Daily Devotional, Year 2 – APRIL 8 (The Straw-Man, Part 4: “Stigmatizing Christianity! Foolish Talk & Jesting”)
By admin On January 21st, 2021.
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Daily Devotional, Year 2 – APRIL 8
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The Straw-Man,
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Part 4:
“Stigmatizing Christianity! Foolish Talk & Jesting”
To read Part 1, click here…March 5th (The Straw Man, Part 1: “Villains And Heroes”)
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“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves:
be ye therefore wise as serpents,
and harmless as doves.”
Matthew 10:16
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On that fateful day, Satan came in the form of a serpent (snake) to stigmatize God… “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?…Ye shall not surely die: ” Genesis 3:1, 4
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Satan successfully convinced Mankind that God was unfair, and as we all know, the rest is history!
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And it was so easy for Satan to deceive us!
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After all, if he could convince those heavenly angelic super-intelligent beings that God was unfair, then Adam and his wife would be no problem for him!
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SATAN: “THE GOD OF THIS WORLD”
2nd Corinthians 4:4
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And so, as a result of his deception, this world was given over to rulership by this very artful Deceiver!
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And the Bible now calls him, “the god of this world”! 2nd Corinthians 4:4
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But one great problem is, that the people of the world do not realize that this world-of-selfish-pleasures is ruled over by Satan!
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Even many church-goers do not believe that this world is Satan’s, “prison-house of sin!”
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Martin, John – Satan presiding at the Infernal Council – 1824 – Wikipedia – public domain
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THE HOLLYWOOD CONNECTION!
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And speaking of Satan’s subtlety, this master of deception is no less active today, in his attempt to fool Mankind!
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And now, Satan has an even more effective weapon against Christianity: Hollywood!
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Yes, Satan can present this hopelessly evil and selfish world of decay and death, as though it is a wonderful place!
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THE STRAW-MAN PLOY!
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But Satan also uses Hollywood to stigmatize Christianity negatively!
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Yes, that master of lies is even more cunning than he was back in Heaven!
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And he has been practicing his deceptive arts for many-a-millennium!
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And just now, he is springing his last great deception upon this unsuspecting world!
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Straw Man -attributed to Larch – Wikimedia
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STIGMATIZING SINCERE CHRISTIANS
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For instance, Satan has used Hollywood to create a, “Straw-Man”, so to speak, concerning Christianity.
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In his usual subtlety, Satan makes many Hollywood productions which covertly set up a, “Straw-Man”, as a counterfeit of the truly dedicated Christian.
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In other words, he loves to portray earnest and reverent Christians as being sour-faced, cold, stern, and judgmental.
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And conversely, he then portrays worldly-minded Christians as being attractive, personable, fun-loving, and reasonable!
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Charles Finney – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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LUKEWARM CHRISTIANS
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And herein lies the dividing-line between those who serve God, and those who merely serve, “the god of this world”!
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No, Satan is not worried about worldly Christians! He already has worldly-minded Christians securely in his camp!
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Listen… “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1st John 2:15
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World-loving Christians praise Jesus with their lips, but their heart goes after the pleasures and pursuits of this proud and selfish world!
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Listen to God’s assessment of His own people…
“My people…they hear thy words,
but they will not do them:
for with their mouth they shew much love,
but their heart goeth after their covetousness.”
Ezekiel 33:31
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PS Krøyer – Hip hip hurra! – Kunstnerfest på Skagen – 1888 – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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OBJECTS OF SATAN’S WRATH
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And so, knowing that earnest and sincere Christians have that proverbial target on their backs, since they do not love this evil world, Satan’s world!
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They are Satan’s chief objects of hatred! He already has everyone else in his pocket!
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And so, in his jealous rage, Satan primarily focuses his attacks against all faithful, self-denying Christians who are truly, “strangers and pilgrims on the earth”! (see Hebrews 11:13)
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Christian and Apollyon – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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ANOTHER HOLLYWOOD “HIT-PIECE”!
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For instance, one particular movie portrayed the secular hero of the story as a handsome, intelligent, worldly-minded, “voice of reason”, individual!
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And this, “worldly wise-man” hero found himself in a monastery filled with weird, monkish characters who were fanatical, pathetic, grotesque-looking, and just plain down-right evil!
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This typical Hollywood hit-piece movie was set in the backdrop of the Dark Ages, when Europe was controlled by the evil apostate churches.
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And so, the producer of this movie did not need to exaggerate too much, in his portrayal of this reclusive set of monks! Christianity was truly in an apostate condition, back in those times!
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Joseph Haier – Monks in a cellar – 1873 – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
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SAD CHURCH-SYSTEM
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But what we must keep in mind is, that back in those days, Satan could not take advantage of modern-day technology!
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And so he had to prejudice the people of Europe by literally raising up that hideous religious system!
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And in this manner, he prejudiced the mostly naive and un-schooled masses of Europe against Christianity, simply by creating that, “Straw-Man” deception: the apostate Christianity of those by-gone days!
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That was Satan’s straw-man, designed to cast dirt on the truth.
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In other words, for the most part, the corrupt and wicked church of those days, was all that the commoners ever knew about Christianity.
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Torture devices – The Wheel – Calas Chapbook – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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SATAN’S “STRAW-MAN PLOY” TODAY
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But today, Satan has already completed most of his homework, so to speak.
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Yes, Satan has long ago engaged in centuries of smear-tactics against true Christianity by this counterfeit religious power of Europe!
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And so today, all he needs to do is to make a movie about those evil times, resurrecting that old Straw-Man of the Middle Ages: the apostate religious system of those earlier centuries.
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And by this means, Satan can now duplicate that old medieval deception on the silver screen, thereby stigmatizing those truly dedicated Christians living today, as the world beholds the church atrocities of yesteryear, via those movies!
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Burning at the Stake – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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THE ART OF JESTING
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Now one area in which Satan desires to draw his battle-lines against Christians, is in the area of joking and jesting…
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Listen… “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness,
let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Neither filthiness, NOR FOOLISH TALKING, NOR JESTING,
which are not convenient (proper): but rather giving of thanks….
Let no man deceive you with vain words:
for because of these things cometh the wrath of God
upon the children of disobedience.”
Ephesians 5:3, 4, 6
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As this above passage reveals, “jesting” (joking) is condemned by God. Yes, as this above passage commands, we are to be thankful, but we are not to be “sarcastic cut-ups”! We are instead, to imitate our Divine Role-Model, Jesus in every way!
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Laughing – (cropped and color added) – Fotothek df roe neg – Wikimedia – Share-alike License
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A TIME TO LAUGH
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But Satan is not content to merely re-create this exaggerated and grotesque Straw-Man. And so, to strengthen his case against the Bible, he has gone far beyond, “foolish talk and jesting”, and made it seem as if even mere, “laughing” is condemned by sincere Christians!
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But this is a lie straight from Hell! The Bible says… “there is…A time to weep, and a time to laugh;” Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4
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“there is…A time to weep, and a time to laugh;”
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4
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Yes, there is a time for laughing in this otherwise sad world. For instance, when the exciting announcement that a new baby is on the way, there is laughing and rejoicing by both family and friends!
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Or there is laughing when we hear Good News like this…
“When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion,
we were like them that dream.
THEN WAS OUR MOUTH FILLED WITH LAUGHTER,
AND OUR TONGUE WITH SINGING:
then said they among the heathen…
The LORD hath done great things for us;
whereof we are glad.”
Psalm 126:1-3
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Yes, on the soon-coming day of our final deliverance from this selfish and dying world, our mouths will be filled with laughter and singing!
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Innocent baby laughing – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Lic. 2.0
Children’s Playground, – Wikimedia – Share-alike License
Family eating meal – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW –
April 9 (The Straw-Man, Part 5, Continued: Stigmatizing Christianity! Foolish Talk & Jesting)
Straw man (or lady) – Wikipedia – Share-alike or GNU Free Documentation License
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Give me wisdom and insight into the wiles of the Devil, that I be, “not ignorant of his devices”…
USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read…JANUARY 10 (How a Joke Killed!), or you can also read… August 25th (End-Time Exodus! Part 1)
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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CROSS/SCEPTER CONSTELLATION
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NOT THE NORTHERN OR SOUTHERN CROSS
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This is not the Northern Cross, nor is it the Southern Cross. This cross is made of stars from both the Serpens Constellation and the Ophiuchus Constellation. Here is a star-chart from Wikipedia, in which the editor of this site has sketched in this Cross/Scepter Constellation. The stars in this star-chart are accurately placed, and this Cross/Scepter Constellation stands out in brilliance, among the other stars in the night sky.
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The sketch below is the Summer Constellations, as seen when looking west. Well, if you look just to the south (south is to the left in this sketch) of Arcturus, you will see what appears to be a scepter. But this scepter also appears as a Cross. And this constellation has been named, the Cross/Scepter constellation. It can be seen in January, in the pre-dawn hours. Each night, it appears a little earlier, as it slowly inches its way westward. Finally this constellation dips below the western horizon, in the fall, not appearing again till January, back in the eastern sky.
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Now, as earlier stated, this wonderful prophecy (“there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel”) has its greatest fulfillment in the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus is represented by that glorious Star. And His death on the Cross is truly His scepter of authority. Jesus died to save a world of rebellious sinners.
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ABOVE STAR-CHART – Summer Constellations w/ark (aka: Sagittarius) & Revelation 12 Woman (aka: Ursa Major, including The Big Dipper) – www.theheavensdeclare.net
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Cross/Scepter Constellation”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
“APRIL 9 (The Straw-Man, Part 5, Continued: Stigmatizing Christianity! Foolish Talk & Jesting)”
Straw man (or lady) – Wikipedia – Share-alike or GNU Free Documentation License
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO STUDY IN JEREMIAH
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ALL‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
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THIS STUDY #462 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING, FORMER CEO OF FAMILY RADIO…
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above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain