Where the Bible (Torah/Qu'Ran) gives explicitlycontradictory messages, how do you decide which to follow?  If the Bible or other text is meant to be takenas a metaphor, then in what way is it still God's revelation to His people?  In John 14:6, Jesus explicitly states:""I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Fatherexcept through me." How do you integrate this with acceptance andtoleration of other religious systems?  All three of these are "trick" questions offering false choices.  So here is the truth:

2 Timothy 3: ¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Hebrews 1: ¹ God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ² has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; ³ who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself^[a] purged our^[b] sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

John 1: ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend^[a] it.  ...  ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

God has chosen to reveal Himself and His Will PROGRESSIVELY to mankind over the centuries. Today we see the Bible and other sacred writings as evidence of this progressive revelation.  And the Apostle Paul proclaims that God inspired, literally God breathed, all scripture.  In another place Paul admits we presently see God as through a dim and smoky mirror, imperfectly; and this is certainly true of all sacred writings penned by imperfect men, including even the Holy Bible.

We are not intended to follow any such messages as we would some how-to book.   All scripture is at best a collection of helpful hints to the inquiring mind, intended by God to guide those who earnestly seek to find Him, to know Him and to follow Him "in spirit and in truth, for God is Spirit."   The Lord Jesus Christ entered time and space on earth to manifest God in the form of a man for all men to see.  Christ Himself, not the Holy Bible, IS the very Word of God.  And when He had finished His work here in His earthly body as God incarnate, He came again into the world of men in the form of The Holy Spirit, in order that He may continue to speak to regenerated spirits among men and women today in every conceivable place and at any time of day or night.  In my personal experience, He almost always speaks by quoting scripture.  In those rare instances when He doesn't, I am able to recognize His voice and His will because I have heard Him so many times when He does.   I am speaking here of a personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe and NOT of any "religion" proscribing things I must do or not do to achieve God's favor.  God's favor has been given to me as a free gift because God loves me.  And God loves everyone!  He will give His favor to anyone, "whosoever will" believe Jesus is Who He said He Is!  THAT is the "Good News!" of Jesus Christ, God's grace toward us.

Let's take this even further!  How do you integrate this (Jesus' exclusive claim to be the One Whom God has sent) with acceptance andtoleration of other religious systems?   I don't, BUT there are those who have placed their trust in God's love who may not know Who Jesus is, who may even have heard a warped message about Jesus so they still don't know Who Jesus is, and I can tell you they do right now have eternal life with God.  (Satan, eat your heart out!  Religious phonies, you too!)  Jesus has been given "the Name which is above every other name" because that "Name" encompasses ALL that God the Creator of the Universe IS!  Whosoever will believe that God loves him or her so much that He has made provision for eternal life has it now!  Ancient Job proclaimed that he knew his Redeemer was alive!  He was right; and his proclamation is true today!  Job and all others who believe their Redeemer is alive are "in Christ Jesus!" That "Name" given only to Jesus is not limited within the confines of any religious system, including those which masquerade as "Christian," even those which are in and troubling the true Christian church!  Does this sound like I'm doing any integrating?  Nope.  I have here proclaimed the larger message that Jesus is indeed "the Way, the Truth and the Life!"
...

SomeTimeRainbow's Questions For Christians ANSWERED

1st Question:   Why did God go from taking an active role in theevents of humanity and the world (i.e. talking directly to Moses, the burningof Sodom, etc.) to taking more of a back-seat observational role? We haven'theard from him in quite some time now.

Well, actually, He didn’t!  Some of us hear from Him all the time!  Some of us speak the words He gives us to say.  "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Those of us who do hear from God all the time and speak forth His words simply trustGod to do what He said He would do as we have recorded in the scriptures:

^{John 14:22} Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, howis it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” ²³Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; andMy Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him...  ²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while beingpresent with you. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom theFather will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to yourremembrance all things that I said to you.

^{John 16:13} However, when He, the Spirit of truth, hascome, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority,but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it toyou.

^{Romans 8: 14} For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,these are sons of God. ¹⁵ …¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bearswitness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and ifchildren, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed wesuffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together…

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helps in ourweaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but theSpirit Himself makes intercession for us^[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered. ²⁷Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is,because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will ofGod.

^{1 Corinthians  1}Now concerning spiritual gifts, [the present manifestations of theSpirit of God ]brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: ² …I makeknown to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed,and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. ⁴There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There aredifferences of ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶ And there arediversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. ⁷But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit ofall: ⁸ for to one is given the word of wisdom through theSpirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same^[b] Spirit, ¹⁰ to another theworking of miracles, to another prophecy [speaking the truth of God], toanother discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, toanother the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ But one and the sameSpirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as Hewills.

Thus God is active and working in the world through His present-day representatives.

Let's clear up any confusion about true pentecostals and false, misguided and/or merely ignorant cultists who call themselves pentecostals. Any group which teaches legalistic practices, such as wearing your hair, skirts or dresses to your ankles, no makeup, etc. as necessary for salvation is a cult, not a truly-Christian church! Any group which insists a person must speak in tongues or must exhibit any other particular behavior in order to be saved is a cult, not a truly-Christian church! Any group which insists there is only one correct formula by which one may be baptized and thereby saved is a cult, not a truly-Christian church!

I could give other examples; but my point is that a true Christian knows, is taught and teaches that his new life in Christ is the result of grace, God's unmerited favor, the work of God toward man, accomplished through the preaching of the Good News about Christ Jesus and the hearing and accepting of that Good News in the heart of the believer, who welcomes and receives Christ as Personal Savior. This is faith, which Jesus called a new birth experience. It is knowing that Jesus Christ -- God Himself Who Dwelt Among Us As A Man -- died to pay our sin debt and rose again to conquer death for us! Our natural response to receiving faith in Him as our Savior is to choose Christ as our Lord and to obey His teaching. But we do not add to our salvation by obeying Christ; we only demonstrate by obeying Him that we have already received His gift of salvation and are leaving our old, unsaved nature behind and are growing-up our new, spiritual nature toward maturity in Him, apparently becoming more and more like Him. Our Perfection comes surely when we depart our physical bodies as we die and see Jesus face to face in heaven.

And, in the body of Christ TODAY, some of us have been called and CHOSEN to accept this Word from Jesus. We speak prayers in a language we do not understand in our minds. Sometimes we know we are verbalizing -- speaking out into the world -- the prayers which God wants to be spoken by the body of Christ on the earth, even though we don't know the substance of the prayers. Other times we receive a word of knowledge and know what we have been praying about and can then add our own will to the will of God in praying, saying "Amen, so be it!" Still other times we may speak out in our own native language that which we have already prayed in a unknown tongue; and we know what we prayed about because we hear it spoken in our native tongue. This is called tongues and interpretation. And you can read all about this in 1st Corinthians 14. Unknown tongues is just one example of supernatural manifestations or "gifts" of the Spirit which are the experience of the true pentecostal believers, called and chosen.

Many Christians today have become uncomfortable about the supernatural "gifts" because of the misinformation and static generated under the direction of satan. Satan does not want a bunch of believers taking their faith to the Peter level, walking on water so-to-speak, praying with all the power of God's own Spirit, healing the sick and casting out evil spirits in Jesus' name, etc. So satan is fighting against the church of God trying to keep believers in ignorance and superstition and phoniness. But the answer to this is to read, study and meditate upon God's Word, asking the Holy Spirit to do exactly what Jesus said He would do: reveal all the truth.  Faith to believe God's Word about the supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit comes in exactly the same way that Salvation faith comes -- by hearing and receiving the Word of God! 

My personal experience?  It is a genuine and humbling privilege to serve Christ with the "gifts" of the Spirit and it feels good.  But 2nd Timothy 3:12 is also true.  "Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."  And that does not feel good, but it confirms God's Word is true.

I am "Jerusalem" Hill.

I’m instructed to once again confront false Christianity with The Truth About Grace!

The New Testament confirms the earthly reality that Christians continue to sin even after God spiritually re-births us, begins to transform us and regards us as His "saints." (See 1 John 1:8 for example.)   True and earnest Christians do try to sin no more, BUT we continue to be sinful and to commit sins so long as we live in these bodies of earthly flesh.

The spiritual reality is that we who have believed God and trusted in His Christ are one in and with Christ, for He lives within us (Galatians 2), and we are now and forevermore seated with Him in heaven(Ephesians 2). Christians are righteous from God's point of view because of Jesus, not because of any level of holiness or sinlessness the Christian will EVER achieve.  Our inability to stop sinning does not change our relationship with God. The “good news” of Jesus Christ is that our relationship with God is based on His unconditional love for us. He loves us because of who He is rather than who we are; because of His goodness, rather than our own attempts to be good.

However, the Bible also speaks of our human ability to reject God. As long as we human seek forgiveness, God will forgive us. Forever. No limits!

There is only one way for a human not to be forgiven and that is for a human to choose to not seek forgiveness. Failure to seek forgiveness is certainly a major part of "deliberately" continuing to sin (Hebrews 10:26).  Once we humans come to know of God's forgiveness, by his grace, any ongoing decision to reject his forgiveness, is a deliberate sin -- and it amounts to "trampling the Son of God under foot." We walk all over Jesus metaphorically when we knowingly refuse to accept the monumental love he demonstrated for us on his cross.  While God will never give up on us, He will also not force his love, his forgiveness, on us.

Our Biblical example is the prodigal son who "came to himself" and decided to seek forgiveness from his father, demonstrating that the choice to accept forgiveness is ours.  As the father did not in the parable, God does not stop us from leaving home and our heavenly Father will always welcome us back. That unlimited, boundless love of God is what makes God’s grace so problematic for many humans, including some misguided Christians.  It just seems too good to be true! God extends his hands; but we must decide whether to accept his embrace.

Some speak of the "unpardonable" sin and presume that there is a sin so heinous, so calloused, so evil that such a sin cannot be forgiven. Once again, the only sin that is not forgiven is the sin of rejecting God's love, of turning our back on his grace. Willfully and deliberately rejecting God's grace according to the “good news” of Jesus Christ is the only sin which will separate us from God.  But to reject it we must be fully aware of it, and the only way for that to happen is for God to open our eyes to the staggering implications of his grace.

Others speak of and debate "losing your salvation" (with Hebrews 6:1-8 in mind). Some of these fail to fully embrace God's love and grace; they suggest that we are capable of losing God's freely given salvation after the fact, when and if we fail to measure up in our conduct and behavior.  Such arguments include rhetoric which suggest that we are given our initial standing with God on the basis of his grace, but our continuing relationship with Him is up to us; we have to maintain it: we have to earn it they say. But while there are scriptures that, taken out of context, might seem to say that we can lose our salvation, the weight of New Testament teaching is that God does not take back what he has given us as an eternal gift!  And that is the truth about God's grace.  If it were possible to lose one's salvation, then the gift of God would not be called "eternal" life; it would instead be called "conditional" life.

Rather late in my life, God called me into the crazy world of Christian ministry among teenagers!  It was easy for me to relate to teenagers because I so well remembered my own confusion and tension and passions and excitement of my own life as a teenager.  But ironically He kept moving me out of that comfort zone and into interactions with the most troubled, abused, neglected and "at-risk" teenagers, a group totally foreign to my own relatively calm and peaceful experiences as a teen.
Those days of ministry are behind me now.   My reputation in my community is shot to hell because of them. The only success I feel from them is the fact I followed and obeyed the leading of God's Spirit as best I could.  For the Lord knows my personal disappointment about the actual outcomes of so many individuals to whom I ministered in His Name.  To this day I am left wondering about the why's and how's of God's plan and my part in it.
But I still love teenagers!  I still pray for the teens in the world right now even as I pray for kids I knew who now have kids of their own.  I still try to understand their world which seems so different and yet remains so much the same.
This weekend my young Xanga friends were buzzing about Rebecca Black.  So this morning I googled her, read what the Rolling Stone had to say about her and listened to and watched her "It's Friday" video.  As I experienced her U-tube hit, the 1960's lyrics sang by Neil Sedaka played a counter-point in my mind:  "Come ah, Come ah, Dum, Do be, Dum Dum Dum; Come ah Come ah Dum, Do be, Dum Dum Dum; Breakin' up is hard to do."  I remembered other lyrics and tunes by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, etc.  And I thought how the kids today are getting back into the same beats and rhythms my own teenager generation enjoyed so much.
Right about then Google ran a little banner ad under Rebecca Black's hit video, no doubt computer generated to be appropriate to me specifically, paraphrased: "MediGap Insurance options for the Ol' Geezer!"
(It's only fair that you young ones have to Google MediGap to understand what I'm saying.)
Lord, Thank You for sharing Your love for young people with me.  It is a great treasure!

...
 

Even when I was very young, I demanded proof of everything I was expected to believe.  When I graduated high school, I received Evidence That Demands A Verdict written by Josh McDowell which provided proof to me far beyond a reasonable doubt that Jesus Christ did indeed rise bodily from death!  Lately Lee Strobel has written ably about those same proofs.  And for anyone too lazy or otherwise unable to read, the case for Christ's resurrection is available online by David Jeremiah; and here is the link:

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/turning-point/listen/he-really-is-alive-part-1-176191.html
...

I am a reasonable man and I reason all things out.  And yet I do believe the absolutely incredible truth about Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, My Redeemer and Lord!  Why is that unreasonable!

According to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24: “ BUT ON the first day of the week, at early dawn, [the women] went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had made ready.   And they found the stone rolled back from the tomb,    But when they went inside, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.   And while they were perplexed and wondering what to do about this, behold, two men in dazzling raiment suddenly stood beside them.

   And as [the women] were frightened and were bowing their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among [those who are] dead?  He is not here, but has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee that the Son of Man must be given over into the hands of sinful men (men whose way or nature is to act in opposition to God) and be crucified and on the third day rise from death.”

I believe this tale, every word of it! How unreasonable is that! Being a reasonable man, I did research and discovered that many eyewitnesses died rather than deny the truth of it.  However, the main reason I believe that Jesus is alive still today is because His Spirit lives in me just as He promised He would.  I know Him better now than I know anyone else!  He is closer to me than my own breath.

Even so, I am not surprised or frustrated by those who cannot believe as I believe. Why?

1 Corinthians 2:13-15 (Amplified Bible) “And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit]. But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated. But the spiritual man tries all things [heexamines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].”

Being a reasonable man, I sought to know the truth about God.  And He kept His promise to be found by anyone who earnestly seeks the truth by quickening my spirit.  In other words I am a spiritual man for no other reason than God gave me the gift of His Spirit.  And this gift came to me after He gave me the gift of faith which caused me to believe the incredible in the first place!  Therefore I have hope for natural, unspiritual folks so long as they are seeking to know the truth as I once was.

He said He was "the Way, the Truth and the Life!"  He lived His Life as a man among us loving, healing, serving and proclaiming Himself the Son of God the Father.  He pissed off the religious folks and scared the political folks; so they scourged Him and crucified Him, and He died.  BUT He arose from the dead and showed Himself to many witnesses; then He ascended bodily into the heavens, again before many witnesses.  Fifty days later just as He promised, He poured out His Spirit so that anyone who wills to do so may fellowship with Him and become one in spirit with Him.  He is now, therefore, "the Way, the Truth and the Life!"  He still pisses off the religious folks and scares the political folks.  But me He loves.  That's what Easter means.

"God and I are not equals; I can't bring a case against him.    We'll never enter a courtroom as peers.  How I wish we had an arbitrator to step in and let me get on with life—To break God's death grip on me,  to free me from this terror so I could breathe again. Then I'd speak up and state my case boldly.   As things stand, there is no way I can do it."  Said Job many, many centuries ago.

"Pray... so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.  He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth."  Paul to Timothy 20 centuries ago, and now me to you.
...

“Tell my people what's wrong with their lives, face my family Jacob with their sins!
They're busy, busy, busy at worship,  and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people—    law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, 'What's the right thing to do?' and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,   'Why do we fast and you don't look our way?
   Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?'

 Well, here's why:

   The bottom line on your 'fast days' is profit.    You drive your employees much too hard.You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast, but you swing a mean fist. The kind of fasting you do won't get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I'm after:   a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting, a fast day that I, God, would like?

  This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed,  cancel debts.  What I'm interested in seeing you do is:  sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families.

  Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.  The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.  You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

"If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims,  quit gossiping about other people's sins…  If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—firm muscles, strong bones.You'll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past.You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.”

  This is what the Word of God says about How to get our nation blessed!

(Isaiah 58, The Message version of the Holy Bible)