‘Born-agains’ that say "Whatever!"

Young American believers, according to a Probe Ministries survey, are moving away from a biblically-centered worldview. Specifically, only one in three believe Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. His survey also reveals that “born-agains,” as he calls them, have decreased by 22% since 1976. And, only 1 in 5 report they are wholeheartedly practicing their faith. Pretty alarming!?

But what is most disturbing is the suggestion that the two-thirds who do not believe Jesus is the only way are really born again. In Acts 16, Paul says to be born again one must “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Perhaps some did at first, but allowed this “whatever-culture” to lead them away from the truth. If so, they are dangerously deceived, but (I believe) born again. However, the “born-agains” who never confessed Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life” are not. Rather, they under the spell of an ambivalent culture that says, “Whatever!”

She is Not the Antichrist

Yesterday, I spoke NOT of THE antichrist, but of the SPIRIT of antichrist in the world today. I am sure you can all think of examples of those who embody the spirit of antichrist.  But in my opinion, there is no one who does so more than Oprah Winfrey. Alarmingly, USA Today has called her a “spiritual leader for the new millennium, a moral voice of authority for the nation, one of the world's most influential spiritual leaders.”

In 2008, she began a radio program, “Oprah & Friends,” offering a year-long Course in Miracles, a spiritual journey that says: there are many paths to whatever-you-call God; all religions are equally false and equally true; God is in everything we see; each of us is the light of the world; and our salvation comes from us.  Hers is a religion of affirmation, toleration, and no absolutes (and of course, no cross).

Is Oprah an instrument of Satan to bring in a new religion that fits the new world order?  When Oprah visited Joel Osteen's church last year, he praised her: "We're honored to have you here; we celebrate you for what God is doing in your life." I'm sure he meant her humanitarian projects. Yes, she does great things. But these dare not be attributed to God ("for Satan disguises himself as an angel of light") because "every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ is God is the spirit of antichrist." (2 Cor 11:14; 1 Jn 4:3)

You May be Left-Handed, but You Better Be Right-Footed!

When I was a teen-ager, I had to go to an orthodontist to get my teeth straightened. Of Greek origin, the word ‘ortho’ means “straight,” or “right.” There was something wrong with my teeth—the braces made them “right.” Orthopedic shoes are made for people who may have something wrong with their feet; the shoes make their feet “right.”

The old English word “upright” is the Greek word “orthopodeo” combining the words “straight” or “right” with the word “foot.” The Bible commands us to be upright, which means, quite literally, “right-footed.” While the word “upright” is used only once in the New Testament (Gal. 2:14), it is used many times in the Old. God commends Job as a perfect and upright man: he was rightly related to God. Significantly, after King David took a wrong moral turn in his life, he asked God to “renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). Solomon uses the word for a person on a journey: “if you acknowledge the Lord in all your ways, the Lord will make your path straight [right] (Prov. 3:6). In other words, you won’t get lost—you will always be going the right way.

So, if you want to follow Jesus, you must be ‘right-footed.’ And if you are consistently right-footed, God will even turn your right foot into a “hinds” foot. (The hind is a female deer that is able to move easily across rocky terrain without losing its footing.) “He makes my feet like hinds' feet, and sets me upon my high places” (Ps. 18:33). Don’t you wish being upright was as easy as wearing orthopedic shoes!? You may be tired of tripping over your left feet, but God is more than able to keep you from stumbling (Jude 24 NLT) and lead you on the right path (Ps. 16:11).