The religious battle underlined by good news

Uhh, I thought so, welcome, you are one of the elite of bravest of all people! This is all about Jesus. No! No, don't back out of this now! I said it's for the daring only, first read through my dialogue to follow, then decide. It is not now the time to back out. You will then back up into a gray world for the rest of your life right smack into eternity. Read on and discover day by day the multi-coloured dimension of true existence.

"What? I thought you said this is about Jesus, why then the Koran? Isn't the Bible all about Jesus and those calling themselves, Christians?"

Yes, you are right, but I mean, let's give all a chance, won't we? However, you must make one vow to yourself, you must read through them both, one at a time. I presume you are a wee bit interested in all this Jesus stuff, of which the Koran has none, so start with the Bible and also read the Koran whenever you feel up to it.

Oh yes, before I continue, a last few remarks from me about the Koran. It and the Bible discuss one and the same thing: the living God. You can either believe in a God or not. There is no other religion, God or none!

"No! This is getting to heavy for me now, "God"? "Eternity"? Who can believe in such nonsense? This stuff about an "Almighty" keeping watch over you all the time. Too Much!"

True. But, let us consider your everyday. You have a government, yes? You might even know a few of the leaders and some! So you walked/drove over a stop sign at a street cross. Surprise! A government official stopped you and you are in for it now! Show me a judge/court/jury who will except your excuse: "I didn't know I had to stop and furthermore I didn't even know the officer was watching me! ". Did you know the judge? Did you know the police officer? Did you know who the jury would be if you killed someone in the process of ignoring the stop sign when driving? Did you know the state prosecutor? Ignorance of the law is not an excuse to commit a crime! All of them were there whether you wanted it or not! So why take this as an escape route not even to consider the possibility of the existence of an eternity and "Others" we still don't know and don't see? This is what's making it so daring to examine this possibility.

"But the Koran then, what about the Koran?"

I did read it; from its beginning to its end. I found only one, but daring, thing missing from it: good news! Oh, a great number of laws and similar things that was written in the Bible as well. So how come the two major religious considerations in the world use the same words written in the same manner but in two different books? This convinces me of the existence of GOD! You will find a lot of laws in the Koran: do this, don't do that, you have to do this or that to get this or that, which will put you somewhere with some sort of rank into the heavens. Not one single word of good news, right through it. Mostly a book of binding laws. Ignoring the same things in the first part of the Bible, brings me to the second part, that part containing the good news! Even part of the events written about in this part of the Bible, can be read in the history annals of the Romans, the Greek and many other books. This proves to me that what is written about in the second part of the Bible, known as the New Testament, and Jesus also bears a lot of weight and truth!

"Oh no, now you want me to read through two massive books to get convinced to follow Jesus and become a Christian? No thanks, too much work."

Two things to consider. For one, go over to any school or university, tell the teachers or lecturers over there you want to become a doctor or a lawyer or an airliner pilot, in one month! Why is it always that way, attempting to become something on earth, we are willing to spend years of study on that? But to become a Christian we want to be convinced by others and we are not willing to spend one minute on study by ourselves? The second thing, but good news, is that you need only to read through one small chapter (book) of the Bible to get the hang of it! It won't take you even a full evening to do that! You will, however, have to join some congregation to help you along your way to really become an "expert" Christian.

"Wow! No thanks, I've seen that bunch. Not for me, that happy, clapping, singing bunch of people! Great! You should see the things they do when not sitting in the church when out in the real life on the streets!"

Very, very true. Unfortunately, people are like that, thus doing much damage. Just a pity that we don't want to take a look at the other half also! Those really devoted. You don't have to become a criminal to make a living you know! It also doesn't mean that those making a living from working do not exist! Furthermore, consider a fire. Many pieces of wood start the fire with a lot of flames, some burn out quickly. Others make worthwhile coals keeping the fire alive for many hours. Just take one ember out and put it aside and observe how quickly it looses all heat and becomes ash. Join a congregation that satisfies you the most and stay in the fire.

"Does that mean I still don't have to read the Bible to know what it is all about? Where should one start reading? I'm still not up to it to read it all now."

Yes you will have to start somewhere. The Good News is still concentrated in one chapter (book) of the New Testament. Follow these recommendations:

1. Read Matthew if you want to follow through, from the beginning to end, with the Good News.

2. Read Mark if you want to skip the parts of Jesus being a child.

3. Read Luke if you like a more scientific approach.

4. Read John if you want to know how God used someone to prepare the way for Christ.

However, all four chapters bring you the same knowledge and will tell you all of the good news! Follow then through with other parts of the Bible and pay special attention to the letters of Peter. Compare it all with what you read in the Koran and search it for similar good news and total freedom, if you do find it I would like to know where! Stay close to and in the "fire" of a congregation.