| The “Deconstruction” Myth and Matter |
 By Dr. Shelton Smith
Guest Writer (Editor of Sword of the Lord) In recent months there has been a rash of well-known professing Christians who have announced that they were “deconstructing” their Christian faith.* The term was new, but what it described is not new at all.
Several of these individuals have been entertainers. One was a contemporary Christian music personality. One was the “lead” pastor of one of these new-breed, newly branded “contemporary” churches.
They are people who at some previous point in their lives had decided they would be Christians. What they believed and what they had been taught about salvation and other scriptural subjects is not at all clear. What is clear is that they said they were Christians, and for a time they identified themselves that way.
New Testament Examples Provide Precedent
Yes, in the New Testament era of the first century, the Bible gives us several examples of individuals who seem similar to these “deconstructionist” folks.
- John 6:66: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”
Basically, disciples are learners They are students. The word disciple may be applied to a true Christian, or it may be describing someone who is tagging along with the Christian crowd but without a faith commitment that is heartfelt. In other words, it is a somewhat ambiguous term that does not fully define who or what the person is.
Some think the ceremony of baptism or taking communion will make them Christians, but it never does. They are doing Christian things, but they are not yet converted. So even though they are not genuinely converted, they conform to Christian ways for a while; but without the transforming work of Christ in them, they weary of it all after a time.
- Matthew 7:26, 27: “And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”
Some people are not wise even when they have the information they need. They may have heard the Gospel and other Bible truths, but they “construct” their faith on their own ideas (sand) rather than submitting to the Lord on His terms. What they build may look like what the wise man built, but there is a difference. The difference is the foundation. If the foundation is flawed, then it will fail (deconstruct) when the pressures of life get intense.
- Luke 6:46: “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
Yes, there are people who will appear gracious and say “Lord, Lord”; but they, in reality, are not “in Christ.” They try to sound like Christians, but they are not.
Others of us may be impressed (fooled) by what they say, but they will not be able to keep up the charade long-term.
The “Deconstruction” Myth
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. (1 John 2:19)
Here in the Word of God we are given a synopsis of the “deconstruction” scenario. In brief, when a person decides to “deconstruct” (reverse his faith), he is actually revealing what he has had hidden from us. He was not one of us any of the time, or he would have “continued with us.”
When a genuine conversion occurs, the Lord regenerates us (gives us a new life) and births us into the family of God.
The Bible says then that we are “saved” (John 3:17), “born again” (vs. 3), “justified” (Romans 5:9), “redeemed” (Galatians 4:4-5), “a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17); and thus we are “the children of God” (Galatians 3:26) and we have “everlasting life” (John 3:16, 36).
Consequently, we cannot just arbitrarily say that we “don’t want to be a Christian anymore.” To make such a statement would be an indictment that the person was never saved and has been a phony from the start.
I’ve heard it said that “a faith that fizzles before the finish had a flaw in it from the first.” You can be sure of that because being a real Christian is not now, nor has it ever been, a matter of conforming to the Christian culture. A real Christian is one who has a genuine conversion where God puts a new, God-given life in him. Therefore,
Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:25-29)
The “Deconstruction” Matters
There are several “matters” with this, all of which “matter” a great deal.
- The idea of “deconstructing” one’s relationship with God is a notion predicated on a false premise. The passages noted above do not match up with the “deconstruction” idea; thus the idea is wrong.
- Men who think they can turn God on and off like a light switch do not have a firm grip on either the matter of salvation or the scenario of the Christian life.
- Men who build their own “sand castles” (ideas, terms, relationships) based on their unscriptural, self-generated philosophy have set themselves up for failure from the start. Despite their appearances of religion, they are not saved any of the time.
- The eternal security of the Christ-bought (Galatians 4:4-5), Holy Spirit-caught (John 14:25; 5:26; 16:9-11), blood-washed (1 Peter 1:18, 19) and spiritually reborn (vs. 23) sons and daughters of the living God is a solid, supernatural, scriptural reality.
- If a person can call a press conference, as some of these celebrity “Christians” have done, and announce that he is renouncing his Christian faith and“deconstructing” his Christian identity, he is a fool who has been and is now fooling himself. He does not know Christ, nor has he known Him. It is religion that he has had, but it is a religion without redemption and without regeneration.
- The crux of this whole “deconstruction” news flash is this: Personal experience must be governed by and judged by the authority of Scripture. When one’s personal experience does not line up with Scripture, the experience is a lie and a sham. If one allows his personal experience to overshadow Scripture, then he is headed into a cul-de-sac (dead-end street) that will not get him anywhere.
To keep from falling into a treacherous trap of Satan, Scripture must always be given priority over personal experience.
- And, finally, in these matters of faith you cannot “deconstruct” something which was never “constructed” in the first place. If what you have is genuine conversion, you didn’t “construct” it; God did.
Remember, Jesus saves us; we do not save ourselves. Furthermore, whatever God “constructs,” we would be very foolish to think that we could “deconstruct.”
In Conclusion
Since these “deconstruction” announcements have made national news a number of times this past year, I felt it was time to deal with them.
When people get themselves caught in a snare such as this, I would love to help them. In order to help, however, it is necessary to spell out the facts from a scriptural perspective.
If we have an open discussion on this or any other subject, it must be with an open Bible on the table in front of us.
In a word, this “deconstruction” issue is a false narrative. From top to bottom, side to side, north, south, east and west, at the stroke of midnight and in the heat of the noonday sun, it is a classic case of a satanically inspired falsehood.
I hope my brief essay will help to “deconstruct” any credibility the “deconstructionists”have garnered to themselves.
Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. (Titus 1:9)
For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar. (Romans 3:3-4)
This article is from an article in The Sword of the Lord newspaper; it is used with permission. Dr. Shelton Smith is the editor of the Sword of the Lord. The website is: http://www.swordofthelord.com.
*LT Editor’s note: Over the years, Lighthouse Trails has reported on some of these “deconstruction” stories. For example, in 2021, Kevin Max of the popular music group DC Talk made a public announcement saying, “I’ve been deconstructing/Reconstructing/progressing/whatever you wish to call it for decades” and said he was now an “exvangelical.” Max stated that he is now following the “universal christ” (https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=33806). In 2019, Josh Harris (the author of the highly popular book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye) came out publicly, stating: “I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is ‘deconstruction,’ the biblical phrase is ‘falling away.’ By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian. . . . to the LGBTQ+ community, I want to say that I am sorry for the views that I taught in my books and as a pastor regarding sexuality. I regret standing against marriage equality, for not affirming you and your place in the church” (https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=30549).
In view of these and many stories like them, Dr. Shelton’s article reminds us about the simplicity in Christ and the power of the Gospel, and the need for both in today’s world.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)
(photo from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)
|
| Mormonism and Other Aberrant Groups Reject the Eternal Deity of Christ, but the Biblical Jesus Identifies Himself as God |
LTRJ Note: Many cults and aberrant “Christian” groups reject the biblical view that Jesus Christ is the eternal God come in the flesh (that is, they reject the eternal and continuous deity of Christ). There are various slants on this, such as many Word/Faith teachers believing that Jesus was not God while He lived on the Earth but laid His deity aside to become a man. Mormon doctrine teaches that Jesus was not an eternal God but attained that position as did His Father in Heaven. The bottom line is that the eternal deity of Christ is rejected by these groups, but the Bible clearly identifies Him as God come in the flesh (i.e., the Son) and that He is eternal. With the growing popularity within evangelical circles for the Mormon-influenced production, The Chosen, we are re-posting Mike Oppenheimer’s booklet/article on the deity of Jesus Christ. If you belong to a group that rejects the total and entire eternal deity of Jesus Christ, we urge you to search the Scriptures where you will find truth.
“Did Jesus Identify Himself as God?”
By Mike Oppenheimer
No prophet, other than Jesus, could have said with authority, “he that believeth on me shall never thirst” or “he that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:35 & 47). No one but Jesus could have said with that same authority, “follow me” (Luke 18:22). Nor could any other prophet state, with signs and wonders proving his authority, that there are eternal consequences for not believing He is just who He claimed to be. When Jesus said, “for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24), it was the definitive statement of His very being. In fact, this declaration of His is the crux of the entire Christian faith.
It is recorded in the Gospels 23 times that Jesus said, “I am,” seven of which are specifically stated to identify His deity.
In fact, if one were to truly seek to understand the deity of Christ in the Gospels, John’s is the perfect place to start. It is here we begin to fully understand what Jesus meant when He applied to Himself the name “I AM,” the name that God revealed to Moses at the miracle of the burning bush, recorded in the Book of Exodus.
The Distinctive Nature of the “I Am” Statements
In the Book of Exodus, where God first appeared to Moses when he turned aside from tending his flock to see the miracle of the burning bush, Moses asked the LORD:
Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (Exodus 3:13-14)
God’s own name for Himself—I AM—means the self-existent One. This I AM in the Hebrew is YHWH, where we get the name Yahweh. The Hebrew of Exodus 3:14 is hayah asher hayah, meaning, I AM THAT I AM. The name is stated as ego eimi in the LXX (Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament).
In the New Testament, Jesus applied to Himself the name I AM to demonstrate His claim to deity. The I AM statements are made with a predicate, and the Greek words ego eimi used by John are distinct and applied only to Jesus.
It is crucial to an understanding of the New Testament to realize that the Jewish audience to whom Jesus spoke knew immediately that His “I AM” statements referred directly to the name of God revealed to Moses in the Book of Exodus. They understood fully that He was appropriating the name I AM because He claimed to be the God of the Old Testament. This, specifically, was why the Jewish leaders accused Him of blasphemy and picked up stones to stone Him to death—“. . . that thou, being a man, makest thyself God” (John 10:33).
John 8:56-59 contains perhaps the most direct reference to Jesus’ deity. In this confrontation with His Jewish listeners recorded immediately after He forgave the woman caught in adultery, Jesus said:
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him.
In this passage, it would be a massive mistake, both grammatically and theologically, to take Jesus’ words as meaning merely that He existed from or before Abraham’s time. This was not the meaning at all. Here, Jesus is directly saying, “Yahweh is my name.”
Jesus made a definitive statement that before Abraham came into existence or was born, He (Jesus) already was. His “I AM” reference could have been plainly and accurately translated as, “I have existed before all ages, before anything was created. My existence is eternal, without respect to time. I AM THAT I AM.”
In our day of cafeteria theology, self-indulgence and denial of absolute truth are well in vogue. Leaders of an ever-growing list of cults, heretical sects, and religious fads promote themselves as masters who “have arrived.” But the Bible speaks sternly of those who “. . . promise them [their followers] liberty, [while]they themselves are the servants of corruption” (2 Peter 2:19).
But Jesus made an absolute claim to be God and confirmed it by His resurrection. Hence, only He is the Savior of the world (John 4:42).
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (Matthew 24:4-5)
Christ Revealed Himself as Our Eternal Food
“I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). This is the first of the “I AM” proclamations contained in the Book of John, said in the discourse which followed the feeding of the multitude. During the discourse, Jesus told the crowd:
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. (John 6:27).
As He sought to elicit faith in Himself, He was met with a challenge to “demonstrate His credentials,” so to speak. They asked him, “What sign showest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee?” To this they added, “Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat” (v.30-31). With this verse, the people referred to the Book of Exodus, where God rained down manna from heaven to feed them.
But Jesus corrected their misunderstanding when He stated:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (John 6:32-33)
With this, Christ reminded them to think in spiritual terms, not earthly one as they were doing, having just recently come from the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. In fact, they were not asking for the bread from heaven, which is how Jesus was offering Himself. They wanted an earthly king and were overjoyed to have one who could perform miracles to their earthly benefit. In response to their request of “Lord, evermore give us this bread” (vs. 34), Jesus made the claim:
I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)
In their long sojourn with Moses, the Israelites had two constant complaints—hunger and thirst. But in the Book of John, Jesus is not speaking of the physical but the spiritual, referring to Himself as the answer to the needs of the human heart. He alone is our source of spiritual nourishment. Since bread is a basic food, His statements claim that He came to fulfill this role for everyone. He is the “Saviour of the world” (John 4:42) and gives life to the world (John 6:33). Jesus alone is the bread of life. All other bread satisfies earthly hunger, and that only temporarily. Physically, one will hunger again; like the manna in the wilderness which was good for the day it was given but not for the next day. It would sustain them for a day, but did nothing for them long-term. With Christ, however, the salvation He provides is everlasting, and once tasted, those receiving it will be eternally satisfied. As Jesus said in verse 51:
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.
Jesus identified Himself as the sustenance man needs to survive in order to be preserved from eternal death and separation from God. When Jesus said to the people, “I am the bread of life,” and “the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven,” He is making His heavenly origins known. Click here to continue reading. |
| “Truth or Consequences” in an Untruthful World |
LTRP Note: In view of our recent critiques about The Chosen series and about many other things going on in the world today that undermine God’s Word, we are posting below an extract of Warren B. Smith’s article/booklet “Truth or Consequences.”
“Truth or Consequences”
By Warren B. Smith
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (3 John 1:4)
In 1940, Ralph Edwards hosted an NBC radio quiz show called Truth or Consequences. The show had a simple format. Contestants were presented with a question. If they couldn’t answer it correctly—which they almost never did—they suffered consequences that usually proved to be somewhat entertaining and comedic in nature. In 1950, Edwards announced they would broadcast their tenth anniversary program from whatever town or city in America changed its existing name to Truth or Consequences. The city of Hot Springs, New Mexico responded by changing their name from Hot Springs to Truth or Consequences. As a result the newly named city hosted the tenth anniversary edition of Truth or Consequences. Ralph Edwards continued to visit the city of Truth or Consequences the first weekend in May for the next fifty years to help celebrate the town’s annual “Fiesta.” Truth or Consequences, New Mexico continues to hold “Fiesta” each year, and the celebration includes a dance held in Ralph Edwards Park.1
Curiously, the television show used the otherwise serious concept of “truth or consequences” to provide the thematic foundation for their comedy quiz show. The phrase “truth or consequences” would ordinarily suggest a certain degree of solemnity rather than levity. Therefore, the festive atmosphere surrounding the program’s novel use of the phrase proved to be somewhat ironic. To put this into a wider perspective, this could be seen as symptomatic—both then and now—of a society that doesn’t take the concept of “truth or consequences” very seriously. In fact, there seems to be a growing apathy and disregard—even in the church—for the consequences of not observing and maintaining truth—most especially God’s truth as revealed in the Bible.
Leavening the Truth
The expression “gospel truth”—even when used in the secular world—almost always signifies pure, honest, absolute truth. For Bible-believing Christians, “gospel truth” obviously denotes God’s absolute truth as contained in His Holy Bible. But today we hear people—both in and out of the church—say there is no such thing as absolute truth. For many, truth has become an abstract concept that we ourselves now define. Sadly, we live in a time when it’s popular to say—“You have your truth, and I have mine.” Given that Jesus is “the truth” (John 14:6), “you have your truth, and I have mine” translates into “you have your Jesus, and I have mine.” Thus in people’s minds, Jesus Christ becomes whatever anyone wants Him to be—not what is necessarily true.
Amongst many believers, it’s no longer “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9). Rather, it’s “I just eat the meat and spit out the bones” as if lies and leaven are no big deal. Or if we don’t agree with what has been traditionally accepted as truth, we go along with others who “stretch the truth” or “enlarge the truth” to create a “new truth” that is no truth at all. Nazi Germany was a good example of this: When big lies were told often enough and convincingly enough, they eventually become accepted as truth. In a more contemporary vein, there was a popular movie in 1994 called True Lies. The main character in another movie states that he always tells the truth—even when he lies.2
New Age leaders would have us believe they have “a great heretical idea”— a“lie”—that will get humanity out of its present crisis.3 In their attempt to justify their “lie” as they blaspheme God in the process, these same New Age leaders try to convince us that “All great truth begins as blasphemy.”4 But the blasphemy they propose—“we are all one” because God is “in” everyone and everything—is predicated on their disbelief of God’s Truth as revealed in the Holy Bible. In fact, the Bible warns in Romans 1:25 of those “who changed the truth of God into a lie”—a lie they would have us believe is a “new truth” that will save the world.
Truth is out of Style?
We are being told that the Bible is out of style and outdated—that it’s got some good points but it’s a two-thousand-year-old book that needs a little changing and some postmodern rearranging. We are further told that spiritual experience is what really counts. Because of this, objectivity is quickly giving way to subjectivity. God’s truth is being replaced by what we experience as truth—what we sense, what we feel, what “works” for us. As a society—and also as a church—we are being deceived into believing that something is true simply because it is what most people believe. As a result, what people agree to believe as truth is triumphing over actual truth. Consequently—and as previously mentioned—literal lies are becoming our “new truths.”
Do we, as believers, have a real love of the truth, or do we just want to have our ears tickled by what feels right and seems to be true? The Bible warns:
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12)
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
What is Truth?
The reason the Bible has so much to say about truth is because Jesus Christ is the truth. He said “I am the way, the truth, and the life: No man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Bible-believing Christians trust these words in the Bible because the Bible is—“in truth”—the actual Word of God.
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13; emphasis added)
The Bible exhorts us to “prove all things” and to “hold fast” to that which is “good”—that which is true (1 Thessalonians 5:21). It commands us to expose the unfruitful works of darkness that oppose truth and to have no fellowship with them (Ephesians 5:11). Scripture warns there are severe consequences for those who—for whatever reason—do not love and protect the truth of God’s Word.
Biblical Consequences
Revelation 22:13-15 warns that those who “loveth and maketh a lie” will be among those excluded from the city of New Jerusalem:
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. (Revelation 22:13-15)
In addition to this warning in Revelation, Jesus made sixteen direct references to Hell. Scripture also warns there will be people who “received not the love of the truth” and “believed not the truth” but “had pleasure in unrighteousness.” And because they believe a “lie,” they are damned and ultimately “perish”:
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12; italics added)
It is very evident that there are serious consequences to what we choose to believe and what we choose not to believe regarding the truth of God’s Word.
Worldly Consequences
In a courtroom, witnesses must tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth—so help them God. There are definite legal consequences for anyone who is not truthful in the court proceedings. Perjury is a punishable offense that can result in heavy fines and possible imprisonment. One “little lie” can totally change the nature of a court case. A “little lie” or a “little leaven” can completely transform something true into something false. The late pastor and evangelist Harry Ironside warned that truth mixed with error is like leaven and is equivalent to all error:
Error is like leaven, of which we read, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died.5
In today’s church, many best-selling “Christian” books contain leavened statements that are patently false when compared to the light of Scripture. But the leaven—error—contained in these books goes largely unchallenged as sales reach into the multiple millions. In today’s progressive postmodern church, there seems to be little or no accountability for Christian leaders and authors who present false teachings. The only immediate consequence the authors of these leavened books seem to “suffer” is the attainment of celebrity status and a huge increase in their personal income. What irony. Instead of being held responsible for the leaven contained in their writings, these men and women are rewarded by the church and held in high esteem.
The Holy Bible: God’s Lie Detector
In the world, the “truth” of what someone is saying can usually be detected by a polygraph machine—also known as a “lie detector.” However, the Christian faith has the ultimate lie detector—the Holy Bible. It is holy because it’s the authoritative, inerrant, inspired Word of God. The truth of what people say and teach and do in regard to spiritual matters can be accurately discerned by searching the Scriptures to see if these things are so (Acts 17:11). The Bible rightly defines truth, while at the same time exposes what is false and deceptive. In fact, the truth of God’s Word is of such paramount importance to God that He actually magnifies His Word above His name (Psalm 138:2). God’s Word is truth (John 17:17) and is the truthful measure of all spiritual things (2 Timothy 3:15-17):
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:15-17)
While a genuine Bible remains the ultimate lie detector, there are many modern versions that have changed important parts of God’s Word. They change it by adding to it, subtracting from it, and watering it down—all for the expressed purpose of making it more “relevant” and “less offensive.” However, when the genuine is altered in any way, it is no longer genuine and wholly dependable. Because there are so many new translations and paraphrases, exposing error has become more difficult for the average believer in today’s compromised church. And it is unexposed error that ultimately leads to heresy and apostasy.
The Right Hand of Falsehood
Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. (Psalm 144:11)
Galatians 2:9 describes what is referred to as the right hand of fellowship. In the Bible, the right hand of God generally refers to His power and authority and righteousness. For example, the right hand of God is “exalted” (Psalm 118:16). God “saves” those who put their trust in Him by His right hand (Psalm 17:7). Jesus sits on the right hand of “the power of God” (Luke 22:69). God upholds with the right hand of His “righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10). The right hand of fellowship is based in that power and authority and truth. However, Psalm 144 warns of the hand of “strange children” who extend the “right hand of falsehood.” The right hand of falsehood may appear to be the right hand of fellowship, but it is not. It is the kind of deception the Bible warns us to watch out for.
Jesus warns of those who draw near to Him with their mouth, but their hearts are far from Him (Matthew 15:8). Tragically, insistence on truth has taken a back seat to compromise in today’s “church” in its quest for agreement and unity. But truth compromised for the sake of “unity” is not God’s unity at all. Division caused by truth is far better than unity that is based on the right hand of falsehood. Proclaiming “Lord, Lord,” and reciting John 14:6 does not legitimize leaven and false teachings. Truth combined with error is, indeed, an ungodly mixture. Half of the truth is still a lie. “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils” (1 Corinthians 10:21). The right hand of fellowship does not unite and shake hands with the right hand of falsehood.
Because a love of the truth is perishing in the land and in the church, it is imperative that we take a look at what the Bible says about truth—how we must love it and keep it and hold it in the highest regard.
Bible Teachings on Truth
Our God Is a God of Truth
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. (Deuteronomy 32:4)
All God’s Works Are Done in Truth
For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. (Psalm 33:4)
God’s Law Is Truth
Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. (Psalm 119:142)
All God’s Commandments Are Done in Truth
The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. (Psalm 111:7-8)
God’s Word Is—in Truth—the Word of God
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. (1Thessalonians 2:13)
God Desires for All Men to Be Saved and Come to a Knowledge of the Truth
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:4)
Jesus Christ Brought Grace and Truth
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)
Jesus Christ Is the Truth
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
We Are to Desire Truth in Our Innermost Being
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. (Psalm 51:6)
The Lord Is Close to All Those Who Call Upon Him in Truth
The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. (Psalm 14 :18)
The Holy Spirit of Truth Is Sent to Believers and Abides With Them Forever
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (John 14:16-18)
The Holy Spirit Guides All Believers Into the Truth
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. (John 16:13)
God Is Plenteous in His Mercy and Truth
But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. (Psalm 86:15)
We Are to Hold Fast to Mercy and Truth
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. (Proverbs 3:3-4)
We Are to Speak Truth From the Heart
LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. (Psalm 15:1-2)
We Are to Speak the Truth in Love
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. (Ephesians 4:14-15)
We Are to Love in Deed and Truth
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. (1John 3:18)
We Are to Worship God in Spirit and in Truth
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)
We Are to Serve the Lord in Sincerity and Truth
Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. (Joshua 24:14)
We Are to Study and Rightly Divide the Word of Truth
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2Timothy 2:15)
God’s Truth Is Our Shield and Our Buckler
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. (Psalm 91:4)
God’s Truth Preserves Us
Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. (Psalm 40:11)
God’s Truth Enables Us to Stand
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. (Ephesians 6:13-14)
We Are to Walk in the Truth
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (3 John 1:4)
We Are to Rejoice in the Truth
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. (1Corinthians 13:6)
We Are to Be Men and Women of Truth
Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth. (Exodus 18:21)
We Are to Be Fellowhelpers to the Truth
We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth. (3 John 1:8)
We Are to Be Thankful for Those Who Believe the Truth
But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:13)
We Are to Warn Those Who Err From the Truth
Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)
God Will Judge the World With His Righteousness and Truth
Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. (Psalm 96:13)
God’s Truth Reaches up to the Clouds
For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. (Psalm 108:4)
God’s Truth Endureth Forever
O Praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. (Psalm 117:1-2)
Hope Is Laid up in Heaven From Hearing the Truth of the Gospel
For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth. (Colossians 1:5-6)
He Who Does Truth Comes to the Light
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (John 3:21)
But There Are Those Who Are Not Valiant for the Truth
And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:3)
Some Do Not Have a Love of the Truth
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:10)
Some Do Not Believe the Truth
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)
Some Call on God but Not in Truth
Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. (Isaiah 48:1)
There Are People Who Turn Away From the Truth
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Some Change the Truth of God Into a Lie
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. (Romans 1:25)
No Lie Is of the Truth
I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (1 John 2:21)
The Devil Has No Truth in Him
He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
The Truth Shall Be Spoken of Evilly
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. (2 Peter 2:1-2)
Truth Is Largely Fallen
And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. (Isaiah 59:14)
Conclusion
Truth or consequences. The stakes are high, but one thing is for sure: Truth prevails in the end because Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) and His truth endures forever (Psalm 117:1-2). May we pray that His truth will shine forth in our lives and that many will be turned to righteousness (Matthew 5:16; Daniel 12:3). And when it is all said and done, let us be able to say that we have “chosen the way of truth” (Psalm 119:30), that we have “walked” in God’s truth (Psalm 26:3), and that we have always “rejoiced” in God’s truth (1Corinthians 13:6).
Pray for the Truth
O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me. (Psalm 43:3)
Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth. (Psalm 86:11)
Show me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:4-5)
The Truth Shall Make You Free—If You Continue in His Word!
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31-32)
You may print the post above, or you may order it in booklet format by clicking here.
For other articles and booklets by Warren Smith, you may visit his website here.
Endnotes
1. Per Telephone conversation with Mike Tooley (Herald Newspaper, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, April 20, 2015).
2. Al Pacino playing Cuban refugee Tony Montana in the American movie Scarface.
3. Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980s (New York, NY: J.P. Tarcher, Inc. 1980), p. 27.
4. Neale Donald Walsch, Tomorrow’s God: Our Greatest Spiritual Challenge (New York, NY: Atria Books, 2004), p. 5.
5. Dr. Harry Ironside, “Exposing Error: Is it Worthwhile?” (TBC Extra, April 2008, posted on The Berean Call website: http://www.thebereancall.org/content/tbc-extra-30).
(photo from the cover of “Truth or Consequences” booklet; photo from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission; design by Lighthouse Trails)
|
| Ironside: Substitution—He Took Our Place |
By Harry Ironside
Although the word substitution is not in the Bible, it stands for a great truth that runs through the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. That is the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, in infinite grace, took the place of poor, lost, guilty sinners, and made it possible for a holy God to reach out in mercy and save all who would come to Him in the name of His beloved Son.
I do not have one particular text in mind, but I have been thinking of five different passages in the New Testament where we get the same expression—He “gave himself”; and I want you to think with me of these Scriptures. The One who gave Himself was our Lord Jesus Christ, and I should like you to notice what it was for which He gave Himself.
HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME
In the Epistle to the Galatians, the apostle Paul writes:
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20; emphasis added)
Note the individuality of it. Paul, who had been a bitter persecutor of the people of God, who had been an enemy of the Cross of Christ, one day had his eyes opened, and he suddenly realized that the One who had died on that Cross went there for him, that He had taken his place, that it was love that led Him to go to that shameful death. From that moment the heart of Saul of Tarsus went out in adoration gratitude to our Lord Jesus Christ; and until the very end of his days, he found his greatest joy in trying to give some evidence, by a life of service, of his love for the One who had thus loved him.
THE WORD IS NOT IN THE BIBLE—BUT THE DOCTRINE IS
Notice how Paul speaks of Him: “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” There you have the very heart of the Gospel—“Himself for me.” That is substitution. Some people tell us, because we do not find the actual word “substitution” in the Bible, that the truth of it, the fact of it, is not there. And so they talk of atonement by other means than by substitution—atonement by example or atonement by reconciling love, that leads men to turn to God adoringly, simply because of the goodness that He showed in seeking them out in the person of His Son. But no, the Word of God makes it very definite. The work that took place on Calvary was a substitutionary transaction. It was the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s own blessed, eternal Son, who became man for our redemption, giving Himself on our behalf.
“The Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me.” That is the language of faith. When a poor, needy sinner looks at that Cross and sees, as it were, the blessed Savior hanging there, he says, “He was there for me; it was my sins that put Him there; it was in order that I might be fitted for the presence of God that He went into the darkness and endured the judgment of God. He is my Substitute. The Son of God loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Click here to continue reading.
|
| News Commentary “Whoopi Goldberg is the New Normal” |
 LTRP Note: The following is posted for informational and research purposes.
“Out of dangerous ignorance, Whoopi and those like her are ushering in a new era of “moral” antisemitism that would make the Nazis proud.”
By Tsvi Sadan
Israel Today
Whoopi Goldberg’s two-week suspension from ABC won’t change a thing. That is because ABC, and Goldberg’s critics, have already accepted the new narrative that has banalized the Holocaust by turning this singular horrific event into one “holocaust” among many.
Consider this exchange between Goldberg and another panelist on The View, Ana Navarro. Goldberg says, “the Holocaust isn’t about race, no, it’s not about race … it’s about man’s inhumanity to man, that’s what it’s about.”
But, says Navarro, “the Holocaust is about going after Jews and Gypsies… about white supremacy.”
“But these are two white groups of people,” responded Goldberg, who persisted with her argument that the Holocaust wasn’t about racism but about “how people treat each other.” Click here to continue reading.
Related Information:
Critical Race Theory, Southern Baptist Convention, and a Marxist “Solution” That Will Not Work
The Spirit Behind Anti-Semitism . . . Israel’s Future
(photo from 2017 from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)
|
| NEW BOOKLET: Psychedelic Seduction: Drugging the World and the Church |
 Psychedelic Seduction: Drugging the World and the Church by Richard and Linda Nathan is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The booklet is 18 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are available. Our Booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal use. Below is the content of this new booklet. To order copies of Psychedelic Seduction: Drugging the World and the Church, click here.Psychedelic Seduction: Drugging the World and the Church
By Richard and Linda Nathan
Introduction
I am a youth pastor at a large church, and I smoke weed everyday [sic] that I am not at service (Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday). My lord still loves me.1
A real youth pastor posted this quote on the Internet not long ago.
And it’s not so unusual.
That quote reveals a bizarre phenomenon that couldn’t have existed even thirty or forty years ago—a “Christian” drug culture. Today, this drug culture not only exists, but it extends far beyond marijuana. That’s partly because, unlike any other drug, a broad social movement already promotes and glorifies marijuana.2 Unfortunately, many Christians seem to join in it.
Weed is so normalized in America that it’s hardly cool anymore.3
If you think marijuana is rare or couldn’t be in your Christian community, think again. Pot communities and pot churches are on the rise nationwide, spreading bizarre forms of spirituality and taking advantage of religious freedom laws to act as medical dispensaries and avoid tax laws. Big Weed’s deceptive campaign promotes pot as harmless and medicinal, and the big profits entice Christian businesspeople. Furthermore, pastors generally don’t understand marijuana’s negative spiritual effects.4
Sad to say, the drug culture is everywhere, and it’s here to stay. As one youth said,
All you have to do is listen to a lot of popular music to hear about marijuana. All you have to do is watch TV or movies to see marijuana. And just attend a concert if you want to stand around inhaling it secondhand. It’s everywhere.5,6
Opening Pandora’s Box
The Psychedelic Renaissance
This booklet’s purpose is not to focus upon marijuana alone, though, but upon all those drugs with hallucinogenic properties. They’re the most subtly deceptive and dangerous, the most profoundly effective in twisting minds and poisoning souls. And they’re not only a logical extension of the marijuana movement, but they’re rapidly becoming popular themselves.
A “psychedelic renaissance” is exploding across America.
What are psychedelics? The term psychedelic normally includes LSD, Mescaline, Peyote, and high-THC concentrate marijuana and its imitations, such as Spice, K2, and Kratom (often more dangerous than marijuana).7 There are also “magic mushrooms” (psilocybin), Ayahuasca/DMT, and designer drugs like MDT and RAVE.
Psychedelics manipulate ordinary consciousness by affecting the senses, altering thinking, time sense, and emotions, and changing perception, mood, and cognition.8 They’re known to produce hallucinations and psychotic states9 and open users to deception, which we examine later. Unfortunately, such drugs are also among those most often deemed beneficial.
A little history. The original Greek word for psychedelic meant “soul-manifesting,” but philosopher Aldous Huxley believed a more fitting term is “phanerothymic, which was Green for visible and spiritual.”10
After LSD’s discovery by a Swiss chemist in 1938 and its popularization by Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary in the sixties, the Federal Drug Administration labeled it a dangerous Schedule I drug in 1970. This means it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”11 Other Schedule I drugs are heroin, marijuana, Ecstasy, methaqualone, and peyote.12 However, now that the “War on Drugs” is fading and marijuana legalization is opening the way, decades of underground efforts to legalize LSD and other psychedelics are bearing fruit. All of these drugs are becoming popular and likely will be reclassified soon.13
So how is this happening, what are the dangers, and what do Christians need to know?
The Culture of Rebellion
The drug culture traditionally consists of social rebellion, ungodly worldviews, philosophies, and social connections, and crime. To understand the “Christian” drug culture, we need to understand the culture of rebellion where drugs flourish.
Christian culture, or at least a Christianized one, typically has a worldview with biblical principles strongly present. People generally know and acknowledge right from wrong. On the other hand, “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” dominates the culture of lawlessness (Ephesians 2:2) where a strong connection exists between marijuana, rebellion, and lawlessness.14
Pied pipers. Minimizing the biblical teachings about holiness and sanctification can invite lawlessness and drug use by Christians. Furthermore, some popular pastors and leaders encourage the culture of rebellion (e.g., John Piper’s philosophy of “Christian hedonism”). The words “Christian” and “hedonism” are opposites because hedonism is the ethical theory that pleasure is the highest good.
Richard (Nathan), who was raised a Marxist in San Francisco, found that Marxism fits seamlessly into the drug culture because it promotes rebellion against God. While many Marxists/Leftists have mystical inclinations, they’re often mixed with a hatred of Christians akin to Satanism.15 Marxist heresies are infiltrating Christendom nationwide.16
Thus, the drug culture is an open doorway into the culture of rebellion and vice-versa, which is where we are today. But psychedelics not only can harm, they also can exert a strange power to deceive. We’ll examine that later.
There is good news though. While the general population increasingly approves of marijuana, and its popularity spreads through the “Christian” underground (especially youth groups), a recent study found that only 18% of U.S. Protestant pastors wanted to see marijuana legalized throughout the country for any purpose.17
Evangelical pastors are almost twice as likely as mainline pastors to see smoking marijuana to get high as morally wrong (89 percent [vs.] 47 percent). Denominationally, Pentecostals (97 percent) and Baptists (92 percent) are more likely to see it as immoral than Restorationist movement (74 percent), Methodist (66 percent), Lutheran (63 percent) and Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (57 percent).18
Let us thank God for this protection and pray for those in such positions, for one of a pastor’s most vital roles is protecting the flock from deception.
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. (Acts 20:29–30)
Who Are We?
We entered the psychedelic drug culture in San Francisco in 1962 and spent fourteen years in its deceptions, including serving in a New Age spiritualist church. In 1976, Christ mercifully saved us both. Since then, we’ve spent almost half a century assessing those experiences while observing the drug culture’s rapid infiltration of American life. Richard has a B.S. in Biology and an M.A. in Christian History. Since 1992, he has observed massive derangement due to drugs in his work with thousands of psychiatric patients—including many in the Christian culture. Linda has a B.A. in Psychology. Praise to Jesus Christ, who delivered us from that dark, fallen realm and brought us into His glorious light.
It’s past time for the church to wake up to the battle.
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2 Corinthians 2:11)
Marijuana Update
It’s time we realize and act on the knowledge that marijuana addiction is leading to the use of other drugs. The more marijuana use is normalized the more addiction, suicides, and overdoses we will have.19—Scott Chipman, Vice President, Americans Against Legalizing Marijuana
Marijuana is not benign. It is not safe. It is addictive. . . . It is the most self-delusional drug of all.20—Bertha Madras, Harvard Professor & Member, Commission on Combating Drug Addiction & the Opioid Crisis
Our booklet The Cross and the Marijuana Leaf warns about the burgeoning marijuana movement in 2017.21 By 2021, 18 states and Washington, DC, had legalized recreational marijuana, and 36 states had legalized medical marijuana.22 Now, more than a third of Americans live where marijuana is legal, and it’s becoming part of mainstream American culture.
Marijuana’s dangerous THC content (tetrahydrocannabinol) has skyrocketed from around 3% in the 1970s to as high as 99% available in a huge variety of products today. And more teenagers are smoking pot and all its derivatives than cigarettes.
Overall, 60% of U.S. adults say both medical and recreational marijuana use should be legal, according to Pew Research Center. An additional 31% are OK with legalizing just medical use. “From 2009 to 2019, the share of Americans saying marijuana should be legal more than doubled,” Pew reported.23
The “Green Rush”
Marijuana Legalization is being aggressively pushed across the country by a motivated, well-funded, and politically sophisticated industry.24
Most of us have heard about the opioid crisis. “From 1999 to 2016, more than 350,000 people died from an overdose involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids.”25 Now, over 150 Americans are dying daily from an opioid overdose.26
These deaths occurred in three distinct waves. In 1999, medical prescriptions, illegal activities, and big business combined to create the crisis. Currently, these same sources, including billionaire George Soros, Big Tobacco and Alcohol, cartels and dealers, and famous politicians, are promoting pot. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls it a “proven” therapy.27 It’s the “Green Rush.”
[As of March 2021], U.S. marijuana sales eclipsed $17.5 billion, up from $12.1 billion in 2019. Worldwide, cannabis sales grew 48%, to nearly $21.3 billion.28
Follow the endnote link to see if your state’s politicians promote marijuana.29
Medical vs. Recreational: A Trojan Horse
Legalizing medical marijuana is the doorway to legalizing recreational use, for although they appear to be two separate areas, the boundary between them is actually very porous.
Furthermore, there’s a lot of regulatory confusion because marijuana remains a Schedule I drug “without medical value.” The FDA is blocking ways to study it, and though it’s banned on a federal level, the government mostly looks the other way as states do what they want. This stance began in 2013 under an Obama Administration directive. Though marijuana remained federally illegal, they left it up to states to regulate illegal markets, youth use, drugged driving, and other disasters.30
In December 2020, the Democrat House passed the MORE Act that would “decriminalize marijuana nationally, lead to expunged records for federal cannabis offenses, and set aside money for underrepresented communities in cannabis industry.”31 So far, it hasn’t reached the Senate. The Biden Administration supports it.
A regulatory mess. Cannabis culture “has become in essence a parallel medical system,” and it’s one that’s poorly regulated, if at all.32 Today’s weed is more radically potent than ever and far more dangerous so disastrous consequences are widespread. But they aren’t widely known or reported. State regulatory agencies frequently fail to do their job, and in fact, regulations differ widely among states. Products are often falsely labeled, contaminants are widespread and overlooked, and the pot industry is taking over the legalization movement.33, 34
A few known social consequences include faster rising crime rates and black markets in states with legalized marijuana,35 negative environmental impact on communities and ecosystems near pot growing,36 and increased mental illness and homelessness.37 Don’t look for federal regulation or standardization of the drug any time soon, though. Instead, we must educate and protect ourselves and our families. Arm yourself at https://learnaboutsam.org and www.AALM.info.
Any effort to impose logic is doomed because the American scene vis-a-vis cannabis is seemingly irretrievably illogical.38 —J. Michael Bostwick, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Mayo Clinic
Trending
- Disappearing marijuana prohibitions.
- Incremental attempts to change drug laws.39
- Pot legalization disguised as a social justice issue.40
- Nano-pot: unnaturally enhanced THC.41
- Pot-infused beer and wine.42
- Pot delivery in e-cigarettes.43
- Psychedelic-laced marijuana products.44
- Other dangerous forms of laced weed.45
- Genetically modified marijuana with higher THC.46
- High THC dabs, waxes, edibles, etc. disguised as foods.47
So, where is all this going? We’ll see. But first, what about CBD? Surely, there are no problems there—right?
CBD: Panacea or Problem?
One-third of all CBD oil products have THC in them.48—Anne Hassel, corporate marijuana industry expert and former bud-tender
CBD or cannabidiol is one of around 400 derivatives of the marijuana plant. Because it contains little to none of the dangerous psychedelic element THC, promoters insist it’s safe. Numerous CBD products are now in stores in everything from oils, tinctures, capsules and powders, gummies, vape liquids, water, and other beverages to conventional foods like coffee, candy, juice, soups, and salves, balms and gels, cosmetic products, vape cartridges, and pet products.
People take CBD for pain relief, heart disease, anxiety, depression, cancer-related symptoms, acne, epilepsy, arthritis, Parkinson’s, inflammation, Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, drug addiction, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. Studies show some possible benefits for some of these.49
But should you use CBD? To date, the adverse effects of CBD products are not widely known. There is too little research and many unanswered questions. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has seen only limited data about CBD safety, which point to a wide variety of adverse reactions and real risks, such as intoxication, drowsiness, eye harm, increased suicidal thoughts and behavior, impaired kidney function, male fertility damage, and possible danger to pregnancies and the elderly.50 Some CBD products are marketed with unproven medical claims and are of unknown quality.
Furthermore, medical fraud, mislabeling, and contamination with pesticides, heavy metals, bacteria, fungi, and high THC are common in CBD products.51 Two days after taking a commercial, non-FDA regulated CBD product for chronic pain, a woman developed blistering skin lesions and died a month later.52
Synthetic CBD appears just as bad. “Synthetic CBD use has caused adverse reactions, including altered mental status, seizures, confusion, and loss of consciousness.”53
Only one approved CBD product. As a result, the FDA has approved only one CBD product, a prescription drug for two rare, severe forms of epilepsy.
A door-opener. Finally, and in our view, a very great problem is that the acceptance of CBD is a door-opener to the acceptance and legalization of recreational marijuana, which is a gateway drug to even more severe problems. We discuss these next.
For more details about CBD, see the article in the link54 and read the excellent position paper at Americans Against Legalizing Marijuana (www.AALM.info.)
In conclusion, we believe there are still too many problems and unanswered questions to experiment with CBD.
The Psychedelic Renaissance
Psychedelic drugs are integrating into our society at breakneck speed. This section will explore three highly influential areas of breakthrough: medicine, psychiatry, and politics.
Turning Psychedelics Into Medicines
“There’s just been an explosion of research in psychedelics,” says Dr. Belser. “Now it’s become a torrent of clinical research studies being initiated and papers being published, demonstrating very promising results for a variety of psychedelic medicines for any number of psychiatric conditions. It’s incredible.”55
Psychedelics are a huge rising star in the drug therapy industry, and “there’s almost no mental health condition right now that’s not being looked at.”56 That’s because mental health issues currently are costing the global economy $1 trillion per year.57 Consequently, numerous large organizations, schools, and companies are studying the use of psychedelics for such conditions as mood and substance use disorders, PTSD, opioid addiction, alcohol and cancer issues, Alzheimer’s, end-of-life fears, anorexia nervosa, and major depression, among other areas.58
In 2019, Johns Hopkins University opened the first-of-its-kind Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. They also have published “groundbreaking studies in more than 60 peer-reviewed articles in respected scientific journals. This makes Johns Hopkins the leading psychedelic research institution in the U.S., and among the few leading groups worldwide.”59
The Center’s opening fortuitously corresponded with the FDA’s “breakthrough therapy” classification for psilocybin. This new classification helps fast-track the approval of promising pharmaceuticals, of which psilocybin is major.60 The Center’s researchers hope to create psychedelic medicines specific to individual patients.
The psychedelic pharma market is currently a little over $2 billion and is expected to be valued at more than $6.8 billion by 2027.61
The Psychiatric Paradigm Shift
Psychedelic therapy is sweeping the world.62
I believe that the future of psychiatry will find psychedelic medicine at its heart.63—Alex Belser, Ph.D.
Following the academic research explosion, a huge worldview shift is occurring in psychiatric research, development, and practice. Some psychedelics are being promoted as “mental health” therapy for everything from depression, addiction (yes, really), anxiety, and fear of death to “integration,” wholeness, and spiritual growth.
Not your grandmother’s therapy. While psychedelic “therapy” focuses on non-directive support of a patient’s inner experience and is wrapped in psychological jargon,64 it’s the same method shamans and sorcerers use to contact spirits and gain supernatural power.65
Politically Mainstreaming Psychedelics
Enormous interests are steamrolling the politics of the acceptance of psychedelics. In the same manner as pot, activists are pushing these drugs through nationwide legalization and decriminalization efforts. Incremental attempts may appear as steps to social justice, but they frequently obscure the true goal—the complete legalization of all drugs.66
Santa Cruz, CA and Denver, CO have decriminalized psychedelic mushrooms; Oakland, CA has decriminalized all psychedelic plants and fungi; and Oregon recently decriminalized small amounts of all drugs, including heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine.67 The California Senate passed a reform bill (SB 519) that decriminalizes the personal use and possession of psychedelic substances.68 And there are two thrusts in Washington State.69 The Biden Administration supports the movement.70 One website tracking psychedelic decriminalization efforts reports nearly a hundred cities considering it.71 You can follow an up-to-date list of nationwide activities at the endnote link.72
The law and psychedelics. Legally, psychedelics may enter the marketplace soon because they appear more straightforward to market than marijuana. That’s because researchers seeking regulatory approvals drive the marketing efforts instead of grassroots activists trying to change laws.73
Harvard Law School just announced it is launching a center to study psychedelic law and policy, as well as “equity in emerging psychedelics industries.” The “Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation” (POPLAR) will promote “safety, innovation, and equity in psychedelics research, commerce, and therapeutics.”74
The door is opening wide.
What’s next?
Trending
- Increasing popularity of psychedelics.
- Psychedelics promoted as therapy / medicine.75
- Micro-dosing LSD and psilocybin for “creativity.”76
- Pot-laced psychedelics.77
- Psychedelic mushroom-laced foods.78
- Psychedelics as doorway to “healing” and mystical/spiritual experiences.79, 80
Psychedelic Seduction
The new drug culture has become an important part of alternative spiritual movements. . . . [T]he rise of psychedelics [is] a cultural, medicinal, spiritual movement.81—Carl Teichrib, author of Game of Gods: The Temple of Man in the Age of Re-enchantment
The promotion of psychedelic drugs is happening under a pseudo-scientific veil that focuses on their supposed benefits while minimizing or ignoring their dangers. This movement is actually part of an overall social/spiritual conditioning process, and it has three phases:
- Acceptance of CBD is a gateway to the acceptance and legalization of—
- Marijuana, which is a gateway to the acceptance and legalization of—
- All drugs, and particularly the hallucinogens psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca/DMT.
God’s Word vs. Pagan Idolatry
Creativity is a tremendous God-given gift. It opens us to worlds we could normally never know, utilizing imagination, allowing profound revelations of beauty and order, and providing pleasure. God can use the image-making faculty He created to bring us wisdom, guidance, and refreshment. However, such events are God-given, and, although they may be an answer to prayer, they are not created by or under the recipient’s control. Like all aspects of our lives, though, the imagination can be used in ways God never intended and bring great harm.
Drug-Augmented Fantasy and the Pagan Mind
After we become Christians, God begins transforming us from a pagan (rebellious, anti-God) mind to a Bible-based, Holy Spirit-led mind (Romans 1–14, 12:2). Psychedelics can corrupt this sanctification process and create terrible turmoil. One of their main functions is unleashing powerful imagery that can blur or erase the lines between fantasy and reality, and imagination and biblical spirituality.
Thus, although the psychedelic experience can seem like a captivating realm full of spiritual beauty and mythological visions, it’s a gateway to deception. Psychedelics can destabilize our minds, create strong delusions, and lead to madness. They are depth charges to the soul that can amplify the imagination in ungodly ways and catalyze lawlessness. Such drugs are especially dangerous for Christians because they inflame or ignite the fallen (pagan) mind, increasing vulnerability to vain imaginations and doctrines of demons (Colossians 2:8, 1 Timothy 4:1).
The underlying spiritual nature and foundation of the psychedelic experience is paganism, which rejects the Divine creator God and rather deifies creation. Romans 1:21-23 describes a pagan idolater as one who willingly rejects the true God and suppresses truth for corrupt images:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Images aren’t bad, of course, unless they’re deceptive or idolatrous. The paintings of two psychedelic artists, Pablo Amaringo82 and Luke Brown,83 express such imagery well. Amaringo says, “The spirits don’t talk, but express themselves through images.” (Exactly!) God destroyed most of the world because of evil imaginations, so facing the issue is critical (Genesis 6:5).
A long history exists in both the East and the West of occult practitioners who consciously attempt to control physical and spiritual realms by using hallucinogenic drugs to manipulate the imagination. An attempt to use the imagination to control reality directly is fundamentally witchcraft. This battle between God’s Word and paganism is both ancient and ongoing.
A Spiritual Seduction Process
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. (1 Timothy 4:1)
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. (2 Thessalonians 2:11)
“Aliens and god-like entities.” Another dangerous aspect of psychedelics involves the encounters users frequently have with what psychedelic therapist Daniel McQueen calls “aliens and god-like entities.”84 He says:
Your nervous system [on psychedelics] is super activated. It isn’t just floating around the earth—it’s having direct encounters with entities.85
A major review of the “entity encounters” literature by the Journal of Psychedelic Studies reveals that a “mystical-type experience” is considered part of the “therapeutic effects of psychedelics.” Such “therapeutic effects” include “meetings with seemingly autonomous entities.”86
There’s a lot of speculation about these beings that show up in many hallucinatory drug experiences, but basically, three main theories exist. They are: (1) manifestations of ourselves, (2) drug-induced hallucinations, or (3) real beings.87 Hallucinatory drugs can certainly create hallucinations, but as mentioned earlier, shamans and witches have been using them for centuries to contact spirits the Bible calls demons.88 This is sorcery, which God calls detestable.89 The New Testament word for “sorceries” found in Revelation 9:21 and 18:23 is the Greek term pharmakeia, which is the root of our word pharmacy—a dispensary of drugs.
Countless tales exist on the Internet of encounters with these “entities,” which range from prankish elves, ultra-dimensional teachers and guardians, reptiles, bees, robots, and extraterrestrials, to entities appearing as Buddha, Jesus Christ, Krishna, deceased loved ones, and ascended masters, as well as “sci-fi aliens fitting descriptions of greys, blues, reptilians, Pleidans [sic], Arcturians and more, employing the use of probes, implants, or surgeries usually for ‘research’ or ‘healing purposes.’”90
They frequently give advice, instruct, or point out problems, including providing supposed insight into the “nature of reality” and the belief that there’s nothing to fear after death. They may instruct the “psychonauts” that we are all gods or God. Some view these encounters as among their most meaningful, while others are terrorized by such things as alien abduction scenarios and visions of an eternity in Hell. Here are a few examples:
. . . emotionless entities with a mechanical quality . . . began . . . “deconstructing” my reality.91
. . . a giant mantis-like entity descended from the ceiling . . .92
I was shown a frightening entity and within its tentacles was my human self. Not only me but many others as well. . . . It was as if it were feeding on our souls.93
A demon had invaded me, had taken possession of my body, mind and soul. I jumped up and screamed, trying to free myself from him, but then sank down again and lay helpless on the sofa. The substance, with which I had wanted to experiment, had vanquished me. It was the demon that scornfully triumphed over my will.94—Albert Hofmann, chemist founder of LSD, wrote this about his LSD experience.
Psychiatrist Rick Strassman studied DMT research subjects extensively and found at least half had encountered an entity after taking DMT. He reports:
I was neither intellectually nor emotionally prepared for the frequency with which contact with beings occurred in our studies, nor the often utterly bizarre nature of these experiences. . . . [One patient stated]: “It’s more like being possessed. During the experience there is a sense of someone or something else there taking control. It’s like you have to defend yourself against them, whoever they are, but they certainly are there. I’m aware of them, and they’re aware of me. It’s like they have an agenda.” . . . Their business appeared to be testing, examining, probing, and even modifying the volunteer’s mind and body.95
Their agenda: a false spiritual revival. But as T.A. McMahon points out, “for the most part they’re not realizing that they’re dealing with demons.”96
Ye shall know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:16)
Demons have an agenda all right: they hate Christ and want to deceive us. They teach there is no sin, no need for a Savior, no judgment after death.97 We are all “god,” part of an evolution of consciousness entering into a counterfeit universal “Oneness” (1 John 4:1–3).98 McMahon sums up the purpose of these demonic entities: “They recognize that human evolution can only take place through a spiritual reawakening via the psychedelic substance.”99
And author Carl Teichrib perfectly sums up their counterfeit message:
We can become as gods. It’s the same messaging all the way through, isn’t it? Doesn’t matter if you read the writings of channeled UFO entities, if you take a look at what the New Age teaches, what Eastern spirituality gives us, or what the messages that come through the psychedelic experience show us. It always points back to Genesis 3 [when the devil spoke to Eve], “We will be as gods.” This is a gateway . . . a form of forbidden fruit.100
Conclusion
While psychedelics may at times seem to provide captivating mystical experiences or some mental or physical improvement, at the bottom, they are a portal to great instability and to spiritual deception where demons can freely deceive and harass. Expecting a hallucinogen ultimately to heal is like expecting a poisonous snake not to bite. And because psychedelics have the ability to provide seemingly spiritual experiences wherein the participant “feels” like he is getting close to God and truth, psychedelics are, in essence, a pseudo Holy Spirit (i.e., an imitation, a spirit that is pretending). Thus, the psychedelic experience can lead one right to the edge of what feels like all truth and all knowing, but it can never deliver and will only cause a yearning for another drug experience.
Look to Christ and His Word, not to drugs. He is mighty to save.101
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:3)
To order copies of Psychedelic Seduction: Drugging the World and the Church, click here.
(cover design by Lighthouse Trails; photo from alamy.com; used with permission)
Endnotes:
- https://bit.ly/2SxTsho.
- https://bit.ly/3hd4EIF; marijuana not only primes the brain for more of the same, it can open the door spiritually to deceptive mystical experiences.
- https://bit.ly/3iBFT9D.
- See Muddy Waters: An Insider’s View of North American Native Spirituality by Nanci de Gerlaise (Lighthouse Trails Publishing); also https://bit.ly/3qw1lk9.
- https://tinyurl.com/3yhsp8rv.
- Watch a “weed documentary” a student filmed in his high school in 2016 at https://bit.ly/35Zc0dA.
- https://bit.ly/2UD6bjX.
- https://bit.ly/2V0ZpEu.
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/drug-use/Hallucinogenic-drugs.
- https://psychedelics.com/psychedelics-definition.
- https://bit.ly/3ByCMIc.
- Ibid.
- For a full history of LSD, see https://bit.ly/3h1mJKQ.
- Alex Berenson, Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence (New York, NY: Free Press, 2019); see also https://bit.ly/35WCXib.
- Read Marx & Satan by Richard Wurmbrand, available on Amazon.
- See a documentary about Critical Race Theory within the SBC: https://bit.ly/2WdtVvt.
- https://bit.ly/3xYYMdd.
- https://bit.ly/3qvAqoy.
- 12/17/21 AALM e-mail to the Nathans titled “The Other Epidemic: Pot, Opiates, and Overdoses.”
- https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2019/10/15/marijuana-not-benign-harvard-expert-tells-florida-lawmakers-amid-recreational-movement/3983763002.
- Lighthouse Trails Publishing at https://bit.ly/3eNOMMb.
- You can see a full list of all the states that have legalized marijuana at https://bit.ly/3BxOnan.
- https://bit.ly/3hYvpSB.
- https://everybrainmatters.org/parents-movement-2-0.
- http://integratedwellnessandrecovery.com/understanding-the-opioid-epidemic.
- https://bit.ly/36XjWfM.
- https://bit.ly/3wWODfB.
- https://thcnet.com/news/bdsa-legal-us-cannabis-sales-surpassed-175-billion-in-2020.
- https://learnaboutsam.org.
- Kevin A. Sabet, Smokescreen (Forefront Books, 2021), p. 95.
- https://bit.ly/371JKr3.
- From “Cannabis in Medicine: An Evidence-Based Approach” edited by Kenneth Finn, MD, reviewed by J. Michael Bostwick, MD, Prof. of Psychiatry, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, NY., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7723137.
- Smokescreen, op. cit., pp. 43–44.
- https://learnaboutsam.org/industry-profiles-2.
- Smokescreen, op. cit., pp. 245–246.
- Ibid., p. 251.
- Ibid., p. 241.
- From “Cannabis in Medicine: An Evidence-Based Approach,” op. cit.
- Smokescreen, op. cit., p. 116.
- Ibid., pp. 24, 116.
- https://bit.ly/3x08fQe.
- John C. Hagan III, MD, “No Legal Recreational Marijuana in Missouri,” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7723140.
- Smokescreen, op. cit. p. 49.
- https://bit.ly/3hU3jbb.
- https://bit.ly/3iB77xf.
- Smokescreen, op. cit. p. 226.
- https://bit.ly/3y4J4NG.
- Personal conversation with authors.
- https://bit.ly/3xYS8na.
- http://www.aalm.info.
- David G. Evans, JD, “Medical Fraud, Mislabeling, Contamination: All Common in CBD Products” (National Cannabis Review, Sept/Oct 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7723146/).
- https://bit.ly/3wUsG0J.
- http://www.aalm.info.
- https://bit.ly/3BxRzmn.
- “Psychedelics Could Be the Future of Psychotherapy” (Discover Magazine, June 10, 2021, https://bit.ly/3jtHdO6).
- https://cnb.cx/3ix1Kz6.
- https://bit.ly/3xZSPg6.
- “Psychedelics Could Be the Future of Psychotherapy,” op. cit.
- https://hopkinspsychedelic.org.
- Ibid.
- https://smallcapsdaily.com/silo-pharma-a-rising-star-in-the-psychedelic-drug-therapy-industry.
- 7/5/21 e-mail newsletter to authors from Psychedelics Today.
- “Psychedelics Could Be the Future of Psychotherapy,” op. cit.
- https://bit.ly/3zHbvl1.
- Read article on shamanism and drug use at: https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=33919.
- Smokescreen, op. cit., p. 24.
- https://bit.ly/2UDJoEE.
- https://bit.ly/3y8kGdK.
- https://bit.ly/3rBABiI.
- https://tinyurl.com/2kd66xvv.
- https://bit.ly/3ruSj7x.
- https://bit.ly/3Br2VZD.
- https://bit.ly/2UDJJHq.
- https://bit.ly/3rrZaP1.
- https://bit.ly/3ruKKgV.
- https://bit.ly/3eM4Y0E.
- https://bit.ly/36SFcU7.
- https://bit.ly/3eMFZtW.
- https://bit.ly/3zpX5FV.
- https://bit.ly/3rrKcIA.
- https://bit.ly/3x2nCHI.
- https://bit.ly/2TsEMR4.
- https://bit.ly/2Tx4Dre.
- Deana Morton, “Can Psychedelics Actually Help Us Communicate With Aliens?” (https://bit.ly/2V48NHA).
- Ibid.
- https://bit.ly/36SdsyH.
- https://bit.ly/2UvIEl3; for a long, fantastic list of other considerations, visit https://bit.ly/3zGq6gW.
- https://bit.ly/2UBZvT2.
- Deuteronomy 18:9–12.
- https://bit.ly/3zGq6gW.
- https://bit.ly/2UwdWs3.
- “Are We Becoming a Drug Culture?” (The Berean Call, 11/6/2020, https://www.thebereancall.org/content/are-we-becoming-drug-culture?).
- https://bit.ly/2UwdWs3.
- https://bit.ly/3iQuHWR.
- Rick Strassman, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences (Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 2001), pp. 187, 199.
- “Are We Becoming a Drug Culture?, op. cit.
- Hebrews 9:27.
- Read Warren B. Smith’s article on “oneness”: https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=28156.
- “Are We Becoming a Drug Culture?, op. cit.
- Ibid.
- You can read a fictionalized version of our rescue in our novel The Glittering Web, Book 1 of the Omega Point Series available at https://bit.ly/3Iv3aFB. Listen to the prequel free at https://ltmurl.com/prequel.
To order copies of Psychedelic Seduction: Drugging the World and the Church, click here.
|
| Donating to Lighthouse Trails |
|
SUPPORTING LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS: For those who would like to support Lighthouse Trails, we always appreciate both your prayers and your giving. And for those who have faithfully done that over the years, we thank you with all of our hearts. We know that some people may have the impression that Lighthouse Trails does quite well financially because we sell products that we publish and because our resources have had such a far reach; but, the truth is, it takes everything made through sales to keep Lighthouse Trails operating. Publishing, at least for small presses such as ours, is rarely a high-profit business. It would take a best seller to see that, one that the masses of people love. And because we are not just a business, but even more so a ministry, we keep our prices as low as we can, give away many resources, and have also made much of our material available for free on the research site and blog. That's not how big corporations run things as that would hurt the bottom line (profit), but we see the needs out there, and we trust God to keep us going as long as He sees fit.
We thank you in advance for seeing the value in a ministry like Lighthouse Trails and coming along side us with your prayers and support.
It is our prayer that we will faithfully be humble servants of the Lord’s work for years to come should the Lord tarry. If you would like to donate to Lighthouse Trails, you may send a donation by mailing it to: Lighthouse Trails, P.O. Box 307, Roseburg, Oregon 97470. Or you may call 866/876-3910. There is also a donate option on our store website. (There is also a PayPal option on that page.)
Lighthouse Trails is not a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization, so your donations will not be tax deductible.
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
LTRP Note: The following is posted for informational and research purposes.
(photo: Courtesy CFER)
