What is deception? An outright lie, or a partial truth? Deception is a lie designed to make the person believe it to be true. If I said I was 7'12" you wouldn't believe me, but if I said I was 5'9", 180lbs, brown hair, mustache, and wore glasses you would believe me. If you did believe me, you have been deceived. Though most of that is true, I am not 5'9". That is where the deception is made. Humans are not idiots (though some peoples actions make that statement deceptive), they don't believe and outright lie, but humans are gullible and will believe a lie, if it is sprinkled with a kernel of truth.
"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible." (Matt 24:24 NIV) One of thethe hardest things to do is deceive an "expert". Yet, today, there is an attempt to deceive "experts". If one truly knows and believes the truth, then they can not be deceived. As stated earlier, those who are "experts" about me can even be deceived. There are Christians that appear to be strong in their beliefs and convictions, yet, even just recently, have been deceived. Teachings, they thought, were infallible and unshakeable, have been shaken. Does that mean that they are weak? That they aren't strong in their faith?
Yes and No. A momentary lapse of reason, and they failed. After coming back to their senses, they realized they were deceived. In order to know our faith, we have to be tested in our faith. Many years ago, a gentlemen, whom I regarded as a strong Christian, said, "If someone held a gun to my head and told me I would die if I said I believed in Jesus, I don't know what I would answer. I don't know if I would deny Jesus." I puffed out my scrawny chest (spiritually and physically) and responded, "I wouldn't deny Jesus. I would accept death." My was I wrong. I deceived everyone in that room, especially me.
Was a gun held to my head? No, but my life from that point on, reflected a denial of Jesus. I became involved with a woman right after that. From there I deceived myself with the "everybody is doing it" and "I'm not hurting anyone else" and "there's nothing wrong with how I am living." With all those quotes and the life I was leading, I was denying Jesus. Those who knew me, thought I was a Christian. So, they would do what I was doing, thinking, "Daniel is doing it, so it must be ok." I quickly turned my back to Jesus. Thankfully, He didn't turn His back to me. And I must point out, my undoing was not because of the woman. She wanted me to continue on the path I was headed before we met, but I wanted the best of both, and lost both.
Afterwards, I was like Jonah. God had a plan for me, but I was running the other way. Finally, I was swallowed up, and spit out. I have been redeemed by God for my disbelief. He led me to another woman, sadly, that too didn't work out, but God has another plan for me. Maybe, somewhere out there, God has designed the one for me. Maybe she's from my past, or maybe she's in my future. I don't know, it's in God's hands from this point. But the point of this discussion is not to feel sorry for Daniel and his failed relationships. It's about deception.
The saying, "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, then it's a duck." I wouldn't' be to sure of that. Check it out completely. If something is based on reality and claims to be authentic, check it out. Do your own research. I just finished with a seminar on The DaVinci Code. The seminar was titled "Separating Fact from Fiction". When I say I finished, I mean, I still have 5 sessions left. (The next 5 Wednesdays) and when I say I finished, I mean, I am a keynote speaker. It is sponsored by the Abilene Wesleyan Church, Pastor David Swisher, pastor Jessica Swisher, and myself are the ones conducting it.
The sessions are "Priory of Sion" presented by Pastor David, "Can We Trust the Bible" presented by me, "Who Was/Is Jesus" presented by Pastor David and myself, "Paganism, the Occult and Sexuality" presented by me and "Suppression of Women by the Church" presented by Pastor Jessica. The one thing we were very careful to do was we didn't want to condemn the book, tell people not to read it or see the movie, nor boycott everything about it. Nor were we going to stand up and defend the church in it's wrong doings. We systematically did a lot of research, to bring the facts to the surface. The book is a nice mystery and a decent page turner. I would recommend it, but don't believe it, lest you be deceived.
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg
"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible." (Matt 24:24 NIV) One of thethe hardest things to do is deceive an "expert". Yet, today, there is an attempt to deceive "experts". If one truly knows and believes the truth, then they can not be deceived. As stated earlier, those who are "experts" about me can even be deceived. There are Christians that appear to be strong in their beliefs and convictions, yet, even just recently, have been deceived. Teachings, they thought, were infallible and unshakeable, have been shaken. Does that mean that they are weak? That they aren't strong in their faith?
Yes and No. A momentary lapse of reason, and they failed. After coming back to their senses, they realized they were deceived. In order to know our faith, we have to be tested in our faith. Many years ago, a gentlemen, whom I regarded as a strong Christian, said, "If someone held a gun to my head and told me I would die if I said I believed in Jesus, I don't know what I would answer. I don't know if I would deny Jesus." I puffed out my scrawny chest (spiritually and physically) and responded, "I wouldn't deny Jesus. I would accept death." My was I wrong. I deceived everyone in that room, especially me.
Was a gun held to my head? No, but my life from that point on, reflected a denial of Jesus. I became involved with a woman right after that. From there I deceived myself with the "everybody is doing it" and "I'm not hurting anyone else" and "there's nothing wrong with how I am living." With all those quotes and the life I was leading, I was denying Jesus. Those who knew me, thought I was a Christian. So, they would do what I was doing, thinking, "Daniel is doing it, so it must be ok." I quickly turned my back to Jesus. Thankfully, He didn't turn His back to me. And I must point out, my undoing was not because of the woman. She wanted me to continue on the path I was headed before we met, but I wanted the best of both, and lost both.
Afterwards, I was like Jonah. God had a plan for me, but I was running the other way. Finally, I was swallowed up, and spit out. I have been redeemed by God for my disbelief. He led me to another woman, sadly, that too didn't work out, but God has another plan for me. Maybe, somewhere out there, God has designed the one for me. Maybe she's from my past, or maybe she's in my future. I don't know, it's in God's hands from this point. But the point of this discussion is not to feel sorry for Daniel and his failed relationships. It's about deception.
The saying, "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, then it's a duck." I wouldn't' be to sure of that. Check it out completely. If something is based on reality and claims to be authentic, check it out. Do your own research. I just finished with a seminar on The DaVinci Code. The seminar was titled "Separating Fact from Fiction". When I say I finished, I mean, I still have 5 sessions left. (The next 5 Wednesdays) and when I say I finished, I mean, I am a keynote speaker. It is sponsored by the Abilene Wesleyan Church, Pastor David Swisher, pastor Jessica Swisher, and myself are the ones conducting it.
The sessions are "Priory of Sion" presented by Pastor David, "Can We Trust the Bible" presented by me, "Who Was/Is Jesus" presented by Pastor David and myself, "Paganism, the Occult and Sexuality" presented by me and "Suppression of Women by the Church" presented by Pastor Jessica. The one thing we were very careful to do was we didn't want to condemn the book, tell people not to read it or see the movie, nor boycott everything about it. Nor were we going to stand up and defend the church in it's wrong doings. We systematically did a lot of research, to bring the facts to the surface. The book is a nice mystery and a decent page turner. I would recommend it, but don't believe it, lest you be deceived.
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg
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1 comment:
Thanks for the update. I'll continue to pray for you & those involved in the discussions. :)
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