For the purpose of being made more user friendly, approachable, and non-offensive, modern Christianity often tries to soften the image of God a bit around the edges. The bible tells us that we are made in God's image, but we sometimes attempt to do the reverse and reinvent Him in ours. This less intimidating, more diplomatic God makes Him more relatable to would-be parishioners, and makes people feel more god-like, in their power to accept or rejct His will. Uncomfortable bible verses which describe God's awesome power are often skipped over, in favor of those which are less controversial and potentially offensive. The bible tells us that He is not the least bit impressed by any human, regardless of social stature, wealth, power, popularity, or any other personal attribute: Rom 2:11  For there is no respect of persons with God.   Psa 2:1  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? Psa 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take...

I've heard it said that Satanism, with its "do as though wilt shall be the whole of the law" mentality, could more accurately be called me-ism, as it emphasizes doing whatever feels good and basically worshipping at the altar of self. The bible says that sin brings about death: [Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ] . Not surprisingly, Satanism tells us that sinning and indulging in behaviors prohibited by God, not only won't destroy you, but will instead lead to physical, mental, and emotional gratification. This is basically nothing but a modern interpretation of Satan in the Garden of Eden, when he deceived Eve into believing the same. If what Satan says is true: that indulging and embracing greed, vice, lust, and conduct prohibitted by God lead to personal fulfillment and happiness, then Hollywood, VA, Las Vegas, NV, and similar places which emphasize such behaviors should be a breeding ground...

Ever notice how when you're watching a movie or reading a book and someone comes across a genie in a bottle, it rarely ends well? On the surface, being granted 3 wishes would seem to be the ultimate stroke of luck. Like many things in life though, things often aren't what they appear to be at first glance. The primary problem always seems to be the arrival of unintended and unforeseen consequences, which stem from the wishes. Our problem is that, unlike God, we aren't omniscient and equipped to wield such massive power. In the same vein as the genie scenario, in our youth, most of us were absolutely certain that we knew exactly what we wanted. Mom and Dad's input often fell on deaf ears, since we probably considered them old and out of touch. Consider the horrors of God granting us everything we asked for as a 10-year -old child. Though we thought we knew everything, in reality, we knew very little. All you have to do is go back and consider how rapidly and drastically ...

 It's interesting, because the bible can almost  appear  to be contradictory at times. On one hand, it says:   Jas 2:14  What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? On the other:  Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.  So which is it, works, or faith? In reality, it’s both despite outward appearances, they blend together seamlessly. But one thing is for certain: your own works will never, ever  earn  you salvation. On Judgement Day, if we were foolish enough to try and convince Jesus that we deserve salvation based on our good deeds, He could effortlessly recite an almost endless number of sins we've committed - most of which we weren't even aware of - as they may have come in the form of unspoken thoughts. And hypothetically, you can conceive of the ...

Particularly in the absense of a biblical worldview, many of us feel like we're generally 'good' people. It's all too easy to compare ourselves to murderers, rapists, etc., and conclude that we're pretty righteous by comparison. I've certainly been guilty of this kind of deceptive self-righteousness, as subjective morality is an easy way to momentarily push the reality of my inherent wickedness aside.  However, when we view ourselves through the eyes of the Creator of all things, that self-righteousness immediately disintegrates. The bible is very clear in stating that none of us are good and that we are all wicked sinners: [Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.].   [Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;]. So if the first deception to be avoided is the dangerous delusion of self-righteousness. Once we start to grasp the biblical concept of inhere...

Years ago, I was watching a debate between a Christian and an atheist, and the atheist said something to the effect of: 'why would I believe in a book that mentions unicorns?'. This intrigued me, so I decided to look into the claim, as it certainly did seem peculiar. The list below may not be every KJV verse mentioning a unicorn, but it least gives you the general idea of how it is used: [Num 23:22   God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.].   [Num 24:8   God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.]   [Job 39:9   Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?].   [Job 39:10   Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?].   [Psa 92:10   But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn...

Jesus in the absence of organized religion loses nothing, while organized religion without Jesus at its core is dead. Believing in the substitutionary atonement of Jesus alone (with genuine faith, and not just intellectually, as the bible shows: [ Jas 2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble .] ), is all that is needed for salvation:  [ Act 16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. ] He has made the ultimate sacrifice and done all the work. There's nothing we can contribute towards our salvation, as even the ability to have faith is a gift from God: [Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast. ]  This is so straight forward and simple, that we are tempted to complicate matters by introducing complexity into the equation, because something so ...

 [ Isa 55:6  Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Isa 55:7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isa 55:8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. Isa 55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. ]  In modern Christianity, emphasis is often placed on the importance of human free will. The relatable god it describes more resembles some lonely old man, floating around on a cloud, keeping his fingers crossed that if he petitions us enough, maybe....just maybe, we'll choose him. In contrast, we humans are the prized free agents; Satan is waving a contract on our one side, and this god is on the other - both competing to win our affections.  I don't k...

 [ Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? ] One of Satan's favorite tactics is to lead us astray by misrepresenting and distorting God's Words. In the case above, it was His spoken word, but today, the exact same the same thing is done with God's written word. Despite the crystal clarity [ Gen 5:2  Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. ], we are told that, no, in fact, God didn't create us as males and females. Instead, we can determine what we are, and if what we believe we are today no longer 'feels' right tomorrow, we can change it again...and again...and again.  In a previous post, I said that I believe the primary intent of macroevolution is to 'explain away God'. If people can be convinced that their foundation resulted by ...

 [ Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ . ]  This warning is very applicable to modern times, as the prince of the power of the air is always devising new ways to lead people astray, away from the belief in the Supreme Creator of all things. In my opinion, at the very top of the list in this regard, is the philosophy/religion of macroevolution. While microevolution, or small changes within a given species is scientifically demonstrable, macroevolution is nothing but a fraud, which was embraced so wholly by the powers that be for one primary reason: it was a way to explain away the existence of God. This religious dogma was thrust into the educational/indoctrinational system and presented as scientific fact for the purpose of poisoning the minds of youth, making sure that a proper foundation for atheism was being laid.  Science is based on something...

 Since the bible is crystal clear on the wickedness of humanity, how do many of us still believe that we are 'good' people? There is only one way, and that's by human-created subjective morality. In our fallen world, it is very easy to create an artificial sense of self-righteousness, obtained by compairing oneself with murderers, child molesters, rapists, etc. Using human standards, it's easy to be feel good about ourselves.  However, when we shift the standard to God's objective morality, delusions of grandeur dissipate like a bubble from a child's wand. God's standard is 100% moral perfection. He doesn't grade on a curve, and heaven isn't a place where entry is earned by coming in under a particular lifetime sin percentage. God detests sin, and the bible says that He hates all workers of iniquity: [ Psa 5:4  For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. Psa 5:5  The foolish shall not stand in thy sig...

The bible is very clear in stating that every single one of us is hopelessly wicked: [ Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. ]. Courtesy of original sin, all humans are fallen and evil  [ Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? ]. So the bible is clear that we humans are dead in sin. We can do all the good works we want, but they will never make us right with God. That isn't to say that good works aren't very important, as James cites them as proof of genuine faith [ Jas 2:18  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. ]. The problem comes when we believe those same works, which are signs of genuine faith, justify us in the eyes of God. They don't and never will. Embracing legalism as a way to earn one's own salvation is pointless, as yo...