Christianity is not a religion... virginkiss: its ur walk w/ God. the term “Christian” is so overused today, may people who claim 2 be Christians actually hinder the teaching of Christ...i, myself, am NOT a Christian-i am a follower of Christ. the term “religion” instantly transforns people`s minds into thinking about traditions nd rituals. Christianity is unique. A true Christian isn`t one who just shows an outward appearance, like attending church, giving “church answers”, or praying publicly. u should have an inward relationship with Christ. nywayz, just wanted 2 make it clear-Christianity is NOT a religon-it`s ur walk w/ God. thx 4 ur time  Qz: I agree virgin. To many people make the claim but their actions are not reflective of the teachings of Jesus. I try not to shout my beliefs because I dont see myself as a good example. But I can say my life and the way I look at the world and the way I treat people has changed. Not by my good nature but by the grace of my savior. rockskull: you are smart virgin. christ was furious at people who felt they were important by sitting in the front row so others could see how religeous they were.. bragging about their good deeds..and generally displaying a holier than thou attitude. a man's relationship with jesus is a personal and deeply spiritual journey.  Spirit One: there were many Christ [Christ simply means ,anointed] throughout Biblical history ,for historical accuracy ,how about telling us which Christ you are refering to. Spirit One: Spirit One Elite Member Lvl. 7 Isaiah 66:15-24 For behold, Yahweh will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire and by His sword Yahweh will judge all flesh; And the slain of Yahweh shall be many. 17 "Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, To go to the gardens After an idol in the midst, Eating swine's flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be consumed together," says Yahweh. 18 " For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. 19 "I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. 20 "Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to Yahweh out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says Yahweh, "as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of Yahweh. 21 "And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites," says Yahweh. 22 " For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me," says Yahweh, "So shall your descendants and your name remain. 23 And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says Yahweh. 24 "And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh." Spirit One: So here we see that truth refers to Yahweh’s Laws. If you are seeking the truth of Yahweh it means that you are seeking the Laws of Yahweh. All His Laws are “Truth”. Satan has caused every religion on the planet to reject Yahweh’s Laws. This is why from Yahweh’s perspective there is no difference between Christianity and Hinduism or Islam or Judaism. They have all rejected the name of Yahweh and Yahweh’s unifying laws of peace. This is why the nations are at each others throats. You see people have made themselves different by gravitating from Yahweh’s Truth, His Laws, and over the years have formed religions based on what they think is right and wrong. Now some aspects of each religious faith have some aspect of Yahweh’s Laws or the truth in it but it is also mixed with teachings that are opposed to Yahweh’s Laws. What all religions have therefore are their versions of righteousness and evil that suits them. The natural out growth of this is that one will always see itself as better than the other who are infidels and therein lies the root of many wars. What we would like people to realize is that Yahweh first gave His Truth or His Laws to the Israelites for them to be an example to all people of how to live. Yahweh’s Laws are for all mankind. Only when all mankind start living by Yahweh’s Laws will we have peace. But this is not where the world is heading. The world’s religions have abandoned the Truth of Yahweh, His Perfect Laws and are reaping the curses from breaking His Laws. This is what the prophet Isayah shows is the real reason nuclear war is coming which will leave only a few men alive. Isayah 24:1-6 1 Behold Yahweh makes (allows) the earth (to be) empty and makes it waste, perverts the face of it and scatters abroad its inhabitants; 2 And it will be: as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his owner; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with him who takes usery, so with him who gives usury to him: 3 The land will be utterly emptied and utterly plundered, for Yahweh has spoken this word. 4 The earth mourns and fades away, the world mourns and fades away, and the haughty people of the earth languish. 5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants of it, because they have transgressed the Laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Because of this, the curse has devoured the earth, and they who dwell therein are desolate; therefore, the inhabitance of the earth are burned and few men left. Spirit One: Please notice that "man" needs no intercessor between himself and YHWH (Yahweh). No church, no priest, no patriarch, no government. Each man is to have a personal living relationship with his Father. As long as a man remains under the "covering" of no-one but YHWH (Yahweh), he is granted authority. Remaining under the covering of YHWH (Yahweh), simply means walking in obedience to Him and His Word, by faithfulness. We see this principle illustrated in the life of our father Adam. YHWH (Yahweh) commanded him to "dress and keep the garden", or in other words, to take dominion over creation; to protect and serve it. He was given responsibility; therefore he was also given authority to administer the revealed Word of YHWH (Yahweh). As long as he remained obedient to YHWH (Yahweh) (under his covering), Adam’s authority was absolute and unlimited, because it was not his authority, but rather by being under YHWH (Yahweh)’s covering through obedience, YHWH (Yahweh)’s Word was Adam’s Word. Obedience could be said to grant one a sort of "Power of Attorney". Adam’s "sovereignty" was conditional to his obedience, his faithfulness to the High Sovereign, YHWH (Yahweh). When Adam rebelled, or disobeyed, he lost authority. We can see this today. If we abide by natural laws we can do, or are given authority over, incredible things. If we should attempt to ignore those laws, our undertaking would most likely be a failure, or turn out quite different than we anticipated. In reality when we "violate" a natural law we don’t escape it, but rather activate another law of which we may or may not be aware. After Adam’s "fall" the remaining authority he possessed was limited to the areas in which he remained faithful to the divine edict. Obedience, personal accountability, is the basis of self-government. YHWH (Yahweh)’s authority is the only real authority there is. He is the only one worth obeying. Submitting ourselves to "ordinances after the traditions of men" (e.g. covering our heads) will only lead to personal bondage and suffering. Self-government is only fully possible through observing the Life of Messiah, and by the illumination of the Spirit of YHWH (Yahweh). No amount of physical might could accomplish it, but when one of YHWH (Yahweh)’s children is empowered by the Life of Messiah they will express the "Kingdom (council) of heaven" on Earth. The first thing Yahshua taught us was, "Repent for the Kingdom (council) of Heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). When the Assembly - Ekklesia began to grow after Yahshua was resurrected, the first step, according to Peter, was, "Repent, and be baptized..." (Acts 2:38). Repentance, or personal accountability to the Word of YHWH (Yahweh), is the first step to fulfilling the Kingdom (council) of YHWH (Yahweh) within each of us. Without this foundational principle, the Kingdom (council) of YHWH (Yahweh) does not exist on any other level. Personal Sovereignty, or each individual taking responsibility for their personal instruction, sustenance, and protection on all levels of both the internal and external worlds, is the Kingdom! As we grow into Sovereigns, we mature into "Sonship". When we become "Kings" over our own mind, and our actions, a result shown in our daily lives, we learn Sovereignty. When we exercise self-government according to the Word of YHWH (Yahweh), we enter into and experience the Kingdom (council- and Government) of YHWH (Yahweh). If we reject His Word, if we refuse to be governed by the principles of the Divine Edict, we refuse citizenship in the Kingdom (council) of YHWH (Yahweh).  telescopus: IMO the Jesus of the Bible is not necessarily the same Jesus that the church follows. In fact, I don’t think the church is even interested in following the real Jesus, but rather claiming to ‘believe in’ its own constructed Jesus, because this act is sufficient for salvation (according to Christianity). The evidence shows quite clearly that the modern church is really an assemblage of thousands of different Christian religions that cannot agree on what the Bible has to say about things, particularly Jesus. The Christians of today tend to serve religion and not God. In many, if not most places in scripture, the text is addressing specific circumstances attending specific people at a specific time. Yes, we can learn a lot from it, but to think that the Bible is primarily a manual for behavior today misses the point of the Gospel, which to Christians should be the essence of the scriptures. Spirit One: they added jesus and took away Yahoshua [which means Savior of Yahweh -Son of Yahweh : Yahweh being CREATOR of the Universe] that is where the initial confusion comes from ,look at the version of the short life of jesus as told by the different scribes ,one says when he passed ,the Earth shook and rocks split ,another says nothing happened ,one says he was hung on a cross ,another says he was tied to a post ,and yet another says he was Hung from a TREE ,the TRUE Messiah Yahoshua didn't die on a cross ,he traveled around the world with his uncle Joseph of Arimathea ,interacted with and influenced many cultures . Thumbsy: Telescopus posted: " ... the Jesus of the Bible is not necessarily the same Jesus that the church follows. In fact, I don’t think the church is even interested in following the real Jesus, but rather claiming to ‘believe in’ its own constructed Jesus, because this act is sufficient for salvation (according to Christianity)." You are absolutely correct. The experts talk about the Historical Jesus versus the Christ of Faith. According to most of them, one will never really retrieve the former without inflicting severe damage on the latter. The Christ figure was constructed around a historical person (or even includes elements from several people) in an attempt to present an alternative to the many competing dying-and-rising saviour gods in the Roman Empire during the first three centuries of Christianity. chesney: Well, he can try to deny it as much as he wants to, but the way Jesus is presented in Christianity doesn't leave much doubt that he is a composite figure with mythical elements that we recognise from earlier contexts. Somebody used the expression "refried burrito" about this phenomenon, which occurs frequently among gods and heroes. shreya372: Most gods and heroes are indeed composed from the same sources. What annoys me, though, is that their followers refuse to admit this easily verifiable fact. Instead, they claim that their preferred idol is unique, but even a fourth grader - with enough training to compare biographies - can quickly see that this is untrue.  graceplusnothin: religion is...what can i do for god to get to heaven-----christian faith is trusting in what jesus has already done when he died for our sin...religion leads to hell---christian faith gives us heaven  (Post deleted by staff ) | Religion Chat Room 31 People Chatting Similar Conversations |