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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

 Copyright © July 1, 2023 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.

Introduction

DVD Cover Good Bad and Ugly In 1966 Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach were the three major actors in a movie called "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." I can clearly remember watching that movie in a theater shortly after it was released. In my opinion, it was a very interesting movie because all three of the major actors displayed different character traits at different times and in different situations during the movie.

I am currently 74 years old and during the course of my life I have observed people transitioning back and forth between good and bad. Most honest people will admit that they are not perfect and that they are somewhere between being a good person and a bad person, but that they are mostly a good person. The problem is that a really bad person will claim to be a good person. And very few bad people will admit that they are really an evil person. Therefore when a person claims to be a good person, it may or may not be the truth. However, I have observed that good and bad people can be separated based on their actions as follows.
  1. Good: These individuals attempt to do the "right" thing in most situations. And they usually take other people's feelings into consideration. However, these people are not "perfect" and they do occasionally make mistakes. But most of the time when they make a mistake they will acknowledge their error and they will attempt to make amends for their mistake if it is possible. A good person helps to bring peace, harmony, and joy to a family, to a community, and to a nation. When the overwhelming majority of the people in a nation are good people then God can bless that nation and the nation will prosper. A good person can be male or female, of any race, of any national origin, and of any age. The thing that makes a person "good" is their heart and their behavior. Being a "good person" has nothing to do with a person's physical appearance.

  2. Bad: These individuals consistently do things that will benefit them in some way and they do not care what impact their actions may have on other people. These people will also do some bad things simply because they know that their actions will cause problems or pain to other people and they enjoy seeing other people suffer. These people will consistently tell lies in an effort to protect themselves from being punished, and they will also tell lies simply for the pleasure they receive when they can get other people into trouble that the other person doesn't deserve. Even when a bad person is caught in the act of doing something that is evil that person will deny that they are doing anything wrong and they will claim that they are a good person even though they were caught doing something evil. A bad person will cause misery and conflict within a family, a community, and a nation. When there are a significant number of bad people in a nation then those bad people will lead the nation into doing evil things and God will abandon the nation and allow the nation to suffer for its evil deeds. A bad person can be male or female, of any race, of any national origin, and of any age. The thing that makes a person "bad" is their heart and their behavior. Being a "bad person" has nothing to do with a person's physical appearance.

  3. Ugly: The "ugly" are "invisible demons" and the "ugly" are not people. Demons have inhabited the earth ever since God first created the heavens and the earth. One of the most successful lies of the devil in the 21st century has been to convince billions of people that there is no "devil" and that "demons" don't really exist. However, the Holy Bible says that there is a devil (or Satan) and that the devil is the "father of lies" (John 8:44) and that Satan travels back and forth on the earth.
      Job 1:7 (New King James Version)
      7 And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?"
      So Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and from on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it."
    The devil and his demons influence human events in the following two ways:
    • Temptations: Demons can tempt a person to follow a path that is in direct opposition to the plan of God for that person's life. For example, in the Garden of Eden the devil tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" by telling her that she should would become like God. The devil told Eve that God had lied to her and that the forbidden tree was not the "Tree of Death." When Eve believed the devil instead of God she forfeited the right to live in the Garden of Eden, and she forfeited the right to eat from the "Tree of Eternal Life," and she gradually began to age and eventually she died. Any path that is in direct opposition to the teachings of the Holy Bible is a demon-inspired path.
    • Possession: Demons can physically "possess" a person and take control of a person's body. The Holy Bible contains many scriptures that vividly describe a person who has been possessed by one or more demons, such as: Matthew 8:16, Matthew 9:32-33, Matthew 12:22, Matthew 15:22-28, Mark 1:32-34, Mark 5:1-20, Mark 7:24-30, Mark 16:9, Luke 4:33-37, and Luke 9:37-43. One or more demons can take control of a "good person" or a "bad person" and that person can be male or female, of any race, of any national origin, and of any age. (Note: Although some sicknesses may be caused by a demon, most sicknesses are simply biological in origin and the sickness is not caused by a demon. Therefore please do not assume that all sick people are demon possessed because they are not. This is documented in the Holy Bible by scriptures such as Matthew 4:24 and Mark 1:32-34.)
Some people are consistently good most of the time.

Some people are consistently bad most of the time. These bad people simply enjoy being bad and they are not possessed by a demon.

It is also not unusual for a person to act like a good person for a reasonable period of time, and then act like a bad person for a reasonable period of time. The person fluctuates between good behavior and bad behavior because the person does not have a moral compass that can help to keep him or her on the good path.

It is also not unusual for a person to be demon possessed and to have no control over his or her actions.

In the early 1970s the comedian Flip Wilson became famous by saying, "The devil made me do it." Because he made "bad behavior" a joke, he was one of the reasons why many people stopped believing in the devil and in demons. Many people gradually began to believe that demons were just a "joke" and demons were not real. But demons are real and demons should be taken seriously because the Holy Bible tells us to not underestimate the power of the devil.

Fortunately God has provided a way for each one of us to have victory over the devil if we will accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. A demon cannot possess anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior because the Holy Spirit is inside that person and the Holy Spirit will prevent a demon from taking possession of the person. However demons can still tempt a person even if the person is filled with the Holy Spirit. But a demon cannot take control of a person filled with the Holy Spirit and a demon cannot "force" the person to do something that is wrong. If a true Christian does something that is wrong then it is because that person yielded to the temptation and not because the person was possessed by a demon.

Discussion

The Holy Bible contains many examples of the following cycle of events that have repeated many, many times:
  1. An evil wicked king dies.
    • One of his wicked sons becomes king and the wicked son follows in the footsteps of his wicked father. The kingdom descends deeper and deeper into depression, hardships, and famine.
    • One of his good sons becomes king and the son refuses to follow in the footsteps of his wicked father. Instead the son establishes his kingdom based on righteousness and on the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. The kingdom prospers and the common people live in safety and in prosperity. However, a few evil people will still exist in his kingdom and they will continue to lie and cheat other people without being caught.

  2. A righteous king dies.
    • One of his good sons becomes king and he follows in the footsteps of his righteous father. The kingdom continues to flourish and prosper.
    • One of his wicked sons becomes king and the son refuses to follow in the footsteps of his righteous father. Instead the son rejects all the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. Then the son begins a new reign of wickedness and lawlessness and the common people suffer but the king doesn't care. However, a few righteous people will still exist in his kingdom and they will refuse to do evil even it costs them their lives.
The above examples from the Holy Bible clearly tell us that good people and bad people have always existed in every period of history. Therefore we should not be surprised that there are good people and bad people alive today in every nation on the face of the earth.

For example, Jesus said the following in the New Testament of the Holy Bible:

Wheat Matthew 13:24-30 (New International Version)
24 Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 "The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
28 " 'An enemy did this,' he replied.
"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
29 " 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' "

The interpretation of the above scripture verses appears in Matthew 13:36-43. Jesus said that good people and bad people will live together, side-by-side, until they die. Then the good people will be gathered together to be with God in heaven. But the bad people will be gathered together and cast into hell. Many people didn't believe Jesus when He spoke these words almost 2,000 years ago. And many people do not believe these words today. In every age there will be some people who can understand this truth. And there will also be some people who refuse to believe this truth for one reason or another, including some people with remarkable intelligence, and some people with average intelligence, and some simple minded people.

Psalm 9:17 (KIng James Version)
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

The Holy Bible also tells us that when the teachings of the Holy Bible are accepted as the Words of God, and when the majority of the people within a nation have faith in the God of the Holy Bible, and they attempt to live a life that is in agreement with the teachings of the Holy Bible, then God will bless that nation and the nation will live in peace and prosperity even though a few wicked people are still living and prospering in that nation.

The Holy Bible also tells us that when the teachings of the Holy Bible are rejected and the people begin defining right and wrong anyway they desire, then God will abandon that nation and the people of that nation will no longer live in peace. Evil people will rule over them and evil people will create havoc within their communities.

The above is not simply my opinion. The following examples from the Holy Bible confirm the above.
  1. The Flood: The inhabitants of the earth were gradually becoming more and more wicked with each passing year. However, Noah retained his righteousness in the eyes of God. And God spared Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives when God destroyed everyone else with a flood (Genesis 6:9-8:32).

  2. The Tower of Babel: The people became arrogant and boastful and they once again were on the path to destruction. However, since they all spoke a single language God was able to humble them by creating lots of different languages. Since the people could only understand a very limited number of other people who spoke the same language, those people gathered together into small groups, and they spread out into different regions of the earth (Genesis 11:1-9).

  3. Sodom and Gomorrah: The people became homosexuals and they believed it was okay for them to satisfy their homosexual lusts on travelers who were passing through their cities. Therefore God destroyed those cities but he spared the life of Lot, his wife, and his two daughters. But his wife did what she had been told not to do, and she turned around and looked back when the fire fell from heaven, and she was turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:1-29).

  4. The Benjamites: The tribe of Benjamin believed it was okay to rape a woman to death and they refused to punish the men who had done this evil deed. Therefore the other tribes attacked the Benjamites and killed 25,000 wicked men. But 600 men ran away and hid themselves in the caves in the mountains (Judges 19:14 to 20:48).

  5. The Northern Kingdom of Israel: The northern kingdom abandoned the God of their fathers and they began worshipping the gods of the heathen nations they had conquered. Therefore in 721 B.C. God allowed the Assyrians to destroy the northern nation and the northern tribes were either killed or they were carried off to another nation to serve a slaves. The Holy Bible does not tell us what eventually happened to these northern tribes of Israel after they were sold into slavery (1 Kings 12:26-30 and 2 Kings 17:21-23).

  6. The Southern Kingdom of Judah: The southern kingdom had alternating periods of apostasy and revival. Therefore it took longer for them to eventually abandon their faith in God. But when they degenerated to the point where their hearts were evil and they only pretended to worship God, then God allowed the Babylonians to conquer the southern tribes and all the people were either killed or carried off as slaves who had to serve the Babylonians. In 586 B.C. the Babylonians completely destroyed the beautiful temple that King Solomon had built in Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:1-21).
    Jesus and the Woman at the Well
  7. The Rebuilt Jewish Temple: After 70 years as slaves in Babylon, the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem and they gradually rebuilt their temple. Several centuries passed. In 63 B.C. the Roman Empire conquered the land of Judah. But they allowed the Jews the freedom to worship God and the Romans even helped the Jews build a much bigger temple. But when Jesus the Messiah preached to the Jews, most of the Jews ignored His teachings and they had the Roman government crucify Jesus. Even after Jesus rose from the dead on the morning of the third day, most of the Jews still refused to accept Jesus as the Son of God. Eventually the Jews rebelled against the Roman government and the Romans once again conquered the Jews but this time the Romans completely destroyed the Jewish temple in 70 A.D. and the surviving Jews had to flee to other countries.

  8. The Nation of Israel: For approximately 1,878 years the Jews lived as outcasts in the various nations where they settled. And critics of the Holy Bible used their dispersion as "proof positive" that the Holy Bible was not the Word of God because the Holy Bible says that the "nation of Israel" will be attacked by the kings of the east during the end times. Since there was no "nation of Israel" it was impossible for this prophecy to come true and therefore, according to the critics, people should not believe the Holy Bible. But in 1948 the Jews recaptured the "Holy Land" and they formed the "nation of Israel." Since 1948 critics of the Holy Bible have had to use other issues to criticize the Holy Bible. In 1967 the Jews recaptured Jerusalem but they have not yet rebuilt a temple to worship God.

    The Four Horsemen
  9. The Next Jewish Temple: The last book of the Holy Bible, or Revelation, says that the "abomination of desolation" will be set up in the Jewish Temple during the Great Tribulation and that all people in all nations will be required by law to worship the "image of the beast" (Daniel 11:31 and Matthew 24:15 and Revelation 13:13-17). If the Jewish Temple is rebuilt during your lifetime, and if the Holy Bible is the Word of God, then the entire world will be subject to the "wrath of God" and mankind will only have a short time before the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:16).

Conclusion

I was born in 1949 and I began my life during a period of national prosperity and national respect for the teachings of the Holy Bible and for the Ten Commandments. When I was young I lived in several different towns but in almost every school I attended every school day was begun with a prayer by the principal over the school intercom. And it was not unusual for a school teacher to occasionally quote the Holy Bible during class to teach a moral concept. And it also was not unusual for a student to occasionally quote the Holy Bible in order to prove a point the student was trying to make.

Unfortunately in the 1960s the USA decided to prohibit prayers in public schools. Shortly after God was expelled from the public school system, hard times gradually became the norm for many families and for many communities. And anyone who quoted the Holy Bible was called a "Bible thumper" in order to humiliate the person. And Christians were told to be quiet about their beliefs and to be more tolerant of other ideas. Therefore good people gradually stopped quoting the Holy Bible in public. And many parents stopped quoting the Holy Bible in their homes to their children. Since then at least two generations of children have grown up without being exposed to any guidance from the Holy Bible.

Today in the year 2023 school shootings are the norm and innocent children are being murdered inside a school building by bad people who believe they have the right to kill children at random. This is just one example of how an entire nation with millions of people can degenerate into depravity when the Holy Bible is rejected as being the "Words of God" and people are told that we as a people can make our own decisions on what is right and what is wrong and we don't need the "Holy Bible" or the "Ten Commandments" to guide us, such as "You shall not murder." (Exodus 20:13)

In the year 2023 there are still some people all over the world who do their very best to worship God in the way that the Holy Bible tells us is pleasing to God. But the overwhelming majority of people who say that they believe in God are now worshiping God in whatever way they desire regardless of what the Holy Bible says. And some "Christian" churches is some areas are ordaining homosexuals as pastors, and they are welcoming homosexuals and similar people into full fellowship as members of their "church" and they are not requiring that these individuals repent and abandon the ways that God says that He detests. And these "churches" are telling these individuals that they will be admitted into heaven even though the Holy Bible says in many, many scripture verses that God will cast them into the eternal lake of fire (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Revelation 21:8). Do you believe that God has changed His mind and that God now agrees with the words of these homosexual pastors? Or do you believe that God means every Word that He said in the Holy Bible?

Malachi 3:6 (King James Version)
6 For I am the LORD, I change not;

1 Samuel 15:29 (New International Version)
29 "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."

In the year 2023 people from many countries are fleeing to the USA because it has become almost impossible for them to continue to survive in the countries of their birth due to government corruption, gang violence, and widespread crime. Some of the people who are entering the USA are criminals, drug dealers, and gang members. But many of the people who are entering the USA are just ordinary people who have prayed to God to guide them to some place where they can find honest work, and where their families will not be molested, and where they will be allowed to worship the God of the Holy Bible in the way that the Holy Bible says that God desires to be worshipped. These hard-working, honest, law-abiding people are doing the jobs that many native-born Americans refuse to do. And there are many companies that prefer to hire these people because of their work ethnic, their productivity, and their dependability. The USA is going through a period of change and in the not to distant future these "immigrants" may be elected to leadership positions in their communities and in government. If these individuals are "true Christians" then they may be the only hope that the USA has for its long-term survival as the entire world continues to fondly embrace more and more of the devil's lies.

Although it is rarely mentioned, the only "true Americans" are the native American Indians who were living in North America, Central America, and South America "before" the arrival of the Spanish, French, English, and European ships that brought "foreign" people to the shores of the Americas. Although people in North America, Central America, and South America currently think of themselves as being "true Americans," the truth is that most of us are the descendants of people from Europe, Asia, and Africa. If we would pause and think about this then it might help us to not be too critical about the poor "immigrants" from other countries who are rapidly populating the USA. The legality of the entry of those "immigrants" into the USA is really not much different from the way that our ancestors treated the Native American Indians when we broke every treaty we made with those Indians, and when we "legally stole" their land from them. I realize that this is a sensitive topic but it might help if we will remember that in God's eyes we are all His children, and the Holy Bible tells us that we should love other people the same way that we love ourselves.

The Holy Bible clearly tells us who our real enemies are:

Ephesians 6:12 (New International Version)
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Unless a nation returns to the God of the Holy Bible then that nation will continue to be gradually destroyed from within by the evil forces that control the destiny of that nation. Historians refuse to accept this as being the primary reason for the rise and fall of nations throughout history. Instead most historians prefer to create elaborate theories of why very powerful nations collapsed, such as the Roman Empire. There is nothing wrong with these elaborate theories but these theories are only secondary causes. The primary cause has always been that God was displeased with what that nation was doing and God brought about the nation's downfall.

King James Vession of Holy Bible In the year 2023 many really good people have resolved the issue of God and heaven and hell by simply choosing to not believe what the Holy Bible says. Many of these people believe they do not need any type of bible. Instead they believe in one of several very popular "fictions" of what God must be and they are perfectly happy with the lie that they have chosen to believe. The devil will even help these people convince other people that their "fiction" is the truth about God. Believing in a fictitious god is the same thing as believing in no god. I pray that you are not one of these people.

Psalm 14:1 (King James Version)
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

In the year 2023 there are churches all over the USA that claim they are Christian churches but they do not follow the teachings of the Holy Bible. Instead they preach doctrine that they have developed over the past 200 years and those doctrines are in opposition to the teachings of the King James Version of the Holy Bible. The King James Version was the official English Protestant translation of the Word of God in the year 1611. There is nothing wrong with some modern Protestant translations of the Holy Bible, such as the New King James Version, the New International Version, and the English Standard Version, and there is nothing wrong with changing the word "thou" to "you" which is the word that most people understand today. But some of the "bibles" that are used by some churches are not based on the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts and they are simply the opinion of one man, or of several men who have decided that they speak for God Almighty and that people should listen to what they say instead of reading the actual Holy Bible. Many of the people who follow these false religions will not even consider reading a Holy Bible because they have been told the Holy Bible contains lots and lots of lies and the only way to avoid being deceived by these lies is to completely avoid reading any bible except the bible that they have been told to read.

In the year 2023 there are also many, many "good people" who believe the bible is a good book but they do not believe in the God of the Holy Bible. Instead they believe that if there is a God, and if there is a heaven and a hell, then a righteous God will allow them to live eternally in heaven because they have done so many good things during their life and they are sorry for the mistakes they have made. Therefore, if there is a God then that God must accept them into heaven. The problem with this "logic" is that each "good person" is evaluating his or her life based on his or her own standard of what "good behavior" should be and the person is expecting God to agree with them. In other words, the person believes that God will share his or her opinion that he or she is "good enough" to be allowed to spend eternity in heaven. Without realizing it, the person has assumed a leadership role next to God Almighty. Do you think heaven will be populated with billions of people who believe that God should do things based on how they think things should be done? Would this result in heaven being a place of eternal peace? Or would it result in heaven being a place of eternal conflict because each "good person" will have a uniquely different opinion on what is "good" and what is "bad?" Or will heaven only be populated by people who have accepted the teachings of the Holy Bible, and who have accepted that God's Words are the final definition of what is good and what is bad?

Proverbs 16:2 (New International Version)
2 All a man's ways seem innocent to him,
but motives are weighed by the LORD.

Proverbs 16:25 (New International Version)
25 There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.

Proverbs 15:24 (New King James Version)
24 The way of life winds upward for the wise,
That he may turn away from hell below.

Do you personally believe that God will allow people into heaven who ignored God's Words while they were alive here on earth, and who refused to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, and who set their own standards of what they considered to be good and bad? Or do you believe what the Holy Bible says?

Ecclesiastes 7:20 (New King James Version)
20 For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.

Romans 3:23 (New King James Version)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:24-25 (New King James Version)
24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith,

(Note: The word "propitiation" means "sacrifice.")

Matthew 10:32-33 (English Standard Version)
32 "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

Matthew 12:30 (New King James Version)
30 "He who is not with Me is against Me,"

Jesus on the Cross People today are really not any different when compared to people 100 years ago, or 1,000 years ago, or 4,000 years ago. Some people will accept the words of Moses and the words of the Prophets as being the Words of God and some people will not. Some people will believe almost anything "except" the Holy Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ. In fact, most people are very receptive to almost anything that was recently written by any person who claims to have had some special "new revelation" from God, or from anyone who has proof positive that God does not exist, or that the Holy Bible is not true. Many people love to find "enlightenment" in the words of any self-proclaimed prophet who appears on television or on YouTube, or some self-proclaimed prophet who has been dead for many years. However, these same people will refuse to believe the Words of Jesus Who healed the sick, Who instantly healed a woman who had been subject to continuous internal bleeding for 12 years, Who gave sight to a grown man who was born blind, Who healed a man who was born with crippled feet so that he could walk, Who healed a man with a withered hand, and Who brought three dead people back to life (including one man who had been dead for four days). They refuse to believe in the Jesus Who was crucified, Who had a spear thrust deep into His side to verify that He was really dead, Who was buried in a borrowed tomb, Whose tomb was guarded and protected by Roman soldiers to prevent anyone from stealing His body, Who rose from the dead on the third day, Who appeared alive to more than 500 people, Who ascended into heaven while His disciples watched, Who is alive today at the right hand of God Almighty, and Who intercedes with God Almighty on behalf of anyone and everyone who puts their faith in Him. Instead of believing in Jesus many people prefer to believe in one or more of the thousands of lies fabricated by the devil and these people are no different than the first woman in the Garden of Eden. People have not changed.

It is okay to translate the Holy Bible into the different languages that are spoken by different people in different parts of the world. It is also okay to explain the meaning of scriptures to people who ask us what the scriptures mean. But it is not okay to change the scriptures, or delete scriptures, or add scriptures to what God has already shared with us in the Holy Bible.

Revelation 22:13-19 (New International Version)
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.
15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.
19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."

The Holy Bible also contains Jesus' warning about becoming distracted by our successes and by our failures.

Luke 12:16-21 (New International Version)
16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

The evangelist Billy Graham once asked his audience a simple question during one of his sermons: "Have you ever seen a U-Haul trailer following along behind a funeral procession?"

During one of his sermons Billy Graham mentioned someone asking the following question about a very, very rich man who had recently died: "How much money did he leave?" And Billy's answer was, "All of it."

Are you being deceived by one or more of the devil's lies?

Or are you putting your faith and the destiny of your eternal soul into the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible?

Graveyard and Crosses Isaiah 26:19 (English Standard Version)
19 Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.

Job 19:25-27 (King James Version)
25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.
27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me.

(Note: In the King James Version the word "reins" means "internal organs.")

May God Bless,
Grandpappy.

Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com

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