The atheists are at it again! I just read an article on CNN. com, which you can read here http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/31/inauguration.lawsuit/index.html, that has once again proved to me that forces of satan are trying to do all they can to combat the Kingdom of God. Here is a direct quote from the article:

"In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Washington, the plaintiffs demand that the words
"so help me God" not be added to the end of the president's oath of office. In
addition, the lawsuit objects to plans for ministers to deliver an invocation
and a benediction in which they may discuss God and religion."

This a blatant attempt by non-believers, emboldened and empowered by demonic forces, to remove all reference to God from civil life. Remeber prayer in school? Remember invocations at graduation ceremonies? Remember the Ten Commandments at the courthouse in Alabama? There has been a move in this country to push spiritual and religous (no, it's not a bad word!) life out of the mainstream of society. The effort is to get people to forget about God. A nation that forgets about God will soon be forgotten by Him!

In the 4th chapter of Joshua, the Lord commanded him choose 12 men to take twelve stones from the Jordan River as they crossed it to set up a memorial. God instructed him that so when their children ask them "what mean ye by these stones?", they could answer and say that these stones are a reminder

Haven't you heard? Man has improved upon the Word of God. No longer will we have to drudge through chapter after long-winded chapter of a 2 inch thick book to find God's truth. No longer will we have to be discouraged at the understanding of words and phrases that were popular in the 17th century. Can you imagine, having to read a book of eternal truths that doesn't contain a single picture? Doesn't God know that we are living in the the 21st century--the century of the Internet, the 24 hour news cycle, text messaging, video conferencing, the hybrid automobile, and video-on-demand? Why should we be forced to used an old, antiquated Bible in order to find out about God's plan for the world through His Son Jesus Christ?

Of course, I'm being facetious!

This new bible is called "Bible Illuminated: The Book New Testament". This book is a desecration of the Word of God. First of all it uses the Good News Translation of the bible--which isn't a translation at all! It is a paraphrase. The difference between the two is like night and day. A "translation" of the bible uses the oldest written manuscripts and scholarly research into the syntax and morphology of the languages in which the Bible was originally written. A "paraphrase" is not like that at all. A paraphrase is the author (or authors) opinion concerning what was written and what he (or they) Bible should say in today's language. Any serious Bible student should steer clear of paraphrases and use credible translations (KJV, NKJV, NIV, NRSV).

The second thing I have issue with are the photographs that are in the book. The choice to use pictures in a bible is not new (children's bibles use them all the time), but it is the nature, and the subject of these photographs that I find disturbing. I have attached a link to some of the pictures in the book:
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2008/dec/bible/index.html
Some of the pictures look very dark and Gothic. Some of them, I think, are just downright inappropriate. Take for instance the photograph of the faceless man in a hooded sweatshirt on the back cover. Or the woman tearing the head and neck off of a cooked goose. Or a picture of a protester who set himself on fire as the opening to the Book of Revelation. (The cover of their yet unreleased Old Testament has the faces of a man and a woman who are about to kiss each other) These pictures are bad enough...but they are not the worst of them. There are other pictures...of so-called "good people" that have helped to improve world peace or end world hunger. Included in this "bible" are photos of Bono, Muhammad Ali, Al Gore, Che Guevara, and Angelina Jolie of all people. What does it mean to have photos of these people in a bible? None of these people are confessed Christians! Do these pictures show that "good people" who do "good things" are on par with Jesus? Are we saying that these "good people" who have done"good things" can get into heaven? God forbid!

Lastly, this book has a more sinister message.

"The creators of the book ask you to support the United Nations and to donate money to it! I am referring to the portions that reference "Eight Ways to Change the World" which is a goal of the United Nations called the `Millennium Development Goals' which they hope will be realized by the year 2015. Readers are called to action by supporting initiatives of the United Nations and to donate money."

Did you just hear me?! The stated goal of the authors of this book is not to get people saved but to get people to donate to the United Nations!

Why does the American Christian Church always give way to consumerism and go the way Balaam? In our efforts to make the bible (and church) more "likeable, tolerable, or readable" to non-Christians, we continue compromise the message of the Gospel. So much so that the line between the sacred and the secular is being blurred...and will eventually be erased. Now we have PowerPoint slides, laser light shows, and rock bands on Sunday morning. Our churches now have slick marketing campaigns, surveys and polls about what to preach, and when a message is preached, there is no mention of Jesus. The Christian church should be up in arms over this--but they won't be. Some prominent pastor or evangelical leader will stand up and defend this work of junk as a "tool of evangelism" to win the lost. They'll say that we have to make Christianity relevant to the culture and that we should become all things to all men so that we may save some. But my question is, when will the church awaken from her slumber? Matt 24:24 "...insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

Human beings seem to be very good at picking fruit. In Genesis 3:6 Eve took of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and ate it and gave some to Adam and he ate too. This has been a problem for humanity ever since then. I am not just speaking about the curses pronounced on Adam and Eve due to their disobedience. I am speaking of the human propensity to pick fruit. What do I mean? Let me explain.

There are things that happen to us in our lives...and many of them are bad. These experience leave scars and imprints upon us. The ultimate problem with these experiences is that through them the enemy plants a seed in the heart and soul a person. Emotional abuse can leave a seed of self-doubt and negative self-image. Sexual abuse can leave a seed that can lead to having a lustful and adulterous spirit. Being constantly pushed by your parents to succeed can produce a seed of competitiveness and a feeling of never being able to measure up to the perceived standards of others.

As time passes, these seeds will be watered through future experiences and negative thinking. Before we know it, a sprout begins to shoot up and roots begin to dig deep within our souls and these roots draw nourishment for these negative trees by drawing nutrients from the soil of our very lives. This is the reason that so many people that suffer from these ingrained soul problems suffer so badly and think so little of themselves except they be delivered. Soon these trees reach a point of maturity and they begin to produce fruit. The problem with this is that the person will begin to pick of the fruit, meaning they will choose the fruit of this tree as a response to all situations. If the tree is anger, in every situation you will pick its' fruit. If the tree is lust, in every situation you will pick its' fruit.

Too often, when a person finally decides to deal with these fruit trees, either in Christ or without, there is a tendency to only deal with the fruit of the tree rather than its' root system. We tend to only look at a particular action and try to improve upon that action. Let me explain. If there is an outburst of anger, we will vow not to get angry like that again, rather than to look down deeper and find the root of the anger. We would rather look at the instance of lust, and say we will do better next time, rather than to take out our spiritual gardening tools, which is prayer and the reading of the Word, and dig down deep and take out its' root system.

The Lord began to show me some scriptures that speak to this. John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus Christ came on the scene in the 3rd chapter of Matthew. As he began to preach on the banks of the river Jordan, he said this to the Pharisees:

Matthew 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

One of the opening proclamations of what God was going to begin doing in His New Covenant with man is to lay His axe to the root of trees that produce bad fruit. God pledged through His prophet that He, with this new move, would bring a wave of deliverance to those who would believe on the Lord that he was announcing. To embody this, the Lord Jesus Christ showed how He would do this. In the 11th chapter of Mark, Jesus was hungry and He approached a fig tree that had leaves on it, expecting to find fruit. When He did not find fruit thereon, Jesus cursed the fig tree by saying "no man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever". In the 20th verse we see the disciples (and Jesus) as they pass by the fig tree...it was now dried up...from the roots! One word from Jesus can cause that tree of fear, bitterness, anger, lust, lying, or whatever you are dealing with to dry up and produce no more fruit.

The Lord wants to plant a new tree within you. The Bible speaks of the Word of God as a seed (1st Peter 1:23). The seed is watered by the Holy Spirit (John 4:10-11, 7:38). One other thing that is provided for us for this tree of righteousness to grow is sunlight or SON-light. The bible calls Jesus the Daystar (2 Peter 1:9) and the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2). When these three things combine, this is what you get:

Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life...

Through the righteousness of Christ, you can be reconciled to God, saved, healed, delivered, and set free. The new tree that the Lord wants to grow in you will become a tree of righteousness (Isaiah 61:3). This tree produce leaves that can provide shade for others and fruit that others can come and pick and find peace. May the Lord bless you.