Chicago
Explore God Report
In
Chicago, from January 13 through February 24, 2019, more than 800 “churches”
coordinated sermon series and Bible studies with the Explore God (also written
as XG) Chicago 2019 project. The stated purpose is to introduce answers for
skeptical people outside the churches and for “seekers” inside the churches to
help them feel welcome in church (is that Biblical?). But let’s actually look
at the content. Would you be accepting of your church teaching that people get
to decide whether God exists? Or that God may be a man-made theory to explain
unknowable reality? Or that God is not a “kind” God according to C. S. Lewis?
Or that Muhammed received revelation from God, or
that the Big Bang proves that God exists, or that you can’t really trust the
Bible to be useful for personal health, or that disagreeing with Roman Catholic
leadership is equivalent to disregarding Jesus’ prayer that we would be in
unity? Or that the earlier books of the Bible are less historically accurate
and can only be believed by faith depending on who you trust, or that God is
just waiting to receive everyone as a son or daughter after a brief apology for
past wrongs and hurt feelings, or that Protestants center their attention to a
pastor whereas Catholics center their attention to Jesus (in the blasphemous
Eucharist blessed by a false priesthood) or that Muslims worship the same God
but perhaps without knowing quite what they worship as the Samaritans were
doing?
Even
more interesting is the network that is promoting this agenda toward one world
religious unity thinking in the Protestant churches. They include the Billy
Graham Center at Wheaton, Mission America Council Lausanne Movement (Vatican 2
partner since 1966), Moody Church and Moody Global Media, Awana,
Navigators, Luis Palau, Outreach, etc. This network of 800 churches is built on
the efforts of Father Dimitri Sala,
a Franciscan Catholic who since about 2008 is deceitfully bringing one world
religious unity in Chicago under the Jesuit (para-military
psychological operations – inquisitions/ crusades) network of Pope Francis. His
network of friends in Chicago includes James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel,
Bill Hybels of Willow Creek, Erwin Lutzer and Joseph Stowell of
Moody Church and Moody Bible Institute for example. They started with more than a dozen of the
most influential “pastors” and now are extending their reach to the large
majority of “churches” there. If you are in one of these churches, you need to
understand that your leadership is partnering with one-world religion
discussions and someone in leadership in your “church” knows quite well what
they are participating in. Are you blessing their network without knowing what
they are doing? Do not keep granting this network and their change agents the
chance to hide behind a claim of not knowing that it was an ecumenical
Vatican-led program. They are using our (Christian’s) ignorance of their new
world order plans to conquer all of the churches in Chicago for Vatican/Jesuit
authority and directives of new world change agents.
Here
is their promo about who they are:
WHO
… is
Engage Chicago Network?
Jesus-followers
from our city’s business community, worship centers, service organizations…
Corporate
leaders.
Pastors.
Change agents…
If
you don’t know who change agents are (which describes most pastors and
corporate leaders – many of whom are Free-masons or family or partners of
masons), they follow the new world order directives to pull us all in the same
direction toward new systems built under the homogenous one-world government
control grids.
We
want to show you the 7 week journey to help “skeptics” feel welcome in the
churches. We have given the link for each one, so you can read the whole
article and watch the videos, but since we are limited, we will only caption
the most troubling statements from each one.
In week 1, they start by painting a depressing situation in which God
supposedly designed earth to be meaningless apart from doing His plan, which is
only very partly helpful. They use C. S. Lewis to suggest that God built us to
be attached to Him, which is only part of the truth, because God is actually
the Holy one, who is Good. So it is not a selfish human-type of jealousy flaw
as these people make it sound. It is just that lying, stealing, murder,
adultery, imagination of demons, willful ignoring of God and blasphemy of His
Name is not a useful structure on which to build anything, as well as it is
also wrong on every level to commit these crimes as well as it is not God’s
nature to do any of these things. So why not glorify God and serve what is
right and good? But this kind of description makes God sound like a bully; and
as you read through their teachings, you see that they actually think this of
Him.
Here are our partial clippings from week 1:
Is
there any meaning or purpose in life that death does not erase?
Surprisingly, one of the
most intriguing—and often overlooked—books of the Bible tackles this same
inquiry. The book of Ecclesiastes answers the above question with a resounding
no: “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything
is meaningless.’”3
This isn’t something most
people expect to find in the Bible, but there it is. The rest of the book
continues to make the case that there is actually no meaning in “all the things
that are done under the sun.”4 Wisdom and knowledge are
meaningless, wealth is meaningless, pleasure is meaningless. Life is
meaningless. “All of it is meaningless.”5
…further
on:
God created mankind, and
he created us for a specific purpose. However, we rejected that purpose
(remember the story of Adam and Eve?) and have since gone to great lengths to
try to create our own purpose and meaning.6
Author C. S. Lewis put it
this way:
All that we call human
history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires,
slavery—is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than
God which will make him happy. . . . The reason why it can never succeed is
this. God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run
on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the
human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were
designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no
other.7
…conclusion:
In the
Christian understanding, life can have great purpose, but—as much as we may
resist it—that purpose is found only through a relationship with God.
https://www.exploregod.com/does-life-have-a-purpose
Right
from week 1 and week 2, you can see that they are not mindful of the things of
Christ, but of the things of men – quoting Tolstoy and de Tocqueville and
Lewis. From week one, their “unfortunate fact” is that all of life is
meaningless without some form of God, which most secular people recognize in
world government. Then in week 2, their “unfortunate fact” is that they cannot
prove whether God even exists as you will see. As you progress through the
weeks, you see that they are secular humanists setting up a new kingdom merging
a little bit of God’s truth (which they call “Christianity” – of a Roman
Catholic variety as we will prove) with “solutions” to problems they blame God
for creating. They also believe in evolution and regularly prove that they do
not know God and do not actually want to know Him as He really is. They want to
believe religion (under which title they attempt to throw faith in Christ) to
be a man-made construct used by rulers to keep control of the people by
offering destructive alternatives rather than actually help people know the
truth. You see this from week 3 and 4 and in their explanations of the Big Bang
in compatibility with God’s Word which they consider to be less historically
accurate the further you go back in time as they explain in their distrusting
of the Scriptures in week 6. In other words, they believe themselves to hold
the hidden knowledge which they carefully give only to their friends and people
who enter into that knowledge through their systems of “change agents” also
known as gatekeepers by those of us who have spent our lives investigating the
Free-mason control grid.
Here
is their conclusion on week 2:
It all comes back to the
unfortunate fact that we can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God. Things like beauty and morals may indicate to us that there is
something more, but they prove nothing.
We are all complex
creatures in a complex world, wrestling with the same fundamental questions. In
the end, each of us must choose to take this data, sift through it, and make an
informed decision. Is there a God, or isn’t there?
What do you think?
https://www.exploregod.com/is-there-a-god
Yes,
that is literally how they ended their article on the topic of Is There A God?,
which is the topic of week 2 in the series. They do not want you to realize
that Free-masons (and demons) do believe in the real God (and tremble) and they
hate Him and attempt to blame Him (as you will see in week 3) for as many of
the world’s problems. They weave a story of humans making mistakes in a world
with built-in flaws due to a bad Creator. So instead of admitting that our sin
directly causes every injury, death, disease, and heart-suffering, then they
even allow the possibility of God being a man-made myth as you are about to
see. When they say “very first thoughts about God”, they are referring to a
fake time in fake evolution history where the earliest development of
“hominids” (early half human/monkey species) supposedly began to wonder if
there might be a Creator God. With the quote about “good gods” and “bad gods”,
they attempt to make the devil and his fallen messengers equal to our Lord and
His holy angels. And then as you can see, they try to make Lucifer look like a
messenger of light by saying that the cause of pain and suffering “almost by
definition, comes back to God”. They use C. S. Lewis to say that God is not a
“kind God” and that He “shouts” at us a lot through pain and suffering.
Here
are our partial clippings from week 3:
There is perhaps no
greater challenge to faith than the presence of pain and suffering in the
world.1 Whether theist or atheist, pain seems to be the testing
lab of faith.
This question—Why is
there pain and suffering in the world?—has plagued humanity since our very
first thoughts about God. Even the earliest narratives of divine beings wrestle with the
idea of pain and suffering.
In the Ancient Near East,
three- to four-thousand-year-old Mesopotamian and Akkadian
stories provide explanations for why bad things happen in the world.2 Simply
put, there are good gods, and there are bad gods. Good gods do good things in
our world, and bad gods are responsible for bad things.
In Eastern theology,
particularly in Confucianism, this idea is incorporated into the “yin and
yang.” Just as life presents us with polar opposites that are interconnected
(think “light and dark” or “hot and cold”), so too do we experience “good and
bad.”
However, this says
nothing about why things
happen—just that they do occur.
But when most people
wonder about pain
and suffering, they want to know the
cause. And that cause, almost by definition, comes back to God.
…further
on:
Regardless of
when or why the question of pain and suffering is posed, one can propose that
it is a problem primarily in the Christian worldview.
…further
on:
So why does God allow pain and
suffering?
To answer that we must
first ask, “Would a good god eliminate pain and suffering?” C. S. Lewis
addressed this very question in his book The Problem of Pain.
In it, he argues that
humanity desires not so much a good god, but a kind god. Kindness “cares not whether its
object becomes good or bad, provided only that it escapes suffering.”
…conclusion:
Perhaps this is why
Lewis, through the experience of great pain, discovered that “God whispers to
us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our
pains.”6
Could it be that in this
way pain helps us grow—though it can be hard to see at times, even in
retrospect?
No matter the reason, it
seems pain and suffering are unavoidable; we seemingly have no choice in the
matter. What we do control is our reaction, how we deal with our pain, and what
we do with our experience.
What will you choose to
do with your pain?
https://www.exploregod.com/why-is-there-pain-and-suffering
https://www.exploregod.com/why-does-god-allow-pain-and-suffering
Continuing
the theme of all religion being man-made (into which category they throw
Jesus), now they suggest that Christianity is still around because people are
afraid of change and needed religion as a crutch to fall back on because their
brains are underdeveloped and stuck on archaic old patterns of thought from
past layers of evolutionary development. If you think we are joking, look it
up, because this literally is a process of thought among elite thinkers. They believe
that we need something good and unchanging like religion and a god to fall back
to when we are startled by and disagree with modern alterations of “good”,
“happy”, “love”, “peace”, and “truth” – which they believe to all be really
just personal preference and relative to each person’s genetics and experiences
– rather than actually being decisions based on our responses toward or against
our Creator. And with that religion to keep organization of all humans in the
midst of change, they are hoping they can slowly walk us all together silently
toward a new world order full of disguised euthanasia against older people,
slow poisoning of young people, and tightening grip on controlling human
thoughts and actions through a seemingly “all-powerful” god-like government of
the anti-christ. This cannot happen yet, because God
speaks through His servants to hinder much of the devil’s plans. But you can
get a solid glimpse of where this is all going. They are using people’s
imagination and each individual’s conceptions of heaven to implement on earth –
a marriage of one-world religion/trade agreements/self-seeking with one world
government which is the anti-christ’s kingdom
described as partly clay and partly iron – partly soft and partly weak. The
Roman Catholic hierarchy dominates the leadership of the one-world religion
strategies.
Toward
that goal, you should also note at the end of week 4 that they lie and pretend
that Christianity used to be “just about escaping punishment and ‘getting into
heaven’ when you die”, which they say is “a narrow and outdated misconception”.
By saying this, they are pretending that Heaven and Hell are mere metaphors for
the conditions we experience on earth. And they expect satan’s
Rome/Vatican/Paris (Jesuits) to attempt to bring the devil’s version of
paradise/utopia.
Here
are our partial clippings from week 4:
The Narrow Way
It is
true that Christianity could be labeled as “narrow.” Simply put, Christianity
is about trusting and following Jesus—a man who lived and died
thousands of years ago. And he himself said: “Enter through the narrow gate.
For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many
enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,
and only a few find it.”1
Sounds
a bit like a hellfire and brimstone sermon, doesn’t it? It seems to be saying
that many of us are on the path to destruction, but Jesus’ way is narrow, exclusive,
and hard to follow.
On one
level, this may be true, but many who call themselves Christians would offer a
different perspective. Following Jesus may sometimes go against the grain in
our culture, they would say, but it is not exclusive, outdated, restrictive, or
irrelevant to life today. In fact, many believers say that following the life
and teachings of Jesus is the one thing that gives true meaning and fulfillment in our modern culture.
…further
on:
Perhaps
Jesus’ ancient teachings and examples have endured not in spite of a changing culture
but because of a changing culture.
Some would argue that in a world of tremendous change, uncertainty, affluence,
and modern luxury, Christianity is the one thing that our souls need the most.
…further
on:
These
words are not just about the afterlife,
as if being a Christian is just about escaping punishment and “getting to
heaven” when you die. That belief is itself a narrow and outdated
misconception.
…conclusion:
Jesus
meant that following him brings an abundant life that has no end—a fulfilling
and meaningful life that begins in the present, in this world, in our
lives now.9 In
other words, Christianity is not about fleeing earth for heaven but about
bringing heaven to earth today.10
https://www.exploregod.com/is-christianity-too-narrow-in-our-culture
https://www.exploregod.com/is-christianity-too-narrow-video
Okay,
so plenty of this next topic speaks plainly enough of their willful unbelief
and seeking ways to discredit faith in Jesus or at least create as much
possibility for others to doubt Jesus without themselves being discredited and
abandoned for being hateful liars and mockers infiltrating and hiding among our
love feasts and even pretending to be our teachers. Seriously, fellow servants
of Christ need to mark and avoid C. S. Lewis as the scoffer friend of Satanists
that he really was. He does not in any way represent my faith in Jesus and my
Father in Heaven.
Here are our partial clippings from week 5:
There are
more than enough reasons to believe that Jesus was not and is not truly God.
For starters, it’s hard to imagine any human being actually embodying God. What
would that look like? How does God become a person? Does this God-person go
back and forth between spirit and human? Can this God-person get sick and die
as a human? That wouldn’t be very God-like.
Is
Jesus God?
Billions of people believe so. And his life has certainly altered the course of
human history. Let’s explore the possibility.
…further
on:
Jesus’
followers claimed they literally saw Jesus back from the dead. It’s always
possible that they were hallucinating or that it was all a hoax. But then we’re
still left wondering why Jesus’ tomb was empty. What happened to Jesus’ body,
and why was it never found?
Of course, no
one can prove that
the resurrection or any of Jesus’ miracles truly happened, but the evidence is
compelling and worth considering.
…conclusion:
Author C. S. Lewis
summarizes our challenge:
I am trying here to
prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him:
"I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept
his claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man
who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a
great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who
says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make
your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something
worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as
a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not
come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He
has not left that open to us.11
So what do you think?
Lunatic, demon, or God?
https://www.exploregod.com/is-jesus-god
https://www.exploregod.com/is-jesus-really-god-video
https://www.exploregod.com/is-the-bible-reliable-video
In
this next article - so first of all, the only way to pretend that two billion
number is useful is to include every false pseudo-Christian cult and false
religion that has ever been created in the Western world by Freemasons (and
some in the Eastern Hemisphere also). And of course, these scoffers are trying
to discredit the Bible as their next target, so it makes sense to include all
of the solidly un-Biblical as if it were Biblically accurate, thereby blaming
the Word of God for being unclear and confusing and therefore being the “cause”
of all of the various interpretations and contradictions in “Christianity”. Secondly,
notice that these scoffers want to force all believers in Christ under the
“authority” of the Roman Catholic anti-christ empire
for one-world religion. Third, notice the reluctance even within the catechism
that they “must acknowledge” the Bible as God’s Word, since they would prefer
to only consider the Pope their “father” as the final “authority” in what to
believe. It makes sense that they would quote the scoffers in the Vatican since
as you can see afterward, they admit to seeing the Scriptures as only “a source
of truth”. They suggest that the Bible is not reliable on others subjects such
as for ecology or personal health. They further suggest that you cannot test
and prove the truths of God’s Word and that you can only decide to take it on faith
because you think you can trust other people who say they have faith in it.
Here
are our partial clippings from week 6:
Christians
believe the Bible speaks truth about God. But is the Bible reliable?
Nearly two
billion people on earth call themselves Christians. They belong to thousands of
groups and sub-groups that each differ significantly in doctrine and practice.
One commonality in all these groups, however, is the conviction that
the Bible is authoritative and reliable. Consider
what the Catholic catechism says:
The inspired
books [the Bible] teach the truth. “Since therefore all that the inspired
authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy
Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and
without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished
to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.”1
Every major
denomination of Christianity affirms a similar commitment to the authority and
inspiration of the Bible. They may do so with different words and emphases, but
in the end all Christians look to the Bible as a source of truth about God, themselves, and what they
must do in order to be in a proper relationship with God. Is their trust in the
Bible well-founded? Is the Bible reliable?
…further
on:
Whether you regard the
Bible as reliable probably depends on the people you trust. There are two
billion Christians who rely on the Bible to tell them the truth about God. They
have staked their lives on it. They “bear witness” that it is true.
But they are not alone.
There are scholars, historians, and archaeologists who have studied the Bible
in depth and testify that it is trustworthy. Let’s consider what just one of
these fields—biblical archaeology—has to say.
…conclusion:
The Bible’s Reliability
In the end, we can say
the Bible is reliable as what God intended. To recognize this, we must also
acknowledge what it was not intended to be. It is not a complete guide to the
flora and fauna of the Holy Land. It is not a medical manual for the treatment
of diseases and injuries.
If we try to make the
Bible what it is not, then we violate the purpose for which God gave us the
Bible in the first place. To say the Bible is reliable is a statement of faith.
We cannot prove it any more than we can prove a mother’s love. Like most of the
important stuff in life, we take it on faith.
This means that the Bible
can be trusted as what it claims to be. No more. No less. It can be viewed as
what billions of people trust it to be: a collection of books inspired by God
and “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness.”6
https://www.exploregod.com/is-the-bible-reliable
A Deeper Look at If the Bible Is
Reliable
The practice
of history-writing developed over time, and some periods exercised more
flexibility than others. For example, audiences in the day of the gospel writer
Luke had clearer expectations for what history-writing would involve than did
audiences in King David’s era.
The stories
about Abraham may have been passed on for centuries as oral sagas.
Stories about
Jesus, by contrast, involve Galilee, a region of relatively little interest to
other ancient writers. (However, Jesus does appear more than most Jewish
religious and political figures of the period, indicating that he was
particularly intriguing.)8
But how
accurately would the information have been transmitted before it was written
down?18Some cultures are better at orally passing on information than
others.
Traveling
storytellers could recite entire books from memory. This skill was not limited
to the literate—most of these storytellers were considered uneducated and
memorized by recitation rather than by reading.19
https://www.exploregod.com/is-the-bible-reliable-paper
And
then in conclusion to this 7 week series in more than 800 churches throughout
Chicago, they offer you a chance to sit down for coffee with your Creator. On
week 7, now that they have set aside the Bible as the primary way to know God,
now they are going to recommend that you just ask God to have a cup of coffee
with you after a brief apology for any wrong-doing and hurt feelings in the
past. They also start right away with a lie – that “most people want to know
God”, which is definitely not true. And why do they think that people repent
and seek God only when things are bad? Then they want everyone they are talking
with to pretend that they are already a son/daughter of God and that He is just
waiting to welcome them back. They literally lie and say that “each of us is a
broken person, bruised by the world” to say that all of us are like that
prodigal son when he returned “full of remorse, shame, and apologies.” So the
obvious conclusion is that God should just forgive each of us as easily as that
son. This of course is still interspersed with their usual mystical questioning
about who God is, so as “not to offend” anyone of other made-up beliefs and so
as to allow all paths to seem to lead toward God. And then there’s the usual
wondering about whether God even exists or if we can even know Him. They also
pretend that people seek the true God through drugs and false religion, which
is also not really what their purpose is when they seek those things. And of
course, they quote C. S. Lewis again – this time suggesting that God didn’t
make us for this world which is why we feel out of place, like God forgot where
He was supposed to put us. All of this pseudo-Christian flavor is really just a
disguise for a Jesuit and Vatican recollecting of power in the world toward
one-world universalist religion led by them to partner with one-world
government. So now let’s look at who the real power is behind this
conquer-the-churches-in-Chicago agenda.
Here
are our partial clippings from week 7:
How Can I Know God?
Most people
want to know God but how can we know him? Explore the idea here.
Most of
us—atheists, Buddhists, and Christians alike—have experienced a feeling of
wanting there to be something more, a longing to be a part of something bigger
than ourselves. After a particularly rough day, disappointing week, or
devastating year, we sometimes find ourselves involuntarily hoping that this
isn’t all there is.
…further
on:
But do you believe
there’s even a God to know? Many people simply don’t. Perhaps science is all
you feel you need; reason and rationale provide satisfactory answers to life’s
greatest questions. God seems to be just a catch-all to describe events that
cannot yet be explained by science. As Carl Sagan suggested, “Whatever it is we
cannot explain lately is attributed to God . . . And then, after a while, we
explain it, and so that’s no longer God’s realm.”1
…further
on:
Albert
Einstein once said, “I don’t try to imagine a personal God; it suffices to
stand in awe at the structure of the world insofar as it allows our inadequate
senses to appreciate it.”2 So we might leave it at that.
…further
on:
C. S. Lewis,
the famous scholar, novelist, and atheist-turned-Christian, illustrated this
point: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can
satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”6
…conclusion:
Have you ever heard the
tale of the prodigal son? There was a young man who demanded his inheritance
from his father; upon receiving it, he proceeded to live it up and squander all
his wealth. After hitting rock bottom, the son returned home, full of remorse,
shame, and apologies. But what did his father do? He didn’t turn his son away
or mock him with I-told-you-sos. Instead he accepted
his son’s repentance without hesitation and rejoiced that his lost son had
returned to him.9
This is how Christians
understand it to be with God. Each of us is a broken person, bruised by the
world and guilty of hurting others with our selfishness. Yet, like reconciling
with anyone, the first step in moving forward in that relationship is simply to
acknowledge the wrong done, ask for forgiveness, and continue to grow together
through communication.
I imagine we’ve all heard
the word “prayer.” But what does that really mean? At its most basic, prayer is
just another way to say having a conversation with God, talking to him—the main
way we get to know anyone.
That can sound a little
intimidating, can’t it? But you’ve already been building up the courage to ask
for that coffee date. Besides, if he already loves you, what do you have to
lose?
https://www.exploregod.com/how-can-i-know-god
https://www.exploregod.com/can-i-know-god-personally-video
As
we showed already, they try to force all believers in Christ under the evil
leadership in the Vatican. Under the topic of Catholic, they positively and
craftily promote the “Catholic church”, the “Apostles’ Creed”, talking to Mary,
the Pope acting as the “vicar of Christ”, Catholic tradition, the blasphemy of
Eucharist by the “authority” of the Magisterium. At
the same time, they make Protestant believers sound like we have just gotten
confused or lost some components of faith and have many internal contradictions
and/or failures against the Scriptures. They also promote the Catholic system
as being “centered” on Christ in Eucharist, while Protestants they pretend are
“centered” on their pastor.
It is also interesting how popular Lent season is this year because of these
initiatives to go back to Rome. The charismatics are
signing up people for their forty day Jesus’ Fast for example which is set a
few days before Lent to suggest that it is not Lent. And if you’re not quite
spiritual enough to do Lent, you can just take the forty day Skeptics
Challenge.
https://www.exploregod.com/40-day-challenge/urgency
Before
we look at the Catholic propaganda, I want to show you again how much they love
false gospels and false religions, while leaving a wide open door to anyone
from any path because Christ has done everything necessary for salvation and
basically people are just supposed to recognize that and apologize for
disagreeing and now they are accepted into the family of God.
Is God's Love Unconditional?
God loves
unconditionally by offering salvation to all without prerequisites of merit or worth. “The
Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant, and the
Muslim code of law—each of these offers a way to earn approval.”15 But
in Christianity, Christ earns God’s approval for
us—unconditionally.
https://www.exploregod.com/is-gods-love-unconditional
Here
are our partial clippings to show you how much they bow to their “higher power”
in the Vatican/Paris:
Catholicism
In the centuries that
followed Jesus’ death, most Christians promoted what was called “Catholic
Christianity”—what the ancient Apostles’
Creed (circa 150 CE) professed
as the “one holy, catholic church.”2
At that time, Roman
culture and the Latin language dominated the West, so Christianity in that
region took on a decidedly Roman flavor. Consequently, the term “Roman
Catholicism” became synonymous with western Christianity.4
…further
on:
Roman
Catholics believe that the pope is the head of the worldwide Church. As the
“vicar of Christ,” the pope stands as the earthly representative of Christ in
the world and acts in his place to lead the Church in determining what is true,
right, and proper for all Catholics. According to church teaching, the pope is
preserved from any possibility of error when speaking on matters of faith and
morals to be held by the entire Church.5
…further
on:
Put another
way, they ask Mary to pray for them in much the same way as all Christians ask
each other for prayer.
…further
on:
Protestants believe that
justification by grace through faith is the only way for a person to enjoy a
righteous standing before God. In this view,
good works are done out of gratitude and are seen as a result of faith, but
alone can earn no merit with God.11 Catholics believe this as
well but continue to emphasize works as demonstrations of faith.
…further
on:
For Catholics, the focus
of the Mass is the Eucharist or Holy Communion. For Protestants, the central
moment of worship comes with the sermon—when the minister stands to preach from
the Bible.12 Admittedly, the above
is a generalization for the sake of clarity and simplicity.
…further
on:
Protestants believe that
the central authority for faith and practice is found in the Scriptures.13While
tradition, reason, and experience are important, Protestants tend to think they
should all be measured against—and are ultimately superseded by—the teachings
of the Bible.
On the other hand, Roman
Catholics adhere to many beliefs and practices that are not explicitly stated
in the Scriptures. These traditions—along with the Scriptures—constitute a
deposit of faith that has been passed down from the first apostles through the Magisterium of the Church—that is, the Pope, the bishops,
and the Church Councils.14 Authority is found in the Bible,
reason, and church tradition together—these three are seen as complementary,
not in tension.15
https://www.exploregod.com/difference-between-protestantism-and-catholicism
Dispute
about the Apocrypha
https://www.exploregod.com/what-is-the-apocrypha
Why Are There So Many Bible
Translations?
Translating the Bible
from Hebrew and Greek into English is no easy task. It is time consuming and
tedious. Scholars admit that no translation can ever fully convey what the
original language intended.
Whichever
translation you choose, the words will be easy enough to understand. It is the
meaning of those words that you will have to wrestle with!
https://www.exploregod.com/bible-translations
What Is the Apostles' Creed?
https://www.exploregod.com/what-is-the-apostles-creed
Why Are There So Many Christian
Denominations?
Jesus prays
for “complete unity” so that his future followers “may be one.” Well, what
happened to that?
https://www.exploregod.com/christian-denominations
What Is Holy Week?
The week
before Easter Sunday, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, is known
by Catholic and Protestant Christians worldwide as Holy
Week.
https://www.exploregod.com/what-is-holy-week
Then
there’s the positive promotion of Islam:
Who Was Muhammad?
Muhammad,
known as the Messenger of God, founded Islam and revealed the Qur’an.
…further
on:
Few men have
had a greater impact on faith and world events than Muhammad, the prophet of
Islam. Today, 1.6 billion Muslims around the world view him not only as the
seal of the prophets, but as the perfect example of an honest, just, merciful,
and compassionate human being. Viewed by followers of Islam as the “Living
Qur’an,” his life is considered an example to be emulated by all.2
…further
on:
He began to
spend a lot of time talking with the Christians and Jews of Arabia, asking questions and
learning their stories. He would frequently retreat to a cave on Mount Hira, a few miles north of Mecca, where he would
contemplate life and the problems of Arabian society.9
The message
that Muhammad received was both social and religious.
…further
on:
In Medina,
Muhammad went from being a reformer to a political leader. Having been rejected
by his own tribe in Mecca, he founded a new tribe based not on blood relation
but on submission to the one true God. His followers became known as
Muslims—that is, those who submit to God.
…further
on:
Over the next
two years Muhammad established his control over all the peoples of Arabia.
Those who resisted were defeated, and many converted to Islam.
…conclusion:
The movement
Muhammad started 1,400 years ago on the Arabian Peninsula has spread across the
world. Today Islam is the second-largest and one of the
fastest-growing religions in the world. Muslims can be found on every continent
and in every culture. From a humble and tragic beginning, Muhammad grew to be a
man who changed the world.
https://www.exploregod.com/who-was-muhammad
https://www.exploregod.com/what-is-ramadan
What Is the Qur'an?
By: Ray
Madson
For Muslims,
the Qur’an contains the revelation of God. What exactly is this book?
To many in
the West, Islam is a strange and unfamiliar religion forever linked with
terrorism and the events of September 11, 2001. Terms like “Islamist,” “sharia law,” and “jihad” elicit fear. People wonder
whether Islam promotes violence or is a peaceful
religion as many Muslims claim.
…further
on:
Unlike the Scriptures of
Christianity and Judaism, which have been widely translated and disseminated in
common languages, the Qur’an is believed to be untranslatable. Until modern
times, it was printed only in Arabic. Even now, when the Qur’an is translated
into other languages, it is considered an interpretation or commentary, not
actually the Qur’an.
…further
on:
For the 1.6 billion Muslims
in the world, the Qur’an is believed to be the literal, perfect, eternal, and
unchangeable word of God. Unlike the Bible that came before
it, the Qur’an is thought to be uncreated and eternal, existing in heaven with
God in the Arabic language.7 Muhammad is considered an
intermediary in the revelation of the Qur’an, not its author.
Muslims see Islam as the
true religion of God; its existence predates Muhammad. They regard Islam as the
oldest of the monotheistic faiths reflecting the true revelation of God, which
began with Adam and includes Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, among many other
prophets. Therefore, the Qur’an is the final book in a line of revelation that
includes the Torah, the psalms of David, and the gospel message of Jesus.
Muslims judge that these
earlier revelations have been corrupted over time. After the death of the
earlier prophets, heretical and strange beliefs infiltrated the Torah and the
gospel, altering God’s pure revelation. Christian doctrines—such as the deity of Christ, the
death of Jesus on the cross, and the Trinity—are seen as human fabrications that distort the true revelation
of God. Because of this, God gave Muhammad the Qur’an as a final correction of
these “before books.” Unlike its predecessors, the Qur’an is incorruptible and
protected by God.
…conclusion:
For the past 1,400 years,
the Qur’an has served as a basis for Islamic law and a guide for daily life.
Muslims throughout history have believed that the Qur’an is the literal,
eternal, unchangeable Word of God.
For Muslims around the world,
the Qur’an provides the immutable principles necessary to walk the straight
path in life.
https://www.exploregod.com/what-is-the-quran
What Is Islam?
Confused
about Islam? This article, edited by a devout Muslim, gives a fair perspective.
Although Islam traces its
historical roots back to Abraham over 3,500 years ago, Islam is a relatively
recent arrival on the world religion scene.
Islam emerged around 610
CE, when Muhammad—the founder of the religion—said he received the first of many
revelations from God. Muhammad was living in what is now Saudi Arabia, a region then
deeply steeped in tribal divisions and belief in many gods. Muhammad reported
that these divine revelations challenged him to reject polytheism and instead
worship one god: Allah.
After Muhammad began to
gain followers in Mecca, city leaders became threatened and forced the prophet
to leave. He was welcomed in the city of Medina, where he became ruler and
“Islam was to become for the first time a social and political order.”1
In the years that
followed, Muhammad won many converts and his influence spread rapidly through
several Arabian tribes. Returning to Mecca, he took control of the city,
destroyed the idols, and established his rule and beliefs.
By the time of Muhammad’s
death in 632 CE, Islam dominated the Arabian Peninsula. Its influence quickly
spread throughout the Middle East and much of Africa and Asia. Today, there are
over 1.6 billion Muslims in the world.2
…further
on:
Scholar
Michael Sells explains the logic: “If anyone could produce anything like it,
the Qur’an was a human creation and Muhammad a false prophet. If, however, no
one else could produce anything like it, then the Qur’an was clearly beyond the
capacity of a human being, and Muhammad was not its author, but simply its
messenger.”3
Other significant Islamic
practices include dietary restrictions, modesty in dress, marriage, and jihad.5 This
last concept is especially controversial.
Muslim scholar Reza Aslan explains that jihad means
literally “a struggle” or “a striving,” and in its primary connotation refers
to “the struggle of the soul to overcome the sinful obstacles that keep a
person from God.”6 But after 9/11 and other publicized acts of
terror connected to Islamic extremists, many Westerners think of its secondary
connotation: any struggle—including violence—against perceived oppression and
tyranny.
As Aslan
notes, extremists have used this definition “to give religious sanction to what
are in actuality social and political agendas.”7 But this is
not in keeping with the way most Muslims understand the term today.
https://www.exploregod.com/what-is-islam
https://www.exploregod.com/who-is-isis
Is Allah God?
The word
“Allah” comes from the Arabic al-ilah, meaning “the God.” It is closely related
to the Aramaic Alaha and
the Hebrew Eloah.
Eloah is the singular form of the more common Elohim,which
is the Hebrew word used for God in Genesis 1:1.1
…further
on:
There are some definite
similarities in the Christian and Islamic understandings of God. Christians and
Muslims believe in one all-powerful, all-knowing God who created all things.
Both agree that God communicates with people through both his spoken and written
word. They also both believe in heaven and hell, angels and demons, and sin and
forgiveness.
Christianity and Islam
even share a common heritage. Both are monotheistic religions that claim to
worship the God of Abraham. Each religion traces its origins all the way back
to Adam, the first man. Christianity and Islam share more than twenty prophets
and embrace many of the same stories and traditions, including the great flood
and the virgin birth of Jesus.
However, when we look
beyond these foundational issues, Christianity and Islam diverge greatly.
Christians believe in a Trinitarian
God (one God existing in three
persons). Muslims believe in an absolute monotheism—God is one and indivisible,
without distinction in persons. Islam maintains that God is unknowable and
completely free—not bound by rules, covenants, or even his own word.4 Christians,
on the other hand, believe in a covenant-making God who is true to his word and
always keeps his promises. He is a God who can be intimately known and who reveals himself personally to his people.
…further
on:
Can people of two
religions worship the same God?
Christians and Jews practice
separate religions and hold substantially different beliefs about the nature of
God. Yet most Christians—even though they believe that they have a more
“complete” view of God than the Jewish understanding—still hold that they
worship the same God: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
…further
on:
In the fourth chapter of
the Gospel of John, Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman at a well, and she turns
the conversation to the topic of worship. She compares the worship practices of
the Samaritan religion with those of the Jews, questioning him about their
differences. Jesus responds, “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we
worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming
and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit
and in truth.”6
Though the opportunity
presented itself, Jesus never told the woman that she worshiped the wrong God
or a false god. He said only that she did not know the God whom she was
worshiping. In fact, Jesus said that more important than where or how we
worship is the need to worship in the Spirit and in truth. God was and is looking
for worshipers who know him relationally and understand the truth about him.
What is that truth?
According to Jesus, he is.
https://www.exploregod.com/is-allah-god
Here
are a variety of other topics to look through – remember we have only put
partial clippings of each where we saw serious and damaging lies:
Why Doesn't God Get Rid of Evil
Now?
Perhaps in
God’s eyes, the “lesser evil” is to allow his own people to continue to
experience this transitory suffering, while the millions who are lost are given
a little more time to be found.
https://www.exploregod.com/why-doesnt-god-get-rid-of-evil-now
Is There a Hell?
But God has given us a choice.
In order to honor our
freedom, God does not require that we receive the forgiveness he lovingly
extends to us. He respects our ability to make our own decisions. If we refuse
a relationship with him, he grants our desire. But for those who love him and
long to be connected to him, he gives life everlasting.
Maybe this is why C. S.
Lewis said, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to
God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All
that are in hell choose it. Without that self-choice, there could be no hell.”9
https://www.exploregod.com/is-there-a-hell
History of Valentines
Day
In 496 CE,
Pope Gelasius I established the feast day of Saint
Valentine. However, it’s unclear to whom Gelasius was
referring when he instituted the holiday.
https://www.exploregod.com/history-of-valentines-day
The Big Bang and the Existence
of God
If both theories are
accepted as reliable, we are faced with almost unavoidable theistic
implications. Who but an eternal, uncreated being who exists outside of
time and space could have preceded and initiated the Big Bang? Just such a
being is what theists believe God to be.
…further
on:
For those who accept the
Bible to be true, the Big Bang came as no surprise. Whereas all other
ancient religious books hold that matter was eternal and that the gods had
evolved out of that
matter, the Bible alone proclaimed that God (not matter) was eternal.7
For those who are
uncomfortable with any overlap between science and religion, the news came as a
bit of a shock. For decades, the idea of the Big Bang was fiercely resisted by
scientists who preferred to live in a “steady-state” universe.
https://www.exploregod.com/big-bang-existence-of-god
A Deeper Look at the Bible and
the Big Bang
However, most
of us who demand to see a miracle must be content with something a bit more indirect—in
the same way that the police solve crimes with fingerprints or the proverbial
“smoking gun” left behind at a crime scene.
https://www.exploregod.com/the-bible-and-the-big-bang-paper
Are Atheists And Christians Enemies?
But it
is also true that individual atheists
and Christians might have much in common. They may be members of the same
family or residents of the same neighborhood. They may share the same
profession or employer. Together they may love their friends, serve their
community, champion the rights of the disadvantaged, protect the peace, or work
for justice—all while disagreeing about the existence
of God.
It is
possible for those with opposing views to disagree strongly, present their
arguments openly, and dialogue respectfully. Some may be won to a new view by
such tactics; many will not. But the more the two groups are willing to engage
truthfully and respectfully as opponents rather than enemies, the clearer their
differences will appear—something both sides desire.
Amicable
opponents may do what enemies find it impossible to do: avoid mockery,
reject intolerance, refuse to engage in hateful rhetoric, listen well, and act
with kindness.
…further
on:
“One
bad thing about the new atheist books is they weren’t just saying that religion
is wrong, they were actually saying that even respect for religion is wrong,” says
author and pastor Timothy Keller. “That’s a recipe for disaster, and certainly
doesn’t bring about civil discourse at all.”3
Disrespectful,
hateful rhetoric is counterproductive, whether it is offensive placards waved
by Westboro Baptist Church protesters or references
from the pages of best-selling books like Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion. For
instance, Westboro protesters frequently brandish
signs containing harmful, hateful, and hurtful messages, often declaring that
God hates homosexuals, the media, and America.
On the
other hand, militant atheist Richard Dawkins calls the God of the Old Testament “arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction:
jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a
vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential,
megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”4
Both
approaches are unproductive and fail to encourage open, honest conversation.
Such tactics are damaging to respectful, reasoned discourse.
https://www.exploregod.com/are-atheists-and-christians-enemies
Can
I Trust the Bible?
The Bible can be a tough
book to swallow. Strange stories, descriptions of an unseen God, a man rising
from the dead? Perhaps we should just go ahead and conclude as Mark Twain did:
“[The Bible] is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever
fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of
obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies.”1
Here’s the key question:
Can we trust the Bible? Can we genuinely believe what it says about history,
life, truth, and God? Can it stand up to the scrutiny of historians, scientists, and
common sense? Or is it no different than books about Zeus or Santa Claus?
https://www.exploregod.com/can-i-trust-the-bible
What is Original Sin?
What’s so bad
about eating an apple, anyway? And what does original sin have to do with us
today? Adam was but
human—this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple’s sake,1he
wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the
serpent; then he would have eaten the serpent. Mark Twain2
The opening chapters of
the Bible tell a tragic story. It starts off promising: trees and
sunlight, flying birds and swimming fish, a beautiful garden and a couple to
cultivate it. But after a blissful beginning, the story goes downhill quickly.
Adam and Eve ignore God’s
instructions and eat the only fruit that is forbidden to them. Their actions
bring sorrow, suffering, and death into the world. Worse still, the Bible
suggests that we have inherited this sinful nature and its consequences from
them.3
https://www.exploregod.com/what-is-original-sin
I Like Jesus, Just Not
Christians
The accounts
recorded in the New Testament of the Bible make for some interesting reading.
There the reader can get to know the real Jesus, through the words of those who
knew him best. The first ragtag band of Christians, who are featured in the
Bible, were prostitutes and fishermen; lawyers and tax-collectors; doctors and
the sick, blind, and lame.
Christians
believe Jesus was and is more than a mere figurehead for a bunch of
shady-characters-turned-goody-goodies and recovering hypocrites. More than a
wise teacher. More than a prophet. More than a man.
Though
Christians are meant to represent Jesus on earth, they are still humans—and
therefore flawed. Becoming like Jesus doesn’t happen overnight. It is a
lifelong process of spiritual growth and discovery from the moment one makes
the decision to follow him.
https://www.exploregod.com/i-like-jesus-just-not-christians
Why Are Christians So
Hypocritical?
Christians
are notorious for being hypocritical. Why is that?
A recent
study found that among the various perceptions of Christians, the third most
common is that they’re hypocritical.1 Eighty-five percent of
respondents between the ages of sixteen and twenty-nine voiced this reaction to
Christians.2
…further
on:
Most of us
can highlight a myriad of examples of similar inconsistencies today: the
communist leader who lives like a king while the common people stand in line
for a loaf of bread; the vegetarian who slips quietly into a burger shop for a
secret indulgence; the politician who claims to have principles yet changes her
policy after reading the polls. The list goes on.
…further
on:
The problem
arises when we pretend that we’re better than we really are. We act nice, but
really we backstab and manipulate. We want people to think we’re truthful, but
actually we are quite deceptive. Most people would say that you’re a good
person, but the skeletons in your closet might change their minds.
…conclusion:
Will
Christians continue to be hypocritical? Unfortunately, some will. But for those
who humbly acknowledge their sin to themselves, to God, and to the world, there is no
room for hypocrisy—only a desperate need for a savior.
https://www.exploregod.com/why-are-christians-so-hypocritical
What Do I Have To Do To
Get Into Heaven?
According to the Bible,
human beings live with the emptiness and anxiety of wondering whether we measure
up because we all know, deep inside, that we don’t measure up. We have consciences
that tell us we have fallen short of God’s standard. As a result, we live under
the crushing burden of guilt and its inevitable companion, shame.
We have a landmine inside,
just waiting to go off.
…further
on:
Really? you might be thinking. That’s
it? Just believe?
This is a startling
claim. Unlike other religions and philosophies, Jesus does not say, “do this”
or “know that.” He says, in essence, “You cannot do enough, so I will do it for
you. Just believe in me.”
Jesus Christ came into
the world not as the highest expression of human religion, but as the alternative to human
religion. In Christian understanding, Jesus was not just a teacher about
God. He
is God. He did not just tell us the
way to heaven. He is the way to heaven.
Bono, the lead singer of
the band U2, expressed this truth beautifully:
[Grace is] my favorite word
in the lexicon of the English language. It’s a word I’m depending on. The
universe operates by Karma, we all know that. For every action there’s an equal
and opposite reaction. There is some atonement built in: an eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth. Then enters Grace and turns that upside down. . . . Christ’s
ministry really was a lot to do with pointing out how everybody is a screw-up
in some shape or form, there’s no way around it. But then He was to say, well,
I am going to deal with those sins for you. I will take on Myself all the
consequences of sin. Even if you’re not religious, I think you’d accept that
there are consequences to all the mistakes we make. And so Grace enters the
picture to say, I’ll take the blame, I’ll carry the cross. It is a powerful
idea. Grace interrupting Karma.4
https://www.exploregod.com/what-do-i-have-to-do-to-get-into-heaven