The Electric Prunes: "Holy Are You"

I wonder what my anti-rock-music church leaders would have thought of praising God with electric guitars. I know I'd have loved this song if somebody had played it to me when I was a teenager.

Check out the song here:

We often take the Father's holiness for granted. Like fish, we're so used to water being around us and in us. Only when we're out of water do we miss it.

Moses was one person who wanted to see God's holy glory. The father knew no mortal could withstand his full brilliance so he said to Moses in Exodus 33:21-23 (Bible in Basic English), "And the Lord said, 'See, there is a place near me, and you may take your place on the rock: And when my glory goes by, I will put you in a hole in the rock, covering you with my hand till I have gone past: Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back: but my face is not to be seen.'"

And like our heavenly Father, we too must be holy. Leviticus 20:7 (BBE) is his instruction to the descendents of Israel. "So make and keep yourselves holy, for I am the Lord your God."

It's a blessing that God is our heavenly Father, even when we stray from the truth. Malachi 3:6 (BBE) reminded the Israelites of God's mercy in judgement. "For I am the Lord, I am unchanged; and so you, O sons of Jacob, have not been cut off."

Our Master also is eternal and unchanging, as Hebrews 13:8 (BBE) reminds us. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever."

God also can speak of his unchanging nature through unholy people regarding this truth. In Numbers 23:19 (BBE), Balaam said, "God is not a man, to say what is false; or the son of man, that his purpose may be changed: what he has said, will he not do? and will he not give effect to the words of his mouth?"Though we can come boldly into his presence, our heavenly Father must be respected as he is ultimate holiness.

And if his resurrected son doesn't return by Monday, I hope to post about going for a soda and how much safer it is.

Are God and Allah the Same Person?

This month, I want to deal with the subject of Islam. Certain people teach that we worship the same deity as the Muslims. They reason that since both religions claim Abraham as their father, it must mean we worship the same creator. This is obviously false.

If God and Allah were the same deity, the Bible and the Quran would agree with each other. After all, the Old Testament and the New Testament agree. Neither contradicts the other.

But the Quran gainsays Holy Scripture in many places. It denies the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and many other tenets of Christianity. And as I pointed out before, it calls Jews and Christians "apes" and "pigs."

Why would God suddenly change from being the heavenly Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to being a single entity? Did he forget or lie when he said in Malachi 3:6 (KJV), "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."

Jesus also said in Revelation 22:13 (KJV) that, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." How could he say that if he were a mere prophet as the Quran claims?

Furthermore, how could the Holy Spirit be a mere angel when Peter accused Ananias of lying to the Lord about the sale price of some land? Acts 5:3 and 4 (BBE) reads, "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has the Evil One put it into your heart to be false to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While you had it, was it not your property? and after you had given it in exchange, was it not still in your power? how has this purpose come into your mind? you have been false, not to men, but to God.'"

This shows without doubt that God and Allah aren't the same entity. Just as two people can have the same name and yet be totally different, so we can see by these verses and other statements in Holy Scripture that the god of the Muslims is not God at all.

I'll be covering more of this topic in my upcoming book, You Think You're Going to Heaven? A god by any other name can't save people. Only the one who sent his son to die for the sins of sinful humanity can save us.

On Thursday, I'll post about the false claim that Muhammad was the prophet like unto Moses. Muslims think this is true but it obviously isn't.

Saturday Song: Strawberry Alarm Clock, "Desiree"

Did you ever hear a song and not realize who sang it? That happened to me in June of 1970. To me, Strawberry Alarm Clock was a psychedelic band which had the hit "Incense Peppermints back in 1967. This new song didn't sound at all like it was from the same band.

Hear Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Desiree"

Twenty-four years later, I found out that this song was sung by Strawberry Alarm Clock. On the CD of their best hits, I could hear the change in the band's sound. Even so, it was the same group of musicians who recorded all those great songs.

So too is God the same throughout history. Look at what Malachi 3:6 (KJV) says. "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."

Though we now are in the New Testiment age, God is still consistant in his character. Cults like Islam and the Mormons say our relationship with him has changed but it hasn't. Old Testament and New Testament believers are saved the same way, no matter who they are or where they came from.

So, what do you think of the song and what I've written? Please leave me a comment in the box below. If you don't feel like it, have a lovely weekend anyway.

Stay tuned for my next blog post. It's in reference to a certain American comedian and his famous phrase.

God Loves Jews and Christians But Allah Hates Them?

This month, I want to show how different the God of the Bible is from Islam's Allah. Far too many Christians, who ought to know better, assume that God and Allah are the same person. They most certainly are not.

As I noted in a previous post, God is jealous, meaning protective, of his people who he loves. He chose Israel out of all the peoples of the world to be the ones through whom his beloved son would be born. As he spoke through one of his prophets in Zechariah 1:14 (KJV), "So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy."

The Queen of Sheba noticed God's love being lavished on Israel and said to Solomon in 1 Kings 10:9 (KJV),  "Blessed be the LORD thy God, which  delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the  LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do  judgment and justice."

And as Christ's most impulsive disciple noted in 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV),  "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:"

But the Qu'ran refutes this by saying in sura 3:64, (translated by Ali ‘Imran) "Say, “O People of the Book, come to terms common between us and you: that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate nothing with Him, and that none of us takes others as lords besides Allah.” And if they turn away, say, “Bear witness that we have submitted.: 

This verse denies that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are divine. Why would God say they were before this and then deny it? Either he's inconsistent or Allah isn't the God of creation.

The Bible shows in Malachi 3:6 (KJV) that, "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."

Here is additional proof that Allah can't be God. Why would he love Christians when sura 3:151 states, "We will throw terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, because they attribute to Allah partners for which He revealed no sanction. Their lodging is the Fire. Miserable is the lodging of the evildoers."

I could list so many other examples of the vast difference between God and Allah but I'll save them for my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? People need to realize that ONLY in Christ is there salvation from hell. And before our Lord was born, people such as Abraham were saved by their trust in God, not their own works.