Many Christians in this age have a wrong view about what Christianity is and what it should be. I am writing this letter as a response to some wrong beliefs of some people. I am not writing this as a hypocrite, but to show other Christians all the correct truths of gospel. There are many different truths in the Bible that people have a different perspective on, such as love, doctrinal differences, negativity, and judging whether someone is a true Christian or not. The first letter that I would like to respond to is by Phyllis. She believes that true Christianity should always be happy and that no Christian should talk with a negative tone. A part of Christianity is helping those who are sinning to stop sinning. Revelation 3:19 states, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” That passage is proof that true Christian love is sometimes shown by harsh rebuke. Accordingly, when we love someone, we wish for them to go to heaven. If …show more content…
He believes that circumcision is just a “secondary issue.” My word to him is that circumcision one of the most major doctrinal issues that must be dealt with. Romans 4 :11 states, “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had.” Circumcision was a sign of the faith that is in us. That sign was not required in the New Testament because Christ had already fulfilled God’s judgement and now the gospel was being spread to the Gentiles. The judaizers in the Church at that time believed that circumcision was necessary for salvation, so salvation was by works. That is not a “petty doctrinal matter,” that is what all of Christianity rests upon. Galatians 5:6 says, “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” That passage tells us that for a person in the New Testament to be saved, they did not have to be
— It is Christianity To Do Good always — even to those who do evil to us. It is Christianity to love our neighbour as ourself, and to do to all men as we would have them Do to us. It is Christianity to be gentle, merciful, and forgiving, and to keep those qualities quiet in our own hearts, and never make a boast of them, or of our prayers or of our love of God, but always to shew that we love Him by humbly trying to do right in everything. If we do this, and remember the life and lessons of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and try to act up to them, we may confidently hope that God will forgive us our sins and mistakes, and enable us to live and die in Peace. [The Life of Our Lord, Ch. 11, p. 474 of The Everyman
In chapter five what really caught my attention was the section on community of the church. Personally, I believe the church communities are failing to reach out to others, and reach the full potential of what the church can be. I believe many churches are slowly becoming a social club that merely mimics what Christianity should be. Many people go to church for the popularity and inspirational quotes. “The church as a community does not require conformity. Christians are not meant to be cookie-cutter copies of one another” (90). I have been told by friends about the hurt their family member has felt because the church rejected them due to he or she being gay. Hearing these stories broke a piece of me because this is not how a Christian community should behave. God does not reject us for our unworthiness, however, he loves us. Which in my eyes means we are not to reject anyone from attending the church, yet, show them love. “The church is the place where the story of our personal redemption branches out and intertwines with the stories of other persons seeking redemption on the road towards full salvation” (91). As a community, we are not to reject
Kinnaman’s assessment of how Christians are perceived by non-Christians should motivate us to go back to the drawing board, analyze ourselves, and put a new plan of action together. Christians should care what outsiders think about them because we are Christ’s ambassadors (Kinnaman, 2007). As noted by Kinnaman (2007), “when outsiders question our motives, it neutralizes their interest in Christianity” (p. 69). Christians should embody love, compassion, patience, forgiveness, and service, among other things and if this is not the case, then, we are clearly misrepresenting the love and the grace of the Father (Kinnaman, 2007). Therefore, we cannot stand aloof from these negative perceptions and pretend there’s nothing wrong.
Throughout the early history of Christianity, disputes broke out over mosaic law, particularly in the mid first century when the issue of circumcision, cutting off the foreskin of a man’s penis, was a heavily debated and a recurring issue among different churches and members of the church. Many Christians believed that following the mosaic law, which included the act of circumcision, was no longer required for salvation as having faith and accepting Jesus as the messiah would be enough. Others, on the other hand, believed that requirements set forth in the mosaic law were still necessary to be saved. These people were negatively branded with the name Judaizers (those who believed that all Christians should follow the Law of Moses), and were often criticized for being discriminatory and elitist. A meeting was then held to discuss the whether the application of the mosaic law to new members of the Christian community, particularly focusing on if those trying to convert, were obliged undergo circumcision to be accepted into, and become part of, the Christian community. The apostolic decree of the council of Jerusalem moved away from its
Philippians The book of Philippians deals with praise, confidence and rejoicing. The book of Philippians was a letter written in prison by Paul in 62 A.D. The key personalities are the Apostle Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, Euodia, and Syntyche ( Philippians). Paul is known for his prison epistles ( letter written in jail) there are four and Paul had written Philippians last.
It is during a time of great trepidation that I am writing this letter to our Salt River Valley General Baptist Fellowship churches. As we observe the condition of our churches, and the moral corruption of the world we live in, it is apparent this conference is well overdue. We are doing ministry in a time when the world no longer wants to hear our message let alone believe in our God. In this day people attend church but no longer see the need to make a commitment to the church.
Christians today need to grow in love and to show that love through concern and service for the well-being of others. We need to put the care and well-being of others above our care and concern for ourselves. We need to love all people, not just the ones that are like us, or that are nice, or that can help us get what we want. This love for people will reflect God’s love for all people which He made clear by His laws in the Old Testament and the sacrificial death of Christ for our sins in the New Testament.
The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God-- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that-- and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end (99).
Let me say at once, that I do believe the Church will revive, by keeping commandments to the full, and the teaching of Jesus. Nor, in my Letter is there a lack of belief in God's love, but it indicated a lack of our love of His word in divine law
Christian gospel in many ways is perceived in this day and age are a lost word. People have the art of praying and staying faithful to the word of God. God provided us with all kinds of blessings and opportunities in life so that we can flourish and prosper. Also God took all our sin to the cross and forgave us for everything we done that was not right in his eyes. We need to also understand that there is only one God and we need to cherish it every day of our lives. Today’s culture perceives the Gospel almost the same was as old days but how man tries to rewrite the word to fits our society today, people believe that s God except so of things that are going on today
To properly label a Christian an evangelical Protestant, one must ask four basic questions and receive an answer that as a whole, evangelical Protestants accept as “correct”. The questions are: “[W]hat must a person do to be saved?[, W]here does religious authority lie?[, W]hat is the church?[,] and [W]hat is the essence of Christian living?” (“Evangelicalism”, Dictionary of Christianity in America) Through answering and receiving the “correct” responses, one should be able to define an evangelical Protestant.
Modern use of birth control pills has given women a sense of independence, to gain employment and express their sexuality freely, while mid-twentieth usage of birth control came with an increased stigma, less access to the pill, and a positive and negative impact on marriages.
A similar conflict between the Gentiles and Jews took place during the early establishment of the Church. The Jews demanded that the Gentiles adhere to their laws as established by Moses, wherein they were forbidden from eating certain foods and required that all males be circumcised. McRay states, “During that time some men came from Jerusalem and tried to lay upon the Gentiles an even more stringent requirement than the earlier Jerusalem emissaries had done. It was no longer simply a matter of requiring the Gentiles to observe Jewish food laws in order to maintain fellowship with Jewish Christians. They were now demanding that Gentiles males be circumcised in order to be saved” (McRay, 2003, p. 127). Similar to today, these disagreements are presented to the Church Leadership conflict for resolution. In advising the leadership council of Saint Elizabeth Catholic church on how to resolve and maintain the fellowship between these believers, I will use Romans 14 as the fundamental basis for handling conflict resolutions.
Introduction Major depressive disorder affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the United States population age 18 and over, in a given year (Archives of General Psychiatry,2000). Depression is an illness which involves the body and mind. Depression is one of the most common mental disorders. The DSM-5 states the basic categories of depression as Dysthymia, Major Depressive Disorder, Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood, and Secondary Depression.
Religion has existed for countless centuries. Christianity is one of the major religions in this world, which had people be criticized, battle in wars, and killed for, but it still survived to this day. The purpose of this paper is to study the source of the religion, recognize the teachings, observe its spread throughout the world, and to identify how it stands among people today. Approaching this paper by a factual report I will explain these major points and why we need to know about this religion and other religions that existed before our generation.