Real Think Inc.

Having studied philosophy and religion – all of that “stuff” – I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly that has come as a result of men’s thinking through the centuries. Academia has introduced to us the term “extremism” and the phrase “hijacked religion.” Is a so-called hijacked religion then not to be believed to be an actual religion? That is absurd.

But we could call Liberalism as it is applied to Christianity a hijack of religion. Liberalism removed the concept of personal salvation from Christian understanding and tried to make of Christianity a human effort to create a better world. Highlighted as the ultra important of Christian thought, Liberalism adopted the theme of the Sermon on the Mount and negated the theme wrapped in the Lord’s words: “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but hath everlasting life.”

Where is John 3:16 in the Liberal’s Christianity? Where is “For by grace are you saved by faith, and not by works, lest any man should boast!” Really, what place does the Savior have in the Liberal’s view?

Love and help for the poor has faired poorly because help was never intended Biblically to do less than jump-start people or leave them as poorly educated and poorly prepared to enter the workforce. Historic Christianity has always been best represented by hymns like “Amazing Grace” where personal improvement happened in lives that were touched by the Holy Spirit.

Real Christianity is exceptional because the God of all new beginnings came into the world on our behalf; to “Save our lives from destruction and to crown our lives with loving-kindness.” (Psalm 103)

Christians are encouraged – advised – to share to everyone the “Good News” that the only real God offers “Tender mercy” to us. We have all sinned and mercy or judgment are the only to answers. Christians are advised to share this Gospel of mercy offered, and to teach that God also offers all of us His “Loving-kindness.”

Education on religious matter has evolved slowly. Semantically words have been arranged by intellectuals and taught our children so they are now forbidden to think critically and to believe that all religion is good when it is not.

Not long ago, as secularism became embedded in public education, religion was debunked – and Biblical thought included – as ignorant superstition. But the religious feeling common to most people in all of history made the intellectual elite back off. So they went another route. Now without any critical examination; no comparisons or contrasting of the differences of ideas held in religious cultures; students were told the ideal of brotherhood is “fixed” in all religions and that all religions are focused on the same god.

Of course, the Bible reads rather, that there are false religions, false prophets, and that their gods are not gods at all. Jesus spent a great deal of time telling Jewish teachers that they were wrong, that they did not understand their own scripture: He called them among other things, hypocrites.

Not all religions teach about a merciful God. In fact none teach are about the One God who gave His Son whose death made it possible to ransom our lives and save us from the justice we deserve.

Terrorism has been a part of religion throughout history.

Terrorism is co-ersion; but so is playing around with the minds of our children. We must retain the right to teach the Gospel of God. That such teaching is exclusively the Christians message, was of Jesus himself, was of the Gospel writers is fact.

Why would any clear thinking person object to our saying that the Gospel of God offers forgiveness of our sins and a new infusion of God’s goodness into our being? This is the salvation message of both the Old and New Testaments. Actually, the greatest attempted hijack of religion ever in history was the Liberalism movement that raged against real Christianity in the 17th to 20th centuries and that traded the personal salvation message for a secular progressive philosophy that cannot work.

The Bible teaches and our personal life journeys tell us it is so, that sin has marred us, brought us close to ruin. Against this real life dilemma, those who care because they have experienced God’s amazing grace, share one-on-one that God will lift us from that lost condition if we will receive the only Savior anyone has ever mentioned. Jesus saves, we shout and proclaim, because we found it to be true. And it keeps on proving itself true: the Gospel of the God of the Bible is true.

Poor thinking has it that that there must be another way, because no one else speaks like the man who has been born again. And no one boasts of any one else, that He came into, upon, over, and through their very being. The Bible calls this “A cloud of witnesses.” Only deliberate foolishness or worse should keep a person from wanting to meet the Savior.

“My God is Great: My God is Mighty: There’s nothing that my God can’t do.” That is what we taught when my grandchildren attended our church. Our God is All – Mighty. There is none other. He is Savior. He rests His justice on offered mercy else we would all be condemned. Religion can’t save us: God has; but we must seek His salvation for we are already too far spent: we have all sinned.

Can we imagine a bank robber arguing that the little lady he helped across the street balanced the books concerning the charges rightfully levied against him? He robbed the bank; but he helped a little old lady. Should we pat him on the back, tell him it was very kind to help someone and ignore the other issue? He robbed the bank and he must pay.

Religion is that irrelevant and worse. We crime doers need the bank robbing potential removed. We could never be fit for the next life without God’s remedy for our sin potential. And we would pollute the next life the same as this life. Christian salvation does and is the answer. The Maker re-makes hard hearts to soft.

Actually, our sinning should bring us to repentance – as we see the hurt our sinning causes others as well as ourselves. God created us with a conscience. It is tender. It can be corrupted. We can harden our own hearts. But God orchestrated life such that we can be reached: guilt persuades us to turn to Him. With false pride we ignore the obvious need. We can turn our hearts away from the only real cure. The Gospel message is so exceptional that it stands out as a beacon of hope.

No religion ever conceived by man came up with the idea of a Ransom. No Person except Jesus of Nazareth made such claims about His own life. No Person except Him died so amazingly in control. None ever spoke like Him. None other ever defeated death. None other has been called “Master,” “Savior,” “Lord God,” a Friend to sinners. He did not shun the sinner, He came to them offering them deliverance and a new life.

Oh how marvelous, How wonderful – and the prophet wrote that His name would be Wonderful, Mighty God, the Son that was given – the child who was born of a virgin. Exceptional! What none ever has said or done. Amazing! Amazing Love! And that the real God Is, as Jesus taught, Love: amazing, a great relief that He will side with me, that it is HE who says, “Neither do I accuse you.”

Why should there not be good news? How can we remain thinking that the secular progressive intellectual elite are on the right path? The rulers over men’s thoughts won’t let us reason over and compare religious differences. They say exceptionalism is the problem but we know that the real God is quite exceptional.

Experiencing God’s mercy is not religious. Christianity was birthed on believing, not on “beliefs.” Soon after the resurrection of Jesus, hearers but not see-errs of Jesus, “Searched the scriptures to see if. . .” what the Apostles preached was so. They searched the same scriptures that Jesus used to argue against the teachers of His day. That scripture may be read by us today.

And we, like Jesus, will have some of those in authority telling us “it ain’t so,” that we can’t read the Bible plainly, that we need their special de-coding skills to actually learn the truth. Those teachers fell by the wayside – because they taught nothing exceptional.

The Jews led by them have gone from one earthen hell to the next. But the world was turned right-side-up by those who by experienced God’s salvation through His Son; who did learn from God’s word, who did preserve that word for us.

Today, any literate person can read the Bible, pray to God, and be found by Him. Those who cannot read can filter through television channels and find Joseph Prince, or David Jeremiah, or the Billy Graham classic: the Holy Spirit has never changed and will reach every sincere ear or eye.

Don’t argue. Do offer. We are continuously surprised by the many who are helped by the God who has shown Himself as our Friend. Our God is as the real God ought to be. He is there to lift us up, not to put us down. He is there with everlasting mercy, tender mercy – loving kindness.

Exceptional, Almighty. Omnipotent: God only wise. He is ours and we can be His. Why would anyone believe in a religion whose god is not exceptional?

Buddy

“Once I . . ., then I will be happy.” Once I get the right job, the right person, the right house, the right, the right, the right, and then I will be happy.

“Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad;” How is it that we need this advice? What is going on?

God created us to be little fountains who pour life into the world; not vacuums that vainly suck, drag, burden, wear down, and exhaust others.

We can be totally awesome critters who are in demand because the Fountain flows within. God designed us to be like Himself. We are meant to have God flowing in our veins, so-to-speak; sounding from our lips, touching through our hands – always “the head and not the tail.”

Satan employs peer pressure, envy, lust, greed, selfishness, fear, anger, hate, dominant cruelty: find hurt and you will have found Satan’s intrusion in the world. “There will be no hurt in my holy mountain,” says God.

Think about this. We don’t really “find” happiness. Trying to chase it can waste an entire life. If we can learn to be who God made us to be, we will be so busy we won’t have time to be unhappy. The world lifts up even higher those who even seem to have found this niche.

But, the world, the author of unhappiness has stolen his way in and will hinder, hurt, ridicule, and impose false – accusing opinions against us. Some of us may seem to have been born: “lucky” probably not anyone reading this. The rest of us must cope with these difficulties.

Wrong choices are those which do not bring true, healthy happiness. We “think” wrong choices are simply mistakes. Really, we make wrong choices sometimes, when we know they’re wrong. Mistakes are only one kind of wrong choice. Our feelings often lead us to make wrong choices. We sometimes interpret other’s actions as meaning cruelty or criticism. We sometimes let a flattering tongue or someone with good rhetorical skills totally mislead us. A true Friend will never mislead us.

Early in the pages of scripture Moses wrote that we may choose life, and live; or death and compounding unhappiness. History bears record that this choice is fundamental and real.

Have we sinned? If we confess to Him He will forgive us. Christians need to keep the slate clean too.

Will we receive Him? Trust to obey Him, and then we will live along the way, and forever.

“Come unto me,” He says to us. “I have come that you may have life, and life abundantly;” said Jesus. Choose Him now and you will find Him coming to you.

Buddy

We’ve listened to Derrick Prince a whole bunch, telling us over and again that our lives are not about performance. Womack preaches a lot on this too. And it’s gratifying to hear that we don’t have to appease God for all the sinning we have done – and to some extent still do.

Sin doesn’t land one in Hell. Heaven is a gift. Grace is “undeserved, unearned favor. God just gives grace to the takers: “As many as received (Jesus), to them (the Father) gave the power to become children of God.” It is pure grace that saves us through faith. It’s a gift, nothing we can earn. Done so that none of us can boast.

We keep acting as though, some of us, that to not sin is a goal – and surely it is. Our resolutions have to do with that. We don’t hear very often that we have succeeded in this. Oh, some people say they’ve lived a good life; really? Good enough? Get out’a here! think about it!

The Savior’s task was to be that He would save His people from their sins. Either this the Savior does or we are all in deep do-do. Yes, God in His mercy forgive the repentant one and “His mercy is everlasting.” The Savior saves.

At the last of His book God tells us that even as the universe is collapsing around them, there are those who will still not repent. We should be sorry, at least, if we’ve cheated on our spouse; if we’ve fanaticized, or maybe attended to pornography about it. What she doesn’t know will hurt her. It already has. What happens in Las Vegas – or a million Las Vegas look-alikes – stays in Las Vegas. Really? Do patrons there never go back home?

Maybe you’re acting like married people but you are not. This is happening everywhere these days. It is sin. A whole lot of people have been thus hurt – even society.

Character has it that who sows wild oats ought to be the ones who pay the consequences. That is the ancient law of karma. What goes around comes around. Often however, but not often enough, a loving family steps in such that the careless sin of their sibling turns tragedy into blessing. This is the gospel message: He turned my sorrow into a song. God bless the parents who come to the aid rather than come and condemn.

Why did the good and only God create a world where sin could so easily happen? Knowing that sin would raise Hell on earth, why did God go through with creation?
He knew too that sin can crush our pride and cause us to come to Him for help.

The parable Jesus taught about the prodigal son coming to himself, realizing that life sucks when you live like he did. So he returned to his father who in this case was God the Father. And the Father, “Seeing him afar off,” rushed to greet his once lost but now found son. His sin coupled to the consequence of sin actually served the Father’s love-plan. Yes, His grace is greater than all my sin: the Father planned before He created, that He would become my Savior so that I could become His – born from above – son.

If sin, and the consequences of it can not turn me to God, I’m willingly deceived into thinking that I can get by with it: it’s not so.

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound (of that word) that saved a wretch like me. Once lost; but now found, blind, but now I see. This is the gospel’s hope that we are to publish where ever we go. Not shame. Not blame. These are tools of Satin. (I hate to capitalize his name.)

We preach hope to the broken hearted, and, when we do the Lord accompanies our visit. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. We share the gospel Some will open their hearts to God. Some will not, and close their hearts to Him. We’re God’s vessels through whom He flows as a river. HE is the River.

No one who has been courageous enough to offer the consolation of God needs to be told; there are those who just aren’t interested. If the door to a heart is open, we encourage them to receive the Savior. Again, as it was with Jesus himself and all of the prophets: some will, and some are not willing.

The point is this. We make much ado about nothing if we think that we can be righteous by trying harder and harder to combat temptation. He must fit us for that, and do it. Unless we can honestly sing, “Look what the Lord has done,” we will continue to plead for and not see revival. What the Lord is doing is revival.

God is altogether Savior and we must not infringe on the glory of His personal salvation of our lives. The love of God is as the love of a parent who takes upon Himself what is sufficient to land us in heaven. There He invites us to come. He will cloth us in His own spotless garment. “He will never leave us or forsake us.”

The point is that the Biblical message is to us that we major in lifting Him up, that we do not play the role of hypocrite – “all have sinned, ”

Sickening sometimes are the repetitious chants we sing. Lift up Jesus to someone you know who right now needs the Comforter. Believe that the Comforter will come if you will lift Him up. Dare you lift him up – for the kingdom’s sake.

Have we wondered that without faith we cannot please God” That’s right. We can be generous – and we ought: is it faith which motivates giving? Not always. It is, maybe, love, maybe faith – probably pleasing to God. But not nearly as pleasing as when we introduce a hurting person to our caring God. The measure of faith required for witnessing is a little-taught message; but is the Gospel of which we are the messengers of God.

Alas. The Lord has promised that the field is ripe for harvester.
“I am my brother’s keeper.” And I owe it to Love to get out of myself, to lift Him up so that all men can find Him: He will draw them if I will to be used of Him.

Buddy