May God Bless You Today

I was listening to Cat Stevens tonight at work-”Teaser and the Firecat”- and a lyric on “Peace Train” caught my attention:
“Now I’ve been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why cant we live in bliss.”
Why indeed. The world as it is has had me crying sometimes also, though for a different reason than Cat Stevens. He was crying because it wasn’t as peaceful as it could be-I have cried because our sinful world will never know a moment of Peace until Jesus returns, no matter how many wars are fought, won or lost. Conflict and war, at every level, come from the same place: the sinful heart of man. The only way to be at Peace, the Peace which Cat Stevens yearned for, is to lose that sinful heart, and man is incapable of doing that. True Peace only comes through Jesus Christ.
Some of you may be thinking, “Doug should take his own preaching to heart-I’ve read hateful things he has said about others, especially Muslims. He’s a hypocrite.”
I don’t think so. I am very aware of my faults and weaknesses, and I know that I am far from perfect, and I’ve probably given some people ‘ammunition’ for rejecting Christ. God will judge me, but you go ahead and judge me too, if you like.
The only true Peace is to be at Peace with God. Every other ‘peace’ is false, is part of Satan’s conflict with God, no matter what emblems are held or beliefs are professed . Islam, Atheism, Buddhist, Hindu, and all permutations of like belief systems, including the many false “Christian” religions, all are part and parcel of rejecting the true Prince of Peace. It’s not hateful to point this out. It would be hateful and wrong to remain quiet.
Think about this: I am a Christian-I haven’t had a moment of doubt in nearly 30 years about my going to Heaven. I could remain quiet, never tell a single soul about Jesus, and I will be there just the same. Because it’s not dependent on what I do, but what Jesus did for me on Calvary.

Walk with me for a moment.

If I were standing in front of a building and I knew that there was a poison gas leak inside, that to enter that building meant certain death, I would be obligated to try to stop anyone from going inside.
I am obligated to speak out-as I know that Islam, every false religion is a death sentence for its followers-I cannot remain silent.
“God so loved the world” includes every human life that has ever been lived; Jesus died so that every Jew, Muslim, Hindi, agnostic, whatever would have the opportunity to be at peace with God. Even though it must be heartbreaking, Jesus Himself acknowledged:
13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14.
I found it, and I want everyone else to find it also. There is no Peace Train where everyone will get along together if they board it. At Cat sang in his song, “Oh I’ve been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, some day its going to come”. Not through human efforts, friends. And not with sinful hearts generating hate and conflict. Hope to see you in Heaven. May God continue to Bless you and keep you.