October 9, 1991
An Alberta newspaper ran an article about a woman who was arrested and charged with two counts of “pretending to practice witchcraft.” It seems someone complained about her fee schedule and the police took a closer look at her activities.
My question is this: Is it also illegal to practice as a real witch or only illegal to PRETEND to be one?
Actually, there should be laws against anybody pretending to be what they are not. We don’t want fake policemen, fake doctors, or fake car repairmen. We don’t want fake religious leaders or fake religions either.
Come to think of it, maybe we need a law that makes it illegal to pretend to be a Christian. While fake witches might jilt the unsuspecting out of pocket, fake Christianity dupes people out of something far more important.
The Old Testament fake religious leaders certainly didn’t cut it with God. When He gave Jeremiah a 40-year ministry of speaking against them, He said: “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.”
He also said, “Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams... who, by their lies and by their recklessness, cause My people to err. I did not send them... therefore they shall not profit these people at all.”
These fake spiritual leaders led the people into idol worship and eventual judgment. Such is the power of a few religious hot-shots who claim to be genuine. They can fool an entire nation.
In the New Testament, Paul said false apostles and deceitful workers would “transform themselves into apostles of Christ.” He said these fakes would “come in by stealth to spy out the liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage” (2 Cor.11:13, Gal.2:4).
He was talking about phonies who tried to change the gospel of Christ which says salvation is a free gift into a religious system of rules by which a person could supposedly earn the favor of God. They took advantage of human guilt and their fear of judgment and exploited this for personal gain.
The fake witch in the newspaper story was making predictions and taking money from unsuspecting people, action forbidden by civil law. Real witchcraft is forbidden by God, even called an abomination, because real witches are in the business of deceit too. They steer people from the truth about God and about man’s eternal destiny by promising superficial knowledge of the future. People who earnestly want some control of their destinies need to hear the truth — that only God can give anyone that eternal well-being they are seeking.
In the long run, such deceivers haven’t a hope. Satan, the master-fake, is doomed just as are those who follow his ways, including fakes and witches. Revelation 10:10 tells of their fate, “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
That fake witch likely faces a fine and maybe some time in jail. She will change her advertising, lower her rates, and be back in business before very long. However, unless she and others who practice deception determine to follow the truth, a genuine punishment is yet to come.
Showing posts with label social ills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social ills. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Monday, May 19, 2014
What if .... ? ...................................Parables 119
Our children like to stretch their imaginations with “what if?” Most of it is playful speculation such as, “What if the sky was green and the grass was blue . . . ?” but “what ifs” can stir up needless worry too. Somewhere in between silly fun and unnecessary anxiety is common sense . . . the kind that thinks ahead and determines steps to take to avoid consequences that otherwise might happen.
“What if . . . ?” is not always an easy question to answer. No one can accurately predict the future. However, the old saying, “History repeats itself” has some merit. Wise people consider cause/effect relationships, examining the evidence of the past.
Edward Gibbon, an English historian did just that. In 1787, he completed a book called The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He came up with the following reasons for the collapse of that mighty nation:
1) Higher and higher taxes and spending of public money for free food and entertainment for the populace;
2) A mad craze for pleasure; with sporting events becoming more exciting and brutal every year;
3) The rapid increase of divorce; undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, the base of human society;
4) Building gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within, the decadence of the people;
5) The decay of religion -- faith fading into mere form -- losing touch with life and becoming impotent to guide the people.
When I read this, I couldn’t help but ask, “What if . . . ?”
1) What if lazy people were not fed unless they worked? What if the fearful trusted the Lord for daily needs? What if the helpless could depend on the prosperous to take care of them? (2 Thess.3:10; Matt.6:33; 2 Cor.8:12-15)
2) What if all people abandoned their search for pleasure in things that don’t last or never fully satisfy? What if they turned to eternal things for eternal joy and lasting contentment? (John 10:10; Phil.4:11)
3) What if all husbands loved their wives as much as themselves? What if fathers carefully brought up their children just as the Lord nurtures His children? What if every wife responded to her husband as the church is to respond to Jesus Christ? (Ephesians 5:18-6:4)
4) What if all people realized that no nation can be strong and healthy physically, morally, and spiritually unless the individuals within that nation are collectively moving toward righteous goals? (Proverbs 14:34)
5) What if “religion” was abandoned, and in its place people sought a living relationship with the Living God? What if all Christians put scriptural principles into practice instead of going through the motions?
Second Chronicles 7:14 is God’s response: “(What) if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways?”.... “then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Society all around is crumbling like the ruins of ancient Rome. “Experts” believe that the answers include higher taxes and greater welfare systems, increased recreation and vicarious outlets for stress and aggression, easily available divorce for failing marriages, open relationships instead of committed families, star-wars and nuclear weapons to protect us, and the abolishing of all religion!
It appears that the wisdom of the day not only rejects the Word of God but has also become so oblivious to its decay and fall that for our ills it prescribes the very things that are destroying us!
“What if . . . ?” is not always an easy question to answer. No one can accurately predict the future. However, the old saying, “History repeats itself” has some merit. Wise people consider cause/effect relationships, examining the evidence of the past.
Edward Gibbon, an English historian did just that. In 1787, he completed a book called The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He came up with the following reasons for the collapse of that mighty nation:
1) Higher and higher taxes and spending of public money for free food and entertainment for the populace;
2) A mad craze for pleasure; with sporting events becoming more exciting and brutal every year;
3) The rapid increase of divorce; undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, the base of human society;
4) Building gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within, the decadence of the people;
5) The decay of religion -- faith fading into mere form -- losing touch with life and becoming impotent to guide the people.
When I read this, I couldn’t help but ask, “What if . . . ?”
1) What if lazy people were not fed unless they worked? What if the fearful trusted the Lord for daily needs? What if the helpless could depend on the prosperous to take care of them? (2 Thess.3:10; Matt.6:33; 2 Cor.8:12-15)
2) What if all people abandoned their search for pleasure in things that don’t last or never fully satisfy? What if they turned to eternal things for eternal joy and lasting contentment? (John 10:10; Phil.4:11)
3) What if all husbands loved their wives as much as themselves? What if fathers carefully brought up their children just as the Lord nurtures His children? What if every wife responded to her husband as the church is to respond to Jesus Christ? (Ephesians 5:18-6:4)
4) What if all people realized that no nation can be strong and healthy physically, morally, and spiritually unless the individuals within that nation are collectively moving toward righteous goals? (Proverbs 14:34)
5) What if “religion” was abandoned, and in its place people sought a living relationship with the Living God? What if all Christians put scriptural principles into practice instead of going through the motions?
Second Chronicles 7:14 is God’s response: “(What) if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways?”.... “then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Society all around is crumbling like the ruins of ancient Rome. “Experts” believe that the answers include higher taxes and greater welfare systems, increased recreation and vicarious outlets for stress and aggression, easily available divorce for failing marriages, open relationships instead of committed families, star-wars and nuclear weapons to protect us, and the abolishing of all religion!
It appears that the wisdom of the day not only rejects the Word of God but has also become so oblivious to its decay and fall that for our ills it prescribes the very things that are destroying us!
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