I was reading about a new gun that works off magnetic force. Amazingly it reaches mach 7 by the time it leaves the barrel of the gun and can hit a target 100 miles away in minutes. The projectile attains speeds well above the sound barrier, and only a special aerodynamic design and select materials can be utilized in its construction so that it isn’t destroyed just by exiting the barrel or by heat as it travels at such terrific speeds. Its impact is devastating and the Navy has already spent $210 million in developing it.
That’s impressive, but I utilize a polarizing magnetic force of my own that far exceeds that tiny distance. I attract psychos from all over the world in mere nanoseconds. I am a psycho magnet extraordinaire. You would not believe some of the e-mails that I receive. They are from some of the most whacked out certified crazies in this world. In writing Words for the Day over the past 12 years I’ve attracted enough nuts to feed all the squirrels of Honey Lake for five generations.
Some are so Looney Tunes that their e-mails sound like nonsensical rambling gibberish from people who honestly believe that they are routinely visiting spirits in distant galaxies. Some tell me that they are modern day prophets and gods themselves.
Then there are those who hate, ridicule, and curse me, call me vile names, and yes even threaten me. I think that those who support the homosexual agenda, abortion advocates, women’s lippers, Obama fans, and religious ideologues are probably the most militant, but that is not to discount those bitter atheists who seem to have a very harsh agenda too.
This is not to say that folks who merely disagree with me and chastise me are all nutty. I base what I say in WFTD upon my interpretation and knowledge of the Bible and it is the foundation of my belief system. Many don’t believe the Bible; others believe certain parts of it, and choose to ignore the parts they don’t like, and yet others simply don’t like my particular interpretations of it.
I’ve been proven wrong on more than one occasion through the years. In fact just recently a lady pointed out that Joshua and Caleb made it into the Promised Land, and I’d written that none of the original Jews who left Egypt were allowed to go in, including Moses. When I looked it up, sure enough she was right and I was wrong. I thanked her for making me aware of my mistake. (I’ve been wrong about that particular point for forty years.)
This same lady later criticized me for a WFTD entry in which I stated that I believed Romney to be a “righteous and decent man”. She indicated that I was guilty of committing “heresy and blasphemy and not one Mormon is righteous”. She then explained how she perceives the Mormon belief system to be flawed.
I responded with a simple question:“Who set you up to weigh the hearts and souls of all Mormons and judge them? It seems to me that would be God’s job”.
I went on to tell her that when I said Romney was decent and righteous I was not talking about him in spiritual terms, rather in societal terms. I merely observed that the “righteous” I was talking about was that he seems to try to do the “right” things in our society as opposed to wrong, and that Mitt appears to be a decent hard working guy who loves his family and country and has experience in solving difficult problems and I believe he would make a good president.”
Do you think all Southern Baptists will go to heaven and all Mormons will go to hell?
Yikes! I seriously doubt that one, but I don’t have any way of knowing anyone’s heart; only God can know such things.
Regarding spirtuality, I only want to comment on what I know to be a fact, and that comes directly from the Bible. It’s simple really:
1.We must accept that Jesus Christ is the perfect living Son of God who came to earth and died on a cross as God’s only acceptable punishment and atonement for the sins of all mankind.
2. We must also believe that Jesus was resurrected three days later and today sits at the right hand of God.
3. We must ask Him to forgive our sins.
4. We must repent (or turn away from those sins as best we know how).
If we do the above, we will be saved and allowed to live with God in heaven forever.
I’ve asked plenty of Mormons if they believe the foregoing and to a person they have all said yes. I don’t know if they are sincere or not. I don’t know if their concept of Jesus is the same as the Holy Bible portrays or not. In essence I don’t know if they are saved or not. I pray they are, but the only thing I know for sure is that I’m saved and because of that I’m dead certain that I will be with Jesus Christ for eternity in heaven.
I’ve read and also had plenty of people, including former members of the church of LDS tell me that the Mormon religion is a cult with a faulty perception of Jesus, and they don’t believe in the trinity, and tht they believe people can be prayed into heaven, and they will become Gods, and will be equal to Jesus in the afterlife, and so forth, and so on. Based on that I wouldn’t want to be a Mormon, because those beliefs are not biblical.
So are they going to heaven or hell?
I say again: The only thing I know for sure is that I’m saved and because of that I’m dead certain that I will be with Jesus Christ for eternity in heaven.
I believe in the canonized King James Bible and the varied modern translations of it that don’t stray and not the Book of Mormon, or any other “Bibles” or religious books that have additions or deletions to it including the Catholic version of the Bible with its extra books. I don’t believe the Koran, or any other religious writings (including the stuff about Thor and his lightening bolts).
I don’t judge those people that believe those writings however; and I don’t judge Buddhists, or Muslims, or atheists or anyone else. Even Jesus Christ did not want to judge people on this earth. He is reserving that nasty business for another time and for now is more interested in saving people in this current age of grace.
John 12:47 “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.”
This is an issue that has confused many people. On one hand, we are commanded by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged“. On the other hand, the Bible exhorts us to beware of evildoers and false prophets and to avoid those who practice all kinds of evil.
So how exactly can we identify evildoers, false prophets and the like if we don’t righteously judge them? Maybe we could call it profiling??? Naw we could never get away with that; the progressives would howl at the moon and drive us batty like those who write me.
To me to “beware of someone” is not the same as judgment of them. Jesus warns against judging someone else for their sin when we ourselves are guilty of sinning.
Okay but what about this little gem?” Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” John 7:21-24
According to the Bible if a believer (in “righteous judgment”) sees another believer sinning, it is their Christian duty to lovingly and respectfully confront the person with their sin with the ultimate goal of bringing repentance in the other person and restoration to the fellowship. This is a very slippery slope, because according to Jesus we aren’t exactly equipped to judge anyone. John 8:15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.
I feel pretty certain that scathing condemnation of all Mormons is not representative of the example set by Jesus. John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
The magnet of Jesus Christ that we should emulate is one of love and compassion that attracts others to God’s saving grace; condemnation repels people and drives them away, (especially hyocritical condemnation). Compassion and condemnation are polar opposites; I think we should be on the draw side of the magnet.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.