Salvation, The Holy Spirit, Heaven And Hell

Although we did not regularly attend church, I was introduced to the Christian faith as a child and hold those values. I was raised by my grandparents as my father left my mother before I was born and life’s

In recent days I had the opportunity to go back to North Carolina for a few short days. There, with a heavy heart from a loss in the family, I had nothing else to look towards. I’ve always heard of individuals finding peace, faith, blessings, and love of Christ from attending church. I’ve never been a person who put their faith into a higher power. As I was growing up my parents never wanted to force me into any religion without me knowing everything about it and choosing which route to take on my own. As the years treaded on, I never bothered myself to learn about the many different religions and what each stands for. So I used this opportunity as mine to attend church for the very first time. I attended the Roman Catholic services held

When I was a kid, I was taken to church on a weekly basis. My foundation in God was learned as a child. I loved to read the bible and there was this one particular Bible story book that I had, which I read cover to cover. My favorite story to read was the book of David. I was very intrigued with him and all that he had gone through prior to becoming a king. I loved the fact that David liked to dance. Once I grew up, I continued to go to church, but it was more out of ritual. I was not learning because the pastors would talk above my understanding most of the time. The only thing that I did understand was that when it was almost time to dismiss there would began to be a lot of whooping hollering and spitting. I would be at the club getting my bounce on Saturdays and I went to church on Sundays sometimes just hours after coming home from the club. I knew that I should have been living a more Godly life than i was, but I continued to have my fun

The church I decided to study was St. Luke Presbyterian Church in Amarillo, Texas. I selected this church because my best friend attends this church and I sought to go out of my norm and learn more about my friend’s religious background. I normally attend the non-denominational church of Trinity Fellowship. I am considered to be a Conservative and my friend is a Liberal. Many Presbyterian churches in Amarillo are liberal, but the majority of Presbyterian churches are known to be conservative because of their beliefs. I assumed it would be interesting to visit this church due to the fact it would help me to keep an open mind of how people worship and have different beliefs than I do.

My parents were always off put by my lack of a firm belief in God, but pleased by my eagerness to participate in daily family scripture study, Sunday church, Wednesday youth groups and family prayer. The three hour Sunday sessions could get a little dull, but overall I always enjoyed these activities. The stories were intriguing and thought-provoking. Instilled in them were various secular lessons like the dangers of pride exhibited in the downfall of the Jaredites or the importance of minimalism and charity: “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor,” (Matthew 19:21). My peers and siblings would bear their monthly testimonies of the literal accuracy of the scriptures; I would bear my testimony on the importance of the themes and values ingrained in the texts.

In Core Christianity, Elmer Towns states, “Books of other religious were written by their founders in their attempt to find God” (Towns, 2007). Therefore, religious texts written and inspired by human thought only provide conclusions. “But the Bible is not a search for God; the Bible is God’s book to reveal Himself to the human race” (Towns, 2007). The dual authorship of the Scripture provides words with “convicting, convincing, converting power to all who honestly accept its message and believe in Jesus Christ” (Towns, 2007). Therefore, the credibility and reliability of the Word of God can only be known by applying it to one’s life and watching how its words and teachings

The Bible is a history Book, there is no denying that at all. It records the history of man from the time of Creation in Genesis to the time of their future eternal destination in Revelation. Man has no other book as the Bible, for what greater work is there than that of God’s own? Throughout the ages, God has shown His providence in allowing the original autographs to be undiscovered, or simply destroyed. However, God promises in His word, such as in Isaiah 40:8, that “…the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Just because the original autographs of the Bible are no longer available, that does not mean that the Christian community is lost without Biblical documents whatsoever. There are many ancient manuscripts that have been found in various

As a child I was forced into a religion I knew absolutely nothing about. My mother woke me up early every Sunday and got me ready for mass. I hated it. I didn’t comprehend why I was being forced to attend and listen to some stranger talk for hours, about something I did not understand. This continued for a couple years until I was around 8 years old and my family became inactive. Although we became inactive, our faith still lingered and we continued to pray every night, and not leave our homes without a blessing. A couple years later I felt as if something was calling me to attend the church. I started

As a Christian, I see the bible as the inspired word of God. In the context of the Scriptures, the word “inspiration” means “God-breathed”. 2 Timothy 3:16 “ All scripture is given by inspiration of God”. 1. 2 Peter 1: 21 “ For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of men, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”.

“For the word of God is alive and active…” Hebrews 4: 12. Bible is the living word of God. God gave Bible as the laws and decrees which was true and will always remain so too. Not only is the Bible a religious authority it is also a spiritual authority for all Christians. “Christians have a unique understanding of authority grounded in their unique

The Bible is unique in its own way and is like no other book. It was made for all people for any generation. Some may consider it to be unimportant and pointless, yet I think of the Bible as a guidebook for life. There are multiple stories, mostly in the Old Testament, that are told for life lessons; to make a point and warn us as humans what is right and wrong. As the Bible goes on, there is the New Testament which, in my opinion, is the most powerful. The New Testament shows all of the people who were involved in serving and supporting Jesus and also those who were against him. I, personally, would like to claim that I specifically know the Bible, yet that would be a lie. Yes, I have

The Bible is not a book of religions or rituals. Rather, the Bible is a library of 66 books—39 of which are known as the Old Testament and 27 books referred to as the New Testament—that reveals God’s divine plan of redemption, reconciliation, salvation, restoration and renewal of the whole world. The Bible can be read as a great literature, or as a history of Israel, or as a source of theological information. Though it is all of these things, none of them does full justice to Scripture as being authoritative. God has all authority, and we accept the Bible as the primary authority by which God communicates to us what He wants us to believe and to do. N.T. Wright’s book theorizes that Scripture is authoritative in that “the authority of

During the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, the Catholic Church heavily persecuted those who translated it to the “common tongue” or the language that people can understand. On a personal level, if someone were to hide something from me on purpose, the more I would like to know. Why would one of the most powerful religious groups of the time want to hide the content of a book to the public? Also, during the atheist communist regime (the Soviet Union) in Russia, Joseph Stalin, the most influential leader in his time, killed and persecuted whoever read and followed what the Bible said. What makes so significant that a whole regime has to kill the readers of it? However, you know the saying, “curiosity killed the cat”, but when it comes to me I don’t heed/listen to such advice, the more I’m hid from something the more I want to know. So when it comes to the Bible, wouldn’t you want to know the content of a book in which so many people were persecuted and killed for

Prior to the proliferation of biblical scholarship, Bible readers believed that the Bible was both divine and historically accurate. The Bible was believed to have come directly from God, who communicated it to Israelite priests, prophets, and sages. Both Christian and Jewish religious authorities assumed that the Five Books of Moses were written

The bible was written as an account of what many viewed that God had accomplished so his actions and words could be passed on for generations. Some believe it is a literary account and some believe it is a historical account. The word of God in the bible comes in many forms and is left up to interpretation by the reader. Some believe that the word of God should be the only word and should be strictly followed. Some believe that the words are meant as a guideline to help us through life. Whatever your belief is you can always seem to find the meaning behind your belief through the word of God in the Bible.