulsome explanation.

Another sociological argument is : where are women treated the best? Liberalism came from Christianity.

Jesus makes the best offer. It is only reasonable to follow Him. Christianity is the community that makes the most sense, even allowing for faults of the actual people in it, even with it’s organizational blunders. It is the better covenant.

To go one/s own way, with no path, is crazy. To suggest that you shouldn’t take part in restraining yourself, is a fool’s errand, because then you will live with others who don’t restrain themselves. Or you will be entirely by yourself. If demons and goblins are frightening, then why not ally with the great good power that dominates them and sweeps them away? If you can’t understand all religions, then why not accept the one that is so simple?

Use reason. Or is your reasoning capacity so perverted by your lies that you don’t see this? Then use heart. Feel Jesus’ heart, and your friends, reaching out to you. Or has your heart not been formed to distinguish between good and bad? Isn’t that scary? Do you want to be without love? To be hard-hearted? To be confused? You must choose, because to not choose is to choose. Choose life. Choose the better covenant.

It is an amazing thing that the God of all good, all love, all truth, would want to have a covenant with you, a mere mortal. Choose life. Choose good. Choose love. Follow Jesus.