Category: Identifying and Countering Deception

Today’s Most Pressing Question: Who Is Lucy and Who Is Charlie Brown?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only simpletons believe everything they’re told! The prudent carefully consider their steps. 16  The wise are cautious and avoid danger; fools plunge ahead with reckless confidence. Proverbs 14:15-16 (NLT)

Anyone familiar with the Peanuts cartoon strip knows about how Lucy routinely tricks Charlie Brown by removing the football just as he tries to kick it. She never changes, and he never ceases to trust her. Today we see much the same thing being played out in our nation. The mainstream media continues to lie, and the general public still believes their propaganda. There is now so much conflicting “information” that it is getting more and more difficult to distinguish between who is telling the truth and who is lying. Another way to put this is that we are no longer always sure of who is Lucy and who is Charlie Brown.

The MSM loudly and constantly declared that Trump colluded with the Russians for four or five years in an effort to prevent his reelection. Though proven wrong, the MSM never apologized or backed off, and, despite their proven lack of truthfulness, much of the public continues to believe their message. Now we are being told by the same proven liars that the last election was not stolen, that COVID lock downs and mask mandates are necessary and effective, and that the experimental “vaccine” is safe. Lucy is assuring us that this time she is not going to pull the ball away. Trust her, Charlie Brown.

Intelligent people whom I respect have been unwilling to heed the warnings of numerous doctors (e.g. https://youtu.be/8iaKAWWGyWI) and other health experts against taking this “vaccine,” declaring that such warnings are rubbish, junk science, and conspiracy theories. Many have taken the vaccine, despite its not having passed the normal kinds of safety testing, ostensibly because they are desperately afraid of a virus with a 99.7% survival rate that is curable by using hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. If those who are doing the warning are correct, those who take the vaccine are gambling their future health that Lucy is telling the truth this time.

The most pressing question of our day is who is Lucy, and who is Charlie Brown? Who is telling the truth, and who is a conspiracy theorist or liar?

We are living in a time of unprecedented deception largely because we have become so clever at manipulating information. Germany under Hitler suffered from what is taking place in the US and around the world. It took a World War to deliver them. Perhaps God will be more gracious and merciful to us. Eventually the truth, at least in part, will be known. Until then, pray for the wisdom and courage to pursue truth, even when it is disparaged, persecuted, unpopular, and very inconvenient.

Share this post...

Are We Open to the Holy Spirit Showing Us the Truth?

One of the most basic problems with humanity is our propensity to believe lies.

This was first manifest in the Garden of Eden when Eve readily fell for the serpent’s lies that God is untrustworthy, sin will go unpunished, and disobedience will not produce death. (Genesis 3:4-6) After this calamitous event, Satan gained an advantage over us. Our minds, which were already capable of quickly being deceived, became darkened through sin, making it even easier for us to be deceived. 

So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18  being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; Ephesians 4:17-18 (NASB)

This horrible condition is the result of sin’s effect upon the heart.

A hardened heart is incapable of perceiving truth and engaging in faith without the help of the Holy Spirit.

At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 26  "Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 27  "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Matthew 11:25-27 (NASB)

Jesus made it perfectly clear that it is impossible to know who he is without the revelation that comes from the Spirit of God.

One of the earmarks of hardness of heart is a refusal to acknowledge our helplessness to know God without the Spirit’s help.

It is downright humbling and unnerving to grasp that we are unable to save ourselves. We do not like being dependent on someone we cannot control. In addition, we fear that God may not be willing to help us. We may come to him asking him to reveal Christ to us, but he may refuse. This is another lie from the Father of Lies in whom dwells no truth at all. Jesus told us plainly that all who come to him will find him. Period.

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. John 6:37 (ESV)

Let us use some logic. If a person comes to Christ and asks him to reveal himself to him or her, that means, according the verse above, that the Father gave that person to Christ. Are you tracking with me? If not, reread the verse.

Therefore, if we ask God to reveal Christ to us, he will do it. Jesus will never cast away any honest seeker.

The following verse confirms this marvelous truth.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8  "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 (NASB)

As Jesus walked this earth during the years of his public ministry, he engaged in a process of discipling his followers to know him. He taught them the true meaning of God’s Word, demonstrated God’s character, and showed them how to operate in the power of God’s Spirit through healings, miracles, and deliverance from demonic oppression. All the while, he depended and waited upon the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to his disciples.

At times he expressed amazement at their inability to grasp God’s truth with hearts filled with faith.

When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24  And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. 25  And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing!" 26  He *said to them, "Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 27  The men were amazed, and said, "What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" Matthew 8:23-27 (NASB)

At other times, he praised them for being open to the Spirit.

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17  And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:16-17 (NASB)

Our initial coming to Christ and acknowledgment of his lordship requires the work of God’s Spirit in our lives.

Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3 (NASB)

Every successive unfolding of truth also requires the Holy Spirit’s work.

The Spirit’s interpretation of the Scriptures is often at odds with ours, and we will find ourselves resisting God and his truth, unless we bow the knee to the Spirit.

Early on in church history, those Jewish followers of Christ who refused to bow to the Spirit found themselves opposing the fundamental truth of justification by faith. In Christ, those who believe no longer must fulfill the outward Old Covenant rite of circumcision to be counted among the righteous. Faith alone in Christ’s finished work is all that is required now because Christ fulfilled the Law on our behalf. When we put our faith and allegiance in him, the righteousness associated with his perfect obedience unto death is transferred to us. There is nothing undone. We are complete in Christ.

For Peter to begin to grasp this truth required the Holy Spirit to repeat a vision three times, which meaning he did not immediately grasp. It was only when Cornelius’ servants arrived requesting his presence in their Gentile home that Peter’s understanding began to be opened. The revelation was complete when he watched Jesus baptize Cornelius and his family in the Spirit, proving they were indeed God’s children and justified in his sight without ever being circumcised. Some people, whom history calls the Judaizers, never understood justification  by faith because their hearts were hardened against the Spirit of truth.

Stephen, the first martyr, laid this judgment on his murderers just before they stoned him.

You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Acts 7:51 (NASB)

In the Last Days in which we live, we need the Holy Spirit and his gifts more than ever. If we do not learn to appreciate and listen to his voice, we are going to miss out on so much. The first coming of Christ was so fundamentally different from what the Bible scholars of that day expected that they found themselves opposing and ultimately murdering the promised Messiah.

Is it not reasonable to assume that Christ’s Second Coming and everything that will immediately precede it may be contrary the expectations of today’s Bible scholars?

God never ceases to amaze and surprise, and I feel confident that he will continue to do so right up to the end.

Do not be among those who think we have their doctrine and theology so finely tuned that we are incapable of being corrected. That would put us in the camp of the Pharisees. There is nothing much that is more dangerous than a smug student of the Bible who is closed to receiving new insight from the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is able to open our eyes to wondrous things in God’s Word that far exceed our narrow expectations and interpretations. Be assured that he will never contradict God’s truth, but he will unfold its depths and breadth causing us to worship our Lord all the more!

Prayer

Lord God, I acknowledge my ongoing dependence upon you for revelation, understanding, and the ability to believe and obey. I welcome you into my life afresh. Open my heart, eyes, and ears to see, hear, understand, and obey all that you have for me. I do not want to miss out on anything you are doing in these last days because my heart was hard. Allow me to walk with you without hindrance. Amen.

But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. 1 John 2:27 (NLT)

Share this post...

Spiritual Authority in Times of Crisis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Times of crisis reveal who people truly are and what they believe and value.

Crises are God-given times for the promotion of those who have faith in Christ and revelation from the Spirit and the exposure of those who operate by human reasoning alone or from previously disguised corrupt motives. The American Revolution had such an effect upon the people of who lived in the colonies, and we are in such a crisis. It is estimated that only 3% of the American populace actually fought to win our liberties. More broadly, those who identified themselves as Patriots were likely 40-55% of the population. Loyalists comprised another 15-25%; while 30-45% remained uncommitted. In my own family, my 5th great grandfather, Jeffrey Beck Jr., fought with patriot militia in NC, but my 6th GGF, his Dad, Jeffrey Beck Sr., remained a loyalist, who supported the Crown by allowing Tory military leader David Fanning to use his ford over Deep River. We cannot know people’s hearts or motives. Perhaps he had no choice in the matter. To his credit, my 6th GGF fought with the Regulators at the Battle of Alamance in 1771 against government corruption; so, he was not a coward. He took an oath of allegiance to King George in the aftermath of that failed cause and remained loyal to his oath for the rest of his life. He raised his minor children, who were still living in the home during the Revolution, to be loyalists, which caused further family discord over the years. My point is that the American Revolution was a type of civil war that pitted neighbors and family members against one another, depending on where they came down on the issues according to their convictions. Everyone had to choose where they stood on the matter, and it was costly, sometimes fatal. When the war ended, patriots were rewarded with undying appreciation and honor for their willingness to put everything on the line for the fledgling nation. Loyalists suffered the consequences of their choice, too, and the uncommitted were likely held in some measure of contempt by those who risked everything in the courage of their convictions. The uncommitted hedged their bets, hoping to come out well, no matter which side won.

Jesus had something to say about such an uncommitted position.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 25  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. Matthew 16:24-25 (NLT)

Peter Block, in his book The Answer to How Is Yes, makes the point that we should not do things based on being able to figure out ahead of time if we are able to accomplish them. Rather, we should do the right thing, no matter what the cost, trusting that God will show us how to proceed once we start.

Faith launches out in seemingly impossible circumstances because it is the right thing to do, regardless of the potential pitfalls or dangers.

Those who fought as patriots took on impossible odds because they believed it was the right thing to do. Those who remained loyal to Britain probably also believed it was the right thing to do, and those who were the odds makers back then would have bet on Britain being the victor. Those who refused to commit to either side either had conscientious objections, did not understand what was at stake, or were simply afraid to pay the cost of making a stand.

The current election crisis is producing just such a scenario. We are in the midst of an attempted takeover of our nation by communist / globalist forces, and it is time for patriots to take a stand. Many are already standing with our president against seemingly insurmountable odds. Sadly others are avowed supporters of the coup attempt, either as knowledgeable Leftists or what the Communists call “useful idiots,” who have no idea what they are doing. A far greater number of people are either apathetic, confused, misinformed, or afraid to make a stand. Once this crisis has been resolved, there will be a reckoning and a reward, depending on who wins. God is revealing hearts in politics, families, and the church. Nothing will be the same after this is over.

I have friends who justify having a neutral attitude toward this conflict by proposing that it is more important to focus on the Lordship of Christ and the priority of the gospel. They seem to be overly concerned that any involvement in politics is putting a false hope in a human being, instead of trusting in God. This translates into refusing to publicly support Donald Trump and passively accepting whatever happens in the election, even if it is a fraudulent steal.

In my opinion, this is may be a misguided form of Pietism, which thinks that politics is dirty and anti-God and should be avoided. By holding this position, it reveals that they have accepted the Left’s doctrine of the separation of church and state and have become irrelevant in practical matters. Another less likely possibility is that this is nothing but well-articulated cowardice. If I knew an evil man had determined to kidnap, rape, and enslave my wife, you would think me a coward if I did not defend her with my life. If I told you that I was not going to get involved because I wanted to make sure that I kept my eyes on Jesus, rather than place my hopes on keeping my wife, you would rightly lose respect for me. Although this is an imperfect analogy, in a similar way forces are at work in our nation right now that are making a determined attempt to capture America and transform her into a socialist / globalist hell hole, stripping her citizens of their God-given rights and freedoms and destroying what our forefathers fought to create and preserve.

Those who maintain neutrality in such a time as this either do not understand what is happening, do not care, are too proud to admit they were wrong, or are afraid to make a stand. That is harsh, but I think it is accurate.

When Paul traveled to Rome in Acts 27 to appear before Caesar, the Roman Centurion who was in charge of the expedition made a poor choice to set sail too late in the year, even though Paul warned him that it would lead to disaster. Paul had no authority to make decisions. He was a prisoner who could only appeal to the person who did. His appeal was denied. Interestingly, the only person who had heard God speak regarding the matter was Paul. Everyone else was operating merely by their human reasoning, not knowing that a crisis in the form of a storm would soon expose their poverty of understanding. When the storm enveloped the ship which carried over 200 people, the Bible says that over time everyone abandoned hope of surviving, everyone, that is, except Paul. Here is what Acts records.

No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. 22  But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. 23  For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, 24  and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ 25  So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said. 26  But we will be shipwrecked on an island.” Acts 27:21-26 (NLT)

God told Paul what would happen, which gave him insight and authority to know what to do in the crisis. In their hopelessness, confusion, and fear, the Centurion, crew, and passengers put their hope in Paul’s words and the revelation God had given him.

In times of crisis, those who hear God and operate in wisdom and faith are elevated into leadership.

Because the Centurion had the wisdom and humility to listen to Paul, everyone on the ship was saved. The crisis elevated Paul to a position of authority because in that moment his faith and ability to hear God provided everyone with hope and direction. He alone had something worthwhile to say. It is no different today.

Lots of people are saying lots of things about our current election crisis. Most of it is mindless blather and worthless to those who need to know what God says and wants us to do. We should be listening to those who have heard God and have faith. They are the only ones who have spiritual authority and something to say.

When King Jehoshaphat led the army of Israel into battle against seemingly insurmountable odds, here is what he told to them.

...“Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.” 2 Chronicles 20:20 (NLT)

We are in just such a time now. It is vital for us to believe the prophets, and the ones that I trust are saying that we should keep believing that God will pull this out for President Trump because much bigger things are at stake here than who is our next president. It is not a Republican – Democrat thing. It is a kingdom of God matter. Our Constitutional form or government may not survive under a Democratic presidency. Our freedoms may become a thing of the past. America’s call and destiny to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations could be thwarted. I believe that God still has plans for our nation, despite our many sins. If we will turn to him in repentance and faith, he will forgive us, save us, and give us a glorious restart as a nation. If we lose this battle, we will enter a very dark time.

Jesus said:

And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Luke 24:25 (NASB)

I issue a call to the Body of Christ today: step out of the gray shadow land of neutrality. Be either “hot” or “cold,” not “lukewarm.” If God has not spoken to your heart about the election, listen to those who have heard God. God is raising up prophetic leaders to help us through this crisis. Let us not miss this opportunity to be more than “sunshine” patriots. Let us be those who risk it all because it is the right thing to do. May God help us and grant us mercy.

Share this post...

Abortion: Let’s Stop Empowering Lucifer

 

 

 

 

 

Our founding fathers believed that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed. Great Britain disregarded its own laws in its attempt to force the colonies to pay harsh taxes in order to rebuild its treasury following what is known as the French and Indian War, whereby Great Britain expanded its power in North America and worldwide. The colonies believed they were being denied the rights of ordinary Englishmen because they had no representation in Parliament and no voice in what taxes they had to pay. Great Britain resorted to what had always worked before, demanding obedience to the authority of the Crown. When the colonies refused, things gradually escalated into war, one that launched a nation and a great experiment in representative government. The US Constitution set up a republic in which people could vote into office those who would represent them in the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government. From a biblical perspective, did God mean for government to derive its just powers from the consent of the governed, or is that a purely humanistic concept?

We can start with a well-known passage from Romans.

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. 2  So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. 3  For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. 4  The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. 5  So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience. Romans 13:1-5 (NLT)

On the surface, it appears that government is not derived from the consent of the governed but from God. This has always been my position and that of many Christians. We clearly see from the above passage an important first principle. All authority originates and emanates from God. The reason is simple. He is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, who by virtue of being those two things has all authority. We have ownership over what we create, especially if the continued existence of that created thing depends on our continually upholding it through our choice and power.

Any governmental authority that exists among created beings is derived from the Creator, since none existed before he created us nor does any exist outside of what he created.

The Creator delegated great responsibility and commensurate authority over his creation to his first humans, Adam and Eve.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV) 

The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. Genesis 2:15 (NLT)

Adam was made the governor of the earth to care for it and guard it. This is the purpose of government from the beginning, which Paul reiterates in the passage quoted from Romans above.

When government properly represents God, it will care for and protect its people against all who would bring harm. Anything that deviates from this purpose might be considered illegitimate. Certainly any government that violates its own laws must be so.

Our founding fathers certainly believed this about the government of Great Britain, when it failed to uphold its own laws or protect the rights of its people.

Satan, who is a created being, has no inherent authority, only that which has been usurped from others.

Passivity or foolishness on the part of the one having authority can allow others to manipulate, usurp, or otherwise use that authority for their own evil purposes.

We see this clearly in the case when Queen Jezebel used King Ahab’s authority to orchestrate the murder of Naboth and the theft of his vineyard. (1 Kings 21) We also see this in Genesis when Satan conspired to steal Adam’s authority by inciting him to rebel against the Creator. By deceiving him and Eve into disobedience against God, the first couple chose allegiance to Satan over God, ceding their authority to the devil.

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? Romans 6:16 (ESV)

He has used that authority over us malevolently.

It is vital that we understand that this transfer of authority came with the consent of the governed. In other words, due to their naivety and lack of fidelity, Adam and Eve chose to serve Satan and relinquish authority to him by becoming his slave.

Satan uses authority in a completely different way from God. Whereas the Creator imparts life and blessings, the devil only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10)

God operates through truth, but the devil must always resort to lies, since no one would ever choose to serve him otherwise. God wants his people to consent to come and remain under his governance by telling us the truth and offering life. Unfortunately humans seem to be wired to naturally believe a lie and resist the truth. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit overcomes this in those who God has chosen to be his own. (John 6:44)

Satan lies to manipulate people to gain their consent to be governed malevolently by him. No one would agree to be robbed, murdered, and generally destroyed; yet, through skillful deception, Satan actually gets people to choose those things.

The devil promises to be our benefactor and friend, while actually destroying his subjects. He must laugh at us continually.

Lying or, to use the modern term, misinformation, is the key to Satan’s ongoing scheme.

Jesus told his disciples that knowing and practicing truth will set us free. (John 8:31-32) Satan uses bold lies to deny and hide truth. The bolder the lie the better, it seems.

God told Adam and Eve in the garden that if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would die. The serpent categorically denied God’s truth, telling Eve that she would not die, but instead be like God. Eve fell for the lie hook, line, and sinker. The rest is a sad history of mankind’s lack of ability to discern or resist Satan’s continuing deceptions, even when we know that they always lead to death and destruction. Fool me once…

Let us now skip forward to our own time to see how this continues to work. If Satan only derives his authority and power from the consent of those he deceives into following him, then he must continually convince us to chose him over God, lies over truth, and death over life. A case in point is the abortion issue. Now that the Supreme Court is apparently on the verge of nullifying the unconstitutional Roe v. Wade ruling from 1973, the Left, which is largely an arm of the devil, is ramping up their resistance. Why is there such vehement insistence that women be granted the right to kill their unborn babies? Is it merely a staunch defense of women’s rights or something more?

Child sacrifice has long been enshrined in the worship of Chemosh and Molech in the Old Testament. We know from Scripture that idols represent demonic beings that empower them. Paul wrote this enlightening passage.

What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? 20  No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. 21  You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. 1 Corinthians 10:19-21 (NLT)

All demons serve Satan, including those connected to Chemosh and Molech. These pagan deities demanded the blood of infants. People willingly sacrificed their children in order to gain some sort of occult spiritual advantage from them. There is one particularly intriguing passage at which we should look.

When the king of Moab saw that he was losing the battle, he led 700 of his swordsmen in a desperate attempt to break through the enemy lines near the king of Edom, but they failed. 27  Then the king of Moab took his oldest son, who would have been the next king, and sacrificed him as a burnt offering on the wall. So there was great anger against Israel, and the Israelites withdrew and returned to their own land. 2 Kings 3:26-27 (NLT)

In this instance, evil power was released against Israel when the king of Moab sacrificed his son to the devil. This man willingly killed his son to enlist Satan’s power to defeat God’s people, which was granted. This was an extreme case which we may consider barbaric, but was it any less gruesome and horrific than modern day mothers choosing to execute over 60 million of their own unborn babies in the United States alone since 1973? The king of Moab wanted victory over his enemies. What do modern Americans want? Most of the time mothers kill their unborn babies to avoid embarrassment, inconvenience, career interruptions, or economic hardship. Some have more humanitarian reasons, such as protecting their own health in the case of extremely hazardous pregnancies. Most of these women probably have been deceived, as was Eve, into thinking that these babies are not really human beings at all, just blobs of tissue. They do not understand God says he knew them before the creation of the world and personally formed them in the womb. Those unborn infants may be just tissue to these mothers, but to God they are beloved children. Some have said they rejoice in their abortions, many others rue having aborted their child or children. Thankfully, God offers forgiveness, if we turn to him with a repentant heart.

Let us remember that, even though sometimes we must fight in physical wars, our ultimate battle is a spiritual one. (Ephesians 6:12) We are engaged in a spiritual battle between the kingdom of God and the realm of darkness and evil ruled by Satan. We understand that even though Christ dealt a death blow to Satan and his kingdom when he rose from the dead, God in his wisdom has permitted us, his people, to be part of the “clean up operation” here on planet earth. It is our Lord’s intention that his people have the privilege of crushing Satan under our feet. (Romans 16:20)

This verse references the promise made to the serpent in the garden way back in Genesis that one of Eve’s descendants would crush the serpent’s head. (Genesis 3:15) Many consider this to be the very first messianic promise in the Bible. Jesus fulfilled this already, but we his people will be part of the final act in this great cosmic drama unfolding over the centuries.

All will be over when Jesus appears in the clouds with great glory, just as he promised. Until then, we are living through an intense contest between two opposing kingdoms for the hearts of people. Each kingdom is enlisting the consent of people to be governed by their respective kings.

Each kingdom has a different leader, goals, sources of power, and ways of doing business.

Our Lord Jesus the Messiah is the captain of God’s forces in heaven and on earth. Satan commands his evil minions. God’s goal is to redeem and restore his fallen creation. Jesus is the Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Judge. Satan’s goal is to usurp God’s place, dishonor him, and destroy as many people as possible. He is a liar, murderer, thief, and destroyer. The source of power in God’s kingdom is the Holy Spirit. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, but the Holy Spirit carries out and enforces his commands. God’s authority and power is expanded, so to speak, as more and more people acknowledge Jesus as Lord and come into agreement with his purposes and plans. Under the Spirit are legions of angels ready to do God’s will.

The source of malevolent power behind Satan is derived from what he stole from humans.

The devil only has power when humans have given it to him and continue to do so.

Satan is an enslaver. Everything he does has that as part of his plan. Despite how obvious is Satan’s hatred for mankind, we seem to be rather stupid in that we repeatedly fall for the same lies. In fact, many think of him as a benefactor. People under his thumb choose to serve and honor him, ensuring that the stolen authority he has remains intact. This is part of what is behind idol worship and the cult of Lucifer or Satan worship.

Cultures where the gospel does not have the ascendancy often have certain rites in place to appease the demon “gods” and keep them on “our side.” Some villages in Africa and Asia annually make sacrifices to these demonic beings, thereby memorializing the ceding of God-given human authority to the devil.

When people accept Christ as Lord, Satan’s power over them is over.

When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!” 18  “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19  Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20  But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.” Luke 10:17-20 (NLT)

Those of us who have have put our faith and allegiance in Jesus the risen Lord and King have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God. (Colossians 1:13)

When Jesus rose from the dead, he triumphed over Satan and his evil authority and power; however, just as God left enemies in the Promised Land for Israel to overcome in battle by faith, our Lord did not immediately remove Satan and his demons from the earth. Multitudes of human beings still willingly serve the devil.

God’s kingdom also operates through people’s willingness to declare allegiance to the true King, Jesus the Messiah. The gospel is a proclamation that God will forgive the rebelliousness of his people and restore them to his glorious kingdom, if they will accept his offer to be reconciled to him through Christ.

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11  He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:9-13 (NASB)

The acknowledgement that Jesus is Lord, therefore, is the keystone of the gospel and the undoing of our alliance with Satan.

As more and more people consent to be governed by the Lord Jesus, Satan’s power and authority on earth is further weakened. Therefore, the proclamation of the gospel is our greatest spiritual weapon.

The door is still open for people to change sides and come back to God.

The enemy uses people to infiltrate and use the power and authority connected with human governments to further his kingdom’s objectives. There is a push across the globe to move us into a one world government that will be tyrannical, enslaving, and anti-God.

God’s government always produces freedom. Satan’s always enslaves.

The only way for Satan’s plan to work is for masses of compliant people to willingly surrender to it. Of course, this requires a massive amount of deception, since no one in his or her right mind would choose to follow the lord of death.

Just as some cultures repeatedly offer animal sacrifices to demonstrate their allegiance to the devil, we also have such a blood sacrifice in our country.

I believe that the power source used by the demonic realm has been child sacrifice through legalized abortion.

The Supreme Court’s decision to nullify Roe v. Wade is an answer to prayer and a direct threat to Satan’s power grid, so to speak. We should expect all hell to break lose as Satan’s minions try to stop this from happening.

How odd it seems to watch the Left violently protest for the right to kill babies. You would think this would be sufficient to “wake up” vast numbers of people to the horrors of child sacrifice. But just as Eve looked upon the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and thought it was beautiful, delicious, and able to make her wise, modern “man” looks at abortion as a “right” and an avenue to greater freedom and fulfillment, not for a moment understanding Satan’s horrific plan.

The tragedy of mothers choosing to destroy their own unborn children has to be one of Satan’s greatest deceptions and triumphs.

Our nation has been given a golden opportunity to rid ourselves of one of our most egregious affronts to God, the shedding of innocent blood. This great sin of the state sanctioned murder of infants keeps the threat of God’s judgment hanging over the nation like a sword of Damocles. Since Roe v. Wade was passed, which used the courts to bypass the legislative process and opened the door to legalized murder in this country, some sixty million unborn babies have been put to death. Most of this slaughter has been hidden from public view within the confines of abortion clinics and hospitals, but God has seen every last drop of innocent blood that has been shed. This blood cries out to God for vengeance. Thank God that Jesus’ blood cries out for mercy!

The Bible teaches that life is in the blood (Genesis 9:5). God holds people, cities, and nations accountable for the shedding of innocent blood (Numbers 35:33). The guilt for all the innocent blood shed by the abortion industry is shared by those who promote it to gain spiritual power, the politicians who champion it to gain and maintain political power, the providers – doctors, clinics, hospitals, and other medical personnel, who have tapped into the wealth this industry supplies, and those who procure their services for whatever selfish reasons. Our entire nation will be held accountable for what we allowed to happen under our watch. When judgment falls, even those who were not directly involved usually are affected. Sometimes the Lord’s judgment falls immediately, but often God delays judgment, allowing it to accumulate (Matthew 23:35-36). But we can be sure that God will not be mocked: we will ultimately reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7).

Thankfully there is hope for those who come to realize the horrendous nature of abortion and ask God for forgiveness.

The Bible says that without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22). This is why Jesus had to shed his blood on the cross on our behalf. It was the only way to atone for our sins.  He offers to forgive anyone who comes to him in humility and faith, but unless a person or nation turns to God in repentance and finds forgiveness in Christ’s atoning sacrifice, he, she, or they eventually will encounter God’s wrath. I am understandably troubled, as I hope you are, when I contemplate how much wrath has been accumulating due to the travesty of abortion which has piled up such an enormous death count over almost fifty years.

If I am correct, the overturning of Roe v. Wade is an existential threat to the Left, because it will likely cause them to lose their “sacrament” of abortion and their source of evil power. If I am wrong about abortion being the Left’s link to evil power, I am not in error concerning its being part of a demonic plot to bring down God’s righteous judgment for the shedding of innocent blood upon our nation.

May God lift this horrendous weight of judgment from us as we repent and mend our ways at a national level. May God protect us from the violence and ugliness that the Left is sure to unleash upon the nation as we attempt to unplug them from their evil source of power and remove ourselves from God’s looming judgment. We cannot afford to be passive onlookers in this battle between light and darkness. The least we can do is pray and declare the truth to others.

Share this post...

Countering Deception by Answering Life’s Crucial Questions: What Will Happen After We Die?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have now come to the last of our five worldview questions, which is: What will happen to us after we die? What is our eternal destiny, and what difference does it make? What we believe about our eternal destiny derives from what we believe regarding the previous four worldview questions.

Unless we are hypocrites, how we answer this final question will highly influence how we live.

Bad News

God created us in his image so that we can relate to him as worshipers who draw life and wisdom from him and fulfill his purposes for us here on earth, which are to be fruitful and multiply and to take dominion over and care for creation. God provided all we need to live happy, productive, and fruitful lives in fellowship with and dependence upon him. But that did not satisfy the first humans. They were deceived and lured into choosing to be independent from God, which sadly introduced sin, sickness, bondage, death, the corruption of the creation, and the distortion of God’s wonderful plan. Adam’s enduring legacy was sin, death, and destruction. God’s creation had been marred and his children sentenced to death. Satan gained the ascendancy and ruled as a tyrant. The situation seemed hopeless (Ephesians 2:12) because no one is able to live up to God’s holy standards or achieve the righteousness that would bring eternal life and reward. We all fall short. (Romans 3:21-24) Our sin earned (earns) for us the just sentence of death. (Romans 6:23) Therefore, every person should face a bleak and hopeless future, since at the Last Judgment we will all be found guilty of sin and rebellion against God and sentenced to the fires of hell.

Good News

The Good News is that God so loved his struggling creatures that he sent his Son, Jesus the Messiah, to save us from this horrible destiny. (John 3:16)

As the Second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), he lived the way God intended for the first Adam. Jesus also sacrificed his life as God’s Lamb, taking the guilt and punishment for our sins and rebellion upon himself, so that we could be forgiven and our relationship with God restored. (John 1:29) When he rose again three days later, he emerged from the tomb as the glorious, victorious Lord. Anyone who believes the good news that Jesus died for our sins and is now the risen Lord, will receive forgiveness, eternal life, and restoration to a right relationship with God! (Romans 10:9-13)

Through Jesus’, the Last Adam’s, resurrection, God inaugurated a new edition of humanity. (Isaiah 53:10)

All those who believe are born again by the Holy Spirit (John 3:3), who lives within every believer as the internal fountain of life, the revealer of truth, and the one who inspires, assists, and empowers us to live for God. (John 7:37-39) This new generation of people are inwardly motivated to serve God, doing those things which bring joy to God’s heart and blessings to other people. (Philippians 2:13)

How Should We Then Live?

Jesus taught his followers that everyone lives and dies, after which there will be a resurrection and judgment, at which we will be rewarded or punished for what we believed and how we lived. (Luke 14:12-14, Matthew 25:31-36) Those who are born only once (physically, naturally) will die twice. They will die a physical death and one day be consigned to the Lake of Fire, which is called the “Second Death.”

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14  Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15 (ESV)

Those who are born twice (physically and spiritually, through the new birth), will only die once – physically. Their eternal life and destiny are secure.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26  and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 (ESV)

Jesus taught us to live in such a way that will maximize our eternal reward. (Matthew 6:19-20)

If we truly believe Jesus’ teachings and the gospel, we will live accordingly. We will put what God values at the top of our own priority lists.

True believers will sacrifice what we cannot keep in order to gain that which we cannot lose.

We will lay aside sin and selfishness in order to pursue the things that bring God glory and honor. We will make the Great Commission our top priority, because others need to find out about this amazing offer from God called the gospel!

John the Apostle summed it up very well.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3  And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 (ESV)

How we live reveals what we truly believe. What will your life, your values, your priorities, your choices, and your actions say about you at the Last Judgment?

Share this post...

Countering Deception by Answering Life’s Crucial Questions: How Can I Know Right from Wrong?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we have a moral or ethical question, where should we turn to find the answer? Universities have entire courses devoted to ethics. Businesses provide seminars on the subject. Ethical and moral dilemmas abound in the religious, political, and business worlds. It is part of life for us to be confronted with difficult questions that demand thoughtful answers. How can we properly navigate a course that requires us to make judgments between good and evil, right and wrong, and true and false?

This article deals with the fourth worldview question in my series. Once we have wrestled with the first three worldview questions,

  1. Origins: From where did we come?
  2. Identity: Who are we?
  3. Purpose: What is our purpose in life?,

we come to the subject of this article.

If we conclude that we originated by chance out of nothing, we may further infer that either we cannot know good from evil or that, more logically, there is no real distinction, since such concepts are human inventions designed to help preserve and promote the human race, without having any basis in reality, whatever that is.

However, if we answer the first question by saying we were created by God, the answer to how do we know right from wrong must also come from God.

Why Do We Even Care?

Through experience, most people believe that there are both good and evil. No one could watch the torture of a loved one and simply shrug his or her shoulders and walk away thinking, “Oh well, what can we expect in an amoral universe?” Injustice rankles even the most atheistic. The Communist Party, a chief proponent of atheism, has overthrown governments and inspired millions by stirring up rage against alleged injustices imposed by the privileged elite upon the oppressed working class. Although they do not seem to worry very much about murdering millions of people to obtain and maintain power, rage over financial, and now racial, injustice fuels the fires of revolution. Even though fomenting hatred against injustice for them is merely a means to an end, for those under their sway who rally to their cause, there is real felt outrage. Why do humans, even godless ones, care so much about justice, if we live in a randomly evolved world in an unsympathetic universe? It makes no sense.

But, if we believe that God created us in his image, we must conclude that he planted a love and desire for justice deep in the human heart.

Unless we are sociopaths or have “seared” it through regularly practicing evil, each of us also has an inner moral guide called the conscience, which tugs at our hearts when we do wrong. From where did the conscience come? Is it a social-psychological construct, as posited by Freud, or did our Creator put it inside us?

Since we were created in God’s image, we have a desire to be like him and an unease when we are not.

Anthropologists recognize that, despite cultural and religious differences, there is a commonality of understanding across the breadth of humanity of right and wrong,

If we believe that God created us, we understand that all humanity came from the same stock and possesses a common understanding, no matter how marred it may be.

Who Told You That?

In the beginning, God did not want Adam and Eve to know good and evil for themselves, because he wanted to protect them from the “Pandora’s Box” of woes associated with such knowledge.

Satan, taking the form of a talking serpent, introduced something new into their pristine lives – doubt. He planted mistrust in Adam’s and Eve’s minds regarding the integrity and goodness of God. He accused the Creator of being less than forthcoming and withholding something good from humanity. Falling for the ruse, our first parents judged God to be a liar and chose to disobey his command in order to gain firsthand knowledge of good and evil and be like God in that respect. They embraced deception and were deceived. They turned away from God and introduced sin, death, and destruction into God’s creation – all to gain the ability to be self-directed agents and make their own decisions about good and evil. They did actually receive a brand new understanding of evil, but it was not at all good. For the first time they felt guilt and fear, which propelled them to hide from God instead of enjoy fellowship with him. God immediately recognized what had happened.

Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10  He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” 11  “Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” Genesis 3:9-11 (NLT)

Because Adam and Eve rejected God as the Source of truth and life and opened their hearts to knowledge from an evil source, they became aware of things that God, as a good parent, never intended for his children to know. Originally God intended that they simply do what he said, without needing to go beyond that. That way he could save them from the dark abyss of knowing evil first hand.

Now as a result of Adam’s and Eve’s transgression, knowing right from wrong is a huge challenge for all of us.

How do we properly know things we were never meant to know?

By default we tend to lean to our own resources in the struggle to differentiate good from evil. Satan always is willing to provide his input, too, which invariably leads us away from God and robs us of joy. Is it even possible for us to get back on track?

Plugging into the Right Source Again

The Old Covenant Law clearly defined right and wrong with respect to morals, diet, sanitation, and religious rites, but it did nothing to help us keep the Law. Basically it exposed the depth of our sin problem and our need for a Savior. Jesus came to introduce a brand new way of doing life, called the New Covenant, in which the Life Giver resides inside the believer, motivating and changing him from the inside out. (You can read more about the amazing new covenant by clicking here.)

All truth is God’s truth. It is part of God’s character and does not exist outside of him.

Jesus is the incarnation of truth (John 14:6), and unless we are reconnected to God through faith in him, we will always be confused and misled.

In addition to having living truth reside in us when we believe, Jesus taught us that God’s Word, the written Scriptures, are truth. This not surprising, since Jesus is the living Word of God, the “Word made flesh.” (John 1:14) All Scripture was breathed by God and written down by people. (2 Tim. 3:16) The Holy Spirit, who is also called the Spirit of truth, inspired the authors of the Bible to insure its authenticity. (John 16:13)

Therefore, we must rely upon Jesus, the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit, if we are to grow in a true knowledge of what is true, right, and good.

The church is also called the pillar and support of the truth. (1 Tim. 3:15) The assembly of those who acknowledge that Christ is Lord and Savior and who have the Holy Spirit living inside them functioning as their guide, teacher, and revealer of truth, have been given the responsibility of guarding, preaching, and applying God’s truth to daily life.

Therefore, we also need to be in a living, working, ongoing relationship with others in a local church.

Going it alone is a repeat of Adam’s and Eve’s initial mistake. We cannot do life as “loners,” because we are very liable to veer off course into error.

Steps to Getting In Sync with God

Sin began with deception, produces deception, and ends in deception and death. Jesus called Satan the father of lies, in whom there is no truth. (John 8:44) The entire world is under the spell of deception woven by the evil one. (1 John 5:19)

Jesus came into this world as the incarnate Truth to reveal God’s true nature and undo the lie about God introduced in the garden.

  1. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14:6) The first step to knowing what is good, true, and right is to recognize who Jesus is and to surrender ourselves completely to him. On a personal level, this effectively undoes the rebellion against God that began in the garden.
  2. The second step is to submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit and God’s revealed truth, the Bible. We can trust the Spirit of God to teach us what the Bible means. (John 14:26) Unless we put God’s revealed truth at the top of our list as the one most reliable source of truth, we cannot grow in the knowledge of what is true, right, and good. We also must commit ourselves to obeying God’s truth; otherwise, we will likely become religious hypocrites. (James 1:22)
  3. The third step in the pathway to truth is to connect with a local church, which teaches and puts into practice what the Bible teaches. No church or person is perfect, but there must be the desire and commitment to live in truth. Other believers in such a local church will serve as checks and balances to what we are receiving from the Lord directly from our study of the Bible.

If we do the above, we will move forward in our quest for truth. However, no person or church or group is the sole possessor of truth. We must hang tightly to humility, realizing that we only have a portion of truth, not the whole, and that we need one another. Truth is found in a person named Jesus. Everything else points to him.

Share this post...

Countering Deception by Answering Life’s Crucial Questions: Why Am I Here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This series examines how the Bible answers life’s greatest questions. In so doing, it give us purpose and clarity for life. It also protects us from being swept away by dangerous ideas that lead to death and destruction. I write from the perspective of a long time Christian pastor and teacher; so, I will apply these principles to the church. They apply just as perfectly to government, family, business, and our personal life.

The first article gave an overview of the series. The second one dealt with origins. The third asked and answered the question, “Who Are We?” This one delves into our purpose for living, which is provided by God in the following verses.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28 (ESV)

Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. Genesis 2:15 (NASB)

The basic purpose of humankind can be summarized in three points: multiply, take dominion, and tend the garden.

These commands were specific to Adam’s and Eve’s situation, but a case can be made that they are still in effect, since there is no record anywhere that God rescinded them. The “garden” should now be understood as the entire earth in which we live, tainted as it is by sin and the long term effect of our living here. These purposes apply to every human being in a practical and natural way. They also apply directly to the mission of the church.

Jesus summarized our purpose a little differently by giving us two commandments, which I summarize: love God and love our neighbor (Luke 10:27). These commandments provide the environment in which we fulfill the Genesis mandates.

Fruitfulness and Multiplication

The very first command God delivered to man was to be fruitful and multiply, which makes it our enduring top priority.

This command was restated after the flood. (Genesis 9:1) The earth then and now needs to be populated. The Great Commission restated this foundational command after Jesus’ resurrection. “Go and make disciples” is another way of saying, “Be fruitful and multiply.” The earth now desperately needs to be populated with born again believers who seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness.

The ungodly world system argues that we should not obey God’s command to be fruitful and multiply. Here are a few of its reasons.

  • There are already too many people. If we don’t cut back on births, the earth will be over populated, which will usher in many calamities, such as starvation. (This one is fostered by the “scientific” community and the media to scare people into compliance.)
  • Children are too expensive. We cannot afford to have kids. (This one is used by young couples who value money more than family.)
  • The world is too evil to bring children into it. Compassion for the not yet born prohibits our having children. (This is especially used to justify abortion: it is better to kill a child in the womb than let it be born into an unhealthy environment.)
  • Children are too much trouble. They keep us from pursuing our priorities in life. (This is another justification for abortion: I cannot let a child ruin my plans.)

Since this series is somewhat philosophical, this is a good time to ask ourselves, what false presuppositions are contained in the above arguments against God’s command to be fruitful and multiply.

  • The earth cannot sustain a very large population. Those areas that experience starvation usually have corrupt governments and/or false religious beliefs that prevent the population from enjoying the produce of the land. For example, Haiti dedicated the island to Satan following the overthrow of the French government there. The “jewel of the Caribbean” has been reduced to a poverty stricken island by decades of governmental tyranny and corruption. On the positive side, the USA curtails production and throws away large amounts of food. Our nation could supply food to many other countries. Other areas of the world also produce prolific harvests and could supply a much greater population. If God said we should fill the earth, then the earth is able to support a huge number of people.
  • God is unable to supply the needs of large families. The Bible does not adhere to a “zero sum” version of economics, which believes there is a limited amount of supply. God will create supply out of thin air if needed. Faith must guide our decisions, not fear of lack.
  • Keeping children out of the world because it’s an evil place has to come from the devil himself. The world has always been evil. We bring children into it so they can effect change as followers of Christ.
  • The self-centeredness behind not having children because they are too much trouble is appalling; yet, this excuse has led to countless abortions. Children have always required a lot of work and definitely limit our freedoms, but that is part of growing to maturity.

Because of our inherent rebellion against God, Western nations have embraced abortion, birth control, fear, unbelief, and a self-centered lifestyle in direct defiance of God’s command to be fruitful and multiply.

Many nations in the West now teeter on the brink of cultural viability because of low birth rates. The world will eventually go to those groups which are still having large numbers of children.

All of us are influenced by this anti-God mentality. Even churches have adopted variations of these arguments.

Church policies and mindsets are dictated by the following guiding principles.

  • When we have a “large enough” church which can provide an ideal level of fellowship, financial viability, social status, and programs, we sometimes lose the desire to sacrifice in order to “go” and make disciples. We would rather stay and enjoy the fellowship.
  • We invest most of our finances in maintaining the building, programs, staff, and operational costs of maintaining the church plant, instead of spending time, energy, and money on pursuing the Great Commission.
  • Rather than put our people at risk by asking them to immerse themselves in lifestyle evangelism and connecting with broken, unsaved people, we prefer the safety of the Christian fortress called the church. We devise so many programs for our members that they are worn out and have little or no time for pursuing the Great Commission, even if they were willing to take the risks of associating with unsafe people.
  • Missional living is too much trouble. It is far easier to contribute money or volunteer to serve in crisis intervention programs than to get heavily involved in the lives of people who have untold needs and will make unanticipated demands on my time and finances.

Only by prioritizing the Great Commission will the church become the missional force God intends.

Taking Dominion and Tending the Garden

Taking dominion and tending the garden are also important commands. If the multiplied people on the earth and in our churches are to enjoy a good quality of life, we will have to control and tend the environment.

Through the process of being fruitful, taking dominion, and working, people grow to maturity. If we leave even one of these parts out, it can short circuit the process.

Young men and women usually enter marriage with little maturity. Usually it is only after marriage and having children that we truly “grow up” because of added pressures and responsibilities. Why would we think it would be any different in the church?

Taking dominion always needs to be balanced by the command to tend the garden.

In the spiritual context, taking dominion involves learning to identify with Christ’s victory and the internal work of the Holy Spirit in a way that allows us to be victorious over our sin nature, sin, Satan, sickness, legalism, death, and the demonic. Basically anything that seeks to enslave or destroy God’s people must be brought into subjection to Christ through our faith in God’s promises. (1 John 5:4)

The church can also “take dominion” and “tend the garden” by working in our communities to effect positive change.

Unless we learn to take dominion, we will not be able to properly tend and protect (keep) the garden called the church. Tending the garden means caring for the sheep. This includes protecting, feeding, guiding, equipping, and launching them into ministry – discipleship.

Conclusion

When we make multiplication,  for church members – the Great Commission, our top priority, everything else falls into place.

When young married couples have children, they learn to give their lives away for others. Having children, natural or spiritual disciples, changes our lives in a most fundamental and rewarding way. In old age, there is no greater joy than being with our offspring, especially if they are in unity and serving the Lord, and seeing what they are doing in life and ministry. Late in Paul’s life, he rejoiced in his own spiritual children, when he wrote:

Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends! Philippians 4:1 (NIV)

We should not rejoice if our children never leave the home: rather, our job as parents is to prepare them to leave the “nest” in order to start their own families. This is how we fulfill the command to be fruitful and multiply at the family level. The church likewise must think in terms of launching people to start their own church families, which will also reproduce in time. This can be done at a small group level or at a larger church level.

Let’s make the Great Commission our top priority so that we, like Paul, can rejoice in our spiritual children and grandchildren (disciples of disciples)! Let’s make God’s first priority from creation onward our first priority and watch how everything else falls into place.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
Share this post...

Countering Deception by Answering Life’s Crucial Questions: Who Are We?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Who am I?” is one of life’s most important questions. Where will we find the answer? From our parents, our peers, teachers, books, nature, God, the devil, or ourselves?

If we know who we are, we will be more likely to act in agreement with our true identity. If we believe a lie about who we are, we will probably fulfill the false image.

The devil has made it his mission to defile the human race in order to mar what God created and loves. He does this through deception, murder, theft, fear, and destruction. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they began to receive information about their identity from the wrong source, which added to their problems by propelling them away from God.

During the cool part of the day, the LORD God was walking in the garden. The man and the woman heard him, and they hid among the trees in the garden. 9 The LORD God called to the man and said, "Where are you?" 10 The man said, "I heard you walking in the garden, and I was afraid. I was naked, so I hid." 11 God said to the man, "Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from that special tree? I told you not to eat from that tree!" Genesis 3:8-11 (ETRV)

It seems obvious that, if a person believes in God, he or she should seek the answer to the identity question from the one who created us. God surely knows exactly who we are. Not only that, for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, our identity has been recreated through the new birth, making us spiritual children of our heavenly Father.

Once again, we turn to Genesis for insight.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV)

Questions from the Text

There are several things in the above passage that should make us ponder.

  • Who are the “us” mentioned in verse 26? We already noticed that in the opening two verses of Genesis, God and his Spirit are both mentioned. We also saw that the eternal logos or Word, who is later revealed to be Jesus (John 1:14), was also present and doing the creating. Therefore, right here in the opening chapter of Genesis, we have the beginning of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity, the mysterious revelation that, even though God is one, he is an “us,” three persons comprising one God.
  • What does it mean to be created or made in God’s image and likeness? We will find out later in Exodus that God prohibits making an idol or image to represent him. The only genuine image of God for us humans is the one presented by the eternal Logos, who became a man, Jesus the Messiah. (Hebrews 1:3) Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. We learn what the Father is like by observing and listening to his Son. But, beyond that, what does it mean that people are created in God’s image? Certainly God shares with us some of his qualities or communicable attributes. Human beings are intelligent, creative, responsible, emotional, and capable of love, truthfulness, and faithfulness, to name a few.
  • What does it mean to have dominion over the rest of creation? The Hebrew word means to have dominion, rule, subdue, or prevail. We know from later verses in the Bible that God gave us the animals for food after the great flood. (Genesis 9:3) We also see that a godly person cares for his animals. (Proverbs 12:10) Putting all of this together, we conclude that mankind has been given dominion over the rest of creation, and he should use that dominion to provide for himself food and shelter, while also being a good steward of and kind toward the rest of creation.
  • How does our sexuality reflect God’s image? In his wisdom, God divided mankind into male and female. We understand from the totality of the Bible that God is a spirit and not a sexual being; however, masculinity is ascribed to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Femininity is ascribed to the church. Males and females have physiological and emotional differences, even though there is a wide variation among individuals. Marriage, the joining of male to female both physically and emotionally, and, perhaps, spiritually, provides a means for God’s image to be more fully revealed.

Some Things We Learn about God

From our opening passage, we also learn some things about God. We must ask ourselves why God chose to create the universe and people.

  • Was it because he was lonely? The One God has existed eternally as a loving unified “trinity” of persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Loneliness could not possibly be part of that equation. Ascribing loneliness to God insinuates that he is less than complete in himself, which is not true. Why then did he create us?
  • In order to glorify himself by sharing his life and glory with others. Everything God does brings glory to himself because everything he does is glorious.
    • By creating the universe, both the visible and invisible parts of it, he demonstrated his amazing genius, goodness, and power for others to see. The natural response of the creature should be to recognize God’s hand in the creation and worship the Creator.
    • By creating people, God glorified himself through amazing beings who can think, choose, love, obey, worship, or the opposite of these things.
    • By creating us and placing his image in us, God set the stage for sharing his very life and glory with his creation.
    • We will learn later that it was his intent to show kindness to his people for all eternity. (Ephesians 2:7)

So What?

What then does it mean to us that God chose to create us in his image and likeness? Our first response should be one of humble wonder. King David illustrated this attitude when he penned Psalm 8.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; 4  What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5  Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6  You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7  All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, 8  The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 9  O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth! Psalm 8:3-9 (NASB)

David responded by worshiping and praising God. By doing this we can bring even more glory to God by making the choice to freely worship our Creator. This should be the default attitude in people. When we find something else, such as complaining, bitterness, the refusal to acknowledge God, etc., we know that sin is at work in a vain effort to deprive God of his glory and us of life and joy.

Humans Reflect the Triune Image of God

then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature (literally: soul). Genesis 2:7 (ESV)

God created Adam with a spirit, soul, and body. (If this seems like a strange concept to you, Paul confirmed man’s three-part composition in 1 Thessalonians 5:23.) God breathed his Spirit (ruach – wind, breath, spirit) into the body he formed out of the dust. This combination of spirit and body produced a living soul, consisting of mind, will, and emotions – our personality.

The spirit is the deepest part of a person, where we are able to connect to God after we are born again by the Spirit. When Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God in the garden, their sin introduced death into our lives, which affected every part of us. Spiritually it broke the life giving communion Adam and Eve enjoyed at the beginning. Sin produced guilt, fear, and a desire to  hide from God in their souls. Their bodies began to die, too. Every person who is born into this world since then arrives in the condition being “dead” in our sins, even though for a while we enjoy physical life. (Ephesians 2:1-2) In this condition we are by nature God’s enemies, with hardened hearts that are spiritually blind and deaf. Only God’s gracious intervention through the gospel and the inner working of the Holy Spirit can rescue us. That is why Jesus came. We learn about God’s incredible mercy and kindness through him.

Yes, the Word was full of grace and truth, and from him we all received one blessing after another. 17 That is, the law was given to us through Moses,♦ but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The only Son is the one who has shown us what God is like. He is himself God and is very close to the Father. John 1:16-18 (ETRV)

When a person comes to believe in Christ, the Holy Spirit causes the spirit to be “born again” or made anew in Christ’s image. (John 3:3-8) The Bible says that God’s Spirit and our spirit become one. (1 Cor. 6:17) God’s life and image is planted as a seed in the new believer’s being. (James 1:21) Like leaven in a lump of dough, that seed gradually transforms the person from the inside out. (Matthew 13:33)

For a more detailed explanation of spirit, soul, and body, you can click on the links in this sentence.

The newly recreated spirit is the seat of intuition, communion with God, and conscience. Because we have a spirit, humans are uniquely able to interface with both the spiritual and material worlds. Think about how amazing this is! What a gift God has given to us!

It should not surprise us that God would fashion us with three parts to our makeup. After all, he exists as three persons in one.

Just as it is often impossible to distinguish completely between the operation of three persons in the Trinity, it is also extremely difficult to say where the spirit stops and the soul begins, or where the soul stops and body begins. Sicknesses are often labeled psycho-somatic because a link has been observed between the soul (Greek: psyche) and body (Greek: soma). Similarly, it is often difficult to distinguish between physical ailments and those brought on by an evil spirit. When Jesus ministered to sick people, he recognized both sources of illness and dealt with each in a different way. Only the Spirit of God and the Word of God have the ability to completely discern what is what. (Hebrews 4:12)

Having a spirit created in God’s image gives us a definite advantage over the animals.  By being able to commune with God, we can gain his wisdom and insight into life situations. In addition, we have the promise of eternal life and sharing God’s glorious rule over all things.

Sin and the Image of God

Because of sin, people in general no longer reflect God in the same way as did Adam and Eve. All people still carry God’s image as a result of being created, but in many cases it has been so marred that human beings reflect the opposite of what God is like. Some people make the mistake of thinking that all people are God’s children, confusing the created image of God with the implanted life and person of God, which is given at the new birth.

Although all humans bear the image of God in some form, only those people who have been born again by God are truly God’s children.

This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. Romans 9:8 (ESV)

The image of God is restored through the new birth and will be fully revealed at the resurrection of the just, at which time believers will be completely transformed into God’s image.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2 (ESV) 

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53  For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54  When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 (ESV)

Conclusion

Our identity as beings created in God’s image was marred by sin. Because of the broken condition in which we are born into the world, most people have a false idea of who they are and who God is. We sin when we act in agreement with our sin marred identity. Jesus came to restore us back to the image of God through the new birth. As we learn to live out of our new identity, our motivation and goal should be to glorify God and worship, obey, and serve him from the heart.

Those of us who have been privileged to be born again, can share our blessings by engaging in conversations with those outside God’s family about from where our concept of identity comes.  Perhaps such discussions will open a door to sharing about God’s marvelous offer through Jesus Christ to be restored as children of God who bear the full image of God, our true identity.

Share this post...

Countering Deception by Answering Life’s Crucial Questions: Origins

 

 

 

 

 

If you see a turtle on top of a fence post, you can be sure that it did not get there by itself. We should have the same clarity regarding how we find ourselves here on planet earth. The first worldview question the Bible answers is the origin question. How did we get here?

Origin determines identity, purpose, morality, and destiny; so, getting the answer to the origin question right is extremely important.

That is why the devil, works so hard to get us off course on the beginning of our worldview journey. He knows that if he can deceive us regarding from where we came, he can more easily dupe us in the other areas.

Genesis opens with the following two verses.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2 (ESV)

We learn from these verses that:

  • There was a beginning of time, and God was there. We have a hint that God is eternal.
  • God acted to create everything in the visible and invisible universe – the heavens and the earth. We learn that he is extremely powerful.
  • Initially the earth was not the place we know today. It was “void” and had a lack of order.
  • The Spirit of God “hovered” over the face of the waters. This introduces the mystery called the Trinity.

Creation Reveals Something about the Creator

Whenever we ponder anything that has been made, we learn something about the maker. A beautiful watch is a doorway into the mind of the watchmaker. If we did not have the Bible as a guide or reference, could we still know things about God by looking at the world around us? The answer is a resounding Yes!

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:20 (NASB)

Some of God’s attributes are unique to him and divine. Others are communicable, meaning that he shares them with his creatures. Theologians call God’s attribute of power omnipotence, which means he is all powerful. It is interesting that Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that God’s power is eternal, which is an inference we can make from seeing that God was present in the beginning. He predates the beginning. Later in the Bible we find out that God has no beginning or end. He is eternal. God has placed something in the heart of mankind that is drawn toward eternity. The author of Ecclesiastes wrote that God has “…set eternity in the hearts of men…” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV) 

What can we discern about God’s divine nature? One of the children in our small group responded to this question by saying that God is “amazing, fantastic, and surprising.” (Not bad for an 8-year old!) We can also tell that he is creative and good. We gather that God appreciates beauty, complexity, and diversity by observing the world he created. Perhaps a very good exercise would be for us to ask ourselves, what else can we discover about God by thoughtfully observing creation?

Is the Bible Narrative a Satisfying Explanation of Our Origins?

In order to be open and honest, we should ask ourselves if we have ever encountered another satisfying explanation of how things came to be.

Does it satisfy our intellectual curiosity and resonate as being true in our hearts? There are certainly a variety of theories out there, one of which is materialistic evolution. This theory of origins usually starts with the “big bang,” which posits an extraordinary explosion which originated the known universe. One problem with this explanation is that it is merely an hypothesis regarding the mechanics of how the universe came to be, without answering the question of origins. It does not tell us where the big bang’s matter and energy originated. In other words, what was before the big bang? This fails to pass the intellectual test and the heart test.

Evolutionary theory assumes the presence of the material world, without trying to explain its origin, and tries to explain life’s origin in terms of chemical and physical processes taking place over untold eons, without God being in the picture. Since this is not a scientific paper, I will not attempt to show all the problems related to this unprovable hypothesis. If you are interested, you can do your own research at the Creation.com website. A very informative video is available, entitled Evolution’s Achilles Heels, which I highly recommend. Let me summarize my objections by saying science has already proved that it is impossible for matter to move from chaos to complexity without the application and maintenance of external energy. Things fall apart naturally, not self-create. Our complex and ordered world demands a Creator.

It is obvious that I accept the Bible’s explanation that we and the universe were created God, whose genius we have been studying for centuries, and, in many cases, the intricacies and amazing complexities of his creatures are still being discovered.

The biblical account, on the other hand, is both intellectually and emotionally satisfying.

The Deliberate Suppression of Truth

Those who choose to refuse to acknowledge God’s existence usually work hard to try to refute the Bible’s creation claims. Evolution, when it was first introduced, was readily embraced by communist leaders, because it was thought it gave validity to their atheistic dogma. If people are determined to believe that there is no God, it is easy to understand why Darwinism is so attractive. It appears to lend some scientific credibility to an unsupportable doctrine. Those who wield power in academia suppress the teaching of creationism, insisting that evolution must be accepted as scientific fact, when it is actually an unprovable hypothesis.

Those who accept the existence of the biblical God also believe that there is an archenemy, Satan, whose plan is to destroy faith in God as the Creator in young children in order to subvert God’s plan and purpose for their lives. It is revealing to see how creationism is suppressed in public schools. It is ridiculed, mocked, and often ignored. Creationist teachers often face the wrath of other teachers and the administration. This is no accident. Truth can stand on its on merits.

If evolution is true, then why must creationism be squelched? It is because evolutionists fear the power of the truth they have chosen to suppress.

Research shows that children are naturally disposed to believe that there is a Creator, even when they have been raised in an anti-God environment. From where did this proclivity to believe come? If we accept the Bible account, we must conclude that it was built in at creation. What a travesty it is when childlike faith is undermined by a deliberate suppression of truth!

Conclusion

No matter to which side of the argument we are drawn, we bring to the table certain unprovable presuppositions. The evolutionist presupposes without proof that there is no God; whereas, the creationist presupposes the very opposite. Every worldview depends on such beliefs. After I became a follower of Christ and accepted the truth of the Bible, I have found great joy in acknowledging the kindness, wisdom, and power of the God I serve! For me, the creationist approach to origins passes the heart test and the intellectual test.

If you are still searching in this area, I recommend the study of the writings of dedicated creationist scientists, such as are found at Creation Ministries International and the Institute for Creation Research. You will find that belief in God and the Bible account is not intellectual suicide. Far from it. You will see that in order to hold to evolutionary theory, one must suppress truth.

When we admit that the universe could not possibly have self-originated and recognize that we owe our existence to the Creator God, it automatically sets us up to be able to answer the other worldview questions correctly.

  • We will see that knowing where we come from helps us to know our identity.
  • We will show how knowing our identity helps us to understand our purpose.
  • We will see how understanding our origin, identity and purpose gives us insight into how to determine what is right and wrong.
  • Finally, we will also understand what is our destiny.

A proper understanding of origins is the fountainhead of truth. It opens up a path of revelation into the heart of God that, if followed to the end, provides us with the ability to live with purpose and joy.

Share this post...

Countering Deception by Answering Life’s Crucial Questions: Introduction

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one really believes in materialistic evolution. If they did, why would anyone care about truth, justice, or anything else, for that matter, since nothing has any significance for me or anyone else beyond our brief personal experience of what we call existence? If we are a random production of a chaotic universe that has no guiding moral principle behind it, why all the fuss about racism, child abuse, sex trafficking, etc? Why not simply shrug our shoulders and plod onward toward our next experience and our certain demise? Obviously people believe that such things as justice and truth actually matter. Why?

Why do such a relatively few people ponder life’s greatest questions?

Instead we have become an easily manipulated sound bite generation, which depends on the media to fashion our view of truth and reality. Sadly many, if not most, people do not even know how to think for themselves and are easy pickings for  propagandists.

What Is a Worldview?

We all have a worldview of some sort; even if it is a patchwork of mutually contradictory beliefs. The technological world in which we live might be thought of as a satanic strategy to keep people’s minds occupied with trivial things – games, social media, etc., rather than ponder questions that might lead us to God.

A worldview is a framework or perspective through which we view and try to understand the world in which we live.

A person’s worldview will not only affect how he or she understands life and reality; it will also heavily influence decision making. It will determine what is valuable to us.

In this series of articles, I will show how the Bible answers five of life’s most crucial worldview questions.

  1. Origins: From where did I come?
  2. Identity: Who am I?
  3. Purpose: Why am I here?
  4. Morality: What is right and wrong?
  5. Destiny: Where am I going after death?

If you think about these questions for very long, it will become obvious that each is related to the others. How we answer the first question will determine how we answer the remainder. If we get the first question right, it will make it easier to get the others right, too. Conversely, if we miss the mark on number one, we will automatically err on the others.

Identifying Our Presuppositions

In order for us to answer these worldview questions, we must agree that everyone has assumed certain things, which cannot be proved true or false.

Presuppositions are what we each consider to be self-evident truths, which simply must be believed, since they cannot be scientifically proved.

Our Declaration of Independence held that certain truths were self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, and that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The writers agreed upon the following presuppositions:

  1. People are created by God.
  2. All people are equal.
  3. All people have God-given rights, specifically, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is impossible to “prove” that these presuppositions are true; however, it was considered to be obvious by the founders of our nation. Where did they get these “truths?” The first one comes from Genesis in the Bible. The second one is found in the New Testament. The third one most likely came from contemporary philosophers. The use of the term “right” is not a biblical term, however, and reflects the mood of the times, especially in the eyes of Englishmen who believed that their rights as citizens were being violated by the Crown. Regardless of their origin, by the time the Declaration was penned, these ideas were considered to be self-evident and beyond question. Sadly, some things were not so self-evident, such as slavery being a contradiction of points two and three. All of us, even our worldviews, have blind spots.

Perhaps some of my readers may not agree with our nation’s founders’ “self-evident truths,” but, whether we like to admit it or not, we all have made such presuppositions. It is unavoidable. Even people who claim to be rational materialistic scientists have presumed in the validity of the scientific method, which presumes that there are scientific truths to be discovered, which presumes there is order and logic to the universe, which necessitates some unprovable reason for this to be so.

Using the Bible to Build Our Worldview

God created the world and people so that many things must be accepted by “faith.”

In other words, we all have to believe something, even if that belief is the self-contradictory notion that there is no such thing as unconditional truth. People jump to unscientific conclusions all the time because of our built in need to believe. That is why people fall for the false narratives of the media over and over again. That is why we so easily believe negative gossip. We are believers by design.

God made us to depend on him to be our interpreter of reality and source of truth.

When Adam and Eve fell for Satan’s lie and rejected that way of “doing life,” humanity descended into the confusing darkness of trying to fathom the meaning of life by ourselves. We lost our way. That is why Jesus came, as he put it, to “seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

In an effort to reorient ourselves, it is a good idea to ask ourselves, “Where did I get my ideas about life and reality?”

If we are followers of Christ, who accept the Bible as a source book of God’s revealed truth, we start there to build our worldview. If we do not accept what the Bible teaches, we must find some other way to construct a view of life and our world that is both satisfying and consistent.

My hope is that you will stay with me as we consider each crucial life question from a biblical point of view. Even if you hold different presuppositions from mine, I believe considering what the Bible has to say will be beneficial and thought provoking. The very first verse of Genesis answers our first worldview question. That is where the second article will begin.

Share this post...
Share this post...