YOG: Longing for Unity
By Chaz Oswald, 22, USA
YOG Closing Ceremony
Amazing lights, dance choreography, music, and spectacular fireworks marked the grand finale of the first-ever Youth Olympic Games (YOG) held in Singapore. As customary traditions would have it, the Olympic flag was passed to the next host nation for the 2014 YOG summer games, China.
The closing ceremony began with all 3,600 athletes entering the Marina Bay floating platform. They came in together with no distinction in nations. Instead, they represented the unity of the world as “One Nation.”
The idea of a “one world nation” is not a new concept. Many have strived and are still looking for utopia. As a case-in-point, the late-great John Lennon famously sung these lyrics, “Imagine there’s no countries . . . and the world will live as one.”
The danger is that many who strive after world unity fall prey to the deception that unity means uniformity. Like the notion reverberating in Lennon’s lyrics, the world calls us to shed that which “separates” us such as our religion and national identity to achieve unity.
Biblical unity is much different from that of the World’s. God desires unity. The diversity in the church, not uniformity, only acts to promote oneness.
The body of Christ consists of individual members with diverse functions (1 Corinthians 12:12). When each individual performs their spiritual function, the body comes together in unity as it takes on the same mind, the same love, and the same purpose. This sense of unity goes to the point that, “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad” (1 Corinthians 12:26).
This unity was made possible because Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection has given us something common, eternal life. This unity was from the beginning and it existed within the trinity. Now, we are able to be in fellowship with Jesus and His people, the Church.
It may not be a Lennon-type-harmony, but the unity created in the body of Christ, in the words of king David, is indeed “wonderful and pleasant” (Psalm 133:1)!
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Loading ...YOG: A Splash of Excitement
By Chaz Oswald, 22, USA
Gold medalist Kaitlyn Jones of United States (centre), flanked by bronze medalist Barbora
Zavadova of Czech Republic (left) and silver medalist Kristina Kochetkova of Russia (right)
Photo: SPH-SYOGOC/Neville Hew
Excitement and emotion flooded the face of 16-year-old Kaitlyn Jones as she clinched the first Youth Olympic gold medal of her swimming career on Sunday, August 15th, 2010.
Completing the 200m individual medley with an astounding time of 2:14.53, she has received honorable recognition as the first athlete in the Youth Olympics Games 2010 to collect a gold for Team USA. Following the race, Kaitlyn said, “At my next big meet I’ll remember this moment and how proud I am, and go after that [gold] again.”
The Apostle Paul noted a similar quest for victory as he encouraged Timothy in his Christian walk. He said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8 NLT).
As with sports competitions, we need to make adequate preparations for this spiritual race that Paul talks about. On average, an Olympic athlete spends eight hours every single day to maintain flawless skill and technique, and to keep his or her body in top condition. Similarly, we are to give ourselves spiritual training by immersing ourselves in praying and reading God’s Word. This is the only way to obtain the strength and stamina needed to last until the finish line.
The path to the finish line of the race is anything but easy. In physical training, we tire with the exertion. We grow so weary that we just want to give up. But just as an athlete cherishes the thought of winning the esteemed gold medal, Christians can take strength in focusing on Christ, as well as the prize that awaits those who complete the race. For at the conclusion of the Christian race, the future holds a mighty moment in which the Lord will reward the faithful on the Day He returns.
You may not be an Olympic athlete, and there may not be a literal gold medal in your future. But for those who love and desire Christ’s appearing, and who put their faith in Him, a glorious crown will one day be bestowed upon them–those who have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Exclusivity
By Chaz Oswald, 22, Michigan
Do you remember how it’s like when you’re the new guy? All the world’s a stage and all it’s players are somehow similar yet foreign. Well, on the first day of my semester, it was exactly like that.
I got into class on that very day and looked around before proceeding to sit down at the last few vacant seats. Not knowing anyone in the class, and being an outgoing person, I began to chat with the girl who sat at my left in hopes to make a new friend. You see, my goal when making new friends, besides just getting to know them, has always been to share Jesus with whomever I talk to.
As the conversation began to flow and we each opened up, I asked her if she went to church anywhere in the area. Candidly she said no, but that she grew up in a Christian family. Following that, she made what seemed to me a peculiar statement: “I do believe in God, but there’s more than one way to the ceiling. Right?”
I stretched back in my chair to analyze her statement. I realized that she was telling me that all religions are somehow equal, un-contradictory, and essentially lead to the same place. Unfortunately, she is not the only one who holds this false view. George Bernard Shaw, a famous Irish playwright, once said, “There is only one religion, though there are hundred of versions of it.”
Even more discouraging, among the evangelical believers in the United States, a Pew Research Center survey found that 57% believe that many religions can lead to eternal life (U.S. Religious Landscape Survey).
While the popular consensus may believe that many religious paths lead to one ultimate avenue, the truth of the matter is that Christianity is exclusive in terms of the biblical perspective that Jesus Christ is the only viable path to Heaven. In other words, though the masses may believe something of this nature to be true, “error does not become truth because it is widely accepted; [and] truth does not become error, even when it stands alone” (John MacArthur).
Simply explained, a true understanding of pluralism, or the ideal that all religions are essentially equal, boils down to contradictory falsehoods when it stands against biblical truth. In the strictest sense, religions have minor similarities, but in reality differ on the majors.
Take Christianity for example. In Isaiah 45:21, God says, “There is no God apart from Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but Me.” Jesus Himself also added in John 14:6, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” These are two pivotal and literal statements made by God that must be accepted by everyone; there is no room for negotiation. There is no other way to God, except through the acceptance of Christ’s gift of salvation.
However pluralism purports Christianity as a viable option, that is equal to other religions. But the Bible specifically states otherwise, thus forming a contradiction within the pluralistic belief system. Pluralism says all religions lead to eternal life, but Christianity says, only through Christ will one be given the gift of eternal life. When we observed and studied the various religions to the core, they are not merely differentiating, but contradictory from one another in their deepest beliefs. Two contradictory beliefs cannot both be true.
To exemplify this further, let’s say that you and I are stuck in a room made of lead and various metals, fortified so that there would be no points of exit except through the door we came in which is locked from the outside in. We try our best to escape. Then you provide me with the wildest idea, “Chaz, we should think really hard for a power-drill, a sledge hammer and a pile-driver. And just by thinking and using them systematically in our heads, we would be able to pry open the door. Or we could just imagine for a skeleton key that can open every single door in the world and I’m sure it will open that door.”
What a silly and illogical statement to make! No matter how hard we try or how hard we think, there is absolutely no way to break down that door unless someone opens it for us. Likewise, we need to realize Christ is the only way to heaven. No matter how long we may argue of the equality of religions, time will show that they just simply won’t open that door. Christ has to open that door for us and He has done that by His death and resurrection.
Christianity is exclusive to its core, and as we progress in this study, we will continue to build a perspective and gain the understanding as to why Christ is the only way to eternal life.
(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...Is being good really good enough?
By Chaz Oswald, 22, Michigan
In a previous article that I wrote, A Ready Defense, I made mention that I felt I wasn’t really prepared to provide justified explanations for my faith if ever I was put to the test. Since then, I have taken on the challenge to understand many of the questions typically asked by atheists in order to deepen my faith, equip myself, and hopefully encourage you to do the same.
Since the beginning of this mission, I have received many thoughtful, considerate, and kind comments from readers. There have also been many intriguing questions raised by some who are likewise searching after the right answers. One such inquiry was on the topic of goodness and whether a person, based on merit alone, will be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Well, let us look into the Bible to see what God says.
In the book of Ephesians, Paul wrote to the Church of Ephesus. And one of the main themes highlighted in the epistle is the redemptive work of Jesus Christ throughout the entire cosmos.
So it is included within the words of chapter two the answer to the inquiry above.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV, emphasis added)
It is as clear as daylight that the basis of our salvation is not in how well we perform but by grace alone. So this is probably what you are thinking: “Chaz, what about a good person who doesn’t believe in God, but lives by the Ten Commandments. Surely that should get him into heaven, right?”
Unashamedly, the answer is no. It is impossible to gain entrance to the kingdom of heaven by merely being a good person. The truth is that God’s standards demand perfection in everything.
Romans 3:23 states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (ESV). This verse makes it clear that no one is found without sin. This is than accentuated with the fact that everyone falls short of the glory of God.
Now, let us suppose we were to measure our lives against the Ten Commandments. Ask yourself honestly, have you broken any of them?
1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness.
10. You shall not covet.
You may now be thinking: “Yeah, I have broken the Ten Commandments, but they’re impossible to follow 100% of the time.”
Exactly, they are impossible to follow at all. Thus, we are forced to recognize that we are not perfect beings; we are sinners. In a nutshell, sin is refusing to live our lives according to the way God expects us to and also not believing in Him.
Upon recognition of our own sinfulness, we know that it is impossible for a perfect God to dwell in the same place as us, imperfect man.
But the good news is that there is a hope for sinners like you and me and His name is Jesus Christ.
Jesus, God’s only Son, came to mend the broken relationship that sinful man have with a Holy God. He was crucified on the cross and on the third day rose again as it was prophesied. His death upon the dreadful cross provides a solution to the problem of sin and it promises eternal life with God in heaven.
What does it take then to receive this gift? Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (ESV).
This is the saving grace that has been shown to us through Christ; it has nothing to do with the works that we do by our own strength.
Consider for a moment the immense love Christ has for you and me, and we urge you who have yet to believe, to give your life to Jesus today.
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