Well that’s okay. I feel very led by the Holy Spirit to warn people about this. This is the best way I know of to do it…through Facebook because I have approximately 600 Facebook friends whom I care for and am thankful for.

Some of you may not be Christians. You might be sick of my posts. You may have hidden them. Some have deleted me, and I am okay with that. I am commanded by the King of kings and the Lord of lords to go and preach the gospel. That is not an optional thing for a Christian, that is an order. God does not want ANY to perish, but He wants ALL to come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.

And friend, if you are not saved, why not? You are running out of time.

Signs of the Biblical Tribulation are everywhere. Will you be here when it is all going down? I hope not! Many, many, many watching Christians are fastening their seatbelts because of what is happening right now in this world. If the Trib is about to begin, that means Jesus Christ is coming to take His bride, the Church out of this world in the rapture before His wrath is poured out to judge the world….but more on that later.   (yes I know the word rapture is not in the Bible….well at least not the English Bible. Neither is the word Trinity. It is just a word we use to describe an event. The actual word in Greek used is Harpazo which means to snatch by force.)

God made salvation so easy. But we make it so hard. We think we are somehow losing something if we surrender to Jesus Christ and turn away from sin. Those who think that way are deceived. We lose nothing and gain everything when we place our trust in Jesus and repent. It is when we don’t do that that we lose everything except an eternity in Hell. People do their best sometimes to stay away from God and from even hearing about Him. Why??

If I had a guaranteed plan to give you eternal life, and it was only going to cost you $2000, people would be flocking from all over the world to buy it up without giving it a second thought wouldn’t they? Then why do they not accept the free gift that God offers that Jesus paid for Himself with way more than the $2000 I mentioned above…..it cost Him His very blood and life. But He didn’t stay dead long. He defeated death and sin and rose on the third day. And through that death and resurrection you can bury the old you and let Jesus make a new you!

The book of Ezekiel talks about how it is a watchman’s duty to warn people of what he sees coming. If a watchman sees danger coming and does not warn the people, then their blood is on his head. If he does warn the people and they do not heed the warning their blood is on their own heads.

With that said, and in light of things going on in the world, frequent earthquakes, increasing volcanic eruptions, wars, rumors of wars, national economies around the world on the verge of collapse, a couple of weeks ago the Pope called for a one world currency, and the biggest one of all, what is going on with Israel right now. Israel is surrounded by enemies that are bent on her destruction. Folks these are the things Jesus said would be happening just before His return. These are the birth pangs! Birth is imminent…….you say “birth of what?” The birth of the Tribulation period spoken of in the Book of Revelation…the final seven years.

If the tribulation is that close to beginning, then that means the rapture of the Church is even closer.

I firmly believe in the pre-tribulation rapture position. I will not argue it or debate it with anyone because it is a waste of time to do so. But I will tell you one of the reasons I believe the Bible teaches this. In Revelation chapter 1, John is on the Isle of Patmos imprisoned there. When his vision begins he hears a voice behind him speaking. That voice is the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember John is on earth at this point. John turns around to see Jesus and 7 lampstands which represent the 7 churches that Jesus has John send letters to in Chapters 2-3. In chapter 4 something amazing happens which I believe represents the rapture of the Church.

Rev 4:1-5 says:  After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
² Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. ³ And He who sat there was^[a] like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. ⁴ Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns^[b] of gold on their heads. ⁵ And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.^[c] Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the^[d] seven Spirits of God. 

Did you see the door standing open in Heaven? Heaven’s door is opened and then what? John hears a voice like a trumpet saying “Come up here”……..That is the voice of Jesus Christ Himself! Then “Immediately” John was in the Spirit and in Heaven. That is what the rapture will be like…we will hear the voice and in the twinkling of an eye we who are Christians will be transformed instantly into our new eternal glorified bodies and in Heaven with the Lord!

Now after this happens in Revelation 4, the church is not mentioned AT ALL until the end of the book of Revelation. The words “church” or “churches,” so prominent in chapters 1-3, do not appear again in the book until the last chapter (22:16). The singular “church” and the plural “churches” together occur 19 times in the first three chapters.

However, there is a strange silence of the term in chapters 4-19. That fact is especially noteworthy when you contrast that absence with its frequent presence in the first three chapters. One good reason for this phenomenon is the absence of the true church and true evangelical churches in the seven years preceding the second coming. The true believers of the church have gone into the presence of Jesus Christ in heaven before the onset of the events of the seven-year period. The church is not mentioned during the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments because the church is not here during the outpouring of these judgments.

The church, as a body-unit, is not seen after chapters 1-3 until the marriage of the Lamb is discussed (19:7-9). Here is the description:

Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints (19:7-8).

The church is called Christ’s “wife”. Paul used the metaphor of husband and wife to describe the relationship of Jesus Christ to the church (Eph. 5:22-33). The wife is seen as a complete, definite unit in heaven even before the actual second coming of Christ to the earth (19:7; cf. 19:11-16). There is no sense that part of the wife is in heaven and another part is on earth.

I believe the rapture of the Church is very close. Jesus is

coming quickly I believe so strongly. It could be tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month…..I

doubt it if it will be into the next year, but that is my opinion. Everything

is happening NOW. I am saying it now because I believe it to be that urgent. If

you think I am crazy, I can’t help it. I care about each person on here and you

need to consider where you stand NOW.  (see

below…it’s lengthy and harsh, but it is truth and it is said in love)

(What I am going to say in this message is

said with love believe it or not. I love you enough to not be concerned about

how you may feel about me. I just want you to read the cold hard truth and the

facts….and the good news that follows! – The same way I would scream and shout

at you and ultimately run and tackle you if you were carelessly walking out

into a busy highway and an 18 wheeler was about to mow you down. If I didn’t

love you or care about you, I wouldn’t say anything. And if I did love you, I

wouldn’t care if you got mad at me for tackling you if it saved your life…….get

it??)

If you are not born again…..I mean born again of the Holy

Spirit of God; If you have not turned from your sins and turned TO Jesus Christ

as your Savior and your Lord (Master)……….and the rapture occurs,

you will be left here to live through Hell on Earth or at

least live a while through it (many will die). It will make what happened in

Japan on March 11 look like a walk in the park. That kind of thing will be

happening all over the world. What the Bible calls the Tribulation (capital T)

God’s wrath is about to be poured out on this Earth in a way

it never has before; His wrath against a sinful and wicked world that has

rejected Him and His Son, Jesus. After the restrainer is gone (the Church at

the rapture) things are going to be really really unbelievable here on Earth…like

never before BAD!

The Bible says now is the time, today is the day of

salvation! Don’t wait! Please! Call me a street corner Jesus freak if you want.

If you are not born again, you need to repent and put your trust in the ONLY

One who can save you from what is coming and from Hell.

The Bible says it is appointed every man once to die, and

then the judgment! There are no second chances my friend….none. The Bible does

not teach that. Jesus did not teach that.

Who cares what your family and friends think? They can’t

save you.

Jesus said don’t fear man, who can kill the body, but to

fear God who has the power to kill the body and throw your soul into Hell. That

is hard stuff to digest, but it is true. The Bible says the fear of God is the

BEGINNING of wisdom.

Are you living your life in sin and don’t even care? If you

were born again, and God’s Holy Spirit lived in you, you would feel conviction

for that sin. The Bible says we should examine ourselves to see if we are TRULY

in the faith. Have you done this or are you just doing your own thing?

Are you in a sex outside of marriage relationship? You are

in trouble if you are. You need to repent and confess that sin to God and quit

it. You need to repent of all sin and put your trust in Jesus Christ as your

Savior and your Lord.

Have you ever repented and cried out to God and mourned over

your sin against a Holy and just God? He is holy and He is 100% just….sin does

not go unpunished and there is no way you can meet God’s standard of

perfection. That is why God gave us the 10 commandments. So we could use them

as a mirror (so to speak) and see our own sinfulness and recognize how hopeless

we are. We need help! Jesus said there is no man that is good…not even one…that

only God is good. The Bible also says that God considers even our best good

works as filthy rags. His standard is perfection. We can’t meet that standard.

We are all infected with a disease that there is no man made cure for….sin. We

can’t wash it off or out. We can’t “good” ourselves up to get rid of it. We are

helpless on our own to do anything about it. Sin is death. The sentence for sin

is death and eternal separation from God in Hell.

Wanna know how seriously God takes sin? He considers it so offensive

that He won’t let the drunkard, the fornicator, the adulterer, the liar, the

blasphemer, the murderer, the homosexual, etc…in to Heaven.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (New King James Version)  -  9 Do

you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not

be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor

homosexuals,[a] nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor

revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were

some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were

justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

You and I have all sinned. WE DESERVE HELL. Unless you

understand that, how can you truly repent and be thankful to the One true God who

offers a way to avoid what we deserve, Hell.

He also loves you so much He devised a way that He could

still be 100% just and still demonstrate His mercy, His grace, His love. Jesus,

God’s only begotten Son, came to Earth and left an eternally glorious and

incredible place, Heaven. He willingly came and lived in this sin-infested

world and went through the same trials and tribulations we go through. He dealt

with the temptation to sin, but never gave in. He is the ONLY man who never

sinned.

Yet He willingly offered Himself up as a sacrifice for our sins.

WILLINGLY! It didn’t throw a kink in His plans…..it WAS HIS PLAN!

Why?? Why did He do that? Because God does love us and He knew

if He didn’t, His characteristic of justice (100% justness) would not allow a

sinner into Heaven. Sin has to be paid for; justice must be met. Had Jesus not

come, no one could go to Heaven…no one! Can you imagine?

Jesus said I did not come to condemn the world. They are

already condemned…..Surely you have heard of John 3:16…most in America see it

at every professional sporting event all over signs people hold up…..But have

you read what comes after that? John 3:16-19 says “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His

Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might

be saved.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not

believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the

only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the

condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness

rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

Jesus described Hell as a place of eternal torment, where

the fire never dies, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth that does not

end and there is no escape.

I am not trying to ruin your day by putting this on

Facebook. That is, if you have read this far.

It is because I love you and care about you. I love you

enough to be willing for you to despise me or even “DE-FRIEND” me because this

is the truth and you need to consider where you are right now with God. Where

do you stand with Jesus? Have you denied Him; rejected Him? ………….Is He just

alright? Do you completely deny Him? Is He cool? If He is not Lord of you then

you have rejected Him…………………………… Or is He Lord? Do you

love Him? Do you love Him? Do you love Him?

If you walked the aisle in church as a teen like I did (or

any other time) and said a prayer but there was never a real change in your

life, your heart wasn’t changed, sin is easy for you, sexual sin is easy, sex

with the one you love (even though you’re not married) is perfectly acceptable

in your mind, the partying, the continual sin doesn’t seem to bother you, it is

most likely that that prayer you said as a teen was not it. When you come to

Jesus, you need to count the cost. He will not be mocked. He did not come and

suffer a brutal torture and agonizing and humiliating death on the cross so you

could say a fire insurance prayer and go on living however you want still committing

the same sins you confessed to Him and asked Him to forgive you of. God will

not be mocked. And please don’t fall victim to that deception of the devil that

if you’re living that sinful lifestyle that you’ll still be okay because “remember

you said that prayer that day in the front of the church with that nice man.”

A large portion of America is deceived. We think we are a

Christian nation. We were once maybe, but no longer. You are not going to

heaven because you’re an American and you “believe in God” and you’re patriotic

or a good ole boy. That is not how it works.

Just because you attend church every Sunday and dress up and

even sing the songs does not mean you are going to heaven. Jesus said in John

3:7 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you,

unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ….Friend if you are not born again by the Spirit of

God you cannot enter into Heaven.

Here it is finally! The GOOD NEWS!!! :  God provided a way that even though we

sinners are wretched and sinful, in His love for us, He gave His only Son,

Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our sins. The just (Jesus) suffered for the

unjust (us). Jesus took your sin and my sin, the sins of the entire world on

Himself and He suffered brutally and died on that cross. He rose again from the

dead on the third day. Thus He defeated sin and death once and for all! To all

who will turn from their sin and place their trust in Him alone for their salvation

and for the forgiveness of their sins, He offers new life, you can be “born

again” in to the family of God. He paid your penalty for sin. You can partake

in that free gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sins. Confess your sins to

God, ask God to forgive you and tell Him thank you for Jesus. Tell Jesus thank

you. He will hear! I promise He will hear! He will give you new life when you

put your faith in Him. The Holy Spirit of God will come to take up residence in

you. He will make you a new creation. All the old will pass away and you will

be washed clean by the blood of the Lamb (the shed blood of Jesus will wash

away your sins)

You will suffer persecution for proclaiming

Jesus as Lord by some. But when you do, the Bible says to rejoice; count it all

joy.

He is the only way, the only truth, and the

only life. No one can come to the Father but by Him and only by Him.

I hope to see you up there!

In the name of Jesus Christ,

John Murley

by Jim Bramlett
Contributing writer

CBN.com – It is mind-boggling to think that our generation alone is
uniquely standing on the precipice of time and where no generation has
ever stood. We are living in the days spoken of by the ancient prophets.

These prophets spoke of the Israelites being gathered back into their
own land, in passages such as Ezekiel 37:21:

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of
the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and
bring them back into their own land.

This began in 1948. The “dry bones” of Ezekiel 37 have come alive.

As also prophesied, we are seeing the world turn against Israel.

On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her,
I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations” (Zechariah
12:3).

The catalyst for this is oil, or petro-dollars, causing the world to
sell out tiny, democratic Israel to despotic Muslim nations for purposes
of greed.

These signs are historically unprecedented. Only this generation has
seen them. But there are many other biblical signs, such as: increased
violence worldwide (as in the days of Noah), increased apostasy,
increased cults and false religions and false prophets, increased
natural disasters such as frequency of earthquakes, and more.

For these and many other reasons, is it any wonder that millions believe
the return of Christ is so near? Polls show that even non-believers
think the world is at such a point. This is the most exciting time in
all history to be alive!

But When is He Coming?

Just the question — when? — causes some Christians to cringe, protest,
or even scoff! They quickly point out that Jesus said,

But of that day and hour knoweth no man (Matthew 24:36 KJV).

Some believers criticize other believers who are seeking God’s clues,
either from the Scriptures or by personal revelation. It is interesting
that it was apparently by personal revelation, not Scripture, that many
people knew the exact day of Elijah’s rapture (2 Kings 2)! Are there
types in the Old Testament? Do God’s principles repeat themselves?

Some claim we should focus only on the Great Commission and evangelism
and not be concerned when the Lord will return. However, the Bible
repeatedly tells us to “watch” for the signs, so not doing so would be
disobedient. Also, those who are watching and expecting Jesus’ soon
return are probably the most zealous group of witnesses for the gospel
among all Christians.

The doubters may mention Paul’s words that the day of the Lord will come
like “a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). But many believers
have so misunderstood these verses that they are oblivious to the times,
not watching for the Lord as He commanded, and are often absorbed by the
cares of this world and their own agendas.

As to Matthew 24:36, some scholars point out that Jesus’ words here are
in the present tense, addressed to His hearers at the time, and not to
those alive at the end of the age when Daniel’s vision would be unsealed
(Daniel 12:9). This would be similar to Matthew 16:20:

Then he warned His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.

As evidence, many other Scriptures reveal to us that God will reveal at
least the approximate time. (Even if the “day and hour” restriction is
literally valid today, it may be because the Earth is in 24 time zones
and always in two different days.)

Jesus also said, “but my Father only” knows, which pins the statement to
His hearers at the time, when Jesus was still on the earth, because
surely there are now no secrets in the Trinity between the Father and
the glorified Son, who are truly One.

Also, in context, He seems to be speaking of heaven and earth passing
away (v. 35), not other end-time events. In addition, Jesus said,

If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and
thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee (Revelation 3:3).

He is obviously saying that to the one who watches, He will not come as
a thief and that person will know the hour! (Hour — Greek hora –
Strong’s 5610; various meanings, including, “any definite time, point of
time, moment.”

God’s Promises of Revelation

It is clear that Jesus will not come as a “thief in the night” for
watchful believers, because in the very same passage, verse 4, Paul
tells us,

But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise
you like a thief.

If we are trusting in Christ and looking for His coming, Paul said that
even the very day does not have to surprise us!

Also, Jesus exhorted, “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on
thee as a thief” (Revelation 3:3, KJV), obviously saying He will come as
a thief only to those not watching! It is obvious that for those
watching, He will NOT come as a thief.

Jesus rebuked those who did not understand the signs of the times in His
day:

O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not
discern the signs of the times (Matthew 16:3).

Of the end of the age, Jesus said,

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up
your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21:28).

He said we would know when it is near!

God said, “Surely the sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing it
to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7, NIV). God said “nothing,” and
He did not exclude Christ’s return. I take Him at His word.

God not only knows the end from the beginning, He tells us that He makes
it known!

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is
still to come. (Isaiah 46:10).

He has already made it known! I personally believe it has been hidden in
His Word all along, to be unlocked in His timing. There is nothing wrong
with seeking! No doubt, it pleases God.

God said,

I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to
pass I shewed it thee (Isaiah 48:5, KJV).

Jesus said the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things” (John 14:26). He
said “all things.” Did Jesus make a mistake, forgetting to exclude when
He will return? I don’t think so.

Friends confide in one another. Abraham was called God’s “friend”
(Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23).

And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do
(Genesis 18:17).

Now, because of Jesus’ atonement, we are called friends of God:

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his
master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends (Jesus, John 15:15).

The Bible also says that Jesus was crucified so that the blessing of
Abraham, part of which was friendship with God, would come upon the
Gentiles — us (Galatians 3:14).

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says:

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun (NIV).

Many Bible students believe that ancient events and dating in the Bible
are shadows and clues that foretell the coming of the Lord, even the
timing. An example is the six days of creation, seen as 6,000 years of
man’s dominion over the earth, before the return of the Lord and the
seventh, or Sabbath Millennium of peace, with Christ ruling in
Jerusalem. According to scholars, we are now at the end of 6,000 years
since Adam.

There are other such passages. God clearly promised that we would know
at least approximately when Christ will return, and even “the day” will
not surprise us, as the Holy Spirit reveals through Paul!

In addition, there is ample precedent for God revealing specific times
in advance.

* He gave Noah advance notice of when the flood would be (Genesis 6,7).
* He told Abraham how long the Israelites would be in Egypt (Genesis 15:13).
* As mentioned, He revealed to many the very day of Elijah’s rapture (2
Kings 2).
* He told Jeremiah how long the Babylonian exile would be (Jeremiah 29:10).
* He told Daniel exactly when Messiah would come the first time (Daniel
9:25-26).

Some, including the brilliant Sir Isaac Newton, believe this same
passage holds the key to the timing of His return.

There is evidence that the Bible reveals the exact number of years of
“the times of the Gentiles” and the exact span of time to Israel’s
rebirth in 1948 and the recapture of Jerusalem in 1967.

Obviously, leaving us clueless now would violate God’s own established
pattern as revealed in His Word!

Also obviously, we are not left clueless. There are many signs. Let us
remain watchful and ready, and be found doing the Master’s work.

Related Link: http://www3.telus.net/thegoodnews/finalgeneration.htm

Revealing The Earth’s Final Generation

In Florida , an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and
Passover Holy days.

He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians and
Jews and observances of their holy days… The argument was that it was
unfair that atheists had no such recognized days.

The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate
presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring,”Case
dismissed!”

The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, “Your honor,
How can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas,
Easter and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays..”

The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, “But you do.. Your client,
counsel, is woefully ignorant.”

The lawyer said, “Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or
holiday for atheists.”

The judge said, “The calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day. Psalm
14:1 states, ‘The fool says in his heart, there is no God.’ Thus, it is the
opinion of this court, that, if your client says there is no God, then he is
a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned.”

You gotta love a Judge that knows his scripture!

God reveals to us that our thoughts are a part of us. Someone has said that “thoughts are things,” and the Spirit is all-seeking and all-hearing and all-loving and pure.

Can you imagine a man with malicious and evil thoughts in his heart having companionship with the loving Holy Spirit?

Can you imagine a man bloated with egotism knowing the Holy Spirit in anything like intimacy?

Can you imagine a man who is a deceiver having blessed fellowship with the Holy Spirit? Never!

My friend, if you are habitually given over to thinking and harboring and savoring dirty thoughts, you are habitually without the communion of the Holy Spirit!

Keep your mind pure. Clean out the sanctuary the way old Hezekiah did. They had dirtied up that sanctuary, so when he had taken over, Hezekiah got all of the priests together. It took them days and days, but they carried out all of the filth and burned it, threw it over the bank and got rid of it, and then went back and sanctified the temple. Then the blessed God came and they had their worship again.

Our thoughts are the decorations inside the sanctuary where we live. If our thoughts are purified by the blood of Christ, we are living in a clean room, no matter if we are wearing overalls covered with grease. Our thoughts largely decide the mood and weather and climate within our beings, and God considers our thoughts as part of us. They should be thoughts of peace, thoughts of pity and mercy and kindness, thoughts of charity, thoughts of God and the Son of God — these are pure things, good things and high things.

Therefore, if we would cultivate the Spirit’s acquaintance, we must have the control of our thoughts. Our mind ought not to be a wilderness in which every kind of unclean thought makes its own way.

During last month’s MTV music video awards ceremony, actor Jack Black urged the audience join hands and pray to “dear dark lord Satan.” In his prayer, the actor prayed that the musicians and nominees would have “continued success in the music industry.” The awards program was broadcasted on the MTV network (a subsidiary of the Viacom Corporation) throughout the country through cable and satellite television. 

The Radio City Hall audience readily acquiesced to Black’s invitation to pray to the devil. In a video posted on YouTube, Black encouraged the large audience to join in by saying, “let me see those horns.” Black, dressed in a “muscle suit” continued by asking the awards ceremony audience to join hands during “the prayer.” He then held hands with actress Leighton Meester while he prayed aloud.
 
Black’s prayer went basically unnoticed among most conservative and Christian media circles — perhaps because they feel the comedian was simply joking as he displayed his contempt for Christianity with the prayer invocation. In fact, this would be in keeping with Black’s previous behavior.
 
In 2008 he participated in a video that mocked supporters of California’s marriage initiative, Proposition 8. In commenting on that video, the Culture and Media Institute (CMI) said Black “appears as Jesus rebuking the Proposition 8 supporters while munching on a shrimp cocktail and saying that the Bible condemns eating shellfish too. Then he [Black] reels off some scripture references without context to suggest that the Bible is self-contradictory and unreliable.” In their press release (December 4, 2008), CMI described Black as “an anti-Christian bigot.”
 
Others claim last month’s public “prayer” to Satan was just a publicity stunt to promote the new heavy metal video game, “Brutal Legend.”
 
But regardless how one looks at Black’s actions, it sets a dangerous precedent. Author and King’s College professor Paul McGuire labels Black’s prayer to Satan as “just the tip of the iceberg of what is happening in our nation and in the entertainment industry.” The conservative commentator contends that “although it is hidden, Satanism is one of the fastest growing religions in America.” He adds: “We can expect to see Satanists demanding and getting the same rights as any other religion.”
 
Former Hollywood actor Bob Turnbull says Black’s prayer to the “dark side” was “pathetic and sick,” which shows a “heartbreakingly sad” side of Hollywood’s culture. Turnbull, also known as the “Chaplain of Waikiki,” knows a little something about Hollywood. In the ’60s and ’70s, he appeared in a number of well-known movies (The Little People, Camelot, Tora Tora Tora) and television shows (Hawaii Five-0, Petticoat Junction, My Three Sons, Bob Hope Chrysler Theater, Another Life).
 
Phil Magnan, director of BFamilyAdvocates.com, chimes in, wondering if Black “really knows what he is invoking or has any idea how destructive Satanism really is.”
 
Radio talk-show host Jesse Lee Peterson has a different take on Black’s prayer. Peterson is instead at odds with MTV, the network that hosts the awards. He says it is “disturbing that MTV continues to promote the most degenerate and base programs on its network….[They] intentionally air programming designed to seduce and corrupt the minds and hearts of America’s youth” (like Sex…with Mom and Dad, among others).
 
Ultimately, McGuire believes there could be some encouraging signs to come. While he affirms his belief that the level of darkness will continue, the Christian author strongly believes that simultaneously Americans will “see a revival among the youth similar to the Jesus Movement in the ’70s.”

James L. Lambert, a frequent contributor to OneNewsNow.com and author of Porn in America, is a licensed nationwide real-estate mortgage loan sales agent and can be contacted through his website.
Opinions expressed in ‘Perspectives’ columns published by OneNewsNow.com are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support the American Family News Network, OneNewsNow.com, our parent organization or its other affiliates.

          Thankfully, that same Jesus that died because of sin, rose from the grave on the third day because death and sin could not old Him down. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”          

          I feel that the comedy is far more dangerous than we actually realize compared to other types of  entertainment. Our enemy, the devil, Satan, walks around looking for ways to ruin us. He hates Christians! He will do everything in his power and authority to keep a Christian quiet, to keep a Christian from praying, to keep a Christian wrapped up in the things of this world, and to get a Christian to sin and to dishonor Jesus Christ!  1 Peter 5:8 says “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” So true.

          What a clever plan by the devil! If he can get the Christian to stay in love with the things of this world, he has won a huge part of the battle. God says we, as disciples of Christ, as ones who love Jesus, as followers of Him, should separate ourselves from the things of this world. James 4:4 says “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Pretty strong stuff!! ALSO 1 John 2 15-17 says “¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” Again, that is undeniable. God is saying we as ones who are bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ should be separate isn’t He? Not separate to the extent that we have no interaction with non believers. We are, of course, supposed to love them, reach out to them, interact with them and preach the gospel to them in hopes they will be born again and be saved by our Lord so they too can be forgiven of their sins. God doesn’t want them to perish. He says so in 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

          But what we as Christians should be is holy. God commands us to be. I think many Christians today do not grow in Christ, and do not let the Holy Spirit have His way with us. We give Him a short leash and tell Him that He can only have this much of us, but that we want to hold on to these things, because “after all, He’s gonna forgive us anyway. Right?”  Paul says in Romans 6:21-23 “²¹What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

          There is no escaping this fact. God commands us to be holy. 1 Peter 1:13-16 says “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵ but as He who called you isholy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”.  How do we do that? Well that is a question answered best in another article altogether and one I am not really qualified to preach on. I am still in the process of trying to be holy. I pray every day, and usually more than once a day, that God will help me to be holy. I really want to be! He has put that desire in me. It is not me that has concocted that “want to”. The Spirit of the Living God has given me that desire. The old me, the flesh, the part of me that is constantly battling against the Spirit of God, or better said by Paul to the Galatians in chapter 5:16 – 18 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”  Paul says earlier in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” So the easiest way to answer the question, “How can I be holy?” is by saying I must daily yield myself to God, to His Holy Spirit, to allow Jesus to live in me and through me. It is a daily thing, and with me it is more than a daily thing. It is throughout the day that I find myself giving Him control. I am human and I am still struggling with sin. I still have thoughts I shouldn’t have, and attitudes I shouldn’t have, and even say and do things I should not. I sin still. And if I let that sin go for any length of time without repenting of it and confessing it to the Lord, the devil will use that as an opportunity to attack me and weaken my faith, thus hindering my walk with God and my fellowship with Him. 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  AND Ephesians 4:26 & 27 says “²⁶“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold.”  But I thank God for the voice in me that He gave me, my conscience. And I am thankful for the way He speaks to my conscience by the Holy Spirit! Oh how I would be lost without His guidance. (Psalm 119:105 comes to mind.) I thank God that He lives in me. Jesus said of the Holy Spirit in John 14:17, “the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

So I have digressed long enough…..But the point is, we as Christians must be holy. So if we must be holy, how can we really feel comfortable watching and laughing at today’s so-called comedies that are nothing more than the devil’s cleverly disguised attempt at getting Christians like you and me to laugh at the very thing that sent Jesus to the cross? How can we give our support to those shows, to those movies? I am personally ashamed of the times that I as a Christian allowed myself to sit down and watch something and laugh at the very thing that Jesus died for. Through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, I have been granted Godly sorrow for those times, as I have for all my sins, and been allowed by God, Who is so holy, the privilege of repentance. I don’t say it that way to put a “holier than thou” twist on it. I say it that way because that is exactly what God has done. He has given me the privilege of repentance. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” …. I mean God granted me Godly sorrow which allowed me to repent! That is not a “SMALL” thing! No way. That is a privilege. Any opportunity we have to repent of our sins, confess them to God, and seek forgiveness is just that, a privilege, granted by God’s goodness and His grace. That is the way I have come to view it by the wisdom and insight that only God can and did give me. And He is Sooooooo holy, meaning He is so much set apart from sin and higher and better than even the purest thing we can imagine or comprehend.

Let’s look at what we could see in a typical weeknight comedy, shall we?  Would we see any or all of the following:

fornication – OH YES we would see this

adultery – YES we would see this

uncleanness – MOST CERTAINLY

lasciviousness – defined as ”Lewd” meaning showing a desire for, or unseemly interest in, sex – YOU ANSWER THIS ONE

sodomy – the homosexual lifestyle is more celebrated in tv now than it has ever been and is gaining momentum – DEFINITELY

covetousness – YEP

drunkenness – AFFIRMATIVE

reviling – definition = Verbal abuse (also called reviling) is a form of abusive behavior involving the use of language. It is a form of profanity that can occur with or without the use of expletives. Whilst oral communication is the most common form of verbal abuse, it includes abusive words in written form. – WOULD WE SEE THIS? YES

hatred – YES

Those are just a few of the things we would see in a comedy that the writers can put in in such ways as to try to make us laugh. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders ¹⁰nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

AND

Galatians 5:19-21 says “¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

And every single one of the sins listed there is glamorized and made light of by the television and movie industry. Every one!

WHEN WE LAUGH AT SOMETHING, WE ARE GIVING OUR “APPROVAL”. THAT IS WHAT WE ARE DOING ISN’T IT? When a friend of yours tells you a joke, you laugh if you think it is funny don’t you? I do. That is my way of saying, “Yea, that’s a good one.” In other words  I approve. Right?

AND HERE IS THE FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN! THE ONE THAT SUMS IT ALL UP!

ROMANS 1:32 “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

DID YOU SEE THAT?      ”…..BUT ALSO APPROVE OF THOSE WHO PRACTICE THEM.”

That does it for me! I can’t give my approval of these things. Wouldn’t it be wrong, even sinful, for me to? I am too convicted to laugh at sin. As a matter of fact, God has helped me to see that the things I once thought were harmless and funny are most certainly not “harmless and funny.”

That was the long way around to it, but that is why I feel that we as “bought and paid for by the blood of Christ” Christians, must begin to better discern what we give our approval of. When we allow ourselves to get sucked into that trap, aren’t we discounting the blood that Jesus spilled for our sins? Will we be able to explain that one to our King when one day we are asked about it? I don’t want to have to explain that one. I am taking preventative action now.

Don’t take all this the wrong way please. I am going to what may seem extremes to some to get a point across and to make us, as Christians, really think and examine ourselves. I know it is not a popular thing to be writing on, and I’m not expecting a lot of fan mail to come from this, but it is my prayer that someone will see the importance of what I feel led by the Holy Spirit to write about.

I like dramas and shows or movies that tell a story and action packed  stuff. But the thing I am most convicted of is comedies because, frankly, I can’t see the humor in much of it now.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
What if you had an appointment with the doctor and found out that you had cancer? Maybe you have heard this news or heard it on behalf of a loved one. I want to tell you some things cancer cannot do. Cancer cannot shatter hope. Cancer cannot corrode faith. Cancer cannot eat away peace. Cancer cannot place a limit on eternal life. Cancer cannot quench the Spirit of God and cancer cannot lessen the power of the resurrection. That’s how limited cancer is!

ACTION POINT:
Is there someone in your life who is suffering from cancer? Give them the Good News that you’ve read today. And pray that they will know the Savior.

Did you know that the eye has 40,000,000 nerve endings, the focusing muscles move an estimated 100,000 times a day, and the retina contains 137,000,000 light sensitive cells?

Charles Darwin said,

“To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”

If man cannot begin to make a human eye, how could anyone in his right mind think that eyes formed by mere chance? In fact, man cannot make anything from nothing. We don’t know how to do it. We can re-create, reform, develop . . . but we cannot create even one grain of sand from nothing. Yet, the eye is only a small part of the most sophisticated part of creation-the human body.

George Gallup, the famous statistician, said,

“I could prove God statistically; take the human body alone; the chance that all the functions of the individual would just happen, is a statistical monstrosity.”

Albert Einstein said,

“Everyone who is seriously interested in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe—a spirit vastly superior to man, and one in the face of which our modest powers must feel humble.”

Could I convince you that I dropped 50 oranges onto the ground and they by chance fell into ten rows of five oranges? The logical conclusion is that someone with an intelligent mind put them there. The odds that ten oranges would fall by accident into a straight line are mind-boggling, let alone ten rows of five.

The declaration “There is no God” is what is known as an absolute statement. For an absolute statement to be true, I must have absolute knowledge.

Here is another absolute statement: “There is no gold in China.”

“C” is the correct answer. For the statement to be true, I must know that there is no gold in China, or the statement is incorrect. To say “There is no God,” and to be correct in the statement, I must be omniscient.

I must know how many hairs are upon every head, every thought of every human heart, every detail of history, every atom within every rock…nothing is hidden from my eyes…I know the intimate details of the secret love-life of the fleas on the back of the black cat of Napolean’s great-grandmother. To make the absolute statement “There is no God.” I must have absolute knowledge that there isn’t one.

Let’s say that this circle represents all the knowledge in the entire universe, and let’s assume that you have an incredible 1% of all that knowledge. Is it possible, that in the knowledge you haven’t yet come across, there is ample evidence to proved that God does indeed exist?

If you are reasonable, you will have to say, “Having the limited knowledge that I have at present, I believe that there is no God.” In other words, you don’t know if God exists, so you are not an “atheist,” you are what is commonly known as an “agnostic.” You are like a man who looks at a building, and doesn’t know if there was a builder.

Perhaps you have questions that hold you back from faith. First, almost every question you have about suffering humanity etc., can be adequately answered. Second, we have faith in plenty of things we don’t understand. Did you understand the mechanics of television before you turned it on? Probably not. You took a step of faith, turned it on, and after it worked, understanding how it worked wasn’t that important. We accept that there are unseen television waves right in front of our eyes. We can’t see them because they are invisible. For them to manifest, we need a receiver, then we can enjoy the experience of television.

God is not flesh and blood. He is an eternal Spirit-immortal and invisible. Like the television waves, He cannot be experienced until the “receiver” is switched on. Here is something you will find hard to believe: Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21).

Either that is true or it isn’t. Jesus Christ says that He will manifest Himself to anyone who obeys Him. Approach the subject the same way you approached your first television set. Just take a small step of faith. If it works, enjoy it, if it doesn’t, forget it.

Or have you an ulterior motive? Could it be that the “atheist” can’t find God, for the same reason a thief can’t find a policeman? Could it be that your love for sin is clouding your good judgment? If the Bible is true, and Jesus Christ has “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel,” then you owe it to yourself just to check it out. Here is how to do that:

If you have even broken one Law, then you have sinned against God and therefore will “surely die,” for the “wages of sin is death.”

We are all guilty of breaking the Commandments. Listen to the voice of your conscience, and let it remind you of some of the sins of the past. We are not perfect as we are commanded to be (Matthew 5:48), neither is our heart pure. On Judgment Day our transgressions will be evidence of our shame. Think of it: God has seen every sin we have ever committed. We share our thought-life with Him.

We are guilty of violating His Law a multitude of times, yet if we repent, God can forgive us because Jesus stepped into the courtroom 2,000 years ago and paid the fine for us.

His death on the cross satisfied the Law we so blatantly transgressed, and at the same time demonstrated how much God loves us—”For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” His shed blood on the cross can make you clean in the sight of a holy God…as though you have never sinned.

God doesn’t want you to go to Hell. Please, forget your arguments, repent and put your trust in Jesus and be saved from God’s wrath. Make Psalm 51 your prayer, then read your Bible daily and always obey what you read; God will never let you down. Thank you for taking the time to read this booklet.