God or Idol?

So many talk about God, yet it is not Him of which they speak. Rather they have conjured an idol out of their vain imaginations to be a god of their liking, and it is not THEE True and Living God. They are the blind leading the blind, and they are all headed into a ditch.

Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
Isaiah 29:13-14 NKJV

For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
II Timothy 3:6-7 NKJV

Forgotten My First Love

Over the last few months as I have been deeply engaged in defending the faith, I have been convicted of a hardened heart. I have forgotten my first love.

“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;  and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.  Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love."
Revelation 2:2-4 NKJV

The reminder is that all I do must flow forth from my relationship with Jesus, but that I have erroneously focused on my "doing". In doing this I have become clanging brass, for I can of myself do nothing.

It breaks my heart that have strayed from things that I know and preach, and so I receive this correction with sorrowful humility. A fresh I throw myself at His feet, empty of anything I may think I add to Him.

Lord forgive me of my pride, and take me entirely once again as a broken vessel entirely dependant upon Your grace. Truly I am nothing without You. Have Your way, Your will, in my life, and keep me in my humble place. Give me a clean heart Lord. Holy Spirit come and consume me as a fire, burning away all remnants of self that still plague me every day. Thank you that You hear me. Come Lord Jesus, come.

Quit Being a Coward

Listen. IF you are a Spirit filled believer, then know that God has done this not for you, but for all who are His. We are sent forth IN the Name of the very creative power of the Universe. What are you afraid of? Those people you are scared to offend are those who lie on the other side of the gate of Hell, and they need your courage to crash through those gates to save them.

“The Spirit of the Lord God  is upon Me, Because the Lord  has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those  who  are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord , And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,
Isaiah 61:1-2 NKJV

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:19-20 NKJV

Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:17-18 NKJV

Righteous or Sinner?

You know the one verse that those who hate God know?

Matthew 7:1 NKJV

"Judge  not, that you be not judged."

Want to hear the irony in that?! The judging that Jesus is speaking about here is assessing another's worth or righteousness in comparison to your own.

Guess what every unregenerate person believes? They ALL believe they are a "good person", "not as bad as Hitler", or "not as bad as so-and-so". THAT IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF JUDGING THAT JESUS SAYS NOT TO DO.

Guess what every Spirit filled person (true believers, not just people who go to church) believes? We ALL believe that we are wretched sinners saved by grace, and we are just as bad in our hearts as Hitler was. There is no comparison. We are ALL equally guilty.

People hear the following verse and they think it applies only to those religious people who judge from their imaginary pious high horse, but it doesn't. It applies to them, but it also applies to the woman who looks at the woman across the store and thinks in her heart "that woman is such a slut".
It also applies to the person who thinks in their heart "that person is such a bigot". These people are self-righteous, comparing others to themselves or their expectations, and then casting judgment based on their own measuring stick. These are the self-righteous Jesus did not come to call

.

Matthew 9:13 NKJV

"But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Who then are the sinners Jesus came to call to repentance? It is those who know we are ALL sinners, and none is better than another. We let the Law of God bring conviction, making ALL guilty before God.

Luke 18:13-14 NKJV

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

What do we choose to believe? God, or ourselves?

I read the lyrics to this song, and I am compelled to stand in the gap for truth.

https://www.lds.org/music/text/hymns/if-you-could-hie-to-kolob

If all of the "gods" were created, then where did they come from?

What if I dare propose this food for thought...

The God of the Bible is eternal. No beginning, and no end, by definition. In fact, the Jesus of the Bible is eternal.

John 8:58 NKJV

Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

Revelation 1:8 NKJV

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

In the Bible the angels are created beings, and they are called "the sons of God".

Job 1:6 NKJV

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord , and Satan also came among them.

To me it is plainly obvious that the God of the Bible is the eternal and great "I AM", and that the god of the Book of Mormon is not the same God. The God of the Bible, Jesus, is the source of all things that stands outside and above the gods of the Book of Mormon. That being said, the god of the Book of Mormon not being the Most High by definition, would be one of the created beings, one of "the sons of God".

Is this not logical reasoning based on the Word?

To My Mormon Friends That I Love

If I told you that I saw Abraham Lincoln, that we had dinner together, and that He told me some special things to share with the world, would you believe me? I would hope not.

Any sane and rational person would say that such a thing were impossible because of the facts. Abraham Lincoln is dead. Since he is dead it is impossible to have such an experience. Logic, not rocket science.

So... I have a question for you. I have MANY friends who believe a similar story, and you know who you are. I come to you in love with this, simply because I care. At least think about it, please. I don't care about the "religion", for I hate religion. I do care about you though.

Joseph Smith declared that he had seen the Father, and his religion is largely founded on this. His statement is a lie, for such a thing is impossible. Just logic, not rocket science. Here are the facts:


1. NO ONE HAS SEEN THE FATHER.

- John 1:18 NKJV
"No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."

- John 6:46 NKJV
"Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father."

2. GOD IS SPIRIT, MAKING HIM INVISIBLE, AND WE EXIST IN HIM.

- John 4:24 NKJV
"God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

- Colossians 1:15-17 NKJV
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

- Acts 17:28

...for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

3. IF ANYONE IS TO SEE THE FATHER, THEY MUST SEE HIM ONLY THROUGH JESUS, FOR JESUS IS GOD AND THE EXPRESSED IMAGE OF THE FATHER.

- John 14:7-11
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves."

- Colossians 1:15-17 NKJV
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

I know full well that I will not convince you of anything my friend. My only hope is that by me sharing the truth with you that perhaps the Holy Spirit will bear witness in your heart, bringing you to the Truth. Let NO MAN deceive you. The God of the Bible is made manifest within the Word, and if ANYONE tells you anything different be very afraid. If the very foundations of Joseph Smith's testimony is based on a lie that could never happen, what then does that say about the rest of the doctrine? He who has ears, let him hear. I am praying for you.

What is a Christian?

I asked Hayden how he could tell who was a Christian the other day, but then I told him not to answer that. I said we should take it one step farther, and asked him what a Christian was. He gave the typical worldly textbook answer, no offense to him because he obviously just didn't know the truth yet, of a Christian being someone who follows Jesus example and strives to live like Him. Though innocent on my son's behalf, this is a sick and corrupt lie. Because I love my son, I told him the truth.

A Christian is a person that the living God has filled with His Holy Spirit. Period. No exceptions. Anything else is just a sugar coated facade.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 NKJV

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

John 1:12-13 NKJV

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

BEWARE BELOVED

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
- James 1:22-25

I have found that church can be a scary place. It is so easy to get caught up in the christianeze, become preachy, and become so pious that we are no longer any good to reach the world. If we make ourselves unapproachable, what good are we?

Church is scary, because it is easy to get caught up into the idea rather than living in reality. The very culture around us, in every sense, tries to draw us into a works based way of living. When our religion becomes more about the external than the internal, the words Jesus spoke to the Pharisees begin to become personal.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
- Matthew 23:25-28

Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”
- Luke 11:39-44

If we get caught up in the cultural ideas of church, letting our religion become superficial, then Isaiah's words come to our ears.

Therefore the Lord said:

“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”

- Isaiah 29:13-14

Let our focus be on our walk with the Lord, in humility of spirit and surrender of heart, and let our outward lives simply be the reflection of the truth that lies within us. Jesus says He will take care of EVERYTHING external for us, if we will but seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. The Kingdom of God is within us, so let us allow the Word to have its perfect work in us.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
- Matthew 6:33

Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
- Luke 17:20-21

As God has brought conviction and caution to me, I now share the same with you. Let us be sure that the truth in our hearts is our concern, for whatever is on the inside will come out no matter what. Let us be sure also that our lives are louder than our words. Let us not get caught up in some dog and pony show, deceiving ourselves, but rather let us live in the spirit to our Lord in truth. God bless you!