I have watched quite a few people putting forth outrageous claims which turn out to be outright lies and become clickbait factories. I have watched their channels grow from nothing to huge.
If something comes into my stream and sounds like it may have a grain of truth in it, I do a check to verify that it does, in fact, have some merit. Usually, these sensational claims pan out as clickbait fabrication. Christians click on it like crazy, however. Not only that, they share it like crazy and propagate the lie in the name of Christianity. This ought not to be so.
While these outrageous claims later prove to be absolutely false, their channels continue to grow with no repercussions. Kind of like all the Y2K claims, or some of the recent eschatology books that have turned out to be duds. Not to mention the many times I have survived the rapture which is continually 'prophesied' over and over.
Even when their claims are proven false, they get new suckers to follow them. Like nothing ever happened.
It is frustrating that conspiracy theories, fear tactics, and outright lies get more clicks than simple biblical truth.
I started unfollowing 'clickbait Christians' a long time ago. But every once in a while, some clickbait title pops up in my stream. I have learned to dismiss them as a rule.
I want to encourage you to not share clickbait. If you think it may have merit, verify it. There are plenty of ways to verify it online. You may be surprised that your friends and family are sharing outright lies thinking they are true. Like believing Babylon Bee articles even!
Meanwhile, as all these Christians are sharing clickbait, the world is watching. We aren't being a light, we are being stupid. Churches are closing like crazy from all this 'fakeness' and the world wants no part of the 'Clickbait Christianity' they are seeing. It isn't truth and love, but sensationalism and hysteria.
We are to be a light. Is sharing clickbait what Jesus meant by that? I think not!
Welcome, welcome, welcome to another edition of coffee with Conrad. Pull up a chair and get comfortable. I’m sitting here with my mug, looking out at the world, and I’ve got something heavy on my heart today. My passion, as many of you know, is for you to have a genuine, spiritual relationship with the biblical Jesus. Not a cultural Jesus, not a tradition-soaked Jesus, but the One found in the pages of your Bible. But there is a problem—a glaring, massive problem—that we seem to walk past every single year without a second thought.
I remember a few years ago, I was sitting in a friend's living room. The sun was dipping low, casting long shadows across the floor, and the television was humming in the background. A commercial came on for a local megachurch. A man, who I knew to be a leader in that congregation, appeared on the screen. He wasn't wearing a suit or a robe. He had squeezed himself into a giant, fuzzy, white Easter Bunny costume. He was hopping around, waving a basket, grinning through a plastic mask, telling everyone to come down to the "sanctuary" for the big event.
The pain I felt in my spirit at that moment was visceral. It wasn't just that it looked ridiculous; it was the realization that this man, a shepherd of souls, had literally put on the image of a pagan deity on television to represent the resurrection of my Savior. He didn't put on the Lord Jesus Christ; he put on Ishtar. He was selling the holy by wrapping it in the profane.
This is the agitation many of you feel but can’t quite put into words. You walk into your church buildings and see the plastic grass, the dyed eggs, and the focus on "fertility symbols" of antiquity, and something deep inside your spirit—where the Holy Ghost dwells—starts to feel grieved. You wonder, "Does God really smile on this?" The solution isn't to just 'go along to get ahead' or to keep the peace for the sake of the family dinner. The solution is to lift your head, look at the Great Shepherd, and stop following the rear end of the lost sheep in front of you. It's time to dig deeper and go higher.
It is so glaringly obvious that it almost feels silly to have to say it, yet here we are. You just have to read your Bible. That’s it. That is the secret. If you read the Word, you see that God has a very specific, very jealous reaction to His people mixing His name with the names of idols. We are going full "willy-nilly" into paganism and bringing it right into the sanctuaries, the very places that are supposed to be set apart for His glory.
I see this marketing logic all the time. People tell me, "Conrad, we need to reach the pagans! We have to meet them where they are." So, we bring in the eggs, the bunnies, and the spring solstice trappings. I’ve observed these "Chreasters"—the folks who only show up on Christmas and Easter. The churches give away iPhones, they put on huge spectacles, and they scramble to make the gospel "palatable."
But let’s look at the result. Is it building a true church? Is it creating disciples who take up their cross? Usually, the week after these big pagan-flavored blowouts, the congregation is even smaller than it was two weeks prior. From a marketing standpoint, it’s the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
If we are willing to allow paganism into the church to reach the pagans, where does the logic stop? Why not have seances in the foyer? Why not set up tarot card readings or a Ouija board in the fellowship hall? If we really want to reach the "demographics of sinners," why not have a "Smoke a Little Weed" night or a sex party in the sanctuary? I know that sounds harsh, but I’m trying to show you the absurdity of the compromise. Why do we discriminate against other sins while embracing the sin of idolatry?
The truth is, the leaders know better. This is what frustrates me the most. These pastors have been to seminary; they know the history of these "holidays." They know that "Easter" is a linguistic evolution of "Ishtar." They do it anyway to keep the money coming in and to keep a happy congregation. They are afraid that if they tell the truth, the pews will empty and the coffers will dry up.
Look at the precedent in Scripture. Look at Aaron. He was the high priest, the man who was supposed to represent the holiness of God. When Moses was up on Mount Sinai, delayed in the presence of the Lord, the people got restless. They gathered around Aaron and said, "Up, make us gods!"
And what did Aaron do? He didn't rebuke them. He didn't tell them to wait on the Lord. Instead, he said:
And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. (Exodus 32:2)
He asked for their gold. Sound familiar? "Bring me your money, and I'll give you something to worship that makes you feel good." Aaron took that gold, fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf. Then—and this is the part that should make your hair stand up—he made a proclamation. He didn't say, "Here is a new god named Bob." He said:
...Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD. (Exodus 32:5)
He used the name of Jehovah to describe a golden calf. He tried to "baptize" an idol. He mixed the holy name of God with a man-made image to keep the people from rioting. They rose up early, offered sacrifices, sat down to eat and drink, and "rose up to play." They had a great time! It was a successful "event" by modern church standards. But God was ready to consume them.
Moses had to come down and deal with it. He took that calf, ground it to powder, strewed it upon the water, and made them drink it. I call that the very first "Goldschlager." This is the same God we serve today. We like to think the New Covenant means God suddenly stopped caring about holiness, but the Bible says He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Think about Jeroboam. He did the exact same thing for the exact same reason—politics and money. He was afraid that if the people went up to Jerusalem to worship, their hearts would turn back to the house of David and he would lose his kingdom. So he took counsel and made two calves of gold. He told the people:
...It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. (1 Kings 12:28)
He set one in Bethel and one in Dan. He made "high places" and ordained a feast that was "like unto" the feast in Judah. He created a counterfeit. He didn't tell them to stop worshipping the God of Israel; he just gave them a more convenient, pagan-infused way to do it. He polluted the worship to keep his grip on power. This thing became sin to the people.
We see this happening right now. A couple of years ago, I was involved with a movement called "Exalt Jesus Memphis." It was a beautiful thing. We had a day where we gathered just to exalt the name of Jesus. No pastor’s name was on the marquee. No church name was being promoted. We weren't there to build anyone's brand. It was on a Saturday before Easter.
I remember talking to a lady, trying to invite her to come intercede for the city and praise the Lord. She looked at me with total sincerity and said, "Oh, Conrad, I can't do that. I'm in charge of my church's Easter egg hunt."
My heart sank. Behold thy gods, O Israel! We have become so addicted to the "egg hunt"—the tradition, the fluff, the pagan symbols—that we won't even set them aside for one afternoon to exalt the Name that is above every name. We are choosing the "molten calf" of tradition over the presence of the Living God.
Personal Reflections
I’ll be the first to admit, it took me a while to come out of this. I didn't wake up one day with all this figured out. I grew up with the same traditions everyone else did. I remember the pressure of "fitting in." There is such a massive grip of paganism and idolatry in the church, and the devil has a real stronghold there.
It was through a process of "opening my eyes"—something I wrote extensively about in my book, OPEN YOUR EYES—that I began to see the spiritual reality behind these things. When you start to realize that these aren't just "innocent customs" but are actually linked to ancient deities that God hates, you can't un-see it.
Jesus corrected me. He showed me that I was looking for loopholes. I was trying to use scriptures like "an idol is nothing" to make my flesh happy. I wanted to keep the social connections and the warm fuzzy feelings of the holidays while still claiming to follow Him. But the Holy Spirit kept bringing me back to the concept of spiritual adultery.
Adultery sounds a lot like idolatry, doesn't it? Imagine if I told my wife, "Honey, two or three days a year, I'm going to go visit my old girlfriend. I'm going to do all the acts with my body, I'm going to buy her flowers and spend the night, but don't worry—my heart isn't in it. You've still got my heart." How would she feel about that? She would be devastated! She would call it what it is: betrayal. Do we think the Almighty is less sensitive than a human spouse? When we participate in the rites of Ishtar and then say, "But Jesus, it’s for You," we are committing spiritual adultery.
I had to repent. I had to decide that "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." It wasn't easy. It made people uncomfortable. But the peace that comes from a clean conscience and a sanctified walk is worth more than any "happy congregation" or social acceptance.
Biblical References
The Bible is not silent on this issue. We are commanded to be a separate people. The Word says:
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. (2 Corinthians 6:17)
We are told not to learn the ways of the heathen. In Jeremiah, the Lord is very clear:
Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. (Jeremiah 10:2)
We see the judgment that falls when we refuse to discern the Lord's body. I was looking at the mortality rates recently, and did you know that the death rate is higher on Christmas Day than any other day of the year? People want to mock God and say it’s just a coincidence, but God will not be mocked.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7)
We see in the book of Ezekiel that the leaders were secretly worshipping the sun. They were in the inner court of the Lord's house, between the porch and the altar, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, worshipping the sun toward the east (Ezekiel 8:16). This happened right in the middle of their "religious" activities.
God’s response was clear. He called it an abomination. In the New Testament, we see the same severity. Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Ghost and were struck dead (Acts 5). Herod gave a great speech, took the glory for himself, and was eaten with worms (Acts 12:23). In the book of Revelation, Jesus says of the false prophetess Jezebel:
And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. (Revelation 2:23)
The call for us today is the same as it was for the believers in the first century:
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4)
Key Takeaways
God Desires Purity: Mixing the name of Jesus with pagan deities is defined as idolatry and spiritual adultery.
Leadership Responsibility: Many leaders know the pagan origins of these holidays but continue them to maintain financial stability and keep the "happy" crowd.
The Marketing Trap: Using paganism to "reach" the lost is unscriptural and ineffective at building true disciples.
Consequences of Ignorance: We are accountable for the knowledge we have. Once you see the truth in the Word, you are responsible to act on it.
A Jealous God: The Lord is the same in the New Covenant as He was in the Old; He still demands holiness and separation from the world's systems.
Conclusion and Call to Action
The world is watching us. They see the church being hypocritical, claiming to follow a holy God while dressing up like bunnies and celebrating the same days, in the same ways, as the witches and the pagans. The name of the Lord is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of us!
It’s time for the church to rise up. It’s time for you to decide: are you going to follow the Great Shepherd, or are you going to keep following the traditions of men? If you've been following my podcast or reading my posts at ConradRocks.net, you know that I don't sugarcoat this. We are living in a time where we must be grounded in the Word and led by the Spirit.
If you are struggling with night terrors or spiritual oppression, perhaps it’s time to look at what "unclean things" might be in your house. I talk about this in my book Overcoming Night Terror—the legal ground we give the enemy through compromise is real.
Don't apologize for seeking holiness. Pray about it. Ask God to show you if you are perpetuating paganism in your home. Let's stop the madness and return to the biblical Jesus.
If this message has touched you, please share it with your friends and family—if you dare. We need to spread the truth.
Action Items
Audit Your Traditions: Sit down with your Bible and research the origins of your holiday customs. If they are rooted in pagan worship (like Ishtar/Easter), ask God for the strength to remove them from your life.
Repent of Compromise: If you have been "going along to get ahead" while knowing the truth, confess it to the Lord and ask for His forgiveness and the courage to stand for Him.
Educate Your Family: Teach your children or grandchildren the difference between the biblical account of the Resurrection and the pagan traditions of man. Focus on the Lamb, not the bunny.
Seek the Biblical Jesus: Commit to reading the Gospels and the Epistles without the lens of church tradition. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the real Jesus to you.
Support Truth-Tellers: Find and support ministries and fellowships that prioritize the Word over "seeker-friendly" spectacles.
Until we meet again, dig deeper and go higher. God bless you.
If you want to dive deeper into these "Rocks of Revelation," visit me at ConradRocks.net and subscribe to the podcast.
Heidi's Holy Roar: One Lady's Fearless Stand Against Islamic Encroachment
I'm fired up today after watching a powerful video of a brave German woman boldly standing up for Jesus in the face of Islamic opposition. This tiny lady is my new hero, and I want to share her inspiring story with all of you.
It happened at the Memorial Church of the Reformation in Germany - a building dedicated to honoring Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Incredibly, a Muslim imam was invited to give the call to prayer during what was supposed to be an "interfaith" concert bridging Christianity and Islam.
As soon as the imam started his chanting, proclaiming "Allah is the only God," this faithful German woman named Heidi sprang into action. From the balcony, she invoked the name of Luther and shouted "Jesus Christ is Lord over Germany!" She declared, "I break this curse" over the blasphemous display happening in Luther's church.
Can you imagine having that kind of holy boldness? Heidi did not cower in silent apathy like the rest of the attendees. Moved by righteous anger from the Lord, she refused to let this spiritual attack go unanswered in the name of "interfaith dialogue." The church leaders should have thrown the imam out, not Heidi!
Brothers and sisters, we desperately need more believers like this woman who will not stay silent or compromise as Islam encroaches into the church. Heidi proclaimed, "The Muslims serve another god - this Allah is not the same God! It is idol worship, and they offer blood sacrifices to their god."
She is right. Islam cannot be tamed or made compatible with biblical Christianity. The two are incompatible belief systems. One proclaims the Lordship and saving grace of Jesus Christ, while the other fundamentally denies His divinity and the gospel itself.
Heidi's life is now in danger from emboldened Muslims for her courageous stand. Yet she has no fear, saying, "I know my God, the living God of the Bible, can protect me as long as He wants. When my time is over, I will go to Him." What a inspiring example of the fearless faith we are all called to!
Like the brave German woman, may we all find a spirit of repentance and holy boldness to take a stand while there is still time. The church in the West is growing increasingly lukewarm and compromised as we slumber through Islam's encroachments. We cannot stay silent anymore.
I urge you to watch Heidi's video and share it widely. Her zeal for the Lord should inspire and convict us all. May we all become as bold as lions, filled with righteous anger over blasphemies against our King Jesus. No more cowardice, only the fearless roar of the Lion of Judah!
A question was posed recently, "Why doesn't God heal my dad?".
I am sure a lot of you know that I lost my dad to a brain tumor back in 1999. That event changed my life dramatically. It threw me into a tail spin. I had panic attacks, lost my wife, and somehow in the midst of it all got much closer to God.
I know God heals. I have seen Him do it time after time. I have seen David George recover his mind live at bread of life church. I have met Gary Wood who sings praises to the Lord with severed vocal chords. I have seen cancers healed , eyes straightened, and barren wombs give fruit. I have no question that God heals.
Why didn't God heal my dad?
When Weldon, my dad, was diagnosed with a brain tumor on June 1st, 1999 I decided I was going to pull out all the stops for my Dad's healing. I rejected the report that dad would die in four and one half months - which he did pass on that exact day. This was foretold by an unsaved doctor.
My brother and I laid hands on dad and prayed right there in the hospital multiple times. We prayed earnestly and fervently according to what we thought that meant.
James 5:16 ........ The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
When dad was sent home I got down on my knees and prayed with dad. I fasted and prayed. I sought God earnestly. Dad only got worse day after day for four and a half months.
Dad was losing his ability to talk on his birthday two days before he passed. I bought him a cross that he could look at from his hospice bed. As I put it up for him, I told him "Dad, you have to have faith"
He looked at me with eyes that assured me and he said, "I can have faith in God". I cried and knew that dad was in Jesus' hands.
In spite of all of dad's pain and suffering, he was more worried about me than himself. When he could talk, he kept asking me if I was all right.
Somehow later I knew that I had just one more opportunity to speak to him before he slipped into a coma. I told dad as I tearfully squeezed his hand, "I love you dad".
He looked at me and said "I love you too". Those were the last words I heard him utter.
He slipped into a coma.
Dad finally passed on the very day the doctor said he would. I questioned my faith. But for some reason I never took God off the throne. Something deep within my spirit churned within me and assured me that everything was going to be OK. My outer soul man, however, went into all kind of emotional convulsions. I had panic attacks and was an emotional wreck. My wife soon left me. I was a mess in the outward man. The inward spirit, however, realized there was a purpose. The inward man was anchored in Christ.
I sought God earnestly for years asking Him why he let my dad die. Over the course of a few years He revealed, or rather reminded me of something. I have kept this to myself for years, but now I am ready to share it with you.
First off, all things work for the good....
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Yes, we all know this verse. All things work for the good of those that are called and love God. I knew I had a call. I knew I loved God. Then my attention was drawn to the fact that is was His purpose that i was made for. Not my own purpose. HIS purpose.
God had brought me to the fact that He foreknew us before we were even in the womb.
Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Well, God knew me before I was born. This is interesting because I used to pray to God as a child. I had a relationship with Him and it was like I already knew Him. I had child like faith (Luke 18:17). God has answered many of my prayers that I prayed as a young child. I prayed for a white horse and got it within two weeks. He has answered other prayers from those early years over the course of my lifetime.
As a child, my mind wasn't so confused with all this theology that it has now. I was simply praying as a child and it is as if i have always known Him. I had child like faith because I was a child!
Moving on from Romans 8:28 here is the very next verse:
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Somehow the things that we go through are linked to our destiny. No matter how bad these fiery trials (1 Peter 4:12) are - once we are through them we are the better for it. The potter (Romans 9:20-23) conforms us to the image of His Son.
Peter even tells us to rejoice in our trials (See also James 1:2)!
1 Peter 1:6-9 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: (7) That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (8) Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (9) Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
We love a God that we may have not seen. We love a God that foreknew us before we were born. This God has given us a call and a destiny. A purpose for our lives. A destiny to be conformed into the image of His Son.
Now, no matter what comes my way, I know that God is on the throne and I am being conformed to the image of His Son. This gives me comfort and a peace that surpasses understanding (Philippians 4:7).
This life on earth is short. It is a blip on the radar of eternity. I may not understand everything, but I am learning to understand that all things work for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
I want to encourage you. No matter what trial you are going through. Keep the faith. It will work out for good. You may not see it right now, but you will in the long run.
Jesus Rules!
PS.. now I just think about how dad has all this time to work on his tennis, basketball, croquet, and chess games til I get there! (Genesis 50:20)
