Book Excerpt: One Important Thing!

Here is the one important thing you must know: The teachings of Christ do not change. The author of Hebrews makes this clear in chapter 13:8-9:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.” (NIV)

It is apparent from this verse that if Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then His message is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore, we need to be careful we are not carried away by any kind of strange teachings and ideas contrary to the teaching of Christ. Second Timothy 4:3-4 illustrates this reality:

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (NIV)

So then the question becomes: What must we do to guard ourselves against many of the lies brought to us through television programs and TV personalities? Just as discussed previously, God’s Word must be our foundation so we do not accept new teachings and ideas that are in opposition to the Word of God.

- Let Jesus Be Your Talk Show Host, Ch. 1

What is Your Heart’s Desire?

 

I [Paul] have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. (Romans 9:2-4, NIV)

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. (Romans 10:1, NIV)

More than anything, Paul wanted his people to be saved. He wanted the Jews to know Jesus.

I’ve read Romans chapters 9 and 10 over and over again for the last week. It is what I was asked to read for my Bible Study next week. What stuck out to me was Paul’s desire for the Jews to gain salvation through Jesus Christ. He desired this so immensely that, if he could, he would sacrifice his salvation in Christ and eternity in heaven so that his fellow brethren could spend eternity with God.

What is your heart’s desire? It may be for a family member or someone close to you to know the Lord. It may be for your daughter or son to return to the Lord because they’ve gone astray. Or perhaps, it is for other Christian brothers and sisters you know to grow closer to the Lord.

As you’ve probably noticed, my desire is for Christian women to know the truth. My desire is for women to be strong in what they claim to believe; to be knowledgeable of Scripture and the biblical foundations that make up our faith. If we do not know what we believe, we will be easily deceived by new ideas and false doctrines that arise around us. This is the reason I am writing Let Jesus Be Your Talk Show Host (see “The Book” link above).

Spend this week thinking about your heart’s desire. Go to God in prayer and ask him to give you opportunities to express your desire to others and see it fulfilled! Be the Lord’s vessel and let Him use you to bring others to Christ.

November Give-a-Way!!!

I’ve decided to start a Give-a-Way prize each month to those who follow my blog! In the spirit of Thanksgiving, thank you for following the blog! I hope my articles bless and encourage you to learn more about God, Scripture, and the deception of New Age spirituality that is so prevalent in our culture today.

This month’s prize will be a $5 gift card to Starbucks Coffee. How do you enter to receive the gift card? If you notice, I just added on the right side of my blog an area where you can subscribe to the blog and receive email updates when a new article is posted. All you have to do is add your email address and subscribe. ***Then, send me an email at letjesusbeyourtalkshowhost@hotmail.com to let me know you have subscribed. Email me your name and email address so I can contact you!!!*** At the end of November, I will do a drawing and choose one person to receive the gift card. I will then notify you and get your address so I can mail you the card.

Thank you for participating and encouraging me as I strive to build this ministry and reach others!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Gina

Photo by Bill Longshaw: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=341

Survey: What Do You Think is the #1 Difference in Teaching that Separates Christianity From Other Belief Systems?

Today I’m asking you to be part of a survey based on the blog series I posted about different belief systems and if they teach the same core truth. Over the last two weeks I’ve posted blogs about Hinduism, Buddhism, Kabbalah, Islam, and Taoism. I contrasted their teachings to those of Christianity and came to the conclusion that each belief system has completely different teachings. There is no way you could say that they teach the same core truth. I’ve also shown how the New Age movement takes something from each of these systems and incorporates it into New Age spirituality.

Now I’d like to hear from you!

What do you think is the #1 difference in teaching that separates Christianity from other belief systems? There are many, but I want to know from you which one you think is the most significant! The following is a list of differences that I noticed right away. Which important element of Christianity do you think separates it from other religions?

• The belief in heaven and hell.
• The teaching of sin and the need for salvation.
• The belief that Jesus is God.
• The belief that Christians worship a personal/relational God and not an impersonal one.

These are just a few suggestions. Please leave a comment and let me know your answer. You can choose an answer from what I listed or add your own!

 

God Bless,

Gina

Clip art photo from Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Christianity vs. Kabbalah

 

Today’s blog features the last belief system we will be examining in this series about different religions. Our goal has been to see how each belief system differs from Christianity and also to show how each system does not teach the same core truth.

Our teaching today is about Kabbalah. How much do you know about Kabbalah and what is the first thing that you think of? Personally, the first ideas that comes to my mind are red bracelets and Madonna! The singer/celebrity Madonna has been the poster child for Kabbalah in the last decade. Sporting the red bracelet, she’s embraced this form of Jewish mysticism and has encouraged others to do the same. I have to admit, that’s pretty much the extent of my knowledge. I’m guessing that it might also be the same for you. Therefore, we are going to unpack this mystical practice and examine the basic beliefs that make up the system of Kabbalah that we see today.

The following is a list of basic beliefs and facts about Kabbalah:

• Kabbalah originates from Judaism and can only be completely understood in view of its Jewish roots.
• Kabbalist’s claim it is a hidden or secret doctrine. The Hebrew word Kabbalah means “to receive.” Thus, Kabbalah is to receive hidden knowledge.
• Kabbalah teaches that God gave Moses the written law and the oral law. Kabbalah comes from the oral law and is seen as feminine. The masculine side of Judaism is the written law.
• Hidden knowledge comes only from the oral law but is understood within the context of the written law.
• Kabbalah is a mixture of philosophy, white magic, and meditative practices.
• Even if a person does not fully understand Judaism, he or she can still gain many insights into life by studying Kabbalah’s concepts.
• Kabbalah seeks to understand the fusion between the physical and spiritual, how humans control the universe, and how they are one with God.
• The red string some Kabbalist’s wear is to ward off evil and misfortune.

There is so much more to learn about Kabbalah than what I’ve indentified in this list. Therefore, for the sake of this blog post and length, we are going to focus on the aspect of Kabbalah as a secret knowledge. You can learn more about Kabbalah from the links listed below.

Christianity doesn’t teach that there is a secret knowledge. The New Age movement, like Kabbalah, claims that the Bible teaches a secret knowledge that must be looked for beyond a passages literal interpretation. However, when looked at closely, this is not the case. Even when Jesus speaks in parables, He reveals the true meaning to the disciples. The disciples were they only people who were willing to hear and understand the Kingdom of God, unlike the Jews whose ears and eyes were hardened (See Matthew 13:13). Jesus spoke in parables to fulfill prophecy and also because if his adversaries knew what He was talking about, it would create chaos and persecution. In the end however, Jesus wanted everyone to know about the Kingdom of God. He didn’t keep it a secret!

The Kabbalist’s approach to finding truth is very different than the Christian’s approach. A Christian reads the Bible for what it is. A follower of Kabbalah reads Torah and looks beyond it’s most simple interpretation to find other meanings. They also rely on other teachings and writings beyond the Bible. In addition to Kabbalah’s rejection of Jesus as God and other important doctrine we hold to as Christians, this approach shows again that Christianity and Kabbalah do not teach the same core truth. This is because they are not coming from the same sources. If they do come from the same source, they are not interpreted in the same way. Thus, resulting in two different interpretations and meanings.

I hope this post is clear and easily understood. Again, this is only a very brief survey of a few beliefs taught from Kabbalah. For more learning and information see the links that I posted below!

www.kabbalahmadeeasy.com, www.wikipedia.com: red string

Christianity vs. Buddhism

 

Thanks for visiting the blog today! This post continues our study on different religions and belief systems to see if they all teach the same core truth. Today our study is on Buddhism.

Where to start? Well, let’s start with Buddha! Most people have seen a statue of Buddha. Sometimes he looks like a very jolly man sitting on the floor with a big belly. Other statues portray Buddha as a someone who is in deep, contemplative meditation. Either way, they both represent the importance Buddhists put on meditation and the acquisition of peace, serenity, and compassion.

Buddha was a man named Gautama that is believed to have been born 2,500 years ago. Many scholars and Buddhist traditions do not agree on the details and teachings of Buddha. However, they do acknowledge that his life was one of reform and self-denial. Buddhists claim that Buddha’s life was full of many miracles, one being when his father saw him sitting in a meditation posture on a box while he was still in his mother’s womb.

The following are a few facts about Buddhism today and its teaching:

• Today’s most well known representative of Buddhism is the Dalai Lama.
• The majority of people who practice Buddhism live in Tibet, China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
• The historical reliability of Buddha and Buddhism’s earliest documents are in question because of contradictions found in later Buddhist teachings and literary works.
• Buddhist’s believe that the universe evolved through natural law.
• Buddha taught four noble truths. They are the following: suffering is real, suffering is caused by selfish desire, suffering will cease when selfish desire is eliminated, and self desire will cease through the Noble Eightfold path.
• The Noble Eightfold path that will take you to the state of nirvana (the sought after state that transcends karma) consists of right view, right revolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
• Buddhists believe in karma, which controls the cycle of reincarnation.
• Buddhism teaches that the self is not ultimately real.
• Buddhism does not teach that there is a God or creator.
• In the western world, Buddhism has recognized Jesus Christ as a Spiritual brother and has much appreciation for Him.

This list in no way intends to be exhaustive. To find out more you visit a website like www.Buddhanet.net.

Like Hinduism, Buddhism is a religion of works and a struggle to get out of the circle of life known as reincarnation. Buddhism is a religion of works because you yourself are the only means by which you can get out of the cycle. There is no reliance on any kind of god or creator for enlightenment. It’s all on you. This differs from Christianity because God knows we do not have the power to release ourselves from the sin that keeps us separated from Him. Therefore, He gives has compassion on us and gives us grace which makes a relationship with him attainable. Thank you Lord!

Buddhism … rejection of sin, a need for a Savior, does not recognize Jesus as God … again we see another religion that is very different than Christianity. Does Buddhism teach the same core truth as Christianity? NO.

What do you think? Do you see any ideas that New Agers might incorporate into their belief system? Leave a comment!

My research today came from the book Religions A to Z.

Who Are You Centering Your Life Around?

 

Many talk shows today are made up of segments featuring interviews and advice about your health, business, finances, relationships, fashion tips, and how-to’s on almost any subject. In addition, talk show segments that teach about spirituality have become common place. A plethora of views and beliefs are floating around through television programs, billboards, media, and thousands of self-help books. So the question becomes: How can we, as Christians, discern which view is the correct view? With so many different media personalities feeding us their beliefs and ideas, how are we to know which set of beliefs are true? 

My answer? Let Jesus be your talk show host!

You might ask, “Well how do I do that?” The answer is: Let Jesus, your Lord and Savior, be the Person around whom you center your beliefs and worldview. The definition of the word center is “a source from which something originates.” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.) This definition gives good insight into who Jesus Christ should be in our lives. The set of principles by which we live should always originate from the teachings of Jesus, not a television personality or any other influential person in our culture today. 

- Let Jesus Be Your Talk Show Host, Ch. 1

Christianity vs. Hinduism

Today we will examine Hindu beliefs and how they compare or contrast to Christian doctrine. Before I start, I just want to say that these blog posts are just surveys of each belief system and are in no way exhaustive. I’ve made an effort to include a web page or source that anyone can turn to if they wish to learn more. My purpose is to identify the core beliefs that make up each system so that we are able to examine and see if it’s really possible that all belief systems can be true at the same time and teach the same thing. This is what New Age teachers claim.

All comments are welcome and very appreciated! Now, to Hinduism …

Hinduism is the dominant religion in India. Hindu’s practice the worship of many gods. However, throughout history the worship of many gods has been expressed in different ways. Years ago Hindu’s worshipped a myriad of gods and goddesses. But today, most focus on worshipping the three gods known as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

Some Hindu’s have an impersonal relationship with the god they worship and some have a personal relationship with him. This personal relationship is a result of the Hare Krishna movement. There are many sacred books in the Hindu religion and they are categorized by whether they are direct revelations from God or lesser vehicles of religious truth.

Hindu’s believe this world is just an illusion. Man is responsible for his actions and beliefs. To achieve enlightenment, one must realize that he is god (Brahman). A person must be one with god.

Lastly, salvation is attained by following moral duties. Hindu’s believe that man is caught in a cycle of life that consists of birth, death, and afterlife: Reincarnation. If I understand this correctly, a Hindu’s only hope for salvation is by moving beyond the negative karma (the moral law of cause and effect).

There are two ideas that I want to address after doing this research. The first is the issue of achieving enlightenment by realizing you are one with god. This idea is found everywhere in New Age teaching! This is one more idea that New Ager’s take from other belief systems to create their own philosophy and belief. Second, again this is another religion of works. You have to work your way toward salvation by doing moral duties.

Hinduism is not similar to our Christian beliefs. We believe that because of God’s mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice, we are forgiven for our sins. It isn’t a cycle of reincarnation or the attempt to get rid of negative karma. Christianity teaches that there is a separation between the Creator and the created. We are never one with God. There are many more differences, but we can already see, through the limited information presented, that Hinduism and Christianity do not teach the same thing. Therefore, again, we’ve come to the conclusion that all religions do not teach the same core truth. They both teach very opposite things and cannot be true at the same time.

For more info on Hinduism, you can visit http://www.hinduismtoday.com/. My research today came from the book Religions A to Z.

Some Things Are Only Meant For God to Know!

 

I just finished watching Beth Moore’s Wednesday morning teaching I recorded from last week. I felt like I needed a little “pick me up” before I sat down to begin writing for the day. One verse she read struck me:

 

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17, NIV)

 

God didn’t want Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge. One reason is because God didn’t want mankind to know everything. Some things are only meant for God to know.

Beth made many points of application in her message that were very good. However, I found the message of the verse spoke to me with a different application than what was mentioned. I realized that God is only going to reveal as much to me as He wants, and that I need to trust Him for the things I don’t know. For instance, I don’t know when and how my book is going to be published, but I am going to trust that God has it worked out and that I don’t need to worry about it.

God has a plan and He is going to work things out perfectly for you and I. We just need to trust that God hasn’t revealed everything to us because He has a greater purpose in mind that we might not realize or even dream. It actually makes me excited to think about!

Are you trust God to figure things out for you? Are you trusting and thanking Him that you don’t know all the details? It certainly is a perspective shift, isn’t it?

… we will continue tomorrow with our survey of the different belief systems. Today I just felt the need to share this with you and be an encouragement.

–May the Lord Bless You Today!

Christianity vs. Taoism

Have any of you ever heard of Taoism (also spelled Daoism)? Or, perhaps you are more familiar with the Ying Yang symbol shown above? This symbol is very common in our society today. People wear the Ying Yang like it’s the peace symbol of the seventies, when actually the symbol is connected with the belief system of Taoism.

The founder of Taoism, Lao-Tse, is believed to have lived 500-600 years before the birth of Christ, around the time of Confucius. Taoism began as a philosophy, but evolved into a religious belief system around 440 A.D when people began to worship Lao-Tse as a deity. The religion become one of three religions practiced in China. Today, Taoism has 20 million followers and is centered mainly in Taiwan.

The following are some basic beliefs that make up Taoism:

• Tao (pronounced DAO) is described as the way or the path and must be experienced. It is the first cause of the universe and is the force that flows through all life. The Tao is indefinable.
• The goal of a person who believes in Taoism is to harmonize themselves with the Tao.
• Listening to the Tao around you will bring you enlightenment. You do this by meditation and outer observation.
• The Ch’i is the breath or air given to a person.
• Taoists do not pray to God but rather seek the answer to life’s problems.
• The Ying Yang symbol represents the opposites of the universe in balance. In some traditions it is taught that the Ying represents the breath that formed the earth and the Yang represents the breath that formed the heavens.
• This information has been taken from http://www.religioustolerance.org/taoism.htm. Check out this website if you want more info.

Do you think Taoism is similiar or different than Christianity?

The most noticeable difference between Taoism and Christianity is the recognition of sin. I didn’t find anything in my research of Taoism that acknowledged sin. In fact, they believe that if people are left to their own devices, everyone will eventually be compassionate to one another without expecting anything back. Taoism doesn’t recognize the need for redemption or salvation. Instead of worshiping the God who created the heavens and earth, Taoism says “God” is just a force that people need to harmonize themselves with. There is no personal relationship between you and the Tao.

As Christians we can pray to the Father that created us, we can have a personal relationship with Him, and we have the ability to know who God is from the Bible. In contrast, Taoists do not pray or have a personal relationship with anything. Their “God” is indefinable. In my research I wasn’t able to find anything that gave any clue to what Taoism teaches about the after life. If any of you know, please comment. My wild guess is that it teaches reincarnation, but I could be wrong.

After doing this research, I found many parallels between Taoism and New Age teaching. The most noteworthy is the need to harmonize ourselves with a force. This concept is taught all throughout New Age teaching. Where have you seen this concept taught? Books, television, or school?

In conclusion, is Christianity and Taoism teaching the same thing or the same core truth? NO

What do you think?