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    Christianity 101: The Simplified Christian Life
    Christianity 101: The Simplified Christian Life
    Christianity 101: The Simplified Christian Life
    Ebook130 pages1 hour

    Christianity 101: The Simplified Christian Life

    By David N. Walker

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    About this ebook

    As the title implies, this book is designed to present the simplified essence of Christianity for new or untutored Christians and for those who have not yet accepted Jesus as their Savior but are interested in learning more.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDavid N. Walker
    Release dateSep 11, 2014
    ISBN9781310569326
    Christianity 101: The Simplified Christian Life
    Author

    David N. Walker

    Born in Dallas, Texas, in 1943, I grew up in Fort Worth and graduated from the public school system there in 1961. I attended Duke University, graduating with a B.A. in political science and a minor in accounting.During my service in the Army, I was stationed at Fort Polk, LA, Fort Sam Houston, TX, and Fort Sill, OK.Most of my career was spent in the insurance business, with a few brief forays into accounting. Although I spent a year in life insurance and a couple of years in financial services, my primary emphasis was health insurance.I served as president of an Optimist club in Lawton, Oklahoma, and another in Fort Worth. I also served as lieutenant governor in each state and held several district committee chairs. As a member of Toastmasters International, I won a district Humorous Speech contest.I am a member of McKinney Memorial Bible Church, where I serve as the leader of my Sunday School class.Hobbies include travel, golf, skiing and flying. I have traveled the nation extensively and have been in or near all the places I use for settings in my books.I have served as vice-president of the Freelance Writers’ Network of Fort Worth and have been a member of the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc. I also co-founded a novel writers' group called Warrior Writers Workshop.For the last year and a half I have led a small group of published writers in the Fort Worth-Dallas Metroplex.

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      Book preview

      Christianity 101 - David N. Walker

      FOREWORD

      It is with a humble heart that I write this book. I'm not a scholar. I hold no degree from any seminary. I'm not ordained by any organized church or denomination.

      Confessing that, however, I thank God that I don't have any such credentials. It has been my observation that all too often our seminarians, Bible scholars and church leaders over-complicate Christianity.

      This doesn't mean every preacher or seminary graduate or Bible scholar is guilty of this. Not at all. But all too often they are. We get wrapped up in the tenets of our particular denomination, and we begin to think people need to accept those tenets in order to be real Christians, and we damage people by imposing such things on them.

      It is my intention in this book to show the simplicity of Christianity. In order to be a Christian, I need to accept Jesus as my Savior. All the rules and regulations people try to add to that simply burden us with man-made restrictions.

      Since I said that in one simple statement, why did I write an entire book to say the same thing? My purpose is not to add requirements to your salvation, but rather I hope to give you some background—some foundation—to deepen your understanding of your salvation and to strengthen its roots.

      In that process, I realize I repeat myself at times. I may address a certain subject in one chapter and then talk about it in a different way in another. I make no apology for that, since repetition leads us to remember better.

      All scripture citations I use in this book are from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise noted.

      DEDICATION

      There are a number of people who have influenced my becoming a Christian and my growth in that Christianity. I can think of numerous friends and family members who probably deserve to be mentioned, but I must limit this dedication to a few in the interest of brevity.

      First, there was a young lady who worked for me many years ago named Vickie Reed. I haven't seen Vickie in forty years and don't know whether she's married or single or even alive, for that matter, but she was extremely important to me at a time I desperately needed to hear about Jesus—even though I didn't realize it at the time.

      Vickie would find an opportunity at least once or twice a day to witness to me about Jesus and challenge my need for salvation. We parted company before I accepted Jesus, so she didn't see that, but she played a large part in bringing it about.

      Along with Vickie, the main other person who influenced my salvation was my late aunt, Maxine Grammer. Auntie Mac, as we called her, was a true prayer warrior, and I know she lifted many prayers in my behalf along with witnessing to me anytime I went to see her.

      As I discuss in this book, I went through a dry period right after my salvation when I wasn't really walking with Jesus and was not growing. Financial misfortunes put me in the position of being homeless for a time in 1983, and my cousin June Chapman and her husband Jerry invited me to come live in their home for awhile. None of us ever figured out exactly what happened while I was there. It certainly wasn't a matter of overt preaching, but somehow the influence of their family led me to a level in my walk with Jesus I'd never experienced before.

      Shortly after that I left West Texas and moved back to Fort Worth, where I renewed a twenty year friendship with the late Rex A. Jones. We quickly recognized a bond that had managed to survive many years of not seeing each other, and he began to disciple me in God's word. I soon realized he had a rare depth and breadth of understanding of the Word. From those days early in 1984 until his death a few years ago, he continued to serve as my mentor every time we got together. We were business partners for twenty years and, as such, equals. But when we opened the Bible or just discussed Christian topics, he was always the teacher and I, the pupil.

      It is with deepest respect and appreciation that I dedicate this book to these five people. I'd hate to think who or what I would be without them.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      SECTION I: Introductory Observations 1

      Chapter 1 Introduction 2

      Chapter 2 Who/Why? 7

      Chapter 3 Why Are We Here? 10

      Chapter 4 Filling the Void 12

      Chapter 5 Three Ways of Learning 14

      SECTION II: Covenants 17

      Chapter 6 Covenants 18

      Chapter 7 Adamic Covenant 20

      Chapter 8 Noahic Covenant 22

      Chapter 9 Abrahamic Covenant 25

      Chapter 10 Mosaic Covenant 27

      Chapter 11 Palestinian Covenant 29

      Chapter 12 Davidic Covenant 32

      Chapter 13 New Covenant 33

      Chapter 14 Recap of Covenants 35

      SECTION III: Redemption 36

      Chapter 15 Ruth-Boaz 37

      Chapter 16 Incarnation of Jesus 40

      SECTION IV: Some of God's Promises 41

      Chapter 17 Matthew 6:33 42

      Chapter 18 Malachi 3:10 45

      Chapter 19 Romans 8:28 & 29 47

      Chapter 20 James 4:7 49

      Chapter 21 1 John 1:8 & 9 51

      SECTION V: Controversial Subjects 53

      Chapter 22 Sacraments 54

      Chapter 23 Church Attendance 56

      Chapter 24 Eternal Security 59

      Chapter 25 Spirit Gifts 62

      Table of Contents, continued

      SECTION VI: Miscellaneous 64

      Chapter 26 Why Should I Tithe? 65

      Chapter 27 What Constitutes a Tithe? 68

      Chapter 28 God's Forgiveness 70

      Chapter 29 Accepting Salvation 72

      Chapter 30 It Is Finished 74

      SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS

      None of us know all there is to know about being a Christian, and that certainly includes me. However, any of us who are serious about Jesus want to know Him, His Father, and His Word better.

      We hear a lot of denominational voices claiming that their particular sect has the true answers. You have to be a member of this church. You have to attend all services of the church. You have to do this, and you can't do that.

      It's enough to drive a new Christian crazy and to discourage others from becoming Christians. Why should a lost person want to become a Christian if we who are already Christians bicker constantly over what it means to be one?

      Hopefully, this book will cut through some of the bickering and point people to the true meaning of being a Christian. In this first section, we'll look at some of the basic questions men have been asking one another since the dawn of time, and we'll try to shed biblical light on the answers to those questions.

      CHAPTER ONE: Why Christianity 101

      A dear friend of mine is a Christian but has had little or no discipling or teaching. She has been asking me questions about Christianity, which I'm glad to answer, but I don't think piecemeal answers to questions give her much of an understanding of what being a Christian means.

      If we lived close enough to each other to make it feasible, the best thing to do would be to meet regularly with her and her husband for one-on-two discipling. Because of geography, that wasn't really an available option.

      In thinking about her and her husband and how I might be able to help them, I flashed back over my own experience with Christianity. I grew up attending Sunday School and both morning and evening church services every Sunday.

      Good experience, huh? Not really. My family belonged to a mainline church that preached against the ills of alcohol and how our behavior was going to send all of us to hell rather than preaching the gospel of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. By the time I left home for college, I'd had all of that I could stand. For the next thirteen years, I hardly ever graced the doors of a church.

      Like many others, I recognized Jesus as a historic figure,

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