AMERICAN APOCALYPSE

                                                           AMERICAN APOCALYPSE

                                                                           Prologue

    Most people, whether saved or not, know the word "apocalypse" refers to the bible Book of Revelation, which in turn refers to some awfully bad happenings including the end of the world as we know it. This message is not a prophecy, but a state of condition America is struggling in, which, in turn, will determine how our nation will face the future. Lots of bad things are happening, and the guidelines scripture gives us are being ignored. This is serious stuff, friends,
because if Christians (church people) don't use the intelligence God gave us, we are headed for trouble. This message is not intended to predict the end time or future. It is intended to explain truths we are neglecting, mostly because of pressure in our busy lives.

                                                                               Part 1

    
    When we talk of the apocalypse, we often equate the four horsemen mentioned there. They represent the main troubles the world will face as God pours out justice. For those of us who have a sports background, the oldest of us will remember the four horsemen of Notre Dame football fame. One portends evil, the other portends good. While this message is for Christians and non Christians both, the content will probably be more understood by church people. We will take an in depth look at the real background leading up to the contents of Revelation. Like the reference to the four horsemen, the concentration  is on four conditions. Go to 1 Corinthians 10:3-7. Here we find where we should apply our attention  and corrective efforts to solve earthly problems.

    "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for  pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." The second part of our direction for correct application of scripture to our life and future is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:8. "But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. Add verse 9, "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation to our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether  we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him."

    These verses of scripture explain to us that the problems we are dealing with are actually not the physical problems politicians keep trumpeting, but spiritual problems. Everyone, including Christians is missing this explanation given in the Epistles. People, especially Christians, are given this message in 1 Corinthians and 1Thessalonians to augment the four gospels given us by Christ. The entire world,  according to God, is ruled by substances we cannot see with our eyes,
or with any scientific instrument. These substances are spiritual, and we should know spiritual values consist of four elements.

    Everything in existence is controlled by the spiritual values of  Salvation, Faith, Hope and Charity. All are free. Charity is largely misunderstood because of translators' choice of a word to explain the original Greek "Agape." Christians should know that word should have been translated "Love," but charity was selected because it  means a combination of giving with love. We tend to equate charity to giving, but not with loving giving. Herein is a major problem for many Christians. This requires much more definitive explanation, but that needs to follow a look at the first of the four horsemen, salvation.

    Christians understand the spiritual process of salvation, but we have a serious problem with professing Christians who think they understand this cornerstone, but actually don't. Accepting Christ's offer of salvation is easy enough, but requires two things of the  person. Words do not a Christian make. A commitment from the heart is the first requirement. If this requirement is met, there will be  evidence of the completed spiritual contract. We know this because
scripture tells us so. The evidence will be the saved person's  adherence to Christ's teaching in how we should live. If we don't follow through on instructions in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), we show a serious lack of FAITH, which calls major attention as to your salvation. Was it a commitment from your heart, or otherwise? Otherwise could be you want to be a good person, or it could be you were afraid you wouldn't be going to heaven. Neither of these reasons cashes your ticket to salvation.

    Christians make a major mistake when they say salvation is free. Friends, it is not free. It is worldly free, but not spiritually free. There are strings attached, and they are vibrantly explained in the four previously mentioned gospels. Those gospels are God's rule book,
and He expects you to faithfully honor and obey them. If you know anything about sports, you know you must know and understand the rules to be a positive participant. That means you never quit studying the rules and methods required to be a winner. James 2:17 sums up
Christ's instructions for a saved person, "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." You see, the four horsemen of  God's spiritual world require fulfillment of each part to guarantee each other. That is the only way to achieve victory in the future. We cannot be a part of God's ultimate victory unless we're fruitful and obedient soldiers.

    Obviously most of the world's people aren't Christians, but God uses all peoples profitably. America has received blessings largely unmatched in history. As the leader of the world, America has a large obligation to God and the world. If America falters because of wrong
choices, Americans must expect the hand of God to bring about corrective measures. If you study the Old Testament, you will be familiar with the consequences of bad choices. Israel, as God's Chosen, became very self satisfied after a period of comparative wealth and peace. The religious leaders liked the privileged living of the times, because if the people were happy, their religious leadership was much easier. They did not rock the boat of good times, and when things began to fall apart, they weren't up to the task of standing strong and listening to God. The prophets were listening, but their voices were ignored or shouted down by the people who were or who wanted to be the governmental leaders. The temple pulpit was quiet and permitted the people to persecute the prophets and condemn Christ to death. Have you ever given thought to God's solution to bring Gentiles into eternal life? He used the desire of carnal (money) leadership to lure the misguided people into killing the Savior, which opened the way for the salvation of untold numbers of people.

     All this is to point out yet another scripture, Luke 12:48. Christ was speaking here of faithful and evil servants. As Christians, we are His servants. Christ uses this verse to describe what should and will happen to His servants--that's us, friends. "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they
will ask the more." There are two important points here. Not every American is a committed Christian, and these people are those who did not know. They will suffer the consequences for doing things unscriptural, as will much of the world's people. For those who are committed Christians, things have been wonderful. In addition to the spiritual blessings such as happy marriage and children, they have material blessings in jobs, homes, cars, vacations and such.
If you are among this fortunate group, you are one of the people  from whom much will be expected. In addition to eternal life, God has blessed you on earth. Now we get to the required part of this scripture. MUCH will be required. Scripture doesn't say SOME will be required. It also notes that "they will ask the more."

    Christ died for us, and if you know the New Testament, you know that His apostles, teachers and supporters sometimes were required to be killed. They were "asked the more." There is a saying, "if you want to get something done, ask a busy person." While this saying has been applied to the material world, it also applies to the spiritual world. God knows how much time you spend attempting to learn the Word. You do know the Word actually represents God, right? See John 1:1 in your manual. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The biggest  hindrance I see in studying the Word is a combination of other interests. These include, lust for power, lust for money, and lust for entertainment. Lust becomes worship in many cases. As long as a Christian tithes or donates money to an organization, the obligation is considered done. Or attendance at church or teaching Sunday School satisfies the obligation. Friends, all of these actions are good if your intention is to serve God, except when you want to be recognized by people for your supposed generosity. All blessings come from God. They include a committed spouse, a comfortable
home, a successful business, good job, respectful children and many other good things. You may have performed the above good deeds, but everything is God's doing, and He deserves the credit. You can see how far we've deviated from this principle in actions such as naming stadiums and buildings for people or corporations. Neither is Godly, but money has prevailed. The Christian community in America permits this to happen when some church member with deep pockets donates a large sum of money. Some "Christian" radio stations are circumventing the paid advertisement code by accepting donations in the name of the giver. Do you believe God doesn't know what is going on? What do you think about the Christian dominated Supreme Court ruling that corporations are people?

    This decision was a legal bit of trickery based on the need to provide an organization (corporation) a method of making contracts. The group could be considered  a person  to enable business contracts to be legal. For Christians to accept the Christian Supreme Court ruling, they must ignore basic scripture: Genesis 1:26-27, John 1:1, and the undisputed reality of Christ, in person, to prove that Christ, the man, was the image and likeness of God. Yet, there has been no movement by Christian leaders to have this terrible ruling thrown out. The result has been an atrocious collect of "donations", not for Christian purposes, but to satisfy the lust for power and to establish rules, whether liberal or conservative, that history has proven unworkable.

    To sum up the requirements of salvation and the relationship to the three other horsemen of Christianity, we should understand that real, committed salvation is free in that it can't be earned or purchased. But, we must understand that strings are attached to our membership
in eternal life. We are expected to follow the directions given in the four gospels. If there is a problem understanding the parables, it is an indication you are not following God's reasoning; or you need the help of the Holy Spirit, or have listened to the wrong pastor or teacher. As
we are told in Matt. 7:7-8, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Every Christian needs to understand the invisible four horsemen who give us the meaning of spirituality. The message will continue in Part 2.

Rev. Walbear

    

CONDEMN OR PROMOTE

                                                   CONDEMN OR PROMOTE

    There are several hot button issues now that have been with us in the past and will be in the future. Many people have predetermined their position. Unfortunately, predetermination can prove to be a huge mistake. Unless you examine ALL information on a subject, your first
conclusion may be wrong. I urge all readers to examine scripture and other reliable sources before reaching a conclusion. Other reliable sources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, and history books, as long as these latter histories are not compiled by writers representing
a specific denomination or personal conclusion. I have encountered many Christians who will only read books written by founding or other denominational writers. This is a major mistake on their part, because no individual or denomination has all the answers. Christ told us only
the Father knew certain things (Matt. 24:36), and that you must be listening to the Holy Spirit to understand certain things such as the parables (Matt. 13:11-17). It takes time and effort to do the research and gain any solid background information. Apparently that is why so many Christians don't understand some true issues.

    While the entire bible is our overall manual, as Christians we need to place the four gospels (Matt., Mark, Luke and John) as the primary source for our decisions. If you are a heart-committed recipient of  Christ's offer of salvation, these four books of the New Testament are
your guide. You need to remember the scripture in the epistles and some of the Old Testament books (Proverbs, for example) must be considered according to their origin. Proverbs contains much advice that is solid, but this advice does not come from Christ. That does not make it bad, but it does come from men, some of whom had no real connection with clergy or priests. It is "common" advice.

    Christ said that parables would be difficult to understand unless the hearer had the help of the Holy Spirit. Christians are blessed with the presence of the Holy Spirit upon salvation. However, that does not mean you are "filled" with the Holy Spirit. That infilling comes when
you surrender your personal control of your life and follow His teaching. Many pastors don't understand the parables and mislead Christians with their false interpretation. It is easy to make these mistakes by concentrating on some verses while ignoring a sentence or two.

    Teaching of the epistles has created vast chasms between many Christian denominations. Many pastors have not spent the time and effort to study history and culture. That is especially true today with the global decisions being made by virtually every politician, no matter the party affiliation. Paul admits in 1 Corinthians that some of his rules reflect his opinion as a man as well as an apostle. Some of the things  he addresses here and in other epistles include such cultural matters as personal dress, colors, family life, church leadership, etc. These were all new churches, and the local/regional leadership was held by unschooled Christians.

    Some of these newly established churches had to break away from serious personal sins accepted by the population as normal. There  were numerous "rules" established to counter the cultural sins, but other rules were misunderstood. One such rule was the use of colors. When God established the temple and installed priests, He stipulated certain colors for robes and "decorations". Later, use of color was discouraged because it implied humans were glorifying themselves. We have denominations called "plain people" today as an offshoot of this misunderstanding. That is not necessarily wrong, and not a sin, but is does separate believers. Man rules not given by Christ tend to sooner or later separate believers. It certainly was not Paul's attempt to do this, but the inability of new believers to educate themselves. Paul's instruction was to eliminate the predominant cultural sins.

    The instructions Christ gave us are the pure gospel. They are simple and direct. He knew many would not understand, and told the disciples it would take more than seeing and hearing to understand. Paul warned the new churches that all believers ARE ONE, and believers should not add man rules that would cause division. I've attended and preached in churches of several denominations, and unfortunately the division is very apparent. To understand the complexity of His word, you need to study Matt. 13:10-17. Please read these verses, and pay special heed to verse 17, which warns us that being righteous does not mean we'll be able to understand. The church is full of righteous people, such as the man who refused to hear a word I had to say because "he had the truth." What he had was a prepared spiel provided by a denomination that doesn't follow many of Christ's guidelines. I don't believe in pushing
Christianity on anyone. It is a choice everyone is free to make. The current attempt to force Christian ideals, whether real or imagined, is a terrible mistake. I'm seeing more and more uncommitted people comment on the attempt to pass religious laws. In fact, one Supreme
Court justice has said our Constitution gives religious law overruling that document.

    I pray you have read Matt. 13:10-17, and I ask you to go back to  chapter 12 and read verses 22-30. This scripture covers the problem caused by a divided house. The inability of Christian leaders to follow this instruction is exacerbating the division of believers. Furthermore, the attention to divisive issues is ignoring the primary issues such as placing the likeness of God and Christ the same as a corporation. This violates all scripture going back to Genesis and the creation of man. Some corporations require employees to greet people with Happy Holiday Season rather than Merry Christmas. The recent court ruling permitting discrimination at the whim of an employer or businessman is another example of division. It forces people to do something that may be against their belief. It denies the liberty our nation was supposedly founded upon. 

    What would Christians think if another religion became dominant and we would have to follow their religious rules? Most religions are peaceful, but we are currently seeing radicals take over governments and institute religious laws. Violators are harshly punished, including
death. Christ told us that God provided freedom of choice and the  liberty to pursue happiness. If Christianity becomes mandatory by law, there will be confusion on the part of differing leaders, and much resentment by Americans who are being told what they must do.

     I close this message with Matt. 13:12, which I pray you read as previously requested in this message. This passage is frequently taught by pastors and teachers incorrectly. The emphasis on abundance is likened to mean worldly success--money and social standing. It  reads, "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have  abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." Christ never taught about financial abundance, but about spiritual abundance. The rewards for believers will come in heaven. There's nothing wrong with earthy rewards as long as they are earned in accordance with following the gospels. Our biggest problem as believers is to put God and Christ's teaching after our number one desire: earthly success. It's not religious control nor the love of money that Christ taught, but to love our fellowman and care for others of any persuasion.

Rev. Walbear

TEN COMMANDMENTS

                                                           TEN COMMANDMENTS

    People who proclaim they are of the Christian faith have a strange way of demonstrating their support of the Ten Commandments. Although these commandments form the basis for all of Christianity, charlatans within and out of the church are choosing to ignore some of these 10 basic rules of The Way. I use the term "The Way" instead of Christianity because much of the practice of Christianity today does not fall within the guidelines of Christ's teaching. If you disagree with me, I urge you to study the four gospels. If you're strictly a New Testament Christian, I remind you Christ frequently quoted from the Old Testament and was aware of all the "Jewish" teaching. Even Satan knows the Old Testament. We should know it, too.

    Much of the clamor and blustery commotion on radio, television and publications is centered on sexual related matters. The fact is these people (including pastors) are singling out social issues to lead people into passing legislation for control. Before you hit "delete", please read the rest of this paragraph. If you are going to purport to be a Christian, you must not ignore a commandment that deals solely with sex. That is the Seventh Commandment (Exodus20:14). "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

    I may have missed something, but I haven't seen any state or national movement to enforce the sin of adultery as a crime punishable in a court  of law. It is a common sin, committed both by Christians and unbelievers. A sinner can repent and be forgiven. That is true for every sin except one: Matt. 12:31. The unforgiven sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. When you do this, you are denying the power of God. So...an adulterer can be forgiven for straying. The adulterer may commit the same sin more than once. The person can be married more than once, but the sin may be forgiven. This is a common occurrence, even among church attending Christians. Pastors do this and are reinstated as the church leader. 

    Since this adultery is a violation of Christian law, should all adulterers be criminally prosecuted and/or fined and jailed? There is a move on to do just that, except it's not for adultery. It seems there are many people professing to be of faith who want to criminalize certain sex related issues, but not adultery. These other sexual issues are flash points to
support a modern form of vigilantes. Very little thought is given to the entire sexual issue. When the word "sex" is used, it is "tuned" to exotic sex--intercourse and oral sex. It is explained only as sex, with nothing to do with companionship, love or assistance.

    Have you examined pictures of these couples? Most same sex  marriages are between older people. If you had the "opportunity" to see the couples who came to the hospital for treatment, you might understand that the need for companionship was a main reason for many couples. There are many people alone in our country, and if you are old or in any way physically limited, you will understand the need for a caring and even loving companion. There is no sex involved. The hue and cry about same sex marriage reflects the "dirty" minds of many smug, righteous people.

    Marriage between a man and a woman applies for the purpose of procreation. Our society offers certain privileges and benefits for married couples that are available only for married couples. By not permitting same sex marriages, these people are denied access to tax supported
funds. Is there some reason a Christian can't understand the need of love and companionship without physical sex? Is everyone possessed with a "dirty" mind? Check out a hospital or assisted care facility to get a decent understanding of the horror of being alone. 

     How can a professing Christian attend and support a church whose pastor tells his congregation to "use a stick to hit the limp wrist of a son to prevent him from becoming a homosexual?" I'm moving on to another subject here--changing horses in mid stream. I want to stress that this kind of general teaching is not from Christ. It has no place in the pulpit. This guy reminds me of the West Baptist preacher. A limp wrist does not indicate a future homosexual. Christ did not teach a Christian should whip or force anyone to make them accept and perform as a Christian. If you know history, you know both the Jewish religious leaders and Rome tried to enforce obedience to their wishes. Even Rome would have released Paul, but the Jewish religious leaders wanted Christ dead. Think about that, and do a teeny bit of research before you decide to join a pastor like the one I mentioned. (I saw his sermon.)

    I won't comment on homosexuality except to say scripture describes it as a sin. So is lying a sin, and cheating, and gossiping. All these sins can be forgiven. We are not to judge how they conduct themselves as long as they don't harm us. If you pre-judge, that is a sin. Look at Matt. 7:1-2. "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."  We need to remove our sins first. We may try to help them overcome that sin, but, again, physical and mental force are not tools  given us by Christ. We should encourage them to attend church. Our job  is to witness Christ to them. Where better than the church?

    Christ did not attempt to establish a theocracy. He knew, and history has proven religious based societies fail. Except for God's choice of Israel as His people, even Israel would not exist today. There is a strong Christian movement to establish laws that would create a theocracy.
For some reason, people want to govern by heavy-handed law rather than by Christ's process of choice. Christ never forced anyone to do anything, and neither did the apostles. He expressed physical anger just once, and it concerned love of money--the current dollar symbol that is replacing the cross. See His action in Matt. 21:12-13, "Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and  overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, 'It is written, My
house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.'"

    Christ expressed extreme oral anger in Matt. 23: 1-36. I pray you will read these passages, as they are among the longest in His discourse. I will summarize them because of the length, but the sub title tells you what the subject is, "Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees." Jesus points
out the people were being misled by wrong teaching and man-made extended rules and regulations. This is a warning to us to carefully examine our religious leaders. Of course you have to know the meaning of scripture to make an intelligent decision. That takes time, and we
all know time is MONEY, right?

    I've heard professing Christians cite various verses of Proverbs as the basis for persecution of Christians and non Christians. You do understand that Proverbs is not Christ's teaching, right? Oh, it's important and a part of scripture, but it wasn't taught by Christ or a priest. It is solid advice from a very wise man, and I'll tell you how you can easily make a mistake in the use of passages. Turn to Proverbs  6:16. "These six things the Lord hates, Yes seven are an abomination to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren." 

    Proverbs was written by King Solomon and several other writers. None were religious leaders or priests. The Book is advice and wisdom, but not part of Christ's teaching. The first clue is a word in verse 1, HATES. Christ never taught anything but love. Even when He berated the Scribes and Pharisees, Christ never used the word hate. He only listed the many ways they were misleading the people. I hear and see hatred all around me, and both political and church leaders are guilty of tarnishing the truth and gold of Christianity. 

    When the Israelites told the prophet Samuel they wanted a human king to lead them instead of God, Samuel warned them they would suffer under  a human king. Read 1 Samuel 8:1-22. This is another lengthy read, but if you can't correlate these verses to the movement toward a theocracy, the consequences will be similar. You may not be a political or church leader, but if you fail to understand these consequences, your support means you are falling into the same pit as the Israelites. Christ brought us the four gospels. That is God's Word. That should be our manual of operation. Using any other scripture without actually understanding it is a sin. It is forgivable, but it's still a sin.

Rev. Walbear

WORST SIN

                                                                        WORST SIN

    You do know there's one sin worse than all others. Right? That's the situation if you're not saved. There is only one thing (sin) that keeps you out of eternal life, and a committed Christian does not have to worry about it. Why not? Because if your acceptance of salvation was sincere, you have the presence of the Holy Spirit. The only thing that cancels out a trip to Heaven is denial of the Holy Spirit. Christ warns us in Matt.12:31, "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men." That is because the Holy Spirit represents the very power of God. If you deny the power
of God, you are denying God.

    To review this fact, we see that a real Christian can't deny the Holy Spirit because it is part of the commitment. Therefore, there is no worst sin for a Christian. All sins are of equal value because each and every one of us exhibits man's failure of righteousness. Isaiah 64:6. "But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;" The 10 Commandments  (plus 1) and the teaching in the four gospels give us the standards we must follow to fulfill our commitment.

    If there was a "worst" sin, you might think murder would top the list. Even a murderer who repents, confesses his sin to God and accepts Christ's offer of salvation, has eternal life. No single sin of any kind except blasphemy cuts mankind from eternal life. That's why it is so important that we don't keep unsaved people from attending church. Of course we expect a saved person to work on curtailing the actions that were/are involved in any kind of sin.
If there is no action to change, we must conclude the commitment was not real. An individual may not be able to eliminate the sin overnight, but there should be evidence he/she is trying.  It is also important to understand the sinner (including us, individually) needs the companionship of other believers to help clean up the path towards righteousness.

    Growing up, the church people I was surrounded by were pretty set in their beliefs of sin, and especially the "worst" sin or sins. That meant some people were not treated well. These worst sins included a host of activities such as liquor, smoking, murder, divorce, infidelity
and several others. The one sin that actually caused more grief than any other was not usually mentioned. It seemed each denomination had a differing value on different sins. The more righteous people believed they were, the more that denomination discriminated against
others. Instead of increasing the circle of fellowship, this attitude turned non Christians off. When we began this ministry, we were  surprised at the number of people who wanted nothing to do with Christianity because of early church experiences.

    Things haven't changed much in the minds of many people who claim to be Christians. They continue to preach on the subject of selected worst sins. Many do have different sins at the top of their list, and this continues to turn off many people who have the power to intelligently reason. You would think a person who claims to be a Christian would at least know something about their manual, the bible. At least they should know something about the New Testament.
Yet, the worst sin syndrome seems to have claimed the forefront of knowledge. Along with this attitude is the fixation on sex, which some people think is part of everything.

    Before we examine some of today's worst sin theories, let's take a look at one sin that probably causes more anguish than any other, and it's easily passed over. It is something we all do, and it seems  there are two main reasons it flourishes. One is the lack of education, and the other is lack of religious knowledge.  Religious knowledge  is the very basic of the 10 Commandments. It is Ex. 20:16, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." We need to get a full understanding of FALSE WITNESS. When you lie about a matter related to another person, that is false witness. When you pass along information about a subject without checking for fact or accuracy, this is GOSSIP.  If you don't know, don't tell. You never know how many people you have somehow damaged because it's usually impossible to tell all people who heard the gossip the truth. Worse yet, the damage can destroy reputations, families and organizations.

    Murder and infidelity may impact quite a number of people, but they don't have the impact gossip may have. Millions can be affected by false information (gossip). Dictators and big time financial people are successful because they peddle false information (gossip). An example of that is our political campaigning. The same is true in all aspects of our society, including sports and religion. Many Christians make a mistake by accepting information without checking where the material originated. In religion, the various "man" rules can tell you the denomination. Rules do vary from church to church, but there are usually many that are similar. When a speaker or pastor from the group details activities, they will be from the "teaching" outreach of the denomination. Before you fall in line, take the time to check these instructions with scripture. Our churches today are inundated with pastors who mix religion and opinion. When you follow opinion or teaching not in the gospels, you become a  purveyor of gossip.

    One of the best ways to spread false information is to manufacture an emotional issue. There are many such issues, and embellished with suspect information, create a flash issue that spawns vigilante action. Once this gets started, any grain of truth is trampled, and the result brings harm to innocent people. Today's society is guilty of verbal "hanging." Behind this phenomenon is the lust for control, power and money. For some pastors, it is job stability. They may not know the facts, and they may not want to take a chance in rocking the boat of influential church members. Some pastors will not speak about certain areas of scripture or subjects that are "hot button" subjects in their church or denomination.

    Most people rate politicians below the proverbial used car salesman for accuracy or honest information. Yet, these same people listen to similar information from the pulpit without bothering to verify the information. Many denominations and churches have themselves become political organizations. These developments go right back to the acceptance of gossip. A mixture of truth, half truths and falsehoods results in a toxic message. It is often so much
easier to evade the truth. It is difficult to preach the truth, even though you base the information on scripture. Truth frequently hurts, and few people want to be hurt. It's much easier to go with the flow. Satan's representatives have an excellent background in how to influence people and lead them astray. Satan's teaching staff appears to be more dedicated than the Christian teachers.

     The use of an inflammatory issue seems to work very well in  leading some Christians into concentrating on one issue and  overlooking others. The fact that there is no sin to keep a Christian from eternal  life is swallowed in an emotional reaction to elevate one sin to the "worst" status. That is happening today in America because professing Christians don't know scripture. Christ never brow beat anyone to become a Christian. He taught how Christians
are to react to all people. He gave them a choice. Christianity can't be forced on people. The Great Commission directed us to LEAD people to salvation, not force them. Mark 16:15 directs us, "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'" It is not our judgment to condemn those who choose not to accept His offer, as verse 16 tells us their refusal condemns themselves.

    A Christian's job is to preach the word (witness), move away from those sins we seem to enjoy, false witness (gossip), and judgment. Some Christians are not better than others (more righteous), and every one continues to have a problem with some kind of sin. If there is a
difference between denominations, preachers or individual Christians, it is because of the lack of knowledge of scripture and research of facts. Christ's directions are clear in the four gospels. Study them.

Rev. Walbear