Today I head over to Wayland Baptist University to sign up for the last class I need to take for my Bachelors degree in Biblical Studies. At the direction of our board of directors, I’ve been chipping away at this degree for a few years now. I left Emmaus Bible College in 1992 with a three-year Associates degree and never thought of getting more education. Well, God has a way of changing things so here we go. One more class and I’m DONE!

I’ve got a new tool I want to try out. Check out the two new additions in the “Neat Tools” section in the sidebar to the right. If you would like to be notified of new posts on this blog, please click on the e-mail reader graphic OR enter your e-mail in the yellow section below the graphic. Remember to do only one of these. If you do both, I’m sure something will blow up.

I am not sure which tool I want to keep so it would be good to get your feedback as to which tool you think looks/works better. So sign up for updates and let me know what you guys think. I promise not to flood your inbox with too many posts!

I recently came across an article where an LDS filmmaker is planning on making ads to counter “religious bigotry” that some voters have towards Mormons. http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,640195910,00.html

I’ve been asked before if I would vote for Romney if he decides to run for President and at this point, I don’t have an answer. There are too many unknowns at this stage in the game, but there is one thing for sure. I would be more inclined to vote for someone who was extremely open and honest about what he believes than in someone who is not. If the Mormon church were to start practicing full disclosure, I believe that would dispel a lot of the prejudice and bigotry towards them.

For instance, during the San Antonio temple opening last year, our ministry passed out a paper that contained the following information. http://www.evidenceministries.org/marriage.php It is four pages from an official LDS church manual. The man in charge of LDS public relations could have admitted that the material is current doctrine and stood up for it, but in stead, he chose to distance himself from the doctrine in media interviews by claiming that the information in our paper was from “out of print manuals.”

While this is true, the LDS church no longer publishes the “Achieving a Celestial Marriage” manual, it does not mean that the doctrine has expired. This is still current LDS theology. The public relations official attempted to use a red herring to distract the public from the official teachings of the LDS church. Why couldn’t he just admit that Mormonism’s basic world view is that God was once a man from another planet who achieved Godhood and that all men from this planet can do the same thing? I say all of this to ask this question. Is Romney going to be upfront and honest about what he believes or is he going to resort to dishonest techniques of distraction? The answer to this question could very well dictate how his campaign goes.

Yesterday Becky and I attended a Sunday school class lead by our good friends and five time Manti vets, T&J M. They were teaching a series called, “The Way of the Master.” http://www.wayofthemaster.com/ Through this series Christians learn how to use the Ten Commandments to convict sinners of their need for to Christ.

Yesterday’s session talked about how most people present the gospel as “a wonderful plan that God has for their life” and how that waters down the message and ultimately does not meet the eternal need of the individual person. There was one section of the video shown in class where Kirk Cameron was asking people what they thought of when they were presented with the idea that God is offering them a life of fulfillment. The answers varied, but they were all along the lines of receiving material blessings.

As I was watching this segment, the thought occurred to me, “Why are so many churches asking people to come to Jesus with the offer of a false hope of a life with little trouble or trial?” From listening to many popular preachers, one could easily get the idea that if you just come to Jesus, all of your problems will vanish. This is not what Jesus said.

John 15:20- “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master ‘ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”

If we are promised persecution, then we are bearing false witness against Jesus when we tell people that coming to Him will solve all of their problems… unless, of course, you think that persecution is no problem.