Friday, November 30, 2012
Quotable?
The best thing about Missouri is that you never know when you are going to have a beautiful day. -- Mark Ford (November 30, 2012)
Monday, November 12, 2012
A Better Saying...
People, especially Christians, often say: "Everything happens for a reason." If you think about it, this statement is obvious and unhelpful. Of course everything happens for a reason. The letter "Q" just appeared on this page because I typed it. I just heard a sound because the wind is blowing outside. My neck hurts because I sit at the computer too much. Yes, everything happens for a reason. A more meaningful saying, and a biblical one, is this: "God is able to redeem everything that happens." See God doesn't cause everything that happens, but He somehow works everything into His ultimate plan. That is the absolute miracle of God's Sovereignty. If the above saying is too cerebral for you, here is another version: "God works everything out eventually." That's true, and it actually says something hopeful. Just a thought.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Leftovers From Sunday
[Sunday I
am preaching a sermon about evolutionism (sort of). The following thoughts were cut for the sake
of time.]
Think about
this… How many public school science teachers don’t believe in evolutionism
(the broader kind) themselves? In my
experience, many don’t. In fact, I’ve
known more science teachers who did not believe in it than I have known who
do. That’s the truth. But I thought all scientists supported
evolutionism? That’s what we’re told
isn’t it?
And beyond
that, how is it, that in this land of the free, science teachers are forced by
the state, that is, government, to teach evolutionism, while they are
explicitly forbidden to teach anything that hints at creationism or even
intelligent design?
Why is it
mandated that middle school and high school science teachers teach one “ism,”
evolutionism, as if it were fact… and that they shall not under any
circumstance advocate or even present as a possibility another “ism,”
creationism, which incidentally is still believed by the majority of
Americans?
If that
were not wrong enough, those teachers who do embrace evolutionism and reject
creationism are allowed and even encouraged to teach AGAINST creationism. Often, spinelessly, they simply show videos
crafted to carefully make creationists look foolish. I know this from personal experience. I have two older teens. I’ve seen it happen. I offered to rebut the video to no avail.
Let’s return
to the main fact that I wanted to point out.
Our science teachers are forced by our government to teach one belief
system over another, even regardless of what they, as scientists, may believe
themselves. How is this freedom of
religion? How is this academic freedom? It
is not freedom, rather it is the government mandated, forced indoctrination of
our children, and that of the godless kind you would expect from a communist
regime.
Who won the
cold war again?
And I can
hear the tired, worn out, historically ignorant mantra already... Separation
of Church and State… (repeat 3 times). It’s like the only five words some
people know, meanwhile they apparently have no understanding of what it
means. For now, I’ll simply say that
forcing science teachers to teach a theory about our origins which some of them
don’t even embrace… a theory that often leads to agnosticism and
atheism and has created an almost robotic generation of anti-religious, anti-church, secularly-biased young men and women… is a far cry from anything anyone ever had
in mind for "Separation of Church and State," which by the way is not even in the
Constitution.
So, what do
we do about all this? Ha, let me remind
you this is a blog… basically a place to vent… and it is already too long. Pray. Vote accordingly where you can. Speak up when you get a chance. At any rate, at least give it some thought. Ideas have consequences. Or, if you like, we could all start an organization. We could call it, "Citizens for Separation of Atheism and State." Who's with me?
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
The Stuff of Acts
My second trip to Nicaragua with Project H.O.P.E., the last
week of July, was the stuff of Acts. On Sunday morning, I preached a message to
our team (that I was afraid to preach) from Acts, chapter four. We learned that
the early church expected signs and wonders to accompany their mission. What
did we expect for our week of mission? The early church asked for boldness,
expected miracles, and got both. We decided to do the same, and God responded
beyond what most of us ever could have hoped. I’ve seen God work powerfully
before, including last year’s trip, but I’ve never seen God work like this. We saw the stuff of Acts. “And the Lord added to their number day by
day, those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). But numbers don’t really tell
the story.
One day, while I was working on blocks, a man named Jose
came up to say, “Hi.” I had baptized his sister last year. Jose remembered me
and I remembered him. I asked him if we could talk for a minute, and I grabbed that
all-important translator. I began to share the gospel with him, “cold turkey.” He
was hungry for it. Like so many others, he knew who Jesus was and what Jesus
did, but he had never trusted in Jesus as his Savior. I was privileged to help
Jose do that and then to help him see from Scripture that he needed to be
baptized as a public profession of his faith. He was literally jumping up and
down. This started a chain reaction of evangelism. Over the next two and a half
days, I was privileged to lead about 15 people to Christ through one-on-one conversation
(in between loads of cement). On Thursday I was blessed to baptize 13 of
those, but that isn’t even close to the whole story.
As “camp pastor” it was my privilege to sort of “set the
tone” each night during our worship time, and the tone became evangelism,
because that is what God was doing. We did a lot of praying and a little
training. Quickly others in our group were caught up in the fire of God’s
moving, and we were sharing Christ while we worked. Women’s ministry, VBS and
everything else we were doing was bearing great fruit. It was all real. In the
end, many of us were used by God to lead people to Jesus, and many of us
baptized folks. In fact, on Thursday, we baptized 37 Nicaraguans and one Gringo,
one of our own who had been so impressed by the work of God that he finally made
a decision he had never before been willing to make, trusting Jesus to save him.
Among the 37 Nicaraguans, two of them were our wonderful translators, who, after
some conversations, realized they needed to be baptized since they had recently
trusted in Christ. The move of God had gone viral. Soli Deo gloria!
Thirty-eight people were baptized after four days of
ministry. Wow. Pause for a moment and think about this. Many of these trusted
Christ for the first time this very week. Others, not included in this number,
were saved but will later be baptized through other groups. Some are planting,
some are watering, and God is bringing a harvest. We’re talking about men,
women and children who moved from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of
light this week. They were saved because of God’s love and the faithfulness of
His children to share Christ with the nations. They knew how to be saved,
because we told them (Romans 10:14).
Building houses for people in need is a wonderful thing to
do. Helping them acquire mansions in heaven is even better. God is working in
Mateare. I pray this is only the beginning of a spiritual awakening that will
sweep through Nicaragua. What a privilege to join in the clear working of God!
Monday, July 2, 2012
PFR
We prayed for rain. It's raining.
Are you kidding me? Yesterday afternoon I was talking to someone about how crazy dry it is and it dawned on me for the first time that I should pray about it. I prayed that it would rain.
This morning, I woke up and checked the weather. Same song, different verse. My iphone told me there was a 0% chance of rain today and pretty much for the week. Oh well, I thought.
Next, my son and I went for a bike ride on the Katy Trail. It was only 100 degrees. We were fine. It felt good to get out and work up a good sweat. On the way back we noticed a few clouds and I started singing songs about rain. Conner laughed. I sang "Let it Rain" and I meant it.
As we got back to the car I had a text from Kristy, my wife. "Praise the Lord" she wrote, "it's raining." I called her. She said there had been like a single dark cloud over our house and she prayed it would rain and it started raining for a bit but not that much. A little later it started pouring down like a monsoon, she said, and it has been raining off and on at our house now for about two hours. There is standing water in my garden. We have received several inches, I'd say. The rain has been very heavy at times.
We prayed for rain. It's raining.
Are you kidding me? Yesterday afternoon I was talking to someone about how crazy dry it is and it dawned on me for the first time that I should pray about it. I prayed that it would rain.
This morning, I woke up and checked the weather. Same song, different verse. My iphone told me there was a 0% chance of rain today and pretty much for the week. Oh well, I thought.
Next, my son and I went for a bike ride on the Katy Trail. It was only 100 degrees. We were fine. It felt good to get out and work up a good sweat. On the way back we noticed a few clouds and I started singing songs about rain. Conner laughed. I sang "Let it Rain" and I meant it.
As we got back to the car I had a text from Kristy, my wife. "Praise the Lord" she wrote, "it's raining." I called her. She said there had been like a single dark cloud over our house and she prayed it would rain and it started raining for a bit but not that much. A little later it started pouring down like a monsoon, she said, and it has been raining off and on at our house now for about two hours. There is standing water in my garden. We have received several inches, I'd say. The rain has been very heavy at times.
We prayed for rain. It's raining.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
A Moment With Grams
Grams is my Mom's mom. She is eighty-four. In her soul, she hasn't lost a step. She has always been very healthy and "spry" for her age. Sweet as sugar and sharp as a tack, she is an inspiration to all who know her, and especially to those of us who know the painful memories she carries. Her life has not been easy.
Some day I may write something more extensive about who she is and her experiences, but right now I just want to pass on one powerful moment. Monday I was in her hospital room where she was recovering from an exploratory procedure they had done earlier that day. What did they find? It was as they feared. They found a very serious form of cancer. Thankfully, it is treatable, but it will involve chemo and there are no guarantees.
What did Grams have to say about all this? Well, she said several saintly things, but the best moment was when she shared a Scripture that she had recently memorized for such an occasion. She said,
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
Psalm 27:13-14 (NKJV)
I'll never forget that moment. May God answer her prayer and may He give Grams the spiritual strength to stay true to Him even in the difficult days to come.
Some day I may write something more extensive about who she is and her experiences, but right now I just want to pass on one powerful moment. Monday I was in her hospital room where she was recovering from an exploratory procedure they had done earlier that day. What did they find? It was as they feared. They found a very serious form of cancer. Thankfully, it is treatable, but it will involve chemo and there are no guarantees.
What did Grams have to say about all this? Well, she said several saintly things, but the best moment was when she shared a Scripture that she had recently memorized for such an occasion. She said,
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
Psalm 27:13-14 (NKJV)
I'll never forget that moment. May God answer her prayer and may He give Grams the spiritual strength to stay true to Him even in the difficult days to come.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Praying For Mormons
Preface: I realize that this will be offensive to Mormons, especially those who don't know their own history or have been given false information. My audience here is mostly Christian, those who I am hoping to enlighten and inspire toward prayer and potentially toward engaging Mormon friends. Were I expressly writing to Mormons, I might have written differently. Mormons are typically wonderful people. Also, I am focusing on the history of the Mormon church rather than current beliefs. The reason for this is that in recent years the Mormon church has watered down, explained away and directly changed many teachings in order to make their doctrine more palatable. I will allude to some of these changes in the blog.
Primary source: "The Kingdom of the Cults" by Russell Martin (edited by Ravi Zacharias). Other sources also consulted.
My son, Conner has a friend named ________. She is a Mormon, a very sweet and moral girl (as they often are). He tried to share the gospel with her some time back. She said she had prayed to receive Christ as her Savior already. This statement would have never been made by a Mormon until recently. Usually they just say they are already a Christian, without getting into the details of what that means to them. I think the truth is that some Mormons today may even have saving faith, but it all depends which Jesus they believe in. But who is the saving Christ of Mormonism? Is He the Jesus of the Bible? Well, more and more it seems to depend upon which Mormon you talk to.
Officially, the Jesus of Mormonism is the literal offspring of God (well, the god of this universe anyway) and Mary. The Jesus of Mormonism is an entirely separate entity from God. He is literal offspring. Conversely, we believe Jesus was God and also was with God from the beginning per John 1, and many other verses which make clear that Jesus was both fully God and man at the same time. The Jesus of Mormonism, however, is a completely separate person, a god, but not THE God. This can be seen in the fact that Jesus supposedly appeared to Joseph Smith along with God the Father at the same time. This account is recorded in The Pearl of Great Price (Joseph Smith—History 1:1-25), which is one of the three canonical books of Mormonism (in addition to the Bible). Joseph Smith also claimed to have been visited by the likes of John the Baptist who was supposedly sent to him by Peter, James and John (The Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith—History, 1:68-73). Mormons like to question Christians about the Trinity, because the Trinity is impossible to explain in human terms. They face a more difficult conundrum, however, in the fact that they believe in multiple Gods, a clear contradiction of both New and Old Testament Scripture (In short, if Mormonism were my only other option, I would be a Jew and reject the New Testament. It's either the Trinity, or we are polytheists and idolaters).
The official doctrines of Mormonism have Jesus, not as THE God in the flesh, but more precisely as “a god” in the flesh, who was begat by another god (supposedly our God), who Himself, is actually one of many gods ruling over different planets. Additionally, God was not always a god, but became a god in the same way that we can become gods. Yes, according to the official doctrine of Mormonism, people can become gods and rule over planets in the afterlife by doing enough good works on earth.
At risk of writing a book rather than a blog, I will include just a couple of quotes from Mormon documents, which should speak for themselves:
1.) “In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 349).
2.) “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man” (Ibid., 345).
3.) “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s: the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit” (Doctrine and Covenants, 130:22).
4.) “Gods exist, and we had better strive to be prepared to be one with them” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 7:238).
I am finding quote after quote of this nature. It is difficult to choose examples, there are so many. Here is one more from Brigham Young, the second prophet (after Joseph Smith) who supposedly spoke for God. Young wrote:
"When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him.... He is our FATHER and our GOD, and the only God with whom WE have to do" (From Young’s Journal of Discourses).
Young also taught that God had previously been a man, before this universe, and that he somehow still had the physical presence to impregnate Mary with Jesus by the same means that any father would do so (sex), even saying He did so “instead of letting any other man do it” (Journal of Discourses, 4:218). Young writes,
"The birth of the Saviour was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood—was begotten of his Father, as we are of our fathers." (Journal of Discourses, 8:115)
The problem with all of this is that most Mormons reading these things will be appalled. They will scream that they don’t believe most of this, which is great to hear. I'm glad most Mormons don't currently believe most of this. I'm glad that in modern times, their leaders are culling out as much of this craziness as they can. I am aware that these teachings I have brought out do not line up with what Mormons say they believe on their primary website today. For instance, they now say they believe in the Virgin Birth. But how can they? Their prophets said otherwise. They now say they don’t really believe Jesus was the “spirit brother” of Lucifer (Satan) but their writings say this explicitly.
Mormons may have even been told this is all “drummed up,” to try to make their religion look bad, but it is not. These teachings are all right there in their own documents. These are the official teachings of their founding prophets and their founding documents. Quotation after quotation is filled with polytheistic craziness. At what point does a Mormon realize that the only parts of his faith that are correct are the parts that come from the Bible and that everything from Joseph Smith on is false teaching to be rejected? At what point does a Mormon realize he is not really a Mormon?
Another problem with Mormonism is their belief in “Continuous Revelation,” which means that they keep having new prophets who supposedly speak for God, and these prophets have historically said some really indefensible things. Mormon leaders do their best to sweep those “prophecies” under the rug, but that’s hard to do when they are recorded even in their own histories.
The question, then, for Conner’s friend is whether or not she has trusted in the Jesus of the Bible or the Jesus of Mormonism. If she does not believe Jesus was God in the flesh, can her faith save her? Conner prepared some materials (with the help of his youth pastor) and wrote a note about how he cares about her and that's why he is trying to give her the information. Today he tried to give it to her. She would not take it and said he needs to respect her religion. He, of course, backed down and their relationship is fine, but he and I are incredibly sad.
Conner has another Mormon friend named ________. Conner is trying to reach him also. This young man asks questions like "Why do you believe in a Trinity?" Conner is up to the challenge (with the Spirit's guidance, of course.) My daughter Tory also has Mormon friends and talks to them about these things. My Dad has a Mormon friend and my Mom's orthodontist is Mormon and they talk about spiritual things. We will likely have a Mormon president soon. Mormons are typically great people. That’s what makes this all so painful and hard to deal with. I don't hate Mormons, I love them more than your average Joe (sorry). However, I am increasingly burdened about the spread of this false religion wherein great people are deceived. I am literally in pain over it. It is so gut-wrenchingly painful to see people so close yet so far away. But it seems they have been taught not to listen. That’s why we need to pray.
[At this point, feel free to stop reading, or read on if interested.]
Let me start over. The Mormon religion was founded by a false prophet named Joseph Smith who was succeeded by a series of false prophets (such as Brigham Young). Unlike most Mormons today, Joseph Smith was far from moral. The stories he made up were so unbelievable, unverifiable, and in fact, utterly dis-proven that they weren't even taken seriously by anyone but a tiny few easily-fooled individuals who found an identity by following him around. Books were written in the later part of Smith’s life that were filled with statements from those who knew him... statements like this: “by reason of his extravagances of statement, his word was received with the least confidence by those who knew him best. He could utter the most palpable exaggeration of marvelous absurdity with the utmost apparent gravity” (Quoted from Pomeroy Tucker’s 1861 classic: The Origin, Rise and Progress of Mormonism).
The group was run out of town after town because of Smith’s deceptive practices, but as with Christianity, persecution only helped them grow. Finally, a mob killed Joseph Smith and his brother while they were being held in a small jailhouse near Navuoo, Illinois. Why were they in jail? Because they had sacked a newspaper office which was printing the truth about their cult. Sadly, Smith’s so-called martyrdom helped a tiny sect become a world religion.
Joseph Smith was a known adulterer in addition to his open practice of polygamy. According to many sources, the adultery came first (Martin, p. 203). In his home town of Palmyra, New York, 62 adults signed a petition stating that he and his father were more or less con artists, liars and thieves. These citizens were desperately trying to warn those who were being fooled by Smith’s newest fabrication. Many people exposed Mormonism early on, but like many cults, they just kept right on going without answering their critics. As for testimonials of how great early Mormonism was (under Smith), there quite simply are none in existence (Martin, p. 204).
As an example of his use of religion to con people and a willingness to fabricate the truth, J.S. apparently got the farmer who owned the land where he supposedly dug up the famous “golden plates" to donate to his cause, and sent the farmer to ask a certain linguistics scholar (Professor Charles Anton of Columbia University) to validate some symbols Smith had supposedly scribbled on to a paper from the plates. When the farmer was asked by the professor if he had actually seen the plates, the farmer said he was told "the curse of God" would come upon him were he to look at them. The professor found the "scrawlings" to be nonsense, certainly not reformed Egyptian hieroglyphs as Smith claimed. This is all clearly recorded in a letter written by the professor who also tried to warn the farmer that he was being conned. This letter is still extant and it is typed. That's how recent all of this is. (To read a copy of the letter, which is much more incriminating than I have even alluded to, see my primary source, p. 212.) But that's not the half of it. Joseph Smith wrote in The Pearl of Great Price (scripture to Mormons), that Professor Anton actually validated these symbols as authentic. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The well-known Professor Anton actually went on record saying it was all bits and pieces of different characters from different languages, clearly scrawled out by someone who "had before him at the time a book containing various alphabets" (Martin, p. 213). It seems that when the facts were not to his liking, Joseph Smith simply made stuff up. Several of his contemporaries powerfully testified to this fact.
The Book of Mormon was supposedly revealed to J.S. by an angel named Moroni, who he accidentally referred to as Nephi at one point, another one of his characters, and not even an angel. (The current Book of Mormon has, of course, corrected the error with no explanation of how Smith could have gotten divine revelation so wrong). The book was originally filled with errors (many of them since fixed) and is still filled with historically impossible falsehoods. For example, supposedly the Native Americans (who left behind the plates he dug up supposedly scrawled with “reformed” Egyptian hieroglyphics, which archaeologists incidentally have never discovered anywhere on the planet) were actually of Jewish descent. That’s right, according to Smith, the American Natives were actually Hebrews. His whole story rests on this, and also that a few different people groups (including the Jerudites of about 2250 B.C. and the Nephites of about 600 B.C.) existed at certain points in history on the North American continent. The problem is that these people groups have zero basis in historical or archaeological fact. [By the way a split off group of the Nephites, called the Lamanites, were supposedly cursed with “dark skin,” because of their sin. I am certainly not saying Mormons today are racists, but Joseph Smith certainly seems to have been (not a becoming characteristic for one who would supposedly speak revelations from God.)] Meanwhile, modern anthropology, genetics and historical evidence prove that Native Americans are undoubtedly of mongoloid descent, their progenitors having come over the Bering Straight from the Ancient Far East (not Israel, which, of course, is also obvious to the naked eye). Smith also believed that Native Americans originally spoke Hebrew. This is clearly not possible as philologists have proven. Unlike the Bible, The Book of Mormon simply does not stand up to any kind of scientific, historical or any other kind of scholarly criticism. Whole books have been written to show this.
The evidence against Mormonism and J.S. is so overwhelming that it boggles the mind that anyone could still be a Mormon. The evidence against the roots of Mormonism is simply incontrovertible, but Mormons are mostly taught not to look at the historical evidence or earlier teachings. Unlike Christianity, which has always been defend-able and, in fact, very well defended by brilliant scholars/apologists throughout history, there literally is no historical or even logical defense for the history of Mormonism, which incidentally has only been around for a century and a half. History clearly shows that J.S. made up a religion, and frankly he didn't even do a good job of it. Successive prophets mostly made it even worse, but because modern efforts to fit Mormonism into the mainstream have been somewhat successful, we now have millions of people following a religion that a known mid-nineteenth century con artist simply made up.
By the way, where are the golden plates, from which the heart of Smith's "scripture" was allegedly deciphered? Many wanted to see these plates in his lifetime and also the oversized golden spectacles that went with them and were necessary for reading the plates (those which Smith called the Urim and Thummim, mistakenly borrowing the terms from what were actually small marble-sized objects used by priests in the Old Testament.) The plates and the spectacles were kept "hidden" for a time and then Smith said he gave them back to the angel, Moroni (or was it Nephi?). Really? Yes, really. Only a few of the leaders who were in power were allowed to “see” these items and then after awhile, Smith gave them back to the angel. But I thought he dug them up? What, did the angel bury them back in the ground? The plates were simply never produced for the scrutiny of non-believers. Not ever. Meanwhile, we still have manuscript fragments of the New Testament dated to the First Century. We have papyrus fragments from almost 2,000 years ago and yet we can't come up with golden plates from the 1830's?
Let’s think about something even more foundational. What did Joseph Smith ever do that made him worthy of even a hearing, much less a following? Did he heal people and perform obvious miracles in front of thousands of witnesses? Did he fulfill any prophecies from the Old Testament, written down over thousands of years? Did he die on a Cross? Did he rise again? No, nothing. He founded one of the most obviously made-up religions that has ever been invented. He said there were unintelligible symbols written on golden plates which were interpreted for him by an angel, and then the angel took the plates back so nobody else can see them. One guy... and some disappearing plates. And who was this guy? Joe Smith from Palmyra, New York... known for making stuff up. (By the way, there is no disrespect in calling him Joe. That’s what he was always called until he started his religion.)
How does Mormonism still pass for truth today? Well, much of the history surrounding it as well as some of the theology has been modernized, watered down, or even changed completely. And yet for all the powerful efforts to massage it into the mainstream, the false nature of Mormonism is still obvious to those who look closely. Seriously, all you have to do is look closely, and look beyond what is being said today. Look back a little further. That’s all you have to do.
How can so many people still choose to follow Mormonism? Well, how can a billion people follow Islam (selfishly adapted from Judaism and blended with Arab paganism by a violent warlord named Muhammad in the 7th Century A.D.)? God made us religious creatures. People need religion as much as food. Even atheists have religion, they just don’t know it. (Atheists are typically deeply committed to reasoning themselves out of faith and inwardly they find their religious vacuum filled by faith in their unfaith.) Look around the world and throughout history. People are hungry for religion. The reason for false religion is this: When hungry enough, people will eat almost anything... and they'd just as soon eat something that looks good as something that really is good.
Today, even extremely intelligent people follow Mormonism. They do it by willingly wearing blinders, refusing to look at the historical facts of their own religion for fear they might find their life's foundation a lie. Do we do this ourselves as Christians? I don’t. I have looked at the historical facts of Christianity and find myself stronger in my faith. Besides, the facts of Mormonism are not hard to discover. The facts of Mormonism are not buried under thousands of years of history, potentially obscured by lost documents or the development of legend.... The incriminating facts of Mormonism are found in mounds of historical evidence from just before the Civil War. Baseball has been around for almost as long. As sure as Abraham Lincoln uttered the “Emancipation Proclamation,” Joseph Smith invented a false religion now followed by millions. I stand dumbfounded at the deceptive power of our spiritual enemy.
It all makes me profoundly sad. The antichrists have come and are coming (See 2 John 7). Good people are the casualties. True believers need to pray and point straight to the true Scriptures.
I pray that the Truth sets people free. I pray that God slices through the confusion in the minds and hearts of those who have been fooled. I pray for my precious kids as they try to speak the truth to friends they know and love and for what I will say the next time I am given the opportunity. I pray for all the precious people who Jesus died to save. I pray they don’t miss the real Jesus Christ because of a false one. I pray for Mormons. I pray many of them find the faith that saves (trusting in Christ) and that many of them realize all they need is the Bible.
Primary source: "The Kingdom of the Cults" by Russell Martin (edited by Ravi Zacharias). Other sources also consulted.
My son, Conner has a friend named ________. She is a Mormon, a very sweet and moral girl (as they often are). He tried to share the gospel with her some time back. She said she had prayed to receive Christ as her Savior already. This statement would have never been made by a Mormon until recently. Usually they just say they are already a Christian, without getting into the details of what that means to them. I think the truth is that some Mormons today may even have saving faith, but it all depends which Jesus they believe in. But who is the saving Christ of Mormonism? Is He the Jesus of the Bible? Well, more and more it seems to depend upon which Mormon you talk to.
Officially, the Jesus of Mormonism is the literal offspring of God (well, the god of this universe anyway) and Mary. The Jesus of Mormonism is an entirely separate entity from God. He is literal offspring. Conversely, we believe Jesus was God and also was with God from the beginning per John 1, and many other verses which make clear that Jesus was both fully God and man at the same time. The Jesus of Mormonism, however, is a completely separate person, a god, but not THE God. This can be seen in the fact that Jesus supposedly appeared to Joseph Smith along with God the Father at the same time. This account is recorded in The Pearl of Great Price (Joseph Smith—History 1:1-25), which is one of the three canonical books of Mormonism (in addition to the Bible). Joseph Smith also claimed to have been visited by the likes of John the Baptist who was supposedly sent to him by Peter, James and John (The Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith—History, 1:68-73). Mormons like to question Christians about the Trinity, because the Trinity is impossible to explain in human terms. They face a more difficult conundrum, however, in the fact that they believe in multiple Gods, a clear contradiction of both New and Old Testament Scripture (In short, if Mormonism were my only other option, I would be a Jew and reject the New Testament. It's either the Trinity, or we are polytheists and idolaters).
The official doctrines of Mormonism have Jesus, not as THE God in the flesh, but more precisely as “a god” in the flesh, who was begat by another god (supposedly our God), who Himself, is actually one of many gods ruling over different planets. Additionally, God was not always a god, but became a god in the same way that we can become gods. Yes, according to the official doctrine of Mormonism, people can become gods and rule over planets in the afterlife by doing enough good works on earth.
At risk of writing a book rather than a blog, I will include just a couple of quotes from Mormon documents, which should speak for themselves:
1.) “In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 349).
2.) “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man” (Ibid., 345).
3.) “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s: the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit” (Doctrine and Covenants, 130:22).
4.) “Gods exist, and we had better strive to be prepared to be one with them” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 7:238).
I am finding quote after quote of this nature. It is difficult to choose examples, there are so many. Here is one more from Brigham Young, the second prophet (after Joseph Smith) who supposedly spoke for God. Young wrote:
"When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him.... He is our FATHER and our GOD, and the only God with whom WE have to do" (From Young’s Journal of Discourses).
Young also taught that God had previously been a man, before this universe, and that he somehow still had the physical presence to impregnate Mary with Jesus by the same means that any father would do so (sex), even saying He did so “instead of letting any other man do it” (Journal of Discourses, 4:218). Young writes,
"The birth of the Saviour was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood—was begotten of his Father, as we are of our fathers." (Journal of Discourses, 8:115)
The problem with all of this is that most Mormons reading these things will be appalled. They will scream that they don’t believe most of this, which is great to hear. I'm glad most Mormons don't currently believe most of this. I'm glad that in modern times, their leaders are culling out as much of this craziness as they can. I am aware that these teachings I have brought out do not line up with what Mormons say they believe on their primary website today. For instance, they now say they believe in the Virgin Birth. But how can they? Their prophets said otherwise. They now say they don’t really believe Jesus was the “spirit brother” of Lucifer (Satan) but their writings say this explicitly.
Mormons may have even been told this is all “drummed up,” to try to make their religion look bad, but it is not. These teachings are all right there in their own documents. These are the official teachings of their founding prophets and their founding documents. Quotation after quotation is filled with polytheistic craziness. At what point does a Mormon realize that the only parts of his faith that are correct are the parts that come from the Bible and that everything from Joseph Smith on is false teaching to be rejected? At what point does a Mormon realize he is not really a Mormon?
Another problem with Mormonism is their belief in “Continuous Revelation,” which means that they keep having new prophets who supposedly speak for God, and these prophets have historically said some really indefensible things. Mormon leaders do their best to sweep those “prophecies” under the rug, but that’s hard to do when they are recorded even in their own histories.
The question, then, for Conner’s friend is whether or not she has trusted in the Jesus of the Bible or the Jesus of Mormonism. If she does not believe Jesus was God in the flesh, can her faith save her? Conner prepared some materials (with the help of his youth pastor) and wrote a note about how he cares about her and that's why he is trying to give her the information. Today he tried to give it to her. She would not take it and said he needs to respect her religion. He, of course, backed down and their relationship is fine, but he and I are incredibly sad.
Conner has another Mormon friend named ________. Conner is trying to reach him also. This young man asks questions like "Why do you believe in a Trinity?" Conner is up to the challenge (with the Spirit's guidance, of course.) My daughter Tory also has Mormon friends and talks to them about these things. My Dad has a Mormon friend and my Mom's orthodontist is Mormon and they talk about spiritual things. We will likely have a Mormon president soon. Mormons are typically great people. That’s what makes this all so painful and hard to deal with. I don't hate Mormons, I love them more than your average Joe (sorry). However, I am increasingly burdened about the spread of this false religion wherein great people are deceived. I am literally in pain over it. It is so gut-wrenchingly painful to see people so close yet so far away. But it seems they have been taught not to listen. That’s why we need to pray.
[At this point, feel free to stop reading, or read on if interested.]
Let me start over. The Mormon religion was founded by a false prophet named Joseph Smith who was succeeded by a series of false prophets (such as Brigham Young). Unlike most Mormons today, Joseph Smith was far from moral. The stories he made up were so unbelievable, unverifiable, and in fact, utterly dis-proven that they weren't even taken seriously by anyone but a tiny few easily-fooled individuals who found an identity by following him around. Books were written in the later part of Smith’s life that were filled with statements from those who knew him... statements like this: “by reason of his extravagances of statement, his word was received with the least confidence by those who knew him best. He could utter the most palpable exaggeration of marvelous absurdity with the utmost apparent gravity” (Quoted from Pomeroy Tucker’s 1861 classic: The Origin, Rise and Progress of Mormonism).
The group was run out of town after town because of Smith’s deceptive practices, but as with Christianity, persecution only helped them grow. Finally, a mob killed Joseph Smith and his brother while they were being held in a small jailhouse near Navuoo, Illinois. Why were they in jail? Because they had sacked a newspaper office which was printing the truth about their cult. Sadly, Smith’s so-called martyrdom helped a tiny sect become a world religion.
Joseph Smith was a known adulterer in addition to his open practice of polygamy. According to many sources, the adultery came first (Martin, p. 203). In his home town of Palmyra, New York, 62 adults signed a petition stating that he and his father were more or less con artists, liars and thieves. These citizens were desperately trying to warn those who were being fooled by Smith’s newest fabrication. Many people exposed Mormonism early on, but like many cults, they just kept right on going without answering their critics. As for testimonials of how great early Mormonism was (under Smith), there quite simply are none in existence (Martin, p. 204).
As an example of his use of religion to con people and a willingness to fabricate the truth, J.S. apparently got the farmer who owned the land where he supposedly dug up the famous “golden plates" to donate to his cause, and sent the farmer to ask a certain linguistics scholar (Professor Charles Anton of Columbia University) to validate some symbols Smith had supposedly scribbled on to a paper from the plates. When the farmer was asked by the professor if he had actually seen the plates, the farmer said he was told "the curse of God" would come upon him were he to look at them. The professor found the "scrawlings" to be nonsense, certainly not reformed Egyptian hieroglyphs as Smith claimed. This is all clearly recorded in a letter written by the professor who also tried to warn the farmer that he was being conned. This letter is still extant and it is typed. That's how recent all of this is. (To read a copy of the letter, which is much more incriminating than I have even alluded to, see my primary source, p. 212.) But that's not the half of it. Joseph Smith wrote in The Pearl of Great Price (scripture to Mormons), that Professor Anton actually validated these symbols as authentic. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The well-known Professor Anton actually went on record saying it was all bits and pieces of different characters from different languages, clearly scrawled out by someone who "had before him at the time a book containing various alphabets" (Martin, p. 213). It seems that when the facts were not to his liking, Joseph Smith simply made stuff up. Several of his contemporaries powerfully testified to this fact.
The Book of Mormon was supposedly revealed to J.S. by an angel named Moroni, who he accidentally referred to as Nephi at one point, another one of his characters, and not even an angel. (The current Book of Mormon has, of course, corrected the error with no explanation of how Smith could have gotten divine revelation so wrong). The book was originally filled with errors (many of them since fixed) and is still filled with historically impossible falsehoods. For example, supposedly the Native Americans (who left behind the plates he dug up supposedly scrawled with “reformed” Egyptian hieroglyphics, which archaeologists incidentally have never discovered anywhere on the planet) were actually of Jewish descent. That’s right, according to Smith, the American Natives were actually Hebrews. His whole story rests on this, and also that a few different people groups (including the Jerudites of about 2250 B.C. and the Nephites of about 600 B.C.) existed at certain points in history on the North American continent. The problem is that these people groups have zero basis in historical or archaeological fact. [By the way a split off group of the Nephites, called the Lamanites, were supposedly cursed with “dark skin,” because of their sin. I am certainly not saying Mormons today are racists, but Joseph Smith certainly seems to have been (not a becoming characteristic for one who would supposedly speak revelations from God.)] Meanwhile, modern anthropology, genetics and historical evidence prove that Native Americans are undoubtedly of mongoloid descent, their progenitors having come over the Bering Straight from the Ancient Far East (not Israel, which, of course, is also obvious to the naked eye). Smith also believed that Native Americans originally spoke Hebrew. This is clearly not possible as philologists have proven. Unlike the Bible, The Book of Mormon simply does not stand up to any kind of scientific, historical or any other kind of scholarly criticism. Whole books have been written to show this.
The evidence against Mormonism and J.S. is so overwhelming that it boggles the mind that anyone could still be a Mormon. The evidence against the roots of Mormonism is simply incontrovertible, but Mormons are mostly taught not to look at the historical evidence or earlier teachings. Unlike Christianity, which has always been defend-able and, in fact, very well defended by brilliant scholars/apologists throughout history, there literally is no historical or even logical defense for the history of Mormonism, which incidentally has only been around for a century and a half. History clearly shows that J.S. made up a religion, and frankly he didn't even do a good job of it. Successive prophets mostly made it even worse, but because modern efforts to fit Mormonism into the mainstream have been somewhat successful, we now have millions of people following a religion that a known mid-nineteenth century con artist simply made up.
By the way, where are the golden plates, from which the heart of Smith's "scripture" was allegedly deciphered? Many wanted to see these plates in his lifetime and also the oversized golden spectacles that went with them and were necessary for reading the plates (those which Smith called the Urim and Thummim, mistakenly borrowing the terms from what were actually small marble-sized objects used by priests in the Old Testament.) The plates and the spectacles were kept "hidden" for a time and then Smith said he gave them back to the angel, Moroni (or was it Nephi?). Really? Yes, really. Only a few of the leaders who were in power were allowed to “see” these items and then after awhile, Smith gave them back to the angel. But I thought he dug them up? What, did the angel bury them back in the ground? The plates were simply never produced for the scrutiny of non-believers. Not ever. Meanwhile, we still have manuscript fragments of the New Testament dated to the First Century. We have papyrus fragments from almost 2,000 years ago and yet we can't come up with golden plates from the 1830's?
Let’s think about something even more foundational. What did Joseph Smith ever do that made him worthy of even a hearing, much less a following? Did he heal people and perform obvious miracles in front of thousands of witnesses? Did he fulfill any prophecies from the Old Testament, written down over thousands of years? Did he die on a Cross? Did he rise again? No, nothing. He founded one of the most obviously made-up religions that has ever been invented. He said there were unintelligible symbols written on golden plates which were interpreted for him by an angel, and then the angel took the plates back so nobody else can see them. One guy... and some disappearing plates. And who was this guy? Joe Smith from Palmyra, New York... known for making stuff up. (By the way, there is no disrespect in calling him Joe. That’s what he was always called until he started his religion.)
How does Mormonism still pass for truth today? Well, much of the history surrounding it as well as some of the theology has been modernized, watered down, or even changed completely. And yet for all the powerful efforts to massage it into the mainstream, the false nature of Mormonism is still obvious to those who look closely. Seriously, all you have to do is look closely, and look beyond what is being said today. Look back a little further. That’s all you have to do.
How can so many people still choose to follow Mormonism? Well, how can a billion people follow Islam (selfishly adapted from Judaism and blended with Arab paganism by a violent warlord named Muhammad in the 7th Century A.D.)? God made us religious creatures. People need religion as much as food. Even atheists have religion, they just don’t know it. (Atheists are typically deeply committed to reasoning themselves out of faith and inwardly they find their religious vacuum filled by faith in their unfaith.) Look around the world and throughout history. People are hungry for religion. The reason for false religion is this: When hungry enough, people will eat almost anything... and they'd just as soon eat something that looks good as something that really is good.
Today, even extremely intelligent people follow Mormonism. They do it by willingly wearing blinders, refusing to look at the historical facts of their own religion for fear they might find their life's foundation a lie. Do we do this ourselves as Christians? I don’t. I have looked at the historical facts of Christianity and find myself stronger in my faith. Besides, the facts of Mormonism are not hard to discover. The facts of Mormonism are not buried under thousands of years of history, potentially obscured by lost documents or the development of legend.... The incriminating facts of Mormonism are found in mounds of historical evidence from just before the Civil War. Baseball has been around for almost as long. As sure as Abraham Lincoln uttered the “Emancipation Proclamation,” Joseph Smith invented a false religion now followed by millions. I stand dumbfounded at the deceptive power of our spiritual enemy.
It all makes me profoundly sad. The antichrists have come and are coming (See 2 John 7). Good people are the casualties. True believers need to pray and point straight to the true Scriptures.
I pray that the Truth sets people free. I pray that God slices through the confusion in the minds and hearts of those who have been fooled. I pray for my precious kids as they try to speak the truth to friends they know and love and for what I will say the next time I am given the opportunity. I pray for all the precious people who Jesus died to save. I pray they don’t miss the real Jesus Christ because of a false one. I pray for Mormons. I pray many of them find the faith that saves (trusting in Christ) and that many of them realize all they need is the Bible.
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