I deeply admire and follow Darlene Zschech. For the newcomers reading this, Darlene Zschech is a long-time worship leader, a great singer of Christian music and she has been following Lord Jesus and living by the Word of God for decades now. I love her worship songs such as Shout to the Lord, You Are Holy, The Potter’s Hand, and In Jesus’ Name to name a few. I also own a copy of her book The Art of Mentoring: Embracing The Great Generational Transition. Apart from listening to Christian worship songs she performed, I also attended worship services of Hope Unlimited Church (HopeUC) online and learned from her teaching of the Word of God.
From her teaching of the Word during the HopeUCworship service of February 28, 2021, Darlene Zschech stated the following lines that I personally related.
“Worship is our life before God.”
“Worship gives expression to a life made right with God.”
To this day, Darlene Zschech continues to follow our Lord and help bring countless others to Him. She truly has been anointed by the Lord and lives on by His holiness. I strongly recommend you follow Darlene Zschech via her website and her social media channels. I also encourage you to do the same by following HopeUC online.
Next I want to talk about Planetshakers Church. I often watch them on Sundays. They truly are great with their performances of Christian music (check out my Christian Music Appreciation pieces about their worship songs How I Praise, Great Outpouring, 247 365, Encounter Song, and All) and along the way they actively emphasize the biblical truth, emphasize the Lord presence and help lead people to Him. Planetshakers truly is dedicated with their enduring mission to see generations of people around the world to unite together to worship God.
“Our heart is to see people encounter God, be transformed by His presence and empowered to make a difference in our world,” Planetshakers stated on their Facebook page. I encourage you all to also read their statement of beliefs at their official website.
During their Sunday worship services, pastor Sam Evans leads very powerful prayers (which I love following to deepen my faith in the Lord) between the performances of worship songs. Her husband senior pastor Russell usually teaches the Word of God. I should also state that Planetshakers last visited my native Philippines in January 2020 and organized successful events, attracting a whole of attendees and help lead them to our Lord.
To put it short, our world has been blessed by the Lord with Darlene Zschech (along with HopeUC where she and her husband Mark serve) and Planetshakers serving Him faithfully and passionately.
And then a blessing happened in 2020…
Planetshakers organized their video program titled Friends of Planetshakers and in one of their episodes, they had Darlene Zschech as their special guest! The good news here is that anyone who missed out can watch the said special episode on Planetshakers’ official YouTube channel!
That being said, I posted below for your convenience Darlene Zschech on Friends of Planetshakers! There are lots of great moments of talk and interactions between Darlene Zschech and Planetshakers! So many great moments and wonderful sharing about faith and experiences are there. I will not post any excerpt or quotes from the Friends of Planetshakers episodes here as I want you all to watch and discover them all. Just click, watch, enjoy and keep on having unwavering faith in Lord Jesus, God our Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit!
In ending this piece, here are a few significant scriptures from the Holy Bible for you all. Be led by faith, always worship our Lord and keep on being the fearless and aggressive church of Lord Jesus!
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Peter 1:2-4 (NKJV)
And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: “For He is good, For His Mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, and because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
Ezra 3:11 (NKJV)
Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Psalm 98:4 (NKJV)
For God is one, and there is one Mediator between God and the sons of men—the true man, Jesus, the Anointed One.
1 Timothy 2:5 (TPT)
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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved and the lost souls out there.
Always seek Lord Jesus first! If you are lost in your life, reach out to Him not for temporary solutions but for a new life of holiness, blessings and salvation! If you had worshiped idols – be it statues or statuettes, images, relics or people – for so long, you can change for the better by rejecting them all and reach out to Jesus who is in Heaven and His Spirit is in the hearts of Christians.
Be aware that we are living in the flesh in the middle of a truly divided and chaotic world. Religion, unbelief, socio-political uprisings and other worldly elements are hindering the lost and unsaved souls from realizing faith in the Lord. It is only Lord Jesus, not those worldly leaders and elements, who can truly save the lost and the unsaved. Our Lord is holy and what is worldly is not holy.
If you want to be saved, you have to be born again because Lord Jesus said so. Read the holy scripture below…
Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:3 (NASB)
John 3:3 alone is a compelling reason for you to seek Lord Jesus, submit to Him and gain salvation through Him. Getting born again means starting a completely new life as a believer of Jesus and as a true child of God. After submitting yourself to Him, confessing your sins to Him directly and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your sins will be forgiven and you can finally free yourself from all of the sinful elements (influences of Satan) that dominated you in your old life. Live on as the new creation in Christ. Take note of what is written in the holy scripture below…
Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new creation. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (TPT)
The above scripture is closely related to John 3:3. It makes an even stronger case for you to seek and reach out to Jesus, and you have the authority (the decision) to become a new creation as well as a new member of the spiritual family – God’s family!
The truth is that it is not God’s nature to force you to submit to Him. He really wants you to make the great decision to be His child willingly through His Son Jesus. Learn from the holy scripture below…
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (NASB)
As recorded in the Holy Bible, Lord Jesus made miracles happen, helped the sufferers, uplifted many people, preached the truth to others, established His ministry, died for everyone’s sins, conquered death to make His presence clear to everyone, and ascended to Heaven with the promise that He will return. This is another reason why you must seek Lord Jesus!
After becoming a new creation, your new life under God truly begins. This is no accident because God brought the new creation to a new life for purposes such as serving Him. How to serve the Lord? Follow His Word (the Holy Bible) and implement the biblical lessons into your life. Have fellowship with the Lord and whatever His command for you is, do it without hesitation. While having fellowship with Him, ask Him about what He has planned for you since before you were even created. Getting yourself planted in a local church that the Lord wants you be part of so that you can be guided by a truly spiritual pastor and connect yourself with other Christians who got born again. Preach God’s Word to others around you and help the Lord save all the lost and unsaved souls of this world.
As a child of God, you get to serve Him and worship only Him. Never aim to be as great nor greater than our Lord because such a desire futile. To be very clear, desiring greatness is not a sin but motivations to be equal or greater than Him, or defying His plans are simply wrong.
Instead of aiming to be equal or great than the Lord, it is proper to have ambitions that center on the glory of God and on the welfare of the church (not a building, not a fleshly hierarchy but the community of people who believe and follow Lord Jesus) which is a mighty and holy force for good. Within the members of the church and God’s family, the true spiritual leader will not campaign for promotion and instead he or she will always prioritize the Lord and lead his or her siblings-in-Christ to Him! That being said, it is always essential to seek Lord Jesus first! Also, never forget to always respect the authority of our Lord.
In the Holy Bible, servant leadership is emphasized in Mark 10:35-45. Below are some verses about two men who approached Lord Jesus with thoughts about promoting themselves. Read the details closely…
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.”
And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.”
But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
They said to Him, “We are able.”
So Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.”
And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
Mark 10:35-42 (NKJV)
As seen in the above verse, James and John were misguided with their perception of Jesus and with their approach to Him. They wanted to be lifted by Him to be as great as Him, and they did not realize that their desires were wrong. They did not really know what they desired and as a result they asked Him rather carelessly. At that precise point of time within the Holy Bible, James and John did not know their rightful place under the Lord.
All of us, you, me and others, were created by God to worship Him, honor Him, serve Him, glorify Him, prioritize Him and do His will. That being said, we should be aware already about our rightful places under His authority. Again, it is not a sin to desire greatness but there are limits to such desires. If you are to desire for greatness at all, how about aiming high to serve our Lord and respect His authority, fully learning and implementing the Bible’s lessons into your life, preaching the Word of God and relentlessly help lead people to Lord Jesus? You can desire to be a great believer and servant of the Lord! To be clear, seek out Lord Jesus, ask Him how to serve Him and ask what He wants to command you to do. Do not forget that the Lord has plans for you which were made before the beginning of time!
Never forget to respect His authority and never desire to be as great as nor greater than Him. Never let pride dominate you and never desire to be superior over God’s children. Learn from the following scripture below…
Don’t boast in the presence of a king or promote yourself by taking a seat at the head table and pretend that you’re someone important.
Proverbs 25:6 (TPT)
Moving on, another great reason to seek out Lord Jesus is that peace, relief and rest await those who truly believe in Him. Truly Lord Jesus has no intention to lead us to more pain and frustrations. In fact, helping His believers is part of His nature and it is also part of God’s plan for us all. Read the following scripture below…
And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.”
Mark 6:31 (NKJV)
Mark 6:31 pointed back to the time when Lord Jesus withdrew His disciples from the crowds in order to rest and to avoid the hostility of the Jewish religious leaders and the jealousy of Herod. In addition, He also made possible to teach the disciples in solitude. To put it simply, you seek Jesus and join fellow faithful followers of His following Him, He will lead you all to places or opportunities where you can have peace and stability with Him. With the Lord, you do not need to be worried anymore! If you have been born again, there is no good reason to slide back to your old life. After all, Lord Jesus’ way is always the right way!
Moving on, another good reason to seek Lord Jesus is to rely on His authority. While living in the flesh in the middle of this very divided world, varied bodies of authority are plentiful (from the local community to the city, the province or state, the national authority and the global authorities) but each of them is flawed. As such, there will always be dissenters as well as rebels that challenge those bodies of authority.
With the authority of our Lord, we the faithful will always be protected and He is invulnerable to anyone who challenges His authority. Learn from the scripture below…
Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”
But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.”
And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Mark 11:27-33 (NKJV)
The above scripture shows the limitations of people who have been so oriented with worldly developments and teachings, they failed to realize the holiness, wisdom and the heavenly authority of Lord Jesus. After His authority was challenged by their curiosity, Lord Jesus challenged them (a group of scribes and wise men no less) and ultimately, they failed. Think about that! A group of wise men, local leaders and scribes failed to understand our Lord and saw their questioning of His authority fail. It shows that humanity that focused on and lived by everything worldly (including worldly authority) is severely limited. The same can be said about the people working with worldly authorities as well as the people who question and rebel against the same authorities. Again, this is reason why people who seek salvation and become holy should seek our Lord and rely on His invulnerable authority. In relation to this, read the following scripture below…
I have set the LORD always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
Psalm 16:8 (NKJV)
Moving on, another reason to seek Lord Jesus is to seek God’s Kingdom, become a child of God and become citizen of His Kingdom. As already mentioned earlier, getting born again is essential as Lord Jesus stated in John 3:3. After getting born again, you start your new life as a child of God led by faith in Him and living by His Word. It is expected that as a Christian, you must grow and mature spiritually just as your serve the Lord. To be a child of God as well as a citizen of His Kingdom make you exceptional! With your new life and new spiritual status, you must always be ready to perform good works under His commands. Ask God for His plans for your life and also ask Him to command you so you can serve Him rightfully. Do not be reckless. Be led by faith and follow the Lord’s instructions without hesitation! The Lord will bless you, provide for you, protect you and love you as you maintain your personal relationship with Him! Learn from the following scripture below…
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)
As a child of God and a citizen of His Kingdom, do good works in serving Him and whatever happens, always maintain unwavering faith in Him and always look up to Jesus as your Lord and Savior. The truth is Lord Jesus is the mediator between us and God our Heavenly Father. That being said, we must only worship God, Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We must never worship people, statues/statuettes, images and relics. Speaking of the human idols (both the dead and the walking), never worship them and never let religious leaders deceive you to prioritize them as much as our Lord. The walking, white-wearing religious idol in Rome who leads a corrupt religion-led and idolatrous hierarchy is not the mediator between humans and God. Only Lord Jesus is the mediator and our true high priest. Reject all idols and seek Lord Jesus first! Realize the truth in the final two holy scriptures below…
Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
John 6:28-29 (NKJV)
For God is one, and there is one Mediator between God and the sons of men—the true man, Jesus, the Anointed One.
1 Timothy 2:5 (TPT)
From this point on, I would like to reach out to the lost and the unsaved people reading this. Are you frustrated with religion? Have you been living in bondage for too long? Did the atheists and secularists fool and abused you? Were you victimized by a religious fanatic? Have you been living as a homosexual or as a transgendered person? Are you fed up with being promiscuous? Did you spend an entire life worshiping statues, statuettes, images, people and relics? Are you an anarchist, a toxic person or one of those modern-day Leftist activists who has had enough with darkness? Are you addicted to something for so long? Did you kill someone and have been living so long with the guilt? All of that darkness can end! How? You can save yourselves by submitting yourselves to the Lord willingly and realize He is the Light! No force and no coercion here. You have time and freedom to decide to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. For those who have decided to get born again now and gain salvation, please read the instructions and follow the prayer that I learned from a pastor.
Are you ready? Firstly, open your heart to the Lord and pray this simple prayer in sincerity from your heart:
Father God,
I thank You. I believe Jesus is Your Son. I believe that He died for me and redeemed me from all of my sins. He took my sins and, Father, thank You for loving me and You demonstrated Your love for me through Your Son Jesus Christ. Forgive me for all of my sins. Jesus, I open my heart to You. I welcome You to enter into my heart. I confess today that You are now my Lord and Savior. Thank You for forgiveness. I receive forgiveness. Thank You for Your blood that cleansed me from all of my sins. I will follow You, Jesus. Thank You for Your plan. I receive the Holy Spirit. And Holy Spirit, help me to follow the will of God in my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Congratulations! You are now a child of God! You have received Holy Spirit in your heart! This is easily your greatest decision ever made and also the greatest miracle of your life. Always praise, thank and honor the Lord. No more darkness in your life caused by politics, radicalism, toxicity, rebellion, religion, unbelief, evil, idolatry, traditions and rituals! Leave behind the darkness of your life and don’t look back to it. Remember that idolatry is evil, Purgatory is a lie, penance is a deception and Satan always used religion and unbelief to prevent people from being saved by the Lord.
With Lord Jesus, you are already moving forward and the best is yet to come! You also have a personal relationship with God, a relationship that is strictly off-limits to others (even to your household members or biological family members).
The Holy Bible is the ultimate authority and nothing else comes close to it for it is the Word of God. Remember always that Lord Jesus did not die on the cross to start religion. He died to redeem us all and showed that we must be led by faith in Him, faith in the Holy Spirit and faith in God the Heavenly Father. He rose from the dead and made His earthly presence felt once more to those who believed in Him. Lord Jesus ascended to Heaven and He promised to return in the future. His return is what we must always remember and keep living with holiness under the watch of God. Living as a Christian is always about the personal relationship with the Lord, and it is certainly not about religion. Never let the idolaters and idol makers fool you into making you unholy.
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved and the lost souls out there.
There is no doubt that idolatry makes a person (a creation of the Lord) unholy and unworthy of becoming part of God’s kingdom. Pay close attention to 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 in different translations below (key words in bold for greater emphasis)…
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NKJV)
Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NLT)
Surely you must know that people who practice evil cannot possess God’s kingdom realm. Stop being deceived! People who continue to engage in sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, sexual perversion, homosexuality, fraud, greed, drunkenness, verbal abuse, or extortion—these will not inherit God’s kingdom realm.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (TPT)
Knowing the truth in the above scriptures, you definitely would not want to become an idolater. Idolatry is truly unholy and anyone who practices it becomes unrighteous. Idolatry has no place whatsoever in Christianity, no matter what the idolaters, the unsaved souls and lost souls around us say. In fact, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 is a holy scripture that many idolaters (along with the homosexuals, the greedy, the perverts and others deemed unholy) are very afraid of because the truth goes against them.
Idolatry is not limited to the worshiping of statues, statuettes, paintings, relics and people. It also includes prioritizing human acts of addiction (examples: addiction to illegal substances or the Internet), prioritizing materialism and prioritizing other worldly matters over the Lord! Many people don’t know it but they should know the truth that idolatry must be rejected and they should always worship God our Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit! Learn from the following scriptures below…
You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Exodus 20:3-6 (NKJV)
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.
Galatians 4:3-8 (NKJV)
Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:4 (NKJV)
As it is already clear that idolatry is unholy, there is also the truth that idolatry is also foolishness! The truth is recorded in a very specific holy scripture from the 44th chapter of the Book of Isaiah. Pay close attention to the details…
“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
‘I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.
And who can proclaim as I do?
Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,
Since I appointed the ancient people.
And the things that are coming and shall come,
Let them show these to them.
Do not fear, nor be afraid;
Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?
You are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed there is no other Rock;
I know not one.’ ”
Those who make an image, all of them are useless,
And their precious things shall not profit;
They are their own witnesses;
They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
Who would form a god or mold an image
That profits him nothing?
Surely all his companions would be ashamed;
And the workmen, they are mere men.
Let them all be gathered together,
Let them stand up;
Yet they shall fear,
They shall be ashamed together.
The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,
Fashions it with hammers,
And works it with the strength of his arms.
Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;
He drinks no water and is faint.
The craftsman stretches out his rule,
He marks one out with chalk;
He fashions it with a plane,
He marks it out with the compass,
And makes it like the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.
He cuts down cedars for himself,
And takes the cypress and the oak;
He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.
Then it shall be for a man to burn,
For he will take some of it and warm himself;
Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;
Indeed he makes a god and worships it;
He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
He burns half of it in the fire;
With this half he eats meat;
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
He even warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm,
I have seen the fire.”
And the rest of it he makes into a god,
His carved image.
He falls down before it and worships it,
Prays to it and says,
“Deliver me, for you are my god!”
They do not know nor understand;
For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot understand.
And no one considers in his heart,
Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
“I have burned half of it in the fire,
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;
I have roasted meat and eaten it;
And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”
He feeds on ashes;
A deceived heart has turned him aside;
And he cannot deliver his soul,
Nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
Isaiah 44:6-20 (NKJV)
As seen above, the prophet Isaiah issued a warning against idolatry. Emphasized were the absurdity of idolatry when compared with the worship of the Lord who is the true God of us all. Simply put, idols are not only unholy, they are worthless and do not respond to the idolaters (who in turn are too blinded to realize the truth in the Holy Bible).
Pay close attention to what our Heavenly Father said: You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. (Exodus 20:4-5 NKJV)
Idolatry is absolutely foolish and it is a violation of God’s Word. The problem with humanity is that when people are unfaithful or got blinded by religion or got consumed by unbelief or other worldly influences, they violate the Lord by making idols in the form of statues, statuettes, art pieces, relics and substances that they dedicate themselves to. They don’t realize it but those idols became their top priority, while God, Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not. They are too blinded to realize that man-made idols are abominations that actually please Satan because those idols keep them away from the Lord. Learn from the holy scripture below…
The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
They have ears, but they do not hear;
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
Psalm 135:15-18 (NKJV)
The making of idols is a centuries-old problem in this world. Here in the Philippines, idolatry is part of the status quo of the people and their culture. Way back in the year 1521, the Spaniards arrived here in the Philippines and brought with them a distorted form of Christianity in the shape of religion along with idolatry, traditions and rituals. Think about it. For the following centuries of Spanish influence, countless generations of Filipinos were trapped by religion, lived in bondage and were really held back from realizing the truth in the Holy Bible and also held back from accepting Jesus as the definitive Lord and Savior.
Along the way, countless statues, statuettes, images and relics of religion were made and a lot of families wasted their money to buy them and place those idols in their homes, not realizing that those are an abomination to the Lord. Imagine for example someone praying to a statue or a statuette of Lord Jesus. This is unfortunate because the idolater does not realize the truth that Lord Jesus NOT in the statue/statuette but is in Heaven and His Spirit is in the hearts of Christians who got born again.
Think about a religion-led church (living with distorted Christianity) organizing a procession or parade with idols displayed from start to the finish in full view of the people around. Such unholy events continue to happen here in the Philippines and it shows that there are still a lot of lost and unsaved souls among the Filipinos still trapped by idolatry and religion.
Think about the other people who rejected our Lord because they believed in the secularists, atheists, Leftists, humanists and other non-believing people, and looked up to them as walking idols not realizing they are unholy and doing exactly what Satan wants them to do. As I am writing this, there are lots of youth here in the Philippines who did not truly believe in the Lord because they decided to believe in the Leftists whose loudmouths became idols to them. Instead of Christianity, the unfortunate youth believed in socialism, homosexuality, Communism, humanism, Marxism, unbelief and other unholy influences. Clearly, they have been fooled by these forces of evil which involve idolatry.
Also think about the other people who have this very casual way of idolizing people in rather worldly ways. People who idolize public figures involved in the world of politics, entertainment, sports, social media, dishonest news media, Internet influence and the like. What these kinds of idolaters do not realize is that there is no such thing as an innocent way of doing idolatry, and the Holy Bible itself – with lots of references about idolatry – is very clear about that.
Thanks to our Lord, true faith-led Christianity was realized worldwide in the 20th century and today, here in the Philippines, there are lots of Christian churches that are dedicated to the Word of God, the direct worship of the Lord, and prioritize faith and the personal relationship with Him. The truth is religion is not essential, faith in the Lord is essential. Religion is not essential, the personal relationship with God is essential. Unbelief will lead to eternal suffering and damnation, being faithful to the Lord will lead to salvation. Idols and idolatry are unholy, the Lord is holy. Reject idolatry for it is clearly written in the holy scripture below…
My cherished friends, keep on running far away from idolatry.
1 Corinthians 10:14 (TPT)
As it is clear the idolatry is foolishness and idols are unholy, we Christians can help our Lord save the lost and unsaved souls around us by praying for them and by preaching the Word of God (verbally and through digital methods) so that people will realize the truth, analyze and make their decisions. We can help the idolaters and all other sinners get saved before it is too late for them. Pay close attention to the words of Lord Jesus below…
“Again, heaven’s kingdom realm is like a fisherman who casts his large net into the lake, catching an assortment of different kinds of fish. When the net was filled, the fishermen hauled it up on the shore, and they all sat down to sort out their catch. They collected the good fish in baskets and threw the bad away. And so it will be at the close of the age. The messengers will come and separate the evil from among the godly and throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will experience great sorrow, pain, and anguish.”
Matthew 13:47-50 (TPT)
The idolaters and other sinners still have time to stop sinning, and come to the Lord who only requires submission from them to become His children. To the idolaters and sinners reading this…you can still save yourselves. You can reject all those idols (both the man-made and the walking) and free yourselves from both foolishness and sin to come to Him, repent to Him and allow Him to reform you fully. It is not too late to get born again. Learn from God’s words in the following holy scriptures below…
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.”
Ezekiel 14:6 (NKJV)
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and bring it about that you walk in My statutes, and are careful and follow My ordinances. And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.
Ezekiel 36:25-28 (NASB)
From this point on, I would like to reach out to the lost and the unsaved people reading this. Are you frustrated with religion? Have you been living in bondage for too long? Did the atheists and secularists fool and abused you? Were you victimized by a religious fanatic? Have you been living as a homosexual? Are you fed up with being promiscuous? You spent an entire life worshiping statues, statuettes, paintings and relics? Are you an anarchist, a toxic person or one of those modern-day Leftist activists who has had enough with darkness? Are you addicted to something for so long? All of that darkness can end! How? You can save yourselves bysubmitting to the Lord willingly and realize He is the Light! No force and no coercion here. You have time and freedom to decide to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. For those who have decided to get born again now and gain salvation, please read the instructions and follow the prayer that I learned from a pastor.
Are you ready? Firstly, open your heart to the Lord and pray this simple prayer in sincerity from your heart:
Father God,
I thank You. I believe Jesus is Your Son. I believe that He died for me and redeemed me from all of my sins. He took my sins and, Father, thank You for loving me and You demonstrated Your love for me through Your Son Jesus Christ. Forgive me for all of my sins. Jesus, I open my heart to You. I welcome You to enter into my heart. I confess today that You are now my Lord and Savior. Thank You for forgiveness. I receive forgiveness. Thank You for Your blood that cleansed me from all of my sins. I will follow You, Jesus. Thank You for Your plan. I receive the Holy Spirit. And Holy Spirit, help me to follow the will of God in my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Congratulations! You are now a child of God! You have received Holy Spirit in your heart! This is easily your greatest decision ever made and also the greatest miracle of your life. Always praise, thank and honor the Lord. No more darkness in your life caused by politics, radicalism, toxicity, rebellion, religion, unbelief, evil, idolatry, traditions and rituals! Leave behind the darkness of your life and don’t look back to it. Remember that idolatry is evil, Purgatory is a lie, penance is a deception and Satan always used religion and unbelief to prevent people from being saved by the Lord.
With Lord Jesus, you are already moving forward and the best is yet to come! You also have a personal relationship with God, a relationship that is strictly off-limits to others (even to your household members or biological family members).
The Holy Bible is the ultimate authority and nothing else comes close to it for it is the Word of God. Remember always that Lord Jesus did not die on the cross to start religion. He died to redeem us all and showed that we must be led by faith in Him, faith in the Holy Spirit and faith in God the Heavenly Father. He rose from the dead and made His earthly presence felt once more to those who believed in Him. Lord Jesus ascended to Heaven and He promised to return in the future. His return is what we must always remember and keep on living with holiness under the watch of God. Living as a Christian is always about the personal relationship with the Lord, and it is certainly not about religion.
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Author Carlo Carrasco 