Religion!

I don't claim to be perfect - only forgiven beecause of what Jesus did for all of us!

Gospel of John 1: 1-5
In thr beggining was the word and the word was with God and the word
was God.The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

The above writing is from the first chapter of the Gospel of John and is
refering to Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God and through Him everything we see was created.

Below is from Genisis first chapter: a record of the creation of man.

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let 'us' make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over thefowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every
living thing that moveth upon the earth.
1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed,
which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which
is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air,
and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life,
I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was
very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

But, as Voltair said "God made man in his image, then man returned the favor."

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, andbreathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living soul.
2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there
he put the man whom he had formed.
2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree
that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also
in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Satan comes in the form of the snake: The beggining of sin in the world.

Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and
that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make
one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also
unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they
were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons.
3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden
in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from
the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where
art thou?
3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid,
because I was naked; and I hid myself.
3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten
of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me,
she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou
hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done
this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the
field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the
days of thy life:
3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel.
3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and
thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy
desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the
voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded
thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy
sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt
eat the herb of the field;
3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto
the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return.

This was the background of man.
Mankind was cast out of the garden and lost fellowhip with God.

But in mankind there is still a great longing to have fellowship with God.
A great hole is in man's 'heart and soul' which only God can fill. Mankind tries
to fill this hole with sex, prestige / status they can get from money or education or social standing, and prestige from being a holy man or holy woman.
They have substituted worship of God with the worship of ancestors, their children, nature, sports, dangerous animals and much more.

As the aeons went by, mankind developed various ways to worship gods, forgeting who God was.

As mankind spread across the face of the earth, they took with them ideas which were handed down form generation to generation, (starting with Adam and Eve) over the years these ideas became distorted, each tribe developing different forms of these ideas, until they were no longer recognizable.
They were a gross misrepresentation of the original facts of what God is like and wants from mankind.

This brings us to present day religions.

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep
himself unspotted from the world.

Every tribe and every nation is willing to fight and kill anyone who does not accept their view of religion. Upon close examination, it is obvious their religion is false but they will not change. Tradition wins out over logic every time!

Many people who adhear to false religions, believe Jesus is a great prophet and a great teacher from God but they don't accept Him for what He said He is.
They call the Son of God a liar! I would not want to be guilty that!

By my observations, which are admittedly limited (only 71 years of observation), the difference between true Christianity and the other religions of the world is the "LOVE" factor. Not only are we to observe the 'Golden Rule' (Do unto others as you would have them do into you) but we are commanded to "love our enemies".

In the New Testment, there are, by my software count, 179 references to "Love".
Not lust, not brotherly love but Agapi love. Love with the best interest of others in mind.
Below are just a few references.

Part of this love is to warn everyone 'they are rushing head long into eternity as the enemy of God'.

Could you call it love if you know the bridge is out, and you don't warn people about it, as they are driving 90 miles an hour toward this chasm. God sent his Son to provide a bridge over the chasm to Him - it's the only way to go the the Father!

Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor,and hate thine enemy.
5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for
he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and on the unjust.
5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not
even the publicans the same?
5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?
Do not even the publicans so?
5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Matthew 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Gospel of John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life forhis friends.

And that's what Jesus did for all of us - so we could have a bridge to God!

Mark 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Gospel of John 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

People may say "Don't bother me about this. I don't believe I need a bridge.
If I need a bridge one must be there. Besides, I already have a bridge. My bridge is my good works and I always pay my own way.
God 'HAS' to repect me for that! But 'NO'

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Matthew 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (money)

1 Cointhians 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anath'ema. Maranatha.

(Maranatha means 'Come Lord Jesus' refering to the second coming of our Lord.)

Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, beingrooted and grounded in love,
3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height;
3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye
might be filled with all the fulness of God.
3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all
ages, world without end. Amen.

Amen and Amen!