bible

The Next Exit

Despite the fact I’ve been a follower of Jesus for decades, I continue to make monumental mistakes, dumb decisions, and chump choices.

I know the way, I know the truth, and I know the Author of Life. Yet I often stumble, and occasionally fall.

The question is, why? Especially after all these years.

The answer is because I’m often hesitant to stand on solid ground. Indeed, the Bible is replete with many admonitions to stand against temptations of many sorts. That includes the temptation to simply do things my way.

The ancient Old Testament book of Jeremiah exhorts us to stand, stating, This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

It’s interesting because, as every athlete knows, one’s stance is everything.

In the New Testament, Jesus provides us a description on how to stand, saying, “The one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Saint Paul elaborates on the concept of standing firm: “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”

Later, Paul says it like this: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

The takeaway is straightforward. I need to stand, and stand firm. Such a stance empowers us to take the proper exit along life’s highway.

 

 

 

What Every “Free Palestine” Person Needs to Hear

We live in a day of propaganda, agitprop, misinformation and disinformation. That said, every non-Arab, non-Muslim”Free Palestine” person needs to hear the truth.

We are witnessing a blood feud of Biblical proportions. In fact, the animosity between the first Arab (Ismael) and Israelite (Isaac) goes back nearly 4,000 years as recorded in the ancient book of Genesis.

The land where Israel currently exists is a small sliver of the land originally apportioned to the Israelite people by divine decree.  Known as the Promised Land,  3,500 years ago  the territory was originally inhabited by a now long gone people group know as the Canaanites. This is the land God promised to the offspring of Isaac and his brother Jacob. God unconditionally promised that He would give the land to the Jewish people as an eternal possession, confirming it at least 55 times  in the Bible with an oath.

In 70AD, the Roman government officially destroyed what remained of  the great Jewish nation, and subsequently the region was ruled by several empires including the Ottomans and Great Britain. In the year 135, following a failed attempt by Jews in the land to take it back from Rome, the land was officially designated “Philistine.” This was done as an insult to the Jews as their historical enemy in Bible times were the Philistines; the very people from whom Goliath came. Philistine is the same as Palestine. Everyone living in the area–Jew, Arab, Gentile–were Palestinians. The birth certificate of every Jew born in that region prior to 1947 reads: Place of Birth – Palestine.  

When Israel was reborn in 1948, the Arabs who fled the new nation became the “Palestinian people.” All of the Arab countries surrounding Israel (Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon) refused to accept their Arab brethren, instead allowing them to live in horrible condition in territories on the outskirts of Israel. To this day those Arab countries refuse immigration to those kept in the Palestinian territories.

Hamas was founded in 1987 as a terrorist organization bound to Israel’s destruction–it’s actually in their charter. The word hamas, in Hebrew and Arabic, means “violence.” Hamas is now the governing authority, based in Gaza. While the Palestinian people live in squalor, international financial aid meant for the people is spent on munitions and padding the pockets of Hamas’s leaders who live opulent lives in Qatar. It’s ironic that Qatar is supposedly an ally of the United States. For Hamas, there is no “two-state solution.” They want Israel gone. Period.

Hamas is a terrorist organization; i.e. they rape, kill, and dismember their prey. This is allowable by their religion.

Now, enter another terrorist organization, Hezbollah, “The Party of God,” a proxy of Iran. Hezbollah controls southern Lebanon and much of the Lebanese government as well. It has threatened to enter the war on Israel and this week has fired on Israeli positions, killing several soldiers and forcing the evacuation of Israel’s northernmost cities.

Like Hamas, Hezbollah see Israel as an illegal occupier, even thought It’s been Israel’s land since Bible times. But the Arabs are convinced that the descendants of Ishmael–not Isaac–are the rightful owners of the land .

This latest war was started–violently–by Hamas. Israel has a God-given right to defend itself.

And here’s where it gets very scary, albeit demonic. Mohamed unified the Arab people in the 7th century with a new religion–Islam. The hardcore Islamist has been empowered to destroy the Jewish people as well as authentic Christians (this is what we’re seeing in much of Africa right now (and it never makes the news). In recent decades they have also declared America to be “The Great Satan,” which they contend also must fall.

So, a word to the non-Arab, non-Muslim “Free Palestine” protestors in the developed world and especially America: if Hamas and Hezbollah have their way, you’re next on their list.

Dangerous Days of Deceptive Delusion

And the delusion continues.

The wild stuff people believe has become so off-the-charts that, I’m sure, many observers are saying under their breath, “This is so weird it’s like a magic spell has been cast on a large swath of society!”

Bingo.

In a new video from Planned Parenthood’s “gender-affirming” services, a  biological female who considers herself a male says abortions aren’t just for women.

“Hi. My name is Lucky,” the woman who claims to be a man, says. “I’ve had an abortion and I get gender-affirming care from Planned Parenthood.” Lucky goes on to say, “My abortion was one of the greatest acts of compassion I have ever committed…i was just one of the best decisions I have ever made, ever, in my life.

“I tell my abortion story because people need to understand that it’s not just a women’s rights issue, it is a people’s rights issue,” Lucky says.

The ad goes on to say, “It’s not just about abortion. Advocating for abortion goes hand-in-hand with advocating for gender-affirming care and birth control. Access to health care is a right, no matter what.”

We are warned in the Bible that in the last days, prior to the return of Jesus, a “strong delusion” will sweep the world as those opposed to the message of Jesus reject Him.

“They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).

Simply put, God allows people to get what they’re asking for: holding fast to unbelievable lies stemming from incredible delusion.  Those who take delight in mocking and rejecting Jesus, He will condemn.

This is why millions of us are praying for that spirit of unbelief to be confronted by the awesome Spirit of Truth which will set these captives free if they so choose to believe.

 

Are You on the Right Path to the Real God?

  • “There are many paths to God.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that.

If you mean there are many ways in which some of us come to know the true Lord of the Universe, you’re correct.  My path was via witnessing three terrible, fatal, accidents when I was ten. In a state of fear, I asked God to reveal Himself to me. He did, ten years later, after I waded through a path filled with a lot of mud, dung, and steep terrain. I have another friend who was a Muslim Sheik who came to know the true God when Jesus appeared to him in a vision and said, “Follow me.” This path was supernatural. My friend is now a Christian pastor in the Middle East.

If you mean a path that includes worshipping mother earth, reincarnation, universalism, Islam, or Christian denominations that don’t teach Biblical truth, you’re heading the wrong way.  Not to be offensive, but those are not proper paths to God.

Jesus said, “I am the way, truth, and life. No one comes to my Father except through me.”

Either Jesus was a liar, lunatic, or he was who he said he was: the promised Messiah, the Son of God, the “Son of Man,” the Savior, who has the power to forgive, restore, and eternally save from hell.

The Bible provides the roadmap to the true God (recall, the Bible is the most corroborated historical book on the planet).

One of the earliest articles of faith was set forth in Deuteronomy 6:4-7:  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” This is known to Jews as the “shema,” and is the foundation of all the commandments of God. It establishes the unity of God, the supremacy of God, and the priority of serving God.

Another is found in  1 Corinthians 15:1-4. “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Jesus died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”  This article of faith declares the bare essentials for saving faith in Christ.

And there’s one more important truth that will determine if your really on the sole path: Jesus is returning.

In Matthew 24:36-44 Jesus declares (referring to himself), “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father…Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come…So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.”

If we place our faith in Him, trusting His death on the cross to pay for our sins, we will be forgiven and receive the promise of eternal life in heaven. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son so that anyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Faith alone in the finished work of Christ on the cross is the only true path to eternal life! “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

There is only one true path to God, and therefore to Heaven.

Are you on the right path?

Back to Basics: What is Heaven Really Like?

If you ask 100 people, including pastors and theologians, what heaven is like you’ll get 100 different answers.

Actually, for every theologian in your query you’re bound to get 10 different explanations, so let’s take theologians out of the example. That still keeps us at about 100 different descriptions of heaven.

Last night I believe God gave me this wonderful vision of heaven:

Imagine you have lived your entire life land-locked. You’ve never seen a body of water bigger than a pond, or maybe a small lake. You’ve never seen a fish, let alone a whale, a dolphin, or an octopus. In fact, you never even seen photographs or video of these creatures, or the ocean in which they live. However, you’ve read a few stories about such environs, and you’ve heard 100 people give 100 different descriptions of what abides in that mysterious thing called “the ocean.”

Then one day you finally see the ocean with your own eyes. Your heart nearly stops at its immense splendor. You witness the great tail of a whale splashing the surface of the water and pod of dolphins dancing between the rolling waves. You’re taken to a bay with crystal clear water and wade into a tide pool. There, right next to your submerged feet, your jaw drops as you look at sea anemones, brilliant fish, and even octopus.

Some say, “Heaven will be a state of mind.”  While they are incorrect, I can understand their statement in that we humans can’t wrap our brains around, “what God has prepared for those who love Him,” (Psalm 31:19 and 1 Corinthians 2:9).