I used to read that passage about "the spirit of antichrist" in 1John and wonder, "Hmm, doesn't make much sense to me. Who would in their right minds dispute that Jesus was actually a historical figure, and that He lived as a real man of flesh and blood?" Well evidently there ARE people who do, and they're actively working on spreading their doctrine and spirit of antichrist, which they term "Zeitgeist," the spirit of our time.
Well, as opponents of the spirit of antichrist and militant adherents to the Spirit of God, we're supposed to resist and fight that move and counter their flood of lies with the truth.
I'm afraid, though, that the usual attempts of denying the similarities between Jesus and the pagan deities, which apparently give the zeitgeist or antichrist movement its momentum won't do.
Christians will have to pull themselves together and realize once and for all that God is stronger than the Devil and face their ridiculous fear of astrology and the stars, as if it had been Satan who put them in the sky to tease Christians with them: "Don't get too close, or they'll bite you!"
If we're going to combat the spirit of antichrist in the zeitgeist movement efficiently, we're going to have to face the fact that it was God, not the Devil, Who created the stars, and created them for a purpose.
We're going to have to face the fact, that it was also God Who created the star signs, and that the word "zodiac" is not evil or witchcraft, but actually originally appears in its Hebrew form, "Mazzaroth," in the Bible, namely in the book of Job, and means nothing else than "the path."
Furthermore can we not deny the fact that God created certain things in the physical in order to illustrate spiritual truths, and the sun and its relation to the stars are one of them. Sexual intercourse, by the way, is another one of them, and not the epitome of evil, as some Christians still seem to believe.
We have to realize that our God is not a wimp who created all these things in order for us to let the Devil run off with them and rake in all the credit for them.
I've even read websites of Christians who teach that candles are evil.
Well, what are you going to do when the lights go off in New York for the last time, brother? Sit in darkness because you're scared to light a candle?
Of course, these people are scared stiff of any kind of symbolism, whether it be to depict Jesus as a lion, as in the movie "The Lion, the With and the Wardrobe," and the star signs? Oh my God, they must have crept right outta hell. When in reality, nothing could be further from the truth, and if they'd just read their own Book, they'd find out.
Just because there are a few Scriptures in which it warns of the pagan astrologers and soothsayers, or the sort of people who are trying to figure out if you're going to be lucky at the races tomorrow by your horoscope doesn't mean we should throw the baby out with the bath water.
Of course, I'm not as naive to believe that I'm going to change that sort of people's minds. But there may be others for whom there is hope, and who manage to ignore the "Thou shalt be scared stiff" dogma drilled into them for long enough to recognize God as the Big Thing in and around it all, the One Who created it all for His glory, and then develop the guts to grab what was rightfully ours to begin with and knock the Devil and his slimy cohorts for a lop with it.
We're not too scared to kill of innocent muslims by the millions, but when it comes to facing our real foe, all of a sudden we're not that brave anymore, are we?
Well, it's always easier to hate and kill a foe far away in a foreign country that you didn't know much about and you never cared for much in the first place, than facing that treacherous foe who talks and looks like you right in your own country, waving the same flag, only that the stuff he's saying is going to be the New World Order credo of tomorrow, and while we ignore and even sympathize with those friendly attempts of these traitors to poison us with their doctrine, destroying the faith of millions around us, we consentingly keep paying our taxes in order for more muslims to be killed.
At least the Muslims believe that Jesus was a real person, and they even believe that He's going to come back.
But that's not what's going to be taught in the public schools of tomorrow, if tomorrow isn't already today.
It's definitely not what kids are being taught via the tube in our oh-so "Christian" nations, nor the books we buy them by the dozens.
As long as they don't talk about star signs, they must be okay... Get real!
This is another aspect that Christians have been totally deceived about: next to the dogmas that sex is sin, war is okay, God blesses the rich, God stopped talking 2000 years ago and Jesus will come back before the Great Tribulation, here's another one: Star signs are of the Devil! And it turns out there is a good reason why the Devil wants you to believe that! Because if you wouldn't, he wouldn't have a chance to make people believe that Jesus never lived as an actual person, because you'd know that all those similarities between Him and all those ancient pagan "deities" are only because the deities were based on what the ancients had read in the stars!
I can only assume that one principal reason so many Christians don't want to know better about these things is because if they'd have to admit that God is actually in all those aspects of life that they'd prefer to exclude Him from, it would mean they'd have to let Him play a far more significant role in their lives than they presently are willing to allow Him.
So many things are actually not the Devil's fault, but ours, because we let him.
If the spirit of antichrist takes over the world, then it's probably going to be just because too many Christians were plain too scared of the truth.
Did you know that fear is a sin? God commands us several hundred times throughout the Bible not to be afraid, but to trust in Him. So, if we're not supposed to fear the Devil himself, nor our enemies, then how much less should we be scared of parts of God's creation that He would actually like us to use for His glory?