Days of Strong Delusion

We are living in the days that the apostle Paul wrote about, the days of the spirit of strong delusion. "Delusional" is an apt description of the following quote I read from an article on Sky News:

'France international footballer Lassana Diarra also said his cousin Asta Diakite was killed in the attacks. In a tribute, the former Chelsea and Arsenal midfielder said: "She was like a big sister to me.
"In this climate of terror, it is important for all of us who represent our country and its diversity to stay united against a horror which has no colour, no religion. Stand together for love, respect and peace."'

Are you kidding me? No religion? Was it Mormon missionaries shooting up that concert hall in Paris? Did the killers shout "Krishna is Lord"? Excuse me, but we know e-x-a-c-t-l-y what religion these killers were following: ISLAM...the teachings of the prophet Muhammed.

Mary and I travelled down to Osceola to hear Mark Cahill speak at a church meeting down there. The person sitting next to Mark on his flight up to Des Moines asked him how did he know that Allah, the god of Islam, was not the true God? Mark's answer was something like this: "What kind of God would applaud the killing of all those people in the Bataclan concert hall by these terrorists? 

And after these men get killed (or blew themselves up), and their God shakes their hands and says "Thank you so much for killing all those people", and welcomes them into Paradise?" What kind of God anywhere would do that? No way."

Hope you are wide awake and looking around at what is going down in the world today. If you are born-again, you don't have to worry about any of it. The moment we die, our God welcomes us into His presence only because of what Jesus Chris has done for us. If you are not born-again, you are in big trouble and need to be born-again. Look to Jesus Christ alone, turn to him as a sinner, and trust in his shed blood on the cross as payment for all your sin, and the one true God of the Bible will forgive all of your sin (yesterday's sin, today's , tomorrow's & forever) and give you the gift of eternal life.

The Truth About Hitler (You Probably Will Never Hear About)

Atheists and others frequently use the actions of past historical figures to discredit Christianity, and slander our God. They set up a strawman argument, and then justify their willful rebellion against their Creator: sinful men standing in judgment of a Holy God! 

The Crusades are a favorite argument along this line. However, the Crusades were a product of the Roman Catholic Church, not followers of Jesus Christ, who commands us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), not put them to death. The Crusaders were following the Pope, not the Lord Jesus Christ.

Another argument is that Hitler was a Christian, and that the Holocaust was a result of Christianity. The following video answers this false claim, and shines the light of God's truth and history on what Hitler really believed and did. Please watch:

Contrast

A couple of weeks ago, I received a text message from someone I do not know, telling me: "I found your Bible." Now, I knew they hadn't found my Bible, because I was reading it at the time. But Mary and I give away free Bibles, and we put our name and contact information inside the cover, because we want to be available to help answer questions, etc. We often pray that the Bibles that go out would not sit around gathering dust. I tell people, "This Bible is free, but there's one stipulation: you have to read it."

When I got this text message, I thought someone had just tossed it aside, or maybe misplaced it, so I wanted to get it back. Through a few texts back & forth, this person agreed to drop it off at our home during the day. What I didn't know was the condition this Bible was in (see photo). Burned....

Contrast: The next day, as I was listening to the Through The Bible Radio (TTB.org) daily broadcast, I heard a testimonial of the work of God in the country of Mongolia. Some background:

Back in the late 1980's, missiologists said there were only 4 known Christian believers in the country of Mongolia. Today there are well over 100,000. So, over the last 30 years we have seen the birth of the church in this country. The Bible has only been translated into the Mongolian language for about 20 years...the complete translation of the Bible in this language was completed around the year 2000.

A man from Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia wrote in to TTB to thank them for their Bible teaching radio ministry in Mongolia, and this part caught my attention: he said,

"My most precious possession is a New Testament of God's holy word that a friend gave me. Now I am beginning to understand what I hold in my hands: it is a gift from God to us. I turn the pages slowly because it is so precious."

Contrast: In West Papua, Indonesia, the Kimyal tribe celebrated the arrival of the Bible in their language with singing, dancing, and praise to God. In the short video clip below, one man says this:

"God is an amazing God. He's given us this wonderful gift: His word. We've received the Bible. We have it in our language."

"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

An Unexpected Witness

Going out with the Gideon's this year for bible distributions have been pretty good this year. I did miss a few being away in New Jersey for business and visiting family.  I did though have some bible distributions of my own giving some family members some testaments (New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs). Those were really interesting, one which I will share one encounter in a later post. 

But before one of my distributions I got there early and saw this kid sitting on a park picnic table before school even let out. I really felt the desire to talk with him so I took a few tracts and a testament with me and walked over. I introduced myself, and started a conversation with him about what he believed. He wasn't a student at that school and graduated last year. He said he was a Lutheran Christian but when prompted to tell me what the gospel was he just didn't know. He never understood why Jesus had to die, what sin is, and thought God was just going to forgive everyone someday. It was a really good conversation and in the end he was really thankful for the talk and the testament. It was an unexpected witness for both him, and myself. 

It really bothers me though when talking with people, especially young people, about how much they don't know. Most grew up in the church and went to Youth Group, but can't tell me the basics of Christianity, and what it means to be a true follower of Jesus. What are kids learning today? Why are they so biblically illiterate? Is it because the parents are just as clueless? I just don't know. But what I do know is that we need to train up these kids in the bible and give them the strong solid foundation they need in life, before it's too late. This young man's name is Rusty. Pray for him. 

Birthday

Every day, and every year, are gifts from our God who is the giver & sustainer of life.

My birthday was this past Friday, and Mary made it a special day with balloons, rib-eye steak & birthday cake. Our youngest, Alexander, dropped by for supper, and we all had a good time.

Later that evening, I headed out to the busy corner by Walmart with some witnessing crosses and our Bibles, tracts, etc. Brian and his friend Steve stopped by for a Bible: Brian's been sharing the word of God with Steve, and while Steve believes in God, he doesn't yet understand the gospel message, and the need to be born-again through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We had a good, short chat, and Steve got a beautiful Bible (same one I use), a "God of Wonders" DVD, and the gospel booklet "One Second After You Die." They had to hit the road, but Brian wanted picture with one of my crosses, so here it is.

So, I'm thankful for God's many, many blessings: another year of life in this world, a loving wife in Mary, expecting a grandson any day from my daughter Emily, Alexander out on his own and making his way in life, and the opportunity to love my neighbors here in Marshalltown by holding out to them the words of eternal life in the Holy Bible, and just being a signpost on the side of the road, pointing to Jesus Christ and the way to Heaven.