California Carburetor and Auto Repair is owned and operated by a Christian (Tim Janes). That is not just an affiliation. My faith in God governs every area of my life.  I read the Bible and believe and do what it says. Jesus said, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”[1]. We repair your car the way I would want you to repair my car if you were my mechanic. My team knows I don’t want them to sell any repair that they wouldn’t do on their own car.

But I’m not trying to promote the business here, I want to promote Jesus. He made many incredible statements and claims. Have you decided what you believe about who He is? Do you have enough information to make your own decision, or are you basing it on your observance of some Christians who have been bad examples? Those who have been bad examples either have an ego problem, or have sociopathic tendencies. Those who have an ego problem want to feel superior to others and as a result will judge other’s behavior. They need to be right about their beliefs and get angry when others have an opposing view. Those with sociopathic tendencies (thankfully much less common), masquerade as Christians to gain the trust of others in order to take advantage of them. Let me mention that through the centuries there have been countless great examples of what a Christian should be like.

God’s Perfect Love

Bad examples aside, the Bible reveals an awesome God who wants to have a relationship with each individual[2]. God created all of us with the extreme honor of being made in His image. In the state that He made us in the Garden of Eden, we had open fellowship with Him. However, Adam and Eve sinned, and all of us have sinned since. Sin damages our relationship to God, and because God is Holy and His Kingdom is pure, He will not allow sin in His presence.  But our sin did not diminish God’s love for us. We cannot erase our sin, or make up for it, so God made provision for us by sending His son to pay the price and take the punishment for our sins by dying on the Cross[3]. There is no greater love than one laying down their life for another, and that’s what Jesus did for us. He paid the price for our sins to restore our relationship with God. True love is the giving of one’s self for another. God loves us with the greatest love and wants us to receive the forgiveness that is provided through Jesus dying on the Cross. He will not force us to be with Him, or to do things His way. But He does want us to choose Him[4]. And when we do, our relationship to Him is restored and He calls us His children. He loves us completely and He wants us to love Him, and to love others as He has loved us. This is what His kingdom is based on, loving one another. In His kingdom, everyone gives, therefore everyone receives.

The Holy Trinity

Christians say we worship one God, and yet there is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  How can these 3 be one? They are all eternal, and they are all one in love, truth, and character. This is a model for how God desires His children to be. He wants us to be one as He is One[5]. This makes for a beautiful society; everyone loves and gives to each other. He designed us to live with one another, and to live for one another. We are all of equal value based on being made in God’s image and His equal love for us.

The Greatest Commandment

When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment? He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets”[6].  The Bible is a big book. It tells us a lot of things to do and a lot of things not to do. But Jesus said it all can be summed up in loving God and loving others. The Bible is a book of love. In fact, it says in 1John 4:8 “God is Love”.

When you think about it, the greatest thing in life is love. Nothing ranks higher. No other religion portrays more love than Christianity. No other religion offers a better explanation and prescription for life. No other religion provides a better solution for evil.  No other religion is as historically verifiable. Jesus wants you to be part of His family.  He loves you personally. If you haven’t already, invite Him into your life. Thank Him for the forgiveness of your sins, and read the Bible to get to know Him more and learn how to love better.

Love Your Neighbor

If you still choose not to believe in the Bible, we Christians do not reject you. Jesus tells us to love our neighbor. When He was asked who is our neighbor? He told a story that shows that anybody you encounter in life is your neighbor[7]. Our role is to show you love, respect, and kindness.

1John 4:7 “Beloved (means: loved one), let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss any of these matters further, please call me and I will be glad to schedule a time to do so.

[1] Matthew 7:12
[2] 2Peter 3:9
[3] Col. 2:13,14
[4] Deut. 30:19
[5] John 17:22
[6] Matt 22:37-40
[7] Luke 10:25-37

California Carburetor and Auto Repair gives back to the community by donating one car a year to a needy family (since 2012) and by feeding the homeless of the Southbay area once a week at Alondra Park on Tuesday evenings (since 2010).  We occasionally bring them clothing and other necessities as donated by “Love the City Thrift Store”, and others.  If you would like to get involved with either of these programs, please give us a call.

In the Bible, the books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are commonly referred to as the Gospels. The word Gospel means “Good News”.

The Good News is:
  1. God is good (Ps.106:1; Jn.10:14). There is no evil in Him (2Cor.5:21).
  2. He doesn’t waiver or change (James 1:17; Heb.13:8).
  3. He made us in His image (Gen.1:26, 5:1). What a privilege!
  4. He knows each one of us individually (Luke 12:7; 1Chron.28:9).
  5. God loves us (Ps.103:11; Rom.8:35-39; Jn.16:27). The creator of the entire universe loves us!
  6. He forgives us of our sins (1Jn.1:7; Titus 2:14; Ps.103:12; Is.1:18).
  7. He gives us the gift of salvation (Rom.6:23).
  8. He calls us His Children (Jn. 1:12; Rom. 8:16; 1Jn. 3:1).
  9. He desires a relationship with us (Ps.145:18).
  10. His resurrection shows us there is life after death (Jn.11:25; Rev.1:18).

The overall message of the Bible is that God desires a relationship with us.  It tells us how God has provided reconciliation for that relationship by Jesus willingly going to the cross to pay for our sins.  It is a message of the great love God has for mankind.  It is a book about a glorious future we can spend with Him if we will “confess Jesus as Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead” (Rom. 10:9).

Have you ever heard of better news than that?  You didn’t create yourself and you didn’t put yourself here on this earth, so put some effort into getting to know the One who did.  Read the Bible, pray to God, do good to your fellow man and “however you want people to treat you, so treat them.” (Matt. 7:12).

The Power of Choice

Even before God created man, His created beings were allowed to have choice. For without the power of choice, any created being would be operating on a pre-program. Those beings that existed before mankind however, lived in His presence and the choice was an easy one. But given eternity, eventually one (Lucifer/Satan) made the choice to go astray.  If God’s response was just to annihilate those who chose evil, that wouldn’t be true victory because it would still leave questions about His justice and it wouldn’t be true freedom of choice. But evil (sin) must be given an appropriate penalty by a righteous God, otherwise He would not be righteous; and that’s also what identifies evil and separates it from good [1]. So God out of His wisdom and love devised a plan to gain total victory over evil and sin. He made man on earth with limited access to Him and put a forbidden tree in his environment that he was not to eat from. Satan also had access to man and enticed him to eat (true choice with input from both sides). When man ate from the forbidden tree, sin and evil entered into this world. When sin happens it brings about death. Death is the consequence for sin [2]. Death means separation from the body, and separation in our relationship to God, which is another type of death, for He is the Source of life.

He Sent His Son

But God did not turn His back on His creation; He sent His Son to live as a man amongst the sin and evil. Jesus then paid the price for sin out of His love for mankind by being crucified on a Cross [3]. By doing this, He has won an eternal victory over evil [4], because no evil being can ever point an accusatory finger at God saying He keeps Himself or His beings sheltered (brainwashed). He also demonstrated and affirmed His great love for those He created in His image.

God is Holy, which means He is completely good. There is no impurity of evil in Him. He will not allow any trace of evil in His Kingdom (Thank God!). Because He loves us as His children, He chose to make provision for our wrong choices (sin), so we can enter into His presence. Jesus, pure and holy, gave His life by dying on the Cross and took the punishment of sin (death) upon Himself. He cancelled out the curse of death. His life for our death.

Prior to the first sin, Adam and Eve were not self-conscious “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” [5]. Who they were as people was so identified in their relationship to God and the Garden that they had no need to look to themselves for value. The original sin in the garden involved lust (a form of selfishness), and self-promotion [6]. The self-promotion aspect of the sin was their desire to be like God [7]. These are the ingredients of every sin since. In fact, our desire to be on the throne of our own life is at the root of most of our sins. What this has done is created an Identity/ego problem. We are all striving to be “somebody”. This is what the Bible calls “idol” worship, trying to find our value outside of our relationship with God. By being disconnected from our true value that we have from our creator, we try to find value for ourselves. The problem with that is that it will never fully satisfy, and it creates divisions among people as it will cause criticalness, judgmentalism, prejudices, and jealousies. These attitudes lead to violence, hate, and wars.

Living a Redeemed Life

We are all affected by sin and evil throughout our lives. And some of you have been touched by the darkest evil. But, our hope is not in this world and you can live a redeemed life and find purpose by accepting God’s forgiveness and getting strength from Him to forgive those who have hurt you and to make life better for others [8]. “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” [9] That was said by a man who was beaten with rods five times, scourged three times (whipped 39 times across the back) and on one occasion, thrown stones at until presumably dead.

God is good, don’t let evil cloud your eyes. Evil is not of God. God is using this world to overcome evil once and for all [10].
Of all the religions of the world, Christianity provides the clearest explanation of evil and also offers the best solution. Christianity offers the best prescription for society. If you are not a believer, I encourage you to investigate the claims and historicity of the Bible.

Our hope is not in this life, but in the One who has overcome sin and death [11] and invites us to accept Him [12] as our Lord and Savior [13] to spend eternity with Him as part of His love filled Kingdom.

[1] Hebrews 2:2,3
[2] Genesis 2:17
[3] Colossians 2:14
[4] Hebrews 2:14
[5] Genesis 2:25
[6] Genesis 3:6
[7] Genesis 3:5
[8] Romans 12:21
[9] 2Corinthians 4:17
[10] Colossians 2:15, Ephesians 2:7
[11] John 16:33
[12] Matthew 11:28
[13] Romans 10:9