Second, I believe the Bible to be true, completely, wholely and inerrantly true. As for why I believe this, I'll get to that later.
The rest depends upon number two, but for those of you who haven't read the Bible, or don't understand what it says, I'll tell you.Man is sinful. We are inherantly sinful. There is right and wrong and every person does wrong sometimes. (Romans 3:23)
Sin earns death. People who choose sin choose Hell. (Romans 6:23)God cannot tolerate sin. The only punishment for sin is seperation from God (also known as Hell) (Romans 1:18, Revelation 20:15, John 17:3)
There is a God. There is one God (I Timothy 2:5). This God is three persons Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is God and Man. He is not half-God half-man, he is God and Man. He was born of a woman who had never had sex (before artificial insemenation was invented) and his Father is God. (John 1:1, Matthew 1:20)Jesus was tempted as an ordinary person and yet remained sinless. (Hebrews 4:15)
Jesus Christ was unjustly crucified for no crime. He was buried and three days later rose from the dead. (Luke 23:1-24:12)Because he was sinless, Jesus was able to be a sacrifice for our sins. On the cross, he took the punishment for our sins upon himself.(Romans 3:21-26)
If we believe Jesus is the Son of God who died and rose again for our sins, we will be saved and our sins will be forgiven.(Romans 10:9)That's the bare-bones basics, and it's quite possible that I might have missed something that should be there, but if so, it'll have to wait a while to be corrected.
You are a sinner. I don't care who you are, you are a sinner. You could be a seriel killer, you could be the pope, a wall street businessman or a main street bum; you are a sinner. Second, God can forgive you. He can take every wrong thing you've done and take it as far away from you as the east is from the west. If you want to know anything more, e-mail me. I'd tell you about it here, but I'd rather do it personally. Finally, you have an eternity ahead of you. You can choose to spend it with God, or away from him, in heaven or hell. It's your choice. Think about that.
Controversies Outside the Church: These are (substantially) controversies between the church and the world. There are some people inside the church who disagree on these issues, but that's not the main part of these discussions.
Abortion: Abortion is wrong. It is the murder of an innocent child, generally done for the sake of convenience. I will not condone that in any way, shape or form. Don't get me wrong. I do not hate women who have gotten abortions. I don't hate the people who provide them. The killers who bomb abortion clinics and shoot abortionists are no more right than the killers who run the abortion clinics or are abortionists. Abortion needs to stop, killing of abortionists needs to stop.Homosexuality: Homosexuality is wrong. It is a perversion of God's gift of sex and it harms those who do it. But again, the nuts force me to defend myself. I do not hate homosexuals. They are made in the image of God and he loves them. I admit that I do things wrong too, so how can I hate them? The people who assault and/or murder people because they're gay (or for any other reason for that matter) are wrong and are going against God.
Prayer in Schools: Prayer in schools is wrong. Wait a minute! Sorry, I guess I kind of had a rhythm going there. Lets try that again. Prayer is a constitutional right protected by the First Amendment. Entering a school does not mean waiving that right a student should have the right to follow their religion, read their Bible and pray to God in school.Evolution: The "theory" of evolution is such a crock. Those who espouse it as scientific fact are either uninformed or decietful. Scientific fact has been proven and tested by the scientific method. Evolution would be too long a process to test in a lab. It would be more accurate to call evolution a sort of faith, faith that there is no God and we are the highest power in this universe. I have much more to say on this topic, but this isn't the best place. Perhaps later I'll write up an essay concerning this for my page. (Genesis 1-2, John 1:1-3)
Marriage/divorce: Marriage is an institution ordained and blessed by God. He did not intend for it to be temporary. Marriage is meant to be a life-long prospect. I believe the words are, "Till death do us part." Getting a divorce for personal happiness is sinful and selfish. The purpose of marriage is not to make us happy; the unifying bond of marriage is not personal contentment, it is commitment, a commitment to God, your spouse and children. A person who gets a divorce for personal happiness is at the least, a promise-breaker. The only fair grounds for divorce are adultery and abuse. (Mark 10:2-12, Malachi 2:16)Sex: Sex is a beautiful, wonderful thing. God invented it. But, it has been twisted. Fire can also be a good thing. Harnessing it enables us to cook our food, warm ourselves and (eventually) move very rapidly from place to place. But, fire, out of its place can be very, very destructive. Sex was meant for marriage. Sex outside marriage is dangerous and destructive. AIDS and other STDs, teen pregnancy and jealousy murders should be enough to show that. (Song of Songs, I Corinthians 6:9-20)
Pornography: Pornography is sin. It reduces women to objects in a man's mind. By doing that it helps men treat women like objects. It twists God's gift of sex into a pile of filth. Lust is just as bad as adultery. Unfortunately, this is another of these issues that I have trouble with. (Matthew 5:28)Controversies Inside the Church: These debates pretty much only concern Christians. If you're not a Christian, you will probably be surprised at some of the things people say "in the name of God." If you are a Christian, do yourself a favor, and think about what you believe. Do not just accept whatever is tossed at you from the nearest pulpit.
Rock music: Rock music is a musical style. Music is in itself neutral, a tool that can be used for good or evil. I wish I didn't have to put this up here. I am so tired of the idiocies, lies and word-twisting done by those trying to claim rock music is inherantly evil I think this is a case of meat sacrificed to idols (I Cor. 8.) If you can listen to it without conviction of the Holy Spirit, great, enjoy it. If you can't, great, don't listen to it. Do not flaunt your weakness or your strength to the detriment of your Christian brother. If you can't listen to it, don't try to wrap your freer brother in your laws. If you can listen to it, don't rudely blare it at those who can't.Bible Translations: The King James Version is not the only valid translation of the Bible. Other people have brains and can translate Hebrew to English, folks. I think that if a unscrupulous pastor wanted to control his congregation, the best way would be to restrict them to KJV only. Then, when they don't understand the archaic language (and what ordinary person always does) they have to come to him for help, and he can tell them exactly what he wants them to think. If you want to prove NIV or other recent, understandable translations invalid, then point out translation errors. If you can't do that, then don't bother me with irrelevancies.
Materialism: Our culture is rooted in the sick and worthless belief that the more you have the better you are. The poor are treated as inferior and the rich are either envied or worshipped. I admit, this is something I'm struggling with too. (Luke 12:15, Hebrews 13:5, Luke 12:33-34, Matthew 6:24)
Lookism: Another sickness of our culture. How you look tells how much you're worth. All of us are made in the image of God! That matters far more than the outer appearance Again, this is a lie that I have bought into, and I'm trying my best to leave it behind. (Genesis 9:6, I Samuel 16:7) What does the Bible say about economics? Well, in Acts 4:32 the Bible describes what I believe to be the perfect economic system. I call it voluntary socialism. No one can be forced into it, it's gotta be of their own free will. The problem is, the only people who could do such a thing are Christians who don't make a mockery of the name. This isn't a very common phenomenon in any age.