Beware religious scams

Ever since the Devil first tricked humans into disobeying God, the world has been filled with imitation religion and spirituality. Some of them are bizarre, like folks waiting for aliens to come get them, and some are so close to the "authorized" version that it's easy for people to be confused. Of course, from a biblical view, there's only one truly "authorized" religion, and that's the one revealed personally by God, first through the prophets of Israel and finally through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 1:1-3)

And the imitations and clones and other variations of real Christianity have been marketed by Satan ever since Jesus rose from the dead and sent His apostles into the world with the Gospel. The complete list of variants would be too numerous for this space, but just consider some current imitations that take up space in our news reports.

We have pedophiles masquerading as caring priests, hateful demonstrators pretending they're really standing up for God's Law. We see "preachers" enriching themselves by raking in the offerings of the gullible. And, in today's news we see a "Christian" militia group, claiming to prepare for Antichrist by arming themselves for an assault on the American government.

And the deadliest imitations are all the "fake Jesus" ideas, which Satan uses for those willing to believe that a man called Jesus really lived. But from that point the similarity between the Jesus of the Bible and the Jesus of men's imaginations end. Some say He never claimed to be the Son of God - the Church made that up. Some say He didn't really die on the cross. Some say He died but didn't rise again. Some say He rose, and now we can be just like Him as a powerful, divine being.

Satan, like the scam artists waiting to sell you a fake Rolex or an imitation something else, is quite content with people using the name "Jesus", as long as it isn't the genuine article: the One who is God's only divine Son, equal with the Father, who is God's only atonement for sin, who is the Way, Truth and Life, and the only hope for eternal life by His resurrection from the dead.

Accept no substitutes! It may not be "politically correct", but if Jesus isn't the Way, then there's no way.

What makes us happy?

There are a number things that are common to every person, such as the enjoyment of music, an appreciation for beauty and a capacity for love. In fact, this is another piece of evidence that we're all made by one God with a soul of humanity, rather than being some kind of evolved life-form. Another commonly held facet of humanity is that we all seek happiness, though, like our musical tastes, we have many different ideas of happiness.

And there are also many commonly shared experiences that make us happy, a fact which was the subject of a recent article of the Journal of Clinical Psychology. Based on a review of some 51 studies of the relationship between happiness and types of positive thinking, members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science put forth five experiences that seem to increase personal happiness, experienced as "feelings of well-being." And, to look even briefly at the list, one sees there is general agreement between their list and behaviors advocated by the Bible.

The five life choices said to increase happiness are:

1. Be grateful, expressing thankfulness in some manner to those who have helped us.

2. Be optimistic, envisioning an ideal future and journaling about it.

3. Count your blessings, writing down three good things that happened to us recently.

4. Use your strengths, identifying and finding ways to use those strengths.

5. Commit acts of kindness, donating time to charity or to unselfish deeds to those in need.

All these things are bona fide happiness producers. There's one problem: The choices and behaviors listed can be done by anyone willing to do so, but each of them is an abstraction of a quality that is produced fully only by a heart of faith in God's Word; obedient to His commands and thankful for His blessings.

To do such things without a faith relationship to God is like the difference between working a job you love and working for someone you love. The first is something you do primarily for your own rewards, while the latter is something you do for those rewards and for the sake of the one you love.

The Bible describes real happiness as something we do, not just for ourselves or because it works for us, but because it ties us to the One who has given great promises to all who trust Him and accept His Lordship over their lives. Because of such promises, people of faith can give themselves to things God guarantees will bring true happiness; including some things not normally connected with well-being, like mourning, hungering and thirsting, and even being persecuted. (Matthew 5:3-10)

But that's the thing about true happiness - it's not about what's happening now and how that makes us feel. It's about what route in life we choose to travel, based on where it's going and why we're going there. When the goodness and power of God is our assurance, then anything we do for Him is guaranteed to bring lasting happiness, not just "feelings of well-being" for today.