Today, there are many churches far more concerned about alienating potential donors, than they are about rightly interpreting the word of God. Behaviors which were once universally considered sinful, are now being celebrated and encouraged. This isn't based on any change in the bible or God's definition of morality. It's instead trying to replace God's objective morality, with human-determined subjective morality and political correctness. This typically isn't done overtly. A person or church isn't likely to come straight out and say: 'this is what God says, but I/we say otherwise'. They will instead use Satan's very effective 'Hath God said?' technique, and reinterpret biblical passages to suit the behavior they are trying to legitimize. This is why I've mentioned previously the importance of having at least one good classic bible commentary, such as Matthew Henry's. Over hundreds of years, things get lost in translation or meanings...

Whether it's a religious figure; a politician (I can't even type those words without laughing); businessman; celebrity; musician; athlete, or anyone else, it's easy to fall into the trap of worshipping at the alters of charisma, intelligence and worldly success. That isn't to say there's anything wrong with admiring a person's positive individual attributes. I'm talking instead about elevating the entire person to an obsessive point, which borders on worship. It's very dangerous to hold anyone in such high esteem, because that person can then harness this false perception and weaponize it against you.  This influence is the exact reason companies pay celebrities millions of dollars to endorse products. People admire and idolize them to the point they are almost viewed as being beyond human. This emotional impulsivity can easily cloud one's judgement and override  logic and common sense.  Of course, the public images of celebrities are nothing more t...

Supernatural considerations aside for the moment, we all begin to formulate our beliefs and worldviews during early childhood. Family, peers, television, etc., are all contributors to the finished recipe. In the case of Christianity, many people's initial exposure is due to growing up in a churchgoing family, more so than conscious deliberation. These people may grow in their faith because of personal conviction, or they may just continue to hold a generic, surface-level belief in God throughout their lives, stemming more from tradition and habit than anything else.  Many people became atheists in the exact same way. They were likely introduced to the concept by family or peers early on.  Just as I described two types of Christians above,  I want to make a distinction between two different types of atheists. In one category, we have intellectually gifted (at least, in the eyes of the world,) people like Christopher Hitchens. They spend their entire lives consciously and p...

Mat 19:24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God .  Mat 19:25  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?  Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible .  What is it about riches that could cause them to pull a person away from salvation? Many of the greatest biblical Christians were abundantly wealthy, and yet had the approval of God, so wealth itself isn't necessarily the problem.  Are we more likely to fall on our faces before God, acknowledging our inherent wickedness and need for a savior when we get beaten down by life and lose everything? Or after winning a large lottery? For the vast majority of us, it would certainly be the former. When we feel most vulnerable and hopeless - by comparison - it is relatively easy to defer to ...

Here in 1 Samuel, the people rejected God and instead wanted a human king. God granted them their wish, and then immediately relayed the natural consequences of their desire: 1Sa 8:10   And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.  1Sa 8:11   And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.  1Sa 8:12   And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.  1Sa 8:13   And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.  1Sa 8:14   And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his serv...