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FROM THE PASTOR'S STUDY

Topic: Faith

Trust Me!

by Darrel Cline
(darrelcline biblical-thinking.org)

Why are you of the religious persuasion that you are? If you are an atheist, why are you such? If you are a Buddhist, why are you such? If you are a Protestant of some kind, why are you what you are? If you are a Catholic, why are you such? If you practice the Jewish religion, why do you do so? How did you come to be what you are?

Some people are what they are because they were born into it by their natural birth. Their parents were whatever they now are. Other people are what they are because they married into it. They fell in love with someone whose religion required that their spouse be the same. So, in order to get married, they joined the group they now belong to. Still others are what they are because they wanted a religion, didn't have one (or didn't like the one their parents belonged to), and chose one for any number of reasons. And, still others are what they are because they came face to face with the Truth and ended up believing it.

So, which group do you fall into?

Next question: how important is it to you to be what you are religiously? Are you willing to support your organization with enthusiastic generosity, or do you begrudge your finances to your church? The typical American gives under 4% of his income to the church of his choice. That means that he doesn't care if his church survives or not.

Are you a regular attender of the services of your group? Or do you just want someone to marry and bury you when you have lived your life to suit yourself? Do you volunteer to serve in the activities of your church? If there is a sports event to attend and a regular meeting of your church at the same time, where do you go?

Did God establish the truth you go by? How do you know? Do you study His Word on a regular basis, or do you just depend on your church to tell it like it is? People who do not study the Scriptures are taken for suckers every day because deceitful propagandists are aware that people don't study on their own.

How will you answer these questions when God asks them? You don't have to answer me. I just write newspaper articles. You don't even have to read them. But, you will see God one day face to face and He is very much interested in which (if any) religious group you identify with and why. And, when He quizzes you on these things, He will do so with a perfect grip on your motives as well as actions.

Wouldn't it be better to deal with these issues now? Get your Bible out, dust it off, and get with the program! Then, when you begin to find out what it really says, you had better begin to check your religious organization out to see if it teaches what the Bible says. If it doesn't, be very sure that it will, instead, just tell you that you should believe in the church. These kind of authoritarians are never trustworthy. The true pastor wants you to be firmly founded upon the truth as it is in the Bible, the Word of God. The false pastor just wants you to trust him and go along with what he says and wants done.


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This is article #077.
If you wish, you may contact Darrel as darrelcline at this site.