The Reasons why "Just Following Jesus" Doesn't work

[Rekeisha]

Before I start talking about what Christianity is and why Christians look like the world. Would you mind explaining what you believed when you practiced Christianity, or what you think your parents believe as Christians?
 
Biblically a Christian is someone who accepts the Gospel (that Jesus died for their sins). Having agreed that they sin (wanting life on their own terms, which leads to death and separation from God) and ask for forgiveness. This entire process is done by faith (belief but into action), which leads to their salvation.  Then as a guarantee of their salvation God will give His Spirit. Once this happens a Christian will begin to mature into their new spiritual life. Much like a child matures into adulthood. People don't come out of the womb walking and talking; a Christian doesn't become a mature Christian at the moment they believe. They have to learn to navigate their new life by God's word. Overcoming their past sinful habits by the power of the Holy Spirit. This process varies and has setbacks, but there is a move towards God in love, with devotion, and through obedience. A Christian may look/act like the culture they are from, because that is all they knew before.  Also, one is not simply a Christian because they "say" they are, or were brought up by Christian parents.  There should be some evidence of change, and a desire to change more.  Their life as a Christian isn't a whim or tradition and but a worthwhile sacrifice for something infinitely better. I believe the experiment of the reverse bike is a good metaphor for the Christian life except that God will finish the work he started so no matter a Christian's bumbling god will make sure we mature.
 
Any religion or system of thinking that promotes working your way to God is false (No matter its degree of correct theology). In other words no Jesus +, the book of Galatians covers this topic I am speaking of. 
 
You spoke about not seeing certain elements of the gospels as being cohesive. So I was thought about your objection and God brought to mind the resurrection account, and how many women were at the tomb. It isn't a problem if you allow them to harmonize. In a musical composition parts are written with variation to create depth and richness in the piece. I propose this is what's happening in the Gospels. In the book of Matthew, Mary Magdalene and another Mary (28:1) find the empty tomb. In Mark Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome (16:1) find the tomb. In Luke Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and others (24:10) find the tomb.  Lastly in John Mary Magdalene (20:18) finds the tomb. The writers of the Gospels focus on certain parts of the resurrection account that satisfies their reasoning. If you allow the gospels to harmonize then you see the full account in more detail than any one Gospel gives.  This one may not be what you were thinking of and there are other apparent "contradictions" in the gospels so I am willing to discuss those if you wish.
 
As you said in you previous post there was an type of indentured slavery in Israel, which afforded the poor and indebted a way out of their poverty. Then after 6 years they were set free.  Greco-Roman slavery is the slavery system of the new testament. Up to a 3rd of the people in Rome were like employees, teachers, craftsmen, managers, cooks, government officials and some slaves even owned slaves. Some become slaves to gain Roman citizenship and a social standing. It provided security and stability and many slaves were released by 30 to stand on their own. However this doesn't mean its inclusion in the Bible therefore concludes God's will was for man to own slaves.  The slavery in America was built on human-trafficking and sub-humanism propaganda. This was done by people, yes even Christians, who were more interested in their own gains than the personhood of the slave. They were abused and misused and the repercussions of that still affects America today. Some people were "Christians" out of tradition and others allowed themselves to be blinded to the reality of this evil. Much like in today's society we are blind to abortion and pornography. The slave owners rapped when the wanted, killed when they wanted and become hardened by the cruelty. This is not the same type of slavery written about in the New testament when Paul tells a slave to return home and for the master to forgive him. Knowledge of past cultures in the Bible helps us to put into perspective what is actually being said and how that applies to our lives in the 20th Century. There is another type of slavery spoken of in the bible and that is spiritual slavery. When anyone worships anything other than God they become a slave to sin. No matter what kind of outward change they perform they'll never be free. God, through Jesus' sacrifice, buys us out of our slavery to sin and death. God uses the theme of slavery as a picture of our bondage to sin.
 
Now the question is are you supporting the degradation of humans? There are men, women, boys, and girls who are sex slaves for the production of pornography and when you support that you support slavery. This industry is destructive to all involved it dehumanizes people making it easier to abuse them. It also robs all involved of their humanity. The only hope is God He and His ability to free slaves from every from of slavery.
 
DNA is genetic information and people are trying now to use DNA as a storage system. It is a far more advanced storage system than anything we have created (you can look at this CNN article). Since computer code act similar to DNA if it were to evolve or change randomly it would degrade long before it had a positive mutation. You offered up time as a solution to this problem. The problem is that there isn't enough time to move through all the possible combinations of proteins to create a positive mutation. Here is a debate with Stephen Meyer (my main source) and Charles Marshall. The question is where did all that information come from?
 
I don't see your "just is" as equivalent to my statement that God is self-existent. He isn't a thing but a being possessing infinite knowledge, immutability, all power and is eternal. He is therefore able to work in every moment and can accomplish what is necessary for the out come that He wants. It is reasonable to believe God created us simply because of the information in the Bible let alone the information found in DNA. Information always traces back to a mind, why would it be different with DNA. When we find information in books or on a disc we don't assume it evolved, but that it was created.
 
Finally; human beings are categorized as "Hominids" and the word ape is an English word not a taxonomic category. If you could point me to the fossil information you sighted, because my search was mostly fruitless.