Before returning to James’ letter to the converted children of Israel (the church), I want to respond to a news clip I’m sure most of you have seen on t.v. or the internet which has, as they say, “gone viral.” In this segment a man who looks like the world’s concept of Santa Claus has been called to the bedside of a dying five-year-old boy who, knowing that he is dying, had asked to see good old St. Nick before he died.

Upon his arrival, the boy talks to the man, whom he believes to be Santa Claus and asks him about dying. He is told that he will soon enter the pearly gates where he will meet Jesus. When I saw this the enormity of the sins I was witnessing overcame me and I broke down. Think about this: The last face that precious little innocent child saw in this life was the face of a heathen Moabite god (Mythra) who demanded child sacrifice from his worshipers. The hollow metal god who, when a fire was built inside him, became red from the heat. This was the pagan deity into whose red hot arms his followers laid their children and who held them as they screamed until their little bodies gave way to death. This was the god who promised this little innocent child that he would soon be in heaven. And who did this child want to do during his final moments of life? He did not want to pray or hear the Bible read to him. He did not want God-exalting hymns sung to him. He did not want a true Christian to pray for him. No. HE WANTED TO SEE A PAGAN GOD AND HEAR LIES COMING FROM HIS LIPS.

What ripped me to the core was that the last face this child saw in this life was that of a pagan god and the last words he heard were lies. The child is innocent and will not be held accountable for what he believed. But my thoughts went to all those who will be held accountable before a wrathful God on Judgment Day when He will gather all church people before Him and separate them into two groups: sheep and goats. See The Church, The Gospel And The Goats. I thought about all those people–parents, grandparents, other relatives, friends, churchmates and false prophets–who, throughout his short life, had told him Satan’s lies and convinced him to believe them, the Christmas ruse being one of many. The child will not face the wrath of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, but they will as they stand among their fellow goats and hear Jesus say: “Why did you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I commanded?” “You professed Me with you mouths and honored Me with your lips, but your heart was far from Me.” “I never knew you workers of iniquity. You worshiped Me in vain, obeying the commandments of men while rejecting My Words.”

As I meditated–admittedly in anger–on what was flooding through my mind, I was reminded of my early years when I was also lied to by people who suffered from deliberate, self-inflicted Biblical ignorance. The world is awash with such people who have God’s Truth at their fingertips–the Bible, radio, t.v., dvds, etc–and prefer to have their itching ears scratched with smooth words, lies and deceits coming from their cult’s parishioners, preachers and teachers.

My anger does not concern that innocent child. I grieve for the other 99% of children who do not die, but go throughout their lives believing the religious swill they are being fed by false prophets and their enablers. A child believes what his elders tells him. Unfortunately, young spiritual children grow up to be old spiritual children unless they become among the minutely few who actually study God’s Word, learn the Truth, believe and obey it until the end of their lives or the return of Jesus Christ, at which time salvation and rebirth will be awarded the faithful few. I will end my venting session with the Words of Jesus Christ concerning what we tell our children: “… whoso shall offend one of these little ones that believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were placed around his neck, and that he were drown in the depth of the sea” (Mat. 18:6). O that the church would hear what the Lord says. See Christmas. But she will not, being much too busy buying Christmas gifts, stringing lights and arranging nativity scenes. Dear readers, God is speaking to you at this moment. Do not turn away from Him. Satan is also speaking to you, telling you to ignore what you have just read. And it really doesn’t matter what God said in His Bible. After all, you are defying Him “for the right reason.” Search the Scriptures; you will not find that caveat written therein.  L.J.