God Lite posted by jwatson on May 24, 2013

Have you recently heard someone try to explain who God is?

It generally goes this way:  God is love, mercy, and forgiveness. He wants to know you and love you. God wants you to be happy and healthy. In fact, you should expect to live a life of abundance and favor by becoming a Christian. He wants the very best things for you and all you need to do is accept him—end of conversation.

It’s the “God Lite” version of the gospel. It’s the same great taste, just less filling. In truth, it isn’t the real thing at all.

Christians have been worn down by the constant battles they endure from the political or cultural correctness police. These same “progressives” have bullied and intimidated anyone of faith who would make any type of exclusive claims. If your faith isn’t an all-inclusive experience, the PC police is intent on claiming you are a bigot and hateful.

Ask Pastor Louie Giglio, founder of the Passion Conference, who last year withdrew from the 2013 Presidential inauguration after the incredible backlash he endured for his stance on homosexuality.

You would think that Pastor Giglio made some grand and outlandishly offensive comment against those who practice homosexuality. If you did, you would be wrong.

Some twenty years ago Louie made the fateful, cultural mistake of calling homosexuality a sin. Shocker! Here are his “controversial” comments:

“If you look at the counsel of the word of God, Old Testament, New Testament, you come quickly to the conclusion that homosexuality is not an alternate lifestyle… homosexuality is not just a sexual preference, homosexuality is not gay, but homosexuality is sin. It is sin in the eyes of God, and it is sin according to the word of God. You come to only one conclusion: homosexuality is less than God’s best for his creation.” 

So, this is the world in which we live. A world that is offended by who God really is.

In today’s culture, absolute laws are relative and relativity is absolute. Everyone wants to acknowledge the loving God but not the one who passes judgment. They want to ignore the God of the Old Testament and accept the loving God found in the New Testament. And all of this is happening in an attempt to silence the Truth.

The “God Lite” version of Jesus is not enough. It may feel good for a while, but it will leave you feeling empty yet again.

The truth is Jesus died on a cross, was buried and rose again so that you could experience the truth. The truth is there is a hell and there is a heaven and the only path to heaven is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. With that come right and wrong and the reality of sin in our lives. One  way, one path, one truth.

While even the best “God Lite” gives hope, it never truly saves.

Jesus tells us in John 15:18-21:  “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you… If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you… because they do not know Him who sent Me.”

Sources:

• http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/pastor-withdraws-from-obama-inauguration-after-sermon-on-homosexuality-surfaces/
• http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/10/giglio-bows-out-of-inauguration-over-sermon-on-gays/