One of the most used and often times misused biblical scripture is Matt 7:1, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” Upon considering the instances where this verse is invoked, I have concluded that those who love it, use it because they not only love their sins, but they also want no one to tell them they are in the wrong. They are blackmailers in my opinion; threatening people with bible verses if they are called out.

These individuals are in actuality looking for cooperation. What they actually want is a society where people agree on, “I have a plank in my eyes, if you say nothing to correct me, when I see you doing wrong I will also say nothing to correct you.” In essence, this verse is used as a license for grievances rather than for good.

To somehow conclude by that portion of scripture that Jesus intended for people not to judge is simply ridiculous. In life, we all make judgment calls. We judge the movies we watch and decide whether it was good or bad. We judge the service we receive at restaurants to decide whether the waiter deserves just 15-percent gratuity or more. The point is, we all make judgment calls in every aspect of our lives. If we were to accept that Jesus intended that we do not judge, we would all live in a sad world–and even then, we could not make the judgment call that the world was sad.

Therefore, we must understand what Christ meant. The first thing we must understand is to whom the verse was intended. It was intended for the disciples concerning the religious people of that time. The religious zealots casted judgments on people which prevented people from coming to God. Due to judgments made by the Scribes and Pharisees, many were ostracized from entering into a relationship with God.  Luke 18:9-14 typify their attitude; ⁹To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ ¹³“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ¹⁴“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Did you notice that the tax collector stood at a distance? This is the kind of Judgment Jesus warned the disciples against; judgment that made people believe they are beyond the Blood of Christ. In our day, it is like a minister telling someone not to return, they are going to hell or in the Catholic Church, being excommunicated. Holding someone accountable and condemning them to hell are two different things. That is because Christ can forgive all sins and who are we to judge the life of someone who still have an opportunity to change course?

However, that is not when the verse ‘judge not’ is invoked. We agree when people make judgments about terrible people that they should go to hell. Typically, when we invoke this scripture it is because we rather not be held accountable for what we did rather than because someone condemned us to hell. Religious condemnation is never when we object. How often do you hear people object if someone said Bin Laden will burn in hell? Never.

If we read further, we would notice Jesus saying that we will all sin but we should be introspective. The tax collector in the above read verse knew he needed mercy, whereas the Pharisee wanted God to know how fortunate God was for his existence. Let us look further at Matthew 7:3-5. ³“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Clearly in verse 5, we are to take the speck out of our eyes so that we can see clearly to remove it from our brother’s eyes. What this means is, hold yourself accountable before you hold others accountable. What God wants is for us to hold ourselves accountable, for us to hold others accountable and for us to be held accountable by others.

Some of you may argue that we should just hold ourselves accountable and stay out of other people’s business. That sounds good provided that the human race is capable of always doing the right thing. We are not. The problem is, not everyone will keep himself or herself accountable. Do we really think that those behind bars did not know right from wrong? They did, but they probably had no one in their life keeping them accountable when they started on a wrong path and that is why they are where they are. If people were capable in keeping themselves accountable, then why is it advisable for people to have an accountability partner? The answer is clear.

When Jesus used these words, his intent was that those who were judging would clean up their life so that they can see clearly to judge other. He was also establishing that judgments that dealt with eternal life were reserved for God. So let me be clear; Jesus was not advising people to hold the attitude that says, I have a plank in my eyes, if you say nothing to correct me, when I see you doing wrong I will also say nothing to correct you. That is our invention. Those who use this tactic, typically, know that what they are doing is wrong and they hope we can all agree around a bible verse to not hold each other accountable. A lack of accountability is the problem, not the answer. Accountability is only judgment when we rather not alter our course.

If there is One true God, as I believe, why then are there so many religions? Atheist confronts Christians with this question and use it as another reason to not believe. But is there really a reason for so many religions?

This question does not refer to different Christian denominations. Different denominations point to the same God even though they value different doctrines.

The real concern is why are there Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Atheism, Buddhism, etc? I include Atheism because of the larger role it plays in the scheme of things. If there truly is only one God, then why so many religions? Does all religions lead to the same place? If you believe that all roads lead to the same god, then we must discard what one of the religions said; specifically Jesus who said “I am the way the truth and the light, no one comes to God but by me.”

If you do not know why so many religions exist- if indeed there is only one God- and you are eager for me to exercise brevity so you can analyze what I believe it to be, then I suggest that we think about the tv show Deal or no Deal and ask ourselves why are there so many briefcases?

While you are considering why there are so many briefcases, I request that you accept a premise. For me it is a reality but for an unbeliever it is a premise. That premise being; there is an active Devil. Since I am permitted to argue God and religion then I must also add the Devil to the equation. Once people understand that the devil is part of the equation and is active then everything will make sense.

As we proceed with using the Tv show deal or no deal, God is the desire within the contestant to choose the right briefcase and the devil is the producers trying to make that process difficult. It is for that same reason that we have many religions.

The producer and the devil are playing the identical role. The producers of that show hope to reduce the probability of the contestants getting the lucky briefcase. Likewise the prince of this world hopes to make it more difficult for any of us to find the truth.

Isn’t it amazing how little we hear about the prince of this world? He is seemingly nonexistent. Whenever something goes wrong in the world we question why did God let it happen. The truth is, this world is controlled by a prince who hates his subjects and does everything possible to prevent them from meeting a King who love them.

The reason why there are many religions is very simple. The prince of this world does not want anyone to have only one choice in life. When we think about having many choices it stirs up a good connotation. Choices are good. Unfortunately, when there is only one right choice and many wrong choices we are in a predicament. That is how serious the religious issue is but the prince of the world want us to continue to believe it is just another throw-away idea or belief people have. It is not. That is the reason why there are so many religions. Some may not accept that prospect nor the concept of religion in general but I followed a path of reason to arrive at my conclusion.

The article that I will share with you is sure to give you pause if you have ever wavered on whether a primitive book—the Holy Bible—has any relevance in our lives today. If you are a Christian then the story that I share will seem like a page pulled directly out of the book of Revelation. Though many attempt to disregard the Bible and Christianity in general, the one thing that remains their bane is its prophetic writings.

I got this story from the people at WorldNetDaily by Drew Zahn. Before I bring this story to you, let me preface it by sharing the pages from the Holy Bible where I believe this company and their inventors received their wisdom. In the book of Revelations, Christ reveals to the disciple he loves—the Apostle John—how His story ends. This is what Christ told John will take place in the end times.

Rev 13:16  And it causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark on their right hand, or in their foreheads, Rev 13:17  even that not any might buy or sell except those having the mark.

The scripture references a governing body with a sophisticated system requiring everyone to have a mark–as John describes it–in order to engage in commerce. This system would potentially eliminate the need for physical currency.

Where would the Apostle John get such a weird idea regarding a system in which individuals would only be able to buy or sell good unless they have a mark? What does he mean? Here are some possibilities. Here is the story.

A Florida-based company that boasts selling the world’s first and only federally approved radio microchip for implanting in humans is now turning its development branch toward “emergency preparedness,” hoping to produce an implant that can automatically detect in its host’s bloodstream the presence of swine flu or other viruses deemed a “bio- threat.”

VeriChip Corporation currently sells a small, under-the-skin Radio Frequency Identification capsule, or RFID, that patients can opt to have implanted, containing a number computer-linked to their medical records, enabling doctors with a special reader to access the information even if the patient is unconscious or unidentified. The company boasts its microchip, roughly the size of a grain of rice, is the only such implant approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Is this what Healthcare reform will entail? Of course, not; that is ridiculous. Nevertheless, who would think not? When our leaders talk about preventative measures to address Health care, why would they not employ a chip in their patients’ bodies that detects when someone is getting sick? It seems like a cost saving measure.

When I first studied the book of Revelation, I though there is no way anyone would sign up for a chip implant. It would seemed too obvious that they were fulfilling the revelation prophesies. However, as biblical literacy decreases and technological advances soar, things have changed; not to mention the appealing benefits of something like an RFID chip. As we have clearly noticed, their capabilities are so compelling, who will resist? These chips have the ability to detect disease in the human body; an important need for concerned individuals seeking to detect any major illness at inception. Add Capitalism to this mix and companies will compete to make chips that can store all our records like banking, Social Security, GPS locater and every other fantasy of man. Stir in to the mix Government and lobbyist, and then the highest bidder will get the Government to mandate their chips as the preferred chip of choice.

The fact of the matter is, 70% of all our health issues are directly related to what the individual eat. I cannot begin to comprehend the amount of power and control we are laying the foundation for if the US adopts a Public Option, which as the president said in the campaign, “in ten, or fifteen years we will have single payer health insurance the likes of that in Europe.”

In the president’s media blitz a few weekends ago, he compared health insurance to auto insurance. I thought it was a silly parallel considering that mandated auto insurance was for the benefit of the other person. However, as I thought about it more it began to occur to me that the president might have been intentional. Driving is a privilege in America and in order to use Federally Funded roads, we have to abide by their rules. The Government exercise authority over seat belts, whether we can use our cell phones, how much mile per gallon vehicles must get, etc. If Government is funding healthcare we can expect them telling us how much weight we need to loose, the foods we need to eat and what we can and cannot do.  With this kind of technology, we already possess the ability to control behavior; we only need to get the people on board. America is not only the only industrialized nation without a Public Option, it may very well be the last piece of a very disturbing puzzle.

Even though the Apostle John told us exactly what will happen and we are witnessing it right before our eyes, many people still have the tendency to doubt whether the Bible is relevant or whether what it says will happen–even though we see it happening–will actually happen.

The events that are transpiring before our very eyes speak to the relevance of God’s word. Jesus said, “heaven and earth will pass away but a letter from God’s word will not fail.” The Bible is also relevant regarding man’s problem with sin and who has made the provisions for our forgiveness. If you are perfect, I understand, you don’t need Christ, but for the rest of us who do things we promised not to do; those of us who disappoint ourselves and those near and dear to us; we need his grace and forgiveness. I encourage you if you haven’t to take a second look at God’s word.