It's not Memorial Day yet, but I want you to be prepared for the blasphemy and idolatry that will soon spew forth from preachers in pulpits and Christians in pews like smoke from the bottomless pit (Revelation 9:2).

Memorial Day has degenerated into Military Appreciation Day Number 1. This is followed on the calendar by the Fourth of July, which should be considered Military Appreciation Day Number 2, and then by Veterans Day, which should be renamed Military Appreciation Day Number 3.

I mention this blasphemy and idolatry now because of Good Friday, the day when multitudes of Christians around the world commemorate the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion at the hands of the Roman state.

On the Sunday before (or the Sunday of if July 4th or Nov. 11th falls on a Sunday) the aforementioned official Military Appreciation Days, as well as on occasional regular Sundays which some churches designate as military appreciation days, one will sometimes see sayings like the following about Jesus Christ and U.S. soldiers on church signs, on church websites, and in church bulletins:

Jesus Christ died and soldiers die doesn't mean that the two deaths are somehow related. Consider the following.

Jesus Christ died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3); U.S. soldiers die in vain in senseless foreign wars.

Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2); U.S. soldiers commit sin when they maim and kill for the state.

Jesus Christ said "Suffer the little children to come unto me (Mark 10:14); U.S. soldiers make little children suffer the loss of their limbs, homes, and parents.

Jesus Christ died for us (Romans 5:8); U.S. soldiers died for a lie.

Jesus Christ made the Atonement (Romans 5:11); U.S. soldiers make widows.

Jesus Christ was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7); U.S. soldiers do nothing for us.

Jesus Christ was made to be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21); U.S. soldiers make orphans.

Jesus Christ went about doing good (Acts 10:38); U.S. soldiers are a global force for evil.