Its true, Christians are not perfect, in fact, they are quite imperfect.   As you look at Christians as a whole you must realize that each one of them is in a different place in their walk of faith.   People are flawed, imperfect, sinful and just plain ignorant at times.   Add to that the individuals who simply want to create confusion, and those that want Christianity to affirm their personal beliefs, and you end up with a melting pot of ideas, ideologies and personal viewpoints.   Thats why as a Christian I am to trust in the truth of Scripture.   It is God's Word to humankind.   

At one point Jesus reminded the crowds that if they remained faithful to the end, they would inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.   But those who did not remain faithful to the truth of God would end up outside of the kingdom wondering why they were not invited in.   The truth is, we have to accept God as He is, and trust that He would never mislead us, and we need to understand that the culture around us is at odds with God.   This is why Jesus told us that as a Christian (or follower) our citizenship is not of this world, but the next.   Trust God, not the world we live in.

This is a very difficult question, one that comes up constantly!   Let me answer this in stages.   First, God does not "send" anyone anywhere, He allows all individuals to chose their eternal destiny.   This is one of the hardest concepts for people to understand.   Most people expect that at the end of their life, God will appear and automatically take them to Heaven.   

Secondly, people think that they are going to Heaven because they have self-evaluated themselves as being worthy.   "I'm a good person, I'm not a bank robber or murder, so I deserve to go to Heaven."   This is the thought process that most people go through.   If we are "good" in our own eyes, where else would we go?

Thirdly, Scripture tells us that God has placed the desire to find and know Him inside of the human heart.   Its a natural emptiness that we want to fill, even though sometimes we fill it with many things other than God.   

Fourthly, God's righteousness must be satisfied for anyone to be in His presence, especially for an eternity.   So God, being perfect, sacrificed Himself through the person of His Son Jesus for the sins of the world.   All that is required to be forgiven, and seen as righteous to God, is to believe solely in Jesus and His sacrifice on our behalf.   This is not easy to do, as we all want to control our own destiny.   

Finally, Jesus has told us over and over again, that to follow Him and be His Disciple, it will cost us everything.   This includes our will, as His will must reign supreme in our hearts.   Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit MUST be loved, honored and accepted freely by your own "choice."   Choose Jesus and submit to Him, and your new life in Christ, destined to be in Heaven, has just begun.

When we look at ourselves and compare ourselves to what "our" definition of "good" is, many times we don't see a lot of difference.   We do good things in life, we stay away from those things that we know are wrong, and we judge ourselves based on our understanding.   But God has tremendously higher standards.   In fact, we are judged directly against Him, that's why we never measure up!   Since God is perfectly holy and sinless, we need to be the same in order to be in His presence, especially for an eternity.   That's where Jesus comes in.    Jesus fills the void by accepting the punishment for our sins, allowing us to have a brand new start, and while God holds us accountable to His standards Jesus says "they're mine, I paid for them, so look at me when you are looking for who they are."   This changes the situation dramatically! When God looks at a believer in Jesus like me, He doesn't see my failures, instead He sees His Son Jesus, and His righteousness.   Problem solved.

Obedience is a theme that runs all through Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation.   God requires certain things of people.   The Ten Commandments is the beginning of it all.   God requires His people to be different than the rest of the world, we are to love others, be just in our actions and put God ahead of everything else in our lives, yes, even our families.   While I know that sounds harsh on the outside, putting God first in your life is actually the most good you could ever do for your loved ones.   God demands respect, honesty to name a few of the qualities He seeks, but more than all Jesus summed it up, just to make it easy to understand.

Matthew 22 
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.   This is the first and great commandment.   And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.   On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

This has been an issue for centuries.   Especially in the world today, we see a constant deluge of doubt and human understanding being hurrled at the Bible.   Today many people are changing the words of Scripture to support their own understanding of the way things should be, as well as taking it out of context to support their individual ideals.   But the real question that no one wants to address is this: Is the Bible God's Holy and perfect Word to humanity?
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The way I see it, if God is all-powerful, and omnipotent, and he has done all that I have read about in Scripture, then I really don't have any problem with God writing me a book!   In fact, since God demands obedience and faithfulness from His people, how could He demand that if we didn't have it written down?

The answer is found in the gift that God has given us (is in His likeness) ... its called "free will."   As people that were created to be in a loving, eternal relationship with God, free will must be part of what we were created to be.   In order to "love" God, it has to be freely chosen.   If free will did not exist, then we would be like robots, programed to do and feel certain things.   Since a relationship with God is the goal of human existence, we must be able to "chose" it, to "chose" to love God.   

Suffering comes from a world that is broken because of the poor choices that humanity has made, and continues to make.   If God were to intervene and remove suffering, then "free will" would also have to be removed.
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But be of good spirit, for Jesus has overcome the world and offers us a way to return to the close, personal and loving relationship humanity had in the beginning.

Great question!   In a nutshell, God's plan is to offer redemption to all of humanity.   Anyone that wants to re-establish an eternal loving humble submissive relationship with God can do so.   All that is required is that we recognize God as the one true God, repent of our sins, confess our sins to God, and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.   In essence, we need to give our lives, will and heart back to God.

Many will approach this saving relationship with God only for themselves.    "Sure, I'll accept God's salvation through Jesus" they will say, but in reality, they are only trying to manipulate God to the point that they get what they want.   But God sees through our hearts and intentions.  If we chose to love Him and serve Him that's one thing, but, if we chose to use this offer simply to get what we want (salvation for eternity), it will never happen and we will be left on the outside looking in.   For more about the offer of God's salvation, send me an email through this website and I will gladly answer your questions to the best of my ability.

We all want to know: God, what are you really like?   Are You and introvert, and extrovert, or what?   Are You old, young, funny, serious, what is Your personality all about?

First of all, we have to understand that the human intellect is incapable of fully comprehending the nature of God.   What we know about Him is what He has revealed to us through His Holy Spirit.   God wants us to know Him, but in the fallen state that we are living in, its impossible.   

Is He a kill-joy?   Is He a Santa of sorts, or maybe someone from a Star Wars movie?   What we do know is this: Jesus Christ is the physical manifestation of God Himself.   You want to know God ... go look at Jesus!

One of the most difficult barriers to overcome as a beginning Christian is to understand that I will never fully understand God!   Its just impossible!   As I read His Word, a plethora of questions will take residence in my heart, like the one above.   As I try to understand God, I want to first start out with His origin, where did He come from?   But, the question is one that has only one true answer, and that is that God has always been, so great, so magnificent, that He was not created, He simply has existed forever.

​Now if that doesn't blow the mind of a new Christian seeker, nothing will!    How do I believe that God is real, but has no beginning?   Its a concept that my human mind cannot comprehend.   So, when it comes to the origin of God, it takes faith, not reason and stastics, but faith.   And faith is not like a light-switch, something you can turn on and off.   No, faith has to be nurtured and grown.   The good news is that God will provide the nourishment and the water, we simply need to receive.

​This is the beginning of a journey we will take together as we grow in our relationship with each other, and God.   Comment below ...