2- Does Jesus Have To Be Lord Of Your Life In Order To Be a Christian?

The other day, "Keith" asked, "What is true repentance? Does Jesus have to be Lord of your life in order to be a Christian? Can a true genuine Christian doubt his or her salvation? Can a true Christian deny Christ before men? What does Jesus say about all of these things? Can church history help us out as well?"

Because answering these all in one post would result in a really long answer, I've decided to answer them all individually.  Today, we look at Keith's 2nd question:

Question:

Does Jesus have to be Lord of your life in order to be a Christian?

My Reply:

Simple answer? Yes, Jesus has to be the Lord of your life in order to be a Christian.  Christianity without Jesus is just a term. Real Christianity is a friendship with God though Jesus Christ, and Jesus being Lord of your life.  Although, there are many out there who CLAIM to be Christians, yet Jesus is not Lord over their lives.  I also wonder if these same "Christians", actually engaged in "True repentance" when they "accepted" Jesus.

What If...?

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Question:

Born again Christians believe that those who do not believe in Jesus will be tortured for all eternity by a loving God. Suppose someone never had the opportunity to learn about Jesus. For instance they are in a remote African tribe and simply never heard of Christianity or Jesus. Are they damned for all eternity?

My Reply:

Ya know, people often mention the "what about this guy in remote Africa who never heard the gospel" question. But "hypothetically" speaking, if you really cared about what would happen to that one guy in remote Africa, you'd travel out to him and tell him about Jesus so that there would be no "what if" issues. But all honestly, you really don't care about him, but just use the question to justify God's fairness.

Yes, God is a loving God...He died so you don't have to. What else do you want from Him? Eternal life in Heaven? Sure! That's why God raised Jesus from the dead...so you CAN be with Him in heaven for all eternity. All you have to do is:

1. Receive the invitation...tell Him that you want to receive eternal life (by this, you're acknowledging Him as Lord and Savior, for you're asking Him for something that only He can give you)
2. Repent of your ways (let me give you a head start...you've questioned His faithfulness, denied His awesome gift, lived selfishly, etc...)
3. Put your faith into Him (you're doing this even as you're taking the time to talk with Him), and you'll receive it. Why is that so difficult to do?

Then begin reading the Bible, communicate (talk) with Jesus regularly, find a Church to fellowship with His other believers, and begin to learn from and follow Him.  

Then, if you still wonder about and begin to really care about those people in the remote parts of Africa who don’t know about Jesus, travel out to them and tell them about Him.  Then you won’t have to wonder, “What if…?”

---Pastor Andy

Peter Walks On Water

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Question:

How is it even possible for Peter to have walked on water?  What does real faith look like?

My Reply:

Well, he walked on water for a little while anyway.
Man, there's so much to this story! Anyway, after Jesus walking on water and the 12 freaking out about it possibly being a ghost (which is weird that they freaked out since chapter 10 just got done telling us about how the 12 cast out demons and healed the sick), Peter ASKS Jesus, "Command me to come out to you on the sea!" (Dude, that's like begging Jesus to test you! You're just begging for failure!) So Jesus said, "Come." Peter walked for a couple steps, but then saw the waves & felt the wind, and began to sink. Why? Because he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the elements around him that could hurt him. Then he yelled, "Lord, save me!" And Jesus caught his arm, lifted him up, and they both got into the boat.

So long story summarized, real faith is not sinking, but keeping your full focus on Jesus at all times. He commanded you, nothing can (nor must) keep you from going to Him. THAT'S what real faith looks like.

For some more on this, check out my other blog site.

---Pastor Andy

Accepting Jesus in the 11th Hour?

Question: If Jesus will forgive all your sins, why not wait until the end of your life to accept him as you lord?

My Reply:

So wait until the end and wipe away all your sin at once? Unfortunately, some people do that. But they don't get the gist of it all.
In other words, if you accept Jesus as fire insurance, then it's really for the wrong reasons.
Christianity is all about a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. So as Christians, we're living life not alone, but with the Lord as friends (also). Waiting until the last minute doesn't allow you to experience this friendship during your life.  Sure salvation is still available and attainable if you wait, but I guess my question is, why would you want to?  Also, what happens if you wait, and get into an accident where you die instantly? It all went so fast that you missed out your chance to accept Him. Oops?

---Pastor Andy

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Fate vs. Destiny

Question:

Do you believe everything is meant to happen?

Whether you're religious or not, do you believe that certain things in life will happen no matter what they are, and just your 'destiny' like in the final destination movie. Or what do you believe?

My Reply:

I believe everything happens for a reason, but not that everything's meant to happen.
The Lord has a plan, and what He plans will happen. Sometimes He lets us know what His will & plan are, sometimes not. I also think that our decision of an action depends on the outcome of the event. For example:

If you have a Bible, look up the book of Judges (start with chapter 20, verse 19): when the Israelites went to battle against their own brothers (the Benjaminites), they went up twice, and got knocked back both times. It wasn't until they all prayed, fasted, and put their focus' on the Lord that He gave them victory. 
So defeat was imminent until they finally all humbly went before the Lord. Had they done so in the beginning, it's possible that they wouldn't have experienced the losses.

---Pastor Andy

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Fate

Destiny