WHAT GOES ON AT YAM?

The Gathering--learning how to make God look good 24/7, Sundays at 10 AM, on the TFB campus, in the Young Adult room

Eating together--most Sundays, around 11:30 am, give or take...

Experience--an alternative worship event, every couple of months or so

HomeBase--fellowship in homes

Plain wRap--a bible and brain, pen and paper bible study, Sunday nights during the Summer

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IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK

Upcoming Events
Next Sunday
The Gathering— Do you believe all religions are basically equal?
Resources For Living Out The Lesson
Know God—Useful stuff on religions

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UPCOMING EVENTS

- HomeBase at the Stines’, January 25 (sometime in the pm--details later)
- College Winter Camp at Harmony Pines, February 28 - March 2, Cost $95, details later

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NEXT SUNDAY

8:45 am Worship—Worship Center
10:00 am The Gathering—YAM room
11:30 am Lunch (meet in the courtyard for info)

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THE GATHERING— Do you believe all religions are basically equal?

Do you believe that it really doesn’t matter what religion you belong to; that as long as you live a good, decent, moral life, you’ll go to heaven?

You hear this all the time. I believed it myself for quite a while. I looked at the world around me and especially people who claimed to be Christian and knew I lived more of a Christian lifestyle than they did so if they were getting to heaven, a good, just God would take me too!

Then what do we make of John 14:6
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Well, the fact is all religions are not equal, it does matter what you believe, and whether we like it or not, everyone doesn’t get to heaven just because they’re a nice person.

Because of this, it is really important what a person believes.

We talked about some of the major religions and a very quick summary of their basic beliefs (Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Science, Mormons).

An important issue talked about was that of tolerance. Essentially we should “tolerate” differing views but tolerance does not mean “acceptance.” We certainly acknowledge their differing viewpoint but must reject it as a valid theological view. Note, Laura mentioned after class that there may be points in their world view that may have validity and when listening (it’s very important to listen carefully) to the other person, finding these points can be a great way to approach these discussions. It shows that you’re listening, that you care, and that you’re not dismissing everything they hold dear as foolishness. We must exercise “gentleness and respect” towards unbelievers (1 Peter 3:15) when discussing our faith. Bottom-line, we need to separate the person from their beliefs. We accept and love the person; we tolerate the belief system but don’t accept it as true.

We talked about what “religion” is. There are the formal religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Mormonism, etc. But in the most generic sense, religion is “a cause, principle, system of tenets held with ardor, devotion, conscientiousness, and faith: a value held to be of supreme importance” So even atheism (no God), or scientism (only science can give use the ultimate answers), are types of “religion.”

The last topic we started on was regarding “consistency.” In my studies I have found that other than Christianity, no other religion can live consistent with their views. One example we mentioned was the Christian Scientists. They deny the existence of the material world and that sin, sickness, and death are merely an illusion. Yet they obviously cannot live consistently with that view. When they break a bone, why do they go to the doctor (who’s just an illusion anyway) to have an imaginary bone re-set in their imaginary leg? This is only one example of many.

We will continue next week talking more in-depth about the particulars of the different cults and religions and how to effectively deal with them from a Christian perspective.

Have a great week,

In service to our Lord,

Tom

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RESOURCES FOR LIVING OUT THE LESSON

CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS & RESEARCH MINISTRY
Religious Movements and cults and part of the spiritual systems of the world. They are everywhere. Some groups are huge and others are quite small. But all of them are false. Find out about different groups that are examined on CARM.


Bruce & Stan’s Guide to CULTS, RELIGIONS, & SPIRITUAL BELIEFS
By Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz
with Dr. Craig Hazen, Biola University

Bruce & Stan’s Guide is a reader-friendly book that covers One-God religions, blended beliefs, philosophical religions, and no God beliefs. This is a great resource, priced at around $12.




Dr. Dale Salico mentioned a couple of good resources in service this morning. Both books are by Lee Strobel, and run around $12 each.

The Case for Christ

The Case for Faith

As Tom said above, the first step in witnessing to those who belong to other religions is to listen to them—to care for them. Go out there and make friends—real friends—and love them enough to share Jesus.

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KNOW GOD--RESOURCES FOR WALKING THE WALK

Do you know what you believe?

The blurb from the website: Many people in the world today claim to be "Christians." How many of them truly know what it means to be a "follower of Christ"? Do you know? 10 Reasons To Believe is dedicated to not only helping Christians understand what they believe, but also helping those who do not "follow Christ" understand what Christianity is all about.