Monthly Archive: April 2014

Real Life Face-Off

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits.” — Matthew 7:15-16a

The 1997 movie “Face Off” is a literal take on the age-old fictional battle between good and evil. Get this: The actual faces of both the good guy and the bad guy are surgically removed — thus, “Face Off” — and exchanged. The good guy literally puts on the face of the bad guy, and the bad guy literally puts on the face of the good guy.

The result? Good appears evil. Evil appears good. And everyone around them goes by how things appear until finally, in their inevitable climatic “face-off” at the end, good and evil are revealed and wholesome justice prevails.

Doesn’t the same kind of thing happen in real life? What’s really good — true, holy, humble and right — is often rejected as bad, and what’s really bad — deceitful, ungodly, prideful and wrong — is often accepted as good?

Of course, it’s only how good and bad appear on the surface. Actual good is always good and actual bad is always bad no matter what they may look like. That’s because, as Jesus explained in Matthew 7:17-18, “Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” Even in “Face Off,” despite how they look on the outside, the good guy and the bad guy both stay true to their respective inner natures: the good guy stays good and the bad guy stays bad.

But just like the movie’s other characters who take things only at “face” value, when actual good looks evil and actual evil looks good, we in real life too often “call it as we see it” instead of discerning it for what it really is underneath.

The moral and biblical implications are clear. Instead of defining the world by the objective standards of good and evil as provided in God’s inerrant Word, we (even Christians) define good and evil by the subjective standards of the world.

And then we live our lives accordingly.

We foolishly assume that good will always be accepted in this world and that evil will always be easy to spot. We take good for granted and bad too lightly. So, when the world and, increasingly, professing Christian churches say “good” is anything that’s popular rather than what’s right or true and “bad” is anything that claims final authority and expects individual accountability, we often compromise and conform.

Real life examples abound:

  • Aborting life for the so-called “good” of, say, protecting a woman’s free choice.
  • Lying to protect one’s own cause or interest rather than trusting God to intercede.
  • Compromising our Christian walk or witness for the sake of being accepted or to avoid the discomfort of standing up for the truth.
  • Measuring faith by material prosperity.
  • Measuring the Spirit of God by the outward “spiritedness” of the people instead of testing all things by the Scriptures.
  • Planting seeds of doubt and division among God’s children under the guise of doing church “God’s way.”
  • Tolerating false doctrine or sinful behavior for the sake of “Christian unity” misapplied.
  • Rejecting Christianity altogether or picking and choosing beliefs and doctrines based on personal preference, political “correctness,” or popular charismatic personalities.
  • And so on.

Let me put a pin here for a moment and explain why I refer to the age-old battle between good and evil as fictional. In the entertainment arena such as movies, novels, television shows and cartoons, Good and Evil are always portrayed as having equal power. The struggle between them is always arduous because they are evenly matched foes. Of course, most of the time (there are always the dark exceptions), Good comes out on top so that the audience can feel better about the world by the time the final credits roll. But when it comes to the power of God compared to the power of evil in the real world, there is no competition. There is no arduous struggle. And that’s simply because there is no power as strong as, let alone greater than, the Almighty. (I can get into a discussion at another time of the role of evil in all its various forms and why God allows it to happen, even to Christians.)

We must understand and respect the final authority of God’s Holy Word as our preeminent source for wisdom and guidance in this world. When we don’t, then just like the unsuspecting victims in “Face Off,” our guard is down and evil’s knack for looking good has an advantage over us. While we think it’s safe, we fall prey to evil’s subtle “bait-and-switch” trap.

Thankfully, in “Face Off” the true good in the good guy is finally recognized beyond his surgically applied face. Yes, once outward, surface appearances are found to be untrustworthy—once good and evil are discerned beyond face value—good’s triumph over evil is assured.

In real life, 1 Samuel 16:7 comes to mind: “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 

Only God’s wisdom is trustworthy enough to help us un-mask true good and real evil. And only by His Word and Spirit can we safely live our lives accordingly.

Read this related post: The Emperor Has No Clothes! Leave a comment in the spirit of love for God’s sheep and the truth of His Word.

Don’t Be Silly!

He was a very skillful motivational speaker. Clearly, he was making the most of his expertise in psychology as he worked the packed arena of women whom he knew were sick and tired of being sick and tired. You could tell why he was the opening act of the two and a half day conference. It was masterful.

He told them, “In your home, you are the candle and your man is the candle holder.” “Alright, alright!”, affirmed many in the crowd as he held above his head a beautiful pillar candle in one hand and a strong, ornate candle holder in the other.

“Now remember,” he continued, “a candle is a complete and whole candle with or without a candle holder” — “Amen!” — “and a candle holder is still a candle holder with or without a candle.”

Then he said, “Now, the role of a candle is to light up the room” — “Say that!” — “and the role of the candle holder is to support that which is designed to give light.” The women knew where he was going with this and they were more than happy to be taken for the ride. ” ‘Cause when you put the two together,” which the speaker then proceeded to do, “the candle holder lifts up the candle, putting her on the pedastal she deserves!” Thousands of women were on their feet with that one, as the speaker dramatically rested the candle on the candle holder, walked over to a tall table, and positioned the pair at center, right under a glorious spotlight. “Yes! Thank You, Jesus!”

But he wasn’t done.

Next thing you knew, the entire arena went dark. After a moment, you saw a small flicker of light; the speaker had a lighter in his hand. As he slowly brought the flame closer and closer to the candle to ignite it, he explained that the flame represented the Holy Spirit, and now that the candle and her dutiful candle holder were in proper position, the Holy Spirit could then come down and impart light upon her so that the whole home could be blessed.

Wow. Well done. Women were literally dancing in the aisles, shouting their Hallelujah’s.

Who can blame them? Finally, women’s empowerment takes center stage. Finally, it’s out of the shadows and into the light — no more obscurity from being overlooked, under-appreciated, and taken advantage of. Finally, a man “gets it.” As one young lady said at the end of that first night, “I’m not here to learn about God. I just want to know how to deal with that man!”

Women are rightfully fed up. We’ve had to give so much to our men (if they stick around) and our kids for what seems so little in return. So, we are ripe for this kind of recognition. And this speaker and the televangelist behind the conference knew it. The best way for me to describe it: they knew how to hit their “spiritual G-spot” for women who, as I said, are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Too bad these women had just been lied to.

Understand my heart. Just because it speaks to your frustrations, just because it resonates with your worn-out spirit, just because it goes along with what you think already, just because it makes you feel better about yourself, does not make it true, right or even good for you. Maybe, just maybe, it does all those things for the very purpose of manipulating your emotions so that you’ll keep spending money on conferences, books and dvd’s. In exchange, you’re learning a false hope that causes you to appreciate your man less while you expect him to appreciate you more, which in turn only perpetuates the cycle of discontent.

This conference is a quintessential, real life instance of what 2 Timothy 3:6-7 describes about the perilous times to come in the last days: “For of this sort [see verses 1 through 5] are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers [various] lusts, Ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

“I’m not here to learn about God” — even though the word “God” is in the title of the conference — “I just want to know how to deal with that man!”

Please, my precious sisters! Don’t be silly!

Let me explain with the Bible how what the speaker was saying was a lie (whether he realized it or not):

Firstly, God specifically created woman to be a suitable helper to the man, not the other way around (Genesis 2:18,20). Our men certainly can and should help, support and honor us (e.g., 1 Peter 3:7), but not to the point of flipping God’s perfect script on marital roles. As 1 Corinthians 11:9 says, “for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake.” We need to see the value of our special God-given role, not resent it.

Secondly, in a Christian marriage where both spouses are believers, the Holy Spirit does not bless the home exclusively through the wife. Of course, there are moments in any marriage when the wife is more receptive to the Spirit when her husband isn’t. But the reverse occurs a lot, too. To imply that the Holy Spirit guides or imparts wisdom to the Christian home primarily through the wife is completely illogical given all the Scriptures that say the man is the head of the home, husbands are to teach their wives to be holy and blameless before the Lord, and wives are the ones who are to yield (e.g., 1 Corinthians 11:3ff; Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Peter 3:1-6; etc.).

Lastly, this sort of recognition borders on idolatry (Galatians 6:3), where you nurture your frustrations and lusts for recognition more than you nurture your growth as a daughter of the Most High. Besides, one of the characteristics of the Proverbs 31 woman (verses 10 through 31) is that her husband is well-known in the community (verse 23). Sounds like that old adage, behind every good man is a good woman. Perhaps that’s what verse 31 means when it says that her own good works will bring her praise, because she contributes to her husband’s good reputation. In any case, she should be content to receive praise from her own family (verses 28, 29), and by all means they should be sure to give it to her. But her biggest priority, one that is most praiseworthy and therefore far more important than her feminine appeal, is her fear of the Lord (verse 30).

My heart truly and deeply grieves for women who get taken captive by titillating words that appeal to our egos as well as our hardships. These speakers know women’s hot buttons and are happy to tell them what they want to hear instead of what God truly wants to give them, because putting you up on an idolatrous pedastal is much more financially lucrative than teaching you to willfully submit to your husbands.

I’ll close with this final observation about this conference:  I was there myself (for research purposes), at its Los Angeles stop one year. On the second day, one of the speakers gave an excellent talk, based on her equally excellent book, about single Christian women finding completeness in their relationship with God. I later mentioned to her during her book signing afterwards — well, I kind of blurted it out, admittedly — that so far her presentation was the only one that used Scriptures in proper context. I meant it to encourage her, but I was too blunt for the setting (it’s okay on my blog, just saying!) and so I don’t think it left the kind of mark I honestly intended.

Later that afternoon the main attraction, the televangelist, gave a climatic presentation about labor pains, giving birth to your dreams, ditching unsuccessful people, increasing your status, and fulfilling your destiny. That previous speaker must have told him what I said to her because, once he had worked up the audience to yet another emotional frenzy, as his commanding presence went back and forth across the stage anticipating the ebb and flow of squeals, this Christian televangelist made this out-of-nowhere statement: “If you came here thinking this conference was about God, you’re wrong!”

Well, despite the conference title, he certainly got that one right.

Jesus Died for This?

“I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10b)

If the “life” that Jesus referred to here is manner of life, lifestyle or way of life on earth, then how do you explain the fact that so many Christians around the world are suffering for the Faith? Besides, why would the rich in this world need to come to Jesus for that?

My big brother Doug accepted Jesus Christ shortly after seeing “The Exorcist” when it first came out in the 1970s. It scared him so much, he had to sleep with the light on for two days even though he was already grown and on his own!

He saw it at a time when he was searching for answers in life, first being into astrology during that period. He was searching for a firm foundation to believe in. So, after seeing that movie, he changed direction and started going to church.

Understand, this was a big deal, because we were not a religious family. To make matters worse, at least from our agnostic/atheistic perspective at the time, Doug quickly became one of those annoying, zealous hell-fire-and-brimstone Christians with nothing else to talk about every time he came over.

Soon, because of the church he started going to, that zeal extended itself to the “Word Faith” doctrine so that, in addition to needing Jesus, we also needed to watch our words because they have creative power, even power over life and death (Proverbs 18:21, taken way out of context). Doug was so into this “name it and claim it” way of thinking and its close, natural companion, the “Prosperity Gospel,” that it seemed to almost consume him. It puts a heavy emphasis on material success and among its tenets is that you have to be very specific about what you desire from the Lord.

Doug started speaking the things he wanted into existence, or at least he tried: a particular wife, a mansion specifically in Pacific Grove, a certain make and model luxury car, etc. He was following the formula to the tee, and yet, not surprisingly, he did not get most of what he “confessed.” I don’t know all of what Doug was praying for in life, and although his prayers weren’t answered exactly as he had confessed them, he did marry a wife he completely adored, had a comfortable home in an L.A. suburb, two beautiful children, a steady job and a reliable Toyota sedan.

What I do know most of all is that years later, following one unanswered “confession” after another after another, Doug got increasingly disillusioned. His foundation in Christ, in my opinion, was eventually shaken. Then, after years of trying to bolster that foundation of belief, he started talking about mysticism and then became a Gnostic. (Gnosticism is a false religion that combines some elements of Christianity with mystical, occultic concepts.)

After years of thinking Gnosticism was the answer, in 2005 Doug eventually alienated himself almost completely from the family. By this time I had been a Christian for more than 20 years, but he said he didn’t want to have anything to do with Charlton and me anymore because we didn’t believe in the same God. I was devastated. Devastated more because of what this might mean for his eternity than because my big brother didn’t want to speak to me anymore, and I really love my only big brother.

A few months later, in early January 2006, out of the blue Doug emailed me. It was a nice message encouraging me to keep standing up for the Faith regardless of what our family (they all still haven’t accepted Jesus) or anyone else says or thinks. I was encouraged that maybe his conversion to Christ really was authentic way back when, that maybe he just had a long struggle with doubt after all those years of disappointment with the Word Faith/Prosperity “gospel,” and that maybe he was finally coming back around. This hope was bolstered by the fact that his best friend from those early Word Faith days had stayed close to him like a brother through all those spiritually tumultuous years. (Thank you, Pastor Ron and Louise Johnson.)

Two weeks later, four days after his 51st birthday, Doug died suddenly of heart failure.

Why tell you this story? Am I saying that the Word Faith Movement/Prosperity “Gospel” killed my brother? Of course not, not at all! There are too many other factors that I know about, and I’m sure many that I don’t, that came into play with Doug’s unexpected death.

But I am giving him as an illustration of why the doctrine is so problematic. My brother’s story, while admittedly being from my perspective only based on my conversations with and observations of him over a 20-plus year period, is just one of countless others I know of first-hand where failure of the Word Faith/Prosperity doctrine has injured God’s precious sheep. Too many people are told to come to Jesus so they can have a better life now, and so they respond; but when their material status in life doesn’t really change as much as promised if they followed the formula, they falter or rebel.

Don’t get me wrong. People, including my brother, are very much to blame for following false doctrine so blindly. They won’t be able to pass the buck on their pastors when it’s judgement time for believers, because God will say, “But didn’t you have your own Bible, and don’t you know how to read and understand it for yourself? Can’t you think for yourself?” Scriptures repeatedly warn the sheep to beware of false teachers who teach that material gain is godliness and to leave those churches. However, God will also definitely hold pastors accountable for what they teach. For example, for accountability on both sides of this coin, read 1 Timothy Chapter 6 and Colossians 3:1-6.

While my brother started out understanding that you need Jesus for forgiveness of sins, I can’t help but think that his focus on his own material prosperity slowly but surely diminished or overshadowed the true Gospel of forgiveness of sins in his own mind. The more the formula wasn’t producing the promised results, the more he became obsessed with trying; and the more he kept trying, the more he got disillusioned; and the more he got disillusioned, the more it affected his faith in the Lord.

Again, this is only my own opinion. The point is, is that what Jesus died for, to give us a better life now? “Too many houses, too many cars, too much money” as one televangelist put it?  If so, then how does that apply to Christians who are being imprisoned, condemned, tortured and killed for their faith? Besides that, how does the promise of “your best life now” make Jesus attractive to the uber-successful like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey or Jay Z who are having a better than best life already?

Followers of the mega-popular Word Faith/Prosperity “gospel” point to John 10:10 as proof out of Jesus’ own mouth that He wants us to enjoy life to the fullest here on earth. Jesus is talking and says in the second part of verse 10, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

“BAM!”, material prosperity proponents will say, “abundant living in your face!”

But slow your roll there, buddy! A simple and honest reading of the context easily reveals that the “life” Jesus is talking about is not manner of life but life as the opposite of death. In other words, eternal life with God as opposed to eternal separation from God. Just read verse 9 and 11 with verse 10.

Isn’t eternal life truly the more abundant kind of life Jesus Christ died on the Cross to give us? Especially when you consider the alternative? Indeed, that’s what the Greek word for “more abundantly” in verse 10 means: “above the ordinary measure.” What kind of life is above the ordinary measure of just being alive, other than to live forever in the glorious presence of Almighty God in heaven?

Hallelujah! That’s what Jesus died for!

If more preachers taught that truth, imagine how many souls like my brother Doug’s would have been spared the great disillusionment that comes with the false promises of the Word Faith/Prosperity “gospel.” Imagine how many precious sheep would be more content in this life, filled with hope regardless of their earthly status because they’re focused more on the abundant life to come in heaven. Imagine how much stronger their faith in Christ would be if they weren’t constantly told that it’s their fault if their prayers go unanswered. Imagine how less resentful and bitter people would be about church and preachers, and maybe even Jesus Himself, if they were taught the eternal benefits of following Jesus — eternal salvation, fellowship of the saints, peace through the storms, strength to endure hardships, uncommon favor when and where it really counts, eternal rewards in heaven for good fruit produced for God’s glory here, etc.

I hope my brother Doug came to the end of his life re-dedicated to Jesus as his Lord and Savior. I don’t know for sure, unfortunately. But since there’s nothing I can do about that now, I can only pray and proclaim to anyone who will hear it: Don’t diminish Christ’s blood by promoting or following the prosperity doctrine like my brother did. It is a shaky foundation. It appeals only to the desparate, not to mention the selfish and the greedy. If we’ll be honest, it seems to work mostly for the preachers who teach it; and it is meaningless to nonbelievers who are already living their best life now.

Is it okay for Christians to aspire for “above the ordinary measure” of material prosperity in this life? Sure, but just as long as you realize that’s not what Jesus died a brutal death on the Cross for. Thank You, Lord, for Your sacrifice!

Please share your thoughts. Leave a comment by clicking on the title of this article above. Also, become a fan of my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheReluctantFirstLady.

 

I’m Afraid of the Dark

I’m afraid of the dark. Not the kind that keeps little children awake at night, hiding under the covers.  The dark I’m talking about is real and is causing great harm to Christians, our families and our churches. 

The dark I’m talking about is spiritual darkness that saturates the world around us and has been seeping into our churches for generations, but today seems to be spreading like wildfire among us, and even within us, at an alarming rate.  

We do need to be aware and awake about it, not hiding under the covers from it but being vigilant against it. 

I think of what the Apostle Paul said at least three times in his second letter to the Christian church in Corinth – a bustling metropolis in his day that was very much like Los Angeles and other major cities around the world today. 

At least three times Paul told them, “I am afraid.”

First, he said he was afraid that the Corinthian Christians were falling for false doctrine (2 Corinthians 11:3-4). Then later he said he was afraid about their attitudes and lifestyles — specifically, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder (12:20). Then he said he was afraid he would find them in unrepentent impurity, sexual sin and debauchery (12:21). 

In all three instances, if I can say it this way, the Apostle Paul was afraid of the dark. 

He recognized the shadowy influences of the world – the lack of discernment, false doctrine, pride, lack of repentance, lack of self-control, and shameful carnality – that had found their way into the Corinthian church and the hearts of many of its members.  These things reveal spiritual darkness in any heart and church where it is tolerated.

Like Paul, we need to fight against it.

How?  First, by not being afraid of it like naïve little children who think putting the covers over our heads makes it go away, and by not being so ignorant or so self-absorbed into our own prosperity to think it’s those folks’ business or problem and not ours. 

Second, by letting the light of Jesus Christ shine brightly through us to the rest of the church and the world. 

In other words, let the Son shine!

The more that people and churches let their pastors shine, or their self-appointed apostles, or their ministries, or their contest-winning choirs, or their material wealth, or their vast memberships, or their “new revelations,” or their doctrinal “movements,” or their favorite talk show idols; and the more they tolerate marital infidelity, and financial manipulations, and back-biting, and deception, and heresy; and the more they put victims in bondage about forgiving without accountability, the less they shine the light of Christ to hurting, backsliding or fearful Christians, or to lost and dying souls. 

On the other hand, the more we fight against the darkness by trying to let the Son, Jesus Christ, shine through us – by our humility, brotherly love, sincere worship, good stewardship, biblical knowledge, Spirit-led wisdom, chaste lifestyles, edifying dialogues, sound doctrine, careful counseling, and good deeds – the more our precious, dark-destroying Lord will be glorified!

Do you think spiritual darkness has seeped into today’s Christian churches? To leave a comment, click on the article title or the number next to the comments icon just under the title, and then scroll down to the end.

The Emperor has no clothes!

What do you do when you know someone is wrong about something, but they are just so convinced that they’re right? What should you do?

Now, let them have some sort of higher status than you — more popular, more experienced, of higher rank, an expert, more highly esteemed. Now what do you do?

But let’s not stop there. What if not only is this greatly esteemed person so convinced they’re right, but so are all of their adoring fans?

How are you supposed to handle that?

Here’s how a lot of people handle it: they just don’t say anything. Or, they just go with the flow and affirm it along with everyone else. Nobody wants to be labeled the odd man out, or a hater, or a troublemaker. Nobody wants to make themselves a target of the ridicule of the masses.

Remember the fable, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”? The king of the land allowed himself to believe that his new royal outfit would only be invisible to the common person, the less sophisticated, the less important. Only the elite of the land would be able to actually see the king’s clothes and appreciate its exquisite, superior quality. In fact, he decreed it across the kingdom, so everyone was given the heads-up: If you can’t see the clothes, there’s something wrong with you.

So, what happened? As the proud, self-important king paraded along amongst his citizens, showing off his new regal duds, everyone exclaimed in awe how absolutely divine he looked. Of course, what they were really thinking is what was really the truth, that this dude was strutting in his underwear. But everyone was afraid to displease him and to disagree with the rest of the crowd who were all shouting their praises.

Except for one young boy who was pure enough to just tell it like it is: “Look! The Emperor has no clothes!”

Immediately, everyone realized their folly, with the disgraced king running for cover — literally.

In the Christian church today, sometimes somebody needs to be straightforward enough to just say something. You don’t have to be some special somebody to do it. As long as you have the truth as measured by the Word of God taken in proper context, and as long as you’re truly not a hater or a troublemaker, the truth is all you need to qualify you to simply tell it like it is.

The goal is to help people see things the way they really are so that everyone can grow in their understanding of God’s Word and thereby be able to apply it effectively. The motive in saying anything should be brotherly love and encouragement, all for the glory of Jesus Christ. See 1 Corinthians 13:2; Galatians 6:1; and 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

But too many people in the kingdom don’t want to be seen as common. Many of us can see that the emperor — that is, our beloved pastor, our favorite televangelist, our popular reality show guru, and our top psycho-inspirational speaker — is misinterpreting a scripture, teaching damnable heresies, mistreating the sheep, or guilty of unrepentant sin. But because of the emperor’s status, and/or because of his or her adoring fans, we’d rather rationalize their folly away, tell ourselves, “Oh, God will handle it,” or be intimidated to “touch not God’s anointed” (1 Chronicles 16:22).

It’s not easy to speak up. I know first-hand, it doesn’t matter how gently you approach it or how clearly you can show it from the scriptures (e.g., the context of 1 Chronicles 16:22 shows that the “anointed” is the whole nation of Israel), some people just won’t accept the truth. Not only that, they will then somehow try to diminish you for saying something about it in the first place.

For instance, recently a Facebook friend — another pastor’s wife whom I only met online — posted something and I sent her a private message saying how I appreciated her heart behind the post, and that I wasn’t trying to start anything, but that it wasn’t quite biblical. I don’t recall exactly what it was about, but I do know it was important enough to point it out to her. We dialogued nicely about it for a minute, and I purposely kept saying to her I wasn’t speaking on any authority except what I could see from God’s Word.

She soon said to me, “Oh, you’re one of those bible-toting, scripture-quoting Christians.” To which I replied, “Aren’t you?!” What else has any authority for matters of the Faith?

Her last message to me told me I was making her want to unfriend me, which she then immediately did.

Less dramatic than that but still troubling, a very likeable inspirational speaker, published author and life coach in the Los Angeles area told me via Facebook that Romans 3:23 — which says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” — is actually telling us that God wants us to live out our full potential in this life so that we can give Him more glory. She included a reminder that she’s been in ministry and teaching on this for many years. I didn’t feel it necessary to list any of my little credentials. (If you’re interested at all, please see the Who She Think She Is? page.)

I told her I thought the context was about eternal salvation through Christ, but I promised to go back and check, because I want to make sure I’m on the same page with God.

And that’s what I did, not just starting at Chapter 3 verse 1 but Chapter 1 verse 1 all the way to the end of Chapter 5. I already knew I was correct, but I need to practice what I “preach” about using scripture in proper context.

Why bother? Because her many fans could be led down an attractive but ultimately destructive path if they misunderstand the Apostle Paul’s message about man’s fallen nature, our inability to save ourselves, and our need for a Savior to rescue us from eternal punishment and bring us to awesome fellowship with our Heavenly Father forever. To get anything but that out of the context of Romans 3:23 — indeed, to even read that very verse any other way — is to ignore what is otherwise so easy and so eternally crucial to see.

So, I felt compelled to say that the emperor has no clothes. Not like that, of course. But I went back a few days later to this lovely person and told her what I had discovered. Her response was that she did not remember our dialogue.

“No worries,” I reassured her. “But still, what do you now think about that verse?” She never replied. We remain FB friends, though, so that’s good, I guess.

You don’t need to be of high status, esteem, rank, experience or expertise to be able to say outloud when the emperor has no clothes. All you need is an open bible, basic reading comprehension skills, faith for the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Word to you, the willingness to be corrected yourself, and most of all a heart for fellow believers.

People will reject you, call you names, belittle you. But as long as you are relying on God’s Word and not your own or your pastor’s or some other man’s or woman’s, you can be at peace about it because their issue is really with God and not you.

More and more there are people and preachers and popular personalities who put themselves on a pedestal, and the gullible will blindly affirm them or in some other way, even with their silence, enable them. Who is willing to say with me, by the authority of the Holy Bible and for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone, please, open your eyes!

Leave a comment, and I will endeavor to respond as soon as possible.