The Source of the Problem

There is no nice way to put it. All of mankind has been duped. And that deception is so complete it has convinced everyone of the same thing. Every human being is convinced that problems can be solved by simply doing the right thing. Conflicts arise because so many people’s “right things” conflict with other people’s “right things.” They may even conflict with God’s “right things.” Regardless of who the conflict is with, they often go to war with thoughts, words, and sometimes weapons. Their wars may even be just within themselves making them feel like they are split in two.

So, what is this deception? Jesus and the Apostle Paul called it “the lie.” Unfortunately, it is usually translated “a lie” as though it is any lie. However, it is a very specific lie that has infected the world. Nothing, no one, escapes its corruptive effects.

The lie is like a fractured lens, a filter through which everything we see, hear, and think becomes distorted. And because the reality it presents seems more real than God, we treat what it tells us as true. The lie is so powerful and destructive that even when you are aware of its presence it is impossible to escape all of its affects. Because our beliefs have been so infected by the lie, it has succeeded in persuading all mankind that God is other than Who He is. But with God all things are possible, and His love is intent on causing us to realize what He knows. His passionate hatred is only against the lie and its source, and what it has done to His creation.

The distortions in our perceptions that are caused by believing the lie have created all of the contradictions and confusions that many seem to find in the Bible. It is the source of every lie, deception, and misrepresentation. Thus, it is the ultimate source and cause of every problem mankind suffers. Since the Garden of Eden, mankind has only a vague memory of what used to be before the lie took root. We know something wonderful used to be, but do not quite know what it was. We intuitively know that what we are seeing today is wrong, but because of the lie, we blame God instead of the lie.

James E. Campbell, Jr., describes his 60 plus years of life as learning everything that doesn’t work. Yet, through it all the real God was working (unknown to him) so he could experience a life more wonderful than he had dreamed. It was impossible for James to imagine what he now experiences. And what he learned did not come by study or doing the right things. It came by sheer gift. That is the only way God provides. Everything He does for His children is a gift. And God loves to give. In fact, in the original language of the Bible, the Apostle James says that one of God’s names is “The Giving God.” No one can buy God. He will not be bought by anything you can do for Him. He just loves you for free. And everything you need is a free gift from Him.

James E. spent many years writing Unseen, but there came a point he found his writing skills inadequate. Because his son, James Q., was a professional writer and had lived with his father through this experience, he asked him to become co-author and contribute his perspective. Unseen is not only the work of someone changed by this knowledge and understanding, but of a son who watched his father change and has himself been changed by the same.