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Surely that picture of Jesus on your wall, or the Angel statuettes your sister gave you, or that dreamcatcher over your child’s bed isn’t an idol! After all, you’re not bowing down to it, or praying to it, are you?? Of course not!

 

How does GOD feel about it? Does it really matter how YOU feel? If you’re right, then you are allowed to have pictures and representations of other gods in your home, as long as you don’t actually WORSHIP them. At best, this means you get to have some trinkets decorating your home.

 

But if I’M RIGHT, they will ROB YOU of your salvation! I DARE to make the bold statement that if you knowingly keep a dream catcher in your home, GOD WON’T BE THERE!! Don’t you think it’s worth investigating and finding the REAL TRUTH of this matter, and not the way that seems right to a man, the way that seems right to YOU, the way that leads to DEATH!

 

Let us take, for example, a cute little statue of Buddha. It’s totally harmless, perhaps a souvenir from your trip to China. Surely that’s not going to interfere with your faith, is it? I mean, YOU know that it’s just a lump of porcelain. YOU know that it’s not an idol TO YOU, so it must be alright!

 

First, I chose this example because it is very clear. Your cute little Buddha IS an idol. Maybe you don’t bow down before it, to worship it, but it IS an idol. Where in the Bible does it give you permission to purchase idols from the heathen and place in your own home, just for “looks”?

 

Why would you even WANT to have an idol like the heathen? You should HATE their idols - the very SIGHT of their idols should make you ANGRY. You should want to destroy and utterly crush every idol on earth - not buy one for a souvenir of your trip!! Do you think GOD would have one of those disgusting idols in HIS home? Does He think they’re “Cute”??

 

Deuteronomy 12:3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

 

Exodus 32:20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

 

2 Kings 23:6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

 

God has the idols ground to powder, and FED to the people who worshipped it! He doesn’t keep it around for His knick-knack shelf! How DARE you! The idol is a disgusting, unclean thing, whether YOU serve it or not, God hates it, and hates the devil that it represents!

 

Leviticus 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

 

That’s how GOD feels about idols! Yes! You are free to believe any ridiculous thing you wish, and justify having that Buddha in your home ALL YOU WANT, but GOD hates it, and He hates you having one! Whether you “serve” it, or not, it is UNCLEAN to him!

 

2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

 

Why on earth would you even WANT an idol in your home? Why? Is there nothing else in the world you could place on your knick-knack shelf instead? Why must you have THAT unclean filth? God doesn’t even like you touching it!

 

Isaiah 52:11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.

 

Now that you’ve been told, as long as you have that statue of Buddha there, God WILL not be with you. I’m not making this up; see for yourself. Believe what you read there - or reject it!

 

Deuteronomy 23:12-14 Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee: For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: THAT HE SEE NO UNCLEAN THING in thee, and turn away from thee.

You’ve just read scriptures that call idols UNCLEAN things. It doesn’t matter whether or not you think this idol troubles your conscience or not! Maybe you ARE mature enough so that this idol doesn’t bother you; but GOD ISN’T! Because if God walks into your house and sees it, it offends HIM! Just because it IS, what it is! A statue of His enemy!

 

Deuteronomy 7:25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a CURSED THING LIKE IT: but thou shalt utterly DETEST it, and thou shalt utterly ABHOR it; for it IS a cursed thing.

 

That is God’s CLEAR COMMAND NOT to take an Idol from another person, and bring it into your home - EVEN if you just want to melt it down for the silver and gold! Even if you AREN’T going to worship it, it is CURSED, and God commands you to DETEST it, and ABHOR IT! And if you disobey and reject that command of God, YOU are cursed JUST LIKE IT IS!

 

And yet, regardless of this, just like your fathers, many people STILL justify themselves. Ask yourself; does this next scripture describe you? Remember, God broke your yoke, and forgave you, and you said “I will not transgress”, at Baptism. Have you kept that promise?

 

Jeremiah 2:20-24,35 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? …Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.

 

Can you believe that? Israel, while practically in the process of offering their children to Baal, said “I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim?”!! Then they had the colossal nerve to say ” Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me”, and “I have not sinned!”

 

Could this be YOU? When Israel played the harlot, they did so with pagan Gods. Do YOU play the harlot with your statue of Buddha? And then turn to God and say “I have not sinned! After all, I’m not worshiping it!”?

 

I leave that to you to answer. All that I say, is that your cute little statue is a sin. And God hates it, and will not walk in your house as long as it is there. And that’s just one example, with a few scriptures! What about a dream catcher?

 

A dream catcher is an IDOL. It is used for an idol by millions across the country. Some say the dream catcher was invented solely for tourists, that it hasn’t been worshiped by the Native Americans for thousands of years - but see, that doesn’t matter! WHEN they invented it doesn’t matter, what matters is that it is an idol now!

 

Here is a quote from a dream catcher ad I copied off the internet;

 

“Dream catchers originated from the Native Americans. There are many versions of the legend describing their birth, but they all agree that dream catchers should be hung over the head of the bed, and that good dreams will filter through the web and drop from the feathers onto the slumbering person, whilst bad dreams will become hopelessly entangled in the web and remain trapped until they melt away with the first rays of dawn.”

 

They claim it protects you from bad dreams! That it catches the evil thoughts and prevents them from giving you bad dreams! And so you hang it over your bed, and what has it become! An idol! An idol that protects you from evil spirits!

 

And so what will GOD say to you when you turn to Him and need help for some calamity in your life? I happen to know exactly what He will say to you. Do you? He’ll say…

 

Judges 10:14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let THEM deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

 

God doesn’t even like to have the NAME of these gods spoken! He has given clear commands on the subject! Maybe you haven’t noticed, but God REALLY HATES IDOLS! He doesn’t think they’re cute, or harmless! And if YOU believe otherwise, you do so without ANY scriptural authority whatsoever!!

 

Joshua 23:6-7 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:

 

Notice that God isn’t commanding that you don’t mention their names AND swear by them, AND serve them, AND bow down to them, making a complete WORSHIP package! Most people who want to keep their pagan idols try to prove that, so that they can keep them, but it’s just not true!

 

God doesn’t want you to do ANY PART OF IT! He doesn’t want you to mention their very names, OR swear by them, OR serve them, OR bow down to them! That’s what the scripture just said, as you can see!

 

Exodus 23:13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the NAME of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

 

So, it should be a simple matter now for you to apply this thinking to a picture of a long-haired Jesus hanging on your wall! Even the most devout “Christian” will admit that that ISN’T what Jesus looked like. It is a picture of ANOTHER JESUS, a FALSE Jesus, a picture of one of Satan’s idols He wants to pass off as Jesus! And again, GOD HATES IT, so WHY SHOULDN’T YOU??

 

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth ANOTHER JESUS, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

 

Since noone knows what the REAL Jesus looks like, the picture you have is of ANOTHER JESUS whom Paul, and we, do NOT PREACH! And thus it is a heathen idol which should be burned, and the people who own them should be forced to eat the ashes! That is how GOD dealt with that problem! God doesn’t WANT you to have a picture of HIM in your home! And I can prove that!

 

Deuteronomy 4:14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and MAKE YOU A GRAVEN IMAGE, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

 

God said that the children of Israel DIDN’T SEE HIM that day, because He KNEW they would make an idol of whatever they saw! And HE DIDN’T WANT a picture, or a statue, of Him in their homes!! That’s how GOD FEELS about HIS PICTURE in YOUR HOME!!

 

Now, I’ve said enough; any thinking person can apply this to crosses, statues of angels, pictures of the last supper, wizards, dragons, hearts, four-leafed clovers, fortune cookies, wreaths, elves, horoscopes, and anything else that represents the enemies of God!

 

Destroy them all if you want God to be near you! Because I think we all know how HE feels about them now!

 

Psalms 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

 

So, FILL your house with Buddhas and Dreamcatchers and pictures of Jesus if you want! But *I*…, well,

 

Psalms 101:3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

 

First of all, let’s solve one simple argument. It’s pretty much a given that God is pretty smart. And therefore, God probably knows most of the languages on Earth. Ok, so He probably knows all of them. So we can assume that God speaks Swahili. He probably even speaks Quechua and Apache. So then we know that if someone who speaks Spanish says “Dios, socorro!!!” (God, help me!), that God will *understand* him. Granted, God may be offended that He didn’t use the proper name, but we know for a fact that God will Understand Him. So then, the only argument that remains is whether God PREFERS that you use the right name, whether He REQUIRES you to use the right name, or whether He DOESN’T CARE. Those are the only options. So which is it? And which is the “right name”?

Right up front we have to say that no one knows the proper name. Most believe it is YHVH, or YHWH, or just YH… but nobody can pronounce it. You see, the Jews were so terrified of speaking the name of God, oops, I mean, YHVW, that they forgot how. Hebrew doesn’t have vowels, per se. So the written language doesn’t tell us how a word was originally pronounced in most cases.

Imagine if even a word as short as “God” was written without vowels, like “Gd”. Now further imagine that as few as one hundred years go by without it being spoken aloud. Now finally, picture yourself, a native German speaker, let’s say, trying to pronounce that word then. Why, it could be Gad, God, Gid, Gud, or Ged - not to mention if there were two vowels, like Goad, or Giud, or Gead.

And there you have the problem with the perfect name. Only, it’s been a few thousand years and Hebrew bears less similarity to English than English does to German. Not only that, but YHVW most likely has three or more vowels in it. That means there are dozens of possible ways it could be pronounced. So no matter what you do, at best you MAY be able to spell it, you cannot ever PRONOUNCE the “perfect name” without divine revelation. But the question of the hour is, does God want you to try anyway?

Well, let’s find out by asking the age-old question - what would Jesus do? Read the rest of this entry »

I see a lot of people treat their employer as a cash cow, or an ogre, or just a means to an end. They do what they have to do, what they are forced to do, and watch the clock and try to kill time until the whistle blows.

They have no real interest in doing a GOOD job, no pride in their work, all they feel is a resentment of their employers for making them work, while finding every excuse possible to cut corners and goldbrick on the job as much as they can.

I realize that this is a very easy description to apply to people that you know. Lazy bums who are just worthless. But does it describe you? Of course not, you say! Well… let’s see if you DO treat your employer just like you should.

You know, the Bible says a lot on this subject. And I’m willing to bet you don’t measure up. Yes, yes, most people don’t measure up, but that’s not the point! We’re dealing with what YOU should do! How YOU should act! Because surprising though it may be, this subject is CRUCIAL to your SALVATION! Read the rest of this entry »

What are dreams? Where do they come from? Can you control them? Why did God design man - and the animals - so that they could dream? What possible purpose could they serve in the plan of God? Everyone has probably thought about a few of these questions from time to time. And before we are through, I think you will see that dreams are one of the most valuable tools in the arsenal of those trying to build in themselves the nature of God. I think we’ll also explain a few previously unexplained scriptures along the way. So what does the Bible say about dreams? Read the rest of this entry »

Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Tell me, those of you who have been in this walk of life for at least a little while; DOES HIS YOKE SEEM EASY TO YOU?

Come on, ‘fess up. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t, at least at some point, think “MAN this yoke is heavy! And I can think of a lot of things I might call this “burden”, but LIGHT isn’t one of them!”

So then… was Christ lying? Was He just speaking metaphorically? Was He just speaking of some spiritualized, unreal version of reality? Or… here’s a thought… maybe YOU’VE done something to bely His promise of a light, easy burden on your walk with God!

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

And while we are at it, do you feel - and have you always felt, since learning the truth - FREE? I trust not. I suspect rather, that you are like most whom I’ve known, who felt this way of life was like living in a box - a box which deprived you of enjoyment, of fun, of friends, and of everything that once excited you and interested you, a box which is much more like a prison than a paradise!

Mark 10:29-30 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold NOW IN THIS TIME, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

And here is a fun one - if you have truly been in this way of life for any length of time at all, then you have lost houses, business deals, family, friends, for the truth’s sake. Your friends don’t like you any more, since you’ve found this kooky religion! But the question is… have YOU experienced a HUNDRED TIMES MORE FRIENDS? Have you been rewarded with ONE HUNDRED PROFITABLE BUSINESS DEALS FOR EVERY ONE THAT YOU WALKED AWAY FROM FOR HIS SAKE?

I didn’t think so. So the question is… WHY? WHY is His yoke heavy for you? WHY don’t you feel free? WHY haven’t you received the hundredfold blessings God promised to His servants? Well, there is only one possible explanation. You haven’t been pulling the yoke with Christ - you’ve been pulling AGAINST HIM! Read the rest of this entry »

What was Job’s sin? Why did He have to go through such trials and tribulations? Was he proud and self-righteous? Or was it something else? Should we hold Job up as a warning to those who dare to say “I am righteous”, or as an EXAMPLE to those who should dare to say just that?

Job has received an unfair judgment by nearly everyone who ever mentioned his name, most of whom would not have been fit to be in charge of Job’s kennel, much less condemn him. So I think it’s time you heard the TRUTH about one of the greatest men who ever lived!

To begin with, God LOVED Job. Before and after this trial! God was so impressed with Job He used him as an example of what He would do for a righteous man.

Ezekiel 14:12-14 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.

God LIKED Job! Never forget that! His opinion is what counts - not YOURS, not your grandmother’s, not even (or especially?) your minister’s!

Job simply KNEW he wasn’t evil. Men have often interpreted this as PRIDE, or Self-Righteousness, but that is not so! It isn’t pride to say “I haven’t sinned”…. when you haven’t! It is TRUTH!

Job 10:7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

God agreed! Job was saying what was absolutely true when he said this! God didn’t say he was proud, self-righteous, or arrogant! This is what GOD, Himself said about Job!

Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

God said Job was perfect! Again, He didn’t use the term proud or self-righteous, BUT MEN HAVE! Read the rest of this entry »

When I make bold statements like “God has obligated Himself to answer your prayers QUICKLY, and DRAMATICALLY”, or “A righteous man will ALWAYS receive an answer to his prayer”, and things like that (which I say often) , people often object and say “But what about Paul?? HE prayed 3 times before getting an answer!” or again, “What about Job??”. There are usually only 5 things that people come up with as an objection to my statements.

The reason most people object to them is because they realize that I am making them RESPONSIBLE before God to have their prayers answered, and because I say that if their prayers are NOT answered, it is because God is NOT happy with them.

I say that their OBEDIENCE is directly tied to their faith, and that THEY are in control of their own faith. That they are both able and RESPONSIBLE to build and nurture their own faith, AND THAT THEY MUST!

To a world which has been taught that you should just “believe” and God will love you just as you are, this comes as quite a shock. BUT IT IS THE TRUTH! And until you KNOW what you CAN do, what goal it is POSSIBLE to achieve, as long as you are in the dark and believe that you CAN’T nurture your faith, and believe that it’s all God’s job, you WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO PLEASE GOD!! Read the rest of this entry »

Are you BEING the salt of the Earth? Do you even know HOW? The salt of the Earth is not a title, it is a JOB. A job that requires WORK, requires EFFORT to perform it - and to do that, you have to know what that job entails - you can’t very well do something if you don’t even know what it is!

Salt is composed of one atom of Sodium and one of Chlorine, hence it’s chemical formula is NaCl, or Sodium Chloride. And we have heard a lot from traditional medicine in the last few years about how bad salt is for our bodies. Salt is bad, salt is evil, etc. But God disagrees!

Luke 14:34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

God says Salt is good. Now who will we believe? A science who continually has some fad, some current evil that must be avoided at all costs - in my short lifetime I can recall a time when Cholesterol was the cause of all man’s ills. Then there was the time when Fat was to blame for every malady. Salt of course had it’s day as the harbinger of death, and these days we are on a witchhunt to eliminate Carbs.

Surely it is logical to assume that in a few years Carbs will be forgotten and we will be on a low-vegetable diet, or a diet poor in red colored foods, or some other fad. So will we believe this science, or God - the guy who made salt in the first place, and must have some vague idea of how salt and the human body interact! Read the rest of this entry »

Of all questions in modern Christendom, none is more agonizing than this one. “Have I committed the unpardonable sin”, many ask; uncertain whether or not God has accepted their repentance, their faith is crippled and their spiritual progress stalled.

Many others fear for good friends and loved ones who have been in the church, been converted, and then for one reason or another drifted back into the world, perhaps in complete rebellion to die in their sins; are these people lost forever? Will their next moments of consciousness involve an angelic boot to the seat of the pants into a lake of fire?

Of all the wonderful pieces of understanding, perhaps none offers such comfort as the one you are about to read; none allows you to watch WITH UNDERSTANDING as a loved one makes a choice they will one day regret and walks away from God and the truth. None offers you hope for this persons future as this one does. So JUST WHAT IS THE UNPARDONABLE SIN? AND HAVE YOU COMMITTED IT? Read the rest of this entry »

Narrow-minded literalists would just say “well, He must know something we don’t - blood MUST be bad for you somehow!” … but that’s just cheating. Yes, God said not to do it and so we shouldn’t - but that doesn’t tell us WHY! And knowing WHY is NECESSARY if we are to ever come to know the mind of God!

That the commandment against eating blood has nothing overtly to do with “health” is evident by the fact that many cultures around the world consume blood on a daily basis and rather than being unhealthy for it, are far healthier than we are. In African tribes such as the Masai it is a staple of the diet, and cattle are milked and bled on a regular basis. And yet God lays down the law repeatedly that blood is never to be consumed. So why? Ironically, this is one of those questions that is solved in the very verse that introduces the concept in the first place. It’s so simple it’s almost not worth writing about and yet… no one else seems to know the answer so I guess I might as well be the one. And who knows, I might even be able to make it interesting… and of course, I am going to tease the answer a bit - just for fun… Read the rest of this entry »