10 Reasons You Want To Have A Religion
This manuscript is an answer to Steve Pavlina's article,10 reasons you should not have a religion, posted on his website, Personal development for smart folks.
I do not like the term religion because the worship of Devil as well as each other kind of worship falls beneath the general heading of religion, but in order to identify with and reprove his article which includes followers of Jesus Christ, I?ll use the term religion. Steve calls folk like me or any person in any religious system simpletons, hypocrites and Morons. He asserts and I quote, When you subscribe to an established religion, you have only 2 options. You can become an idiot, or you can become a hypocrite, and then he asserts, Congratulations! You're a moron believer.
Here is the answer to Steve Pavlina's 10 Reasons You Should Not Have a Religion. It is clear that Mr. Pavlina has had some bad experiences in the Catholic faith in which he was raised, but to say that all religion is for idiots because of his limited experience is ridiculous. My experience is the complete opposite of Pavlina's; I therefore give you 10 reasons you ought to have a religion based on not only my private experience, but also on facts:
I don't think anyone would consider me an idiot or fool . I graduated from a private college with a 15 acknowledgment proportion, now a university, at the top of my class with an A- average and I'm a believer in Jesus. The Bible does say however that "The fool has said in his very own heart that there's no God."
I have many reasons in believing in Jesus but I can only share 10 here:
1. Jesus is a real historic figure, not some made up mythical figure. There's more to substantiate his existence from extant history than there's for Napoleon Bonaparte. All the information about Jesus is not form the Bible alone or from people who believed strongly in him; Josephus, a near modern of Jesus and a 1st century writer though apparently a sceptic mentions Jesus:
The works of Origen (c. 182-251 CE) which have come down to us mention Josephus quoting Jesus Christ twice. It is worth quoting both passages in full:
Flavius Josephus, who wrote the "Antiquities of the Jews" in twenty books, when wanting to exhibit the cause why the people suffered so great reversals that even the Temple was razed to the ground, said, that these things happened to them as per the wrath of God in result of the things which they'd dared to do against James the bro of Jesus who is named Christ. And the wonderful thing is that, though he didn't accept Jesus as Christ, he yet gave testimony that the goodness of James was so great; and he is saying the folk thought that they had suffered these things due to James. (On The Text of Matthew, 1:15)
For in the 18th book of his Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus bears witness to John as having been a Baptist, and as promising purification to those who underwent the rite. Now this writer, although not believing in Jesus as the Christ, in looking for after the reason for the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, whereas he should have announced the conspiracy against Jesus was the reason behind these tragedies befalling the people, since they put to death Christ, who was a foreseer, announces nevertheless-being, though against his will, not far from the truth-that these tragedies occurred to the Jews as a punishment for the passing of James the Just, who was a bro of Jesus (called Christ),-the Jews having put him to death, though he used to be a man most distinguished for his justice. Paul, a genuine disciple of Jesus, asserts that he regarded this James as a brother of the Lord, not so much thanks to their relationship by blood, or of their being brought up together, as because of his virtue and doctrine. (Origen, Against Celsus, 1:47)
Jesus walked on this earth and had disciples who followed him and served him. At his crucifixion all his followers but the Apostle John deserted him in fear. The Apostle Peter betrayed him 3 times by swearing saying he did not even know him.
After the resurrection of Jesus when his disciples saw him and chatted to him, their approach changed. No. Longer did fear rule them; they stood resolutely in their belief and all but the apostle John, who stood with Jesus till the end, were martyred for their belief. John was exiled to a lonesome island to live out the remainder of his life. What fools they would have been if Jesus was merely a made up legendary personality or if actually he did not rise from the tomb.
2. The Bible is the true word of God and hasn't ever been proved otherwise. It's my practice to read the Bible through every year and I know the Bible well and have not seen anywhere it is full of discrepancies or falsehood. It really is a book of wisdom and has the answers for each need we have. To discredit it or reject its teachings is, in my judgment, true stupidity. Click here for 6 articles that ratify the veracity of Scripture:
3. The change that it has made in the lives of those I've known . Just last year I met a person in Florida whose name is John and John spent 23 years of his life in a Federal prison for first degree murder. John by his own word was a gangster. His life was stuffed with crime and violence.
John met Jesus the savior while in prison and was paroled after 23 years and for years now he has served the Lord. He's a deacon in his church. He is involved in helping other prisoner's transition back into civilian life after jail. He is one of the best folk I know .
Another man I've known for many years was in a rock'n'roll band and a drug addict . Jesus helped him to modify his life and now he's a volunteer missionary. He volunteers his time without pay to go on mission trips. This week on Thursday he left for the Philippians and from there he'll be going to Mongolia and then on to China. Space and time won't permit me to tell you all the stories I know about lives which have been modified by Jesus.
4. Smart folk trust in Jesus. I did a study of the presidents of the US from Wikipedia, and plenty of our presidents had roots in the Christian faith. Now I don't accept that Steve Pavlina or any other person can say that our presidents have been fools and idiots because they thought in Jesus. The individual that made such a statement would seem to be the moron.
I would not deny the fact that many have disgraced the name of Christianity; there have been many, and not just from the Catholic church, but from many denominations. Even among the disciples of our Lord there had been Judas who betrayed the Master for 30 pieces of silver.
Folk from all walks of life have proved themselves to be untrustworthy and deceitful and this includes the religious world also.
5. There is no better means of true personal development than when a person is right with God spiritually. I've known many that not heard about Steve Pavlina who are developed to a point so far advanced to what human teaching could have ever taken them. To know these types of folks and to experience their kindness and love for others and to call them fools is the best possible contradiction of terms.
6. To know Jesus is to understand the truth , quite the reverse of what Mr. Pavlina believes. Jesus said, Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
Living in an entire world of sin, separate from the love of Christ is bondage. I do not need try and convince you of this, just read your morning newspaper or watch the 10 o'clock news and see personally. We live in a world filled with hate with folks in bondage to drugs, sex, malevolent offences and perversion to name a few. Knowing Jesus and worshiping him is the best management of time. The time I've spent in studying the 7, which is the start and closing of everyday has been one of the most constructive things I have ever done. It starts my day on a positive note especially when I add to that a period of prayer and meditation, which I usually do. The time when I?ve been in a public worship service and have been lifted up by the teaching of the Bible is the most dear hours I ever spend. There are a large amount of methods to waste precious time but our presence with our Lord in worship, Bible study and prayer is not one of them. Bible. The loyal Christian friends I've made, who are the greatest people in all of the world, is just another reason I am thankful to know Jesus as my savior.
I am a member of an organization called Campers on Mission who volunteer their time to work for free to do mend on children's homes, orphanages as well as for folks who can not afford to do repairs themselves. I haven't begun to meet one of these people that I didn't like. Their attitude and thankfulness for life is astounding compared to the general public. To call these good people morons is evil and. Shameful.
8. Knowing Jesus is freedom from fear.
That verse from the 92rd Psalm, Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no malevolent because thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me is a great comfort to the soul. I find great solace in knowing that Jesus is with me and he has comforted me when I walked thru the valley of the shadow of death with my dear spouse which was my best mate. He was there and he furnished the grace I wanted to continue on. I believe it is Mr. Pavlina and those that he has mistakenly misled through his writings who've something to fear. When it is time to die and stand before the creator of the Universe, what can you then say when he asked you, why would not you suspect when you had each opportunity? 31
I'm happy I know Jesus thanks to the dramatic difference it has made in my private life. You know, you cannot know how others feel or what they experience but you can know your own heart. No, Mr. Pavlina can not know my heart; he only can know his own experiences in the Catholic Church which I gather have been awfully bad according to what he is saying. I, on the other hand, know my experiences, and I haven't felt any of the negative things listed in his article concerning fear, being make to comply with any set of rules or becoming submissively compliant to fake teaching and dogma, or feeling I have wasted my time etc. Quite to the reverse, I have felt loved, educated, edified, blessed and nourished. There isn't any question that Steve is a really knowledgeable person. But to put it in perspective, his knowledge, like any other person, is very limited. What I'm indicating is that I wonder if Mr. Pavlina has ever considered that among all of the knowledge he doesn't have, that there just might be the awareness of having a
suggestive relationship with 0 . Is a person just to rely all alone negative experience or their own limited information and let it dictate to them what to believe? Knowledge would let us know to go outside our own limited knowledge in search of truth lest we be mislead by our own stupidity.I would like to give credit where credit is due. Steve Pavlina is without doubt a gifted writer who beyond question has helped a lot of people in personal development. I concur with most of what he writes, and I have no sick will toward him. I am grateful that we are living in the great country of America where he as well as I can express our Gods readily without fear. My one regret is that he isn't able to see past his bad experiences in belief growing up and has led many others into error due to it.
About the author: Jimmie Burroughs is a motivational speaker and author who has been involved in teaching Christian Private Development for more than 30 years. There may be more than 600 articles to help you on his website in your private expansion. Be certain to take vantage of the FREE offer to get the eBook The 4 Pillars for Personal Development while available.
St. John Progressive Missionary Baptist Church Tampa, FL
|
|
One Sacred Effort: The Cooperative Program of Southern Baptists $5.66 The preamble of the original constitution of the Southern Baptist Convention describes the purpose of the SBC as eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the whole denomination in one sacred effort, for the propagation of the Gospel.” These words are not only historically significant; they convey the mission and purpose and distill the distinct facets of the SBC Cooperative Program…. |
|
|
Public complaints stir Senate panel to investigate wealth of 2 black megachurches.(NATIONAL REPORT)( New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and World … Park both in Georgia): An article from: Jet $9.95 This digital document is an article from Jet, published by Thomson Gale on November 26, 2007. The length of the article is 658 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: Public complaints stir… |
|
|
Baptist women in America: in various times in Baptist history in America, women have served as church planters, missionaries, mission organization … An article from: Baptist History and Heritage $5.95 This digital document is an article from Baptist History and Heritage, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2005. The length of the article is 500 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: B… |
