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Showing posts with the label John 14:6

The Gospel and the Berlin Wall

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The Berlin Wall was constructed on 13 August 1961 separating East Berlin from West Berlin. The wall followed the border between Soviet Union communism and Western democracy that had come about following the end of WW2 when German occupation was split between the four allied powers. It was the physical manifestation of the term 'Iron Curtain' coined by Winston Churchill, representing the separation between the East and the West during the cold war. Between 1945 to 1961 movement of people between West and East Berlin was possible although heavily restricted, however once the decision to build the wall was passed construction began immediately without notice and barbed wire was erected overnight to stop people from defecting from the East to the West. Families were separated and the curtain closed on those living in the East.  It was still possible to move between the East and West of the city through a subway still in operation, however that too was soon bricked up and an ou...

Two Approaches to God

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There is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. In John 14:6 Jesus states “I am the way the truth and the life, nobody comes to the Father except through Me.” However there are two ways we can approach God. We can either approach God based on His goodness or we can approach God based on our sin and shortcomings. We can praise God for His goodness or we can seek God and cry out in repentance of our sin. The Psalms uses these two approaches throughout. Many Psalms praise the goodness of the Lord and his attributes, whilst others cry out to Him in anguish of the writer’s sin. Psalm 45 focuses solely on God’s goodness. Psalm 45:2-3 “Everyday I will bless You and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.” Psalm 118 too focuses upon God’s goodness: Psalm 118:1 “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” Nothing is greater t...

Gospel's Explained: A righteous man's reward

Matthew 10:41: "He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward." Muslims do not recognise Christ as the Lord, only as a prophet. Indeed the majority of mankind do not recognise Christ as the Lord. Some do not recognise Him at all whilst some recognise Him as 'a wise man' or 'good teacher'. I wish to mention Muslims for the fact that they see Jesus as a prophet of God rather than the Lord himself. As a result, Matthew tells us that they will not receive a righteous man's reward, but a prophet's reward. This begs the question, 'what is a righteous man's reward and what is a prophet's reward'? A righteous man's reward is eternal life in the presence of God; for only the righteous can physically be in the presence of God. It is impossible for somebody who is not righteous to be in th...