— ADVERTISEMENT — A Generic God
On January 20, 2001, George W Bush was inaugurated as the forty third president of the United States. Mr. Bush professed to be a born-again Christian, a convert of Billy Graham, and was very vocal about his faith. He appointed John Ashcroft to be his attorney general. Mr. Ashcroft was a “Spirit filled” believer, the son of an Assembly of God pastor. For almost six months it seemed that true righteousness had come to our capital as attorney general Ashcroft began every day with a bible study with his staff. Both the president and the attorney general were very public and vocal in their love for Jesus. Then came the eleventh day of September, which we remember as 9/11. Nineteen radical Islamist hijacked four airplanes in midflight and succeeded in destroying the Twin Towers in New York City, crashing one plane into the Pentagon, while a fourth plane, believed to be intended for the Capital building, was crashed into the ground by the heroes who overcame the hijackers. Almost three thousand people died that day.
President Bush's first response was to call the leaders of many different religions together in a joint prayer meeting. He called for the Christian, the Muslim, the Hindu, the Buddhist, and the heads of other eastern religions to pray over worldwide television. In the years that followed, President Bush used every opportunity to praise Islam as a “religion of peace.” He was a good man, but he succeeded in giving us a “generic god.” It is true today, twenty four years later, that whenever anyone speaks of “God” the people think of their personal god, whether it is Allah, Buddha, Christ, or one of the many gods of the Hindu.
Who is God?
America has become very much like the children of Israel in the lifetime of the prophet Elijah. They did not know who God is. False prophets filled the land. King Ahab had built altars to Baal throughout the land to satisfy his heathen wife, Jezebel. She had used the authority of her husband to kill the prophets of God to the extent that Elijah said “I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men” I Kings 8:22. Elijah's challenge to the children of Israel was, “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD (Jehovah) be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word” I Kings 18:21. They did not know who God is. Jehovah God sent Elijah to prove who the true God is. He said, “The god that answers by fire, let Him be God” I King's 18:24. Elijah proved with an “infallible proof” Acts 1:3 that day as the fire fell upon his altar, that Jehovah is God. The people who saw the fire on the altar all began shouting, “The Lord
(Jehovah) is God, The Lord (Jehovah) is God.”
Many Americans today believe in a “generic god” as if “God” was his name. An athlete will thank “God” for his victories, and a businessman for his successes. I visited by phone with one of my sons recently, a very successful businessman in San Antonio Texas, and a devout Christian. He said to me, “I thank God for all the blessings He has given me.” I was so happy to hear my son give God the praise for his success, but I asked him “Why does God love you more than one of those who attend our church from a local homeless shelter?” The fact is, He doesn't.
I am very conservative and a supporter of our president, Donald Trump. President Trump has been faithful to honor God since his life was spared by a miracle on July 13, 2024, but I have never heard him speak of Jesus. Elon Musk is one of the smartest and greatest men of our lifetime, but he does not know the Lord. It is reported that he does, however, believe there must have been a creator. But who is that creator? Is it Allah? Buddha? One of the Hindu gods? Or must he remain as a generic god? As long as there is a generic god, every mention of “God” brings a different response to different people. The Muslim thinks of Allah, the Buddhist thinks of Buddha, and the Christian thinks of the Father of Jesus Christ.
There is only one way to know the true God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” John 14:6. The true God is a Father, and Jesus Christ is His Son. Jesus also said, “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him” Matthew 11:27.
Salvation in no other name
“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:10-12
If you are one who sincerely wants to know the true and living God, call upon the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, to forgive your sin, and come into your heart to live with you. Christ will come to you, and you will know.
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by Leroy Surface
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