FAKE NEWS, MR. ROGERS, AND ITCHING EARS

My hubs and I don’t have cable, nor do we subscribe to a newspaper.  We get our news from a limited regular-tv supply, not to mention the invaluable social media daily tsunami.  Most of this is ignored, and rightly so, because we’ve become aware recently of something hilariously labeled as “fake news.”  Apparently, somebody out there achieves great self-glory by spreading false information in such a way that people actually believe it to be true.  The icky fake people must be in a constant state of helpless giggling as they consider the potential gullibility of total strangers, passing on this creative “journalism” as truth, thereby causing their victims to not care about actual true truth at all.  Therefore, I took it upon myself to discover that one “ground-zero” person who is at the bottom of all this.  And now, after months of excrutiatingly thorough work, there will be a one-hour t.v. spectacular where I’ll share with you who’s responsible.  But you don’t want to wait that long, so here ya go --

It’s Mr. Rogers!  You thought he was deceased, didn’t you?  Nooooo, he’s still alive, skulking in back-room tobacco shops, wearing camouflage overalls, scribbling incendiary fake political commentaries, endorsed by the Russians who pay him in chocolate cigarettes and vodka, and …

Wow, this is really fun, I see why people do it.  I sit here grinning to myself that gullible people will be reading this on social media, commenting with shock-face emojis, and sharing it with all their friends.  What a power surge!

Ok, enough of that.  Because right now, I’m thinking of the whole fake news issue from a different angle, and it’s giving me wheezes.

Just as there are sneaky people with questionable motives spreading false information to the undiscerning public, there are also people passing themselves off as biblically literate preachers and teachers, taking advantage of many gullible itching-ear people who actually prefer this fake news instead of the Good News, the true gospel.  And why would these fake teachers want to do this?  Because of the one self-glorifying individual behind it all, and it’s not Mr. Rogers.  It is the ground-zero “father of lies” (John 8:44).  He’s the one who, from the beginning, purred, “Indeed, has God said …?” (Genesis 3:1).

Fake news/gospel says:  “God is love (and nothing else depressing), and He loves everybody because you’re all so sweet and adorable.  You’re definitely going to heaven, whatever that is, because you’re so good.  And the more money you give and the more niceness you show to others, the more you’ve earned your place in heaven.  Jesus is one road, AND so are Buddha, Mary, and reincarnation!  It all works out in the end, so don’t worry, be happy!”

Good news/gospel says:  “God is love (and holiness and everything else awe-inspiring).  And He says that no one is good, no not one.  We are all disgustingly dead in our sins.  The one true God arranged for our salvation by faith alone, through His grace alone, NOT our own good works.  The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Way and the only Truth, and only He accomplished our salvation on the Cross, reconciling us to God.  And only by genuine on-our-knees repentance before God, do we receive forgiveness for our sins, and freedom from our sins.  It’s a narrow road.  Only those who come to Christ, and know Him personally, will see Him as He is, to live with Him eternally.  We’re justified, sanctified, and glorified.  Buddha, Mary, and reincarnation are hopelessly inept and incapable.  If you depend on them, you have much to worry about.”

My God and my Savior, how I thank You for Your true words in Scripture, and through the Holy Spirit, giving me discernment, and the desire to exercise that discernment, keeping me from being a woman of itching ears.  I don’t want to believe things that only make me feel good about myself and ignorant of eternity.  I want to treasure in my heart Your words that convict, encourage, comfort, and keep me hand-in-hand with You through eternity.  I praise You according to Your excellent greatness (Psalm 150:2).

WHO CAN KNOW?

 

If there’s one thing that I definitely know about life, it’s that there are many things I don’t know, such as, where I put my glasses or cellphone that I just had a minute ago. I don’t know how to do taxes. I don’t know why my computer freaks out. I don’t know why cats are sometimes insane. And I’ll never know why my husband thinks that bacon-wrapped brussel sprouts are tasty, when everybody knows that chocolate-wrapped fruit is heaven sent.

And speaking of heaven ... because my earthly life is stuffed to the brim with mostly mundane daily trivia, and occasional life-altering surprises, the older I get, the more I’m inclined to be eagerly looking up. And at the same time, I feel very sad that hoards of people don’t know, don’t want to believe, what happens after they die. Simply put, they don’t want to know or believe God, who He is, and His promises (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

I myself used to have a shaky belief in a generic “god” out there, but he (or she or it) must certainly be apathetic about earthlings. I sorta knew that Jesus existed, that He was a good guy. But I didn’t spend any time in the Bible, because I preferred to read anything other than Scripture. Mostly, I believed in reincarnation, that I alone decided the course of my own life (and future lives). And I was pretty sure that everything somehow all worked out in the end and every single person would live in a paradise of his/her own making. I knew the Bible said that Jesus had resurrected, but somehow it was easier to believe in self-reincarnation than God-ordained resurrection. I sneered much.

Then one day, in His perfect timing, my God saved me. And I know why. Because He loved me first (1 John 4:19). He turned my twisted self-oriented thinking into straightforward faith in Him. He humbled me and caused me to see my sinful nature that rebelled against His perfect holiness, caused me to confess and repent of sin, caused me to crave His Word alone, and caused me to know Who His Son really is. He gave me an anchor-solid understanding that Jesus wasn’t just a nice fella who was born, did nice things, died an un-nice death, and maybe resurrected.

I also began to see myself in Scripture, that I had been like the “religious” people who “sneered” when hearing of the resurrection (Acts 17:22, 32). I had been like the disciple Thomas who refused to believe what he hadn’t yet seen (John 20:27-30).

In my suddenly pervasive reading of Scripture, it became clear that the Lord Jesus spoke of resurrection often. And not just His own resurrection, but His promise to raise up every believer (John 5:28-9). He wanted me to know, without any doubt, that I could trust His promises because I could trust Him. My soul soared to read His words, “I go to prepare a place for you, ... I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). He has promised that I will be caught up together with other believers in the clouds to meet Him in the air, “and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). What comforting words!

Knowing a few facts about Jesus in my head just wasn’t enough. I had to believe, to know in my heart that He is the only Way to heaven, He is the only truth, and He is the eternal Life (John 14:6). I will be resurrected, in God’s perfect time (John 6:40, 47; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 44, 49), to live with Him eternally.

I’m not to trust or believe in my own allegedly wise eyes, “but in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9). Jesus said, “He who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

My God, I know that You keep Your promises and You do not lie. My Jesus, You and the Father are one. I can, and I do, believe Your promises to me. This Easter, I fall on my knees and thank You, that You died on my behalf to reconcile me to my God. And I celebrate Your resurrection, oh-so eagerly looking forward to The Day when all in Your church will be with You eternally, to the glory of God.

I believe all of this, and I know there is no ? to eternity.