The Colony

Anastasia

T’Chiyah
View this Page Introduction on Video
As children of light we must live in the light of Messiah. We must live in our saving faith. Yet it is very clear that the Body of Messiah is not dedicated to living the faith it has received. It is clear that in many regards it does not know what it believes and is heavily wedded with the world, taking on the world’s values, attitudes, words and spirit even to the point of hating the Word of God, just as secularists do. It is truly a sick Body. These realities became very clear to me within a few years of coming to faith, as I learned more about the Word of God and about historically what brothers in Messiah had done to seek to live righteously in the Savior. It became very clear that few efforts are made to do this today, and certainly not on any large scale.

For that same reason, it became particularly attractive to imagine a real, organized, managed community of Christians, living according to that new heart Yeshua had given them, and doing all things together in righteousness and faith. Work. Living. Evangelism. Worship. The idea seemed like a dream and very far away, but it seemed real and necessary nonetheless. The vision wells up spiritual excitement in the chest and brings vivid imaginations. Coming to my newfound faith in a sense through my Jewish background, I learned a few things about the running of religious communities in the Orthodox Jewish world. Although they do not have Messiah and although I find them overly introverted, their communities did present a kind of sketch of what people diligently seeking righteousness together might involve. I also did some reading over time about others who have worked together in this regard, be it the early Christians we read of in scripture and history, those groups which had all things in common and took care of their own through charity, adopting children who were left by the pagans to die, or be it the many communities small and large which have arisen through the years. The Mennonites, the Hutterites, the orthodox monastics such as Benedictines or modern historically-inspired groups such as the Bruderhof. I find a piece of inspiration in each of them, as well as possibly some examples of things not to do.

It has recently dawned on me to stop dreaming, and start working to establish such a community. In a sense this is what I believe we all should be doing, or should have been doing from the start. One reason for my leap from dreaming to action was meeting another such brother, Andrew Beacham of Q Ministries, who is working on establishing a Christian farm for the preservation and spread of the faith. Having partnered with him, and truly been inspired by him, I do not see why I should not take steps on my own to establish a running, self-sustaining Christian community. It may seem far away right now, and most Christians may seem asleep. Yet if it is God’s will, then by His mercy we will see it come to pass.

Right now the closest thing I have to a community is my own family, which I try to model after biblical teachings and
historical traditions as well. I suppose secondly my church is also an example, although it doesn’t try to accomplish as much as a village does. Yet I am seeking to branch out from both of these models, be it through finding major funding to establish a village outright, or simply growing step by step from my family outward right here where I live, or even be it by inspiring you, dear brother, to begin work on the community yourself. I am calling it Anastasia. In Hebrew that is T’Chiyah. This is because our community intends to be one thing for the Kahol: it intends to life from the dead.

The name Anastasia itself means resurrection. It is a beautiful Greek name that grew in use after an early female Christian martyr bore the name. The prefix “ana” means to do something again. You might have heard of the Anabaptists, who were so called because they were early credo-baptists and in the eyes of many they were getting baptized a second time. So ana, in Anastasia is something you do again; here it means you rise again. You resurrect. In the Hebrew tradition, the great resurrection is T’chiyah. You will not find the exact word in the Hebrew Scriptures, and in fact the word kum might be a more logical choice, but you will frequently find its form of origin (chayah) which means simply to live. When the Psalmist says: Let my soul live (Psalm 119:175), he says t’chi for let live. T’chiyah was the choice through tradition to mean to live again through the resurrection. T’chiyat hametim means “the resurrection of the dead.”

Now we all know without asking what the first knee-jerk reaction to plans for a Christian community is. The first knee-jerk reaction is that you must be planning to isolate yourself. It really is a deeply prejudicial reaction, sadly. Imagine someone saying they are black, and responding – you must be a criminal. Or someone saying they’re a man, and responding – you must be a rapist. You’d never think to do that, would you? But for some reason when people proclaim the need for a true tangible, organized self-sustaining Christian community, they immediately respond – you must be an isolationist. The reaction is prejudicial to the extreme, and it damagingly tars and feathers someone with a terrible stereotype.

Rather than go on about how ridiculous the claim is, let me respond by speaking about some of its characteristics which are quite outgoing, as well as by reassuring you about some claims regarding this community. Moreover, I’d then like to ask you a few challenging questions regarding the Body of Messiah as it currently is – as a very worldly and secular body of people – and ask you to explain how exactly that is a good witness, or how exactly that takes the battle to the front. I believe a structured Christian community will take the battle to the front, and let me tell you why.

1—Stereotypes about a self-sustaining community being way out in the country are not necessarily true. The community could be built step by step in the city or suburbs as well. People generally lean towards the country for such projects because of the space and the prices, but it’s not necessary. The communal group the Bruderhof, for example, has a center in Harlem, New York. Is that too far out for you? Various monastics also have centers in the city, and are in regular contact with its residents. The monks of St. Patrick evangelized half of Europe.

2—The community will contact the surrounding communities regularly through its projects. These include regular evangelism in public and in homes, invitations to community events, common hospitality, service for the poor, service for the sick, service for the orphaned, service for the imprisoned as well as mutual participation in public and national events. Please tell me how that is isolationist. Or in contrast is that outgoing, as the holy community should be?

3—Anastasia will run its own businesses and other institution by Christian principles of morality and justice. Imagine such businesses and other institutions actually saying, both in their names, their contracts, their description that they belong to Mashiach (the Christ) and that they seek to be morally pure and just. Imagine them putting such principles into writing, ones such as not promoting immorality, not using lewd and sexualized images, practicing regular sacrificial giving to the Church, using morally clean healthcare that avoids abortion and contraception as well as encouraging others to do so and supporting other moral businesses. Imagine that, brothers. I realize that such businesses would likely come under attack by the anti-Christ society, but would that not be outgoing? Does the NOT take the battle to the front. I believe this would be a terrifically outward and public witness to Mashiach, both by proclaiming His saving name along with proclaiming righteousness and living by it. Where is the isolation there?

4—The community will take in children from the greater society and provide them a free biblical education in faith, mainly through our godly wives. The many families who might like their children to be educated in the faith, but are forced by circumstances to send them to the public anti-Christ schools, will be able to turn them over for much of the day to our homes for a quality home education, along with friendship, fellowship and worship. We could education countless children in Mashiach this way, as many as our size allows. Does that sound outgoing enough for you? Or does it sound like isolation? To me, it sounds like taking the battle to the gates of hell, and kicking them down! But that’s just me.

5—T’chiyah will be a more positive witness as well through its diligent effort in living a godly life. We do not presume anyone to be flawless, but the bulk of the Body of Messiah is NOT making a serious effort to shoot for the mark which Adonai has given us in our living. Our community does. We set standards, we practice discipline, we uphold not just the popular verses from scripture, but also uphold the less liked ones along with good traditions for maintaining a Christian life. We respect biblical gender roles, we respect modesty, we respect the permanence of marriage, we respect some common sense rules of gender segregation, we respect the filtering of popular media to avoid and overflow of disgusting, immoral trash. We also respect various levels of communalism, sharing, social support along with regular diligent prayer. This is MUCH more the witness that the Church needs, than the immoral and worldly one which has few or no standards. We seek to be an example that is clearly different from the world. That is an outward witness.

I have just named 5 major areas, and these are some pretty broad areas too, that either will allow for outgoing witness or which are themselves extremely outgoing by nature. Now I’d like to turn this around and ask those who fear believers coming together into a structured community about the current and very different state of affairs.

1—Most believers currently go out into the secular world and keep their faith silent. They do not communicate it at work at the minimum, and often do not communicate it at social events, which often intertwine with work. How is this outgoing? How is it NOT sheltering away the Gospel? It seems to me it is highly sheltering the Gospel and the entire biblical faith.

2—In a similar vein, most believers currently go into the secular world and both refuse to communicate our need to behave morally and even participate in the promotion of naturalism and moral evil. For example, when was the last time believers on the job said – sorry, let’s not promote that because it is morally wicked? When was the last time that believers on the job said – let’s communicate this, because it is morally good? You don’t really hear those kinds of things too often. How is that going on the offense with one’s faith? How is that outward? To me this near total silence about biblical truth and morality is more a form of sheltering and hiding away the divine truth we’ve been given than anything else. One of many reasons I promote change.

3—Likewise (and I realize these examples have similarities) many believers actually work in the school system and participate in brainwashing small children in naturalism. The same believers participate in brainwashing children that evil is good, or that there are no moral standards at all. Believers really do this every single day. I think if you compare this behavior to my own example — one of taking in children from the outside and teaching them the truth – you’ll find it a wonderful and faithful alternative to teaching evil because your secular boss told you to. We should obey God before men, when men demand evil. How are Christians in the school system sharing the truth from God?

4—Even when a Christian is the actual owner of a business, it is common that their faith has little or no play in what they do. You are likely to find their business puts up lewd images. You are likely to find their business spews worldly and ungodly media to all around. You are likely to find their business does not openly proclaim Adonai and the perfect eternal Son of God. Moreover, you are likely to find that their business pays for immoral practices for its employees, be it abortions through its health care plan or benefits for homosexual civil unions. How is promoting and paying for moral evil over and over again, putting up lewd images and lewd media and being almost entirely silent on faith an outward witness to the Messiah? Brothers, it obviously is not. It is a complete disaster and I trust that you can see it is a disaster too.

5—Many believers live in single family homes in isolation. They might barely know their neighbors. They might rarely or never share the Gospel with their neighbors. They might spend a great amount of time in front of video entertainment, hour upon hour, day upon day, they might wile away the rest of the time with countless emotional sporting events, let their children date freely, let their children absorb the anti-Christ media, teach their children to contracept, dress their females like harlots (both at home and at their professed-Christian schools) and once in a while invite someone to church. How, pray tell, is that an outward witness? How is it an offensive attack against the forces of hell? I believe it is just the opposite. It is from hell itself.

You see, Anastasia will not be like this. Anastasia will be a model community and will be regularly outward, on all levels we know how. We will take care of our own of course. We will worship and fellowship together daily. We will also take the battle to the front, through evangelism, through service, through running clean businesses, through friendship and through education. Are you starting to see my point here? Are you willing to think a community is not by definition sequestered? Open your mind brother. We need to wake up and live with zeal for our Savior. This community is one way to do it.

Therefore, I’ve written this page at Holiness of the Bride to invite you to join in this labor in Messiah, and to provide you more information about it. You can read more below this introduction for several documents providing a richer description and further ideas. Just as we invite you to join in holiness and reform elsewhere on our website, we invite you to join in establishing this community, village and colony. Do you wish to join us as member? Do you wish to help fund the establishment of Anastasia? Can you contribute through properties or businesses? Or would you like to help in some other way or just learn more? Please contact us and ask any questions you have. Please let the idea rest in your mind as well, and in your imagination, day after day in prayer. Try to envision it. Ask our holy and perfect God about it. See if resurrection is really so far away.

To the Holiness of the Bride:

Colony Proposal — This is a short proposal about the colony, one which I’ve given to brothers in Messiah. It also includes mention of our holiness community, Christian businesses and home education. The vast bulk of the Body of Messiah is over the cliff. Let’s get in the boat now!

Community Life — This is a draft of what community life would look like. I originally wrote it to provide an outline for Q Ministries’ farm project, but I put it forth here as an outline for our own colony and for our readers’ use as well. The plan does not mean to be comprehensive, but it does cover many areas of Colony life, in terms of worship, work and general regulation. The whole document is hyperlinked [just control click the links] and includes end notes with some historical backing for these practices. I ask for God’s breath upon this document to bring life to His people.

Our Website at Weebly: This is a site uniquely about building the self-sustaining community.

“Benedict Option” Communities — At this free website I have, as inspired by the book, listed the Christian groups mentioned by Rod Dreher and also given a listing of my own of people and organiziations I believe will help to restore the faith and preserve it.

Ethical Christian Businesses

Christian Business Principles — This is a simple list of biblical and ethical principles I believe our businesses need to put in writing and live by. These are not just for jobs on the Colony, but are for any believer’s business anywhere.

My Christian Business Proposal — This is a proposal I have been sending to businesses for several years now, along with a similar letter for business networks. It puts for the urgency with which we need to live by our faith, and proposes various ethical principles to put in writing.

Nine Acts of Conscience Christians Can Do Besides Refuse to Bake Cakes

Home Education in the Community

Homeschool Proposal — This is my proposal for restoring society by giving free home education to members of the community. This is something we can do in our own homes, primarily through our wives, to reweave a broken society. You are free to use the proposal yourself, and send it out to inspire others in your community.

Religious Communities which Made a Difference

The Irish Monks — This is the wiki article on the Hiberno-Scottish mission, which converted large portions of Europe.
Iona — This founding colony of the Hiberno-Scottish mission was founded by Saint Columba and was the beginning of more large-scale conversion.
The Benedictines Homepage
The Trappists Homepage
The Hutterites — The Hutterites in Canada and the U.S. descend from early Anabaptists. They are communal, modest and respect the permanence of marriage along with gender roles. On the downside, they are semi-isolated and they take part somewhat in state education.
The Bruderhof — The Bruderhof were founded in the 20th century and were inspired by Anabaptist groups before them, especially the Hutterites. I wrote to several of them on and off and found them welcoming and kind. They seem to lean a bit left though. The Bruderhof are completely communal, and also run ministries outside of their own communities.
Bruderhof Businesses — These businesses are how the communities sustain themselves.
Beachy Amish — This is a website about branches of Amish who have returned to the Mennonite fold; they have similar beliefs as Amish but utilize much technology and are more outgoing in their ministries. Like other Anabaptists, they also practice various forms of social support.
Book: The Benedict Option: This book by Rod Dreher speaks of the need to form communities of dedicated believers and compares it to the accomplishments of St. Benedict in the 6th century. They will help the Church survive the storm as well as be a witness to the Light of the world. The summary says: “This book is both manifesto and rallying cry for Christians who, if they are not to be conquered, must learn how to fight on culture war battlefields like none the West has seen for fifteen hundred years.”
The Orthodox: This is an excellent article on Orthodox monasticism, which they say goes back to St. Anthony in the 3d century A.D. Unlike the western Catholic monastics, they do not have various branches. However, like the west, Orthodox monastics have played a role in spreading the faith, preserving it through hard times and making education more commonplace.
St. Tikhon’s Monastery: This is the Orthodox monastery that I stayed at for 3 days. It is the oldest in America. They also run a seminary and sell books, handmade goods and coffee.

Christian Businesses and Pro-Civilization Groups

These are some examples of how we can put our principles into practice, something I encourage for our community should we build it.
Christian Health Care — This is Medishare. They do not pay for contraception or abortion and will pray for your needs and sometimes can offer a free gift if you need it. Our family uses Medishare, despite their smaller networks. I consider joining such groups especially important at this time when the country demands all insurance companies pay for immoral practices.
CHM (Christian Healthcare Ministries) — This is a similar Christian health care.

Christian Credit Unions — This is MyCCCU, which we use, along with ACCU. I moved over to Christian credit unions when I learned about BOA’s constant strong support for the sodomy movement. I would like to see these credit unions put more of their faith into practice, but at least they support missions and are not backing sodomy.

Legal Defense — The Becket Fund is a major defense fund for religious liberties. They have fought dozens of cases against Obama’s contraception mandate, and won many of them.
Alliance Defending Freedom
National Center for Life and Liberty — This is a religious liberty group founded by David Gibbs.

Homeschooling — This is CHAP, one of my state’s homeschool networks. Check out your own region’s homeschool resources. Homeschooling keeps education part of the family, and avoids large-scale, daily, dogmatic secular indoctrination which you will find in most ordinary schools. It also tends to avoid the violence, sexual assault and often bad education which are common. Why leave your kids alone with pagans 5 days a week? Or secular Christians?

Ethical Medicine — These are the Catholic Health Care directives from the USCCB. They are quite comprehensive. If Catholics have directives such as these, shouldn’t non-Catholics? And if there are directives for running ethical hospitals, why not directives for running ethical businesses of other varieties? We all need to live accordign to our faith.

— They are pro-life and avoid prescribing at least some forms of contraception.
Pro-Life Doctors’ Directory — Not slaughtering children in pretty basic in living your faith.
Godtube — This is a Christian video-sharing platform. It’s not perfect, but is one example of how we as a community can build more godly businesses.
Modest Clothes — This is Katie’s. I also have their link on my modesty page. I put it here as an example of faith principles in practice.
This open-mic run by Christians in Pennsylvania includes a basic written set of Christian standards. Why aren’t millions of Christians doing the same?
Hobby Lobby — This page tells us a little about evangelical-run Hobby Lobby and its faith principles. I believe these guys should do much more, but I appreciate they are willing to take a stand.
Faith View Books — This shop in Amish county Ohio sells Christian books and music and other wholesome products. It is normal to find morally clean stores in this area.

All pictures taken by the author in China; locations include Zhenyuan Ancient Town, Langde Village of the Miao ethnicity, Guilin area, Yangshuo area, Xingping area, ZhaoQing and old town Dali and its surrounding villages

FAQ

Frequently Asked – And Not So Frequently Asked – Questions

Where are you located? I’d like to meet for fellowship.

Actually, we are not a church or a fellowship. We seek to join people together in committing to restore the Bride of Messiah and to restore holiness. It is a purpose which knows no borders or region. In this we can work together no matter where we are and will keep in contact with you and put you in contact with other members.

God willing, if enough people are inspired work for restoration in one area, we desire to establish self-sustaining communities with their own land, property and businesses. These communities could be anywhere.

If you would like to meet for fellowship though, we’d love to have you. For the time being we are in the Philadelphia area but may have to move. Feel free to contact us if you’d like to meet personally. kodeshkallah@yahoo.com

Are you one of those crazy Messianics?

This is kind of a necessary question. There are a lot of dodgy Messianic and Hebrew doctrines going around. In fact, I am used to being asked a few Jewish-related questions when I first meet another believer.

So just to let you know, I respect the core doctrines of the faith, and renounce the oddball views and heresies that float through the movement. I do not believe that I or anyone else is under the Covenant of Moses, or that Gentiles are the lost ten tribes, or that Gentiles must all keep ritual Torah, or that my Jewish kin can all be saved under the Mosaic Covenant, nor do I have anything to do with Kabballah or the Sacred Name movement.

I keep Jewish days and traditions as best I can since I am Jewish and it is our calling. Those traditions are also full of spiritual meaning, can uplift the Savior and are a blessing to us. I believe Jews ought to live a uniquely Jewish life, though it is not a true mandate.

Do you want to cloister yourself away from the world?

Sadly, many people assume the moment you start speaking about a community, that you mean to separate yourself off from the world. It appears to be a knee-jerk reaction. You don’t have to say anything of the sort, and people will assume that’s what you mean anyway.

I do not promote nor have I ever promoted separating from the greater community so as to have minimal or no connection to it. In fact, there have been a variety of religious communities throughout the centuries, including monastics, which both sought to live in their own community and ALSO had regular interaction with the greater community. I believe in being a part of the great community, especially through evangelism and service of all kinds.

In fact I see forming a community, as well as potentially forming our own institutions, as a MUCH more outgoing practice than the alternative. This is firstly because living with a commitment to holiness would provide a better witness to who Mashiach is and what we become in Him. It is also more outgoing because it would encourage Christians to follow their faith and conscience in their jobs. This is something typically impossible in the secular world, where Christians regularly promote moral evil and live in near complete silence regarding their faith.

To give you a stark example, please tell me which one is more outgoing:

A Christian who works in a secular school and teaches children that evil is good and that godless naturalism is true and never shares the truths of the faith with them, OR a Christian who invites children of poor families into their community, to be homeschooled by our wives in Bible-based Christian education and also to see a good witness of a holy Christian home and community?

Which one is truly more of an outward witness?

By the way, I do not see that forming a community is any more in danger of “cloistering” than owning a home is, In fact countless Christians who own a home practically cloister themselves off from others. This is a tragedy. Our faith is by nature outgoing.

Are you ecumenical?

This word can be used to describe both good and bad things. Exactly how people of varying beliefs about Yeshua or from different religions interact is a very complex one. Let me say this to capture a few key points:

While I would certainly show friendship and kindness to neighbors who did not know Yeshua, I would naturally share the Gospel with them because without Yeshua they are lost.
I would enjoy the chance to have Buddhists, Hindus or Humanists as coworkers. Often, I like their company. I would also take that opportunity to tell them about our Maker, our fallen situation before Him and our need to believe on His Son.
I would not aim to share charity work or other ministries with those who are outside of the pale of central biblical beliefs, except in needed logistics behind the scenes. A part of charity work and similar projects is sharing the Gospel and revealing Yeshua. It is not merely helping people physically. There may be times in life where various partnerships are truly necessary, but I would never aim for that. Believers have done great aid work for years without ever linking up with Hindus, Muslims or others to accomplish it.
I believe in partial fellowship with other believers who have serious differences with us. For example, in the pro-life movement, I have no problem praying with Catholics, so long as it’s understood that I do not pray to human beings in heaven. When I have Charismatic friends over, I ask them to pray in actual languages, and not in any other way.
We should show kindness and help to our neighbor, no matter what religion they belong to. Our first responsibility in aid, however, is within our own community. We should be able to take care of ourselves.

Why are you so mean and unloving?

I do not believe I am mean and unloving. I do rebuke the Kahol (Church) for much of its bold, shameless disobedience. I call evil deeds evil, and evil teachings evil. If I did not love I would not take the time to do that. I would instead sit back, avoid risks and watch the utter corruption of the Kahol saying nothing. It is love which motivates me to take action. Moreover, the idea that strong rebuke is not loving would be refuted by more than a mere one or two examples from scripture. Yeshua, Sha’ul and Kefa (Peter) spoke out strongly against evil and heresy. So did the prophets of Tanach (Old Testament). Were they being unloving too?

I might add it has been truly crippling to the Kahol that it cannot hold standards, practice discipline or care a whit about good doctrine. This inability to be strong (what you call “unloving” here) has left the Bride of Messiah in a corrupt and unrecognizable state. We do not need to hear sweet words all the time. There are times we need rebuke. We do not need liberality all the time. We also need discipline, and to shoot for the mark. The desire for a constant stream of niceness has been a deadly cancer on us.

If you are sincerely upset about hearing a strong rebuke, please write me. But more than that, take those same critical energies, and use them to better your own walk in Messiah. Take that same desire for change, and bring it to your congregation, use it to better the walk in Yeshua and restore good doctrine and discipline. Because if you’re upset by hearing a few harsh words about backsliders, you should be exponentially more upset by the destruction of the Church by false teachers and disobedience. It should light a fire beneath you. You should be stirred by the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Ghost).

What do you believe?

You can see our group’s beliefs as well as my own broader beliefs at our Faith Statement. It includes the basic tenets necessary to join us formally, as well as a broader and more detailed view of my faith.

Why do you hate women?

To say that women ought to be in their rightful place according to God is not a form of hatred. It is a form of love. I promote the teachings the Word of God gives us regarding men and women. This naturally includes the submissive attitude that women are to have as well as their submissive position in the home and congregation. None of that is my opinion. It is the Word of God. Moreover, it is a great blessing to both men and women, since God’s way for us is beautiful and blessed. Women are not the same as men. They have their own role.

Are you a legalist?

The common use of this word today is an attack against people who believe we ought to actually try and live as the Word of God instructs. Of course we should, and it gets tiresome hearing people claim that God Almighty is a legalist. One can look at the words of Yeshua, Sha’ul (Paul), the apostles and the prophets and deem all of them legalistic by the modern standard. I believe we should try and live as the Lord teaches us, which means shooting for the mark.

There are other uses for the word “legalist” however, which I will answer. Some use it to describe the belief that one must keep a certain prescribed regimen of behavior to be saved. I do not believe this. However, I must add, if a believer is living shamelessly in sin, he should not presume that he is saved to begin with. He is showing the fruit of damnation.

Some would also use the word to describe the practice of calling what are obviously traditions of men the Word of God. While I believe it is important to have good traditions, and some rightfully come from men, they do not amount to the Word of God.

Are you a cult leader?

Like the term legalist, the term cult in contemporary times is just a ministry insult to deride people you don’t like. Moreover, since in recent times the same word has been used to describe manipulative, immoral, murderous psychopaths, I find it’s better not to call someone a cult unless you really mean it. I do not even call the Jehovah’s Witnesses a cult, although they are outside of the faith.

What I intend to do is join people together in making commitments to reform and holiness, and do it in an organized way. That’s what I say on my main page and I really can’t be more descriptive than that. Moreover, even for those who do not wish to work with me, I hope to inspire them and inform them in seeking change on their own.

We need to change the way we are living, and lead holy lives.

I notice you encourage people to live to high standards of holiness. Do you believe in “complete sanctification” (that the believer can become truly sinless in this life)?

No.

What is all this stuff about? I’m not even a Christian?

This stuff is my own attempt to inspire repentance among those who are disciples of Yeshua (Jesus). As you might know, even if you are not a believer, many Christians do not try to lead life according to their faith. Even if they do try, it is often in absence of certain principles they find unpopular or too hard. If you recognize that people ought to do what they sincerely believe is right, then certainly Christians ought to live according to their faith. It’s that simple. They are not.

However, it is not my intention to give teaching about salvation in Jesus on this forum. I do have a handful of links like that, and I do give one of my own Gospel presentations as part of a larger one in my video Only a Monster, but the primary purpose of this website is holiness and reform in the Church.

If you would like to hear about who Jesus is and why we need Him to deliver us from sin and death, provide us a new heart, and bring eternal life, please check out this, this and this.

You can also see an Orthodox presentation right here. I do not agree entirely with it because it leaves out the working of justice, but it beautifully captures the transformation of man from darkness to light, death to life.