Category Archives: Study the Word

HFJ News: Answering Other Religions and Atheism

We are continuing our weekly Friday extra post of “HFJ News” which is intended to introduce our Christian community to different parts of the website that many find useful.  Links are provided for your convenience or you can just visit the site directly at HearingFromJesus.org and look around on your own.

This week we are highlighting the section of our website where we provide some resources we recommend to help you understand the key faults in some religions other than Christianity, including atheism… which people passionately embrace as a religion in itself. These are but a few resources. There are many. But take care as you evaluate more… those written by false prophets or believers of the false teachings will twist holy scripture and deceive with confidence to lead you astray… very much like Satan did to convince Eve to disobey God in the garden of Eden.  Always check who wrote the book and what their main premise is before reading it. Make sure they submit to Jesus Christ.

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Answering Other Religions and Atheism

Jesus never instructs us to study and focus on religions other than Christianity . However we are charged with sharing the gospel throughout the world and it can be helpful to have some background on what other faiths believe and where they break down. Some knowledge in this area is helpful to effectively sharing the gospel.

For those who have not studied and developed a solid foundation in Christianity, it is best to focus on that first. If you are not mature, confident, and learned in Christianity and you study other religions and engage passionate practitioners of those religions to bring them to Christianity you may well fall prey to deception and seed doubts as to your faith.  Focus first on learning Christianity.

Answering Agnostics

  • Josh McDowell MinistriesAs a young man, Josh McDowell considered himself an agnostic. He truly believed that Christianity was worthless. However, when challenged to intellectually examine the claims of Christianity, Josh discovered compelling, overwhelming evidence for the reliability of the Christian faith. Associated website at Josh.org.

Answering Atheists

  • Stealing From God: Why Atheists Need God To Make Their Case by Frank Turek shows how many atheistic arguments, instead of disproving God, reveal that He actually exists. Associated website at CrossExamined.org.

Answering World Religions

  • The Facts on World Religions (Facts On Series) by John Ankerberg, John Weldon, & Dillon Burroughs) delivers informed viewpoints, insightful arguments, and a scripture-based Christian perspective on issues that impact our world.  The series also includes other books like The Facts on Islam, The Facts on the Mormon Church, and The Facts on Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Answering Islam

  • Answering-Islam.org provides a Christian Muslim dialog
  • Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, by Nabeel Qureshi, describes a dramatic journey from Islam to Christianity including the friendships, experiences and investigation that led to conversion. Associated website at NabeelQureshi.com.

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May the grace and peace of our lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Note: HFJ News posts are always supplemental and never replace our daily devotions, so please be sure to look for your daily devotion from Hearing From Jesus (HFJ) as well.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Righteous Attitude Toward Money and Possessions

Jesus speaks to us in Matthew 6:19-34 about a righteous attitude toward money and possessions and also reminds us how important it is that we ensure we are following God’s instruction, God’s light,  to guide our path.

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

22 “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God[e] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Jesus reminds us that if we focus our time and energy on generating money and possessions in this world, we are focusing on the wrong things. Money and possessions are temporary. They will not last. We can not serve both money and God. One or the other may be our master, but not both.

While it is right to plan for the future, worrying about tomorrow is not helpful. It can not add a single moment to our lives, and if you study the adverse health impacts of stress you come to realize that worry may actually shorten our lives or negatively impact our health. We must put our trust in God… the creator of the universe who loves each of us individually us as a father loves a child.

Jesus reminds us also that those who think they see the light clearly… understand right and wrong… understand God and His will… but do not truly know Him are in trouble. They are in utter darkness, but not even searching for the true light to guide their path for they think they already have it. To ensure we stay connected to God’s will we must anchor our understanding of His character and will in the Bible and have an active, personal prayer life to come humbly before our lord and savior on a regular basis.

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