There are many ways to serve the Lord.

God did not leave it up to human beings to decide how they wanted to serve him. He told us how to serve him in the scripture. He is our Lord and Master and has authority over us. He even sent his Son, to be a living example of how we should serve him. He did not leave it up to us to decide what we think sin is. He wrote the commandments with his own hand. He didn’t leave it up to Moses to write them. The wages of sin is very high. Sin is the transgression of the law. Therefore mankind needed to know exactly what the law is in order to obey it. Men in their pride decided that they wanted to serve God in the way that they chose, rather than to do what he said. They changed the ordinance and broke the law of God. Therefore God has cursed the earth, (Isaiah 24:5-6). There are many religions, and all of these religions have different doctrines and ordinances, and they each tell you to serve and to worship God in a different way, but there is only one path to salvation. It is the straight and narrow path. Ephesians 4:4-6, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” 

There is one law for the Jew and a different law for the Gentile.

Christ told the woman in Samaria that “salvation is of the Jews”, (John 4:22). 

The Lord told the children of Israel that there would be one law, one ordinance and manner both for them, as well as the stranger (gentile), (Numbers 15:15-16). Christ called the children of Israel first and gave them the holy oracles and made a covenant with them. The children of Israel disobeyed God, and broke the covenant. In the time of Christ, he opened up the door way to salvation for the gentiles. The gentiles were to be grafted into Israel, like a wild Olive tree is grafted into a domesticated olive tree. The domesticated olive tree was Israel, and its roots were the law of God that had been given from the beginning. Whether you are Jew or gentile you must obey the law of God, including the fourth commandment. You must keep the Sabbath day holy. Isaiah 66:23, says that from one Sabbath to another all flesh will come and worship before the Lord. Obviously the same laws that were given to Israel, are required of the gentile.

Can anyone really be perfect? What is perfection? 

Perfection means to be free from defect or flaw, and to be excellent and faultless. We may not be able to achieve perfection in this world or in our common lives, but God expects us to be spiritually perfect with him. To be perfect with God is to be free from sin and spiritual faults with God. “Nobody’s perfect,” is the excuse or justification that most people use when they make mistakes, have faults, or have failed at something. In the scripture God tells us to be perfect. If we could not be perfect he would not tell us to do so. God does not expect us to do something that it is impossible for us to do. When we walk in perfection, we are being righteous and holy. We are obeying all of God’s laws and what he tells us to do. To say “nobody’s perfect,” is like saying that nobody can be holy and righteous, and obedient to God, when in fact he tells us in Matt 5:48 “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect.” In Genesis 17:1 God told Abraham to walk before him and be perfect.  Job 1:1 tells us that Job was a perfect man. In II Peter 3:14 it says that we must be found of the Lord in peace, without spot and blameless.

So yes, we can be perfect and God commands us to be perfect.

You don’t need to read the old testament 

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Christ spoke these words to Satan when he tempted him in the wilderness. He was quoting a scripture found in the book of Deuteronomy. Christ read and also quoted often from the part of the bible that we now call the Old Testament. The New Testament had not been written. He also said that he had not come to destroy the law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17-19). Christ is called the Word of God. If you want to be like Christ, you must read his word. The entire bible is his word. The entire bible gives us lessons of righteousness, teaches us the history of holy people, and teaches us the promise of obedience and the hope that comes from God. It was in the book of Psalms that we read “Lo I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me.” We find God by studying his word, every word that proceeds from his mouth, not only the words written after Christ had come to the earth. Let us remember the advice that Apostle Paul gave to Timothy, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” In another verse he continues to advise Timothy to study the bible by saying, “that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (II Timothy 2:15, II Timothy 3:15-17).

All you have to do is believe.  

The churches of today say all you have to do is believe and you are saved. James 2:19 says “the devils believe and tremble and we know they will not be saved.” The blue prints of salvation were laid from the foundation of the world that man must obey God’s commandments and Testimonies in order to be saved. Throughout the bible, God tells us we must obey him. We cannot give him what we want like Cain did, (Genesis 4:3-5). The bible says faith without works is dead, James 2:17-18. God said,” blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city, (Revelations 22:19.) 

We are under grace...we don't have to keep that law anymore. 

Is that really what Jesus said? What exactly was written in the bible? What is grace anyway? We say grace before dinner. We say that a dancer can be graceful. Credit card companies give their customers a grace period. First let us define what grace is: a favor, a form of mercy, an allowance of time before a debt is due. God the Father loved his children so much; that he sent his only begotten son to die for us. This ensured us an opportunity to gain eternal life. So we see the favor and the mercy. Are we in debt? Absolutely. Is there a timeframe when the debt is due?  Yes! God has given us all the opportunity to prove our love to him through what we do, what we say and what we think. Does that seem like a tall order; well Christ died on the cross for us. Before that he suffered persecution, ridicule, and varying levels of disrespect even though he made the lame to walk, the blind to see and raised the dead. He also said his law was not done away. If Jesus did not die; all of us would die. There would be no resurrection and no way for us to enter heaven. Our Savior changed that with his mercy by giving us grace and showing us how to keep the law. That way we would have the knowledge and tools necessary be an acceptable offering unto God and to fulfill our work towards salvation.

Sunday is the Christian Sabbath.

For over two thousand years, the world has accepted Sunday as the Sabbath Day. They say Sunday is a day of rest or worship. They call it the Lord’s day. We know from the bible that God rested on the seventh day after finishing his creation, not the first day, and that God’s word never changes. Genesis 2:3 says that he sanctified the seventh day.  Exodus 20:8-11 is the fourth commandment that tells you to keep the Sabbath day holy. God blessed the seventh day and hallowed. No man has the authority to change or annul the law of God. Sunday worship is a tradition stemming from heathen practices when they worshipped the sun and not the true God. The Catholic Church is not greater than God and able to change the law. Christ said in Matthew 5:18 “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled”. Isaiah 24 says that the earth is defiled and cursed because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant. Christ himself worshipped in the synagogues on the Sabbath. As Christians we ought to follow his example. Therefore we worship God on the Sabbath day and not on the first day of the week.

Did God change his food law?

The churches of today believe that God’s food law which is in Leviticus Ch. 11 is not in effect today. They think that in Acts Ch. 10 gives them an excuse to eat any food clean or unclean written in the bible. In Acts Ch. 10, Peter had a dream that he saw all manner of four footed beast, fowls and creeping things on a sheet and a voice telling him to slay and eat. We know that God never change as stated in Malachi 3:6. When reading Acts Ch. 10 you must read the whole chapter! If people read the whole chapter they would know that this dream was a parable to Peter that Christ opened salvation unto the Gentiles as well as the Jews. In the past Jews did not associate with Gentiles or any one they felt was unclean. The Pharisees was offended because Christ ate with publicans and sinners, Matthew 9:11. Peter was sent to a Gentile named Cornelius who received the Holy Spirit when Peter talked to him about Christ. Cornelius and his whole family were baptized in the name of the Lord. The Jews learned that God has no respect of persons. This did in no wise do away with the food laws of clean and unclean animals.

Was Peter the First Catholic Pope?

Matthews 16:17-19 is when Christ  told Peter that upon this rock he would build his church and he would give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven and who so ever he bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever he loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  This is why the Catholic Church said Peter was their first Pope. When Jerusalem fell in 70 AD it was no longer the center of truth. The pagans of Rome rose up being led by Constantine and mixed their paganism with Christianity using the symbol of the cross to conquer. The Catholic Church wanted to set itself up as the center of truth. As Christianity began to spread, the Romans mixed Christianity with their paganism.  As we know, Peter was a Jew who kept all of God’s law including his seventh day Sabbath. He never turned to idolatry or turned against the Sabbath for Sunday the first day of the week.  Peter told Christ that he would feed his sheep and how he loved him. Christ also told Peter that he would endure like unto himself and the type of death like Christ he would have (John 21: 15-19).

Christ rose on Easter morning.

For many years people have said and believed that Christ rose early on Easter Sunday. It has been said that he died on Friday and rose on Sunday. Friday to Sunday is two days not three. Christ said that he would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Matthews 12:40 says, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Even the chief priests and Pharisees remembered that he said he would rise after three days in Matthew 27:63. And Christ did not die on Friday. Daniel 9:27 says “in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” There was no more need for animal sacrifices after Christ died, because he is the sacrifice. The midst, or middle of the week is Wednesday, not Friday. The preparation day that it spoke about in the bible was not Friday the preparation for the Sabbath, but the preparation for the Passover, which can occur on any day of the week. John 19:14 says, “And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour.” When Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the sepulcher on the first day of the week, Christ had already risen. Saying that Christ rose on Easter Sunday does not justify the celebrating of Easter which is a well known pagan holiday.

God loves everybody. 

Contrary to what many people think, God does not love everybody. God loves those who obey him and keep his commandments. He said “Jacob I love and Esau I hate.” Esau hated his birthright and sold it to Jacob for food, (Malachi 1:2-3). God hates the evil doer, (Psalms 26:5). He hates all workers of iniquity, (Psalms 5:4-6). Iniquity is sin, and sin is the transgression of the law, (I John 3:4). “The earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant,” (Isaiah 24:5). Furthermore, Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” The wicked people shall have their portion in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. They shall be burned in the great wrath and indignation of the Lord, (Revelations 21:8, Malachi 4:1). But the few who overcome, by faith and love of God, and that keep his commandments, will overcome all things and enter into the holy city.

Too much religion will make you crazy.

We have all seen them; the fanatics that say they are the true servants of God. There are the extreme examples of bizarre behavior: a vow of silence that lasts for months, they may stand on a corner with chains in hand that will be used to bind members of a different race, then there are those that mutilate themselves in the name of God and unfortunately there are those that strap explosive devices to ensure their place in heaven. Sometimes it does not come in that outlandish form: it may be a person who defaulted on their credit cards because they believe the end is near, it could be a someone who believes what a person says because that person is the key to heaven in their mind, or maybe they think an object has the image of God and it will heal them if they pray to it. For those who do not believe in God; the examples listed are just proof that religion is dangerous and it kills the intelligent mind. Which is why many believe that delving into the scriptures and applying them to everyday life is an impossible task that made lead to an ill-advised life or even mental instability.

However are those examples what Christ required? The short answer is no! Yes Jesus requires us to read his word every day. Yes he requires sacrifices from us.  Yes that may make you a little different. What the Atheists and the fanatics do not realize is that obeying Jesus does not entail a complicated mathematical equation or bizarre acts that include self-mutilation. The burden he gives us is light.  You don't need a PhD to understand the 10 commandments or go to divinity school to understand to love your neighbor as yourself. When you read the God's word it will change you into a better person. The person God always intended you to be. If you were short tempered you will learn to be more patient and how to be angry without causing damage to yourself or others. If you often desired what others have; you will learn to be thankful for what God has given you and utilize your skills and talents to praising God first.  What the fanatics don't want the public to know is that there is no basis or root of anything they say in the bible. There is no justification to disobey law enforcement if they are not demanding you to disobey God; it should be noted that Jesus told us to obey government authority if it doesn't contradict his commandments.  You cannot refuse to pay your bills because you believe the end of the world will occur in 2 weeks. Christ said we will not know the day or hour of his coming and we are supposed to occupy and to continue in his word. This is different from the poisonous doctrine spouted by false prophets that they use for their own personal gain: fame, power, or money.