Real Christians can't give this up

The Chronicle really should consider putting out a red-letter edition. In the meantime, your copy editor could please upper case pronoun references to God.

I want all the gang to be safe today. Good morning to all the gang. We should all be thankful that Mr. President Obama has kept us safe during his watch. We have not been attacked since the three attacks under GW's watch. Thank you, Mr. President.

That's right Don. If people don't have exactly the same beliefs as you, they can't be real Chistians. Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (King James Version)
"18If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
20And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
21And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear." Since you follow the Bible so closely, I guess your kids were afraid to backtalk.

I'm not sure I understand the definition of "real."

Can "real" christians chaet on their wife?

What about lie to get in a war and murder innocent children?

This "real" christian thing is a bummer. I guess I'll just remain Anglo.

I think what Mr. Mathews is referring to is that many out there claim to be "Christian", but really are not. To consult the source, a "real" Christian will be evidenced by obedience to Christian teachings. Many will claim to be Christian for political expediency; they'll talk the talk, but will not walk the walk. Just read the newspapers and you'll see this common practice. Jesus Himself said that many will claim to be Christian, but in realty never knew Him at all. Don't judge Christianity by fallible people who need help, but by Christ Who provides help. If the critics here believe Christianity to be so wicked and harmful, I'd like to hear exactly what about Christ's teachings that they find so terrible? What is it about Jesus that you hate so much? Why such vitriol against a Gospel of love?

Does this means that Christ Jesus will not be judging us but man will have the final judgement, OH my please forgive me MR. Matthew please have mercy on me. Wait a minute i thought only GOD knows the mind and heart of man and that our ways are not His ways but HE alone would be Judge of all. Mr. Matthew if aborting unborn life is the only thing not that I'm for abortion which is totally against GOD LAW. We don't have to worry about all those other sins like hate,lying,greed,etc.. then we can beat this thing if people stop killing the unborn just wait until they get grown up. May GOD have Mercy on us.

God is the only One that will know your true heart, but when you claim to be a christian and go out inot the world with evil in you words and actions No you are not a true christian. Evidence of this is seen everywhere. A quick reference would be to look through the social networking sites, check all those that claim to be christians then look at their pictures, blogs, songs, and friends.

Mr Mattews has good intentions but in this day and age many people out there are only looking to attack Christians. Nobody wants to have the Bible preached to them because there are too many rules, rules that they don't want to follow. Mr Matthews is right that there are indeed "real" Christians and then there are those that just claim to be. God's word has been watered down by the society of today and many people would rather twist it to meet their lifestyle than to live the truth. It is easier to point fingers and make fun of people that try to live by God's word than to follow it ourselves. Hopefully by making the real followers look foolish we won't be judged for our short comings or inabilities to do the right thing.

smec29 what about our family members are we to give up on mankind totally. O Christ O Lover of Mankind what do you see in me O Lord.

I didnt say anything about giving up on anyone. This is a personal responsibility issue. Don't claim to be something your not.

2tired2arqueanymore Real Christians are never afraid of being judged for they set the standard a long time ago we just stop following it .

smec29 one can only save himself no matter how hard we try it will never happen without the Holy Spirit leading that person to the truth so let God handle everything else He does not need our help just our obedience to Him.

Where in my message are you getting your statments from? No he does not need our help but we are told to go out and teach all nations. Yes only that person can make the choice for themselves but we are to help them see and understand. No we cannot make them but leading everyone we can is our responsibility.

I also know many, "good Christian folk" who voted for Obama. I think most of them know the scriptures pretty well. I think the problem is that they are not informed on the issues. They didn't watch the debates - they didn't read or listen carefully or critically. It astounds me how "good people" can be so politically ignorant.

TechLover, you love to quote scripture but taking Bible verses out of context will never make your point. The scripture you are referring to in Deuteronomy is taken from the Old Testament and were laws given to the Isarelites so that they could remain clean and right in the sight of God (since God can not look upon sin). Since Jesus had not come to earth yet, as an atonement for our sins, these laws or rules were set up as payment for their sin. You might ask about the 10 commandments....when Jesus died on the cross, all these old laws were no longer needed. If you are a true believer in Christ the issue of following the 10 commandments is not an issue. You will want to live "Christ like" but if you should sin (or I should say when you sin), by the Grace of God and His sacrifice, you can repent and be forgiven. The only thing that makes you a "real" Christian is if you have a "real" Jesus living in your heart..

I guess good ol' Justus4 wants NO control over our lives. That is why HE voted for Obama. We will have massive gun control in the near future, just as in Chicago. We will have massive control over the airwaves, as in their "fairness doctrine". We will have massive control over our financial future, as in the "stimulus bill". We will have almost TOTAL control over our healthcare if the Obama administration gets their way. We will have control over what kind of cars we drive, and even the kind of lightbulbs we have in our homes. It's a shame that there are so many uneducated people in this world who don't understand, and don't care just how much control the "liberals" want to extend over our lives, all while they scream that the Conservatives want control. Liberals such as Justus4 can't handle their own lives, so they feel they need government to do it for them....cradle to grave. Liberals aren't stupid. They just know so much that ISN'T true.

Right on to "InChristLove" blogger. Well spoken.

god bless obama and america in jesus name i pray,amen

ICL: So ditch the Old Testament. It sure seems to be brought up a lot by these posters. I notice a lot of the right wingers who proclaim to be Christians sure don't seem to have the compassion that following Jesus would offer. Judging by their posts, Jesus takes a back seat to money.

Justus, it's disturbing to see how you tend to equate Christianity with slavery. Slavery had been around a lot longer than Christianity. It was the accepted societal norm during and well before the birth of Christ. Although the Bible speaks to this issue as a cultural phenomenon, the New Testament was the very basis of liberation. Paul is clear that for the Christian, there is neither slave nor free. All are equal in God's eye. So again, don't pass judgment on Christianity because of what people say or what human history reveals. Humans can be, and are very often, wrong when it comes to interpreting the Bible. Examine the direct evidence for yourself. The N.T. liberated and bestowed equality of personhood on slaves and women -- a very progressive and revolutionary social construct considering the culture in which Christianity arose. There is freedom in Christ, not the supposed oppression that uninformed critics try to foist upon it.

Kill a baby for Obama. Another black pop culture icon. These guys sure have a wonderful influence on this country.

Tech, AGAIN, don't judge Christianity by people who screw up; look to the source and investigate the truth of it as proclaimed by Christ. Christians are sick people in need of a doctor. We make mistakes. All the time. But, when we fall we do our best to get back up and start over. You are correct that often Jesus takes a back seat to worldly things. Happens all the time. But, human failure does not negate the perfect standard set by Christianity. If you want to see what Christianity really is, don't look at struggling people, look at Jesus. If you still have issues with Christianity after examining the life of Christ, then fine. That's your opinion and your right. But do a valid study of Christ. Please remember, for every "Christian" that has failed and humiliated himself, there are a hundred people whose miserable life has been completely turned around by Christianity. The positive life transformations far outnumber the more public failures; of course, the media never report those.

"Real" christians + "real" americans like don matthews = real nutcases.

Tech, I never said "ditch" the Old Testament. What I said was the laws were no longer needed when Christ came to earth, died on the cross, and rose again. There's nothing wrong with studying the Old Testatment and learning from it but the new covenant is with Jesus Christ. You stated "right wingers" who proclaim to be Christians don't seem to have compassion like Jesus. This may be true and that's sad. It hurts the name of Christians everywhere.

Well said howcanweknow! (9:18am)

Well Sjgraci, since you brought it up, how do you then define a "real" Christian?