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The Landscape of Deception
Ten demonic trends are actively trying to infiltrate the church. Not subtle suggestions. Not minor theological quibbles. Full-blown deceptions designed to twist Scripture, manipulate believers, and lead people away from authentic faith.
This is part one—the first five. No magician reveal here. Just straightforward, common sense talk. 2026 is the year of no holds barred. We're telling it like it is. We're going to live up to the "no apology" thing.
Here's what we're dealing with:
- Anti-semitism
- Jesus was a social justice warrior
- Jesus wants us all healthy and wealthy
- All good is from God, all bad is from Satan
- Religion is bad
And next week: Jesus was all-inclusive, discernment is judgmental, hell isn't real, Jesus is a consciousness to achieve rather than a person to follow, and everything in the Bible was written to me. To me. All about me.
Let's dig in.
Demonic Trend #1: Anti-Semitism
Throughout history, anti-semitism has risen and fallen. After World War II was probably the least we'd seen it in a long, long time—probably since the beginning of history. But there's always been people ready and willing to attack God's chosen people.
Here's the honest question: did you ever think you'd see this level of anti-semitism in the United States in your lifetime?
Because of what the Bible says, we knew it was coming. The whole world is going to turn against Israel according to Scripture, including America. But the way it's coming? That's what caught us off guard.
It's coming through manipulation and deception. People stirring up false accusations to line their own pockets. Creating things out of thin air. Taking factual evidence and twisting it to fit a narrative. Whose narrative? The person who's paying them.
We've seen this in the Christian industry. We've seen this in journalism—we used to have journalists in this country. We don't anymore. Everything is a paid operative. Everything is a narrative to be spun for sale.
Anti-semitism can look a lot of different ways, but the big one is when baseless accusations are leveled against Israel or the Jewish people in general. And we're seeing this even within circles of people who call themselves Christian or like to identify and align themselves with Christian doctrine.
Nothing could be further from the truth for the authentic Christian.
The Candace Owens Problem
Consider Candace Owens. When the October 7th attack happened—when Hamas came in, killed people, captured people, tortured people, imprisoned people for years—her response after Israel retaliated was to say Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
There's no evidence of that. We know that did not happen.
She's made statements minimizing the Holocaust. She called Dr. Mengele's disgusting work during the Holocaust "bizarre propaganda." No. We have survivors who lived through Mengele's horrific treatment. We know for a fact it's not propaganda.
What we've watched Candace do is a playbook move. She's running a play option pass. It's predictable. She's faking the handoff, looking for the receiver downfield, throwing the ball through false accusations, through leading questions that are manipulative in their context. Then she tries to claim things as being true while still leaving herself an out—"I'm led to believe this."
She's playing people like a fiddle. And it's just changing people's minds because Candace used to be trustworthy. Candace used to be somebody worth quoting. She's been somebody who had everything in her hands and just flushed it away because she decided to take the money and run. Everything she's been doing has been to advance her own platform and line her own pockets with no regard for who she's hurting.
Ben Shapiro fired her. Think about that.
First she was separated from Charlie Kirk and TPUSA, which she was part of founding. Then Ben Shapiro and her parted ways. And then—get this one—Alex Jones parted ways with her.
Alex Jones. The face of conspiracy theories. Don't listen to him because a lot of what he says is off-the-wall wackadoodle. Don't have time for that. Haven't listened to Alex Jones for 20 years.
And when the face of conspiracy theories parts ways with Candace Owens because she's a little too out there? You might want to rethink listening to Candace.
It's the equivalent of a Bible-believing elder who's been living for Jesus for a decade, then decides to go off the deep end, starts smoking weed, leaves his wife for his secretary, and then wants to circle back to the church to tell them how to live their life. That's Candace Owens.
The Tucker Carlson Blind Spot
Tucker's different. He's got a blind spot where he thinks he's being an open journalist by trying to give everybody a say. In doing so, he's actually using his platform to lead people into anti-semitism rhetoric. If he knew what his results were, he might have handled it differently. Tucker hasn't gone off the deep end the way Candace has. But it's still disappointing at the least.
Here's the thing about Tucker: he doesn't understand the gospel. He thinks all people are born good. That's the antithesis of the gospel. We're all born sinful—that's why we need the gospel. He probably likes a lot of that whole Christian-bent thing, but he doesn't completely ascribe to Christianity. He'd probably say as much himself.
But he still references the Bible. He still likes that Christian audience. And to a certain degree, he gets that audience because he says just enough right stuff. But if you really listen—if you really watch what he's doing—he's giving a platform to people like Daryl Cooper and Nick Fuentes. He invites them on, talks to them, gives them credibility, agrees with them in ways.
Daryl Cooper and Nick Fuentes don't just downplay the Holocaust—they're revisionist historians. They'll tell you they're conservative, but they're still revising history. They are not friends of the Jewish people. They make outrageous claims:
- The Jews control the media
- The Jews control Hollywood
- The Jews control the banks
- The Jews control the United States government
It's everywhere. That is anti-semitism on its face.
The "Jews Control Everything" Lie
Here's the thing: you can have observations that are real without making blanket statements about an ethnic group.
Go to New York and find a jeweler who's not Jewish. Good luck. The Rothschilds set up worldwide banking. A lot of Jewish comedians out there. A lot of Jewish entertainers. A lot of people who greenlight movie projects in Hollywood are of Jewish descent.
But that doesn't mean they control the whole industry. "Jews control jokes." No. Think about it.
It's like growing up in a union neighborhood. Everybody was a union guy. Various types of union jobs. If your dad gave a recommendation, you got in. He was always being hit up—"Hans, can you get me in?" To turn around and say "the unions controlled my neighborhood"—well, there were a lot of them. But the union itself didn't come in and tell us where to build a sidewalk.
You can have observations that are real, but that doesn't mean the average Jewish person you meet walking down the street has their hands on and is controlling your money. That's not how this works.
When you blanket an entire ethnic group like that, that is racism. That is anti-semitism.
Think about a CEO of a company. He controls the whole company. If he's Norwegian, do we say Norwegians control XYZ company? No. There's a Norwegian guy—probably a little confused, but still leading the company.
(Full-blooded Norwegian here, by the way. If you're Norwegian out there and getting offended, we're just doing some self-deprecating.)
People who deny the Holocaust, downplay the Holocaust, blame Jews for every problem under the sun—that is anti-semitism.
The "Jesus Wasn't Jewish" Deception
Another form of anti-semitism gaining traction is the accusation that Jesus was not a Jew. They want to draw you into what appears on the surface to be an intellectual debate.
That is not what's going on.
Common sense. Thinking themselves wise, they become fools. The evidence is blatantly in front of your face, but they deny it and have a "different take" so they can seem open-minded. "I'm an intellectual."
People are asserting Jesus was born in Ethiopia and was black. People are asserting Jesus was a Palestinian. You'll see that a lot.
Here's reality: Jesus was a Jew. Born a Jew. Always a Jew. That's the way it is.
If he's Jewish and we're going to have an anti-semitism bent, how can we do an ad campaign called "He Gets Us"? The only way is to create a Jesus that's not real.
They call him a refugee now because his family fled to Egypt. Do you realize that was all part of the Roman Empire? That's like saying "we fled Minnesota and we're refugees here in Iowa." Same concept. Think it through, folks.
At the core of all of it—if you melt it all down, melt the gold into its purest form—the nugget right there is pride. Self-significance.
Replacement Theology: The Church Has Not Replaced Israel
This has been going on for a while. It's called replacement theology—the premise that the Jews are no longer God's chosen people, the church is.
No.
The Jews are and will always be God's chosen people. Does that mean they're better people? No. Does that mean they're more loved by God? No. All it means is he chose them for this. That's what it means. And that never goes away.
When Scripture says Israel is the apple of God's eye—guess what Israel is today? The apple of God's eye. His promises don't change.
Do not buy into this replacement theology that world history and God's workings no longer revolve around Israel or the Jewish people. That is not true.
In ancient times, Abraham had Isaac—the chosen son, the son of promise. He also had Ishmael from Hagar. Then Isaac had twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Esau and Ishmael went one way; Isaac and Jacob created the nation of Israel.
When God did that, he said, "I want to show my salvation through this nation." David was king. The line of David would bring the Jewish Messiah into the world.
When Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman and others, he said, "I did not come for the rest of the world right now. I just came for the Jewish people."
Why would he say that? Because the Jewish people have to reject the Messiah. Their Messiah came to them and they rejected him. So his sacrifice now covers the whole earth, all of creation, forever.
Gentiles are now grafted in. Most of the New Testament is written by the apostle chosen to bring the message to the Gentiles. We are grafted in. "First for the Jew, then for the Gentile"—because salvation is of the Jews. It's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that we worship.
He has made a way for all of us. He's going to use that nation throughout all of history to display his majesty, his mercy, his magnificence.
The fact that the Jewish people are still a people after being dispersed around the globe for 2,000 years—and that they would be made a nation again in a day, and that they stayed together—is an absolute miracle. It points to God's power. It's mathematically impossible based on human standards.
When you understand that, you understand God had a purpose for all of this.
If you're going to jump on the bandwagon that the church replaced Israel as God's chosen people, you are in effect calling our God a liar. There's no way to reconcile it. He lied to the Jewish people? Then his promises aren't as good as the paper they're written on. You can't trust them. You can't trust him. Then you can make up a god of anything.
Once you get off track—usually because of your own selfishness and pride, because you're born a sinner—that leads to all these different things.
God says humble yourself, repent of your sins, pursue righteousness through his Son because he can give you the strength to pursue it. You can't get it on your own. His Son came, lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death after the Jews rejected him as their Messiah, rose again from the dead to give victory over death, hell, and the grave to all—Jew and Gentile—who would come to him.
(Sorry for the mini soapbox sermon there, but we need that.)
It's fired-up time when people are so dim-witted they don't understand the Scriptures. Not people who casually peruse this stuff—deep theological guys jumping on replacement theology. Who bewitched you, my friend?
Because if you look around today, we're seeing prophecy fulfilled around the state of Israel, around the Jewish people. If you read about prophecy not yet fulfilled, you see distinctions and things related specifically to the Jews. That's never going to change.
Read Romans 11 if you want to grasp this. Some of those Jews who heard Jesus speak followed him. They were the beginning of the church. We as Gentiles have been grafted in. That reality will never change.
Demonic Trend #2: Jesus Was a Social Justice Warrior
On the face of it, we can see this whole idea is very woke, very liberal, and very wrong. But it can show up in much more subtle ways that maybe we haven't totally extrapolated or thought through.
(Are we doing big words today? Are we going to juxtapose anything? People extrapolate.)
You'll hear this a couple different ways. One of the big ones: "Jesus came to change the world."
This could not be further from the truth.
Jesus did not come as some sort of revolutionary. He did not come to overthrow or tear down any governments. If Jesus came as a revolutionary and his goal was to make a really great life for everybody, he did a really bad job, didn't he?
After Jesus was crucified and risen and ascended—same people were in power. He didn't overthrow anything. And Jesus actually taught as much. He said give to Caesar what is Caesar's. Who cares? Pay your taxes. This life fades away.
The importance of joy and fellowship and laughter all comes from the saved believer reaching out with love to anyone who will hear, anyone who will participate. It doesn't come from trying to right wrongs.
Here's the phrase: Jesus didn't come to make bad little boys and girls good little boys and girls. He came to take dead people—dead in their sin—and give them life. That's much different.
He taught to be subject to the governing authorities. All the powers and authorities and thrones that are in place have been put there by him to be used by him to accomplish his will. As far as you are able, be subject to those governing authorities.
Jesus didn't come to change the world. He came to save us from the world. To rescue us from it.
Government Involvement
Should we be involved in government? Absolutely. Jesus spoke into the politics of the day and we're to do that too. When you read through the Bible, through history, God's people are involved in governments—some of them very bad, evil governments.
(I don't want to be involved in government at all. I'm looking for the verse that lets me off the hook. Get behind me, Satan.)
Here's the thing: the government of Jesus's day is very different than the United States government. We are government of the people, by the people, and for the people. If you want to relinquish all your influence and ability to have representatives speak for you, that's your choice. But you can't complain when bad stuff happens.
Twenty years of being beat down—a lot of it from being on the air, watching the Obama administration pull the wool over so many people's eyes and then they defend it. Right now the Democrats don't have any moral compass. All they do is parrot whatever they're told. Why aren't they condemning Tim Walz? He's just going to be moved out of the way and they won't talk about it. Why are the Republicans so weak-wristed they can't arrest anybody?
But here's what matters: no more sweat equity to politics. Go all in on the Scriptures. All in on the joy of salvation in the Lord. Share the gospel any way possible.
But because of conviction—yeah, still going to vote.
There's really good commentators who can get into that political space. That's their lane. Moderating senator and governor debates—been there. That's why there's no desire to go back. Let other people do that.
The lane here is this: when we start talking about demonic stuff coming into the church, people are spinning Jesus into this guy who wanted to change all these things—whether on the right or the left—and none of it's true.
God's Sovereignty Over Nations
Here's something important to remember: when people sit in the White House who we as Christians would prefer were not there, we know—because of God's sovereignty—that didn't happen without God. God is using that. God has allowed that. God has raised up that king or nation for a certain purpose.
We know he's sovereign and it's okay. It's well with us. Things might get rough, but we know those governing authorities are established by God for his will.
And whose kingdom has no end? There's only one: Jesus's. Even if we have a really great nation for a while, nations rise, nations fall. They are not eternal. They are not forever. It's okay. Just do what God has called you to do, because Jesus's kingdom is the only one lasting forever.
The Good Samaritan Manipulation
What really grates—like grates the cheese, earns the ditches—is when they take the Good Samaritan story out of context. There's a whole sermon on that somewhere on Salvaged by God.
The class warfare. The redistribution of wealth. They're using Jesus's stuff and yet they ignore the thing where he says "the poor will always be among you." They just take stuff out of context.
They want to paint him as a refugee. They also try to paint him as homeless—like he didn't have anything. So therefore it's okay if you don't have anything and we all come together and take from each other and make a socialist society.
The "Homeless Jesus" Myth
People say Jesus was homeless just because there's a Scripture where he said he didn't have anywhere to lay his head one time while traveling during ministry.
They try to use Jesus as an example for wealth redistribution. They put people into class warfare. When you see class warfare, you know bad things are going on and they're just using Jesus as a social warrior. They pit the rich against the poor, almost making the poor people the good people and the rich people the bad people.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
They pick and choose verses—like Jesus saying foxes have holes and birds have nests but the Son of God has nowhere to lay his head. That doesn't mean he was homeless.
We read in the Gospels—in Mark and Matthew—that Jesus went to Capernaum and the next day it was learned he was at his home. That was his home. He had a home. It's in the Bible.
Jesus wasn't poor. He wasn't wealthy—he really wasn't about earthly things. But even when he died, they cast lots for his garment because it was a very expensive garment. He wasn't a poor guy, but he wasn't a rich guy.
Contentment with godliness is great gain.
The references: Matthew 4:13 and Mark 2:1. He was dependent on the generosity of others, like missionaries today. But he was not homeless.
Look at missionaries today. Some might be in wealthy countries living above average American standards. Some could be in places like Kolkata where their living conditions are basically abject poverty. However, they're not homeless. They've got churches and the generosity of others sending them out to do ministry.
That's what Jesus was as well. He relied on other people for different things as he walked about proclaiming he was God—out and about, because that's what you had to do if you wanted to tell people stuff back then. No different today, really.
Jesus wasn't wealthy or we would have been told. He didn't live in abject poverty or we would have been told. Don't misuse those verses to make poor people good and rich people bad—or the other way, where poor people are poor because they're evil and rich people have been blessed by God.
Not true.
Demonic Trend #3: Jesus Wants Us All Healthy and Wealthy
Does he though?
This is a hard one. There's some hard verses and we just have to wrap our brain around who God is.
In 2025, the phrase for the whole year was "contentment with godliness is great gain." Part of that goes against this healthy and wealthy thing permeating all different walks of life for the last 20 years.
(Want to hear the phrase for 2026? It's kind of an Archie Bunker line, Christianized: "Repent, losers.")
There's nothing wrong with being healthy. Nothing wrong with being wealthy. Nothing wrong with asking God to heal. Nothing wrong with asking God to bless your efforts to create wealth for you.
What's wrong is thinking that's God's will for everybody all the time. It is not.
"Everything Jesus Is, We Are Too"
One way this shows up: people preach or teach that everything Jesus is and was, we are too.
No, you're not.
Jesus was God. We're not God.
Think of this in terms of your earthly father. You benefit from who your dad is and what he does. However, not everything that is his is yours. He gets to decide what you get. You don't get everything.
Your dad drives a car. That doesn't mean when you're eight, you get to drive a car too. Even when you're older—you learn to drive, but that doesn't necessarily mean you get a car. Your dad has a car, but he gets to decide whether you get one, whether you buy it yourself, or whether he buys it for you. He decides because he's the father.
Same with Jesus. "I and the Father are one." We are not God. We are not divine. We are not everything Jesus is.
When you hear that phrase, run for your life.
The Faith-Healing Deception
What about health? What about being sick?
Being sick is part of the fallen world. We all know that.
But there's false teachers out there with big followings. Some of them have love in their heart—they're good people who think if they just have enough faith, they'll get healed. Without enough faith, they won't.
"By faith we are healed"—but they're taking it out of context.
A lot of faithful people get sick and die. If they don't have enough faith, nobody does. If you had enough faith, you'd live to be 550 years old. You wouldn't die. You wouldn't even need glasses.
Many of these promises God makes through Scripture are for eternity—for our whole life, not just our earthly 70 years, or if by strength says the psalmist, 80. And not necessarily for us. People read through the Bible and think everything written there is being said to them. It's not.
People who want to say God's will is always for you to be healed—take them to the verse where Jesus tells people, "I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me water." There's a part where he says, "I was sick and you..."
Laid hands on me? No.
Healed me? No.
"I was sick and you visited me." That's what it says.
Right there is an indication Jesus is assuming there's going to be sickness. Being sick or healthy isn't a moral thing.
Jeremiah 33:6 in Context
Another verse people try to use:
"Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security."
Pretty straightforward. Healthy and wealthy.
You could take that verse and say, "Well, that's for me."
But it's not.
Look earlier in the chapter. God says exactly who he's talking to: the cities of Judea that he's going to restore. That verse is not for you. That verse is for those people at that time in that place.
Context. Context. Context. That is so important.
All these mentions of prosperity and health—you need to look at the context. What's going on? Who is he talking to? He's usually very concise about those things.
How to Actually Apply These Verses
How do you apply that verse to your life? Not "what does this verse mean to me"—how do you actually apply it?
You look at it and say, "God is saying this to the people of Judea. That same God who said that to them—I'm going to ask him to say that to me. Lord, I'm asking for health. I'm asking for wealth. I'm asking for prosperity so I can serve you. And yet, not my will be done, but your will, Lord."
That's the key caveat for the authentic Christian. Not the fakers. Not the people who are deceived—and there's many out there, might even be you listening. So take heed.
Contentment with godliness is great gain.
If diagnosed with stage four something or another working its way up—praise God. Don't want it. Pray against it. Have the church family pray hard against it. (By the way, no diagnosis here. Don't read into this.) But don't demand and expect that if there's enough faith, Jesus will heal.
Have faith that he's going to heal. But where does that faith lie? That faith lies in knowing: I am healed and redeemed and restored. That's the greatest miracle in all of human history—that a dead sinner can be revived into righteousness.
If death comes—whether by disease, car accident, brain aneurysm (had such a bad headache yesterday, thought maybe this is it, brain aneurysm day)—that's the great promotion. That's the great healing.
(You were not lucky enough.)
Wealth and health on the other side. Contentment with godliness on this side is great gain. The God who said that to them—ask him in humility to say that to you. And if he chooses not to, praise him.
The "If Not" Clause
Daniel chapter 3. The three Hebrew children about to be thrown into the fire. They said, "Our God can save us, but if not, we're still going to serve him."
Live that way with your health and wealth, and you'll find joy and peace that far surpasses somehow a large dump of money getting into your bank account or getting healed of stage four something or another.
The contentment with godliness and the "if not" clause is better than all of that.
You don't get to claim that stuff. You don't get to say, "God, do this. My faith is strong enough to make you do that."
If your faith is strong enough to make God do something, who's really God?
"By His Stripes We Are Healed"—The Real Meaning
One verse false teachers love: 1 Peter 2:24—"By his stripes we are healed."
Who are "they"? The demons? Really it's demons using false teachers—trying to give people a false sense of hope because it lines their pockets.
When you read that Scripture about being healed by the stripes of the Savior, what's the context?
It's taken from Isaiah 53:5:
"But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed."
"Iniquity" in Hebrew means to bend, twist, distort. What are they bending and twisting and distorting? Not their bodies. They're bending and twisting God's word. The law. That's what they're perverting.
And they echo it in 1 Peter 2:24.
Now read the entire chapter of 1 Peter 2. Context. Context. Context.
- Zero mention of physical health
- One hundred percent written about sin
Why use "healed" in contrast to the scourging and beating Jesus took? He took that so we don't have to. By his great sacrifice, we are healed. We are made whole.
It's a contrast. It's beautiful. It's powerful.
But it doesn't mean you're not going to get sick or injured or have some disease or die or have to have glasses or need an inhaler. It doesn't mean any of those things.
1 Peter 2:1-2 gives the foundation:
"Wherefore laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speakings"—that's sin, not physical ailments—"as newborn babies, desire the sincere milk of the word"—again, what are we twisting, bending, perverting? The word—"that you may grow thereby."
Very simple.
But you cannot take one verse here, one verse there, and create an entire doctrine. That's called eisegesis—not looking at God's word for what God has to say, but looking at God's word for what you can get.
It's heartbreaking when people who want to live for Jesus get sucked into these demonic lies.
Christ is the cornerstone. Verse 24 contrasts Christ laying down and sacrificing his own body for our sin. The whole Bible is harmonious in this. The lamb—we just celebrated Christmas—the lamb that comes to take away the sins of the world. In Revelation, I think it's chapter four or five, they looked all over—all of creation from the foundation to the end of the age—and only one lamb was found worthy: Christ. For our sins.
By his stripes we are healed of our sins.
This is not about our earthly bodies. This is about our eternal souls.
The Stone Cold Truth
That's the Bible in context. You can believe whatever you want, proclaim whatever you want, take Scripture out of context—but what was just laid out cannot be disputed by the word of God. The word of God is on this side.
Unapologetically. No apology. Because we want you to see the stone cold truth. We want you to come out of the deception you're living in if you believe God always wants you healthy and wealthy.
Why say that? Because we've met personally so many people who've been so disillusioned by Christianity itself because they were told that lie. They believed it. They wanted to hang on to it. It didn't work out, and they ended up throwing Christianity out altogether.
Or worse—not Christianity. Many of them throw authentic Christianity away and hold on to a false conversion and a false Christ. They're really cruising for a bruising on judgment day. They're headed toward a Matthew 7 kind of existence.
Demonic Trend #4: All Good Is From God, All Bad Is From Satan
"The devil made me do it."
That is not a biblical statement. All good is not from God. All bad is not from Satan.
We're going to read through the Bible and see places where God really does send some bad stuff:
- 1 Samuel 16: God sends an evil spirit to Saul. Saul was disobedient, and God sends an evil spirit. That's not a good thing.
- Exodus 12: God sends the angel of death. Put blood over your doorpost, you'll be spared. If not, he would take the children of some of the evil rulers. That's not a good thing.
- The plagues of Egypt: That had to be fun, right? Frogs and grasshoppers and death of the firstborn. Devastating. Terrible. But God sent them.
- Revelation: God's going to send something in the last days. He's going to send a great delusion. We're seeing it now.
The Apostle Paul talks in 2 Thessalonians about "the lie." They'll believe the lie. Is the lie from Satan? Satan's perpetuating the lie, but God's allowing it. God is behind it for his purposes.
People don't understand the purposes of God. They've created a God that doesn't exist—a God of their own making for their own desires.
What breaks the heart is people who've been in this deception for years. They double down because they don't want to admit they're wrong. They don't want to look at it and say, "Wow, the Bible never did say that. It never did mean that. I've been deluded for 30 years. I need to repent and come back to the authentic Savior."
Because that's what it really is.
Consider My Servant Job
These are not easy stories or passages to deal with because we want to think "God is love." It does say that. But love is not God. We got to remember that.
Hard passages. But Job can give us some insight.
You can disprove "all good from God, all bad from Satan" in four words: Consider my servant Job.
God worked it out for good, for his glory. But poor Job had to suffer more than any other person ever read about.
And we always say, "Well, God restored it all." Yeah. But that doesn't—still rough.
Look at the disasters around the world. Hurricanes. Tsunamis. Fires. Do you think God has no control over that stuff? Is that what you think God is?
No. God controls and holds all things together. He uses all things to demonstrate his power and accomplish his will.
This is God's sovereignty. This is God's perfect judgment in every situation.
Thankfully, for God's people, these horrific things were not less horrific—but God brought them through it. In his sovereignty and mercy, he will bring us through things he sends.
"I'm going to send this great delusion, but I'm going to protect you from getting the delusion." That doesn't mean you won't be murdered, harassed, hurt, or harmed from people with the delusion. But it doesn't matter because you know God is good even in that sovereign decision.
Not everything bad comes from Satan. God is in control of all.
Romans 8:28 in Context
How do you claim Romans 8:28 over your life then?
"All things work out for good for those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ."
That means God's sovereignty. Contentment with godliness is great gain.
You're immortal. You'll live in this flesh body forever until that moment God has predetermined you're going to be called home—then nothing's going to save you.
We've got a clock counting down. Everybody was given so many days at birth. Might only have two days left. Might have 2,000 days left. That's why we live with purpose.
The sold-out believer will go through hardship. The Bible says they'll also have joy unspeakable at the same time.
If you're trusting in the Lord—this is key—if you're trusting in the Lord, he will make your path straight. Whatever you're going through is going to be there to give him glory, for his purpose, for your eventual good—whatever that might be on this side or the other side.
Too many people try to twist everything into "my life right now." That's not what the Bible is teaching us.
Don't base everything on feelings. Just because it doesn't feel good doesn't mean it isn't good.
The Bible tells us not to get frustrated, not to be anxious because you see the wicked prospering. Our tendency is to look at someone who's very bad yet seems to have everything in life, seems to escape judgment almost. God says don't worry about it. He's going to make it all right. Worry about your heart and where your head is. Don't be frustrated when things feel unfair or unjust.
God's in control of all of it.
Always err on the side of gratitude. Johnny Erickson Tada in the movie "Bible Idiot" made the statement: be thankful in all circumstances. Didn't say be thankful about all circumstances—but in all circumstances, you can still be thankful.
If that's the gas in your engine, you've got a good life to live for the Lord.
Demonic Trend #5: Religion Is Bad
Nowhere in the Bible does God say religion is wrong. There's good religion and there's bad religion. The point is good religion.
You'll hear: "It's not about religion, it's about a relationship. It's about a relationship. Asking Jesus in your heart."
Here's the problem with that statement:
- Everybody has a religion
- Everybody has a relationship with God because he made you
Three Definitions of Religion
Oxford Dictionary:
"A belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers, especially God with a big G or gods with a little g."
Would God really hate that? If you're talking about the God with the big G—a belief in and worshiping him because he's so much more powerful than us—would he hate that? No. That's not a bad thing.
Second definition:
"A range of social-cultural systems including designated behaviors and practices, ethics, morals, beliefs, worldviews."
That's a good one. That's not bad. There are bad religions—you go into cultures where they're doing some horrific things. But the category itself isn't bad.
What God says religion is—James 1:26-27:
"Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James gives no wiggle room. That's not a bad thing. That religion is worth following.
It's not that religion itself is good or bad. There are good religions and bad religions. Which one are you following is the question.
The Church Hurt Movement
One thing in modern culture that really bugs: people take a little bit of truth and exaggerate it into their feelings.
The whole church hurt movement. "The church hurt me with their religiosity and their judgmentalness."
Sometimes the truth was preached. Sometimes you actually opened your Bible, read it, and went, "Wow, that doesn't sit well with me because I'm not living right."
There are times when a church will abuse its authority in a religiosity way, and that can cause hurt. That's not denied.
But to make it out that all religion is bad because of church hurt that didn't go along with your feelings? It's a mockery. A deception. A manipulation. A delusion.
If you're in an authentic Bible-believing church, you're going to hear things you don't want to hear. But it's for your benefit.
Instead of "church hurt," it should be "church heals."
When you come to know Jesus, your whole being gets healed from sin. It doesn't all take place on this side—it's a growth process. Once you're justified in Jesus, you start the sanctification process. Sanctification has two meanings: to pursue holiness and to be set apart. You are set apart to pursue holiness.
Not set apart to justify yourself in your sins. Not set apart to sit around in a little group in a church basement talking about church hurt.
That's just ridiculous.
When to Actually Leave a Church
Now, there are churches doing things and teaching things and saying things that are genuinely hurting people. At that point, go back to the word. Does that church fall in line with what God says good, pure, faultless religion is? No? Then leave that church. Absolutely. If there's any abuse going on, any cover-ups—that tells you you're in a bad church. You're in a bad religion.
But the church hurt movement is different. It's a movement to get people to shut up about the truth and quit convicting people of sin because that's hurtful to feelings.
That's what we're speaking out against. It's a joke.
And on the flip side—if you're looking for a church where you're never going to have your feelings hurt, never encounter anything negative? Then church is not the place for you. Because it's a group of sinners who get together, realize they're sinners, and have grace for one another.
That's the dichotomy. When the Bible talks about religion, it's not saying religion is bad. It's saying there is bad religion, false religion, fake religion—but there is a genuine one as well.
What Kind of Relationship?
The second thing about "it's about a relationship"—we all have a relationship with God because he's our creator. That automatically gives us relationship to him.
The question is: what kind of relationship are we talking about?
When it's not religion, it's about a relationship? That's where you have the counterfeit and the authentic. You need to be able to pick which one is real.
You can say you have a relationship with Jesus. You can have all these flowery, fuzzy, warm feelings toward this Jesus person. But that doesn't make you a Christian.
What kind of relationship do you have with God? There's all kinds:
- Good relationships
- Bad relationships
- Severed relationships
- Strained relationships
- Estranged relationships
- Superficial relationships
- Genuine relationships
It runs the gamut.
Is it a nonexistent relationship? That's still a relationship, because he's still your heavenly Father whether you want to recognize it or not.
It's not about relationship. Take it a step further: it's about a reconciled relationship.
Are you in a right relationship with God? Because you're in a relationship with him right now—whether you love him or not, whether you believe him or not. Doesn't matter. You're in a relationship with him right now because he sees you. He knows you. He created you.
What a Reconciled Relationship Looks Like
Going back to Scripture, God's description of a reconciled relationship has four characteristics:
1. It's Active It's ongoing. It's not a one-and-done. There's no touchdown. There's no goal line. You just get first downs.
2. It's Unselfish It's not all about you anymore when it's authentic. That's what we really want it to be—we want to look out for number one. "I want to get into heaven when I face Jesus." No. You realize you're part of a bigger collective—the bride of Christ. And you're lucky to be there because of what Jesus did, because he sought you. You've been grafted in.
3. It's Disciplined You have this sense of obligation to be somewhat disciplined in your life. It's not "I quit XYZ sin." It's "now I don't want to do XYZ sin anymore." When you have the desire to do XYZ sin, there's conviction of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes authentic Christians stumble. But who stumbles the most? Counterfeit, false converted Christians.
(We're going to be in Luke 8 this Sunday. Going to talk about the scattering of the seed. What is the seed?)
4. Controlled by God Himself
That's the reconciled relationship with God.
When we go back to that Scripture about what is pure and faultless religion—to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world—you can't look at that and go, "I just have to do those two things." That's not what he's saying.
When you take those two things, he's describing the reconciled relationship. He's describing pure religion as being active, unselfish, disciplined, and controlled by God himself.
Final Thoughts
That's the first five of ten demonic influences making their way into the church. Into the fellowships. Into people's lives.
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Fresh Road Media hosts both the teaching platform Salvaged by God as well as No Apology with Emilee. We're just trying to share the gospel the best we can, how we can. We're going to make 2026 a year where, without apology, we talk about what the Bible actually says.
This is hard cheese for a lot of Christians.
Somebody asked: "Who is your target audience?" No real target audience. Just want to share the good news.
But if it had to be narrowed down, it would be this: people who are in the church who have a form of Christianity but are stone cold lost.
That's where the deconstructionists come from. They come from people who hear the word with joy at first—or they get choked out by the world's thorns and thistles. (Notice how that was said without a lisp. Twenty years in broadcasting with an inherent lisp. "Thorns and thistles" should never have been possible. You should see the VBS participation with the children. It's hilarious.)
Fresh Road Media creates good ground content. No pretense. No pandering. That's just what it is.
We don't pander. That should be the subtitle: "No Apology with Emilee and Chris: We Don't Pander."
(Threw my back out pandering once. Can't pander no more.)
There's a message coming together right now for Sunday, January 11th—the Salvaged by God message will be up before dinner time. That's the word. Sometimes as early as 1:00, but definitely before dinner. Got stuff to do.
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