O ye, of little faith…
Matthew 14:30
But when he [Peter] saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Matthew 14:31
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
This is the rebuke leveled at the disciples of Christ, when seeming to doubt his divinity.
We need to have faith in our God but we need to discern what is right or wrong .
We should not test God. There are many ways God can speak to us or grant us our wish.
Modern medicine is one of God’s healing ways. The knowledge to heal all kinds of sickness comes from God.We should not reject modern medicine and think of it as paganism.
God gives us a brain to think and we need to use a lot of common sense.Blind faith is very dangerous.
Our understandings of God’s words may not be perfect and we may interpret the Bible wrongly.
Sometimes we maybe taught wrongly by those pastors too because of their lack of proficiency in that language or their lack of visions and understandings of God’s words.
They too can suffer from a lack of faith or misplaced faith.After all , they are humans too and not an angel of God.
In March last year, Madeline Neumann, 11, died from undiagnosed diabetes.
Her parents are very religious and believed only in prayers and not in modern medicine. They believed that only God can save and heal her daughter from that sickness.
Did they go overboard in their religious beliefs?
Even when she had slipped into a coma and at the point of death , their faith did not waiver and continued to be steadfast in their prayers to God.
Did God answer them ?
She died! How do you reconcile that? Was it because God allowed her to die or she was destined to die and God allowed it?
You can always rationalize for what happened but their daughter is gone.
Would it make a difference if she was given medical attentions ? Her parents did not give her that chance to live .
If they have tried and she still died, then we can say it is God’s will and accept the fait accompli. Amen!
If you are marooned on a deserted island where there is no modern hospitals , then you will have to depend on your faith alone. You do not have any choice. Life or death is in God’s hand.
And now, they stand trial for her death which prosecutors said was unnecessary.
Her mother believed in the Bible and that healing’s come from God and never expected her daughter to die !!!
She thought that it was God’s test of her faith in Him.
She did not belong to any organized religious group She decided herself and did not seek any second opinions from others.
Little knowledge is always dangerous. You know so little yet believed that you have the answers to life. They think they are God’s special children and will receive what they asked for .
Sometimes, I think many Christians are just brainwashed with those religious doctrines and cannot think for themselves anymore. They just follow blindly what their leaders tell them.It is easy to control people by using religion.
I too once acted that way till one day I left the group and began to see the truth. While inside that group , there was herd mentality and everyone would think the same way.
An autopsy showed that Madeline died from diabetes that left her with too little insulin in her body. Insulin regulates the sugar level in the blood.
The girl was finally taken to a hospital after other family members, including one in California, called 911 to seek emergency help, but it was too late.
Don’t test God nor have blind faith.God works in mysterious ways and is beyond our understandings and comprehensions.
There will be many cases like these in the future and sadly you cannot prevent it.
May you rest in peace ,Madeline Neumann. Amen!
Picture of the girl’s mother
Reference and thanks to :-
http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,202412,00.html?
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/817141/us-mother-guilty-of-letting-daughter-die
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )When you die ,will you go to Heaven ?
I cannot speak for other religions but I do know that if you are a Christian , you can only go to the Christian Heaven if your name is in God’s ‘The Book of Life.’
Not all Christians will ascend to Heaven.Whether I will go to Heaven or not, I do not Know but I pray everyday that God will include my name in that Book.
There could be many Heavens according to different religions. I will not be discussing them here accept the Christian Heaven.
If you are a Christian and your name is missing in The Book Of Life, then you will be send to another place until you get your name in that book.
Even if you do good in your life and if you do not accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you cannot enter the Christian Heaven. Jesus said, ‘My sheep hears my voice and I know my sheep.’
Going to Heaven is like an inheritance from God. If you do not accept God and Jesus Christ, how can you go to His Heaven ? What makes you think that you have a right to go there ? Who are you ?
You can believe anything you want and I will not dispute with you. God gives you a brain to think and you have a choice.
The meaning of this can be explained by this anecdote.
If you are a father, you will only give your inheritance to your own children and surely you will not give your inheritance to any Tom ,Dick or Harry who has no relationship with you .
You could adopt them if they call you father but if they only wanted your inheritance without becoming your adopted children , will you still give them ? Surely not !
There are people who do not believe in the Christian religion and thinks that if they do good always , they will enter Heaven like the Christians. Sorry to disagree with you. Maybe you may enter a different Heaven. Whether it will be a better place than the Christian Heaven or not , I do not know and I do not care .
Is there only one Heaven or Heavens and are they all the same?
I cannot speak with authority on this subject accept to formulate my own perspective or beliefs. I could be wrong but this is my own belief. Others can believe whatever they want.
I do not think so because the Bible does not state that other followers of other religions can go to this Christian Heaven as promised in the Bible. Since I am a Christian and a believer in this religion, I understand that to enter this Heaven, you need to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour and believed that he is the Son of God.
Jesus said,” I am the way, the truth and the life.No one can get to the Father except by means of me.’ John 14:6
How to get your name in that Book of Life?
According to my Christian knowledge, you can have your name in that Book by accepting and believed in your heart that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that you will confess all your sins before him and repent.
God did not set any difficult conditions to be accepted into Heaven . It is so simple but yet many do not believe in Jesus Christ. It is by God’s grace that we are saved and not by our own deeds. We cannot pay by our riches or bribe those angels for our passage to this Christian Heaven.
There are people who thinks that if they do good on this Earth , they will go to the Christian Heaven.Why the Christian Heaven when they do not accept or believe in the Christian God or Jesus Christ ?
It is a different world and a different Heaven. They can choose to believe whatever they want but the truth will set them free. Unless you come to God, you will not see the spiritual truth ,for you will only see with your Earthly eyes. You will need to be born again spiritually to feel the presence of God.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )Ho! Ho! Ho! Priest Fight With Broom Sticks!
Some of those broom sticks flew in the air. You are not witnessing a Harry Potter movie but a real life drama that erupted in Bethlehem’s Church of Nativity. The church where Jesus was born and administered jointly by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities. There went there to clean the church but instead a row erupted and they went for each other with broom sticks.
They were priest and leaders of the church. What a shame! They are just humans after all. What they taught about God and the Bible were all forgotten in the heat of that moment. The devil entered them.
The next time some priest say something, you will have to use your filters .They can say anything they like but only fools would listen. Just like those pastors who are anti gay. Just let them bark all they want. When it hit their family, they will say another thing. God is fair and He will teach those who are wrong .Leave it to God .
Credit and thanks to;
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=81569&in_page_id=34
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=81569&in_page_id=34
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Happy Go Lucky Guy.
The power to be happy lies in your mind. You can be happy if you want to and not because you are unable to. Happiness is a state of mind .You can be poor and yet happy. You can be rich as many people dream off but you are still not happy.
If you have positive thinkings , you will find happiness. If you know the true God , your happiness will increased further. You don’t have to worry as you will believe that your God will handle all your worries. He cares for you .
When you don’t carry excess baggages, you will feel lighter and life is more meaningful. You look at the blessings God has given you and you think of the positive things which make you feel better.
You have God’s love, a simple lifestyle , a roof over your head and all your basic needs are met.Why should you feel miserable ?
You are contented with whatever you have and you focus on doing good to others and not in chasing after all those green dragons .
Your life is this world is short. You don’t know how long you will live in this world. Maybe one week, one month or one year.
It is all in God’s hand. You place your trust , hope and faith in Him. He leads us to the final destination where there is abundance and you don’t have to work like a slave to money .
For you came into this world naked and you will leave this earth also naked and you cannot take anything with you from this Earth.
Credit and thanks to ;
http://www.theage.com.au/news/health/get-happy/2007/11/15/1194766866344.html
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Blind Boy Sees Light Again After Baptism In Russia
The story of this Russian mother’s love for her son is very touching .Her devoted and faithful love for her blind child was rewarded by God when after he was baptised , the child could see with his eyes.
It was a miracle of God. Others may not give the credit to God but it does not matter for the important thing is, that the child can see again.
It has all the hallmark of a miracle because she was poor and could not afford to pay for the child’s baptism and the parson baptise them for free. If you receive from God freely , freely , you should bless others. She became a regular to that church and her prayers were heard by God.Praise God ! Hallelujah !
It is strange that in Russia, you need to pay for a baptism . This is really news to me . Over here , baptism does not cause you any fees.
credit and thanks to ,
http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/02-11-2007/100086-blind_boy-0
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Why Some People View Christians As Hypocrites?
There are hypocrites in every religion and among the people of the world .Mention other religions , the term hypocrite seldom crop up as much as when the word Christian or Christianity is mentioned.
Why is Christianity associated with that word? Is it because Christianity is actively being evangelize more than other religions.It is being spread widely by its believers,recent converts who are on fire for God and are like some loose cannons.A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
A hypocrite is a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess.
Just look around us, why non Christians are right in thinking that Christians are hypocrites. They see their Christian friends going to church on every Sunday and that’s the only time they are holy .
They then go back to the sinful world and live their worldly life.They maybe Christians in name sake only for they preached to others about God but their lifestyle does not reflect their Christain faith and values. They cheat and lie and take advantage of others just like before they became Christians.
Being a Christian to them is just like joining a social club where you go and meet others or look for a partner and enjoy the food and drinks after mass.
I find that most of the Christians are like sheeps who depend on their pastors for their spiritual growth and maturity.
Most of them are like babies in the spiritual realm , they think the pastor who is a man of God is always right and do not question the pastor and many just follow blindly what is being thought by him.They treat every words that comes out of the pastors mouth as the gospel truth .Such is the power of religion .For even highly educated men can bend to the will of those pastors. It is like a one eye man leading all the blinds.
If you dont agree with the pastor or the elders in the church , you are made not to feel welcome anymore.They only want those meek sheeps who dont question their authority . They demand total submissions from their flocks.In some churches ,it is run like a fiefdom.They make their own rules and controls even every aspect of their believers life.
There are Christians who preached and have faith but have no works. They are great preachers only.
They can quote scriptures after scriptures from the Bible to back their claims and show that they are right but what good will that do when you have no love for your fellow human beings. Thou are more holier than those people beneath you,for you think you have no sin or sin less than others.
Did not Jesus came for the sick ,the infirmed and the ‘pariah’s ‘of that soceity like the tax collector Matthew who became one of His great disciple.Tax collectors were the lowest class in that soceity at that time
It is easy to preach to others but when the same thing happens to them,they too succumbed to the temptations because they too are made from flesh and blood.
Not all Christians are hypocrites ,just as not all people are hypocrites.There are the good Christians but the Christian name has been dragged down by some groups who are radical in thoughts or hardliners ,who issued statements condemning others and their way of life .They cannot accept others interpretations or beliefs and only those who follow their beliefs are the true followers.
We are all children of God and we all stand before Him in the final judgement.Only He will judge everyone of us..Who am I to judge my Christian brothers and sisters. I only work for the good of mankind .How or what others do is none of my business.God did not appoint me to be the custodian of your souls…
Related content,
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/112850/why_are_christians_viewed_as_hypocrites.html
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