"All Roads Lead to Heaven,"
According to "People of Faith'


In a disturbing, but not totally shocking, report out this week, it has been revealed that most people who claim to be "people of faith," believe that there are many possible paths to heaven.
Let me be quick to insert John 14:6 here.
Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

That's an absolute statement. There is no other way to heaven but by Jesus. Period. Full stop. Game over.

Here is a quote from the news coverage about that report:

America remains a nation of believers, but a new survey finds most Americans don't feel their religion is the only way to eternal life — even if their faith tradition teaches otherwise.

The findings, revealed Monday in a survey of 35,000 adults, can either be taken as a positive sign of growing religious tolerance, or disturbing evidence that Americans dismiss or don't know fundamental teachings of their own faiths.

Among the more startling numbers in the survey, conducted last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: 57 percent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching.

In all, 70 percent of Americans with a religious affiliation shared that view, and 68 percent said there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their own religion.

You can read the entire story here.

The numbers are startling. The causes are obvious. First is Bible illiteracy. The people simply don't know what the Bible says. The second reason is more offensive, however. The major fault is behind the pulpit (or on the stage or dais, or wherever people allegedly preach these days). The preachers are so enamored with programs and feeling good, and involved in major decisions such as which coffee to serve at the church cafe and the auditions for the band, that they simply have neither the time nor the inclination to search the Scriptures and preach God's Word.

I had a personal brush with this last week. My wife and I were away and looking for a church for Sunday morning. We chose what we thought would be a conservative congregation with a conservative worship style (this conservative worship style, BTW, is not a Biblical requirement, but a personal one). There was 50 minutes of non-worshiping, non-theological music, then a "preacher." It was not the Pastor. This man never opened his Bible, though he had it in his hand. He made a few references to references, even getting one of them wrong. The Pastor could not correct him, though, because he didn't even have a Bible.

So we went looking for a church that might have an evening service. We never found one, although there are many churches in that area. It was sad.

Brothers and sisters our nation needs strong, informed Christians now more than at any other time in its history. Weak-kneed, pusillanimous, people-pleasing, ear-tickling, preaching will not strengthen us nor encourage us.

Men of God stand up. Preach God's Word. It's hard at times. If it's too hard, you're not called. Get out of the way.

People of God stand up. Call for your preachers to preach the whole counsel of God. If they won't, then leave! Find someone who will. They are out there, and they are risking their lives preaching what God wants preached. Stand with them.

Let's turn this nation around. Let's get it facing heavenward - through Jesus, the only way to eternal life.