A: Well, one reason Christians say this is because Jesus Himself said so, many times. For example, He famously stated, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but by Me."

But, as Americans, we are obsessed with CHOICE. We especially hate to be told what to do with our lives, or how to do it! So, of course we find it really unfair and narrow-minded (even unconstitutional!) that God would allow only one way to know Him! How could a loving God make a rule like that?! We want to CHOOSE!

But, hold on - God seems to have made a lot of other narrow and exclusive rules, as well. For instance, when did you last hear anyone complain that God only created one way to have sex, one way to breathe, or swallow, or walk, or perspire!? Do we complain that God doesn't let us choose a way for our blood to circulate, our larynxes to speak, or our brains to sleep and remember? No - in fact, we usually hope and pray that all these patterns and functions will continue to work perfectly, in the one prescribed way, for the benefit of ourselves and our loved ones! How many directions or degrees of force would you like gravity to have today? One is enough for me!

Sure, you get the point: The God Who created this spectacular universe is obviously into wildly extravagant diversity and variety - but it appears He's into strictly predictable and compulsory laws, methods and rules, too! And, look at it this way: What could be less "unfair" and "narrow" of God than to provide one single way to receive His infinite love and acceptance - the exact same Way, at the same exact cost, for everyone - for presidents and prostitutes, kings and slaves, men and women, Africans and Asians, rich and poor, sick and well, hardy and handicapped? Yup - just as we are meant to breath air, make love, eat chocolate, listen to a symphony, or smell a spring breeze, using the prescribed organs and senses, God has given us only one spiritual Way to relate to Him, to be forgiven of our imperfection and accepted by Him: It's by receiving His grace and surrendering our lives to Him through "the One Way," Jesus Christ. Contact us to learn more!

A: Well, don't look at it that way. God doesn't so much "send" people to Hell, as He allows them to go there, if they wish! "Hell," as near as we can figure, is not strictly a place, but an eternal condition. It's a state of being, after physical death, where your eternal spirit continues to live - but without God! Because our spirit is immortal, and because God's perfect justice and purity don't permit Him simply to overlook our sin and invite us into eternal relationship with Him, the only logical alternative is that "sinners" be allowed into eternity apart from Him - "Hell."

In the state of Hell, after death, all of the sinful passions we humans struggle with - selfishness, pettiness, lust, greed, cruelty, conceit - must still live on in us. But in eternity there is no way to satisfy them. While you live on earth, your desires can be satisfied through revenge, sex, insults, food, drugs, and a hundred other selfish indulgences. But, without a body, outside space and time, you can experience all of your wants, but none of the commensurate pleasures. All of your needs, but nothing in existence to meet them! Perhaps that's why Jesus compared Hell to "unquenchable fire," and to the gnawing of an "undying worm."

So, in order to have intimacy with a perfect and pure God, we must have the penalty of our brokenness first paid, or "atoned for." Can we pay the price? No, for we already deserve it! But because the horrible prospect of our eternity of Hell so grieved God, He extended His amazing love and paid the penalty Himself. Now, He invites you and everyone else in the world simply to accept that loving sacrifice! If we say "Yes, thank you" to Him, Heaven is ours; say "No, thank you," and it cannot be.

So, God does not so much "send" people to Hell; it's more that people choose against Heaven, which leaves them with the only other alternative. As one wise person put it, "There are only two kinds of people in the end: Those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'Thy will be done!'."

A: Here's a bit of truth that some Christians seem to forget: God desires to have a personal, intimate, loving relationship with every man, woman and child on the earth, regardless of their gender, their race or ethnicity, or their myriad of other personal traits. As the Bible says, God is "no respecter of persons." That means He loves everyone infinitely and equally - no one more than another. If you have talents, dreams, wishes, and visions of the future, Almighty God tenderly invites you, "Bring them to Me!" If you have habits, affections, lifestyle issues, likes and dislikes, the Spirit of Jesus Christ softly challenges you, "Give them to Me!" There are no preconditions. No admission charge, except your whole heart!

When He walked the earth as a Man, Jesus claimed, "I have come that all might have life - and life more abundantly!" That invitation is for people "of every race, tribe, nation and tongue." Jesus flatly promises, "He who comes to Me I will in no way reject!" There are no exclusions, except the ones we ourselves impose. The only way to be excluded from intimate relationship with God and eternal fulfillment in His Kingdom is to say "No!" And, once you say "Yes," His promise is good - "life more abundantly"!

Jesus said, "All these things I have spoken to you, that your joy might be full!" Those are His kinds of promises - abundant life, unconditional love and acceptance, fullness of joy! And once you give your life, your heart, and your will to Jesus Christ and experience the visit of His Spirit in your chest - well, you will wonder how you ever thought there was no invitation for you! Welcome.

A: Superficially, perhaps. Sure, most religions teach the basic moral rules that we all know instinctively in our souls - like it's wrong to steal, bad to kill, nice to be nice, good to forgive. We all know it's better to be respectful and kind than to be inconsiderate and cruel. In that way, most religious systems, from Confucianism to Buddhism to Wicca to Christianity, are similar. But, wait . . . Christianity is not merely a "religion," and even if it is, it is completely different from all the others.

If you check the definition of "religion," you'll find it generally refers to beliefs and practices. For example: "Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe"; "a personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship"; "a set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader." "Yada, yada, yada." But mark this: Christianity is, first and foremost, a personal, intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ - not just "a belief in and reverence for" God, and certainly not just "a set of beliefs, values and practices." "Not religion - a Relationship!" as the old bumper sticker said.

And, even among "religions," Christianity is unique and different! Logic contains a principle called the "Law of Noncontradiction," which simply says that a statement cannot be true and also untrue at the same time. Islam and Judaism say that Jesus Christ is not the divine Son of God, and Christianity says that He is! Other religions say you can gain acceptance with God and eternal life by virtue of doing good works; Christianity says you cannot! On these and many other fundamentals, Christianity and other religions are not at all "the same"!

Most distinctive is the fact that the founders of all those other "religions" are dead, while Jesus is alive, raised from the dead! So, if you're interested in learning more about how to have a personal, intimate relationship with God, mere "religion" is not for you! Jesus Christ Himself is! Come and visit us at Covenant Church, and we'll help you meet Him!

A: Why "should" He care? Well, in a way, maybe He shouldn't! He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-perfect! We can add nothing to Him; He does not need us at all! But whether He "should" care for us or not, He has made it clear that He really, really does! The Scriptures say we are all "created in the image of God" - created for His pleasure and for His purposes! Out of His infinite, overflowing capacity for love and grace, God made everything that is! And He created women, men and children for intimate relationship with Him. That includes a beautiful plan for your life!

So, why does He care about us? Is it because we're important? Why does He love us? Is it because we're lovable? And why does He want to bless us abundantly and receive us into His joy forever? Because we're so much fun to be with? No, like so much else in the universe, it has nothing to do with us - only with Him. God cares about you - loves you, blesses you, even romances you, simply because it is His infinite nature to care, to love, and to bless! He is the altogether perfect Father, who will never, ever, ever, ever run out of love and tender care for you! That's why He cares about you - whether he "should" or not!

A: Good question! Listening to some Christians talk is like sitting in a symposium on evolutionary botany, or trying to follow the proceedings of the United Nations General Assembly without headphones! What the heck are these grinning weirdoes talking about, anyway?!

Here's one answer in a nutshell: All that we know about Christianity - all 2,000 years of its history, belie+Fs, and practices - comes pretty much from a single primary source: the Bible. The ancient historical accounts and letters found in the New Testament part of the Bible were written by and about the men and women who encountered Jesus Christ when He walked the earth, are these original writings are the basis for pretty much all Christian belief. The writings are sort of a love letter from God. Therefore, as Christians study the Bible; take its words and phrases into their minds and hearts for wisdom, comfort and correction; learn Bible prayers and say them; and regularly read and internalize this love letter from God, they naturally begin to talk in Bible lingo! "How did you get saved?" "Is she filled with the Spirit?" "Has he given his life to the Lord?" "He has? Praise the Lord!" Esoteric and "weird" words, perhaps, but full of rich truth for them - and for you!

A: Huh? Christianity? Keep women down? Hey - read your history! Once upon a time, before Jesus Christ walked around teaching and demonstrating a new way for us to treat every person, all women were routinely treated as property, forbidden to learn, exploited, abused and even killed without consequence by their "owners"! Shockingly, this kind of barbarity still goes on in some areas of the world! In some parts of India, a bride whose dowry is not pleasing to her new "husband" can be burned to death. Everyone knows about the ritual mutilation of girls in Africa. What about the rampant infanticide of baby girls in India and China? And what can you say about the treatment of women under Islam? Truth be told, wherever women (and other "oppressed" groups) have obtained personal rights and individual liberty, it is where Christianity has been first! That's because Christianity teaches that every individual is created in God's image and is of infinite value to God! In fact, the American experiment in individual liberty and universal equality derived these moral values primarily from the teachings of Christ!

Recall - it was Jesus Christ who tenderly conversed with and ministered to a socially shunned, ethnically outcast woman in Samaria (see Gospel of John, chapter 4). So radical was the respect and kindness Jesus showed that woman that even His followers asked him, "Why are You talking to her?!" It was Christ who praised and memorialized the devotion of certain women to God; who affirmed the work of women; who tenderly forgave and ministered to prostitutes; and who even obeyed and honored his own human mother, whom He had created!

The Bible makes clear that God created differences between some male and female gifts, attributes and callings - differences that (as common sense tells us) no amount of modern politics can erase from Nature. But here is the real teaching of Christianity regarding women: "In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female - for we are all one in Christ Jesus!"

Come to one of our Covenant Church services, and see if you can find the women who are being "kept down"! We don't think you'll be able to, for in obedience to Jesus Christ we appreciate and celebrate our diversity and value individuals as masterful creations - feminine and masculine alike - of the Christian God! Why not consider adding your value to us!?

A: Well, primarily because Jesus Himself said He was, and then proved it. Jesus claimed equality with God for Himself when He walked the earth, and he showed it in various ways, particularly His innumerable miracles and the irrefutable proof: His resurrection from the dead! Yes, Jesus clearly claimed to be divine, and He left us no rational alternative! In fact, He either was God in human form or he was a raving lunatic and liar! As the Christian scholar and writer C. S. Lewis explained:

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." (Mere Christianity, 55-56.)

No …, a good, moral person could not make claims that Jesus made, unless they were true! And remember, hundreds of his followers who saw Him after He'd risen from the dead later suffered horrible torture and death, rather than deny that they had seen Him ALIVE! And still today, in His sweetly winning and mysterious way, Jesus continues to prove He is alive and divine - but only to those who really want to know! Do you really want to know Him? He wants you to! Contact us if you would like any help in finding the Way!

A: Now, there's a question that really affirms life! The question presumes that without life there is nothing ultimately precious - no love, no joy, no connecting of souls . . . no "relationship"! And that is exactly what God created us for: personal, intimate fellowship with Him! While Jesus Christ walked the earth as a Man, He taught constantly about relationships - with God, with our neighbors, even with our enemies! And His constant word of law was "Love": "Love your neighbor as you love yourself!" "Love your enemy!" But, first of all, "Love God with your whole heart!"

So, "how can you have a relationship with a dead man"? Well, you can't - and we don't claim to! Happily, wonderfully, Jesus is not dead! The ancient prophesies that the Messiah would be killed and then rise from the dead came true! He was resurrected, showed Himself alive to scores of His followers, and then returned to where He'd come from - the glory of Heaven, a spiritual dimension outside this universe, "where" He is now. And, before Jesus left, He promised, "I am with you always, even until the end of the world." So, not only is Jesus not dead, but in an important way He is the only Man who is really, truly alive! The Christian faith teaches that Jesus is "the first born from the grave" - which means that, of all the men and women who will be raised from the dead and recreated at the end of time, Jesus has gone first. And even better, as He said, He has "gone to prepare a place for us." In short, He has lived on earth, died on earth, been raised from the dead, and ascended to Heaven - and He invites us to follow Him there!

So, compared to Jesus, it is really we who are still "dead"! "How Are You Supposed to Have a Relationship With a Dead Man?" You could ask Jesus Christ, the living One, Who is so very alive that He can have intimate relationship with people like you and me, who are spiritually "dead in our sins"!

A: Not usually, no. After all, God is a Spirit, without extension in time and space, and so normally His voice is not audible as ours are. Still, being infinite in power, God can do anything He chooses, and he can certainly make words known to a human spirit that is attentive to Him. In fact He has promised to do so! Jesus Christ said, "My sheep hear My voice," and He promised that His Spirit would always communicate with those who love Him, "lead them into all truth," and "give them words to say" at the proper time. In short, if your heart is humbly inclined to know God and to do His will, He can and surely will let you know what His will is! So, a way of explaining "God told me" is that it's God's Spirit producing "a knowing" in the trained heart of one who really wants to know!

Sometimes God does speak more dramatically, and even audibly (perhaps when He knows the listener needs more help to hear!). In the Bible, for example, the Apostle Paul's first encounter with Jesus Christ came when Paul was knocked to the ground and surrounded by a blinding light. Christ spoke and appeared to Paul on that occasion in an audible and visible way. Paul was blinded by the light, and he reported that the others with him "said that it thundered." The same happened when God spoke from Heaven about His Son, Jesus: it sounded like words to some, but mere "thunder" to others.

Certainly it is unusual for people to hear God's voice audibly. But what's really impossible is for anyone who has not humbly and obediently sought God to hear from Him at all! Like most precious things in life, the knowledge of God and "hearing His voice" come at a certain price. As God says He "resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble," our relationship with Him is conditioned upon our swallowing our pride, seeking God in spite of our embarrassment and skepticism, surrendering our independence, and simply coming and trusting "as a little child." Then, like a little child who's comforted by the sound of its mother's breath or the safety of its father's whisper, you should be able to hear what God is telling you, too!

A: Well, this is a question that's been shouted at Christians for centuries! In the declining days of the Roman Empire, Christians were dipped in pine tar and set afire, or publicly fed to hungry beasts, just because they would not stop "going around trying to convert people"! First Century Christians were repeatedly flogged and imprisoned by the religious Jews - because they wouldn't stop preaching in the name of Jesus! Yes, believing Christians have been considered obnoxious and irritating by society ever since the beginning. So . . . why don't they just shut up!?!?

Well, most Christians would agree that this is rather like asking an oncologist, "Why can't you stop going around trying to save cancer victims? Why can't you just let them be!?" Or asking an EMT, "Why can't you stop trying to rescue people from burning wrecks or save them from heart attacks?" The main difference is, those who are dying spiritually are not usually aware of their peril! But Christians know that each person is in a natural state of condemnation for his or her sin and that, unless that person accepts the free gift of Christ's sacrificial death on the Cross as payment for sin's natural penalty, that person can never know God, can never enjoy His presence, and will be condemned after physical death to an eternity apart from Him. Jesus Christ said it: "Unless you turn to Me, you will perish in your sins."

As Christ also put it: "What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose their own soul? And what will you give in exchange for your soul?" Today, we see so many people trading their souls away, forfeiting eternal joy in the presence of God - and for what? For a few years of pleasure and pride. To a true Christian, it is far preferable to die young of disease, accident or torture and then enter God's eternal joy, than it is to live a quick life of wealth, "success," and comfort, and then spend eternity in anguish, apart from God and apart from His love and joy! (See "Why Does God Send People to Hell?", above.) So - right or wrong -you must see why Christians can't "just let people be"? To us this is an emergency! Like a spiritual oncologist or paramedic, we have information and expertise that will save you from eternal death - and we love you too much to "let you be"!

A: Merely to ask that question proves that the spark of the Spirit of God is in your conscience. After all, what is a "bad" thing, unless we know what the "good" thing is? We all know - because God created us to know - that pain, cruelty, disease, death, fear, grief, shame, and a million other tragedies of life are "bad things" - especially when they happen to the "innocent." Yes, we know instinctively in our hearts the difference between good and bad and between right and wrong things, too!

So, if God is all powerful and all "good," Why do bad things happen in the world? Jews and Christians have always had a simple, one-syllable answer to this hardest of all questions: Sin. All of the "evil" in the world is the result of rebellion against God and the resulting perversion of good. Most bad things that happen in the world are perpetrated by people - people who employ their free will, given them by God, to damage and injure other people in every way imaginable. Many bad things are not perpetrated, but "just happen."

But, for all "bad things," God has made available to us enough solace and comfort for a hundred worlds and a hundred lifetimes. Yes, God permits sin and all the bad things that sprout from its root; and He desires to use them all, as loudspeakers to get our attention, and as surgical tools to repair our sick hearts - in His process of conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ, His Son, Who suffered more "bad" than all other humans.

Remember, God's idea of "goodness" is unlike ours, and His moral judgment is different from ours - though "not as white from black, but as a perfect circle from a child's first attempt to draw a wheel," as the philosopher C. S. Lewis stated it. Where God means Love, says Lewis, we only mean Kindness - "the desire to see others happy; not happy in this way or in that, but just happy." We want "not so much a Father but a grandfather in heaven," a God "who [says] of anything we happen to like doing, 'What does it matter so long as they are contented?'" But Love is not mere Kindness. Says Lewis, "Kindness cares not whether its object becomes good or bad, provided only that it escapes suffering," while Love "would rather see [the loved one] suffer much than be happy in contemptible and estranging modes." See C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain.

If God's allowance of suffering to produce our ultimate good strikes you as "sick" or "sadistic," as some atheists have been foolishly prone to say, then that's a good indication you have not surrendered your heart to God or sought His consolation or grace in the midst of your own suffering. We dare you to ask some real, mature Christians who have experienced pain, illness, disability, grief, and other "bad things" - who have known death, deprivation and depression for themselves, their parents, their children - whether God was faithful to comfort and support them in their pain. The fact is, the tender comfort of the Spirit of God in the midst of suffering - which is real, not psychologically imagined - is infinitely richer than the shallow "happiness" that comes from escaping any suffering at all! This is tough stuff, but it is God's ultimate will and purpose; and those of us who have suffered with Christ in our lives would not have it any other way! Prior to rejecting it, why shouldn't you give God's method a try?!