what it means to be Christians

Shalom!
The good Lord has been good to us that we can actually read this very post in total peace; without any worries of riots or suicide bombings around us. Let us praise God for that!
Let us begin by looking closely at what John R.W. Stott had written on 'Christianity':
"Christianity is not primarily a theological system, an ethical system, a ritual system, a social system or an ecclesiastical system- it is a person: it's Jesus Christ, and to be a Christian is to know Him and follow Him and believe in Him"- J R.W. Stott
Even among the believers there are those who still doubt the miracles that Jesus did: did he actually heal the sick? How on earth did he walk on water?? Did he, by any chance, do everything that the Bible says he did??? Is it important to believe that all this happened?
YES, it is important and it makes a big difference, because if we don’t believe and have the confidence that Jesus did all these things, then our growth as Christians will be stunted. In other words, we won’t grow as Christians at all!
Our Christian lives are built on the Gospel (as our foundation) that Jesus lived a perfect life, He died for our sins, was buried and raised from the dead on the third day just as the Bible says (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). These events are not part of a myth or a nice story you have to believe by blind faith. These are the things that you can actually KNOW. Our faith is based on things that actually happened.
As we explore the life and work of Jesus, we will have to begin by looking at the historical Jesus through the eyes of those who knew Him. Then we also have to look at his unique God-man nature (Jesus is 100% man and 100% God, not 50-50!) and his ultimate purpose of coming into this world- to seek and to save those who are lost (Luke 19:10).
As I begin my ministry here in Sri Aman, I have planned and identified some areas that needed to seriously be looked into in term of bible knowledge and the prayer lives of believers here. It is time to be solidly grounded on the scripture and rooted in Christ. It is a perfect time to learn to say even a short prayer as part of the condition to deserved to be called ‘Christians’. It is time to be serious in our faith and repent of all the mistakes and wrongs all these years.

(some parts of the articles are taken from 'Growing as a Christian 101' authored by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz, with permission)