^"Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?" - Galatians 4:16 (NIV)

If you’re reading this, chances are something about the Contender Ministries website made you angry or upset.  If that’s true, I dare say you have good company.  The information we present does not always go over well with all people.  I do hope you’ll take the time to read this page, and see if you can understand us a little bit better.

There could be many different reasons our site has upset you, but I don’t have to be prophetic or clairvoyant to guess that it has something to do with our profiles of cults and non-biblical religious movements.  Most of the negative emails we receive are focused on that part of our ministry.  Some have called us “hateful”, and others want to know why we put “slanderous lies” on our website.  Addressing the latter first, we take great care to research everything that we publish on our site.  We never rely solely on one source.  Accuracy is very important to us.  Those people who have accused us of lying were never able to point out any alleged “lies”.  Their response comes from a gut reaction to defend what they believe, regardless of its truth, or lack thereof. 

With regards to the former, some people are of the opinion that it is hateful and/or mean to point out the errors in other religions or systems of belief.  A common argument is that we are being “exclusionary” by taking the stand that only biblical Christianity holds the absolute truth and plan of salvation.  Most of the eastern religions, the New Age Movement, Unitarian Universalism, and the wide array of ecumenical movements claim there are many paths to God.  Is Christianity exclusive?  Yes and no.  The Bible teaches us that there is only one way to heaven, one plan of salvation.  In the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 6, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”   What Jesus teaches us is that there is only ONE way to get to heaven, and He is that way.  Those that don’t follow the narrow road (Jesus) to salvation end up on the road to destruction.  Religions that teach another way to heaven are wrong, no matter how noble their teachings.  Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” 

Are the Bible passages above exclusionary?  No more so than saying that every person needs to inhale oxygen in order to live.  Some things are true, whether we believe them or not.  So it is with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Can humans live by inhaling another mixture of gases that substitutes argon for oxygen?  No, of course not.  Oxygen has no substitute.  It’s not exclusionary to say that either, as oxygen is available for everyone to breath.  In the same way, Jesus is available to anyone who wishes to call on His name.  He doesn’t care what your background is. 

The Bible teaches us that we are all inherently sinful.  Even nice people with good morals are sinful.  Adam and Eve passed their original sin on to all of their descendants.  We have all caved in to our sinful nature at one time or another.  Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  With our sinful state, unless some sort of intercession is made, we would all be doomed to be eternally separated from God.  There is a price to be paid for sin.  The first part of Romans 6:23 tells us what that price is: “The wages of sin is death…”  We all die a physical death, so this passage refers to a spiritual death.  Spiritual death is worse, as it alienates us from God, and will last for all eternity. The Bible teaches that there is a place called the Lake of Fire where lost people will be in torment forever.  It is the place where people who are spiritually dead will remain.  The rest of that verse provides us with our hope though, “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Salvation is a GIFT of God.  In John 3:16, Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  This is not something on loan, or something you have to earn – it’s a free gift!  But you must accept it.  Accepting it is easy!  Romans 10:9,10 says, "...If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."  So we start off sinful.  Sin has consequences – eternal, spiritual death.  But because God LOVES us, he gave us a free gift by paying the penalty for us.  When Jesus was crucified, he took the sins of all humanity upon himself.  Now we can accept that gift, or we can ignore it.  To turn your back on this free gift is to doom yourself eternally and needlessly. 

When we profile cults or religious groups, we do so because they adhere to beliefs that deny the need for salvation, or they teach the wrong way to achieve salvation.  Believers in these religions are being deceived.  In Matthew 24:24, Jesus said, “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible.”  1 John 4:1 says, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  In 2 Corinthians 11:14, Paul tells us that even Satan can masquerade as an angel of light.  It is the will of God that no one should be deceived.  At the end of the Book of Matthew, Jesus gives His followers what is called “The Great Commission.”  Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  These are the marching orders that Christians obey by evangelizing, or sharing our faith with others.  Because God loves all people, He has commanded His followers to love all people.  And because of this love, Contender Ministries endeavors to expose the false teachings of false religions, while at the same time showing the true path to salvation.  Since we believe that those who die without accepting the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus are doomed to an eternity in hell, the most hateful thing we could do would be to keep this message all to ourselves. 

The second to the last book of the Bible – Jude, instructs Christians to “contend for the faith.”  From those verses (Jude 3,4) we derived the name of our ministry.  If our site has upset you, could it be because you have not yet accepted the true gift of salvation?  Perhaps you feel we have maligned a religion with which you are involved.  I assure you, the information we provide on false religions is absolutely true.  We encourage you to research it on your own.  I hope you will realize that what we do is not done with a mean spirit.  We expose deceit and present the truth out of love.

If you have been deceived, the gift still awaits you.  Once you accept that gift, you will be spiritually re-born (hence the term, “born again Christian”).  God is just, but also very loving.  He desires to share His Kingdom with you for the rest of eternity.  If you wish to accept the free gift, pray a prayer of acceptance now.  The words are not as important as the content, and the prayer below is an example you can follow.  Prayer is nothing more than talking to God.  If you don’t feel ready, and have more questions, please email us:  contenderministries@contenderministries.org

Sample prayer accepting salvation:

“Dear God, I know now that I am a sinner.  I want to change my life now, by giving it to You.  Please forgive me for my sins.  Cleanse me, Lord.  I commit my life to You, and promise to love You as You love me.  Come into my heart Lord, and make me a new person.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.