Death is coming

The closer death creeps up upon me the less I am able to understand the reasons for life or living.

Yes I have experienced a close family member dying and unlike television it takes decades to handle such a thing. To think I am going to put my family through such a thing when I finally leave is more horrific to me than the thought of death itself.

My life was and is still a learning experience but when all said and done what am I to do with all this accumulated learning over my lifetime if I just die. There is no logic or reason to this.

Long ago I became aware that the God story that is sold to the majority is just a nice story to give mankind with a message of a basic layout of how nice life could be if everyone followed these ideas. Not many in life do and if one thinks about it the good and evil structures actually depend on each other. The good that can be experienced in life is only understood as good when there is it's opposite to compare it to. This is not rocket science only common sense in reality. I am not saying we need to experience bad but understanding in it is needed to appreciate the great things many of us can have in our lives. From birth to death there are many ways mankind helps his fellow man. How many ways can you help?


Thursday, June 24, 2010

Five Foundations Of A Christian Worldview

By Walter Lindgren

Christian believers typically adhere to five traditions that form a worldview that shapes the nature of their beliefs. This outlook may also contain characteristics that other individuals perceive as factors which, in fact, identify a person as a Christian. The article that follows is not intended to be a creed or the final statement on the matter, but a dependable outline of Christian beliefs.

The first point of such a worldview is belief in a single God, monotheism, and an over-arching love of the deity who is specifically accountable for all creation. With this as the foundation of a Christian worldview, for example, an individual's opinion of concepts that do not acknowledge God or that do not recognize the origin of creation will lead to a lack of agreement with these ideas.

The second factor in a Christian worldview is acceptance of Jesus as the son of God and the only salvation for humans, in the sense that Jesus is the path to everlasting life in heaven. In order to be a "Christian," the meaning of the term requires literal faith in Jesus as a personal savior. This affects an individual's worldview in several ways, primarily in the contexts of knowing that others who believe in Jesus are also saved, that those who reject this belief are not part of the church community, and that there may be a need for educating others about the Christian faith.

The third element of describing a worldview for the Christian faith is a belief in the Holy Ghost (or Spirit) as the active presence of God's power, especially as shown by the acts of the apostles. This leads to the need for good works, or positive actions, through the church and within the community. A Christian approach to life will develop active expressions of one's faith to affect other people.

The fourth component of such a worldview would be the notion of Christians as people of the book, biblios, the Bible. The Bible functions as a source of inspiration and specifically describes the point of view that each Christian should use to evaluate the events of their lives. The New Testament shows people how to believe, think, and act in order to be Christians which, in turn, forms one's worldview.

And the fifth element is the instruction that Christians are to demonstrate their "love" for other people in every aspect of their lives. From the basis of choosing to love other people, a Christian worldview accepts that all things will ultimately demonstrate God's love for his faithful, that belief in Jesus is the path to everlasting life, and that Christians can express that love through their actions toward others.

A worldview developed from these five Christian principles may lead to the personal observation that God will take care of all things in good time, and that belief in Jesus, faith in the community of the church, and actions that express love toward others will result in a calm, peaceful, joyous life, though not without sufferings of the faith and physical world. And it is the promise of salvation through Jesus that gives genuine meaning to the Christian worldview.

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