A quick note about Mormonism

I was having a conversation about politics with a co-worker a couple of months back and it turned to talks of political funding and organization by religious establishments and I made some comments that apparently distinguished Mormonism from Christianity. Although I said nothing negative about the LDS faith, I distinguished the two faiths as different. This co-worker happened to be LDS. And something he said struck me as kind of funny. He said, “I don’t know why everyone always sets us apart from the label ‘Christian’. We’re Christians too.”

Ever since he said that, I have been paying attention. It seems there is a new trend going on in the LDS church today that holds that Mormonism (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) is just another denomination of Christianity. At face value it seems believable enough. Mormons and Christians both believe that Jesus is the way to salvation. They believe that He is the Son of God. They believe you are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. They believe that the blessed hope in Christ and His gift of salvation will one day land you in heaven, a very nice place where God lives. Beyond that, they both come to your door and try to give you tracts or talk to you about Jesus.

You might be thinking, ‘with all those similarities, how could you say that they’re different?’ Well, let me tell you how the LDS church fundamentally differs from the classical Christian faith. Christians and Mormons use the same terminology, but they mean totally different things by them. A succinct statement of their differences is this: They both believe in God, but they’re not the same God. They both believe in Jesus, but they’re not the same Jesus. They both believe that grace saves, but they’re not the same grace. They both believe in heaven, but they’re not the same heaven.

The god of the LDS faith has no son. The term ‘sons of god’ simply means creations of god. Jesus is not the only begotten Son of God as Christians believe Him to be. He is one of many. And he’s a created being, the spirit brother of Satan (the devil). There is no trinity in LDS theology. In fact, the only reason Jesus holds the position he does as savior of the world is because he essentially raised his hand first when god asked who wanted to die for the sins of mankind. Grace, according to the apostle Paul, is totally unearned. He stated that if you could earn grace, it wasn’t grace, and Christ died for nothing. LDS teaches that although grace is unearned, there are different levels of grace you can attain by your actions, by “living pure” as I have heard it called. Lastly, they both believe in heaven, but the LDS vision of heaven is so entirely different from the classical Christian view, they cannot be the same heaven at all. This last point may be secondary, but the other three are absolute pillars of the Christian faith that cannot be compromised. If Jesus Christ is not God Himself, then we have no means of being redeemed and forgiven of our sins.

But let me tell you the most compelling reason that I think this is kind of a misinformation campaign. If you think about it, you could be a solid Bible believing Christian and elders Johnson and Duarte will still come to your house, offer to give you a Book of Mormon, and then ask you to read it and then pray and ask God if it’s true. And that’s the clincher. They don’t believe you are truly saved unless you are Mormon. In fact, their founder, Mr. Joseph Smith, when he founded the LDS church, received direct revelations from Jesus and from an angel which told him that all of the protestant Christian faiths were false, and even blasphemous. They were abominations. None of them were pure. The Christian faith had been altered from its original beliefs and intent so much so that none of the denominations could be trusted for salvation. This is the reason that Joseph Smith started the Mormon Church, exactly because Christianity as it was known (and is still known today) couldn't cut it.

So if Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, thought all protestant faiths were abominations to God (and Catholics were even worse), how could the Mormon faith be just another denomination of the protestant faith? What does that say about the Mormon faith? The idea of that is self-contradictory, self-defeating. I would even take it so far as to say that the attempt to equate the two is dishonest, and that was my point to my co-worker. I tried to choose my words as carefully as I could so I didn't offend him, I was hoping to just make him think. But if you run into this issue with LDS members who say “We’re just another Christian denomination, just like you,” remember that Joseph Smith sure didn't see it that way. He would have even been offended by that notion. 

The One-Sided Covenant(s)

Tonight I want to consider a strange but essential idea that can be seen in a few places throughout the Old Testament and all through Paul's writings in the New Testament. It's the idea of the 'one-sided covenant'. I will be considering specifically Genesis 13 - 15 and Romans 5.

A little background first on what's going on:

Genesis 13 begins soon after Abram and his family have finally come to live in the land God had promised to give to Abram's descendants. Abram and his nephew Lot (the son of his dead brother who Abram had charge over and had raised from a boy), had become very rich in livestock, Abram among the wealthiest and most powerful in the land. They decided to part ways because they had outgrown the ability to stay together. Their servants were fighting with one another daily and Abram grew tired of the squabbles. Abram gave Lot his pick of the land and Lot chose the fertile Jordan valley, where the towns Sodom and Gomorrah happened to be. After Lot and his family and possessions move on, Abram received a visit from God who confirmed again that He would give Abram and his descendants all of the land he could see. Abram went to settle near Hebron. 

In very brief summary (of extremely important events), Sodom and Gomorrah became involved in a war and the citizens of Sodom were carried off as P.O.W.'s, including Lot and his family. Abram heard about it, got pissed, and sent his fighting men (yes, he had a personal army) to rectify the situation. Abram's army routed five kings and their armies (I told you he was powerful) and brought Lot and the other citizens of Sodom home. Abram was met at the battlefield by Melchizedek, the priest of God Most High and king of Salem (Jeru-Salem?) who told him he was blessed of God Most High and gave him bread and wine. Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all of the plunder of the five kings (interestingly, that tenth, or tithe, was Abram's entire portion of the plunder, so while it was a 'tithe' of the entire expedition, Abram gave 100% of his share). 

When Abram returned to Hebron, he was met there by God who reassured him that he would have a child and that he would inherit the entire land of Canaan (now Israel). God wanted to make a covenant with him. Abram cut some 3 year old animals in half and laid the halves across a path from each other. Then he waited. A long time. So long that he had to drive the buzzards away that had come to snack on the dead animals. At nightfall, Abram fell into a deep, unnatural sleep. In his sleep, he was filled with terror. God reiterated his promise to Abram, foretold a 400 year slavery in a foreign land, and then "there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between" the animal halves (Genesis 15:17). This sounds an awful lot like the pillar of fire and pillar of smoke which led the Israelites out of Egypt several centuries later. 

So what's the big deal? What's with all the blood an gore? Why the animal halves? What's a covenant anyway? A covenant can be loosely defined as a promise of mutual action between two individuals. Examples of these mutual covenants abound in the Hebrew scriptures. The giving of the Law in Deuteronomy and the calling out of the blessings and curses from the two mountains is a good one. The people agree to behave in certain ways and God agrees to bless them. If the people disobey, God agrees to curse them. Abram will later make a covenant with his servant Eliezer in which he makes Eliezer place his hand on Abram's "thigh" (you can let your imagination run with this one) that he will not allow Isaac to marry a Canaanite woman, but will get a wife for him from Abram's hometown. 

 These days, we shake hands. In those days and handshake was not enough. Covenants were always made in these rather threatening and somber ways. In the most common type of covenant, the parties would cut animals in half, lay the halves facing each other on opposite sides of a path or road, and then both would pass through the middle of them, symbolizing what would happen to either party if they were to break the covenant and not do as they had promised to do. Abram was quite familiar with this bloody practice. He had probably done it several times before. 

In this instance, however, the important thing is that God puts Abram to sleep before he can walk through the midst of the gored animals. Instead, God alone (in the form of a flame of fire and a column of smoke) passes through. So what does it mean that only one of the two parties consummated the covenant? It means that only one of the two parties is responsible to keep it, that party being God. Abram had no part in this covenant. God made a promise to bless Abram's descendants and give them the land of Canaan, and that Abram would have a son through his wife Sarai. Abram had no role to play, and no covenant to keep. It is an unconditional covenant and does not depend at all on what Abram does or does not do.

Moving on to Romans 5, we see the language of a second one-sided covenant (or maybe the true fulfillment of the first?). Romans 5:6 says, "For while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly." The sacrifice of the Messiah (on the same mount that Abram almost sacrificed his son Isaac) for lost sinners is this same kind of covenant. "While we were still helpless" is a great way of describing Abram in his deep supernatural sleep. He could not walk through the midst of the broken animals if he wanted to, just as we are helpless to have any say in Christ's cleansing sacrifice for us. Jesus' body, broken for us (see the connection? broken body?), did not require our vote. God did it alone, while we were still sinners. There is nothing we can do to earn what God has done. We have no part to play in this one-sided covenant. All we can do is accept His grace and mercy as Abram did and receive the blessings that He wants to give us. 

The covenant has been made. God wants to bless you richly. Will you let Him?

Proverb of the day - 2/22/20125

Proverbs 22

This set of proverbs is made up of couplets, the standard of Hebrew poetry, that regard all sorts of different topics. They are individual wise sayings from 'the teacher' to his pupils. The poetic format is to enhance memorization; it is easier to remember poetic lines than it is to remember prose. You will never forget, "Roses are red, violets are blue" but you just might forget, "Roses are generally colored a shade of vermilion red, although they can be other colors as well. Violets, on the other hand, tend to be a purplish-blue color, much like that of a royal robe." That is the logic behind the format. Ease of remembrance is a huge step in the teacher's strategy to train up his pupils (probably sons, maybe others) in wisdom so that they remember the words and follow the advice. 'Proverbs' of yesterday might be referred to 'aphorisms' today.

A few key verses that stood out to me on this read-through:

Proverbs 22:2 - "The rich and the poor have a common bond, The Lord is the maker of them all."
This regards the rich and the poor, and talks about their commonality. How often do you hear this logic, especially in the 99% world we live in today? What with the 'Occupy' movement and slogans against the rich, one might never stop to consider the similarities between the rich man and the common man. The likeness that the teacher points out is that both the rich and the poor have the same maker. That doesn't mean much in our context, however, if you look back at the record of creation (Genesis 1-2) you will find that God made man in His own image. When asked if a Jew (who is responsible to the government of God and the temple first and foremost) should pay taxes to Caesar, Jesus looked at a Roman coin and asked whose picture (image) was on it. He then said, "Render unto Caesar's the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's" (Luke 20:21-26). He makes the distinction here that all people, no matter their race, skin color, religious affiliation, wealth or poverty, they all belong to God and bear His image. Your value comes from that fact, not from your social status or your accumulated belongings.

Proverbs 22:4 - "The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life."
I think that the quintessential example of this might be someone like Mother Teresa. This is a mathematical formula: humility + the fear of the Lord = riches + honor + life. Was Mother Teresa humble? The answer to this question (my wife poured over her autobiography and letters) is undeniably "yes". Did she fear the Lord? Absolutely, and loved Him like a husband. Was Mother Teresa rich? That depends on what you mean by "riches". The teacher doesn't say "wealth", but "riches". Mother Teresa was as poor as the people she served because she gave everything she had to them. Monetarily, she had no riches. However, she did a great job of living out Matthew 6:20, "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven", so while she may have been the poorest of the poor on earth, in heaven, "the first will be last, and the last will be first" (Matthew 20:16). Was she honored? Greatly. People were incredulous at her pious life in a world that served itself, not others. Will she be honored in heaven? Once again I infer Matthew 20:16. Was she given life? Well, beyond the fact that she lived 87 years, I would argue that this 'life' is in regard to what comes after this life. She enjoyed a very close relationship with her Lord, and the life she now lives (having died in 1997) will never end.

Proverbs 22:13 - "The sluggard says, 'There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!'"
This is a play on a missing opposite. The reader is left to fill in the blank of what the diligent person would say (which would be just as opposite as 'diligent' is from 'sluggard'). In this case, a diligent person would say, "There is a lion outside, I must protect my family!" and would get his weapon straightaway. Notice how the sluggard thinks only of himself, and is a victim of his circumstances. This tells volumes about the personality we are dealing with. The diligent opposite, we are left to imagine, would take the reigns of the situation and change it. King David (Solomon's father) might be an example of this (1 Samuel 17:34-35).

Proverbs 22:24-25 - "Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself."
Be very careful who you associate with. Did you know that no matter how hard you try, your body naturally correlates itself with those around you? Even the menstrual cycles of women will correspond if they spend enough time together. If you cannot control how your body reacts to your close company, what makes you think you can control the habits you will pick up from them, the quirks, the philosophies, the attitudes. The list is endless. Make sure your close friends and associates are those who are what you want to be, because you will become like those you spend the most time with whether you like it or not.

Apologetics

Today I am going to introduce apologetics. An apology is a defense (Greek "απολογία" or "speaking in defense"). Apologetics is the study or practice of making a defense for something. It can apply to anything. There are Muslim apologists, evolution apologists, Mormon apologists. Any position that can be defended can be apologized. The church was commanded by the apostle Peter to "always be ready to make a defense (απολογία) to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15). If you are like me, and most Christians/church-goers, I would imagine that this concept is not one you have given much thought to in the past. Make a defense? Either you believe or you don't believe. What is there to defend? The Holy Spirit has to do the work. If I get attacked, vengeance is the Lord's. Right? Wrong.

Paul tells us that "faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1, KJV, emphasis mine). Faith is NOT wishful thinking. It is a substantive conclusion based on strong evidence. Many in the church fall away quickly at the first hint of persecution or even upon having been made uncomfortable because they do not understand this concept. The core principles of Christian faith are absolutely based on hard empirical evidence, not on "blind faith", and not on just the words of some book either. The Bible is extremely helpful in coming to a working knowledge of God because it reveals who He is to us. But how do we know the Bible is true? What if you try to witness to someone and they simply say, "I don't believe your book." Does that shut you down? The good Christian apologist would get excited at that statement, not discouraged. Because now you get to lead them through the hard science that proves quite conclusively the existence of God, some aspects of what He is like, that the Bible's accounts are historically and empirically verifiable, even up to the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead, and that all of nature essentially points to God.

This sounds like pie in the sky if you grew up in Sunday school and were taught "Bible stories" and you believe because your parents believed and it's just the thing to do in your community. I would argue, however, that you do not know what the real Christian life is like if you come from this perspective. I'll admit that I am slowly learning. My world has been widened substantially in the past few years as I have learned much more about what Christians go through every single day in many other countries. I would suggest a book to you. Read it with an open mind, whether you are a believer, a seeker, or a skeptic. It is called Tortured For Christ by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand. You can even get a free copy mailed to you, absolutely no obligation. It is an autobiography of Pastor Wurmbrand, about when he, and many other Christians, were tortured (and many killed) in Romania at the hands of German Nazis (1941-1944) and then Soviet Communists (1944-1966). In 1966 he and his family were politically ransomed out of the country and allowed to come to the United States. Here he started an organization called Voice Of The Martyrs, an entity that raises funds and awareness around the world for persecuted and tortured Christians. This book is not for the weak-stomached. Apparently he wrote another one as well that is even more graphic than this one. He describes in disgusting detail exactly what happened to Christians and their families in these persecutions and in prison. I would encourage you to look into these very real stories of people in countries all around the world who are tortured for their faith every day. For a few more examples of Christian persecution worldwide, click here.

Why is this important? We were talking about apologetics. Yes. We were. And we still are. People are tortured and killed every day in the name of Jesus Christ. Why would they allow themselves to be treated in such a way? Why not just "renounce" their faith, as they are told would spare their lives? The answer is: because these people know that what they believe is the truth. The absolute truth. The no grey-areas truth. Their faith is rock solid because it is based on fact, not some 2000 year old fiction.

Hell (Part 1) - Introduction

In the marketplace of ideas in our culture today, the idea of hell is a hot topic. The word is used in so many contexts as to render it virtually meaningless. As an expletive, it is used incorrectly in the grammatical sense. As a threat, it is ambiguous and generally ineffective. It is hard to tell someone seriously to "go to hell" when you're not quite sure what you mean by it or if you even believe it exists. It is a term borrowed from an earlier day (mid 19th century) when hellfire and brimstone bellowed from the pulpits, and it was so effective for a short time that it caught the public eye, and more importantly, it showed up on the radar of detractors who ridiculed the idea. They ridiculed it so effectively that it is now a byword used only by religious wackos and by people who want to add some "umph" to their statement, and, of course, by comedians, comic strip writers, and is used comically by atheists who are debating religious wackos. Most others do not seem to consider it worth much thought.

As an aspect of the afterlife (its original context), it is misunderstood, miscommunicated, and sometimes thought of as foolish and old fashioned, dogmatic, and often as a fear mechanism used by some churches to control the behavior and finances of the weak minded. It has been touted like a club by the church in the past. It has been ridiculed like a court jester by many popular sources. Images of caves aflame and a mischievous goat-hoofed and horned red dude with a pointed tail and a pitchfork have been ingrained in our minds from youth by cartoons, comic strips and movies.

Proverb of the day - 4/7/2011

Today is April 7, 2011. Today's proverbs come from chapter 7.

This one, much like chapter 5, is a narrative. It was obviously written all at once. It is not broken up into little two-liners like many of the proverbs.

It starts with, like the beginning of chapter 5, the teacher imploring his sons to listen to him, to keep his words with them at all times. He commands them to memorize his teachings and have them physically around at all times, as well as in their hearts. He leaves no way out here. You have no excuse for folly or foolishness if you do these things. You will be constantly reminded of what is wise, what is right.

His story starts in earnest in verse 4. I really encourage you to read this one on your own. It's beautiful in style, in narrative, and in truth. I want to emphasize as well that the Bible uses the words adulteress, harlot, prostitute, etc. almost interchangeably. Also, it can have a much deeper symbolic meaning than just a woman who sleeps around. I'll do a post on that concept one day and link it here. The nation of Israel is referred to as a harlot tons of times in the Old Testament (and then possibly again in Revelation, if that's not speaking of the church itself). The Bible uses the prostitute idiom with Israel to make the connection between unfaithfulness in marriage and unfaithfulness to God, i.e. straying from the path, following "false gods" (not necessarily little wooden statues). Israel did these things, and was called a harlot several times by God through the prophets. In Exodus 34:10-27, which historically takes place right after Israel is freed from Egypt and has assembled in the desert at Mount Sinai, is one of the binding covenants that God makes with the nation Israel. In Ex 34:14-15 He clearly warns Israel not to follow other gods, and calls that act "playing the harlot". In short, don't take this chapter in Proverbs only to be about an adulterous woman. It is also about straying from wisdom to folly.

That said, the story begins with a man looking out his window over the city in the evening and spies a young man walking by the corner to an adulteress's house. The description of her in Prov. 7:10-12 is that she is dressed as a harlot, cunning (mischievous and street-smart) of heart, boisterous (a loud mouth), rebellious, and then it says, "her feet do not remain at home." This is not meant to say that women can never leave the house. Read Proverbs 31 to dispel that. It means she gets around. Vs. 12 says she "lurks at every corner". All this the man saw from his window. Then he saw her approach the young man, grab him and kiss him passionately and he overheard her say to him: Proverbs 7:14-20. She basically says, I'm ceremonially clean, I searched you out and found you, I have covered my bed in perfume, my husband is away for a month, come and let's have sex all night.

Proverbs 7:21
"With her many persuasions she entices him, with her flattering lips she seduces him."


It describes the young man following her to her house "as an ox goes to the slaughter", and other colorful idioms.

The story ends (the moral) with a stern warning to the teacher's sons not to let their hearts turn aside to her ways. This is another indication that what we're talking about here is not just a one-night stand with a prostitute. People did that kind of thing all over the Old Testament (not to minimize it at all, fornication and adultery are serious sins and were capital crimes in the laws of Israel). What he's teaching them through this parable is to not wander after worldly things that entice you into sin. More distressing than the prospect of STDs and baby-mama-drama and judgment by the elders at the gates is the prospect of these young men's hearts turning away from wisdom. The teacher is more concerned about their hearts going astray than he is about them sinning. There is a huge difference between sinning and falling into sin. One is an occurrence, the other a lifestyle. When your heart turns aside to sin, and you "stray into her paths", the result is Proverbs 7:26-27.

26-27
"For many are the victims she has cast down, and numerous are her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death."


Be encouraged though. Although Romans 3:23 says that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (specifically meaning that they fall short of the standards necessary to enter God's glory, which is heaven), John 3:16 states that if you believe in God's only Son, Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah of the Jews and the Gentiles, you "shall not perish, but have everlasting life." God made it possible for us to escape the consequences of our sin, if we will acknowledge that Jesus is the Lord of our lives, and turn away from the adulterous woman and walk straight on the path once again. The gospel is that simple.

Solomon in this proverb encourages his sons to not turn aside to wickedness. Unfortunately it is the human condition that all of us do turn aside to the enticing woman, sin. God provided a way out for us, so that no matter what we have done, we can walk away from it (repent) and enter into his glory all the same, through Jesus Christ. 

Proverb of the day - 4/5/2011

Today is April 5, 2011. Read Proverbs chapter 5, if you haven't already. Most chapters of the Proverbs are not as cohesive as this one. The entire chapter stems off of a single thought: being enticed by an adulteress (literally, "a strange woman" who is not your wife). The proverb starts out there, and then gives several sound reasons why you should not get involved with a "strange woman". I'll outline this one for you because it is all one thought.

  I.  Teacher implores students to listen to him - Proverbs 5:1-2, 7

II.  Description of an adulterous woman - Proverbs 5:3-6
       A. She's a smooth talker (Prov. 5:3)
       B. She's a fraud and a backstabber (Prov. 5:4)
       C. She's destined for Sheol (hell) (Prov. 5:5)
       D. She doesn't think. She has no idea what she's doing, no direction to her life (Prov. 5:6)

III.  Advice to stay away from an adulterous woman and always be satisfied with the wife of your youth -    Proverbs 5:8, 15, 18-19

IV.  Reasons to stay away from an adulterous woman - Proverbs 5:4-6, 9-11, 21-23
       A. She's a backstabber (Prov. 5:4)
       B. She's destined for Sheol (hell) (Prov. 5:5)
       C. She doesn't think. She has no idea what she's doing, no direction to her life (Prov. 5:6)
       D. The blessings that were meant for you will be given to others (this is a divine and natural judgment) (Prov. 5:9)
            1. Your power and sway will be given to strangers (Prov. 5:10)
            2. Your possessions will be given away to people you don't know or like (Prov. 5:10)
       E. Your flesh and body will be consumed and you will suffer (this sounds an awful lot like an STD, they are not new on the scene) (Prov. 5:11)
       F. You will regret it later (Prov. 5:12-14)
       G. God is watching everything you do and will judge you accordingly (Prov. 5:21-23)