Don't Believe The Lies!

[Christsfreeservant]

“How long will you assail a man,​

That you may murder him, all of you,​

Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?​

They have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position;​

They delight in falsehood;​

They bless with their mouth,​

But inwardly they curse. Selah.​

​

My soul, wait in silence for God only,​

For my hope is from Him.​

He only is my rock and my salvation,​

My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.​

On God my salvation and my glory rest;​

The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.​

Trust in Him at all times, O people;​

Pour out your heart before Him;​

God is a refuge for us. Selah.” (Psalm 62:3-8 NASB1995)​

Who are the enemies of those of us who have put our hope, faith, and trust in Jesus Christ to be our Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior (deliverer from sin)? Well, our main enemy is Satan (the devil) and his demons. But we also have human opposition from others who disagree with us or who despise us because of who we are and what we do or what we speak. Some (or most) of our opposition may come from others who profess faith in Jesus Christ, who do not believe what we do, or it may come from the world at large.

We live in a day and age, at least here in the USA, we do, where the gospel of our salvation has been so altered and diluted that it barely resembles the gospel taught by Jesus Christ and by his New Testament apostles, taught in the correct biblical context. So many have now turned faith in Jesus Christ into lip service only, with no requirements for dying to sin and obeying God, in practice. Or if they teach biblical repentance (a change of mind and heart and behavior) and obedience, many are making these optional, not required.

So, if you are a genuine follower of Jesus Christ whose life is surrendered to the Lord, to doing his will and purpose for your life, you may be assailed (attacked, reviled, berated) for your testimony for Jesus Christ and for his gospel message. Some of you may even face death because of your faith, and because you express your faith openly. Or you may face death threats because of your stand on the truth of God’s Word, and because you will not bow to human pressure to believe the lies of the enemy of our souls.

And all this is an absolute reality in our day and time because so many people are opposed to Jesus Christ and to his gospel message, even among the many who give verbal confessions of faith in the Lord Jesus.

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

But this is not what is being taught as the gospel message here in the USA by the majority. Some people, like Max Lucado, for example, have diluted the gospel message to a mere acknowledgement of Jesus Christ and who he was/is, and to what he did on that cross (in part, but not in whole). And he promises you salvation from sin and eternal life with God guaranteed, regardless of how you live. He sees salvation as “insurance” to cover him and his many sins, with no requirements for death to sin and obeying God.

Max Lucado Insurance Letter:

Cancelled Insurance?

If you read Max Lucado’s insurance letter, please do so prayerfully and with much biblical insight into what he is really saying. For the way he words this may sound good, and it may sound right, but it is not biblical, even though he uses some Scriptures (mostly out of context) to try to prove his theology. Will Jesus forgive us our sins if we ask him? He will if we repent (a change in heart and mind, resulting in a change of behavior), if we die to sin, and if we now obey God and his commands, in practice, by his grace, in his power.

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

And we learn in 1 John 1-3 that if we claim that we have fellowship with God, but yet we walk in darkness (sin), we are liars. If we claim that we know God, but we do not obey his commandments, in practice, we are liars. For it is not the one who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in Christ,” but it is the one who has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven.

Regardless of what Max Lucado and others teach about our salvation, please make sure you are believing what Jesus and his apostles taught in the New Testament, when taught in the full and correct biblical context. For many liars exist who are teaching a false gospel and a false hope of salvation which does not guarantee you salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For if sin is what you still practice, and not obedience to God, you are not in relationship with Jesus Christ, and you will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

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Don’t Believe The Lies!
An Original Work / October 11, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

No one can stop us from feeding the hungry, giving drink to the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the suck, etc. The practical actions demonstrating faith and obeying his instructions are all on us. No obstacles.

 

[bèlla]

They’re careless drivers and the company has a right to drop them. Which will probably result in a higher rate and that bothers him. Spiritualizing the experience doesn’t change the fact they were wrong. Penning the piece only made it worse. It’s a failed attempt to justify their mistakes

~bella

 

[Christsfreeservant]

They’re careless drivers and the company has a right to drop them. Which will probably result in a higher rate and that bothers him. Spiritualizing the experience doesn’t change the fact they were wrong. Penning the piece only made it worse. It’s a failed attempt to justify their mistakes

~bella

Yes, but not just that. He is a very popular preacher and writer of books and devotions, and he has thousands or millions of people who believe what he tells them. So he is perhaps leading millions of people to believe they can have faith which saves but which requires no obedience to God and no turning away from sin, and so he is sending them to hell based on a lie. And that is serious.

 

[bèlla]

Yes, but not just that. He is a very popular preacher and writer of books and devotions, and he has thousands or millions of people who believe what he tells them. So he is perhaps leading millions of people to believe they can have faith which saves but which requires no obedience to God and no turning away from sin, and so he is sending them to hell based on a lie. And that is serious.

I know who he is but never delved into his teachings. My time at Moody taught me a lot about the influence many have over believers and they’ll take their words as gospel. I remember a session in Precepts when we’re sharing our feedback on the lesson and one of the women in the class kept quoting John MacArthur. Every reference she had came from him and she wasn’t the only one. There was a deaconess seated near me who was bothered. I saw her expression and she said they treat him like a God and I agreed. Half the class were quoting him.

The point was driven home during a service. I was sitting with my prayer partner and the deaconesses and the pastor’s wife was in front of us. My prayer partner looked at our pastor and said he’s a fine man. I told her be quiet. You don’t know what he’s like behind closed doors. And said jokingly, he’s getting on her nerves just like yours is. His turned around and laughed and nodded and said yes.

They put them on pedestals but they’re not infallible. Believers are seduced by their public face but I’m not. My parents used to drive that home growing up to prevent us from being too trusting and believing what we see. They were never starstruck about ministers of any stripe and weren’t afraid to express their concerns. That wasn’t common back then.

That experience was impactful and I stopped listening to Moidy radio afterwards. I felt there were too many voices and that would make it difficult to find the leaven. Several years passed before I listened to anyone. And I only choose one to gauge my spirit‘s response. You’ll miss a lot when there’s too many. At this point I’m leery of the majority. But there’s one I like whose message is kingdom centered. Everything he says goes back to that and he addresses sin as well.

Max Lucado has always struck me as a ”feel good.” When I look at the covers on his books I think of Debbie Macomber. I don’t expect to be challenged. I could be wrong but I doubt it. Resources are nice but it isn’t the word and if you don’t understand the source you can’t discern the other.

~bella

 

[Christsfreeservant]

I know who he is but never delved into his teachings. My time at Moody taught me a lot about the influence many have over believers and they’ll take their words as gospel. I remember a session in Precepts when we’re sharing our feedback on the lesson and one of the women in the class kept quoting John MacArthur. Every reference she had came from him and she wasn’t the only one. There was a deaconess seated near me who was bothered. I saw her expression and she said they treat him like a God and I agreed. Half the class were quoting him.

The point was driven home during a service. I was sitting with my prayer partner and the deaconesses and the pastor’s wife was in front of us. My prayer partner looked at our pastor and said he’s a fine man. I told her be quiet. You don’t know what he’s like behind closed doors. And said jokingly, he’s getting on her nerves just like yours is. His turned around and laughed and nodded and said yes.

They put them on pedestals but they’re not infallible. Believers are seduced by their public face but I’m not. My parents used to drive that home growing up to prevent us from being too trusting and believing what we see. They were never starstruck about ministers of any stripe and weren’t afraid to express their concerns. That wasn’t common back then.

That experience was impactful and I stopped listening to Moidy radio afterwards. I felt there were too many voices and that would make it difficult to find the leaven. Several years passed before I listened to anyone. And I only choose one to gauge my spirit‘s response. You’ll miss a lot when there’s too many. At this point I’m leery of the majority. But there’s one I like whose message is kingdom centered. Everything he says goes back to that and he addresses sin as well.

Max Lucado has always struck me as a ”feel good.” When I look at the covers on his books I think of Debbie Macomber. I don’t expect to be challenged. I could be wrong but I doubt it. Resources are nice but it isn’t the word and if you don’t understand the source you can’t discern the other.

~bella

Bella, thank you for sharing all of that. Yes, we need to not put our trust in other human beings, and we should not treat anyone like they are a god to be worshipped, and that includes politicians and preachers. And we should test everything we hear or read against the Scriptures taught in their correct biblical context. And sadly there are many wolves in sheep's clothing among us who are leading people astray by the thousands or millions. Yes, Max Lucado is a "feel good" preacher, but one of the most deceitful of them all in the things he teaches which are so antibiblical. And I am not saying that he never teaches anything truthful, but that his teachings have many false narratives among them. Sue