Fundamental Baptist Christian

I remembered back then when I was asked, "Which is better between an honest Buddhist and a rapist Christian?" My reply was, "Neither. One's going to Hell and so is the other! A rapist Christian is an oxymoron. Christian yes but in name only. But Christian in the Biblical sense? No way!" Then there's the new term of "Christian" extremist. I remembered when I was newly converted to Christianity from Roman Catholicism - I still had issues of hate to get rid of. I was soon insulted for my stance, I was called a religious extremist, I was even compared to the late Osama bin Ladin, I was jeered at for my beliefs that I was so angry. I really wanted to be a pastor as a teenager and create my own Baptist extremist organization. I considered bombing Roman Catholic parishes, mosques, gay parades, pagan temples, and the like as payback for a few people jeering at me. But I was repeatedly chastised by my family in Christ that there's no way that it would...

I was doing some re-study on "The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant" which is found in Matthew 28:23-35. The story was about a person who was forgiven much (10,000 talents meant 160,000 years worth of salary unpaid) but he couldn't forgive a person who owed him three months' worth of salary. I was wondering why did Jesus use debts as an example of forgiving others. While the parable doesn't tell us to allow freeloaders to leech on others' hard-earned money - there seems to be a much bigger picture there than just the money you use to spend. I do hate to admit it but many Jews are very business-oriented. A lot of stuff I use and enjoy are made by Jewish businessmen around the world. My microprocessors are made by Jewish people. Some medical breakthroughs in the world are made by Jews. Israel is a very business progressive state. It would be a mistake to do what Adolph Hitler did with the Jews as it caused an economic crisis because many of the businessmen ...

I remembered a time that I really hurt someone for a very stupid reason. I tried to reason out that, "Well, he started it!" and all the teacher said was, "So what!" I thought she was being unfair until she explained to me that hurting someone over an insult is uncalled for. She even went as far as to explain that two wrongs never make a right - just because somebody did something to you doesn't justify your mistakes. I tried to reason out that I was offended and she even said being offended is no reason to do something stupid. Unfortunately, it seems that we can kiss the law against disproportionate retribution goodbye in the name of political correctness. The magic word may have been changed to "please" to "I'm offended" whenever we're asking somebody for a favor. One needs to take a look at one of the biggest causes of physical quarrels in today's society. Yesterday, gangs were killing each other over territorial control. No...

I really hate to admit it but forgiveness is a subject that's very difficult to talk about - not especially if anyone is rooted in their pride. How many times do we see people ruin each other because of their selfish pride? How often is the law taken into the hands of people because they think that they'll feel better if they take matters into their own hands? It's again rooted in pride. It's really something when you realize that forgiveness is difficult because of a matter of pride. Then, this pride can go as far as not to ask God for the grace to forgive others. Let's examine the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4). You can see the very phrase, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." Why do you think the sample prayer included the phrase to forgive us our sins and as we forgive those who sin against us? This is asking God for the grace to forgive someone. The more I try to forgive based on my own strength - the more I realize tha...

I remembered the time I was offered the easy way out but chose to remain in the hard. Later, I found myself complaining about how difficult circumstances were and I was mockingly told, "We gave you an easy way out but you refused it! Well, it's God's will that you suffer!" I shouted, "No! It's not!" and went to the Bible for answers. I soon found many verses that really reveal that sometimes in life - it's God's will that you suffer! 2 Corinthians 12:6-8  6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.  Hebrews ...

Forgiveness is not an easy subject nor an easy task. Asking for forgiveness isn't always easy. The issue of asking for forgiveness and giving it is linked to humility. The issue of refusing to beg for forgiveness and/or withholding it from others is linked to pride. It's simple as "I'm too proud to beg for forgiveness!" and "What? I should forgive? That's ridiculous!" It's often easy to confuse forgiveness with condoning to somebody's wrong actions. It's just like when a person confuses justice with revenge. What's the difference between forgiving and condoning to somebody's wrong actions? Forgiveness is defined as releasing ill feelings towards someone without otherwise condoning to wrong actions. It's like calling the police to arrest the cops you had caused you a great wrong. You may have forgiven the criminal but you still called the cops because it was out of duty. Justice is a social issue while revenge only cares abou...

I remembered when I was newly saved and I still had some issues with forgiveness to others. Now there was one warning where I was told that if I don't forgive then God will restore everything that I owe Him and throw me to Hell. Now there's a problem with the scenario as it presents the dilemma of having to forgive in order to be forgiven. Do I have to forgive in order to be forgiven or is it that I forgive because I'm forgiven? That's what heretical preachers who preach conditional security would like to suggest while they ironically (and somewhat consistently) display an unforgiving attitude towards people who offended them! What's the meaning of the parable of the unforgiving servant found in Matthew 18:22-35? Jesus is using an exaggeration to show the seriousness of sin. I decided to some consultation with older brothers in the faith. A talent is worth 16 years of salary. To owe someone 10,000 talents is to owe someone a really huge unpayable amount! Someti...

There is the saying that you can't have the Great Commission without first obeying the Great Commandment. Mark 16:15 says, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." It's good to have missions. It's good to talk about reaching out the lost. But one must first ask this question, "Are you obeying the great commandment?" These verses talk about the Great Commandment: Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus saith unto Him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with thy soul and with all thy mind. [38] This is the first and great commandment. [39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. [40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Mark 12:29-31  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: [30] And thous shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind with all thy s...

It's the 500th year of the Reformation and maybe one thing to emphasize is love for one's enemies. This can be a very touchy subject because of the issue of pride. The Reformation's history has been met with so much persecution. When the Reformation came then so did the Counter-Reformation. The Inquisition tried to stop the Reformation. Ignatius of Loyola established the Jesuit Order as part of the Counter-Reformation. It's a huge battle for the truth. To try and stop the Protestant Reformation meant that the Roman Catholic institution used bloody means to try and stop it. Yet, the true Christians always remained firm in their quest to love their enemies. Matthew 5:43-48 and Luke 6:27-36 is the very pages of Scripture. It's the very words of Jesus. What's the use of defending the truth of Sola Scriptura if the one defending it has some bitterness? The message of the Gospel is forgiveness. If you read through the pages of the history of Christianity and not jus...

It's already been sixteen years since September 11, 2001 isn't it? But there's still the feelings of bitterness that remains. There's a saying that two wrongs don't make a right. Just because Muslim terrorists did a suicide bombing didn't give the U.S. authority to attack Muslim countries. The result of former U.S. president George W. Bush's attack on Iraq only gave birth to the ISIS terrorists. The ISIS terrorists then justify their attacks on the West because of Western countries have been bullying Muslim countries. What we see here is the ugly truth that revenge brings no closure. Then the cycle can go on and on with countless people dying without Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Is this cycle of revenge anything new? Not at all. Revenge has been the lifestyle that was given. What's worse is that revenge is nothing more than a misquote of Exodus 21:23-25 and Leviticus 24:19-21. The Bible never condoned any acts of revenge whether it was the ...

Let's face it that the Christian life isn't easy. There's going to be ridicule. There's going to be put downs. What's so often forgotten by Christians is that they should worry more if they're not persecuted for the wrong reasons than if they got persecuted for the right reasons. They should worry more if the world suddenly embraces them too much. While Christians aren't called to be as offensive as possible but if their good works don't offend the world then something is downright wrong. It's very easy to get mad when you keep doing good but all people do is to return it in hatred. It's very easy to use foul language of any sort because of that. It's a problem to criticize some Roman Catholic apologists for their lack of professionalism when you've got some Christians apologists doing more or less the same kind of lack of professionalism. It can be shameful when you've got a Roman Catholic apologist who uses biblical methods to...

Sorrow for the lost is a very difficult thing for new Christians. When Christians are delivered from a lifestyle of sin, they can expect the world to chew on them. The Christian life means it's time to say goodbye to sin and hello to righteousness. The Christian isn't saved by good works is still going to result to good works as a result of salvation. Nobody can be saved and remain the same (1 Corinthians 6:11, Philippians 2:12-13, Ephesians 2:10, Titus 2:11-14). When a person becomes a Christian they are called out of this world, they are elect and they belong to God (John 15:18-19) which puts them at odds with the world because they're not of it (James 4:4). Why is sorrow for the lost really that important? A lot of stuff that love does can be done without love for other people. It's possible to preach the truth without loving but never to love without preaching the truth. It's possible to do good deeds without love but never love without doing good deeds. God...