A Reason 4 Hope
A Reason for Hope Question of the Week, December 8th, 2016
Question of the Week: Is having a Christmas Tree in your home the same as setting up a pagan shrine?
Verses: Jeremiah 17:2, Romans 14:1-13
The short answer is no. The long answer is “nooooooo.” Historically, the idea of Christmas being a pagan ritual is sketchy at best. There have always been pagan festivals for any and every kind of occasion and there’s very little evidence to suggest that the Christian adoption of these holidays ultimately corrupts their purpose. The Bible says that we can use days as special opportunities to give thanks to God for the things He’s done for us. The Bible also says we can observe every day as an opportunity to do so as well. The issue is not what we’re doing, but their ultimate purpose. There are those who celebrate Christmas for very carnal and selfish reasons, but the fact that others abuse the day doesn’t defile it eternally before God. People have made cases that because you kneel under the tree to retrieve presents, that you’re bowing down to it. Some even turn to the Bible and say because Jeremiah references a tree as a place where Israel would set up pagan shrines for the worship of idols, that this is where the idea of Christmas trees came from and therefore Christmas is idolatry. This information is false since the premise of those pagan shrines under trees were for practical reasons like shade rather than any symbolic significance to the tree itself. Likewise, kneeling before a tree doesn’t mean you’re bowing to it anymore than kneeling next to your car to change a tire is treating it like an idol as well. We need to understand that taking a day to remember the birth of our Savior is not a pagan ritual because others have used it for illicit purposes. We can’t help what the world does with good things. We ourselves can decide to use that day as an opportunity to remind our friends, family, and loved ones that a very special gift was given to us and it’s worth celebrating. Or we can choose to keep to ourselves and honor God in our own ways on that day. We are not honoring God, however, if we use our time to attack other Christians for doing things we ourselves don’t do for the same reasons. Understand what you’re doing and why, and make honoring God during Christmas the goal. In fact, that can be something we do everyday! It’s our choice to decide how we treat a modern holiday. Make sure those choices focus on God’s goodness and not on groundless claims that others are sinning because they don’t do things the way you do.
For more excerpts from A Reason For Hope, visit our page HERE.
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A Reason For Hope Question of the Week, December 2nd, 2016
Question of the Week: What does the Bible mean when it says, “The Dead in Christ will rise first”?
Verses: 1 Corinthians 15:51-54, Ephesians 4:8, 2 Corinthians 5:8
The term “In Christ” is a title used to describe those who have put their hope for salvation in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. This applies to Old Testament saints as well as those currently being saved. What we look back on and remember, they looked forward to. The work of salvation still applied. The only difference was their position in time to receive it. When an Old Testament saint died in Christ, they were looking forward to God’s promises at Abraham’s side in the Grave. When a New Testament saint dies in Christ, they are immediately in the presence of the Lord. The difference between the two was because the Old Testament saint didn’t have their sins forgiven yet. Once they were, they were taken to Heaven personally by Jesus in a victory parade for 3 days. That’s what Jesus was doing when His body was in the tomb. To refer to anyone, past, present, or future, as in Christ means they are saved. Upon the moment of their death, or the time of the Rapture, they will be brought into the presence of the Lord. The difference between those two is simply the fact that the saints who have died are already risen and in God’s presence. Those who are alive when the Lord takes them home won’t die like their loved ones. They will simply be brought to where they already are.
For more excerpts from A Reason For Hope, visit our page HERE.
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A Reason For Hope Question of the Week, November 23rd, 2016
Question of the Week: How do we give thanks to God even when we have nothing to be thankful for in our lives at the moment?
Verses: 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Psalm 103:1-10
The holiday season that comes at the end of the year is surprisingly a time of depression for most people then family and joy. Life never calls ahead concerning the things that go wrong in it, and in the midst of the dark world we live in, it can be difficult at times to obey God’s command to always have a thankful heart. The solution to this obstacle in the way of our attitude being one of gratitude is first to understand the command, then to understand the One who commanded it. As stated before, we live in a fallen world where the question is raised why good things happen at all. This statement is made with no shortage of reasons to support itself as valid. We can’t always give thanks for everything in this world because most of what this world has to offer is not something worth being thankful for. That’s why the Bible doesn’t tell us to give thanks for everything. It tells us to give thanks in everything. The difference between the two is that giving thanks for everything means you’re grateful for what has been given to you in your specific set of circumstances. Giving thanks in everything is having an attitude of gratitude regardless of the state you’re currently in. That’s what makes the second point so important. What this world gives us is rarely something we can be thankful for. What God has given us, however, always gives us something to be thankful for. The most important of which is our salvation. No matter where our lives are at, we know that this life won’t be the only one we have to live. What He has done for us through the finished work of Jesus Christ will always be something we can be grateful for.
For more excerpts from A Reason For Hope, visit our page HERE.
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A Reason For Hope Question of the Week, November 15th, 2016
Question of the Week: Are Romans Catholics genuine Christians?
Verses: Acts 4:12
The simple answer to this question is yes and no. The genuineness of someone’s faith is best determined on a person by person basis. If an individual who is apart of the Roman Catholic Church believes they are saved, you need to ask them the same question you would ask any other Christian to test the genuineness of their faith. You need to ask whether they believe they are saved by their works or by the finished work of Jesus on the cross. The Roman Catholic Church’s book of Canon Law states all of the traditions laid down at the Counsel of Trent are necessary for salvation. Fortunately an ever growing number of people in the Catholic church know very little about their church’s history and don’t believe that as valid doctrine. This shows their understanding and personal acceptance of salvation was in Jesus and not in an organization. Most people in the Catholic church are apart of it because it’s where their families have always gone and where they are most comfortable in their worship of God. The only things you need to clarify beyond salvation is; whether or not they believe that membership in the Roman Catholic Church is necessary for salvation, If they believe the idea that Jesus’ suffering on the cross is perpetuated through the mass, and if they believe the sacraments of Communion become the literal body and blood of Jesus. These doctrines, among many others, are unscriptural and would be considered cultic in their nature since they draw a person’s source of trust, truth, and salvation away from God and into their ideas about the topic. However, we make an even bigger mistake if we assume because someone attends a particular type of church that they automatically understand and adhere to the false teachings found therein. A genuine Christian can be found even in the churches with the most obvious of false teachers and doctrines, but they likely won’t stay there for long as their desire to grow closer to God continues to be hindered in that kind of fellowship. Are Catholics Christians? It depends on the type of Catholic you’re talking to. As long as they understand their source of salvation is in Christ alone and their understanding of Christian truth comes from the Bible and not their church’s additions to it, they can be called your brother or sister in the Lord.
For more excerpts from A Reason For Hope, visit our page HERE.
Listen: Monday – Friday 5-6pm, AM 940 KGMS
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