Why is Christianity so hard? It’s not. Not if you’re all in. What I’ve found in myself and observing others is that if you live your life for yourself, you’ll experience a certain level of comfort, or, if not comfort, then at least some measure of self gratification. But if you give yourself completely to Christ, you’ll experience an abundant life–the best life possible. It’s when you or I are in between that it gets hard.
Jesus said the Christian life is narrow (Matthew 7:13-14), but he never said it’s hard. In fact he said it’s easy. (Matthew 11:28-30) The thing is, it doesn’t become easy until you’re all in. Jesus said he came so we could have a rich abundant life (John 10:10), but you and I won’t experience that rich abundant life unless we connect with Christ to the fullest extent we can.
I think many Christians today find Christianity hard because they’re not disciples. It might seem like a paradox but the deeper you go in Christ, the richer and more abundant your life becomes. You love God more. You grow more. You love people more. And you also lose yourself, and that part can be scary. You lose yourself because your focus turns away from you and toward loving God and loving people. That idea can be frightening. It’s frightening because we don’t want to let go of ourselves. We fear losing the self-life. But if you ever have the courage to try it, if you ever find the courage to just plunge into Jesus Christ and become a real follower of him and his words, you’ll discover what many have discovered before you:
Intimacy with Jesus results in the best life possible.
“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” -Jesus Christ, Matthew 16:25
Lose yourself in Jesus Christ, and see what happens to your life.
[Image via Pictoscribe – Creative Commons]
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Torah to be Preserved–on the Moon?
Last post we looked at a guy who transcribed a copy of the complete Torah, with perfect accuracy, using a feather pen and a sheepskin parchment (it took him eight years). Today I saw a story about how the moon might be used to preserve the Torah. As newscientist.com put it, the moon will be used as sort of a backup hard drive for the supercomputer we call Earth. Let me explain. Read More
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Posted on May 30, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, News, Seeker
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Man Copies Torah Without a Single Mistake (Using a Feather Pen and a Sheepskin Parchment)
Epstein said of his accomplishment:
Epstein followed the Jewish tradition of speaking each word out loud, and then speaking each letter in that word out loud before writing it. Read More
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Posted on May 24, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, News, Seeker
Bible accurate, Bible reliable, Is the Bible reliable, Richard Epstein, scribe, sofer, Torah
The Meaning of Life
What are you living for?
References:
Leo Tolstoy, A Confession
Kevin Kim
Timothy Keller
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Posted on May 21, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Seeker
God, Jesus, meaning of life, Tolstoy, what is the meaning of life, why live
The Bible: It’s Out of Date and Irrelevant–Isn’t It?
It’s trendy right now to hold that opinion of the Bible. But is it true? Jesus’ acts and his words, passed down through a long process of oral tradition can’t possibly be accurate, could they? Read More
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Posted on May 17, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Is Jesus real, Seeker
Bible accurate, Bible irrelevant, Bible outdated, Is the Bible accurate, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, Richard Bauckham, Zacharias
If You’re Avoiding God Intentionally, Don’t Read This
You have no desire to go to church. The effort to get up, get ready, drive to church, and sit for an hour listening to mundane platitudes with a group of people you don’t even know, it just feels pointless.
God doesn’t feel personal, He doesn’t even feel present.
Where is God anyway?
You ask yourself, “Why can’t I find Him?”
Do you want to know why? Do you really want to find Him? Or are you avoiding Him intentionally.
If you’re avoiding Him intentionally then stop reading now. Read More
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Posted on May 15, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
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bible boring, church is boring, how can I find God, My faith is dry, Practicing the presence of God, seeking God
Bad Christian Examples (and what that has to do with Blazers’ point guard Damian Lillard)
I’ve been watching the NBA playoffs lately. Mostly Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard knocked down an amazing three point shot at the buzzer at the end of the sixth game, to win the series against the Houston Rockets. It was epic. I’ve heard that Lillard has, heroes. Heroes who inspire him. Tony Parker, Jason Kidd, and Brandon Roy just to name a few. And obviously, studying these successful NBA guards produced results in Damian Lillard. It’s a big part of what makes him great today.
Occasionally I’ll come across an article about the worst draft busts in NBA history, or the worst NBA players ever to set foot on the court. You know I never hear anything about any up and coming young NBA players studying those guys. I don’t hear about Damian Lillard studying bad examples of NBA point guards. He’s focused on the Parkers, Kidds, and Roys of the league. It’s part of what makes him a successful basketball player.
So here’s my question: Read More
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Posted on May 10, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
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Sleeping In
“I’m so grateful for those words,” I said to myself. And I decided to sleep in.
And I know that would have been fine in the eyes of the Father, to sleep in on Sunday morning. But suddenly I found myself awake somehow. It was one of those mornings when I somehow just couldn’t continue to sleep. So I jumped in the car and headed to church. And when I was there, I heard these words:
“Be gracious to people. Be as kind as you possibly can.”
He was teaching on the woman caught in adultery. A teaching I’ve heard a hundred times. I didn’t realize it at that moment, but Read More
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Posted on May 3, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
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church, did Jesus go to church, did the disciples go to church, why go to church
Which Thief Are You?
Crosses Path, Lourdes, France
In our last post we looked at why Jesus had to die. We looked at a great truth: how he had to die because of what you already know about yourself. How you already know the hurt your anger causes, and how it rears its ugly head too easily and too often. You already know you look at things God wouldn’t have you look at, say things God wouldn’t have you say, do things God wouldn’t have you do.
You know, and so does God.
But God’s love is so powerful, if you just humble yourself and talk to Him, and confess those sins you committed against Him–He will forgive you. Look at Jesus, hanging on the cross, in the very process of dying, yet what did he say to the thief hanging next to him?
The thief said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, Read More
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Posted on April 19, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
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Easter, Easter thief on the cross, thief on the cross, Which thief are you
What You Already Know About Good Friday
Why did Jesus have to die?
Why did Jesus have to die? Why did he die on Good Friday? The truth is, you already know. If you let your conscience loose long enough, you already know your anger hurts people you care about. You already recognize you put images in front of your eyes that God, out of love, would have you avoid. You already know how slow you’ve been to step up and contribute to your family, the way you know God would have you to.
You already know you lack humility before God.
You already know.
And so does God.
Why?
God is perfect. And God’s justice is perfect. And God’s love is perfect. So what is He to do then? How can God reconcile His perfect justice with His perfect love? Here we have a seemingly impossible dilemma because one thing is certain: you sin against God, and so do I, and so does every living human being on the planet. Even a glance at Matthew chapter five confirms it. (Matthew 5:21-48) Yet when you look at the life of God in flesh and blood, when you look at the life of Jesus Christ, it’s impossible not to see how He loves us, in spite of our sin.
So what is God to do then, with His perfect justice and His perfect love? God Read More
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Posted on April 17, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Seeker
Easter, Easter why did Jesus have to die, Good Friday, why did Jesus have to die, Why is Good Friday good
Why is Christianity so Difficult?
Jesus said the Christian life is narrow (Matthew 7:13-14), but he never said it’s hard. In fact he said it’s easy. (Matthew 11:28-30) The thing is, it doesn’t become easy until you’re all in. Jesus said he came so we could have a rich abundant life (John 10:10), but you and I won’t experience that rich abundant life unless we connect with Christ to the fullest extent we can.
I think many Christians today find Christianity hard because they’re not disciples. It might seem like a paradox but the deeper you go in Christ, the richer and more abundant your life becomes. You love God more. You grow more. You love people more. And you also lose yourself, and that part can be scary. You lose yourself because your focus turns away from you and toward loving God and loving people. That idea can be frightening. It’s frightening because we don’t want to let go of ourselves. We fear losing the self-life. But if you ever have the courage to try it, if you ever find the courage to just plunge into Jesus Christ and become a real follower of him and his words, you’ll discover what many have discovered before you:
Intimacy with Jesus results in the best life possible.
Lose yourself in Jesus Christ, and see what happens to your life.
[Image via Pictoscribe – Creative Commons]
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Posted on March 29, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Seeker
Christian, Christianity easy, Christianity hard, Surrender Yourself to God, why is Christianity so hard
The Answer to Proverbs 4:7 + 1 Corinthians 1:24 = X
Last post I asked you to solve the equation: Proverbs 4:7 + 1 Corinthians 1:24 = X
We had some great responses to this equation in the comments section. In this post I’ll share my own solution. (If this is your first time seeing this equation, and you want to solve it yourself, stop now and look up the Proverbs 4:7 and 1 Corinthians 1:24)
Bible Verse Equation Answer
Proverbs 4:7 says, “Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” (NIV) And the same verse in the King James version says, “Wisdom is the principal thing.”
1 Corinthians 1:24 says that Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God.
So from those scriptures I come to this solution:Â Proverbs 4:7 + 1 Corinthians 1:24 =
Jesus Christ is the principal thing. Get Jesus. Though it cost all you have, get Jesus.
[Image via Johannes Winger-Lang – Creative Commons]
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Posted on March 22, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Seeker
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Why is Christianity So Restrictive?
Bow Shock Around LL Orionis – Hubble Telescope Image
The Bible Says No, and Obnoxious Christians
I understand. You don’t see why people shouldn’t be allowed to have sex before getting married. And there’s plenty of other restrictions in the Bible that don’t make sense to you either. And that Christian guy you know who prays that God will help him beat the next level of Candy Crush, and the Christian lady who has the bumper sticker that says, “After the rapture, you’ll wish your car had a Christian bumper sticker,” well–they are really obnoxious about what the Bible says not to do. And there’s no logic to some of it. It doesn’t make sense. It’s just too restrictive.
What if God Thinks Like This? Read More
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Posted on March 8, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Seeker
Objections to Christianity, Why is Christianity so narrow, Why is Christianity so restrictive, Why is the Bible against, Why is the Bible so judgmental
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