“Can You Be Good Without God?”

A young man stood looking at the table and I asked whether he had answered the question. “I was turning it over and over in my mind” was his reply, and thus a 20 minute conversation began.

John Blanchard’s Booklet’s title had caught his eye, and was entwined in his mind!

A Question To Engage The Thinking Mind.

 

A Vitally Important Question In This Day of Aggressive Fundamentalist Atheism.

If there is no God to set the moral standard, who or what does? 

If right and wrong are merely the consensus of human opinion, then there would be no absolute right or wrong, only what  people at that moment considered to be right or wrong.

Is that not just how modern man thinks?

See it in the so called ‘sexual revolution’, the dishonest politicians and peers who excuse their deceit by appealing to their circumstances, the drivers who turn our highways into race tracks.

THE APOSTLE PAUL SPOKE OF THIS KIND OF THINKING IN HIS LETTER TO THE CHURCH IN ROME:

Romans 1:22–25 (NKJV)

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,  who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 

At this point you need to look both ways and decide which way to go.

 I’M GLAD TO SAY THAT MY YOUNG FRIEND QUICKLY ANSWERED ‘NO’!

“You have and need the 10 commandments to inform us concerning what is right and wrong, things like murder and stealing are obviously wrong“, he said. 

He went on to explain that he’d always believed there was a God since the day when, as a 7 year old child he was run over and expected to die. Miraculously, he’d lived and now had a sense of purpose in life, but just hadn’t found out what it was yet.

From the bridge on the Ropery

 

I asked him to consider the 10 Commandments for a moment, “Have you kept them perfectly, does anyone?”

” Well, no, but nobody does, do they?”

I agreed with him but immediately set out to explain that God is perfect, and that only those who are perfect have any hope of living in His presence now and in the life hereafter.

 Matthew 5:48 (NKJV)

Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

I sought to explain the GOOD NEWS, that the Living God, gave His own Son to take the punishment due to sinners and to make those who admit their imperfection fit for a life in his presence, now and forever.

Loaded with information on How God Makes Sinners Perfect!

Colossians 1:28 (NKJV)

Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty of His people’s sin and all who now come to God through Him are accepted as perfect.

We debated back and forward, interacting in a calm and reasonable manner for about 20 minutes before he left with a copy of the booklet to read for himself.

A Booklet Well Worth Reading - And Free To Any Who Will Read It.

 

 

Saturday 31st October 2009

The overnight rain passed and left us with a pleasant October day.

We were only to glad to be out to publish the Good News again!

Sir Nigel graced us with his presence, even though he was creating his own black clouds!

Their were a number of people about, enjoying the brief spell of dry weather.

We were set up and ready to speak:

Ready and waiting.

Looking up Market Place

 The first lady to stop said she believed in God and Jesus but was interested in other religions also, especially Buddhism.

While this may seem attractive on the surface, any study of the many, so called gods, quickly reveals their total incompatibility.

In Buddhism there is no actual Supreme Being, no personal God, its actually a very ancient form of Atheism.

Life is about escaping suffering through spiritual disciplines!

The Christian Faith revolves around the existence of a self existing, personal God.

One who is pleased to reveal Himself in time, ultimately assuming real human flesh and suffering on behalf of His people.

Exodus chapter 3 verse 14:  And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Matthew chapter 1 and verse 23:  “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

Mark chapter 10 and verse 45:  “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

 There is no common ground between Christianity and Buddhism. Like all man made religion Buddhism is at best a self improvement programme and ultimately futile! The Good News Christianity brings is that of the Saviour God who does for us what we could never accomplish by our own efforts.

Acts chapter 4 and verse 12 is very clear:

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Nick was able to explain to this dear lady that sin prevents us enjoying God’s presence here or hereafter. That if we are ever to know God and enjoy any assurance of His favour then one must be found who can remove our sin, cancel the record of our madness. That One Is Jesus Christ, and no one else, certainly not you or I with our imperfect ‘good works’.

Romans Chapter 6 and verse 23:  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you have been labouring under the delusion that all religions are equal, perhaps even ‘drawn’ to Buddhism, then you also need to be directed to the Son of God who willingly gave His life for the sins of His people, the one and only way to God.

John chapter 14 and verse 6 is quite clear:   I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Please contact us at:  ryedaleevangelicalchurch@yahoo.co.uk if you need more information or help.

Sunday 3rd August 08 – Evening

I spoke this evening from Psalm 103:3 on the subject – Forgiveness, forgiven. Attempting to show that this is an act of God’s mercy whereby He graciously acts to remove the guilt of sin from His people forever.

Thus far did I come laden with my sin, Nor could aught ease the grief that I was in, Till I came hither. What a place is this! Must here be the beginning of my bliss? Must here the burden fall off from my back? Must here the strings that bound it to me crack? Blest Cross! blest Sepulchre! blest, rather, be The Man that there was put to shame for me! John Bunyan in Pilgrim’s ProgressP

Sunday 3rd August 08 – Morning

Family Service today, with lots of visitors. I spoke on Philippians 4:13

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

A favourite text of many Christians, but today I took time to show its place in the life of Oliver Cromwell.

“Oliver Cromwell – it influenced his conversion, it comforted him when he suffered the bereavement of his son Robert, and he passed it on when he was writing to one of his officers whose son was shot in battle. Then when he lay dying at Hampton Court in 1658 he asked for someone to read this very passage to him from Philippians. “He that was Paul’s Christ is my Christ too”, Cromwell commented on the day he discovered this text, at his conversion.” Dr Ivor Oakley in a sermon.

Friday 1st August 08

Remarkable fine weather today after last nights heavy rain.

So we are out in the town centre again, holding forth the Word of Life.

Conversations were rare, too many in too much of a hurry, but we did pass out lots of leaflets.

I had an interesting discussion with a lady about being born again. Like so many religious people she’d never heard of it and didn’t understand what it meant. She wasn’t very good at listening, I hope and pray that the Word of God will take root and she will indeed be born again. At one point she asked whether I thought that all the beings named as ‘god’ by the various religions weren’t just the same being, I was enabled to say there is only One God and all the rest are imposters.