I only have in mind to do you good and not to harm you -
to give you hope and a future Bible
Contents
Want to be a world changer?
You are probably
reading this because one of the other pages on this site
gave you some answers you were looking for. You
personally experienced the results of God's work in my
life impacting your life. Would you, too, like to have an
impact on other peoples' lives and be a world changer?
God has a unique plan for your life - a destiny that only
you can fulfill on earth! That plan involves you, making
an impact to change forever some aspect of the world you
live in - an area you are passionate about. You don't
have a passion for a cause? He will give you a passion
and a vision for your purpose. Great fulfillment comes
when you enter into that plan.
For me, I gave my life over to Jesus Christ when I was
17. He gave me a passion and a vision to help teenage
boys and this website is one result of that passion.
Hundreds of thousands of boys worldwide have much more
peace within themselves because of this site. The
liberation that comes into their lives from not having
those sexual hassles and misunderstandings frees them to
go on to achieve in other areas - to get on top of life.
Read on to find out more about the way God works and how
you too can become a world changer with a purpose for
your life - whatever your story at the moment!
What is God's "love" like?
I have a 12 year old fostered son named
Andrew. When I come into the room he sometimes raises his
hand slightly as a sign to me that he wants me to
reassure and comfort him. He often does this when he is
feeling down and he wants me to help him feel better. He
knows that if he reaches out to me in a small way like
that, I will respond to him and give him the love and
assurance he is looking for at that moment.
That is exactly how God is with us. He waits for us to
open our heart to Him in some small way and then He will
go out of his way to reveal the love He has for us. The
relationship of God to man is often described in the
Bible as being an ideal 'father-son' relationship. God
even says that He will be "a father to the fatherless"!
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
Bible
The emphasis is always for a person to make the first
move and God will then respond. This is one reason why
people can go all through their long life and make
statements like "there is no God!" They were ignorant of
the requirement that they had to make the first move in
order to have God reveal himself to them! God did it this
way so that those who want to find Him will do so out of
their own free will.
The perfect father
Read here to see what a perfect
father and his love for you would look like.
The limits of our minds
Can your mind comprehend these two facts?
- Get your mind to imagine the solar systems and
universe going on forever, in all directions with no
ending.
- Get your mind to imagine the universe ending at some
point and then try to comprehend what the void after the
universe boundary is like. The void must go on forever as
well!
One of the statements above has to be correct, but our
mind does not have the ability to comprehend and process
the fact.
The point is this: Our mind is finite - it has definite
limits in its ability. That is why it is not sensible to
rely on our own (or any other man's) ideas when it comes
to issues bigger than our mind can fully comprehend -
vitally important issues like "is there a god" and "what
happens to us after we die".
An example of those mind limits:
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Compare an 8 year old girl explaining how the latest
Ford production car operates
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against an adult explaining spiritual matters.
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Her understanding of the car is limited.
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Our understanding of the universe is limited.
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She could produce an explanation of observed facts at
her level - "you put petrol in here and turn the key
and push this pedal to go fast".
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We have an understanding of the world and universe from
facts we have observed.
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Her peers would have no argument with her explanation,
because they all have approximately the same level of
understanding.
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We all commonly lack the ability to grasp an infinite
universe and must accept scientific and theological
explanations within those limits.
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The people who actually designed the car would laugh at
the little girl's sincere attempts to explain its
operation.
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God says "the greatest wisdom of men is foolishness!"
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The little girl simply has to believe and trust the
manufacturer when he says "the EGO Lambda sensor
constantly monitors the oxygen level in the exhaust and
the ECU adjusts the fuel mixture accordingly".
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We have to trust the God who says "You must be born
again to have eternal life to be able to go to heaven
when you die".
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The explanation of how the car operates is beyond her
wildest imagination to try and comprehend. She has to
choose whether to believe and trust the manufacturer or
not - that he knows exactly what he has researched and
designed and knows best how to operate the car.
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We cannot comprehend all of the ways God does His
stuff. We choose whether to believe what He says or to
trust in mans' limited understanding.
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The manufacturer realized that no one would have the
same intimate knowledge of the car that he does. That
is why he produced a handbook and workshop manual so
people could understand more of how the car is to be
operated and serviced to get the best out of it. It is
completely voluntary to read the book, but there are
consequences for not following its recommendations.
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The God who says He created the universe also gave us a
book to understand how to run our lives to get the best
out of our time here on earth. It too is voluntary
reading and also has consequences for not following its
requirements.
How do you know "God" is THE God?
He wrote that knowledge in our hearts so that we would
instinctively know there is a god! Who is it that people
instinctively cry out to in desperation when they are
faced with life-and-death situations? Reader's Digest
magazine regularly has true life stories of people facing
death who cried out to God to save them, and he did,
obviously, because they lived to write the story.
Many were not and still aren't church people, so their
story isn't biased in any direction. When it came to the
crunch, there was no debate about which God they should
call out to for help. There was no mental debate about
which new-age philosophy to apply or which crystal was
appropriate. There was no debate either about which
religion was the most appropriate at that occasion.
They called out to the one true God the Bible talks
about. He created them and wrote the knowledge of His
presence into the deepest parts of their heart and He
saved them when they cried out to Him in their time of
absolute need!
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?
God decided to give people a free will - everyone can
lead the type of life they choose, but there are
consequences!
If the leader of a country decides to war against another
country, then God won't stop him. The people and the war
torn countries pay the consequences for one man's
decision.
Why does God let little children suffer and die? It is
clearly not what He wants to happen, but once again there
are consequences to peoples' actions.
Mother Teresa (a famous worker amongst the poor in India)
stated that "God may well have sent a person to invent
cures for diseases that affect all of the human
population but someone aborted the baby before it could
be born". A mother decided for whatever reason and we
could all be worse off because of it!
There are consequences! The consequences of one person's
decision can cascade to effect countless thousands (or
millions) of people.
What about the 'bright light' of near death experiences?
Many people who have 'near death' experiences report a
concurring story of a bright light in a 'heaven like'
place and feelings of great joy and peace.
The Bible indicates that when a person dies they go to a
place called PARADISE which has characteristics we would
imagine of heaven. This is only a holding ground!
After Jesus has returned to earth the second time and
done His stuff everyone will be judged according to their
life on earth - whether they accepted or rejected Jesus
Christ!
- Those who accepted Jesus go on to heaven (much better
than paradise!)
- Those who rejected Jesus go to a place everyone knows
as hell.
It is that simple! Don't be fooled by the 'near death'
reports that everyone goes to heaven! You make the
choice. You live with the consequences just like
everybody else!
What happens when you "connect" with God?
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Imagine a light bulb
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and compare it to a person.
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Light bulbs come in all shapes and sizes - fluorescent,
incandescent, spot lights, flood lights etc.
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People come in all shapes, sizes and abilities.
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They are all complete and perfect as designed.
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People are able to exist on their own. Each is made
complete and perfect.
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They were all designed for a specific purpose.
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The Bible says that each person was created for a
particular purpose.
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They can't produce light on their own. They have to be
connected to an external source of power through the
wiring.
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The Bible says that we can't achieve our full potential
on our own. We have to be connected to God through the
'wiring' of Jesus Christ.
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Some will never achieve their purpose of producing
light before being destroyed by an accident or breakage
that ends the lamp's fragile life.
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Some people die before ever connecting to God. The
Bible describes our life as "hanging by a thread".
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Other
lamps will be connected to the power source via the
wiring and the invisible energy flowing into them will
cause the lamp to reach its full potential.
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People who accept God's way and connect to Him via His
specified method (through Jesus Christ) find they come
alive on the inside. Others who haven't made the
connection find it difficult to understand how
something invisible could change a person so much.
The Bible actually says that we become "a light set on a
hill" when we become connected to God!
How do I "connect" with God?
The basis of connecting with God is an attitude of
acceptance and belief in Jesus Christ and what He did for
us. God always looks on the heart of a person - not what
is seen by others.
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A relationship with another person is an example of
what
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connecting with God is all about:
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You might know all about the other person but never
have met them personally.
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You can know all about God but not know Him personally.
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You need to introduce yourself or be introduced to the
other person to begin a relationship with them.
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You need to introduce yourself to God through praying,
to start that relationship.
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The relationship with the other person then has to be
worked on if it is going to develop in any way at all.
Worked on by spending time communicating and getting to
know them.
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The relationship with God then has to be built the same
way by spending time talking (praying) and listening
(bible and prayer). The relationship thrives too by
meeting together with others who have also introduced
themselves to God (a Christian church is a place where
such people get together)
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The relationship with the person becomes personal and
intimate to a certain extent.
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Many Christians report that over time their
relationship with God becomes their closest
relationship they have! This is in addition to their
normal, fulfilling, people relationships.
Step by step guide of how to become a Christian:
It is all about changing your heart towards God and
giving Him permission to come in to your life - following
Him.
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Tell God you are sorry for how
you have been living. Sorry that your life hasn't been
pleasing to him. Sorry that in his eyes you are a
sinner.
- Ask Him to forgive you for your life of sin and tell
Him you want to live pleasing to Him from now on.
- Tell Him that you believe that Jesus died for you in
order to open up a way so you can have access to God.
- Tell Him that you want to begin a relationship with
Him. Ask Him to come and be your friend. Ask Him to come
and live inside of you in your spirit!
- Tell Him you want Him to take over your life and to
help you in areas that you struggle with.
After you become a Christian
When you have followed this through, the Bible describes
you as a little baby spiritually. Just born - in fact
just 'born again'.
The next step is to obtain nurturing, just the same as it
is absolutely essential for a baby to be nurtured if it
going to survive. Nurture is obtained by reading the
Bible (get a modern translation which is easy to
understand and begin by reading the section called
"John") Nurture is also obtained by praying (simply
talking to God!) and thanking God for all He has done for
you.
A third essential component of nurture is mixing with
other Christians. Choose a Christian church that tells
you they love Jesus and that they worship Him alone.
There are many lively, modern Christian churches in
nearly every town and city.
Am I on my own after I become a Christian?
God has promised to "never leave you or forsake you".
"Nothing can separate you from God's love".
Make the decision to spend time with other Christians -
if you put a branch into a fire, it quickly catches on
fire - if you take it out of the fire, it will eventually
go out. No matter how hard you try, you still need the
draft and warmth of other Christians to keep the fire of
God's work in your life alight.
God made it that way. The Bible actually describes us as
all part of one body that has Jesus as the head. No part
of the body can successfully exist by itself!
Over to you
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It's all in
your hands - nobody else can do it for
you!
Draw near to
God and He will draw near to you!
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