Religion versus Spirituality

There is a new kid on the block (or is it on the blog) called Spirituality, and I wonder whether 99% of the people who go for this new gimmick, really know what it is and what they are letting themselves in for. It is quite nice and hip and cool and fashionable these days, when you are not religious, to at least say or admit that you are spiritual. It is even more hip to state that you are trying to come into contact with your spiritual side, much the same as people get into contact with their sensual side.

Santa Claws?

When conclusions are drawn about the origin of Santa Claus, extreme statements should be avoided. This short article has shown that the modern Santa Claus has been shaped by many factors and is a conglomeration of myths and legends. I feel compelled, however, to make several observations.

First, it is absolutely inaccurate to claim that "Santa Claus is a Christian" or that "Santa Claus is St. Nicholas." Though it is true that the historical St. Nicholas was a Christian man, the preceding has shown that the modern Santa Claus has nothing to do with Nicholas of Myra, other than his name. The modern Santa Claus has been greatly influenced by the custom of "the visit of St. Nicholas," in which the saint would show up on the eve of his Feast Day to give gifts to children. 

HALLOWEEN! Harmless? or Hazardous??

The History of Halloween

CELTIC NEW YEAR
October 31 is the most important day in the satanic year. It marks the Celtic new year, and is always at the end of the growing season, thus it became the "Festival of Death." On this day, the god of the Celtics was to have called up the spirits of the wicked dead who had died during the past year. 

At the same time, other evil spirits arose and went about the countryside harassing the people. On October 31, the Celtics expected to be harassed by ghosts, evil spirits, and demons; and it was no fun and games to them! They would light bonfires to guide the spirits to their own town and to ward off evil spirits.

DON'T BE A COMPLAINER!

Complaining. There is room for legitimate complaining, but if you let this deadly disease of attitude - complaining – loose, it will conquer you. Complaining can take over your life. Destroy you and leave you without anything. Nobody wants to take along a complainer. Nobody wants to promote a complainer. Nobody wants to live with one. Nobody wants to be a partner of one. Nobody wants to have one around.

Complaining leaves you out of more opportunities than you can possibly imagine if you let it take over and grab you by the throat. If you don't think complaining is bad ask the children of Israel of Old Testament fame. They are typical of us all, but their story just happened to get in the Book.

Can We Trust the New Testament as a Historical Document?

Many people do not believe that the Bible is a reliable document of history. But, the fact is the Bible is very trustworthy as a historical document. If we were to look at a chart that compared the biblical documents with other ancient documents, we would see that the Bible is in a class by itself regarding the number of ancient copies and their reliability. Please consider the chart below.

Manuscript Evidence for Ancient Writings Author Written Earliest Copy Time Span # Mss.

Caesar      100-44 B.C. 900 A.D. 1,000 yrs 10

Plato 427-347 B.C. 900 A.D. 1,200 yrs 7

What Constitutes a Good Life?

How does the decisions I make in life influence my future? How do I live a full satisfying, fulfilling life? The ultimate expression of life is not a paycheque, or a Sony Playstation. Here's the ultimate expression of life in my opinion, and that is living a good life. Here's what we must ask constantly, "What for me would be a good life?" And you have to keep going over and over the list.

Proverbs 3:1-7 My son, forget not my law; but let your heart keep my commandments: For length of days, long life and peace, shall they add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you: bind them about your neck; write them upon the table of your heart: So shall you find favour and good understanding in the sight of God. Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

I hope this helps to stop the abortion argument...

STRATEGIC

SATAN'S MEETING:

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said, "We can't keep Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their saviour. Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken."

"So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.."

Suicide Watch.

The age old question: Can you go to Heaven if you commit suicide?

How will we know? It's not like we can pick up the phone and ask them. Although I cannot conceive that our merciful God will not have any circumstantial clause where we can be forgiven and still go to heaven, I understand that it is a great sin and one the Bible warns us against. I also know that a lot of people have been saved by the bell so to speak, like the murderer who hung on the cross next to Jesus. When he realised Jesus is innocents and took accountability for his own sins with true repentance, God told him that they will be together in paradise that same day. 

Why would you want to take your life? It is so unnatural, that even people who commit premeditated suicide, almost always end up with scratch marks on their necks, hands, or car handles, as evidence that they wanted to quit at the last minute, but wasn't physically capable of doing so successfully.

Checkmate?

“The King is the most important piece. When he is trapped, his whole army loses. The King can move one square in any direction. The main goal of chess is to checkmate your opponent’s King. The King is not actually captured and removed from the board like other pieces. But if the King is attacked (‘checked’) and threatened with capture, it must get out of check immediately. If there is no way to get out of check, the position is a ‘checkmate,’ and the side that is checkmated loses.”

We all know what the game of chess involves. Now there used to be a painting in the Louvre art museum called "Checkmate", painted by Friedrich Moritz August Retzsch. It is now in private hands after being sold at Christie’s in 1999. This painting depicts 2 chess players, one is satan whom appears arrogantly confident, and the other player is a man who looks forlorn. If satan wins, he gets the man's soul.

THE PRACTICE OF SELF-SACRIFICE IN MARRIAGE

"It is easy to say we love God when that love doesn't cost us anything more than weekly attendance at religious services. But the real test of our love for God is how we treat the people right in front of us--our family members and fellow believers. We cannot truly love God while neglecting to love those who are created in His image." (Commentary from the Life Application Bible in reference to 1 John 4:20-21)

Our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated LOVE to us, in its truest form. The Bible says: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility

Religions and Philosophies - Part 3 - Buddhism

Religions and Philosophies - Part 3 - Buddhism
by P.K.Odendaal - 3 May 2011.

In this part we will be looking at Buddhism, which is regarded by some as a religion, contrary to its own claims, and it has a following of about 400 million people - more than the number of Protestants belonging to congregations. It is the second oldest philosophy in the world, only exceeded in age by the Judaic/Mosaic one).

The movement was started bySiddharta Gautama who was born in ca. 560 B.C..

Easter 4 - Christian / seccular tradition?

What’s with the bunny?

There is a lot of confusion regarding what Easter Sunday is all about. For some, Easter Sunday is about the Easter bunny, colourfully decorated Easter eggs hunts. Most people understand that Easter Sunday has something to do with the resurrection of Jesus, but are confused as to how the resurrection is related to the Easter eggs and the Easter bunny.

Like Christmas, the date coincide with a completely non-related pagan festival. Dating Easter in conjunction with the vernal equinox and full moon had nothing to do with the Biblical account of Christ’s resurrection or the Passover. The only thing that is Biblical regarding when Easter is now observed, is the fact that Easter is always on a Sunday.

Is smoking a sin?

This question is one which is asked much more frequently in modern times since more Pastors are taking a hands off approach to Church correction. You are more likely to hear things like, 'it's a matter of Christian liberty, so use your individual conscience.' In light of this attitude, it is possible that many Christians who smoke may have not even considered this an issue, or not even realized that it could be sin.

While no one in our day who is in their right mind would ever say smoking is a good thing, incredibly many theologians have nevertheless taken the indefensible position that 'this' doesn't mean it's a bad thing either. They place smoking into some sort of cosmic 'grey area,' and categorize it as a matter of conscience. When one chooses to look at things more from a personal rights viewpoint rather than strictly the scriptures, it is easy to blur the line between good and bad. When searching through scripture and considering all of the pertinent facts, I believe that the only 'honest' answer that we can come to regarding this question, is Yes. Smoking is a Sin. And it is a sin on multiple levels. It usually goes with defiling the body of Christ, bondage, addiction and selfishness.

Religions and Philosophies - Part 2 - Judaism, the Religion

Religions and Philosophies - Part 2 - Judaism, the religion by P.K.Odendaal - 23 April 2011.

Today we start our study with Judaism, the Religion. There is also Judaism, the Philosophy which we will address in the next part.

As per our definition of a religion we say Judaism is a Religion which believes in a superhuman controlling power and especially in a personal God entitled to obedience and worship.

The God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and the Christians.

THE PRAYER THAT SHOCKED THE WORLD

When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.

We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good", but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot anti-abortionists and called it justifiable.