Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts

Monday, July 25, 2011

Anders Breivik’s god! (pictured)

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Below are some excerpts from Anders Breivik’s Manifesto entitled "2083 - A European Declaration of Independence." (1500 page web document)

"A majority of so called agnostics and atheists in Europe are cultural conservative Christians without even knowing it," he wrote.

"If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God then you are a religious Christian. Myself and many more like me do not necessarily have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God. We do however believe in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform. This makes us Christian," he wrote.

What is a Christian? Many think they are Christians because they claim to believe in the cultural Jesus. But, believing in Jesus often means nothing, or anything you want it to mean, particularly here in the case of Anders Breivik. But it doesn't change the true meaning of what it means to be a follower of Christ. So, what does it mean to be a Christian?

First of all, to be a Christian, you must first know who Jesus Christ is. Biblically, He is God in flesh, second person of the Trinity (John 1:1,14; Col. 2:9). He is the great "I AM" (Exodus 3:14; John 8:58). He is the savior who was born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), who died, was buried, and rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:1-4), physically (John 2:19-21). He alone is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Only by the name of Jesus may a person be saved (Acts 4:12) and all who do not trust in Him alone for the forgiveness of their sins will be judged (Matt. 25:41) accordingly. Jesus is both God and man (Col. 2:9; 1 Tim. 2:5; Phil. 2:5-8). He is our eternal intercessor (Heb. 7:25) who mediates our salvation to the Father (1 Tim. 2:5). He is the creator of all things (Col. 1:16-17; Isaiah 44:24). He is Lord! To Him be the glory!

Once you know who Jesus is, you must trust Him to forgive you of your sins. Ask Him to forgive you. He will. Then, once you are saved, you are a Christian. It means you have found the true Savior, not a false one of the cults. It means you have been saved by God's grace, through faith (Eph. 2:8) and are now seeking to please Him in your life by following His commands (1 John 2:4). Such obedience does not save you nor contribute to your salvation. This obedience is motivated by love and thankfulness and is a response of being saved.

So, being a Christian means knowing the true Christ and following Him in truth.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Make a name for youself!


"Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it
;" - Ps 127:1

See Genesis 11.1-9

So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city” (Gen 11.8). Is it important to see why God does not simply destroy the Tower of Babel? Perhaps it is if we consider the fact that it is not the building, the technical invention or the attempt at civilization facilitated by it, which constitutes the evil against which God takes His measures. It has more to do with the fact that “They said, ‘Come, … let us make for ourselves a name…’” (Gen. 11.4).

God’s judgment is not against the advancement of culture. Rather, “the Lord came down …” against the way in which humanity tries to facilitate and affirm and maintain itself, to make itself a name, to play the part of Providence. God’s judgment is against any attempt or intention of humanity to achieve a name for itself independently of God Himself.

You see, once humanity’s contrived object was taken away (unity through culture) the building process ceased automatically. “That it could cease shows that it was not harmless in intention but directed against God and therefore evil”, says K. Barth. According to Ps. 127.1, the building process had to cease because it was in vain. Again, Barth points out, “Everything is in vain, and moves self-evidently to destruction sooner or later, that is ventured by man with the same intention as this building” of the Tower of Babel.

enjoy, ron