Beginning with Adam and Eve, the ever-adaptable devil has proven his ability to adjust to the needs and wants of the God-seeking public in every age. From encounters on a road-side to the internet, he has time and again shown his penchant for change. His latest offerings have come in the form of made-for-television movies. At first they were relatively crude, ill-produced, poorly-acted productions. But of late the quality of every aspect of the process has greatly improved in order to meet the demands of the media-savvy viewing public. My family being of a religious bent, I have been compelled to watch these productions in the hope that I will “see the light” and “return to the fold.”

Though I know God’s Word and believe it, I do find the stories alluring in the religious sense, which tells me that those who take them to heart either do not know God’s Truth, or know it and reject it. Judging from the popularity of these movies, the religious masses find them very compelling. Though the productions and story lines have matured over the years, the theme has remained the same: Bad person sees the light offered by local churchite; bad person resists; bad person reaches crisis point; bad person accepts the “truth” put forth by churchite; bad person gets saved and is reborn, joins the church, becomes active therein and lives happily ever after. Same story–different setting. I know of what I speak for I was once not only a churchite, but a minister churchite.

Once again, Satan’s Bait and Switch theme saves the day for him. Invariably it kicks in at the point of conviction when the sinner realizes where he is headed and Who he needs to come to his rescue. At that point in the salvation process the God-seeker is lured off God’s track and placed on Satan’s track leading to “the church of your choice.” Once firmly on that track, the unsuspecting victim is directed to religious business as usual. The Biblically ignorant soul is kept ignorant by his false prophets who assure him that he need only show up, ‘fess up, pay up and get ready to go up. For the rest of his life he is repeatedly told that the “filthy rags” his sect requires for acceptance are all that are needed assure the future–the fix is in; case closed. Next stop: paradise. To assure that he does not deviate from the company line he never hears a sermon on First John chapter three or the second chapter of James.  Martin Luther rejected the entire Book of James, calling it a “straw book” because it proved that faith does not produce salvation. With extremely rare exception, the whole of Catholicism/Protestantism agrees with him.

To show how Satan blinds those whom he has deceived, I once had a lady to read the third chapter of First John and tell me what message God is giving us from that chapter. Her response consisted of one word: Love. Though having known her for many years and having grown up in her denomination, I was not shocked, just dismayed. This episode reminded me of the power of Satan, that when he sinks his religious talons into a victim it takes major spiritual “surgery” to extract them. This rarely happens because they feel good, make life smooth and eradicate the need to “count the cost” of serving the Lord. Therefore God’s command to “Come out of her (Catholicism/Protestantism) and be ye separate; touch not the unclean thing” is summarily ignored because the cost is too great. See Persecution. After all, why rock the boat when the churchite’s guaranteed destination is God’s safe harbor. And Satan smiles.  L.J.