More Why

Until the 1800s, nearly everyone (including the vast majority of scientists) believed in a Creator God. Of course, that didn't mean that there were no problems and life was a breeze - but it did mean that most people had a definite understanding that there are moral "absolutes" that it is wrong to violate. People still did bad stuff - but they felt bad about it! Sadly, this guilt gave organized religion a stranglehold over kings and kingdoms, and many terrible things were done in the name of "God".

Over the last 150 years or so, a number of things have changed. Firstly, although many people would still say "yes" to the "Do you believe in God" question, many of those people will also say that they believe that they are the great great great great etc... grandchild of a pair of gibbering monkeys. Darwin started it, and now neo-Darwinists have a large percentage of the "civilized" world believing that in the beginning was nothing - which exploded, and billions of years later via rock soup and primates - here we all are.

In other words, a vital foundation of meaning has been removed from existence. After all, we came from nothing for no reason by a series of astoundingly improbable, random chances. Why bother trying to do anything other than prove that it's all down to the "survival of the fittest"?

Hello rampantly destructive, self-centered, consumer driven, capitalistic society. Whoopee.

Did you see the recent articles in English newspapers featuring the photography of someone who has spent years documenting night "life" on the streets of Cardiff?

Click this link if you dare. Humanity is reduced to wallowing in it's own filth - completely voluntarily!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maciejdakowicz/sets/1391696/show/

Belief in evolution and the "fact" that "humans are just another animal" has also cracked open the door to the horrifying holocausts perpetrated by, for example, the Nazis and the abortionists.

Schools no longer really teach that there is such a thing as absolute truth. You can, apparently, do what you want to do without any moral consequences. Just protect yourself whilst doing it! What's right or true for one person no longer has to be right or true for anyone else.

Self has replaced God as the ultimate authority in the known Universe, and humanity is busy proving what a monumental screw-up it really is. The sexual revolution and militant feminism of the 60s have contributed to the desperately sad fact that there are now far more children who have no idea what it's like to have loving parents than ever before. Life may well have been a struggle through poverty for many families prior to (and during) the two World Wars, however people at least knew the warmth and love of a genuine, close family. That counts for more than most people realize.

These days it's all about a bigger house, a new car, a better job to pay for them, a bigger TV to go in the Master Suite, an IPOD and cellphone in every hand.... and no time left to have even one meal a week at the same table as the strangers living with you under the same satellite dish encrusted roof.

What does it all mean?

Absolutely nothing.

Life without absolutes is meaningless.

Thankfully, there is absolute truth, and although I certainly didn't come to be a Christian as the result of a dedicated search to find that truth, one of the reasons that I still am a Christian is that all of my personal investigation and research confirms my faith in one Creator God who is perfectly just, perfectly right, perfectly love, and perfectly holy.

Why do I believe this?

Firstly and most importantly to me - I believe because of my personal experience of faith that confirms itself as it gets stronger over time. That is something that I cannot describe or share. True Christians are spiritually given a sure and certain hope that cannot be taken away. Sure, it gets shaken (sometimes very roughly) by life, but God never lets go!

Then, in no particular order:

The Bible
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t003.html

Israel (and Biblical prophecy in general)
http://brittgillette.com/WordPress/?p=28
http://brittgillette.com/WordPress/?p=16

Evolution
Of course, this is a very controversial debate (even between Christians!), but I simply believe that it takes more blind faith to believe that in the beginning was nothing, than it does to believe that in the beginning, God... Sadly many, many evolutionists freely admit that they have ignored the Scientific Method by refusing to consider the possibility of Intelligent Design/Creationism. The "smarter" people are, the more they seem to believe that they should have nothing or no-one to answer to. People really don't like the idea of a God who is ultimately in control.... and evolution has given scientists a way out of this uncomfortable spot.

Good/Evil
What drives some humans to commit the type of horrific things that are reported daily in the news? If humans are just another animal, then we've certainly found a way to become far more addicted to random, senseless, gut-wrenching violence than any other member of the animal kingdom! Some of the things humans do cannot be explained apart from by admitting that there has to be some dark "spiritual" force at work. In fact, the more you think about it, the more you will probably see that the vast majority of human activity makes no sense from a pure evolutionary/survival of the fittest point of view. Just as some people exhibit what can only be described as senseless evil, other people spend their lives quietly exhibiting just as senseless (from a humanistic/evolutionary perspective) good! Do other animals do this?

Spiritualism/Occult/UFO...
Just where does the almost universal belief in the world of the "other" come from? So much human attention, entertainment, thought and research involves "phenomenon" that have no explanation unless there is indeed a spiritual side to existence. More and more apparently sane people are starting to talk openly about these things, yet fewer and fewer people seem willing to turn to the most complete, logical and hopeful source of information about what truly goes on "out there"... (the Bible, of course!)
Here's just one link discussing a recent "manifestation" (haha) of this subject:
http://drywind.net/blog/ufo-bible-prophecy/indiana-jones-and-the-crystal-skulls-...

Is this getting a bit much?

:)

I honestly believe that there is nothing in this life more important than the two questions:

Is there a God?
If there IS a God, what does that mean for me?

As I said earlier, most people would still say "yes...." to the first question, but few people really try to answer the second one properly.

In the Bible, we are told:

"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
  they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
  they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
  you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
  you shall be eaten by the sword;
  for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

Scientists (and many other people) will try and tell you that Christianity (and all other religion) is illogical, blind and mentally shallow. However the God of the Bible asks humans to reason with Him! Imagine that? We are not asked to follow blindly like sheep into a mindless cult! Of course, as soon as someone starts quoting Bible passages that mention things like "sin" and being "eaten by the sword" it is undoubtedly difficult not to think of cults and mind control and all the bad stuff that "religion" has been responsible for over the centuries. However, even Gandhi (certainly not Christian!) had the right idea when he said:

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ"

Of course, the answer is that there have been far fewer true Christians than there have been people claiming to be Christian. So just what is a true Christian?

This is what the Bible teaches:

In the beginning God created the Universe and everything in it.
He created humans "in His own image" (meaning with free-will, and an eternal spirit)
Humanity has individually and collectively exercised free-will by turning away from God and becoming prideful, self-centred, spiritually-disconnected "orphans".
God DID NOT abandon humanity and leave us to get on with it (Deism)
Humanity abandoned GOD and tried to "get on with it" without Him!
After a few generations, the human race became so hopelessly evil that God was "sorry" that He had made us at all and opened the flood gates....

http://www.nwcreation.net/noahlegends.html
http://www.worldwideflood.com

By the way, just what effect do you think a global flood would have on a freshly made planet? Incredible earthquakes, volcanoes and general landscaping, wouldn't you think? Plate tectonics is an interesting subject! Catastrophism was an accepted science before the rise of evolution required scientists to rethink their understanding in order to build in the billions of years that their theory needs.... Creationists can quite happily explain geological data in logical terms that suggest a much, much younger planet than we are now taught about.... Pangaea and continental drift? No problem! Grand Canyon? No problem! Marine life fossils on the top of the world's highest mountains? No problem! Here is a link with some more examples of how the evidence can be interpreted as pointing towards a young earth:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/4005.asp

Of course, this is not the most important issue (but it's one I'm very interested in - hence the rabbit trail!) Back on track now...

After the flood, Mr & Mrs Noah & their three sons "got busy" and soon the planet was full of the same old same old goings on.
Basically, the Old Testament of the Bible is a history (with poetry and prophecy mixed in) of the Israelite people (a.k.a the Jews). It obviously deals with the other nations that rose and fell, but it's primary purpose is to tell the story of "God's chosen people". As I mentioned earlier, the incredible history of the Jews is one of the "proofs" of my faith. Anyway...

The OT shows how time and time again people turned away from God, got taught a lesson, turned back to Him for a while, drifted away again...
Through Moses, God gave the people the basic laws that are still used as the foundation of human moral and legal system understanding the world over.
"Sin" in the Bible is quite simply a thought, act or desire that doesn't meet God's standard (perfection).
Perfection is an impossible standard (how can something imperfect make itself perfect?)
God of course knew this, and the idea of the Law is to show us that we simply cannot meet God's standards. The concept of "Original Sin" is a tough one theologically (not even a newborn baby is free from the effect of sin), but sometimes we have to let God be God and realize that if He is truly who the Bible says He is, everything is handled with perfect justice by a God who is not willing that anyone should go to hell....

Arrrrrgh! I said "Hell"!

:)

Heaven: Eternity with God
Hell: Eternity without God

Anything else that the Bible may or may not teach about the "afterlife" is (by comparison) irrelevant. Christians believe that humanity was created to have an individual, personal, perfect relationship with the Creator. Sin has broken that, and by our own, individual choices we continue to do things that grieve our Creator and make us unfit to be in His presence. God does not send anyone to hell. People choose that for themselves when they reject the truth. Of course, not everyone throughout history has heard of the central truth of Christianity (I'm getting there, honest!) and many theologians believe that the Bible teaches that God will judge people based on how they respond to the truth that they did hear. Ultimately, we are told that "the heavens declare the glory of God" and that no-one will have an excuse for rejecting God.

However, for almost everyone who has lived in the Western World since the Reformation, the central truth of Christianity HAS been heard...

Even before creating the Universe, God knew what He would have to do to save us from ourselves.
No human since the first act of pride and selfishness (read Genesis 3) has ever been perfect...
Apart from Jesus.
Endless debate has swirled over the theology of Jesus and the claims that He made.
Basically, we have to believe that He was either:
A Liar (nothing he said can be trusted)
A Lunatic (said some wonderful things, but was obviously a bit crazy because He claimed to be God)
Or He was LORD (In other words - everything He said was true, and He was God in the form of a man).

This link explains this proposition well:

http://www.existence-of-god.com/lord-liar-lunatic.html

So - I for one believe everything that the Bible says about Jesus (including the many things the Bible reports Him as saying himself) is true.

Therefore:

I know I am a sinner without hope of reaching God by myself or through any "religion".
I know that God WANTS me to be able to reach Him, but He cannot overlook my sin - just as in any democratic country on Earth, there are crimes that deserve and receive just punishment. It would be insane to suggest that all criminal activity should be forgiven because that would be the "nice" "loving" thing to do. Yet some people believe that God is simply going to overlook all the horrors of human history and open up His loving arms to one and all. Some (amazingly respected) theologians fully expect to be shaking Hitler's hand in Heaven. Of course, that would be possible, but only if Hitler had:

Realized that he was a sinner, repented, raised His eyes to God's mercy, and accepted the fact that Jesus gave His perfect life as an offering to satisfy God's holy requirement of justice.

Because Jesus lived a perfect life, free from all sin including original sin (supernatural conception) He was legally able to "defeat" death (which is the "wages of sin)! God didn't create death. It was only after we turned away from the source of life and "disconnected" ourselves from the power source that decay started to creep in! You may have noticed through Bible history that humans used to live a lot longer than we do now. Modern medicine has reversed this trend, but almost 1000 years? I don't think so....

Like a laptop computer that will run forever when it's plugged in to the AC power source, but slowly dies when running from it's internal battery - death has overtaken the planet.

Anyway, back to Jesus!

Isn't is strange that one of the marks of rebellion against authority is to use the name of Jesus as a swear word? Why don't rebellious teen Muslims use the name of Muhammad in the same way? Why don't those who were raised Buddhist but have left that philosophy go round saying "Oh Buddha" when things go wrong? Why has the name of Jesus seen worldwide, cross cultural, inter-"faith" acceptance as a swear word? Maybe there's something incredibly powerful about the man most associated with this name....

:)

Christianity is a relationship, not a religion.
If anyone tells you that you have to do something to be saved be very careful!
There is nothing we can do to be "saved" in the eyes of a holy, perfect God!
It was all done for us.

God has offered us a free gift. He's even placed an inherent understanding of it into our hearts... (Ever heard the phrase "God shaped hole"? Too many people go through life feeling as if "something" is missing, but they refuse to invest the time and effort to figure out what it is. After all, that bigger house and faster car won't buy themselves, will they? Must work and play!).

But as with any gift, we have the option of throwing it back in the Giver's face. Crazy, huh? So (for those humans who have heard this core message of Christianity) it's by consciously rejecting the gift of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus that we refuse to be made acceptable to God.

And then, we have the huge problem facing Christianity today...

Many people are indeed "nominal" Christians, they have accepted the gift (or perhaps more accurately not rejected it). And there it sits. It's an incredible gift! More amazing than the highest of high tech new-fangled computer controlled anythings! But what do you have to do once you have received an incredible, life changing gift?

Read the manual!

:)

The Western World is full of people who think they are Christians, but they don't live, act, think, walk or talk like Christians. In order to learn how to do that, we need to read the Bible, pray, and spend time with other Christians who are serious about letting their new life "take over".

When a person truly becomes a Christian, a spiritual transaction takes place. A Christian is transformed from someone who is spiritually "dead" to God to someone who has now in this life a reborn spiritual relationship with the Creator of the Universe. Sadly, it is tough to let this show in this skeptical, mean, hating world - and there are many genuine Christians who struggle against letting the "Light" shine. Fear of embarrassment, bullying at school, inability to answer the mocking questions.... I went through all that and to a large extent still do. People take it more seriously and openly if you say "I was abducted by aliens last week" than they do if you say "I trusted Christ as my personal Savior last week"!

Maybe I should stop now.

If you ever make it this far, I'm sure you'll have some questions!

I'm not so sure that I'll have the answers, but I'll give anything a go.