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It started innocently enough with a simple picture created for a school project, a mere line drawing by the hand of a teenage boy. But the boy’s teacher found the work so objectionable that she refused to give the boy a grade, and the Wisconsin school stood by this teacher. The boy was also given two detentions for the objectionable artwork.

The drawing in question was submitted alongside the artistic creations of other students. Among these other works was a red-skinned demon mask complete with horns and bared fangs; a Buddha fountain; a sorcerer; an eight-armed Hindu goddess riding a giant swan.

But the work the boy submitted went over the limit in the eyes of the school. What was so offensive, so vulgar to the boy’s teacher? It was simply this: a white chalk drawing on a black background of a cross, with the caption, “John 3:16, a sign of love.”

You see, the school has a policy against religious expression. In a statement the school said, “Respect for the beliefs of a diverse student population…requires that the district treat all students equitable and fairly regardless of their faith. While the district respects all students’ religious freedoms, those freedoms are not a license for students to force the school to display religious messages of their choosing.”

The teacher’s grading policy banned depictions of “blood, violence, sexual connotations, or religious beliefs.” Oddly enough, when members of the school board met with the boy and his family in the school’s parent-teacher conference room to reinforce the policy to the boy, the walls of the conference room were lined with the artwork of students that had been accepted. There was a drawing of the Greek goddess Medusa. There was another demonic figure with horns, scales and snake-like tongue. More demonic masks. A drawing of the Grim Reaper.

So you see, the teacher’s grading policy, which was upheld by the school district’s policy against “religious express,” apparently only extended to expressions of Christianity. It did not apply to Buddhism, Hinduism, paganism, or Satanism. Only Christianity.

The Lord our God, the Creator of all things,  says, Isa. 5:20, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

There is a mode of thought that is sweeping our world today, and it is called postmodernism, and it often manifests itself in religious pluralism. Once upon a time critics of Christianity thought there was such a thing as absolute truth, they just were sure that Christianity was not it. Postmodernism, on the other hand, says there is no such thing as absolute truth at all! What is true for me, may not be true for you.

In the past the main attacks upon Christianity came from people who simply thought Christianity was not true. That idea is passing away. Now the attack is coming from people who hate Christianity simply because it claims to be the only truth!

How conceited, they say! How offensive, they say! It just cannot be that Christianity alone is true, they say!

And yet Jesus, through whom the universe was created, says, in John 8:32, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

The postmodern way of thinking is that there are lots of truths, not a single truth. They say the truth is a slippery thing, like a fish in a bucket of jelly. The postmodern way of thinking is that when a person asks how to be saved, there may be many answers to that question.

And yet the apostle Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, part of the Godhead that created the universe, says, in Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Oprah Winfrey recently entered the world of religion. She has begun pushing theology on her viewers. What is her theology? That Jesus is not the only way to salvation. She said so herself on her nationally broadcast television talk show. Search on the internet, if you want to see and hear her words for yourself.

In reference to finding the path to God, she said, “There couldn’t possibly be just one way.” A bold woman in the audience shouted out, “What about Jesus?” Oprah said, “What about Jesus?” The woman in the audience said, “You say there is more than one way. There is one way, and only one way, and that way is through Jesus.” Oprah said again, “There couldn’t possibly be just one way!”

And yet Jesus says, in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” And that includes Oprah Winfrey.

She now subscribes to the teachings of a man named Eckhart Tolle, who wrote a book called, “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.” She promotes this book and this man’s teachings through broadcasts on her websites. Tolle says that the goal of life is to find the divinity within ourselves. To find that we are gods. To find that God is not a being, but a feeling. And so Tolle says.

And yet the apostle Paul says, in Romans 1:22-25, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man-and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

You may remember the man Carl Sagan, a scientist and atheist who had a tremendous impact on the thinking of our world. He thought that man should cast off the shackles of “superstition,” which according to his definition included all religion, especially Christianity. He died in 1997, but one year before his death his last book was published. It was titled, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Darkness. You see, Sagan says that religion, including Christianity, is darkness, and that science is the light of the world!

And yet, Jesus Christ says, in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Sagan would have you believe that mankind through science can bring light into the dark world.

And yet, speaking of Jesus the apostle John says, in John 1:9-10, “That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, but the world did not know Him.”

How do we confront such a world where it is possible for our nation’s educational system to exclude Christianity from the schools, but include the many false religions around us?

How do we confront such a world where powerful mass media royalty such as Oprah Winfrey, having already gained the trust of the public from her many good deeds, begins leading the masses into the oblivion of religious pluralism?

How do we confront a world where science claims to be the only god the world will ever need?

We must be bold and choose God. Like Joshua, we must stand and boldly say, “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Josh. 24:15). Pagan philosophies abound, as well as false views of Christianity. We have to choose.

We must be bold and proclaim God. Like Moses proclaimed in his song before Israel in Deut. 32:3-4, we must say, “For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.” Like Paul before the Athenians, who also saw many truths, we must be able to say the words of Acts 17:22-23, “Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you.” And we must be bold enough to proclaim Him!

We must be bold and proclaim that Christ is the only way. Jesus shed His blood for the remission of sin, Matt. 26:28. Jesus purchased the church with His own blood, Acts 20:28. The church is the body of Christ, Col. 1:24. If we believe, and repent, and confess, we can be baptized into Christ (the body, the church), Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 12:13. Jesus Himself adds the baptized believers to the church (His body), Acts 2:38, 41, 47, and He is the Savior of the body (the church), Eph. 5:23.

What will we do with the wave of postmodernism and distrust of truth that exists today? Will we take a stand? If not today, when? Will we wait until it is too late? We have a great opportunity now-this day-to serve our God. To stand up for Him.

It took one woman to get prayer out of school. It took one talk show host to spread influence throughout our nation toward false religion. Imagine what hundreds of Christians standing up for the Lord and His truth can do! Choose you this day whom you will serve! Let us change this world for Christ!