Silent partners and our lying eyes

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Written By Paul Proctor

My wife and I stopped by to visit her mother one afternoon and just happened to catch her in the middle of her favorite soap opera. Now I don’t know one show from another, much less one character from another, but it was clear to me that this woman didn’t miss many episodes. She’s a retired private duty nurse and a dear, sweet lady who is not only active but intelligent, informed and engaging. When I inquired about a young couple on the show she was watching, whose passionate embrace seemed to signify a rather poignant moment, she gently rested her face in her hands and responded with a deep sigh of relief, “OH HONEY, I’ve been trying to get those two together for years!” Without even knowing it, that fantasy had become her reality.

Now, I don’t know who coined the phrase, “Seeing is believing”, but whoever it was, knew very well how easily seduced we are by imagery. Now, more than ever, we who call ourselves Christians and conservatives would do well to question what our eyes are seeing on TV these days as events unfold around us. In this Age of Illusion it appears to me that the most powerful lies seem to be coming, not from words, but from images.

Since Eve was tempted in the Garden of Eden with a forbidden fruit that was “pleasant to the eyes”, the Lord, in His enduring mercy, has endeavored to teach us not to believe in WHAT WE SEE, but to instead, believe in WHAT HE SAYS. That’s how important The Word of God is. Those who carelessly dismiss it do so at their own peril. That Word is what guides, instructs, nourishes, comforts and protects us, especially in perilous times like these.

A few months ago I managed to get myself into an email argument with a lady whose disdain for “Baptists” emerged after she tried to convince me that her children were saved, not because they had accepted Christ but because she saw gold dust falling on them during a Sunday morning service. She let it be known in no uncertain terms that as far as she was concerned the Bible was little more than an overly-emphasized book and that what REALLY mattered most was having a spirit-filled worship experience. I didn’t ask her what spirit she was referring to because it was obvious to me that she didn’t really care as long as it made her feel good. The powerful image-makers of Hollywood have been quite successful in persuading us that the only EVIL spirits are the ones that make eyes flash, beds bounce and turn spinning heads into guacamole dispensers.
But you see my friends; sin wouldn’t BE a temptation if it didn’t make us feel good…at least for a time. That’s not to say we shouldn’t experience joy and excitement in our Sunday morning services, but the Bible does not waver on what is essential for worship.

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)

If our worship is based on imagination, emotion, whim and fantasy then it doesn’t really matter WHAT we feel like when it’s all said and done. It’s carnal and will be no more acceptable to God than the offering of Cain. That “overly-emphasized book” she had so little regard for is our Divine source of truth, wisdom and knowledge…a love letter from God that teaches the very essentials of our faith. Without it we would all simply float about aimlessly from one feeling, appetite, desire and experience to the next like a fleet of vessels lost at sea with ruptured sails and broken rudders.

Unfortunately I was unsuccessful that day in my attempt to convince her that chasing “miracles” was not the way to eternal life…that doing such would only make her another spiritual casualty in a world of charlatans and predators. I feel certain that if still alive when the Anti-Christ appears, that poor woman will fall prey to the “signs and lying wonders” scripture says he will perform to deceive the world into worshipping him, simply because her faith will be in what her eyes see rather than in what God’s Word says.

“And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Luke 4:4)

Another way imagery deceives us these days is in the area of religious tolerance. When President Bush invited religious leaders to the White House recently to stand before the TV cameras in an ecumenical display of spiritual solidarity, many Americans were emotionally moved into thinking how godly and patriotic it was that he publicly acknowledged the importance and legitimacy of all religions. One would think the horrific events of September 11th that spawned that gathering would have been sufficient to persuade them otherwise. But once again our eyes deceived us through the power of imagery as globalists like Bush contrived a consensus of collective compromise for all to see and experience that not only promoted and advanced the UN’s one-world religion but defied the expressed will of God. This is not the unity that the bible teaches. This is an artificial alliance with the very enemies of Christ portrayed by our own president as an act of Christian love, who while professing to know Christ, continually woos believers away from the Word of God toward the feelings, experiences, logic and political expedience of a global agenda. Masquerades and maneuvers like this may charm the masses, elevate ratings and win the applause of the confused, hurting and afraid but in the end it costs those who believe their own eyes more than God’s Word their eternal souls.

If you think such things only happen in places like Washington D.C. and New York City, allow me to quote the pastor of a Presbyterian church here in the bible belt who writes a weekly column for my local newspaper. The article this excerpt comes from is entitled: “Unity a real need in our small world”

“Now, perhaps more than ever, there is a critical need for an increase in religious unity among different world religions, especially the three monotheistic religions that trace their roots to Abraham – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Now is the time for Jews, Christians and Muslims to join hands in a show of unity and solidarity. May love for the one creator of all and love for one another in our common humanity be the cords that bind us together.”

Though it may sound irresistibly warm and fuzzy to unite everyone under “one creator”, compare if you will, his worldly “wisdom” to the written Word of God:

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” (II Corinthians 6:14-17)

Certainly, we are called to live in peace with one another and demonstrate the love and kindness of our Lord to EVERYONE that comes our way. But NOWHERE in scripture is it taught that Christians are to unite, honor, exalt and embrace the world’s religions and gods as if they were all equally valid. That is NOT Christianity! That’s UN pantheism disguised as “compassionate conservatism”! And I assure you, my fellow Christians, there is NOTHING compassionate about undermining the Gospel of Christ with sugary-sweet words and images that send people to an eternity in Hell by making them FEEL GOOD about their sin! And when we tolerantly sit back and say nothing about the idol worship of false prophets promoting ecumenical organizations and events that fraudulently forward a global agenda in the name of Jesus Christ, WE OURSELVES become the silent partners of a satanic conspiracy. Well, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! It is time to speak out with the courage and faith of men like John the Baptist and tell our nation’s leaders, as did he, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”

In spite of the numerous efforts world leaders like president Bush make to merge the world’s religions into one, God’s first commandment STILL STANDS:

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3)

The Lord is both specific and inflexible about where our faith is to rest, not because He desires to exclude anyone from His saving grace, but that ALL might repent and believe in the Living Word of God, from whom that precious gift of eternal life comes.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

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