CONFUSED CHRISTIANS

                                                    CONFUSED CHRISTIANS

The Christian church in the United States is crumbling, and the major cause is the confusion by its members. I see, hear and look at comments and statements by professing Christians that have absolutely no root in Jesus Christ's teaching. I take heart, however, from the understanding of many non Christians and people of other faiths. Many seem to know much more scripture than those who claim their conscience and actions reflect their faith. What faith might that be? Christ didn't teach it, Moses didn't teach it. Oh, yes! It's the faith based on commandments Christ apparently forgot. I shudder when these pretenders attribute their actions, not to Christ's teaching in the four gospels, but to God, Himself. If non believers in Christ as the Son of God can understand His teaching, why can't professing Christians understand it? Worse yet, how can it be that people of other faiths understand it better?

Of course the answer is simple. All these professing Christians have not really read or studied scripture, especially the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. All of Christ's teaching is in these four books. He stresses the Christian Code---the Ten commandments plus one He added. Matt. 22:36-40 tells a Christian the main issues that are sins. Any other issues you may consider sins are your opinion and teaching, not Christ's. None of your "extra" sins are unforgivable. Christ tells us in Matt. 12:31 in very clear and easy to understand the ONLY sin not forgiven. "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men." The Holy Ghost is the power of God. Every one of the sins you preach against--real or imagined--is forgivable if and when the person repents.

That doesn't mean the sin won't be repeated. After all, every person, Christians included, continues to sin after accepting salvation. The Holy Ghost is given us upon salvation to assist our effort to stop the sin. Do you ever fudge the truth (false testimony, Ninth Commandment)? What do you think should be done with you when you repeat this sin? Your sin has the same value as all the others commandments except the one listed in Matt.12:31. No human is sinless; only Christ had that distinction. People who claim to be Christians are separating all people by preaching against selective issues not taught by Christ, who knew all.

Many self righteous Christians stick to these issues because they are not "guilty" of them, and this makes them a better believer. There is an entire army of "Christians" out there who say they are saved, and they have religious convictions. Many believe they actually are saved, although the main reason is they want to reside in Heaven instead of Hell. Some people say the words of salvation after they have lived a hellish life. I'll give you an example of why non Christians doubt Christianity. The woman clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue a marriage license to a same sex couple said in court it was against her religious conviction. She has been married four times, and says she was saved four years ago because she wanted to go to Heaven. That is not an acceptable reason to accept Christ's offer. Moreover, since she was married four times, that is not a Christian lifestyle, and it is probable she committed adultery along the way. When non Christians and people of other faiths hear this, they doubt the sincerity of the Christian faith.

Many Christians don't seem to understand that God makes all men and women. Any or all of them may believe in God and have faith in Him. He may answer their prayers. The only exclusivity a Christian has is the offer of eternal life IF we really follow the teaching of Christ. After you preach your heart out or rail against your favorite sin--real or imagined--go back to the gospels and find any scripture quotes from Christ's teaching. Then, shut up and study the gospels so you represent Christianity properly. If you have friends, pastors, relatives or politician acquaintances, set the record strait. Otherwise, you are contributing to the demise of your faith.

Some self righteous Christians appear to have "dirty" minds. I say this because they always connect a sexual issue as immoral. There is never any consideration of a non sexual reason. Same sex marriage is an important social and economic right for people. It is a legal contract, not a religious contract. Some people live together and do things together with no sexual motive. There are important issues of financial and social benefits available only to married people. If you use common sense, you'll think twice before two elderly people who want to be married are interested in sex. Ever been to a hospital or nursing facility and observed how difficult it is for an elderly, sick, or disabled person to navigate the health process? God put me in the position of witnessing this hardship to enable me to tell the WHOLE story of same sex marriage. It is not our privilege to judge any of these people, and we have a "dirty" mind if we consider they all are joined in matrimony for the purpose of sex. Politicians have won office by citing this "perceived" sin. They're still trying this.

Many Christians who observe a same sex couple automatically "judge" them to be lesbians or homosexuals. I know this is true, because that's usually my first thought. Our Christian society has brought us up in an environment that classified two actions as the most terrible sins---murder and unaccepted sex. We can overcome this problem by recognizing we have been programmed improperly. Many Christian churches are still not telling the correct story. It takes real commitment for a pastor or church leader to go against the grain of reprobate teaching.

A few people may choose to be gay, but I have never met anyone who chose to be "different." They know they will be ostracized and face social disgrace. Using common sense, why would anyone put himself/herself in this position of extreme difficulty? Then, if you are thinking clearly, did God make a huge mistake in making people this way? Did He make a mistake when He made colored people, or the American Indians? Do you really think you can correct these mistakes? I've been studying scripture for a long time, and the more I study, the more I understand we are attempting to take the easy path to success and heaven. Just think...God has created trillions (or more) of humans, but only a small number are white. Do you think that makes whites a superior race? Hebrews are not technically white. Yet, God provided that whites could become part of His church. Isn't it maddening to realize how screwed up we've become? Don't go away...there's more.

No matter how often I express my position on abortion, many Christians refuse to understand. I am opposed to abortion if it's for the purpose of birth control. If the health of the mother is at risk or the fetus is somehow not viable, there is no reason not to protect a living woman. God did not create her to die so some man or woman could pronounce a death penalty on her. Men are  especially good at this because they can't be guilty of having an abortion. I hear that abortion is murder, and there are several purported Christian organizations that claim this falsehood. This is very inflammatory and a very successful political gem. There is no such commandment on abortion. Try and find it in the bible.
I'll tell you scripture does address this issue, but you'll have to email me personally to get the book and chapter. If you want to  insist abortion is murder, I suggest you tell Christ or God they didn't complete the Sixth Commandment. But then, you may have missed the distinction between "kill" and murder. Either way, it means somebody is dead.

I'm not finished with the abortion issue. Don't try to tell me you base your murder claim on Proverbs, chapter 5. Christ didn't teach this--Solomon did. He was supposed to be the wisest man. He had hundreds of wives and concubines. He murdered family members that could have usurped the crown. He gives us a lot of useful advice in Proverbs, but he never came close to the glory of Christ. Do you want to prosecute soldiers who kill the enemy? The military does not permit the killing of civilians. Military people are there to defend our nation. We have extended that to "democracy building." It's not working. Maybe we should look at history and understand why God enabled us to establish our nation. Thar's a long story, and I'll get into that another time.

`To recap, it's okay to hate gays and non whites. Christ somehow  didn't do His homework from the Father. It's okay for whites to claim other races wrongly cite racial bias, although race is usually  involved in the issue, and it took nearly 100 years and the Civil War before our white leaders freed slaves. God certainly has patience to permit this sin, which is being rekindled across America. Think of the lie our leaders propagated for 100 years, and some of the current leading politicians are preaching. Do you believe a just God won't punish us? It's okay to hate people in a same sex marriage? It's okay to hate women who have an abortion? Don't have to worry about men on this issue. After all, what did they have to do with the pregnancy? It's okay to bear false witness (lie) as long as it advances our personal understanding of Christ's direction? If we can't quote His teaching on these issues, it's okay because you can trust me.

God and Christ gave us eleven commandments, and Christ told us how to live our lives. We are expected to seek the truth about all of this, and we are expected to be honest about witnessing for our faith. There are people of several faiths who read this message and consider Christ to be a prophet. There are still Jews who have not accepted Him as Savior. A true Christian lifestyle and a mouth that doesn't pollute truth will lift Christianity up out of the downward spiral that is taking place. If you don't know Christ's words or the scripture, for the world's sake, shut up and listen.

Rev. Walbear