How Could God Forgive What I Did?

Have you ever felt that some wicked deed you did in the past was so horrible that God couldn't possibly forgive you? The truth is that the only unforgivable sin is resisting God's command to repent and follow Christ during your lifetime. Whoever wrote the book of Hebrews in the Bible stated that it's appointed unto man once to die and then the judgement.

During our threescore and ten, we have enough time to surrender our lives to the Lord. Death is the cut off point where repentance is no longer possible. I know it doesn't sound fair but that's the way the Lord set things up.

But how can the Lord forgive heinous sins? It's only because Jesus voluntarily took on the punishment for whosoever believed in his authority over humanity and followed him.

Examine the lives of the saints and you'll see how bad some were. Moses was a murderer, yet he led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed in battle, yet he was forgiven. Many of the people mentioned in Hebrews chapter eleven had checkered pasts, yet they all placed their hope in the messiah.

Since God is eternal and knows everything, nothing you did can surprise him. He's just waiting for you to ask for forgiveness and turn from serving your own desires.

Though I feel ashamed at turning my back on God for nine years, I know that he forgave me. My How I Was Razed book shows how merciful the heavenly Father was and still is. Please contact me to find out more amazing facts about my awesome testimony.

What's With All These Denominations?

This question confused me too, along with arguments about the right Bible to read,  when I was a new believer in Christ. I remember how every church used to believe that they were the best or only church Christians should attend. Each claimed all the rest were wrong or, even worse, heretical. Thanks to excellent biblical apologists, I now know How and why we came to have so many sects.

The answer is quite simple. Satan hates the truth so he infiltrated the churches from the beginning to confuse people and lead them astray. Even in the first few decades of church history, people were attempting to distort or nullify the gospel.

For a thousand years, the church at Rome, now known as the Roman Catholic Church, restricted the study of the scriptures to the priests and monks. They feared that if lay people read them, they'd come up with a plethora of blasphemous ideas.

Martin Luther, translators,  and the printing press made it possible for ordinary people to read the Bible. Though cults have arisen and churches have divided over doctrinal differences, the gospel and the scriptures have survived.

I learned from excellent scholars that misunderstandings happened due to people not knowing the cultures, customs, and nuances of the ancient languages. Proper biblical scholars and translators take all these factors into account whereas unscrupulous individuals seek to build up their own followings.

An example of false teachers is portrayed in my How I Was Razed book. Contact me regarding how to purchase this marvelous memoir of God's providential guidance.

In my next post, I'll deal with pastors who abuse their congregants and teach heresy. These are wolves in shepherd costumes and must be avoided.

Why Care About Christ's Birth?

What a mad rush everybody is in today. An observer from another world would be astonished at the huge deal we make of Christmas. "All this fuss for one day?" our imaginary visitor would exclaim upon seeing all the cooking, baking, shopping, decorating, and so many other frenzied activities we insist upon doing.

Lost in the rush each year is the birth of Christ. Apart from an hour-long service at churches this evening, Christians seem to act just like the rest of the world. Our traveler would be most amazed at the way we celebrate the birth of the Son of God.

There was a time when I turned my back on the Lord for nine miserable years. Two years into my rebellion, I quit celebrating Christmas the traditional way. It seemed pointless, and I still feel that way today, to decorate and buy gifts for those who would just return the favour.

What re ignited my fascination for Christ's birth once I returned to my senses was the myriad of Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by his birth. Read the gospels of Matthew and Luke. You'll see so many references to Old Testament prophecies mentioned there. And if you study other passages, you'll find more predictions regarding the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah.

God willing, I hope to write a new book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? My hope is to deal with many objections people make to the truth about God's criteria for entry into eternal life. Contact me regarding this and previous books which I've written.

Have a blessed Christmas.

Do Dinosaurs Disprove the Bible?

In my previous post, I wrote about the fate of our pets. Now I'm tackling the thorny question of dinosaurs. Do they really disprove or invalidate the Bible?

One "got ya" question atheists ask Christians is how could their be dinosaurs if the earth is only six thousand years old. Where did all these wondrous creatures come from and then have their bones fossilized in ancient rock layers?

Some Christians believe that there was a gap of millions of years between the first and second verses of Genesis chapter one. Others believe that God put fossils there to make the planet look ancient. Some believe that when the world flooded, Noah couldn't bring such large creatures into the ark. So, what's the real answer?

Hank Hanegraaff, host of The Bible Answer Man, espouses an interesting doctrine which makes logical sense. He teaches that the earth is billions of years old but God used days as a mnemonic device to help ancient people remember the hierarchical order of creation. Viewed this way, it easily explains how light could be created before the stellar bodies. It also matches empirical observations of the universe.

Whenever I've explained this doctrine to fellow Christians, they reacted like I was a horrendous heretic. They cling tenaciously to the six-day creation narrative as if the old earth argument was espousing evolution. This is manifestly untrue. Evolution teaches that there is no divine intelligence and that everything came to be by blind chance. The mnemonic method Moses used when writing the creation account allows for vast periods of geological time but without eliminating God from the picture.

I once believed a lot of notions which I now know are manifestly untrue. Now that I know better, I wrote a book called How I Was Razed so people could learn from my mistakes. Please contact me regarding this wondrous memoir of God's providence. It's well worth reading.

Will My Pets Be With Me in Heaven?

This question is one which theologians have struggled with for millennia. Animals seem to have personalities, so much so that many people are sure they'll be there in heaven with them forever.

Having read the Bible about twenty times from start to finish, I have found nothing either way regarding if pets will or won't be in heaven. In fact, the only verse which hints at animal spirits is Ecclesiastes 3:21 which asks who knows if the spirit of man ascends and the spirit of animals descend into the earth.

Taking the context of the verse into consideration, Solomon made the point that we can't see spirits and whether human spirits rise while animal spirits sink into the earth. Therefore, we can tell from the verse that animal spirits go to a different place.

I sure would rejoice if my dearly departed pets, like my rabbits, would be in heaven with me. Gideon was my heart bunny and the rest I also fondly remember. Even so, I hold no dogmatic hope that they will join me there.

In my How I Was Razed book, I wrote about the claims made by a blasphemous house church minister. One whopper was that he saw his favourite horse when he traveled out of his corpulent body. By God's grace, I survived that malicious minister and I now know the truth. Contact me about this wondrous story of the heavenly Father's providential guidance.

Don't Worship Idols, Do I?

I Believe it or not, all of us have either worshipped idols of our own choosing or still do so today. How so? Whatever takes precedence in our lives is what we worship. Some folks worship sports heroes. Others worship science, like a certain friend of mine does. Mostly though, we tend to worship ourselves. The fact that we get offended by criticism of what we love proves it.

In my case, electronic music was an over-arching passion. During my rebellion against God, I deeply admired Kraftwerk. Ralf Hutter and the rest of the band members showed me that I didn't need rack upon rack of costly keyboards to make my own electronic music.

As you can see on my YouTube channel, I was deeply into the genre. Now there's nothing wrong with electronic music. What is wrong is when it, or any other passion, supplants God. When I rebelled against the Lord due to what I learned at a cultic house church, I turned to music for solace.

Now I realize my mistake in blaming God for the utter blasphemy which the house church leaders taught me. Since I know the truth about the heavenly Father, I want to help others who were wounded by errant teaching.

How I Was Razed is my testimony of the way God led me to the wondrous knowledge of his Word and his character. Contact me for details on how to purchase this book for yourself or somebody you know who suffered in a blasphemous congregation.

Bruce Atchison, cults, idolatry, Kraftwerk, electronic music

How Can We Love Our Enemies, Yet Use Military Force?

It really was a Friday the thirteenth in November for unfortunate Parisians. Islamic State militants stormed several venues, killing innocent civilians as part of their religious duty to Allah.

How can anybody love such brutes? How can Christ command his followers to love the very ones who are torturing and killing their loved ones on a daily basis? The answer to both of those questions is   the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

When we understand that wicked people are under a strong delusion and can't help but be slaves to sin, we realize the dreadful fait awaiting them when they die.

Some folks might ask, "Do we just lie down and let wicked people do their horrendous acts?" The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter thirteen that the government is the one put in place by God to wield the sword of justice against  evildoers. Vengeance belongs to him but he delegates out some duties to those whom he has placed in power.

While we are to love individuals, God has ordained the governments of our lands to execute murderers domestically and abroad. Sometimes innocent people must be protected by killing the demented pawns of Satan who have long since lost touch with their consciences.

In my How I Was Razed memoir, I show how elders of a house church tormented me for fifteen years and how God led me to freedom. Contact me for details on how to buy this marvelous testimony.

Isn't Believing in God Enough?

A good friend of mine discussed the Bible and Christianity with me last month. She said she believed in God but not the Bible. For her, that was good enough. Sadly, it won't be "good enough" when she meets God on Judgement Day.

Why is this so? Throughout the Old Testament, the faithful followers of God awaited a saviour who would rescue them from sin's deadly grip. Jesus Christ was born, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross to take the punishment  meant for his followers. He fulfilled the law perfectly and rose from the dead, just as he said.

God cut some folks a break in past ages but, as the Apostle Paul told the leading thinkers of Athens, God commands all people to believe in Jesus Christ and to  turn their lives over to him. There are no IFs, ANDs, or BUTs about it.

James also wrote in his epistle that even the devils believe and tremble when it comes to God's existence. The Bible predicts a terrible end for them and all those who won't follow Christ , surrendering their lives to his rulership.

How I wish my friend could see the eternal peril she faces. In fact, I wish that ALL my friends who aren't born again could see clearly the danger they face by not surrendering to Jesus right now. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. The only time we have where we can do anything is now.

How I Was Razed shows the wondrous way God works in the lives of those who trust in Christ. Discover how wondrous this memoir is by contacting me about it.

Is it Too Late to Repent?

If you're still alive, it isn't too late to repent of your wicked ways and follow Christ. Many people think they can't be forgiven because they've done such horrible things. The good news is that Christ will NEVER turn away ANYBODY who begs his forgiveness.

Believe it or not, some of the worst people in history have been forgiven. Even the Bible shows a long list of rogues who put their trust in the Lord.

Moses was a murderer. He killed an Egyptian task master for violently beating a Hebrew slave. He went from being an adopted prince to a fugitive, then he became the deliverer of the Israelites.

King David raped Bathsheba and arranged for her husband to be killed in battle. David abused his power as king but because he tearfully repented, the Lord forgave him. The son born to Bathsheba died but the king realized that he would go to be with him someday in heaven.

I could list others, such as a murderous religious fanatic named Saul who later became Paul the apostle, but this post would become far too long. Suffice it to say that God is exceptionally patient and desires that nobody go to hell. Instead, he has magnanimously allowed us to choose our eternal destination.

Though I repented and gave my life over to Christ in 1969, Nobody mentored me. After fifteen years in a cult and nine years of rejecting God, he providentially led me to the truth. Contact me about the memoir I wrote called How I Was Razed.

Can You Take it With You When You Die?

The saying that you can't take it with you is axiomatic. People agree that you never see a U-Hall trailer towed behind a hearse. But there is one guaranteed way of taking your wealth with you when you leave this world.

Jesus Christ told a parable about a dishonest manager of a rich man's money. A bad report had reached his boss so he told the employee to give an account of what he did.

While the boss waited for the accounting report, the dishonest manager contacted the rich man's debtors. One owed a hundred barrels of oil so the manager told that person to write "fifty" on the bill. Another debtor owed a hundred bushels of wheat. The manager told him to write "eighty" on his bill.

Why did they do this? In first century Israel, Jews weren't allowed to charge interest. They got around that by saying that debtors were to pay more back than they borrowed. The dishonest manager made friends with the debtors so they'd take him into their homes when his employment ended. They wouldn't dare refuse his request because they'd be shown to be dishonest. Neither would the boss retaliate because his honor was at stake.

Christ told this parable to point out that believers should invest their goods, money, and time in the Kingdom of Heaven so they would have many saved individuals to greet them there. Moths, rust, and thieves can't get at that treasure. Neither can our greedy governments tax that.

I once believed that the Lord should bless me with a lottery win so that I could give more to spread the gospel. My How I Was Razed book shows how the Lord led me out of such foolish thinking and into the truth. Contact me to learn more about this amazing story of God's providential guidance.