Christianity will change to survive... in the next 100 years

In the post before this I mentioned the where will Christianity be in 100 years discussion in my class today. The comment that struck the hardest chord with me was the idea that in order to survive Christianity will have to conform to the times.

This could not be farther from the truth. No matter how much people would like to change our message there is only one way that it can be done. God does not give us room to rewrite the Gospel and the Law so that it can relate to social issues. In fact the cause for all of this rewriting is the Law accomplishing what it is supposed to but people are not being given the Gospel to show them how much God really does care about them. So much in fact that he gave his only son to save us from a fate which we deserve.

Society loves to rewrite the rules for Christianity because they are living under the delusion that as long as the accepted rules are followed then it will merit the Grace of God rather. The Christian church is not one of following Law to be saved but rather a combination of rightly divided Law and Gospel. (A good intro to this idea by Ryan at Wretched of the Earth) The key is the Gospel for salvation we can do nothing on our own to merit God but rather God gives us everything as a free gift no strings attached.

Anyways does anyone have any thoughts about where Christianity will be in 100 years?

If being nice were good enough....

At lunch today something was mentioned that I could not pass up as a start off for a post. One of my friends was talking about his brother and the fact that he was born with diabetes, epilepsy, and ADD for example.

My roommate and other good friend happened to say to this "and he's such a nice kid too. Being nice doesn't count for anything anymore." Or something along those lines.

In a way what he was saying is right. Being nice doesn't really gain us anything when it comes from gifts from God. Things like salvation after all are not earned and the only thing that we have to do to receive them is to be alive to accept them. This seems to be the hardest thing for many people I see to understand. There is nothing that can be done to merit the grace of God period. The fact that his son Jesus Christ died on the cross for us is what saves us and allows us into heaven.

It brings also another point that came up in my Christianity class today. We were discussing where Christianity would be in 100 years. Someone mentioned that they thought Muslims and Christians would begin to grow closer together, and also she wondered how they can not be closer right now since they are basically the same. Except for the fact that the basis of the religion is totally different.

The comment can not everyone say that as long as you believe something then it is find came up. Of course to someone who has no affiliation either was as she did this statement seems to make sense. I do not see the divide getting closer based on the fact that there is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ and his death for us on the cross. I guess in a way this kind of falls into the well at least they were a nice person category.

Any thoughts on whether we will somehow become closer with Muslims? Someone said we are already close with Jews it will only be a matter of time before we will be the same way with Muslims.

Computers to solve obese children....

What will they come up with next to make parents think that raising their kids should involve no real communication. This computer system at some schools in Houston makes sure that kids are buying the lunch their parents want them too. I'm sorry but watching what kids eat for lunch is not going to tackle obesity. Parents need to step up and teach their kids about exercise firstly and also healthy eating habits.

A computer is only as good as the person who is using it.


Hat tip : Drudge

Gnostic

I realize this is the first time I have posted in quite awhile. Hopefully, I can get some thoughts going again. Funny I always say that.

Anyways in my Christianity (public university) class we have been talking a little about Gnostic and how this sect may have been suppressed by the orthodox church at the beginning of Christianity. After looking at some of the stuff from the Gospel of Thomas it is no wonder they would be suppressed. Some of the information we have read mentions that it was an attempt by the church to gain power and the Gnostic gospels were a threat to the institution of the church. The suggestion is that there might be some useful things that were written and the church was scared so they crushed their existence.

Me I don't buy it. There are too many things that strike me as odd about the Gnostic gospels and I get quite the weird feeling when I read some things in them. The feeling is akin to the one I get when I have read things in the Book of Mormon. Here are some of the things I find disturbing about them.

1. They claim to be "secret" this really was not the goal of Jesus
2. In them a man can essentially become his own god and there is no dependence on Jesus or grace
3. For some reason they did not survive. If so many people knew they were true this would not even be a topic of discussion 2000 years later.

I really do not know a lot about these "secret gospels". There is nothing of value to be found in them so I would not want to spend too much time with them other than being able to refute them if asked. If anyone has any thoughts I would definitely welcome them.