An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about the historical character Simon Magus. This follows this post about Valentine's Day. This follows this post about Europe becoming more dependent on Russia for energy. For a free magazine subscription or to get the book shown for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632.

The Strange Tale of Simon the Magician

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This obscure individual may have had a profound impact on what you think is true, biblical Christianity.

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[Gary] Simon the Magician. Have you ever heard of him? Well this obscure historical person may have had a profound impact on what you think is biblical Christianity. Simon came from the Middle East, but his religious cult would spread over a wide area creating a conspiracy that perverted the teachings of Jesus. His megalomania drove him to claim that he was god. His followers met in secret conclaves practicing strange rituals for centuries after his death.
Sometimes it is difficult to separate historical fact from fable. Well in this case, the truth is stranger than fiction. Today, we're going to explore how an ancient cult influenced modern Christianity - maybe even your Christianity.
Join us in exploring, "The Strange Tale of Simon the Magician."

[Announcer] Join our host, Gary Petty and his guests, as they help you understand your future on Beyond Today !
[Gary] Years ago, I had a long conversation with a prominent member of a mainstream Christian church. He claimed that Jesus freed him from having to obey any biblical law. He explained that as long as he loved in the spirit, physical actions - well, they didn't even matter.
So I countered his argument by saying that God's law says, "Don't commit murder." (Exodus 20:13Thou shalt not kill.
See All...) And asked him, "Do you think a Christian can break this law, commit murder, and this is acceptable to God?"
His reply really surprised me. He said, "Well you know, many husbands and wives love each other, but in a fit of rage murder their spouse." He believed that God didn't judge a Christian who committed murder in such cases, because God knew that in the killer's heart he really loved the murdered spouse.
Now before you say that this man's beliefs are ridiculous and non-Christian, are you sure you don't have some beliefs that are different than what Jesus taught?
I really want to challenge you with the next question: Has your church actually been influenced by an ancient pagan cult?
Today, we're going to answer this question by looking at the life and times of a man who is mentioned in the biblical book of Acts - a man who left his mark on a counterfeit Christianity - maybe even your Christianity.
Jesus' disciples were busy spreading the gospel. A Christian leader named Philip traveled to Samaria, an area that's not far from Jerusalem, and many people began to respond to his message. The Samaritans were outcasts from Jewish society. They mingled biblical teachings with paganism to create a unique, sort of paganized Judaism.
Well there, Philip came in contact with a religious leader known as Simon the Magician. Simon had a large following among the Samaritans because he performed "miracles" though demonic power.
Many of Simon's followers believed Philip's message about Jesus as the prophesied Messiah. They even began to be baptized (Acts 8:12-13 [12] But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
[13] Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

See All...). And then, Simon himself professed to be a Christian and he too was baptized.
Upon hearing of this interest in Jesus as the Christ, the apostles Peter and John traveled to Samaria to instruct the new converts and to lay hands upon them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17-19 [17] Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
[18] And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
[19] Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

See All...). Now, when Simon saw that God's Spirit was given to people, he offered the apostles money if they would give him this power.
This is where we get the English word simony , which means the selling and buying of religious offices.
Now let's take a minute, and really look at this biblical story, and then explore how this practically unknown person may have influenced your religious views.
Simon was a very religious man who was attracted to the belief that Jesus was the Messiah. Now remember, he was publicly baptized as a Christian. Now when he saw that authentic Christianity also involved receiving the Spirit of God, he wanted that power.
Simon recognized a core issue in his life that we all share. He understood that he was somehow incomplete. Now before, he had been practicing pagan rites that tapped into demonic powers, but he couldn't begin to experience the real power of the Almighty God. The biblical account doesn't say that Simon wanted to give up his pagan religion or even change his way of life. What he wanted was power (Acts 8:19Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
See All...). He didn't want to submit to God, he wanted to become his own god. And remember, that is exactly what he did in his life.
The apostles rejected Simon as a man of - they called him a man of bitterness (Acts 8:23For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
See All...). The "Magician" disappeared from the biblical account. Now this doesn't mean that Simon vanished. He would continue to lead his religious cult, adding elements of the teachings of Jesus to his pagan-Jewish mixture. Simon and his cult would be part of a movement to create a paganized Christianity that in many ways had little to do with the real Jesus.
For hundreds of years after Simon's death, his cult appears in historical records. You know, he even occasionally pops up in modern culture. Some of you may even remember, Jack Palance played a somewhat theatrical Simon in the 1954 movie, The Silver Chalice .
> Did you hear the crowd when I came in? "Hail Simon!" they shouted. They sensed the moment of my greatness and are ready to accept me.
>> Fly Simon!
> I am god!
>> Fly in the name of Caesar into His everlasting glory.
[Gary] At the heart of Simon's heresy was the belief that he could receive power from God without changing his ways to please God. The Simonian cult was part of a religious movement known as gnosticism. Now, one of the main tenets of this movement is that biblical laws and morality are all made invalid by a new enlightened freedom. For gnostics, true religion is found in the power of secret knowledge. With this secret knowledge you discover the truth - -now listen, but it is a truth that comes from within.
If this sounds a little bit familiar it is because it is a main tenet of the New Age movement. But just like the Christians in the first century, many Christians today hear the same message that it is possible to receive the power of God without submitting to God. In the New Testament, when they confronted this wrong teaching, it was called lawlessness.
Now "law" is one of those words that cause many Christians to sort of cringe. I mean, maybe you've heard that obedience to law is anti-grace. It's anti-love. The truth is, you will never really experience the love of God until you know how God defines love.
The foundation of the teachings of Jesus is love. But have you ever asked yourself: What did Jesus mean by love? Was He speaking of a sort of indefinable emotion? And that's how a lot of people see love when we talk about the Bible or about Jesus - sort of this indefinable emotion, this feeling.
Well you know, a man came to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" (Matthew 22:25-36 [25] Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
[26] Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
[27] And last of all the woman died also.
[28] Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
[29] Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
[30] For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
[31] But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
[32] I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
[33] And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.
[34] But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
[35] Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
[36] Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

See All...)
Now, Jesus had the perfect opportunity to claim, now listen, love erases all of God's laws. Instead, He responded, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38 [37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
[38] This is the first and great commandment.

See All...)
Now, did Jesus simply make up this foundational principle of life?
Well, no. It is a quote from the Old Testament book of the law, known as Deuteronomy. You see, to love God is total, unreserved trust, surrender and obedience. And Jesus said this is the first of all the laws.
Now in answer to the man who asked about the law, Jesus went on to say, "And the second" - or second law - "is like it: [and] 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:39-40 [39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
[40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

See All...).
Now once again, Jesus quotes from the Old Testament. Notice, He doesn't say that to love your neighbor is an indefinable feeling. He says that loving neighbor is behaving towards others as you would want them to treat you. And this, these two commandments, this is the core of authentic Christianity - and they are laws.
Now, it is absolutely true that no one can receive salvation through any law - I mean even God's law. The purpose of law is to define good and bad behavior. We are all saved - and this is important to understand - we are all saved by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the lawless teachings of Simon, which crept into early Christianity, continues to this day to cheapen the grace of God.
Do you want to experience the real grace of God? Well if you do, one important step is to get your free study guide: The Church Jesus Built . If you want to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ then you must know what He taught. His people, His Church , must reject the teachings of the great conspiracy started by false teachers like Simon the Magician.
If you are serious about being a disciple of Jesus Christ then you must read, The Church Jesus Built . You can read it online at BeyondToday.tv or get a free copy sent to your mailbox by calling: 1-888-886-8632. Remember that. You can write it down: 1-888-886-8632. Or, you can write to us with your request to the address that's on the screen right now. So, please contact us (Beyond Today, PO Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254).
Magician, Simon the Magician, lawlessness... this may seem rather meaningless to you. Now as a Christian, you are under grace and love which are anti-law. Is that what you think? Think about that. The law of God was done away when Jesus came, right? Is this what you hear from your pulpit?
If it is, I want you to listen very carefully to what I am about to read from the New Testament. The apostle Paul prophesied about a man who will deceive the entire world before the second coming of Jesus Christ. He described this man this way: "…for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 [3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
[4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

See All...).
Paul then writes - now listen, "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work..." (2 Thessalonians 2:7For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
See All...).
The lawless approach to God, as taught by Simon, will be prevalent at the return of Jesus Christ. Now notice, Paul wrote that it was already present in his day.
Are you guilty of substituting cheap grace for the real love towards God and neighbor taught by Jesus Christ?
Do you know that this false idea may be actually in your church, even though it claims to be Christian? I mean, does your church teach that the law of God was nailed to the cross? Or that love in your heart means that you don't have to obey God? Or, do you believe a gospel based on the belief that all truth must come from within - just trust your heart?
Well, are Simon's teachings in your church?
Most likely, in one way or another, yes! Go ask your pastor about these things. Check out your beliefs against the Bible!
These ideas, prevalent in the New Age movement and far too many Christian pulpits, are not based in the teachings of Jesus, but a false interpretation of the Bible that can be traced back to an obscure pagan cult from the time of the earliest Christians.
Why would God inspire this story of Simon to appear in the Bible? It's a very short story. What are we to learn from a pagan who tried to buy the power of the Holy Spirit? The story of Simon the Magician is in Scripture to help us - you and I - it's to help us avoid those exact same pitfalls.
Simon wanted to be like God. He wanted to satisfy that spiritual hunger that we all experience. He wanted to be respected as a spiritual leader. But he wanted all this without a willingness to love God or submit to God.
Simon disappeared from the biblical narrative after Acts 8, but he continued to lead a religious movement that mixed elements of paganism, Judaism and Christianity. His cult would exist for hundreds of years and have an effect on the formation of mainstream Christianity.
So we've seen that at the heart of the Simonian cult, and the larger movement known as gnosticism, was a belief that biblical laws and morality are to be rejected by the enlightened mind, discovering truth through secret knowledge. Now this concept, it's what the New Testament writers call lawlessness.
So it's very important that we take right now some time, to look at what Jesus said about lawlessness. And we're going to look in the Sermon on the Mount:
Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."
"Many will say to Me in that day," - Now what He means here is when He returns. When Jesus Christ returns to gather His elect, to gather His people, He says many will come to Him and say, "'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'" - the name of Jesus Christ - "And then [Jesus declares] to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Matthew 7:21-23 [21] Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
[22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

See All...).
Let's take a second to allow those words to really sink in.
Jesus said that when He returns there will be people who claim to be His followers whom He will reject. That's right! Jesus Christ is going to reject some people who do great works in His name. Why? Because they practice lawlessness. The old Simonian lie will be alive and believed by people claiming to be followers of Jesus at the time of His return. Don't get caught up in it yourself!
Remember, even Simon claimed to be a Christian and he was baptized. Now have you ever heard this message that I just said taught as part of the gospel brought by Jesus? It's in the Sermon on the Mount - Matthew 7 - look it up. Because it's a frightening statement. Are you in danger of being rejected by Jesus Christ when He returns? You know, Christ doesn't want to reject anyone, but He - remember in His own words - He said He will not accept lawlessness.
We read earlier that Jesus taught that all of the teachings of the Old Testament are based in two great laws from the Old Testament: love God and love neighbor.
Love is the basis of God's law. Now, the law of God defines good behavior and bad behavior. It defines love! The Ten Commandments aren't anti-love or anti-grace. They define the most basic behaviors of love. Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not murder.
Now this doesn't mean that Christianity is simply a matter of ritualistically keeping a set of rules. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expanded the meaning of the word love beyond the simple letter of the law. He said that the law says, "do not murder." And then He told His followers to obey the law by learning not to hate. You see, hatred is the root cause of murder.
So let's go back to the man who argued that the law against murder was erased by Jesus, and how a Christian could commit murder, but not be judged by God as long as he somehow had "love" in his heart.
Well, this is nothing more than the old lie of lawlessness taught by Simon. It is impossible to hack a person to death, or gun them down, while you're loving that person in your heart while you're in some fit of rage.
Simon the Magician, and other gnostic leaders, may have influenced your Christianity more than you know. You know, it is time - now, to return to the true teachings of Jesus Christ - His love, His laws, His morality, His doctrines, His prophesies, His teachings about the Father. It's time to discover the real power of God's Spirit - right now, in your life. Go dust off your Bibles and read the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Even in Simon's death, his whole life is just shrouded in myth. One story claimed that in order to prove his divinity, he was buried alive so he could be resurrected after three days and nights. Where did he get that from? Well, according to the account, he's still buried there today.
The Acts of Peter , written toward the end of the second century, claimed that Simon deceived many by flying around like a giant bird until Peter called upon God and Simon fell to the ground and broke his leg. Following an operation he died. His life, his teachings, his death - just a bizarre mixture of insanity and myth.
Now, we're going to discuss how the lawlessness of Simon the Magician is still prevalent in Christianity today with our Beyond Today panel, but first let me tell you about today's free offers that can help you discover authentic Christianity as taught in the pages of your Bible.
The Church Jesus Built is a detailed study guide that explains what the Bible means by Church and God's purpose for the creating a Church . There is an entire chapter explaining the origins of the conspiracy leading to this counterfeit Christianity .
Now if you desire to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ, then you need to order your free copy of: The Church Jesus Built . Go online to download a free copy at BeyondToday.t v or call: 1-888-886-8632.
And when you do, we will also send you a free subscription to The Good News magazine . This bi-monthly magazine will help you live a happier, more productive life - all the while preparing you for eternal life in God's family - in His Kingdom. You'll receive helpful articles on family life, doctrine, prophecy and analysis of today's confusing world news. Call us today for both of these free offers, or write to us at the address on your screen (Beyond Today, PO Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254).
We've been discussing the conspiracy of Simon the Magician and the effects his cult had on early Christianity. Many people are surprised that many of the teachings he had then, still exist today and still affect Christianity today. Well to further expose this conspiracy, we are joined by fellow Beyond Today hosts, Darris McNeely and Steve Myers.
People would be surprised that there's still lessons we need to learn about the life of this obscure person of Simon in Acts 8.
[Steve] It's an amazing story. When you consider right at the very beginning of Christianity, right when the New Testament Church was beginning to take off, here is this conspiracy against it that Simon is at the heart of, and immediately it takes a hard left turn away from the truth. And I think many don't realize that that was right at the very beginning, and so then what became mainstream Christianity really was off track right from the start.
[Darris] It's interesting that God inspired Luke to record this one story just once and nothing else is mentioned about this man in the entire New Testament. When you look at the story, and you see that he wanted to buy the Holy Spirit because he saw that it was by the laying on of hands that people received the gift of the Holy Spirit, you have there a perfect example of people, of an idea, a religion that wants to take a shortcut toward the most important matter - that really all religion has tried to do but only the Bible shows us how. And that is to have the power of God within us.
That is what the Holy Spirit is - God's power within us, Christ living His life within us. And that's what Simon tried to buy. And I think that that is one of the great lessons - not only shows the positive way by which God gives His Spirit but that you can't buy that. There's nothing cheap about that. There's no shortcut to that. You must follow what God lays down in His Scripture. God gives His Spirit, it says, to those who obey Him. And there's no shortcut to obedience.
[Gary] Well it's amazing when you think about, if you read about the Simonian cult and what Simon did the rest of his life. He declared himself to be a God.
[Darris] Yes.
[Gary] He couldn't receive the power from God so he declared himself to be a god. And the result is, is he created the strangest - even by Roman standards - it was a strange cult and strange beliefs, but he had been baptized a Christian. So he claimed to have a Christian, be a Christian and his cult was Christian, and of course it wasn't.
[Steve] Yeah, and some of those subtleties I think that we miss if we don't really notice what was going on. Darris mentioned about the Holy Spirit given through the laying on of hands. I had a circumstance come up a while back where a friend of mine was baptized - which was a very good thing. And I said, that's great! And I asked him, did you have hands laid on you? Because that's the example that's given there. And, was dead silence, because he hadn't.
And I wonder how many Christians today follow what's actually written or have they been skewed in what they believe thinking that there's shortcuts to getting where the Bible teaches the facts, the truth, and yet their practice is something totally different. I think it is important to think about that.
[Gary] Because in that story, when you think about that story, Simon was baptized. But none of the people who were baptized received the Spirit until the apostles came and laid hands on them. So it shows that those two things are connected together, and unfortunately a lot of people today do not even believe in baptism. They are even too, that far from what the Scripture says.
What are some of the lessons we can learn or what are some of the teachings of Simon, you just mentioned one, that we still find that are existed today? We talked about lawlessness a little bit…
[Steve] There are so many plain statements in the Bible that contradict the teachings of Simon. If you look at 1 John 5:3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
See All..., it says very plainly that love is keeping the commandments. This is the love of God, it says, keeping His commandments. So you can't separate the love of God which many would say yes, I love God - but you need to keep His commandments! And in fact, it goes on to say those commandments are not burdensome. And so, commandment-keepers are Christians and Christians have to keep the commandments if they truly love God.
[Gary] Now, I am going to say something here that may seem very, very strange. We want you to order our free study guide, The Church Jesus Built , but while you are waiting for it to come, we want you - before you even read this - pick up your Bible and read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And pray, and ask God to open your mind to His Word, and then we can help you sort through it.
When you order, The Church Jesus Built , we will also send you a free subscription to The Good News magazine. This will help you discover the authentic Christianity taught by Jesus Christ. Call: 1-888-886-8632, or go online to download a free copy at BeyondToday.tv .
Nearly 300 years after Peter confronted Simon, a Catholic bishop named, Eusebius lamented that the Simonian cult still existed. Now he wrote,

"It is an astonishing fact that this is still the practice of those who to the present day belong to his (this) disgusting sect. Following in…. [Simon's] footsteps they slip into the church like a pestilential and scabby disease, and do the utmost damage to all whom they succeed in smearing with the horrible, deadly poison concealed on them" ( The History of the Church by Eusebius.)

Simon's greatest heresies were infecting Christianity hundreds of years after he is mentioned in the book of Acts. This is one of the reasons God inspired Luke to record these events. Remember, Christians will be combating the "mystery of lawlessness" until the return of Jesus Christ. And what this means, if you are serious about Christianity, it is time to remove all vestiges of Simon the Magician from your beliefs and become a living stone in the Church Jesus is building.
Join us next week on Beyond Today as we continue to discover the gospel of the Kingdom. We also invite you to join us in praying, "Thy Kingdom come." For Beyond Today , I'm Gary Petty. Thanks for watching.
[Announcer] For the free literature offered on today's program, go online to BeyondToday.tv . Please join us again next week on Beyond Today !

Doomsday or the Age of Aquarius

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about the "Age of Aquarius." This follows this post about dealing with alcoholism. This follows this post about a recent attempt to "amend" the bible!  For a free magazine subscription or to get this book for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.

Doomsday or the Age of Aquarius






article by David Hulme





One of the world's best-selling books in recent times is The Late Great Planet Earth, the work of a religious author who has attempted a prophetic explanation of future geopolitical events from a biblical perspective. For some, their fascination with prediction is ever present and insatiable, and, while many others publicly discount the efforts of the end-time prognosticators, they themselves are privately curious about such forecasts.







Is doomsday coming?



Source: Photos.comPerhaps, in times of uncertainty, we long for some degree of assurance that there will be a future. We want certainties.



If we are realistic about the human condition and just a dash pessimistic, we can easily drift toward the cataclysmic secular prophets.



If we are more optimistic and perhaps a little unrealistic about human nature, we will probably overestimate the positive possibilities of the years just ahead. From the human perspective it's hard to achieve a really objective fix on the future.



Whether you believe the 20th century ends immediately after the stroke of midnight on December 31, 1999, or one year later, the much anticipated third millennium since Christ is upon us. The contending visions of the optimist and the pessimist are all around us.



There are those who foresee a world in which our major problems will finally be solved; there are others who predict more crises, more turmoil, more upset.



What does the beginning of the next millennium portend?



For some inclined to religion, it is a significant road sign on the way to the fulfillment of a major biblical prophecy. A recent letter from an evangelical group invited me to participate in a fast for the successful completion of the preaching of the gospel by the year 2000. Obviously for some the end of the 20th century has become an important benchmark. But, whether it's a religious interest or a secular fascination, the year 2000 carries its own attraction.



Author Hillel Schwartz has studied the effect of the end of centuries on the human psyche. He says that a kind of hysteria sets in as centuries approach their end. At the close of the past several centuries, public discourse has included alternate scenarios for the century ahead. Either the world would end in a series of catastrophes or undergo a positive transformation. It's Doomsday or the age of Aquarius, the End of the Ages or the New Age.



Earlier apocalyptics

The Roman author Lucretius wrote during the first century B.C. that "the mighty and complex system of the world, upheld through many years, shall crash in ruins. Yet I do not forget how novel and strange it strikes the mind that destruction awaits the heavens and the earth...My words will perhaps win credit by plain facts, and within some short time you will see violent earthquakes arise and all things convulsed with shocks...The whole world can collapse, borne down with a frightful-sounding crash" ( De Rerum Natura , MCMLXXV, p. 387).



The year A.D. 1000 may also have incited similar fears and some strange human behavior. A kind of millennial madness seemed to strike Europe, if the 15th-century German Monk Tritheim is to be believed. He wrote:



"In the thousandth year after the birth of Christ, violent earthquakes shook all of Europe and throughout the continent destroyed solid and magnificent buildings. The same year a horrible comet appeared in the sky. Seeing it, many who believed that this was announcing the last day, were frozen with fear" (Yuri Rubinsky and Ian Wiseman, A History of the End of the World , p. 66).



This preoccupation with heavenly signs may have had its effect on the Holy Roman Emperor of the time. Otto III is reputed to have said, "The last year of the thousand years is here, and now I go out in the desert to await, with fasting, prayer, and penance, the day of the Lord, and the coming of my Redeemer" (Hillel Schwartz, Century's End , p. 13).



While such accounts of spectacular signs and end-time fears in the year 1000 are disputed by scholars, the idea is strong in the human imagination that cataclysmic events in the heavens will announce the end of the world and the great judgment of God.



Close of the 19th century

As the last century was coming to an end, Parisians were enjoying la belle époque, the beautiful era: All was well with the world in the eyes of a sophisticated city. The Paris Exhibition of 1900 was ablaze with electricity. The age of dirty coal was disappearing, and a new, clean power was here. It seemed the world was on the verge of a civilized rebirth.



Lurking in the shadows, of course, was the coming horror of World War I. Its antecedents were present as the century turned over and some recognized the possibilities of catastrophic war. While some were enjoying X-ray parties (photographing their hands in an effort to energize themselves for the new century, X-ray technology being a recent discovery), others heard the words of Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II: "The first day of the new century sees our army-in other words, our people-in arms, gathered around their standards, kneeling before the Lord of Hosts."



In a diary entry from 1898, Claude Bowers wrote of the pessimistic- optimistic view of the near future. Of his friend's concern with impending war, he wrote: "This he thought was probably what people looked forward to as the end of the world. It would be the end of conditions existing at the time, but the dawn of a far more splendid era."



The end of the world

Some portrayals of the end of the world trace their origins, of course, to the Bible. The Bible, a book open to much misinterpretation, indeed may be the most misunderstood and misinterpreted book ever written. Those end-time images of comets and earthquakes, wars and famines, judgment and retribution, come from the prophetic passages of the Bible, both Old and New Testament.



Sad to say, many can't bring themselves to take the Bible seriously because others have so misused it, those 19th- and 20th-century prophets who have said the world would end on a specific date only to be proven wrong over and over.



But, as you'll discover in The Good News , the Bible does not say a lot of the things people claim that it says. It actually makes it clear that we are not to know the precise time of Jesus Christ's return, and that we should not misinterpret wars, earthquakes, famines and signs in the heavens as the end of the world-steps along the way, perhaps, but not necessarily signs of the end.



The prognosticators who have come and gone with their failed prophecies have made a common mistake. They have misinterpreted as signs those events and activities that occur in the general course of human life, or they have devised elaborate time sequences to project a date for the end of this age. Many are the disappointed who have accepted too precise an interpretation of the Bible's prophetic passages.



But Jesus Christ did say, "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.



See All...).



In this and other places the Bible is replete with references to Christ's second coming. The early disciples clearly believed and taught that their Master would return to set up a kingdom. Was this just wishful thinking, as one group of theologians suggests?



For that to be true, we are asked to believe that passages written after Jesus Christ's life on earth were inserted deliberately to mislead. Moreover such references would have to have been inserted consistently over many years, as many as 30 or 40.



The biblical emphasis

Consider this:



•According to The Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy , 535 verses in the Bible refer to Jesus Christ's second coming.

•The four Gospel writers all comment on the second coming, even though they wrote in different places over a span of decades.

•The Gospel historian Luke says in the Acts of the Apostles that Peter attested to Christ's second coming with these words: "And that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:20-21 [20] And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

[21] Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.





See All...). Here Peter, as one of the eyewitnesses of Jesus' ministry, said that all the holy prophets (of the Old Testament) spoke of Jesus' return to restore all things on earth.

•The apostle to the gentiles, Paul of Tarsus, author of at least 13 letters, or 25 percent, of the New Testament, mentions Jesus' return at least eighteen times during the 14 years of his writings.

•The book of Revelation (or the Apocalypse) shows a prophetic sequence without any dates that includes Christ's return.

•The book of Revelation, with its images of the return of Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, is the final book of the New Testament, setting the capstone on the New Testament canon.

What we face here is a paradox. Countless religious devotees have written and spoken about Bible prophecies, including Christ's return, yet have consistently failed to get the message straight. In their attempts to be zealous scholars and students of the Word, many have inspired others to doubt the Bible's faithfulness.



Faith in the Word of God as God's Word has been undermined. Not only do so many misinterpret the Bible's prophecies; they cause others to stumble as a result. But, as the apostle Paul said, "let God be true but every man a liar" (Romans 3:4God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.



See All...). God's Word will always stand, though a thousand misinterpret.



What, then, can we know about Bible prophecy in general and about the year 2000-the last year before the new millennium-in particular? The answer to the first question is rich in information for our natural curiosity. Those images of earthquakes, famines, pestilence, judgment and retribution are from Christ Himself.



Matthew's Gospel contains a prophetic passage reiterated in Mark 13 and Luke 21. Known as "the little Apocalypse," the predictions in Matthew 24 spring from questions posed by Jesus' disciples. Matthew records that, in response to Jesus' statement that one day Herod's magnificent temple would be destroyed, "the disciples came to him privately saying, 'Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?'" (Matthew 24:3And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?



See All...)



The answers to their two questions frame the rest of Matthew 24 and 25. It is instructive that Jesus does not directly answer the "when" of the questions in any definitive way. He does not set a date; in fact, as we saw earlier, He states that only the Father knows (Matthew 24:36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.



See All...).



He disabuses His hearers of any thought that the kind of signs that people historically look for to indicate the end are valid. Acknowledging that wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes will occur, He nevertheless makes it clear that "the end is not yet" and that "these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matthew 24:6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.



See All..., Matthew 24:8All these are the beginning of sorrows.



See All...).



A real clue

One clue that the end is near will be the international preaching of "this gospel of the kingdom" as a witness (Matthew 24:14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.



See All...). Clearly that will not be a sign like an earthquake or a war, or a famine or a pandemic.



Jesus also speaks of events in the Middle East as precursors to His return. In so doing He refers to the prophet Daniel's writings in the Old Testament: "'Therefore when you see the "abomination of desolation," spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place' (whoever reads, let him understand), 'then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains'" (Matthew 24:15-16 [15] When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

[16] Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:





See All...).



Some claim that this was fulfilled in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Yet Jesus calls that idea into question by saying, "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days we shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened."



These statements describe terror such as the world has never seen. Because of the intense danger to all humanity, the "tribulation" will be halted for the sake of "the elect," the people of God. Only then will the heavenly signs of the sun, moon and stars in disruption occur.



The return of Jesus Christ will take place accompanied by the sign of the son of man, a visible appearance of the returning Jesus Christ in the heavens. This will follow a time of unparalleled suffering brought on by man's own hand and Satan's wrath, as we discover in the book of Revelation: "Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory" (Revelation 16:8-9 [8] And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

[9] And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.





See All...).



Soon after, there is a time of great happiness during which at last the human misery can end: "And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, 'Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 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'" (Revelation 19:6-7 [6] And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

[7] Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.





See All...).



Where does the year 2000 fit into all of this? What do the end of the second millennium and the beginning of the third signify?



From a strictly biblical perspective the beginning of the next thousand years signifies nothing and the turn of the century means nothing more nor less than the progression in a humanly devised system of counting years. Remember that the year 2000 is the year 5761 for the Jews, 1421 for the Muslims and 4698 for the Chinese. In our limited awareness we often assume that dates that may be important to us should be important to everyone else on the planet.



God doesn't follow man's calendars

As we've seen, no one knows the day nor the hour of the end of this phase of human civilization, and it's unlikely that God the Father is operating according to any of these human calendars.



The prophecies of the Word of God will come to pass on time, when He determines. In the meantime, we have more than enough to busy ourselves with. The apostle Peter wrote two letters toward the end of his life. In them he distills his Christian experience. Thinking about the future day of judgment he writes: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness...?" (2 Peter 3:10-11 [10] But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

[11] Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,





See All...).



The idea that we live in the shadow of Judgment Day ought to make us ask ourselves about the spiritual condition of our lives. There is a way that leads to holy conduct and godliness in this life.



Peter pleads with his readers to find that way. It comes down to accepting responsibility before our Creator for what we are and what we've done and learning how to be forgiven of sin and that sin will be obliterated.



That's the relief that God's elect find as they begin their new life now. They can be assured of God's protection in the progression of events up to Jesus Christ's return. In the meantime, they live their lives not in fear but in enthusiasm for a new way that will be eternally satisfying in the ongoing work of God.

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The Star People

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about New Age star people. This follows this post about the worldwide impact of drug usage.   For a free magazine subscription or to get this book for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.

The Star People


by Elissa Kroeger





The star people lived in the light sockets. They were aliens from a small planet that orbits Sirius, the Dog Star. They established contact with select people on earth from their headquarters in Montpelier, Vermont. These people were to be their representatives in establishing a new level of consciousness in humans on earth. My mother was one of those chosen ones. One night when I was 12 she packed up her sky-blue VW bug and headed northeast . . .



. . . The government is doing genetic experiments. They are trying to create a super race. This is why my sister and I are both tall, blonde and blue or green eyed when both of our parents are average height with brown hair. It is also why we were good students without much effort. They have been tracking us all our lives, doing experiments on us and erasing our memories of being in their laboratories. Any problems we had growing up were in some way related to this undisputed fact . . .



. . . One year, Mother went on a sojourn as a "bag lady" in the park system. She called it her year of walking with God. Eventually she got arrested climbing into a dumpster behind McDonald's to find some sandwiches that were still good . . .



If these memories sound strange to you, you were probably not raised with a schizophrenic parent. I have met a few people in my life who can relate. There are challenges involved in living with mental illness that make life very different from what most people consider normal.



My mother was an intellectual with an IQ above genius level. By the time she made her ill-fated journey to Vermont, she had two master's degrees and was a PhD candidate. She had a history of emotional and mental problems. She went to psychiatrists, participated in support groups, hypnosis, primal scream therapy, various New Age philosophies and took her medication—or not—as the mood took her. She had a drawer full of pills that she mixed and matched with alcohol.



We never knew who would meet us when we came home from school. Sometimes it was the librarian lady who would have endless conversations about books. Other times it would be someone who yelled in different voices and had what seemed like superhuman strength. Sometimes it was a timid, frightened person who told me that if I went to that particular movie theater with my friends, we would all be kidnapped and sold into white slavery in some country across the ocean. Sometimes she would turn in an instant and literally throw a friend off the porch or try to strangle someone I invited to a family picnic.



We lived in a nice middle-class neighborhood. Some people in school picked on me because my mother was the crazy lady who walked around the streets in long, flowing skirts talking to herself. Our house was unkempt, to put it mildly. When one is concerned with space aliens and government conspiracies, there just isn't much time left for housework. My sister and I had to fend for ourselves a lot. We came up with our own way of life.



I have learned that we get much of our perception of reality from our mothers. I was well into adulthood before I realized it is not normal for a 12-year-old to forge her mother's name on a check and take the little red wagon to the store to buy groceries. It is also not normal to walk around with a fractured kneecap until it heals by itself. In both cases, my reasoning told me that any discomfort or hardship on my part would be better than bothering my mother with my needs when she was in one of her delusions.



I often wondered whether I was the one who was crazy. She was so well educated and articulate. What if she was normal and I was the one with delusions? It is hard to find words to describe how hard it was for me to relate to people with conventional mothers.



After a few years of trying to make sense of my life, I heard a story that really sounded crazy. It was about the Creator of the universe having a plan to allow human beings to overcome their limitations and to be adopted into His family. This story went on to describe the Kingdom of God and a time when people will be able to think clearly and understand the truth. I was skeptical at first. It really sounded like one of Mother's delusions, except on an even larger scale. As I studied more, I discovered that it felt different than a delusion. That is a poor way to describe it, but I cannot come up with a better one.



I began to understand that human misery and sin are results of a delusion. This delusion was promoted by Satan in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve fell for it, and so have all of us to varying degrees. The delusion is that we get to decide for ourselves what is right or wrong.



Satan was the first being to become deluded that he could do things his own way. He is superintelligent and sly. He infects us with his crazy thinking. We believe that we are thinking for ourselves or even getting messages through the light sockets from aliens.



The way to see clearly through the delusion is to start living God's way of life as described in the Bible. As I learned about God's laws, I saw that He did not leave out small details. He knew what challenges human beings would have to face.



This growth is a lifelong process. I am still working on seeing reality God's way. I have learned to forgive Mother for some very painful, destructive things she has done. She has no memory of them. If I tried to tell her some of the things she has done, she would be hurt. It would not be good for her to know all the ways she made our lives harder. The "real" Mother is not someone who would do hurtful things.



I know that I cannot fix my mother. I can love her the way she is, while making every effort to understand her limitations and appreciate the many good things she has to offer.



I have worried about whether I or one of my children would inherit some variation of Mother's illness. I rejoiced when I reached the age of 35 because the first symptoms of schizophrenia almost always surface much earlier than that. When one of my children does something strange, my first thought is, "Oh no! This is the one that is going to go crazy." Then I remember that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).



I know that if I stay close to God, and teach my children to do the same, if I do my best to give them a healthy upbringing, they will have a better chance to overcome any mental challenges they may have inherited. In my years in the Church, I have met people with various mental issues who have learned to cope with them by trusting God. (Sometimes trusting God includes professional counseling or carefully prescribed drugs, but that is a separate issue.)



I remember that while my grandmother was alive, my mother was better. She trusted my grandmother to be who she said she was and to tell the truth about any situation. She felt safe with my grandmother.



I know that as wonderful and honest as my grandmother was, there is someone who is even more wonderful and more honest. That is God. We can trust Him to be who He says He is and to tell us the truth about any situation. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.



The apostle Paul said that now we see through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12). The picture in my mind is of someone trying to see into the backseat of my minivan with its tinted windows. (I'm glad those windows are tinted—sometimes it's a mess in there!) There is a time coming when God's windows will no longer be tinted. The backseat of His minivan is never a mess. Our perceptions of reality will be perfect. Whether we suffer from a mental illness, emotional problems caused by bad experiences or just our own inability to see past the proverbial end of our noses, we will be freed from that. It is a beautiful promise that has come to mean a lot to me. I am looking forward to its fulfillment.







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Is belief in the signs of the zodiac wrong?

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about the zodiac. This follows this post about cocaine use.  For a free magazine subscription or to get this book for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.

Is belief in the signs of the zodiac wrong?

Is believing in your horoscope okay?



Answer:



Although some firmly believe that the success of their day, the good fortune of their decisions and even their lives depend on advice they get from the signs of the zodiac, this is not what God says. God nowhere in the Bible tells us to build our lives around moon phases and the signs of the zodiac as astrologers teach. God even said that He will burn up unrepentant astrologers (Isaiah 47:13-14 [13] Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.

[14] Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.





See All...).



Jeremiah 10:2-3 [2] Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

[3] For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.





See All... tells us very clearly: "Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain . . ." (King James Version).



Astrology, moreover, is a form of idolatry because it puts man's devices before God's ways. Astrologers teach people to try to obtain success by means of astrology. But God expressly forbids this worship of the constellations and the host of heaven (2 Kings 23:5And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.



See All...).



Just before the nation of Israel entered the Promised Land, God, through Moses, reminded the people about the importance of obeying the laws that He had given them.



Notice the word of caution recorded in Deuteronomy 4:19And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.



See All...: "And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the people under the whole heaven as a heritage."



The sun, moon and stars were not to be served in any way. The signs of the zodiac are not something to put stock in or to believe as determiners of our daily lives or destinies.

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Who Determines Right From Wrong?

An interesting article from www.gnmagazine.org about right and wrong. This follows this post about distractions. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.

Who Determines Right From Wrong?
It's ironic that while some Christians vehemently defend the posting of the Ten Commandments, many other Christians believe that these laws have no application to modern Christianity.
by Gary Petty
American society is in the midst of a morality battle. A focal point of this struggle is the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools and on any government property. Underneath the surface, there is a much more important issue in the Christian community than the post-ing of the Ten Commandments. The question really being asked is, "Are the Ten Commandments even relevant today?"

A survey done a few years ago involving people ages 15 to 35 revealed that most people could name no more than two of the Ten Commandments.

An Atlantic Monthly article reporting on the survey's respondents said that many "weren't too happy about some of the others when they were told about them. They also had clear ideas about how the commandments might be revised for modern times. Support was weak for keeping the Sabbath holy and honoring one's father and mother, but 'Thou shalt not drink and drive' and 'Thou shalt care for the environment' would have appeared on any new list of commandments put together by this group."

The group, by the way, was also asked to pick who they thought should be in charge of drawing up a new list of commandments. The number one choice? Oprah Winfrey.

A new set of commandments?
Over the last few decades there have been various movements to create a new Ten Commandments.

Author Orion Moshe Kopelman, in his book The Second Ten Commandments, claims that the Ten Commandments have outlived their usefulness. He promotes commandments like "Maximize your time spent in flow and happiness" and "Act true to your inner voice and fulfill your mission."

John Leo, in U.S. News and World Report, speculates that if we begin to change the Ten Commandments to fit into modern ways of thinking then they might appear as:

"Thou shalt not steal, but creative work on your tax return is okay.

"Thou shalt not kill, except during any of the [pregnancy] trimesters or if the Pentagon says you must.

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods, except in the sense that our whole economic system depends on the power of envy and wanting more.

"Thou shalt not commit adultery, except if thou art unhappy or if personal fulfillment points thee toward the new secretary in thine office.

"Honor thy mother or mothers, including thy birth, adoptive, - step-, surrogate or same-sex-partner mothers, and honor thy father, thy mother's sperm donor or her casual inseminator, current whereabouts unknown."

Anti-Commandments movements
A number of forces are driving our society toward seeing the Ten Commandments as outmoded and even oppressive. One is the New Age movement.

Shirley MacLaine, a queen of New Age philosophy, promotes two modernized commandments in her book Dancing in the Light: "Know that you are God" and "Know that you are the universe."

Jesus Christ participated in the typical first-century Jewish debates over Old Testament law, which included the Ten Commandments. When asked to state the most important law, Jesus simply reiterated two laws from the Old Testament: Love God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-39, quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18).

There are profound differences between the belief that there is a Supreme Being with knowledge of right and wrong, possessing the right to enforce His reality on His creation, and the belief that each person is a god or goddess with only his or her own thoughts and feelings to determine right from wrong.

A second type of resistance to the Ten Commandments arises from the ever-increasing secularizing of America. This movement is based on a belief that personal liberty—expressed as "Nobody can tell me how to live my life"—is the most cherished freedom.

Of course, the problem with commandments that restrict cheating on your income tax, committing adultery with your neighbor or lying to get ahead is that that they also restrict personal freedom to do whatever feels good at the moment.

A third force is found in Christianity itself. Since the early days of Catholicism, and in the relatively shorter lifetime of Protestantism, there has been a struggle in defining the relationship of God's grace to God's law. Some churches openly argue against the keeping of the Ten Commandments, saying they are unnecessary for Christians. Some major denominations have actually changed some of the Commandments. Others give lip service to them but only obey the ones they like, if even that.

Are the Ten Commandments relevant?
It is this last theological struggle that must be settled before either the New Age movement or secularism can be confronted by our nation's religious institutions. This confusion leaves most professing Christians so bewildered that they base their religious convictions on vague concepts of morality devoid of any real guidelines for conduct.

If the Ten Commandments, given by God, are valid guidelines for Christian conduct, then much of Christianity itself stands indicted by those same Ten Commandments. If Christians accept the validity of the Ten Commandments, then they must face some hard questions about their own religion.

Why have millions of people been killed in wars fought in the name of Jesus Christ? Why do Christians cheat each other, dishonor their parents or pray to statues and images in their worship of God even though this is plainly forbidden by the second of the Ten Commandments?

Let's return to John Leo of U.S. News and World Report, who writes: "It's possible to put together a modern, pro-impulse set of commandments based on advertising slogans—'Just do it,' 'Just be,' 'Sometimes you gotta break the rules,' 'Peel off inhibitions,' 'Find your own road.'

"The National Parenting Center asked children to suggest additional commandments. Among their ideas: 'No bombing for the heck of it,' 'Thou shalt not address people by their color' and 'No grabbing.'"

Are the Ten Commandments relevant today or can we trivialize them to the same level as "Use a good day planner to maximize your time"? Are they simply the "Ten Suggestions" the Creator wanted to pass on to His children? Are they laws that only applied to an ancient people and that have little application to modern life? If they are applicable today, what is the price we pay both individually and collectively for breaking them?

A better relationship with your Creator. A deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. A better life for individuals and society. These are why the Ten Commandments should be a more important part of your life! GN



Related Resources
The Ten Commandments
Many religious people embrace the idea of loving others as themselves but remain blissfully unaware of how the Bible defines love. As a result, they do not understand the necessity of putting into practice the biblical principles that determine the success or failure of their relationships.