Good News

Truth

2009-12-01T08:19:00.001-08:00

I have recently been to Romania and it was an amazing trip. On the plane on the way home I got talking to a Hindu guy, a really nice chap called VJ. We commented that it was a shame that our society doesn't allow us to talk about eternal things, it is almost a taboo subject. We therefore put that aside and got into an interesting debate, one of the points I would like to bring up here....
VJ basically commented that we should live and let live, that saying I had the truth in Jesus Christ was simply to dogmatic, to exclusive and was in some way responsible for the intolerance we see in society. So many people, he said, think there view is the right one, what we need is to accept everyone, that the answer to life is what you make it yourself, each to their own.
I agreed with him that we should tolerate others, that we should accept everyone, however I pointed that his arguement was doing the very thing that he was arguing against. He was basically saying his view was the right one and others had it wrong. Unfortunately the thing with the truth is that it is always exclusive, by definition the number 2 cannot also be number 3 and 4. It can only be number 2, that is the truth, therefore this excludes all other numbers. The important thing is to establish that truth.
Every worldview that I have explored accept for one says that you have to reach a certain standard in order to be accepted. You have to be a good person in order to get to heaven, this then gives rise to pride which is really the cause of so many problems. You see if it is about attaining a certain grade, then either you are going to succeed at that (pride) or you are going to fail (failure). The result is the ones who succeed are your buddies and the ones who don't are your enemies, the good and the bad.
You see Christianity works on the basis that actually we have all failed to reach the perfect standard or required pass mark, therefore we are all equally as bad. However someone has sat the test for us and obtained perfect marks, given us the pass mark. Therefore it is not down to us, (removes pride) and allows us the freedom not to feel like a failure, to be completely humble, we have nothing to fight over. We also therefore don't have the need to turn to drugs, drink, work, money just to try and feel better about our failure, because we haven't failed.
Everyone holds to a truth, even if they say they hold to no truth then that is holding to something! The question we should ask is what is the truth, for Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to God except through him. Now either that is true or not, have you examined it for yourself? Please do, your life depends on it!! georgeosborn@avantiministries.com

If it works for you?

2009-10-26T05:29:00.000-07:00

I get the opportunity to share some of my story in schools, prisons, events and it is a real honour. I don't get to do this because I am anyone special, far from it, I get to do it because I have had my life completely transformed by a living God. I have moved from the position of God being a possibility to having experienced him and seen him at work in my life.
I often get the response to this something like this, that's good for you mate, I'm pleased that has worked for you, whatever works I guess. I even read a newspaper article yesterday that advocated going to religion to help with mental health issues, stating if it works why not. This is so much of the culture that we live in, the message is truth is found within yourself, what works for one wont work for another, it is relative to each person.
This is so dangerous and so illogical when we use this theory on other areas of our lives, imagine me saying I don't think jumping out of this plane will mean I crash to the floor I will just float, another says you will sprout wings, another says you will softly hit the floor. Does what those people think or feel change the situation, the truth is that they will all hit the floor at breakneck speed. The thing you and I do before we jump out of that plane is find out what the truth is, we begin to understand gravity, that a parachute is probably the best method for reaching the ground safely. We conduct some tests, we watch others, we examine the evidence and we then feel certain we have it right, we excercise some faith to jump out of the plane.
This is logical, so we need to apply the same logic to our own lives. You see we are all in a plane and that plane is going to crash (death) we need to decide what method is best going to take us through this crash, we need to find that parachute. Some people are going to come to you and say so many different things, you need to weigh up the evidence, listen to the experience of others who are jumping or who have jumped, you need to find out the truth. There is only one method that will get you out of plane safely and that is to slow you down to such an extent that you don't hit the floor with a crash that kills you.
Jesus Christ is your parachute he is the one who came to rescue you, can I challenge you to start thinking about some of these questions;

Where did we come from?
Where do our morals come from?
Why is there so much suffering in the world?
Why is there so much order in created things?
Why was there so many predictions about Jesus Christ before he ever walked the earth?
Why was Jesus able to do so many miracles?
Why is there so much evidence for Jesus, in written form, in archeaology, in human experience?
Why is there something missing in our lives, this eternal hunger for something more?
Why has the Bible never been proved wrong in thousands of years yet so many other things, theories just come and go?

There are answers to these questions, the real question is do you want to hear them?
georgeosborn@avantiministries.com

Sand & Rock

2009-10-07T04:03:00.000-07:00

I have not long been a Christian in real terms, about 4 years now. One of the things I always used to think prior to becoming a Christian was how sure life seemed. It seemed obvious to me that there was probably no God, that we were some random accident, we die and turn to dust and there you have it. So why do I believe the polar opposite to this now?
One of the things I noticed since being a Christian is how my previous beliefs were very often simply what others thought and what others had told me. There is a general agreement in the western world that we are merley matter, to be honest that is a very comfortable thought that way I don't have to think about my behaviour and I can do exactly what I want when I want! However I soon realised that I was excercising a set of beliefs based on what I thought was the truth and really I had never examined the evidence for what I believed, just kinda hopped on the band wagon and agreed with whatever the culture said. Then as I looked into Christianity I realised there was a wealth of evidence here, a wealth of experience of millions of Christians and that these beliefs had not changed since the dawn of time. I looked back at my own beliefs and saw how often I had changed what a I thought depending on whatever philoshpy had blown my way, in fact when I looked back 100 years I saw how differently everyone thought, then again I looked back another 100 years and sure enough the culture thought something else and so it went on. The thing I noticed is that Christianity hadn't changed, sure there was some mild change but the core of the message was that we are sinners in trouble and Christ has come to resuce us if we turn to him. I realised that my belief prior to Christianity was an act of faith, ie. trusting something without having 100% proof. Then I saw that we all have faith in something, whatever our world view is. I then came pretty quickly to the conlcusion that there was just soooo much evidence for Christ and what he did that I couldn't run away anymore. Have you investigated the claims of Christ? If not, drop me a line, I would love to help you do that, Jesus said build your life on me the rock not on sand that is ever shifting with time....your life depends on it! georgeosborn@avantiministries.com

Do all faiths lead to God?

2009-09-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

All roads lead to God was a statement that someone gave me this afternoon. It is quite a common belief, in our modern culture it sounds very untolerant to say that only one faith is true, surely they all have some measure of the truth, God knows what is going on and when it comes to the crunch we will all enter heaven.
On the surface that sounds quite plausable. However, I want you to imagine for a moment that you are standing at the top of a cliff and you say I don't believe in gravity, you jump, unfortunately for you it wouldn't take long before you hit the bottom. The point is, what you believe doesn't change the truth, there is a truth and we need to know what it is otherwise we are soon going to hit the bottom of the cliff. The difference in faiths is huge and they all differ, they all claim different things, they cannot all be true. We each have a view of the world, it is important to know which is truth. How do we know which is true?
When trying to find out the truth we examine the evidence and weigh it up for ourselves. You put all the pieces together and see what you come back with. The beauty about Christianity is it is all based on Jesus, all based on him coming to earth, on him entering history. Therefore we can examine it, he performed miracles, he rose from the dead, he rose others from the dead, he calmed storms, he has been written about over 300 times before he came to earth, he......
Before I became a Christian I looked into some other faiths, however the claims made by other groups were usually made by one person in a cave, in a secret location, just on their own or something similar. One person had said something and was very persuasive. Whereas I found with Christianity that it was a huge event in time that had been spoken about hundereds of years before, where people were willing to die testifying to what they had seen, where a church sprang up like nothing before or since. This surely warrants investigation, please don't make the mistake I did thinking it will be alright in the end, God will be accepting, my fear is that you may be walking to the edge of that cliff withouth preparing for the fall...

Who do you say he is?

2009-09-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

One of the questions that Jesus asks his disciples was "Who do you say I am?" it is a question that has run through every generation since. I therefore ask you that question today, who do you say that Jesus is? Often I hear these responses;

-We cannot really know, the bible is simply chinese whispers
-He was a great teacher, a great man and that is it really

I used to think the very same, how can you trust an old book, times have changed, we can never really know what has been said. Can I encourage you to invesigate this, don't make the mistake of simply going along with your own thoughts. The Bible is the most attested book in the whole of antiquity, there are thousands of copies of what was originally written. The translations we have now are taken from the earliest copies we have, not passed down through the generations. What is amazing about the amount of copies we have is rather than one source we have a multitude of sources and therefore we can compare what we have, the accuracy of doing this simply with 100 copies is astounding, we have over 10,000 copies!!!!!!!
The new testament part of the Bible was written during the lifetime of the eye witnesses to the events and we see a huge explosion of Christianity at that moment in history. If this was falsified then people would have spoken out to deny the truth of it, in addition people gave their lives in order to defend what they saw. People often give their lives for a belief but not for a lie, i.e. Jesus appeared after his death. They were willing to die to testify to it. There is so much evidence it is overwhelming and I simply don't have space here to do it justice, but I would encourage to start your investigation.

The second objection is often that Jesus was simply a teacher. If you read the accounts of his life, you simply cannot make this an option. Jesus was put to death for claiming to be God, they had no other accusation against him, he had led a sinless life, his death was his very claim that he was God. CS Lewis a Christian Writer gave us three option for Jesus, either he was a lunatic, he was lying or he is Lord. Really him being a teacher is not in the picture. So, who do you say he is, do you think he was a lunatic? Do you think he was telling lies? Or do you think he was who he said he was?

If Christ is who he said he was then this means we must take action. Jesus said he came to seek and save that which is lost. We have all turned from God, rebelled against him and have a death sentence hanging over our head. He desperately wants to rescue us from that, so much so that he is willing to take our place, to be our substitute. It is not a lifestyle choice, this is a hand being held out as we move closer towards real danger, a life jacket is being offered, what will you do with that offer?

What is love?

2009-08-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

A nice simple question to answer today, what is love? Why is this question important? - Let's start back to front, why is this question important - I think we are all looking for love, I don't mean just finding a life partner, I believe we all want to be happy and they way we find that happiness is to be fully loved. Watch a movie at the cinema and 9/10 films will be about a love story, or a story where good overcomes evil. For me cinema often depicts what is going on in our hearts, so why do we all look for love. I believe it is the way we have been made, that our hearts are yearning for this something, the bible says that God has written eternity on our hearts, a longing, a searching for happiness and love, we look in so many places but the bible says there is only one place to find it.
So, what is love? Is love being head over heels for someone who looks beautiful, if so what happens if there beauty is lost, is love when someone makes you really happy, if so what happens when that person makes you angry. Is love when someone follows a set of rules or obligations and the closer you follow those the more love you have? The bible defines love as - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. - Wow, where do we see this love? 1 in 2 marriages end in divorce in the UK, we have had the bloodest century since creation, we are scared to talk to people on the train on the way home from work. So where do we find this love, people often end up falling on pets these days, one of the reasons for this I think is that animals often love you unconditionally even if you forget to walk them they still run up to you tail wagging, even abused animals love their owners.
What we see in Jesus Christ is this very picture, someone who loves us even though we abuse him, someone who says I love you even though you turn away from me. He says I love you without condition. He laid down his life in your place. Imagine you are in the dock, the questions that the judge asks you is have you ever lied, ever stolen, ever looked at someone with lust, ever hated someone in your heart, of course we are guilty. We face the death penalty and in walks the person we have committed the offence against, Jesus, he walks up to you and says "I love you so much that I am willing to take your place if you will let me?" He offers you this sacrifice, so you don't have to face the consquences of what you have done, amazing. It is what the bible calls, grace, something we don't deserve. You see the love you are being offered here is not dependant on whether you are beautiful, whether you behave well enough, whether you live in the right part of town, whether you are nice to people, it simply depends on him, now that is true love. He gives you all that you are looking for, you do have to make a decision, you can remain in that dock and take the debt yourself, face hell on your own or you can turn to him accept his offer and let him love you with a depth that we can never fully fathom.
How do I know this is true, because he has given it to me, I have experienced it, tested the evidence in history, witnessed it in countless others and felt this love that has completely transformed my heart, my lifestyle, my living, my job, my girlfriend, my everything....just investigate it, he says those that seek will find him. - georgeosborn@avantiministries.com

Sacrifice

2009-08-07T04:03:00.000-07:00

The heart of love is sacrifice isn't it, a married couple need to sacrifice some of their own needs in order for the marriage to work, parents need to sacrifice their own time and money for the well being of their children, love of a job means a sacrifice of time back home, the point is we all make sacrifice for the thing we love, the important thing is do we love the right thing. Speaking as someone who struggled with addiction, I often sacrificed my health in order to get high.
What do you sacrifice so that your heart can get what it loves? I don't know about you but I sacrificed so much to so many different things that in the end all of them fell short of providing me with the love and satisfaction I was looking for. A job always lets you down, a partner will always make mistakes, a car rusts, money doesn't quite cut it, we go on.
The perfect sacrifice that is made many of us don't even see, I didn't for years, the perfection of Jesus' sacrifice in our place. He gave the biggest sacrifice ever, not only time but his own life, there is no greater love than when someone lays down his life for you. This at a time when we don't even care for him or love him. Some people say to me why can't I pay the price, why can't I do good things and why can't God just let me off some of the bad things I have done, we all make mistakes.
Let's imagine for a moment that you have a car, you crash that car into your neighbours. Now there are a couple of options here, you can pay for the damage, or your neighbour can pay for the damage. Either way somebody has to pay for the consequence of your action, there is always a cost. Take it another way, say your son smashes a plate, he says sorry and you forgive him, however it has still cost you the plate. You see the same is true for us, we have all broken God's laws and we have a fine we need to pay, unfortunately we don't have the means to pay that fine, we need somebody to pay that fine, it is the highest costing fine in the whole universe therefore it is going to take someone with the biggest heart of love to pay that fine. It is going to cost so much that someone needs to give their life as a ransom, as payment, as the bounty if you like.
In steps Jesus Christ who sacrificed himself so that debtors like you and I can have all our debts wiped clean, all we need do is come to him acknowledging that we have nothing to offer as payment and turn to him and he will provide it for us.
God doesn't call you to come to him with your goodness, it is like going to the neighbour of the smashed car and offering him 20p, it's an insult it cost far more than that. If you feel you are going to stand before God at the end of your life and offer him 20p as a merit for getting to him, that is a huge insult, especially when he has paid for it himself.
Look, this isn't about us breaking a few rules and trying to make up for it, God is your father who wants the best for you, he wants to love you, much like you would with your own children provide them with rules that is going to give them the best, God is the same. He is offering you the biggest help, the biggest satisfaction, the biggest joy, the biggest freedom and we turn away from him and play around in the mud when there is an offer of paradise for free!
drop me a line georgeosborn@avantiministries.com

Faith

2009-07-07T04:49:00.000-07:00

What do you think of when you hear that word, faith? What image does it conjure up in your mind?
If I am honest to me it sounds like a vain hope, something you cannot be sure of, something you do with your fingers crossed, or perhaps a shop where you buy shoes or even a piece of music by George Michael. I think it is safe to say though that this word is misunderstood, I want to peel back the misconception of this word and see what it really means. The wikepedia definition is as follows;

"Faith is the confident belief or trust in the truth of or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true. Confidence, trust and belief"

The definition sounds quite different to how we would normally associate the word. There is also a misunderstanding that faith is blind and that faith is only reserved for the religious bunch and people who are illogical. However we all use faith every day of our lives, I am sat in a chair that I am putting my faith in, I am trusting that it will hold me up, this is based on experience of sitting in this chair, evidence that chairs are made to hold people of my weight (or maybe less!!), I lean back and sit in it and trust it wont collapse. The same is true when I get in my car, or walk on my legs, or watch television, or....I hope you can see my point, you see you excercise your faith in these things with confidence because you examine the evidence, you remember past experiences, you see other people sit in the chair, you can be sure that it will work, however you can never prove it at some point you need to excercise your faith and sit in that chair.

The other misunderstanding I think is interesting is more directed at Christianity, there is a popular belief that those who don't believe in a God are sure logical people and those that do are irrational and strange. However I challenge you to think that both sets of people are putting their faith in something, the non-believer is saying based on his experience and his evidence he sees no reason to believe there is a God and he puts his faith in that even though he cannot prove it. Respect. The Christian does likewise, he says based on my experience and the evidence I have seen I think there is a God and that God is Jesus Christ, faith, respect.

So really what it comes down to here is weighing up the evidence, your experience and making an informed decision. The sad thing for me and I was as guilty of this as anyone is as a non-believer people often sit back and say there is no God but are not willing to look at the evidence, to seek the truth. For me I was afraid that if there was a God he would want something from me, to be honest I wanted to do exactly what I wanted to do and not be told what to do by what I saw as an dictatorial God. What a mistake I made for years.

Upon investigating the claims of many different relgions and beliefs I have been astounded by what I see as the overwhelming evidence for Jesus, his miracles, his resurrection, his life changing impact to this day. I also now have the amazing honour of 4 years experience of God being tangible in my life and wow! It is so real to me that I have left my job, I have given up wealth, God has changed me in such a dramatic way that I cannot begin to tell you all the things I have seen him do. I have suffered much since being a Christian and so I am not saying this is a life style thing I am saying this is the truth. I guess I am trying to warn the non-believers out there that if you sit in that chair of unbelief you are going to fall, the chair will not stand, I have tried and tested it and come up wanting, please come and have a look at this chair of Christianity, please come and let me explain to you how it was put together, why it will hold you, why millions upon millions have tried and tested it to be true. Just come and look at the chair? drop me a line georgeosborn@avantiministries.com

God calls

2009-06-27T02:27:00.000-07:00

Often I think we chose our options in life as some sort of shopping trip, we walk down the aisle of life and take a little of what we like and leave what we don't. Unfortunately we tend to take what makes us feel most comfortable, we like the things of Christianity that say love your neighbour, we dislike it when it says Jesus is the only way, we like Budhism when it says live at peace, we don't like it when it says we have to meditate for hours on end.
The point I am trying to make is if we allow our hearts to rule everything then we end up with a mix match of beliefs and we end up creating a god to suit our own needs which is really no god at all but a cardboard cut out...
The important thing to do is really find out what is the truth, this can be a maze with many people calling out to follow this way or that. Ultimately you have to find your way to the middle, however God does call, he has sent his own Son to come and show you the way the truth and the life you are after...drop me a line

Irony, time and wake up calls

2009-06-12T05:50:00.000-07:00

Reading back my last blog seems somewhat ironic in light of what has happened this week. Unfortunately I found my Father dead, the coroner informed me that the cause was his heart. I hope you can see the irony in my last blog stating that the heart of the human problem is the problem with the human heart, of course I was talking spiritually but nevertheless.
Perhaps you will allow me the indulgence of a few lines to the old man. One of the saddest things is that he was trapped in a cycle of drinking that was a prison, the only thing that made him happy was drinking yet the irony was it was that which made him most sad. The bible says that we have dug out broken cisterns instead of coming to fountain of living water. The thing with a broken cistern is it never quite fills up, no matter how much water you put in it, never does it reach full. Speaking from first hand experience no matter how much booze my Dad put in himself it never quite satisfied, it was never quite enough. Your might be filling your cistern up with something else I don't know...
What a gentle, kind man he was simply trapped by a lie that drinking was the answer. Thank you Dad for all that you were, for being a loving Father, I love you so much.
Times like these it is a stark reminder that death looms, I do pray that you will investigate yours before it comes and bites you...
georgeosborn@avantiministries.com

The heart of the human problem is the problem with the human heart....

2009-05-29T05:49:00.000-07:00

Ever wandered why a lie pops out of your mouth quicker than you can say european elections? Ever wandered why you cannot help looking at that image on the internet? Ever thought why you cannot help to judge that person with the new car, new hair cut, new...? Ever stopped and thought why can't I live up to my own standards let alone a perfect standard?
I went out with my sister and her family yesterday and it was great to be out with my sister, however I am sure she wont mind me saying that it was great to see her children. They are such amazing fun, especially my niece who is 2. As the day went on, her face slowly became more and more dirty, chocolate cake, yoghurt, snotty nose all made for a pretty picture. One of the things she really dislikes is having her face cleaned, she sees no problem in walking around like that.
I think we are all a little bit like my niece, actually we are all walking around with a dirty heart, people cannot see it quite as easily as the face but it comes out in our actions like telling lies, getting jealous, judging others and so on. Unlike my niece we cannot wipe it away with a cloth, the problem is within us, it is like the heart is diseased. What do surgeons do with a diseased heart? They remove it, they transplant it. That is who Jesus is, the great surgeon, he came to sacrifice himself for us, a bit like a heart donor, by dieing we could take a new heart. Can I testify that when you get this new heart you get a whole new set of desires it is awesome, I love people I never cared for, I have stopped things I never thought I would stop, I have given where I never even looked.
Jesus didn't just die to give me a clean up, he died to rescue me, because without that new heart I was going to die, in the spiritual sense, I would have been without God forever and that is something you cannot possibly want.
Please drop me a line with any questions - georgeosborn@avantiministries.com

Is there a God or isn't there?

2009-05-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

The age old question that has been rolling down the centuries and will continue to do so for time to come. Really you have to examine the evidence and decide for yourself, one of the things however that I find shocking is people aren't willing to investigate it. If there is a God that has some massive implications, if there isn't then that is fairly big news too.
If you are anything like me though you are probably quite happy with how things are going, life has its ups and downs but generally speaking I am quite fine without a God and who really cares, church is boring and out of touch, science seems to have shown that this place is just an accident, there are so many different faiths all claiming to be the one true way, religion is the cause of so many problems and on we go...
I can only speak from my own experience but if I am totally honest I went through all the above objections and used them as a way of blocking my need to investigate any further, I reasoned that even if there was a God I am generally a good person and I would be one of the ones to make the grade when it came to crunch time.
My aim in writing this is really to try and get you over these obstacles not to try and convert you but to try and get you to look for yourself, I will give a short answer to the above objections;
Who cares - If there is a God you owe it to yourself and those you know to find out, if there is a God it has massive implications, it is not like choosing a new house this is the biggest thing of your life! We do care really, it is simply easier to put it to the back of our minds, however we never know when time is going to be called on our life...
Church is boring and out of touch - There are so many different churches, some are boring but trust me some are amazing. Some are out of touch. Church is defintely boring without God, without that belief it doesn't really make sense. A bit like the apprentice without Alan Sugar, Buckingham palace without the Queen, McDonalds without burgers. All that aside you are not being asked to go to church but to investigate God, church is really about people and not a place. Seriously don't let this aspect put you off...
Science seems to have proven this place is an accident - this is simply not true. The debate rages on in this field but there are thousands of Christian scientists which shows that Christianity is compatible with science. This deserves a proper discussion but seriously this is not an obstacle to God.
So many different faiths - This used to throw me out all the time, all these people sincerley believe different things. The bible says that we all have eternity written on our hearts, we all have this awareness that there is something more to life and God has put it there so we seek him. However we seek in other things and this includes other religions. The most amazing thing about Christianity is Jesus, according to the bible God has come to earth to show us who he is to rescue us, he came into history and can be tested, the older part of the bible written before Jesus came gives hundereds of predictions about Jesus, where he would be born, when, where he would die, how etc etc and then he comes and does all these miracles including coming back from the dead. No other religion comes close and that is partly why Christianity spreads to every people group, culture, country in the world at the rate it does. Everyone has their own truth claim even if you are not part of a organised religion, an atheist claims his own and so on. It really is about looking at all the information on offer and saying which one is the truth? I can't see how you can get away from Christianity...
Religion causes problems - I agree. Religion has been the cause of so many issues and this includes Christianity. This works both ways however and those that have no belief in God have caused untold damage in the name of science and evolution. What religion unfortunately creates is the thought that you earn your way to heaven, by being good we get into heaven, this then creates cultures of people who think they have it right and better than others, they look down on those that don't follow their way. What would solve this problem is a belief that we get to heaven through none of our effort but all of someone elses, this free gift gives rise to humility and utter dependance therefore no one is able to boast. This is what we find in Jesus, he has paid the debt we owe to God and if we turn and surrender to him he offers us this free gift. This love then catapults you to turn to every neighbour and love them...
I have not done any kind of justice to those questions, please drop me a line with your questions - georgeosborn@hotmail.com, investigate, you owe it to yourself.

Prison

2009-05-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

I have just come back from a couple of trips and most recently visited Dartmoor Prison in the UK. What an overbearing building that is, dark, damp, grey and powerful. It was a real privilage to be in there speaking with men who have all made mistakes and been sent to prison. It is easy to explain what Christianity is to people in prison, they understand the concept of doing something wrong and facing the consquences. They understand the idea that Jesus is willing to pay the price for the wrong things they have done.
A chap I went with often talks about us all being in a prison, how true this is. Prison can be an addiction, prison can be an image problem, prison can be a lie we have told, prison can be a dead end relationship, prison can be a job...prison can take many shapes and sizes. Jesus said he had come to set men free, sin really is when we look to other things other than God, that is prison, when we look to God we are truly set free....If the Son of God sets you free you will be free indeed.

Thirsty...

2009-04-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

Well the marathon at the weekend was a hot one, no I wasn't in it that really is a step too far! I have been known however to take a gentle trot down the road, one of the things that keeps me going on such times is the thought of an ice cold water when I get back, especially if the sun is beating. Imagine you have been in the desert for a couple of weeks without water, someone offers you a car, or a fantastic job in the city, £50,000 or a glass of water. Which do you take? That gloriously cold glass of water no hesitation.
I think this is a great illustration of life, we are deeply thirsty for something, we try and quench our thirst with cars, money, work, relationships, sex, family and so on, however what we need is that glass of water, that thing that will give us what we really need. God makes the same offer, he says why do you go to all these things that will not satisfy when you have the living fountain on offer. Don't mistake what I am saying for meaning coming to Jesus means all your problems fade away, you still face hardship, you are still in the desert for the time being, however you will not die because you have that water. You will make it out of the desert...

Hope

2009-04-20T06:25:00.000-07:00

The sun is shining and all seems well with the world when the sun is out, it gives us hope, it's just nice to sit in the sun and bask in the rays to be honest.
That has got me thinking about hope and the fact we have just celebrated the most hopeful event in all of history. Easter is all about Jesus being crucified and then rising back to life 3 days later. As a Christian I follow someone who is alive, that is one of the key differences all other worldviews follow people who are dead. The biggest black cloud that threatens to block out our sun is death, we can climb a mountain, run a marathon, get a promotion, have a family but we cannot beat death. However if Jesus really did then this gives us hope beyond hope.

One of my main objections to the Christian faith just a few years ago was the claim that Jesus rose from the dead. Come on I said "his followers just said that to get a following", "they were hallucinating" "they were grieving and really wanted him to come back". Besides all those people back then were fairly primitive and they believed in miracles and resurrections we know now that these things simply don't happen.
I am going to break those down into three areas
Made up story
Hallucination
Primitive

Made up story - There are so many factors here, as always this blog will not do justice to all the evidence. When Jesus had died, the Roman authorities wanted to make sure that no one would take the body, armed guards were posted on the tomb. A large stone was in front, this could not have been removed without someone noticing. Both the Romans and the Jews at the time did not want this body to go anywhere. The first people that discovered the empty tomb where women, so what? In the culture women were second class citizens, there evidence was not permissible in a court, they were not taken seriously. Look, if you were going to make up a story you definitely wouldn't have used women as your initial eye witnesses. You would only put something like that in there if....it really happened. During the days that Jesus was dead his followers had literally deserted him, they had put all their hope in him only to find that he had died. They ran away and hid, we have accounts of them hiding in a room for fear of the people. They went back to their jobs the following week because they thought it was over. We then see as they begin to visually see Jesus this radical change in events, they begin to move out into the cities, other countries proclaiming what had happened. This was under huge danger to their lives, in fact many of them die for their beliefs. Now, you and I might die for something we sincerely believe but would you die for a lie? They claimed that they had seen Jesus alive, now either it was true or it was a lie, they died holding on to their statements. Now either these people died for a lie or they were telling the truth, I know which one I opt for.

This brings us on to an argument people often given - hallucination - maybe these people simply wanted Jesus back so much that they really thought they saw him. You hear of stories now where people have seen dead relatives maybe that is what happened. Again let’s look at the evidence, when Jesus came back people like doubting Thomas touched his side; he also ate with his disciples, separate sightings of him. But for me the crucial evidence is Jesus then appears to over 500 people, including the apostles, other followers, a large group who he talks to, his doubting family members, you can have one hallucination but a group cannot all see the same hallucination. We could go further with this, but seriously this is such a far stretched idea. Please drop me a line if you feel I haven't answered it.

Primitive - this is a commonly held theory that 2,000 years ago people were fairly backward, they didn't really understand the world, they thought it was flat for goodness sake; surely they had a view of the world that meant they expected Jesus to rise from the dead that's just how they saw things. This expectation gave rise to legend and things got out of hand and by the time we get on the scene who knows what really happened. - The first thing I would like to correct is that the world view of the day had any expectation on resurrection of the dead, the religions of the time never thought this likely. The jews believed there would be a resurrection at the end of time for everyone, but not in bodily form now that would be absurd. This was not something they expected, far from it. So much so that even Jesus' followers when they found the empty tomb thought someone had stolen the body rather than he was raised, even though Jesus had been telling them time and again that he would be raised! The people weren't primitive by any means; you only have to read the literature of the time. What would case this sudden rise of the Christian movement in a hugely dramatic way, just think for a moment how you would react if you saw him alive? You would probably pick your jaw up from the floor and then run and tell people, what happened, exactly that and this movement began that has seen billions and billions of people turn to Jesus, lives changed, I cannot explain it any other way. Do you know that serious critiques of the gospels even agree that Jesus appeared but they try to explain it away by suggesting that Jesus had twin brother, rather than come to the truth with humility. It really happened.
When a lawyer takes evidence, he takes the facts and they paint a picture of what happened. There are so many facts that the painting is almost painted for you, you can see the truth you just need to take that plunge....
Anyway it has been a long blog and I could write pages! If Jesus rose from the dead it really means that he is God, that he has conquered death. That what he said is true, that we need to turn away from our own way of doing things and turn to him. The Son is indeed shining and all will be right with the world, will you come and bask in his rays or will you stay in the dark?
Please drop me a line with your thoughts - georgeosborn@hotmail.com

Is Christianity exclusive?

2009-04-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

Doesn't Christianity seem a bit exclusive, the claim that Jesus is the only way to God is offensive. In fact it is that sort of claim that causes war, fighting and division. Christianity needs to get with the times. How can there possibly be only one answer, what about all the other religions? Haven't we all got a piece of the truth, whatever works for us and makes us feel the happiest is the right way?

That is a strong objection and one that I had against Christianity for quite a while. I then realised how exclusive the above claim was, I also realised that truth by its very definition is exclusive. If I say that this type font is size 12 then that excludes all other possibilities. It cannot both be size 10 and size 12, it can only be one or the other. So we need to know what the truth is.

Saying that we should tolerate everybody and that anyone that claims otherwise we shouldn't tolerate is a contradiction. It appears on the surface so tolerant to say everybody is valid, but then you don't tolerate those people who disagree with you. Let me give you an illustration. There are 4 blind men who believe they have the true religion, they walk into a room with a large elephant. One goes up to the leg and says God is like a thick tree with wrinkles on it, another walks up to the trunk and says God is like a long snake that moves around. Another walks up to the tail and says no God is like a small worm with a fluffy bit on the end, another walks to the body and says it is like a huge expanse. - Now the theory goes that all these people have some part of the truth, some part of who God is, that these people are like the different religions in the world who have some part of truth and really they all lead to God. However look more closely and notice the viewpoint of the person who is telling the story, that assumes the one telling the story knows the whole truth that it is an elephant they are feeling. That is exclusive, to say that all religions have some part of the truth and I know the whole truth. You cannot escape the fact that truth is exclusive.

How about we have a religion that says we are all equal, a religion that says we are saved not by our own good works, which creates pride and says I am better than you, how about a religion that breeds tolerance by saying love your enemy and friend alike. How about a religion where God comes and gets involved to show us what he is like so we don't have to walk around blindfolded feeling our way, how about a God who shows us rather than tells us? How about something we could test to see if it were true, an event in history that we could examine......

georgeosborn@hotmail.com

Humble

2009-03-22T02:44:00.000-07:00

Humility, or being humble, is the defining characteristic of an unpretentious and modest person, someone who does not think that he or she is better or more important than others. The opposite of humility is pride.

I strive for humility but fail on some many counts. However can I encourage you to approach your investigation of Christianity with that attitude, not thinking you have all the answers. God promises that if you do that he will supply you with his grace, he will help you...

How do you know which one to pick?

2009-03-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of questions over the past few weeks about different religions, beliefs and so on. The question has generally been, there are many sincere people all holding on to their beliefs 100% how do you know which one is true? A muslim, genuinely believes in Islam, a Hindu in the same way, an atheist and so on.

That is a great question. For me it has to come down to the claims and evidence for those claims. How do we know anything is true? If I was to say I was 6ft 10in tall how would you know whether I was telling the truth? Firstly I think you would look at me and know I was telling porkies, however you may get a measure out and test it, you may get me to stand next to someone else who is 6ft 10in and so on. You would test it, you would investigate it, you would examine the evidence and then draw a conclusion. So many people I meet have never investigated what they believe, they put it off saying one day, make a commitment to investigate is the first starting point.

Christianity has some massive claims and really they all centre on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Some of the core claims are;
Jesus is God, the Son of God
Jesus died and rose again 3 days later
Jesus is the promised messiah

There are many more claims, but these are central. Let's face it if this Jesus fellow was killed and then rasied from the dead 3 days later then that is pretty watertight evidence for him being God. I think we can all agree that only God could perform that miracle. One of the strongest pieces of evidences for this is to see the reaction of those closest to Jesus at the time. Everyone disowned Jesus when he was going to be killed, his best mate Peter denied he every knew him. They all sold out, the bible records that they all hid together, they thought this Jesus was a fraud and that the end of their journey had arrived. They went and hid in a room. Jesus then comes back to life, appears to these people and many others at different points and the result is truly amazing, these cowards (they were and so would I have been) were transformed into men who literally went out to die for Christ from then on, they risked their lives to simply tell the news that Jesus was who he claimed to be. They were tortured, beheaded, stoned, beaten and all sorts but nothing stopped them proclaiming this news. What had transformed them from blubbering wrecks into the instigators of the biggest movement this planet has ever seen? You decide that one, I've made up my mind.

Some people say, yeah but the church just fabricated this to make it look that way. These reports are written within 15-20 years of Jesus, other historians who were not Christians have written about this. There is more evidence for what Jesus did and the result than anything else in the ancient world. If people made this up they wouldn't have written that the disciples were cowards, that the empty tomb was found by women, that the LORD was killed on a tree. you know that saying you couldn't make this stuff up, that is true for this. There is just so many clues to this that Miss Marple wouldn't even show up to investigate. You apply this evidence to any court case today and it would be over by the end of the day.

The problem we have is that God demands something from us, you see if what I am telling you is true than it means we owe our lives to God because he made us. That is scary, but let me assure you when you stop running away and start running to it is the most amazing thing. I so want you to meet him...drop me a line georgeosborn@hotmai.com

The heart of it...

2009-02-16T09:22:00.000-08:00

What is the biggest cry of our hearts? What is our greatest desire? What do we want most in life? I don't simply mean, we want something nice to eat at the end of the day, or someone to value us. I mean what is at the core of our being, what are most films about, what was valentines day all about, what are they fairytales all about that you read as a little child - love! We all long to be unconditionally loved, to be told I love you, not because your good at something or because you have behaved well (we know we all haven't done that) but to be loved just for simply being us, warts 'an all.
Most religions say the only way you are going to get right with your creator is by behaving well, following a set of rules. This then gives rise to pride, I am better than everyone else because I am sooo good or rise to guilt, I am soooo bad I am never going to make it.
Jesus says come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest. Turn to me and I love you so much I was willing to die for you. I know all of your sins. He spoke to a woman who had 5 husbands and had lived as an outcast, she acknowledged her sin and he welcomed her. Prostitutes came to him, tax collectors real scum of the society back then. Why did they come, the came because they knew they had screwed things up, they weren't proud. They came and he set them free from being a slave to prostitution, this grace so overwhelms people that their lives completely change. God has graciously shown me his love.
There is a story in the bible about two sons, one of them asks his father for his inheritance early. Basically Dad, I want you dead all I want is your money. He goes off with his fortune and squnaders it all on drink, women, fun and all that jazz. After a while he runs out of money and is desperate, he ends up living it rough until he decides to go back home and at least see if his Dad will give him a job somewhere. He knows he has to go back grovelling, he is going to have to work hard to make this right even if his father will talk to him. We then get this scene where the Dad is sitting out front of the house (paraphrased) and sees this figure a far off, he runs to greet him, he is overjoyed, there are tears rolling down his face, he is consumed with love for this lost son. They meet and he embraces him, he instructs the workers to get the best calf for a party, to give his son the best robe.
Now did he deserve that treatment, not at all. However the Fathers love is the centre piece of the story not whether or not he deserved it. The father is obviously God.
There was also another son in the story and he was fuming that the son should get all this treatment, but I have kept all the rules, I have been good. The son missed the point, the father loved him too but not because he kept any rules, because he was his son.
You cannot earn God's love. It is a gift, pure grace, underserved, all he asks is will you come to him.

How can you trust an old book?

2009-02-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

The Bible, an out of date and out of touch book or the meaning to life? A big question. I know when I first started looking at Christianity I thought how can you trust a book, and so much of what is in the Bible goes against what I believe, isn't it a legend that has built up over the years, there are many good things in the bible you just shouldn't insist that everything is correct.

3 ways you can trust the bible - historically, culturally and personally.

Historically - the arguement goes, who knows who the real Jesus was, the stories were made up to create a following and build an empire. However, the new testament accounts are simply written to early for legend to be built up. The gospel of Luke says it is written as testimony from the eyewitnesses of the day. Paul who wrote some of the letters in the Bible wrote them within 15-20 years of Jesus' life. Most of the people would have been alive when he wrote this public document, he could only write that if it were the case. He even quotes a hymn that talks about who Jesus was as God and his resurrection, this hymn would have been written even earlier than Paul's writting. Therefore from the begining Jesus was being held up as risen from the dead as God. Imagine I said that there was an explosion today in London and two buses were destroyed, if this didn't happen (and it didn't) then it would simply be disregarded and never hold weight. In addition there are so many things in the bible that wouldn't have been put there if it was made up, the disciples are made out to be cowards, making silly mistakes, women as eye witness testimony when women held no credit at the time, if you were making things up you would never say things like that. There is loads more than this, too much to write here. There are so many prophecies in the old testament of the Bible about Jesus, there are over 5 seperate references to him. Including where he would be born, when, to whom, town, how he would die, what name he would be given and on and on....

Culturally - don't make the mistake of thinking our culture (whatever our culture might be) is the right one, just think back to 1800's and how silly we think their behaviour was, make no mistake in 100 years your family will look back on this time and think primitive. Our culture is not a dictate of the truth, these things are ever shifting. Also don't simply dip into the Bible and think that you have the teaching correctly understood, a bit like dipping into 2 minutes of the middle of a film and saying I will never watch it. If there is something you are struggling with, please ask someone or investigate it. There were so many things I thought when I first started out, this is weird and actually it turns out I was weird the teaching was totally opposite. A bit like when you are at school and your teachers tell you that you'll miss school when you leave or your parents say what till you have kids, the point being we let our surroundings give us blinkers and prevent us seeing more. Let me give you an example our culture may say what the bible says about sex is old fashioned, however what is says about loving your neighbour and forgiving people is great and helpful. However take that to the middle east and they would say the sex thing is great, but loving your enemy and forgiving is foolish. The Bible is going to contradict every culture at various points, that doesn't make it untrue.

Personally - SO many millions of people have had their lives transformed by the Bible's teaching it is untrue. Are these all made up? A trick of the mind? Just convinced a bit like a placebo? Turn that on its head, maybe you have been convinced by something? Who has the bigger motive here, I know for me the if the Bible was true then it meant a total change of life, that was reason enough for me to ignore it for a number of years! However once I came to God and said I give up, I need help, I surrender to you, wow, he got involved and has given me a new heart and it has cost me everything yet it has been everything.

I encourage you to visit these links for help and some typical questions, they are so helpful.

IS the bible reliable? - http://download.redeemer.com/sermons/Literalism_Isnt_the_Bible_historic.mp3

How can God allow suffering? - http://download.redeemer.com/sermons/Suffering_If_God_is_good.mp3

Don't we all just find the truth for ourselves? - http://download.redeemer.com/sermons/Absolutism_Dont_we_all_have_to.mp3

Drop me a line if you need anything - georgeosborn@hotmail.com

Idols

2009-01-18T07:11:00.000-08:00

The ten commandments can sometimes seem harsh, cold and judgemental. In fact I received a speeding fine this week, there were circumstances leading to this but the law does not care about these and rightly so! There is no grace in the law, like a over bearing teacher it sticks to the rules no matter what. This feeling, thought and notion then gets directed towards God, isn't he cold, judging and uncaring.
Take the first commandment for example "you are to have no other gods before me, to love God with all your heart soul and mind..." - doesn't this just speak of God as a dictator, jealous for his own attention? This needs to be broken down and therefore I want to look at what other gods are being referred to and then why we shouldn't worship them.
Initially you might think well I don't worship any gods, in fact I don't believe in god at all. The worship of other gods here is referring to anything you put in God's place to seek your pleasure and joy. What if it was taken away from you would cause your world to collapse, if you lost your job, your phone, your family? Where do you get your identity from? Let me ask it a different way, what in your heart if you had it would solve all your problems? We all walk through life thinking if I just get that job, just get husband, just have a child life will be sorted. These things in and of themselves are not bad, however when they are the end seeking of our heart, when we look for our satisfaction in them, then this is what is called idol worship. Is it money, sex, sport, the right body...we could go on.
Now the reason that God would forbid these things is that you were made to be in relationship with God, that longing in your heart has been put there by God. A toaster is made to toast bread, a chair to be sat in, a keyboard to be typed, you were made to be with God and you will not find your wholeness and being until you find him. Therefore God asking you to come to him is the most loving thing in the whole universe because that is what you are made for. The Bible says why do we dig out old toilets and drink water from broken cisterns when we have the stream of living water in God. So God is not cold, God is totally seeking after your happiness which is only found in Him.
The real message about God is that he loves you so much that he is prepared to come and die in your place so that you can have this perfect relationship. Through Christ we can be free of slavery to these idols, we don't need to seek our happiness in a bottle, in what people think of us it is all in him, now that is total freedom. He doesn't demand it and therefore has given us time on this earth to come to him. He has appointed a time when he will say that enough is enough....where do you stand? I know how alien this sounds, I used to be in the same boat, all I would encourage you to do is to investigate...georgeosborn@hotmail.com

If it works for you...

2009-01-07T15:49:00.000-08:00

One of the common phrases given to me about my Christian faith is "if it works for you mate". There is a thought that you pick your faith based on what works for you, my motivation was seeking the truth and in the process I have found the ultimate joy!

I know for people who don't yet believe it is really confusing, what about all the other religions, what about evolution, what about aliens etc etc. Firstly all roads do not lead to the same place. All religions contradict one another and therefore each one is claiming to be the truth, so how do you know which is true? All require an element of faith, this simply means trust without knowing for 100% certainty.You are likely sat in a chair reading this and therefore you are putting faith in that chair that it will support you. You put faith into your partner that they will love and care for you based on past behaviour and words that have been spoken. Evolutionists have faith, atheists have faith, Muslims have faith, Buddhists and so on. Each person should evaluate the evidence, pray and make their decision, it is important to look at all the evidence. I am not going to go into the merits or otherwise of each belief but implore you to examine them all, I shall speak here of why Christianity is overwhelming for me....
Creation - look around you, this did not come about from an explosion, only look to the middle east at the moment and see that explosions do not create things they destroy them
Conscience - where does this come from if not from a moral being...God
Jesus Christ - a historical figure, miracles, healings, an event that can be tested in time
Resurrection - again a historical event that was witnessed by seperate groups of people over 500 in all...
Changed lives - new Christians at the time of Jesus completely swept over the land, people wouldn't have died for a lie (Jesus rose) people die for something they sincerly believe not a lie, so they claimed they saw Jesus alive and died for it time and time again. Millions and millions and millions of people since have had their lives transformed by a living God in the name of Jesus. Miracles.
Revelation in the Bible - the bible is an amazing book filled with prophecy upon prophecy, where Jesus was born, how he would die, what would happen to him, what he would say at his trial, who would come before him, what would happen to him on the cross, why he would come....and on and on....

Investigate it....please. - georgeosborn@hotmail.com

Intolerance, stress and hell - nice and light!

2009-01-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

Well it was over a year ago that I last wrote...well ok a few days! I had a mixed Christmas, always feel a bit greedy and self-indulgent over Christmas.
I did hear a couple of funny comments over the festive period though. Two people I know said different comments although amounting to the same thing -
"Life is all about avoiding stress" said one friend...
"I like Christianity that makes me feel good, I don't like all this talk of hell.." (paraphrased from another friend)
So why do I find these interesting, I think because they both sum up the culture we live in in many ways. The first comment says the best life is the most comfortable stress free life, don't bother me, let me do exactly what I want to do, me me me.
The second comment in many ways is the same, I don't want to feel stress, I don't want to think about things that are uncomfortable, make me feel good, I want to be comfortable. Our society says that you cannot say somebody else is wrong, we will tolerate anything but that. The question has to be asked how is that tolerant, the old way of doing things was to say you can say anything you like and I will defend your right to say it although I may bitterly disagree with it. Now we say you can't say something that disagrees with other people, that is not PC - this is bizarre. In order to tolerate something you need to let it happen, you can't tolerate something that hasn't happened. This is the intolerance of todays tolerance! Rant over.
I would like to address the hell issue however, it is one that makes many uncomfortable. How can a loving God send people to hell, if God is love how can he hate people by sending them to hell, isn't hell just a bit harsh? There are a few questions there but I would like to try and answer them, with the awareness that this blog and little George (ok not so little) cannot adequately answer them, but here goes...
How can a loving God send people to hell - unfortunately we are all moral criminals, by that I mean we have broken God's law. We have all lied, taken God's name in vain, taken something that doesn't belong to us. God even says our thought life will be judged!! Imagine putting all your thoughts on public display for 24 hours eeek! Now I want you to imagine for a moment that someone you love is shot and murdered (heaven forbid) and they catch the criminal bring him to court and the judge says "because I am a loving guy, I am going to let you off you are free to go" you would be fuming, the reason is for the sake of justice that man must be punished. Now I want you to imagine that you are in the courtroom at the end of your life, God is bound by the same justice he cannot sweep your breaking of the moral law under the carpet, he must punish sin to remain just. Your good deeds do not make up for your crimes either, in the same way they don't in our courts. So there is a hell because God must be just, imagine also if God let liars, thieves and so on into heaven, it wouldn't be heaven it wouldn't be perfect. Now God has done the most amazing thing, he sent his son to die in your place, you're in that court of law and Jesus has paid your fine, God can legally dismiss your case! You must turn away from your sin (breaking the law) and make Jesus number 1 and he forgives you. Awesome, anyway getting sidetracked.
If God is love how can he hate people and send them to hell - hopefully the above has helped answer this question. However another illustration that helps show other situations where our love means we hate. You may love children and therefore hate abortion, you may love people and therefore hate murder. It is exactly because of his love why he must punish sin. In punishing sin it also shows God's worth, he is protecting his value. If he says it doesn't really matter if you ignore me or use my name as a cuss word or abuse people, he is then saying that he is not of value, he is not worth anything. Another illustration - let's imagine a stood on an ant and killed it, would I go to prison or be punished in anyway? No way, what about if I stood on a dog? I would probably get a few words from someone but no prison. What about if I killed a small child? I would definitely go to jail, be treated as scum by all of society. Why? Becuase that child is worth so much more than the ant and the dog, so the punishment shows the value we put on the victim or the crime. Which probably goes onto the next question...
Isn't hell a bit harsh - Above I have discussed that the punishment shows the value. This is really hard to put across in words. But the value of God is infinite, he is the highest being in the whole universe, he created all things, all the galaxies, the electrons, protons, sunsets, relationships, sex, laughter, we could go on and on...this is the complex bit, if you offend an infinite being we therefore deserve an infinite punishment. That's why say spending a 100 years in hell and then going to heaven simply wont cut the mustard. That's why offering GOd some good deed is such an insult to him, he is infinite, begining and the end, alpha and omega. If I said that the person who murdered the little girl gets 1 year in prison, you would be outraged and angry, now ask yourself why? She is worth more than that, insulting God or committing a crime against him personally (which is what our sin is) is of more offence than killing a million million little children. He is the most valuable thing in the whole universe! Does this help or not at all? georgeosborn@hotmail.com

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

guess one of the benefits of having a blog is you can moan about what you want to moan about! I don't normally like moaning but one thing gets my goat is when people say xmas instead of CHRISTmas. This season unfortunately is more about presents and father Christmas than Christ for many people. I have a dream, I have a vision, I may not get there with you but I wanna see Christ back in Christmas! Spare a thought for who it really is about this Christ..mas

Good deeds don't outweigh bad ones!

2008-12-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

There is a misconception out there that by performing lots of good things we can somehow make up for all the bad things we have done. There is so much danger in this, not least because it gives rise to pride "i'm better than you because I have done more good", Christian churches are full of this mentality and I have been guilty of this myself. We want to look at ourselves and say how good we have been, surely all the good I have done makes up for those mistakes I made?
Try that in a court of law, you are before the Judge for murder and you say "I gave money to charity, helped Doris accross the road everyday, worked in a charity shop, feed hungry people..." The Judge would reply that is great what you have been doing but you are on trial for murder and these things have nothing to do with that, you are guilty of murder and he would meet out your punishment, it is called justice.
God is a just God and he must punish our breaking of the law, so if you have ever told a lie (who hasn't), taken something that doesn't belong to you, looked at someone lustfully, been jealous over someone elses things and so on..then you are guilty just like me! We have no leg to stand on. If we are honest would we be guilty, I am and everyone is. Therefore would God allow people like that into heaven, it wouldn't be heaven would it, he must punish and that is what hell is all about. He doesn't want us to go there, he loves us that much that he sent his son to die a cruel and painful death on the cross in order to take our punishment. It is like you are sitting in the electric chair and Jesus walks in and takes your place, your debt or fine is paid by Jesus's death on the cross. Justice is satisfied. There is no greater love than someone dying for you, someone who dies for you even though you don't love them! This love transforms your life, God says there are two things you must do to receive this forgiveness, 1 be willing to turn from the wrong things and 2 make Jesus number one in your life - wow.
Drop me a line at georgeosborn@hotmail.com with any question, statement, help, anything....