How do you become a Christian?Top
If you want to know about how you get to be a Christian, check How to do it!
How do you know God is real when you can't see him?Top
If you only believe what you can see then, how do you cope in a world without electricity, air or love? The invisible God has made himself known through creation, through Jesus Christ, through the
Bible, and through Christians (who do things like make web pages to tell you about him!) As you examine each of these the evidence that God is real is just overwhelming.
"It's alright for you, but I'll believe my thing."Top
What you believe is important - it's not good enough just to believe something. I could go on about how I believe the moon is made of cheese but it doesn't mean it's right. I could believe that
lying in the fast lane of the M5 won't harm my health, but that doesn't make it acceptable and desirable. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, the Life. No one comes to God except through me."
Either Jesus is who he claimed to be - the Son of God - and so is the One we should all give respect to and follow, or he isn't. He hasn't left any middle ground open to us. He didn't intend to.
Church is boring - how can you stand it?Top
In the same way a football fan endures the odd 0-0 draw in the hope of seeing that classic match which is talked about forever. Sometimes church won't seem as exciting as at others, but that doesn't
mean we should give up going. You'd be a great supporter if you cheered from outside the ground. Get real - you want to be in there getting a slice of the action, and cheering your team on - giving your
support. It's the same if we go to church only expecting to get; there are times we need to give too - to God and to others. If we go asking God to bless us in some way there is usually something in the
service that will do us good, even if the style and pitch of the meeting is not geared to our age group. That doesn't take anything away from the responsibility of the church leadership to make their
services Biblically relevant and life giving in the 21st century.
Which Bible is the best one?Top
You can get by with any Bible at all but, for young people, we generally recommend the Youth Bible - Take a look at our Review of the Youth Bible to see why.
Who made God?Top
No one made God. He is what Christians (and the Bible) calls eternal. He never had a beginning nor has an end. That’s a great comfort to me because no one is able to tell me what happened before the “big
bang”, which some scientists go on about. It also means He will always be around to look after me.
The whole concept of beginnings and endings does not apply to God because He exists outside of time (He made that too) . We find that hard to understand (well, it gives me a headache anyway) because our
life, the universe we live in, and everything in it, has a beginning and an end - but that is what makes God God, and that is why Christians think He is so cool.
How can we be certain that Jesus is around when there is suffering in the world?Top
One of the real evidences of Jesus in this world, is the number of Christians who go to where there is suffering and try to help. They don't get paid. They don't want fame. They just know that's where
Jesus would have them be. What sort of world would it be, if God took all these people away from us?
Do you believe that God loves everyone, - including Hitler and Stalin?Top
Yes I do. God loves us all. He hates our sin, whether that include the destruction of 6 million Jews or the elimination of the Kulaks. However, the Bible teaches that God’s love is not conditional, and
none of us are beyond the reach of God’s love.
The Nazi Foreign Minister was Joachim von Ribbentrop. It was he, avowedly anti-semitic and one of Hitler’s “strong boys”, who had signed the Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939. After World war Two, on 20 November
1945 he was indicted at the Nuremberg trials for crimes against humanity – inhumane treatment of civilians, exterminations and persecutions on racial and religious grounds.
Through the witness of Henry Grecke, an American Army Chaplain assigned to the Nuremberg prisoners, Ribbentrop, aged 52, turned from being an ardent Nazi to Jesus Christ. In September 1946 he received
Christ as Saviour. On 17 October 1946 he was hanged as the sentence given at Nuremberg was carried out.
He wasn’t the only one of that group of the world’s most notorious war criminals to experience the love of God. Fritz Sauckel and Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the High Command of the Armed
Forces, both received Christ in the months before they were hanged. SS Colonel Schellenberg, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder and Baldur von Schirach, Hitler Youth Leader all received Christ before receiving
various prison terms.
Some of the top Nazis who also had visits from Gerecke and heard him preach chose to harden their hearts and died without Christ. These included Hitler’s Minister of the Luftwaffe Herman Goering (whose
daughter Edda had prayed for “God to open my Daddy’s heart and let Jesus in”) who committed suicide in his cell. Alfred Rosenberg, Reich Minister for the Occupied Territories, refused to let the chaplain
pray for him before he was hanged.
Through the cross of Jesus there is forgiveness for even the worst sinner, but we have to choose to accept God’s love. There is no doubt God loves us all, but do we love him?
What is the difference between Christians and non-Christians?Top
Not a lot! The only thing that makes Christians “different” is that they have been saved (from what and by whom I hear you ask?). If I said to you, a fireman saved a child from a burning house you would
understand this? Yes? If I said that a Probation Officer saved a young criminal from a wasted life by spending time with him and helping him to develop a career - you understand this too? Yes? Well in a
similar way Jesus has saved me from a fate worse than a burning house - namely Hell itself. Hell is worse than your worst nightmare. But, more positively, Jesus has saved me from a wasted life of selfish
indulgence. He has given me the opportunity to make a real and lasting difference in this world. He gives me the opportunity to be everything He made me to be, to fulfil my potential. You tell me if
anyone could do better than that for me!!
What about other religions?Top
I don't know too many details about the religions or the people who follow them. I'm not particularly interested in religions. Jesus was not into religion either! Religions never saved anyone nor will
they. I'm talking about a relationship with a real person - God. Isn't it fantastic that we have the capacity to know God and converse with Him - who wants religion? God certainly doesn't.
Are there any big commitments you have to make when becoming a Christian?Top
I let you know if I make one! Seriously, there isn't anything onerous (big word) about becoming a Christian. I still have the same personality. I still make mistakes (I’m human after all). The brilliant
thing is that although God challenges me on my behaviour he doesn't beat me like some ogre. Rather as a really loving, gentle, true Father he leads me on guiding me to be all that he wants me to be -
ultimately like his Son. Yes some things have to change - but it is always for the better even it doesn't seem that way at the time. Tell me how would you take a sharp knife away from a two year old
without him hurting himself. You wouldn't try snatching since that could endanger you or him. Better, you would offer him a sweet/ice-cream etc. he would instantly drop the knife and reach out for
something better. Have I given you a clue?
Has your social life changed?Top
Absolutely!! I felt so sorry for many friends and work colleagues over the years who have boring evenings and weekends - where they get drunk, get hurt in relationships or simply are bored. No two days
are the same with Jesus. I seem to be rushed off my feet. Above that I count it a privilege to know so many Christians who call me "friend" - Above all I have the honour to be married to a
wonderful Godly woman and have three wonderful teenage children.
Do you ever have any doubts?Top
Yes! It isn't all plain sailing. There have been times where I have not been sure what God had planned for me. That can be very disconcerting. It is at those times that I need Godly friends (and the Lord
has never failed to provide them) and wise counsel together with lorry loads of prayer. Oddly enough I always feel so much better after those bad times.
Do you enjoy being a Christian?Top
I love it. I became a Christian at 19 so I have now spent more of my life being a Christian (yes your maths is good I am over 38). The greatest benefit is that I can face the future knowing that God has
still got the best for me to come.
Do you believe in sex before marriage?Top
You have to ask yourself whether a relationship is more important than a physical act. When you think of the opposite sex, is it with a view as to how they can benefit you, or is it rather how you can
benefit them? How would you feel if someone said they loved you simply to get you into bed and then dumped you soon after - would you not feel used? How would that affect your relationship, generally,
with the opposite sex? Wouldn't it affect you in a negative way. Do you really think that a loving God wants us to all go around hurting, using and abusing one another? And what about all the people
surrounding that relationship, eg parents, brothers, sisters, close friends etc.
The act of sex is the culmination of two people whose love has committed them to a life long partnership from which nothing will separate them. How would you feel if someone was prepared to NEVER leave
you under ANY circumstances - that your relationship could NEVER be broken? I have been married 17 years - my wife has proved her marriage vows many times. Our marriage is stronger now than it has ever
been - and God has had a lot to do with that. That doesn't mean I should take it for granted. She needs to know I love her more now than I have ever done - in both deed and word. We have been up against
it on a few occasions - it is such a comfort to KNOW at least one person is on your side. Now sex will never give you that - a marriage based on true love will.
More importantly - it is not enough for a Christian to marry another Christian. He/she must be the Christian that God chooses for you. I have seen some great young people ruined in their service to the
Lord because they married the wrong Christian!
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