Daily Devotional for Wednesday April 1, 2015

You Don't Have to Settle for Scraps This World Throws at Christians During Easter

(Luke 17:26-32, 2 Thessalonians 2:3)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, please help me to grow in my faith each day so that I can share your Truth and Love with this lost world. This is a world that is hungering for TRUTH, for REAL HOPE, and that is only found in You my Lord! Please, help me to be a vessel to carry that Truth, hope, and love to those who are lost and hurting. In the name of Jesus I pray...AMEN!!!

You don't have to settle for the scraps this world throws at Christians during this Easter. I have been inundated with emails the past few weeks about the various "Jesus" programs on TV during this Easter season. I have done my best to warn you about the theologically and Biblically inaccurate Gospel-less programs the world puts out during the Easter and Christmas seasons to cash in on the hunger Christians have for anything pertaining to our faith that isn't a complete heretical poke in the eye.

In NYC, there is an art exhibit with a companion book of 24 paintings of the passion of Christ. Only this Jesus is GAY! Artist Doug Blanchard said, "Right-wing Christians denounced us as 'blasphemers' and condemned our book as an abomination, disgusting, and an outrage to mock Christ in this manner. LGBT Christian visions are important now because conservatives are using religion to justify discrimination against queer people."

I assume a "Right-wing Christian" is someone who happens to actually believe the Bible and what it says about the sin of homosexuality. "LGBT Christian" is an oxymoron since Jesus said, "if you love me you will obey me," meaning God's Word. How is purposely, willfully, and unrepentantly living in blatant rebellion to Christ and His Word anything but a mockery of the Christian faith?

>From a theological and Biblical accuracy standpoint, the "Jesus" programs fed to Christians this Easter aren't much better. They are void of a true Gospel message but will rake in millions since Christians are hungry for any representation of our faith that isn't pure blasphemy. The creators of these programs know that the better percentage of the past two generations have never been to church, and the vast majority of those who do go to church are mostly Biblically illiterate. So they can get away with about any sort of artistic rendering regardless how theologically inaccurate it may be.

My counsel to you is that if you want to watch quality Christian programming this Easter, find any of the movies made prior to 1965 like The King of Kings, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Robe, Barabbas, which are all quality portrayals of the story of Jesus and as close to the Scriptures as you can get. You see, when those movies were made, Hollywood HAD to be Biblically accurate because the church of that day would accept anything less. They actually READ AND KNEW the Bible!

Sadly, this lack of Biblical accuracy, lack of evangelism, are all byproducts of a compromised church with a compromised message. THIS is why I have railed against gutless cotton candy ear ticklers like Osteen who masquerade as preachers when they are nothing but a motivational speakers.

Below are some excepts from past Devotionals on "pope" O'Reilly's "Killing Jesus" and the productions by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett.

O'Reilly:

"Killing Jesus" by "Pope" O'Reilly is the theological trainwreck as I predicted when he announced this book was coming out,! O'Reilly is actually on the record stating that the Bible is not a literal book, only a book of allegories and good moral stories. Sadly, due to the fact the majority of the past two generations have never even been to church, people like the theologically challenged O'Reilly, make millions selling their "Jesus" books to people who have little to no Biblical knowledge, filling their minds with gross errors! O'Reilly will make his tour of secular programs sharing his theological errors with those audiences who are virtually all Biblically illiterate and will never know what he wrote is not Biblical Truth!

O'Reilly, on "60 Minutes," claims Jesus was afraid to die. Jesus WAS NOT afraid to die. In His humanity he understood what his purpose in life was, and that was to die for the sins of all mankind. Like ALL humans in their weak moments, the Lord asked God to take that burden from Him, yet still went obediently to the cross to give His life which was His ultimate mission.

The most laughable claim in O'Reilly's theological disaster was that Jesus was killed because of taxes. On his FOX News program in March O'Reilly stated, "I'm researching Killing Jesus. Do you know why Jesus was killed by the Romans? You don't know and you shouldn't know because it was about taxes, taxes!"

What??? Jesus was not killed because of taxes or for inciting some sort of tax revolt. Quite the opposite. He clearly taught the people to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. It was the Jewish religious leaders who plotted to kill Jesus since he was interfering with their "business," much like most of the church world today is little more than a business. They held an inquisition of our Lord and got Him to admit He was God, which according to Jewish Law was a blasphemous statement. They than used their Roman occupiers as the instrument to execute Jesus.

More critical however is the fact the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus was born ultimately to die on the cross as the one-time perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. O'Reilly in his arrogance and theological ignorance doesn't understand that theologically the killing of Jesus was ultimately about one thing, God's one and only plan to redeem fallen man in order that His creation could come back into an eternal relationship with their Creator as he created them!"

Downey and Burnett:

Roma Downey and Mark Burnett are cleverly making a fortune milking the soft, Biblically illiterate Christian community who have mostly experienced nothing but "ear tickling" as they produce TV projects with Christian themes. *Downey whose background is steeped in the New Age, and Burnett who if saved learned quickly how to cash in on his new faith, are producing Biblically light, Biblically inaccurate programming for the masses that have NO Gospel presentation.

My question, if they are truly making a Christian program, and the Gospel is the central message of the faith, why are they afraid to simply explain to people that without faith in Christ they will die and burn in hell for their sins and that the ONLY Truth is found in God's Word? The answer of course, that will get them shut out of the market and cost them the fortune they make from their powerless, Biblically light programs. Is it any wonder they hang out with Matt and Lori Crouch of TBN, Joel and Victoria Osteen, and satanic cult member Glenn Beck to promote their works?

I will let God judge the hearts of Burnett and Downey as to if they are really saved since they both claim to be Christians. I have never heard Burnett share anything close to a true Biblical conversion experience when talking about his faith. Downey comes out of a Roman Catholic background and has an extensive history in the New Age movement she lumps in with Biblical Christianity calling it all "spirituality." I can only say that the mini-series, "Bible" was incredibly lacking from a true-to-the-Bible standpoint, as was their movie, "Son of God," as no doubt will be their Easter special "AD."

Their projects have had INCREDIBLE evangelistic opportunities, and both failed to deliver miserably. I simply can't understand what there is to hide? If you are promoting something as Christian, then it wouldn't be a shock to anyone that you told the story true to the Bible and at some point clearly delivered the Gospel. Not in code, or in some veiled form, but the truth that because of your sins, without faith in Jesus your eternal soul will be damned for all etenrity in hell. However, through faith in Jesus your sins will be forgiven and you have the promise of eternity in Heaven with God your Creator when this brief journey through life is over!!! WHY NOT IF THAT IS WHAT WE CLAIM TO BELIEVE???

I love and care about you so much. We are living in a day of such weak and compromised preaching that people who I have no dobut love Jesus, get excited over anything produced that is supposed to reinforce their faith. Christians are so hungry for a chance to tell OUR STORY that we end up supporting productions that fall so woefully short of being Biblically accurate or telling the most meaningful Truth of all, the Gospel message! They have been targeted by master marketeers looking to make a quick buck by promoting anything that is "Christian," without being true to God's Word or giving a legitimate presentation of the Gospel.

Worst of all, Christians don't seem to know, or if they do, don't care! That is the point! The world as well as many within the Christian community are simply looking to feast on the hunger Christians have, knowing that they will partake of about anything with the name God, Jesus, or Bible in it! It is a sad commentary on an apostate church that more than anything else has told me God's judgment and wrath on this nation is imminent.

The only thing that will withhold that judgment and wrath is turning back to God, His Truth, while helping to usher in a TRUE revival across this nation that won't be anything man-made or man-led, but Holy Spirit driven!!! THAT is why I wake up each day, since I know God has called His work here at Liveprayer to utilize our proven ministry tools through Liveprayer.com and Liveprayer TV to play a big role in making that happen..THIS YEAR...A YEAR OF VICTORY!!!

WE DON'T HAVE TO SETTLE FOR THE SCRAPS OF THIS WORLD WHEN WE HAVE THE FEAST IN HEAVEN AWAITING US!!!!!!

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

Bill Keller