I seem to be running into an awful lot of Fake Christians these days -- those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ but whose words make it clear that they don't believe a thing He said about Himself. 
 
Have you, too, noticed an uptick in this phenomenon? Or maybe it has simply become easier to identify these pretenders in recent years.  All you have to do is take the biblical stand on a current controversy and wait. Almost invariably, the Fake Christian will tell you how judgmental you are and how warped your idea of God is.
 
Never mind that your source of authority is the Bible itself, which is demonstrably the word of God. If you oppose abortion, or warn against behaviors that He calls an abomination, or suggest that salvation requires repenting of what He says is sin and trusting in Christ to have paid its penalty in full, the Fake Christian will be all over you.
 
“I am a Christian,” he or she will insist with the pride that God says He hates, “and He told me that there are many ways to heaven, and that He loves all His children no matter what they do or believe because He made them the way they are!” Included in this universalist hug-a-thon are the practically pagan, who deny everything about Christ, from His deity to His atoning sacrifice -- because, hey, Christianity doesn't mean I have to actually believe that Jesus is who He allegedly claimed to be and did what He allegedly claimed to have done. How arrogant of you to even suggest it! 
 
I have yet to come up with an effective response to this sort of theology. I’ve tried simply sharing the Gospel. I’ve tried explaining how I know that the Bible is the inspired and inerrant word of God. I’ve tried addressing the Fake Christian’s primary objections. I’ve even tried asking the last-resort question, “What if you’re wrong?”
 
To no avail, apparently. It seems that thinking you’ve heard directly from God trumps every other argument – even if “directly” really means via someone as widely admired as Oprah Winfrey or Joel Osteen. That’s particularly true if the Fake Christian holds to a relativistic view of the world, absolutely certain that “what’s true for you isn’t necessarily true for me.” 
 
Perhaps the way to prepare for such situations is to spend some time with Living Waters University on youtube. Here, evangelist Ray Comfort demonstrates how to persuade unbelievers (including Fake Christians) of their sinfulness and impending judgment before a holy God -- and then explain why the cross is their only hope. Such an argument will normally be rejected, but not always. And perhaps we will have planted a seed or two that will be watered by the next believer and will ultimately germinate in the light of some crushing life circumstance.
 
Sadly, these days our world is jam-packed with Fake Christians who detest everything we stand for. But Jesus told us how to treat them: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45a).
 
And that means telling them the truth about the Gospel, whatever the cost. If we love them, it’s the least we can do.

​My friend Shannon Chesebro recently shared a lovely story of God’s love with me--a story demonstrating that His eye is not only on the sparrow and on each of His children, but also on the least of His creatures. I asked Shan if I could in turn share it with you, dear readers, and she kindly agreed. Hope you enjoy her report as much as I did!

 
While working at a neighbor’s barn one day in April, our 12-year-old son, Johnny, navigated around a bunch of newborn kittens and their moms.  As he worked, he started to hear a plaintive cry in the corner near the hay, far away from where all the other cats were.  As the meowing continued, he ventured closer and found one tiny white ball alone, one eye matted shut, the other just a slit.  By the time he completed his chores, the kitten was still pitifully alone, barely moving.   
 
So naturally, he brought it home to our barn, where he tried to coax the little one to eat food and drink a saucer of milk he had sneaked out of the house.  He made multiple visits to the barn that day to try to persuade the kitten to eat.  In the evening, he pirated the kitten into the house and put it in his closet.  But by 10 pm, it was meowing again and Teddy, his roommate brother, suggested coming clean to my husband, Josh, and me.
         
Johnny’s confession rolled out with urgency. “I’ve been trying to feed him all day.  He won’t eat and he looks sick.  I’m sorry I hid him, but can you help me, please?”  We contacted the neighbor who “owned” the kitten. He estimated that it had been born around April 2, and was emphatic about its fate: “No, I don’t want it back. You want more?  We have kittens coming out our ears here!” 
 
We next called a friend who is a small animal vet. His advice? Feed kitten formula via an eye dropper and use cotton balls with warm water on its eyes.  Due to the virus, all the stores were already closed for the night, so we just tried to keep the kitten warm and gave it a little cow’s milk and prayed.  Josh figured out it was a she as we cleaned her off and snuggled her.  We doubted that she’d survive the night; nevertheless, the boys set an alarm and woke every hour until morning, coaxing her to eat each time.
         
When the sun rose, the kitten was still alive!  So we stocked up on supplies, consulted more with our vet friend via text and camped out on the kittenlady.com website.  Johnny was the one in charge of the kitten’s feedings, at first every 2 hours through the day and night.  He set his alarm and woke for every single night-time feeding with me just helping with the very first and very last shift of the day. 
         
That first night, the boys had named her Corona ten Boom, Corrie for short.  Throughout quarantine and the “safer at home” time, we have been reading The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom.  Corrie, a godly woman who risked her own life to hide Jews in her home and work with the Dutch resistance in the Netherlands during World War II, is a hero to our whole family, so we all agreed we loved the name and thought it was super appropriate given our current situation.
 
Boy, did Corrie grow quickly!  By the time she was six weeks old, her eye had healed, she was putting on weight and she’d become super spunky. 
 
We have horses and chickens and barn cats, but other than a couple chinchillas who peacefully live in the basement storage room, no indoor pets.  Five years ago, when we moved to our ranch and kept our soon-to-be-barn cats in the house for a few months when they were just kittens, we discovered that Josh probably has a cat allergy.  But even as we started Corrie on solid food (a trigger for allergic reactions to cat dander, we hear) we noticed that he could cuddle her with little to no allergic reaction! It seems that Corrie is half-Siamese, and Siamese are apparently somewhat hypoallergenic. So a house cat she will remain.
 
But we quickly realized that we might not be able to give this active kitten all the stimulation she needs to grow up happy and healthy.  I started to consult cat-expert friends – should we get her a sibling?  Most everyone said yes.
         
So the hunt began.  We knew we wanted a female, an at least half-hypoallergenic cat, and a kitten who was similar in age to Corrie.
 
Unfortunately, hypoallergenic breeds or mixes were few and far between, and cost in the hundreds or even thousands. And we felt an urgency; we knew that the longer we waited the harder it might be for her to accept a sister.  She was very much our little furry princess, doted on by our entire family of seven.  So while I found a couple possible leads on families of just-born kittens that wouldn’t be able to leave their mom until July or August, I knew waiting that long probably wasn’t ideal.  I even considered going back to the neighbor’s barn for the one remaining Siamese-mix kitten, but I knew it would be wild and possibly diseased and that might not end well.
 
Finally, after two weeks of pursuing various dead-end leads, I found a kind man who lives three hours southeast of us and who breeds Manx (a semi-hypoallergenic breed).  He had two female kittens for sale for a semi-reasonable price, ready for adoption on June 9th.  We set up a video call to meet the kittens the following evening.  
         
Meanwhile, I had started to think about what to name Corrie’s sister cat.  Corrie’s name was just so perfect, we had to find something equally meaningful for these unique times as well as reflecting our spiritual values.  No doubt Covid is a popular pet name these days, but I didn’t think it would fly in a family so weary from the quarantine.  Besides, our little Corrie has a surname too. 
 
And there was the solution: We could give our new kitten the name of the human Corrie ten Boom’s sister – Betsie.  Betsie is just as much a hero to us as Corrie is.  (If you read The Hiding Place, you’ll understand why.)  Then it hit me: Betsie’s real name was Elizabeth. And I had a really sweet friend named Elizabeth, who had passed away on May 19th (you can read her sad but inspiring story here.) That could be the new kitten’s name – Elizabeth ten Boom, AKA Betsie.  My family all readily agreed that this was perfect.
         
The afternoon after I talked to the Manx breeder, a couple of my kids and I were getting ready to run errands when a friend texted me that a nearby cat shelter was hosting an open house that day.  Since the shelter was literally on the way to some of our errands, we decided to pay them a visit even though they probably wouldn’t have what we were looking for.
 
As I drove, I thought about how cute those Manx kittens were and what a long drive it would be to get one.  So I prayed out loud with my kids, “Lord, if there is a kitten at this place for us, make it really, really obvious.”
         
After praying, I looked at the clock on the dashboard.  Shoot, it was later than I thought, so I called Josh and told him it would be best if we just met at the shelter. Still, by the time we all got into the little fair, our assigned adoption counselor informed us that there were no more female Siamese or otherwise hypoallergenic kitten mixes available.  My heart sank.
 
Even so, as long as we were there, we let her take us around. Just as we were wrapping up our tour, still kitten-less, a car pulled up next to us. As the driver got out of her car, our tour guide was commenting about our hope of finding a Siamese girl kitten.
         
The driver, whose name turned out to be Mary, interrupted us. “You’re looking for a female Siamese kitten? I have one right here.  I just got back from getting her spayed and she’s ready for adoption!”  She opened the back door and gingerly slid out a travel cage. 

​ I noticed a tag on the cage.
 
“Does that say April 2nd?” I asked. “Is that her birthday?”
 
“Yup."
         
“And is that her name?”
         
“Oh yes, but you could change it, of course.”
 
Her name? You guessed it: Betsie. We had found Corrie’s sister!
                   
We quickly filled out the necessary paperwork, paid the shelter and, the next day, brought Betsie home, whereupon the kittens immediately fell in love with each other.
 
There are multiple morals to this story.
 
First, God often blesses His children with the sweetest gifts.  We wouldn’t have thought adopting a kitten during the coronavirus quarantine would be just the thing to calm and comfort our family.  Corrie has been such a gift! 
    
Second, God LOVES to tickle us by answering specific prayers.  “You wanted obvious.  How about a bit suspenseful and dramatic on top of obvious?” I could just hear Him chuckle.  
 
Third, God is sovereign.  He brought Mary to the adoption fair with Betsie at just the perfect time to meet us. He works His plans out, even when I’m running late.
 
Fourth, I believe God cares about all His creatures, even a couple of little kittens who weren’t born sisters but were so clearly meant for one another.
 
Finally, we will never forget the amazing story of our kittens’ human namesakes, Corrie and Betsie ten Boom, and believe God will use that story in our lives and the lives of people who meet and hear about our kittens. 
 
If you haven’t yet read The Hiding Place, you really must! You’ll find a free online pdf of the whole book right here.   

--Shannon Chesebro

Early in my Christian walk, I began encountering followers of various cults and false religions. In order to equip myself to share the gospel with these folks, I started researching their belief systems–and was stunned to find that they all had their origins in the 1800s.
 
You’re no doubt familiar with many of them, such as the American Unitarian Association (forerunner of Unitarian Universalism), launched in 1825; Mormonism, 1830; Seventh-day Adventism, 1863; Jehovah’s Witnesses, 1870; and Christian Science, 1879. And many more relatively obscure groups also arose in the 19th century.
 
The common denominators: Each one denied either the divinity of Jesus Christ, and/or the sufficiency of His atoning sacrifice, with those in the latter camp falsely claiming that something more than Jesus is needed to enter heaven. Good works or sacraments, for example. Or both.
 
But these denials were nothing new. The question that fascinated me was this: Why the sudden surge in false religions in the 19th century?
 
Here’s my theory.
 
Satan knows the Bible better than any human being ever will. He has therefore understood for millennia that the rebirth of the nation of Israel would be the beginning of the end for him, that once it happened, he wouldn’t have much more time to lure potential Christians away from his great Enemy, our Creator and King. And perhaps that made him leap into action at the first whiff of Zionism, the movement that would ultimately lead to Israel’s miraculous 1948 restoration.
 
It seemed like a good theory until I learned that Zionism didn’t really become an organized movement until 1897. And Satan isn’t omniscient; he couldn’t have foreseen the rise of Zionism almost a century before it happened.
 
I dug deeper. And lo and behold, learned that God’s chosen people had been longing to return to the Promised Land for centuries – and that early in the 1800s, nearly a thousand followers of 18th century Jewish leaders Menachem Mendel and Vilna Gaon had launched the process in earnest,  taking their families on the long journey from eastern Europe to their ancestral land.
 
Satan had surely observed all of this talk and activity. And when these early groups started resettling ancient Israel, perhaps he started creating a false theology for every taste. His goal: preventing every last potential convert from embracing the truth of God’s word.
 
Maybe that’s how it really happened. And maybe it worked so well that he has continued inspiring twisted versions of the truth ever since.
 
If my little idea turned out to be correct, then it would be no surprise if there was another spike in false-religion development after Israel’s rebirth in 1948. And what do you know? It wasn’t long before the U.S. began to see a flurry of new cults--Scientology in 1954; the People’s Temple, Branch Davidians and Westboro Baptist Church in 1955; the Noble Order of Moorish Sufis in ’57; and the Universal Life Church in ’59. And most destructive of all: the proliferation of anti-biblical liberalism in the Christian church.
 
A false teaching for every taste, indeed. And those tastes have become more bizarre with every passing year. Consider, for instance, such gems as the Church of Satan, Heaven’s Gate, The Church of the Creator and A Course in Miracles/Endeavor Academy.
 
All of which goes to demonstrate, once again, that if you want to understand what’s going on in the world, and what’s on the horizon, you need look no further than the Bible. Hint: pay close attention to what God has said about end times, and the character of people populating the earth in the last days.
 
And finally, a postscript.
 
If the Lord has positioned you to influence the adherents of a false religion, rejoice. It may not be easy to persuade them to seek God’s absolute, irrefutable truth and perfect salvation plan. But it is do-able, given enough time, patience and love for the eternal souls for whom Jesus died.
 
The first step is to study the key tenets of their beliefs, figuring out where they’ve been misled. Then gently help them untwist the lies they’ve been fed. A great place to begin is the late Dr. Walter Martin’s The Kingdom of the Cults. 

It’s no secret that a drop of poison in a glass of pure water can be just as deadly as a whole glass of pure poison.
 
Nor is it any secret that the deadliest of all poisons is the kind that oh-so-subtly twists the truth about the word of God.
 
I was reminded of this recently in visiting a website called BibleProject.com—a site that had been enthusiastically endorsed some months ago by a solid Christian who appreciated its use of animation and friendly, hip voiceovers. I’d taken a quick look at it back then, agreeing that this looked like very good stuff for youngsters.
 
But this time, I looked at a video entitled New Testament Letters: Literary Context. Here, in part, is what the voiceover said about how the apostle Paul went about writing his epistles:
 
“Paul didn’t work or write alone … [he] was constantly with his missionary teammates on the road, working out ideas as they talked and debated and talked together. And Paul would have collected speeches, poems and prayers in notebooks … And so Paul would get the right teammates in a room and start pulling together old and new material. Then they would hire a professional scribe and start creating drafts until they were satisfied with how it worked together as one whole.”
 
Which, of course, is absolute hogwash! The entire Bible, including Paul’s epistles, were informed and inspired by God Himself, not by a group of men looking for something that would sound good to itching ears.
 
The Bible tells us, in no uncertain terms, that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). This is the foundation of genuine Christianity and saving faith. It is the rock-solid truth upon which born-again believers can rest, forever assured that every last word is eternally trustworthy.
 
To say that the word of God is anything less—like the work of mere men—is blasphemy designed to let casual “believers” shrug off anything that doesn’t suit their fancy.
 
I don’t know how much of this false teaching there is at BibleProject.com. I found my one drop of poison in my second visit, and won’t be returning again.
 
Interestingly, I talked with the Christian who originally pointed me to the site and learned that she, too, had recently come across something there that made her uncomfortable. She couldn’t recall what it was, but perhaps it’s safe to say that there are at least two drops of poison to be found on this site. Beware!

Searching in vain for a favorite old novel the other day, I stumbled across Dr. Jerry Bergman's excellent book C. S. Lewis, Anti-Darwinist: A Careful Examination of the Development of His Views on Darwinism (Wipf and Stock, 2016). And what a happy time I had paging through it again, reviewing the case Dr. Bergman made that super-intellectual Lewis had rejected Darwinism in all its forms. This, in spite of the fact that anti-Darwinism was far from conventional wisdom in his day, before the modern creation-science movement had begun amassing evidence that the Genesis account of our origins is true.

Dr. Bergman has done a masterful (and highly entertaining) job of documenting Lewis’s unfolding thoughts on the subject, and proving that he was indeed an increasingly belligerent opponent of evolution theory. In the process, he has peppered his report with fascinating facts to address virtually any readers’ interests.
 
We learn, for instance, that Arthur J. Balfour (whose Balfour Declaration paved the way for the restoration of the nation of Israel in 1948) was a Christian apologist and anti-Darwinist whose ideas “permeate the first five chapters of Lewis’s book Miracles.”
 
We find that Lewis posed an important question long before the oft-cited “you can’t figure out where a PC came from by examining it” advice of modern apologists: “You have to go outside the sequence of engines, into the world of men, to find the real originator of the Rocket,” he wrote. “Is it not equally reasonable to look outside Nature for the real Originator of the natural order?”
 
We see that Lewis understood only too well the motives of evolution theory’s original champions: “Does the whole vast structure of modern naturalism depend … simply on an a priori metaphysical prejudice?” he asked. “Was it devised not to get the facts but to keep out God?”
 
And we learn that Lewis’s hostility towards evolution theory grew over the years, to the point where he released a public attack on it, albeit pseudonymously, in the form of a mocking poem entitled “Evolutionary Hymn” (1957).
 
Ever since I stopped studying Lewis and started studying the Bible what seems like a lifetime ago, I have had major problems with certain aspects of Lewisian soteriology. But Dr. Bergman's book made me appreciate Lewis’s writing once again – and, for the first time, his view of our origins.  

Intrigued? You'll find C. S. Lewis, Anti-Darwinist wherever books are sold, as they say -- including here at Amazon.