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"Is this the day I die?" wonders Li Quan as he endures persecution for his faith. Half a world away his college buddy, businessman Ben Fielding, steps on the plane to China. Reunited after 20 years, both men face decisions that will determine their destinies---and the fates of their nations and the world. 400 pages, softcover from Tyndale.

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Christians are hypocrites

People who call themselves "Christians" do not behave, talk or treat other people the way the Bible teaches we should.

Churches are full on Easter and Christmas and half empty the rest of the year. Those are hypocrites!

Men (and women) are in church on sunday, and cheating on their spouse on monday.

There are hungry people, and we do not feed them. Babies are dying and we do not save them. Couples are living together, but are not married. We steal office supples from work. We don't forgive others.

WHY?

Because we are all sinners - Christians and non-Christians - we are all sinners.

"So why do you call me 'Lord,' when you won't obey me?" (NLT) - Luke 6:46

False Christians: Yes, there are people who call themselves "Christian", but they make no effort to live a Christian lifestyle--or even to learn what a Christian lifestyle is. They call Jesus "Lord", but they do not obey him -- they don't follow what is taught in the Bible.

James, the brother of Jesus tells us:

"I can't see your faith if you don't have good deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds." (NLT) - James 2:18

What James is saying is that when you truly believe in Christ, your life changes. It changes because we want to change and because the Holy Spirit helps us to change. And that change results in your behavior changing in such a way that other people can see your faith.

Christians are not perfect: Another reason why true Christians (and those belonging to any other religion) appear to be hypocrites is that we are not perfect. We make mistakes. We can improve as we learn from the Bible. We can improve as we grow spiritually. But no matter how much we learn and grow, we are still sinners. Even the greatest Christians make mistakes. The Apostle Paul, who wrote a large part of the News Testament, struggled with this. He wrote:

"I don't understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead I do the very thing I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. But I can't help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things." (NLT) - Romans 7:15-17

So what do we do? If even the Apostle Paul could not win his struggle with sin, what hope do we have? We are helpless against the power of sin!

Here is what Paul writes:

"For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us." (NLT) - Romans 3:23-25

When it comes to hypocrites, don't blame Christianity, blame people.

"So get rid of all malicious behavior and deceit. Don't pretend to be good! Be done with hypocrisy and jealousy and backstabbing." (NLT) - 1 Peter 2:1