...Crystal Back THEO 104 December 11, 2010 What It Means to Be a Christian I. Introduction There are three concepts that have helped reshape the perception I have of Christianity: the Christian’s way of life, the Christian’s testimony, and the Church, or the Body of Christ, as it relates to the community. Each of these concepts is very important as independent ideas, but together they strengthen and enhance the life of a Christian. My own life has been strengthened by these ideas, and that is why I believe they are all essential to the growth and maturity of every Christian’s spiritual walk. They assist in defining what it means to be a true Christian. II. Section One: The Life of a Christian The first of these important concepts deals with the lifestyle of a Christian. Every aspect of a person’s physical life is directly involved with their spiritual health whether they realize it or not. It is not only crucial for a Christian to be aware of what they are doing in the presence of others, it is important for them to be aware of the decisions they make without an accountable audience. Choosing to live a lifestyle according to the teachings of Jesus Christ is the best way to genuinely show God and others that His lifestyle is, in fact, the best way. It also shows others, believers and non-believers alike, what a Christian really is and what one represents. For a Christian to truly be capable of living a Christian lifestyle, they must first begin their journey...
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...I. What is a worldview? Whether conscious of it or not, every person has a their own set of unique perceptions and beliefs of the world which constitutes their reality. It serves as a basis for all areas of their life which they use to govern their judgments and interpret the world around them. II. The Christian Worldview Origin - The Christian worldview is entirely rooted in God. Christianity affirms that God is infinite, omniscient, and sovereign Creator that is completely independent of all things. There never was a time that God did not exist. Genesis 1:1 tell us that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". Romans 11:36: "For from him and through him and to him are all things". He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and has the absolute power to create the universe. He created all things and sustains his creatures. Act 17:25 "And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else". Identity - The scripture clearly teaches that mankind was made in the very image and likeness of God. Because we are created in His image, that alone distinguishes us from all the other aspects of God's creation. Among all of His creatures, only made was created in his image; therefore, it is the highest and richest revelation of God. Genesis 1:26-27 " Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in...
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...The Christian Life The only way I felt I could express what living out a Christian Life is through a sermon. I am trying to be creative but I hope this isn’t too out of the box. I hope this is what you are searching for. What is the Christian Life? (Sermon Format) At the end of Apostle Paul’s ministry he looked back on his work and said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (II Timothy 4:7). When it comes to the Race of Life and the Christian Life, I think we have a series of choices. Every morning when we wake up you have a choices. * 1st- We can choose not to run, but if we don’t run we can’t win or we won’t succeed and we are surely not going to honor God. * 2nd- , We can choose to run but not run our best; and if we don’t run your best we are sure to lose and again are we truly going to honor God by doing this? * 3rd- , We can choose to run, meaning run our best, and strive for the prize by focusing on the finish, which is what God has asked of us. That’s exactly what the Apostle Paul wanted us to do in this passage of Scripture. If we are going to run the race and win the race, we are going to have to focus on the finish. The Christian Life is starts by knowing Jesus Christ as our one and only Savior which is which delivers what we are saved from. After making that decision I think we then have to find our purpose and determine what we are saved for. GALATIANS 6:7-10 says, 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked;...
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...Patrick Trainor THEO – 104 What it means to be a Christian What it means to be a Christian; hmm. Prior to this class I thought I knew all I needed to know about being Christian: read the bible, attend mass, work hard, and be good to my family, the usual. After going through this course and reading more about the bible itself and conversing with those in the class I definitely feel more enlightened to what it takes to be a Christian. The day to day lives that we all live nowadays tend to consume us so much that I think we forget why we are what we are. And I think this class has helped to reaffirm why I am a Christian. Everyone knows that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, but no one actually talks about why this is important; to them or to Christianity. To me this is kind of like a director foreshadowing in a movie. GOD was able to see that having Jesus born of a virgin would only enhance the believability of his deity by having this occur. Human skepticism is way too advanced and this just seems to be the obvious reason for setting this up this way. Just think had Jesus been born of a normal woman, in a normal setting, normal family, everyone would just assume he was normal. There would be no added credence to his power, knowledge, and compassion. It has in many ways added incentive for people to believe in him. So GOD was able to see into the future that we as a race would question, protest, and even take contrarian points of view in a unified opposition had this not...
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...What Does It Means to Be a Christian Name:Kuwantu Cammon What does it mean to "be a Christian " and how to be a Christian in today's world ? In some ways being a Christian is easy. Christian is a pupil and friend of Christ, both of these concepts are adjacent, although there are differences. On the one hand, we are disciples of Christ and His followers, and therefore must learn from Him through the Gospel that in which he believes the way he teaches us to live. During its development, Christianity experienced numerous changes, changes in the structure, rituals, views on certain things. As for the ritual, then I think it is worth to consider related to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and a milestone in the history of Christianity - the emergence of Calvinism and explain its features, its content and the filling, the difference. Meaning of Baptism for us is that if we dare to participate in it, then we are free to live the kind of life that does not apply to death. Instead of living in fear, we are able to love - to love God (it's not as easy as it sounds ), and to love our neighbor ( it's even harder ). Calvinism is the name given to a system of philosophical thought, we have inherited from Jean Calvin. He is recognized as the spokesman of the system, but not the generator of ideas in its foundation. Calvinism is not just a set of ideas shared by Calvin and his followers, but the organic...
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...on who we ask. The foundation of this answer though, will always include some type of relationship with the lord Jesus Christ. Many Christians see him as their savior or father figure. There is a Christian belief that exists that any amount of good will an individual performs will not be enough to get them into Heaven. The only way to make it to Heaven after death is to accept Jesus Christ as your lord and Savior. This belief helps us to answer the question of what it means to be a Christian because it eliminates a lot of myths surrounding the topic. For example, going to church every week does not make you a Christian. Spreading God’s word does not make you a Christian. Even volunteering for those less fortunate than you does not make you a Christian. All of these activities are external however, and can be performed by anybody. According to Christians, there needs to be an internal shift in our mindset and beliefs (putting your faith in Jesus) in order to truly be saved....
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...with Christ. But being a young Christian you have your questions and every question leading to this one big one. what makes a Christian? Starting out my christian walk in high school I had all kinds of questions and didn’t know many people to help answer them. So for the last four years I myself have had to figure out what it takes to be a christian. To define a christian would be someone who professes that jesus is their lord and savior. For that may be the usual defintion of christians but some people would define christians as a cult like group or someone who thinks there better then everybody else. My personal definition on Christianity is someone who puts God as the head of their life that follows his word and lives to glorify God and is continuously growing in their faith. In my walk in faith I had to figure out what sets christians aside from others and what a christian doesn’t look like. A Christian is not person who goes a against the biblical scripture and doesn’t believe Jesus Christ died on the cross...
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...What is the Christian role in managing the Environment? By JOHNSON OLAWUWO DEYI Environment is referred to as our surroundings, the conditions of our existence. It includes both living and non-living elements and provides resources to support life on Earth. Essential part of the environmental concept is establishing a relationship between living organisms and the natural habitat they live in. The connection between those two is built upon interdependency. The words ‘nature’ and ‘environment’ can be used as substitutes. Generally, it is believed that nature excludes everything made by man. So, there is man on one side of the equation and there is environment on the other. What should be found is balance between them, a way for them to be combined properly. And since we, as people, live in the surrounding environment, from our point of view, we are kind of in it but not exactly part of it. And because we look at the matter from the human perspective, we are not included. It can be concluded that environment is also everything that surrounds us, naturally existing but not manmade. This includes mountains, seas, forests, animals, other living organisms, natural forces. We are part of its environment. From our perspective, the ant is part of our environment. But both the ant and the man are excluded from their own environments when the matter is view through their eyes. Humans are given a very significant and...
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...I. Part One: What is a worldview? A worldview is the way in which we structure our thinking about life, death, science, faith, politics, morals and values. A worldview is a person’s core belief and philosophy of life that is used in decision-making. It can also be considered a lens which one looks at the world through. II. Part Two: What is believed by Biblical/Christian Worldview Christianity is not a movement of ethical prescriptions or philosophical beliefs that mark humanity’s search for God. The core essentials that compose a Christian’s faith are marked by clear distinctions that separate us from the rest of the world. Christians believe that all that exists was created by God and Genesis 1:1 supports this belief. David states in Psalms 139:13-16 that God is our Creator. Psalms 8:5 tells us that God created mankind above the animal. Christians also believe that men and women were created in the image of God according to Genesis 2:15. Christians believe that mankind exists and their purpose is to know God. Christianity is not based upon religion but instead a relationship. Mankind’s purpose is clearly stated in John 17:3 which states our purpose is divinely to know God more intimately and to be in a personal relationship with Him. Deuteronomy 11:13 speaks of the importance of loving God with all our heart and soul. No other system except Christianity speaks of an intimate, personal relationship between the Creator and humans. Christians believe in the fall of man, which...
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...To what extent has one significant person or school of thought other than Jesus encouraged Christians to stay true to the Lord? Human nature is to repel authoritative powers, which compels us to disregard the Lord. In order to stay true to the Lord, we are invited to have a personal relationship with him where we are to fight our fleshly desires (Galatians 5:17) that cause us to rebel. Paul known as the greatest commissioner, understood human defyance and dedicated his life to encouraging Christians to remain strong in their faith and therefore to a great extent uplifted Christians. The bible has created a guideline to protect a Christian’s life from falling away from the relationship with the father. In order to remain true to the Lord, temptations are asked to be ignored....
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...Steel, and young business tycoon, Christian Grey. The book also explains the relationships of Anastasia and her roommate Kate, Christian and his relationship with his family, and also looks at Christian’s abusive relationship he had with Elena Lincoln who is also his business partner. I am going to look at the communication between the characters of this book and describe the power and conflict issues that have been highlighted. I will also discuss how self- disclosure existed between Ana and Christian. Christian Grey is the male character of the book and the love interest to Anastasia (Ana). To the world, he appears to be a young, very handsome, charming, and business savvy man but he has a secret dark side since he secretly practices BDSM. Christian was abused as a child that he continues to have nightmares about into his adulthood. He was adopted by Dr. Grace and Carrick Grey, who also adopted Mia and Elliot as well. Christian had violent mood swings as an adolescent and eventually took a landscaping job for his mother’s friend Elena Lincoln. Elena seduced Christian and introduced him to the BDSM lifestyle, which he says taught him how to control his emotions and channel his anger. Christian eventually went into business with the loan Elena gave him. He continued to practice BDSM and had 15 submissive relationships prior to meeting Ana. Anastasia “Ana” Steele is the female character in the book. She is the primary love interest of Christian, with whom she finds true love....
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...Being a Christian in the workplace is very hard with an ever present changing society. However, having a Christian worldview is important in any field of study and workplace. In this essay I will seek to show how the belief that mankind is created in the image of God is Foundational to the Christian faith, and explain how this belief affects the way I interact with people within my chosen vocation. To begin, a person who has a Christian worldview perceives the world from a biblical standpoint. George Barna wrote in Think Like Jesus, “That having a Christian worldview means that you think like Jesus and practice your faith in every aspect of your life” (Barna, 2003). This is how we make sense of the world, through a Christian worldview and living this life style. We choose to have a Christian worldview. We choose to live a life like...
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...What Specific Action(S) Should Christians Take Regarding The Environment And Its Preser Abstract Christian are required by God's law to obey the laws of man. Furthermore, the United States Government has Federal and State organization that will help protect our environment. There are many ways that Christian can protect the earth's environment and restore the earth national resources. For an example, Christians could recycle many natural resources; buy vehicles that are more efficient and not being wasteful is all very important. Christians cannot be disillusioned that everyone thinks the same way and there viewpoint are the same. There are many non-Christians that belief that there is a need protect the earth and we will have endless supplies of natural resources. Finally, Christians realize that efforts to protect the earth may not be enough, so we must prepare and plan to restore natural resources. As Christian followers of God, we must educate others about conserving the earth's natural resources. What Specific Action(S) Should Christians Take Regarding The Environment And Its Preservation Or Restoration? Could you imagine Jesus Christ driving a car that is not environmental friendly? According to the Christian faith, Jesus Christ was the only perfect person that ever lived on the earth that was perfect. Therefore, Christians understand that to be Christ like, it would mean Christian would have to preserve the environment and if necessary contribute...
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...read and study the bible and its ways, and the bible is considered to be the Christian scriptures. Since Jefferson devoted so much of his time and spent most of it reading and learning the bible many people believed he was a Christian by how serious he started to connect and believe that the bible was one of the greatest writings he had ever read. But once he became familiar he realized that the people who were teaching the words of god from the bible to other people...
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...Christians in Israel Israel is one of the most unique countries in the world because of its demographic makeup, especially in looking at the country from the perspective of an American. This is because it is the only country that is made up of a primarily Jewish population. In Israel, it is the Christians who are the minority. It is specifically these minority Christians that I am investigating in this paper. I will primarily answer the question, “Who are these Christians living in Israel?” I will examine this by looking into what specific denominations these Christians represent, what historical backgrounds they have living in the country of Israel, and how their culture meshes with that of Israel as a whole. Making up only about 2 percent of the 7,000,000 people of Israel, Christians living in Israel are very much a minority by number.1 Interestingly, though, Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the Christian population has grown over the past 60 years, now standing at over 155,000.2The Christian peoples of Israel can be classified into four main groups. These are the Orthodox Churches, the Non- 1 Eldar, Yishai, “Focus on Israel – The Christian Communities of Israel” 2 Reidy, Tim, “The Holy Land and the Church in the Middle East” Chalcedonian Churches, the Latin and Uniate Churches, and the Protestant Churches.3 Specifically, the state of Israel officially recognizes a number of Christian Communities. This recognized status allows the ecclesiastical, or...
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