Today marks the 269th anniversary of Jonathan Edwards preaching his most famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” in Enfield, CT. I’m reading through it after pastor Rick Holland’s wife Kim posted a tweet mentioning it. Though I won’t try to summarize it because I just can’t do it justice, the point Edwards was making, as Capitol Hill Baptist Church shows us, was that God’s grace was the only thing keeping his listeners out of hell at that very moment. This message, based on Deuteronomy 32:35, played an important role in the Great Awakening that swept through America in the 1740s.

“The strongest have no power to resist him…”

“God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so.”

“God has laid himself under no obligation by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment.”

“However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it.”

“But the foolish children of men do miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in their confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow.”

“God hath had it on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is.”

“And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has flung the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the door calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners…”

“Men’s hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls: and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart, and blindness of mind.”

Stephen Prothero starts off his response, contrary to pop culture, with the following headline: “It is misleading–and dangerous–to think that religions are different paths to the same wisdom.” He continues, “No one argues that different economic systems or political regimes are one and the same,” and begins to show us how we’re trying to claim that the fundamentals of all religions are the same, and that the differences don’t really matter, yet in the process we become naive and disrespect each one of them, suddenly finding ourselves with new problems on our hands.

Read the full article here.

It sounds like Prothero, a professor of religion at Boston University, goes more in depth on this topic in his new book “God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World–and Why Their Differences Matter.” And yes, by the subtitle of that book, you can guess that he probably doesn’t have a “Coexist” bumper sticker on this car.

Definitely interesting to find this issue showing up on yesterday’s list of “most-read” articles at The Boston Globe website. I think some of Prothero’s assumptions are off because of what separates Christianity from other religions. Specifically when he compares the end goals of each religion, that Christianity’s salvation isn’t something you can reach by personally accomplishing anything, but instead by accepting what’s already been done (justification), and the response to God that follows is one of gratitude, becoming more like Jesus Christ (sanctification). See Ephesians 2:8-10, Galatians 2:22-25, etc. in the Bible. Not to mention that salvation within Christianity isn’t like a personal fire insurance plan before death–genuine belief is not motivated by just the fear that something bad might happen. So what Prothero doesn’t mention is that in other religions you’re trying to get somewhere; but in Biblical Christianity you admit you have no chance of getting there but that it’s still possible because of the central figure, Jesus Christ.

But still, it’s slightly refreshing to see that this article is a starting point for the general public to start asking questions and seek clarity amidst a muddy landscape of personal misconceptions regarding the core beliefs of the world’s religions.

So on Thursday morning, I was thinking about how I could help the situation in Haiti, and came up with the idea of a local benefit concert. Long story short, the first show kicked off Friday night, and we raised over $900 from generous donations. All proceeds went directly to Three Angels Children’s Relief, an organization that I’ve written about before because I sponsor a young girl named Loralie at their orphanage and school. I first checked with Jim and Candy, who are in charge of Antioch, the cafe-style venue in Newhall with a stage, sound system, tables, couches, etc, and they were excited about the idea. They already had Josiah James on tour from NorCal scheduled to play Friday night, and it worked about well because he was fine with turning this into a benefit concert, and pop-artist Jess Penner drove up from LA to join the cause. Friday I had sent out an email to my coworkers at Paul Mitchell’s corporate office here in Santa Clarita, and I also decided to test the power of Twitter. I sent a tweet to the local newspaper’s account, as well as the local radio station KHTS AM-1220. The newspaper responded by reposting my details on when and where the benefit concert would take place, and the radio station announced the show over the air. Brendie Bandara (whose name I recognized from when I worked at the City Hall) also got involved after I emailed Shannon Hoffmann of Three Angels. Facebook came in handy with some promotion on the fan pages.

Although the money we raised in this small way is just one drop of rain into the sea of needs, it was still encouraging to see it come together. As a Christian I had the opportunity to talk to a few people about this event and the bigger issue of serving in general. It’s worth mentioning to my fellow Christians that if you don’t think you can do something for poor and hurting people, I’m not here to give some cheesy “You can do it!” pitch, but I’ll instead say that God can and will give you the motivation, creativity or whatever it is you need in order to serve others instead of yourself, provided that you honestly ask God for that. If you want to make a difference in the world, you first have to actually have a reason to. And making a difference with giving to Haiti doesn’t have to mean you rebuild the country; it could mean that your generosity leads to a changed perception in your neighbor who previously hated you and your Christian religion, and that’s what they call “planting a seed.” I’ve taken shots at different religions (different faiths in general, including atheism; not the individual people who adhere to them) before, because I believe that once honestly and carefully studied, they cannot explain the world we live in with the depth that Christianity can, not to mention that they don’t have the power to change a life from the inside out as what inevitably happens for true followers of Christ. You can show me a kind buddhist, a polite Mormon, a smiling Catholic or any other nice person, but show me a weak and incapable Christian who, in spite of his or her own admittedly selfish pursuits and desires, chooses, only by the unexplainable strength given by God, to turn their focus in life onto others without need for repayment via money, pleasure, or their reputation, and now you’ve got people around them asking serious questions. And in answer to those curious onlookers, this messenger, knowing their own unworthiness in the face of a holy God, cannot help but be all the more excited about this God whom they serve, not some never-ending religious checklist they’re working on for this God.

One final thought to hammer that last point home. “I wish I was there in Haiti” has been the recurring thought running through my mind as I’ve watched the details unfold on the news over the last few days after this tragic earthquake. There’s not nearly enough help with the overwhelming devastation. While I was thinking about why I wasn’t there, I realized that my mindset has changed over the last few years in the way I’m asking the question. ”Why should I go?” has been replaced with ”Why can’t I go?” to which I do have practical answers that are keeping me where I am now, but it’s interesting to note the shift in thought-process. Here’s what I’m saying: genuine Christianity changes lives from the inside out, and if the effect of that comes out in some small way during my life, then trace it back to the One who caused it.

(Note: thoughts expressed here came from myself and aren’t necessarily shared by the people or companies mentioned. I apologize for not going into the depth I would’ve liked to on each separate issue. There’s always more to be said.)