How to Sell a Million Copies

While perusing the Net looking for some useful information, I couldn't help but notice that people are getting rich off selling books, videos, music, calendars... you know, the stuff you can't help but notice. I was cruising 'Christian' sites looking for a bio on a successful woman speaker. I found the following pattern in her books and well as all the others for sale:

1. Target housewives who have the "Problem with No Name" (as per Betty Friedan. c. 1965).
2. Identify the problem for them (lack of self-esteem).
3. Include the following as chapter subjects: Self-realization, body wisdom, marriage (or "intimate relationship"), education, career, God (or "spiritual guide"), children, recreation, mental therapy.

If you are a Christian and want to keep up appearances, plug the Christian names of things into the above formula. It will sell a million copies. Or, if you prefer, you can start a mega-church, go on speaking engagements and otherwise destroy the true church with false piety and false love for the brethren.

As Paul said to Timothy: "[these are] traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: From such turn away! For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth..." 2 Timothy 3:4-7.

Chris Simonson  9/29/2006

Running Away From the Facts

Atheists and agnostics will correctly point out that most Christians are running away from the facts, using questions like, "If God loves everyone, how come he is throwing most of them into hell?" The fact is, God is going to destroy most of humanity, as per Jesus Christ. As to Him loving everyone, the Bible record does not state that as a fact.

As can be pointed out by anyone, God cannot be seen. The fact is, God has hidden himself from us. There are reasons for this (like we cannot bear his presence because He is a consuming fire and we are combustible), but the fact remains. Other facts confirm that God has created all of this. Like, how did all this get here? Probability experts disagree on how to properly model the improbability that this all came about on its own, but let's just say that it is impossible. All facts point to this inescapable conclusion, whether we want to admit it or not. Other facts point to the probability
that God is going to judge us for our works. We see this fact imprinted on all creation, and in our own systems of government and law.

But I am not writing this to convince anyone there is a God, but that if there is a God, why don't we serve Him? Why do we mouth religious affirmations but do not do what He says? We talk about love, but we refuse to obey Him, which He calls love, not some emotional fix we desire.

We need to get our facts straight. We need to have the right God. We need to serve Him and no other God. Without the Father of Jesus Christ as our God, we might as well be worshiping pagan idols. Many today are actually given over to worshiping the ancient gods and goddesses (mostly the latter) because they rejected the religion of following Jesus Christ. Pop religion looks for a "feel good" religion of the people who sit down to eat and drink, and rise up to play. The Bible has always condemned licentiousness, because it hardens the heart against Christ. If we continue to run away
from the fact that the church has been corrupted with covetousness (idolatry in basest form), sexual immorality, and just plain laziness, then we are running away from our own salvation. The atheists and agnostics know how phony we are; just ask them about the facts.

Chris Simonson  9/28/2006

Don't Play With Crocs

Life is full of object lessons. The death of Steve Irwin, "The Crocodile Hunter", is definitely one of them. He was a popular media figure, so we should take heed what happened to him. If we haven't heard, he died while filming another of his "play with venomous & dangerous creatures" episodes.

Up until his real death a couple of weeks ago, Steve's rumored death was repeated several times a year by various individuals. He was typically killed in horrible accidents of various sorts. As Steve put it on his Discovery.com Website: "I've never been bitten by a venomous snake, and I recently heard that I'd been killed. Ha ha! I've been killed by crocodiles, venomous snakes, spiders. I've even had a beetle crawl in my ear and kill me once. Nah! I'm here to tell you Steve Irwin lives!"

His real death occurred on September 4, 2006. The rumor had finally come true. It was an unusual death, and an ironic one. The ironic part is that he was not playing with the thing at the time, but it turned on him and killed him as he swam behind it. The stingray barb found its target and put a hole in his heart. According to a marine neuroscientist from the University of Queensland, it was just plain bad luck. As a matter of fact, "It was extraordinarily bad luck. It's not easy to get spined by a stingray, and to be killed by one is very rare", he said.

John Stainton, an old friend who has worked with Irwin for years, said that the star had been looking for "things that can kill you in the sea" as part of a program being filmed for Animal Planet. He also said, "It's likely that he possibly died instantly when the barb hit him, and I don't think that he felt any pain. He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind."

This statement, "He died doing what he loved best" is one of the most bone-chilling and crazy comments a person can make. And, as to how he left this world, only God knows.

God, on his part, tells us to stop playing around with sin and deliver ourselves from a wicked generation. If we are enthralled with risky behavior, we are likely to wind up in hell. This is not extraordinary bad luck. It is the judgment of a holy and righteous God. On his part, he tells us to forsake our evil ways and come to him reverently, looking for mercy and forgiveness. Don't play around any more. The snake has bitten and you need to get to the doctor now.

Chris Simonson  9/27/2006

Life & Death on Easy Street

From the headlines, you would think that some great political figure had been assassinated. Two people out of six billion persons died a natural death in recent years, and they died because modern medical science (spell that “money”) couldn’t keep them alive. Right wing mollycoddled Christians were throwing their usual epithets of “murder” when opining on Terri Schiavo, and they put on their best sad face for pope what’s-his-name and say, “Isn’t that sad?” for the both of them.

You would think these two were saints or heroes or something. What did Terri do except go comatose? The pope, why you would think he had done something for the Christian church besides live in luxury at the expense of the souls he duped. So, now we have the annual nauseating task of listening to false eulogies from the lips of worldly minded Christians who have nothing better to do than judge the actions of others, keeping themselves looking lily white with their feigned concern for persons whom they will never meet, while doing nothing themselves to keep men out of hell. I hope Terri made it to heaven. She probably was hoping that by being a Catholic she would join pope what’s-his-name. She probably will (which is not a good thing if we believe in the Protestant God).

Her husband: he is a servant of his own self interests and shouldn’t be condemned. In the respect of being greedy, he is the same as many of the people who will read this. Let’s stop the feminist politically-correct platitudes coming from our lips. Let us look around our immediate vicinity and see the gross sin that passes as respectable. Let’s do something about it besides say we are tolerant, non-judgmental and loving. We are surrounded by well-fed -and cared-for neighbors, even though some of them are on life support now. They have had their food and fun and now must shortly face judgment.

If we help someone physically, let us look to the poor, miserable, starving, diseased people who will never have the luxury of being hooked up to machines. Let us feed them and give them the Gospel, seeing as our fellow Americans have plenty of food and time to kill and want little to do with a God who calls them to account. Let us warn our wicked countrymen that they will stand in front of God and give an account for their actions, and that this will be based on their opportunity (money, time, Christianity) to do good and yet did it not. Or... let’s go to Disneyland on All-Church Day!

- Chris Simonson  9/26/2005

The reader is admonished to read 1John 5:9-13

The witness of God, that is, the record that God has kept and shows to us, is far greater than the testimony of man (v.9) In fact, if we do not believe the record that God has given concerning his Son, Jesus Christ, we make God a liar (v.10).

Far better to let the testimony of every man be false than let God be suspected of lying. Paul is so bold as to say so in Romans 3:4.  If we must make every man a liar, so let it be, in order than God may be true!

But what record shall we trust when it comes to God?  If we trust in our own ability to select the true from the false, then we are not trusting in God, but in ourselves. The Bible says that the way of every man is right in his own eyes, but God weighs the hearts. It also says that there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death. There are many other records that the Bible contains to show that man’s judgment and man’s abilities fall far short of being able to discern God, much less be capable of doing what God wants us to do. This is the record in the Bible. It is not a flattering witness for man. It is, in fact, a condemning witness. This is why such passages are neglected in typical Sunday sermons. The mind of man loves to be flattered, not revealed.

Why does the mind and heart of man tire of hearing such things?  Don’t we all like to hear good things about ourselves? Why? Much of philosophy and psychology comes from such questioning.  Man’s answers to the question “why pain and sorrow?” are many and varied.  Man’s solution to escape the pain and sorrow becomes a record of failure.  Much pain and sorrow is endured in the quest to escape from it. Many witnesses and records are called.  Many are the courts in which man is tried and many are the attempts to justify him.  Many are the attempts to condemn him. At the end of all of this pain and sorrow comes the final blow: death. Death to all, both rich and poor, wise and foolish, justified and condemned. Is it no wonder the preacher said, “all is vanity?” This is the record the Bible gives in the book of Ecclesiastes.

But we have a greater witness than man.  We have God’s own witness that he has given concerning his only Son.  Although the world lies in sin and death, God is righteous and he is life giving. The Son, Jesus Christ, is the life. The Son, Jesus Christ, is the righteousness. This is the record that God has given us concerning him. The record shows that God is against wicked men on the one hand, but He is for the Son of Man and those who are made righteous by him. God, who cannot lie, promises eternal life to the righteous, and eternal destruction to the wicked.

Man, on the other hand, makes up all sorts of systems to get around the simple promises of God. Doing so, he makes God a liar.

For instance, a popular, but false, view of the love of God calls into question the righteousness or justice of God. “How could a loving God inflict wrath on me even though I go against his commandment?” they say. “What if I am ignorant of the true God; how can he hold me accountable?” they say. “God loves me no matter what I believe or do,” they say. And so forth. They speak about the love of God and bear record that God is love, but their sources for fact on this matter have serious flaws. They quote the Bible where it says, “God is love”, but do not quote it thoroughly. “He who does not love does not know God” is what it says. That means that there are some who do not know God. Jesus said, “Broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there are that go that way; narrow is the way that leads to life and few there are that find it.” This means there are many who do not know God (in comparison to those that do).

To quote a portion of a verse that says God is love and to ignore the first part that plainly acknowledges there are those who do not know God nor do they love, is sign that men are once again up to their lies.  Looking further ahead in 1 John 4 we read “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar…” Men are by nature liars and speak much of the love of God and secretly hate those who really do love God.

They are like Balaam. They have fallen into the error of covetousness. They possess spiritual gifts, they do spiritual exploits, and they feel God and prophesy of him.  But they do not possess eternal life because they do not love. They pretend to love. They make a big show of it. But they do it for pay. “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”

Here’s what Balaam had to say about it: “God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent; has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not make it good?” Balaam may have been blinded by his greed, but his eye could see that there was no way to influence God with sacrifices. “Alas, who can live except God has ordained it?” Numbers 24:23.

"And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life." 1 John  5:11,12.

- Chris Simonson   9/25/2006

I write to those who call themselves Christians; may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ rest upon you. If we say that we believe in Christ, and have been saved, one would ask, "What assurance do you have of your salvation?" The simple and correct answer is, "Through Christ." Do we really believe that Christ is our savior? That we have been saved from being cast into hell and that our wretched and defiled hearts have been washed clean? Do we truly live like God sent his Son to be crucified, who was blameless to pay for all our sin; that he was raised again on the third day, and conquered sin and death on our behalf? If such conviction, which is the testimony of faith in our Lord lives within you, then you have gained the knowledge and personal communion with the living God, through His holy Scriptures.

This type of faith leads to good works and righteousness: feeding the hungry, looking after the widows, orphans; but most important and preeminent in a believer’s work is to show love to the brethren as well as the preaching of the gospel to those who are lost... to warn of Hell and the coming judgment upon all those who reject Christ. But, there are those who, by works of the law, call themselves Christians; those who when given a talent, proceed to bury it in the earth and hold back from those who are in need, who’s lives are consumed by the law, and the ‘taste-not, touch-not’ religious traditions of men; who’s faith is wrapped up in church buildings, businesses, homes, cars, relatives, pot-lucks, concerts, plays & camping trips.

These are the people that speak of Jesus’ "love" but yet do not what He says, and stumble those who truly seek after Christ. May we take the time to examine ourselves, to see if we be in Christ, not just because some card we once signed tells us so, or once responded to an alter call.

Steven  9/22/2006

We know from the scriptures that there are those who teach doctrines influenced by demons. (1 Timothy 4:1) They are doctrines that contradict what God has said in His word and make Him out to be a liar. They are teachings from the spirit of the AntiChrist.

One of these teachings is that Jesus had a secret, that nobody was really going to be thrown into hell. The warning of hell was just to get people to live better lives, but really, in the end, God would reveal that He had no intention of sending a single person to hell. This, no doubt, flung from the foolish idea that a loving God would NOT throw souls into hell-fire.

Of course if the above were true, then God would be a liar; because He has revealed in His word that: "The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." -Revelations 21:8

"For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment... then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment..." -2 Peter 3:4,9

Another doctrine of demons, and a lie propagated from Satan, is that hell is a temporary punishment. They say hell cannot be forever, because they don't believe a righteous God would cast people away to hell forever. This is from Satan because we have these words from God:

"When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction..." -2 Thessalonians 1:7b-9a

"They have forsaken the right way and gone astray... These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, to whom the gloom of darkness is reserved forever." -2 Peter 3:15a,17

"The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." -Revelations 20:10

"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels..." -Matthew 25:41a

Chris Simonson  9/21/2006

Paul the apostle was imprisoned in Rome and preached while there. There is no mention of Peter being around. Paul wrote the famous letter to the Romans in about 60 AD. In the letter he did not salute Peter, so it can be safely assumed that Peter was not at Rome by then. In fact, the earliest record naming bishops of Rome does not include Peter at all. Peter doesn’t show up as the founder of the Roman church until the Roman Catholic Church conveniently discovered this quite some time later than AD 200. The absence of Peter’s mention in the best and earliest histories is chalked up to some logic about apostles being so set apart that they would not be referred to, much less greeted, by name (?).

But let's say they're right, those Roman Catholics, that an apostle would not be mentioned in a roll call of a particular church because, since he belonged to the whole church, he would not be named as a member of a particular church. As Peter DeRosa said in his book Vicar of Christ , “Being an apostle precluded a man from being bishop of one place. Peter, too, whatever momentous decisions he made in Jerusalem, Antioch and elsewhere, remained an apostle of the entire community.”

Well, if this were true then Peter, along with all the apostles, would be horrified to see a church set apart as a mother church, much less one named after him. Of course, none of this Catholic tradition is true except that maybe Peter was martyred in Rome. But his time there must have been short indeed. There is no real history of Peter even being a member of the Roman church, much less being its founder. So we have a false legacy upon which the Catholic religion rests its case. All they can do at this point is chant “Upon this rock…” over and over again until they blaspheme the Most High God, the Rock who is Jesus Christ.

It really doesn’t matter whether they take their name from Romulus or Remus, it all comes out carnal. The horror of sectarianism continues unabated, with the Roman Catholic Church always at the head of the class, wooing back its children under the name of ecumenism. Their hypocrisy seems to have no end.

Chris Simonson  9/20/2006

The Los Angeles Times put out an article  yesterday called Multiple Choice god, and a pantheon of debates on talk radio ensued. The article mainly spoke on a poll by the Gallup Organization, conducted at the behest of Baylor University, about "American Piety in the 21st Century".

According to the Poll, 85%-90% of Americans answered in the affirmative when asked if they, personally, believed in God. This not a new concept: ever since man was created and throughout the thousands of years since, man has, as a general rule, believed that is there is a god, as much as he believes in death and life. There was really no sizable, public dispute of this until Darwin introduced his speculative, racist and anti-christ theories about 150 years ago.

Tom Sullivan, a Sacramento financial guru and local talk radio-show host for KFBK Sacramento brought up this poll on his radio show yesterday, commenting that we are very religious people in this country. He reiterated the poll’s question of What Sort of God do you believe in? followed by these categories: A - the Authoritarian God (creator whom is highly involved with humans, responsible for earthly events, capable of meting out punishment ), B - the Benevolent God (is somewhat involved with human affairs but isn’t in the smiting business, more of a positive influence), C - the Critical God (not interested in humans much, views the world unfavorably and will punish evildoers in another life) or D - the Distant God (set the laws of nature in motion but has no interest in humans whatsoever).

Even presenting these categories as valid shows the ignorance of man, as if the infinite God could be defined by a few, human adjectives, without the use of systematic, sound Theology through Biblical hermeneutics. ( In other words, actually opening up your Bible and believing what God said is true.)

I suspect that there is a bit of hidden agenda here, in polling such a question, in such a manner, with said limited categories which by their very wording state that God cannot possibly be ‘loving’ and also discipline at the same time, or that God cannot be "distant" while simultaneously allowing redeemed humans to be filled with His Holy Spirit.

Category A was by far the most popular option, preferred by almost a third of people polled, and was somewhat close to the Biblical format: there will be a judgment, and to reject Jesus Christ as Lord has eternal and horrifying consequences. Option A, however, neglected the weightier matter of the Biblical demonstration of Salvation, the ultimate example of "divine benevolence: the forgiveness of sins through the atoning work of Jesus Christ upon the cross.

Nowhere in these categories was there the option of God being the one source of Truth in the universe, as spelled out in His Word, the Holy Scriptures, in which God, speaking via the inspiration of His Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul, adamantly states: "Let God be true and every man a liar." Romans 3:4

- Steven  9/18/2006

Most Christians neglect the mystical side to their own life. I do not mean the whooping and hollering of Pentecostals; no, but I do mean contact with the spiritual realm through the Spirit of Christ (1 Cor. 2:10). Did not Paul say that if we live in the Spirit, then we should walk in the Spirit? (Gal. 5:25). The converse is true: If we live in the flesh, we will walk in the flesh even though we exhibit marvelous ‘gifts of the Spirit.’ See Jesus on this subject (Matthew 7:22).

When we remove the mystical dimension of our life in Christ, we remove Christ himself. We wind up with a social gospel or a legalistic approach to a hermetically-sealed religion. This is the Christianity of the Western world: one that can be followed even if one is not indwelt by the living God Himself. This is the religion that Paul speaks against in 1 Corinthians 13, so misquoted at marriages. Once we lose the mystical aspect of our faith, that is, our communion with God through his Spirit, we lose our fragrance and our salty savor. Apart from the Spirit, we are merely religious creatures bent on proving ourselves right. In time, we forget the spiritual goal of the kingdom and exchange it for creature comforts, using the religion of Christianity so we can obtain worldly gain, monetary or otherwise, thinking this is godliness (1 Timothy 6:5).

But let’s suppose that we are convicted of our sin before the holy God who measures us against his purpose for us, not by some church standard. Let’s say we quit our agendas-posing-as-service-for-Christ. Let’s say we return to our first love (we repent) and begin to humble ourselves and pray and seek our Lord. This is going to seem pretty weird and definitely anti-social to our friends and brethren. Jesus said to his own brothers that the world loved them, but it did not love him because he testified of it, that its works were evil (John 7:7). In fact he said, “Who are my mother, or my brothers? ... Whoever does the will of God, this is my brother and my sister and my mother.” (Mark 3:35)

This is going to make us ‘misfits’ as far as the worldly kingdoms go. We will be accused of being “too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good.” Jesus would almost agree with that. When Pilate threatened him, he said his servants would fight if his kingdom was of earth, but no, his kingdom is not of earth but of truth. These are not just the ambiguous ramblings of a mystic that we can interpret to mean whatever we want. This is our Lord Jesus Christ beckoning, “Repent! For the kingdom of God is near!” Our union with Christ is mystical. It cannot be measured or proven using modern methods of scientific quantification. Many fleshly-minded persons attempt to prove their union with Christ by smiling at and justifying the wicked, but they have no love. Only those who are indwelt by the Most High can manifest true love. This is impossible to the unbelievers, but to the believer in Jesus, God himself dwells inside and enormous power is available. If this isn’t mystical, then what is?

Chris Simonson  9/18/2006

According to the happiness expert Dr Timothy Sharp, director of Sydney's Happiness Institute, “Happiness is something we can actively strive for and achieve if we do the right things.” Misery, on the other hand, is “simply errors of judgment or bad habits repeated every day.” Duh. This is stone-age stuff. And yet, after all these years of scientific method, no one has been able to improve on the Adam and Eve story. They made a Bad Choice says the Bible, and human misery and unhappiness are the result. Death reigns over all, making it very hard to make right choices, much less making it to heaven.

These top scientists keep on teaching us we can make right choices in and of ourselves. The best they can do is to tell us to eat the right stuff, avoid wrong behavior, and get plenty of exercise and fresh air. They also teach us that we can behave any way we want as long as it makes us feel good. They tell us that if our behavior causes problems like AIDS or anxiety, then they are there with pills, the right pills. Thus we add layers of confusion to an already risky life.

In their desperation to provide proof that happiness can be achieved, the scientists will use examples like Tom Cruise and Bill Gates. They show Tom jumping up and down on a couch and Bill on the front cover of a magazine as “Man of the Year” (sharing the spot with his wife and Bono). Coincidentally, all of these persons are rich and famous. But the happiness doctors are quick to add that happiness is not dependent on being rich or famous. Duh. This science stuff must have something to do with getting government grants because I really don’t think this is science, much less cutting-edge psychology. Sharp acknowledges that people experiencing adversity, trauma, poverty, homelessness, hunger, unemployment or wars are likely to be unhappy. Last duh. I’m glad the U.S. isn’t paying this guy.

Here’s at least one real observation: Dr Martin Seligman, of the University of Pennsylvania and the author of Authentic Happiness, likes to think in terms of what detracts from our happiness as much as what brings us joy. He’s suggested the self‑esteem movement, the rise of victimology, the promotion of ‘short cuts to happiness’ and the rise of individualism have all made it harder for us to be happy. In other words, our obsession with ‘rights’ make us that much ‘wronger.’

All’s I can see is that these so-called scientists are propagating the old devil lie that we can be as gods, choosing between good and evil. And in this ability we are truly gods; only we are going to hell just like the other god of this world who tricked us in the first place.

Chris Simonson  9/15/2006

It is a known fact that the outfit Jews for Jesus (JFJ) solicits money, and, proof of success is the millions of dollars its founder, Stan, takes in each year.

We pass out tracts free of charge, tracts that get right to the point of The Gospel... so we can form an opinion about their tracts without being mere 'armchair' critics. Their tracts are large and made out of heavy paper, thus running up costs. They use very large drawings, looking very hippie-ish Thus, there are very few words of the gospel, just attention-getting devices. Their gospel uses philosophical, “logical,” largely non-Biblical material, to convert what? Jews, Gentiles, Democrats? And of course, they solicit money.

Calvary Chapel supports their Jewish crusades. As one report has it: “Of course JFJ has a multi‑million dollar annual budget and it takes such redundant crusades to justify its existence. So JFJ, and other groups like it, target the same Jewish communities repeatedly for what critics consider a self‑serving purpose: to sustain a missionary machine that perpetuates a payroll. Nevertheless it’s money from American evangelicals and fundamentalist Christians that keeps the JFJ missionary machine running. Supporting repeated missionary efforts to target the same Jewish populations in cities across the country over, and over, and over again may mean a regular paycheck for Stan and other JFJ staffers, but it is offensive to Jews...”

My recommendation: Don't give them money.

Chris Simonson  9/14/2006

Why go to battle for glory if the enemy is puny and weak? Why go to battle at all if our adversary is not really out to kill us? But we have assurance from the Bible that the devil is out for death and destruction. A false gospel will tell us that it’s not really that bad, that God put us here on earth to enjoy things and if we worry about a deceiver and a thief, this will definitely hamper our pleasure. If we believe this false gospel and a thousand like it, we are to be pitied for we are going to hell.

A worthy adversary is one who for all intents and purposes is superior in strength and might, who can destroy us if we meet with him in single-handed combat. Such is our great adversary the devil. However, we do not meet him in single-handed combat, but with the armies of the Lord God Almighty, if we are on His side. The battle is not ours, promises the Bible, but the Lord’s. And who is the Lord of Armies? Jesus Christ, the Lord of All.

Let us not shrink back from battle, but go forward, knowing that our reward comes when Jesus will be revealed from heaven, bringing vengeance and wrath in burning flames against all His adversaries. We have a worthy adversary, very evil and very powerful, so let us have faith in our faithful friend, Jesus, who already won the victory on the cross so we might have access to God through Him. Do not be deceived, the devil is out to get you. Stop playing with the world and its pleasures, but seek the kingdom of God and glory will be yours.

Chris Simonson   9/13/2006

In order to correctly judge a matter, we must first analyze the particulars. This is in stark contrast to modern pastoral advice that tells us we shouldn’t judge at all. Jesus had a rebuke for these obfuscators of the truth: “You hypocrites! You can analyze the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it that you do not discern this time? Yes, and even within yourselves, why do you not judge what is right?” (Ref. Luke 12:54-57).

Jesus wants us to judge within our own self what is correct and proper. If we say we cannot or should not judge, we fail of the grace of God allotted to us through the gospel. Matthew's gospel has it this way: “Can you discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and no sign will be given it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Ref. Matt 12:2-4.

Drawing a conclusion from the above passages: We had better read the signs of the times. If we don't, then we will get sucked up into the delusion that is coming upon the face of the earth. (Luke 21:35). However, if we judge according to outward appearances (the face of things), then not only we be disobeying our Lord (John 7:24), but we will be in danger of being totally deceived. We will be like those who cannot discern the sign that says “Bridge Out Ahead” while driving a hundred miles an hour towards our doom, watching avidly for billboards advertising “How to Get Rid of Anxiety.”

The first sign we refuse to read and understand is: “Repent!” Once we start ignoring those signs that lead to salvation, the very sign of Jonah becomes faded and unreadable in our hearts. What is the ‘sign of Jonah?’ Isn’t it the gospel that declares eternal life to those who repent? The sign of Jonah was that he was in the belly of a fish for three days and nights, even as Jesus was in the belly of the earth. As Jonah revived and went into Nineveh to preach repentance, even so Jesus Christ preaches repentance to the world through his witnesses. We continue to mouth Christian slogans, but we keep looking for other signs, other miracles, and other plans of salvation. We begin to adapt the clear message of belief and repentance to our own liking. Once we start neglecting the signs, we begin to harden our hearts against the truth. The more signs we ignore, the more severe our punishment before the judgment seat of God. (Ref. Luke 12:47-49).

Today's Christian thinks to himself: “I am not responsible for my actions anymore because I'm saved no matter what.” In fact, we see from the preaching of Jesus that the one who knows most about him but refuses to repent receives the severest beating; more severe than those who never got a chance to hear the gospel and partake of its blessings. Lest we try to get around what Jesus meant by a beating in this passage, we should look at the verse immediately before (Luke 12:46). Jesus is talking about “hell” in very graphic form.

God isn’t asking us to do something like cast out demons or perform miracles. He is telling us about Jesus his Son, so that we can deny ungodliness and worldly desires, so that we can live sensibly, righteously and godly in this ungodly world (Ref. Titus 2:11-14). We cannot do this until we can judge what is right.

If we refuse to judge what is right, God will eventually give us over to a reprobate mind. (Romans 1:28). He does this by sending strong delusion so that those who refuse the truth will believe the lie. (2 Thess. 2:11). Is this not the trap spoken of in Luke 21:35? The Christian leaders will apostatize; the wicked taking the rightful place of the righteous in the holy temple of God, which we are (2 Thess. 2:3-4, 1 Tim 4:1, 2 Tim. 4:3-4, Eph. 2:21, 2 Cor. 6:16, 1 Cor. 3:17). If we cannot judge false prophets, then we will certainly be deceived and fall into the ditch with them. (Matt. 7:15 Mark 13:22). Let the elect of God refuse vain babbling of the wicked and those who have no faith.

How is it that you cannot judge what is is right?

Chris Simonson   9/12/2006

The modern church says no; the ancient church says yes, but alas, what is obedience? You would think men and women who call themselves Christian would at least investigate whether or not salvation is dependent on obedience, but many do not. The Bible is pretty clear that we must obey in order to have salvation (John 3:36 for one). In that verse, it is pretty clear that faith is obedience. But not all who claim to have faith really have faith. They do not have the faith that leads them to repentance unto life. So we preach repentance to all, whether or not they claim to be Christians, saved, churchgoers or teetotalers.

This still leads back to the question, “What is obedience?” All of church history can be summed up as an answer to that question. Every sect, denomination, heresy and hypocrisy can be linked to that question. It seems that no one can quite agree on what it means to obey God the Father, Jesus, or even the law.

Let’s look at some of the opinions of what it means to obey Christ: 1) Going to church every Sunday; 2) Going to church every Saturday; 3) Giving money to a church; 4) Not eating certain kinds of food; 5) Not drinking certain kinds of beverages; 6) Eating the Lord’s Supper; 7) Attending Mass; 8) Saying liturgies; 9) Going on cruises/missions 10) Promoting self-esteem… blah, blah, blah. We have heard it all when we preach on the streets. And yet, not many are willing to proclaim Jesus Christ as the only way to God. This is rank disobedience for sure!

We see certain kinds of behavior that accompany this lack of faith. The same ones who go to church faithfully are unfaithful to their spouses. The same ones who practice 7^{th Day Adventism are greedy. The same ones who never miss Mass are adulterers, fornicators, homosexuals, drunkards, thieves and the like. These ones are not going to heaven, but to hell, says the Bible. Trying to make up for their disobedience by conforming to some church rules only makes their spot in hell a little hotter.}

With the disobedience that refuses to confess Jesus as Christ before men comes the condemnation of Christ, who says that he will in turn deny that man before his Father. That means no salvation without confession. It takes faith to confess Jesus before men. We can go on “missionary trips” and spend our time relaxing and taking in the foreign sites and culture, kidding ourselves we are witnessing for Christ. This is the Casual Chapel approach: Witnessing without words from the Word. This is tantamount to blasphemy. Instead of being ashamed of their lack of faith, these not only feel no shame but pride themselves in their worldliness, and topping that, condemn those who preach the gospel without shame. We must ask ourselves the question, “What is obedience that saves?” If we don’t, we will be captured, along with them, by the cunning and craftiness of those who work for the devil.

Chris Simonson   9/11/2006

It is against the will of God that any divorce. Jesus gave only one reason for someone to divorce and that reason is sexual immorality. So, unless your spouse is committing adultery against you and God, it is unlawful for you to divorce your spouse.

When a man and a woman come together and get married, God joins them together. For one to divorce the other, there must be a hardness of heart; against the spouse because there is a lack of concern, love and care; for God, because He makes it clear that He does not want any to divorce. Matthew 19:3-9

A woman is bound to her husband by God's law as long as he lives. Will you seek to be loosed from this binding, that God has joined, through the courts of men? This ought not to be. Also, if you are in Christ, who are you really married to? Are you not married to the Lord? Is He not a good husband to you? Then why do you dishonor His word, disobeying Him? He says to submit in everything to your own husband as to Him. So then, it is not your husband that you are disobeying or that you despise, but Jesus' words.

Paul says that the Lord, not him, commands that a wife is not to depart from her husband. There is a period(".") at the end of that command. The next verse is massively misunderstood. Paul is not permitting a woman to leave her husband if she remain unmarried. He is talking to those who may have left their husbands before hearing this command. Probably because divorce was as rampant in Corinth as it is in California.

So, if these are the commands of the Lord through Paul, then where are the wives who know these commands and yet leave their husbands? Or where are those wives who come to the saving knowledge of God and have previously left their living husbands and then remarry? They subject themselves to the judgment of God through their disobedience to His holy Word.

"The LORD will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:30b-31

Matt Simonson  9/08/2006

Where is The Church?

The modern "christian" church in America generally meets every Sunday; such a meeting usually has 45 minutes of worship, and 45 minutes of teaching. This modern church meets in large cathedrals, or buildings, or warehouses; it usually owns one or more properties, of which it is most often indebted. (Note: many modern churches own multiple facilities, which they rent or lease out.)

This modern church generally has paid staff which work from 9-5, and is headed by a pastor, whom works approximately 4 days a week.

This pastor's duties are largely consistent of: marriage counseling, administrative pep-talks to staff and parishioners, compiling sermons and attending church functions.

This modern church generally has a small group of what are termed as 'elders', (usually a dozen or less) some of which may be lay-pastors, or assistant pastors, but chiefly this group consists of CFOs (chief financial officer); they oversee the expenditures of programs, cost of goods sold and salaries. Generally 'elders' are volunteers.

Income: 90% of the income generated by tithes usually goes right back into the modern church building, the church building programs and staff salaries.

Expenses: church building mortgage, church building maintenance costs, sound systems, landscaping, utilities, child care facilities, playground, parking lot, staff salaries, advertisements/mailers.

Advertising: The 10% (or more) left over from tithes is most often used to advertise church functions such as bake sales, car washes, Coffee Houses, concerts or the various drama shows. Most modern churches advertisements are found in phone books, and on shiny mailers in your mailbox.

"Missionary" work is generally extracurricular.

Doctrine: This can vary from church building to church building. Some modern churches believe in the Bible and some do not; some believe in the Bible but hold a loose affiliation to it, which often come out in the Sunday sermons, where a majority of the sermons are spent on moralism, "purpose-driven-lives" and anecdotical stories, than on Scripture.

The one, universal doctrine that rings true in today's modern church, whether Bible-believing or non-bible-believing, is the importance of regular church building attendance and tithing. Coincidently, this unified doctrine is of premiere importance in today's modern church; you cannot be considered among the faithful if you do not attend Sunday service regularly.

So, the question I have is: Is this modern church The Church, the redeemed Body of believers that Jesus Christ spoke about in the New Testament?

And, regarding this modern church (or, as I might call it "the false church", with very few exceptions) is there any Biblical evidence to support its 'pastors' duties and 'elders' duties, and its doctrines and actions?

- Steven  9/07/2006

The use of Scriptures in spiritual warfare reminds me of a man who throws small daggers at a moving target; the daggers represent the Scriptures. As the man spends time practicing his throw, he gains more hits with growing speed and strengthening accuracy; moving targets are not easy to hit and require a tremendous amount of patience. Sometimes its not the speed that counts, but the accuracy, and at other times both speed and accuracy are vital. But, every time, the ability to pick up the dagger is the basis and foundation of the throw. This basis comes from studying the Scriptures in context; understanding what the Writer was intending to say is extremely important.

Once you begin to understand what you are reading then you are able to pull from the context with accuracy, then to apply it to the target. The more you practice learning the context, and pulling from the context within the context itself, as opposed to being out of context, the more effective you are. Speed comes with time and practice obviously, but you'll find your grasp of the Scriptures increases.

Another example: I am at war; I have an M-16 and every battle is different, my only defense is my M-16. The more effective I become at being able to load and re-load my weapon, the better I can defend myself. In certain situations, where the enemy surrounds you and is visible, it requires rapid-fire to release as many bullets as possible, to take out as many targets as possible. The ability to 'rapid-fire' is much easier and is effective at times. Then, there are times when you want to take out just one target, and to spray copious amounts of bullets would give away your position, or run the risk of missing your target; the ability to conserve time and ammunition is very important.

When I am preaching out on the streets and I meet someone for the first time to talk to, I usually have only 30 or 40 seconds to present the gospel in the most effective way possible. This requires an ability to pull from the Scriptures, quickly and accurately, what the individual needs to hear. It would not be effective for me to start quoting the "whom begat whom" Scriptures at the person at this moment, so the ability to narrow down what you are doing out there (which is to preach the gospel of Christ), with specific Scriptures relating to sin, repentance, hell, salvation and the resurrection, to effectively hit the target.

If I have a large audience that may or may not know Christ, I can set my weapon on rapid-fire and get out as many Scriptures as possible, relating to the subject in context. These methods can be used in various combinations and take discernment and time to perfect the accuracy and speed, but the best place to begin is Scripture memory and study of contextual Scripture; know what you believe and why you believe it. Sometimes if you don't have an answer, the shield of faith is the most effective way to protect yourself from the onslaught of the enemy.

These examples are not mentioned in Scripture and should not be used with the same authority, nevertheless I hope that they will help you in your quest to effectively preach the gospel. Everything must be tested with the Scriptures.

- Steven  9/06/2006

Over the Labor-Day Weekend we preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to thousands and thousands of fair-goers whom ambled through the Main Gate of the fairgrounds. Brother Scott came down from Lakeport to join us; Brother Tom and Wally from the Jesus People also came; Brother Chris and Matt were with us all four days and Brother Dave came out and played his guitar and sang Gospel songs.

We appreciate all the prayer support that the Body gave us; we ask that you continue to pray for us and that God would continue to provide for all our families, that we may continue to preach the Gospel each Saturday night, that our ministries could remain free from being a burden to the Body of Christ.

In preaching the Gospel, we often are asked: "Well, how many decisions did you get for Christ?" The answer to that is: everyone whom walks by is making a decision; they see the signs and tracts with their eyes, and they hear the preaching with their ears thus, every one of them is making a decision. Some decide unto death, and some decide unto life.

As Christians we also have decisions to make: whether we will serve Christ... or the pleasures of this earth, which often tend to pull our hearts away from ministry.

Blessings in the name of Jesus Christ; let us all labor together in the service of Jesus our Lord and Master.

 - Steven  9/05/2006

The Cost of Discipleship

Cost? I thought it was free. What about the “Romans road to salvation”? Doesn’t Romans 6:23 say that the gift of life is free? Aren’t we continually reminded in sermon after sermon that everything is “on the house”? Romans 4, verses 4 and 5, plainly state that our salvation cannot be based on works but on God’s grace. Some will say there’s a big difference between salvation and discipleship. But that is heresy! A disciple is a follower. It is required for salvation that we follow Christ. Christ told the rich young ruler to sell everything he had and give it to the poor, and come, follow Him for eternal life, the very thing the young man had come to Jesus for. A dispensationalist may say that this requirement was pre-cross, but we see from dispensationalism that they wish to remain covetous and keep their cake. No, there is only one way to salvation. If a person seeks to save his life, he will lose it. If he loses his life for the sake of Jesus and his gospel, he will inherit eternal life. Free, in the sense that we cannot work our way to heaven. Expensive in that we must join Christ in his death.

- Chris Simonson  9/04/2006

He stood at The Brink...

...He was at the very edge. He looked out and down. Far across the gulf stood the opposite face of the twin cliffs. On that side was eternity and bliss; on this side fearful waiting. Below him, stretched as far as he could see from left to right, lay the gorge. The chasm opened up vertically and horizontally to such an abyss as to make the Grand Canyon a child’s scratch in the sandbox. He trembled. He would either have to jump, or turn back. He was getting tired of standing there. He was confused. Why had he come here?

“Just believe and relax,” said the now familiar voice. It was a soothing voice. It was somewhere in between a man’s voice and a woman’s, but sounded not strange at all. It was vibrant but sultry, authoritative but reassuring. He knew this must be the voice of God, but he wasn’t sure.

“Do not look down, but up,” it continued. “Your faith will carry you to the other side. I will be with you, because I am in you and I am you.” Such happenings would have been shocking to his religious parents, to hear such voices and to know yourself as God, but they had never known true love, as he had been experiencing in the last few months. He had gone places in his heart and mind they would never know, been in situations they could never conceive. He hurt deeply and longed for release from this life, but he wasn’t sure.

The gulf was immense. He looked down, anyway. What’s the purpose of coming to the edge of eternity if you can’t look down before you leap? He tried to focus, but either his eyes were teary, or there was a mist between him and what was down below. He wished he could see the bottom to see if there were something down there to tell him if it was O.K. to let go and let God, but it seemed out of range. He was afraid. He felt great warmth from the voice and its presence, but he felt his heart beating rapidly.

“Don’t look down!” The voice came again, a little sterner. “You must trust yourself. Believe in yourself!” the voice seemed triumphant, even when he was so unsure. “Unless you release your fears, you will surely never soar!” The voice was getting a little louder than it had been. Was there some anxiousness in the voice? This could not be. It was the Eternal, and the Eternal has no need to be anxious.

He was almost ready. His spiritual training had prepared him for this moment. Nirvana was almost his! He could feel his last inhibitions beginning to ebb. He now controlled his breath and held on for a little longer. Oh, how he wished he could know what was down there! He felt a sudden nudge, a little push in the right direction, if you will. Instead of going with it, he corrected his forward travel with an instinctive stumbling crouch and a backward thrust. This almost caused him to dive over the precipice. All the alarms went off in his mind.

In the process of regaining his balance, he looked down. A gust of wind had come up from below at just the right time, helping him right himself. It also carried a stench of rotting flesh. Incredibly, the wind had cleared the mist so that he could also see the bottom! What he saw horrified him. Down there lay an endless pile of bodies in varying degrees of decay. How he could see them so clearly, he did not know. They had obviously not succeeded in getting to the other side. Had they also heard the same voice he had been hearing lately?

In his horror, he cried out. “God, help me!” At this, the voice began to tell him to jump or he would never do it. But now he wasn’t so sure at all! Was there really a hell after fall?

“Jump!” The voice screamed. Now he could feel a hand, more like a claw, trying to squeeze him and force him over. What in the world was going on? Or was it what in hell? He tried desperately to free himself from this new monster. He cried out to the voice that had been helping him.

“Too late, fool!”, the voice came back. It was the same voice, but now he heard it without false pretense. In slow motion, he could feel himself now being drawn to the edge. He fought with all his will, but that was useless now. He had given his strength to his enemy, as he now understood. His life seemed to pass before his eyes, as they say. Only now, he saw his life in the true light of his eternal destiny down below.

“Jesus, help me!” he cried. He had cried this many times before, but now he meant it. Almost without effort, he was gently lifted from the clutches of his unseen predator. He felt no struggle, no outward nor inward resistance- only the calm assurance that his Father just rescued him. He was free.

A new voice said with a fatherly tone, “Go and sin no more.”

He walked calmly away from the precipice. He glimpsed, too briefly, the Savior’s bleeding body on a cross, nailed there for him. He looked and saw this Person rising into the glory above. He cried out to Him, “Jesus, stay here with me! Don’t leave!”

He heard, “Wait and occupy until I come back to receive you to myself. I will be with you until the end of the world. Go and warn others of what you have seen and experienced. Go! The end is near, but it is not yet.”

Then he felt the very God of gods come and enter into him and he died. He died and a new life began. The Holy Spirit, of whom he had heard, now entered his mortal body and gave him life. Jesus was now with him as He promised. He was lifted into the heavens with Christ it seemed, but not physically. He now knew that he was seated with Christ in the heavenly places, but understood it not. But he believed it.

He left the place where fools die and returned to his village in his right mind, for the first time in his life. He told others of his harrowing experience and the need to trust in the Savior. His parents thought him more a fool than ever. His friends wanted him to return to his old ways. Most felt that it was quite a psychological trauma and were glad for him that he had found a way to cope with it. But they rejected his Savior. These moved a little closer to the edge where fools perish. They never knew the horror below until it was too late. Some were pushed; some rushed headlong: all died.

But not all. Some knew, like him. Others listened to his warning and believed. Together, they found comfort and strength to finish the task set before them: to visit the fatherless and the widows in their afflictions, and keep themselves unspotted from the world. Together, they preach the everlasting gospel of redemption through the blood of Christ. His trials are many, and his patience is stretched, but he waits with joy and hope. He warns others of that place to which he was heading.

He warns you, dear reader, if you have not come to know and understand that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord. You cannot get across that gulf by any method. You must die first. But you can have a new life in Christ, and He guarantees your passage across to the other side. As Jesus put it, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24

- Chris Simonson  9/01/2006