Thoughts about: but because you are not of this world?

Jesus Christ said in John 15:18-19: "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."

These are clear words of our Lord. But what is the reality? How many who claim to be Christians are actually hated by the world? How many who claim to be Christians, still believe unbroken to the revealed word of God in the Bible? To find answers, we compare again, what the world teaches us and what God us teaches in His Word! Then we look at, which teaching will be do today believed!

The world teaches us that the earth and all life millions of years ago by a "Big Bang" have emerged. This doctrine is widely accepted and is taught in schools! A great many people who call themselves Christians, are agree with this theory.

God tells us, that He had created the earth and all life, in seven days with 24 hours. When you study in the Bible, then you can find out that this was done, around six thousand years ago. This doctrine will be rejected by many people, also of so-called Christians.

Both of these Event history cannot be proved, because no today alive human, has personally seen. Thus, there is no eyewitnesses in both cases; therefore is needs the faith!

The world teaches us, that the human is descended from apes, and has evolved over thousands of years, to what he is today. This doctrine is also widely accepted and is taught to our children. There are Christians that also believe in this theory.

God teaches us, that he had formed man out of clay, made ​​him godlike and breathed into him the breath of life. He also teaches, that he has done this in a day, so that, the human had to not needed to develop; because since his creation he was always what he is today. Even this doctrine today will be rejected by many people, even many Christians.

Here again we have the same dilemma. Of both teaching, there are no living witnesses, so here also faith is needed!

Because in these examples, the faith is always necessary, I want to you explain again, the importance of the concept of faith: "The English word Faith, is in the here discussed sense used as a translation of the Greek noun pistis with the basic meaning „loyalty, trust." The associated verb is pisteuein ("be faithful, trust"). The primary meaning was: "I put trust in ... I tie my existence at ... I'm true to ...". The word therefore aims confidence, obedience (compare: vow, betrothal), faithfulness. “  (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaube)

A prayer of Christians begins with the words: "I believe in God ..." Is this today really the case?

The Christian world has taught since the year 321 after Christ that Sunday is the Lord's Day and the day of rest is. This secular doctrine can be proved on the basis of history. The world and so-called Christians are agree with this theory, and on Sundays are not working.

God has been teaching since of creation; remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt on this day not working do, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and your cattle, nor your stranger within your gates. For in six days the LORD made ​​the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. This doctrine we do not find, in history books of the human; we find only in the Bible. The early Christians sanctified this until such time, as a church law that was decided at the Council of Laodicea (343-381 AD), it forbade them under threat of punishment. This in turn can be found in the history books. ("Christians should not be idly by kind of Jews on the Sabbath, but rather should work on that day. Christians have to give preference the Lord's Day (Sunday) and rest as Christians, if they must not work. But if they invented as Judaizing, they are of Christ excluded. ")

Source: http://urchristen.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/das-erste-sonntagsgesetz-oder-die-grose-sonntagsluge/

I believe in God? Is that with to them so, or they believe the world?

At the end of my today article, I would like due to some criticism I've gotten, to emphasize once again: I have never and will never claim that my posts is the only correct interpretation of God's Word. I do see my posts not as interpretation. I am aware that I am only a sinful man, and like everyone else, I need the mercy of God. My posts are thoughts and inspirations that I have during Bible study and prayer, and should serve as an inspiration for his own Bible study.

As so often, I want to emphasize again how important it today is to consider itself in the Bible, all what you heard and read. Every person takes the time for what he loves the most. Everyone which loves Christ, should take daily time, which he spends with Bible reading and prayer.

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. Ford all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Amen (1. Peter 1, 13-25)

Thoughts about target groups church service

Of course, I know that this title sounds ridiculous and is certainly not biblical. But on 18.08.2013 I read a post on Facebook, which had been posted by Idea (http://www.idea.de). The article reported the fact that both the evangelical - as well as the Catholic Church actually spends its money for target group analysis and marketing strategies for specialized church services, approximately for youth, singles, families, bikers, soccer fans, art lovers and people with dementia to elaborate and apply.

I thought at first, that this article is a joke, a hoax. But in the article one could be read, that from radio Germany was dealt this question on 17 August in a broadcast. Next was to read, that two target group church services from Köln have been presented in the broadcast. A single-church service with 35 visitors by the Catholics and one evangelical church service for women by women with 20 visitors.

Up to this moment, I always thought, that target group analysis and marketing, are things of this world, for example to be able, to sell luxury items more effective.

But this post has taught me otherwise and shows me, how fraternizes with the world are the two great churches already. The people in the managerial level of these churches are no more called by God! These are humans, who do not know the Word of God. How else would it be possible, to such a sick idea to come, that we could bring the Word of God with advertising strategies, better to the man?

Jesus Christ Himself said in John 6, 44: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."

Even clearer he said in John 6, 65: "And he said, therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."

I think the contribution from Idea-media shows us, that the two churches are no longer be interested in God and His Word. These churches want only visitors and humans who pay their church tax. If in the leadership levels of these churches still God-fearing people were working, then they would know, that it does not require any advertising strategies, in order to make people familiar with the Gospel. It is enough, preach to the truth of the Word of God, and for the rest let work the Holy Spirit.

From my own experience I know, that no promotion strategy, would bring me to the vicinity to God. It was the wonderful works, which God did to me as he pulled me to him, which convinced me, to follow Jesus Christ. It was also the Holy Spirit, of taught me to understand the words of Paul in 2.Timothy 4, 2-5: "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry."

Exact due these words I would realize, how many fables are taught by the churches in our day.

I pray to God, that people are finally beginning to read the Bible more closely and then compare what they have read, with that which is told in the churches.

The LORD reigned; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubim’s; let the earth be moved. The LORD is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy. The king’s strength also loved judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them. He spoke unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them. Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions. Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy. Amen (Psalm 99, 1-9)

Thoughts to the Sabbath

One of the ten commandments of God is: "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (Exodus 20, 8 - 11)

This shows us, God is it exceedingly important, that everyone who belongs to his people, the Sabbath sanctify!

What can we find out about the Sabbath, via the Internet? In Wikipedia I found some interesting points: "the Sabbath, even Shabbat (Hebrew: שבת ʃabat, plural Sabbaths; Ashkenazi pronunciation: ʃabos, Yiddish: Shabbos, German: rest day ',' rest ') is in Judaism the seventh day, a day of rest, on which no work is to be done. It begins like every day in the Jewish calendar according to Genesis 1.5 in the evening and lasts from sunset on Friday until nightfall on the following Saturday. He already carries in the Tanach its own name, while the rest of the week are named in Hebrew to this day with their ordinal numbers.

The Old Church named the days of the week unchanged as the Jews and celebrated the Sabbath at least until the year 130 AD.

Constantine the Great made the Sunday 321 AD for legal public holiday and rest day, to privilege Christian religious services. Thus replacing the Sunday in Christianity the Sabbath as a weekly holiday.

In the Anti-Judaism of the Middle Ages Christians take part in the medieval tradition to taunt the Sabbath. For example, with satirical cartoons. The Spanish Inquisition persecuted Marranos, by searching for typical Sabbath features. Glowing candles, extinguished furnaces, clean shirts, crisp tablecloths on the Sabbath in their homes were indicia, to arrest converted Jews; to torture after arrest and in the end most were burned." (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbat)

On another website I found an interesting old newspaper article: "Sunday is a Catholic institution ... From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single section, which justifies, the transfer of the weekly day of rest, from last to the first day of the week.“ (The Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, July 1900)

Out of such records it is clear, that it is only by laws, persecution, torture and murder was possible to dissuade early Christians from the observance of the Sabbath commandment. The bad thing is, that the main reason for this misdeed against God's will, was the anti-Judaism.

Until the present day, all Christian churches try to give a human explanation of; why Sunday is too hallow; although in the Word of God he is not mentioned a single time. Many people believe more this incorrect explanations of humans than the Word of God. That is what makes myself very sad.

God spoke very often about his Sabbath. In the Exodus 35, 1-2 it is written: "Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do: For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death."

In Isaiah 56, 2, we read: "Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."

That Sabbath is to be sanctified; from all those seek God, we read in Isaiah 56, 4-8: "For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant— to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to serve him, to love the name of the Lord, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The Sovereign Lord declares— he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered."

It is also Isaiah, who describes us, what God has promised, for those, who gain eternal life. Thus we read in Isaiah 66, 22-24: "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord. “And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind."

I pray, that people will finally begin to give more credence to the Bible the word of God, than by human’s fictitious rumours and bogus explanations.

We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds. You say, “I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge uprightly. When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm. Selah To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more, and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns. Do not lift your horns against heaven; do not speak with outstretched neck.’ ” No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. In the hand of the Lord is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs. As for me, I will declare this forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob. I will cut off the horns of all the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up. Amen (Psalm 75)

Thoughts on Spiritual Growth

The eighth proof for genuine and true faith is spiritual growth.

What is spiritual growth?

In Wikipedia we find the following word description for the mentally: "Mentally is on the mind (in the Christian sense) based, which is the translation from the Greek pneumatikos and Latin spiritualis. In the Bible and in religious texts is carnally often the opposite from spiritual (carnally means not always just the body, but also sometimes the complete unredeemed people)." (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geistlich)

For Growth I found in the Internet, also a beautiful statement: "growth as a human being means, that we are learn, train ourselves and thus expand our capabilities and settings."

Thereby resulting for spiritual growth that we should base on the spirit learn to and train our capabilities and settings to expand. To can start spiritual growth requires first a good seed, as Jesus Christ tells us in Luke 8, 15: "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."

The word of our Lord Jesus Christ, we can hear to best when we read in the Bible. The risk of false teaching is not given. No one needs to fear that he does not understand the words of Jesus Christ, the Lord himself has us even in John 15, 1 - 6 communicated: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned."

Thus we see that if we abide in Jesus Christ, we will understand all his words and teachings by him. But if we are not in Jesus Christ and remain, then no one can help us to understand the words and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately many people in our time for that reason alone in danger Jesus Christ not to be found, because they do not want to take the time, to look in the Bible his fellowship. Much rather they let tell stories and explain the Bible from others.

You disregard the warning of the Apostle Paul, which he in Ephesians 4, 12 - 16 put it: "to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."

For many centuries, most people are already seduced by deceitful scheming, because they know the word of God from the Bible not or too little. Therefore they sanctify not the Shabbat God's and celebrate feasts for Jesus Christ which God has not willed. It does not matter to them, that they find not a word in the Bible on the by them practiced rites. It is enough for them, that churches, which accept rules, invented by people, teaching them that this is ok. This rites been seemingly have always been there, therefore they think, this rites must to be right.

I say to you, searches the real Jesus Christ in the Bible and remains in him and if ye shall ask in prayer, he will guide you to recognize the truth. This is exactly what we call spiritual growth!

The truth does not come from humans, from God comes the truth. The truth can only be found, those who seriously looking communion with God and his son. This community but can only be found in prayer and in the Bible. Jesus Christ has nothing that is in the Bible repealed or abolished. He did only away what people who call themselves scribes, had by false interpretations to God's Word added.

I pray that you wish to accept and love the word of God. God bless you! Shalom

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. Amen 
(Proverbs 3, 1 – 12)