There are churches (cults) who claim to have the only truth in a re-written Bible. One is the Jehovah’s Witnesses with their so-called New World Translation. This book was written by one man by the name of Charles Taze Russell, who believed that Jesus was the Archangel Michael. Today the followers abide by the writings of the Watchtower and Tract Society.

Another cult is the Latter Day Saints (Mormons), whose Bible consists of fairy tales and also is written by another deluded man, John Smith. This man claims to have had conversations with an angel named Moroni, who told him the location of golden plates on which were written the secrets of God. Even the angel’s name sounds wacky; it kind of makes a person wonder if there was LSD use in those days.

If these organizations don’t extol Jesus Christ as God’s only begotten Son, who died for us on the cross, then they are a man-made religion. If they don’t esteem Him who sits at the right hand of God the Father, then they are wrong. If they put any other name ahead of Christ Jesus, they are wrong.

“…For there is no other name under heaven, given among men whereby you must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

What is the true church? The true Christian church is where God’s unaltered Word is taught and where repentant sinners come seeking a better way of life. Tired and hungry for truth and deliverance, repentant sinners come on bended knee to God’s throne of grace. There they meet up with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus, and find rest for their souls.

“Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Such people come to church in search of truth and the deep things of God, as well as how to attain contentment, peace of mind and rest for their eternal souls. Many fail to find it in today’s politically correct and spiritually dead man-made religion.

In the true church some are newborn Christians (babes in Christ), who truly seek and desire the milk of the word of God. Others are gaining maturity by growing in faith through digesting the meatier portions of scripture and growing strong by it.

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).

Some of us attend church for the music and entertainment, while others are looking for a mate. Still others want momentary elation rather than learning what the Lord has for them from His Word, the Bible. In doing so, they rely on man-made euphoria in the form of various charismatic manifestations. While these manifestations appear to be harmless, they can have a crippling effect on those who rely on them, and cause them never to be fully mature Christians.

And then, of course, there are nominal Christians, those for whom going to church is a Sunday ritual. Some of these go to church just to further their business ties or to appear to be an upright citizen. But as time goes on and Bible prophecy is fulfilled, they may finally get their act together and repent – let’s hope so.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that we are all too human. Is it any wonder that God and His beloved Son decided long ago that the second person of the Trinity had to come to Earth and die for us, to show us the Father’s love for us with His great plan of salvation?

The word of God says, “…All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags….” (Isaiah 64:6). And since there is none righteous — no not one — we could never have attained heaven otherwise.

As for those who are only religious and without substance, God says, “They worship me with their mouths, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8).

The key to this whole thing is to know God in a personal way and to rely on His infallible Word, the Bible. “Every word of God is true; He is a shield to those who trust in Him” (Proverbs 30:5).

Today, we believers must take the opportunity to be on the offensive — while we still can — during the current administration. This window of opportunity may not be open long, and if we ever hope to reach the unsaved, it is now. With time running out we can’t be closet Christians anymore, and it might be a good idea to extol the virtues of your particular Bible-believing church openly and unafraid.

As for me, I attend a church where the Bible is taught and the Gospel preached at each and every service. We have two services on Sunday, a traditional one at 9:30 a.m. and another one with modern music at 11:00 a.m.

If you live within 100 miles of First Baptist Church of Naples, you should stop by and worship with us.  If not, you can access us live at www.fbcn.org and get the times for worship on the internet. You’ll be glad you did.

By the way, a new faith-based movie is coming out soon, titled “Generational Sins.” It sounds as if it is trying to be more true to life than what Christians are used to. With over twenty-nine expletives, it portends to be a slice of life, something for the nonbeliever as well as the believer.

Although I’m in favor of more realistic Christian films, I’m not sure how this tactic will work. I’ve always believed that what is needed is more thought-provoking themes as opposed to hard- hitting, in your face cursing. If this is the producer’s ploy, then it may not do any good in provoking the masses to action, since they’ve seen and heard it all before, over and over in today’s regular and often obscene movies.

P.S. I’m still in need of a legitimate publisher, not a self-publishing scammer. If you know of one, please contact me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com

YBIC

Jim Towers

You can reach me at –  jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com or www.thepropheciesmovie and book.

On the heels of devastating hurricanes and earthquakes around the world, now distress of nations along with perplexity is coming into play from the prophetic Scriptures of the New Testament; most notably from Luke 21:25.

The war of words is heating up between Kim Jung-un and President Trump. A movie screen writer couldn’t have written anything more dramatic. Tensions are ratcheting up between opposing countries. With the background of screaming winds and roaring ocean waves our country draws ever closer to war. This war of words is making the nations quake in their jackboots. There is a perplexity that no one seems to be able to handle effectively. Yet rest assured, God is in control.

This is happening even while we, here, in Southwest Florida are still recovering from the storm of the century—Hurricane Irma.

First Baptist Church of Naples was the largest staging ground for relief workers since 9/11. Many came from all over the country, some even from as far away as Canada. This is the most well-coordinated relief effort that I can ever remember. It was led primarily by Pastor Hays Wicker  who is a forty year veteran of pastoring churches in the Midwest, and growing this particular church to what it is today. This church has grown to over a 6,000 membership, which includes snowbirds from the north. He is one of the best pastor’s in this country.

Pastor Wicker and his able staff went out of their way to coordinate all the resources available and in the distribution of food, water, medicines and cleaning supplies. On hand were Samaritans Purse, Billy Graham Evangelical Ministries, American Red Cross and others. I personally counted over fourteen Red Cross Relief vehicles in the church parking lot.

Some volunteers were sleeping in the classrooms of the beautiful church campus while others arrived in campers and motor homes. The church opened up the huge gymnasium on campus in a last ditch effort to shelter those whose homes were destroyed by Irma and who had nowhere else to go—as all the shelters were filled to capacity.

Incidentally, Hurricane Irma made landfall on 9/11/ (the day of the attack on the twin towers in New York City), while the recent 6.1 earthquake near Mexico City hit on the very time that the people there were recalling a disastrous earthquake that happened on the VERY SAME DAY, years before. What a coincidence! It’s almost as if to say that these were coordinated efforts to wake people up from their godless slumber.

Right now, people are tossing and turning at night unable to sleep. They are wondering what catastrophe is going to happen next thinking: Will we have war? Where can I go to avoid it? What about my loved ones, how will they be impacted? Will it be a nuclear war? How will we survive? If I do survive I may have to cook over a campfire. Where will I get water? How long can I survive without food and water? Surely there will be pillaging and killings by hungry and ruthless thugs.

These are just a few of the things most people will be thinking about which will give us the opportunity to share God’s forgiveness, grace and provision with them by word and deed.

During this recovery, while I was at the public library, I met a man whose trailer had been blown to bits and was probably there to relieve himself and to cool off in the air conditioned building. In spite of all he had gone through, he continued to be the crusty old sea captain that he was. Knowing the kind of person he was by the things that he said, I asked him if the storm had made him repent. He said, “Repent of what? I’ve been a good person all my life.” (I’ve had heard it all before.) I followed up with, “You never thank God for anything.” He replied, “Well, I call on Him when I’m in trouble.” I said “Yes, and when He delivers, you forget all about Him!”

He won’t soon forget our encounter. I don’t usually talk to others that way but extreme cases require extreme measures.

While checking out at a local supermarket, I noticed an older gentleman standing in line behind me. Since I know what’s going on in people’s minds these days in Naples, I asked “Did you ever see such calamity in your lifetime?” He replied, “No never in my life, and now with war threats from North Korea, it’s getting crazy out there.” The cashier, a matronly lady piped up, “It all looks like the end of the world!” I hesitated, but only for a moment. Then I said, “I’m a student of Bible prophecy and you only have to read Luke 21:25 in the New Testament to know what’s going on.” She gasped while the smile that was crossing the old man’s face left and he became solemn.

If you believe in something you should not be afraid to voice it. I have a neighbor to whom I was witnessing say to me, “I don’t believe the Bible or any other book with talking snakes in it.” Of course he was referring to the serpent of the Garden of Eden. I stopped witnessing to him. That was two weeks before the hurricane. Yesterday though, while he was cleaning up after the hurricane near the road I stopped as I was driving by to welcome him home. He leaned into the car window and expressed his perplexity about all the hurricanes and earthquakes taking place around the globe. This tough talking guy actually seemed afraid. “I’ll be home alone for a few days cleaning up around the house; you can stop by to see me and talk.” Now he wants to talk.

In essence, he was inviting me to share the Good News of the gospel with him and I intend to follow through. But at this stage of the game I will not be politically correct and will not sugarcoat what I have to say. This is the hour of decision, no more pussyfooting around.

Hurricane Irma was a blessing in disguise in that many people are willing to discuss spiritual things more than ever before. When I ask if I can pray for them they willingly submit. Jesus said, “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what I whisper in your ear, preach on the housetops.”

YBIC

Jim Towers    jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com and www.thepropheciesmovie.com and book