The Apostasy: The Great Bible Cover-Up Revealed

The "Great Bible Cover-Up" originally began about 20 years ago or so when the first Bible carrier was produced. You know, the little cloth bag with cloth handles that people put their Bibles in to make it supposedly easier to carry back and forth to church. They are also convenient for keeping notebooks in as well so it's there whenever you want to take sermon notes, etc. But the biggest secret about these carriers is this: no one knows you have a Bible!!

Shortly after this, the desktop computers came into our homes.  It wasn't long before you could purchase software of the Bible to put on your computer.  This was really convenient because it allowed you to be able to read the Bible at work without having to carry the Bible with you to work. But the biggest secret about having Bible software is this:  no one knows you have a Bible!!

After the desktop computer, came the Palm Pilot, and now more recently we have the iPods, the iPhones, and the iPads.  All of these items really make it convenient for carrying the Bible with you wherever you go.  But the biggest secret about these is this:  no one knows you have a Bible!!

The other day I went to a Christian bookstore to buy a Bible to put on my car's dashboard.  Boy, was I ever in for a surprise!!  I found that most of the Bibles are now "embossed" but not "imprinted" with ink.  This means the words "Holy Bible" on the front or spine of the Bible barely stand out.  Well, I guess just in case someone, like me, should want an "old-fashioned" Bible - the "Great Bible Cover-Up" is going to make it look like an ordinary book by removing the actual title - The Holy Bible!

Is this what we as Christians should be supporting or "buying into"??  Where are the Christians today who are not ashamed to be called Christians and to show they are Christians by carrying their Bibles out in the open where everyone around them can see them??

Also, how do you know the preachers on T.V. who wave their arm around with an iPad attached really have God's Word open in it?  Our children are watching them preach from an iPad - not from the open book called, The Holy Bible! Shame on us for letting this world conform us into its mold!  (Rom. 12:2)

Jesus gave this warning in Mark 8:38:  "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

Jesus also said in Matthew 5:14-16:  "You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Search your hearts carefully and see if the REAL reason you are taking part in this "Great Bible Cover-Up" is because you are ashamed to be seen carrying God's holy Word?  Are you letting this world conform you into its image - instead of obeying God's Word to come out from among them and be separate and holy?

The Daniel Diet: Obesity in Today's Church

Have you taken a look at the Christians sitting around you in restaurants after church on Sunday mornings?  We have often wondered how they can claim the Name of Jesus Christ - and still eat the same kind of food and the same amount of food that the world eats.  Daniel was living in a pagan society, not much different than the pagan world around us today.  He viewed the food offered to him from the king's table as defiled "pagan delicacies".  The pagans in his day over-ate and were practicing gluttony as our world does today. 

Why do Christians today think it is all right to practice gluttony and treat God's Temple (our bodies) with contempt as though it's OK that they are making God's Temple into a "pagan temple" by eating the pagan food around them?  In I Corinthians 3:16, and 17 it says: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God...If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.  For the temple of God is holy - which temple you are!"

First things first:  The greatest Commandment says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength."  "Self Control" is a Fruit of the Spirit.  (See Galatians 5:23)  Obviously, the world around us is unable to practice this virture.  So if you don't have this "fruit" in your life,  then you need be examining yourself if you are a true Christian, and asking yourself why you are no different than the world around you.  God expects you to "Say No" to the pagan food that surrounds you in today's society, and eat the foods that please Him and your body.

As a Christian, we are part of God's body, called the Church.  The word "Church" in Greek means "Called Out Ones".  As Christians, we are also "Sanctified", which means "Set Apart".  2 Corinthians 6:17; 7:1 says, "Therefore, come out from among them and be separated, says the Lord.  Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you."  Romans 12:2 says we are not to be conformed to the pattern of this world around us, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  That means as Christians, we are to be thinking differently than the pagans.  Philippians 3:19 says "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose god is their belly, ... who set their mind on earthly things."

Jesus is asking you as He asked Peter in John 21:15:  "Do you love Me more than these?"  If you don't, you are breaking another one of God's commandments:  "You shall have no other gods before Me."  "You shall not bow down to them or serve them."  (Ex. 20: 3-5).   I John 5:21 says, "My little children, keep yourselves from idols."  Jesus said, "If you love Me, you WILL keep (obey) My commandments."  (John 14:15)  How about it?  Will you now make a commitment to deny yourself for Your Lord and begin to live a life separated from the world, holy and pleasing to Him?