“(66) From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. (67) Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Will you also go away?’ (68) Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You (and only You) have the Words of Eternal Life. (69) And we believe (we have put our trust in, we cling to and we rely wholly upon You) and we are sure (we are certain, convinced and we fully understand) that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.’ (70) Jesus answered them, ‘Haven’t I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?’ (71) And of course He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon; for it was he that should betray Jesus, even though he was one of the twelve.”

One of the single most scariest things I encountered as a young follower of Christ was this horribly sad and tragic fact: Someone, a follower of Jesus, one who had been a disciple of the Lord...someone who had probably walked daily with Him...could not only turn his back on Him, but they could and would and did betray Him! That so greatly troubled me in my early days and months (and even years) of walking with the Lord, and, to be sure, the enemy knew this fear in my heart and played it for all it was worth! I struggled with this fear, that I would somehow, some way, one day betray the Lord. It was a point of great turmoil and tremendous suffering in my young Christian heart. It didn’t matter who prayed for me or counseled me, and I had some great ministers pray for me for the first ten years of my life with Jesus -- I just could not get “beyond” this particular point of my life. I stood in so many, many prayer lines, but in some things it does not matter who prays for us, for we must “gut through” and endure these assaults by the devil and his cohorts, reaching a place where, like Peter, we can confidently believe and confess:

“To whom, Lord, shall we go? You have the Words of Eternal Life. And we believe and we are sure (and we fully understand) that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

This, dear saints -- this realization of Who He Is in us and who we are in Him -- this is a true place of growth and maturity in Christ.

To whom shall we go?

Who is there, Lord, besides You?

To whom can we run and hide, or upon whom can we lean and rely?

And, really -- when all is said and done -- who or what do we rely upon? And now we will bring this teaching to a close, and in the final part of the teaching we may very likely “step upon” some toes. So, should you decide to continue, pick up your feet and consider yourself forewarned.

I am reminded of an older lady I knew, while I was attending a Bible school, back in 1971. A friend of mine had joined me, to spend one afternoon helping this lady do some odd jobs. A fitting enough task for a couple of young Bible school students, but as we began our day, getting into this lady’s car, she stopped us both, dead in our tracks...one of us had tried to get into the front seat, probably not wanting to make her feel like a “chauffeur”, but certainly meaning no harm. She told us both quite plainly, “Oh no, you can’t get in the front; that’s where Jesus sits!”, and she was quite emphatic. But the way she said it, as she patted the front seat with her hand, seemed very odd.

My friend and I just glanced at each other and smiled, trying not to think about it, until she began to “speak” to Jesus. And then it got even more odd. She spoke “down” to Him, as if He were a small puppy, and I am not exaggerating one bit. She treated the Lord as a pet, not a Savior, as she talked in a babyish, “goo-goo” type of talking that people use with their pets and small children, and it was quite strange. “That’s right, Jesus; you just sit down right there”; she might as well had been saying to a puppy, “Okay, Snookems...you sit there and be a good widdle boy...”. It was extremely embarrassing and even a little “creepy” for me and my friend, to hear an older, supposedly mature Christian, speak to Jesus as one would to a small animal or even a small child.

I learned from that experience, and others that would follow, that some people do not have very much of a “depth” or any kind of intimacy with Jesus, and that is very sad, especially when you see a grown woman or man talking “down” or condescending to the Lord. But this is part of what fluff is. Webster defines fluff as “something light or unimportant; light in appearance or consistancy”. That is how this woman was acting toward her Lord and Savior... treating Him lightly or as One Who was unimportant, for if she truly knew her Lord as the King of kings and Creator of all things, she would never have dishonored Him in that fashion, and especially not in front of two impressionable young Christians.

Saints of the Lord...there are souls who are searching for truth; they are hungry and thirsty, desiring to know that there is a place of intimacy in Christ; they long to be able to know Him deeper, richer and fuller in their hearts; they desire to understand Him better, to follow Him more closely and to become even as the disciples of old. They also search for real spiritual food and drink, that they might partake of it -- and why would we want to feed them a “spiritual twinkie” or a piece of “spiritual cotton candy”? Or -- even worse -- why would we dare to give them lukewarm water to quench their thirst? If you are a Christian with a web site, and you truly have a desire to minister for the Lord, to His people, and you truly want to “work the works of God”, then perhaps it’s time to put away the fluff and the light, frilly stuff and get into the Meat of His Word and His Way.

However, if you are fully convinced the Lord has called you to do this “light” and “unimportant” ministry, because you feel “someone has to do it”, then all I can say is I hope you heard from God, for you will find nowhere within scripture that we, as Christians, are to “play” with the world or the things of this world (and we’ll get more into that a little bit later). It is time to get serious, because people are dying, and we have the Words of Life. Let each of us be faithful to feed and to give that which the Lord has placed within our hands, even as He placed twelve baskets into the hands of His disciples many years ago. There are those who are hungry...truly hungry for the things of the Lord. Let us be faithful to give those who hunger the Bread of Life, for time is much too short to play games or to be distracted by the things of this world.

And here we can see the Line that He has drawn. Not because I say so, but because Jesus told those who questioned Him and His Authority, “You must be intimate with Me, partaking of My Flesh and drinking of My Blood”. And many were offended and walked with Him no more. It is time, saints, to get intimate with Him and stop “playing” with the world. And if you think I am way too heavy with the words I’ve shared so far, then my advice is: Read no further, for now we get into a really difficult subject.

I am sure there are those who will insist that what I am about to say is a “stretch”, but I will say it anyhow. But first, let’s see what the apostle Paul says about flesh.

Galatians 5:19-21 -- “Now the works of the flesh are manifest (obvious), which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you, even as I have also told you in times past: They which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

We will not look at all of these examples, but we will look at witchcraft, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, heresies, and envyings. I have encountered all of these on supposedly Christian sites over the last few years. Some I have encountered via email communications, and here, in email, you will often find variance, wrath and strife, usually recognized because the one you’re “talking with” wants to argue and debate things endlessly, being contentious and always trying to provoke some kind of response out of you. This kind of carnal Christian loves to debate and argue and will constantly “bait” you, unless you finally put an end to it (as I have had to do on several ocassions). And if you do not “end” it, many times you find this kind of person will literally consume your time, as well as drain you and wear you down emotionally and physically. I could share many examples here, but it would serve no purpose, so let’s move on.

For now, let’s look at witchcraft, which may seem obvious, but apparently it is not, because I have seen this very thing “linked” with many Christian sites via Web Rings or other Link Exchange Programs. And when I say I have seen witchcraft, I mean the real, satan-inspired kind of withcraft, all just “one click away” from a sincere Christian site. You may say, “But I am not aware of such links on my pages!” Then become aware, for they are there, carefully and deceitfully hidden within those wonderful things called Web Rings and Link Exchanges. I know. I have found them. And we are responsible for what is linked to our pages. Ignorance is no excuse. When Paul says:

2nd Corinthians 6 -- “(14) Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion has light with darkness? (15) And what concord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has he that believes with an infidel? (16) And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, and as God has said, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (17) Wherefore, you need to come out from among them, and be separate’, says the Lord, ‘and do not touch the unclean thing’.”

Those words, unequally yoked together, mean: “To yoke up differently, to associate discordantly; unequally yoke together with; also to join, especially by a yoke; a coupling.” All of the words I’ve highlighted are very accurate and full descriptions of what a web ring or a link exchange is...you join, you associate with, and you couple or yoke up to these groups, and not all of these groups (web rings & link exchanges) screen very effectively those who join them, no matter how hard they say they try.

I have recently been discussing (with a sister of the Lord) this Web Ring problem, as she began her own “Christian Web Ring” -- one that would only have real, honest Christians on it! Or so she had hoped. Then I carefully shared with her my experience as I visited a site on that particular Ring she founded (now, she is one of many who are genuinely concerned about this, so do not misunderstand what I am about to share). Just by “chance” (and you’ve probably heard me say this before -- there are no coincidences in the Lord), someone from that sister’s new Web Ring visited my site (before I had gotten the chance to “check out” this new Christian web ring, like I had promised), and left their URL, so I paid them a visit, as I always do when someone visits me. It’s called a “reciprocal visit”, which is really not practiced by far too many Christian sites, sad to say -- but that’s another story for another time.

Upon entering the above-mentioned site, I immediately sensed no real Christian atmosphere at all (always a bad sign), and, after browsing a few pages, I found some Native American prayers to the Great Spirit of the Sky, of the Earth, etc. Dear ones, while these kinds of prayers may seem noble to some, as they vainly try and cling to some “past heritage”, or perhaps they have some other noble motive, the truth of the matter is: If you claim to know Jesus Christ as your Savior, and know beyond any shadow of any doubt that you are a born-again Christian, then praying to a great spirit or to the “man upstairs”, or to anyone besides the Father -- through Jesus Christ, His Son -- is wasted breath. I mean that most sincerely and with absolute seriousness. Praying to or through saints or any deceased person won’t cut it either. Pray to the Father through Jesus Christ, His Son. That’s what Jesus taught, that’s what Paul taught, and that’s what all of the New Testament writers taught, so don’t allow anyone, anything, or any church doctrine to rob you of the blessing and the wonderful experience of “boldly approaching the Throne of Grace (God’s Throne, not man’s), that you may obtain mercy, and find Grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).”

Now back to the Web Rings for a moment. As far as I can see (until we Christians find a safe way to protect the Web Rings we want to keep truly “Christian”), even though there are some very well-meaning Christians involved, the sole purpose of the Web Ring is to increase traffic to your site. But at what cost? Have you had to “compromise” your position in Christ in order to gain a hundred or even a thousand visitors? Why? And to what end? Is the Lord more pleased with you if you have a thousand visitors, or are you more pleased with you? I have talked with several Christians on the WWW, and for those of you interested, there are those trying to find an answer. But, for now, allow me to speak to serious Christians, who truly want to serve the Lord with all of their hearts, for I’m afraid we have long ago lost those readers who are merely “playing” with Christianity.

Now, then...speaking of “playing with Christianity”, I would like to address a thing called “site wars”. What is all of this really all about? Why would any Christian want to contend and compete against a brother or sister in the Lord, even if they claim it is “all in good, clean fun”? Why? To please Him? No, it is to please our own hearts and selves, and to win some meaningless and worldly “fluff” award. Are our lives so empty, and is our relationship with Jesus so tenuous and fragile that we must stoop to striving with and against our brothers and sisters in the Lord, just to receive some cyber award (that you can’t even hold!) whose glory will all quickly fade away anyhow?

All this contending for more clicks on our counters; all of the joining of this web ring and that Christian banner link or this exchange link; all of this striving against one another and even with one another is “spiritual cannibalism”. We have used fleshly designs and fleshly ways to further our selves, and now we will feed off of one another, consuming one another, though it may not seem that way at first. But, this is how it is in real life. The soulish, more agressive Christians feed off of the weaker, more passive Christians, forcing them to do their bidding, until the weaker Christians learn that they, too, can partake of the “flesh” and gain some kind of small thing for themselves. So we all just “feed” off of each other, forgetting that Christ commanded us to love one another, to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, for it is by this (our love for one another) that the world would know and perceive that we are Christians (John 13:34-35). Dear saints, we have somehow strayed, and forgotten why we are all here, and we’ve lost the true Godly zeal to do that which we are called to do. Let us get back on track.

“Brothers and sisters, you have been called unto liberty, only do not use your liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love (or, with love as the pure and sincere motive) serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: You shall love your neighbour as (you love) yourself. However, if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed one of another. (Galatians 5:13-15)”

Any kind of competing, contending or striving against a fellow Christian is biting and devouring one another. Now, I am obviously (at least, I hope it is obvious) not talking about a friendly game of softball, volleyball or any kind of game among Christians. I mean, Christians are supposed to have fun, too...right? I am talking of Christ-centered activity; I am speaking about ministry or doing our part of working for the Lord and His Body... any kind of striving in that area is wrong, or so says Paul above. And furthermore... I should delight that people visit your site, and I do delight to send people to good sites that I know will feed them spiritual food or help them with spiritual truths or even minister to any need they may have. I have a real problem, though, suggesting someone’s site, when I know they are “in the middle of” a site war, because their main goal and their main thrust is getting visitors to their site (and the more they get, the happier they are), and their true motive is not ministering to a hungry, thirsting heart. I also hesitate to send anyone to a site where they will be inundated with little fairy-like cherubs, instead of a healthy, wholesome welcome to some good spiritual food.

There is far too much striving going on in the world. Why should we encourage it, expect it or tolerate it on the Internet?

Again, here is an instance I have encountered while on this WorldWideWeb. I do not think I am overstating any facts here, by continuously referring to my journeys (and my discoveries) on the Internet, neither do I fear I will alienate some of you by sharing some very negative things I have seen on Christian sites. Someone needs to say something, and I just happen to be that voice at the moment.

During Chrismastime a few years back, a sister in Christ visited our site, signed our GuestBook, and left a banner connected to their site. I am very careful to always pay a visit back to the sites that visit us --- for several reasons (which should become apparent as you read on) --- and upon my visit to this lady’s site I found a very disturbing thing --- several disturbing things...

...First off, as I read through her Guestbook (which I usually do, before I sign anyone’s Guestbook), I noticed a certain signing from someone else that “caught my attention”. I cannot exactly say why this caught my attention, but it did and so I visited that other site before I even toured through that original Christian lady’s site. The other site may have “caught my attention” because of the ornate, Christmas-decorated-banner which they had placed in this Christian lady’s Guestbook. It was attractive and perhaps a bit seductive, but my reaction was one of suspicion. And so I went to pay (what I thought would be) a quick visit to the other site, and immediately, on the very first page of the site in question, I saw that this person claimed to be a “woman trapped in the body of a man”. Now, this was nothing I hadn’t heard of before, but as I read down that main home page, I saw link after link of “trans-gender” and “trans-sexual” sites. And, of course, there was a well-written “plea” to all Christians who might visit --- asking them to “accept” this person who was so “trapped”. After all, he/she wrote...“God made me this way”. It wasn’t shocking or disturbing to see that, so much, but what was really troubling was that this site (and all of the adjoining homosexual sites) were linked back to this Christian lady’s site (in her GuestBook). And here’s the really bad part...this particular Christian lady’s site was a rather well-done, much-visited children’s site!!! It was a site specifically for children!

I cringed as I read this man’s page of perversion, and then to read his pleas to Christians was too much. I went back to the Christian lady’s page, reading and checking out the various pages she had. Once I determined that this was a legitimate “Christian” site, I put off signing her GuestBook, for the moment. First, I wrote her an email, explaining to her that I had found this man’s site with all the homosexual and trans-gender links to it. I further explained that I figured she just hadn’t had time to “check out” all of her signings and the accompanying links; it may be days before I am able to “check out” all of my signings, so I understood. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, assuming all of this was just an oversight on her part, but it was not...

I figured I would give her two weeks to reply to my email, and in the meantime I had removed her signing at our GuestBook on the very day I discovered all of these ungodly links in her GuestBook, which was the very day I sent her the first of two emails (the reason for removing her signing from our GuestBook was that I did not want to be linked or associated -- via her site -- to anything as ungodly as what I had found at this man’s site). However, I should say this: I had fully intended to replace her signing if and when she wrote back...but she never wrote back. What she did do (one or two days after I sent the email) was to return to our site and re-enter her original signing at our site. I knew she had gotten our email (or else, how could she have known to come back to our site?), and I found this somewhat troubling.

There’s more to this little story...what she did not know was this: A day after I had sent the email to her, I had gone back to visit her children’s site, reading through more of the signings in her own GuestBook (I might very well have been visiting her site, reading her GuestBook, while she was at our site, signing ours...). I did not know what or why, but something still troubled me about this lady’s GuestBook. And here’s what I found, with very little effort: I found six or seven sign-ins, from full-blown, practicing witches...witches belonging to the Wiccan cult of witchcraft...witches who very boldly and plainly described their beliefs...simple enough for any child to read and understand. And most of them basically said what the man (who thought he was a woman trapped in a man’s body) said: “Please, Christians, understand this: We mean no harm; we are merely worshipping the sun, moon and sky and all of nature, created by your God”.

So, still being somewhat “troubled”, I visited each and every site of the aforementioned witches --- I visited every site of the witches who had signed this Christian lady’s Guestbook... this Christian lady that was supposed to have a web site for Christian children...! Doing this further “investigative” work, I found out something even more troubling....it was this Christian lady that had initially gone first to sign all of these witches’ Guestbooks!!! It was she, the so-called Christian lady, who owned the children’s site, who had gone soliciting these witches to come to her site! Why would any Christian do such a thing?

Now, two things here...first, I realize that some people (even Christians) do nothing but go around, signing anyone’s and everyone’s GuestBook --- hoping, as I’ve already pointed out, to draw as much traffic to their site as possible. And while I am not overly fond of that kind of impersonal “marketing tactic”, I am not going to condemn someone for doing it (even though, here, we can see the dangers of it). As I mentioned, when I wrote the first email to her, I was going to give her the benefit of the doubt, and assume that her haste to get more traffic to her site was careless, and she just didn’t really know she was at a witch’s site when she signed any of those GuestBooks. We all make mistakes...right?

Secondly...now I’m faced with the unenviable task of not only informing this lady that I have found additional “objectionable” material at her site, but now I realize that it is she who has been the one to go to the witches’ sites --- signing their books; inviting them to come and sign her book! If this all sounds confusing, imagine how I felt as I thought --- long and hard --- as to how I should approach this lady...? Her site had many more visitors than mine; her site was so much more professionally done than mine; her site was just so much better, overall, than mine, and...it could seem that I was writing to her out of self-righteous jealousy (among other things). And so I finally wrote her another email, not expecting any response, and I told her all of the things I have mentioned, mainly making the claim that to have any Christian children’s site connected to any un-Christ-like site was harmful at the least, if not sinful at the worst.

Having taught children on several levels and several grades (from 4-year-olds up to high school), and knowing children fairly well (I believe), I tried to tell her the dangers of “inquisitive” and even “rebellious” children and/or teenagers who could find her site very “helpful” indeed, but in a very “bad” sort of way, as they might seek out new and adventuresome things to do. For example, and for starters, they could seek out such things as homosexuality and witchcraft. Let me mention here: I read through some of the writings on those witchcraft sites, finding it to be, again, very seductive, and a young, impressionable or even a weak Christian could easily be swayed and deceived. Sadly, as I said, I never heard from this Christian lady again, and after I had removed her second signing from our GuestBook one final time, that was the end of my communications with her. I cannot tell you how many Christians I have written to over the years (and certainly not all were of this “negative” variety), and they just do not seem to have the time (or the integrity or fortitude) to write back. Email can be a very “fickle” thing.

One Final Note: This sudden “intrusion” of witches into the sites of Christians was not an “accident” or a “coincidence”, by any means, and I find it sad and disheartening that some Christians (as the lady above) actually “invite” and/or “perpetrate” a witch or any ungodly person to come to their site for the sole purpose of signing a GuestBook. If you will allow a very simple observation on my part...all of this “intrusion” was part of a carefully planned assault against Christians and their children (and the sad fact that some Christians have been used to further this attack only hastens the need for a solution to all of these things).

One point of fact: Since Christmas of 1999, there has been a very intense interest in the Harry Potter books, and (woefully) even Christian families have been seduced and drawn into this arena (but so were so very many when the “seemingly innocent” Pokemon came on the scene last year). Now, with Harry Potter, the media has promoted and praised these books (and the author), and I can only hasten a guess as to all of the damage that this one series of books may bring upon the young hearts and minds of the children of the world (for this thing is world-wide). And although it might seem somewhat cruel and unfair to say it, I can also only guess as to all of the damage that this one isolated “Christian children’s site” (mentioned at length above) may cause to young, impressionable minds and hearts that might venture into some of those dark, deadly links in that “innocent little GuestBook”...

...and so many Christians think that who or what they might be “linked to” doesn’t matter. Ah, dear Christian...we have so much to learn.

Now we move to the last of the things of the flesh: Heresies. While most of us think of heresy as anything that opposes or contradicts the Truth of the Gospel or the Teachings of Christ and His Apostles, there is more to the word. It also means “to take for oneself, by choosing or making a selection, but used in such a way as causing disunion and/or division or even exclusion; to prefer one thing over another; a party or sect.”

While there are many things we choose to be a part of, as well as some things we choose not to be a part of, it is the things we adhere to that cause disunion or division that we will discuss here. I have seen so very many link exchange groups, banner exchange groups or web rings -- and some of these over the past months have invited me to join -- but what some Christians do not understand is this: By linking these “visit-enhancers” to anyone and everyone, I am now become a partaker of non-Christian links and sites. As I said earlier, I know this because I have followed some of these links and rings, finding some very disturbing and ungodly things out there. As we also discussed earlier, a ring or link that is “joined” to anyone and everyone is divisive and creating disunity, whether they want to deal with the truth of the matter or not.

The reason I say this is because there are Christians who will not join such a link because of the compromise factor. They are, therefore, “excluded” -- though not necessarily intentionally -- but they are excluded. This exclusion is thereby creating division and disunity in the Body of Christ, because anything that cannot be embraced by all who love and worship Jesus Christ is divisive. It’s the same with a church that refuses to worship and magnify and exalt the Lord. There are many Christians who cannot be a part of that kind of church, so they are, in essence, excluded from it -- the end result: the Body is divided. Not by their own choosing...it is that particular church which chooses to exclude some Christians from their body, by deciding not to honor Christ, but instead to honor some program, some worldly philosophy or something “other than” Christ Jesus.

We must be very certain, beloved, of that which we follow and of that to which we are joined, whether it be a church or some group on the WWW. Let us be sure that, in all we do, we honor and bless Him, and we bring glory and praise to His Name.

I will finish the thoughts concerning spiritual prostitution and incest at a later date, and I will also touch on another area: spiritual rape, all within the Body of Christ. These are not some sensational kinds of ploys to “get more readers”. These are very real and very serious problems within the churches of America today.

May we all join the heart of Peter, by declaring from the very depths of our hearts:

“To whom, Lord, shall we go? You (and only You) have the Words of Eternal Life. And we believe and we are sure that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

Help us please, O Lord, to stay close to You, and may we never, ever forsake You, for You have never and will never forsake us! Amen and amen.