I am not a Baptist, I am a Christian

While Christianity is defined as one religion, just a glance at all your local churches can make you think otherwise. Christians are one of the most divided groups in the world, splintered into hundreds or thousands of different sects. There's the Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Coptic Church, the Mormons, and the Protestants. The Protestants are made up of even more groups of churches. Baptists, Southern Baptists, Pacifists, Amish, Anglican, Methodists, Pentecostals, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Churches of God, Churches of Christ, those freaky snake-dancing churches, etc. The list goes on and on. Each split is the result of any number of issues. The Protestants split from the Catholics because they didn't believe in the authority of the Pope. The Anglican Church in England was founded just to approve the King's divorce. Some churches split over the way they felt people should behave (conservative, liberal, or moderate). Some churches broke away over when a person should be baptized (upon birth or when they accept Christ) or even how to baptize them (sprinkle with water, submerge in water, etc). While many churches are tolerant and welcoming of others, some frown upon every other congregation out there. It's a very complicated game of who's right and who's wrong, which way is truly the right way. For someone trying to find a new church, or just wanting to understand the purposes of the other ones, it can be very confusing and head-spinning. But when trying to decipher which "pathway to Christ" is the best, understand that there's only one. Ok well, I have three listed but it's all one thing together. You have to:

1. Confess and Repent your sins.
2. Accept Jesus as you Lord and Savior.
3. Try your best to live a pure, godly life and avoid sin.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."  (John 5:24 NIV)
That's all you need to do to reach salvation. All the other additions that churches make are nice, but just doing those alone won't send you to Heaven. God's not going to send you to Hell because you didn't get water sprinkled on you, didn't eat special bread, had your hair too long or too short, or even because you didn't like "his" status on Facebook. You are free to choose any church you want to attend (at least in America), but please make sure that they are loving and tolerant of others. As for myself, I go to a Baptist church, but I refuse to call myself a Baptist. I am a Christian, nothing more, nothing less.

Verse of the Week
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35 NIV)


 http://www.openbible.info/blog/2010/06/church-names-in-the-u-s/

Welcome!

Welcome to Follow the Cross, a new Christian blog by teens, for teens. I am the blog's admin, captainco-D. FTC is the brainchild of four teens who love Jesus and decided to write about it. In today's ever-changing world, teenagers are perhaps the most vulnerable. Access to anything on the Internet, increasing social pressures, the difficulties of living in a divided society, and the transition from kid to adult are all putting enormous stress and temptation upon today's youth. We want to help change that. The world shouldn't always be focused on a pessimistic future; we must be happy! 
With God, the troubles of being a teenager can be endured. Trust us, we know it can be hard. We've all had our fair share of problems. But that's why we want to help; we want to show you how to live life in Christ Jesus Our Savior. 
FTC is dedicated to discussing issues that are most important to teens; Temptation. Sin. Anxiety. Forgiveness. Salvation. All this and more will be discussed at one point or another at FTC. We have several bloggers writing on here, so expect to see various articles on different topics.
Above all, we want to encourage you to come to acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. 
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1 KJV)
Perhaps you are a Christian, but there's an issue you're struggling with and you need help. Maybe you're trying to help someone else and you need advice. Or maybe even you just want to read and see what other Christians like you have to say on the topic. That's what we're here for.
Starting next week our writers will start posting so please come and check us out. If you like what you see, share it with others. Friends, family, youth groups, anyone. Thanks for visiting us and we sincerely hope that we can be of help to you. God Bless and have a great day!

Verse of the Week
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)