Simple Christians

I know people whose Christian faith is very simple. They believe in God the father and accept Jesus as His son and our saviour. Some never even read the Bible but just pray daily. Some don't attend church, others love church and hymns. They don't evangelise as such but their example of how they live is often enough to make others interested.

Does being a Christian have to be complicated? Is not a simple unshakable belief in Jesus, the personal relationship with Him, enough?

Those who simply believe and live out their faith are the most inspiring of all. In many ways I envy them.

no, Christianity doesn't have to be complicated. people make it complicated by rebelling, being selfish, being impatient & not studying the Bible. (2nd Timothy 2:7 & 15, Hosea 4:6). however, the waiting game for answered prayer can be extremely difficult to deal with. equally tough, perhaps, is knowing that God's timing is perfect, He knows what's best for you & He does what's best for you! there's always a way to be3 faithful & trusting so apply comedy to it which makes the learning of that fun. make up rhyme lessons, smile when disciplining yourself, make jokes for your learning.

A lot of people believe that doing all these different things keeps them grounded, such as going to church, giving, or reading the Bible regularly. If they stop these things they go astray. One can still have unshakeable faith, but might be more susceptible to sin. There is an element of truth there but it doesn't have to be that way.

It gets complicated when you get different advice from different Christians, especially on serious issues.

The only thing that bothers me about the original post is that it says some simple Christians never even read the Bible. How can they know who or what to believe as a Christian if they don't read the Bible daily?

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Question.
Were you born in Philippines or USA?

Philippines.

Legally emigrated to the US when I was 5 years old. So I know more US history and way of life than I do of the Philippines. But I visit the old world once in a while. I don't really like it there. It's a bit of a mess politically and physically.

I hope I will be able to work for the Lord during the Millennial Age so I can go there and hopefully fix things there especially the government.

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exactly! a guy once said in 1 statement that he hates God & later in that statement, he says there is not God. i said to him, "how can you hate someone that doesn't exist"?

I dunno... That part about not reading the Bible can get dangerous. You start getting blown around by every wind of doctrine that comes along.

That's the kind of people that cult leaders just love.

Hi Mary, Christianity is, in many ways, a complicated religion (because its Founder is a VERY complicated Being, yes?), and I believe that we will spend the balance of eternity with Him/as His children continually growing in our love for Him, and in our knowledge and understanding of Him (though I doubt that eternity will be long enough to complete that latter task ).

Interestingly, ~becoming~ a Christian is not difficult. In fact, it's easy to do in comparison to most other religions (because it's the only religion where God has to do all the work for us in order for us to be saved).

We are also (as you know) called to have a "childlike" faith as believers, but does having such faith mean living an uninterested and all but detached life from our loving, heavenly Abba, or does it mean energetically/regularly engaging with Him and learning all that we can instead, just like a child does nearly every moment that they are awake, at school, with their parents, and/or with other family members and friends

Finally, as far as a "personal relationship" with God goes, does what you just described of your friends' "relationship" with God, including their one-way communication with Him, sound like it has the makings of a sustainable/growing "personal relationship" to you? To use an analogy, is just talking to (at) a spouse or a close friend once or twice a day (to tell them what you want them to do for you) all that is required to have an ongoing, growing, personal relationship with them

Thanks

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy
p.s. - persecution, according to the Bible, is something that every true believer will experience, because all it takes for a believer to experience it in this life (according to the Bible anyway) it to simply "desire" to live godly lives in Christ Jesus .. e.g. 2 Timothy 3:12. Why is this so? Because we have a common enemy who is bent on seeing that we fail (as God's children). So, if your friends never experience persecution (and it sounds like they don't), how would they know whether their faith is "unshakable" or not (because Satan doesn't bother to attack believers whose lives are of no perceivable threat to him and/or to his agenda).
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if a person is in full possession of all they're faculties & abilities, (no handicaps), there is no reason you should be of simple faith & not read the Bible. (2nd Timothy 2;7,15). supplemental, James 1: 22,23,24- "...... be ye DOERS of the word & not hearers only.......". if someone believes its alright to do little, what are you going to answer to Jesus at your judgement?

I think some are called to be teachers, others evangelists, others pastors, workers of miracles and helps.
We dont have to do EVERYTHING all at once.

I am sure this is in the Bible somewhere, its good to have scripture otherwise you'd just have to memorise snatches and soundbites of the Bible you hear. You can only go by what you have read and understood, we are all given a measure of faith.

The fruit can vary from thirty fold, sixtyfold or ninetyfold. If you are given more, obviously you may have more influence. We can all do greater than Jesus could TOGETHER because there are so much more of us! Jesus could only reach Israel and a few gentiles that lived there....we can now reach to the ends of the earth....

OM Goodness if that ain't the truth!! The Bible says there is wisdom in many counsels, but sometimes, there is only confusion.

Can you do that now? In any way, shape or form?

No. The Philippine government is way too corrupt. Money will disappear into their pockets and nothing will get done. Do you know? That after World War II, Japan wanted to repair some of the major roads that they wrecked when they invaded the Philippines, but on the condition that they repair the roads themselves and not have the money go to the government to let them do the repairs. Japan knows the roads would never get done, won't be done properly and the money would disappear.

No, the best thing is to wait until this age is done and fix up the Philippines properly. Then people can enjoy the Philippines for the rest of the Millennial Age.

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Eh... I think anything can happen. The US was under British tyranny and managed to get out from under it.

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what do you mean, 'wait until this age is done'?
Who is going to fix Phillipines roads?
Is this the govt where one of its leaders spent all the peoples money on her private shoe collection?

hmm.
I dont know what can be done to 'fix the govt' anywhere. Most people dont really like their countries govt and the only way to fix them is to vote them out and vote someone new in every election.

Politicians can only do so much in office. And they dont actually do the REAL work, its people on the ground level, a politician is often not a farmer or a merchant or a teacher or a plumber, doctor or engineeer. Most often they are someone whos a lawyer who is good at making rules and public speaking. or in advertising or banking...or maybe a CEO of a big company whos decided that he can run a large corporation but is tired of that so now thinks he can run an entire town/country.