bible

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).

So You Want Global Warming? No Worries

Having personally produced two excellent books flawlessly tracing the communist roots of the failed theory of human-induced global warming (Climategate and Eco-Tryanny), I was pleased to hear what Pastor John MacArthur had to say recently.

He reminded everyone that global warming will indeed be very real, but it will not be triggered by the use of fossil fuels, cow flatulence, or hairspray.

MacArthur quoted the New Testament’s Book of 2nd Peter, chapter 3, verses 10-12, which says this:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be discovered. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Bring it on, Lord!  But…

In the meantime, may many souls acknowledge that Jesus is the way, truth and life–because NO ONE will enter the Kingdom of Heaven without such a recognition.

When Life Smacks You Upside the Head: Here’s the Podcast For You

In preparing to produce Episode 21 of the Another Chance Podcast series, God led me to a brief but powerful devotional I wrote a few years ago. I’m not sure what I intended to do with it at the time, but it certainly represents my heart’s desire right now.

That said, it’s now what Episode 21 is all about:

If life has, or is, smacking you upside the head, this is a brief podcast will really help you see what’s in front of you a bit more clearly and put a little bounce back in your steps.

Below is the devotional. Hope you’ll check out the podcast too.  Enjoy:

Trusting in Him

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
 and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him,
and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV).

We’ve all been let down by someone we love, trust, or both.  It hurts.  Sometimes the pain is really bad.   I’ve come to the conclusion that there is only one person I can count on 100 percent of the time: Jesus.

Besides the Lord, my wife—with whom I’ve had a covenant relationship with for over three decades—is next person I can completely trust.  But even then, our mutual assurance is temporal.  The trust I have in God is everlasting.

When there’s bad news, hurt feelings, disappointments, and the emotional trauma associated with such things, only the Lord is able to provide me with the comfort and grace that genuinely soothes my soul.  I refer to this serene, spiritual space of grace as, “the sweet spot.”

Being Jewish, I never knew the beautiful Christian hymns sung on Sunday mornings in the church.  Now that I know Him, I have learned to love the hymns, even when they’re sung with their traditional melodies.

When I’m in the sweet spot, the song, My Hope is Built on Nothing Less, composed by Edward Mote in the 1834, comes to mind:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, and blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When every earthly prop gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When life smacks you upside the head—and it will—remember that your hope rests with Jesus.  Lean on Him.  Cling tight to Him.  Hold tight to His word and promises.  Even when it seems like He’s not hearing your cry, know that He is present and caring for you.

On Christ, the solid Rock you stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

Lord, thank you for your saving grace.  You are my hope, my strength, and my joy.  May I walk in your ways all the days of my life.  Amen.