Reflections Along the Jesus Way
March 10, 2024 – Quote for the Day:
“Bad News Religion offers us a Santa Claus god who will give us what we want if we are good. Instead, authentic Christianity tells us that God gives us what we need because he is good.
With the focus on what we do, paganism tells us that a god or the gods want us to do the best we can, and at the end he (or they) will judge us based upon our performance. Performance-based religion tells us that a Santa Claus god will let us into his heaven if we qualify, if we overcome and if we are good little boys and girls.
By promising us anything and everything Bad News Religion leads us to slavery, but never delivers. It’s a carnival with many attractions – ‘something for everyone.’ The carnival of legalism offers booths where you can prove your spiritual strength, and in return you will be given a trinket or bauble that assures you that the gods are happy with you. The performance carnival presents attractions that promise physical healing and physical wealth, as long as you surrender your mind and your money. Positive-thinking metaphysical-magicians roam the Mardi-Gras-like atmosphere, promising you that you can name and claim your every hope and dream.
Counterfeit Christianity does all this and much more in the name of the God of the Bible, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Then, when people find out that they have been seduced and lied to, when the traveling circus and medicine show folds up its tents and leaves town, a trail of disappointment and bitterness is left in its wake.”
Originally published in:
Bad News Religion
————————————-
Plain Truth Ministries | Box 300 | Pasadena, CA 91129-0300
