02 December 2007
Hey, don't I know you?
12/03/2007 11:55 PM
Within Christianity,
there are so many different denominations.
You've got Southern Baptist (which is what Hillcrest
is), American Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians,
Lutherans, Episcopalians, Church of God in Christ
(COGIC), Seventh Day Adventists, Catholics,
Nazarenes, and though I'm omitting many, I'm not
trying to be all inclusive here or anything.
The point really is, is that Jesus Christ was not a
Southern Baptist. The early Christians were not
Methodists, they were identified with "The Way", but
the strength of their ministry had to do with their
relationship with Christ. This relationship
with Christ spilled over into their relationships
with each other, and as they continued to gather
together and congregate and fellowship, they
eventually evolved into the churches as we know them
today. The underlying theme however in
Christian churches however, is Jesus Christ, His
deity, His death, His burial and His
resurrection. If the Gospel of Christ, the
whole Gospel of Christ is at the center of a church,
then all of the peripheral things are not that
important. That is what religion tends to be,
and that is what can sometimes get in the way of a
person's relationship with God. Now I'm not
saying that there is anything wrong with being
Southern Baptist or any other Bible centered
denomination. As a Southern Baptist Church,
Hillcrest Baptist Church is part of a larger network
that has helped facilitate building projects,
distribution of info throughout the state and
nation. We also have an additional connection
with other local and regional churches, and access to
youth camps and events throughout the year.
There are events, workshops and resources available
from music, media, Sunday School and Vacation
Bible School materials. That being said, the
same benefits are available to some degree to other
denominations, and a nondenominational church would
be able to access similar if not the very materials
that assist churches like ours. There is no
barrier in any community that stops any given church
from fellowshipping with and joining forces with any
other given church of any other denomination.
Unfortunately, people create barriers for just such
situations. It's really unbelievable, but I've
seen it myself. I actually had a close friend
of mine, who is a Deacon serving in a local church,
tell me about a run-in he had with a local Pastor of
another church. My friend encountered another
friend, who happened to be a member in a different
church, who was having a difficult time with
something, my friend offered to pray with the man,
and his friend agreed. When the man told his
Pastor that this local Deacon prayed with him, the
Pastor was not happy. This Pastor actually
sought out my friend to demand why he was praying
with one of his members. Sometimes people
forget what "membership" actually is. Pastors
are people too, and sometimes people forget that they
need prayer as much as anybody, that they have just
as much pressure on them as anyone else, and that
they need to be encouraged and supported. So
while there are differences among different
denominations, when the churches are Bible based
Gospel teaching churches, the differences are not
worth any separation or animosity. The tricky
thing is however, that while Jesus Christ is
regarded by Christian Churches as the Savior of the
World, the Way the Truth and the Light through Whom
no one gets to the Father, there is also another
Jesus lurking around somewhere. This other
Jesus is kind of like a parallel universe
Jesus. He looks like my Christ, his words sound
like my Christ, but there are differences that show
him to not be my Christ. The Mormon Church has
Jesus in their theology. Jesus is actually a
central and essential part of their theology.
But who is this Jesus? He seems like the real
deal, but as you look closer, they don't give Jesus
What is due Him. Rather than teaching that
Jesus has always been, they profess that Jesus was
born of God the Father, as was the devil and they are
spirit brothers. They further believe that as
Jesus was born to God the Father and ascended to the
role he currently enjoys, in the same way, we also
have the potential to attain the same status as
Jesus. Maybe it's clear, maybe it's not, but my
Jesus is so far above me that I could never attain
His status, though He loves me so much that He should
come to earth to attain my status, and be willing to
elevate me through Him, not from anything that I have
attained on my own, because without Him, I could
accomplish nothing. Even in Islam, Jesus is all
through the Quran. He is quoted as a great
prophet, and although a great prophet is a great
thing, it is not God. He is denied His deity as
well as the Trinity. Of course as we look at
Judaism, obviously, Jesus was involved because He was
in fact Jewish. He taught in the temple, and
did not attack Jewish Law, rather He opposed the
religious leaders' perversion of Jewish Law.
It's almost like a friend that you know well, then
you're walking down the street and see someone that
looks just like him, sounds just like him, but
there's something that just doesn't seem the
same. I've even asked the person when that
happens, you know you look at them sideways, then
it's like, "Chris? Oh, sorry, I thought you
were a friend." The thing is, if they're
such a friend, how come you don't know them enough to
tell the difference. That's just it, the
imitations are so close and use just enough truth to
be able to deceive. But all the more reason,
know the Scripture and know the Word so you can in
fact spot the discrepancies.
I don't want to necessarily say to beware of the Jesus that you encounter, but you do need to at least know what Jesus you encounter. I believe that someone can trust in "Jesus" and follow his teaching and go to church and still not be assured of salvation because maybe the "Jesus" that they acknowledge is one of many ways to heaven or he is potentially their spiritual equal. The important thing is to accept no imitations, and that goes for other things in life as well doesn't it? Here's an example. Soda. There are certain brands of soda that you can bank on that it will be good. Hansen's is my personal favorite though I don't drink it too often. I used to work at Whole Foods Market, and Hansen's, good stuff. You can count on it. It will be good and it will be quality. There's always Coke, Pepsi, and RC Cola which of those three is my personal favorite. It's the underdog, the one you got to root for. Besides, Coke and Pepsi will do fine this year with or without my investment in their product. What about the off brands? You can get the store brand soda from Safeway, and it's good. It may not have the same quality ingredients as Hansen's, but it's easily accessible, and it's cheap. You know you can always get a good deal on the store brand sodas. Now we get to another store brand soda: Walgreen's. I have no problem with Walgreens. I actually get quite a bit of stuff there, and I do appreciate that the Walgreen's that I frequent is 24 hours. Solid store, but what about the Walgreen's brand soda? The stuff tastes like club soda but it looks like artificially colored carbonated water depending on the "flavor" you are drinking. I got it once because it was on sale, 3/$1.00 for the 20oz bottles. If you're drinking club soda, that's one thing, but if it looks like cola and tastes like nothing, then your brain sort of thinks that you're drinking something that you shouldn't be because it went bad or something. My wife likes to stay away from any other brand of mayo other than Best Foods. I don't like to stick any Q-Tip in my ear other than the actual Q-Tip brand of Johnson's & Johnson's brand (not that you should be sticking anything in your ear anyway. But come on, it says on the box of Q-Tips to use on the outside of your ear... yeah right. Like anyone actually does that. But they can legally wash their hands from anyone going deaf from jabbing their ear). You have your thing as well, where you don't want the imitation or the "other" quality. You want the real thing. Is there anything more important that having the real Savior? You're whole future depends on it. Isn't it funny how we will make sure everything is just right and what we want it to be for our next meal that will last for 30-60 minutes, but when it comes to making sure that our Savior is the right Savior, that our order is right, do we take the same amount of time? There is no other Jesus that the Jesus He said He was. There is no other substitute for Jesus. No plan "B", no shortcut, no alternative, no backdoor. He's not one of several on the same team. He's not just like me but "ascended" with me close behind. He's not a prophet along the lines of Malachi or Isaiah. When you make a decision for Christ, make sure that it's the right Christ. And if you know or come across someone who believes in "Jesus" but their Jesus is different than yours, don't be afraid to talk about it, just do it prayerfully and do it in love. If you're unsure or intimidated, talk to someone who can guide you or talk about it with you. It's a tough world we live in. almost all TV commercials encourage us to do the wrong thing in life. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Yeah, what about HIV or an unwanted pregnancy from a one night stand in Vegas, baby. Think that stays in Vegas? It's so easy to make the wrong choices, and to actually think that you're making the right choices while you're doing it. Start with Jesus. Make the right choice in the right Jesus. Let it all fan out from there. If you do know Jesus, talk to Him about the direction you're going. If you've got the real Jesus and He's guiding you, look around for a couple of folks. The first to help keep you accountable with you walk with Christ, and vice versa. The second, to help find Christ and to encourage them to ask Him to be Lord of their life. Make it a point to stay focused on Christ, and to disciple someone. If you want to, as always, contact me if I can help or if you just want to. Until next time.
Grace and Glory,
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I don't want to necessarily say to beware of the Jesus that you encounter, but you do need to at least know what Jesus you encounter. I believe that someone can trust in "Jesus" and follow his teaching and go to church and still not be assured of salvation because maybe the "Jesus" that they acknowledge is one of many ways to heaven or he is potentially their spiritual equal. The important thing is to accept no imitations, and that goes for other things in life as well doesn't it? Here's an example. Soda. There are certain brands of soda that you can bank on that it will be good. Hansen's is my personal favorite though I don't drink it too often. I used to work at Whole Foods Market, and Hansen's, good stuff. You can count on it. It will be good and it will be quality. There's always Coke, Pepsi, and RC Cola which of those three is my personal favorite. It's the underdog, the one you got to root for. Besides, Coke and Pepsi will do fine this year with or without my investment in their product. What about the off brands? You can get the store brand soda from Safeway, and it's good. It may not have the same quality ingredients as Hansen's, but it's easily accessible, and it's cheap. You know you can always get a good deal on the store brand sodas. Now we get to another store brand soda: Walgreen's. I have no problem with Walgreens. I actually get quite a bit of stuff there, and I do appreciate that the Walgreen's that I frequent is 24 hours. Solid store, but what about the Walgreen's brand soda? The stuff tastes like club soda but it looks like artificially colored carbonated water depending on the "flavor" you are drinking. I got it once because it was on sale, 3/$1.00 for the 20oz bottles. If you're drinking club soda, that's one thing, but if it looks like cola and tastes like nothing, then your brain sort of thinks that you're drinking something that you shouldn't be because it went bad or something. My wife likes to stay away from any other brand of mayo other than Best Foods. I don't like to stick any Q-Tip in my ear other than the actual Q-Tip brand of Johnson's & Johnson's brand (not that you should be sticking anything in your ear anyway. But come on, it says on the box of Q-Tips to use on the outside of your ear... yeah right. Like anyone actually does that. But they can legally wash their hands from anyone going deaf from jabbing their ear). You have your thing as well, where you don't want the imitation or the "other" quality. You want the real thing. Is there anything more important that having the real Savior? You're whole future depends on it. Isn't it funny how we will make sure everything is just right and what we want it to be for our next meal that will last for 30-60 minutes, but when it comes to making sure that our Savior is the right Savior, that our order is right, do we take the same amount of time? There is no other Jesus that the Jesus He said He was. There is no other substitute for Jesus. No plan "B", no shortcut, no alternative, no backdoor. He's not one of several on the same team. He's not just like me but "ascended" with me close behind. He's not a prophet along the lines of Malachi or Isaiah. When you make a decision for Christ, make sure that it's the right Christ. And if you know or come across someone who believes in "Jesus" but their Jesus is different than yours, don't be afraid to talk about it, just do it prayerfully and do it in love. If you're unsure or intimidated, talk to someone who can guide you or talk about it with you. It's a tough world we live in. almost all TV commercials encourage us to do the wrong thing in life. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Yeah, what about HIV or an unwanted pregnancy from a one night stand in Vegas, baby. Think that stays in Vegas? It's so easy to make the wrong choices, and to actually think that you're making the right choices while you're doing it. Start with Jesus. Make the right choice in the right Jesus. Let it all fan out from there. If you do know Jesus, talk to Him about the direction you're going. If you've got the real Jesus and He's guiding you, look around for a couple of folks. The first to help keep you accountable with you walk with Christ, and vice versa. The second, to help find Christ and to encourage them to ask Him to be Lord of their life. Make it a point to stay focused on Christ, and to disciple someone. If you want to, as always, contact me if I can help or if you just want to. Until next time.
Grace and Glory,
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