Have you ever done something that you deeply regret? If your answer to this question is no, then think harder. We've all done something we wish we could undo. For me, there have been plenty of things that I have done, too many to mention here. Some of these things were illegal (stealing, smoking pot), some were legal, but immoral (cheating on an exam, pornography). At any rate, all of these things are sins, and I broke at least two of the Ten Commandments in the process (just by these examples, I would be willing to bet that all ten have been broken in one way or another). That begs the question: If a guy like me who has reportedly broken all ten of the commandments, then how could he possibly go to Heaven, let alone claim to be a Christian?
That's when Satan airs his next negative attack ad. He will get inside your skull and try to break you down until you believe that God hates you and there is no hope left. He will tell you that you're too far gone. Your sins are too great. There is no way that God will let you into Heaven now, just give up.
Jesus is very clear that He does care about you. In the parable of the lost sheep it is explained that Jesus does care about the lost, including commandment breakers. In fact, it says that when the lost get found, the Lord rejoices and is happier that the lost one came to Christ than about the ones who already had been saved.
A more direct way to refute Satan's negative attack ads is what some people call the cornerstone verse of the Bible, John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." If you look at the last half of this verse, you will notice that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. Eternal life, of course, means life everlasting with Jesus in Heaven.
Jesus did not limit his death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins to just "minor offenders". His salvation is free to anyone who is willing to repent of their sins, and turn and give their life to Christ. Murderers, adulterers, and disrespecter-of-elders, all have the offer of salvation in Christ! Do not let Satan fool you, there is no sin that God cannot, or will not, forgive.
Amen.
Reader's of my last blog post (both of you) will know that through minutes of exhaustive research I have found a few negative campaign ads against Jesus, with us as the audience. Well, this week I'm going to give you another one.
There are many "gospels" being preached out there, however, there is only one true Gospel. There are four different accounts of the true Gospel, which are in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The different gospels being preached that are contradictory to scripture are numerous. There are celebrity pastors and clergy that are considered legitimate by the masses that preach these gospels. Sometimes, with all these different things being preached, that is when the Devil airs his Negative Campaign Ad:
There are so many different people out there saying so many different things. How can you be sure which one of these things is right? How can you be sure that YOU are right. The truth is that the things that you "know" are old and outdated. These people are highly educated, and have a better understanding of Biblical truths than you do. Just look at all the other people who follow and believe them. That many people can't be wrong! It would be wise to listen to these wise teachers and what they have to say about God. Keep an open mind, and you can decide for yourself what is true.
The first thing to bring up is that the Devil will advocate at every opportunity that you try to do things with your own power, or figure things out on your own. That is where the last sentence of this ad comes into play "and you can decide for yourself what is true."
Believe it or not, this kind of behavior was talked about in the New Testament. It says in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time will come when men will not put up with the sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
Some of these false teachers fall into this. Some of them attract thousands of viewers/listeners/zombies every week. However, the Bible has instructions on how to react to such things. In verse 5 after the reading above it says "But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." So in other words, keep on keeping on. Do the things that you are called to do anyway: provide a faithful witness of Christ Jesus. Don't panic at the false teachers, don't attack them with words or violence of any kind. In fact, an attack response is what the Devil wants from you anyway.
As always, keep your head in the word, know the truth, and it will be easier to recognize what is false.
Amen.
For those who read scriptures quoted online, or anywhere for that matter (as I do, and as you should as well), you can read 2 Timothy 4 in it's entirety by clicking on the link. Parts of chapter 3 tie into it, so it is worth reading 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 as well.
Well folks, it's that time again. People are running for office and trying to beat their opponents brains in with negative attack ads. You've seen them, the ones where the political candidate tries to convince the American public that their opponent sacrifices kittens to Baal or something extreme like that. Some people are affected by these ads more than others. I am very fortunate enough to have a DVR on my TV, so I watch no commercials there. I also listen to a local Christian radio station that plays no commercials whatsoever, so no attack ads there. I didn't actually see on until I went to dinner last week at Burger King and one came up on their TV. If that weren't enough,there are news networks that have "news" segments about the attack ads.
First we need to talk about the attack ad itself, what is one? A negative attack ad is an ad which takes the fault, or perceived fault, of an opponent, and usually blows it out of proportion. If no fault can be found, then the attacker will distort the truth. In other words, lie their butts off. Then I got to thinking. I wonder how old the attack ad actually is. Do you think that Abraham Lincoln was subject to opponents who claimed he wasn't as honest as he claimed to be? Did FDR get attacks from Herbert Hoover claiming that it was un-American to have a name consisting of only three letters? Well, I decided to do a little research, and found that attack ads go back farther than Lincoln, farther back than America. Through minutes of exhaustive research, I have found the first attack ad.
Granted, no one in this story is running for political office, but the attack was between some of the biggest figures in all of history. That's right, the first attack ad appears in Genesis 3. The attack ad comes first in verse one, and then again in verses three and four. Satan (in this case in the form of a serpent) asks in the second part of verse one Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? In verses three and four he goes on to say You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.
What happens next is the first of another political tradition, the blame game. Adam and Eve both give in to the Devil, and are later caught by God. When God questions Adam, what does he do, blames someone else. Then that person blames someone else. As the great philosopher Don McClean would say, Satan was laughing with delight.
What really happened here happens all the time, and not just in political campaign attack ads. Satan tries to distract people from the reality that is God. Unfortunately, he wins people more than he loses them. Satan gets us to question our faith in God by asking Will God really forgive that sin? The same thing happens with political attack ads that happens with Satan's attack ads; each one gets increasingly attacking in nature than the last. The next one would be Did Jesus really say all those things? followed by Did Jesus really die on the cross for your sins? all leading up to Is there really a God anyway? These attacks will happen until the fight is over. As always, the best way to defend yourself against such attacks is to know the truth. Study the Word, and when claims are made check them against the word. The best weapon to have in your arsenal to fight against attacks of false accusations from the Devil is to know the truth beforehand.
Amen.
I can't find an exact clip, but pay attention between the 7:00 and 8:00 mark here.
I will be one of the first to say that I hate reality television. People with no talent can become superstars, and captivate the American, and even the world audience. However, I do enjoy two particular reality shows. The first one being Hell's Kitchen, and the other being the Amazing Race.
I like Hell's Kitchen for one reason and one reason only: It's extremely funny. I understand that Chef Gordon Ramsay can be extremely insulting to the contestants. That's the point. On the other hand, the contestants have most undoubtedly seen the show in the past, and should know exactly what they are getting into. The other reality show I watch consistently is the Amazing Race. This show profiles 11 teams of two racing around the world in the hope of winning one million dollars at the end of it. Along the way, there are different pit stops, and teams get eliminated for being last. It takes skill, a little bit of savvy, and some luck, to win this competition.
This past Sunday, the Amazing Race took all of the teams, spare the one that had been eliminated, to the city of Accra in Ghana. In case you are not aware, the poverty in this city is incredible. For this section of the race, CBS (the network that airs the show) GAVE each team $137 (that's almost 200 Ghanaian Cedis for those keeping track at home) to help them. During this portion of the race, the contestants had to pass through some crowded streets. Three teams were approached by some locals begging for money, one asking for five dollars. One of the teams consisted of two recent Ivy League graduates, another of a father/daughter team, the daughter being Ms. Kentucky, and a mother/daughter team that just reunited after the daughter was put up for adoption shortly after birth 21 years earlier. The Ivy League team tried to ignore the beggar, the father/daughter team told the beggar that they had no money. The mother/daughter team was the only one to give the beggar money.
The teams are given almost everything they need to complete this race. The airline flights are paid for, they are fed during rest periods between legs of the race. In certain situations, they are even given transportation. For the things that are not given to them, they get money to pay for them, which includes cab fare, and maybe gasoline for vehicles provided. Given these facts, it intrigues me that two of the three teams showed would actively avoid giving someone five dollars, out of the $137 that was provided to them for this leg, and what they had leftover from the last one.
This is a perfect example of Jesus' teaching about compassion. First off, when you look at the life of Jesus, you will notice that the things that He did were out of love for us, and not for Himself. He calls all of us to do the same as well. In fact, in Matthew 22:39 Jesus tells us that loving our neighbors as ourselves is one of the most important commandments of all. I would think it safe to say that the beggar in this situation is someone that Jesus would consider as a neighbor.
For those who are wondering, the team that gave the money to the beggar, Andie and Jenna, were eliminated at the end of that leg of the race. This goes to prove another Biblical principle, that while Jesus does promise rewards to those who put their faith in Him and live as He did, will be rewarded (eternal life), just not necessarily when, where, and how it is most convenient for them.
Amen.
