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SPEAKING IN THE LIGHT WITH PASTOR RUDY

Think about a time in your life when you were deceived. Can you remember a time when someone knew what they were doing when they purposely conned you? Lying to you was on the agenda. Getting you to do something that was not best for you was the priority. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right, but it was still done. There was even the sense that others were experiencing some unbelievable satisfaction in your going down the wrong road with no brakes to keep you safe.  

Some of you might think back to a time when you were deceived by someone close to you. A friend, a family member, a so-called boyfriend or girlfriend, a spouse, or a business partner proved to be someone other than who you thought they were. They were acting a part that did not match up with conviction in their heart. As you reminisce, it is still hard to fathom how someone who claimed to care about you could be so cruel. The memory of the pain of living with that deception is still almost more than you can bear to think about even today. This was not the way you were raised to believe was the way to treat another. It certainly was not something you learned in Sunday School!   

Have you ever been burned by outright lies when it came to a purchase?  Just because it happens all the time, doesn’t take away the sting from the soul of the victims that have been through this ordeal. Sometimes people get cheated out of just a few bucks. Sometimes you buy something you think is genuine only to learn later that it is a cheap knockoff. You cannot buy a Rolex for $5 and you should not expect to receive something for nothing especially when cheap comes wrapped up in expensive packaging.  There are no “great deals” when you attempt to sell your soul for rip offs in return.

There will always be wolves decked out in the disguise of sheep. Flesh parading behind the facade of Jesus does not transform darkness into instant light. Unfortunately, there are way too many deeds of deception being done in places where devotion to Jesus is expected. This is the worst kind of counterfeiting being practiced on our planet. Preachers who appear on television promising you health and wealth if you only invest your last few dollars to finance their million-dollar mansions built by the sea. Jesus didn’t even have a roof over His head and yet His servants are living high on the hog. There is something rotten in the State of Denmark and it isn’t kosher by Heaven’s standards.

Any kind of deception can break your heart, mind, and bank, but spiritual tomfoolery can crush your soul. A hypocritical pastor, an abusive church, a legalistic maniac or phony friend can cause long-term psychological and spiritual damage in a person’s life. Such toxic deception has opened the door to pure atheism. I have always tried to challenge those who have been burned by this Bible thumping practice to not blame Jesus because some of His so-called disciples are deeply disturbed. If you are going to walk away from the Lord, make sure it is the real deal before you book a ticket out of Dodge! Of all the knockoffs living here among us are the painful peddlers who pawn off a watered down Gospel that has no good news in it at all. Just because some belief systems receive the majority of the crowd’s approval on television and radio, in bookstores and media outlets, and even behind pulpits and in classrooms of well-respected churches and Christian institutions, none of that makes it the truth. If you want to know for sure what is the authentic Word of God, then you best be sure to have the one and only God of the Word residing inside of you.

Impostor is a person who practices deception under an assumed character, identity, or name. Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr was a prison warden, a monk, a lawyer, a sheriff’s deputy, cancer researcher, teacher and a religiously oriented psychologist, a Baptist Minister and a Surgeon but in reality, he actually was none of those things. He did possess a fascinating photographic memory that fueled his ability to be known as, “The Great Imposter.” This man named Demara who was born in Massachusetts literally faked his way through life. His most famous exploit was to masquerade as surgeon Joseph Cyr aboard the HMCS Cayuga, a Royal Canadian Navy destroyer, during the Korean War. During his time as a surgeon on the Cayuga, Demara actually performed surgeries. He performed surgery on 16 injured soldiers. Demara would disappear to his room with a textbook on general surgery and proceed to speed-read the type of surgery he was to perform, including major heart surgery. Amazingly, none of these patients died as a result of his surgery. Ironically, it was because of his skill as a surgeon that Demara was exposed.

According to this article, the removal of a bullet from one wounded man made the papers, and when the mother of the real Dr Joseph Cyr read that her son, who operated a civilian practice, was now in the war, she proceeded to contact him, only to be assured by him that he was indeed not in the armed forces. Hearing this, she immediately contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Demara was exposed for the fraud that he was. What was hidden in his closet was exposed in the light. Deceivers hate to be exposed!

Unfortunately, masks are not only popular in pandemics. The enemy of our souls loves to portray himself as something he isn’t. The devil has a prime advantage because nobody believes in him anymore; and that works in Hell’s favor. The devil is the master of illusion and an expert in deception. The influence of darkness has turned angels into demons, kings into animals, pastors into predators, and sheep into wolves. It can swagger with self-importance one minute before writhing in self-contempt the next. Lies have hats that can be worn for almost every occasion. Christians have no business putting any of this nonsense on their heads or into their hearts!

Growing up, I used to watch a game show on television called, “To Tell The Truth.” The premise of the program was that three people claimed to be a person. The job of the panel was to ask questions to determine who was telling the real truth about his or her identity. There would almost always be someone who was fooled by a feeling and duped by some deception. This is no time to be taking those chances when it comes to knowing Jesus. God did not play hide and seek with us. He invites every single man and woman to enter into a real relationship with Him. Our eternal destiny comes down to the simple reality of whether we know Him or not. There are many who claim to be experts about Jesus but if it doesn’t match up to the One we can read about in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John- it isn’t really Him. This is no game. This is a matter of life and death. Jesus will say to many on that day who claimed to even do great wonders in His Name to depart from Him because He never knew them. Salvation has nothing to do with what we know, but everything with who we know. Jesus claimed to be the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus has stood up and made Himself available to all of us. Will you make a stand with your heart and make sure you are not being fooled by cheap imitations? There is nothing phony about God’s love for you. There is no fine print, just eternal grace for all who willingly follow Him.