GHOST - My opinion

          The latest apparent musical phenomenon has been thrust to the forefront of the heavy metal/doom music scene. Being a believer in Christ I was curious as to what their gimmick was. The name of the group is GHOST. They are self-proclaimed Satanists who refer to themselves as a worship band for Satan. I don't know all the ins and outs of their deal, but I read enough and heard enough interview material to know that this is a group that should be avoided. Any borderline believer could easily be drawn in by the lofty guitar licks and the charismatic frontman, Tobia Forge. They are from Sweden and are touring the US now. They have unassuming lyrics that lead a person straight to the doorway of hell to meet the enemy of their soul.   

          Forge finds religion to be just another way for an organization to control people. His mistake lies in the fact that religion is one thing but true Christianity is relational. A person enters into a personal, very intimate relationship with Almighty God. If the idea of a personal God would be a joke to them I would ask why they would assume there is a devil without an antithesis? Where did the devil come from? There is not only bad and not only good ... there is both good and bad. Who determines what is good and what is bad? Religion can certainly be very negative with rules and regulations that are either not in or misinterpreted from scripture. Relational belief leads one to the one truth that shall always remain the same for all time.

          So what does the born again believer do about GHOST. Do we picket the concerts? Do we take to the airwaves to denounce them? My response is to cut into the meaty part of the groups collective hearts by praying diligently for them that God will rip thru the folly they are presenting and bring them face to face with real truth. Protests tend to be ineffective in my opinion, because the mass media already casts a jaundiced eye toward anything that speaks of religion. Pray for them. If God is greater than Satan and we believe he is infinately greater, then Pray in Jesus name for their souls to be harvested in the name of the Lord. That's my opinion. rlkeller

MY LETTER TO THE WORLD

1 Corinthians 1:21-22 New Living Translation

“Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.”

            Dear World: It’s become pretty apparent that you want to come up with your own plan of salvation, which can be completely understood and acceptable to you. The Gospel message is too far out, too mysterious, too otherworldly. You can’t possibly grasp the message in all its simplicity. You must have to dosomething to earn it. There must be something spectacular that needs to take place. In reality what  must be done is to lay your own life down and take second stage to an unseen deity. It boggles the mind. So what if this unseen deity isn’t real? Apparently you have to be able to experience it with your senses for it to be real. The fact is that either there is a God or there is not. To believe or not believe is a choice each individual must make. To not make a choice is to make one. By avoiding the topic you have made a choice. But are you willing to stake your own personal afterlife on it? There are two ways this can go. You will die and be either buried or cremated and that will be your last conscious thought forever. Or your spirit will be resurrected on the last day to face God’s judgment. It’s either or, one way or the other. Man thinks there has to be other options. There simply has to be. To be placed in the same category as rapists and murderers just because you reject the reality of Jesus Christ and his blood bought forgiveness from all sin simply isn’t fair. You reason that you’ve been a good person for the most part; however, God’s response to that is, “You were good by who’s standard, your own? No one is good except God.” The world has a myriad of questions, but faith isn’t based on facts or even answers to questions, because once answered there is always another question. As with God’s conversation with Job, God says to us, “Now I will speak and you will listen.” Why? Because we simply do not know … anything. The information we have amassed is useless in the face of eternity.  So to you I say, let down your guard and accept the possibility that there truly is a God and that he loves you more than you could ever imagine. His desire is that you willingly serve him so you can enter into a peaceful existence that will last throughout eternity. Just do it. You will try anything else to find something, but you don’t even know what that ‘thing’ is. You just want to be happy, at peace. You are either willing to release control and submit to a God who knows you better than you know yourself or you aren’t. Let go. For once in your life trust something that makes no logical, human sense. One word from God can change your scenery forever. He means you no harm, only good. It starts with a simple step taken, an acceptance that you might be wrong about this whole God thing. Won’t you consider receiving Christ into your heart and life today? A choice must be made one way or the other. You will have to live with your choices, make them good, sound choices not based on what you know but what you are willing to believe and place your faith and hope in the future in. Do as you must, but know that this decision will have eternal ramifications. May God’s perfect will for your life be done. rlkeller 

If it makes you happy ...

"If it makes you happy how can it be bad?"

That is a line from a song whose name escapes me. I feel like this might be the general attitude of most unbelievers. I think unbelievers feel that accepting Christian beliefs means all fun leaves the room. I suppose it depends on what you think is fun. God doesn't force you to stop doing the things you are doing, you do that yourself as the Holy Spirit begins to open your eyes to what is truly valuable and worth you spending your time on. You can live as you choose, but never forget that  consequences follow each and every choice we make in life. Christians have no business telling anyone what they should be doing or not doing with their life. Our job as believers in Christ is to show people Christ thru our lives. Live it instead of talk about it. Show them the love of God. He will show those outside the faith what will really make them happy. We have to allow the non-believers the right to exercise their free will. God gave us all a free will so when people surrender their lives to Christ they do it willingly and not because they feel they must. Many things we think are fun end up not being very good for us at all. If you don't yet know Christ in a personal way, why? If you do, BE Christ to those you encounter each day. The how to regarding that task is found by reading the Bible a little each day. God loves you and only has blessings and not cursings in store for you.

rlkeller

IMITATION IS PLEASING TO GOD

     The world today is fully committed to parading their filthy rags right down Broadway. Wealthy actors, actresses, politicians and athletes alike pour some of their money into their pet causes as if that would enter them into the good guy / gal club. You cannot earn your way into heaven. God cannot be bought for forgiveness isn't for sale. It was bought and paid for by God's Son. TV shows seem to delight in making in roads into the family structure which has been slowly crumbling from the foundation up for some time. More and more ungodly practices are being shown as viable alternatives to what would in most civilized societies be considered normal. Focusing on Christ becomes increasingly difficult and the chaos grows louder. We must be like minded with Christ, for as Christians we know that pleasing the Lord thru imitation is the path we have laid out before us. Shun evil and do good, for then the world shall see God. rlkeller

GOING THEIR OWN WAY

          There seem to be two things that have become fashionable nowadays: 1) announcing that your gay and 2) announcing that you are an atheist.  It all comes down to what I have said all along, man wants his autonomy.  They don’t want what my chiropractor stated rather emphatically in a recent visit, “I don’t want anyone telling me what to do!”  He wasn’t speaking of God at the time, but he might as well have been.  The basic hedonistic premise of “as long as it hurts no one, do it” seems to be in play in society today.  Even Christians are falling into this trap.  The scriptures I read don’t tell me homosexuality is okay now, that being prohibitive was for another time.  Where is that in the Bible?  People are exercising their right to choose and that is a good thing.  Man has been given a free will and that cannot be breached.  If they end up being wrong it will have been their own choice.  God doesn’t send people to hell, they elect to go there based on the decisions they make in life.  Ignore God’s gift of forgiveness for all your sins?  No problem that is your right as a created being.  But don’t complain if things turn out exactly as scripture depicts it, because that was your warning and you chose to ignore it and go your own way. rlkeller

MY BLOG CLOSES IN ON THE CENTURY MARK

As I approach the 100,000th hit on my devo blog I am humbled by the thought that someone somewhere has been touched in a positive way by something I have written. To God be all the glory, honor and praise for he is the source of my writing. There is nothing I could ever write that could match what he places in my heart. I am thankful to the Lord for choosing to use me in this small way. May his kingdom grow and may I continue to have a part in it. rlkeller

The whole world is watching ...

     People say and do things thinking they cannot be seen or heard, but trust me, the whole world is listening and watching us very intently to find the littlest of flaws. Especially if they know you’re a Christian. It is critical for us to stay focused and connected thru the Holy Spirit and the Lord will see you thru your troubling times. rlkeller