I woke up in the middle of the night with this thought. Who can we trust? Who is being protected and lies in wait? If we cannot deal with the enemies we see, how can we deal with the enemies that either we do not know or that are hidden in plain sight? God knows the answer, so how do we prepare?
How many times are you lied to daily? How many times do you lie either intentionally or “non-intentionally”? There is another essential question for each of us to ask ourselves, “Is it OK to lie for the sake of others?” Yet, we know that a lie is a lie! In God’s eye we have lied, period. If we listen only enough to gain power or position then we are lying. To claim that we did not hear something in order to claim innocence is a lie, and so is the converse. It takes a strong mind and heart centered on God not to lie, nor to lie to oneself. Maybe, God will help us if we are willing to expose the lie in us, so that we can have an intimate relationship with the Truth? If we allow God to renew our minds and give us a right Spirit, then maybe we can then discern the Truth and expose the Lie allowing others also to gain from our knowledge and experience.
God showed up again at our White Rock Lake ministry this last Sunday. Even though the weather appeared stormy and the wind was blowing, we felt the call of God to share the Gospel and give away free books and lemonade off the bike trail. Unlike most Sundays, however, there were few people out and about. Then something interesting happened, we had a series of individuals stop by that I believe represent an interesting pattern. 1) At two different times young Catholic men came over to check out the books. I was able to share in depth with the one who spoke English concerning having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the fact that parents, works, and the Pope will not save anyone. He was very appreciative of the theological discussion and a new Bible that we gave him.
2) A couple of “communist” Chinese students stopped on their bikes, and while one went to the port-o-potty the other came over at my invite. She was curious, yet reluctant to talk about God or faith, so I asked her what part of China was she from. She said South China and I replied that my grandparents were missionaries in Canton (southern China) for 25 years. “That is where I am from”, she retorted. At that point the other girl came over and saw the book that the first girl had rejected. The book was about a popular Chinese pastor who formed a ministry and underground church in China. As she grabbed the book, it opened up to a middle page that just happened to have an inscription in Chinese that she recognized as the name of the town that she was from. “This is a picture of my neighborhood,” she exclaimed! We shared the faith with them and they left- returning a few minutes later to grab one more book, a Bible! Note that rarely, do the Chinese students talk to us.
3) A rough looking older man with a loud mouth and aggressive nature came over to us and said that he was a Christian, but that most christians are not real christians since then accept “the Jew”. He retorted that all Jews should be killed and so I asked him if Jesus was a Jew. “No”, he said, “Jesus is of the Spirit.” So then I asked him if “Mary” was a Jew and again he said, “NO”. He grew louder and louder with his arms flailing and face scowling. I felt brave and emboldened and so told him that he was very wrong and that God would “Judge him harshly for his attitude and belief”. He walked away still yelling. Note that I did not say, “Fine you are entitled to your own beliefs.” God has called us to be both Light and Salt, and not to be ashamed of the Gospel of Salvation
4) A Jehovah Witness girl dropped by to look at the books. She listened as I shared with her about the 144,000 in the book of Revelation and that they were all Jews from the 12 tribes and not Gentile Christians. I talked with her for about 30 minutes. She listened intently and left with one of our Christian books on faith. Even though we rarely have a JW stop to talk to us, she also seemed excited and thanked us.
5)   Then I had the opportunity to talk to a young man who came from Hindu Nepalese background and had had someone years earlier pray over him to receive Christ. I told them if he was not being true to his heart, the confession would not be valid. He asked why the Christian God should be accepted as the true God? I shared with him that God became a man so that He could share His nature and character with us, as a loving God who was willing to sacrifice his only begotten Son for our sin, and all we have to do is have faith to accept that gift of sacrifice. He said that anyone can die and that all religions have a God with special traits and then finished with, “What makes a Christian so special?” I shared that the true nature of God is one of love and justice and not to kill indiscriminately as we see happening in many religions. I said, “do you not know that many Christians have died for their faith refusing to recant their faith despite the threat of death.” He hesitated and said “Yes, but what makes your faith better?” So I asked him to go back in time and study the Babylonians who ruled the world, even defeating the Jewish nation. Surely their faith would be special since many modern religions are connected to this early Babylonian model. “Note,” I said, “they killed the Israeli kings and took their youth and the talented as captives.” “One of those was Daniel, and the book of Daniel is one of the books preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls and so has been proven to be authentic and accurate.” “If you study the book of Daniel you will understand how God works in the lives of those He trusts to carry His message forward to us.” “Babylon accepted Daniel’s God as their own.” He was excited and asked me to write down that name and rushed away on his bike.
6) While I was talking to him a guy came up who we know as a Hindu philosopher and who likes to promote a False christian Narrative which is basically Satanic. It was an Interference which we did not allow to deter us. He was loud and getting louder as I was sharing with that the young man. So after the young man left, I went over to him and interrupted his argument with my ministry partner, Angie. “You have tried to interfere with the work of the Holy Spirit as I shared with the young man, and God wants you to know that He will not forgive the one that forsakes the Holy Spirit”. He got really agitated and started flailing his arms and contorting his face then left. Â
7) Then an ex combat soldier, by the name of Lonny, came up and asked me about what it means to be a Christian. He told me that he was a Christian but that he did not go to church. So I asked what the two main Sacraments of the Christian Faith are. He said that he did not know so I told him that they were Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and that both required that a person be a member of a group of believers or church. He showed me his chest full of battle wounds and knelt down next to me to find out more about the Word. That led to a very deep and rewarding discussion and his desire to contact us and buy my book COSMIC CROSSROAD COUNTDOWN. Â
We saw many others, but only for a few minutes at a time sharing books with them and giving away the free lemonade.
The opposition was obvious and the Spiritual battle was clear. There were dark forces determined to stop our effort to share the Gospel and lead the lost to Christ. Both of the aggressors for Satan claimed to be “Christians,” yet were obviously “traitors to the faith,” followers of a false Christ, and opponents of the work of the Holy Spirit. One was blatantly Anti-Jew and the other was New Age and demanding an all inclusive Christianity not dependent on the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ who said, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me.”
The others covered a broad spectrum of modern day society: 1) a cult member 2) A Christian who does not attend church 3) Two girls raised as atheists 4) two men raised as Catholics 5) a Nepalese Buddhist who had Christians pray with him for Salvation, yet he did not change nor grow in Christ. He was trusting in many gods, and thus could be considered a New Age adherent. 5) and the tough soldier as a Christian did not attend any church. In this case I do believe that his faith was sincere, but stunted due to trauma, or his lack of social skills and willingness to have Christian fellowship.