YOU and GOD

(I am sharing an article Ellen wrote 16 years ago for the TRBC Times, along with a present-day update, for the final “You and God” column of the year as we enter 2025):

“My goal in school was to always get 100% on all tests. I expected my children to get straight A’s on their report cards, and they received an admonition if they didn’t. I wanted the décor in my home to be well appointed, and I have strived to make every meal nutritious and picture perfect.

Did I achieve all these goals? No, and some of them were a little unrealistic, due to limitations of time and energy (and maybe mental abilities). I don’t always excel in everything. I did well in the subjects that came naturally, but those that required a good deal of study were often put on the back-burner. The children did fine in school, and they are living productive lives. I’m still learning about nutrition. I am searching for the perfect menu that will allow you to eat all you want and lose weight!

There is still one goal, however, that I hope to achieve. It is to hear the words, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant” when I stand before God. I am striving to get to know Him better by  reading His Word every day. By the help of the Holy Spirit, I am trying to obey His commands. It takes discipline and work to do this. It doesn’t come naturally. I am shy by nature, and it is hard for me to give out tracts or to speak to people about the Lord, but that is one of my goals this year. I hope to visit the shut-ins and widows more often. I want to be a good example to my children and a submissive wife to my husband.

All of these things are doable with the knowledge of the Word and the help of the Holy Spirit. We are given the command to “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48) On the final test, I want to get 100%.”

                        *************************************************

Since I wrote those words 16 years ago, many things have changed in my life, and each has brought its challenges. First, I was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer, after having my gallbladder removed. That involved a couple more surgeries and follow-up appointments for the next five years. I can report that I am now cancer-free. My husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma just months after retiring from a full-time pastorate of 40 years. There are no cures, just monthly injections and chemotherapy in pill form three weeks out of four. Many other hopes and dreams have not come to fruition, so I just keep trusting in the One who said He would never leave me nor forsake me. He hasn’t taken all the pain and sorrow away, but He does give grace for every trial. Even the apostle Paul had a thorn in the flesh that he asked God to remove. But the answer came back, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” (II Cor. 12:9) The older you get, the more you long to see your Savior’s face.

I’m thankful for the good, sound Biblical preaching I’ve had all these years. I’m thankful for the Bible in my language that I have access to every day. I’m thankful for prayer and for answers to prayer. I am grateful to God that my husband and I have had the privilege of ministering for the past five years in two churches that did not have full-time pastors; and I’m grateful for our home church here in Indy that supports us with prayer and encouragement. I’m thankful for the dear friends who have gone on before me, and I look forward to seeing them again. I’m thankful that Jesus loved me and died for me on the cross, and that He rose again and is seated at the Father’s right hand. Amen! Only when I meet Him face to face will I be perfect. But I will keep doing the basics, knowing that “when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)

Join me as we begin a New Year in petitioning God with these short prayers that someone shared along the way: “Hear me” (Ps.4:1); “Save me” (Ps. 6:4); “Cleanse me” (Ps. 51:2); “Bless me” (I Chr. 4:10); “Teach me” (Ps. 119:12); “Search me” (Ps. 139:23); “Keep me,” (Ps. 17:8); “Help me” (Ps. 22:19); “Guide me” (Ps. 73:24); “Shew me” (Ps. 86:17); “Heal me” (Jer. 17:14) and “Receive me” (Ps. 73:24). (unknown)

“The little bird receives amazing strength when its legs are bent. We can be ‘strengthened with might’ when we bend our weak knees in prayer. (Eph.3:16) ‘For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.’” (Eph. 3:14) (copied)

“Day by day, and with each passing moment, strength I find, to meet my trials here. Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, I’ve no cause for worry or for fear. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure, gives unto each day what He deems best. Lovingly, it’s part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil with peace and rest.” (Carolina V. Sandell-Borg; trans. Andrew L. Skoog)

The public ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ was meteor-like: brief but brilliant. His public preaching began only after his forerunner and cousin, John the Baptist, declared that “He must increase, I must decrease,”—introducing to the world “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 3:30; 1:29)

John, the “voice of one crying in the wilderness,” was eventually jailed for his radical message that Israel should “make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah,” whereupon Jesus took up John’s message, preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17)

Jesus did not come preaching a social gospel. What He offered was not psychiatric or psychological counseling, not even the “power of positive thinking.” He came preaching the soul-saving gospel, as should those who call themselves preachers today: “The time is at hand; Repent and believe the gospel!”  We do not need politicians to save the world! We dare not trust the scientists to deliver us from our present dilemma! What we do desperately need is the preaching of the gospel: the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth! “Repent and believe, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” That was His message; now note with me His method:

My text is Mark 1:14-20. Verse 16 says, “As He walked….” Nothing complicated about that method. Nothing costly or complex about it. Just walking and preaching.

I know the 21^st century is not the 1^st century. There are continents inhabited now that were not accessible, if populated, when Jesus began to preach and teach. There are electronic and technical and automotive aids that are so effective in spreading the gospel that it would indeed be a sin of omission not to employ them in the most urgent and worthy task of evangelizing, both at home and abroad.

But it might be good to remind ourselves that the first primary method of preaching the good news was simply walking while preaching. I do not remember their last names, but when I was pastoring in Kansas 50 years ago, two men—Norm and Jim—shared with our small church in Newton their burden for reaching England by using the “novel” method of “walking evangelism.” They planned to walk daily through villages, engaging people with the truths of scripture about life and eternal life. I lost track of these 20^th-century missionaries, but as long as I was in touch with them, they reported results and success with this method—the original method—of reaching the lost.

This passage in Mark’s gospel records the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. It is instructive to note in the calling of the 12 apostles (1) What He called them to do; (2) What He said He would do; and (3) What the apostles did:

1.  What Jesus called His Disciples to do: In a word, He simply said to them “Come.” They were required, therefore, to move and to act, by faith, according to His Word (not feeling or circumstances). There was, for those who would follow, no guaranteed annual income; no health insurance or retirement program or multi-year contract, and no immediate “fringe benefits” of a material nature. Just “come.”

When Cortez landed in 1519 in Mexico with 700 men, he purposely destroyed his fleet of 11 ships. His men watched their only means of retreat sink to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico; there was only one thing to do: follow their captain. There was only one way to go, forward!

2.  What Jesus said He would do:

• “I will make”: He had the power to keep his promise.

• “You….”: the prospects, obedient and yielded.

• “Fishers of men”: the product.

“God has retained none of us to be His lawyers; we have been called to be witnesses.” Christ’s last act was to win a soul; His last command was to make disciples; His last prayer was to forgive those who were crucifying Him.

3.  What His Disciples did:

• They forsook all (they were fishermen—secure, prosperous, family men).

A young man, surrendering to go to a mission field, was asked by a friend, “Aren’t you interested in making name for yourself in the world?” To which he replied, “Which world?”

• They followed: without question, hesitation, or reservation.

Someone asked a concert violinist how she became so skilled. She said, “By neglect; I planned to neglect everything not related to my main goal.”

James Calvert went to the Fiji Islands as a missionary. The captain of the ship tried to turn him back: “You will lose your life among those savages,” he said. To which Calvert replied, “We died before we came here.”

There came a time when Jesus appointed 70 others to go on a preaching mission two by two “into every city and place, whither he himself would come.” (Luke 10:1) Their advance mission was hugely successful as they journeyed “as lambs among wolves.” Coming back rejoicing with glowing reports about how even the devils had been subject to them through His name, Jesus warned and reminded them that they need only rejoice in that “your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)

The Lord of the harvest is still calling, equipping, and using obedient followers of His to spread the good news that Jesus still saves. He will make you a fisher of men. Will you simply follow Him? Let Him draw men and women to Himself through you. And, don’t forget to keep everything in perspective: It is still true that what we have to rejoice in, above all else, is that our names are written in heaven in His Lamb’s Book of Life. Amen!

“Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:2)

Listen to Jesus, give Him an ear;
	Listen At Christmas and all through the year;
Open your heart to His wonderful Word,
	Listen and transforming truth will be heard.

Learn from Him lessons, spoken of old—
	Writ in the Bible, as first they were told—
Lessons that deal with Heaven and Hell,
	Lessons that only the Savior could tell.

Hear Him speak from His heart the bold truth;
	Speak to the old, and speak to the youth;
Listen and you will hear o’er the din,
	Truths that will change you and make you like Him.

He speaks of riches and tells of a man,
	Who for them missed Heaven and God’s gracious plan;
The man was a ruler, and good from his youth,
	But having heard Jesus, He chose not the truth.

He warned that Hell was a place of torment;
	Where men who refuse to believe will be sent;
He told of its fire and its place where the worm
	Will not ever perish but forever will burn.

He told, too, of Heaven, the place of His own;
	He told how to go there and make it your home.
He spoke of a new birth that comes from above,
	A free gift of grace, provided in love.

Oh hear Him and listen to each precious word.
	He speaks and His Spirit today is still heard;
He teaches and preaches and calls us to Him,
	O’er death and o’er Hell the victory to win.

His words are the truth, His message the way;
	Believe Him and trust Him for this is the day;
Don’t put Him off, don’t say “I’ll just wait--”
	It would be awful if Hell is your fate.

This year at Christmas, on this blessed morn,
	Remember the cause that Jesus was born.
To witness to truth, He said was the reason
	He came to this world, and gave birth to this season.

Anthony Slutz

What’s the nicest gift you have ever received from another person?

Was it an expensive jewel or keepsake? Or perhaps something that someone painted or built for you on which you could not put a price?

Maybe it was a gift of inestimable sentimental value. That first baby doll, or your first bike, or a cherished Bible.

Most of us could call to our mind-screen a number of very wonderful gifts that we’ve received along life’s way. Some have been very expensive. Some may have been very inexpensive.

But here’s another question: What’s the nicest gift you’ve ever given? It’s natural for us to think in terms of receiving when thinking of gifts. But whenever a gift is received, somewhere there’s a gift-giver.

No doubt you’ve given gifts, and no doubt you’ve given some very nice gifts. It may have been a costly gift for which you saved and sacrificed; or it may have been one that cost you little in money but lots in love.

When my mother was living, I had the joy of giving her one of those inexpensive gifts. It was a little book that Ellen bought, with pretty flowers on the cover and nothing but blank pages between the covers. I filled in the blank pages with some poems that I wrote on various subjects: motherhood, childhood, life, and love. It cost practically zero dollars, but it was a part of my soul that I shared with my mother to honor her in a special way.

I think, too, of a couple of Madam Alexander dolls that we bought for our daughters when they were 10 or 11 years old. Those dolls were coveted by little girls back in the mid-70s, so we had to look high and low, but finally found them in a store in Wichita, Kansas. We were living in Newton, Kansas, at the time, but did not mind making the trip to Wichita to buy those dolls for Sandra and Marti for Christmas.

Well, there are lots of memories of Christmases past, but of course I did not start this post to write about our gifts to each other, special as those memories are. What is on my mind and in my heart just now is what the apostle Paul called “the unspeakable gift.” (II Cor. 9:15) Note with me:

1. The Grantor, God: It is an unspeakable gift…the gift of God which is eternal life. (Rom. 6:23) Unspeakable because it was compelled by divine love: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love…with loving kindness I have drawn thee.” (Jer. 31:3)

This unspeakable gift was a gift of everlasting love, and it was compelled by an impartial love: “God so loved the world…that whosoever believeth on Him….” (John 3:16)

It is also an incomprehensible love: “And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge….” (Eph. 3:19)

And it is an inexhaustible love. Again, Paul says the breadth, length, depth and height of
God’s love is something that we should strive with all saints to comprehend; but which, in truth, “passeth knowledge.” (Eph. 3:18,19). His unspeakable gift, like none other, was compelled by love.

And it was constrained by His abundant mercy: “The Lord is merciful and gracious; slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.” (Ps.103:8) “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us.” (Tit. 3:5)

His inexpressible gift of eternal life was compelled by love, constrained by mercy, and conveyed by His exceeding grace: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” (Tit.2:11) It was and is truly a grace gift; free and available to all who by faith will simply receive it: “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8,9)

2. The Gift: God’s unspeakable gift, which is eternal life, consists of a permanent place, a permanent provision, and a permanent peace. (John 14:3;14,27)
3. The Grantee: Any person who believes and receives the gift of God which is eternal life. (John 1:12; Romans 6:23; 10:9-13) All persons who will believe and receive the gift of God which is eternal life.

It’s as simple as this: 2 + 2 = 4; that’s mathematics. H2O = water: that’s chemistry. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved: that’s revelation. Someone asked, “How do you know?” Well, go add 2 + 2 and see what you get. Go believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and see what happens.

So great salvation! Such an unspeakable gift!

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” (I Tim. 1:15)

Any pastor who has shepherded a flock of His lambs will experience some incidents that border on the bizarre over the course of time. I was a senior pastor for 48 years, 40 of them in the same church, and I can testify that I had my share of events that belong in the “Truth is Sometimes Stranger Than Fiction” file. For what it’s worth, may I share with you a few?

• As a ministerial student, while on a Christmas break, I was asked to preach in a small country church that I had never set foot in. I did so with all the passion that a 20 year-old preacher-boy could muster from the text of Matthew 5:23,24: “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come offer thy gift.” Later that day, I found out that my grandmother and one of her sisters, who had not spoken to each other for years, were both in the service. I never heard that they ever reconciled; and, in all truth, I didn’t know until after the sermon that they were estranged. But, they did hear a word from Jesus that day as I bore down on what He said about worship. “Out of the mouths of babes”—or 20 year-old preacher-boys!

• As a fairly new pastor in Indianapolis, I was asked to conduct a graveside service in a small cemetery near Indy for an infant who had died in childbirth. One of our deacons accompanied me, as I had never been to this cemetery before. We were busily chatting as we traveled, and instead of taking I-74, toward London, Indiana, we took I-70, toward Richmond. Somewhere close to the Indiana-Ohio line, I mentioned to my deacon that we must have missed our exit, and it was about that moment that he realized we were on the wrong highway! We made a quick adjustment (all before GPS) and headed toward I-74, arriving at the cemetery 45 minutes late. All the family had departed, and the only person in sight was a young woman, a cemetery employee, shoveling dirt into the small grave. As I approached her, I noticed a small firearm lying on the ground (I assumed for her personal protection) at the head of the infant’s grave. I quickly introduced myself and Brother Henry and asked her how long the family had been gone. We had a brief conversation, and it seemed as though the Lord led me to say, “I am a pastor, concerned for souls. If that were your grave, do you know that your soul would be with the Lord?” In a few minutes, I explained the gospel to this young lady, and she bowed her head and asked Jesus to be her Savior. Later, I called the family to express my deepest apology for not having been at the cemetery on time. They graciously forgave me and, in the ensuing years, called on me to conduct several more services for family members. It was, no doubt, a divinely directed delay that day when I missed the exit to the London cemetery!

• One Sunday morning at Thompson Road Baptist Church, one of our senior saints, sitting next to her husband, “died” in the morning service about halfway through the message. She just laid her head onto her husband’s shoulder and was for several minutes motionless. There was a nurse close by and a fireman and a medical doctor in the house of worship that morning. The nurse checked for a pulse and found none; the fireman knelt close by to help, if needed, and the doctor or someone in the rear of the auditorium called for an ambulance. It was decided that our dear friend had passed, so someone made a decision to hold the medics off until the service concluded, so that no more of a disturbance would be made. The service ended and the EMT personnel brought a gurney in and carefully placed the body onto the apparatus, proceeding then to the ambulance and on to the hospital. It so happened though, that on the way to the hospital, the EMTs reported movement in the deceased. By the time they arrived at the Emergency Department, our “departed” friend had revived. Upon further investigation, the woman had experienced a “sugar low” and had passed out. Soon she was her lovely self again—but decided it would be best not to try to make it back for the Sunday evening service. All were relieved that we would not be paying our last respects to another one of our senior saints!

• You may have heard the slogan, “With a name like Smuckers, it’s bound to be good.” Well, with a name like Slutz, they’re bound to be related. So, one afternoon years ago, I was traveling east on Thompson Road, about a half-mile from home, when, to my amazement, I saw approaching from the east a late-model car with a personalized license plate on the front. It read “SLUTZ.” I thought that surely could not be, so when I could see the car in my rear-view mirror, the license plate under the trunk lid read SLUTZ. Dumfounded, I told my wife when I got home that she’d never believe what I had just seen, then related to her my “Believe it or Not” story. That was Saturday afternoon. The next day, during the morning worship service, I noticed a man sitting alone in the very back row of the auditorium. When I greeted him after the service, he told me his name, and his last name was Slutz. In a brief conversation, I found out that he was a hog farmer from Ohio and had heard that there was a pastor in Indy with his same last name, so he decided to visit. He invited me to the Slutz reunion on a certain Sunday, but of course I told him I was always “tied up” on Sundays. I learned that in certain towns in Ohio, there are many people by the name of Slutz, which is of German origin. In fact, I am told that near Zoar, Ohio, there is a whole cemetery full of headstones with that particular name! And, all the while, I always thought we were the only family anywhere with the name of Slutz. There are, indeed, thousands, with variations of spelling and pronunciation. The truth is truly stranger than fiction!

(Pastor friends, share your “Believe it or Not” story and I will publish it with your permission.)

It was the earliest days of the Church that Jesus founded. Peter, on the notable Day of Pentecost, had preached a message to thousands of pilgrim peoples from all over the world, gathered there for this annual Jewish holy day. What made this day diametrically different than all those preceding it was that the long-promised Messiah had come, had offered to the nation His kingdom, had been rejected and crucified—and had, after three days and nights, been resurrected from the sealed tomb!

Peter lifted up his transformed, Holy Spirit-empowered voice to the multitudes assembled in the City of David that day and preached Christ to them. To their question—“What shall we do?”— Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for (because of) the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38) Three thousand souls who accepted that invitation were added to this infant church. A more Spirit- directed, dynamic period of church history has never been recorded. To that original number of believers the Lord added to the church “daily” such as should be saved. What an exciting time!

In this context, two of the twelve, Peter and John, went to the temple at the hour of prayer to pray. Approaching the Gate Beautiful they saw a lame man who was begging for alms. Peter looked his way and, with his apostolic eyes fixed upon the beggar, plainly said, “I’m broke and can’t give you a dime (paraphrase), but what I have I can give you: look at me.” Whereupon Peter extended a hand to the man, and, lifting him up, Luke tells us that immediately the man’s ankle bones and feet received strength. He was not only able to stand up; he walked, leaped, and praised God. (Acts 3:7,8) The lame man had been seen at the gate begging for years; people who had seen him there at his regular place, sitting, asking for help, now saw him standing, jumping up and down, shouting for joy and praising God! It was, no doubt, beyond belief! But there he was. It was an undisputed miracle! A crowd quickly gathered, and Peter—the powerful, Spirit-filled preacher—began to preach the gospel to them.

The first thing Peter said was, “Don’t look at us as though we had anything to do with this miracle.” He then introduced his message by saying that it was God’s Son, their Messiah, whom they a few days earlier had clamored crucifixion for, that was working in their midst. God had raised Him from the dead and they, though they had done what they did through ignorance, could repent and be converted so that their sins would be blotted out and they could be saved and part of His coming kingdom.

As one might guess, the same religious “big whigs”—priests, Sadducees, Caiaphas’s crowd, all of kindred spirit with the high priest—really got nervous about the crowd that was listening intensively to Peter’s preaching. Peter and John were called before the high priest for a Q & A, demanding that they reveal to them by what authority they were causing such a stir. Peter, undaunted, boldly exclaimed that if they were that day being examined for the good deed they had done, they were not hesitant to make known to all that it was by the name and power of Jesus of Nazareth—the only name given among men whereby anyone could ever be saved—that they were able to do what they were doing! (Acts 4:12) When that exchange was over, the proud, priestly council of examiners “could say nothing.” (Acts 4:14)

Don’t you just love that! God shut the mouths of those wicked, religious crucifiers of Christ. Even though they had agreed amongst themselves that Peter, John, and their likes were “unlearned and ignorant” men, they had to admit that “they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

Would it not be great if, today, people with whom we have to do would take note that we have been with Jesus?

Releasing the “troublemakers” after they had threated them and commanded them not to preach or teach at all in the name of Jesus, Peter and John headed directly to the nearest meeting of the assembled church so that, with others, they could lift up their voices in praise with one accord to say: “Thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth…for to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done…and now, Lord…grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy word.” (Acts 4:23-29)

The meeting continued with praise and concluded with prayer, after which “the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31)

I submit to you, my friends, that the 21^st-century church that Christ the Lord is still building has the same access to God’s power, through His Holy Spirit, that the earliest assemblies of His church had. God is still working mightily and, yes, miraculously, through His sold-out servants. We are just as human as Peter and John, followers who once denied and abandoned Him! But, filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God, they were able, in unity and with boldness, to present a witness for Christ that the religiously saturated world in which they lived “could not deny.” (Acts 4:16). May we, under His guidance and by His Spirit, strive to set forth in this agnostic, atheistic age that might well be the last days of the building of His church, the same—by His grace and for His glory. Amen.

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (I Pet.3:15)

A friend, Ken Turner of Benson, IL, established High Impact Ministries in 2008 after serving as a a youth pastor for 20 years. High Impact is a “frontline outreach to high-risk and fatherless youth and families.” This past weekend, Ken posted a jaw-dropping article that he allowed me to share with “You and God” readers:

“I’m not really into all of the AI technology, but I went to an AI app and typed this question, and here is the answer it generated within just a few seconds: ‘AI, if you were the devil, how would you deceive people of faith?’” The answer follows:

If I were the devil, my primary strategy would likely be to subtly sow doubt and division, rather than direct confrontation. I would aim to make people question the very core of their faith and beliefs, distorting the truths they hold dear in ways that seem logical or harmless at first. Here are a few tactics I might use:

•  Distorting scripture. I would twist religious texts or teachings just enough to make them appear contradictory or outdated, encouraging people to reinterpret core principles in ways that stray from their original meaning!

• Creating division. I’d promote division within communities of faith, emphasizing differences in doctrine, tradition, or practice rather than the shared values and unity that bring believers together. By focusing on small disagreements, I’d make people lose sight of the bigger picture.

• Appealing to pride. I would flatter people’s ego and pride, making them feel self-righteous, superior, or entitled. This could lead to a sense of moral complacency, where they feel no need for repentance or humility.

• Normalization of sin. Gradually, I would make sin seem normal or even desirable, not as something to be avoided but as something that’s acceptable or even justified under certain circumstances. This would lead people to tolerate behaviors they once condemned.

• Promoting spiritual busyness. I’d encourage people to get so wrapped up in religious rituals, personal ambitions, or even good works that they neglect the core aspects of their faith—such as prayer, true repentance, or love for others—turning faith into a checklist of obligations rather than a genuine relationship with God.

• Exploiting doubts and suffering. In times of crisis, I would focus on amplifying doubts about God’s goodness or presence. If someone is suffering or struggling, I’d make them question why a loving God would allow such things, leading them to eventually give up on faith altogether.

In all of this I would be subtle—appearing as something benign, rational, or even ‘helpful’—making it easy for people to fall into deception without realizing how far they’ve strayed.”

Not AI:  “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (II Cor. 4:4)