My Family's Christmas Letter

Greetings to you Family and Friends...

If it's all the same to you, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank God that this year is over.

As most of you know, Benjamin is back home from Iraq, and to pre-empt most of the follow-up questions; he doesn't have to go back. He's very excited to be back home in order to accomplish all of the projects he's had in mind since he left at the end of LAST year.

The greatest "stay-at-home-mom-in-the-world" Rachel has decorated our new home here in Santee California so that Jonathan and Hannah and all their little friends have a place to play no matter WHERE they are in the house. She has continued to ensure that Jonathan is on his A-game academically, incorporating a charter school curriculum into his home-school experience. All the while, helping Hannah learn to talk, sing, walk and clean up a toy room like a champ.

The world's biggest goof-ball Jonathan experienced his first team sport this year. Playing for the Santee Grasshoppers T-ball Team, he was one of the star runners and fielders. He is currently working his way toward his Bobcat Badge in Cub Scouts, as he and Benjamin plan and design the look and feel of his Pinewood Derby car in order to have it ready for the big race in January.

And boy is Hannah's blonde hair getting long. Honoring Benjamin's request to let her grow it as long as she possibly can, while at the same time, having fun with pig-tails, Rachel has helped her blonde locks to stay tangle-free, and as curly as possible. She's learning to talk one word at a time, and is quickly teaching Benjamin her words so that he'll understand her when she wants something.

Just this past week, we had Benjamin's Mom, Dixie, and Step-Dad, Mike out to our humble home for a visit - taking them up to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge as well as Mike's sister and her family. Dixie got a lot of great pictures that you can see on Facebook, and Jonathan learned a bit about slight-of-hand from Mike's nephew.

In 2010, we are looking forward to a family cruise to the Mexican Riviera, taking Rachel's Mom, Sally with us to thank her for all she's done to help us over the years. We are truly blessed to have her in our lives. Rachel is hoping to have an announcement for you all in the next couple of months, so stay tuned for that possibility - we'll keep you posted. And as we find out what Benjamin is going to do next with his life so that he doesn't have to go away again, we'll let you in on the secret as well.

To those of you who were here for Rachel, Jonathan and Hannah - Benjamin wants to let you know how much he sincerely appreciates every phone call, and stop-by. Perhaps Rachel was able to convey to you how much it meant to her, but Benjamin won't - mere words cannot accurately express the thanks.

To our church family and Pastor John in particular - thank you for walking along side our family, literally and virtually (online). This time apart could have been unbearable without the fellowship of the Body of Christ that you all provided when it was most needed.

As is written in the Christmas greeting image above...

We pray that you know the saving grace of the

Savior, Jesus Christ, this and every year...

May God richly bless you...

-The Kittlesons; Benjamin, Rachel, Jonathan & Hannah

p.s. - For a full-sized copy of the image at the top of this message, go to the following address:

www.BenjaminKittleson.com/Christmas2009.jpg

For the Forgiveness of Our Sins...

In him we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses.
Ephesians 1:7

This is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 26:28

When we forgive a debt or an offense or an injury, we don't require a payment for settlement. That would be the opposite of forgiveness. If repayment is made to us for what we lost, there is no need for forgiveness. We have our due.

Forgiveness assumes grace. If I am injured by you, grace lets it go. I don't sue you. I forgive you. Grace gives what someone doesn't deserve. That's why forgiveness has the word give in it. Forgiveness is not "getting" even. It is giving away the right to get even.

That is what God does to us when we trust Christ: "Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name" Acts 10:43. If we believe in Christ, God no longer holds our sins against us. This is God's own testimony in the Bible: "I, I am he who wipes out your transgressions for my own sake" Isaiah 43:25. "As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions (sins) from us" Psalm 103:12.

But this raises a problem. We all know that forgiveness is not enough. We may only see it clearly when the injury is great - like murder or rape. Neither society nor the universe can hold together if judges (or God) simply say to every murderer and rapist, "Are you sorry? Okay. The state forgives you. You may go." In cases like these we see that while a victim may have a forgiving spirit, the state cannot forsake justice.

So it is with God's justice. All sin is serious, because it is against God (see chapter 1 - by clicking the title of this blog post). He is the one whose glory is injured when we ignore or disobey or blaspheme him. His justice will no more allow him simply to set us free than a human judge can cancel all the debts that criminals owe to society. The injury done to God's glory by our sin must be repaired so that in justice his glory shines more brightly. And if we criminals are to go free and be forgiven, there must be some dramatic demonstration that the honor of God is upheld even though former blasphemers are being set free.

That is why Christ suffered and died. "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses" Ephesians 1:7. Forgiveness costs us nothing. All our costly obedience is the fruit, not the root, of being forgiven. That's why we call it grace. But it cost Jesus his life. That is why we call it just. Oh, how precious is the news that God does not hold our sins against us! And how beautiful is Christ, whose blood made it right for God to do this.

...taken from Pastor John Piper's book "Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die" - Chapter 9 - For the Forgiveness of Our Sins

Twilight - the phenom...

Recently, an old Bible College friend of mine published a message his Pastor sent out to his congregation - soliciting people's thoughts, Biblical or otherwise... I thought that the Pastor's writing was so spot-on, I asked for permission to re-post it here, for your spiritual edification...

The series, commonly referred to as "Twilight" is about an out of place sophomore teenage girl named Bella who moves to a new town and falls in love with a handsome 108 year old, but frozen at 17, "vampire" named Edward at her school (108? with a 16yr old? would make him a pervert and pedophile but should biblical (or old-fashioned) morality get in the way of "true" love?). The story is about their intoxicating infatuation for each other and the consequences of a lustful vampire/mortal romance.

Edward and his coven of vampire family are vowed good and vegetarian vampires as they only feed on animal blood rather than human blood (read below to see Edward's real feelings about blood). Yet, Edward wants to eat Bella every time the sexual tension gets too high. He avoids having sex with her, not on any moral grounds, but out of fear lest he eat her and cause her to become the un-dead like him. But she loves him regardless and is willing to step into his eternity no matter the cost!

Sounds a trite story, but the shocker is that many Christians are attracted to this spiritually dysfunctional romance and worse, are attempting to give Christian applications to its demonic premise suggesting this be acceptable, Christian discussion. Some Christian reviewers on Christian Internet sites are using the story to initiate Bible "studies" and discussion on so-called Christian principles to be drawn from it. A new Christianized twist on demonic deception is invading Christian vulnerables!

Here would be a good place to examine exactly what a "vampire" is and ask, "can Christians honestly consider it OK for teens (indeed anyone?) to crave a relationship with one?"

For centuries, vampires have been part of folklore and mythology, understood to be ugly, dark creatures of morbid horror, close to the dead, sometimes known as the undead for they claim eternal life and subsist by feeding on human blood, roam in darkness, avoid the light, and are enemies of the human race.

This repulsive concept was changed with the popularization of Bram Stoker's famous 1897 novel about a fictionalized vampire Count Dracula, who was presented as an aristocrat Transylvanian nobleman. He was imbued with supernatural powers, superhuman capabilities and a lustful passion for beautiful ladies whose blood he became addicted to. His blood sucking was two-fold: to maintain his (eternal) life force and eventually befall his victim with the curse of vampirism and ultimate death. No matter how resplendent the vampire is portrayed in mythology and fiction, in Scripture blood drinking and creatures of darkness are judged as despicable by God. Also, Scripture explains fallen spirits ("angels") as those who deliberately chose to follow their leader Satan (Isaiah 14) and deny their Creator God. For this choice, they are damned with eternal separation from God and an eternity in the Lake of Fire (Rev 15).

For centuries, pagan rituals have sought taking human blood to appease the blood-thirsty lust of spirits and forces of darkness who target humans made in the image of God to mock God's handiwork. Distortion of the purpose of blood is a satanic mockery of God's intent for the sacredness blood represents. Scripture teaches,"in the blood is the life" (Deut. 12:23) and in the shedding of blood is the remission of sins. And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. (Heb 9:22)." In the Old Testament, a substitutionary lamb was required to be sacrificed by God's people as an offering for their sin. In the New Testament that Lamb was God's gift in Jesus Christ who offered Himself as the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world!
(John 1:29)

The Bible records that "sin entered the world through one man, Adam, and death through sin came to all men because all have sinned (with sin comes not only physical death but death to the eternal soul separated from the presence of God). How much more did God's grace and the gift (eternal life connected back into the presence of God) that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many (Rom. 5: 12-16)!

To God, eternal life is an important issue. He doesn't desire any to be banished from Him for eternity because of Adam's choice. For His love's sake, He gave us Jesus to redeem back to Him what man can't redeem. Believers can only overcome sin and eternal damnation "by the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. 12:11). There is no other way. Pagan cultures, seduced by myths and lying doctrines of demons have attempted to salvage eternal damnation by ceremony, one of them being vampirism, the sucking of human blood believed to sustain eternal life. Actually the Bible teaches "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50)."

Such is the story of Twilight, the mortal heroine, young teenager Bella, like so many teenagers today (sadly even Christians), who are naive about the reality of the eternal soul and willing to give all to a demon-possessed blood-sucking young man because they don't value the eternal life Jesus died to give. (In a future movie, Bella succumbs to vampire status and yes they do have sex and an unwanted baby).

The secular reviewers of the Twilight series call it, "A dark romance that seeps into the soul." The original title of Twilight was Corpse, but the publisher changed it to make it more appealing. The content of Twilight is in opposition to many Scriptures: it promotes sorcery, divination and witchcraft . Yet some church youth groups and Christian movie review sites suggest the relationship and sexual tension of two teenagers, one being a demonic vampire, draw parallels with Christian morals with lessons for the Christian to be found within the stories!

A housewife named Stephenie Meyer received the story of Twilight in a dream on June 2, 2003. The vision she had of a vampire and mortal as lovers compelled her to start writing the story immediately (a spiritual demonic dream???). She says she couldn't t resist the drive to write down her dream (a similar scenario to J.K Rowlings, author of Harry Potter). Meyer gives a summary of that first dream:

"I woke up (on that June 2nd) from a very vivid dream. In my dream, two people were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods. One of these people was just your average girl. The other person was fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire. They were discussing the difficulties inherent in the facts that A) they were falling in love with each other while B) the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her immediately."

Within three months, she had the entire novel written. Within six-months, it had been dreamed, written, and readied for publishing.

She admits she had little to no prior writing experience with only a B.A. degree in English and had to learn from the Internet how to submit a book proposal. She tried a few times and "miraculously" got published with a $750 thousand dollar publishing contract! Miraculous happenings have been known to come from powers of darkness, and in this case, no matter how its sliced, the God of the Bible would not use vampires, sexual tension, lust, boyfriend worship, and teenage romance to spread His Gospel of eternal life and salvation through Yeshua.

Meyer, a Mormon mother of three, states that some of her inspiration in writing her vampire saga came from a band of musicians called Marjorie Fair.

"For New Moon, they were absolutely essential. They can put you into a suicidal state faster than anything I know . . . Their songs really made it beautiful for me."

Also an inspiration for one of her characters was a band called My Chemical Romance. She states,

"Its someone . . . who just wants to go out and blow things up."

Scaringly, Meyer's fictional character Edward took on the "terrifying" form of "real" spirit when it leapt from the pages of her saga and communicated with her in an additional dream. She says she had the second dream after Twilight was finished when her vampire character Edward came to visit and speak to her. The Edward who visited her in the night told her she'd got it all wrong because he DID drink human blood and could not "live" on ONLY animal blood as she wrote in the story. She said, "We had this conversation and he was terrifying."

Conversation with spirits (saying they need human blood to suck!) and frightening dream visitations by spirits are part of occult communication. Meyer's spiritual experiences could well be influenced by her Mormon faith which allows for communication with the so-called "the dead". Indeed "the dead" of former generations are baptized into Mormonism in Mormon Temple ritual. Mormon founder Joseph Smith was "visited" by a communicating "angel" called Moroni, whose statue stands atop all Mormon Temples. This fallen angel of Mormonism gave Smith messages on which he formed his Mormon doctrine about prior civilizations, none of which have been discovered despite endless archeological digs to substantiate Mormons claims.

Others Mormon teachings conflict with biblical Christianity such as Mormonism's claim that Jesus (Yeshua) of the Bible, is the half-brother of Satan. Mormons additionally believe numerous teachings about the spirits that oppose Bible truths and could help embellish Meyer's Twilight series. In 2007, Stephenie Meyer wrote portions of a work titled, "Prom Nights from Hell", which is about supernatural events surrounding evil prom nights.

On May 6, 2008, she released her adult novel, "The Host", which is about invading alien souls that take over a person and get them to do what they want. This behavior is called demonic possession, a state Jesus came to set captives free from. Meyer's so-called fiction crosses over to severe occult philosophy.

Christian youth's involvement in the shocking abandonment of God's authority should be of concern enough, but sadder still is that youth in general are being seduced to embrace Satan's lies and reap eternal damnation. Christians, rather than protecting youth, are feeding them to Satan who is known as the prowling lion (1 Pet. 5:8). Satan deceived Eve with the promise of wisdom (Gen. 3) and suggested God's forbidding was on grounds of meanness - not loving concern. Satan continues his attack on the truth of God's Word and His essential character of love (comparing it to erotic sex) targeting younger and younger Christian youth.

Jesus warned, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matt. 18:6)

Christians are duty bound to preach God's Good news of repentance and warn against occult involvement: vampirism, witchcraft et al, uplifting the power of the Word of God and not fanning supernatural disobedience as many Christian organizations are doing. Family is a big part of what nurtures Twilight's love. Edward's coven family of vampires is a loving one. Each member is committed to protecting the others, even Bella when she becomes part of them through her relationship with Edward. This word coven belongs in Wiccan terminology and is a place where Wiccans convene for pagan rituals. Why encourage teenagers to embrace pagan ideology which flies in the face of biblical discernment? The book series and its movie create the pagan illusion that there is a good side to darkness and it is OK to be part of the "white" side.

Paul teaches:"And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works
(2 Cor 11:14-15)."

So, one wonders, how many churches and church youth groups are getting involved in a Bible study based on the Twilight series? And, how many Christians are getting trapped into the new emergent-style deception of Hegelian dialoguing? How many realize this type of dialectic group thinking (conversation) is an attempt to compromise Christian faith based on God's absolute truths with the idea that truth is relative and shifts? God's ways and thoughts are not open to discussion!

Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life." (Jn. 14:6)

Biblical Christianity is under attack as is God's Word, beginning with the wiles of Satan in the Garden who engaged Eve in dialogue about God's truths. She was tempted to understand the unknowable God through her own limited reasoning. Dialectic conversing is designed to bring about collective consensus and is Satan's agenda. God encourages the study of His Word so that we may be approved workmen "rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Tim 2:14-15) Youth (and parents) must come to the things, which are proper for sound doctrine (Titus 2:1), for the sake of their eternal souls.

"For the time will come, Paul warned, when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."
(2 Timothy 4:3-5)

It is deeply disturbing that Christians and youth leaders are undiscerning in biblical doctrine validating Christian youth to participate in vampirism, which is idol worship.

Col 2:18-19 warns, "Do not let anyone who delights in....the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions."

Biblical warnings against tampering in occultism are replete..... "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who
conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD." (Deut.18:10-12)

Unfortunately, many churches and Christian organizations downplay the reality of the supernatural war being waged by "dead" spirits and neglect the reality of abusive spiritual warfare by demonic authorities. If only those who confess Jesus Christ as their Lord would learn to "abide" in His Spirit and "know" Him through HIS word then they would be better equipped to discern error from truth, and get involved in the "good fight" we are called to, and WARN against rather than encourage fads like Twilight.

______________________________________________

As Pastor, I am called not only to comfort but to warn about anything that conflicts with the clear teachings of God's word and the gracious work Jesus has done for us. As a parent, I am responsible to protect my children from such influences and protect the prophetic generation he has called all of us to raise. Prayerfully consider these words and make the appropriate decisions for your home.

We love you,
Pastor Mark and Tiffany

Christ Alive Church, Newton, NC

When you've been wronged...

"I was honored today with having a few stones, dirt, rotten eggs, and pieces of dead cats thrown at me." -George Whitefield

The text you are about to read comes from a study of Biblical Evangelism I have been a part of for almost 4 years now. Recently, a friend of mine, who I have not seen for more than 15 years now, admitted to me he'd encountered a sort of 'crisis of faith' while we were attending the bible college where we met. At the time, I was not aware that this was going on in his life because, as a false convert to Christianity myself, I was going through my own stuff...

This entry is meant, not only for him, but for anyone and everyone who has ever been "wronged" by someone professing to be a Believer or Follower of Christ...

-------------------------------------------

"My seeds of belief were crushed for a long time due to my experiences while attending a "Christian" school..."

Christians aren't perfect. They/We make mistakes like anyone else. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive them/us/me... I think that is what they would do for you...

Maybe they didn't know they wronged you... Was it something really bad or was it just a mistake? Have you gone to them and spoken to them about it? Maybe if you were to forgive them you would begin to understand the forgiveness God has for you. We all need to be forgiven, don't you agree?

Pride is a subtle thing. I remember many years ago stepping forward to take a closer look at a sofa in a shop display. Suddenly, I came to an abrupt halt. I had walked straight into a plate glass door. Did I give thought to the pain coming from a flattened nose? Nope, my first thought was, "who saw me?" When I realized that no one had seen the incident, I proceeded to give comfort to my nose.

I once saw a woman walk behind me while I was preaching outdoors. As she did so, she stumbled and twisted her ankle. It apparently didn’t hurt at all. With the utmost composure, she graciously walked across in front of the crowd as though nothing had happened. Yet from my view-point, I saw that when she got around the corner, she doubled up with pain.

The Bible says God hates pride. It is a sin that will stop multitudes from entering the kingdom of heaven. Pride destroys families. It keeps spouses from admitting that they are wrong. They would rather break up a family and keep their pride, than humble themselves and be reconciled, even for the sake of the children.

When I went to give blood at the local Red Cross, I had to spend quite some time filling out a form about my background. The AIDS virus had left blood banks justifiably paranoid. Ordinary banks are worried about bad withdrawals; blood banks are worried about bad deposits. The list of questions seemed endless: did I have HIV, heart disease, fainting spells, etc. I looked down the long list,then across to the boxes on the right side of the form. It was simple. All they contained were “Yes”or “No,”so I went down the boxes and did what all good people from Down-Under do—I crossed out the non-applicable ones. Did I have HIV? I crossed out the “Yes” in the box, leaving a clear “No” for the person reviewing the form to see. It made sense to me.

I then took the form to the nurse and sat beside her. She stared at it for about three seconds, and then looked at me in horror. My answers indicated that I had HIV, hepatitis, typhoid, malaria, cancer, heart disease, lumps under my arms, skin rashes, fainting spells, and that I’d had diarrhea for over a month—among a number of other distasteful things.

Her facial expression changed when I told her that New Zealanders walk around upside-down, drive on the other side of the road, and fill out forms differently.

In one sense, you have (by way of your commitment to Christ) moved into a radically different culture. You are now living in a kingdom which has rules that are revolutionary. You have bowed your knee to the sovereignty of the King of kings. As author Larry Tomczak explained,

“Coming under the loving Lordship of Jesus Christ means an end to our ‘rights’ as well as to our wrongs. It means the end of life on our own terms.”

Now you owe your allegiance to Him above all else—and His ways are certainly different. Never a man spoke like this Man. Jesus said to bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you (Matthew 5:44).

Many have missed the point of why the Christian should let another person stomp on him. The reason is not that the Christian is a wimp, but that he has surrendered the job of vengeance to the Lord. If someone does me wrong, I am not to take the law into my own hands. Instead, I give it all to God in prayer, and if (in His perfect judgment) He sees fit to do so, He will stomp on the person who stomped on me; and He has a righteous (and bigger) stomp.

Let me give you some examples of how this has worked in my life. Sue and I used to let people have our books and tapes on a credit system. After a seminar, if people didn’t have any money at the time, we would let them take what they wanted, and we would send them a bill. It was a good system, except that after awhile we discovered we had $3,000 worth of unpaid bills. Professing Christians were taking our property and not paying for it.

We sent reminders. That didn’t produce any response at all. So we decided we would get radical and do it God’s way. We mailed a gift of ten dollars to each of those who had stolen books and tapes from us, based on the fact that Jesus said to do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you. He said that if someone wants to take your coat, you should give the person your cloak also (see Matthew 5:40).

What we were saying was, “God, we give it all to You. We want You to be our financial Adviser. If You see fit to stomp on these people, that’s up to You. You know their circumstances. Perhaps they are in financial difficulty. In the meantime, we will love our neighbors as ourselves and do them good.”

The following weekend I did a series of meetings for a church, and the honorarium they gave me was ten times the normal amount! We like the way God works, so now we do things His way.

This wasn’t just an isolated incident. I once sent fourteen boxes of books to South Africa. When they arrived, the person who ordered them called me and said they were all damaged. We were 4,000 miles apart, so all I could do was to ask him to claim the insurance. For some reason, he refused. A friend told me to instigate court proceedings, but I felt led to draw on the wisdom of my Business Adviser. Instead, I gave the whole thing to God in prayer and wrote it off. The next weekend at a Christian camp, we sold more than seven times as many books and tapes as we usually sell.

A close friend of mine was a partner in a Christian T-shirt company. One of their shirts had a particular word on it that was used by a well-known apparel company. Not long after the shirt was released, the apparel company threatened to sue my friend’s company for using the word unless they came up with a quick $10,000. Even though their lawyers felt there was no way they could lose the case in court, he prayed about it and felt led to obey the Scriptures. Because Jesus said that if someone sues you for your coat, you should give him your cloak also, he gave them a number of checks (over a short period) totaling $10,000, then an extra $1,000 check.

What he did didn’t make much sense. Yet within one month, God had so blessed the T-shirt company that they expanded from eight employees to forty-two. In fact, within three years of business, they sold over one million T-shirts.

You may not be involved in book or T-shirt sales, but you can put these same principles into practice. If someone does you wrong, don’t let pride rear its ugly head. Stop for a minute and consider, “What would man have me do, and what would Jesus have me do?”

Man’s way is for you to stick up for your rights. That will be a way that feels good to your natural mind, a way that seems right—but I encourage you to give it all to God in prayer, then do it His way. If someone wrongs you at your place of work, buy him a gift. Do the person good, and then pray that through God’s love his heart will be open to the claims of the gospel. Such a radical action in the mind of a hard heart is worth a thousand eloquent sermons.


-Taken from THE SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL EVANGELISM - LESSON 96 (pp. 664-668) author - Ray Comfort (Kiwi/New Zealander) Evangelist of Living Waters Ministries

Doesn't the Bible Say???

Recently, I was commenting on a "daily Bible verse" application on my Facebook Wall, and when I, as sometimes happens, attempted to correct the understanding of another commentator regarding the original intent and proper hermeneutical understanding of the passage, I was challenged in my own understanding of who God is... For your consideration, I would like to share the Scripture passage, the original posts from the application, as well as the email exchange that followed...

"For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation."
(Psalm 149:4)

Bridgette wrote:
"Never forget that the Lord adores us. He hates the sin but still loves us; we're his children. "

To which I replied:
"@Bridgette, God is not up in heaven swooning over us - the phrase, "God hates the sin, but loves the sinner" is one made famous by Ghandi, who, by all accounts died in his sins... And God calls all people everywhere to repent of their sins... To die in our sins brings about eternal condemnation...

Now, God DOES love the world - so much in fact that He died for it. (John 3:16) As one Pastor I love once put it, His love is not a pampering love, but a perfecting love... And make no mistake, He hates workers of iniquity (evildoers, sinners - those who hate Him) which is anyone who does not love Him... Psalm 5:5

And there is no neutral gear with God, by nature, we are at war with Him, but by His grace we are able to receive His forgiveness - without it, we are not His children, rather we are still children of the devil... John 8

When I returned home from work this afternoon, I was met with the following message in my inbox...

Brittney wrote:
It's mind blowing to see the millions of Christians that think the Lord HATES sinners and is even angry at us. When quite the contrary, he is a loving and fair God. In fact, the Bible states that "God is LOVE" and even describes him as a father figure caring for and loving his children. So how could the God of Love be angry and condemning towards us?

Now, that is not to say that he allows us to get away with sinning. As do all fathers, he corrects his children if we do wrong. Romans 2:9-11 (the message bible) says this clearly,

"If you go against the grain, you get splinters regardless of which neighborhood you're from, what your parents have taught you, what schools you attended."

So does this mean he is hateful? When your parent's corrected you as a child, it did not mean that they hated you. They did it out of love, as does God who is the perfect parent and example to all.

Here are some examples of his love for us:

God your thoughts about me are priceless. No one can possibly add them all up. If I could count them they would be more than the grains of sand. If I were to fall asleep counting and then wake up you would still be there with me.
Psalm 139:17 -18

17The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

(These are just a few of the scriptures that tell of his love for us)

That doesn't sound like a God we are "at war with."

And with that, I got out my Bible, said a prayer, and after three hours of searching the Scriptures, considering how I might respond, the following is what I came up with...

Brittney,

I appreciate your response, and thank you for using scripture to back up your point - it is really refreshing in light of the culture that wants to define their faith according to their feelings, rather than the very words the faith was founded upon...

I agree with you that God IS Love, the Bible clearly states that - however, what I wrote and quoted WAS scripture that states that "God hates all workers of iniquity" (Psalm 5:5 - NKJV). The Amplified Bible uses the word "abhor" which is to regard with disgust or hatred.

I'm sure you've looked up the passage for yourself, though I'm not sure you saw the same thing I saw because of the type of Bible you are reading, which is known as a "paraphrase" edition. It is not based upon the original greek and hebrew texts used to compile the books and letters that make up the holy canonical text - it is based in the idea that God's Word can be brought down to a level that anyone can understand by attempting to put His Words into popular and even culturally relevant thoughts and phrases...

For instance, Psalm 5:5, which is the very passage I reference in my original comment, as well as above - THE MESSAGE reads: "Hot-Air-Boaster collapses in front of you; you shake your head over Mischief-Maker." I have to say that I've been around the block a time or two, but without knowing the original texts, I would have never guessed that "hot air boaster collapses in front of you" would equate to "the foolish (boaster) shall not stand in Your sight." This is just one person's opinion here, but THE MESSAGE doesn't seem to make the same impact that the original Hebrew does, and as we move on to "you shake your head over Mischief-Maker" it appears to make light of sin, which Jesus says is worthy of eternal condemnation if one should die in the midst of them...

To move on to your other references - Psalm 139:17-18 - I'd like to point out that the passage you've referred to is written to believers, while the point I was making was aimed at those who are in the midst of willful sin - these two people are different people and of different fathers. The author is clearly a believer, full of faith in the coming Savior - those words are not written about a person who is a "worker of iniquity" (John 8:34-35) but rather a "worker of righteousness" (Romans 6: 15-23) not without sin, mind you - but one of God's children, rather than the devil's. (1 John 3:10-15)

Again, in the second reference you made, note the opening words of the passage, "the Lord your God... ...a Savior..." Those who are not yet forgiven have no part in this passage... Those who have been saved, and who are (in the process of) being saved do... sort of...

You see, that passage is not for you and me - or for any other modern-day believer for that matter... I was part of a prophecy meant for the people of Israel in Jerusalem at that time... It DOES proclaim a truth about God, there is no denying that, but we cannot today latch onto it and say, 'that is what God wants me to know about Himself for me today..." Because that is simply not the case...

When you read the whole chapter in it's context, you'll see that the first part of the chapter is pronouncing God's judgment for the people, and God's hope for the people - Israelites in Jerusalem... We cannot simply pull a scripture out of the context and claim its truth for our lives today without considering the setting in which it was originally intended to serve...

Like you, I too, am opposed to people running around telling people, "God hates you if you don't love Him..." I'd be writing the same type of letter you've written to me if I were to come across someone who brought that type of message to a public discussion of faith and scripture...

But please notice that I not only mentioned God's hatred, but also His grace... This is one arena that the "millions" you referred to in your message to me are not interested in going into - for whatever reason... But we, as believers are commanded to warn of the wrath to come, and testify of His grace to save... Remember Jude's admonition in verses 20 through 23...

When it comes to being "at war with God" - consider Romans 8:1-11... Notice that it is addressed to those who are "in Christ" and then goes on to describe the differences between those who are "in the Spirit" compared to those who are still "in the flesh"...

Verse 7 says clearly that "the carnal mind is 'enmity' with [or against] God" one way (the most commonly accepted way) that enmity is defined is, as hatred for, or a state of war against someone... Once again, the person being described here is the person who still lives in their sins - they have not been forgiven, they have not repented and believed, they are not a child of God...

THE MESSAGE says the following... "Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing."

Nowhere in that text is the seriousness of the error of hostility toward God displayed, and once again, a very low view of what God has written has been offered giving preference to an easier way to consider what might otherwise be taken as harsh words... It's ironic to see that the paraphrase of THE MESSAGE speaks of ignoring who God is and what He is doing, in the very verses that in the original greek point out that what we are ACTUALLY doing is acting out in a hostile way toward God - not just "focusing on self."

And I'll close with this... God DOES love the world, the proof is in the fact that, as you pointed out, and I agreed that the Bible DOES say, He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever would believe in Him, might have everlasting life... However, His ETERNAL love is for those He saves, those who love Him - those who are convicted of their sins in the light of His holy law, and believe the gospel... To them, he gives the gifts of repentance and faith, which leads to salvation... The work involved is, and has been done, by Him alone - the only thing we can do is receive it... Acts 17:30

Thank you again for your response, I hope that we can talk about any concerns you might have regarding anything I've written - I am not at all interested in dropping all of this in your lap with the hope that you'll never question another person's opinions ever again... When Paul preached, the Bereans searched the scriptures to see if what he was telling them was true according to the very words that God had given...

Be encouraged, keep on questioning that which does not line up with what you've been taught - and never stop seeking His understanding above and beyond your fellow man...

May God bless you in your questioning...


-Benjamin

Atheists only believe in their own superiority...

BY CHARLOTTE ALLEN

I can't stand atheists - but it's not because they don't believe in God.  It's because they're crashing bores.

Other people, most recently the British cultural critic Terry Eagleton in his new book "Faith, Reason and Revolution," take to task such superstar nonbeliever as Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion") and political journalist Christopher Hitchens ("God Is Not Great") for indulging in a philosophically primitive opposition of faith and reason that assumes that if science can't prove something, it doesn't exist.

My problem with atheists is there tiresome - and way old - insistence that they are being oppressed and their fixation with the fine points of Christianity.  What, did their Sunday school teachers flog their behinds with a Bible when they were kids?

Read Dawkins, or Hitchens, or the works of fellow atheists Sam Harris ("The End of Faith") and Daniel Dennett ("Breaking the Spell"), or visit an atheist Web site or blog (there are zillions of them, bearing such titles as "God Is for Suckers," "God Is Imaginary" and "God Is Pretend"), and your eyes will glaze over as you peruse - again and again - the obsessively tiny range of topics around which athists circle like water in a drain.

First off, there's atheist victimology:  Boohoo, everybody hates us 'cuz we don't believe in God.  Although a recent Pew Forum survey on religion found that 16 percent of Americans describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, only 1.6 percent call themselves atheists, with another 2.4 percent weighing in as agnostics (a group despised as wishy-washy by atheists).  You or I might attribute the low numbers to atheists' failure to win converts to their unbelief, but atheists say the problem is persecution so relentless that it drives tens of millions of God-deniers into a closet of feigned faith, like gays before Stonewall.

In his online "Atheist Manifesto," Harris writes that "no person, whatever his or her qualifications, can seek public office in the United States without pretending to be certain that . . . God exists."

The evidence?  Antique clauses in the constitutions of six - count 'em - states barring atheists from office.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled such provisions unenforceable nearly 50 years ago, but that doesn't stop atheists from bewailing that they have to hide their Godlessness from friends, relatives, employers and potential dates.  One representative of the pity-poor-me school of atheism, Kathleen Goodman, writing in January for the Chronicle of Higher Education, went so far as to promote affirmative action for atheists on college campuses:  specially designated, college-subsidized "safe spaces" for them to express their views.

Maybe atheists wouldn't be so unpopular if they stopped beating the drum until the hide splits on their second-favorite topic:  How stupid people are who believe in God.

This is a favorite Dawkins theme.  In a recent interview with Trina Hoaks, the atheist blogger for the Examiner.com Web site, Dawkins described religious believers as follows: "They feel uneducated, which they are; often rather stupid, which they are; inferior, which they are; and paranoid about pointy-headed intellectuals from the East Coast looking down on the

m, which, with some justification, they."  Thanks Richard!

Dennett likes to call atheists "the Brights," in contrast to everybody else, who obviously aren't so bright.  In a 2006 essay describing his brush with death after a heart operation, Dennett wrote these thoughts about his religious friends who told him they were praying for his recovery:  "Thanks, I appreciate it, but did you also sacrifice a goat?"  With friends like Daniel Dennett, you don't need enemies.

Then there's P.Z. Myers, biology professor at the University of Minnesota's Morris campus, whose blog, Pharyngula, is supposedly about Myers' field, evolutionary biology, but is actually about his fanatical propensity to label religious believers as "idiots," "morons," "loony" or "imbecilic" in nearly every post.  The university deactivated its link to Myers' blog in July after he posted a photo of a consecrated host from a Catholic Mass that he had pierced with a rusty nail and thrown into the garbage ("I hope Jesus' tetanus shots are up to date") in an effort to prove that Catholicism is bunk - or something.  Myers' blog exemplifies atheists' frenzied fascination with Christianity and the Bible.  

Atheist Web site after atheist Web site insists that Jesus either didn't exist or "was a jerk" (in the words of one blogger) because he didn't eliminate smallpox or world poverty.  

At the American Atheists Web site, a writer complains that God "set up" Adam and Eve, knowing in advance that they would eat the forbidden fruit.  A blogger on A Is for Atheist has been going through the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse in order to prove its "insanity" (he or she had gotten up to the Book of Joshua when I last looked).

Another topic that atheists beat like the hammer on the anvil in the old Anacin commercials is Darwinism versus creationism.  Maybe Darwin-o-mania stems from the fact that this year marks the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth in 1809, but haven't atheists heard that many religious people (including the late Pope John Paul II) don't have a problem with evolution but, rather, regard it as God's way of letting his living creation unfold?  Furthermore, even if human nature as we know it is a matter of lucky adaptations, how exactly does that disprove the existence of God?

Then there's the question of why atheists are so intent on trying to prove that God not only doesn't exist but is evil to boot.  Dawkins, writing in "The God Delusion," accuses the deity of being a "petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak" as well as a "misogynistic, homophobic, racist . . .bully."  If there is no God - and you'd be way beyond stupid to think differently - why does it matter whether he's good or evil?

The problem with atheists - and what makes them such excruciating snoozes - is that few of them are interested in making serious metaphysical or epistemological arguments against God's existence, or in taking on the serious arguments that theologians have made attempting to reconcile, say, God's omniscience with free will or God's goodness with human suffering.  

Atheists seem to assume that the whole idea of God is a ridiculous absurdity, the "flying spaghetti monster" of atheists' typically lame jokes.  They think that lobbing a few Gaza-style rockets accusing God of failing to create a world more to their liking ("If there's a God, why aren't I right?" "If there's a God, why didn't he give me two heads so I could sleep with one head while I get some work done with the other?") will suffice to knock down the entire edifice of belief.

What primarily seems to motivate atheists isn't rationalism but anger - anger that the world isn't perfect, that someone forced them to go to church as children, that the Bible contains apparent contradictions, that human beings can be hypocrites and commit crimes in the name of faith.  The vitriol is extraordinary.

Hitchens thinks that "religion spoils everything."  Dawkins contends that raising one's offspring in one's religion constitutes child abuse.  Harris argues that it "may be ethical to kill people" on the basis of their beliefs.  The perennial atheist litigant Michael Newdow sued (unsuccessfully) to bar President Barak Obama from uttering the words "so help me God" when he took his oath of office.

What atheists don't seem to realize is that even for believers, faith is never easy in this world of injustice, pain and delusion.  Even for believers, God exists just beyond the scrim of the senses.  So, atheists, how about losing the tired sarcasm and boring self-pity and engaging believers seriously?

__________________________

Charlotte Allen is the author of "The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus" and a contributing editor to the Minding the Campus Web site of the Manhattan Institute.  This column first appeared in the Los Angeles Times, and more recently in The Stars and Stripes Mideast Edition on Sunday, May 24, 2009.

Being pro-life with a pro-choice President...

The following letter / message was originally given at Bethlehem Baptist Church of Minneapolis Minnesota by Pastor John Piper all the way back in January of 1993 to then President-elect Bill Clinton. The words and points brought up within the text is as valid today as ever...

Mr. President:

We (Christians) will honor you under the Mighty Hand of God, according to 1 Peter 5:6, and acknowledging that we ourselves, pro-life Christians, are sinners, and in need of mercy and forgiveness from God. We are not infallible. We are open to new light on this and every issue. We are not the final judge of you, or anybody. God is... We stand on level ground with you before the Cross, supplicants of mercy, and longing to be obedient to the King, Jesus. We honor you, by humbling ourselves WITH you, under God, as fallible sinners who need salvation and forgiveness.

We honor you, Mr. President, by acknowledging that you are a man created in the image of God and distinct from all the other beings on the face of the Earth. (James 3:9) You are not a mere animal, you have the glorious potential, like all humans, of being a child of God, if you are not already. And shining like the sun in the kingdom of our Father, forever and ever. And we honor you as an utterly unique human-being - created in the image and likeness of the Living God, with untold potential.

We will acknowledge you by realizing that government is God's institution and God's creation. He wills that there be leaders like presidents and governors. You are in power by Divine Appointment, and we honor that. Romans 13:4 says, "[you are] God's servant for [our] good" - and it grieves us that you are NOT going to stand up for the good of the unborn - the most weak, innocent, helpless group of Americans. Nevertheless, we have seen from Somalia, that bad government is better than no government. And that the absence of some laws to protect some citizens, is better than the absence of all laws, which give protection to nobody. And therefore, we honor your stabilizing role, and in this sense, we count you, Mr. President, a blessing from God.

We will honor you by submitting to the laws of the land and of the state. Where ever they do not conflict with our higher allegiance to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords - (and President of Presidents).

We will submit...

-to laws that take away our right to choose to go 75 miles per hour...
-to laws that take away our right to choose to keep our lights OFF while our windshield wipers are ON...
-to laws that take away our right to choose to drive without a seatbelt...
-to laws that take away our right to choose to fish without a license...
-to laws that take away our right to choose to make loud noises in the middle of the night...
-to laws that take away our right to choose to keep our kids out of [public] schools...
-to laws that take away our right to choose to send them to school without [certain vaccinations]...
-to laws that take away our right to choose to use leaded gasoline...
-to laws that take away our right to choose not to pay taxes...
-to laws that take away our right to choose to smoke on the OTHER side of the restaurant...

...because we KNOW, Mr. President, that governments EXIST to take away the right to choose. We will submit to your laws... But Mr. President, according to 1 Peter 2:13, we do not submit for your sake... We submit for the Lord's sake. He created the government, He wills that it be stable and exist, and He wills that Christians be humble and submissive, not recalcitrant and stubborn. We will submit, not because you have power, but because our King Jesus says to go back in to this foreign and alien land, and submit where ever you can for My sake, and bring Me glory. Yet, our submission is in honor to you, because under God, and from God, you bear the authority to enforce these laws.

We will honor you by not withdrawing into little communes of disengaged isolation from American culture - though we admit we are tempted. But according to 1 Peter 2:15, we will honor you by trying to do as much good as we possibly can in America - for the cause of the unborn, for the cause of the unwanted born, and for the cause of women in distress. So that when we call upon you to join us in this, it will not be with hypocrisy. And it will not seem insolent to you that we have called upon you to join us in doing good to the unborn. The Bible says in [1 Peter 2:15], "it is the will of God, that by doing [good] you may silence the ignorance of foolish men." Mr. President, we want to honor you by joining you, in doing as much good as we can.

We will honor you by opposing your position as long as we can. With non-violence, instead of violence. With reasoning, instead of rocks. With rational passion, instead of screaming. With honorable speech, instead of obscenities. With forthright clarity of language, instead of dodging the tough realities and tough words. With evidence, instead of authority. With scientific portrayals of life, instead of authoritarian black-outs. We will honor you, by a relentless effort to put truth, and not mere emotion before you in the White House, as long as you are there.

We will honor you by expecting FROM you, straightforward answers to straightforward questions. We would not expect this from a hypocrite or a con-man or a chimp. We expect it from an honorable man.

For example, are you willing to explain why a babyÕs right not to be killed is less important than a womanÕs right not to be pregnant? Explain it to us Mr. President. Or, are you willing to explain why most cities have laws forbidding cruelty to animals, [while] you OPPOSE laws forbidding cruelty to human fetuses. Are they not AT LEAST animals??? Explain it to us... ...with forthright, open, public words... Or are you willing to explain why government is UNwilling to take away the so-called right to abortion on demand, even though it harms the unborn child - yet government is INCREASINGLY willing to take away the right to smoke, precisely because it harms innocent non-smokers, killing 30,000 of them a year, by cancer - and 40,000 a year by cardiac and other diseases. Isn't it remarkable that we are moving toward such remarkable control in removing the rights to choose in some areas - [yet] we will not TOUCH the right to choose, [which] kills...

If you say, Mr. President, "of course, everything hangs on the fetus being a human child or not." Are you willing to go before national television with [an aborted fetus] in your hand, and hold it up to the camera, in the Oval [Office], and explain to us why this is not a baby? Are you willing to unfold the legs so that we can see the exact length and hold it up and let the camera zoom in on the face and the eyes and the ears? Are you willing to even show it in the womb with the contemporary scientific truthful data we have about it's life, and the way it responds to being touched, and the way it responds to sound? And then explain to us why all of that is irrelevant to us, and this baby can have his head chopped off and squished, his legs pulled off, and that is not a problem?

Or worse, Mr. President, are you willing to [go] to Minneapolis and go to the hospital with [Pastor John Piper] where [a] baby is being held in the arms of it's mother after the miscarriage, look her in the eye and say, "This is not now, nor ever was it a child."?

Perhaps you have good answers for all of these, and we [Christians] will honor you by expecting you to defend your position forthrightly in the public eye. You have immense power as President of the United States. To wield it against the protection of the unborn, without giving a public accounting, we regard as a dishonorable thing to do, and therefore, we expect more.

And finally, Mr. President, we will honor you by trusting that the purpose of our sovereign and loving God, to defend the fatherless, and contend for the defenseless, and exalt the meek, will triumph through your presidency. And to that end, we are going to pray for you, day by day...

For more information on the TRUTH about Abortion and its effects on women, and the children involved in the process, visit: www.Abort73.com

Why do we celebrate Easter?

An interesting question... And, unless you're a Christian, you may tend to believe its because spring is the time for renewal and re-birth, etc... IF you are a Christian, you understand that it is a celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, three days (Jewish days mind you - Friday was day one, Saturday day two - "he rose on the third day") after His crucifixion at the hands of those who opposed His ministry, and that is why it's observed on "Easter Sunday." Some, more fundamental-types prefer to refer to the day as "Resurrection Sunday" and this blogger is more than happy to be counted among them...

In order to get to the root of WHY Jesus went to the cross in the first place, I feel its necessary to define some terms that Christians throw around occasionally, but we might not always explain - while at the same time, there may be Christians out there who don't even understand the meaning of certain terms that directly apply to them, however, they are all found in the Bible, and are directly applicable in the lives of Believers...

My friend Shai Linne wrote a wonderful prose about the Atonement that Christ's sacrifice makes available to all mankind that I will now use to help illustrate...

Who is God?

God is the universe’s Creator and Sustainer plus the only Savior, there is no one greater... He's triune, holy, omnipotent, omniscient, absolute, loving, sovereign and righteous are a few of His attributes...

How do we know this?

Well, we know this from the Bible - Where God has revealed Himself- anything else is just an idol...

What’s the Bible about?

Man’s complete ruin in sin - and what God has done in Christ to bring us to Him again...

What is sin?

Sin is the breaking of God’s law... Plus our condition, which means from birth we all got flaws...

What’s the result?

The result is by nature we’re God’s enemies - and must pay the penalty unless God provides the remedy...

What's the remedy?

The remedy is the cross of Christ - where He suffered all the strikes for the lawless type... I’ve been rescued by the Lamb, I’m convinced that He’s risen - and blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven!

And now a bit of an explanation of what happens in the event and application of atonement for those sins listed above...

Regeneration

The Holy Spirit’s true work in His love - to the elect, who receive new birth from above...

Expiation

Expiation means God’s removed my filthiness - the old testament type was the goat into the wilderness...

Redemption

We’ve been freed from slavery to sin - and His very own blood is the price He paid, my friend...

Propitiation

Propitiation means since the Lamb has died - His work is finished- God’s wrath is satisfied...

Adoption

Adoption means God is now my Father - I got the hottest Poppa and by the Spirit holler "Abba!"

Reconciliation means there’s no more enmity - God is now a friend to me, we’re no longer enemies...

Justification- God declares us righteous...

Sanctification- we’re being made into His likeness...

Glorification- that’s what happens at the finish - When God conforms believers perfectly to Christ’s image!

So now we've talked about the need for atonement, and the event of the atonement, so now we'll talk about how the atonement is applied to us...

God’s grace is magnificent, He slayed His innocent Son - through faith and repentance we get the benefits...

What is faith?

Faith is a gift from God- when we receive this we trust and treasure the person and finished work of Jesus...

Repentance?

Repentance is turning from your sin and trusting Christ as the Spirit cleanses you within...

What is grace?

Oh, grace is unmerited favor - Our inheritance major ‘cause we cherish the Savior... Right, and if I may quote again, we were doomed with Satan - but believers get Jesus’ righteousness through imputation...

Imputation?

God takes Jesus’ righteousness amount through faith He credits it into the Christian’s account...

Anything else?

Well, I guess this overview must suffice - but none of this is possible apart from union with Christ...

And finally, once you know the ways of the Lord than the only thing that you can say is "Soli Deo Gloria!"(For the Glory of God alone...)

(Click the Title of this blog entry to be whisked away to Shai Linne's blog to get your hands on more God-glorifying lyrics...)

The One True God vs. Idolatry

The article that follows comes from a book I recently picked up in the Chapel here in Iraq... What an interesting place to find a piece of literature that so accurately describes the full nature of the God of the Bible against the false gods of man's imagination...

Within the past couple of weeks, since I arrived "in country" I have engaged in countless discussions on who God is... to the Christian, to the Muslim (obviously) the Mormon, the Jehovah's Witness, the Catholic (with much animosity), and other religions of modern and ancient times...

I am not a scholar by any means, and will probably never be - however, I do desire to be able to represent and present the God of the Holy Bible accurately, and without error whenever and where ever possible... Therefore, I am constantly searching for extra-Biblical sources of learning that can help me in my pursuit to know and understand the Word of God more fully...

Within the last couple of days, I have engaged myself in a discussion on a rather popular book now available in bookstores that has taken the world by storm much the way the Prayer of Jabez, or Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life have over the past decade. The book in question is The Shack. Outside of the appeal of a heart-wrenching story about a father who has lost his daughter in a horrific abduction and murder, is the "fictional" account of a man who is trying to establish a relationship with God...

And that is where my difficulty with the book begins... As with Dan Brown's the Da Vinci Code, this book claims to be a work of fiction, and I do not contest that fact - however, people are reading it as though it is a work of literature to be used in order to understand and learn something about God that they either cannot or have not yet been able to find anywhere else - including, sadly enough, within the pages of their own Bible...

It has been, and will continue to be, (until or unless someone can bring me to a point of alternate understanding with Scripture) my contention, and I believe, the contention of the Word of God, that if we are going to have a relationship with God, we should first understand what His requirements for a relationship are, rather than to seek out the ideas and opinions of people who are presenting a version of God, Christ and faith that differs from the one put forth in the only absolute source of Truth - the Word of God itself...

The article follows...


You have often heard it said: "It really doesn't matter what a person believes as long as he is sincere." -But, what if he is sincerely wrong?

Throughout the Bible we learn that it matters enormously what or who is actually Lord (in control) of our lives.

There is a great deal in the Bible about idolatry. Even today, many are deceived and assume that they may have several man-made gods (though they do not call them such) in their lives. These "gods" are objects of the hearts' real desire and preoccupation. Although they haven't rejected the One True God, His importance above all gods continues to diminish.

Exodus 20:3 is the first of the Ten Commandments from God. The Old Testament idols were images representing a deity, such as "the golden calf" (Exodus 32:1-4) and the Israelites willingly gave their gold to Aaron to achieve that "god." It is written that they worshiped the works of their (own) hands. (2 Kings 22:17).

The Lord Jesus Christ quoted from Deuteronomy 6:13 in the Gospel according to Matthew 4:10.

On another occasion, Jesus said: "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29-31

When you know what it is that takes first place in a person's thoughts concerning material things and desires, what he looks forward to, and what he is willing to sacrifice for above all other things, you know what his god - his "golden calf" if you will - is...

A person's real god is what he finds the most satisfaction in his heart thinking and talking about. These things or persons could become his idols.

In contrast, if we acknowledge our real God is the One True God expressed in three Persons as Father, Son (Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary), and Holy Spirit, we will find great pleasure in sharing Scripture from Genesis through Revelation and our experiences about the Lord Jesus with others. In every decision He will be our first consideration. A true Christian will seek...first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness Matthew 6:33 This means our first consideration is to know the will of God as revealed in the Bible in regard to all decision: Our loyalty to Christ and His Church will be our first consideration. All else will be of less importance, such as employment, hobbies, sports, friends, etc...

As God's children, it is of utmost importance that our loyalty, love, and devotion to the One Living and True God be first in all earthly consideration. We will desire to have Christ as Lord (Ruler) over our lives.

We cannot have two supreme loyalties. As Jesus said: No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve both God and mammon (money, goods, material things) Luke 16:13

But they that will be (desire to be) rich (in material things) fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition... 1 Timothy 6:9 These Scriptures suggest that the word "idolatry" stands for whatever secular activity or persons become more important than our submission to Christ as Lord of our lives.

The Apostle Paul was led to warn that covetousness... is idolatry. Colossians 3:5 Covetousness is self-concern and self-interest, as well as devotion to a person or material things, that interfere with our opportunities to serve the Lord. This means giving to self that loyalty and devotion which belogs to Jesus as Lord of our lives.

A true believer in the One True God is not deceived by the theory of "situational ethics" which assumes there is no absolute standard of right and wrong but rather that right or wrong depend upon circumstances.

The Apostle Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to describe true Christian conversion as turning from idols to serve the living and True God 1 Thessalonians 1:9. Turning from idols is far more than merely professing that we are a Christian.

The Lord Jesus Christ proclaims: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve... Matthew 4:10 Jesus warned that the way of eternal life is a narrow...way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it Matthew 7:14. And not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7:21.
In contrast to the world, Jesus demonstrated by His life and death that doing the will of My Father which is in heaven involves a willing subordination of our wills and way of doing things to the will of God. Each of us gives allegiance to someone or something, we're made that way. We do have a god in which we find life's satisfaction.

Paul was also led by the Holy Spirit to write of some whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. Philippians 3:19

But he also wrote: Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2 If we are committed to Jesus being Lord of our lives, then we will bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

We do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. Colossians 1:9-11

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet (qualified us) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son (Jesus our Savior): In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Colossians 1:12-15

For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in eart, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the Head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have preeminence. Colossians 1:16-18

That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:10-14

Reprinted from The Best of Bible Pathway - devotional guide; Murfreesboro, TN - John A. Hash, Editor in Chief