Daily Devotional for Tuesday May 7, 2013

Jodi Arias, Travis Alexander, Glenn Beck, and the Death Penalty

(Galatians 1:6-12)

***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, I have acquaintance who is a Muslim. His name is Muhammad. How should I approach him re: his faith?

ANSWER: Here is the bottom line. The Bible and the Qu'ran can't both be correct, like the Bible and the Book of Mormon can't both be correct. Challenge your friend to read the Bible and accept God's Word for what it is, the ONLY Truth there is! One has to be Truth, the other a lie from hell. GOD, wrote the Bible. MAN wrote the Qu'ran and the Book of Mormon. We all are free to believe what we want. That is a choice each person must make. I choose to put my faith and belief in what God says, not man. The LIE from hell is that everyone's truth will get them to Heaven, when the ONLY Truth that will get you to Heaven is in the Bible alone!!!

***SOULS! THE ETERNAL SOULS OF MEN! PLEASE, READ THIS TODAY AND DON'T LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT EVERY PERSON WILL DIE, AND THEIR SOUL WILL EITHER END UP IN HEAVEN OR HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY!!!

Jodi Arias, Travis Alexander, Glenn Beck, and the death penalty! The nation is once again fixated on a high profile court case. This time in Phoenix where a 32-year-old woman named Jodi Arias admitted to savagely killing her ex-boyfriend in 2008 by stabbing him 29 times and then shooting him in the face. It is a gruesome story of sex, manipulation, and murder.

Arias, once caught, lied to the police that she was even there at the time of the murder. Once she was confronted with evidence that she was, she concocted a story about a home invasion. Ultimately, she and her defense team admitted to killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, but in self defense.

Most likely she will be convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. This brings up the question whether the death penalty is Biblical. Before dealing with that question, I find the saddest part of this case that Alexander, the murdered boyfriend, is in hell for all eternity. Sadly, he and his family bought into the lies of the Mormon cult, and when Arias killed him, he was immediately sent to an eternity in hell.

WHY DO YOU THINK I TRY TO HELP YOU EVERY DAY TO UNDERSTAND THE GRAVITY OF WHAT A PERSON DOES ABOUT JESUS, AND THE ETERNAL DAMAGE THE CULTS AND FALSE RELIGIONS DO BY PERPETUATING THEOLOGICAL LIES THAT LEAD THE SOULS OF MEN TO HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY???

While many may get upset for me stating this fact, this is the bottom line of life. This journey is over so quick, whether it is 5 years, 15 years, 45 years, or 95 years! We either have accepted the Jesus of the Bible by faith and are assured by God of eternity in Heaven, or we have rejected God's free gift of everlasting life through His Son and will die in our sins and spend etenrity in hell.

THIS IS WHAT MOST PASTORS DON'T WANT TO DISCUSS! SATAN IS NOT PLAYING GAMES AND IS LOOKING TO TAKE AS MANY SOULS TO HELL WITH HIM AS HE CAN. MEANWHILE, WE DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT HELL AND EVEN BELIEVE THE FROM SATAN'S LIPS THAT EVERYONE WILL SOMEHOW MAKE IT TO HEAVEN. THAT IS NOT WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES AND MAKES WHAT JESUS DID ON THE CROSS A MEANINGLESS ACT!!!

That is why sharing the Gospel is so critical. That is why not being afraid to tell people that without Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, they will take their last breath and end up for all eternity in a place created for satan and the fallen angels who followed him from Heaven!

This is why I have warned people for a decade about Glenn Beck. Sadly, in this age of Biblical illiteracy within the church, with the fact the largest percentage of the past two generations have never even been to church, Beck and his cult, other cults and false religions, are having a field day adding people to their false beliefs since most Christians don't even witness any longer!

The Bible says satan "masquerades as an angel of light!' He is a LIAR as stated in John 8:44! Beck draws people in with his conservative political views, acts and talks like someone who loves God and Jesus, but the "god" Beck believes in is NOT the God of the Bible, nor is the "jesus" he and those in his cult believe in! When Beck talks about praying, he might as well pray to a toilet since praying to a non-existent god is just as productive!

I am still waiting for someone in a public forum to confront Beck about his false beliefs that he will die one day and become the god of his own planet as Mormon men believe. He has paid off gutless modern day Judas' like David Barton, John Hagee, James Robison, Ralph Reed, and a host of other high profile "Christians" who have sold out the faith to give this cult member undeserved credibility when he LIES that he is a Christian!

Jesus said don't worry about the one who can kill your body, worry about the one who can kill your eternal soul! The fact was, all Jodi Arias could do was take Alexander's life. It was Alexander who bought into the lies of the Mormon cult that led him to an eternity in hell when he was killed! We will ALL die one day in some way, at that moment, NOTHING will matter other than what you have done with the Jesus of the Bible!

This will be difficult for some to comprehend, but it is what the Bible teaches. Even if she is convicted of this horrific crime, Jodi Arias can renounce the Mormon lies she embraced, renounce Wicca that she dabbled in at a young age, and put her faith in the Jesus of the Bible as her Lord and Savior, seek His forgiveness, and upon her death be assured of Heaven.

Many have trouble accepting this truth. They have trouble accepting the fact that someone like a Jodi Arias could do something so horrible, yet still be eternally with God. That is the price Jesus paid of the cross and why there is NO OTHER WAY TO Be SAVED! OTHERWISE, HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS WAS MEANINGLESS!!!

But you see, we are ALL sinners. The Bible proclaims that ALL have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. In Ephesians chapter 2 it says "For it is by grace you have been saved, though faith... and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God...not by works, so that no one can boast."

My friend, God has made a way for everyone, even the Jodi Arias' of the world, to accept Christ by faith, repent of their sins, and be born again. Even though you may not have done anything as horrible as Arias did, the fact is, you are still a sinner, and you will be eternally separated from God, just like anyone who rejects faith in Jesus as their personal savior.

That does NOT mean Arias can escape the results of her actions. The issue that will be debated if Arias is found guilty of first degree murder is capital punishment. Many who oppose capital punishment say it is hypocritical to be opposed to abortion and yet, support capital punishment. That is an apples and oranges argument! Abortion is the killing of an innocent life. Capital punishment is the killing of someone who is guilty of a serious crime against society.

You can not even argue the two, because one deals with an innocent life, the other deals with a guilty life. The baby killed in the womb did nothing wrong and had no choice in their death. The person who is put to death by the state CHOSE to commit the heinous crime that society deemed punishable by death.

Another false argument is that capital punishment is not a deterrent to others from committing the same kinds of horrible crimes. It is not supposed to be a deterrent. It is the penalty society deems appropriate for those who have CHOSEN to commit the most heinous of crimes against society.

You see, capital punishment has a very solid basis from scripture and ultimately is a decision each society must determine. One of the wonderful things about our country is that we can change laws that we feel are not acceptable. For those who disagree with capital punishment, you have the right to disagree. However, God's Word is our final authority on all matters, and you cannot ignore the Biblical predicate for capital punishment.

I love you and care about you so much. The most important decision we will make in this life is what we do with the Jesus of the Bible. That, and that alone, will determine our eternal home! I have prayed extensively over these words today. I asked God that in the midst of this sad trial millions are watching, someone would read these words today and come to know Christ as his/her personal savior.

If Jodi Arias is found guilty and given the death penalty, she will know the date and time of her death. Most of us are not that fortunate. Most will never know when they will die, and at that moment our chance to accept Christ is lost.

I pray you don't wait too long. I also want you to pray today for Arias, the Arias family, as well as the family of Travis Alexander. Pray for them to find freedom from the lies of the Mormon cult! The incredible truth of the Gospel is that even those who commit horrific crimes can still repent and ask the Lord to forgive them. Christ loves each one of us so much He died for our sins.

If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, He is standing at the door of your heart today, knocking. It is no accident you are reading these words. I am praying that you will open your heart to Him, and let Him in.

Plan of Salvation and video altar call video: http://www.liveprayer.com/plan.cfm

In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller