Sunday, July 15, 2007

Who is a Real Christian?

Is TV & Radio personality Glenn Beck a Mormon & a Christian?

I recall that on May 10, 2007 while listening to the Glenn Beck Radio Show. I heard Al Sharpton say that he thought Mr. Beck and the Mormons were Christians. I thought, “This is sad.” Al Sharpton had said, “…not to be concerned about Mitt Romney because God would support the real Christians.” To which I thought, “How sweet. That leaves out all those running for the office of President in the Democrat Party.” The only Democrat who might be a Christian is Gov. Richardson. I say this because I know nothing about the man. All the other Democrat candidates by their positions and actions present no evidence that they are true Christians.

Glenn got very angry with Al Sharpton because felt that “Rev.” Sharpton had implied Governor Mitt Romney and the Mormon Church are not Christians. How could anyone not believe Mormons are Christians? Ann Coulter is reported as saying Mitt Romney is as Christians as she is. I am sure that is true. More than likely neither of them are true Christian.

Mormons may proselytize a Christian, who does not know God’s Word (the Bible), and in that way have a confessing Mormon who is a Christian. However, Mormonism fundamentally is not Christian, nor do people become Christian by being Mormon. Glenn Beck told of a position he has in the Mormon Church which if he knew God’s Word he would know his position is bogus. Glen said that he is a priest after the order of Meklchizedek. This priestly position was conferred on him by the Mormon Church.

Melchizedek is a man like unto the Son of God who is without mother or father, without beginning of life or end of days. In order to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek one must have an endless life. What Glen and the Mormon Church contend is that Glenn Beck has an endless life without beginning of life or end of days. In other words, Glenn is God. Anyone knows that this is not true.

Jesus is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. He is so by means of an endless or eternal life having been so designated by God the Father. Jesus is God, creator of the universe. I doubt if Glenn has an endless life and will never die nor does God consider him a priest after the order of Melchizedek. This is only one of the false beliefs of the Mormon Church.

Mormons also teach that the family is forever. This is not true. “Family” exists only for as long as both man and woman shall live. Jesus says there is no marrying or giving in marriage for those who attain to the resurrection. A woman had married seven brothers one at a time in order to raise children to the oldest brother. Finally the woman died. The question asked of Jesus was, “Whose wife would she be in the resurrection?” Jesus said there is no marrying or giving in marriage in the resurrection. The family relationship ends and the people are as the angels in that they won’t marry or have children in resurrection of the righteous. Mormons teach that each family will be able to populate a whole world for themselves. This of course is not true.

Sadly, Mormons teach that one is made right with God by the works of righteousness done within the Mormon Church. Unfortunately this is not true and the Mormons are lost and not Christian. They are going to perdition (hell and the second death, the Lake of Fire.)

To determine who is truly a Christian one must look at the Word of God and see what it says and then look at a person’s life, conduct, and speech to see if they line up with the truth of God’s Word. Most conservative talk show hosts all claim to be Christians. At least those talk show hosts to whom I listen - Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Bennett, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Laura Ingram and Michael Reagan - make that claim.

Of the conservative talk show host listed above only Michael Reagan appears to be a genuine Christian. Bill Bennett is close for I heard him say that one is not a Christian by their good works but by faith. This of course is correct as Martin Luther said, “Faith Alone.” I question whether Bill Bennett has applied this to himself by repenting of his sins and inviting Jesus into his heart. Rush Limbaugh is close for he said that the consensus of Christians is that by believing in Jesus one gets to heaven. Jesus said no one goes to God the Father but by me. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Whether Rush has appropriated this to himself by repenting of his sin and inviting Jesus into his heart I don’t know. The Sunday school class, which I once attended did not think so. Laura Ingram said of James Dobson that she wasn’t sure about those who determine the Christianity of others when Dobson said Fred Thompson wasn’t a Christian This shows she is not Christian. Sean Hannity seems to think that most everyone is a Christian. His criterion for who is a Christian does not seem to be Scripturally-based.

There is a God; He is self-existent, all-powerful, holy, just, faithful, loving, jealous, all-knowing, good, wise, and concerned about His creation. Not acquitting sinners, yet desiring that no one should perish. Every word He says is important for it is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” God is triune yet one. God is one spirit, which is capable of being everywhere at the same time and indwelling many individuals simultaneously. Those who obey God’s Word live and those who choose to disobey God’s Word die. Adam and Eve both chose to disobey God’s Word and died. Today we are all born dead, separated from God.

God promised Adam and Eve that someone would destroy Satan. That person was Jesus of Nazareth. God in His mercy sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. He lived a sinless life, fulfilled the law and took in His own body the sins of all mankind and received from God His wrath for all people. Then He said it is finished and gave up His spirit at the time of His choosing. Three days later He rose from the dead. For those who ask God’s forgiveness and repent of their sins in the name of Jesus, the Spirit of God comes into their heart (brain) and gives them eternal life.

It is the entering into ones heart by the Spirit of God in the name of Jesus that makes one a Christian. This is the born again experience which is also referred to as being saved. Paul writes that unless you have the Spirit of Christ you ado not belong to Christ. An example was the man who went into the temple and would not so much as look up into heaven but beat upon his chest and prayed, “Lord be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus said this man went home justified.

How about you? Are you born again? Have you ever invited Jesus into your heart? A sample prayer is: “Lord Jesus Christ please forgive me of my wrongdoing, my evil, my proclivity to sin and please come onto my heart.” To find out more please click here.

3 comments:

  1. The Prophet(President) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints made a proclamation that abortion is acceptable in cases of incest, rape or "when the fetus is known by competent medical authority to have serious defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth…"

    What a disgusting compromise. A human being is a human being regardless of how conceived or state of health.

    Isaiah 44:6 says, "...I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no other."

    But Doctrine and Covenants (a Mormon Scripture) 76:58 says, "...inhabitants of celestial glory become gods."

    Corncerning Adam and Eve's sin in the garden of Eden, The Pearl of Great Price says, "Were it not for our transgression we never should have seed...and the eternal life..." (Moses 5:11)

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  2. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is our personal savior and the savior of all mankind. We believe that only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His atonement can we be saved. Do you believe anything different than that? Remember the old scripture, Judge not that ye be not judged? Accusing others of not being “true Christians” doesn’t seem very Christian to me—in fact it smacks of self-righteousness, hypocrisy and bigotry. “The Savior said, let him that is without sin cast the first stone.” What gives you the right to say that I am not a Christian? As a Christian that is very offensive to me. You need to say and prayer and then read the definition of the word bigot in the dictionary. The pilgrims fled religious persecution in England to come to this great country—you do not have the right to continue what they were fleeing.

    Mike Huckabee: Is he really a bigot?

    American Heritage Dictionary
    Bigot n. One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ

    When Huckabee said to the New York Times reporter, “I don’t know much about Mormons but don’t they believe that Jesus and the Devil are brothers?” he crossed way over the line. That comment was akin to an ordained Christian minister running against a Jew and saying “I don’t know much about Jews, but don’t they believe that Jesus was a fraud?” Were Mitt Jewish and had Huckabee made such a statement the media would have crucified him—called him an anti-Semite and run him out of the campaign within days.

    As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also called Mormons), Huckabee’ s slur was very offensive to me personally and to many other men and women of faith. His subsequent, supposed private apology to Governor Romney was not nearly enough. He should apologize to all the Christians in America who don’t think exactly like he does. His explanation of the events was disingenuous at best a complete fraud at worst. For an ordained minister who has had who knows how many years of college-level theology and has studied many other religions to say that he doesn’t know much about Mormons but…by the way, don’t they believe that Jesus and the Devil are brothers is a farce and a fraud—it is blatant bigotry at it’s worst and an unethical, cheap political ploy at it’s best. It was an attempt to create fear, misinformation and deception in order to get a few votes. For Huckabee to pull some non-doctrinal obscure concept out of his butt and completely twist it in a completely devious way while saying “I really don’t know much about Mormons” is absolutely amazing! But then maybe it shouldn’t be. Huckabee’ s record of not telling the truth in the past is quite clear (see examples below).

    As Peggy Noonan said in her Dec 8, 2007 article “Mormon in America”, “I'd rather be governed by Donny and Marie than the Washington establishment. Mormons have been, in American history, hardworking, family-loving citizens whose civic impulses have tended toward the constructive. Good enough for me. He's running for president, not pastor. In any case his faith is one thing about Mr. Romney I haven't questioned.”

    The problem with Huckabee, other than the fact that he’s a blatant bigot, is that he’s also a hypocrite.

    In Margaret Carlson’s December 13th, article on Bloomberg.com “Huckabee’ s Boom May Be About Ready to Bust” she documents two clear examples of Huckabee’ s lack of integrity.
    1) Huckabee’ s “Willie Horton Moment”
    “With Huckabee’ s rise in the polls came increased scrutiny. The first thing to pop up was a Willie Horton moment.
    A convicted rapist, Wayne DuMond, was paroled only to go out and rape and murder again. At first, Huckabee bobbed and weaved, blaming the parole board. DuMond, who found God in prison, had become a cause among conservatives and Clinton- haters in Arkansas, in part because they believed he was given an overly harsh sentence since the victim was a distant cousin of former President Bill Clinton.
    When several members of the parole board spoke out saying DuMond was released at Huckabee’s instigation, he made the not- very-Christian assertion that they were politically motivated.”
    2) “Then veteran reporter Max Brantley, the editor of the Arkansas Times, came out with a piece that catalogued every questionable action in Huckabee’s career.
    In his first losing race for the U.S. Senate, against Dale Bumpers, Huckabee suggested that because Bumpers supported grants to the arts he was soft on pornography, Brantley wrote. He hasn't backed off from his position that ``carriers of the plague'' of AIDS should be quarantined. He paid himself (as media consultant) and the family's babysitter out of campaign funds, according to the reports.
    `Inspirational' Speaker
    Once in office, Huckabee set up a nonprofit entity so he could give paid ``inspirational'' speeches without having to disclose the donors. Until exposed by the Arkansas Times, Huckabee used the operating account for the governor's mansion for personal expenses, charging the public for dry cleaning, his wife's pantyhose, a doghouse and meals at Taco Bell.
    On the way out the door, in the tradition of the Clintons, the Huckabees set up a gift registry asking for items to fill their new house. They tried to claim furniture from the private residence as their own, according to Brantley.
    Nine complaints were filed against Huckabee; five resulted in ethics commission sanctions.”
    Five ethics commission sanctions?!! The Gomer Pile Huckster needs to get off his high horse and come clean with the American people. He needs to quit casting stones as he sits in his glass house pretending to be the back-woods, folksy preacher—what a load of it.
    We want a person of integrity with business savvy, intelligence, strong credentials built on a proven track record of success, who is going to protect the sanctity of life, of marriage and family, who will be fiscally conservative and socially responsible. We want someone who believes in the importance of education, preserving the environment, a strong military, sound infrastructure, and a health-care system that works—someone who represents the best of American optimism, work ethic and ideals, who will represent us proudly on the world stage and who we will be proud to call our President of the United States of America, the greatest nation on earth in the history of the world! And that person is Mitt Romney.

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  3. To be a Christian has meaning and that meaning has been determined by the church throughout the history of the church. Mormonism as a faith came much later. Mormonism denies that Jesus is the one true God, begotten of the Father, same in essence , though different in person. He is part of the Trinity, Father , Son and Holy Spirit, three persons, one God, eternal. Mormons believe we will be Gods, like Jesus is when we die.They believe that Jesus is created, not begotten, not eternal like the Father. This is heresy to the Christian church and Mormonism is deemed as that--heresy, thus not Christian.

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