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Please indulge me in an imaginative little hypothetical scenario for a couple of minutes, and then I'll stick to the facts.
Imagine the Apostle Paul slips into a "wormhole" in the space-time continuum and ends up in your living room. (For illustrative convenience, he speaks perfect English.)
He seems rather annoyed. "Not again," he says. After some polite introductions, he explains that he stepped in this crack before. Once he ended up in the year 2525, and nobody listened to a word he had to say. He says this only lasts for one lunar month, and then he'll be back in the "oikoumene" (the imperial world of the first century) where he left.
He senses your enthusiasm. After all, here's the Apostle Paul! What a great opportunity! Imagine having the Apostle Paul as your "Personal Life Coach" for 30 days.
But he's not as enthusiastic as you are. He says every time this happens, people start out amazed, but in the end, nobody wants to hear what he has to say. For the last two or three weeks of his stay, he's a complete outcast.
"Well, that's their loss," you say. You intend to gain the maximum benefit from this cosmic event.
Even though he's been to your future several times, he's not unimpressed by your technology. TV, microwave oven, cell phone. He graciously nods when you tell him all the neat things you can do. But he's seen a far more amazing technological civilization.
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After you give him a tour of your house, you give him a ride in your metal automobile with the power of 100 horses. You think he'll be impressed with your car, but he talks about other centuries he's visited, and you remember what you thought future transportation would be like when you were a small child watching "The Jetsons." ("Why did that not happen?" you wonder silently.) He asks you questions about your government and your economy. He asks about your centurions, and your foreign legions. Sometimes his questions are uncomfortable, because you're not sure about the answers, even though you watch Fox News every night.
Most uncomfortable of all, he asks you questions about the Scriptures. He mostly asks about the dustiest parts of your Bible. You show him that you have memorized John 3:16 and Romans 8:28 ("that's one of Paul's own verses!"), but the Apostle is not at all impressed.
After hours of conversation, and as you show him to the fold-away bed in the spare room at the end of the day, the Apostle Paul says to you, "I'm afraid you are an idolater."
You try to be respectful, but in your heart you're thinking,
"WHAT?!?! Me??? IDOLATRY?!?"
"Maybe this guy's no Apostle at all. Maybe he's just a crank. No wonder he ends up an outcast."
If he could show you from the Scriptures that you're guilty of the most dangerous idolatry, would you listen? Would you have the attitude of the Bereans and be of a ready, willing mind to hear what the Bible says? Or would you rather just not hear about all this?
You're thinking, "Idolatry is what primitive superstitious people do. I'm not guilty of worshipping an idol."
"And I don't watch porn, if that's where you're going with this."
Nope. Porn might be an idol, but it's not the most dangerous one.
The most dangerous idolatry is responsible for killing, crippling, or making homeless tens of millions of non-white civilians in my lifetime.
No, it's not abortion.
No, it's not racism.
I'd like to invite you to read two books with an open mind. The first book is the Bible. The second book is this website. Read them both over the course of one year. Read them every day. Just 15 minutes a day. I'm willing to bet $1,000.00 (one thousand dollars) that I can completely change your mind about the Bible and your life. And your future. Follow my reading assignments, and you will experience
the most profound, beneficial,
massive, and lasting
personal transformation
of your entire life
or I'll cut you a check for $1,000.00.
I'm sure you would be willing to pay one thousand dollars for that kind of personal transformation coming from a study of the Bible.
I've created a password-protected membership site, where you can read through the Bible in chronological order, read a couple of paragraphs of commentary, answer one or two brain-dead comprehension questions (just to make sure you're participating honorably), and at the end of the year, give me your honest evaluation.
You're going to lose this bet.
But that will actually be a huge "win" for you.
I won't send the IRS after you when you lose but won't pay up. (And you will lose.)
If you want to, you can make a tax-deductible donation of any amount to the non-profit organization that sponsors this website. Or not.
There's really no risk. No obligation. My offer stands. It's a marketing gimmick. But it's sincere.
Click here to join.
Frightened?
Want to know more?
Relax. Click here to continue reading this website. You can join later if you want.
