Lenny Kravitz: "Black And White America"

The civil rights movement of the sixties was supposed to end discrimination and give black folks equal opportunities. In spite of Affirmative Action and legislation against racism during the past fifty years, America is more racially polarized than ever.

Lenny Kravitz wrote a powerful song addressing the struggle for equality and the end of racism. Check it out here:

This may come as a surprise to certain folks but racism exists in every culture. God rightfully forbad the descendents of Israel from intermarrying with gentiles or even to enter into their homes. Yet the Jews of Christ's time felt superior because God had chosen them to be his people.

As we read in Acts 10:44 and 45 (Bible in Basic English), "While Peter was saying these words, the Holy Spirit came on all those who were hearing the word. And the Jews of the faith, who had come with Peter, were full of wonder, because the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles."

And in spite of gentiles coming to have faith in Christ, the apostles at Jerusalem couldn't accept that fact at first. Peter had to go to Jerusalem and contend with those who felt he shouldn't have gone into an uncircumcised man's house.

As Peter explained in Acts 11:17 and 18 (BBE), "'If then God gave them, when they had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the same as he gave to us, who was I to go against God?' And hearing these things they said nothing more, but gave glory to God, saying, 'Then to the Gentiles as to us has God given a change of heart, so that they may have life.'"

We can read in the next few verses that many who were preaching salvation only went to the Jews. But Paul was continuously having to explain to believing Jews that salvation was for all who would call upon him for salvation.

Provided that Christ hasn't returned by Saturday, I hope to feature the last song Jim Morrison sang on before his untimely death.

Why Won't My Church Attendance Get Me to Heaven?

This month, I'll be examining two questions. The first one is which requirements will let us enter heaven. The second question concerns our eternal destiny in general. After all, everybody has differing opinions on the answers to these matters but we still must make the right choice before death.

In most Christian denominations, congregants have the notion that attending church regularly will please God. When I was a child, I received an award for the best church attendance in 1965. Of course I had no choice back then. Every girl and boy in Jericho Hill School had to attend their parents 'denomination's church each Sunday except when they were ill.

So what does the Bible say about regular attendance? Hebrews 10:23-25 (BBE) reads, "Let us keep the witness of our hope strong and unshaking, for he is true who has given his word: And let us be moving one another at all times to love and good works; Not giving up our meetings, as is the way of some, but keeping one another strong in faith; and all the more because you see the day coming near."

From this and other passages, we can deduce that the purpose of church attendance is to build up our trust in Christ and to encourage others. No mention is made in Scripture regarding attendance being counted toward earning one's place in heaven. In fact, there is only one way to be saved that Scripture mentions and that's trusting in Christ's atoning work.

Perhaps the most-often quoted Bible passage on this matter is Romans 10:9-10 (BBE). "Because, if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have faith in your heart that God has made him come back from the dead, you will have salvation: For with the heart man has faith to get righteousness, and with the mouth he says that Jesus is Lord to get salvation."

This is obvious but some churches insist that works must be added to gain eternal life. According to James, works are a proof of salvation, not an aid to being saved from hell. Look at what he wrote in the second chapter of his epistle, verses fourteen to eighteen (BBE).

What use is it, my brothers, for a man to say that he has faith, if he does nothing? will such a faith give him salvation? If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of the day's food, And one of you says to them, "go in peace, be warm and full of food;" but you do not give them the things of which their bodies have need, what profit is there in this? Even so faith without works is dead.

But a man may say, "you have faith and I have works;" let me see your faith without your works, and I will make my faith clear to you by my works.

These, and many other verses, show that it's faith in Christ which produces good works in a person. Doing nice things to save yourself is extremely displeasing to the Father since it's rejection of Christ's atonement on the cross.

I'll be writing in depth on this subject in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? I want nobody to go to hell because supposedly-knowledgeable and self-righteous teachers lied to them about God's entrance requirements. Once I get the debt monkey off my back, I hope to self-publish my next book. Until then, keep following these posts.

What Does Working Out Our Own Salvation mean?

 I've written before that salvation is a gift, not something people can earn. Even so, some folks might remind me of Philippians 2:12 and 13. "So then, my loved ones, as you have at all times done what I say, not only when I am present, but now much more when I am not with you, give yourselves to working out your salvation with fear in your hearts; For it is God who is the cause of your desires and of your acts, for his good pleasure." Doesn't this indicate that God wants us to work to be saved? Not at all and here's why.

Among the admonitions in Paul's letter to the church in Philippi, he told them to, for lack of a better word, unpack the ramifications of their salvation.  Just as an unzipping program takes files out of a compressed folder and restores them to readability on a computer, so we must apply the reality of our salvation to our lives.

For example, how do we respond to those who insult us? We know that we must be humble and that vengeance belongs to the Lord. Therefore we don't beat the stuffing out of the person who insulted us but we  pray for that person. In fact, being maligned for Christ's sake should make us glad that we suffer for the sake of our saviour. That was the attitude which the disciples had when persecution arose against them after Pentecost.

Unzipping salvation in our lives governs every aspect of our affairs. It means that we work as if we're working for Christ, even in the most dead-end of jobs. It means we make no under-the-table deals. Neither do we practice any sort of licence in secret since God sees all.

Applying God's law of love is an intuitive process. We need no mile-thick rule book for every possible situation when we place the good of others and the honour of Christ ahead of petty gain.

As for me, I had plenty of unzipping to do. You can read in my How I Was Razed memoir how the Lord providentially led me out of cultic bondage and into his glorious truth. It's available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm in paperback.

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.

Why does sin bug God?

This is like asking why people get so upset about being slandered and unfairly condemned. Sin is disobedience to God's protective laws. He wants people to reap the benefits of obeying him rather than falling for Satan's soul-destroying lies.

Sin is also an insult to the Lord's holiness. His desire is that we should be free of self-centeredness and pride. Sin, on the other hand,  is our middle finger response to all the magnanimous good God seeks for us. Like a child who demands his own way, humanity fell into the trap of sin in Eden when Eve fell for the idea that God was keeping back good things from her and Adam. Since then, the sin virus has infected us all.

Sin likewise helps Satan to drag many gullible people down with him to hell. We think we need to make our lives livable rather than trusting in the wisdom and loving protection of our Lord. Satan, a rebellious angel who dragged a third of the heavenly host down with him, doesn't love us at all. We're just pawns he can use, abuse, and toss in the garbage when we no longer are useful to his diabolical purpose.

God also showed his magnanimous love for us by substituting his son in our place to atone for sin. He could have just wiped out humanity or made us all robots but we wouldn't genuinely love him. Neither would we appreciate his grandiose gift of salvation had he not allowed us to know both good and evil.

You Think You're Going to Heaven is my next book, provided that something doesn't happen to stop me writing it. People need to think about eternity and realize that life is so easily snuffed out. Like an elevator, we can only go up to God or down to eternal conscious torment. As much as we would try to deny this, it's the way it is.

PASTORS, FEED THOSE LAMBS!

One tragic mistake some vacation Bible school organizers make is to let their students go without following them up. Just as newborn animals and humans need milk, so do new believers need the basic nourishment of the gospel. Sadly, many children wander from Christianity or get sucked into cults because they aren't established in their new faith.

VBS was always an enjoyable time for me when I was young. We heard Bible stories, made crafts, and had lots of cookies to eat as well as Kool-Aid to wash them down. The Lutheran church kept us entertained but there was something important continually left out from the curriculum.

I found out what was missing in 1969. Having been kicked out of VBS the previous year for not being able to read the microscopic print in the Bibles, which the paster handed out, I went to a different one. It was organized by a local lady and she taught it in the basement of her home. When my sister's friend invited her and she invited me, I accepted.

Along with the Bible stories and goodies, Mrs Blacklock explained the gospel to us. I'd never heard about how I could have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Anglican and Lutheran churches mentioned nothing about this. When she asked us to give our hearts and lives to Jesus, I obeyed. After all, I was eager to be a good Christian and I didn't want to go to hell.

Sadly, nobody followed up with me regarding my commitment of my life to the Lord. Because church had been boring in the past, I felt reluctant to go. I also didn't know what to make of all those denominations who claimed their church was the best one. As a result of lacking discipleship, I got my theology fix from radio programs. One of those was The World Tomorrow, hosted by Garner Ted Armstrong. He seemed to know deeper truths in the Bible which other programs never taught. They seemed immature whereas The World Tomorrow appeared more advanced.

Because of this errant program's unbiblical doctrines, I easily became seduced by the cultic teachings of a rogue minister. For fifteen and a half years, I told others about his supposedly advanced teachings. And what was my reward for my devotion? The cult's elders continuous harping on my supposed lack of faith to be healed finally drove me away from them and God.

I wrote about how the heavenly Father led me to the truth about his nature and doctrine in How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Read more about this amazing testimony of his wondrous guidance at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers.

WHY AREN'T MORE CHRISTIANS READING THEIR BIBLES?

Isn't it odd that in an age where there are a wide-ranging variety of Bible translations in English and other languages, available in paper as well as electronic form, that fewer Christians read the scriptures? I think it's sad. Since I gave my life to Christ in 1969, I've had a strong desire to learn all I could about my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This, so I'm told by a variety of Christian sources, is a sure sign that I'm truly born again.

Thanks to an e-mail from Ruth L. Snyder, a fellow Christian and writer, I have some startling statistics which show the decline in Bible reading in Canada. I'm sure the figures are similar in America and Australia.

In 2013, the Canadian Bible Forum, a group of nine Canadian Bible agencies – including the Canadian Bible Society (CBS) – together with The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, engaged world-class market research company, Angus Reid Strategies, to undertake the Canadian Bible Engagement Study (CEBS). More than 4,500 people across Canada were interviewed for the study, making CEBS the most recent comprehensive national study of its kind. The study revealed many details about Bible reading and engagement, with the overall finding being that most Canadians are not reading and are not interested in reading their Bible.

Specifically, study results revealed that About one in seven Canadian Christians, or 14%, read the Bible at least once a week. The majority of Canadians, including those who identify themselves as Christian, read the Bible either rarely or not at all. Only 18% of Canadians strongly agree the Bible is the Word of God, down from 35% in 1996. One in seven Canadians (13%) and about one in four Christians (23%) strongly agree that the Bible is relevant to modern life.

This indicates to me that there are two kinds of Christians. The majority profess to believe in God but don't possess salvation. They're nice folks but they haven't been fundamentally changed by surrendering the reins of their lives to Christ.

The second group of Christians have the Holy Spirit residing in their hearts and therefore have been radically changed. Like microwave cooking, transformation begins on the inside and works its way outward.

On the longest-running radio drama in history called Unshackled, I've heard true stories of how non Christians noticed a distinct change in the lives as well as the appearance of their born again friends. Moreover, it isn't feigned but a genuine change in a person's being. This shows me that real transformation does happen with a small number of those labeling themselves as Christians.

In How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity, I showed how I was misled by a pseudo-Christian church. God providentially led me to a proper understanding of himself and his Word. Check out my compelling testimony at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Virtual Bookworm Publishers.

HOW TO STOP BEING A ZOMBIE

Believe it or not, many of the people in this world today are zombies. Worse yet, they don't know that they don't know that they are. Fortunately, there is a way to become unzombied, if there is such a word.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus that "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins:" Unless a person is born again, as Jesus told Nicodemus, they can't see the kingdom of heaven. This means that non-Christians are dead to the spiritual truth of God and therefore need to be born of the spirit.

All this means that people aren't truly alive without becoming adopted into the family of Christ. All the good works in the world won't get people to heaven because they are done with wrong, often self-centered, motives.

Because Christ was raised from the dead physically, we who believe in him also have the assurance of physical resurrection. But first we need to be made alive spiritually. By repenting of our sins and surrendering our lives to Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit. This third person of the Godhead helps us understand the Bible and become steadily more like Christ. This process is called sanctification.

God has made the good news, called the gospel, so easy that even a child can understand it. Yet theologians spend their lives plumbing the depths of this wonderful offer from the Lord. If you wish to be made alive spiritually, admit to God in prayer that you're a sinner and you need saving from the eternal death sentence all humanity inherited from Adam and Eve. Jesus said he would never turn away anybody who came to him and asked for forgiveness.

The next step is to find a church where the pastor teaches from the Bible and explains what each verse means in context with the rest of Scripture. Since so many churches have ministers who would rather give moral advice than explain what God has said, it's a good idea to pray for help in finding a well-balanced church.

I wish I had known all of this when I surrendered my life to Christ at a home-based vacation Bible school in 1969. Because nobody helped me understand my new life, I ended up in a cultic house church. I wrote how the Lord led me to freedom in How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. You can find out more about this wonderful story at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers.

WHAT IS GOD REALLY LIKE?

Is God some sort of cosmic bully who demands to be loved or he'll send people to eternal torment in hell? This is what most non-Christians believe. Having been both a Christian and an atheist, I understand the misunderstanding that many people have toward the creator of the universe. Thanks to wise Bible teachers, I now comprehend who God really is and why he created hell for those who insist in refusing his generous offer of salvation.

Contrary to what God-hating people claim, the Lord has made his presence plain through his creation. Romans 1:20-21 says, "For from the first making of the world, those things of God which the eye is unable to see, that is, his eternal power and existence, are fully made clear, he having given the knowledge of them through the things which he has made, so that men have no reason for wrongdoing: Because, having the knowledge of God, they did not give glory to God as God, and did not give praise, but their minds were full of foolish things, and their hearts, being without sense, were made dark."

But God didn't leave us without help or hope. ? Jesus said in John 3:16-19   "For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever has faith in him may not come to destruction but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to be judge of the world; he sent him so that the world might have salvation through him. The man who has faith in him does not come up to be judged; but he who has no faith in him has been judged even now, because he has no faith in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the test by which men are judged: the light has come into the world and men have more love for the dark than for the light, because their acts are evil."

Right from the start, humans chose to rebel against their maker rather than obey him. History shows how people choose wickedness rather than obeying the Lord. Furthermore, children are an apt example of how humanity is born depraved. After all, parents never have to teach children how to be bad whereas obedience needs to be taught.

Additionally, people suppress the truth to keep their consciences blind. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:21-22, " Because, having the knowledge of God, they did not give glory to God as God, and did not give praise, but their minds were full of foolish things, and their hearts, being without sense, were made dark. Seeming to be wise, they were in fact foolish,"
 This shows that everybody knows that there's a creator but they dismiss the knowledge from their minds.

So we can see by this, and many other scripture verses, that God doesn't want people to go to hell but he does respect our choices. If he didn't, we all would be in eternal torment. C. S. Lewis said that believers say "Thy will be done," to God whereas he says to unrepentant folks "Thy will be done." In other words, people volunteer to go to hell.

I wrote about how I came to know God as a loving heavenly father in How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Read more about this inspiring testimony at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers.

THE REAL DEAL ABOUT EASTER.

Around the world today, Christians remember a brutal execution in the Middle East which happened about two millennia ago. Though thousands of people were crucified by the Roman government, this particular execution was accompanied by some strange occurrences. The land was thrown into darkness for three hours, then an earthquake shook Jerusalem as a carpenter from Nazareth died. One Roman centurion said, "Surely this was the Son of God." In itself, that declaration was amazing.

It's a shame that my first recollections of Easter weren't connected with what the Son of God accomplished on the cross. I remember my mom telling my sister, brother, and me that she had a special treat for us as we finished eating our breakfast cereal. She opened the cupboard drawer where she kept paper bags and the like, then pulled out a handful of chocolate eggs wrapped in multi-coloured foil. Then she unwrapped Roy's egg since he was too young to do that on his own.

My Easter egg had blue, red, and silver patterns on it. I admired them for a few seconds, then unwrapped my treat. The creamy centre and rich milk chocolate tasted so sweet that I ate the whole thing quickly.

"Can I have another one?" I asked Mom as I licked my fingers.

"No," she sad sadly, "That's all there is. That's all the Easter Bunny left."

I felt disappointed as I wondered why he didn't leave us more than the three that Mom found. That seemed to be the way with all tasty goodies. Boring foods such as potatoes and peas were plentiful but chocolate bars and candies were always in short supply.

I remember learning about Christ's crucifixion in Sunday school each Easter but I didn't apply his awesome gift of salvation to my life until I was almost thirteen years old. Perhaps it was the way the Anglican and Lutheran teachers told the story that made it seem like some long-ago event with no connection to my life. Whatever it was that hindered my understanding, everything suddenly fell into place once I realized that the only way to heaven is to surrender my life to Jesus.

Though I still enjoy chocolate Easter eggs today, I now delight in knowing that I'm an adopted child of the King of Kings. The "good" in Good Friday isn't that an innocent man died a horrible death but that the Son voluntarily swapped his innocence for our guilt and satisfied God's righteous justice. What an amazing transfer salvation is.

I mentioned my redemption experience in Deliverance From Jericho: Six Years in a Blind School and what followed that in my newly-published How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity memoir. This testimony of God's amazing grace toward me is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm.