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The Day I Kissed the Wrong Wife By Michael Blunk Th.D.

The Day I Kissed the Wrong Wife By Michael Blunk Th.D.

My wife is a certified, bonafide, dyed in the wool ice cream fanatic. If God would have blessed us with twin sons, I am certain she would have named the boys Ben and Jerry. Lisa has never met a flavor of ice cream that she did not like. As it happened, the two of us were at the supermarket some years ago and as she gazed longingly into the ice cream freezer, I excused myself momentarily remembering that we had failed to pick up a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk or some other such staple. When I returned with the missing purchase, there stood Lisa, her back to me, still gazing at the assortment of ice cream displayed in the supermarket freezer. Feeling a bit frisky, I slipped up behind her, wrapped my arm around her waist, kissed the top of her head, and whispered, "I love you, Sweetheart!"

But when she turned to face me, I discovered the woman I had just kissed was not Lisa! From behind, she had certainly looked like my wife. She was about the same height, the same build, and the same color of hair, too. Why, she was even dressed much like Lisa, nevertheless, the woman I had kissed was not Lisa! I had kissed the wrong wife.

You would not fault me for being affectionate. You would not fault me for saying, "I love you." But all of that mushy stuff is for naught when a man kisses the wrong wife!

Likewise, we would not fault someone singing hymns of praise. We would not fault someone petitioning God in prayer. We would not fault someone leaving a sacrificial offering in the collection plate, but all of that religious stuff is for naught if the worshipper has the wrong Jesus!

Each Sunday, millions of Jehovah's Witnesses around the world gather in Kingdom Halls to worship in the name of a false Jesus. Please understand that the Jesus of the Watchtower is a counterfeit. The Jesus of the Watchtower bears only a superficial resemblance to the true Jesus of Scripture. The Jesus of the Watchtower is a phony and a fake. He is a mere figment of collective imaginations conjured by the misguided thinking of misguided men heading a misguided organization in Brooklyn, New York. And each Sunday, millions of faithful Jehovah's Witnesses remain lost in their sins and stand condemned before God because a false Jesus equals a false salvation. A counterfeit Jesus is capable of saving no one.


THE REALITY OF FALSE CHRISTS

Let no one say they have not been warned, for our Lord Jesus Himself declared, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name saying, I am the Christ; and shall deceive many. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many, then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and such shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not (Matthew 24: 4, 5, 11, 23-26)."

Again, our Lord Jesus gave us fair and ample warning that false Christs would arise and that we are to guard our hearts and minds against deception. Jesus knew these phonies were coming and He loved us enough to tell us what would be taking place in these final days. Make no mistake about it, for those who do not guard their hearts and minds against the ploys of false Christs play a deadly and dangerous game; Scripture gives us this sober warning: "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and everAnd whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20: 10, 15)." Do not miss this point: the devil, false prophets, false Christs, and those who follow these wicked deceivers find their doom in the same place! The penalty for believing a false Christ is eternal damnation. Jesus knew nothing of religious tolerance. Followers of these counterfeit Christs stand condemned. Not only are we to avoid falling for their clever and beguiling words, but the Great Commission says we had better be prepared in reaching the followers of these false prophets with the true, life-saving Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!


A LESSON FROM THE U.S. TREASURY

Many years ago, I was employed by a large bank in Louisville. Although I never attended these classes, I was told the Treasury Department conducts seminars for training bank tellers in identify counterfeit currency. Their training techniques are quite ingenious and effectiveand to everyone's surprise, never once are tellers shown actual counterfeit bills, rather, the Treasury agents teach bank tellers everything there is to know about genuine currency. The tellers are taught to recognize the special properties of the unique paper that is used for the printing of currency. The tellers learn about the special inks used in the making of paper money. Too, the tellers are taught about the government's meticulous engraving techniques. By the time these classes are concluded, the bank tellers know all there is to know about real money. So familiar are they with the genuine, a fake bill passing through their hands is immediately recognized as a worthless phony!

How many religions are practiced in America? I seem to recall the late Dr. Walter Martin, founder of the Christian Research Institute, saying there were over twenty thousand different religions practiced in this country. Imagine thatsome twenty thousand different religious beliefs are being practiced in this nation today! That is a staggering number! From a practical standpoint, no single theologian, much less rank and file Christian, could possibly understand each and every religious belief that is adhered to in this nation. So how do we prepare ourselves for witnessing to the false religionists who come knocking at our door? We take our lead from the U.S. Treasury Department by learning all there is to know about the original. Through study and diligence, we learn everything there is to know about the real Jesus, so that when a Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon comes along peddling a false Christ, we immediately recognize the phoniness of their product!


JESUS: HISTORY IS HIS STORY

Without a doubt, Jesus is the most important figure in world history. More has been written of Him, spoken of Him, and considered of Him than of any other major character in all of recorded human history. It has been said, in fact, that history is His story. Although He wrote no books nor traveled more than ninety miles from the place of His birth, one of the world's great religions is founded upon the life, teachings, and personal claims of this humble son of a carpenter. To many, the life of Jesus is an enigma cloaked in a veiled mystery, for the nobility of His personality seemingly defies His humble birth and shameful death. This is certainly evident, for some two thousand years after Jesus' crucifixion, He remains the most controversial of history's notable characters. His beatitudes, as an example, rank among the most beloved and most widely quoted sayings uttered by any teacher or philosopher, yet the One who preached love and mercy is reviled by a long list of critics ranging from the humanist philosopher Voltaire to the father of communism Karl Marx to pop music idol John Lennon to cable television pioneer Ted Turner. It is obvious that Jesus has a long list of enemies, past and present, yet one hundred million followers in China alone call Him Savior and it is well worth remembering that China is a communist nation in which the wife of the former Communist Party Chairman Mao Tse Tung erroneously proclaimed that the Bible would eventually be relegated to the musty halls of a museum. Ironically, it is Mao's so-called little red book that has become a curiosity among museum relics while Christianity flourishes.

Who is Jesus? Who is this man who stands at the apex of human history? According to many, Jesus was a great man, a distinguished moral teacher, a wise human philosopher, and even a prophet. Followers of New Age thinking teach that Jesus was an avatar, that is, a divine messenger among many other divine messengers. Followers of Islam believe Jesus to be a prophet, though a prophet inferior in status to their religion's founder Muhammad. Mormons claim that Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer. Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus is a created angel. Practitioners of Christian Science believe that Jesus was a divine idea. During a recent election campaign, I saw a bumper sticker that read Jesus was a liberal. We may assume, then, that there are those who believe Jesus was a Democrat, though this is scarcely odd considering that many Republicans try drafting Jesus into their ranks, too.

Again, Jesus is the most important person in human history and He is the most controversial person of all times, too; there are legions of critics who oppose Jesus and His teachings. It is a rare thing, indeed, to find a television program or a Hollywood movie that portrays Christianity in a positive light. Not long ago, I read of a survey that revealed only a slight fraction of actors, producers, writers, and directors in the entertainment industry have any kind of religious affiliation. It is hardly surprising, then, that Hollywood stands as one of Jesus' most severe and outspoken critics.

And so, again, we must ask, "Who is Jesus?" While there are other writings of antiquity that tell of Jesus, the most definitive sources of information about Him come from both Testaments of the Bible. In over one hundred prophetic passages, the Old Testament writers foretold His birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection with uncanny accuracy while the New Testament writers wrote of Him from either first-hand experience (Matthew, Mark, John, Peter, and Paul among others) or from interviews with actual eye-witnesses as is found in Luke's highly detailed and historically accurate gospel account. Since many of Jesus' contemporaries wrote of Him, we may reasonably assume that information given to us by those who knew Him personally would be more accurate than the writings of, say, Mormon founder Joseph Smith or Watchtower founder Charles Taze Russell who each lived some eighteen hundred years after the fact. The same, too, can be said of Islam's Koran that was penned by Muhammad some seven hundred years after Christianity was founded. Based upon the lateness of the writings of Smith, Russell, and even the self-proclaimed prophet Muhammad, we shall dismiss these sources as being spurious and unreliable.


THE JESUS PORTRAYED IN SCRIPTURE

And so a better question might be, "Who is Jesus according to Scripture?" The Bible, our ultimate authority proven by two thousand years of exacting scrutiny, portrays Jesus as a wholly unique individual,a Person of dual natures, both fully God and fully man. He is no less than God who came to earth clothed in human flesh (John 1: 1, 14); to deny either His humanity or His deity is to deny Him. Quite simply, Jesus is the God-man.

There are those who shake their heads saying, "I can accept Jesus as being a great teacher, a brilliant philosopher, and, perhaps, even a holy prophet of God, but I cannot believe Jesus was Himself God. Jesus was a great man, maybe the greatest man to have ever lived, but I cannot believe He was God!" Such an opinion, common as it is, is fraught with logical and problematic difficulties, for Jesus claimed to be God (John 8: 58) and He accepted worship as God (John 20: 28). How is it possible, then, for a good man to go about pretending to be God when He is not? How is it possible that a brilliant teacher and gifted moral philosopher would make such claims while knowing them to be untrue? How can any man of sound mind and good character proclaim Himself as God unless, of course, He really is God? The great Christian writer C.S. Lewis said Jesus must be who He claimed Himself to be or else He was a liar or a lunatic, for mere mortals do not boast of divinity unless they are either deceivers or delusional. Let there be no mistaking in this matterlogical reasoning and Scriptural integrity give us no middle ground. Jesus is either who He claimed to be or else He is a fraud. We must, therefore, accept Jesus as Lord God of all creation or else we must write Him off as the prince of phonies.

If Jesus is God, He speaks in an authoritative voice that rises far above the voices of other religious leaders. Muhammad never claimed to be God. Confucius, likewise, made no claims to deity, either. As to the founders of modern day pseudo-Christian cults, Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, and Mary Baker Eddy all stand accused by their own writings of being false prophets who denied the Lord Jesus Christ. The implication of His deity is quite simple: There can be no other Name by which a lost sinner may be reconciled with God. We find grace, mercy, and salvation in Jesus our Savior and in Him alone.

There is another startling implication to Christ Jesus' dual natures; as man, He truly understands the problems of life and the difficulties and hardships we face in this world. Jesus knows about the sorrows each of us experience from the sorrowful, first-hand experiences of His own. As a fellow human being, He was well acquainted with physical pain. As a man, He knew grief and sadness. As One like us, He felt the sharp pangs of hunger. He suffered betrayal and rejection. He was abandoned by His closest friends. He was unjustly accused of wrong doings and, in the end, He was cruelly tortured in the most unspeakably methods of protracted death devised by those mocking and barbaric Roman executioners. Yes, Jesus set aside His glory in Heaven for a life of pain and suffering on earth! There is nothing we shall ever face in this life that was not likewise experienced by our Lord Jesus Christ. We may be comforted, then, in knowing we serve a God who truly understands our troubles. We may be even more comforted in knowing that He has promised to never leave us as orphans. Jesus is faithful. Jesus is faithful until the end. And Jesus is faithful even when we are unfaithful!

The importance of a higher standard of morality, proper conduct, personal duty, and selflessness of nature are taught by most of the world's many varying religions, but as no one can achieve God's exacting standard of righteousness through mere human effort, those who would seek reconciliation with their Creator shall find forgiveness in Christ Jesus the Savior. And so this, the most vital of any question ever asked of the disciple Peter, is posed by Jesus for our consideration, too: Who do men say that I am? Our answer is no trifling matter, for the way in which we answer this question determines how we shall live the remaining days of this life and, ultimately, where we shall spend never-ending ages of eternity.


SELECTED SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES

John 1: 1: In the beginning was Jesus. He Himself has no beginning. No matter how far back in time we might travel, there is the Ancient of Days coming to meet us! Our Savior is, will be, and has always been! There was never a time when there was no Jesus for He exists beyond the limits of time!

John 1: 14: God became man and, figuratively speaking, pitched His tent among humanity. He left the hallowed halls of Heaven to dwell among His creationGod became one of us! We may take a measure of comfort in the realization that He knows our feelings, our temptations, our troubles, and our sorrows from firsthand experience.

John 20: 28: Upon seeing the resurrected Jesus, the disciple Thomas worshiped Jesus by exclaiming, "You are the Lord of me and You are the God of me!" If Thomas were to make this same declaration in a Kingdom Hall, the Jehovah's Witness elders would usher him out the door! The Watchtower denies the deity of Christ and also teaches that He is unworthy of our worship.

Isaiah 9: 6: In this remarkable prophecy penned by Isaiah, we learn of the many attributes of Jesusincluding His eternal nature! Yes, Jesus is the Father of Eternity who knows of no beginning and shall never see an end. Again, our Lord's earthly ministry took place in Bethlehem some two thousand years ago, but His supernatural existence cannot be measured by any human calendar. How wonderful it is in knowing we serve a Savior who stands beyond the reaches of time!

Micah 5: 2: The prophet Micah foretold our Lord's birth some seven hundred years before the manger scene took placethat in itself is a remarkable prophecy, yet we learn that the One born of a virgin in a crude manger is He whose activities have been going on from the days of eternity!

Colossians 1: 15-17: Jesus is the firstborn of creation, that is, He is preeminent and in first position of all things made. Does the term firstborn indicate, as some religious cults teach, that Jesus was created? No. He is Creator of all things, therefore, He is preeminent over His creation. The term firstborn implies supreme authority and position. Jesus is head of all that He created. The entire universe, therefore, is under the authority of our Lord Jesus. Let us be confident knowing we serve a Savior who is unbound by time and who holds all of creation in His able hands!

Hebrews 1: 1-3: In this marvelous passage of Scripture, we read that Jesus is our ultimate revelation of God. To those who would want to know God, let them learn of Him from Jesus, for Jesus is God. It is worth noting that if Jesus is God's ultimate revelation of Himself, then we certainly do not need other so-called revelations such as the Book of Mormon. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) claim their Book of Mormon to be another testament of Jesus, but the writer of Hebrews clearly states that Jesus is that ultimate revelation of God, therefore, any other supposed revelation from God must be fraudulent. (Jude 3 also declares the canon of Scripture to be complete, so we may be confident that any other "revelation" is unworthy of our time and attention.)

Philippians 2: 5-8: Jesus, though He was God and equal with God the Father, did not cling to all of the prerogatives and privileges of deity, rather, He humbled Himself by coming to earth in the form of a manand not as an exalted man, either, but as a servant. We see both the humanity of Jesus and the deity of Jesus in this passage written by the Apostle Paul.


JESUS ACCORDING TO THE WATCHTOWER

The Watchtower teaches that Jesus is a creaturea mere created beingin fact, the Jesus of the Watchtower is none other than Michael the Archangel. They have no valid Scripture for this, of course, but the organization maintains this false doctrine in spite of the plain teachings of Scripture. For the sake of the recent convert, please know that the Bible is crystal clear in teaching that Jesus is fully divine, eternal in nature, and of the same essence as the Father. Jesus is God. Jesus is God who came to earth clothed in human flesh. Again, the newcomer to the faith must understand that the Bible is replete with Scripture that affirms His deity (John 1: 1; Philippians 2: 5-11). Jesus declared Himself as God (John 8: 58; Revelation 1: 8). His disciples declared Him to be God (John 20: 28). The Old Testament prophets, though the divine inspiration of the Holy Sprit, declared the coming Messiah as being God (Isaiah 9: 6). Even our Father in Heaven declared His Son as being God (Hebrews 1: 8)! How much more proof could any reasonable person ask? Indeed, one may very well then ask, "If Scripture is so absolutely conclusive as to the divine nature of Jesus, how does the Watchtower organization present this lesser, inferior Jesus to their followers and to the pubic? The Watchtower's solution was quite simple: In order to pass off this counterfeit Jesus, the organization found it expedient to rewrite the Bible so as to seemingly make Holy Scripture behave according to their own peculiar brand of beliefs and teachings. This is to say the Watchtower employs a counterfeit Bible so as to bolster their counterfeit Jesus and their counterfeit gospel.


THE NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

The Watchtower's New World Translation (NWT) is, in fact, no translation at all! The NWT is nothing but a cleverly designed propaganda tool used in furthering their strange religious doctrines. Even a perfunctory reading of Scripture reveals great lapses in Watchtower logic and thinking, so around fifty years ago, the governing body of the organization commissioned the writing of a counterfeit Bible; this move was entirely necessary if followers were to adhere to the organization's officially sanctioned teachings and beliefs.

Frederick Franz, a former member of the Watchtower's powerful board of governors, admitted that the organization did not employ a single language scholar when preparing the NWT. This admission of biblical fraud is well documented in Franz' revealing autobiography Crisis of Conscience. Again, in their supposed rendering of the Holy Scriptures, the Watchtower did not have a single Greek or Hebrew scholar seated on their translating committee. Why? No legitimate Greek or Hebrew scholar would have allowed his or her name to be attached to such a sham of a project! The NWT is a farce. It is not a legitimate translation. The NWT is not a legitimate translation and you will be pressed in finding a single reputable biblical scholar who supports the Watchtower's shameful perversion of the Bible.




A HISTORY OF FALSE PROPHECY

Besides their sham teachings about Jesus, the Watchtower is notorious for their false prophecies. Their own writings provide the organization's most damning indictments, for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has gone on record saying the end of the world would take place in 1914, 1915, 1916, 1918, 1925, 1941, and 1975. In a Watchtower article published in the 1960's, the writer heartily condemned those religious groups that set dates for end time events, yet the irony is that no other religious group in America has so many instances of false date setting to their discredit as the Watchtower!

Among other memorable prophetic bloopers, the Watchtower predicted that World War II would end with no decisive victor (wonder what Germany and Japan thought about that?) and believing that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David, and other Old Testament heroes would soon be resurrected from their graves, the organization built a lovely mansion dubbed Beth Serim (House of Princes) in San Diego as their future headquarters. A deed of conveyance was thoughtfully recorded at the San Diego courthouse, unfortunately, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David, and the other heroes of old never arrived to take occupancy of this beautiful dwelling, so the organization quietly and discreetly sold Beth Serim to a Christian physician in 1953.

All this predictive blundering sounds humorous, and, indeed, a California mansion built for ancient Bible heroes and theses ridiculous examples of "end of the world" date setting come across as a bit comical, but God sees nothing funny about false prophets and their lying predictions. As evidence, I would direct your attention to Jeremiah 28. In this passage, a lying prophet named Hananiah spoke falsely in the name of the Lord. His lying prophecy gave a vain, empty hope to the Hebrew captives in Babylon. So serious was this sin in God's eye, the Lord pronounced a death sentence though His prophet Jeremiah upon the false prophet Hananiah: "Hear now, Hananiah the prophet, the LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth; this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seveth month (Jeremiah 28: 15-17)."

As one might very well imagine, the Watchtower's history of failed predictions is a source of tremendous embarrassment, therefore, the organization does not make these older publications available to their members. In truth, a goodly majority of Jehovah's Witnesses have never heard of Beth Serim or the numerous "end of the world" dates. All this has been carefully hidden from their eyes. Thankfully, we find a sufficient number of older Watchtower books and magazines in the hands of Christian counter-cult ministries that provide us with plenty of hard evidence proving that God does not speak through these deceitful men in Brooklyn. Too, there are numerous websites founded by former members and Christian apologists that openly expose the Watchtower's long string of false prophecies and the evidence these websites offer is impossible to ignore. For this and other reasons, the Watchtower's membership efforts in America have suffered severely; at present, most of the organization's growth takes place outside of the U.S. borders.

Finally, we have already discussed the fate of those who follow false prophets. Those who lend their ears to lying prophets shall suffer the same fate as the lying prophets themselvesthat is, eternal death in the Lake of Fire. This is too horrible a prospect to even consider, therefore, you and I are obligated in equipping ourselves as dutiful ambassadors of Christ when Jehovah's Witnesses call upon us. By doing so, we may very well be the instruments of God's peace that spare lost souls from the eternal miseries and torments of damnation. God takes no pleasure in the death of a lost sinner, therefore, the Jehovah's Witness standing at our door is precious to our Savior Jesus!


SALVATION: BY GRACE OR BY WORKS?

According to Scripture, our good works are as filthy rags. No one, then, should be so misled as to think they can approach the Throne of God clothed in their own self-righteousness. Such thinking is nonsense of the worst kind. Any man or woman garbed in his or her own righteousness is much too shabbily attired for Heaven! Talk about being underdressed for the occasion! To be certain, there is a strict dress code in Heaven and filthy rags are most definitely out of vogue! Thankfully, God clothes our shameful nakedness in the righteousness of His Son Jesus. Any form of self-righteousness we might conjure though our own good works and deeds is wholly incapable of saving us from the lost condition common to all of our fallen race, but the impeccable righteousness of Jesus, a perfect, holy, and pure righteousness that is most pleasing to God, is credited to our account! What we lack, Jesus provides! What God demands of us, He gives to us! This is the beauty of the grace!

Christianity is unique, then, in its teaching that salvation is based upon faith rather than upon one's own merit. The Apostle Paul declared salvation is a free gift that cannot be earned (Ephesians 2: 8, 9). To say otherwise is to pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He instructed them to address God as their Father. Unfortunately, Jehovah's Witnesses know nothing of the fatherhood of God. The organization teaches its members that God's favor must be earned by their own efforts. Works, they say, is the necessary ingredient for salvation. The message of grace has been eradicated from Scripture. Jehovah's Witnesses, then, are pressed into service out of fear. They are warned that slovenly members will face certain destruction at Armageddon. Jehovah's Witnesses who fail to meet their quota are void of any hope.

Do you see the folly of this? When the Gospel is perverted, God becomes a taskmaster instead of a Father. Likewise, salvation is no longer a giftit becomes a paycheck to be earned. This kind of vulgar thinking makes a mockery of God's mercy and is tantamount to a cold slap to Jesus' face! He died for our sins. He spent every drop of His precious blood so that we might be spared the terrible wrath that awaits every unregenerate sinner! Instead of demonstrating any measure of gratitude for the great sacrificial work Jesus performed upon that cruel Roman cross, however, Jehovah's Witnesses go door to door peddling cheaply printed magazines as a means of appeasing God. It is the Blood of the Lamb, not ink from a printing press, that has the power to cleanse us from the filthy stain of sin. The works-oriented salvation taught by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has the devilish order of smoke and brimstone.


THE HALLMARKS OF A CULT

For the sake of this study, we shall refer to a pseudo-Christian cult as being any group or organization that is gathered around a particular heretical interpretation of Scripture. In the case of the Watchtower, their strange teachings originated with their founder Charles Taze Russell and have been since modified by a string of successors beginning with "Judge" Rutherford.

Using four common mathematical terms, we may identify aberrant groups who, outwardly, appear to be Christian, yet deny the historic essential doctrines of Christianity:

Addition: Cults add to the Word of God. In the case of the Watchtower, the organization openly touts their own publications as being equal or even superior to the canon of Holy Scripture. How they can make such a claim in light of their long history of bungled teachings and false prophecies defies all logic and reasoning.

Subtraction: Cults subtract from the personage of Jesus. Again, the Watchtower attempts to reduce Jesus to the rank of a mere created being. God did not send an angel to die for our sinsHe sent His Son!

Multiplication: Cults multiply the requirements for salvation. The Watchtower maintains that works are a necessary and vital ingredient for salvation. The Apostle Paul, however, plainly stated that anyone who distorted the purity of the Gospel was accursed by God!

Division: Cults divide one's loyalty between God and a manmade organization. The Watchtower insists that one must pledge allegiance to the organization if one hopes to find favor with God. One might do well by asking if God so loved the world by sending His Son or an organization?

The Watchtower stands guilty of adding to God's Word, subtracting from the divine nature of Christ Jesus, multiplying God's requirements for salvation, and dividing members' loyalty between Heaven and Brooklyn. For this and many others reasons, Kingdom Halls should post a warning: Welcome to the Watchtower. Please check your brain in at the gate.


A DOCTRINAL PRETZEL?

I previously referred to the late Dr. Walter Martin. Please allow me to refer to him once again. Dr. Martin, who wrote the best selling Kingdom of the Cults, once stated the average Jehovah's Witness could make the average Christian into a doctrinal pretzel. This is a pretty grim indictment of the Church. Likewise, it has been said that cults are an unpaid bill of the Church. It is high time, then, that we, members of Christ's Church, begin settling this old debt!

Jehovah's Witnesses may wish to debate such emotionally charged matters as patriotism, the participating in elections, the celebrating of holidays, and military service with non-Jehovah's Witnesses, however, these are but mere peripheral issues and are of little consequence in the determining of one's eternal destiny. Do not allow the Jehovah's Witness who comes knocking at your door to engage you in such vain debating. If you permit the discussion to be controlled by their side-stepping techniques, I can almost guarantee that you will make absolutely no headway in leading your lost visitor to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Jehovah's Witnesses are trained in debating Christians and can prove to be quite slippery when pressed for an answer. Do not fall victim to this game. In truth, the mailing of Christmas cards or saluting the American flag mean nothing if one has a distorted understanding of the finished work and nature of our Savior Jesus. Please understand that if the dialogue is to be meaningful, the Christian must keep the visitor's attention focused on Jesus. Avoid arguing over secondary matters make a difference for eternity by introducing your new friend to your best friend!

Dr. Michael Blunk is the director of the Christian Paranormal Research Project and a staff writer for Got Questions Ministries.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com CHRISTIAN WRITERS


compiled by Jeremy

What Would You Like? By Michael Blunk Th.D.

What Would You Like? By Michael Blunk Th.D.

What would you like? Something to eat, perhaps? How about a cheeseburger? For those with a really robust appetite, a trendy eatery in Pennsylvania now offers a gargantuan cheeseburger made with over ten pounds of ground beef, twenty-five slices of cheese, four sliced tomatoes, and a cup and a quarter of mustard, catsup, and mayo. Hot off the grill, the brute weighs in at fifteen pounds and can easily satisfy ten normal appetites or one really, really big appetite! One thirty dollar cheeseburger coming right up!

What would you like? A good cup of coffee? How about the Impressa F9 coffee maker? Mind you, this is no ordinary Mr. Coffee. In just sixty seconds, this high-tech coffee wizard can grind and brew your favorite espresso, latte, cappuccino, or other delicious coffee beverages with just a touch of a button! And if the flavor doesn't wow you, the machine's twenty-four carat gold plating most certainly will, but don't delay, for at $3,999.00 plus shipping, these babies won't last long!

What would you like? A quick weekend getaway? You may as well go in style in Lamborghini's new Garrado sports car. With a 192 mph top speed, your friendly insurance agent may think twice about renewing your liability coverage, but with 0-60 mph capabilities in a mere 4.2 seconds, you could probably outrun the highway patrol for that matter, you might even outrun the U.S. Air Force! Of course, all this luscious speed doesn't come cheap, but if you have $185,000 to spare, there is a Lamborghini waiting for you! Makes a nice gift, too.

We no longer live in a chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry world. Believe it or not, I recently found a website offering lemon dill pickle ice creamand the recipe's creator says it is absolutely delicious! Whether or not it is truly delicious, I'll never know, but what I do know is that you can find about anything you want according to your own personal likes and needs.

So how about a religion that is just right for you? How about a religion that is guilt-free, makes no demands, and is not encumbered with a lot of bothersome do's and don'ts? It is out there, just as I have described, but is religion something to be chosen like a favorite flavor of ice cream?

There are a lot of voices vying for our attention, so why should anyone consider Jesus above, say, Muhammad or Confucius or Charles Taze Russell or Joseph Smith? After all, don't all roads lead to Heaven? Aren't all religions basically the same? The truth is all roads do not lead to Heaven just as all roads do not lead to my driveway.

Jesus alone speaks with the imprimatur of God because Jesus alone conquered death. Muhammad, Confucius, and the others molder in their graves to this very day, but Jesus, by His own power, walked away from the tomb three days after dying on a cruel Roman cross. Anyone with power over death deserves our attention. Anyone with power over death deserves to be heard.

And the evidence supporting the resurrection of Jesus is overwhelming. First, there were over five hundred eye-witnesses of the risen Christ! That is a lot of eye-witnesses. Five hundred voices cannot be ignored. There is also the matter of the empty tomb; the enemies of Jesus could have easily stopped all talk of the resurrection by producing His dead, decaying bodybut there was no dead body for them to produce! The tomb was empty! Could the disciples have stolen His body? Hardly. To prevent such a contingency, the tomb of Jesus had been heavily guarded by armed soldiers. Considering His closest followers had fled in fear at His arrest and crucifixion, it is most unlikely this ragtag band of frightened fishermen would have gone head to head against trained, professional soldiers. The simple fact is that the resurrection of Jesus cannot be explained away!

Again, anyone who has power over death deserves to be heard. Jesus proved His power over death, therefore, we need to hear what He says. Jesus claims to be the only way to salvation. He is not a way; He is not one of many ways, but Jesus is the way.

And this same Jesus says, "Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest." This is a tough world and life is difficult. Most of us are pretty well bruised and battle-scarred. Agree? So what do you want? Restoration or mere religion? A living Savior or one of many dead prophets? A meaningful relationship or more empty rituals?

Dr. Michael Blunk is the director of the Christian Paranormal Research Project and a staff writer for Got Questions Ministries.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com CHRISTIAN WRITERS


compiled by Jeremy

When God Seems Absent And His Glory Gone-By Stephen Stillman

When God Seems Absent And His Glory Gone By Stephen Stillman

Do you ever feel that God is absent from you? None of us ever likes to admit there are times when we have a hard time finding God. The truth is that, even in the most saintly people, there are sometimes vacant places in the heart when God seems far away. All of us like to know where God is at all times. In these troubled and threatening times, our restless hearts keep looking for some evidence that God is still in control of the world.

For Israel, Mount Sinai was God's address. It was where the people of Israel could find God. The cloud which had symbolized God's presence and protection during their exodus hovered over the mountain top. Occasionally they even heard God's voice behind the cloud. But the mountain was not God's permanent home. During their final months at Mount Sinai, the Israelites built the first Church the tabernacle. It was God's home on earth and the place of personal encounter where worshipers could meet with God. It was filled with God's glory, the overpowering sense of His presence. "Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." Exodus 40:34. From this point forward, God would live with His people wherever they could be found.

So why does God sometimes seem so far away? There are four good reasons:

1. A part of the reason God seems far removed from our circumstances and hurts is because of who He is. He said, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" (Isaiah 55:8). In other words, God is much larger than our concepts and our understanding of doctrine and righteousness. He is bigger than our church or denomination.

2. At other times, God seems absent because of who we are. We are rebellious, selfish, and contrary. There are periods when our prayers, even our churches and our worship, are so full of ourselves we display our wants and feelings, and leave no room for God.

3. God often seems absent because of our affluence, apathy, and comfort. We become so comfortable we simply don't need God as much as those who are suffering or those enduring persecution or oppression.

4. God often seems absent to us because there are frankly some places God will not go. This can be illustrated from God's Word. The tabernacle was always placed in the center of the camp. Inside the tabernacle the Ark of the Covenant was kept in the inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies. The Ark had an incredible power associated with it. In fact, it was generally assumed that Israel was invulnerable in military battles because of the Ark's presence. At one time something bad happened. Eli was the high priest and his two sons were to assume his priestly duties when he became unable to function as high priest. The two sons, however; had lost personal touch with God and ignored the standards of holiness imposed upon the priests. Israel was at war with the Philistines and Eli's sons carried the Ark of the Covenant onto the battle ground. The two sons were killed, Israel was defeated, and the Ark was taken by the enemy. Eli himself dropped dead from the news. The whole tragic thing occasioned the naming of a baby with on of the most horrible names ever given to a child: Ichabod. For Israel, the glory of the Lord was his presence, symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant. The truth is that God's glory, had temporarily departed when the Ark was removed from the tabernacle. His presence didn't leave because the Ark had been taken, but because of the sin of His people. It is important to know that the absent glory did not reveal an absent God. Even when the sin of His people rendered them spiritual empty, God was never absent. He never abandons His people!

God was and is still ready to display His power. He is simply searching for those who will meet His conditions. Those conditions are that worship must be placed in the center of all that we do. Our worship, and our praise must be a joyful experience because the glory of the Lord is here among us.

There is something we need to understand about joy. You don't just decide to be joyful, rather it is a fitting response to the actions of someone else. Joy is as spontaneous as the "Ah!" that comes from our lips when we see a rocket explode during a fireworks display. Joy is as sudden as the stillness that comes over us when we stand on the mountain summit and look across a valley. Joy is as unexpected as the tears that come to our eyes when we hold our child for the first time.

Are you experiencing the presence of God in your life and enjoying His glory? Don't miss His presence because of who He is, or because of who you are, or because you feel too comfortable to need Him, or because of sin in your life. To be in God's presence is to put ourselves where joy, real spontaneous joy, is possible.

Stephen Stillman, owner of www.amazingchristianproducts.com a website that offers great Christian articles and a variety of religious products.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com CHRISTIAN WRITERS


compiled by Jeremy

compiled by Jeremy

"Benjamin Franklin is wrong about the birds!" By Annie Glasel

Benjamin Franklin is wrong about the birds By Annie Glasel

My mother used it. Your mother used it. Unless of course, yours were a Bible scholar or a saint of faith. And now with no apology to my mother, your mother and even to Ben, let me just say and say it loudly - "I'M SO GLAD THAT YOU'RE WRONG!" (at least about the birds.)

Surely by now, enlightened readers, you must know that I am about to paraphrase the parable of the vineyard workers. You know the one - the almost "socialist" rich man who pays all his workers one penny, no matter if they started at 6 am or 6 pm but they all stopped working at 8 pm.

How can this be fair? Well, I don't think this is about fairness. This is about mercy. It is about perspective.

If you were offended by this parable, perhaps you perceive yourself as the 6 am worker. Would it surprise you to know that all of us are 6 pm workers?

Consider this, Jesus has been laboring for us before the laying of the foundation of the world. Now, even if you were the oldest person alive today and you were preaching while still pooping tar, whatever efforts you have put forth to labor for the master will still never measure.

Personally, I know I am a 6 pm worker. And not a very good one at that. I've taken time off to sleep, to grumble, to backslide, to do things that are unbecoming for a Christian.

If my mother, your mother and Ben were right, all of us 6 pm workers can forget any rewards or favors from God. Life would simply be too depressing and hopeless. According to Ben's reality, it is the "early birds" that catch the worm. The other birds will just go unfulfilled and hungry.

Thankfully, according the Bible, God does not just reward the early birds nor does He treat them with special favor. No, in fact, he gives the same to those who rise early and those who rise late -- just as long as they rise.

Amen to that.

I've written to ease my pain; I've written to hear my voice; I've written for vanity; I've written for sanity; I've written for fun; I've written for laughs; I've written for me; I've written for money. But until I write for God, this talent is for naught.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com CHRISTIAN WRITERS


compiled by Jeremy

2010 May Higher Ground Session

Check the details..!

Date: 29th May 2010
Time: 7.30P.M.
Venue: Grace Charismatic Center (GCC)

See you in 2 weeks time. X)

Don't Waste Your Life- Lecrae

Lyrics to Don't Waste Your Life :
(feat. Cam & Dwayne Tryumf)

[Hook: Cam]
Don't wanna waste my life

[Verse 1: LeCrae]
I know a lot of people out there scared they gone die
Couple of em thinking they'll be livin in the sky
But while I'm here livin man I gotta ask why, what am here fo I gotta figure out
Waste my life
No I gotta make it count
If Christ is real then what am I gone do about
All of the things in Luke 12:15 down to 21
You really oughta go and check it out
Paul said if Christ ain't resurrect then we wasted our lives
Well that implies that our life's built around Jesus being alive
Everyday I'm living tryin show the world why
Christ is more than everything you'll ever try
Better than pretty women and sinning and living to get a minute of any women and men that you admire
Ain't no lie

We created for Him
Outta the dust he made us for Him
Elects us and he saves us for Him
Jesus comes and raises for Him
Magnify the Father why bother with something lesser
He made us so we could bless Him and to the world we confess him
Resurrects him
So I know I got life
Matter fact better man I know I got Christ
If you don't' see His ways in my days and nights
You can hit my brakes you can stop my lights
Man I lost my rights
I lost my life
Forget the money cars and toss that ice
The cost is Christ
And they could never offer me anything on the planet that'll cost that price.

[Verse 2: Dwayne Tryumph]
Armed and dangerous
So the devil just can't handle us
Christian youth them a stand wid us
Livin' n driven
Given a vision
Fullfillin the commission he handed us
London to Los Angeles
Da rap evangelist
Ma daddy wouldn't abandon us
"I gotta back pack fulla tracts plus I keep a Johnny Mac"
So are you ready to jam with us
So let's go, gimme the word an let's go
Persecution let's go
Tribulation let's go
Across the nation let's go
Procrastination best go
Hung on the cross in the cold
Died for da young and the old
Can't say you never know
Heaven knows
How many souls are going to hell or to heaven so we gotta go in and get em
Whaaaaat!

[Verse 3: LeCrae]
Suffer
Yeah do it for Christ if you trying to figure what to do with your life
If you making money hope you doing it right because the money is Gods you better steward it right
Stay focused if you ain't got no ride
Your life ain't wrapped up in what you drive
The clothes you wear the job you work
The color your skin naw we Christian first
People living life for a job
Make a lil money start living for a car
Get em a house a wife kids and a dog
When they retire they living high on the hog
But guess what they didn't ever really live at all
To live is Christ yeah that's Paul I recall
To die is gain so for Christ we give it all
He's the treasure you'll find in the mall
Your money your singleness marriage talent and time
They were loaned to you to show the world that Christ is Divine
That's why it's Christ in my rhymes
That's why it's Christ all the time
My whole world is built around him He's the life in my lines
I refused to waste my life
He's too true ta chase
That ice
Here's my gifts and time cause I'm constantly trying to be used to praise the Christ
If he's truly raised to life
Then this news should change your life
And by his grace you can put your faith in place that rules your days and nights.

Don't Just Stand There by Pam Ford Davis

Don't Just Stand There By Pam Ford Davis

Have you ever shared an idea or proposition with someone? It may have been something simple as a choice of restaurant. Perhaps an important decision must be made about a major purchase or an expansion in your business. You share your feelings and wait for a response. Is it always immediate? No, not only do some people hesitate to give a firm answer, they might give no word or sign of their opinion. Please, don't just stand there! Say something!

Pentecost transformed the Apostle Peter. He turned from denial of Jesus to the powerful deliverer of a convicting message. (Acts 2:14-42) He addressed the curious crowd and clearly preached Jesus. He shared prophetic Old Testament scriptures. No sugar coated explanations were offered. The blame for Jesus death on the cross pointed to them. (Verse 23) The cross led to victory when Jesus rose from the grave!


"When the people heard this, they were very upset. They asked Peter and the other apostles, Friends, what shall we do (Acts 2:37 CEV)?" They listened to Peter, and did not just stand there showing no personal response. They sincerely asked what they needed to do. With the authority of the Holy Spirit he answered. "Peter said, Turn back to God! Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven. Then you will be given the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38 CEV)." Many made the most important decision of their lives. "On that day about three thousand believed his message and were baptized (Acts 2:41 CEV)." The choice is clear. Please, don't just stand there.

I am a wife of over 40 years, mother and proud granny. I was born in N.Y. State, currently reside in central AL. With a past career in Radio announcing our family lived across the nation, later worked in the child care ministry. Now, I am living the dream of writing. All things are possible!



Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com CHRISTIAN WRITERS

compiled by Jeremy

So Many Denominations, Which 1 IS True..?