"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three." Luke 12:51-52

Many years ago, I told a friend that God does not justify lies, and he responded to me with the story of Rahab. His argument was that Rahab lied, and God blessed her for it, but that is not the case, which is what led me to write this teaching; to make sure that Christians understand that God hates lies with the utmost hatred, and that we ought not to confuse His mercy with His approval.

lie (n): a criminal falsehood; a falsehood uttered for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth
(See 'lie', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Jan 10, 2024, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

In the book of Joshua, a Canaanite prostitute named Rahab met two Hebrew visitors, who were spies undercover and ordered by Joshua to view the land, and she offered them a place to stay for the night. Somehow, it became known that the two Hebrew men were somewhere in the city, so the king was informed, and he ordered the military to do a search to find them:

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.
-Joshua 2:1-3

It is likely that the reports from the city inhabitants about the Hebrews all pointed to Rahab's home. It is also likely that Rahab heard of this ahead of time from friends or neighbors. Rahab knew that if she said she never saw any such men, they would certainly search her home, but if she said they had already left the city, it was more likely the city guards would move quickly to persue the men in the direction she pointed them, so that they could appease the king.

And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.
-Joshua 2:4-7

This was an extremely risky move on the part of Rahab because if the two men were discovered, she would certainly have been viewed as an Israeli spy and executed for treasonous conspiracy. After the soldiers had departed, Rahab went up to the roof where she had hid the Hebrews, and explained to them why she helped them:

And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token: And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.
-Joshua 2:8-14

Rahab trusted the reports she heard about the Jews' exodus from Egypt, and their miraculous military victories. She believed that the Living God was protecting them, and so she saw this as her one and only chance to save her family.

After this, Rahab helped the Hebrews escape through a window in her house. It was already night and the gate was shut, but her home was built into the city wall, so she used a rope to allow the men to climb down the outside of the wall. Before the two men left, they gave her a token belonging to them to use as a sign when war broke out, and that all her family would be safe so long as they hid in her home.

Joshua did according as the two spies promised her, her family became Jews, and the descendents of her family are scattered among the Jews around the world to this day:

And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
-Joshua 6:17

And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
-Joshua 6:23-25

The Lord God showed mercy on Rahab and her family, giving them safety from war and death, giving them a new home, and allowing their family to be prosperous for many generations into the future. However, God did not reward her for her lies; rather, He rewarded her for her FAITH.

By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
-Hebrews 11:31

In chapter two of the book of James, the context is speaking of faith without works being dead, or in other words, once we have faith authored in us by Jesus Christ (Heb 12:2), it is a cause and effect reaction, meaning that the faithful do good works as a result of their faith. Rahab did not just have a fake, casual faith as many churchgoers have today, but rather, she had genuine faith, which caused her to act on that faith, and the Lord showed her mercy.

Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
-James 2:25-26

If Rahab had turned in the Hebrew spies while inwardly claiming she had faith in the Lord God, it would have been pointless to claim to have faith at all because those who have faith, and are spiritual brethren, will not turn away family. For example, if another Christian man is in need, and you have excess to help him, but you turn him away, it demonstrates (by your works) that you do not have genuine faith because, if you did have genuine faith, you would be part of a family, and it would pain your spirit to see your brethren suffer.

Therefore, Rahab acted according to the faith within her, despite her sin. She trusted that the Lord would save her, even though she had done many wicked things, and it was that faith that God saw, which He planned eons in advance to have those two Hebrew men come to her in that day, at that time, for this express purpose, that He could demonstrate His great mercy on those who love Him, and then have it recorded so that we could learn this lesson today.

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie,
promised before the world began;
-Titus 1:2

When I was growing up attending church buildings with my parents, I commonly heard the phrase (or it was heavily implied that) "God can do anything." However, that is simply not true because God cannot lie, and He hates lies.

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
-Proverbs 6:16-19

abomination (n): extreme hatred; defilement, pollution, in a physical sense, or evil doctrines and practices, which are moral defilements
hatred (n): great dislike or aversion
(See 'abomination' & 'hatred', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Jan 29, 2024, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

There are six concepts listed in these verses, but a seventh is added, which is an extension of the six, adding emphasis to how much the Lord hates lies. A "lying tongue" is one who generally deceives others, while a "false witness that speaketh lies," is one who will go a step further and spread lies among many, to defame the character of others, and swear them to be "true" to cause harm.

Foolish men think their words are meaningless, but wise men understand that words carry meaning, power, and consequence. Language was not created by God for the purpose of having noise come from our mouths, but rather, its purpose is to communicate understanding and truth.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue:
and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. -Proverbs 18:21

This is said in the sense of judges, whether the judge is God or men. Those who speak will bring life or death to themselves by what they say.

The wise know when it is time to be silent, and when it is time to speak, but the foolish often speak without discernment. By speaking well, in due time, or being silent when appropriate, one can find mercy and opportunity, but the foolish who lie and rail can find themselves in danger of death if the judge's patience runs out.

In the end, all mankind will have to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in a holy courtroom to give an account for everything we have said with our mouths:

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
-Matthew 12:36-37

Most do not follow the doctrines of Christ, and instead follow the precepts of religious institutions, who put on a pretense of "holiness," finding it more fashionable to their person to put emphasis on what they eat, rather than what words they speak.

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man;
but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
-Matthew 15:11

Lying has become such a routine for mankind, most churchgoers do not take the time to understand how commonly they lie. The following is a short list of phrases that are often used by churchgoers, and though some act according to what they say, many do not care to do as they have spoken because they do not see any immediate consequences for lying:

I'll do it. I'll pick you up. I'll bring it over. You can have it. You're like family to us. I'll meet you there. I'm going to help you. I'll be there. I'll do that for you. The Holy Spirit told me...

I have heard and experienced the negative results of most of the lies on this list in my lifetime, but it is very common for churchgoers not to see the things on this list as a lie, and that is because they do not consider that giving one's word and not keeping that word is a lie by definition. Although, it should be noted that they instinctually know that it is a lie, and you can tell when they begin to make excuses for it in place of an apology, like "Something came up," which is an attempt to justify them not doing as they said they would do.

The problem is not that something comes up because we all have things that suddenly happen to us that prevent us from what we intend to do, but the problem is that a man gave his word and broke it, and that is called LYING, which makes them LIARS.

Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
-Colossians 3:9-10

Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
-Psalm 141:3

James understood this very well, which is why he (via the instruction of the Holy Ghost) told us we should be more careful with what we say:

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
-James 4:14-15

Paul spoke in the same way, making known his intention to do as he said, but leaving the ultimate decision up to the Lord, if He determines there is a better way according to His will:

But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
-1 Corinthians 4:19

For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to
tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.
-1 Corinthians 16:7

However, most churchgoers are very lackidaisical about this, or in other words, they do not care whether or not they keep their word and do as they said they would do. When we give our word that we will do something, we have affirmed (or vowed) that we would do that thing, and therefore, God hears what we say (both verbally and in our hearts), and expects us to make good on our word.

Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
-Ecclesiastes 5:1-6

vow (n): a solemn promise
(See 'vow', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Jan 29, 2024, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

It is sickening how many times in my life I have heard people say, "But I didn't promise I would do it!" When a man makes this excuse, he is ignorant that he has indirectly confessed that he is a frequent liar because if he must add a modifier to his words (i.e. "I promise I will..."), then that means anything he says apart from that modifier cannot be trusted.

This is why Solomon said that "they consider not that they do evil," or in other words, they think their excuse makes them look like a good person, but in reality, they do not take the time to think about how wicked they are, and that their tongues reflect the evil in their hearts. A common mantra among churchgoers is that "You can't know what's in someone's heart!" but Jesus said that we can generally know what is in someone's heart by what they say.

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come
forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
-Matthew 15:18

Churchgoers are often quick to excuse their lies, but slow to repent (i.e. to have grief of wrongdoing). Please do not misunderstand; it is not wrong in any sense to explain one's circumstances for why they could not make good on their promise because it is easier for the victim to forgive when understanding the situation, but repentance should come first if the offending party has given his word and not kept it.

Another common excuse is that giving your word and making a promise are two different things, but that is nothing more than another excuse.

promise (n): a declaration, written or verbal, made by one person to another, which binds the person who makes it, either in honor, conscience or law, to do or forbear a certain act specified
(See 'promise', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Jan 29, 2024, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

To give one's word to do something IS a promise, and any attempt to qualifiy it in any other way is a liar's effort to excuse himself from keeping his promises. If we look closely at Scripture, we will find that God NEVER said, "I promise I will do this," but rather, he simply gave His word that He would do something, and those words are called the "promises of God."

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
-2 Corinthians 1:19-20

Of course, there is a difference between God giving a warning and giving His word that He will do something, because the Lord always shows mercy to those who repent and believe. However, when He says He will do something, or He will not do something, it is as good as done, meaning that it is a guarantee that we can fully rely on without question.

In another teaching I wrote called "The Biblical Understanding of Perfection," I covered what it means to be perfect as the Lord, and that most preachers teach it wrong because they do not understand it. To be 'perfect' in Scripture does NOT mean to be flawless. To be perfect is to be as one is intended by created design, and thus, when a man is born again, he is expected to be merciful, just as God is merciful.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
-Matthew 5:48

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
-Luke 6:36

Therefore, in general, to be perfect as our Father is to be kind as He is kind. We should be longsuffering as He is longsuffering. We should be temperate as He is temperate. And we should be honest as He is honest.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
-Galatians 5:22-23

A man who is honest is a man who considers carefully what he says, and he keeps his word to what he says he is going to do. Most people offer excuses instead of acknowledging their guilt and coming to repentance of their lies.

"I forgot about it..." -- Did you give your word?
"But I had something come up..." -- Did you give your word?
"They took care of it without me..." -- Did you give your word?
"Circumstances changed..." -- Did you give your word?
"We just didn't have time..." -- Did you give your word?

Does God make these excuses with us?

Let's take a closer look at what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
-Matthew 5:33-37

Many years ago, I taught this partially incorrect because I did not fully understand what Jesus was contextually focused on in that passage. He started out referring to Leviticus (i.e. "said by them of old time"), which says:

And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
-Leviticus 19:12

And that is what the word 'forswear' means:

forswear (v): to reject or renounce upon oath; to deny upon oath; to forswear one's self is to swear falsely; to perjure one's self
(See 'forswear', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Jan 30, 2024, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

For example, in my book Wolves in Costume: Kent Hovind (which is free-to-read here at creationliberty.com), I provided evidence to show that Kent Hovind (of Creation Science Evangelism and Dinosaur Adventure Land in Alabama) has (as of 2022) been married four times, and he is married to three women at the same time. The reason I say he has three current wives is because he married them, but then later "renounced" his marriage to them rather than divorce them, and there is a significant difference between those two things.

divorce (n): the separation of a married woman from the bed and board of her husband, separation; disunion of things closely united; the sentence or writing by which marriage is dissolved
renounce (v): to deny; to cast off; to reject; to disclaim; as an obligation or duty
(See 'divorce' & 'renounce', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Jan 30, 2024, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Thus, Hovind vowed to his wives before God, but then claimed the vows were invalid and denied them. How can one deny that which he vowed? It would be nonsensical to say that the vows did not exist or were never taken. Hovind is just a liar making excuses for his sin, but the only excuse he could offer is to say those vows were taken in error, and to answer that, I will quote again from Ecclesiastes 5:

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
-Ecclesiastes 5:6

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was not saying that the Jews took their vows to the Lord lightly because they cared more for their appearance than they did for judging their own hearts, and so they took vows to the Lord with seriousness because they did not want to appear to be liars. However, they would find loopholes to allow them to take little concern for their oaths without "technically" swearing unto the Lord.

If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.
-Numbers 30:2

The scribes deceptively interpreted Numbers 30 to say that it only applied to them IF they said something like, "As God as my witness, blah blah blah," but if they did not specifically direct it towards God, they would not suffer any consequences for not keeping their word. So what they might do instead is say, "By the heavens, I shall blah blah blah," which they thought would keep them out of trouble for not swearing it upon God Himself, and at the same time, they would still maintain an appearance of "righteousness" because of their sanctimonious words, without any obligation to abide by what they said.

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes:
but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
-Proverbs 21:2

Many years ago, I used to teach that we should not swear any oaths whatsoever and that doing so was "evil," but that is not the case because that is not the sense in which Jesus meant this. If it was evil to swear an oath unto God, then God would have said that very clearly in the law, but He did allow that, so long as the speaker was honest by his words.

Jesus was addressing the hypocrites who said one thing and did another, and being liars, they got to the point where they would swear oaths by things in heaven, things in earth, or by their own heads, in casual conversation (i.e. concerning trivial matters) to make themselves sound like holy men. They did not consider what they swore to be a binding oath in their hearts, and therefore, would not keep their word, so Jesus told them not to swear such things at all.

This does not mean, for example, that someone who takes an oath to a public service position does evil. (e.g. sheriff, fireman, physician, city councilman, etc) For the United States, at the very least, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution offers protection of our God-given right of speech, and even protects speech that is not true, or in other words, lies are protected under the Constitution, and therefore, we need public service men to take an oath of their office for the purpose of holding them under penalty of perjury in the event that they might break that oath.

In like manner, it is not evil to swear to "tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God" in a court of law. Again, in the United States, lies are protected under the First Amendment, and so to be heard in a court of law, one must temporarily (in the courtroom, for the purpose of trial) give up his right to have his lies protected, so that his evidence might be heard with some trustworthiness in court, and will (or should) face harsh penalties for breaking that oath.

This is why we need contracts in the world. A Christian ought to be honest in all things, and should be trusted to his word, but the vast majority of the world has no concern for the importance of the words they speak, and that they will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment for everything they say, so they need contracts with earthly consequences for breaking their word in order to keep them honest.

To summarize, if you simply let your 'yes' mean "yes" and your 'no' mean "no," then you will have no need for contracts or swearing oaths and vows. It does not mean that we will never do those things to appease men in certain situations, but in order to please the Lord, knowing that we are held accountable to Him in all things we do, and that we should be charitable to others as He has been charitable to us, we keep our word and do the things we said we would do, or refrain from doing the thing we said we would not do.

Since I started ministry back in 2009, I could tell many stories about when churchgoers and pastors have lied to me and my wife about many different things, and how apathetic they were to the seriousness of their word. Sadly, lying is very common among modern-day American church buildings, and few seem to care.

For example, I had a pastor from Maine write to me and ask if I would travel out to his church building, give some presentations, and do some evangelism with him. I told him I was willing to do so, but it was going to be a very costly trip for us at the time because my wife and I were very poor, and the expenses would have been everything we had in our emergency savings.

The pastor gave us his word he would be ready for us and have a place for us to stay, but just before we purchased tickets, I stopped and told my wife that I just did not trust churchgoers and pastors as much as I used to (due to how many times I had been lied to), and so I decided I would first contact the pastor one more time to ask about the date and times to verify it. I am very thankful that God gave me that discernment because, to this day, I have never heard back from him again, and some weeks later when I investigated him a bit more, I found out that he left the country.

The reason I am telling this story is so Christians will understand that when you give your word, it can cost other people a lot of time and resources. Again, those who give their word and do not keep it are liars, and God hates lies with extreme hatred because lies are selfishly motivated, rather than based on a mindset of charity, in which a man would treat his neighbor the way he would want to be treated.

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
-Matthew 7:12

Another time, a pastor had asked me to join him for lunch at a restaurant, and his purpose was to tell me that the Holy Spirit told him to help our ministry in any way he could. I did not say that the Holy Spirit told me to work with him in any way, but rather, these were his words, and this should be taken seriously because, if his testimony was true, God had commanded him to help us. To make a long story short, he caused us a lot of problems through lying and gossiping, and when it came to my ministry, he never helped us once (he wasted a lot of our time and made things harder for us), and a few months later, he completely disappeared from our lives, and we never heard from him again, which means either he lied to us, or he ignored the instructions of the Holy Spirit.

I could share many more personal stories, but the point is that these so-called "men of God" lied to us, wasted our time, and cost us (or nearly cost us) a lot in resources. They claim to follow Christ, but have no godly sorrow (i.e. repentance) for their wrongdoing because they have lied so many times to so many people, their consciences have been seared, meaning that they cannot feel shame for what they do anymore.

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
-1 Timothy 4:1-2

And to make matters worse, not only are preachers lying without remorse, they encourage others to lie. One of the ways we can see this is through their teachings on the corrupt 501c3 incorporated status they love so much.

In my book, 501c3: The Devil's Church (which is free-to-read here at creationliberty.com), I explained in detail how American church buildings become U.S. military infrastructure, giving up all their Constitutionally protected rights, when they sign up for a 501c3 corporate status to get "exemption" for taxes they did not owe in the first place. Because of their greed and willful ignorance about this subject, pastors teach churchgoers and other preachers to break their word (i.e. lie and cheat) against the contract they signed.

For example, Michael Houdmann of GotQuestions.org writes the following about 501c3:
"Certainly, if the state tries to control the ministries of any individual or church, we are obligated to answer as the apostles did in Acts 5:29, 'We must obey God rather than men!'"
-Michael Houdmann, "Is it biblical for a church to seek 501(c)(3) incorporation?" GotQuestions, retrieved Jan 30, 2024, [https://www.gotquestions.org/501c3-church-incorporation.html]

GotQuestions is a 501c3 corporation, and Houdmann signed a contract giving his word that he would follow all state and federal regulations for his so-called "ministry." Houdmann is teaching Christians to LIE (i.e. sin) and not keep their word, which is unsurprising because Houdmann is only one of near-countless examples of leavened 501c3 preachers giving the same excuses.

It is already pathetic (and should be embarrassing to him) that Houdmann claims to be standing with the apostles of Christ, when he has already sold his soul for a dollar, but it is even worse when he tells others that he will lie and break his word, and worse still that he teaches others to lie too. If you know of a 501c3-incorporated pastor, you can go to him and ask him what he would do if the government started telling him what he could and could not preach, and in nearly every case, you can listen to him give a very similar answer.

Let's suppose that you signed a contract stating that a company would give you a large sum of money, but you would have to eat a rotten apple, and let's suppose the company gives you the money as they promised, but you refused to eat the rotten apple. The company would likely take you to court, and I can already tell you what the judge would rule: Either you must present record of you eating a rotten apple as agreed, or you must return the money.

However, what Houdmann and many other pastors do instead is tell churchgoers that you should keep the money, but REFUSE eat the rotten apple as you agreed to do, and claim you "honor the Lord" by not keeping your end of the agreement. Thus, they are teaching others to LIE, cheat, and steal, and not only do they not care, they refuse to listen to anyone tell them that they are sinning against God, and cheat the government and public (who pay the extra taxes by which the "ministry" gets an exemption).

Earlier in the same paragraph, Houdmann said:
"One passage that is sometimes used against incorporation is worthy of mention here. First Corinthians 7:23 says, 'You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.' This verse is irrelevant as an argument against incorporation for a couple of reasons. First of all, it is in the context of human slavery, not church organization. Also, verse 24 states that we are to abide in whatever state God calls us, even if that is slavery."
-Michael Houdmann, "Is it biblical for a church to seek 501(c)(3) incorporation?" GotQuestions, retrieved Jan 30, 2024, [https://www.gotquestions.org/501c3-church-incorporation.html]

Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.
-1 Corinthians 7:23-24

Before I address the contextual contradiction concerning 501c3 incorporation, I want to point out that Houdmann performed some sleight-of-hand. Notice that he took everyone to verse 24 to justify himself, which was a distraction to keep people from looking at the two previous verses which are applicable to his 501c3 contract:

Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.
-1 Corinthians 7:21-22

Houdmann is willingly blind to the consequences of the contract he signed, but worse still, he uses the argument that "we are to abide in whatever state God calls us," even though God never called him to 501c3. Yet, he still tells everyone that it is acceptable to lie and cheat against their signed contract, and so I wrote to Houdmann and asked him to elaborate further on what he meant, but this is all I got in return:
"For something to be a lie, a person has to know it is incorrect and say it anyway. We may be incorrect in our understanding of 501(c)(3), but we are not lying, nor are we encouraging anyone to lie."
-Signed as "Shea," (which appears to be Michael's real name because 'Shea' is listed as the Founder, President, and CEO of Got Questions Ministries Inc), Letter to Chris Johnson from GotQuestions.org, Jan 31, 2015

I have a curious question: If you admit that you might be incorrect in your understanding about 501c3, then how do you know that you are not teaching people to lie against their contract? Lies are not just things you know to be incorrect, but also those things which could be incorrect, but you REFUSE to understand them in order to hold on to your position, even though it may be false, and that is called "willful ignorance."

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
-2 Peter 3:5

Willful ignorance (or willful blindness) is something that the person COULD understand if they tried, but they refuse because they want to believe in what they presuppose to be true, even though it may be a lie. What they presuppose to be true benefits them in some way, usually to satisfy some lust (i.e. sexual, monetary, gluttonous, etc), and although God will judge the hearts of men in his due time, if those willingly ignorant people (like Houdmann) start spreading those lies, without first studying and correcting themselves, then they are guilty of bearing false witness.

Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
-Mark 10:19

Since Houdmann obviously teaches on the subject, it would stand to reason that he should either research to find the truth of the matter, or take down the teaching so he is not teaching something wrong, but in his arrogance and laziness, he does neither. He desires a 501c3 contract because of his greed, and therefore, he needs a way to justify himself having it, so he provides vague explanations in an attempt to convince the simple to believe he is justified.

The simple believeth every word: but the
prudent man looketh well to his going.
-Proverbs 14:15

simple (adj): weak in intellect; not wise or sagacious; silly
(See 'simple', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Jan 31, 2024, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.
-Proverbs 19:25

I cannot reprove Houdmann because he will not permit it, and he will not permit it because he has little understanding, and he has little understanding because he is willingly ignorant, as he has demonstrated in his letter to me. It is not that he cannot understand, but rather, he refuses to understand because he refuses to study, and he refuses to study because he prefers to have a justification for his greed.

The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but
the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
-Proverbs 15:28

Not only was Houdmann lying about lying, but then lied to me in the email in which he said he was not lying:
"The government very well may someday require ungodly/unbiblical things of 501(c)(3) organization. Should that time come, we would immediately revoke our 501(c)(3) status and encourage other organizations to do the same."
-Signed as "Shea," (which appears to be Michael's real name because 'Shea' is listed as the Founder, President, and CEO of Got Questions Ministries Inc), Letter to Chris Johnson from GotQuestions.org, Jan 31, 2015

He stated very clearly that if the government were to do something that he did not like, then he would LIE and "revoke" his contract. This is a different word, but the same legal meaning that Kent Hovind used when saying he "renounced" his marriage vows, or in other words, Houdmann (in a grand display of stupidity) thinks he can just declare the contract null and void.

revoke (v): to annul or make void by recalling or taking back; to cancel, rescind, repeal, or reverse
(See 'revoke', West's Encyclopedia of American Law, Ed. 2, Gale Group Inc, 2008, retrieved Jan 31, 2024, [https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/revoke])

That is not how contracts work, and that is something that is mostly common knowledge, but more importantly, Houdmann clearly said he would LIE against his word. Not only would he lie, but he would tell other preachers to lie too, and lied to me by saying "nor are we encouraging anyone to lie."

This is the state of so-called "Christian" preachers in our modern day; they will just lie for money because they think there are no consequences to their words and actions. If that were not bad enough, Houdmann thought it was a good idea to keep adding more statements to prove he has no understanding:
"Currently, the only thing the government requires of 501(c)(3) organizations is that they do not endorse political parties or candidates, and even that requirement is questionable and unenforced."
-Signed as "Shea," (which appears to be Michael's real name because 'Shea' is listed as the Founder, President, and CEO of Got Questions Ministries Inc), Letter to Chris Johnson from GotQuestions.org, Jan 31, 2015

If any readers are interested to learn how deadly wrong and shockingly ignorant Houdmann is on this subject, again, I highly recommend you check out my free-to-read book, 501c3: The Devil's Church, because not only are there far more stipulations in that contract about a so-called "ministry's" obligations, but they ARE being enforced in certain situations, as the IRS has manpower to enforce them, and I provide examples in the book. However, what is more important is that Houdmann believes that keeping his promise in his contract only goes so far as being enforced to do so, which means that he is not an honest man who would keep his word, unless he was being held at gunpoint to do so, and even if that day comes, he testified to me that he would refuse to do as he promised because he is a liar at heart.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
-Revelation 21:8

In my book, I also cover some interesting details on Houdmann and his wife, so you can see how he is scamming the many thousands of people who use GotQuestions.org, but in his defense, I am sure he is just scamming them for Jesus. In the end, those who lie on the subject of 501c3 are doing so because they have a love of money, rather than a love of the truth, and they are greedy dogs that use fair speeches to deceive the hearts of the simple.

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
-1 Timothy 6:9-11

His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
-Isaiah 56:10-11

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
-Romans 16:17-18

The Bible teaches us that, when analyzing the heart, liars are the equivalent of murderers, and it is not difficult to make the connection:

A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it;
and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.
-Proverbs 26:28

Those who lie to others are hateful people. They have no love for the person they have lied to or lied about.

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
-1 John 3:15

There are many modern social contagions that could be used as an example to help explain this in more detail. The Covid-19 epidemic (or what I refer to as a "scamdemic") is one such example.

I have a teaching called "The United Vacci-Nations," which contains information I have been trying to tell people for about the past two decades, long before the Covid-19 scam. In that teaching, I talk about the history of vaccines, and that they were created based on an old wives' tale, or in other words, it is not science, but rather, vaccines are nothing more than superstition at best, and at worst, they are killing people, mostly children.

What few people understand is that "covid" is a shortened term used to mean "coronavirus," and coronavirus is what most people call the "common cold." Believe it or not, the fake mainstream news was able to convince billions of people that in order to beat the common cold, they needed to wear masks (which is harmful to your respitory system) and inject themselves with an experimental substance, which turned out to be deadly.
(See C. Nicole Swiner, "What's Causing My Cold?" WebMD, May 16, 2023, retrieved Feb 1, 2024, [https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/common_cold_causes])

The fake news and corrupt government officials told everyone that if they got the vaccine, they would NOT get Covid-19, and yet, all over the world, people who got vaccinated once, twice, and some up to five times, still got Covid-19. Even former Vice President, child-sniffing Joe Biden, during a CNN Town Hall, said, "You're not going to get covid if you have these vaccinations," and that was a LIE.
(See Jason Lemon, "Video of Biden Saying Vaccinations Prevent COVID Resurfaces After Infection," Newsweek, July 21, 2022, retrieved Feb 1, 2024, [https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-2021-video-saying-vaccinations-prevent-covid-resurfaces-1726900])

There have been many deaths from the Covid-19 vaccines, and so many that the mainstream fake news has gone to great lengths to lie to people, claiming that there is no connection between all the deaths and the vaccines, but we need to keep in mind that the same people who own the fake news media also own the pharmaceutical companies who produce vaccines. These lies have injured and killed so many, the numbers are almost impossible to calculate due to information interference by the mainstream cult media.

Many have turned to analyzing professional athletes because not only are they in the best general physical health among society, but they were also forced to take the vaccine in order to continue to play their sport, meaning they would be fired from professional leagues if they did not take the vaccine. The vaccine started rolling out in early 2021, and suddenly, we saw a huge increase of heart attacks, specifically myocarditis (enlarged, inflammed heart) among professional sports athletes, which have permenantly injured thousands of competitors (around 70% of which have died), and most of them collapsed on live broadcast during competition.

The following chart is from Real Science, which offers a detailed analysis of athlete injury and death, as well as thousands of cases over three years (2021-2023), with full references to look up the information for yourself:
(See Real Science, "2081 Athlete Cardiac Arrests or Serious Issues, 1457 of Them Dead, Since COVID Injection," retrieved Feb 1, 2024, [https://goodsciencing.com/covid/athletes-suffer-cardiac-arrest-die-after-covid-shot/])

In order to keep up appearances to make themselves look good, and to keep the dirty money flowing from behind the scenes, media and government officials lied and lied and lied again, doubling and tripling down on their lies, to the injury and death of countless people. Lying to the public means they are willing to kill for money, which helps prove the Bible's point that liars are murderers at heart.

I could provide many more examples, from feminists, to transgender queers, to "Black Lives Matter" or Antifa; all of them lying to others to gain some sort of benefit for themselves, even if it is something as simple as misery loving company. When someone lies about a subject, there is something for the liar to gain, and something for the victim to lose.

Liars always have a selfish motivation.

Some people have added adjectives before the word 'lie' in order to justify a lie to be benevolent in some manner. For example, a "white lie" is said to be an "innocent" lie.

white lie (n): a minor, polite, or harmless lie
(See 'white lie', Random House Dictionary, 2024, [dictionary.com]; See also Collins English Dictionary, 10th Edition, William Collins Sons & Co, 2012)

The adjective "white" is added to deceive others, meaning that the term "white lie" is a lie of itself. It does not detract from the fact that it is still a lie.

A common example I have heard is when a woman prepares a meal that tastes terrible, a man might tell a "white lie" that the meal tastes good, but this is selfishness and folly. How is a woman supposed to improve her skills if she is not told the truth about her work? The lie does not benefit the woman, nor does it benefit the man in the long term because he will have to continue suffering her bad food, which may even cost more money when her children refuse to eat it.

Ultimately, the reason the man lied to her was because, in many instances, the woman throws a childish tantrum or bursts into crocodile tears if she has to face any critique or embarrassment, and so to avoid a conflict (i.e. selfishness), the man lies, and does not consider that other people may have to eat her food and suffer the same. (i.e. He is not thinking charitably about others besides himself.) The Christ-like approach is to tell her the truth, which will (in the end) benefit all parties involved, and if she works on her cooking skills, it may benefit many other people who taste her food in the future.

It makes me cringe everytime someone says "this is MY truth" because adding a modifier to the word 'truth' is completely nonsensical. There is only one truth. There cannot be multiple truths. Whenever I hear that phrase, I know that the person speaking is about to tell me a lie because if they were telling the truth, they would just say it without having to modify it. Likewise, anyone who tries add a modifier to the word 'lie' is still telling a lie.

Of course, there is a significant difference between telling a lie and speaking something that is not true. We must be charitable, and not assume that anything false spoken by someone is automatically a lie because they may not know what they are saying is false.

Furthermore, irony is a common use of false information that is used in an absurd manner for the purpose of conveying the truth. There are three general types of irony, which includes facetiousness and sarcasm:

ironic (adj): using words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning
facetious (adj): not meant to be taken seriously or literally; amusing; humorous; lacking serious intent
sarcastic (adj): harsh, cutting, or bitter derision, often using irony to point out the deficiences or failings of someone or something
(See 'ironic', 'facetious' & 'sarcastic', Random House Dictionary, 2024, [dictionary.com]; See also Collins English Dictionary, 10th Edition, William Collins Sons & Co, 2012)

I placed these three concepts in a spectrum, ranging from bitter to playful:
An example of general, neutral irony is when you see a 5ft 6in (167cm) tall woman who weighs nearly 300lbs (136kg), and you find out that she is a registered physician. (For those of you who think I am exaggerating, I have known women like this.) The reason this is ironic is because you would expect a woman who is advising others about their health to be healthy herself, but because she is obese, it is clear she does not know or care enough about her own health to advise anyone, meaning that her existence as a physician is living a lie.

An example of facetiousness would be a fit male physician, who obviously takes care of his health, and perhaps he remarks that he needs to fix something in his diet which may not be good for him. A client facetiously responds, "Good idea, because you are SO fat," which is to be taken in jest because, obviously, the man is fit and healthy, nowhere near the range of suggesting he might be obese, which is meant as a playful joke, emphasizing a compliment to his fitness by stating an absurdity.

An example of sarcasm would be when a physician would (as I mentioned earlier) suggest getting the Covid-19 vaccine to be healthy, only to have it cause permanent injury. A patient might say, "Good thing I can rely on my doctor to keep me sick," which is stating the opposite of what is supposed to be true to emphasize the bitterness of being harmed by the horrible advice coming from someone who is expected not to do something so stupid as to recommend a substance for medical use that has not been properly tested for safety or efficacy.

So this leaves us with three general ways false statements are used, the first being with a form of irony, to emphasize the truth, and the second being in ignorance, in which a speaker who does not know that the information he is giving is false. These first two are not sin, so long as the truth is known, or eventually told, meaning that someone presents the truth later in conversation. However, the third way a false statement is used is by the speaker knowing it is false, or being willingly ignorant that it is false (in attempt to give himself an excuse of innocence), where he purposefully misleads people for his own benefit, and that is the sin.

A false statement is not always a lie, but a lie is always a false statement.

Thus, when you hear a false statement made, you should be on your guard immediately. You do not know if the person making the false statement is lying or not, and you must gather more evidence to know for sure, which is why wise people will ask more questions to gather more information, deduce the truth, and discern if the speaker is a liar attempting to deceive.

In most cases, crafting a believable lie takes an extraordinary amount of time and planning. The more intricate the subject, the more difficult it is to make up a lie because it has to be connected to all other logical pathways, otherwise it is easy to see.

This is why most lies contain some truth, and the more truth a lie has in it, the more believable it will be. This is why Jesus was more harsh against the scribes and Pharisees than any other group.

Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
-Matthew 16:6-12

Although Jesus rebuked the Sadducees in some instances, He was not as hard on them as He was the Pharisees, but it was not because the Sadducees were right in any of their doctrine; in fact, they were worse than the Pharisees. For example, the Sadducees did not believe in spirits, which means they could not believe in angels or the Holy Spirit, nor did they believe in the spirit of men, which also means they did not believe in the afterlife.

After one studies the Scriptures and has understanding of the doctrine, it is clear to see that the beliefs of the Sadducees were insane, and it makes one wonder how they had so much power in Israeli society, but they were a Hebrew cult that only followed the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), and did not believe any of the prophets. The prophets helped to provide more understanding of the Torah, and so to deny them was to deny understanding (and likewise to deny the Word of God), and therefore, when it came to the Sadducees, it was much easier to spot the counterfeit.

The Pharisees believed the Torah and the prophets, and in their beliefs, they were much closer to accuracy concerning the Old Testament Scriptures, but the problem was that they still believed they were "holy" by their works. I am sure the Jesus said and did much more than we can read about in the Gospels (John 21:25), but in what is recorded and preserved for us by God, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees far more because they were closer to the truth, which made their lies and hypocrisy more dangerous because they could fool more people.

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
-Matthew 23:13-16

woe (n): grief; sorrow; misery; a heavy calamity; a curse
(See 'wo', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Feb 2, 2024, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
-Matthew 23:25-27

The Pharisees lied to the people for their own glory and profit. Outwardly, they appeared to be good, clean, and "holy" religious leaders, just like we see in pastors and priests today, but inwardly, they are lying hypocrites who extort people for filthy lucre while they enjoy the respect people give to their person.

Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
-Titus 1:11

Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
-1 Peter 5:2

But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin,
and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
-James 2:9

They lie to others, willing that they would become twofold the child of hell than themselves, that they would be glorified, when they should be ashamed:

Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
-Philippians 3:19

We ought to keep in mind that all men are liars, and all have sinned:

God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
-Romans 3:4

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
-1 John 1:8-10

It is not that a liar cannot be redeemed by the grace of God, but we should consider that forgivness of sin only comes with repentance:

And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
-Luke 17:4

Because the Lord Jesus Christ showed me mercy and forgiveness when He first gave me the gift of repentance (2Ti 2:25), which is the grief and godly sorrow of wrongdoing (2Co 7:9-10), I am glad to give others mercy and forgiveness when they repent of their sins. However, the Lord God has no forgiveness for those who have not been humbled to repentance to acknowledge the truth, and therefore, I have no forgiveness for them either because they are harming others by their lies.

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
-2 Thessalonians 2:10

In most cases, liars will not repent of their lies, and instead, they typically double-down on their lies. They will try to justify their lies. As soon as a liar is caught, they will keep on lying to try to cover up their previous lies, and the more they lie, the more contradictory their stories become.

For the purpose of demonstrating my point, I will provide a brief overview of the curious case of now-proven murderer Susan Monica, a former Navy soldier during the Vietnam War. After her career in the military had ended, Susan purchased 20 acres of land in Oregon where she raised chickens and pigs, but law enforcement took a special interest in her when they discovered the remains of a man's foot near her pig pen.
(See Explore With Us, "Man Realizes Friend Fed Her Workers to Pigs," Sept 4, 2022, retrieved Feb 2, 2024, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1oeZe6SET4])

The remains were suspected to be Robert Haney, a missing person who was last seen residing in a trailer on Susan's land. Susan came to the police station to give a statement, and during interrogation, she testified that she had no idea what happened to Robert, and had no idea why a man's foot was found on her property.

After investigators revealed a little more evidence, Susan realized she could not maintain her lie, and so she changed her story. She said that she came out to the pig pen one morning and the pigs were eating Robert, his guts were strewn about the pen, but she said he was still alive, although barely, and so she went into her house, got her gun, and shot him in the head as a mercy killing to end his suffering.

It is absurd to think that Susan's on-site employee climbed a fence into a pig pen in the middle of the night, and laid down (on his back, as Susan testified) perfectly still while pigs slowly ripped apart his organs and consumed him. Repeatedly through the interview, Susan "joked" about feeding people to her pigs, and admitted that she had "joked" about it with other people for many years.

The detectives informed her that they would have to search her property for other bodies, and asked her if she knew of anyone else who might have died out there, and at first, she said, "To my knowledge, no." However, a few hours later, she happened to "remember" someone else she was associated with who went missing.

Stephen Delecino was a 59-year-old handyman who worked for Susan in 2011, but in 2012, he went missing. She claimed he was a thief and they had argued while he was employed with her.

She said that one day, while arguing over his alleged theft, he said he did not want to go back to jail, so he grabbed a pistol and shot himself in the head, but it was a "little bitty gun" that was not enough to kill him, so he ran out of the room. She said the gun only had five shots in it, and he "emptied the gun in his own head," meaning that she alleges that he shot himself in the head five times.

Of course, it does not take a medical expert to deduce that such a thing is impossible because it is almost beyond the realm of reason that a man could shoot himself in the head more than once, let alone five times. The investigator asked her more questions about this, and went on to say that he shot himself five times on the TOP of his head, which is almost impossible to do at the angle she suggested, and that she was fighting him, holding on to his arm and trying to stop him from shooting himself on the top of his head another four times.

Then she said that she fed Stephen's body to her pigs too, even though she previously said she had no knowledge of anyone else who had died on her property. After questioning Susan on the potential existence of more bodies buried on her property, she denied that there were any, however, years later, she claimed that there were up to 17 more bodies buried around her home.

Not only did she kill many people, but in attempt to cover it up with her lies, she cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in manpower because they had to search her entire property (digging a lot of holes looking for evidence), and hunt down eyewitnesses. Telling the truth would ease the minds of family and friends of the victims, as well as save the public a lot of resources, but that requires charitable thinking, doing what is right over what is convenient, which is something liars do not care about at all.

Liars will not just lie, but they will lie about their lies to keep people from knowing they have lied. In my foolish younger years, I lied to keep myself from getting caught in stupid things I did, and sometimes, I had to lie to cover up the inconsistencies of my lies; it served no one but myself, it caused other people to suffer, and although my sin may be judged by the world to be far less impactful than killing 20 people, sin is still sin, and those small crimes would eventually lead to bigger crimes if the sin was not put in check.

One of the ways we can see this is in what people commonly call "small talk." In this instance, what I mean by "small talk" is casual chatting in passing which has no substance or meaning other than exchanging courteous words for social pretense.

For example, an exchange of words most often used under the category of small talk is when Person A says "Hi, how are you?" and Person B responds, "I'm fine." Although there could be an argument to be made that the question does not make complete sense (i.e. the word 'how' refers to the manner or state of something, and would be better understood by asking "What's new in your life?" or offering a knowledge-based specification, such as "I haven't seen you in a while, how old are your children now?"), there is a social implication (in the "how are you" question) that is commonly understood by most people that offers an open-ended inquiry into their current state of being, but the answer offered in response is frequently a lie.

Although many people ask the question just out of habit, I have not yet had one person tell me that they do not "truely mean it" when they ask it, and yet, it is one of the most superficial questions (i.e. presentation for the sake of appearance, without substance) that one could ask in a conversation. It is my opinion that most people recognize it to be a superficial question, which actually makes it a lie in the form of deception in the first place, and so they answer superficially with "I'm fine," which is a lie in many cases.

So if we go into the typical church building and speak the average churchgoer, we will hear questions like "How's your family?" with a superficial response of "They're fine," or "How's work?" and a superficial response of "It's fine." In many cases where I have known the respondant's personal situation, they are very concerned about bad things happening with their parents, siblings, or children, perhaps a difficult situation they are facing at their job, school, or in their marriage, having personal problems that are causing them a lot of grief, but just say "fine" to avoid telling the truth.

Perhaps the respondant does not want to answer that question truthfully because they do not want to reveal serious personal issues to that particular person, especially not in such a public setting. Therefore, they choose to lie to a person who they likely believe is not genuine in the first place, meaning that the questioner is only asking the question to give themselves the appearance of friendliness, or in other words, they two parties exchange pretense for pretense; deception for deception.

There are many church buildings in which pastors push this deception on the congregation by telling everyone, "Let's all stand up and greet the person next to you!" and they all stand up, shake each others' hands, repeating "Hi, how are you?" - "Fine, how are you?" - "Fine!" Have you ever experienced this in a church building? This is not something that is found in Scripture. It is a practice that was introduced by modern-day psychologists, which is part of their "feel good" practices they do in group therapy sessions, but in the setting of the church gathering together for study of God's Word, it is absurd that there be such a distance between one another in the first place, and it is made worse when a pastor pressures the rest of the group to be friendly with one another, instead of that friendliness coming from a natural love.
(Read Psychology: Hoodwinked by the Devil here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Of course, there is a lack of natural love in church buildings for many reasons which I could talk about, but it would take far too long to cover in this article alone. One of the major reasons is because most church buildings today are filled to the brim with false converts, and so forcing them to stand on pretense with everyone else is essential for the creation of a superficial "unity" in the church building, to give an outward impression of the fruits of the Spirit, rather than having the inward man cleansed by the Holy Ghost.
(Read Why Millions of Believers on Jesus Are Going to Hell and "Jesus Said There Are Many False Converts" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
-Colossians 3:8-10

I remember going through these ridiculous peer pressure scenarios when I attended certain church buildings, and I despised it because I knew the people who were speaking to me would NEVER talk to me outside of that scenario. It means it is nothing more than a brevity of virture signaling, and I created the following image to help express the reality of what these churchgoers are doing:
Churchgoers will repeat "I'm fine" or "We're fine" or "Everything's fine" until one day, after they have lied to themselves and others so much, they end up in the hospital because of their poor health, a child commits suicide, or the husband and wife end up in divorce. I say this as a warning to Christians that even those lies which you think have little consequences can (and will, over time) have massive consequences.


We need look no further than the first lie every told, which came from Satan, to see the drastic consequences of a lie. Satan called God a liar and convinced the woman that she could become a god too. The liar is not the only guilty party in this instance, but the person who believed the lie (i.e. Eve), who also acted upon the lie (without consulting all parties involved to first determine the truth) also caused colossal consequences, and the person who knew it was a lie but went along with it anyway (i.e. Adam) also added to those already-monumental consequences.

Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
-Ephesians 4:25

Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
-Psalm 31:18

Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.
-Proverbs 8:6-8

The truth most often makes people upset and angry, or in other words, the truth is not always pleasant to hear. However, lies and deception lead to suffering, and so those who have a love of the truth, and love their neighbors as themselves, will tell the truth, even if they are hated for it.

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
-Ephesians 4:14-15

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
-2 Thessalonians 2:10

Jesus made it very clear that Satan is the father of lies, which means a Christian, one who truly follows Christ, should hate lies in any form the world tries to repackage them for self-justification:

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
-John 8:44

Very soon after Christ said this, the Jews picked up stones to kill him. I say this so that Christians will understand that people hating the truth is nothing new; the last 6,000 years of history, since the creation of the universe, has been a battle of truth verses lies, and it is as common today as it has almost always been.

Many times, I have heard preachers teach false doctrine about Ananias and Sapphira, the couple who were executed by the Holy Ghost. The claim by leavened pastors is that they were killed because they did not give what they should have given, but that is not the case:

But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
-Acts 5:1-11

The reason pastors like to use a false interpretation of this story is so they can spread fear among the congregation to give more tithe (which is unbiblical in the New Testament church). The truth is that the Holy Ghost killed Ananias and Sapphira for LYING, not for what they did or did not give.
(Read "Tithe is Not a Christian Requirement" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

This is why Peter posed questions to Ananias, to explain that he could have given or not given whatever he wanted because the Lord gave Ananias that land and money to use at his discretion. However, when the couple came to the church and told them they sold the land and gave ALL of the proceeds to the church, when in reality, they kept a significant portion of it, they were lying to gain special standing with the church, so people would respect and honor them, deceiving them for self-glorification, which God hates.

Furthermore, the Lord did not punish Saphira immediately for the crimes of her husband. She was given a fair opportunity to tell the truth, and if she had told the truth, I believe God would have shown her mercy, but she chose to lie, and therefore, she was punished along with her husband for lying.

He that speaketh truth sheweth forth
righteousness: but a false witness deceit.
-Proverbs 12:17

These things happened to Ananias and Sapphira as an example to us, that we might fear the Lord, and follow the truth of His Word in all matters:

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by
the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
-Proverbs 16:6

iniquity (n): injustice; unrighteousness; a sin or crime; wickedness
(See 'iniquity', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Feb 7, 2024, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

How is our iniquity purged? By the mercy and truth of Jesus Christ, and once we have known Him, and He has taught us His Word, we know that truth and mercy go hand-in-hand, meaning that there is no truth without mercy, and no mercy without truth.

mercy (n): that benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves
(See 'mercy', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Feb 7, 2024, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

The truth reveals the darkness and corruption of our sinful souls and flesh, but the truth of Christ's Gospel cleanses us from all darkness and corruption. That cleansing is not something we Christians have earned or deserve in any sense, but rather, it is a gift of benevolence, in which Christ gives us repentance (i.e. godly sorrow of our sins) and faith, and then overlooks those sins to treat us better than we deserve.

If we do good to our friend, it is considered love, but not necessarily mercy, because mercy first requires us to know of our friend's wrongdoing, or have been injured by him in some way. If the truth about our friend is not known, and the truth about our own sin is not known, then we will not have the understanding necessary to be merciful to our enemies, and therefore, we will not have understanding to be perfect (i.e. merciful) as our Heavenly Father.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
-Matthew 5:45-48

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
-Luke 6:36
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Perfection" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

This demonstrates that mercy requires truth. There is no mercy without truth, and because the truth reveals the desperate necessity of mercy, there is no truth without mercy. There are truths in this world that have nothing to do with mercy, such as mathematical logic, but because all existence (including things like mathematical logic) is maintained by the power of God, and all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, therefore all things persist by His mercy, and all those who understand the truth should reflect that same mercy.

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness
and peace have kissed each other.
-Psalm 85:10

But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
-Psalm 86:15

I was once asked the question: "If you were a citizen living in Nazi Germany, and you were hiding Jews, and the military came to your house and demanded to know if you were hiding Jews, would you lie and say 'no'?" This is a rigged question because a wiser man might know better ways to answer the question.

First of all, the Lord God would protect us. I do not think they would show up at my door to ask me in the first place.

However, if they did, I could say 'No' without lying. What I would do is let the Jews live in the walls of my home, rent free. I am not hiding them; they are hiding themselves, and if the soldiers search my home, I am confident the Lord would protect and keep them from their sight, as He has done for many others who have hidden from wicked men, including His Son. (Mat 2:13)

Many years ago, I read a story of a group of Nigerian terrorists who came to the home of a woman who professed Christ, and they demanded her to declare her allegiance to the Muslim religion. Though fearful of what they would do to her, she boldly declared that she was a disciple of Christ, and it turned out they were an undercover group that were working covertly to move Christians out of the area as quickly as possible because there were terrorists moving from town-to-town killing Christians.

There are many "what if" scenarios I have been given as a challenge to my teaching on the subject of honesty, but I would advise Christians by saying this: If you are faced with a dilemma, be silent, and if you cannot be silent, then tell the truth. When you tell the truth, the Lord made no commandment that you have to give every detail, so in situations where there may be serious consequences, use discernment because, in most cases, it is best to either remain silent, or tell the truth with as few details as possible.

Of course, in the end, boldy speaking the truth has its benefits, even if we do not see them in this life. We are promised good things to come in eternal life, and so losing our lives in this world for the sake of the truth is an extremely small price to pay for what comes next.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
-Matthew 5:11-12

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
-John 14:1-4

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
-Romans 8:35-36

After much study of the Scriptures, I am persuaded that:

There is nothing more loving than the truth.

People might hate you for telling them the truth, but in reality, they just hate the truth, and they hate the truth because they hate Christ.


Many churchgoers lie against the truth, and put their trust into the doctrines of men who preach to them cotton-candy (i.e. all fluff and no substance) messages that make them feel good temporarily. We Christians should set an example of love unfeigned according to the truth of the Word of God, without apology, for their sakes, that some might hear, come to repentance, and trust in Christ rather than church-ianity.

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
-1 Peter 1:22-25

But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
-2 Corinthians 6:4-7

All men have lied, and therefore, seek the mercy of the Christian God of the Bible through repentance (i.e. broken-heartedness for sins committed) and faith in His kindness. He has guaranteed in His Word, according to His promise, that He will have mercy on the humble, and then we should follow Christ according to the truth that He and His apostles preached to us.

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
-James 4:6-10

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
-Psalm 34:18

If you read this article, thank you for taking the time to read, and I hope the Lord Jesus Christ will bless you and your family richly with all you need as you turn from a life of lies to a life of truth. If you would like to learn more about repentance for the remission (i.e. forgiveness/pardon) of sins, I have a free-to-read book where I expound on that subject in great detail:

There is No Saving Grace Without Repentance

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