There are several verses in the Bible which specifically talk of thankfulness.
eg Give thanks for everything Ephesians 5 V20
Always be thankful Colossians 3 V 15
Sing with thankful hearts Colossians 3 V 16
Have a thankful heart Colossians 4 v 2
Be thankful in all circumstances 1 Thessalonians 5 v 11
Be thankful for the unshakeable kingdom Hebrews 12 v 28
The Question is. Can the Christian really expect to be thankful in ever circumstance given the bad things that happen in this world?
http://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/events/parenting-events/parentalk
CARE FOR FAMILY EVENT
The problem with parenting is that normally by the time we get the hang of it – we’re redundant! Parenting is a mixture of highs and lows … and everything in between. It can bring some of life’s biggest joys, but also its greatest challenges. For most of us, a bit of encouragement and a reminder that we’re not alone can make a real difference.
During this event, we’ll look at key issues such as communication with our children, setting boundaries, helping them grow in independence while keeping them safe and, above all, building strong bonds with them that will help us weather those teenage storms. We’ll share practical tips that you can take away and put into action at home straightaway. It certainly won’t be dull – there will be lots of humour and you may even shed a tear or two. The aim of this event is to have you leaving inspired and empowered as a mum or dad.
Jesus was always being asked questions. He also answered people with questions. And questions about whether Jesus is unique are not new.
For example, when faced with Jesus on trial, Pilate the Roman governor represents all the political and religious tension of the time in his question in John 18:33: “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Pilate is in this immense conflict within himself. Something within him is prompting him to say that this trial is a charade. But he’s trapped between the political manoeuvring of Rome and the Jewish authorities he’s subjugating. And he asks the crucial question: Who is Jesus? Is he unique?
We often hear that all religions are the same, but this is not true. They are superficially the same, but they are fundamentally different.
How is Jesus different? There are a number of ways:
The Human Condition
Fundamental is Jesus’ description of the human condition. He talks of the alienation of the human heart by being separated from God. He says that the heart is in rebellion against God: so deep is this, that morality alone cannot solve it. It goes beyond mere good vs bad. The heart is in need of something greater than just pulling ourselves up by our moral bootstraps.
The Unique Solution
Second, Jesus offers a unique solution to the problem. The provision he gives for you and me is absolutely unique, and it is not cheap. It is the cross. That’s why you will find an Easterner, when they come to Jesus Christ, literally sobbing and sobbing and sobbing, because they have felt the anguish of what sin is. Their recognition of the graciousness of forgiveness is very, very unique. Islam says, to get to heaven your good deeds will have to outweigh your bad. In other words, you pay. When Christ comes and says to you and me that he is offering forgiveness and doing so through the payment of his life on the cross, it is an extraordinary truth. The Bible says that we need a Saviour and we need forgiveness.
Love, Forgiveness & Justice
There is only one place in the world where love, forgiveness and justice come together: justice was being revealed, love was being demonstrated and forgiveness was being offered. That is on the cross of calvary. Jesus Christ claimed to be the way, the truth and the life because he is what the absolute truth really is. Repentance is an anguished moment, but your tears are wiped away with the joy of forgiveness. This truth of Christ’s grace is unique.
Sinless
Thirdly, Jesus was unique in that he had no sin. Even Pilate said, “I find no fault in this man”.
The Resurrection
Finally, the resurrection is the ultimate demonstration of his uniqueness. Jesus shows that he is the Son of God through his rising from the dead. And, through his death and resurrection, Jesus conquered through evil, not in spite of it. It shows that there is a hope that comes from beyond the grave.
This is a precis of a talk given to the Keswick Convention 2014. The audio is available free here and will be summarised in a BBC Radio 4 broadcast on 24 August.
For some, “God doesn’t believe in atheists” is just a clever (nor not-so-clever) jab directed against the faithless in our culture. But based on the findings of secular researchers, the statement may not be so far from reality.
That is because multidisciplinary research is increasingly backing the idea that human beings are hard-wired to believe in God, according to Science 2.0 writer Nury Vittachi in an article titled, “Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke.”
“[A]theism is psychologically impossible because of the way humans think,” Vittachi cites avowed atheist Graham Lawton as writing in New Scientist. “They point to studies showing, for example, that even people who claim to be committed atheists tacitly hold religious beliefs, such as the existence of an immortal soul.”
Even atheists hold to several tacitly religious concepts, including the existence of an immortal soul, according to Lawton. The article also cites another atheist researcher who demonstrated that all people engage in internal monologue, regardless of whether the person to whom their thoughts are directed is actually present.
Equally demonstrable is the intrinsic human tendency to believe in divine justice. Vittachi describes both religious and non-religious persons as possessing the innate sense that “If I commit a sin, it is not an isolated event but will have appropriate repercussions.” This sense of cosmic justice is credited for the popular belief in “karma.”
This idea, he writes, is played out on a number of differently levels—including narrative literature, where even atheist authors invariably write stories that “exist to establish that there exists a mechanism or a person—cosmic destiny, karma, God, fate, Mother Nature—to make sure the right thing happens to the right person.”
Even the staunchest nontheists are not exempted from such habits, according to the writer. “If a loved one dies, even many anti-religious people usually feel a need for a farewell ritual, complete with readings from old books and intoned declarations that are not unlike prayers,” Vittachi writes. “In war situations, commanders frequently comment that atheist soldiers pray far more than they think they do.”
According to the writer, atheists tend to exhibit the same sociological, psychological dependence on the intangible as religious folk do, even if the former reject the existence of anything supernatural. “Statistics show that the majority of people who stop being part of organized religious groups don’t become committed atheists, but retain a mental model in which ‘The Universe’ somehow has a purpose for humanity,” says Vittachi.
While Vittachi attempts to connect all these theistic proclivities to an evolutionary source, missing one key bit of evidence: it is the biblical Christian worldview, not the secular humanist worldview, which accurately predicts a human bent towards belief in God.
In Romans 1:18-23, the apostle Paul writes that “what can be known about God is plain to them”—that is, all men—and that “his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” He then goes so far as to state that all such people “knew God” (v. 21). The implication, thus, is that man innately assumes the existence of his Creator until he convinces himself to think otherwise.
This biblical teaching is not unique to Paul. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding,” echoing the same sentiment of other Old Testament passages. In essence, one cannot truly possess wisdom and knowledge if one denies the essential fact of existence: that the transcendent God is the ultimate measure of reality.
While Vittachi may be a few steps short of walking down the aisle at the next altar call, the findings he describes lead to one critical conclusion: perhaps it is atheists, not God, who truly do not exist
Charisma News
Atheists and secular humanists consistently make the claim that religion is the cause of violence and war throughout the history of mankind. One of hatetheism’s key cheerleaders, Sam Harris, says in his book The End of Faith that faith and religion are “the most prolific source of violence in our history.”
While there’s no denying that campaigns such as the Crusades and the Thirty Years’ War foundationally rested on religious ideology, it is simply incorrect to assert that religion has been the primary cause of war. Moreover, although there’s also no disagreement that radical Islam was the spirit behind 9/11, it is a fallacy to say that all faiths contribute equally where religiously-motivated violence and warfare are concerned.
An interesting source of truth on the matter is Philip and Axelrod’s three-volume Encyclopedia of Wars, which chronicles some 1,763 wars that have been waged over the course of human history. Of those wars, the authors categorize 123 as being religious in nature, which is an astonishingly low 6.98% of all wars. However, when one subtracts out those waged in the name of Islam (66), the percentage is cut by more than half to 3.23%
That means that all faiths combined – minus Islam – have caused less than 4% of all of humanity’s wars and violent conflicts. Further, they played no motivating role in the major wars that have resulted in the most loss of life
The truth is, non-religious motivations and naturalistic philosophies bear the blame for nearly all of humankind’s wars. Lives lost during religious conflict pales in comparison to those experienced during the regimes who wanted nothing to do with the idea of God – something showcased in R. J. Rummel’s work Lethal Politics and Death by Government:
http://carm.org/religion-cause-war (thanks to the writer & Editor for this article, Robin Schumacher & Matt Slick)
The Bible in James (naturally) agrees with Christ when he says: “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel,” (James 4:1–2).
Country Unspecified.(outside Uk)
Three men were walking down one of the streets in the shanty town, specifically looking for people who needed prayer for healing.
One of the gentlemen then had a strong sense that “the next man they would come across would have neck pain and God would heal him”.
They stopped outside the next shop. The 45yr old man standing there had had neck pain for several years, unhelped by medicines.
He was asked ,”can we pray for you in Jesus name”. He agreed willingly.
They prayed together for about a minute and then stopped to ask how he was feeling. With almost expressionless face he said “yeah, the pain in my neck has completely gone but my back still hurts” So the three man prayed for his back for another minute. That also improved. (He has been seen several times since & remains well)
Note.
Miracles on their own do not bring people into relationship with Jesus. People are often willing to have their illness prayed for but the idea of repenting & turning to a new faith is not so popular.
Extract from “GO” July -Sept 2014
The persecution of Christians in Nigeria and Iraq illustrates the serious way in which freedom of religion or belief is being denied to so many. Surely every MP in the House of Commons should take a serious interest in this?
This is why we are pleased to see that Christians on the Left, a group affiliated to the Labour Party, are hosting an event with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief specifically to engage with and inspire Labour MPs about freedom of religion or belief.
“International Religious Freedom – the next human rights frontier?” will be held on 8 July at 5pm in Committee Room 20, Parliament, and is a brilliant opportunity for Labour MPs to get involved in the discussion.
Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how
much her Department saved for the Exchequer by closing the Passport
Office in Newport.
Howard stands alone as the last line of the U.S. defense, and he shoulders the burdens and scrutiny of the position. To succeed, Howard depends on his own anchor, his faith in Jesus.
“The most important thing in my life is Christ,” Howard told a youth group he volunteers with. “He’s more important to me than winning or losing or whether I’m playing or not. Everything else is just a bonus.”
Reported cases of slavery in Wales are the “tip of the iceberg” a government expert has said.
The Welsh government’s anti-slavery co-ordinator Stephen Chapman told BBC Wales they just “don’t know how big that iceberg is”.
Mr Chapman appealed to communities to reported suspected cases of slavery.