Do Not Buy Fake

Olympic has ended. China has great success, not only as a host but also as the new world champion. But something caught my eyes when I saw in CNN about fake bags of famous designers like Prada, Dolce Gabanna, Versace sold openly in China's malls. The worst thing is that the buyers didn't know that it was fake. They have been deceived. I just astonished to see how wicked the people who sold these things.

Everything looks so original, those bags even have certificate of authenticity, have booklet, gifts, etc. And they sell these fake ones with the same price like its original ones. Can you imagine how much is their profit from selling one bag? The price could be 1:20 in ratio. And the method is so smoothly covered. The seller show them the booklet and he offer his customers to make a special order first, and in next two days they can receive their bag. It seems as if those bags are really rare and expensive. The fact is, he ordered to the factory who run this 'fake' business and get everything ready within 2 days. As customer, you will never know, and you have already boasted to your friends, how expensive your bag is, and because of that, you deceived your own friends unintentionally. Because of the seller deceived you, then you deceived others. 1 person's sin can affect the whole community.

One sinner destroy much good (Ecclesiastes 9:18)

Or when I saw the grand opening of the Olympic, I saw so many beautiful women been involved in it. I said to one of my friends, 'Wow, I never knew that Chinese girls are that beautiful', until somebody who is a doctor said, Don't be deceived. Many of them are fake, product of plastic surgery'. I just surprise. I never think that people would deceive themselves and by doing that, they deceived others. I was again deceived by their appearance.

Through this experience, I start to think. what if all this time, I always buy fake things unconciously? And I can't stop thinking, what if the Prada that people bought expensively, is fake? What if the Rolex watch they bought for $1500 is a fake watch that just about $20 each? What if the Nike shoes they bought for $100 is just about $10 a pair? If you judge only by appearance. You will always be deceived for all of your life. Tell me please, is there any thing in this world that can't be faked?

People can even fake their skin colour, their age (thanks to botox), their size (you know what I mean), change their sex, they even can make clonning of Dolly sheep, transplantation plants. If they can fake those things, is it not easier for them to fake bags, laptops, kitchen-ware, or even money? My friends, believe me, what you see with your eyes, most of them are not the exactly original, but fake. And if somebody tell you that it is fake, you will just despise them, and said, 'Mind your own business. Do you think I am fool enough to buy those fake ones?'

Yes, many of us are fool. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself (Galatians 6:3). Many of us have our own self-righteousness, do not want to listen to anybody else, many of us think that we are something, which in fact, we are nobody. Many of us have itching ears, we are too picky about anything. I will always tell you, that I was part of it. In the past, I was wearing mask everywhere, I was like whitewashed tombs, I look nice outside, but inside, I was full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. I was deceiving myself and people around me. I had itching ears too.

I hope that now you are begin to have awareness about your circumstances. The reason I wrote this is because I want you to start thinking that not every person who preach to you is saint and have good intention, that not every person who goes to the church is Christian, that not every book you read is good for your soul, even written by Christian preachers. NOT ALL OF THEM, my friends. Be aware.

Ah, Alvin, you have short-sighted eyes. Open your mind, man. Can you not enjoy everything the world offer you, don't be too rigid.

Bible said, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)". My friends, so now, even your own heart can deceive you, to whom you should put your trust? In this world that full of relativity, bad can simply be good, and good simply be bad, right can turn to wrong and wrong turn to right, in what basis you stand on your ground?

Many people playing God, they preach their own doctrines, their own theologies based on their own wisdom. They used Bible too, and in some topic that they can understand, they dig deep into it, but they never touch other thing in which they don't understand. They start to preach heresies. If you only understand that God is Love without knowing that God is also Just, you will preach that everybody will be in heaven, no hell, because God loves all people. That's what Oprah teach, according to her New Age Movement.

Or if you only focus that God is not compassionate, not love you, etc, you will start to create another mediator to soften His heart first, to speak to Him on behalf of you. This is another fake teaching. Don't you know that Bible said there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Or don't you know that even Jesus Himself didn't ask God on our behalf? God the Father Himself loves you, He will give you anything you ask in Jesus' name.

John 16:26-27

In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

Or because you think that God is Tyrant in His Sovereignity, you will stop preaching, because you will think that it is useless to preach if God didn't open their hearts, haven't predestined them before the beginning of this world, then don't think that everybody has his own freewill. Man is wretch, no change to repent if God didn't allow them. Don't you know that God want everybody to be saved, not wanting anyone to perish?

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

1 Timothy 2:3-4

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

So, please my friends, open your Bible and read, don't just listen to anybody until you will become confused, don't just believe in any lies given to you. You need to also check my words, since I am also human. I can do wrong, and I need somebody to correct me as well. I don't want to be self-righteous and go back to my past, to satisfy again my itching ears. I know that with this topic, some of you feel sad, and think less of me again, because you think that I am against you again.

Paul had that problem too, when he was in Galatia, he asked them 'What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them (Galatians 4:15-17).

My friends, please don't think that those who go to the Bible school, to seminary, who attend so many sermons are all children of God, not all of them. I hope start from now. You don't be too quick to believe in everything they said.

Bible said, 'Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world (1 John 4:1-3).

Do you want all the time be deceived and deceiving others? There are a lot of wicked people out there, and they will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:13-15).

Be wise, my friends. Read your Bible, Open your eyes and See! If you want to go to heaven, 'eat' the Word of God. How can you expect to be in heaven if your Bible always stays on your bookshelf, dusted? Don't you know that there are many false prophets, false teachers around you? They are children of darkness, and they have infilterated the churches. They even preach, teach, hold high status in the church. You will never know whether they teach you the very Word of God or just the teaching of men, unless you read your Bible.

2 Corinthians 11:14

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Do you understand that verse? There is a religion who has their false prophet and false teaching. It started when this false prophet who was illiterate met an angel of light, angel gave him revelation and because of that, he started to claim himself as God's messenger. He killed anybody who didn't agree with him, he married more than once. What can you expect from someone who believe in that religion? Some of them still have , good mind, good heart, they do no harm to others, but if they go deep into that teaching, satan began to corrupt their mind and they will become radical, terrorist, they kill in the name of their god. They believe that by doing that, they will be in heaven with their own harem, they will have sex for eternity in heaven. Can you imagine that? It is only because of one man, now it become the largest religion in the world.

Bible said, One sinner destroys much good (Ecclesiastes 9:18)

And even long before Jesus came, people already practice worshipping statues, worshipping men and women, worshipping animal (cow, snake, etc), worshipping sun, moon, stars, trees, etc, but NOT GOD. I tell you the truth, some of them claimed to believe in God, to have faith in Jesus, but it is just in their mouth, they don't practice what they teach.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles (Romans 1:21-23)

My friends, can you put God inside your statues? Inside human man-made? Do you want to end up as idolater? My ancestors believed in Buddha, my Hindus friends pray in front of food sacrifice and joy sticks with some portrait. How about you?

Acts 7:49

Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will you build me? said the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

This kind of worshipping act continues until now, right in front of your eyes. And you never realized about it, since your eyes are calloused. My friends, have you met people who are under spell? Go to my country, there are a lot of people who are practicing magic. When people under some spell, what you see is different with what they see. You see danger ahead, they see peace, and they walk toward it unaware. No matter how you try to warn them, they will never listen to you. They harden their heart.

So, my friends, if you now realize that all this time you also worshipping statues, men, birds, animals, reptiles. Please stop doing that. Don't exchange your eternity with that kind of practice. Leave those things and worship God alone. Jesus is God, Saviour and Lord of lords, King of kings. Believe in Him and eternal life is yours. Remember, in this world, there are a lot of fake things, maybe all this time, you are in your fake heaven, imaginary heaven, heaven that never exist, heaven that was created by your own pastors, priests, etc.

Bible said, 'For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 3:3-4).

My friends, if you need proof for this verse, just look for the biggest church in your town and try to attend their sermon. There is only 2 reasons why people flock to that church.

1. because God is there, people get more fire from God each time they come
2. because the preacher always dope them with what their itching ears what to hear.

Everybody has itching ears. We want to be pleased, to be praised, to be satisfied. Nobody want to be judged, to be condemned, to be wronged. Am I right? Bible said so.

John 3:19-21

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

These people who have itching ears will hate everything that Bible said. That's why for them, it would be nice to have fake preacher, fake pastor, fake church, to comfort them. Tell them that God is Love them so much, no matter how bad their behaviour is, they will go to heaven. And because of these, you can see that churches are booming, preaching is now kind of job, the way to earn money, to be rich. You think there are a lot of revival if you see new churches? Don't be too quick to decide.

If they never talk about faith, about sanctification, about hell, about judgment, about something that God dislike, about repentance, about holiness, about strive to enter the heaven, you can be sure, that those churches are one of fake churches, that those preachers are just another super-apostles, who only care about your money, that you keep paying your tithe, your offering, they can have 19000 people flock to their church, which as big as baseball stadium, but their topics is just about peace of the world, love of the world, freedom from slavery of financial problem, trouble, how to gain rich from God, blessing, healing, etc. That church is dead, but people like to be there, because they want to go to heaven, but they don't want to strive for it. So, they think that by doing that, God is pleased.

Galatians 6:7-8

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

John 4:24

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.