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Father of Lies?
Pastor Jim Kilby • May 1, 2024
"When he (Satan) lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44b (NIV)
Dear Friends,
I got a call from a young woman last week who was wondering why a beautiful butterfly had landed on her arm for a brief moment the day before. She wanted to know if I’d help her figure out which of her late relatives had visited. She had earlier posted the same question on social media and a flurry of “keyboard spiritualists” had convinced her she’d been visited by her grandmother who recently passed. For better or worse, I can be pretty blunt when I’m speaking the Truth to lies. And so I said, “You were visited by a beautiful bug!”. We went on to discuss how Jesus made it clear no one can pass from this life and then come back (Luke 16:19-31) (with the obvious exceptions of when He was involved in bringing someone back from the dead). I don’t think she actually believed me, but that’s likely because lies like this are so ingrained in our culture. What’s more, lots of well-meaning and sympathetic people who want to comfort grieving hearts perpetuate these lies without realizing they actually come from anti-Christian “new age” religions. What’s probably the saddest thing, in my opinion, is that so many young people have been so insulated from actual Biblical truth for so long, when they see it, they either immediately discount it or refuse to even listen. But some might ask me, does it really matter if she believes her grandmother visited her in the form of a butterfly. Yes, it does. Because it’s a lie, and all lies come from a root of evil. And… because it works against the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has been quite clear with us:
“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:27-28
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Jim Kilby
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Harvest Youth Ministries (HYM) is an outreach aimed at young people; not a youth group. HYM is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) not-for-profit ministry. All donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.
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