I used to know a guy who would constantly say, "Bad things happen to bad people." He said it meaning that only good things happen to good people (or should happen to good people). And also that bad people got what they deserve. I always thought that was strange, because he didn't really believe in God. But wouldn't that kind of thinking somehow hint to the fact that there's some greater power out there, distributing the good things to the good people and the bad things to the bad people? So let's ask the question again -- why do bad things happen to good people? Why do really good people lose loved ones? Lose their jobs? Get cancer? Why do they die in accidents or sink into depression or have money troubles? If they were so good, why did those things happen?

The truth is, bad things AND good things happen to both bad people and good people. And good things happen to both bad and good people. But I think the thing that really confounds and confuses the average "good person" is why bad things might happen to them.

I can say up front that it's one of three reasons:

1) God is trying to get your attention, because right now He's not first in your life. He's not even second or third. He's way down on the list.

or

2) Maybe at one time God was # 1 on your list, but you've strayed and began drifting off in a different direction.

For both reason # 1 and #2, sometimes God has to use "hard" things to bring you closer to him. Believe me, there have been times when he used good things, too. But often that doesn't work as well. Think about all the times in your life that something really awesome happened. Did you thank God right away? Did you give Him the credit? Did that awesome thing draw you closer to Him? Probably not. But I can guarantee that if something awful and scary happened, then it might make you want to draw nearer to him.

Let's take this example: Pretend for a minute that you're a parent of a 3 year old toddler. And let's pretend that your toddler is a very adventurous one, who loves to go off on their own. They run out in the streets, they don't listen, they do whatever they want, and you're constantly chasing after them in stores and parking lots. You know that this kind of behavior is not only disobedient, but it could potentially be dangerous. You'd much prefer that your toddler stick close to you and hold your hand.

But nothing's worked, and your little one has had several close calls. You decide to try a couple of tactics. The first one is to lavish them with explanations and hugs and try to get them to understand the importance of sticking close to you and listening to you. You even throw in a present or piece of candy for good measure. Not a bribe, but just something to make the little one remember. But even though you thought maybe you struck a nerve and got through, the very next day your toddler does the same thing and acts out again, running out into the street into oncoming traffic. What's the next tactic? Yep... you got it. A spanking. Or grabbing them by the shoulders and yelling at them. Or putting them in time out with no TV or games until they stop.

Guess what? Betcha they'll react more strongly to the spanking or the time out. And after a few times of that, the toddler will most likely think twice before running ahead or darting out into the street. And as they get older, they may even begin to understand that you simply love them, and didn't want them to get hurt. You just wanted them to stick close to you because you would guide them and protect them. And as much as you might hate having to spank or yell or punish them, you have to do it. It's the only way to get the message across.

God does the same thing with His children. Most of us just run off in life, doing our own thing and not caring about what kind of "traffic" we might be darting out in. We ignore God, and think that we're "big people" and can handle life just fine, when in fact the truth is that only God can see the future, and only He knows best how to guide us. He loves us, and if He finds that we're endangering ourselves by making rash or bad decisions... or if He sees us straying too far off path... or if we get too big for our own britches... He's going to spank us a little, grab us by the shoulders and give us a big shake. Since God isn't literally here on earth with us to do that, He does it in the way that He can. A job loss could be the equivalent of God's time out. Or perhaps a financial problem or a bad day or a frustrating week is what He gives us to help us pause for a moment, and remember to turn around and go back to hold His hand. Whether we like it or not, we're just like children. We think we don't need Him, but we do.

I mentioned there are three reasons that bad things happen to good people, and the third one is simply this: We live in a cursed, broken world that is ruled by Satan. Even though there are so many wonderful things in this world, we are cursed. There is sadness and pain and loneliness and disease. There are plagues and pestilences and disasters. Not until Jesus comes back and the Earth is recreated will there be perfection and true peace. I say all the time that some things cannot be helped, and that's the truth of it. Crappy things happen, and we just have to make the best of it. What keeps me going is simply knowing that the world will one day be fixed. All that is good will stay good, and all that is bad will go away. There will be no more pain, no more suffering, no more heartache. As long as we stay close to Christ and trust in Him, we are guaranteed to have that at the very end.

So don't lose heart over the things that happen to you in life. Know that God simply loves you, and doesn't want you to get hurt. In the old days before Jesus, God used to test the faith of His believers. But in these days, that's just not necessary. We have the Holy Spirit within us that speaks to God and shares the secrets of our soul. He knows. And if we're not near Him, He pulls us near him. Sometimes by good things in life... sometimes by bad things in life. But always He has His eye on us.

Make it easy on yourself, and go hold His hand. Walk with Him, and make Him smile. No one likes punishing those they love. Not even God.

Tomorrow is the celebrated birth of Jesus Christ. (Most experts agree that Jesus was not born on December 25th, but rather sometime in the fall.) As people around the world celebrate the holiday of Christmas, many will go the entire day and not give Jesus Christ even a second thought. For them, it's strictly a secular holiday. They'll celebrate friends and family... good food... giving/receiving presents... pretty lights... good times... etc, etc., etc. But for those of us to are Christians, this is a time to meditate, reflect and celebrate the birth of our King and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We all know the story of Jesus' birth. He was born to the a Virgin named Mary and her husband Joseph. Mary was told by an angel that she would conceive a baby from the Holy Spirit, and that she should name him Jesus and that he would be Emmanuel -- God With Us. The angel explained that he was the son of God. Joseph was also told about the baby in a dream, so that he wouldn't feel shamed and betrayed by Mary. Her pregnancy was not an act of betrayal, but rather a miracle.

Now at that time, Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken, and every person in the entire Roman world had to go to his own town to register. Joseph, being of the line of David, had to return to Bethlehem. When they arrived, there was no where for them to stay. They ended camping out in a stable, and Mary gave birth there amongst the animals. Jesus was born in a manger -- in a literal feeding trough for the animals. The wise magi of Persia who knew the prophecies of the Old Testament saw the star and was led to the baby, who was King of the Jews. The Messiah.

But both Christians and non-Christians alike seem to always ask the same thing: Why was he born in a manger? If God sent us His son to save us, why didn't He send someone of higher status? Like the son of a real king, or a prince, or one of the wise men? Why was he born into a really poor family, swaddled in dirty clothes and forced to grow up the son of a poor handyman?

In fact, some of the Jews do not believe that Christ is the true Messiah for this very reason. Despite the fact that his birth fulfills all of the Old Testament prophecy, they refuse to believe that Jesus is in fact the true Christ because he was born as a lowly, poor man in a lowly, poor family. To the Jews, the King and Savior of their people should be one born of wealth, influence, power. He should have lived in a palace with robes and a crown. He should've lived a glorious, powerful, rich life with an honorable death -- not wandered the lands in sandals, sleeping here and there with no home to call his own.

So looking at the big picture, why didn't Jesus come into the world born into a family of wealth and power and circumstance? The reason is this: He is a savior. He lifts his people from the depths of the evil curse, and gives them life. First of all, the reason God had him born to a poor family was so that Jesus could know and understand what it means to be hungry or cold or lonely. Jesus knows what it's like to have to work hard, and deal with drudgery. When the people of this world pray to him because they are stuck, or because they're in debt, or because they're lonely and feel rejected, Jesus is up in Heaven saying, "I understand. I know your pain. Let me help you." What do you think it would be like worshiping and praying to someone who only lived a rich and easy life? Jesus himself worked hard. He had very little. He knew pain -- real physical pain. He knew rejection. He knew betrayal. He knew hunger. He knew cold. He saw first hand by walking the streets of those towns what the afflicted and outcasts looked like and felt. He touched them, spoke to them, loved them. He healed them. He was right there in the mix with them, feeling their sadness and worry and fear. There's no way Jesus could've helped any of us if he sat up on a gold throne high in a palace somewhere, being waited on by servants.

Secondly, Jesus had to die on the cross in the most awful, most undignified, most inhumane death there was because he literally took it from us. He was born to die. God sent him here specifically for that purpose, so that he could look the devil straight on and say something like, "By doing this, I am going to save my people and give them life. I will take their punishment by going through the absolute worst kind of death. And I will meet you in hell for three days. And at the end, when I go back up to be with my Father, I will have set a new rule for those who believe in me. From here on out, my flock will have eternal life with me and my Father. Not with you."

So basically Jesus took our punishment. Since he obviously couldn't do it 15 billion times over (or how ever many people have lived on this earth since then), God allowed him to go through it just once, but in the worst kind of way with the hardest of torture and the cruelest of deaths. And by doing so, he took away our punishment. He went to Hell and back for us. Now we don't have to. For those who are believers of Christ, we get pass -- we're exempt -- from any of that. Think about the saying, "Nothing is guaranteed but death and taxes." Pretend someone came along and said, "I'm going to pay a big payment to the government on your behalf, so that you would never have to pay taxes again." It's like that. Jesus took a payment of death and time in Hell so that we wouldn't have to. Sure, we physically die. But that's just our earthly bodies. Now that Jesus did that for us, we're guaranteed new bodies, and our souls will live on in those new bodies in Heaven.

Therefore, think about his death. He had to take that for us. If he died a nice, peaceful, honorable death in a palace with lots of pomp and circumstance, how could he possibly be our savior? How could he have taken our punishment from us? He couldn't have.

It all had to be this way. He was born to die, and he died for us so that we would have a guaranteed place in Heaven in our new bodies. You just have to believe in him, thank him, live with him in your heart, and walk with him in your life. Just accept Christ's gift of the "free pass" and that's it.

We celebrate Christmas because we celebrate his amazing and unselfish gift. He sacrificed his life so that we could have ours. It's a joyful time, but also a solemn time. May peace be with you this Christmas, and may you know in your heart what it really means to celebrate this holiday.

God bless!!

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (Luke 2:9-14)

"Do Muslims, Jews and Christians worship the same God?" I hear this question all the time -- people are curious to know whether the God Muslims worship is the same that the Christians worship. Or if the God of Jews is the same as the God of Muslims. Is there just one God, or are there three? Judaism, Christianity and Islam are called the three main "Abrahamic religions" because they all three have the same foundation and basis for faith. There's a common vein of theology that runs through all three of them, all starting with God and the promise of things through Abraham. All three of these religions share several of the same stories, people and events, but perhaps with different twists on details or purpose. Wikipedia states that, "Today, there are an estimated 3.8 billion followers of the three largest Abrahamic religions, accounting for more than half of the world's population. By some measurements, Islam is the fastest growing."

Okay, so we all acknowledge that perhaps these three religions started out in much of the same way. But they all three ended up vastly different. Many people these days say that it really doesn't matter which of the three religions you are, because everyone is worshiping and believing in the same God.

Let's give a quick background on each. For the Jews, their belief is that through Abraham, God promised to bless the people through his sons Isaac and Jacob:

"I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:2-3)

Later, through the prophets Isaiah, Daniel and others, God promises a savior -- a messiah. However, whereas the Christians believe that Christ is/was the messiah, the Jews do not believe that. They have no problem believing that Jesus Christ existed, but not that he is the messiah or savor of whom the Old Testament speaks.

Now Christians have the same Old Testament background as the Jews, but they DO believe that the messiah has come -- that is, Jesus Christ. Therefore Christians also base their doctrine on the "New Testament" teachings and gospel, which in a nutshell state that salvation and eternal life is achieved through the belief in Jesus Christ. In the Bible, Jesus tells his people:

"I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:12-17)

Now for Muslims, they believe that Abraham was the first Muslim, and ancestor to Mohammad to whom Allah (God) gave revelations and enlightenment. Muslims also don't have any problem with believing that Jesus Christ existed, but they only see him as a prophet -- not as the son of God that brings salvation and eternal life to those who believe in him.

So in a sense, all three religions started out believing in the same God. But over time, their beliefs morphed into something quite different. So in answer to the question: Do Muslims, Christians and Jews worship the same God? I would have to say both yes and no.

I say "yes" for the obvious reasons -- all three religions started out believing in, and worshiping the God of Abraham, who promised to bless him and all the nations through his sons.

But I also say "no" because at this modern-day point in time, clearly their beliefs have morphed the worship of three different entities. Take this example. Let's say there are three women scattered across the country who claim to have the same brother. They all know his name and call him the same thing. They all know what he looks like, acts like, and does for a living. They know his beliefs and they know things about him. At that point, no one would doubt that their brother is the same man. But then suppose one of them steps up and says, "And my brother has a son." Yet one of the other women comes forward and argues that, saying, "He absolutely does NOT have a son." At that point, if the two are insistent about what they know to be true, wouldn't you begin to doubt that it's the same man to whom they're both referring?

The Bible continually warns us of the error of worshiping a false God. And I truly believe that Allah, the God of the Muslims, is a false God. Same thing with the God of the Jews. Think of this analogy: Say you became separated from you father at a young age. People told you things about your father at first, but then you stopped listening. And over time, you began to make up your own perception of what your father was really like. Even though you had members of your family tell you what/who your father was as a person, your own version of reality became what your preferred to believe.

Think about it: Which religion provides us with a sure way of knowing what will happen to us when we die? The Jewish religion is a bit vague on that, not really teaching much about what Heaven/Hell is like, or how to ensure which one you'll be going to. The Muslim religion sees Allah as merciful and kind, but also just. They believe in heaven (Paradise) as well as Hell. But where you end up depends on your virtues and sins. There are different levels of paradise, but no clear scoring system as to how to get there. If you asked any Muslim now whether or not they were confident they'd be in Paradise, or what level they should expect, I'd bet you get a bunch of blank stares. I mean, do good deeds cancel out sins? To sins cancel out good deeds? Do good deeds that are done by a wealthy, well-to-do person count for less than a good deed done by a poor, sickly person? What's the grading scale? One of the required "Pillars" (requirements) of Islam is to go to Mecca for the Haj pilgrimage. Sure, that might be super easy for a wealthy Muslim here in the U.S. But what about a very poor one? Doesn't that put Paradise within easier reach of the well-to-do Muslims? Does that seem very fair?

Yet in Christianity, it's extremely clear. If you love/worship/believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God, then you get Heaven. If not, then you don't. It's that simple, and it's easy for anyone of any status, class, background or circumstance. John the Baptist, who was a man who lived in Jesus' time who was clearly touched by God as a prophet, said this:

"The one who comes from above (Jesus) is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." John 3:31-36

There are several passages in the Bible written by different authors who say that without belief that God sent us His son to take punishment for our sins so that we can get into Heaven, then the path for those disbelievers is Hell.

Christ even explained this to us very clearly:

Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"

"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'? If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken — what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."

What do I think? I think that those people of Judaism and Islam who are denying Christ are simply not his sheep. They refuse to have anything to do with him, therefore Jesus concerns himself only with his flock. Even back 2,000 years ago, Jesus talked about those who refused to believe that he is God. And unfortunately, those who refuse to believe that are growing in numbers.

Many may think that it matters not to which God they worship, and in which religion. But I say this: those two other religions have it wrong. I'm sorry if some say that's ignorant or close-minded. I speak the truth. Think about it. You have three distinctly different religions that may have some characteristics that are similar, but are clearly very different. How is it possible that they are all three right? Imaging asking someone what 2+2 is, and getting three different answers. One person answers "4." Another one answers "5" and another answers "3." They all claim to be right, and they can all three believe with every fiber of their being that they are right. And I'm sure they might have loyal friends and family who insist right along with them that they are right.

Yet the truth is -- the REALITY is -- only one of them is really right.

WHY do I know without a shadow of a doubt, with that same kind of certainty, that Christianity is the right religion? Let me show you a few reasons:

1) Christianity is the ONLY religion that teaches us that God gives us salvation... not humans who give it to themselves by earning it. The Jews believe that by doing certain things (observing sacred holidays, providing offerings and serving God, for example) you can earn your way to salvation. Muslims also believe that by behavior (following the seven Pillars of Islam) one can gain entry to paradise. In both of those religions, it's up to the human to be "good enough" for life with God. What happens when one stumbles, falls short, loses their way? Again I say, what is the grading scale? How does one know that they're doing it right? It's a lot of pressure for a flawed human to take. In Christianity, God offers us salvation. We just have to accept it.

2) Christianity is the only religion where God gave us humans a distinct bridge to connect us with Him. The Old Testament Bible tells us clearly that there will be someone who will help us -- a savior. Even early on in Genesis, God tells Satan after convincing Eve to eat the apple, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." (Genesis 3:15) In a nutshell, that passage is saying, "I'm declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He (her offspring) will wound your head, and you will wound his heel." Right there God tells Satan that some descendant of Eve will deliver him a big blow. But He also eludes to the fact that Satan will deliver him a blow as well. However, severe blows to the head can be fatal. Severe blows to the heel just hurt, but aren't deadly. Obviously the wound Eve's descendant will inflict on Satan will be much more serious, if not fatal. But God promises it will happen, and that one will come that will side with the humans and help fend of Satan. Sounds a lot like Jesus, doesn't it?

3) Jesus IS the one who fulfilled Old Testament prophecy -- whether the Jews believe it or not. Whether Muslims choose to acknowledge it or not. It's true. Right now, the Jews believe that the Messiah hasn't come yet. They don't believe that the man who was born in a manger could be King and Messiah. He was poor. He didn't have riches or a palace. He didn't have horses and servants and robes. Despite the fact that the New Testament is FILLED with descriptions of Jesus as King, the Jews to this day refuse to believe it.

From his very birth, when the wise men knew of his arrival by the prophesied star in the sky, said to King Herod, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star and have come to worship him." (Matthew 2:2)

There are hundreds of references to Jesus being the King in the New Testament, and he himself even states it matter-of-factly. See this passage when Pontius Pilate is stunned that Jesus is admitting that he is a king: "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." (John 18:37)

Sadly, though, the Jews of that time and the Jews of today still refuse to see past the material things and realize that indeed Jesus was the King, and still IS the King. Think about it. Every second of every hour of every day, someone on this earth is praising or praying to Jesus. What other man on earth -- what other KING on earth -- has had his legacy still remain so strong that millions every Sunday are singing and worshiping his name? Not the Kings of England. Nor any Kings of Spain or Italy or Germany. Not King George or King Henry or King Edward. Still to this day the Kingdom of Christ is strong and sure. To this day people are willing to die for this man, this King. What other person in our earth's entire history had a legacy of 2,000 years (and counting) where multitudes of his followers were willing to die on his behalf???? Yet the Jews still don't think he's the one. They base their beliefs that the messiah has to come from certain criteria discussed in the Old Testament. But yet if we looked at that criteria, it's quite clear that it was fulfilled. This photo is small, but you can click on it to enhance it.


(Click here for more information about the dozens of Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled: http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/prophchr.html#mT6IOM4UfBDp)

Even after all of that, the Jewish people are still waiting and looking for a messiah to come, not seeing that he has ALREADY come. Sadly, this religion of people will believe one day that a very real person who lives on this earth is their messiah. But that person will not be their messiah -- he will be the Anti-Christ. That person will fool them into thinking that he is the messiah because he will have the things Jesus didn't care about: prestige, power, wealth, influence, political clout and fame.

4) Another reason why I think that Christianity is the one true religion by which people can find salvation and eternity with God is the fact that Jesus not only died, but was resurrected. There is ample historical evidence that shows us Jesus did indeed rise from the grave on the third day of his death. The empty tomb made the teachings of Christ true.

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God -- the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith." (Romans 1:1-5)

There is no other instance, in any other story or recollection or historical text, that tells of one man coming back from the dead. Regardless of all the people in these modern times who claim to be able to talk and visit with "ghosts," there has never been one who actually came back from the grave. Except Jesus. And there were witnesses. The Bible tells us (and historical proofs back that up) that over 500 people walked/talked with Jesus for 40 days after his resurrection. It's understood that during this time, he really taught his disciples and others what the death on the cross meant. It was during this time that he explained that he was tortured and crucified in order to take our punishment from us, so that we might be able to have entry into the Kingdom of Heaven upon our deaths.

5) Finally, the fifth reason why I have no doubt that Christianity is the right religion is that too many things don't add up or make sense in the religion of Islam. Muslims started off from the bloodlines of Ishmael, not Isaac like the Christians and Jews. God's promises to Abraham and to Isaac are all based on the twelve tribes of Jacob. Since Jacob was Isaac's son, not Ishmael, that messes up the puzzle quite a bit. Same thing with prophecy. Mohammad is considered by Muslims to be the one true messenger and # 1 prophet of God. Wikipedia tells us this about Mohammad (also spelled Muhammad): "Born in 570 in the Arabian city of Mecca, he was orphaned at a young age and brought up under the care of his uncle Abu Talib. He later worked mostly as a merchant, as well as a shepherd, and was first married by age 25. Discontented with life in Mecca, he retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains for meditation and reflection. According to Islamic beliefs it was here, at age 40, in the month of Ramadan, where he claimed to receive his first revelation from God. Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One."

First of all, Mohammad wasn't even born until almost 600 years after the birth of Christ. Second of all, he really was just some guy who didn't like his life and went to go live in a cave for a while. In that cave, he had visions from "God" via the angel Gabriel. Wikipedia also tells us this: "According to some traditions, upon receiving his first revelations Muhammad was deeply distressed and contemplated throwing himself off the top of a mountain but the spirit moved closer and told him that he has been chosen as a messenger of God. Muhammad returned home and was consoled and reassured by his wife."

So the angel Gabriel visited the Muhammad many times over a period of twenty-three years. Mohammad's mission was to restore the worship of the One True God, the creator and ruler of the universe, as taught by the prophet Abraham and all prophets of God, and to demonstrate the laws of moral, ethical, legal, and social conduct. Islam means "peace by submission and obedience to the will and commandments of God." Therefore, all we have is a man who didn't have any direct messages from God -- just from the angel Gabriel. This man did not perform miracles to prove his connection with God. He didn't heal the sick or feed 5,000 people with one loaf of bread. He didn't walk on water. And most importantly, he didn't rise from death. There were no witnesses hearing the Voice of God proclaim that Mohammad was his son, like there were with Jesus. Mohammad confronted the Jews and told them that they were mis-reading and falsely believing the Scriptures. He was supposedly trying to "re-teach" the right teachings of God that took place back in Abraham's time. But how could he be teaching the message of God to Abraham, when the message of God to Abraham said that the descendants of Isaac and Jacob would be blessed? And yet here was a descendant of Ishmael trying to start up a new religious movement apart from the Christians and Jews. I'm totally scratching my head over that one.

Let's just throw a theory out there, shall we? If Satan can take the form of a snake in man's early history and convince Eve to eat an apple, what are the chances that upon seeing centuries of growing belief in Jesus Christ, Satan got mad and tried the deception route yet again? Don't you think that it's entirely plausible that Satan took the form of an angel, and spoke to Mohammad to convince him that there's a "different" and "right" way to God? Funny how with Christ, there were 12 disciples who witnessed the miracles and had the power revealed to them by God. Yet in Islam, there were no such witnesses.

Dr. Ernest L. Martin once said that, "The greatest deception of Satan is to prompt you, me and everyone in the world to believe that he is not Satan."

In fact, the Bible tells us outright -- hundreds of years before Mohammad was even born -- that Satan is capable of such things. To the people in Corinth, Paul writes:

And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve." (2 Corinthians 11:12-14)

It is my belief that Satan is clapping his hands in glee over the fact that he was able to use this orphan man from Arabia to deceive millions of people into thinking that Christianity is false, and that worshiping "Allah" is the right way to go.

All of this was my really long way of saying that while some may claim that Jews, Muslims and Christians all worship the same God, the fact is that they really only started out that way. But over time, the Jews and the Muslims chose to not believe the truth that God gave us. It's no different than Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve chose to ignore God's teachings and be deceived by Satan. And now, Jews and Muslims choose to ignore God's teachings and be deceived by Satan.

Let's pray for those around us who do not believe. Prayer is powerful, and the Holy Spirit may yet work within their hearts to open their eyes. We must have compassion on them, and do our best to share the Gospel and bring them to Christ. But as we all know, there are many who scoff and scorn the Gospel and sneer at us with distaste in their mouths. No matter what, they refuse to see that there is only one true God, and Jesus is our King and Lord.

"How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."

It is true that we are all God's people. No one can deny that, or escape that. But how we choose to worship, praise and acknowledge God is dire. Faith comes not from having all the questions cleared up, and all the proofs given to us. That's isn't living by faith -- that's living by evidence. Faith is knowing deep in your gut what is true, and living by it. Living by it even though you cannot see it.

"Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:6-10)