The question is "how do I get to heaven?"
How can the answer be dramatically different for different people??
The "lead in" conversation might vary depending on the person but how could the actually answer be any different?? :idunno:
toldailytopic: You are asked by a friend: How do I get to heaven? What answer will yo
- Thread starter Nathon Detroit
- Start date
- Status
How can the answer be dramatically different for different people??
The "lead in" conversation might vary depending on the person but how could the actually answer be any different?? :idunno:
MrRadish
New member
You can't really expect me to offer them a specific way, given my beliefs. Besides, if they were earnestly asking the question, "how do I get into Heaven?" then presumably they do actually believe in it, and believe that there is a knowable way of getting there. My advice to them would be not to concern themselves about it.
Certainly my response probably wouldn't give them the answer they were looking for. My issue is that they're asking the wrong question.
Uh... I would be long asleep by the time you reached your third paragraph. :yawn:
our answers are starting to look pretty good
You are somebody who should be asking the question in the first place.
BabyChristian
New member
For me there was so much I didn't understand in the Bible and it actually made me angry at some things I read, like Jesus telling that man to come with him and when the man said, "Let me go bury my father first". Jesus said, "Let the dead bury the dead".
I thought that was mean but I didn't know the history or the culture of those people back 2,000 years ago and have found out, because of a Pastor that knows so much more than I do, that was an old thing the Jews used to say to procrastinate was to say, "Let me go bury my father first". Jesus knew the man's father hadn't died and that the man was making excuses for not following him.
So when I say "explore", I mean really study it and get answers like I have been finally. Care enough to really dig.
I just used to easily give up on it when it confused me or angered me but now I demand answers when I can get them and I've learned so much now that sometimes when there is no answer (and I love the honesty of Chuck Smith when he says, I don't know the answer, I figure I'll find out when I die) I trust God's judgment nowadays because I know so much more now.
My brother has this super-huge IQ and has dissected the Bible and thinks he has all the answers. Thinks Christ was a great man but that was all he was.
Our Pastor, the other day gave this analogy. He said, "God giving his Son on the cross is a HUGE thing, it's like if I'm driving too fast to stop from hitting two people standing in the road and I see one of them is my daughter, whom I know will go to heaven when she dies and the other is someone I recognize that isn't saved and I have choose to hit one or the other with my car because I can't stop in time and I choose to hit my daughter and give the guy the chance to get saved before he dies and the guy doesn't respond and ignores what was done for him, that person deserves my Pastor's wrath." God's wrath is understandable. He did that for us with his ONLY child and so many just don't believe it happened at all.
For me, even if I'm delusional, and God is nothing but my opioid and not real, (as was stated, "He's the opioid of the masses", my life is being transformed in marvelous ways. I love this drug called God and love.
that is funny
That's how you would answer????
The devil believes in Jesus. Most/many atheists believe Jesus existed.
That doesn't seem to be a very sufficient answer to a very important question.
Uh... I would be long asleep by the time you reached your third paragraph. :yawn:
This is why I would reduce it to the basic skeleton of GMCRF with a verse or two on each point.
We want to bring people to decision, but it is a lifetime/eternal decision so it should be informed. People spend hours researching purchases, major and minor life decisions, so a few minutes understanding the key points of the gospel should not be asking too much.
Again, the details are for our understanding as evangelists. The simplicity of the gospel can given in a minute.
What we want to avoid is people making uninformed, superficial assents that do not lead to transformation, but simply innoculate people and give them false assurance (just stick up your hand and say yes to Jesus and you will go to heaven...too bad we will never see you again and you will fall away by the time you wake up in the morning; oh, I did not realize you think Jesus is a New Age guru...me bad).
I don't think it's funny.
OK, so give me hypothetical example of what your answer might sound like.
You are asked....
How do I get to heaven?
You are on a bus ride and only have a minute to give the answer. What do you say?
| toldailytopic: You are asked by a friend: How do I get to heaven? What answer will you give? |
I'd explain sin and why we cannot get to Heaven without the gift of grace from our heavenly Father through faith in his son Jesus Christ who was crucified and resurrected from the dead so that we too can be resurrected and have eternal life. I will continue to pray for and with my friend, study the Word with them, encourage them to be a part of my fellowship.
That sounds like an awesome answer.
My guess is that's the type of soothing response that would be highly effective.
I hope it's you who gets asked this question.
Cracked
New member
That's where I'd start at any rate.
Why start so ambitiously then???
Instead of saying "Jesus" why not tone it down just a bit and say... "J"?
Maybe at some point you could work your way up to an entire sentence!!
Use Google maps. And try to be more specific.
Seems to get me everywhere else I want go.
Seems to get me everywhere else I want go.
Sure enough.Use Google maps. And try to be more specific.
Seems to get me everywhere else I want go.
Scroll to the bottom for the one second bullet coming at you version: "Jesus!".
Give me your ipod, find my long GMCRF post on TOL, then let's pray together?
I agree with some others here and would adapt it to where people are at and how much basic knowledge they have. Jesus did not use the '4 spiritual laws' tract on everyone. He went after their false gods, smashed them, and replaced them with Himself. He told one to be born again, another to sell their riches and follow Him, another to leave their immoral lifestyle behind and receive His forgiveness, another to believe, another to x, y, z.
e.g. Do you believe in God? 'Yes' takes us down one path and 'no' takes us down another path. If yes, is there one God or many gods? God is holy, loving, just, merciful, etc. OK? If no, something has always existed. Is it matter, God, personal, impersonal, etc. etc.
If God said why should I let you into heaven, what would you say? If answers relate to church, goodness, believing in God: 'this may surprise you, but according to the Bible, none of those things will get you into heaven.' Do you think you are a good person or a sinner? If good person, have you told lies, stolen, etc.? This makes you a liar, thief, self-righteous, etc. i.e. man is a sinner separated from God and he cannot save himself. God's standard is perfection, etc.
Who do you say Jesus is? If anything but God, show that He is God, the God-Man, and that He rose from the dead as the sinless Savior.
Are you WILLING to turn FROM sin, Self, trusting in yourself, ceasing rebellion, unbelief, to turn TO Jesus as God, Lord, Savior? Are you willing to trust Him alone, receive Him, follow Him, love/know Him?
Let's pray:
If there is a gun to our head and we literally have one minute:
A holy, loving God exists. He has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus who is God, who rose from the dead. If you receive/trust/believe in Him alone you will have eternal life as He promised. Do you want to turn from Self/sin to God by simply inviting Him to have His rightful place in your life? Say a simple prayer from your heart and mean it (Jn. 1:12; Jn. 3:16; Jn. 14:6; Rom. 10:9-10; I Jn. 5:11-13, Eph. 2:8-10, etc.).
If you have 15 seconds: God exists and has become a man in Jesus who died and rose from the dead so you can have life, abundant and eternal. Give your life to Him and simply trust Him alone for eternal life. Say yes, not no, to Him... Amen.
If you are a thief on the cross next to Jesus: Remember me, Lord....
If you are falling from a mountain and about to go splat: Jesus, save me!
If you have a bullet coming toward you and don't have time, say: "JESUS!!". This may be enough to save you (Rom. 10:9-10; Jn. 1:12; Jn. 3:16).
It is the moment of the heart/will/mind, not the exact words or exhaustive understanding.
- Status