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

A "witness" encounter...

Earlier today, two Jehovah's Witnesses stopped me while standing in my driveway performing some yard work. We started a conversation, as cordially as we possibly could standing in the heat of a California midday sun.

While the other witnesses walked around our new neighborhood, we could hear the responses of our neighbors letting them know they weren't interested in the message, followed by the click of the door latches. On the first weekend in our new home, we were already showing ourselves to be a family at least willing to talk about the things of God... Boy, do I look forward to future conversations in this neighborhood!

I politely allowed them to make their introduction and explanation about why they were here. The woman, Sue, let me know that they were in the area, encouraging people to read the Bible, and their magazine - on the cover, read the words, "Are Better Times Just Ahead?" She asked me if I believed this...

My initial thought was, "well, not according to the Government, and the National Weather Service, and Wall Street, and just about every other special interest-type group you might be able to find out there... No, better times are not, in fact, just ahead..." However, I remembered my audience and gave my response some thought...

I replied, "It depends on how you look at things... If you see yourself as a person who is basically 'good' and has lived a life intent on being content, then no... Better Times, in the eternal sense are not just ahead at all... In fact, some very bad times are ahead."

Then I explained what I meant by that... I told her that anyone who does not see themselves the way the Bible describes us (wretched, deceitful, in need of God's mercy) is going to have a seriously rude awakening in the Day of Judgment that God has set aside. I asked her how she would feel if a doctor were to walk into the room with a fatal prognosis for her, only to tell her that everything was fine, and soon she wouldn't be feeling any pain at all...

Sue admitted that wouldn't be the way she would want to be treated by the doctor - and that's when I pointed out that telling people - my neighbors in particular - that 'better times are just ahead' without telling them of the alternative, or informing them of who will be effected or how it would happen, is not the proper way to share their faith...

Jehovah's Witnesses believe in a doctrine referred to as annihilation, which is just one of the unfortunate and heretical aspects of their faith. This doctrine basically states that the "second death" referred to several times throughout the Bible, but particularly in the Book of Revelation, is what Satan and all those who are not faithful Jehovah's Witnesses... They will simply cease to exist. Therefore, Hell is the grave described as "Sheol" in the Old Testament, and not a place of eternal punishment.

Sue and her friend assured me that they weren't interested in getting into theological arguments, but that they were only out to share the love of God with people. To which, I agreed that arguing with people would not do much good when they can see you coming in your Sunday best on a Saturday morning from all the way down the street. However, the Bible makes it clear that we should be sharing the WHOLE word of God, and not just part of it... (The BAD news as well as The Good News)

The Jehovah's Witness doctrine would have you believe, as many ignorant political and social leaders would, that mankind is the reason that the Earth is allegedly heating up... I wrote that sentence that way for the following reasons... ONE: There is no conclusive proof that the Earth, on the whole, is increasing in temperature - there is no way to measure that assertion, therefore, it is simply an opinion or a theory, not a fact... TWO: Weather patterns are cyclical, there is little rhyme or reason to them, with the exception of a handful of areas around the world. Therefore, the patterns, while seemingly predictable, are still random, and therefore, subject to change without notice... Hence, we have what many people believe to be "global warming."

One interesting fact to note here is this... Trends in temperatures have been showing an incremental rise since the beginning of the last century when there were basically a handful of cars - not millions and millions supposedly creating this worldwide calamity... I don't want to get too far down the rabbit trail, the weather topic is for a whole other post entirely... The point I wanted to make is this, that the Jehovah's Witness stance is that mankind / the world is being judged by God because of "those who are ruining the Earth." (The Watchtower - Aug. 1, 2008 - p. 7)

"This is no man-made catastrophe. Rather, it is God acting 'to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.' Revelation 11:18"

"Wicked people, whose selfish actions have brought the planet to the brink of ruin, 'will be cut off from the very earth.' But the blameless ones (faithful Jehovah's Witnesses) who serve God acceptably, 'will be left over in it.' Proverbs 2:21-22"

Did you get that??? In the first reference, they are quoting from the prophecies of the opening of the Seven Seals... Verse 18 is declaring the judgment from the midst of the Seventh Seal itself... What they've done here is taken a passage WAY out of it's originally intended context in order to try to make a claim that we humans are responsible for the state of the planet, and those who continue to abuse the earth will be "cut off." Which, in their version of judgment doesn't sound like all that big of a deal... One minute, you're littering to your heart's content, without a care in the world about your personal carbon footprint, the next minute you're dead, without any conscious understanding of what's just happened...

And in the second quotation, they are claiming a proverb as prophecy... Now, I'm ALL FOR the literal interpretation of the Bible - where it is necessary to do so... When someone, anyone, a church, a pastor, a bible-study leader suggests that we should begin to use a passage for an intention other than the one it was clearly written to be, I've just GOT to say something about it... The second chapter of Proverbs is addressing Wisdom in general, and the positive and negative effects of being wise vs. ignorant, gaining understanding vs. remaining well... ignorant... Living in righteousness vs. giving in to lawlessness... It is not a prophetic declaration against those who are not concerned with, or otherwise abuse good ol' earth...

ANYWAY... Sue's friend Cameron apologized and let me know that he didn't feel prepared enough to talk much further, and that he wanted to go and read up on his information and stop by next Saturday. I encouraged them to do so... I'll fill you in on how that goes, when it does...

A Simple Conversation

Recently, I've gotten myself into a bit of an exchange with another atheist while online...  She made a statement about Senators Obama and McCain and the politics of America - I commented with regard to the political and religious views as well as the issue of the "Separation of Church & State" (which is not part of the Bill of Rights mind you, rather a letter from President Jefferson to the Baptists in Danbury Connecticut - a fine little community, though not very Baptist anymore) But I digress...

She wrote back, and I'll let her speak for herself here...

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

benjamin, the thing about Christianity is that there are so many varieties of Christians and all varieties accusing other varieties of not being "true" or "real" Christians. The Bible is NOT a clearly written book, most of it can be interpreted in so many different ways and most Christians cherry-pick what they want to take from the Bible and what they want to leave behind. Take the book of Leviticus, for example. Thank human goodness that most Christians choose not to take that book literally. Some, do however, take certain things from the Bible to use to oppress others and discriminate. They take what they want and interpret parts to support whatever cause he or she wants to justify.

Senator Obama has professed to be a true Christian, accepting Christ as his personal savior. From what I can see he is very devout in his beliefs and since the god beliefs are so important to Republicans and evangelical voters, the Dems found a candidate that will pander to these voters, hoping enough to get him elected for the good of the party.

As for the Separation of Church and State, the Constitution is quite clear. There is no misunderstanding unless you have a religious agenda and wish to interject religion into a secular government:

"The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the establishment of a national religion by the Congress or the preference of one religion over another, or religion over non-religion. Originally, the First Amendment only applied to the federal government. Subsequently, under the incorporation doctrine, certain selected provisions were applied to states. It was not, however, until the middle and later years of the twentieth century that the Supreme Court began to interpret the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses in such a manner as to restrict the promotion of religion by state governments. For example, in the Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687 (1994), Justice David Souter, writing for the majority, concluded that "government should not prefer one religion to another, or religion to irreligion"."

Separation of Church and State must be upheld to protect the religious and non-religious alike. We are a secular nation full of diverse people with many different beliefs and many who hold no beliefs in supernatural entities. Religion belongs in the churches, mosques, synagogues, and private lives of believers.

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

So here is the part where I beg your forgiveness because I tend to get a little long in the tooth with my replies...  And believe me, I'm working on that.  I feel that I should, at this point, state for the record that what you are about to read is neither an endorsement nor an admittance of support for either of the "presumed" Presidential candidates...  I know I'm not going to vote for Senator Obama, however, whether or not I'm going to write someone in is yet, in my mind "Undecided" - anyway, here is my response...

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

Stardust:

With all due respect, your ideas regarding Christianity are skewed. No doubt you would consider the Roman Catholic Church to be a "Christian" church simply because they refer to themselves as such. When in fact, their faith is based upon doctrine that is not even found in the Bible, but rather the imaginations of 265 men who considered themselves to be the rightful successors of the Apostle Peter himself.

The "church" holds Mary the mother of Jesus in a role she was never (according to the Bible) meant to be in. Sinless, and venerated alongside of Christ Himself. Which is idolatry, and clearly condemned by the Word of God - which disqualifies the RCC from any claim to being actual, or as you put it "true" Christians.

A real or true Christian is one who is a follower of Christ and His teachings... That seems pretty clear to me, no reason to muddy up the water by throwing my own opinions on the matter... Acts Chapter 11 defines those who were Jesus' followers (His disciples) as Christians...

Now, you ARE right, the Bible can be interpreted in many different ways, however, there is only one way to interpret it in order to understand what it is try to say... Which is to read each verse, chapter and book for what it claims to be... Considering who wrote the words, who they were writing to, what was happening at the time, what the culture was like, and what was there motivation, the reason they were writing it?

Genesis was explaining how God created everything - the first chapter tells us the chronology of the events, the second chapter steps away from chronology and explains with a little more detail. He tells of how life began, where it began, and the steps He took in the actual creation of man (and woman)... Chapter 1 says that He did it, and in what order - Chapter 2 tells us how and why...

To borrow one of your phrases with a little editing... "there is no misunderstanding unless you have a man-centered or evolutionary agenda and wish to interject billions of years into a 6-day story..."

Now, with regard to "cherry-picking" a term my mother used a couple of years ago that's just never quite sat right with me, however, after talking with dozens of atheists over the past couple of years, I've grown very familiar with it... I would not, and no Bible-believing Christian I know would suggest that you cherry-pick your way through God's Word... Because every word of Scripture is inspired by God and is therefore useful for teaching us what is true, and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. Every word, verse, chapter and book is important for understanding God's Will because every word is good for instruction in righteousness... (2 Timothy 3:16)

Some Christians believe that Jesus' words (the Red Letters) are more important than the other passages of the Bible, however, when we consider that Jesus IS God, and that God inspired every word therein, one passage is therefore not more important than any other...

When it comes to taking Leviticus literally, I would suggest that you only do that if you are a member of the nation of Israel in that time period that those laws were given... Once again, we need to consider who was writing the words, when the words were being written, what was happening in the culture and why...

I'm trying to assume that you are familiar with the Bible because most professed atheists I've spoken to are quite versed in scripture, it's just that most of them have cherry-picked the parts of the Bible they'd rather not agree with, and have decided that God could not exist if those particular verses hold any truth. Therefore, I'm not going to get into the finer points of Hermeneutical study with you because I'm sure you're familiar with the term, even if you don't understand how to use the skills of interpretation.

When it comes to the reason why Christians would ignore the ceremonial and levitical laws, and continue to embrace the Mosaic and Moral Law is found in the concept of Progressive Revelation... The Old Testament Laws were put into place to help govern the people of Israel, so that they would have a guide as to how to judge the different activities and offenses that would occur in the lives of the nation. They also gave instruction for the atonement of the sins that were being committed... The covering of the sins, not the forgiveness... There was a difference.

Then, just as the prophets said He would in more than 40 different instances throughout the Old Testament, and later confirmed by the New Testament writers, Jesus became the atonement, the very sacrifice that was necessary for the nation of Israel (God's people) to be forgiven (have their sins cleansed - not just covered). Jesus said that He did not come to do away with the Law, but to fulfill it... He was speaking of Moses' Laws (the Moral Law - the Ten Commandments) How do we know? Because He spelled it out for us in Matthew Chapter 19:16-22 / Mark Chapter 10:17-22 & Luke Chapter 18:18-23...

Now, I noticed that you consider God / The Bible to be mythology, yet you believe the scientific opinions regarding the earth's origins, man's origins, and presumably the origins of the universe written by people who could not have possibly observed any of the events in question, and refer to it all as facts... I'm not trying to insult your intelligence here, so please don't insult mine...

You assert the idea that some people take things from the Bible in order to oppress others and discriminate - and again, you would prefer to believe that these people are actual Christians simply because they claim to be so... While at the same time you would not believe for one second that anyone who was beating a cow with a cattle-prod was a member of PETA, even if they showed you a card... Or perhaps, an illustration that hits a little closer to home... You would not allow a person who seriously professed to believe in some sort of higher power to refer to themselves as an atheist - because that belief would disqualify the person from the truest definition of the term atheist...

And such is the case with Christianity... Jesus never taught His followers to oppress or discriminate. Therefore, anyone who comes in His name, in order to oppress or discriminate is not, once again as you put it a "real" or "true" Christian. If what they are choosing to use to justify their actions does not line up with the rest of the Bible - then it is heresy, and the person should be considered a heretic - and there are plenty of them out there... The Apostles ran into them in their day, and you know yourself that there are no shortage of them running around with their own Sunday morning, Divine Healing, send us your love offering, charlatan programs today...

You said it yourself regarding Senator Obama, he is a panderer... By his own testimony, he is not a follower of the Christ of the Bible... He is a follower of the jesus of his imagination, which makes him an idolator, which means that he might as well be catholic... I don't hate the man, I simply know a wolf when I see one, no matter what political party supplied the sheep's clothing... I do not like John McCain's "Christian" testimony either, however, he is at least standing for ideals that are more Christ-like than Obama's. To be in favor of abortion, and gay marriage goes against Biblical teaching - and that's all there is to it...

Now, I'm not suggesting that we shoot all the abortion doctors and put all of the would-be mothers in prison for murder, however, I am saying that killing ANYONE who has not yet had a chance to live for the sake of convenience or guilt, etc. is not right... Senator Obama supports a woman's right to kill her unborn baby, Senator McCain opposes it. Their religious beliefs don't really have to have anything to do with it... But at least Obama claims that his do... And his beliefs contradict those of the Bible...

Neither am I saying that "God hates fags" as other self-professed "Christians" have chosen to do... I do not think that homosexuals are any worse than heterosexuals or any other human being for that matter... I myself was guilty of a boat-load of sexual sins before God showed me mercy and saved me - and I believe that ANYONE living in the midst of sin can be redeemed without discrimination - simply by hearing the Word of God preached rightly, and responding in kind. (Romans 10:14)

Senator Obama believes that whoever wants to get married should be allowed to get married, no matter who they are. Senator McCain has stated that he believes that marriage is the union of one man and one woman... Without invoking the name of any deity, that sounds pretty cut and dried to me... Outside of all of the statistics of disease and psychological problems incurred by the children of "same sex unions" or marriages - the sexual relations between two men, or two women are contrary to that of the Bible that Senator Obama says we should all be reading...

He specifically quotes that we should all remember that Jesus said "whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me (Christ)" And ignores the rest of the Bible... Your accusation of cherry-picking falls squarely upon the shoulders of one you consider to be "very devout."

The only "true" or "real" Christian votes he might get are those who have either not read their Bible, or did not understand what they were reading when they did... Because anyone who would vote for a candidate who believes in the murder of the unborn, or is in support of the literal dismantling of the traditional family is not a follower of the Jesus of the Bible...

And finally, I've gotten around to the "Separation of Church and State" issue... I am sincerely going to attempt to make this short this time...

I never suggested, nor do I believe that there should be any establishment of a national religion... I'll be honest when I say that I did appreciate the House of Representatives did to recognize Christianity (H.R. 847 I think it was) But I digress - I'm not going to dispute the idea that the original intent has been redefined over the past 200+ years. One only has to travel to Washington D.C. or Philadelphia in order to witness how history is being revised to cut God out of American culture everyday...

I thank God and our founding fathers for the foresight they had in writing journals and establishing a Library of Congress where original history could be preserved for anyone who is interested in knowing the truth, and is willing to look for it, rather than just take another person's word for it.

While I will agree that this nation is not the "Christian" nation many would like to believe it is, it was certainly not founded based upon "secular" ideals... The original Mayflower Compact will tell you that much.

I feel it necessary to correct your statement that there are "many who hold no beliefs in supernatural entities" when in fact, there are only "some" perhaps even more accurate to use the word "few" as the percentage at last glance was hovering somewhere around 5% of the American population depending on whose numbers you go by... And 15 million is not a very big number in evolutionary terms.

I'm not trying to say that numbers should be a determining factor in how our country is run, I was just having some fun with numbers - at your expense yes, but fun nonetheless.

Here's one that'll kick you in the pants - I would suggest to you that the percentage of "true" or "real" Christians in America is only slightly higher than the number of atheists... No matter what the polls show... Bring me 100 professing Christians and a Holy Bible, and I'll bet you that right around 10 of them, maybe one or two less would respond rightly to the criteria of a true Believer as laid out in the Word of God...

What's unfortunate to me is that atheists are the fastest growing (non?)faith in America... While Christianity is the fastest growing in China and Africa... And we won't even talk about the decline in America - but we're working on it... We just need to be reminded of the fact that our faith, not our religion, needs to be lived out and preached in the streets, not just hidden in our hearts...

BTW, search the Bible for the phrase "accept Jesus as your personal Savior" it's not there. If he was a "true" Christian, why would he refer to the time when he realized his sins before a Holy God, and dropped to his knees in repentance toward God, and put his faith in Jesus Christ alone for his salvation?" I mean, I realize that it's a little wordy, but at least that explanation is found in Scripture...

Todd Bentley - NOT ONE CONFIRMED MIRACLE

Re-Posted From the BlogSite A Little Leaven

There are a bunch of folks sending us inflammatory emails and leaving comments taking the Museum of Idolatry to task because they want Todd Bentley's "Florida Outpouring" to be real (but it isn't). We've provided the Biblical proof that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bentley fails the Biblical tests for a prophet and now the SECULAR media has confirmed that Bentley's 'healing show' is not legit and there is not one confirmed healing, NOT ONE CONFIRMED MIRACLE.

Wake up church! Bentley is a false prophet and a charlatan.

Colossians 2:18 & 2 Peter 2:1

Time for my two cents...

Recently, I was reading through another blog out here in cyberspace, and tripped across a conversation about Oprah. Her influence on the world, her claims about faith and Jesus in particular.

I threw my thoughts into the discussion, and thought I would share them with all 3 of you who actually read this blog...

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

scottie said...
Obviously none of you have read the book. If you had, you would realize that your comments are from your ego (read "the flesh") and you are not present and living in the now. It can be a beautiful thing and it's exactly what Jesus asked of us. Perhaps you should read before you assume it's "crap" - I assure you, you will be truly enlightened and the resonance of Jesus is throughout.

Benjamin - The Sower said...
scottie:

While I would not use the word "crap" to describe the book in question, I would go as far as to say that the book is no more useful than The Secret which Oprah also lent her name to in order to bolster the gross sale success...

The bottom line is this, she is saying that this book holds the answers to all the questions the Bible fails to answer... And the Bible makes the exact opposite claim when it says of itself that it is sufficient for everything we might need in order to do every good work...

I am, of course, paraphrasing, however, you can see for yourself, in 2 Timothy, Chapter 3.  My reference is at the end of the chapter, but the part of the Bible that refers to Oprah is the first half of that same chapter...

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Oprah, in fact, I pity her... She misunderstood a very simple passage of the Bible at a relatively young age, and has allowed that misunderstanding to corrupt the rest of her life it seems. I pray for her salvation, as I do for anyone who thinks that they themselves are divine and basically good without the need of forgiveness... Anyone who thinks that there is more than one way to get into heaven - needs a lot of prayer...

-Benjamin

(post script - As long as her message runs contrary to clear Biblical Teaching and Doctrine, those who follow her, should be warned using the Word of God, not another NYT Best Seller...)