analogies

i understand new things by analogies. i'm sure that most people do too. the christian doctrine is infinitely difficult to get your head around - i mean proper christian doctrine, not what c.s. lewis would call "christianity-and-water" that you learn as a child in this country. it was only by understanding some fundamental concepts by using analogies that i could make an informed decision to believe in a personal God and to become a christian.

i will be posting analogies of how i understand christian concepts. i apologise in advance if some/all of them bore you because most of them are likely to come from a computing angle. it seems like our varied professions and skills are keys to understanding life. :)


- james

song: sinai beach - humanity

i've been listening to the Christian hardcore band, Sinai Beach, since i got one of their albums, "When Breath Escapes", the weekend before last. aside from the brilliant technical proficiency, many of the songs have very moving lyrics. Here are the lyrics to "Humanity":

Sinai Beach - "Humanity"

Man
Has been fooled by his own brain.
Man's been deceived. He's gone insane.
He's given away his soul.
Exchanged the glory of
The immortal
For the self-indulgent lies
Of the futile.
So that fools may become wise
In their foolish wisdom.
And the wise
Be made foolish
In the fool's kingdom.

Man
Loves to think that he knows all.
His religion of science.
I guess
You can teach the earth to understand
When you make things up.

Can't shove a square
Into a circle
Anymore than a
Monkey into a man.
And the wise
Are made foolish.

Man
Loves to think that he knows all.
His religion of science.
I guess
You can teach the earth to understand
When you make things up.

In serving
A useless non-existent cause
To it's useless
Non-existent end
Man became an infant
And crawled back to
The womb.
He's gone insane,
Fooled by his own.

Lyrics copyright 2003 Sinai Beach

how come i'm so religious now?

short answer: i'm not.

long answer:

i entrusted my life to the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, on 29th December 2006. i'm a Christian now!

...but i'm not religious! the sad thing is that for two millenia now Christians worldwide have been practising Christianity as a religion. that's all well and good and surely there's no harm. however, as Christians, we don't need religion. it's the Grace of God through our faith that saves us [John 3v16].

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." [KJV]

confused? what is religion? the belief in a supernatural being and practice of a doctrine. that seems to fit Christianity quite well, but let's go back to the quote in John. it doesn't say "do enough good deeds" or "do more good deeds than bad" or "follow this set of rules" and "you shall be granted access to heaven".

yes, God wants us to be good. but what does God define as "good"? His Word says that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". here's an analogy i like - it's easy to remember because of the "sinne" of an arrow: in an archery event, God sets being good as hitting the bullseye with every arrow you fire. every time you take an action (or indeed fail to take an action) in your life, you fire an arrow. if you miss the bullseye, you have sinned. if you have sinned, you are no longer good. ouch! this bars practically all of humanity (perhaps excepting infants) from being "good" in God's eyes.

solution? God loves us so much and though "sin cannot enter His Holy Prescence" he created a solution for us. He gave His only Son to take the punishment for us. Jesus took all of our sin onto Himself on the cross, and as a result went to Hell... for THREE days until He conquered death and rose from the dead!

but why would God do this for us? because he wants to have a personal RELATIONSHIP with each of us. i know that word can sound scary, especially when it's with the Creator of the Universe! but the only way we can touch Him is to be pure and blameless, not contaminated with Sin. all we have to do is believe in the sacrifice He made for us in Jesus's agonising execution on the cross then to be taunted by devils in Hell.

believing is a lot more difficult than it sounds, but it's the only way we can become part of God's family. i've had lot's of help from dear friends and the Holy Spirit over the past few months to help me take the leap of faith.

in conclusion, God wants to have a relationship with us, instead of just following a set of rules to please Him. as a Christian, i accept that i am a child of God and that he loves everyone no matter how often they fall out of line. one cannot be a "better" Christian than someone else.

questions welcome. i had loads when i hadn't become a Christian and i still have loads presently unanswered now.

thank you for reading this far. God has always and will always love you unconditionally (i.e. He won't bless you just because you read this article).