Is your Religion a Fake?

I'm sure you've heard about the knock-off Rolex watches which are sold to unsuspecting customers. The time pieces look genuine but they've really been manufactured illegally.

Spiritually, there are many counterfeit versions of Christianity being peddled by TV preachers and writers of popular paperbacks.

As with spiritual matters, nobody likes to be fooled into parting with their hard-earned money and then discovering what they bought was a forgery. This happened to me recently when I bought what I thought was a real Velociraptor egg from a shop. Only later did I read the fine print on the  enclosed card that said it was only a replica.

I had the same thing happen with an album titled Beatlemania. I found it in a second hand shop and assumed it might be one of those early pressings from the band on small American labels. The record was really by some guys calling themselves The Beat Boys. They covered five Beatles tunes, and VERY badly too,  as well as seven of their own songs.

So how can we believe the truth in this world of lies? Truth goes against the grain of human nature. It also can be shown to be false upon closer examination. Jesus said in John 8:32 (KJV),  "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Lies bind people like animals when they go for the bait in the traps.

Had I been trained to read the Bible correctly, I would never have fallen into the trap of a cult. Read how God providentially rescued me and put me right in How I Was Razed, for sale now on Amazon.

Are We Not Gods?

As I've pointed out many times, so-called anointed prophets wrench scripture verses way out of their context. In some cases, they'll even misquote portions of scripture to fit their wicked notions.

Psalm 82:6 (KJV) is a case in point. It reads, "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High."

Unstable teachers have misled their followers to believe that we are "little gods" who are empowered by God Almighty. Others taught, and still teach, that God was once a man who lived on another planet and eventually became a god. They even claim that we'll be gods of our own planets in the future.

As in many misreading of Bible texts, these wicked preachers pay zero attention to the context of the verse. The psalm is actually about judgement on Israel. You can easily see that fact in the preceding verses.

Immediately in the next verse, the real God puts that notion to death. The verse plainly states, "But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes." It's obvious that the declaration about being gods is a mockery of the leaders who had the power of life and death over the Israelites.

For this reason, and many others, it's imperative that every single Christian know their scriptures and learn how to read them properly. I never received such training and that gap in my education led me into a cult. Read about how God rescued me and put me right in How I Was Razed by visiting Amazon.

What Happened to the Blood Moon Prophecies?

Like the people I wrote about in my previous post, some Christians see judgement and doom in every event. For example, there were four "blood moons" in 2015 and 2016. Mark Biltz and John Hagee claimed that it meant a bloody slaughter of the Jews in Israel.

I don't remember anything like what they claimed happening in Israel. There were quite a few stabbing's of Jews by Muslims but violence is common in the Middle East.

This sort of false prophesying has gone on for millennia. Even in my lifetime, I remember how the Children of God cult members fled America because their leader said that a comet would destroy the United States in January of 1974.

I remember the Jehovah's Witnesses and the house church leader, where I attended, saying there would be a famine in 1975 and we all needed to stock up on non-perishable food. Since I barely had money to pay the rent and buy groceries, the elder woman of the church promised that I could come there to live during the famine.

Then there was the planetary alignment of 1982 which certain people claimed would bring on catastrophic events. March the tenth was supposed to be the day but it came and went without incident.

We all remember Y2K and how it was a huge flop. Various Christian organizations were hocking freeze-dried survival food to believers. They thought that anarchy would break out once the mainframe computers crashed and city people would panic.

In my How I Was Razed book, I showed how paranoid the elders of the house church were regarding the mark of the beast and end times disasters. Read more about this wondrous testimony of God's providential leading at Amazon.

Need We Be "Prayed Up"?

Have you heard evangelical Christians use the phrase "prayed up" to mean that they're fully protected by God? We must repent of any sins we might have committed or any omission of Christ's commands but will he still protect us if we forget to ask? I see nothing in the Bible which even hints that we should be "prayed up."

some people misapply Psalm 66:18 (KJV) which reads, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:" Regarding iniquity means to cherish a sin instead of repenting of it.

The Lord is always willing to forgive us when we ask for his forgiveness and mean it. Psalm 34:18 (KJV) promises, "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

Likewise, Psalm 51:17 (KJV)states, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

And look at what Isaiah 66:2 (KJV) declares. "'For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been,' saith the LORD: 'but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.'"

"But that's just the Old Testament," some might be saying. Oh? Look at what  Christ's favourite disciple wrote in 1 John 1:9 (KJV), "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

In my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven, I plan on writing about the superstitions which keep people out of heaven. Relying on anybody or anything other than God is idolatry, even upon being "prayed up."

Are Some Christians Superstitious?

I wrote last time about how the leader of an errant house church taught me all sorts of crazy and unbiblical doctrines. He, and his female sheep dog elder, had a superstitious mind set regarding demons. Like many Pentecostals and Charismatic believers, this couple inordinately feared Satan's minions.

One superstition they had was that the blood from the minister's stigmata wounds had special power to ward off demons and ill health. They adopted this notion by misapplying Acts 19:12 (KJV) which reads, "So that from his (Paul's) body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them."

They actually believed that those blood-stained rags would protect me from demonic harm and illnesses when I traveled to Toronto in the autumn of 1975. The fact that neither happened to me then didn't prove their assertion to be correct.

What we all need to remember is that the times of miracles, which I've already blogged about, occurred during specific time periods. There was the first batch during the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Then there were the ones which happened during the times of Elijah and Elishah.
The third, and final, cluster of miracles happened during the times of Christ and his apostles.

Miracles rarely happen today. Like the silence from heaven between the periods of miracles in history, the Lord is doing no public display of wonders. Far too many Christians try to force God to heal themselves and their friends but it

I thank God heartily that he freed me from superstition and the fear which accompanies it. How I Was Razed is a book which tells the glorious story of how God led me out of that church and into his truth. Read more about it at Amazon.

doesn't happen without God's will requiring it.

Why No Mention of Mohammad?

Fifteen years ago, America woke up to the fact that the nation was under attack by jihadists. In times past, the attacks by Muslim warriors were minimized by most media outlets.

Sadly, people today still are ignorant about the twisted designs of Islam for world domination. It's no mere religion among others but an antithetical belief system designed to subjugate humanity.

One thing which occurred to me recently is that Christ's parable of the vineyard has no mention in it of Mohammad coming along to give a further revelation. This is what Jesus' parable said.

    Matthew 21:33-41 (BBE) Give ear to another story. A master of a house made a vine     garden, and put a wall round it, and made a place for crushing out the wine, and made a     tower, and let it out to field-workers, and went into another country.
    34  And when the time for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the workmen, to get     the fruit.
    35  And the workmen made an attack on his servants, giving blows to one, putting     another to death, and stoning another.
    36  Again, he sent other servants more in number than the first: and they did the same to     them.
    37  But after that he sent his son to them, saying, They will have respect for my son.
    38  But when the workmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is he who will     one day be the owner of the property; come, let us put him to death and take his heritage.
    39  And they took him and, driving him out of the vine-garden, put him to death.
    40  When, then, the lord of the vine-garden comes, what will he do to those workmen?
    41  They say to him, He will put those cruel men to a cruel death, and will let out the vine-    garden to other workmen, who will give him the fruit when it is ready.

This parable nowhere declares that another prophet will come after God sends his son to give further testimony and seek the fruit of the vineyard. The only one promised by Christ to be sent to his followers was the Holy Spirit. He came fifty days after Christ rose from the dead.

In my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven?, I plan on showing how Christ, not Mohammad, Moses, angels, or the Old Testament law, is superior to Christ. The entire book of Hebrews explains this superiority of God's son. I expect to be quoting from it extensively.

Who Gives Us Rights?

I wrote last time regarding our total commitment to Christ. Even though most of us aren't called to be missionaries or pastors, everything we have and are belongs to our Lord. He's the boss and we're just managers of what he's given us.

So, where do our rights come from? There are only two sources of rights, namely from God or the governments he puts in place. We humans foolishly think we have self-appointed rights but that isn't so.

The Apostle Paul wrote about the role of government in Romans 13:1-7 (BBE). He said, "Let everyone put himself under the authority of the higher powers, because there is no power which is not of God, and all powers are ordered by God. For which reason everyone who puts himself against the authority puts himself against the order of God: and those who are against it will get punishment for themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear to the good work but to the evil. If you would have no fear of the authority, do good and you will have praise; For he is the servant of God to you for good. But if you do evil, have fear; for the sword is not in his hand for nothing: he is God's servant, making God's punishment come on the evil-doer. So put yourselves under the authority, not for fear of wrath, but because you have the knowledge of what is right. For the same reason, make payment of taxes; because the authority is God's servant, to take care of such things at all times. Give to all what is their right: taxes to him whose they are, payment to him whose right it is, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour is to be given."

This shows clearly who is really in charge. Politicians tend to act as if they have nobody to whom they must give an account of their actions. In democracies, the people have a hand in choosing their government leaders. Even so, as I've found out the hard way by working with the Wildrose Party, getting rid of a corrupt government isn't as easy as it sounds.

As we read all through the Bible, God is the one ultimately in charge. A day will come when every single person will give an account to God Almighty regarding what they did in this life. My hope and prayer is that, if you haven't done so yet, you'll acknowledge God's sovereign rule over your life and yield your will to Christ.

I intend to thoroughly cover this subject in my next book, You Think You're Going to Heaven? God willing, it should be in print at the end of next year.

What Does It Mean To Follow Christ?

As I wrote last time, Christians are followers of Jesus Christ. But what does that really mean? The word "follow" has lost much of its meaning today. To follow a religious teacher originally meant to be devoted to that person's teachings.

Following in Christ's usage meant to give up one's earthly pursuits and depend upon him. Jesus met Andrew and Simon, also called Peter, and gave them a command. The Bible says in Matthew 4:19 (KJV), "And he saith unto them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.'"

In those days, the family business was handed down from one generation to the next. To just leave it and follow somebody would normally be unthinkable.

But not everybody who wanted to follow Jesus accepted his all-or-nothing level of commitment. One man wanted to follow but he had a dead relative to mourn for. Christ said in Matthew 8:22 (KJV)  "But Jesus said unto him, 'Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.'"

Likewise, Matthew gave up a lucrative government job to follow Christ. He wrote in Matthew 9:9 (KJV) "And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, 'Follow me.' And he arose, and followed him."

Christ himself said in Matthew 16:24 (KJV) "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.'" Taking up one's cross meant being willing to die for the Lord.

We have sports coaches today who demand the absolute best out of their players. Those who aren't wholly committed to the team would soon be off it. So it is with Christ. Even though we haven't left all to follow him, everything we have and all that we do must be governed by him.

In my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven?, I intend to write in detail regarding this attitude which all followers of Jesus must have.

Do We Build the Church?

It seems that every congregation hears messages about how we need to make the church more seeker friendly. The music needs to be updated and the awkward passages in scripture regarding judgement must be kept out of the sermons. This, so many church elders think, will build the church and make unsaved people feel more comfortable. Is that really what we're supposed to do?

According to Jesus Christ, he's the one who will build his church. We merely go out and tell others about him and if they come, they come.

Look at what Christ said in Matthew 16:18 (KJV). "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Jesus had just asked who people said he, the Son of Man, was. Then he asked who they said he was. Peter answered that he was the Son of God. Jesus named him Peter, a little rock, and on the rock that he was the Christ, he would build his church.

But what are we to do? Christ told his disciples in Mark 16:15 (KJV), "And he said unto them, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.'" While we are to baptize and teach new disciples, it's up to Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, to bring people in to fill his church.

There was a time when I believed the fallacy that we needed to accommodate our church to the world rather than the world to the church. Now I know better.

I wrote about my growth in the Lord in a book called How I Was Razed. Visit Amazon to find out more about the wondrous work wrought in my life by Christ.

My thanks to John MacArthur for inspiring this blog post.