I commented on a blog today and received a reply about missionaries.

The lesson that the following family learned before going to the "mission field" was (my words) "share the love, but not the Gospel".

What a difference from Jesus' disciples!
Luke 9:2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

And the early Christians!
Acts 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

I would submit that a Christian is to serve God, serve the body of Christ, but preach the Gospel to the lost to the lost.

In short, This family was put into the mission field. The father's job is flying planes, delivering medical supplies to a closed country. The family received training in what is and is not appropriate about their "mission". The children that their mission is to interact with other children in a way that reflects the heart of Christ for a people who do not know Him... They weren't called into the mission field to preach but to serve.

My habit (gets me into trouble a lot - with other Christians) is to go to the Bible.

The word "serve" is used 279 times in the NIV. Serve God, serve in the army, serve as a priest are the majority. The people of God are condemned when the serve other gods. In other places the NIV speaks of the people of God serving other people of God. In still other places, the people of God are punished by being taken into captivity to serve other countries.

In the New Testament, the word "serve" is used often:

Romans 1:9
God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son...

Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.

Romans 12:7
If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; (note: this does not tell us to go and serve, but not share the Gospel)

Ephesians 6:7
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, (note: this is instruction to slaves serving their master's)

Philippians 2:22
But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

Preaching, on the other hand...
Jonah 1:2
"Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."

Matthew 4:17
From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Mark 6:12
They went out and preached that people should repent.

There are many more, I'd suggest that you visit Biblegateway.com

This is in the context of blogs belonging to Mormons. There are some that say that we are only "stopping to visit", or sharing, or any number of things - but not preaching the Gospel.

I cannot find anywhere that the Bible tells us to "visit", but not preach the Gospel.

But, that's just me looking in the Bible...

Can we really just visit a blog and share only part of our lives? Especially the part that is supposed to permeate every fiber of our beings?

"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers...

For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?

Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

What accord has Christ with Belial?

Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

What agreement has the temple of God with idols?

For we are the temple of the living God;

as God said,

"I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.

Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,

and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,

and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty."

2 Corinthians 6:14-18

My daughter and I went to "youth night" at church and we worshipped together in "her" setting.

The speaker was a little nutty, but good. At one point he broke people into four basic groups (we all fit into all four groups once in a while)

1) VIP's (very impactful people)
2) VTP's (very teachable people)
3) VNP's (very nice people)
4) VDP's (very draining people)

The two that struck me over so many "controversies" are #1 and #3.

There are a few folks out there who are VIP's who are ready to take on hell with a squirtgun.

Then there are the VNP's who say, "I'll bring the cookies."

The ones who are exhort others to at least acknowledge the battle, "Come'on! Hell's creeping in on us. Go get your sqirtgun!" And the ones who exhort, "please-can't-we-all-just-get-along!"

Which would you rather be?
(VNP can also be "Very Non-Productive)

This is in response to a commenter on Elena's blog that my list of bullet points was incorrect and that I had been "misled"

Here are the points and my sources:

• Mormon doctrine denies the eternal nature of God (the father-god was a created man who became a god)

As god once was, man is. As God is, man may become." (See The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, comp. Clyde J. Williams, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1984, p. 1)

• Mormon doctrine denies the Trinity )"That these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from each other, is demonstrated by the accepted records of divine dealings with man." (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 35.)

Source: Joseph Smith: "Lectures on Faith.", approved for inclusion in the Doctrine and Covenants by a Conference vote of the LDS Church on August 17, 1835. They appeared in all English editions of the D&C until their unexplained removal in 1921 without a General Conference vote. Lecture Five explicitly teaches that there are two persons in the Godhead:

Q. How many personages are there in the Godhead?
A. Two: the Father and the Son.

• Mormon doctrine denies the virgin birth (the father-god had sex with Mary to conceive Jesus)

Brigham Young, second prophet and president of the LDS church said,

"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 were of our fathers." (Journal of Discourses, v. 8, p. 115).

• Mormon doctrine teaches that Christ was in a plural marriage

Jedediah M. Grant, Second Counselor to Brigham Young the Second Prophet of the LDS Church:

"Celsus was a heathen philosopher; and what does he say upon the subject of Christ and his Apostles, and their belief? He says, the 'grand reason why the Gentiles and philosophers of his school persecuted Jesus Christ, was because He had so many wives; there were Elizabeth, and Mary, and a host of others that followed Him.' After Jesus went from the stage of action, the Apostles followed the example of their master. . . The grand reason of the burst of public sentiment in anathemas upon Christ and his disciples, casing his crucifixion, was evidently based on polygamy,. . .a belief in the doctrine of plurality of wives caused the persecution of Jesus, and his followers. We might almost think they were 'Mormons' " (Journal of Discourses, Vol 1. ppl 345-346)

• Mormon doctrine teaches that Mormonism is the only true way to heaven
• Mormon doctrine states that there is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of God, (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1, p. 188.)

If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation. There is no salvation [the context is the full gospel including exaltation to Godhood] outside the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 670.)

• Mormon doctrine teaches that all men have the potential to become gods

As god once was, man is. As God is, man may become." (See The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, comp. Clyde J. Williams, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1984, p. 1)

• And it follows that Mormon doctrine denies monotheism (as there are as many gods as there are men who have become gods)

We were begotten by our Father in Heaven; the person of our Father in Heaven was begotten on a previous heavenly world by His Father; and again, He was begotten by a still more ancient Father, and so on from generation to generation, from one heavenly world to another still more ancient...
LDS Apostle Orson Pratt, The Seer, 1853, page 132

I was going to stay quiet but I just couldn't resist.

Marla Swoffer posted on being discerning about those who choose to call themselves Christians (namely Mormons).

A commenter on Marla blog commented: "I really cannot believe someone who would call themselves a Christian is so religious-racist, to coin a new phrase..."

Equating Godly discernment with racism may be...well, I'm not sure I have words...but let's have a look at some real religious-racism, Mormon style.

"Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put termination to that line of human beings. This was not to be and the Lord put a mark on him, which is the flat nose and black skin" Brigham Young (second prophet and President of the Mormon Church)

"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so." Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 10, page 110.

"Had I anything to do with the negro , I would confine them by strict law to their own species and put them on a national equalization.'' Joseph Smith (founder, first prophet and president of the Mormon Church), History of the Church, Volume 5, pages 218 - 219.

"Racial degeneration, resulting In differences In appearance and spiritual aptitude, has arisen since the fall. We know the circumstances under which the posterity of Cain (and later of Ham) were cursed with what we call negroid racial characteristics." Mormon Doctrine, page 616.

.As a result of his rebellion, Cain was cursed with a dark skin; he became the father of the negroes, and those spirits who are not worthy to receive the priesthood are born through his lineage." Mormon Doctrine, page 109.

To illustrate: Cain Ham, and the whole negro race have _ cursed with a black skin, the mark of Cain, so they can be identified as a caste apart, a people with whom the other descendants of Adam should not intermarry." Mormon Doctrine, page 114.

"Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness he became the father of an inferior race. A curse placed upon him and that curse has been continued through his lineage and must do so while time endures. Millions of souls have come into this world cursed with a black skin and have been denied the privilege of Priesthood and the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel. These are the descendants of Cain. Moreover, they have been made to feel their inferiority and have been separated from the rest of mankind from the beginning.... we will also hope that blessings may eventually be given to our negro brethren, for they are our brethren—children of God—not withstanding their black covering emblematical of eternal darkness. " The Way to Perfection, pages 101-102.

2/15/2006
I've been struggling/wrestling with this issue, give the stuff at my church plus a few of the blogs I read on a regular basis. It's going to take me a while to get through this. I welcome input and I think I'm going to keep everything in this one post, so that it's in one place. That means I'll have to try to update the date 😉

I've got
- "To be Continued?" by Samuel Waldron
- "Keep in Step With the Spirit" by J.I.Packer
- "Wind & Fire" (Ten sermons by C.H.Spurgeon)
- and articles found here.

I guess the short story is that I've experienced what some would call "prophetic words"; others would call them coincidence. I grew up with one of my mom's favorite hymn being "In the Garden"...you know..."and He walks with me and He talks with me...".

Does He? I know He walks with me...but does He talk with me?

Cessationists say, "NO!" Prayer is one-way communication.

Continued later...

I took these last night, just to see what my new digital camera could do at sunset.

I've done some pretty extensive studies on divorce and remarriage - at my age, there are not that many widowed guys and most (MOST) of the never married men are never married for a reason. Knowing where I stand on this issue was very important for me to figure out.

This particular post was prompted by a commenter on Challies who said, "The Levitical priests were not to marry a divorced woman because of defilement. Is that defilement not tied to sin?"

The actual quote from Leviticus 21 is:-15 " 'The woman he marries must be a virgin. He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, so he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the LORD, who makes him holy. ' "

Read this again. A priest had special prohibitions on who he could marry. Not only could he not marry a divorced woman, he could not marry a widow or a prostitute.

He had to marry a virgin. Period. It didn't matter what the reason for the woman's "non-virginity", a priest had to marry a virgin.

Next: the woman described as "defiled" was defiled by prostitution, not divorce. So, if a person wishes to import the "defilement" to divorced women as well, that person needs to import the "defilement" to widows as well.

So, I would ask, what sin in tied to being a widow, other than the sin of being married to a man who gets cancer and dies?

Another point is the status of divorced women.

Lev. 22: 12-13 If a priest's daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions. But if a priest's daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father's house as in her youth, she may eat of her father's food.

This is important to the "defiled by divorce" - in this passage, there is no difference in the "holiness" of a priests daughter, divorced or widowed, as it pertains to living in the priest's home or eating the sacred contributions.

There is no difference in status between a divorced woman or a widow.

Well...I do like writing...but at the rate I'm moving I'd get a PhD about the time I die.

You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy)

You're a great thinker and a true philosopher. You'd make a talented professor or writer.