My Beliefs

Basics

There is a God, only one God (the God of Abraham, Jacob & Isaac) – He is the creator of all life, the sources of light in a world full of darkness.

He sent His Son, Jesus, to the world to teach us how to live, glorify Him and show us His nature.

He gave His Son, Jesus, to free the world from sin (the curse that began with Adam & Eve’s fall from Eden).

God is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – They are unity, pointing to each other, directing the way to glory and eternity.

The Bible is His word and it is the truth – anything we say is secondary and needs to be validated there.

The only way to know the Father is through the Son, Jesus.

Those who believe in God and that He sent His Son to die for our sin and accept Him as your savior, are saved – everything else after that is icing on the cake. From that point on, whether we see it or not, we are righteous and pure (according to His words, not mine).

There is heaven and hell – the only way to go to heaven (have eternal life) is to accept Jesus as our savior.

The Jewish people are God’s chosen race and part of His kingdom. Christians are to love and honor His people.  He has promised that those who bless His people will themselves be blessed and those that curse His people will themselves be cursed.

Teachings

God so loved the world, but hates sin – we are to love the Father, confess Jesus before men, love our neighbour as ourselves, and hate sin, (not people).

Everyone sins, the only pure human to ever live on earth is Jesus.  Fortunately for us, He is a forgiving God. When we accept Jesus as our savior, all our past sins are forgiven and we are made clean.  This doesn’t mean we never make mistakes again, but when we do, He will forgive us when we repent with a sincere heart.  Not repenting them doesn’t mean we are no longer saved, it just means we have barriers to receiving all that He wants to give us.

The only Unforgivable Sin is to speak against the Holy Spirit (in other words, never call Him an unclean/evil spirit).  This is why Christians are willing to die before renouncing Him – physical death is much less of a price than eternal damnation for anyone that knows about it.  The devil also knows this and tries to use it to steal God’s people by forcing or tricking them into saying it.

God doesn’t just live in churches, He is everywhere – in businesses, houses, classrooms, gyms, hospitals and in us.  Believers in Jesus are part of the body of Christ.  He lives in us and our bodies are physical and spiritual temples of God. He dwells in us, not just for us.  Since we are temples of God, the Holy Spirit dwells in us.  Defiling our bodies is defiling God’s temple.

God has a secret place for each one of us, where He gives us rest, shelter, and protection.  He wants us to meet with Him in secret, to give Him our heart or inner self, not just our body or visible self.

We are not to change the world, but through us God will change the world.

We are to serve, not quarrel, be gentle to all, teach, be patient, and correct those in opposition.  We are not to judge others, that is God’s right, not ours.  If He grants repentance and gives them knowledge, that’s His choice, not our goal.  Life is a journey for us and we make mistakes.   Each one of us is at a different point in this journey and has learned different lessons.

We are in a war, a spiritual war with the devil.   As part of the body of Christ, who has all things under His feet, we are set above the devil (above all principality, power, might and domination).  This means we have the authority to step on the devil and stop him in all things.  Again, it comes back to choosing to do so.  The tools are: ask for, believe, and receive.  Done.   Impediments are: lack of knowledge, lack of fear of the Lord, lack of forgiveness (opens to sin), not asking (lack of submission/humility), not believing (doubt) and not receiving (again, doubt).

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (wisdom, understanding, discernment) which leads to honor, grace, glory, blessings and long life.  Fear here is not meant as terror, but giving honor and deep reverence, understanding the power and greatness He possesses, and standing in awe of Him.  It means caring how He feels about something, enough to change your behaviour to please Him and avoid His wrath.  It is the opposite of rebellious or defiant.

Opinions

This of course is just a tip of the iceberg – again, the bible is the source of all knowledge of God, his purposes, desires, and nature.   The Old Testament is for us to learn from, the New Testament is for us to follow.

No one person on earth today has complete understanding of God or the bible, we are all learning and growing throughout our lives on earth.   No one religious denomination is right in all things, but of those in Christ, each has "a piece of the pie" and is part of the body of Christ.  We are all to work as one and build each other up (not tear each other down).

We are often our own worst enemy – God has given us the ability to choose for ourselves.  Choices we make open doors to evil, God doesn’t open those doors and the devil doesn’t open those doors – we do.   Conveniently, we can also make the choices to close those doors and open doors to awesome blessings.  How cool is that!

God does not inflict us with disease or pain.  By our lifestyle, fears, bitterness and unforgiveness, we open the door to these things.   We can pray for healing, but without removing the causes of the problem, God will not heal.  This means if we repent the root causing sin – healing will come.   If we as believers continue to hold on to the root causing sin – healing can’t come.  God cannot deny Himself, healing without cleansing would be a denial of His words.

Church and state are not separate.  As part of the church, we are also part of the state.  Jesus is the head of our church and the Prime Minister is the head of our state of Canada.  We need to pray for the leadership of our nation, province, community, churches, businesses, and families.  The act of prayer and intercession is a vital part of influencing society and the world.  We don’t have to agree with someone to pray for them.  Prayer is more powerful than jobs, demonstrations, letters, and conversation – it opens doors for God to not only change things, but minds and hearts.

God did not create us to live in strife and persecution.   He created us with His desire for us to live in love, joy, peace and abundance, to live in His blessings all the days of our lives.  He loves us unconditionally, which means that no matter how badly we screw up, He always wants us to come back to Him, to forgive us and have us live in His blessings.  He will not say He forgives us, then rub our faces in our mistakes for the rest of our lives.  He will not distrust us from that point on because of our past actions or remember our faults and just put up with us.  He is love, the only unconditional love that exists – we can take on that trait, but only if we get it from Him.

All people are made (by God) to want love, acceptance and happiness.  All our choices (good and bad) are made in a quest for these things.   If we turn to God for these things instead of the world, all our problems would be solved.  King David made so many stupid mistakes, yet he always turned to God (not always immediately, but eventually), God always forgave him and he had incredible favour with God.  It didn’t mean there no consequences for his actions, he didn’t get all the blessings God would have liked to give him (didn’t get one of his greatest hearts desires – building the temple), yet he still had a phenomenal relationship with God and tons of blessings.  And we can be certain David will rise up as a chosen one on the day of the resurrection.

Prayers are answered when they are done in sincerity and selflessness.  Selfish prayers fall on deaf ears (things for personal gain & self-promotion). King David’s son Solomon was offered anything he wanted by God (in person, pretty big deal then & now) – he asked for wisdom and knowledge, in order to lead God’s people- therefore was made to be the wisest king to ever live (ever – before & after).  Plus he got riches, wealth and honor, just for not being selfish in his requests.  God loves to give us our hearts greatest desires and much more, when our hearts are in the right place.

When we trust in Him, we have absolutely nothing to worry about, be anxious for, afraid of, or sick about.  From health issues, to wayward kids, job problems, accidents, disasters, and finances.  Not trusting Him opens us up to the fruit of those fears.

Like our body is what we eat, our mind and spirit are what we hear and see.  We need to feed our mind, body and spirit to have full health.   If we eat junk, watch violence, and listen to negative words, we will reap the fruit from their seeds (been there, done that).  Our words reveal what is in our heart (fruit of spirit) – think about our frame of mind and how we talk to others.   Just as a test, try changing what you listen to or watch for one week – see if you can notice a difference in your mood, outlook on others, and words those days.   Just recently I found myself hurting someone I care about with my words.   Looking back, I can see the venom that was bubbling out of me - most definitely the fruit of what I had been filling my spirit with.  It was a wakeup call to re-evaluate what I've been leaving myself open to.

I personally think it is the duty of every Christian to stand with the nation of Israel and the Jewish people.  God is very clear on that in the bible - I think anti-semitism stems from not understanding the bible.   We are to bless Israel and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  Having been to Israel a year ago, I have a new understanding for God's people and land, with a passion I never had before.  Many Christians thought I was crazy to go there in times of such terrorism.  In reality, the media only shows one side - it is a beautiful country with very little crime or violence.  They live in a time of massive persecution, yet do not let fear rule them - they go on with their lives very well, better than we would if it were in North America.  As for Christians afraid of going there, that sounds like an oxymoron - Christians are to live by faith, not fear.  If we truly have faith in God and His ability to protect us and provide for us in all things, there is nothing to fear.   Do as He leads you to do and you will be blessed in all things - He promised that!

Again, these are my beliefs, not yours.  Don't just believe what I say - read the bible for yourself and form your own opinions.