# 202: Luke 17:5. “Increase Our Faith!”

Regardless of how close or dedicated anyone is to Jesus Christ, there is room to get closer. I believe the primary way is to disrupt one of Satan’s best-held secrets. He somehow gets a few of God’s people involved in seemingly important and legitimate activities; not sinful stuff, but decent and noteworthy undertakings. These projects or even menial ventures may be rewarding or just plain humdrum, but still necessary. They may even appear to be the works of God. As it is, the more Godly they appear, while still fulfilling some type of personal gratification, the more difficult they will be to identify. One thing they all have in common is that they take our mind off of the wonderful attributes of God, which He desires us to meditate on continually, if that were possible.

One of the devil’s favorite nicknames is a pseudonym he attempts to keep secret: “The great distracter.” Most people think of him as a doer of blatant evil acts. And that he does. But he gets more favorable action when he tricks disciples of Christ by distracting them from thinking/believing how fortunate they are to be aligned with God through Christ (the greatest PRIVILEGE in the world). In other words, the main thing he desires is to keep our minds off the wonders of Christ and put them on lovely worldly things. When he accomplishes that, he has his foot in one’s door, as it were.

There is one big problem. To identify and then remove those distractions is easier said than done. After many years of putting much emphasis on bettering our physical lives in every way possible, to break from that type of lifestyle sounds like shooting oneself in the foot. The thinking goes something like this: I am a Christian; I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior; I do no one any harm; I lead a decent life because I am a Christian. All of that is well and good, but Christianity is much more than that. It is a CLOSE relationship with Jesus Christ, because we have a reciprocating love affair with His Father.

Lovers cherish spending time with each other. Therefore, let us make a written list of all the possible activities, be what they may, that have little or nothing to do with filling our lives with thoughts of Jesus Christ; that list should include sleeping, eating, working on the job, etc., some of which are activities we can’t eliminate completely. I am certain that list will be extremely long, but take it slow; we should implement the easier ones first, not to think we are denying ourselves; actually, we will be enriching our lives in Christ as long we are replacing those time slots with Godly doings.

Here is another thought: Buy a set of New Testament CDs and listen to them over and over again when doing chores which don’t need concentration, like driving, gardening, walking, cooking, cleaning house, bathing/showering, etc. You will be surprised how many truths there are in them you never heard before. I personally do that, continually going through the New Testament. Depending on how many hours per day one listens to the CDs, most can listen to the complete New Testament in a week or two. When I have a chance, I follow along with the printed Bible. The potential effects could be astounding. Example: A rock music composer in the late 1960s made this dogmatic statement: “Let me control a person’s music and I will control her/his life.” I believe the same is true of listening to God’s Word. Our lives WILL change (increase our faith) in Godly ways according to what we listen to the most.

Those who continually do that will have the complete New Testament, just about memorized in a year or two, even though that is not the goal. I am sure there will be many verses you won’t understand, some that can’t be understood, some contradictions and mistakes, boring sections, along with portions that are just events of that time, which have little or nothing to do with us. When you come across a section that sounds important, highlight it and try to remember where it is by writing it down on a flash card or elsewhere; keep notes on how you are being affected by this continual bombardment of Scripture. Worthy of repeating: You will be surprised how that grows on a person who desires to increase their faith in our blessed Lord. I guarantee you will be blessed beyond ways you never dreamed of. When it comes to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, it is mostly symbolic except for the first three chapters. It is frightening. In short, it tells of the wrath of an irate God against a planet in rebellion. I suggest reading it a time to two just to know what it is about; otherwise, don’t dwell on it.

Faith in God is not stagnant; it is likened to a hybrid fruit tree, every year bearing its delicious fruit in season. If that tree stopped growing or bearing fruit, it is either dormant or dead. If it cannot be revived, it then will be cut down and used as firewood. Yesterday’s faith is of little value today except for, hopefully, great spiritual memories. We cannot rest on yesterday’s laurels. We need a fresh supply of faith in God each and every day. That continually-growing faith is what gives us the desire and strength to live in a way that pleases God. Faith, like our muscles, gets stronger as it is exercised. The harder the exercise, the stronger the muscles or faith grow. When faith and muscles—or even our brains—are not continually used, they slowly and insidiously atrophy. When we realize what happened, we may end up in a wheelchair, stricken with Alzheimer’s, or in the “loving” arms of Satan; then it may be too late to do anything about it.

The more we do something or nothing, either good or bad, the easier and more normal/natural it becomes. We want to make sure our devotion to Christ does not become a burden; love destroys that burden, and then what will be the result of that sincere dedication? Our indefatigable love for God and mankind: like the song goes, “He’s not heavy, he’s my brother.” Faith in God, which is not motivated by divine love, is the kind of faith in word only. Let us make sure we don’t end up with worthless faith. Faith is the best friend and necessary companion of love, God’s love. If separated, they become impotent.

Getting back to distractions, as hard as it may be to forsake these distractions we’ve had for years, it may not be too late. If need be, let this thought motivate you to give you a jump-start: The MOST valuable entity in existence, bar none, is the one who started it all, and He is here for a very specific reason: to give of Himself to you and me. Though God is intangible, there is voluminous evidence in the Holy Bible of His existence via His beloved Son Jesus Christ.

An important note: Faith cannot grow on its own. It needs to be continually and lovingly coaxed. And I can personally guarantee that no one will ever have the right amount of—or too much—faith; in fact, one will feel deficient. To put it another way, a person will always feel poor in Spirit. The richer one becomes in faith, the poorer he/she will feel. The reason: As our faith grows, we will see the purity of Jesus more and more clearly (as He really is) and continually see ourselves as we really are. That form of vision will give us a truly humble awareness of the privilege of being chosen to do the works of God. WOW.

There is a condition in this world at this time which gives faith a run for its money, which is something we all enjoy: electricity, which was first seriously experimented with in 1840 by British chemist Sir Humphry Davy. Those experiments and many others paved the way for the modern living we now enjoy. Our modern culture makes spiritual values less desirable and needed. How so? The better our lives, the less necessary God and company becomes, which is to say our easy modern life makes God not as pertinent as if we were in dire straits.

The start of our modern culture has made life easy, and at the same time produced many conditions that distract us from our need for faith and spiritual security. So what can we do to eliminate or reduce these distractions brought on mostly by electricity? Who really would want to eliminate some of the devices we’ve enjoyed since we can remember? Not many. One would think that since electricity made life easier, it would reduce the distractions of having to do without electricity. Not so. Life, since electricity came on the scene, has produced many forms of entertainment such as motion pictures, radio, television, and so forth. For the first time in history, entertainment has become a major part of our lives. Entertainment may be our biggest distraction. And who doesn’t like to be entertained?

Above and beyond electronic entertainment, the associated activities springing from electricity have produced many more distractions. Of course, we wouldn’t call them distractions; instead, we call them time- saving conveniences, etc. We think, how did anyone ever do without them before? There is a countless number, but let me give just one: Enjoying all these making-life-easy gadgets has made it easier for us to desire more and bigger of many things, which all cost money. With the availability of these commodities, now the family needs more money to pay for all these nice things. So now mom also has to go to work to help pay the bills. Things of that sort have made our lives so cluttered that many times we don’t have time for the bare essentials. That is one reason restaurants have been booming for the last sixty years. Mom/Dad doesn’t have time to cook a meal from scratch every night after coming home from a hard day’s work.

The ramification of our modern culture—because of all the niceties electricity has given us—no doubt has increased our distractions from Godly matters 100-fold compared to 160 years ago. In fact, with all the essential physical benefits humankind has received from electricity, still it just could be that the devil was behind it or just took advantage of the situation by enticing us, saying, “Now you can just take it easy and enjoy life; you only live once." And we believe him.

The gist of removing as many distractions as possible is so we can make more time, which is of the essence, for activities that have to do with God, so that He becomes as vivid to us as the physical world. As that starts to take shape, our faith will reach new heights. Let the truth be told; time is needed to increase our faith, whether it is through family prayer and study, Bible-reading or listening, family discussions, helping those in need, propagating the Word wherever God leads, etc. There are no free rides when it comes to increasing our faith. Even though it may take blood, sweat and tears, the end result will be real life.

Some may believe their faith is sufficient as is. And it may be. They say, “We have eternal life; what more can we do to receive anything better than that?” That is not the point. When a person is truly enjoying the life of Jesus Christ here on earth, which is eternal, they can’t help but desire all peoples to share in the wonders of their Godly life. That is the true motive for all evangelism and Godly living. Of course, if a person is not experiencing this divine life, then there is good reason to keep one’s religion to oneself. There is no need for a change. Their “faith” is sufficient.

In ending, just remember this: Satan, the father of all lies, knows his business. There are no rules he can’t and doesn’t entice us to break. He knows every trick in the book, since He wrote it—not the Bible—and he knows that desirable distractions—though we don’t call them by that name one of the best ways to keep his people, and even a few of God’s people, away from becoming aware of a continual need for God’s faith-based Salvation.

# 201: The Mormons and Mitt Romney

Of the 313 posts so far published in this blog, this subject of Mormonism will be the most difficult to express regarding how the New Testament views a religion, of which one side is upright, has family values, is dedicated and decent in most of its actions, and at the same time, its beliefs are not even close to what Biblical Christianity really consists of.

I personally studied with the Mormons for sometime in the late 1970s. Even with my limited knowledge of Scripture at that time, not for one minute did I believe what they were teaching. I just was inquisitive, although I never gave them a hint how I felt about their beliefs. They thought I was another potential prized candidate for becoming like one of them. When I didn’t need any more evidence of their naive religion, I said good-bye. Much of what I learned is still in my memory to this day.

Actually, in 1830 a majority of their fundamental beliefs, set in place by their founder, Joseph Smith, a deranged 15 year old boy who desperately needed attention, concoted an unbelievable fairy tale that only a simpleton could believe. This makes me feel ashamed of being a member of the human race, let alone a disciple of Jesus Christ. One doesn’t have to wonder why many atheists believe as they do about Christians once they learn the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). And I can understand why atheists wouldn’t want anything spiritually to do with Christians, thus believing all Christianity is a farce. In plain English, Mormons give Christianity a stupid (dirty) name. The reason I say that is, how can anyone believe and take part in such a grandiose con game (to trick or to fool) which Joseph Smith taught as God’s holy truth to all who become Mormons? It most likely was that accurate knowledge of the New Testament was limited at that time. There was a time I believed there was a limit as to what even halfway intelligent humans in their right mind were capable of believing as fact. I guess the Mormons made me out to be a liar.

Here is how Joseph Smith started it all: In 1830, he presented himself as a prophet whom Jesus Christ instructed to restore his true church. An angel named Maroni, the son of a 4th-century prophet named Mormon, provided him with some gold tablets which were buried under a certain tree (no where in the complete Bible does it mention anything about angels having children). The writing on the tablets was written in Egyptian hieroglyphics—no one but Smith has ever seen these plates. He translated the writing by means of transparent stones he used as glasses–it’s too bad that with all our modern technology we can’t decipher what those transparent stones consisted of. Ha-ha. The tablets tell of how Jesus came to America after his resurrection and taught him during his visit, via the gold tablets, along with a supposedly ancient civilization of Israelites sent to America by God.

When he finished translating the gold plates into English, he called those writings “The Book of Mormon.” That book is considered to be the Word of God by all Mormons and equal in authority to the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and an indispensable supplement to them. Then he tells how he was commanded to revise parts of the Bible, which were corrupted by early translators, as he was directed according to God’s revelation. In 1844, Smith ran for President of the United States of America; at that time, Smith and some of his leaders were murdered by an angry mob. They must have realized this religion was a joke.

One of the most obvious signs that Smith’s religion was a demonically inspired fairytale and not from God was that he said he received this revelation from God: Mormon men could have multiple wives (polygamy). The main reason he most likely made up this rule was because he must have been a horny pervert and needed more than one wife. Also, this new law would be a plus (frosting on the cake), as it were, for all his male followers. Then they wouldn’t think of going to another church which didn’t offer this sensual nicety. hh! Another question: What was in it for the wives who had to share their husband with other women? Leave a comment. After several years, Congress enforced a law forcing them to abandon that practice. I truly wonder which wives the husbands kicked out and which one they kept. Evidently, there are still a few Mormons who are secretly and illegally engaging in polygamy. This question begs asking: If polygamy wasn’t banned, would Mormons still engage in multiple marriages? Scripture commands the following: 1st Timothy 3:2. “Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife . . .” Titus 1:6. “An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife . . .” These verses strongly imply that all disciples were to have only one wife. Remember, the church leaders were/are examples for all the laity. And what was/is God’s reason men were/are to have only one wife? This question does not need answering.

Another ritual that is totally unbiblical is what they call the baptism of the dead. What they have been doing for who knows how long is getting names of dead people who did not believe in Jesus Christ or belonged to a rival church of their choosing, and then a living Mormon is baptized in water for that person. Thus that dead person will then be eligible for heaven. This belief is just one of many unscriptural practices beleive is from God. They have a special building in Salt Lake City that records all who have thus far been baptized, which also is used for performing the baptism of the dead. They have performed this ritual for millions of dead people. Many Jewish victims were also baptized until one Holocaust survivor insisted that the names of all those dead Jews be un-baptized (taken out of their “baptism of the dead” roster).

Besides being instructed by God—as he claims—to do this baptizing, Smith used one verse in the New Testament, which he took completely out of context, to further bolster that belief. Here is the verse: 1st Corinthians 15:29. “Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?” [Now listen to what Paul is referring to concerning the above]. Verses 30-32. “And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves ever hour? I die every day–I mean that, brothers–just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus [Paul uses a hyperbole meaning unbelievers] for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the [spiritually] dead are not raised . . .”

The baptism Paul is talking about in 1st Corinthians 15:29 is the baptism which Joseph Smith took completely out of context. This paragraph will, without a doubt, display Smith’s error. As is obvious, the baptism and potential death Paul is referring to is the suffering and death many early disciples of Christ went through, or will be going through, as Paul went through and is still going through at that time, and all for the sake of those who are dead spiritually so that they hopefully will believe in Christ and have eternal life. Here are several verses to corroborate that form of baptism: Luke 12:50. (Jesus speaking): “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed.” (His Crucifixion). Mark 10:38. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? Jesus said to them, ‘You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with . . .’” [meaning the disciples suffering and eventually dying at the hands of the Jews, etc.]. Just one more: Luke 9:59-60. “He [Jesus] said to another man, ‘Follow me.’ But the man replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the [spiritually] dead bury their own dead . . .’”

In Scripture, there are several other different types of baptism; they all use the same word: “baptism.” John’s baptism was a water baptism for repentance of sins. Now if that baptism, before Christ came on the scene, was sufficient to give life, I can’t give anyone an unequivocal answer; the New Testament doesn’t tell. Then the baptism that Jesus’ disciples performed, before and after Jesus death, gave life, or at least seemed to give life. At those baptisms, did a person receive the Holy Spirit? Again, I can’t say. Here is the reason why: This is what it says in Acts 19:3-6: “So Paul asked, ‘Then what baptism did you receive?’ ‘John’s baptism,’ they replied. Paul said, ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.” Now here is the question: Did they receive an unmentioned water baptism at that same time??? The next verse says this: “When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” Therefore, as displayed in Scripture, I believe baptism is a disputable subject. Another reason I say that is if a person in prison accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior but had no way of properly being baptized in water, is he/she saved at that time? If anyone has a good answer to the above unanswered questions according to Scripture, leave your answer in the comment section.

Now concerning celestial marriages . . . The Mormons were taught that their earthly marriages will continue in eternity. To refute that belief, listen to what the Scripture says: Matthew 22: 27-30. “Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven [she was married to seven brothers, all of whom died], since all of them were married to her? . . . At the resurrection people will not marry nor be given in marriage; THEY WILL BE LIKE THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN.” [emphasis added]. There is no mention of any holy angels anywhere in Scripture of God’s angels being married—Check Genesis Chapter 6, the first 6 verses. Some believe these “sons of God” and the Nephilim were evil angels who married beautiful daughters of men. Here is another truth: In heaven, we will all, male and female, be the bride of Jesus Christ, figuratively speaking. That settles that phony-baloney teaching.

An atrocity that is seldom mentioned is the massacre that was ordered for a violation of some type of Mormon decree. A hundred and some—I forgot the exact number—were ordered to kill—each killing one person—of the hundred and some violators. That event, most likely, was the most serious infraction of all Smith’s god-inspired garbage. Luke 6:27. “But I tell you who hear me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Those types of “love your enemy” verses, and there are many, were ignored by Joseph Smith and guess who else? George W. Bush.

Here is the most sacrilegious event of all: Since Smith claims to have seen God the Father and Jesus in physical form, when receiving his revelations, Mormons to this day still believe that God the Father and Jesus Christ have physical bodies. Check 1st John 4:12. “No one has ever seen God . . .” Also, John 4:24. “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.”

They have another screwy concept, which few outside their church are aware of: “Church organization is based on two priestly orders: the Melchizedek or high priesthood, which is concerned with spiritual and doctrinal matters, and includes apostles, patriarchs, high priests, seventies, and elders, in addition to the presidency; and the Aaronic, or lower priesthood, dealing with temporal and external affairs, and including bishops, priests, teachers, and deacons.” Now, this is what the Bible said about Melchizedek: Hebrews 5:5. “But God said to him, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’ And he says in another place, ‘You [Jesus] are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.’” The author of Hebrews is quoting Psalms 110:4, referring to Genesis 14:18, to Melchizedek as priest of God most high. This same theme is presented also in Hebrews Chapter 7.

The point the book of Hebrews is making is that Christ is our High Priest forever, thus doing away with the Levitical priesthood, the descendants of Aaron. Also in 1st Peter 2:9: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God . . .” What the New Testament is saying is that Christ would be a priest forever, and that the Levitical priesthood (Aaron’s descendants) has been abolished by the coming and death of Christ. Simple as A.B.C. How and why the Mormons incorporated those two names (Melchizedek and Aaron), and all the other gobbledygook as names of their hierarchy, I don’t have the slightest idea, other than to confuse the laity, or as a means of pressing a heavy hand on all the naiveté.

Along with the aforementioned, they have many more beliefs which do not coincide with our New Testament, all which would make any Bible-believing disciple come to the conclusion that all Mormons, who would rather be called members of “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” are under the powerful delusion of the most abominable “christian” hoax in the last 200 years.

In the remainder of this post, I will be speaking as a Christian reporter, just telling it as a non-Christian. The only reason I am writing on this subject at this time is because Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts and a leader in the Mormon Church, is running for President on the Republican ticket. I watched him being interviewed by Mike Wallace on “60 Minutes.” This guy is intelligent and extremely razor-sharp. He seems to have a readymade answer for every possible question. I would rank Romney with Condoleezza Rice and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran. They are the slickest debaters I am aware of. You just can’t out-talk them; they always will win. I would give my right arm to see the three of them discuss a controversial topic. Don’t hold your breath; it will never happen.

Of all the ten candidates running for the Republican nomination at this time, in their last debate, he was the most polished and urbane of all the other nine. He has a perfect five-star record in all he has touched. He was/is a dazzling business man and is now worth over half a billion dollars. If he became President, I wonder how much he would have when leaving office. He has a picture-perfect family. Never divorced. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I would say he must be an angel in human form, sent down from heaven. He even looks presidential and could be the “poster child” for all Christians. He was able to raise $ 21 million for his early primary, more than all the other nine Republican candidates.

Here is the scary part: With his many smarts and all the accomplishments and accolades he receives, if his job as President came into conflict with his hard-core, idiotic religion, he could do more damage to this country than Bush, if that were possible. How could a man be an intellectual and still believe in Joseph Smith’s fairytale religion? I am baffled. This man is a leader of the most demonic and dangerous religion in America. He is dangerous because he has a perfect cover-up, the markings (epitome) of all that Christians should be, but is in reality the devil in disguise as an angel of light. I always knew Satan the devil was brilliant, actually more brilliant than any human; we who know the Lord aren’t often fooled, but I never imagined that deceiver could concoct something this sophisticated, to get a person like Romney and the remainder of his kind, to do his work in an upright and decent way.

Some political analysts compare Romney with John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was a Catholic, and many wondered if his faith would interfere with his ability to function in an unbiased manner (separation of church and state). There is a gigantic difference between Kennedy’s attachment to Roman Catholicism’s dictations and Romney’s devotion to Mormon edicts. The Catholic religion doesn’t make it a practice of ex-communicating disobedient members, but that is not true of Salt Lake City, the devil's headquarters. If Romney was to disobey the Mormon president, consisting of two counselors and the twelve apostles, he would cease being a Mormon. No ifs, ands, or buts. Just remember this: All Mormons with their blind faith are spiritual wackos. One just doesn’t know what to expect from people who give their single-minded allegiance to one continual, 200-year old, mythical, story-book fairytale.

Here is something else I forgot to mention: Not only is the Mormon Church the richest church in America, but the vast majority of its members are also extremely wealthy. Anyone who is familiar with this blog knows how I continually and Biblically expose the harm wealth does to anyone who claims to be a Christian. In America and possibly the world, wealth in the hands of those who believe they are Christian, is by all means the most formidable enemy of God and His Christ. The reason I say that is because wealth—and the desire for it—is the most powerful and loved impersonator of God. Even though God is truly Almighty and it doesn’t seem that way at this time, in this world the almighty dollar is supreme; what the ($$) says always happens.

Therefore, with Romney’s intellect and our country’s money at his disposal, what harm can’t he do to this country? Let us not forget, George Bush caused our country harm by his stupidity. Just imagine how much harm an intelligent person can do—even smarter than Cheney—whose real goal as President would be to propagate the Mormon religion? After all, he can be President for no more than eight years, but will be a Mormon the rest of his life. In other words, it only stands to reason that he desires his legacy not so much to display what good he achieved for the U.S., but what he accomplished for Joseph Smith and company. If he was to deny that accusation, he is a poor example of what Mormons are inculcated to believe.

The one aspect which is of primary importance to all Mormons, including Romney, is to actively propagate their version of Christianity worldwide. This is how they do it: A vast majority of their 10% tithe goes to support their outreach: Young Mormon men, even some “TEENAGE ELDERS”–that sounds like an oxymoron--—are sent throughout the world for two years, going door-to-door, and when they find those who are interested, they teach them the basics of Mormonism and put another notch on their Book of Mormon.

They have other great things going for them that are noteworthy; they have a wonderful welfare program, not only for needy Mormons, but also to help gentiles—as we are called who are not one of them—mostly helping wherever disasters occur. The other virtue is what they call “Words of Wisdom.” They vow not to smoke or drink any alcoholic beverages, coffee, tea or other stimulating drinks. This is a great example for all who call themselves Christians.

There is at least one negative with all the tithe they collect and good works they do. The more they collect, the more they can expand and the more they will be able to multiply Joseph Smith’s religion. It is impossible to get a satanically inspired system of worship, which was originally based on deceit and lies, and somehow convert it into the holy works of God. Worthy of repeating: Mormons believe the Book of Mormon, which Smith concocted, to be the word of God, and is equal in its authority as our Christian Bible, Smith’s revision, so far as it is translated correctly. Sure! No matter how much the Mormon religion is polished and made to look like the wonderful works of God, it is a slippery, well-dressed downhill slide into the dregs of eternity. To put it more plainly, one can get a well-mannered pig, give her a bath, and put lipstick on her to make her look dignified; nevertheless, after all is said and done, she will still be a pig.

Therefore, while Romney is campaigning for the Republican ticket, keep in mind where his allegiance stands, though I truly believe he and all other Mormons honestly believe they are doing God’s work. The heart break is, it would be next to impossible to convince them otherwise. What can we do to show them the right way? I have no idea. Words and this post will do nothing. I believe they are a hopeless cause in an incorrigible situation. That is a horrible thing for any reporter to say. I hope, for their sake, that I am wrong. Repeating, I believe they want to do the things that please Christ, but somehow got entangled with a force with superhuman intelligence and much more powerful than themselves: Satan, masquerading as an angel of light. Check 2nd Corinthians 11:14. Regardless, just don’t let them drag you down to become like one of them, and don’t forget, thumbs down concerning Romney.

Finally, who can do more damage to this country: Bush, who says he is a Christian but doesn’t live like a Christian, or Romney, who doesn’t believe like a Christian but many of his ways resemble that of Christians? Only time will tell.

P. S.:

This post would be an excellent message to share with a friend or two of voting age. Spread the Word. jc

# 200: Science Removes Doubt

Science is thought to be the enemy of God, and in some ways it may be. And yet, the laws of physics confirm the most essential and persistent question that never seems to go away. Is there really a God, or is He a fabrication of the human mind? I am certain all those who believe there is a God, at times may think, “I sure hope there is a God, since I am placing all my marbles in His basket, and if there is a God, is Jesus Christ His Son?" Therefore, through FAITH alone we believe there is a God. Still, it would be reassuring to know God exists above and beyond faith. Or are the millions, even billions of people correct when they say, "There is no God"? In America and elsewhere, many educated people refuse to believe there is a God. Their intellect tells them, "Impossible."

Sorry, but I have to say to them they are dead-wrong. And our laws of physics will supply that proof. We know the laws that control all physical things are absolute. Since that fact is undisputable, let us rely on just those laws to prove beyond a shadow of doubt that there is a God. The law I am referring to is the law that dictates that something physical cannot come into existence from nothing. In fact, anyone is moronic to imply that law is wrong. To date, no one has been able to make anything physical out of thin air.

Since that is the unequivocal truth, why have cosmologists, physicists and astronomers, etc. been attempting to convince Christians of the theory that an extremely small “physical” object was the genesis of our gigantic universe? You see, according to the red-shift light spectrum, they, along with us, know the universe is continually expanding, which allows them to believe (THE UNKNOWN) that a gigantic explosion of that minute object eventually turned into our universe. Anyone who looks at science as we now know it realizes their faith (belief) is hogwash.

Then to attempt to justify their hypothesis, they tell us an unknown force or energy was responsible for that small object. I ask them this question about that force of energy or whatever else it might have been: Was it physical or not, and did that force have intelligence? I also ask, was there any specific reason this unknown force was responsible for turning that densely packed object into the universe? No comment. They want us to believe in something, but they don’t know how or why it happened.

Here is a much more plausible theory, for all thinking people, of how the genesis of the physical universe came into existence: Before the physical came on the scene, all that existed was an all-powerful invisible intelligence (God). Since we humans are not aware of the laws which control that invisible realm, we cannot dogmatically say how that intelligence came to being, and it is useless to use the term “eternal God” to any unbelievers. But without time as we know it to dictate age, nothing in that realm has/had a beginning or an end; everything in that sphere was/is eternal (always in the present). Logic says that was how things were before the physical universe came on the scene. That form of invisible life may be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for pagans/heathens to believe in, but it makes much more sense than to think the physical came about as a result of an unknown force, energy or whatever, and for no reason whatsoever.

Of course, if physicists would be willing to believe this invisible, intelligent, timeless realm was responsible for the universe, then we who believe in the existence of God could agree. We, as believers in God, call that invisible stuff the realm of God.

Therefore, since our laws of physics tell us beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is impossible for the physical to come into existence on its own, we can with the aforementioned empirical evidence unequivocally proclaim that the power which exists in that invisible realm is the God we believe in. Applying all the logic which is apparent, it would be absolutely impossible for a powerful, all-encompassing being, which we call God, not to exist. Display the information in this post to atheists, agnostics, skeptics, physicists and astronomers, and let them digest the absolute certainty of the existence of an invisible creator.

Now that genuine Christians have the perfect reason to remove ALL DOUBT concerning the existence of God, we can worship God with all certainty. In other words, it is impossible for God not to exist. Now we can go to the next step and find out what His purpose was for the creation of the universe and for all humanity, and what He expects from his animate creation (us). Many of the posts in this blog have that answer. Start by clicking on the Table of Contents, post # 143: “Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design.”

Now that we dogmatically know that it would be impossible for an intelligent, invisible power not to exist—which we as Christians call Almighty God whose name is Jehovah—we would love to find information concerning Jesus Christ from a creditable source outside the New Testament originating in the first century, to corroborate that He actually lived and did what it says. However, for ourselves as disciples of Christ, our faith confirms Christ as the Son of God.

To the dismay of nonbelievers, there is such evidence.

Excerpts taken from Encyclopedia Americana, International Edition: There was a man in the first century, who was born in 37 A.D. His name is JOSEPHUS Flavius. He was a Jewish historian and apologist, noted for his classic works on the history of the Jews and Judaism. He was born in Jerusalem of an aristocratic priestly family. . . . At 26 he traveled to Rome in an attempt to secure the release of priests who have been sent there for trifling offences. . . . After the fall of Jerusalem (70 A.D.), he took up residence in Rome, receiving citizenship and a pension. He died in Rome about 100 A.D.

In the Greek version of Josephus’s “History of the Jewish War” (completed after 75 A.D.), Josephus attributed the revolt to fanatical Jews . . .

Among many of his writings there appears in “The Antiquities of the Jews” a section where Josephus mentioned Jesus.

FLAVIOUS JOSEPHUS Selections from His Work. Author: Abraham Wasserstein. Copyright 1974.

“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it is lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works–a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Messiah; and when Pilate, on the accusations of the leaders amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him from the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named after him, are not extinct to this day.”

# 199: America and its Immorality: Why?

How far has life in America separated itself from Biblical absolutes? This post will examine that question in attempt to find out why. The first question: Why is the God of the Christian Bible set against any sort of sexual immorality? We who belong to God know all sexual immorality is an abomination to Him, but I ask, why? To my knowledge, that explicit answer is not in Scripture. I stayed awake half the night a few days ago in prayer asking God for an answer. The answer: There are several reasons. And yet, the reasons why God hates all sexual immorality can be summed up in one short sentence.

Human beings have several extremely strong natural instincts. They all go under the heading: “survival of the fittest.” The top contenders are to acquire food, sleep, sex, some sort of shelter, along with the ability to flee from danger, etc. And they all are legitimate.

What happens when one of these instincts gets skewed (too much or not enough attention) is that the rest of the instincts may suffer in one way or another. For example, if we take in more calories than our body needs, we become obese, which will in turn affect how we see ourselves; if we have insomnia, our awakening hours are like hell and we just can’t function correctly; if we can’t flee from a ferocious bear, we get mauled or eaten up; if we can’t find or make adequate shelter, we will suffer from exposure or something worse.

I do want to mention that God’s rules as to immorality apply only to disciples of Christ. The rest can live as they please by doing whatever their human instincts dictate.

If our sex life is not contained with one partner in marriage, our whole life is thrown out of kilter. Consequences: jealousy, strife, hatred, etc. and a possible separation; that is not only difficult for mom and/or dad; the children are the ones who suffer the most. The children, without even knowing it, attempt to make up for the loss of close-knit family ties with other, sometimes dangerous, episodes. But the greater damage is not the present pain, but the damage to future generations when divorce is accepted as normal—are we there yet? Most children mimic their mother and father whether they want to or not. The end result: Society is harmed by lack of household stability, as we can vividly see happening all around us. All because of infidelity. There can be volumes written on the harm extramarital sex creates outside the marriage bed. I think you get one idea of why God does not condone adultery by his holy people.

The subject of premarital sex is another touchy subject. The song Debbie Boone sang about 20 years ago goes something like this: “How can it be wrong when it feels so right?” I could truthfully say that this is an incorrigible situation. Come hell or high water, it can only get worse. There is no possibility of turning back to good old-fashioned chastity. I am not certain the main reason why God frowns on this type of lifestyle, other than it will change how girls and boys will respond to sex and life’s nuances for the rest of their lives, like the old saying “Monkey see, monkey do.” Said another way, “We become like those we gaze at.” What I am implying is that the actions of the young today will affect future generations (if it was okay for mom and dad to do it before marriage, we can also).

When our sex drive is exploited at a young age before marriage, it can easily become the primary thing on their mind. It may affect other areas of life where truth, credibility, good charter and high morals are required, not to mention the potential of contracting a sexually transmitted disease, which can affect them the rest of their lives. Most who engage in promiscuity will later in life call them “the good old days.” What is funny is that many used to feel it was okay for boys to do this stuff, but for girls it was a no-no; that attitude has changed because of the birth control pill. Regardless, in God’s sight, boys are as guilty as girls.

We must remember that sex was originally mainly a means of procreation between a husband and wife. And before standard contraceptives (condoms) became widely available, safe sexual activity was conducted during the safe time of the month (the rhythm system: a certain number of days after a woman has ovulated; others say it is safe until the next period) or by other home-contrived forms of safe sex.

Another reason God condemns premarital sex is because the more one engages in youthful sex, the more one needs it; that urge becomes even more addicting. And when the thrill starts to wears off, they change partners with whomever they please. They think, “Something new, hopefully is a greater degree of ecstasy.” God desires His single people to derive their euphoria from being in union with His Son, Jesus Christ. Our God is a jealous God.

Throughout the Bible, God demands His chosen people not to live as nonbelievers (pagans, heathens, and atheists, etc. do). God does not consider those who live as the world does to be His children, even if they call themselves Christians. Any sexual immorality is an abomination to God.

This is another reason why God detests those who are sexually immoral. They do not raise themselves above the animal kingdom. They are beastly. They have sex with whomever, young or old, kin or no kin, whenever and wherever they desire. When people live their lives in an immoral way, in God’s sight, they are no better than the wild beasts. This could be the main reason all immorality is such a detestable thing to Him.

I repeat, anything worth writing is worth repeating: This principle of whatever we do or don’t do becomes an example for others to follow.

Concerning illicit sexual immorality, the Old as well as the New Testament seems to imply that homosexual activity is most disgusting. The reason for that may be because it is abnormal and hard for God and the straight population to understand how anyone can have sexual feelings for a person of the same gender. The reason I say that is because of why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. This type of activity puts them below the wild beasts. For more input, click on the Table of Contents # 167, “God, Gays and Unlawful Sex.”

Of course, gay issues are extremely different in America at this time. The freedom for gays to openly express themselves sprang from the egalitarian premise which our constitution provides. Regardless of how our law interprets equal rights, that doesn’t change God’s laws. And I am glad they have their freedom to live as they desire; they are still human. I am certain God objects to how active gays have legally infiltrated many “christian” churches. In reality, these churches are just showing off their true colors. That is not saying celibate homosexuals or lesbians can’t be disciples of Christ.

If this trend of emulating the gay lifestyle—especially by the young, since they are impressionable—continues as it has in the last ten years or so, America will in time be another Sodom and Gomorrah. That may be another reason why God strongly expresses His disdain for them. In reality, all sexual immorality seems to, in a sense, be pervasive in future generations. Although this post gave a pretty good answer why God hates illicit sex, I still don’t understand why heterosexuals have an attraction for the gay lifestyle.

Even though all sins grieve God, especially from those who claim to belong to Christ, what sin is the most grievous/inexcusable offense against God? I am certain many would say murder; I personally don’t think so. It most likely would be a draw between committing a blatant sexually immoral act against a small child–for graphic details, click on Table of Contents # 145: “Just a Touch of Hell”–and the sin that brings security, power, pride, esteem, etc. which the majority of humankind desires to engage in: WEALTH. Click on Table of Contents, # 175: “The Dark Side of Money.” This post and several others tell how God views riches, wealth and prosperity. It may be difficult for many to believe, but in God’s sight these two transgressions are synonymous. These offenses attack Christianity from two complete different perspectives; one is hated and the other is loved.

I do want to mention that for people who don’t believe in God, and for others who claim to be Christians but neglect obedience to Biblical commands, it is understandable and even necessary for them to engage in the pursuit of wealth and immorality since money can buy just about anything; many times the two sins are kissing cousins.

We in America believe having sex is love making. Not according to the Bible. Nowhere in the Good Book are the words “sex” and “love” combined or synonymous. Even though in a marriage situation, sex could be considered a form of love, real love—I mean Godly love in human form—far surpasses what sensual love seems to portray. Godly love is to consider others better than oneself. That type of love is as scarce as hen’s teeth, but it does exist.

In ending, as already mentioned, most likely the main reason God does not approve of any form of sexual immorality in Christ’s church is because that type of conduct is beast-like. Wild beasts have no code of ethics. And it is a sure thing that no beast-like people will inherit the kingdom of heaven. For those who disagree with some of the aforementioned principles, I would welcome your comments.