Do you know what universalism is?  It’s the belief that “all roads lead to God”.  This philosophy / “religion” is spreading through America these days, and sadly, this worldview has even infiltrated the evangelical church, up to 57 percent according to a study by the Pew Forum.  (I find that number hard to believe, but if so, then it’s worse than I thought.)  A lot of people are jumping on this bandwagon because it isn’t offensive to the general population.  It goes with the big buzzwords of our time, like “tolerance” and being “politically correct”, because you are saying everyone’s beliefs and/or “religion” are right.

There are some big advocates of this, like Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.  I know Obama claims to be a Christian, and he supposedly attended church for some 20 years (though not really knowing what the pastor taught), but he has made statements like this:

“I believe there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people.” ~ Barack Obama

Friends, that is NOT Christianity.  I know, a lot of people say it works with Christianity, because you’re not excluding it.  But to be a Christian, you have to accept Jesus (and His covenant) for who He is.  If you call Him a liar for some of the things He said, then He would not be the perfect sacrifice that paid for our sins, and He wouldn’t be the Son of God like He claimed.  And so Christianity would be based on something that wasn’t true.   But to be a Christian, you have to believe the Bible is the Truth and that Jesus is who He claimed to be.  That’s the foundation of Christianity, and if you don’t accept that, you’re not a Christian.  Of course, you’re free to believe whatever you want, but you shouldn’t call yourself something you’re not.

I can see why universalism is appealing to people who don’t already know the Truth.  In addition to it being inoffensive, it’s also easy.  Listen to how Tim Wildmon explains it:

“What is appealing about universalism to modern-day Americans is that it is intentionally ambiguous and doesn’t require any measurable commitment by the individual. One doesn’t have to agree with any creed, you don’t have to go to church, you don’t have to abide by any particular code of conduct, and there is no objective standard for defining right or wrong or good and evil. It is all up to the individual and how he or she feels.” ~ Tim Wildmon

You can read more of his take on universalism here: Universalism — the end of Christian influence.

Again, you’re free to believe whatever you want.  You have that right.  But you will have to give an account of your life before God someday, and you will be judged according to His standards, not ours.  To be saved and enter His kingdom, you have to do things according to His terms, not whatever you feel is right.  Of course it sounds great to think you can do whatever you want and that God will let you in if you consider yourself a “good” person, but that’s not the way God looks at it, and in the end, it’s His decision that matters.  So you should think long and hard about this, if you aren’t living according to God’s covenant He made with us.

Philosophy, Christianity, Quotes | No Comments »

Who ever says that tennis is boring?  Check out this new Nike commercial featuring world number one Roger Federer.  His new “coach” has some unusual training methods.  This video is awesome!  There’s a lot of action in this commercial, even some suspense.  You should check it out, even if you don’t like tennis.

video of Roger Federer Nike ad

Sports | No Comments »

If you are a Christian (that is, if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ and have entered into His covenant for you), do you give thanks for your salvation on a regular basis?  I’m sure we’re all thankful — how could you not be?!?  But let us not ever take it for granted.  Even if you’ve been saved for many years, you should still get excited that God has saved you.  Jesus paid a big price for our forgiveness, and we didn’t deserve it at all.  Even after we’ve received His gift and turned our lives around, we still don’t deserve it, even on our best days.

Let’s all set aside at least a minute right now just to tell God how thankful we are, to appreciate His love and grace and patience for us.  I know, we’re all busy, but it’s easy to casually think “I’m thankful” while reading this, yet not really be thanking God for it.  Surely you can spare at least a minute to tell your Savior how much you love Him and are thankful for what He has done for you.

Christianity | 2 Comments »

Recently someone sent me a link to an article by J. Lee Grady called Whatever Happened to the Fear of God?  It’s a good read.  He reminds us that true revival will bring more than excitement and goose bumps — it will bring a fear of God.  And we will realize that the standards we have set need to be raised higher.

My pastor mentioned this concept in a sermon this past Sunday, that when we experience the Shekinah glory of God, we won’t be dancing and shouting — we’ll be on our face in fear because of His holiness.  This has Biblical precedent.  Think of the times when God’s presence filled the Temple, and the priests could not minister (1 Kings 8:9-11) or Moses could not enter it (Exodus 40:35).  When Ezekiel saw the glory of God, he sat in astonishment for seven days!  Isaiah cried, “I am undone!”  Daniel lost all strength and passed out into a deep sleep.

When we experience the glory of God, our “holiness” is stripped away, and we see ourselves for who we really are, that we are not holy and pure.  There are no excuses that can be made at this point — you know without a doubt that you are guilty of sin, and it’s only the grace of God that you are not consumed.  I want to clarify here that our guilt is not from condemnation but from loving conviction.  God does not “beat us up” over our sins — but He will tell us that we’re doing wrong.

When we’re praying for revival, we need to count the cost.  Revival will bring more than just additional people and increased excitement — it will bring the presence of God to our services and our daily lives.  We should not find the cost too steep.  If we find ourselves wanting revival but not wanting the glory of God, then we are caught up in religion and/or emotionalism and/or sin.  Let us not be afraid of God’s presence.  While the manifested presence of God may seem terrifying (and it should, in a reverent way), it is so worth it.  Let’s not be content with a “form of godliness” that so many people settle for these days.  Let’s seek the presence of God.

Christianity | 1 Comment »

I’ve heard people debating whether Kobe Bryant is better than Michael Jordan, particular before the 2008 NBA playoffs.  Kobe sure didn’t help himself in this discussion during this year’s playoffs.  This was when he needed to step up to give his team a chance, but he was mostly shutdown by the Boston Celtics’ defense.  (I didn’t watch much of the playoffs, but saw some highlights; although I did see most of the last game, and Boston threw the smack down!)

Anyway, debating such things in sports is part of what makes them great.  You compare current players and teams, and you compare the great players against former great players.  Sports needs those discussions to stay as popular as they are.  But when someone wants to definitively declare a current player better than one of the all-time legends of the game (e.g., Kobe vs. MJ), I think Bill Simmons sums it up well:

Great athletes reach a level where they can’t be passed, they can only be joined.  It’s like climbing Mount Everest — you can’t climb Mount Everest higher than someone else; the important thing is that you climbed it at all. ~ Bill Simmons

In the NBA, that would include people like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, etc.  You just can’t fairly compare players from different eras.  The discussion is fun, but there’s no truly fair comparison, because the game changes over time.

Sports | 3 Comments »