EXPLORING CHRISTIANITY


(1) What is Christianity?

(2) How does Jesus fit in my life?

(3) Does it work? Is it for me?
I blew it, God will never let
me in, will he?


The questions posed above are some
of the most commonly asked questions
about the Christian Life.

 This paper will deal with each
question individually.
 
 

'What is Christianity?'


To explain Christianity requires that we
open our eyes to the Word of God. To
become a Christian means that we
acknowledge that there is a God, that we
live by the Word of God, that we
acknowledge that we have been saved by
the precious Blood of Jesus Christ shed
for our sins on the Cross of Calvary,
that we believe that Jesus Christ
IS the Son of God, and that we
acknowledge that our God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is
abundantly alive, today and evermore!

 Let us now begin by proving that there
is a God.

 To do so requires that we examine the
Darwinian theory of evolution, and
compare it to the Word of God.
( Genesis Chapter 1 ), As we do so, we
will find major discrepencies. Which is
correct?

 Let us explore together, searching for
the truth, and this truth shall set you
free from spiritual bondage.

 In our world today, we are taught in
public and private schools that the
Planet Earth is millions of years old
and that the Human Species is a mere
freak happening of nature; an accident
of random particles and living organisms
getting together, evolving into more
complex organisms; forming a complex
living being. And so the story goes on
and on!

Whereas, God has written this down in
his own HOLY Book, called the Bible,
also referred to as the Holy Scriptures
and the Gospels of the Old and
New Testaments:

 That the Heavens (Universe) and the
Earth, all the Animals, Plants, and Man,
and the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars
were all CREATED by God through His
Commands; and that this CREATION occured
over a span of SIX DAYS; the SEVENTH day
He rested.
(Genesis Chapter 1: Why not
read Genesis Chapter 1, right now! If
you don't have a Bible, you may change
your study topic to Bible Study and
then study 'book01.txt' as your
reading choice)

 (editor's note: The entire text of the
Holy Bible is available right here on
this BBS System. Very powerful search
possibilities exist, especially if you
know about REGULAR EXPRESSIONS used on
UNIX Systems. UNIX is a registered
trademark of AT&T and its subsidiaries.
It is such a wonderful Blessing to have
the search capabilities that we have
available to implement TRUTH finding
BIBLE STUDY via the Computer. Let us
praise and give thanks to our LORD GOD
for giving us this special gift!

 The BEST way TO STUDY the Holy Bible,
however, is by reading it from cover to
cover, while receiving God's guidance
and help in interpretation. It's really
wonderful to read this book while the
author is there at your call, as you
need clarification. Of the books that
you have read, how many books have had
this capability?)

 Let us pray:

 Dear Father God which art in Heaven,
I pray that You will enter the heart of
the people reading this, and that you
will open their hearts and shine the
ever wonderful light of TRUTH that will
set us all free from Spiritual Bondage!
Hollowed be your NAME, BRING your
KINGDOM that we may be filled with the
Holy Spirit and be shown RIGHTEOUSNESS
and LOVE and MERCY. YOUR WILL BE DONE.
DELIVER US FROM EVIL. And Please, DO
NOT LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION. The
KINGDOM is YOURS; the POWER; the GLORY;
FOREVER! In Jesus' Holy Name, I pray
in supplication and thanksgiving, that
it will be done, this very moment!
GLORY! Glory be to YOU, Our Father
God! We Sing Praises to you, Lord!
Thank you! Thank you, our Father
God! Amen!

 GLORY! That is an example of the manner
in which we should pray to our God in
Heaven. (To learn how to pray, Read
St. Matthew Chapter 6 Verses: 9-13)

 Friends, Evolution has to be one of the
biggest lies ever told by the Devil.
Who is the Devil, you might ask? The
Devil goes by many names: Satan;
Lucifer; the Dark One; the Serpent, and
many more.

 The Devil thinks of himself as more
powerful than God. He wants to destroy
everything that God has created, and
to destroy all the truth coming from
the mouth of God.

 The Devil wishes you to believe:
(1) that you are alone, and
(2) that you alone have full control
over your life, and
(3) that you can do it all yourself,
(4) that you are better than anything
else in the Universe,
(5) that there is no hope, no victory,
no God.

 But the Truth is:
How can we be better than our creator,
God? God gives us hope, because He
created us; He is Good and Merciful.

 The Devil does not want you to know
that there is a God, or if you happen
to find out, the Devil masquerades as
God to literally draw millions upon
millions down the path of destruction!

 Every time this story of evolution is
told to you, it becomes ingrained in
your soul. We hear the litany of the
theory of evolution every time there is
a science program on Public Television,
or on a heathen broadcast channel.

 The Devil wants your soul:
(1) to subvert it,
(2) to destroy it,
(3) to mock it,
(4) to throw it into
eternal DARKNESS.

 The Devil means business. He is not
a mythical character but a real
person, the FATHER of ALL LIES! You
may know the Devil's works very well
as something you hold dear, maybe ROCK
MUSIC, maybe ASTROLOGY, maybe the OCCULT,
maybe WITCHCRAFT, or maybe through the
TEMPTATIONS of the FLESH. (Drugs,
prostitution, sex, theft, and many
others).

 If you haven't been saved, then you have
accepted the BIG LIE as TRUTH! You have
been lied to and tempted by the master
deceiver, called the Devil. Where did
the Devil come from? Going by such
names as Satan, or Lucifer, the Devil
once was an Angel of God, who gradually
began to think of himself as becoming more
powerful and important than God, having
more power than God, and so the devil
was cast out of heaven and became the
fallen Angel.

 Getting back to the subject of evolution
vs. creation it is time to point out the
stark TRUTH to you! If we are to be
mere accidents of random organisms
getting together, HOW CAN YOU EXPLAIN
THE COMPLEXITY OF THE DNA MOLECULE? HOW
CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE FACT THAT EACH CELL
IN YOUR BODY CONTAINS THE EQUIVALENT OF
400,000 THICK VOLUMES OF INFORMATION?
THE ANSWER, THE ONLY ANSWER, IS THAT
WE WERE CREATED!

 Now my friend, I ask you, since we are a
CREATED being, WHO created us? Was it
some ALIEN BEING from outerspace, was it
a MAD SCIENTIST (e.g. Frankenstein), or
could it be ALMIGHTY GOD? Inescapably,
the answer is that God must have created
us, since there is no intelligent being
in ALL the UNIVERSE who could be able to
have ALL the knowledge necessary to
create themselves and their environment
and then Planet Earth's Living Life.
Frankenstein or some other mad scientist
could not have found the secret of life
by a 'MAD SCIENTIST' experiment.

 Therefore, since God created us, He then
must also have created the heavens and
the earth. Well, if we had read the
Holy Bible, which incidently is authored
by God, we would have FOUND out the TRUE
STORY. Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every WORD which comes
from the MOUTH of God. When we read and
believe the Bible, we are truly edified
spiritually, and become productive
servants of God. You are invited:
Read the Bible!

 Also, by definition, since God is
responsible for the creation of the
Heavens, and the Earth, God is ALIVE!
God HAS to be ALIVE:
(1) God has to KEEP the Universe
going, by upholding all the
Operational Laws which He
ESTABLISHED.
(2) God has to watch over all his
beloved creation and protect
ALL of its parts from evil.

 Since, now we have established the
existance of a loving God who is
ALIVE AND WELL, we shall next examine
the lineage of Adam, the first man to
be created by God, and explain what
occured in those times that affects us
all today.

 First some backround to cover from
Genesis Chapter 1 verses 26, 27, and 28:

 26 And God said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness: and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth, and
over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth.

 (Note: It will become evident as you
learn more about God, that God is a
triune God: God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In
other words, God is three distinct
parts in One Whole. This is referred
to as the Holy Trinity.)

 27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them.

 28 And God blessed them, and God said
unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and subdue it:
and have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over every living thing that moveth
upon the earth.

 Next some backround of the lineage of
Adam through:
Genesis Chapter 2, verses 7-25:

 7 And the Lord God formed man of the
dust of the ground, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul.

 8 And the Lord God planted a garden
eastward in Eden; and there he put the
man whom he had formed.

 9 And out of the ground made
the Lord God to grow every tree that is
pleasant to the sight, and good for
food; the tree of life also in the
midst of the garden, and the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil.

 10 And a river went out of Eden to water
the garden; and from thence it was
parted, and became into four heads.

 11 The name of the first is Pison: that
is it which compasseth the whole land of
Havilah, where there is gold;

 12 And the gold of that land is good:
there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

 13 And the name of the second river is
Gihon: the same is it that compasseth
the whole land of Ethiopia.

 14 And the name of the third river is
Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward
the east of Assyria. And the fourth
river is Euphrates.

 15 And the Lord God took the man and put
him into the garden of Eden to dress it
and to keep it.

 16 And the Lord God commanded the man,
saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat:

 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely DIE.

 18 And the Lord God said, It is not
good that the man should be alone; I
will make him an help meet for him.

 19 And out of the ground the Lord God
formed every beast of the field, and
every fowl of the air; and brought them
unto Adam to see what he would call
them: and whatsoever Adam called every
living creature, that was the name
thereof.

 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle,
and to the fowl of the air, and to every
beast of the field; but for Adam there
was not found an help meet for him.

 21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep
to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he
took one of his ribs, and closed up the
flesh instead thereof;

 22 And the rib, which the Lord God had
taken from man, made he a woman, and
brought her unto the man.

 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall
be called Woman, because she was taken
out of Man.

 24 Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife: and they shall be ONE
FLESH.

 25 And they were both naked, the man and
his wife, and were not ashamed.
 

The First Sin (The first temptation and
the first defiant act of man toward God)
STUDIED through:

 Genesis Chapter 3
1 Now the serpent (Devil) was more
subtil (crafty) than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had made. And
he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God
said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of
the garden?

 2 And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of
the garden:

 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is
in the midst of the garden, God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither
shall ye touch it, lest ye DIE.

 4 And the SERPENT SAID unto the woman,
Ye shall NOT surely die:

 5 For God doth know that in the day ye
eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing
good and evil.

 6 And when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise, she TOOK of
the FRUIT thereof, and DID EAT, and gave
also unto her husband with her; and
HE DID EAT.

 7 And the EYES of them both were OPENED,
and they knew that they were naked; and
they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons.

 8 And they HEARD the voice of the Lord
God walking in the garden in the cool
of the day: and Adam and his wife HID
themselves from the presence of the
Lord God amongst the trees of the
garden.

 9 And the Lord God CALLED unto Adam, and
said unto him, WHERE ART THOU?

 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the
garden, and I WAS AFRAID, BECAUSE I WAS
NAKED; and I HID MYSELF.

 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou
wast naked? Hast thou EATEN of the
tree, whereof I commanded thee that
thou SHOULDEST NOT EAT?

 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou
gavest to be with me, SHE GAVE me of the
tree, and I DID EAT.

 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman,
What is this that thou hast done? And
the woman said, The SERPENT BEGUILED me,
and I DID EAT.
 

And so this is the lineage of OUR first
SIN. Satan, tricked Eve first and Adam
second into letting the DEVIL replace
God's rightful place in Adam and Eve.
This FIRST SIN AFFECTS US ALL since WE
ARE ALL descendants of ADAM and EVE.
Therefore, WE have Inherited the FRUITS
of THE FIRST SIN which has made us ALL
UNCLEAN Spiritually.

 When we are tempted of the Devil,
we are driven to an act contrary
to the Word of God, and when we do that
act contrary to the Word of God, we
have sinned against GOD.

 As the history of man progressed from
the days of Adam and Eve's first sin,
we have inherited the dirt of a sinful,
world. We have grown farther and
farther apart from our relationship with
our God; thus that is why God sent His
only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save
the world from sin and to renew our
relationship with God. When we call
upon the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, Jesus hears us and then
speaks to our Lord God, on our behalf.

 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.

 For God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved.

 He that believeth on him is not
condemned: but he that believeth NOT is
condemned already, because he hath NOT
believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.

 And this is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil.

 For every one that doeth evil hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved.

 But he that doeth truth cometh to the
light, that his deeds may be made
manifest, that they are wrought in God.
(St. John - Chapter 3, verse 16-21)

 Jesus said that until heaven and
earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall
in NO WISE PASS from the LAW, till all
be fulfilled. Essentially, this means
that Jesus Christ has GUARANTEED the
ACCURACY of every INCH of the BIBLE.

 Many scholars, having tried to disprove
the Holy Bible, have failed to find
fault with it, and have never found any
of its historical claims to be FALSE.
Instead, after many of these scholars
have finished with their study, they
have come to JESUS, REPENTED of their
SINS, Invited JESUS into their heart and
therefore were SAVED! GLORY BE TO GOD!!
HALLELUGHIA!! We have the entire Bible
here on this computer system. Be
encouraged to study it. The version
here is the Old King James Version in
Old English prose. This writer prefers
this translation over most others, but
each translation shines a new dimension
of meaning to passages little understood
without knowing or seeing the original
Hebrew and Greek Manuscripts.

 Therefore, the evidence points to the
fact that there is a God, and that God
exists; thereby we have proved to our
satisfaction that there is a God; that
our Lord God is real! Glory!



 

Briefly then, "What is Christianity?"

 Christianity is a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the
Messiah.

 The wonderful plan of salvation begins
with the miracle of the Christ Child.
It is best told in short form by the
Symbol of Faith drawn up by the FIRST
Ecumenical Council of the Eastern
Orthodox Churches. Here below are the
twelve articles of the Symbol of Faith:

 1. I believe in one God, Father
Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth and
of everything visible and invisible.

 2. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the
only-be-gotten Son of God, begotten of
the Father before all Ages. Light of
Light, True God of True God, begotten
not made, co-substantial with the
Father, through Whom all things were
made.

 3. Who for us men and for our salvation
came down from Heaven, and was
incarnated by the Holy Spirit and of
the Virgin Mary, and became Man.

 4. Crucified for our salvation under
Pontius Pilate, He suffered and was
buried.

 5. And was resurrected on the third day
according to the Scriptures.

 6. And ascended into Heaven, and sat at
the right hand of the Father;

 7. And He will reurn in GLORY to judge
the living and the dead; whose Reign
will have no end.

 8. And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who
proceeds from the Father, Who, together
with the Father and the Son, is
worshipped and glorified; Who spoke
through the Prophets.

 9. I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church.

 10. I acknowledge One Baptism for the
remission of sins.

 11. I await for the resurrection of the
dead.

 12. And the life of the Ages to come.
Amen.
 

These articles of the Symbol of Faith
represent the main beliefs of the
Christian Faith.

 Jesus said, "I am the truth and the
Light" GREAT and WIDE are the paths
of DESTRUCTION; and narrow is
the path of RIGHTEOUSNESS.

 "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for
wide is the gate, and broad is the
way, that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be which go in thereat:

 Because strait is the gate, and narrow
is the way, which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it."

 John the Baptist preached to the
multitudes as he baptised saying:
"REPENT, for the Kingdom of God is at
Hand!"

 So this brings us to the next
question:
 
 

'Where does Jesus fit in my life?'


Jesus fits into your heart:


If you shall confess with your mouth
the LORD JESUS, and if you shall
believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you shall be saved.

 For with the heart, we believe to
righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made to salvation.

 For the scripture says, Who so ever
believes in Jesus shall not be
ashamed.
(Romans Chapter 10, verses 9-11)
 
 

'How does it work? Is it for me?

I blew it, God will never let

me in, will he?'


Through Jesus Christ, God gives you a
second chance:

 And into you has God given the breath
of life, who were DEAD in trespasses
and sins;

 Where in time past you walked according
to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now works in the
children of disobedience:

 Among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of
the flesh and of the mind; and were by
nature the children of wrath, even as
there were others.

 BUT GOD, who is RICH in MERCY, FOR HIS
GREAT LOVE WHERE WITH HE LOVED US,

 Even when WE were DEAD in SINS, God had
accepted us into His Kingdom together
with Christ, (by Grace we are saved;)

 And has raised us up together, and made
us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus:

 That in the ages to come he might show
the exceeding riches of his grace in
his kindness toward us through Christ
Jesus.

 For by grace are you saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: IT
IS THE GIFT OF GOD:

 Not of our works, lest any man should
boast.

 For we are God's workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God had before ordained that we should
walk in them.
(Ephesians Chapter 2, verses 1-10)
 

Pray this prayer and mean it with all
of your heart:

 Let us pray:

Dear Lord Jesus,
I now realize I am a sinner. I
accept the fact that you died for me on
the rugged cross of Calvary. I now
open my heart's door and receive you as
Savior and Lord of my life. Please
take full control of me and help me to
be the kind of Christian you want me to
be. Amen.
 

If you prayed this prayer in all
sincerity, you are now a child of God.


.....temporarily out of print......

We invite you to send for a copy
of a book entitled, "Introducing the
Orthodox Church". This book will help
you grow in grace and knowledge.
You may obtain this book through our
outreach for a donation of $25.00.

If you have any questions about your
new faith, please contact the Sysop of
Gospel Outreach Download System at:

prayerline777@yahoo.com

 Please enclose a seed faith donation to
the Gospel Outreach Download System as
God directs you. GLORY!!

 Now, please read the Catechism of the
Eastern Orthodox Church as inside you
will learn about finding the proper
Church Home for you to belong to and
why Orthodoxy will lead you to a deep
relationship with our Lord Jesus
Christ. You will learn about the
glorious activities in heaven carried
on by the Saints and the Mother of
God, our Blessed Mary. She along
with the Saints lead us all in prayer
and praise to our Christ Pantocratora
or Christ Almighty and Omnipotent.

Gospel Outreach Download System Node #2
P.O. Box 752
Hammond, IN 46325-0752