Do we live in a world that is absent of love? Is our love waning as a nation, sure there are acts of generosity and kindness during the holiday seasons but what about the rest of the time? The family still continues to disintegrate, over fifty percent of marriages still end in a divorce. On the surface it would seem that we are a deeply religious nation, statistics say that 84% of Americans believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and 74% confess commitment to Him. Has our love for the Lord caused a difference in the way we behave as a nation? The real question is, do we act like a Christian nation? Could it be we are a nation that has lost the true meaning of the word love? No longer do we understand what it means to love our neighbor, our spouses, our God! The Bible says, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing,” 1 Corinthians 13:3. It’s very possible for a nation to have a pretence of love, good deeds, feeding the poor, charitable organization and still be totally absent when it comes to love.
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Statistics say that 84% of Americans believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and 74% confess commitment to Him, on the surface according to the statistics it would seem we are a Christian nation. Has Christianity failed? In a moment of quiet time with his family Billy Graham said he felt like he had been a failure. The reason was simple, after all the many years of preaching and being heard by millions, he did not see a nation that was any closer to God. The real question is "why don’t we act like a Christian nation?" Could it be that SOMEBODY is deceived?
The Bible, the word of God, makes a mind boggling statement, it says the devil deceives the whole world. Deception then is to be found in every avenue of life not just religious deception. We must consider the possibility of deception in every area of life. Christians have a tendency to be naive, we are expected to believe the best about everyone and every situation. However, the most gullible person in the world is the person that does just that! Question? How positive can you be about a world that is totally deceived by the great deceiver? Can we conclude that the whole world is deceived but not Christians, the whole world is deceived but not the preachers, the whole world is deceived but not politicians, the whole world is deceived but not the government, the whole world is deceived but not FDA, the whole world is deceived but not me!
Jesus Christ said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." The only remedy for deception is truth, not perceived truth but absolute truth, THE TRUTH that comes from the Word of God. Freedom from deception, The Truth.
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Why would God, the real God, the God who created the heavens, the universe, and all that exist, allow evil? We know from reading the Bible that the devil was a created being. Originally, he was created perfect. How could a perfect created spirit being go wrong? That’s a good question but the answer is simplistic. The answer is the same way we go wrong, by freedom of choice. The one thing God will never do is take away our freedom to choose. He simply presents us with two choices, the one good and the other bad and says choose. Our real problem is we don’t like the deal God has set up! Freedom of choice presents mankind with a very real problem. It’s not so much that we don’t know the right thing to do, the real problem is that we feel we may be missing something if we don’t experience evil. Now when you consider that our flesh is weak and we consider the power of lust and temptation, it would seem mankind is destined to go the wrong way.
Is there a way out of the mess we have gotten ourselves into? The answer is yes, but we will not find that way until we realize how desperate our need really is. The place to begin is by realizing the real world in which you and I live. Don’t be deceived, the churches that dot our land on every street corner does not mean that this is God’s world! We were born into enemy territory. Many of us have already been severely wounded.
This issue of CPN is designed to convince the reader that the god of this world is not the god that you thought. But take heart, God has not given up on His creation. He simply has allotted mankind six thousand years to prove to himself that his way doesn’t work.
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A tradition is simply an established way of thinking, feeling, or doing. Jesus said that we reject the commandments of God that we may keep our own traditions. Most people are unaware that much of their religious belief comes from man’s traditions that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Many traditions seem innocent and harmless, but are they really harmless? For example, is lying to your children about Santa Clause really that innocent? When the children of Israel entered the promised land they were specifically told not to follow the tradition of other nations around them and not to incorporate those traditions into the the worship of God. "But that's when you must be especially careful not to ask, How did those nations worship their gods? Shouldn't we worship the LORD in the same way?" (Deuteronomy 12:30 CEV). Notice what the danger is, the danger is not worshiping a false God, the real danger is worshiping the real God with traditions borrowed from other nations and peoples. In other words, the tradition is a cheap substitution for the real thing. The tradition has no authority and the assumption is - God is pleased with our impotent traditions.
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Family. There’s hardly anything more important than family. Without the family this society will come to an abrupt end. We live in a world where dysfunctional family systems seem to be the norm.
Why is it so hard to grasp the fact that there is an all out attack on the family? The gates of hell have been thrown wide open and the demons of hell have one target, our children. Once the family is destroyed there is nothing left worth saving. I once purchased cable TV, after about two months of viewing it I took the dish off the roof and the receivers and threw them in the dumpster. The fact that I lost a couple hundred dollars didn't bother me. There were certain attitudes being broadcast that I didn’t want my daughter to pick up on. About two weeks later the provider called and reminded me he had some really HOT shows on HBO that he thought I would really like. Hot was the problem, too hot, too close to the gates of hell. I mention this not to convince you to trash your television or get rid of the cable or internet service but I do want to ask a question? What extreme are you willing to go through to protect your family from this ungodly society? Are we, in any way, neglecting our own children?
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| Will Religion Save America? |
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Statistics say that 84% of Americans believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and 74% confess commitment to Him. Yet America continues the downward spiral towards corruption and immorality. Why has Christianity not worked? With each generation we seem to go deeper and deeper into the sins that plague our society. God has allotted mankind 6000 years to prove to himself that his ways will not work. Mankind, void of the Holy Spirit of God, cannot govern himself. His life will consist of chaos and confusion and ultimately, his way, if left to himself will lead to destruction. Mankind must learn, the hard way, that HIS WAYS will not work. The Bible, mankind's instruction book, tells us this plainly, but we refuse to listen. In this issue of CPN you will find many articles that will clearly answer the question "WHY" religion will not save America. In the end, you may not like the answer, but the answer has always been there in the pages of your Bible.
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