RECOGNIZE

That you have transgressed God’s laws and have fallen short of God’s will.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

BELIEVE

That God loves you and offers you His mercy through the salvation work of His Son, Jesus Christ.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

ACCEPT

Christ’s death and Resurrection as God’s provision for your forgiveness. Acknowledge your acceptance of Christ by praying sincerely:

“Jesus, I am a sinner, I accept You as my Saviour and Lord of my life. Make me an obedient child of God.“

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12).

LIVE

In newness of life. When a person truly becomes a child of God, it will change the way he thinks, the way he talks, the way he acts.

“Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God” (Romans 6:4, 12, 13).

More and more people, however, no longer consider it as important to be a citizen of just one country. More people than ever have, or are seeking, dual citizenship. No one seems to be keeping record of how many dual citizens live in the United States but their numbers are rapidly growing. It is said that up to forty million Americans could claim dual citizenship. Some countries, such as Ireland, allow a person whose grandparents were from Ireland to have Irish citizenship. In theory, if your grandparents would gain Irish citizenship (because of their grandparents), then you could also apply later.

The U. S. government permits, but does not officially recognize, dual citizenship. The traditional view of the U. S. government is that you cannot be loyal to more than one country at a time. Even the oath of citizenship of the United States seems to suggest that view. In part, the oath says: “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America . . .”

Most people who have dual citizenship do not, however, see it as inconsistent. “Why can’t I be loyal to two countries?” they claim. One wonders what would happen if the two countries ever went to war against each other!

In relation to citizenship, the Bible teaches what has been called “the two-kingdom concept.” Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews” (John 18:36). Jesus said of Satan’s kingdom, “How shall then his kingdom stand?” Thus, there are two kingdoms spiritually, the kingdom of God (or kingdom of heaven) and Satan’s kingdom.

Jesus further said, “He that is not with me is against me.” Even more specific are Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:24: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.“

We cannot be dual citizens of Christ’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom, though many would like the “best” of both kingdoms. There is no such thing as the best of both kingdoms. They are mutually exclusive. Living in sin and rebellion against God—drinking, drugs, immorality, materialism, living for self, and other forms of hedonism—prevent people from enjoying anything but a lip service to true Christianity. The guilt and the destruction of mind and body bring misery and regret. This makes miserable sinners and miserable professing Christians.

Only when we declare our allegiance to Christ and His kingdom, will we find peace of mind, satisfaction, and meaningful purpose in life. Even the material things of life bring no satisfaction unless we seek Christ’s kingdom first. Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [the food, shelter, and, clothing that we need] shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

As Christians relate to their government and the citizenship it offers, the two-kingdom concept is still applicable. Though we are citizens of an earthly kingdom, we owe our first allegiance to the kingdom of God.

We are called to be obedient citizens of the government we are under, but Christians are, first of all, citizens of God’s kingdom. When government officials ask us to do something we know is contrary to God’s will we must be respectful but say “no.” This happened at least once to the early disciples when officials asked them not to preach in Jesus’ name. “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Regardless of his location or earthly citizenship, the Christian’s call is: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

-by Roger Berry

Naturalistic evolution is not a new, advanced understanding of our enlightened times. The earliest written accounts in cuneiform writing from Babylon speak of the universe and man coming out of a watery chaos. Today, scientists are still zealously looking for water on Mars. They believe then that life could have formed there.

The ancient cosmologies of China and India are also evolutionary. The Chinese philosophers saw the world as the result of “the interaction of impersonal forces, the powers of which persist interminably.” In detail they showed “the supposed sequence of organic evolution proceeding organism by organism from the simplest plants upward through grubs, insects, birds, leopards, horses, and men.” Neither is an earth age of billions of years a “discovery” of modern science but a reversion to a common belief of the ancients in the antiquity of the earth.

Along with such evolutionary beliefs also went a religious system. There are similarities of pagan thought throughout the world whether Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Canaanite, or Indian. A set of gods and goddesses represents the various aspects of nature. Their ritualistic systems and mysteries are similar and can be traced back to the ancient Babylonian system.

The Biblical record of history also shows that ancient Babel is the seat of occult religion. (Zechariah 5:7-11; Genesis 10:8-10; 11:1-9). “Babylon hath . . . made all the earth drunken: . . . therefore the nations are mad” (Jeremiah 51:7). (Why do people today still make decisions to their own destruction?) The most ancient Babylonian account of origins is called the “Enuma Elish.” Enuma Elish (meaning “when from above”) are the first two words of the cuneiform text which describes a watery chaos out of which two gods, Lahau and Lehemu, were formed. Other gods were formed and engaged in battles until Marduk gained control. Marduk then formed the world from the body of a slain god and man from his blood. These battling gods represent the struggling forces of nature as the “survival of the fittest” process prevails. Always, whatever the method, there is a belief in “eternal matter” evolving upward toward future perfection.

The Christian belief is in the eternal God who is transcendent (apart from) and acts upon His creation. “Darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). He was not the deep! This true God has a personal, loving relationship with man, the chief of His creation. To His children also life is sacred. They love and respect their fellowmen.

Evolutionary concepts followed down through the Greek philosophers Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. Lucretius said, “Certainly the atoms did not post themselves purposely in due order by an act of intelligence . . . they have been rushing everlastingly throughout all space . . . till they have fallen into the particular pattern by which this world of ours is constituted. This world has persisted many a long year, having once been set going in the appropriate motions. From these everything else follows.”

In the centuries down to Darwin, Christian influence held the pagan philosophies in check in the western world. An era of great scientific advances came as Christianity replaced the mother god religion of pagan Europe. Especially after the Protestant Reformation, Bible belief in society fostered a pragmatic belief in facts and established laws of nature that could be discovered, used, and depended on because God does not change (“I am the lord, I change not.“) These laws of God in the universe became the basis of many inventions to advance civilization and to improve social welfare. This stood in contrast to the capricious, immoral acts of pagan gods which produced a people of the same nature. (Rather, the people made gods like themselves—Romans 1:23-32.)

Many scientists of the 17th and 18th centuries were creationists: We could name Francis Bacon (scientific method of research), Charles Babbage (foundations of computer science), Michael Faraday (electrical apparatus and theory), Isaac Newton, Louis Pasteur, and many more. These true scientists drew conclusions from “hands-on” experiments with facts. Many, like Robert Boyle, the founder of modern chemistry, acknowledged their limitations and credited God as the author of the laws of nature.

As we come down to Charles Darwin in the 1800s, we find that he was not the originator of his ideas. In the years before him, armchair philosophers (often rich heirs such as Darwin and Charles Lyell who did not need to work) theorized and laid the foundation of modern evolution. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, in 1809, proposed the concept that acquired characteristics could be inherited. (The giraffe got its long neck by stretching, etc.) Erasmas Darwin, Charles’s grandfather, had already proposed many evolutionary ideas. Alfred Russet Wallace, in 1858, developed the theory of evolution which Darwin is accused of plagiarizing in publishing his book.

Darwin’s book, On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life, was printed in 1859. Darwin taught in his book that man came from ape-like creatures and that eventually the stronger races would destroy the weaker ones. This aided the radical philosophies of Nazism and communism. Evolution served as justification for the killing of untold millions of people through wars and exterminations in the following years.

Evolution is often proclaimed as a secular idea, free of religion. However, occult spiritism accompanied the revival of evolution as it did in its origins with the ancients. Russell Wallace was deeply involved with spiritism when he formulated his theory. By 1875, Wallace came out openly in support of spiritism and Marxism. When Charles Darwin was on his trip around South America, he took a horseback ride into the interior. There he participated in a witchcraft ceremony where “something happened” to him. Later the ship dropped Darwin off at the Galapagos Islands. He studied the different varieties of finches on the islands and later used them as evidence of evolution in progress. Darwin had some theological training but no scientific education. What he saw was only the selection of traits which occurs in all kinds. He was obviously ignorant of genetics when he married his first cousin. This resulted in two children who died early and others with mental and physical handicaps. Darwin developed a depression that followed him to his death.

Today, despite its false premise, evolution has a stranglehold on the American school system. Higher education has diverged from the basic sciences into many pseudo-sciences such as metaphysics, chaos theory, and the like. Along with this, we again see the resurgence of Shamanism. The native religions of the American Indian, African witchcraft, Haitian voodoo, and such like are again venerated around the world. New Age advocates go back to learn from the “ancient wisdom” of Egypt, Greece, and Babylon.

Evolutionists claim to be secular and to wean people from religion. However, surveys show that a resurgence of spiritism has many more people today believing in supernatural experiences. Not only does evolution’s long history demonstrate that it is the companion of occult religious beliefs, but it is also accompanied by the same tragedies. Whereas the ancients offered their children to Molech, today they promote abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.

Of course, the Holy Jehovah God of the Bible is the only constraint against such beliefs. Deceptions, ridicule, hidden agendas, and dark mysteries, which hide allegiance to Satan, often accompany evolution. Such is not objective science but originates with individuals in rebellion against God and emboldened by spiritism. It is perpetuated today as the media leads people along through news releases and movies with unfounded speculations (“In ten years we may find life in outer space,” etc.)- The masses are supposed to believe and not question the “experts.” The vulgar perversions described in the Book of Romans pictures evolutionary paganism throughout history. The call of God today, is “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).

Resources:
The Troubled Waters of Evolution — Henry Morris
The Evolution Cruncher — Vance Farrell

-by Elvin Staffer

But let us see if the “religious” professor could be right, even by the laws of reasoning. If “all roads that lead to God are good” then the end gained justifies the means used in reaching that end. But is this necessarily true? Joe Brown wanted to support his family, a very good end in itself. Using the professor’s idea that it doesn’t matter at all how one reaches that good end, Joe Brown chose stealing as a means of livelihood. Does the end justify the means of reaching it? Absolutely not!

What does God say? Shall we do evil that good may come? (Romans 3:8) Any sober-thinking person could easily answer that question. Does man’s way to heaven reach there? God plainly says that “it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps “(Jeremiah 10:23). God has declared the human race to be blind and walking in darkness. Shall we then agree with the brilliant professor that it hardly matters which road man takes to God? Shall we then accept his inference that man doesn’t need a revelation from God, a new life from God, a new direction from God?

Truly, “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” Listen to God’s prophet: “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them“(Isaiah 8:19, 20).

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets” (Matthew 7:13-15).

Who has been getting your ear? The televangelist, the clever magazine writer, the college professor? Give God a hearing. “Take heed what ye hear,” is God’s command. Give ear to the Bible. Give ear to its message in the Gospels and the Epistles. Hear the message of God. There is only one right road to God and it has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

-by Harold Brenneman

Here are the marriage vows for a bride: “Will you in the presence of God and these witnesses, take _____ to be your wedded husband, will you love and cherish him, in health and in sickness, in prosperity and adversity, share with him the joys and sorrows of life, exercise patience, kindness, and forbearance toward him, and live with him in peace as becometh a faithful Christian wife and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him as long as you both shall live.”

Share with him the joys and sorrows of life

This phrase in the wedding vows is different from the husband’s vows. One of the basic reasons God created a wife is for companionship. In Genesis 2:15-24, we read that when Adam named the animals, he could not find someone like himself. God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” In this commitment, the wife promises to be a companion in joy or sorrow. Sorrow when shared seems to lessen, but joys when shared seem to multiply. How doleful life would be without a companion to share it. What a blessing to come home after a day’s work and have a wife greet us at the door with a cheery, “Welcome home! How did your day go?” To have someone to share the happenings of the day, whether trials or joys, is an essential part of a Christian home. I recall keeping the children at the office while my wife was gone. When we arrived home before she did, the children ran through the house calling for her. It was not the norm for Mother to be absent from home, and so it should not be.

Women generally share the things on their heart more easily than men do. To share the intimate things on one’s heart is difficult. A man needs the tender caring of a woman to draw him out. The wife who has learned the art of sharing with her husband and helping him to share with her, has indeed fulfilled the Biblical command of being a helpmeet. The many frustrations and trials of life become much more bearable with a companion such as this. “Her price is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:10)

Live with him in peace

How can we live together in peace? To have peace, we stay calm and quiet at all times. One time we should raise our voice is if the house is on fire, but not in normal living. When we live together in peace, we work out our problems. Surely, we will have misunderstandings and frustrations. We should attack the problem and not the partner. “Follow peace with all men” (Hebrews 12:14) includes our companion.

If we would seek to live together in peace, as much as some couples try not to, we could work things out a lot better. Am I saying some of us try to be unhandy and contrary? No, but it seems that’s the way it so often is. Ask yourself the question, “Am I really seeking to come to a better understanding? Am I seeking to prove myself right, and my spouse wrong? How could we resolve this peaceably?”

I recall a man saying he didn’t believe in war; he just got married instead. One aspect of peace is the absence of war or strife. Comparing war with marriage is not at all funny, but maybe all too true. Seeking to live together in peace is infinitely more desirable and is the will of God. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). This beatitude is sadly lacking in many homes. God will help us if we humbly ask Him. He wants us to live together in peace, and many of us have made that commitment to each other.

Forsaking all others

I remember my wife asking our pastor if she could be jealous of me. He assured her that she could in the same sense that God is a jealous God. He wants our attention alone. We cannot serve both God and Satan. Paul writes that we are a peculiar [special] people to God (Titus 2:14). Peculiar does not mean “different” as in “odd,” but “exclusively His.” We have the characteristic of belonging only to one. Thus it should be in our marriage relations. We belong only to one.

Nothing causes hurt feelings more quickly than paying attention to someone other than our companion. To flirt with another is not only hurting your companion, but also trifling with another’s feelings, and it is sin. Why would we want to do anything to hurt our spouse? We are no longer looking for someone to please us; we have found that one. Now we should be looking for ways to please the one we have found.

During our courtship days, most of us could not seem to do enough to please our special friend. We could find all kinds of excuses to be together. We would not have thought of dating someone else. We shunned anything that would mar our friendship. After several years of marriage, many forget the art of courtship. While William Jennings Bryan was getting his hair cut, the barber asked him if he couldn’t cut the hair that covered his ears. Mr. Bryan said, “While I was courting Mrs. Bryan, she objected to my ears standing out. So I let my hair grow over them.”

“That was years back,” replied the barber. “Surely you could cut them shorter now.”

“Why?” asked Bryan. “The love affair is still going on.”

We need to ask God for pure minds and eyes so that we can resist the temptation to unfaithfulness. Remember, we have promised or vowed to forsake all others. Keep yourselves only unto him (her) as long as you both shall live. “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Remember what Joseph said when he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). One of the most heartbreaking statistics of our day are the many who break the marriage vows by committing adultery. “A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away” (Proverbs 6:33) May we be as Joseph and flee when tempted. God will help us if we seek to forsake all others.

-by Allan Miller