When the Scripture says “that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep” or to say, those who are dead, it is not to say that those dead or alive in the Lord go up at the same time. For “the dead in Christ will rise FIRST”. It is only a time shortly AFTER that “we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air”.
 

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12…
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Do notice that “the falling away comes FIRST”. It is not until then that “the man of sin is revealed”. The words “that Day will not come” are in italics in the King James and New King James Version Bibles while bracketed in the New International Version. It is because these words do not actually appear in the original Koine Greek text but are put into the text for the sake of making grammatical sence in English. The “falling away”, again, comes before as FIRST and then the Antichrist is revealed.

The word in Koine Greek for “falling away” is αποστασια (apostasia) which, foremostly, means an apostasy. There are those who believe that the apostasy here refers to a physical departure from the earth rather than a spiritual departure from the Lord. I do not find sufficient enough Biblical evidence myself to support this conclusion, although it may yet be the true interpreation after all. Nonetheless, the interpreation of this word, as such, is not a prerequisite to understanding that this passage from 2 Thessalonians is indeed refering to the PreTriublation Rapture.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 NKJV

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

The time of “falling away” that is mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 coincides with the “Peace and safety” that is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5:3. This is describing a time where a number of believers in Jesus are departing from the faith during a time of alleged secure peace. Moral laxity grows widespread.

Revelation 3:14-22 describes the Laodicean church which typifies the Church age during these last days. Revelation 3:17 reads, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—”. This further demonstrates it is not a great revival before the Rapture, but is a time of decadent morals. Do not spiritually slumber into moral laziness. The instruction from the passage on the Laodicean church as mentioned in Revelation is to “Therefore be zealous and repent.”

A great falling away is coming. Stand fast in Christ! Lest you fall into what the Lord Jesus warned in Revelation 3:16, “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” The ones who are saved by repentant faith in Jesus are the ones who will be in the Rapture. Those whose faith has lapsed into moral decline show themselves not as ones trusting in Jesus for salvation. Did ever such truly believe to begin with? Such unbelief is not what leads one to be Raptured but leads someone to be left behind for the Tribulation.

Reading continues on our page about the PreTribulation Rapture evidence.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 mentions that those caught up, or “raptured”, to meet the Lord meet Him in the air…

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

These Christians will ever be with the Lord, but they do not stay in the Air. They later appear in Heaven by the sixth seal judgment in Revelation as is read in Revelation 7:9-17…

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

These are said, by some, to be the tribulation saints because the above passage says they “came out of great tribulation”. However, if this were so, then who are these others who are these mentioned in Revelation 6:9-11 which discusses the earlier fifth seal judgment? …

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.

It is evident that these who cry out for judgment here are the tribulation saints who must wait for their brothers and sisters, who were not martyred as yet, to be killed. Christians, from the church age, are not those who cry out to God for judgment as these do. Therefore, the great multitude mentioned in Revelation 7:9-17 are indeed the raptured saints of the Church.

Before you are convinced by someone that you must stock up on items and prepare, do know it is not for the tribulation that you can prepare yourself for, unless it is that you, in fact, do not actually have trusting faith in God solely through His Son Jesus as you own Savior. About such kinds of preparations let us ask you, please, did God tell you to make them? If not, with whom really is your confidence? In God or with yourself? We encourage you to get your directions first from God.

Return to the previous page on the Forthcoming PreTribulation Rapture.

In 1984, being born-again for one year at that time, I was prayed over in church in regard to a paranoia that had followed me most of my childhood till then. While I was prayed for in front of the church and being touched only lightly on the forehead, I was knocked out. When I opened my eyes again I found myself delivered from that paranoia and could feel the Holy Spirit springing up inside my chest continually like a fountain. As 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Some have referred to this experience as “Slain in the Spirit”. All I can say is that I was spiritually delivered by the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, I have had even a number of experiences from the Lord where He helped me in unusual ways.

Many years later, I was an assistant pastor in a Pentecostal church in the United States during the mid-1990s. The experience of the “Toronto Blessing” was hotly criticized. Christians who attended the Toronto Airport Vineyard Christian Fellowship were experiencing what was called in this denominationally generated Pentecostal article as the “Holy Giggles” or what is generally called “Holy Laughter”. People were reported to be laughing as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit. What was also cited was that certain people spoke in what were called “Animal Noises” with people barking like dogs and roaring like lions. I found, hearing about this, disturbing. This article was read in the Pentecostal church by the pastor more than once and said, in its conclusion, that none of the experiences there could be supported by Scripture. I had accepted what was said at the time when I knew nothing of what went on in Toronto then.

In the mid-2000s, a Vineyard pastor who I was friends with, loaned me a book written by Derek Morphew from the New Wine Movement in the Episcopal Church in England. This book gave a Biblical and otherwise apologetic defense for what happened at the Toronto church. He noted that the greatest critics to a new revival are those who were the recipients from the previous one. As a result of this book, I kept an open mind regarding the Holy Laughter that happened at Toronto in the mid-1990s but was still very skeptical about what was called “Animal Noises”.

In 2012, my friend David gave me two magazines, dated October 1995 and February 1996 titled “Spread the Fire”. The first one was from the “Toronto Airport Vineyard Christian Fellowship” and the other simply from the “Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship”. (That church is now called Catch The Fire.) I said, “Dave, do you know what these are that you are giving me? Are you sure you want to part with these? These are the very magazines that the Toronto Airport church published during the time of the breakout of Holy Laughter and then its break off from the Vineyard.” Because he gave these collector item magazines to me so freely, I gave David something he wanted which was my collector Chick Tract “Kiss The Protestants Good-bye”. That Chick tract was never sold but as far as I know was only sent to place such as Christian bookstores during the mid-1980s.

So, it came time I started reading the Spread the Fire magazine dated October 1995 which featured the article “Close Encounters of the Divine Kind”. It had articles such as “Prophet Margins” by Mike Bickle describing how prophecy and prophetic words can often cause controversy in the church and how he draws on his experience to give guidelines on handling prophecy.

By the time I got to page 17, I saw another article. This other article was written by Steve Long and was titled, “What About Animal Noises?” I gave a big smirky smile at my desk when I saw this and sarcastically said, “What about animal noises? Let this guy give any kind of apologetic defense for this!” So I started reading. When I got to the third paragraph it said, ‘When we talk to “roarers”, they often tell us of very profound images, visions, and feelings they have had from God. Among interpretations that keep emerging, two appear quite often: the “roaring” sometimes signifies an impartation of boldness to evangelize; it sometimes represents a type of intercession which breaks down stronghold of the enemy.’ I was stunned by what I read and stopped right there and said, “OH … MY … GOD.”

Then I continued and said, “He proved it! He actually proved it!” I said this because I remembered how back in the mid-1990s, after I was delivered from paranoia, I also received a boldness to evangelize. But also, I remembered that evening, after I got home that night, I felt the Holy Spirit rising inside of me but it was not tongues. I felt like roaring. I did not understand this. The feeling got stronger so I looked up to Heaven and said, “O.K., God. I am going to roar once and get it over with.” I roared and maybe I even roared twice. Afterwards, I had not done that again.

I thought this was an interesting experience but forgot all about it until I read that article. I then said to myself, “What does this mean?” I thought it over then said, “It means I took something of God and called it the devil.” Upon saying that, I clumped down on my desk, as I did when I first got saved about thirty years before, and repented.

I remembered again how “I roared like a lion” and how this was called “Animal Noises”. Then I said, “That wasn’t an animal noise. It was a human noise that only sounded vaguely like an animal.” I knew what an animal noise sounds like. I once heard a dog barking at someone’s house when my wife and I were home shopping, but it wasn’t a dog, it was a little boy. My wife and I heard how it really sounded like a dog. It was freaky and demonic. What I experienced was not like that.

Shortly after this, I had a home Bible study, with just four of us. During worship, I felt the Holy Spirit rising inside of me. Again, this wasn’t tongues. I felt myself about to break into laughter and there was nothing in the natural which I found to laugh about. I thought to myself that if I wanted to do this, this was going to be the safest public time to do it, so I let it go and started laughing. At the Bible study they asked me, “Why are you laughing?” I laughed and said, “I don’t know! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.” and kept laughing. This happened continually to me for about two weeks. It did happen during some awkward times such as driving home. I had to try to with great effort stay quiet during quite inopportune moments.

I later contacted the national director of Catch The Fire U.S.A. in Raleigh, North Carolina and spoke to the pastor there my previous criticism of their movement and how I repented of that. I told him my story then I said to him, “That being said, I have a number of questions about this.” From his answers I found my experience matched theirs.

My reason for writing this is not to promote Holy Laughter nor the practice of making Animal Noises. I do believe in being sober-minded but there is, after all, a “time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4). I am only mentioning my experiences to share with you that God is full of surprises. What He may do in your life might be something different from others but if it glorifies God, and furthers His gospel of the free gift of eternal life and forgiveness of all sins through trusting faith in Jesus, then it is from God. I could quote to you Isaiah 5:29-30 where people were roaring and Hosea 11:10 when the Lord Himself roared and could even tell you about Sarah saying in Genesis 21:6, “God hath made me to laugh” but I do not believe I need to do this.

So what does the Bible show about “Holy Laughter”? This is just the result of the fruit of the Spirit known as JOY. There are various reactions that people have had resulting from the work of the Holy Spirit in someone’s life. If the fruit of the Lord is evident, who are we to cast judgments? What we are supposed to do is to be led by the Word and Spirit of God and discern but use proper judgment even regarding your own skepticism.

All I can say is that the apostle John said in John 20:30-31, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” The Holy Bible is complete in its message but it does not say everything that God does. We dare not, though, go against the Bible with contradictions. However here, I do not find such contradiction.

Yes, this certainly surprised me like any other believer in Jesus. Even more so, since when I first “roared” there was no “Toronto Blessing” yet. It was nine years before that happened and those who had experienced such like this before then I had never heard of nor seen. Yes, I was skeptical about the “Toronto Blessing” when it came to news until I found that I, myself, was a recipient. I am sorry but I do not know what more I can say about this. I was just as surprised if not more so than others. Please, continue to trust God’s word, the Holy Bible, as the basis of your faith and doctrine. I only recommend that you keep an open mind on what God can or will do for God is full of surprises. The Holy Spirit does do amazing things.

I first heard this song for the first time when it came out just after my 2012 experience…

Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead. - Acts 17:30-31 (NKJV)
 

How do you know what you believe is true? I didn’t. So, when I was about 15 years old I left the dead as a doorknob church which I used to attend and became an atheist. When I was 18 years old I was a passenger in a car while another car ran a red light, hit my side of the car, and flipped the car upside-down. I thought that I was certainly going to die. Amazed that I was still alive and unhurt I said to myself, “If there is a God out there, I had better find Him.” This began my searching years as an agnostic. I wasn’t, however, going to accept just any faith as true because it seemed nice or convenient. I wanted proven truth. Therefore, I came up with a question to test the many religious people who came to me during my college days. The question I asked was: “How do you know what you believe is true?” I thought this would be a good and fair test.
 

I spoke with people of various beliefs who approached me: Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, New Age Practitioners, Roman Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Born-Again Christians and a number of others of different religions. So, I would politely ask them, “How do you know what you believe is true?” I would hear them out and then thank them for telling me why they believed what they did. Still, none of whom could answer my question adequately about how they knew what they believed was true. So I would tell them and then they still couldn’t answer my question. I came to call this the “stumper question”.
 

No one could answer the question until finally one day there were these two tall Born-Again Christian guys sharing the gospel in my college’s student center. After they spoke, I asked them the stumper question, “So tell me guys, how do you know what you believe is true?” This time the answer was different. They looked at each other, then looked at me, smiled broadly then said, “Because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead.” Believing this to be a fiction, for already chosen reasons of mine, I decided to ask them, “O.K., prove that!” They said to me, “Don’t feel you have to believe it because it’s religious but don’t feel you have to deny it because it’s religious. Find out the facts for yourself. Was Jesus Christ raised from the dead or was he not?” I thought they asked a fair question but I was used to looking into people’s religions and clearing up potential misconceptions. This time it was Christianity that was under my investigation, after having already decimated the faiths of those I spoke to about other religious beliefs.
 

A neighbor of mine named Kim lived just two doors down from me. She was a Born-Again Christian so I asked her if she happened to have any material I could borrow that discussed the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. She was glad I asked and kindly gave to me a book titled Answers to Tough Questions by Josh McDowell. She said that I didn’t need to read the whole book but only needed to look up what questions I had. After I looked up my objections in this book I found that this book not only answered me well but answered a whole number of other questions I had. I also found out that there were in excess of 500 witnesses that saw Jesus as risen from the dead and was testified by both Christian and even non-Christian ancient authors. Jesus had actually walked and interacted upon the earth after His resurrection for 40 days before He ascended to Heaven! It turns out to be a well-testified fact of history that Jesus Christ is bodily risen from the dead!
 

Did I then become a Christian at that time? No, I didn’t. Although it was that I wanted to become a Christian, since I had found the proof for Christianity, I was still unconverted because my belief in Jesus was not a personal trusting faith. It was only a mere intellectual ascent to facts. I did not know, as yet, what a real faith in Jesus was.
 

I had a Christian friend in college, who was older than me, named Steve. I used to think that this guy knew things about my past because he was a gossip but he seemed to know a bit more than I thought readily plausible. Eventually, I heard him say some-thing which was deep in my heart which I never spoke out loud nor ever wrote down. Yet, Steve did not know that this was something deeply personal to me. Having seen a number of things that the devil had done in the past, I had rightly concluded that only God could have known this and had given this for Steve to speak to me. This freaked me out a bit, giving me matters to consider.
 

When I was 21 years old, I was at home alone. I looked up and said, “I am going to drink my way out of this!” Knowing the futility of that, I said, “No, that’s not going to work.” In my brokenness, I bowed my head down in front of my desk and called out to Jesus, “Lord, I can’t do anything right.” I heard a voice speak to me. This surprised me but I was more surprised by what I heard the voice say. I believed that if God was actually going to speak to me I thought that He would have said something like, “That’s O.K., you’ll get out of it.” That, however, was not what I heard. What I heard was, “That’s right. You can’t do anything right. You have to let Me do it for you.” It completely stunned me, but I was desperate, so I called out, “God don’t let me drink myself crazy!” I felt a change happen inside of me and knew that I would never want to get drunk like the way I used to ever again.
 

Immediately, I realized I needed to find a new church. So I phoned a girl named Patty who previously gave me a New Testament from which I read the four Gospels. I was certain she could name a good church because I knew she had experienced a radically changed life in Jesus. I asked her where her church was so that I could attend it the next Sunday. Then I read the next chapter of the Bible in the same slow but consecutive order I had, Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1. On Sunday, an hour before church, I had a little extra time so I read the next chapter of the Bible, Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2. Attending the church, I found out it was a Pentecostal church and it was Pentecost Sunday. I heard the speaking of tongues for the first time in my life. God was moving and I was not alone in my experience with the living God and His Son.
 

As you can see, my coming to faith in Jesus Christ is based on the historical evidence of the fact of His resurrection. When Jesus spoke to me, He actually changed my life. There was no other explanation that satisfactorily holds up to this. The evidence is there. Death is defeated! This gave me something to talk about. When I got back to college, I shared the gospel. Christians were surprised at my conversion. I still ask people the “stumper question” but now I know the answer to it. So, please let me ask you now, if I may. You may believe what you practice is the truth but how do you KNOW what you believe is true?
 

Consequently, that dead as a doorknob church later received a new minister who preached the gospel at my former church. Long time church members, who were even 70 and 80 years old, received Jesus as their Savior for the first time ever in their lives. A mere acknowledgement of the facts is not sufficient for a transformed life in Christ. You must be born again in order to see the Kingdom of God. To be born again, you need to personally trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross for our sins to pay the full price for our salvation.
 

Reader, please know that true faith is built, not on feeling or fiction, but is built on fact. As the Holy Bible says in Acts 16:31, most simply, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” However, if you are still searching and would like to see a list of some non-Biblical historical sources on Jesus, please visit our webpage on MaverickChristians.com. Again, the book Answers to Tough Questions by Josh McDowell is very useful. The Holy Bible itself, you will find, is very good at presenting its own evidence. Be exhorted to repent and, by trusting faith, receive God’s Son, the risen Lord Jesus Christ, as your own Lord and personal Savior. The forgiveness of all your sins and free gift of eternal life await you.
 

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. – Romans 12:3 (KJV)

Sometimes you might get such amounts criticism that you ask, “Are those criticize me such the wonderful people they think they are?” So really, are they? Most likely you will find that such people are not such the wonderful people they think they are. When the finger gets pointed three more get pointed back at the accuser. None of us are perfect people and we all have our faults. It might be that if we find ourselves being the accuser needing to ask the question, “Am I such the wonderful person I think I am to go on with such complaints against so-and so?”.

We are justified by faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We are not justified by our own deeds. Our faith in Jesus does change our conduct. Still nonetheless, we are not justified by what we do. Yet we do know that faith works by love as said in Galatians 5:6. Since Jesus is the one who justifies those who have faith in Him it is evident that we cannot justify ourselves and cannot justify ourselves by what we are or do. There comes a time when criticism needs to come to an end lest we fall into folly and hypocrisy.

For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God:
for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
- 1 Corinthians 14:2 (KJV)

From several places in this Bible verse we see that there do exist unknown tongues as the gift of tongues. Although, the word “unknown” in the above passage is italicized which means it is not in the original text, we can yet tell quite well that these tongues are unknown. Like other italicized words, this word is placed there to make English sence and logic of the passage.

There are those who are uncomfortable with “unknown tongues”, but cannot Biblically prove that spiritual gifts ended with the early church. So, a new doctrine gets embraced. They now say that they believe in the gift of tongues but say it is only a KNOWN tongue, further saying that the italicized word “unknown” in 1 Corinthians 14:2 is wrong. They will say that Acts chapter 2 is the only clear Biblical example of tongues which are only known tongues.

Insistence that the gift of tongues is only a known tongue is foolish for it is not a doctrine that holds up in the light of the Holy Scriptures. Let us compare the passage on tongues in Acts chapter 2 with 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 2…

Those who spoke in tongues in Acts 2 spoke unto men. 1 Corinthians 14:2 says that speaking in a tongue does not speak unto men but unto God.

There were those who heard the tongues on Pentecost who did understand the tongues. The Corinthians passage says that no man understands him who speaks in a tongue.

In Acts 2:11, it was no mystery to the hearers of tongues who confessed, “We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” They said it was in their own languages. 1st Corinthians says that he who speaks in tongues speaks mysteries.

Yes, the gift of tongues can come as a known tongue as seen in the second chapter of Acts. However, it is evidently clear that the tongues spoken of in Corinthians is not referring to the same kind of tongues as in Acts 2. 1st Corinthians shows tongues as being unknown. Other Bible passages show that unknown tongues may only be understood by the spiritual gift of interpretation which is not the same as human translation. The italicized word “unknown” in the Corinthians passage was well placed and accurate to the meaning of the text. The Bible’s true revelation of the “tongues of men and of angels” as said in 1 Corinthians 13:1, by far, does not solely rest on the word “unknown” in a passage that already makes quite clear that the tongues are unknown.

This “known tongue only” doctrine is a watering down of the Word of God and was a concocted and half-baked method in order dispute charismatic Christians about what they themselves do not understand. Such people who formulate doctrines in order to refute what they do not wish to believe from the Scriptures are not rightly dividing the word of God. Unknown tongues is not the only Bible teaching that gets criticized by these people. Commonly, they will criticize the affectivity and reality of other gifts as well. We should not be deceived by those who have a form of godliness but deny its power. In the Holy Bible we are exhorted to desire spiritual gifts.

For more on the topic of signs and wonders, please see our page titled, “Confirming the word with signs following“.

Introduction

This brief paper can only touch the surface of the evidence for the authenticity and reliability of the Gospels. For the interested party desiring more, I would suggest starting with some of the sources in the References section. In particular, Josh McDowell’s The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict is comprehensive and possesses a large bibliography to other works. For easy reading, his More Than a Carpenter is an excellent overview of the evidence for the truth of Biblical Christianity. For a readable, scholarly look at the reliability of the New Testament documents, see The New Testament Documents, by F. F. Bruce. More than anything, I refer the reader to the documents themselves.

There is historical evidence for the authenticity of all of the New Testament. This paper will be limited in its scope to the Gospel accounts, as these accounts form the core of the narrative regarding the Person of Jesus Christ and the events that transpired surrounding him in the first three decades of the first century. It is my conviction that the outside historical evidence can lead a person to consider the claims of the truth about Christ, but that it is the documents themselves that are the most compelling evidence. It is the actual reading of these documents that compels one to become convinced of their truth and genuineness. For the serious seeker, it is insufficient to peruse occasional passages throughout the Gospels and make a judgment. Too many argue for the a priori impossibility of the Gospel accounts being true, having never read their contents. When one does so, one begins to see the non-contrived historical nature of the accounts, as well as a nature of teaching and organization suggestive of an origin greater than of ourselves. As the Scripture says, “So then faith [comes] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” ₁

Philosophical Assumptions

When we speak of authenticity, we are looking at such matters as the dating and authorship of the Gospels being what they claim to be. Reliability refers to the trustworthiness of the witnesses and their accounts of the events they claim to have seen. Evidence of divine origin is related to this, for if the writers’ witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ is reliable, then the claims made by him are true. Included in those claims is that the Holy Spirit, whom we call the third person of the Trinity, would remind the disciples of all that Jesus had said and would teach them all the things they needed to know. ₂ The Gospel accounts, then, would be the product of God working through men. The nature of the accounts themselves is also evidence of reliability, if in their content and teachings they bear the stamp of divine origin.

In approaching the historical evidence for authenticity, it is necessary to look at the historical record impartially. One must consider the Gospel accounts as one would look at any ancient document. ₃ It is not proper, nor will it lead to truth, to assume that the accounts are biased because they are “religious” in nature. First, this assumption is based on a false distinction prevalent today between the secular and religious; whether an event is true is to be tested in reality. Second, the fact that the Gospel authors were close to the events that they describe and therefore came to believe in them does not disqualify them; rather it gives them extra credence in their witness to these events. ₄ One cannot arrive at truth by affirming the documents to be “religious” and assuming that they are therefore unreliable; they must be tested on their merits alone. In general, to get at the truth, one cannot approach this subject from an epistemologically or historically skeptical position. Absolute knowledge is not possible, but real knowledge is. The evidence must be weighed. One must come to a conclusion from the whole weight of the evidence.

Finally, one cannot assume an anti-supernatural bias. If one starts with the assumption that there is not a God who can do miracles, one cannot look objectively at the historical evidence and testimony. It is better to reserve judgment and consider the testimony of history.

The Testimony of the Hebrew Scriptures

We will start in our examination of the Gospels with the Old Testament documents’ testimony to the New Testament writings. It is well accepted that the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, was in existence in the first or second century before Christ. This document translates the Hebrew Scriptures, therefore validating their existence well before the time of Christ. Included in these Scriptures that go back to the second millennium B.C. are multiple prophecies about the very events the Gospel writers claim to have witnessed. These prophecies are very specific. A son would be born to us in Bethlehem (Micah 5) who would be human but also God Himself in the flesh (Isaiah 9). This man would be crucified (Psalm 22), would die for our sins, be buried, and raised from the dead (Isaiah 53). This man, on the cross, would be offered vinegar to drink, his garments would be divided by lot, and not one of his bones would be broken. Further, this man would be a Messiah, an Anointed Prince, and would appear before the destruction of the second Temple (in 70 A.D.) Since the Gospel writers claim that all this and more was specifically fulfilled, we are dealing in their accounts with either truthful testimony, a deliberate deception, or a mythology that developed later about the Person of Christ. One must examine the evidence and decide which it is.

The Testimony of History

Sources from church writers as well as outside historians support the historicity of the Gospel events as well as the early dating and genuine authorship of the documents.

Dating of the Gospels

Some historians have placed the Gospel documents as written in the second century, although by the twentieth century most had placed them in the first century. ₅ If very late dates are true, this is not supportive of reliable historical accounts, being too far removed from the events that transpired and indicative of authorship by pseudonymous writers claiming to be actual eyewitnesses. Conversely, if earlier dates are true, it is excellent evidence that the Gospel accounts are neither a fraud nor a mythology. People living at the time would not have believed accounts that were patently untrue according to common knowledge; the Gospel would not have flourished. The scholar F. F. Bruce points to the writers’ repeated claims to be “witnesses of these things” and writes, “Had there been any tendency to depart from the facts in any material respect, the possible presence of hostile witnesses in the audience would have served as a further corrective.” ₆ It is the same situation as if a  rumor were circulating today that President Kennedy had risen from the dead. I was about 11 years old when the news of his death was announced, and I remember those events well. It is now 41 years later, and I would in no way believe it. Many did believe in the resurrection of Christ, and those who did not could not refute the reality of the empty tomb and no body to be found.

What is the evidence for the authorship of the Gospels earlier than the second century? First there is content. The level of detail of geography and culture and political conditions given by the Gospel writers is suggestive of an earlier authorship, and such details would not have been available to later writers. Charles E. Raven dates the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) before the year 70 based on content: “The general habit of placing the Synoptic Gospels in the period A.D. 70 –100 is inexplicable; for the evidence is weaker than the objections. They reflect a time before the scattering of the Palestinian Church and the dispersion of the local and conservative community, a time utterly unlike the age of experiment and syncretism which followed Nero’s persecution and the sack of Jerusalem.” ₇

Second, there is the evidence that these Gospels were quoted and used at an early date. Clement of Rome flourished around the years 90 – 100 ₈; he was a disciple of the apostles, according to early church writers Origen, Tertullian, and Irenaeus. He quoted from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, supporting both that these documents were circulating in his time and that the authors were indeed as claimed. Ignatius (c. 70 – c. 98/117) was bishop of Antioch and knew the apostles well. He wrote seven epistles quoting from Matthew and John, as well as other New Testament writings. ₉ Polycarp (c. 70 – c.155/160), a disciple of John, quotes the Gospel of John before the year 117 A.D. ₁₀ Time must also be allowed for the writing,
manual copying, and dissemination of the documents. ₁₁ From this and much more evidence, conservative scholars assign first-century dates.

Some of this conservative dating is as follows. Everett Harrison places Matthew from 70 –80, Mark from 50- 60, Luke in the early 60’s, and John from 80 –100. ₁₂ F. F. Bruce dates Matthew shortly after 70, Mark c. 64 – 65, Luke shortly before 70, and John, c. 90 – 100. ₁₃ Professor Richard Riss associates the dates with particular events in history: Mark during the reign of Claudius from 41 –54 when Mark and Paul were in Rome; Luke during Paul’s imprisonment in Caesarea from 58 – 60; Matthew in the Greek translation from 60 – 70; and John while he was in Ephesus from 85 – 90. ₁₄ John A.T. Robinson concludes that all the Gospels were written before the year 70 A.D. ₁₅

Authorship of the Gospels

If the writers of the four Gospels were eyewitnesses of the events surrounding Jesus, or close associates of eyewitnesses, this would be strong evidence for the reliability of the documents they wrote. The names given to the Gospels by church tradition reflect their authorship, and there is strong evidence of the accuracy of the tradition. The Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew, a Jewish tax collector in Palestine who became a disciple of Jesus. The Gospel of John was written by John, a fisherman who also became a disciple. The Gospel of Mark was written by Mark, an associate of the disciple Peter. The Gospel of Luke was written by Luke, a physician and historian and associate of the Apostle Paul. (Paul’s claim to eyewitness status was that he saw, by direct revelation, the resurrected Messiah Jesus after his ascension into heaven.)

Historical sources support Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as being the authors of their Gospels. One source is Eusebius, the church historian who wrote his Ecclesiastical History around 325 A.D. ₁₆ He quotes Irenaeus, who was bishop of Lyons in Gaul and flourished around 175 – 195. ₁₇ Irenaeus speaks of being a student of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who was in turn a disciple of John. In his work Against Heresies, Irenaeus says the following: “Matthew published his Gospel among the Hebrews (i.e. Jews) in their own tongue, when Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel in Rome and founding the church there. After their departure (i.e., their death, which strong tradition places at the time of the Neronian persecution in 64), Mark the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himself handed down to us in writing the substance of Peter’s preaching. Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a book the gospel preached by his teacher. Then John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned on His breast (this is a reference to John 13:25 and 21:20), himself produced his Gospel, while he was living at Ephesus in Asia.” ₁₈ Here we have a disciple of a disciple of John confirming the authorship of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. (It is as if I were relating how my father told me that my grandfather told him that such and such a thing had happened; there would be a high degree of confidence in the accuracy of my material, with only two degrees of separation). Some additional evidence for each book follows.

Mark

Additional information regarding the authorship of Mark is given by Eusebius when he quotes Papias, c. 60 – 130, who was bishop of Hierapolis and a disciple of the Apostle John. Papias was said to be a “hearer of John” by Irenaeus ₁₉. In Eusebius, Papius quotes the Elder, possibly another disciple of John, but probably John himself, as saying “Mark, having been the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately all that he [Peter] mentioned, whether sayings or doings of Christ; not, however, in order. For he was neither a hearer nor companion of the Lord; but afterwards, as I said, he accompanied Peter, who adapted his teachings as necessity required, not as though he were making a compilation of the sayings of the Lord. So then Mark made no mistake, writing down in this way some things as he [Peter] mentioned them; for he paid attention to this one thing, not to omit anything that he had heard, nor to include any false statement among them.” ₂₀

Matthew

Additional evidence for the authorship of Matthew is also provided by Eusebius quoting Papias quoting the elder John (probably John), “Matthew compiled the Logia in the “Hebrew” speech [i.e. Aramaic], and every one translated them as best he could.” sub>21 The word Logia literally means oracles ₂₂, and may refer to the Gospel of Matthew itself in an earlier Aramaic version (the extant one is Greek), ₂₃ or to an early compilation of the Lord Jesus’ sayings used as source material for the Gospels. ₂₄ The word “translated” can also be rendered as “interpreted”. ₂₅

Luke

In addition to the quote from Irenaeus above, evidence for the Gospel of Luke being written by Luke draws from his companion work, the Acts of the Apostles.  Both are formatted as an orderly account of the events they address. The styles are closely related. Acts makes references to a former account of all that Jesus did and taught. The two are clearly the work of one author. As to the identity of the author, the book of Acts contains many “we” passages in the midst of “they” passages that place the author with the Apostle Paul on various occasions. By a process of elimination of candidates who traveled with Paul, the remaining candidate who could have written Acts, and thus also the Gospel of Luke, was Luke. ₂₆

John

In addition to the initial quote by Irenaeus, several fragments support John as the author of his Gospel. One is a prologue that was added to the beginning of the book at the end of the second century to defend against the heretic Marcion, and is thus called the anti-Marcionite prologue. It says, “The Gospel of John was published and given to the churches by John when he was still in the body, as a man of Hierapolis, Papias by name, John’s dear disciple, has related in his five Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, as quoted in The New Testament Documents, p.32 The New Testament Documents, p. 35 In addition, the Rylands Fragment is a fragment of a copy of the Gospel of John dating to about 135 A.D. It was found in an isolated area in Egypt, and thus it must have taken several decades before that time for the Gospel to be copied and circulated as far as this place. This argues not only for the early dating of John, but also the authenticity of its authorship. ₂₈

Outside Historical Evidence of the Gospel Events

Historians outside of the church provide data that supports the authenticity of the events recorded by the Gospels, and so, indirectly, supports the authenticity of the documents. They are of interest, but should be considered as of secondary value compared to the documents themselves ₂₉ and the primary church sources supporting them.

Some of these include ₃₀:

1) The Roman historian Tacitus says “Christus…suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate”
2) The Jewish historian Josephus speaks of Jesus and his crucifixion under Pilate. The exact wording of the passage is disputed, but probably some form of it is genuine.
3) Josephus also speaks of Jesus as the brother of James and speaks of James’ martyrdom
4) Josephus speaks of John the Baptist, a major figure in the Gospel records.
5) Pliny the Younger, a roman administrator, writes to the Emperor Trajan about the Christians in the year 112 and indirectly confirms their worship of Jesus as God.
6) The Jewish commentary, the Talmud, in the passage Sanhedrin 43a, says “On the eve of Passover Yeshu was hanged”. Although the Talmud
wrongly accuses Jesus of sorcery, it acknowledges the fact of his miracles.
7) Lucian of Samosata, a second-century critic of Christianity, acknowledges Christian worship of the man Jesus.
8} Heretical groups such as the Gnostics of the second century acknowledge Jesus and use the Gospels as a starting point.

The Testimony of The Gospels Themselves

It is valid to consider internal evidence from the Gospel records themselves. Do they appear contrived or authentic? Are they consistent? Do they appear to be real testimony of eyewitnesses, or the writings of authors distant from the events described? These are the kinds of questions we must ask to arrive at a reasonable conclusion concerning their reliability. These kinds of things are not subject to deductive analysis or scientific verification, and yet they are knowable.

When I read these documents, I find that the narrative flows very naturally. In each case, I get the sense of a person describing events that they have seen, or events that have been closely related to them. John, for example, describes his reaction to Jesus over the years he walked with him: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” ₃₁ In concluding the writing, he says “This is the disciple who testifies of these things; and we know that his testimony is true.” Mark, who wrote down the reminiscences of Peter (also called Simon), speaks as one who has heard the events from a participant. For example, in a down-to-earth touching passage where Simon’s influence shows through, Mark says, “But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. So he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them”. ₃₂ The Gospels record many such very real details that would not be included in documents contrived for some sheer doctrinal purpose.

They do not appear contrived at all. The authors admit their own foibles, rather than trying to cover them up. Mark is very possibly the young man who fled at the arrest of Jesus. Peter, the man behind Mark, gives to Mark the very real account of his denial of Jesus and how he wept when the cock crowed and he realized what he had done. Far from trying to cover up the weaknesses of their group, the writers expose their failures in faith, the infighting that cropped up, and the disciples’ fleeing after the crucifixion of their Lord. They admit their initial unbelief at the resurrection of Jesus. And they honestly relate the testimony of the women as the first witnesses, contrary to what a contriver would have done in a culture where female testimony was considered immaterial. They in fact touchingly describe how the women who followed Jesus were the faithful ones who remained at the foot of the cross.

The accounts are consistent, and yet show the variations in point of view that would be expected of true testimony. When witnesses sit down and conspire together to give testimony in court, the testimony invariably comes out stilted and repetitive from one witness to another. Here there is no need to contrive, for each person saw, or had related to him, the events and sayings of Jesus.

Many have claimed contradictions among the Gospels, but upon further study these prove to be only apparent. In the play “Waiting for Godot”, Samuel Beckett makes much of the fact that Matthew says both of the two robbers crucified with Jesus reviled him, ₃₃ while Luke records one of the robbers as trusting in Jesus. ₃₄ Beckett did not leave room for repentance and the grace of God, for even while on the cross, one of the robbers at first reviled the Lord, then changed his mind about his own sin and put his trust in Christ. The Pharisees rejected Jesus as Messiah in some part because they knew the Messiah would not come out of Nazareth; had they looked more deeply, had they wanted to, they would have discovered that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of the coming King. By looking more deeply, we can answer apparent contradictions, and can have a confidence that the documents are inherently consistent among themselves.

Details are given that are very consistent with authors familiar with Jerusalem and Palestine in the first century. The awareness of the governmental and high priestly structure, the descriptions of the Temple and its courts and the Pool of Siloam, knowledge of the Sanhedrin and the Jewish culture of the day, the physical layout of Galilee and Jerusalem and its streets, puts one in the times of Jesus as one walks through these Gospels. And in fact, it is essential to understand that the redemption of mankind was accomplished in a particular time in history, in a particular place, by a particular Person. No other faith in the world is so intimately tied to a person and the events surrounding him. Thankfully, God has provided four witnesses to testify to us of these things so that we can know the truth of them.

Conclusion

So what do we have? Four documents that were written soon after the events they describe, by people who were either eyewitnesses or close to eyewitnesses, and that speak clearly in an uncontrived manner about what they describe. “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:30). I encourage those who would investigate these things to go to the testimony of the Gospels and consider their message.

¹ Romans 10:17

² John 14:26

³ The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p. 68

⁴ Ibid, p. 54, quoting Norman L. Geisler in Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, p. 381

⁵ “Date and Authenticity of the New Testament”, p. 59

⁶ The New Testament Documents, p. 43

⁷ C.E. Raven, Jesus and the Gospel of Love, p. 128, as quoted by Professor Richard Riss in the web piece
“Date and Authenticity of the New Testament”, p. 59

⁸ The Dictionary of the Christian Church, p. 235

⁹ The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p. 44

¹⁰ “Date and Authenticity of the New Testament”, p. 64

¹¹ A Survey of the New Testament, p. 256

¹² The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p. 52

¹³ The New Testament Documents, p. 7

¹⁴ New Testament timeline

¹⁵ Redating the New Testament, p. 352, 353

¹⁶ Dictionary of the Christian Church, p. 356

¹⁷ Ibid, p. 516

¹⁸ Irenaeus, Against Heresies, as quoted in The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict, p. 54

¹⁹ Dictionary of the Christian Church, p. 746

²⁰ Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, as quoted in The New Testament Documents, p.32

²¹ The New Testament Documents, p. 35

²² Ibid

²³ A Survey of the New Testament, p. 160

²⁴ The New Testament Documents, p. 35

²⁵ A Survey of the New Testament, p. 160

²⁶ A Survey of the New Testament, p. 208

²⁷ The New Testament Documents, p. 50

²⁸ A Survey of the New Testament, p. 256

²⁹ Norman L. Geisler in Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, p. 381, as quoted by The New
Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p. 55

³⁰ The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, pp. 54 – 59

³¹ John 1:14

³² Mark 1:30,31

³³ Matthew 27:44

³⁴ Luke 23:41,42

References

Holy Bible, The New King James Version, c. 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.,
Nashville, TN.

Bruce, F.F., The New Testament Documents, c. 1981, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids,
MI. and Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL.

Douglas, J.D., and Cairns, Earle E., Editors, The New International Dictionary of
the Christian Church, c. 1978, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI.

Gundry, Robert H., A Survey of the New Testament, c. 2003, Zondervan, Grand
Rapids, MI.

McDowell, Josh, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, c. 1999, Thomas
Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN.

Riss, Richard, “Date and Authenticity of the New Testament”,

Riss, Richard, New Testament timeline, New Testament Survey course, 2004,
Somerset Christian College, Zarephath, New Jersey

Robinson, John A.T., Redating the New Testament, c. 1976, Wipf and Stock
Publishers, Eugene, OR.

The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within
by Erwin Raphael McManus

Two thousand years later the call to follow Christ has been repackaged to be smooth and trouble-free, filled with opportunity and promise but lacking risk, passion, and sacrifice. Is this really what Jesus died for? If He chose the way of the cross, where would He hesitate leading us? Is it possible that to follow Jesus is to choose the barbarian way?

Jesus never made a pristine call to a proper or safe religion. Jesus beckons His followers to a path that is far from the easy road. It is a path filled with adventure, uncertainty, and unlimited possibilities―the only path that can fulfill the deepest longings and desires of your heart.

This is the barbarian way: to give your heart to the only One who can make you fully alive. To love Him with simplicity and intensity. To unleash the untamed faith within. To be consumed by the presence of a passionate and compassionate God. To go where He sends you, no matter the cost.

Comments by Maverick Christians…

We find this book of good encouragement to follow the Lord in passionate desire for Him as true disciples. In the Scriptures, Jesus is quite clear about the cost of living life as a true disciple of Christ. Still, we find that this understanding has often been lost in the modern church of Jesus Christ. We are, therefore, glad for this book.

Please note, however, that the book’s author is a leader within the Emergent Church movement. The Emergent movement has the tendency to water down the gospel by contextualizing which we find is not being rooted and ground in the faith that was once for all delivered to the believers in Jesus.

As Maverick Christians, it is not our pursuit to cling to error or to favor one error over another. We should not adhere to undue conservative attitudes. Yet still, we should not seek for mere modern contextualizing of the gospel in relativism. We believe that proper emphasis of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, which are taught in the Holy Bible, comes about as a result from true and bold passion for Christ. This passion is not found in or resulting in an exploration of mysticism nor of post-modern thought.

If we have true passion for the true God, we will be faithful to Christ’s teachings not wishy-washy about them in either our faith or our conduct. Christian faith is founded in the truth of Christ. Neither liberalism nor conservatism can rightly replace Bible fundamentalism and should never be used as substitutes for God’s Holy Word. Jesus is the Rock of our salvation. Yes! Unleash untamed faith in Jesus Christ! Be sure to do so in Spirit and in Truth.

For an exposé on the Emergent Movement, please see this video…The Real Roots of the Emergent Church.

This unusual image, shown below, was posted on Facebook by ChristiaNet… http://www.facebook.com/ChristiaNetcom

Excuse me, but I feel that I have to ask…

Does our Lord Jesus Christ ask us to “Like” Him on Facebook if we accept Him? Does He expect us to give Him such “kudos” in social media in order to accept Him?

My dear friends, please be certain that we cannot receive Jesus by simply approving of Him by electronic means! Is this some other gospel here? Salvation through Christ by Facebook?

There is no other gospel. Christ Jesus is accepted by faith.  Faith solely in Him.  He is not received as your Savior by liking Him on Facebook!

If you want to “Like” Jesus if Facebook, that is fine.  Please do not think it is Christ Himself who asks you to do this, though.

Perhaps yet this image’s words are some kind of San Fernando Valley Girl talk.. “I FORGIVE YOU, LIKE, IF YOU ACCEPT ME!”.  If anyone, by any chance, came to this conclusion after reading this image, please know that Christ’s forgiveness of mankind was paid for all of us at the cross with His precious blood. We can only receive that forgiveness if we accept that forgiveness by accepting Jesus by faith.  Still, the forgiveness is already there to receive whether someone accepts Jesus or not.  If that existing forgiveness is not received by accepting Jesus, neither will it be applied personally to us.

For all the ploys we have seen to gather clicks to “Like” someone’s post on Facebook, this has gone to a serious low point when confusion like this gets presented by those who call on the name of Jesus.  While we find that gathering attention to the Christ and the gospel a good thing, in general, but we must be careful how we present the gospel and Christ Himself. When those reputed to be Christians will go as far as to promote perversions of the gospel, it is certainly not for Christ’s glory nor His true service. It appears that Christianet is only promoting a man’s own selfish interests by speaking falsely as Christ.

ChristiaNet’s post also links to their Salvation quiz of 25 questions at http://www.christianet.com/bible/salvation.htm .  Somehow, I do not feel very motivated to take this quiz.

I am sure it was not the intention of ChristiaNet to distort the gospel.  Yet, we do need to be careful.

Test all things; hold fast what is good. - 1 THESSALONIANS 5:21 (NKJV)

Still, I do wonder if the agenda of ChristiaNet is really to move forward the gospel.

I find this site as much more commerically oriented than Christian with the mix of links I find on their site…

Diabetic Recipes

Syrian Refugees & JESUS

Meet Christian Singles

Business Opportunity

Chat with Local Singles

Free Bible Study

Arthritis Pain Relief

Bad Credit Loans

Bankruptcy Avoidance

Buy Gold & Silver

Cholesterol Treatments

Church Furniture

Debt Management

Hawaii Vacations

Menopause Treatments

Personal Loans

Small Business Loans

Structured Settlements

Work From Home

Not that I have any objections to Christians doing business.  I do find problems, though, when methods of advertising hit extremes and religious excess such as ChristaNet does.  Continually they try to find as many images they can for Christians to respond to by posting such images on a regular basis.  Images like…

I am not saying there are not real matters being addressed, but is ChristiaNet scraping the bottom of the barrel for topics to get themselves liked?  Indeed, the Christians at ChristiaNet should be told that Christians should NOT be smoking pot. Please let us know what you think and how you feel about this by commenting below.  Thank you.

Taking up your own cross.

And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
- Luke 14:27 (KJV)

 
The gift of eternal life is free. Discipleship has a cost. Count the cost for being a disciple.

Luke 14:28-33 (KJV)
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

 
This is with you willingly having Jesus as lord of your life, going where He decides, doing His will. It is no longer living with you as lord of your own life, going where you want. The Lord calls us personally to follow where He leads us each individually.

John 21:18-22 (KJV)
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

 
Never mind what the Lord has some other Christian to do, we are to obey the Lord’s personal call for each of us. This is what it means to live as Maverick Christians. As for those in the hall of faith mentioned in the New Testament book of Hebrews chapter 11…

Hebrews 11:37-40 (KJV)
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

 
This is the call to discipleship by our Lord.

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
- Luke 9:23 (KJV)