Not so many years ago, almost all little girls enjoyed playing dolls.  It was amazing how realistic some of them looked!  With the boys, the thrills didn’t come with frills; It was war, and army men were expendable!  Today, child’s play happens on the little screen, with animated characters who are programmed to promote sensual fashion or heroic gore.

  Adults are no different.  Millions of dollars are invested each year and hundreds of millions of hours are spent thumbing a cell phone or controller to advance from screen to screen in a supernatural world of make believe. 

  As harmless as it may seem, our let’s pretend mentality is detrimental to our spiritual lives.  The prophet Isaiah penned a timeless warning when he expressed God’s displeasure in play religion.  God said,“Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. (Isaiah 1:13).”

  Our own repetitious prayers before indulging in a delicious meal, reading our Bible only to boast of finishing in a year, fasting to lose a few pounds rather than for fervent fellowship with God, are all a version of let’s pretend that is an abomination to God.  When we hold office in a church only for the prestige, or attend church only to prevent others from thinking less of us, or present our offerings to earn the praise of man, God is sickened.  The sin of pretend christianity destroys divine fellowship!

  Thankfully Isaiah also provides a remedy.  He writes, “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:16-17).”  Confessing and forsaking our sin is paramount in maintaining fellowship with the Almighty.  With our Lord’s forgiveness and a new beginning, you can have victory over let’s pretend in your relationship with God.

  Quite often I hear someone say, “I don’t watch the news any more; it only depresses me.”  Truth is, nobody watches real news anymore because what the world calls news these days has morphed into, at best, a politically motivated commentary on the news.  Those who still indulge, simply connect with the news darlings that make them feel good about their own perspective of our ever evolving geo-political environment.  Watching or reading most news media is like attending a pep rally for the mob.

  Perhaps it is this same disdain for anything contrary to what we think or feel that has caused many to despise the church.  To save face and fill the pews (and the coffers) many churches have become the venue for religious pep rallies that make every effort to “scratch where it itches.” Those who have become disheartened with “religion,” either don’t attend, or attend where they are encouraged to feel good about themselves and the contorted philosophies that they have chosen to live by.  Again, like a personal pep rally that makes me feel good about who I am and what I choose to do.

  Let’s imagine being able to make both the news media and churches, places where only unbiased truth is reported without the spin.  There would be good news to cheer the heart, and happy events that cause us to feel good about the prospects of our future and that of our children.  There would also be the clear presentation of unbiased facts pertaining to what is wrong in the world.  We would be made aware of what is required of us to reverse the trends that lead to destruction and effectively clean up our act.  The truth encompasses both the positive and the negative, the happy and the sad, the encouraging and the challenging realities of life on earth.

  God never intended for His church to dispense the truth with a spin.  He desires for us to know the untainted truth, which sometimes serves as a rebuke and at other times encourages us to keep up the good work.  Either way, it IS the TRUTH, and as Jesus said, “The truth shall make you free!”

  The Bible says, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1Timothy 6:10).”   Notice, it is not money, but “the love of money,” that is the root of all evil.  The issue is our attitude rather than our possessions.  The attitudes often associated with money are: selfishness, greed and covetousness.  We see them on display in the courtroom, at the gas pump, in the public meeting place, in the grocery store, and even in the church.  If you will be honest, perhaps your own memory can produce shameful examples of the love of money, or a desire for ill gotten gain, that ended in heartache.

  God offers a simple solution to the multiplicity of problems caused by our infatuation with earthy stuff.  “But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.   And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.  (1Timothy 6:6-8).”  And then, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5)”

  Man is naturally selfish and greedy, and loves the things of this world, so, God’s prescribed remedy will necessarily be supernatural.  What could possibly affect the kind of change in attitude that is needed to clean up our families, businesses, government and churches?  Is there such a powerful remedy?  Really?

  Yes, and the solution is found in a person!  His name is Jesus Christ!  He came to offer forgiveness and a new start to those who will put their trust in Him.  The Bible says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2Corinthians 5:17).”  Faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, adds a new dimension to life, …a heavenly perspective that makes the things of earth grow strangely dim.

  Those who truly know God have discovered His affection for them through Jesus Christ, His Son.  That the Bible is the Word of God is as obvious to them as it is for a bride to recognize the words of her beloved, in a letter.  Living in His love, and having a heart filled with His Word, makes it easy for God’s people to recognize that which pertains to Him, and that which does not.  They see His plan (as disclosed in His Word) unfolding before their eyes.  To them He is the Almighty, Unchanging, Ever Present God of the universe.  They understand that He is the owner and sustainer of all, and if He loosens His grip, the end would be instantaneous.

  There are others, many of them, who might describe themselves as, “doing the God thing.”  They have discovered the social network that our world refers to as “christian,” and they like it.  They want to be the part of humanity that wears the white hats rather than the black (i.e. the “good guys” rather than “bad guys”). To these modern christians, God is something akin to a cosmic battery to be tapped into when life’s resources seem insufficient.  God, to them, can be conveniently blamed when things go wrong, but at the same time, He is the One they must turn to for hope when the issues of life need to be explained by something outside of themselves.  They have no concept of the God of the Word, though they humor themselves with an imagined God who is old, weak, naive, purposeless and powerless.  He is the God of this New Age, promoted today in churches around the globe;  …a God who exists only in the minds of ignorant men. 

  FACT:  There is only one God.  If you would read His Word (the Bible), you would find it more than an old, obsolete book.  If you would genuinely desire to know the truth, if you would pray that it might be revealed to you, and if you would commit to reading until you start to see the eternal light shine through, you will discover the Unchanging, Almighty, Eternal, Holy, Just, Loving, Merciful and ONLY God.

  A boy left home one Saturday morning with these special instructions: “Son, we are having pictures taken at 11:30; don’t get dirty.”  The little guy peddled down the street intending only to say hello to a couple of friends.

  It had rained the night before, so he rode slowly with effort to avoid any water that might be transferred to his clothing from the spinning tires.  He also avoided the street where the neighborhood “bully” lived, knowing that, given the opportunity, he would try to throw some vile substance on his clean clothes.  Several neighbor boys called out to him, but he would not dare join them now, he must return home clean.

  At his first stop, he found the kids helping their mom decorate cupcakes.  At their invitation, he decided to stay long enough to produce one work of art himself, which he was allowed to take home.

  During his second stop, since his friend wasn’t really doing anything, they just sat and talked while he stroked their family cat.

  One last visit afforded him the opportunity to take a spin on his best friend’s new go-cart.  What a blast!  …but only in the grass mind you.

  Upon his return home, he felt proud that he was 15 minutes early, but his countenance changed when he saw the look of horror on his mother’s face.  He was puzzled until she pointed out the chocolate on his neck and the collar of his white shirt, the cat hair that was so plentiful that she knew that the neighbor’s cat must now be bald, and then there was the grease splattered over his back, …the kind of grease one might put on the chain of a go-cart.

  This little story serves as a parable of the Christian who lives in a world of spiritual corruption with a mandate to keep clean.  “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, (2Corinthians 6:17).”  Consider how easily one might get dirty at a friend’s house.