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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Love Like Jesus–Don’t Give ‘Til It Hurts (and what that has to do with your inner circle)
Inner Circle
Loving and Giving Until It Hurts
Carol is a single mother with a heart as big as the moon. She loves strays of all kinds: stray dogs, stray cats, stray iguanas (today she informed me there’s a local herpetological society that will contribute toward your care of a stray iguana). She also loves stray people. But early in life she thought she could help a stray person who was struggling. She was sure that with enough love she could bring out the good person she knew lived inside him. She loved him, and loved, him, and loved him. But no matter how much love she gave, she couldn’t compete with his addiction. He spent his money (and hers) on his habit. He neglected her. He neglected his job. He neglected his kids. Finally he left. Not to be deterred, she found another stray. Surely with enough love she would turn this person around. But the pattern repeated until he finally left too. Now and again she would surround herself with several stray people at a time, each one was in a dark place, and that too sent her life into a destructive spin.
So she asked me today, How does this work? We’re supposed to love people like Jesus loved people, but how do we do that without our good efforts deteriorating into something self destructive? Read More
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Posted on April 12, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
addiction, celebrate recovery, codependency, codependent, give till it hurts, Love like Jesus, love till it hurts
Go Measure the Heavens
Bow Shock Around LL Orionis (spans trillions of kilometers) – Hubble Telescope Image
[You might also like Why is Christianity So Restrictive]
References:
C.H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Sermons on Jesus and the Holy Spirit, 2006, Hendrickson Publishers, p. 399
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Posted on April 10, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
Christian, Go measure the heavens, God loves you, how do I know God loves me, Jesus, love, Spurgeon
Father Francis Beaten, Then Shot Twice in the Head
Father Francis Beaten and Shot
Dutch Jesuit Priest, Father Francis Van Der Lugt, was killed by a masked gunman–shot twice in the head. He was killed at a monastery in the Syrian rebel stronghold of Bustan al-Diwan. Some report that he was beaten before he was shot.
Father Francis was famous for his refusal to leave Bustan al-Diwan in spite of the obvious danger. In a video interview from February, 2014 he was asked why he wasn’t taking advantage of the opportunity to leave Syria and return to the safety of his home in the Netherlands. Father Francis said he didn’t want to abandon the twenty-eight remaining Christians, and that even if there were no Christians, he would stay to help all Syrians.
One of his passions was rescuing the religious art in the area from the destruction of the war. He would often search through the rubble of churches and mosques looking for the remains of religious artwork, some pieces as old as 1,000 years.
Father Francis laid down his life for his friends–even as his Savior did.
References:
John 15:13
Luke Chapter 23
Jerusalem Post
BBC
Catholic Herald
NOS
Video: Homs priest says “‘hunger’ is the biggest problem”
NY Times
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Posted on April 7, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
News
Bustan al-Diwan, Dutch Priest shot, Father Francis Van Der Lugt, Jesuit priest shot, Syria, Syrian rebel
Senna Part 2–Teach us to number our days: Psalm 90:12
From the archives, one of our most popular posts.
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Posted on April 5, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary
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: 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
1 Corinthians 1:24, bible-verse-equation-answer-Proverbs-4:7 1-Corinthians-1:24, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Proverbs 4:7, the wisdom of God, wisdom
Solve This Equation
Solve this equation: Proverbs 4:7 + 1 Corinthians 1:24 = X
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Posted on March 15, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study
1 Corinthians 1:24, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Proverbs 4:7, the wisdom of God, wisdom
Where Wisdom is Given Abundantly and for Free
You know that guy who’s intimidating. The one who makes you feel like he’s unapproachable. Maybe at some point he had information you needed, but you didn’t ask him for it did you? You didn’t ask him for it because you were afraid he’d come down on you if you did.
Well God won’t respond like that.
I’ve read James 1:5 at least a dozen times, but I never saw it until this morning. What it says is that God will never come down on you when you ask Him for wisdom.
So ask Him.
God was pleased when Solomon asked for wisdom. He’ll be pleased when you do too.
[Image via walknboston – Creative Commons]
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Posted on March 12, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study
1 Kings 3, Bible, God wisdom, James 1:5, prayer, wisdom
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
RC Sproul on Truth and the Age of the Earth
So R.C. Sproul stands in front of a seminary class and asks the question, “How many of you believe God’s revelation in scripture is infallible?” They all raised their hand.
Then he asked, “Well how many of you believe God’s revelation in nature is infallible?” Nobody raised their hand. “How can that be?” Sproul asks. “It’s the same God giving the revelation.”
All truth is God’s truth.
You might want to check out the video. Sproul says it so much better than I can.
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Posted on March 6, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Seeker
age of the earth, Christianity, creationism, R.C. Sproul, science and the Bible, Sproul, young earth
Profile of a Doubter: Genuine Seeker (Part 9)
Let’s Also Go, So We Can Die With Him
So you’re a doubter. Or maybe you know someone who is. You might be interested to hear the story of a doubter in the Bible.
Here’s the scene: The Jews tried to kill Jesus in Judea near Jerusalem. So Jesus is hanging with his disciples a safe distance away in the area of Jericho. It’s then that Jesus hears about his good friend coming down with a fatal illness. People are begging him to come and help because things have gotten to the point where he’s the only possible solution. The only problem is Jesus’ friend has fallen ill near Jerusalem. So if Jesus goes to help, he’ll have to return to the same area where the Jews just tried to assassinate him. But Jesus says, without any apparent concern, “Let’s go there again.”
The disciples react, they say, “The Jews just tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?”
And it’s at this point that Thomas, commonly known as “Doubting Thomas,” says something amazing. He says, Read More
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Posted on March 1, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Seeker
Christianity, Doubt, Doubting Thomas, Is Jesus real, Profile of a Doubter, why do I doubt
God Knows How to Drink Coffee and Fix Computers
“God knows how to do everything… He knows how to drink coffee… He knows how to fix computers…” – Annie (my 7yr old) #kidtheology @coryburket
My friend Cory Burket put this out on Twitter yesterday. I just had to share it.
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Posted on February 26, 2014 by Kurt Bennett
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Annie Burket, Cory Burket, God, God knows how to drink coffee, God knows how to drink coffee and fix computers, God knows how to fix computers, kid theology, kids say the darndest things
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