We all know that Christ and His Apostles taught us to love our enemies, to pray for those who use and abuse us, and to serve those who persecute us. These are the basic fundamentals of a Christian life. But often the how and why have eluded us. This article looks at the Sermon on the Mount as the Manual for How to Be a Christian and explores exactly what Christ meant, why it matters how we live, and how we are supposed to live as His disciples. This is how you be a good Christian.
Tag: Matthew
The Power of Giving Thanks
Originally I had planned to do a deep dive on the history of American Thanksgiving as a nationalist holiday that perpetuates the myths those in power want because those myth justify their positions of power and exercise of control over the populace. And maybe I will next year. This year though I have decided to do otherwise due to a request put out by the Prophet last week for the members to spend the next week expressing our gratitude to God for His blessings in our lives and to focus on building our relationship with God and Christ.
So instead of digging into Thanksgiving I decided to explore the three things the Prophet has asked us to do and to talk about how each of them individually and together can transform our lives and the world around us. Seemingly simple practices like giving thanks, regular prayer, and building a close relationship with Christ can not only change our lives but they can transform the world. Here I explore each of these in a little more depth to try and tease out some of the richness of these concepts, why they are important, what makes them so powerful, and how we can apply them into our lives to make ourselves better people and the world a better place.