The foundation of Christ's teachings

I don't normally spend too much time reading creationist literature from creation scientists, because I prefer to believe that God made it happen somehew, but I came across an editorial from a guy called Don Batten http://creation.com/revival-what-is-missing

This is a cut and paste of his main points:

Throughout history, revival occurred with the faithful preaching of righteousness, sin, and judgment. Central to all biblical preaching is sin and judgment. Why? Because the sinner needs to know he is in trouble before he is likely to have any interest in being saved. Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon was titled, ‘Sinners in the hands of an angry God.’ Wesley, Whitefield, Finney and Moody all emphasized that their listeners had broken God’s Law, were guilty before the Righteous Judge of heaven and earth, and deserving of His wrath. These great revivalists knew that the Good News of God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ would not make much sense unless people understood the ‘Bad News,’ the full impact of their lost condition in Adam, and would cry out to God for mercy.
In Finney’s day, over 90% of those counseled for salvation persevered. Today it is apparently less than 5%. Why?
In today’s evolutionized world, unlike the world of the revivalists, most no longer believe in Creation and the Fall, as recorded in Genesis. So there is no longer any basis for understanding the meaning of sin, namely rebellion against our Creator. So sin has been variously re-defined—loss of self-esteem, or left-over aggression from our animal ancestors. So, when evangelists try preaching about sin, instead of having people call to God for mercy, they get a confused, even hostile response.
So evangelists have tended to minimize talk of sin and judgment, offering instead happiness here and now, rather than rescue from eternal damnation.

His point on the preaching of happiness in the here and now, rather than being rescued from eternal damnation is a good one. Churches have lost their power, in my opinion, because they ignore the basic tenets of biblical truth. Even Paul recognised what the foundations of Christ's teaching were:

Hebrews 6: 1-3: Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

Paul knew that among the foundations of Christ's teaching was repentance from sin, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgement. Most of the churches I have been too in my life have ditched these teachings and have placed too much focus on doing good or how to look like Christians in a secular society. Sunday mornings can feel like a gathering of socialists trying to bring equality, acceptance and tolerance into their world. These socialist ideals are important, but they are not the foundation of Christ's teaching and without it, the gospel is not getting preached. You have to go to Church for many Sunday's to hear anything about the Gospel of salvation (sin, repentance and eternal judgment). Without the gospel, we are all damned, no matter now socialistic we are.

God, the world says you don't exist

God, I am sure you’re aware that the world thinks there is zero evidence of your existence.
The world thinks that those who believe in your Son, Jesus Christ, are brain-washed, deranged, infantile, weak, hypocritical, arrogant, selfish and self-righteous.
The world wants to plot its own course and leave you out of the scientific equation.
The world claims that your laws are outmoded and based on ancient myth.
The world wants the law of God to be replaced by the laws of science, stabilised by the innate morality of humanity.
The world claims that your followers are part of a supernatural cult that promotes exclusion, discrimination and immoral practices.
The world condemns Christians for sticking their noses into politics, in an attempt to create draconian laws, whilst the embarrassed and enlightened majority look on.
The world, according to science and human wisdom, has pushed you off the throne as the source of instruction and reason.
The world claims your Word is an ancient book of rules written by an inconsequential Middle Eastern tribe.
The world claims that your Word is the root of all evil and has been the source of immense human suffering and depravity.
The world claims that if you did exist in the form of Jesus Christ that you were just a charlatan, or at best a good moral teacher but nothing more.
The world sees the idea of being forgiven and justified by your blood sacrifice as offensive.
The world says that Jesus Christ has no part in the lives of the great majority of people.
The world says that the Apostle Paul was on the whacky-tabbacy on the road to Damascus.
The world says that the book of Revelation is the also the result of the whacky-tabbacy.
According to the world, I am behind the times and I should catch up. Apparently my belief has a statistical chance of being 1: 10 000 right.
Apparently 99% of modern Christians believe in the science of evolution rather that believing the world is here because you breathed it into existence.

Lord, participation in the organised church is at an all time low. People aren't even aware of what is in the Bible and what you have to say. Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ doesn't seem to have an impact. Even Christians can't agree on the meaning of your Word. They argue about how to translate it, what bits to leave with the culture of generations gone by and what should be relevant today. I am even confused at reading your Word at times. We are divided into Preterists, Partial Preterists, Millenialists, Dispensationists, Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists, Texans etc etc. I like to think they are all wrong and that even your foolishness (just a baseless premise of course) makes a mockery of the wise. Your Word is flickering out! When a generation allows your Word to diminish to the point of being snuffed out, do you intervene?

Hebrews 4:12 says For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. This is the case only to the believer it seems. To everyone else, your word has no power and no truth. To most, it is a blunt plastic spoon rather than a sharp double-edged sword. Where does a Christian go from here?. Sure, we can try and live a good example by loving our neighbour and living a life of attempted obedience, but an endless line of non-believers love their neighbour as well and live in obedience to your laws by proxy.
Lord, I am not a happy-clappy and talk endlessly about an imminent Revival. I have seen this Christian cultural expression for a couple of decades now but the world (as well as me) can't relate to it. Can you intervene? I am not talking about your Second Coming, because if that happened countless numbers would be condemned. Can you breath life into your Word, can you convict people of sin? Can you reveal, just a little bit, of your glory to a recalcitrate world?
In John 18 when Judas, a detachment of soldiers and some religious officials came to arrest you and put you on trial, they came with weapons. You asked 'Who is it you want?' They replied 'Jesus of Nazareth'.
'I AM HE' was your answer. They must have seen a glimpse of your authority and glory because they 'drew back and fell to the ground'. I reckon you did that just for kicks. You let your true glory show to a sinful rabble and then resumed your role as the sacrificial lamb.
Lord God, can you not return as judge just yet, but just walk past? I know you are here in your Kingdom in the form of the Holy Spirit in all believers but that doesn't seem to cut it (our fault not yours).
Can you breath life into your Word in this world and make the wise look foolish?
Remind people that you are here, and that you are indeed the one and only risen God and you have a purpose?
I don't want to turn into a happy-clappy but can you make your gospel real, tangible and relatable in a world going to hell on the back of secular enlightenment?
I guess for starters, believers will have to be reminded that you can not dwell with sin. You find sin detestable, rancid and unbearable. I don’t want to call it 'Revival' (how that word makes me nauseous) and run across Canberra with a coloured banner singing Jesus songs. But can you convict the believers of sin, remind them of the power of your Word and the power of your presence? Only then, I guess, the Holy Spirit can move. Can you let out a little 'I AM HE' to the world and bring the wise, educated and enlightened sinners to their knees? Loving our enemies, gifts of healing, prophecy etc...bring it on (but I can do without the happy-clappy bit)

Regards
Rob

Why do I need to be saved?

I have been talking to a few anonymous people who have asked questions such as: I'm a good person why can't I go to heaven? Why do I need to be saved? What is the gospel?

Well I am going to answer this question with as few words as possible. I will let the verses from the Bible speak for themselves as much as I can.

SIN is the start of the problem. Sin does not just cover murder, adultery, theft, rape etc. Sin also covers things such as greed, jealousy, slander etc. We are sinful by nature. If you think you have lived a perfect life, you can stop reading now because you don't need saving but read Romans 3:23 before your stop:

'for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'

If you think you classify with the 'all' in the above verse, please read the next one:

Romans 6:23 'For the wages of sin is death.'

God didn't want this to be the end of the story for humanity. He wanted to re-establish our relationship with him. To do that, our sin needed to be pardoned and our lives ransomed. What did he do about it?

John 3:16 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.'

The book of John says that God became flesh and dwelled with us in the form of Jesus Christ. Jesus' purpose was to ransom humanity. It was always intended for him to lay down his life so we wouldn't have to. He was put to death on a cross for the sin of all men. He paid the price of our sin on our behalf. Jesus payed your debt. He was, however, without sin so death had no hold on him. The wages of a perfect life is eternal life. Three days later he was raised again. Through his resurrection the way between humanity and God had opened once more.
Now what? If you think about all of the above, the next verse is the next step:

Romans 10:9 'If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.'

So in a nutshell, that is the Gospel. That is why you need to be saved and what God did to allow it to happen.

For now don't let anything you dislike about Christianity stop you considering all of the above. This is not about the brutality of the Crusades, The Big Bang theory, evolution, homosexuals, paedophile priests and the bad example of Christians. This isn't about all the differing Christian denominations you see that bicker with each other. THIS IS ABOUT YOU AND YOUR CREATOR. Nothing else matters for now.