Faith in the Workplace!

You invest more than one-third of your life at work. Punch the clock, turn on the computer, start your engines at 8 a.m., rest a few minutes at noon, but keep your mind and body in gear till the sun has set. Then tomorrow — repeat. Sound familiar?
So how can your relationship with God grow in all this? The easy temptation is to separate your life into two parts: career — public; faith — private.
But considering how much of your life you spend engaged in your career, perhaps that is the ideal place to grow in your relationship with Christ. Can you identify with these common arenas where your faith meets life?

Giving Faith a Face
Your friends at work know you are “religious” because...
You have mentioned occasionally that you are involved at church.
You’ve promised to pray for them as they go through a crisis.
There’s just that “something” about you: different yet attractive.
They’ve seen you go through a crisis and still maintain that “something.”
Whatever your style, ask the Lord to make your life a sweet “fragrance of the knowledge of him” (2 Corinthians 2:14 NIV). Look for ways to model God’s grace and “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV).

Heated Comments and Cold Shoulders
Throughout the workday, have you ever found yourself thinking?

I wish we could have one conversation that didn’t end in aggravation.
His memo floored me. How could he assume that of me? Why should I be the one to say anything? I’ll just get stuck shouldering the blame. This place feels like a television series. Sometimes it’s a drama. Sometimes a soap opera. But it’s never Happy Days.

Often on the stage of conflict, your faith grows even stronger. Behind the power plays or misunderstandings, you can trust that God is in control. Ask Him to help you to model Ephesians 4:31-32 (NIV): “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger.... Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

In over Your Head
Sometimes, in the middle of the workday, do you catch yourself thinking...
           How in the world did I end up here?
           I may look “all together,” but I hope no one realizes how fast my heart is racing.
           What do people really expect of me? Am I measuring up?
           How could I ever live for God in this place?
Centuries ago, a woman named Esther shared any one of these responses. The lesson for her life — and yours — can be summed up in Esther 4:14: “Who knows [if God hasn’t placed you here] for such a time as this?” God has planned each event of your job so that you have opportunity to trust Him. (Meditate on Proverbs 3:5-6.) What do you need to entrust to Him today?
As you head off to work tomorrow, believe that God is also at work — in the conflicts, in the opportunities, and in the heart of your day.

Defining Liberty Gods Way!

Without becoming needlessly academic, I want to define a term that I've been tossing around. What do I mean when I declare that the Christian has liberty? Essentially, liberty is freedom . . . freedom from something and freedom to do something.
Liberty is freedom from slavery or bondage. It is initially freedom from sin's power and guilt. Freedom from God's wrath. Freedom from satanic and demonic authority. And equally important, it is freedom from shame that could easily bind me, as well as freedom from the tyranny of others' opinions, obligations, and expectations.
There was a time in my life without Christ when I had no freedom from the urges and impulses within me. I was at the mercy of my master Satan and sin was my lifestyle. When the urges grew within me, I had nothing to hold me in check, nothing to restrain me. It was an awful bondage.
For example, in my personal life I was driven by jealousy for many miserable years. It was consuming. I served it not unlike a slave serves a master. Then there came a day when I was spiritually awakened to the charming grace of God and allowed it to take full control, and almost before I knew it the jealousy died. And I sensed for the first time, perhaps in my whole life, true love; the joy, the romance, the spontaneity, the free-flowing creativity brought about by the grace of a faithful wife, who would love me no matter what, who was committed to me in faithfulness for all her life. That love and that commitment motivated me to love in return more freely than ever. I no longer loved out of fear that I would lose her, but I loved out of the joy and the blessing connected with being loved unconditionally and without restraint.
Now that Christ has come into my life and I have been awakened to His grace, He has provided a freedom from that kind of slavery to sin. And along with that comes a freedom that brings a fearlessness, almost a sense of invincibility in the presence of the adversity. This power, keep in mind, is because of Christ, who lives within me.
In addition, He has also brought a glorious freedom from the curse of the Law. By that I mean freedom from the constancy of its demands to perform in order to please God and/or others. It is a freedom from the fear of condemnation before God as well as from an accusing conscience. Freedom from the demands of other people, from all the shoulds and oughts of the general public.
Such freedom is motivated—motivated by unconditional love. When the grace of Christ is fully awake in your life, you find you're no longer doing something due to fear or out of shame or because of guilt, but you're doing it through love. The dreadful tyranny of performing in order to please someone is over . . . forever.
Grace also brings a freedom to do something else—a freedom to enjoy the rights and the privileges of being out from under slavery and allowing others such freedom. It's freedom to experience and enjoy a new kind of power that only Christ could bring. It is a freedom to become all that He meant me to be, regardless of how He leads others. I can be me—fully and freely. It is a freedom to know Him in an independent and personal way. And that freedom is then released to others so they can be who they are meant to be—different from me!
You see, God isn't stamping out little cookie-cutter Christians across the world so that we all think alike and look alike and sound alike and act alike. The body has variety. We were never meant to have the same temperaments and use the same vocabulary and wear the same syrupy smile and dress the same way and carry on the same ministry. I repeat: God is pleased with variety. This freedom to be who we are is nothing short of magnificent. It is freedom to make choices, freedom to know His will, freedom to walk in it, freedom to obey His leading me in my life and you in your life. Once you've tasted such freedom, nothing else satisfies.
Perhaps I should reemphasize that it is a liberty you will have to fight for. Why? Because the ranks of Christianity are full of those who compare and would love to control and manipulate you so you will become as miserable as they are. After all, if they are determined to be "cramped, somber, dull, and listless," then they expect you to be that way, too. "Misery loves company" is the legalists' unspoken motto, though they never admit it.

Hope Beyond Failure!

Rarely will one of God’s heroes show up in the Scriptures having lived a life free of failure. Take Peter, for example. As soon as you read the name, you remember his story. Peter experienced the extreme highs and lows of life — from days spent in blessed fellowship with Christ...to the heart-wrenching erosion of loyalty when he denied the Lord. Not once. Not twice. Three times. Once he realized his failure, the Bible says, “he went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62).
Can you remember a failure that was so dramatic and so tearful for you that you hardly need to be reminded of the feelings? I remember Betsie ten Boom’s words, “There is no pit so deep but that He is not deeper still.” As dark and as deep and as tragic as your failure may be, He is willing to go to the depths of it with you.
This was true of Peter too. Look back at Luke 22. After the surprising warning of Satan’s attack, Jesus gave Peter a statement of fact: “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.” Then there was a veiled reassurance: “And you, when once you have turned again...”. Then a final command: “Strengthen your brothers” (22:32).
What does that suggest? It suggests that Peter was going to fall. “Once you have turned again.” “Retraced your steps” is another way someone else has put it. “Once you have turned again,” Jesus said, “then use it to strengthen your brothers.” Jesus knew Peter to the core. He knew Peter would fall, but He prayed for him that he would not remain fallen. Jesus loved Peter — even at his point of deepest weakness.
How did He prove that love? Mark 16:6-7 answers that question. After the Resurrection, while the women were standing at the tomb, an angel told them:

“Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter.” (emphasis added)

Isn’t that great? “Don’t forget Peter. He’s the last one who thinks that I’ll ever want to talk to him again. Tell Peter!” What grace!
Somewhere between the time Peter fell and this angelic announcement there was a process during which Peter wallowed in remorse, wishing he could, if possible, correct his error...but he couldn’t. And somewhere in the midst of it he heard the Lord say to him, “Peter, I forgive you. I understand. Use it to strengthen your brothers.”
That’s why Peter later was able to write the following words to early Christians:

May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection. (1 Peter 1:2-3, emphasis added)

Why did this mean so much to Peter? Because it was at the Resurrection Peter’s name was called, and the Lord in tender mercy said, “Tell him I’ve come back.”
First Peter is a letter of great hope written by a man who experienced it! By the time he wrote this letter, Peter had come to the place where he was not only back on the scene, he was aggressively engaged in the formation of the early church.
It can happen to you too. Just like fallen and forgiven Peter, you can find new hope despite your failures. If you are a believer, you are born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).
What tender mercy! What triumphant grace! Failure is not forever. God specializes in forgiveness and hope. He can use even your worst failures in a mighty way.

Creativity and Tenacity!

On May 24, 1965, a thirteen-and-a-half-foot boat slipped quietly out of the marina at Falmouth, Massachusetts. Its destination? England. It would be the smallest craft ever to make the voyage. Its name? Tinkerbelle. Its pilot? Robert Manry, a copy editor for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who felt that ten years at the desk was enough boredom for a while. So he took a leave of absence to fulfill his secret dream.
Manry was afraid . . . not of the ocean but of all those people who would try to talk him out of the trip. So he didn’t share it with many, just some relatives and his wife, Virginia, his greatest source of support.
The trip? Anything but pleasant. He spent harrowing nights of sleeplessness trying to cross shipping lanes without getting run over and sunk. Weeks at sea caused his food to become tasteless. Loneliness led to terrifying hallucinations. His rudder broke three times. Storms swept him overboard, and had it not been for the rope he had knotted around his waist, he would never have been able to pull himself back on board. Finally, after seventy-eight days alone at sea, he sailed into Falmouth, England.
During those nights at the tiller, he had fantasized about what he would do once he arrived. He expected simply to check into a hotel, eat dinner alone, then the next morning see if, perhaps, the Associated Press might be interested in his story. Was he in for a surprise! Word of his approach had spread far and wide. To his amazement, three hundred vessels, with horns blasting, escorted Tinkerbelle into port. And forty thousand people stood screaming and cheering him to shore.
Robert Manry, the copy editor-turned-dreamer, became an overnight hero. His story has been told around the world. We need more Roberts who have the creativity and the tenacity to break with boredom and try the unusual.

Act Medium!

The children worked long and hard on their little cardboard shack. It was to be a special spot—a clubhouse, where they could meet together, play, and have fun. Because a clubhouse has to have rules, they came up with three:

Nobody act big.
Nobody act small.
Everybody act medium.

Not bad theology!
In different words, God says the very same thing:

Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips. (Proverbs 27:2)

“Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.” (Matthew 20:26-27)

Give preference to one another in honor. (Romans 12:10)

Through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)

Regard one another as more important than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)

Just “act medium.” Believable. Honest, human, thoughtful, and down to earth. Regardless of your elevated position or high pile of honors or row of degrees or endless list of achievements, just stay real. Junk any idea that you deserve some kind of super recognition for a job well done. Who did you do it for anyway? If you did it for God, He has an infinite number of unseen ways to reward you. If you did it for human glory, no wonder you’re seeking the credit! So easy to draw out that praise for yourself, isn’t it? Ye olde ego is a wily one.
Just “act medium.”
Again, what is it Solomon said? “Let another praise you . . . a stranger, and not your own lips.”
Meaning what? Meaning no self-reference to some enviable accomplishment. Meaning refusal to scratch a back when yours itches. Meaning no desire to manipulate and manufacture praise. Meaning authentic surprise when applauded.
Like the inimitable Principal Cairns, headmaster of an English school, who was walking onto the platform along with other dignitaries. As he stepped up, a burst of spontaneous applause arose from the audience. In characteristic modesty, Cairns stepped back to let the man behind pass by . . . as he began to applaud his colleague. He genuinely assumed the applause was for another.
Just “act medium.”
But one final warning: Don’t try to fake it. False humility stinks worse than raw conceit.
The answer is not in trying to appear worthless or “wormy.” The answer lies in consistently taking notice of others’ achievements, recognizing others’ skills and contributions . . . and saying so. That’s called serving others in love. And that’s what Christ did.
Got the rules memorized?
“Nobody act big. Nobody act small. Everybody act medium.”
Such good advice from a clubhouse full of kids who, by the way, are pretty good at practicing what they preach.

A Sheltering Tree!

Shortly before his death, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote Youth and Age in which he reflected over his past and the strength of his earlier years.
To me, the most moving line in this quaint work is the statement: “Friendship is a sheltering tree. . . .”
How true . . . how terribly true! When the searing rays of adversity’s sun burn their way into our day, there’s nothing quite like a sheltering tree—a true friend—to give us relief in its cool shade. Its massive trunk of understanding gives security as its thick leaves of love wash our faces and wipe our brows. Beneath its branches have rested many a discouraged soul!
Let me name a few. Elijah was ready to quit. Depressed and threatened, he turned in his prophet’s badge and wrote out his resignation. God refused to accept either. He gave him rest, good food, and a “tree” named Elisha—who “ministered to him” (1 Kings 19:19-21). Using the analogy by Coleridge, Elijah rested in the shade of Elisha’s “sheltering tree.”
Paul had a similar experience. In fact, the trees in his life significantly sustained him. There was Barnabas who stood by him when everyone else ran from him (Acts 9:26-27; 11:25-26). There was Silas, his traveling companion over many an otherwise lonely mile (15:40-41). When you add Dr. Luke and Timothy and Onesiphorus and Epaphroditus and Aquila and Priscilla, you find a veritable forest of sheltering trees. Even Jesus enjoyed Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. Even He was refreshed beneath those sheltering branches from Bethany (John 11:5).
But of all the trees God placed beside His choice servants, one human redwood looms the largest, in my opinion. David was hunted and haunted by madman Saul. Between Saul and David, however, stood a sheltering tree named Jonathan. Loyal and dependable, Jonathan assured David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you” (1 Samuel 20:4). No limits. No conditions. No bargain. No reservations. Best of all, when things were at their worst, he “went to David . . . and encouraged him in God” (23:16). Why? Because he was committed to the basic principles of a friendship. Because he loved him as he loved himself (18:1). It was the kind of love that causes men to lay down their lives for their friends, as Jesus put it (John 15:13). No greater love exists on this globe.
Beneath whose branches are you refreshed, dear reader? Or, dare I ask, who rests beneath yours? Occasionally, I run across an independent soul who shuns the idea that he needs such a shelter, feeling that trees are for the immature, the spiritual babes, or those who haven’t learned to trust only in the Lord. It is that person I most pity, for his horizontal contacts are invariably superficial and shallow. Worst of all, his closing years on earth will be spent in the loneliest spot imaginable—a hot, treeless desert.
So, then, let’s be busy about the business of watering and pruning and cultivating our trees, shall we? Would I be more accurate if I added planting a few? Growing them takes time, you know . . . and you may really need a few when the heat rises and the winds begin to blow.

Conforming or Transforming?

Romans 12:1 deals with the physical, our bodies. Romans 12:2 deals with the metaphysical, our minds.
Jews focused all of their attention on the ethical, public behavior of a person, which is good in many ways. However, Jesus was not satisfied with mere external, physical obedience. He called for His followers to have clean hearts first, then clean hands (Matthew 15:17–20; Mark 7:14–15). That's because both sin and righteousness begin in the mind, meaning we have a choice between two alternatives. We can either "be conformed to this world" or we can "be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind" (Romans 12:2).
The Greek word for "conform" is syschematizo and means "to be molded according to a pattern." It is a compound of the preposition with and the term from which we get our English word schematic.
The word rendered "transform," metamorphoo, means "to be changed from one thing into another." This Greek word is transliterated to render the English word metamorphosis, which is commonly used to describe the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.
Our world was created good, but it has since been corrupted by human sin. We look forward to the day when Christ returns and refashions the world to reflect God's character. Until then, we are to reject the pattern of thinking that comes from the corrupted world and instead live out changed lives that look different from those who are living in accordance with the fallen world system.

Character: It’s Been Buried Long Enough!

Consider the words of Solomon: "He who walks in integrity walks securely, / But he who perverts his ways will be found out" (Proverbs 10:9). Before reading on, go back and read that again.

By the time Job had reared his family, established himself in the business world, and gotten up in years, he had become "the greatest of all the men of the east" (Job 1:3).

Joseph became Potiphar's personal servant and later was put in charge over all Potiphar owned (Genesis 39:5). Whether before the workers or handling huge sums of money or serving a large group of guests or all alone in the home with Mrs. Potiphar, Joseph could be trusted.

Daniel also comes to mind. He came up for promotion to prime minister, and those who envied him "began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel" (Daniel 6:4). They struck out. There was no dirt . . . no cover-up. After every attempt to dig up some questionable issue, "they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption" anywhere (6:4). Like Job and Joseph, Daniel walked securely in his integrity. He never feared being "found out."

What is it that these men had in common? Perfection? No, each person I have named was far from perfect. Easy times? Hardly. A closer look will reveal heartaches and hardships that would make your head swim. Well, how about an impressive presence, carefully choreographed by a public-image department? Don't make me laugh. So, how about slick rhetoric? Wrong again. We can dream up a half dozen other possibilities that some cynic might suggest, but they would be as far off target as the four I've mentioned.

What they had in common was character. Each man I have selected from the Scriptures had high moral character. It is easy to overlook that essential ingredient among leaders in our times . . . especially during an election year.

Unfortunately, we have grown accustomed to shrugging off secretive and deceptive lifestyles. We have heard so often that finding people who value honesty and model responsibility, who promote fairness, accountability, loyalty, and respect for others, and who hold to strong, upright convictions is not possible, it's not realistic. As one air-headed soul said recently, "We're voting for a president, not the pope." To such an analogy I reply, "Hogwash."

Call me old-fashioned or idealistic if you wish, but my passionate plea is that we unearth and restore the importance of character. It's been buried long enough. It belongs first on our list when searching for employees in the workplace. It must be a nonnegotiable among those we place into leadership positions in our schools, our cities, our state . . . and, absolutely, in our churches and in our nation. Character is what wholesome parents strive to cultivate in their children. It is what great moms and dads look for and long for among those their teenagers date. It is the foundational quality that all of us expect from the circle of professionals and laborers who serve us. We may not say it every time, but deep down in our souls, we long for and expect character. When it is lacking, we feel it; we resent it. Character is the "given" in greatness.

Then why, may I ask, is it so seldom mentioned? Could it be because most have come to believe we have no right to expect it? After all, "nobody's perfect."

It is character we require, I repeat, not perfection. From our nation's beginnings, back when great men and women, albeit imperfect, occupied places of leadership,  when public officials exhibited true virtue . . . dignity, self-mastery, resoluteness, determination, strength of will, moral purity, personal integrity, and sacrificial patriotism. They were selected and elected because they were examples in public leadership and in private life. Because some have failed to live up to the minimal standard does not change the ideal.

Solomon was right. Those with integrity walk securely . . . with no fear of being "found out." If men such as Job and Joseph and Daniel could demonstrate character in the worst of times, you and I can too—today.

And because we can, we must.

A Battle for Integrity in Todays World!

I must tell you that I have been troubled regarding the face of things in our country and within the family of God. My major battle has had to do with one word, one concept. My battle has to do with integrity.
In our nation—and in the church—there has been a falling away, a breakdown, and a compromise in integrity. Recent headlines have taught us that the boom of the 1990s was built on a foundation devoid of integrity. But compromise isn’t limited to CEOs who greedily sell out their employees or to pork-happy politicians. All too often we find a moral laxity behind our pews and, even worse, behind the pulpit.
Let me define what I mean by integrity. Webster’s tells us integrity means “an unimpaired condition.”¹ It means to be sound. The Hebrew word for integrity, tom, also means to be complete or solid.

So he shepherded them according to the integrity [tom] of his heart,
And guided them with his skillful hands. (Psalm 78:72)

Integrity is completeness or soundness. You have integrity if you complete a job even when no one is looking. You have integrity if you keep your word even when no one checks up on you. You have integrity if you keep your promises. Integrity means the absence of duplicity and is the opposite of hypocrisy. If you are a person of integrity, you will do what you say. What you declare, you will do your best to be. Integrity also includes financial accountability, personal reliability, and private purity. A person with integrity does not manipulate others. He or she is not prone to arrogance or self-praise. Integrity even invites constructive and necessary criticism because it applauds accountability. It’s sound. It’s solid. It’s complete.
Integrity is rock-like. It won’t crack when it has to stand alone, and it won’t crumble though the pressure mounts. Integrity keeps one from fearing the white light of examination or resisting the exacting demands of close scrutiny. It’s honesty at all costs.
The words of Louis Adamic seem fitting, “There is a certain blend of courage, integrity, character and principle which has no satisfactory dictionary name but has been called different things at different times in different countries. Our American name for it is ‘guts.’”²
I like that. Integrity is having the guts to tell the truth, even if it may hurt to do so. Integrity is having the guts to be honest, even though cheating may bring about a better grade. Integrity is having the guts to quote sources rather than to plagiarize.
But there are some things integrity is not. It is not sinless perfection. A person with integrity does not live a life absolutely free of sin. No one does. But one with integrity quickly acknowledges his failures and doesn’t hide the wrong.
Now, in addressing this crucial mark of character, I could come across as the “white knight,” but you know me better than that. I fail like everyone else. The sooner you remember that, the better we’ll get along. But concerning the issue of integrity, I give you my word. You will know if I have failed or if Insight for Living has failed in some way. I will tell you. I will not lead you to believe something is true if it is false. That is the least I can do as a minister of the Gospel.
Integrity is essential in the church, in the marketplace, and especially in the home. When you walk in integrity, you leave it as a legacy for your children to follow (Proverbs 20:7). It’s what I call the father’s thumbprint. Blessed are you if you had a father with integrity and a mother with guts.
When you work with integrity, you honor the Lord. Regardless of your profession, your character and conduct are methods of ministry. Over 50 years ago, Elton Trueblood wrote,

It is hard to think of any job in which the moral element is lacking. The skill of the dentist is wholly irrelevant if he is unprincipled and irresponsible. There is little, in that case, to keep him from extracting teeth unnecessarily, because the patient is usually in a helpless situation. It is easy to see the harm that can be done by an unprincipled lawyer. Indeed, such a man is far more dangerous if he is skilled than if he is not skilled.³

Do you put wire in walls? Do you repair cars? Do you work with numbers? Do you sell clothes? Perhaps you practice law or medicine. The important thing is not what work you do, but whether you do your work with integrity. Perhaps you labor behind the scenes, and your only thanks is the inner satisfaction of a job done right. Do you cheat on your exams? Are you cheating on your mate? Some have the audacity to do such things and call themselves Christians. No wonder the world is confused!
You want to shock the world? Start here . . . demonstrating the guts to do what’s right when no one is looking. It takes real guts to stand strong with integrity in a culture weakened by hypocrisy. Start today.

A Balanced View of Shame as it Should Be!

"You should be ashamed of yourself!"
No doubt many of us as kids heard remarks like that from our mom or dad. Maybe we had lied, played with matches, or been stopped for speeding in our mom's car. Whatever the infraction, we all implicitly knew (and rightly so) that we should feel bad about the wrongs we committed.
But too often our understanding of shame dwells at the extremes. Some are captivated by absolution and excuses, finding reasons not to be ashamed of the sinful behavior they are responsible for. On the other side are those who seek to dominate others through shame, using it as part of a harsh and controlling punishment that lacks anything resembling the grace and mercy God exhibits toward us. Neither of these extremes is appropriate; both avoid significant truths about God and humanity that Paul made clear in later chapters of Romans.
Novelist and essayist George MacDonald wrote: "To be humbly ashamed is to be plunged in the cleansing bath of truth."¹ Appropriate shame neither cripples through domination nor remains altogether absent. Shame should bring us to humility, not to humiliation. In its proper function, it serves to remind us that we are not self-sufficient, that because of our weakness in the face of temptations, we need to rely on Someone greater than ourselves to live well.
Too often we experience shame over the wrong issues or in too great a degree. Paul, in Romans 1:16, drew an important boundary around shame. He marked off the things of Christ, leaving shame to the realm of the sinful and disobedient. So it made perfect sense for Paul to say that he was "not ashamed of the gospel." He had no reason to be ashamed of it!
As we walk humbly with Christ and grow in Him, we will become more aware of our imperfections and more appreciative of His grace. Therefore, we should humble ourselves before God that we might be cleansed of our sin and shame, allowing ourselves to walk boldly into the world as God's representatives on earth, speaking truth, encouraging love, and showing kindness to those we encounter, just as Paul did.

The MORMON Religion EXPOSED! The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints!

Joseph Smith allegedly received the gold Nephi plates (the book of Mormon) from the angel Moroni.  Even if the so called angel, "Moroni", really did appear to Joseph Smith, he is still accursed because the gospel of the Book of Mormon is very different from the gospel of the Bible. Since the Book of Mormon does not conform to the standard of the Bible, it is NOT Christian, but condemned being a new and false gospel. 

The Mormon religion is straight out of the pits of Hell. Mormonism denies the deity of Jesus Christ. Mormonism teaches that a person must be baptized to go to Heaven. Mormonism is a sexually degenerate cult that is known for pedophilia and abuse. There are many more links down below. Mormonism has the wrong jesus, not the Jesus of the Bible Who is Almighty God (John 10:33; Revelation 1:8).

1. "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:6-8).
    
2. "Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind" (Colossians 2:18).
    

Some of the Most Blasphemous and Damnable Mormon Doctrines

1. "We believe in a God who is Himself progressive, whose majesty is intelligence; whose perfection consists in eternal advancement -- a Being who has attained His exalted state by a path which now His children are permitted to follow, whose glory it is their heritage to share. In spite of the opposition of the sects, in the face of direct charges of blasphemy, the Church proclaims the eternal truth: 'As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be.'" (LDS Apostle James E. Talmage, Articles of Faith, Ch.24, p.430 - p.431, LDS Collectors Library '97 CD-ROM)
    
2. " 'It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God,' the inspired word continues, 'and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another, and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did.' The Father is a glorified, perfected, resurrected, exalted man who worked out his salvation by obedience to the same laws he has given to us so that we may do the same." (LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.64, LDS Collectors Library '97 CD-ROM)
    
3. "Thus, on this beautiful spring morning in the Sacred Grove, Joseph Smith witnessed the renewal of God's dealing with his children in accordance with the great gospel plan of redemption. Upon this occasion God the Father and his Beloved Son Jesus Christ appearing as glorified Resurrected Beings unto a chosen servant of God, made known once again the state of immortality which man will attain in preparation for the next estate of eternity; that also the world once again could know the reality of the personal nature of God the Father and his Beloved Son. (LDS Apostle Alvin R. Dyer, Conference Report, April 1963, p.49 - p.50, LDS Collectors Library '97 CD-ROM)
    
4. "As we stretch our imaginations to absorb the limitlessness of the creations of God we turn to a favorite song: If you could hie to Kolob in the twinkling of an eye, And then continue onward with that same speed to fly, D'ye think that you could ever, through all eternity, Find out the generation where Gods began to be? Or see the grand beginning, where space did not extend? Or view the last creation where Gods and matter end? Methinks the Spirit whispers, "No man has found 'pure space,'" Nor seen the outside curtains, where nothing has a place. The works of God continue, and worlds and lives abound; Improvement and progression have one eternal round. There is no end to matter; there is no end to space; There is no end to spirit; there is no end to race." (LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p.250, LDS Collectors Library '97 CD-ROM)
    
5. "God: Creator And Ruler Of Many Worlds. -- While it is true that evolutionists may be divided between theistic and atheistic groups, yet most of those professing belief in God consider him to be an indefinable force, essence, or power of an incomprehensible nature. According to revelation, however, he is a personal Being, a holy and exalted Man, a glorified, resurrected Personage having a tangible body of flesh and bones, an anthropomorphic Entity, the personal Father of the spirits of all men. (D. & C. 130:22- 23; Moses 6:51, 57; Abra. 3:22-24; Jos. Smith 2:16-19.)"
    
6. "We are members of the family of the Eternal Father. He is a glorified and exalted and eternal Being, having a resurrected body of flesh and bones. His name is God, and the kind of life he lives is God's life. His name is also Eternal, and the name of the kind of life he lives is eternal life. Eternal life is God's life, and God's life is eternal life. We are commanded to be perfect as he is perfect and to advance and progress until we become like him, or in other words, until we gain eternal life. Thus Joseph Smith said, "You have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power." (Teachings, pp. 346-47.) Christ our Lord has so obtained, thus enabling him to say to the faithful: "Ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father." (3 Ne. 28:10.)" (LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, Vol.1, p.23 - p.24, LDS Collectors Library '97 CD-ROM)
    
7. "I will prove that the world is wrong, by showing what God is. I am going to inquire after God; for I want you all to know Him, and to be familiar with Him; and if I am bringing you to a knowledge of Him, all persecutions against me ought to cease. You will then know that I am His servant; for I speak as one having authority. ... "I will go back to the beginning before the world was, to show what kind of a being God is.
   
   What sort of a being was God in the beginning? Open your ears and hear, all ye ends of the earth. for I am going to prove it to you by the Bible, and to tell you the designs of God in relation to the human race, and why He interferes with the affairs of man. ... "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!
   
   That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, was to make himself visible,--I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form--like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with Him, as one man talks and communes with another. ...
   
   "In order to understand the subject of the dead, for consolation of those who mourn for the loss of their friends, it is necessary we should understand the character and being of God and how He came to be so; for I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see. ... "These are incomprehensible ideas to some, but they are simple.
   
   It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another, and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did; and I will show it from the Bible. ... "I wish I was in a suitable place to tell it, and that I had the trump of an archangel, so that I could tell the story in such a manner that persecution would cease forever. What did Jesus say? (Mark it, Elder Rigdon!)
   
   The scriptures inform us that Jesus said, as the Father hath power in himself, even so hath the Son power--to do what? Why, what the Father did. The answer is obvious--in a manner to lay down his body and take it up again. Jesus, what are you going to do? To lay down my life as my Father did, and take it up again. Do you believe it? If you do not believe it you do not believe the Bible.
   
   The scriptures say it, and I defy all the learning and wisdom and all the combined powers of earth and hell together to refute it. Here, then, is eternal life--to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings. and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power. And I want you to know that God, in the last days, while certain individuals are proclaiming His name, is not trifling with you or me." (LDS President Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol.6, Ch.14, p.305-6, LDS Collectors Library '97 CD-ROM)
    
8. "Intelligent beings are organized to become Gods, even the Sons of God, to dwell in the presence of the Gods, and become associated with the highest intelligences that dwell in eternity. We are now in the school, and must practice upon what we receive." (LDS President Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p.245, LDS Collectors Library '97 CD-ROM)
    
9. "This was the calling of Joseph Smith. He taught anew that God was in the form of man; that man was made in the image of God; and he taught the principles of justice, mercy, charity, and forgiveness. ... He taught the truths that the Prophets before him had taught; and he went beyond them. ... Joseph Smith taught men to look up to heaven and conceive of a God in the form of man. He taught them that they could become like their Father and God, who was 'an exalted Man.' And what is more simple and reasonable? Don't you parents expect your children to become like you? Or do you expect your children to be something else than men and women? No. You men will see your sons become men; you women will see your daughters become women.
   
   Then God our Father--yes, and our Mother--in heaven, looking down upon this world-- this school house in which their children are being educated--expect, and Joseph Smith taught it as a truth, that their children will be exalted, if they pursue the proper course, until they shall become divine beings themselves, worthy to stand upon that plane where stand their Father and their Mother in heaven. Like begets like; and the principle of eternal progress will make of man a God. (LDS Apostle Orson F. Whitney, Collected Discourses, Vol.5, May 8, 1898, LDS Collectors Library '97 CD-ROM)
    

Mormons deny the deity of Jesus Christ

The Deity of Jesus Christ is a fundamental doctrine of the faith, yet Mormons deny Christ's deity. Instead, Mormons promote man to the status of being "gods." Mormonism is straight from Hell and must be exposed for the lies that it teaches. The Word of God proclaims that Jesus Christ is God (John 1:1-3,10,14). Isaiah 9:6 called Jesus the "Everlasting Father." John 10:33 reads, "The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." The Jews were trying to kill Jesus because He was claiming to be God. They also tried to murder Jesus in John 8:57-59. 

In fact, Jesus professed Himself as Almighty God in Revelation 1:8, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Jesus forgave sin as only God can do (Mark 2:5). Jesus accepted worship as only God is entitled to (Isaiah 42:8; Matthew 8:2). Mormons wickedly deny Christ's deity, while selfishly proclaiming their own. Mormons have foolishly bought into the Devil's lie that they will one day become gods. The Word of God never teaches any such nonsense. There is and always will be only one Living God (Deuteronomy 6:4).
 

The Deity of Man Promoted

"Mormons teach that man can become God, and that God was once a man:

'God himself, the Father of us all, is a glorified, exalted immortal resurrected man!' (Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp. 322-23, 517, 643)
'...God himself was once as we are now and is an exalted man and sits enthroned in yonder heavens...' (Journal of Discourses, V6, P3, 1844)
'As man is, God once was: as God is, man may become.' (Lorenzo Snow, quoted in Milton R. Hunter, the Gospel Through the Ages, pp. 105-106)

This is plain and simple heresy. Nowhere does the Bible say or imply that God was ever a man, or that man can become God! Malachi 3:6 says, 'For I am the LORD, I change not...' How could this be true if God was once a man? Genesis 1:1 states that God existed 'in the beginning' before man was ever created. John 4:24 states that God is a 'spirit,' and Jesus tells us in John 1:18 that no man has seen God at any time. Numbers 23:19 says that 'God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent.' God has always been God, and no one has ever 'become' God." -quote by Pastor James Melton
 

Mormons Teach Salvation by Works

"Mormons believe that one's salvation is based on such good works as baptism, good deeds, missionary work, and following Mormon teachings. In The Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, justification by faith in Jesus Christ is called a "pernicious doctrine" twice and he states that it has been "an influence for evil." (pp. 107, 480) Bruce McConkie once stated at Brigham Young University that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is "improper and perilous" (Church News, March 20, 1982, p. 5)" -quote by Pastor James Melton

The Word of God clearly teaches that salvation is by simple heart's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 10:10).  Titus 3:5 reads, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."  The "washing of regeneration" is NOT speaking about baptism, but about the blood of Jesus that washes our sins away..."...and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." -1st John 1:7.  When we receive Christ as our Saviour, our sins are cleanses away by Jesus blood.  Colossians 1:14 declares, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins."

John 1:12,13 proclaim, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  Salvation is of God friend, NOT you or anyone else.  Good works cannot save us.  The Pope cannot save us.  The priest cannot save us.  The church cannot save us.  Baptism cannot save us.  Missionary work cannot save us. 

The sacraments cannot save us.  ONLY Jesus can save us, and Jesus is God!  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" -John 14:6.  It's Jesus or Hell friend, turn or burn!  Please turn from your unbelief while you still can, and place your complete trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and save you.  Please read, God's Simple Plan.
 

Mormon Church Spends $6.73 Per Member On Humanitarian Aid Annually!

Mormons church members give an average of $6.73 per year to help the needy, while spending BILLIONS on shopping malls and real estate. As clearly seen, Mormonism is a business and not a Biblical church. The following information is from EXMormon.org...

The numbers below are from an official Mormon church publication. Notice how they use the sum of a 25 year span to make the number look significant. Breaking it down to an annual basis and to a per member basis demonstrates how little the Mormon church gives in charitable aid.

http://www.providentliving.org/welfare/pdf/WelfareFactSheet.pdf

Humanitarian assistance rendered (1985-2009)
Cash Donations $327.6 million
Value of Material Assistance $884.6 million

The value of material assistance is a wild guess from materials donated by members and not directly out of the church's pocket. We will assume that it actually came from the church directly for simplicity.

Let's look at the numbers.

Total number of years: 25 years
Total amount of aid: $1,212.2 million (cash 327.6 + materials 884.6)

Amount of aid per year: ($1,212.2 / 25 yr) = $48.5 million per year

Let's assume an average of 12 million members of the church over that 25 year time span.

($80.8 / 12) = $6.73 per member given in charitable aid per year!!!

Just so that this is clear - The Mormon church only gives out $6.73 in charitable aid per member per year.

SOURCE: So how much help is the Mormon church now giving members and nonmembers?

The Mormon church receives $5,800,000,000 annually in contributions just from members in the United States!!! Over five billion dollars a year, and yet they only give $6.73 each to the poor and homeless. This is typical of a manmade cult that has nothing to do with Biblical Christianity. The Bible defines religion as helping the poor fatherless and widows in their affliction; yet remain unspotted by the wicked world. The Mormon church is one of the wealthiest religions upon the earth...

"The Mormon Church's City Creek Mall and related development now at an astonishing $5 Billion Dollars!! Five Billion Dollars Do not give your hard earned money in tithing to the Mormon church. An organization that spends 15-20 times more on real estate to develop malls than on helping the poor is, by any definition, a corporation, not a religion."

SOURCE: Mormon Church's City Creek Project Now at 5 Billion Dollars - March 2012 | Recovery from Mormonism

Sad, so sad!
 

Elite Occult Sex Abuse of Children is Epidemic Worldwide

Mormons masquerade as true Christians, but they are of the Devil. Few people ever come to recognize the true occult nature and satanic depth of the Mormon cult. If you do some research, you will learn quickly that the common denominator between all false so-called Christian religions in America is Freemasonry. These demonic fake religions include: Jehovah's Witnesses, Charismatics (Oral Roberts), Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventism, Judaism, Kaballah, Christian Science, Churches of Christ, Scientology and Wicca). Mormonism is steeped in Jewish Kabbala. Freemasonry, Judaism, Kaballa and Mormonism are ALL SEX-BASED CULTS!!! The very emblem of Freemasonry—the compass and the carpenter's square—symbolizes sexual intercourse.

Opium Brides (heroine & 7-year old girls taken in Afghanistan for pedophile global elite)

Why is it that Americans are being policed with trained guard dogs, bag searches, strip searches, naked body scans, TSA pat downs and groping, Darth Vader looking thug cops, and an increasingly intolerant attitude toward innocent citizens? Yet, meanwhile, families in Afghanistan are totally helpless against the thug drug lords that are stealing their 7-year old daughters to be raped by the global elite. NATO actually protects the criminals. Afghan farmers are forced to grow opium because other forms of honest living are not allowed nor practical in a corrupt system.

Through cleverly designed newsmedia propaganda, white-washing and deliberate disinformation (lying and deceiving), the globalist owned and controlled newsmedia has been able to suppress the blatant horrendous crimes of the global elite themselves [which includes the 911 attacks, the Iraqi war, and the ongoing farming of opium (heroine) crops in Afghanistan and thug stealing of Afghan's little girls to supply the insatiable pedophile appetite of the globalists.]

Goldman Sachs Caught Investing In Sex-Trafficking Ring (Mitt Romney's wife invested too)

Homosexual Prostitution, Child Molesting, the CIA and Washington D.C. Officials

Why is Goldman Sachs running a sex-slave fund? Oh, did I mention the List Of 37 Names of GOLDMAN SACHS People in the Obama Government?

The White (Goldman Sachs) House (Goldman Sachs in the White House)

It's such a con job. It's all a big scam, intended to harvest the daughters of the Afghani people. Where are the authorities? Where is the government? Where are the U.S. troops that are supposed to be liberating their country? Our troops are being exploited as paid mercenaries and opium farmers! The popular excuse is that it's “THE CULTURE.” Watch the preceding video all the way through. A culture of child rape by drug lords? Who's kidding who?

The global elite are behind all of this, making every lame excuse that the indifferent American people are willing to accept. Most people just don't care anymore. Most people have thin skin and a hot temper if you offend them in any way. Christianity is becoming a rare and extinct breed these days. I still care. I love Jesus Christ! I care about others! The hallmark quality of being a Christian is CARING!
 

Mormon Sex Abuse Claims

The following links are provided by Cult expert, Rick Ross:

LDS Church to appeal verdict on sex abuse
LDS Church told to pay $4.2 million in abuse case
Church liable in girls' abuse
Former Mormon missionary spared prison in Vegas child sex case
LDS Church Missionary Accused Of Sexual Abuse
Second church volunteer arrested in child abuse probe
Mormon Church Worker Charged With Child Sex Abuse
LDS Teacher, Sheriff's Employee Accused of Abusing Girl
Family Sues Mormon Church
Abuse alleged in Mormon lawsuit
Former Mormon stake president pleads guilty to soliciting Internet sex with teen
Church not responsible for abusers
Court asked to revisit church ruling
Former Bishop Charged With Sex Abuse Fired From Corrections Job
Former West Valley LDS Bishop Accused of Sex Abuse
Former Mormon missionary in Vegas indicted on child sex charges
Teacher Charged: Suspect's Computer Examined
Mormon missionary accused of fondling girls at Vegas church
Mormon missionary accused of fondling girls at Vegas church
Former Mormon bishop busted
Mormon Church sued again regarding child sexual abuse
Mormon Church accused of failure to report sexual abuse
LDS Church Is Targeted In Lawsuit
Mormon Leader Denounces Sex Abuse
Sex Abuse Lawsuit Is Settled by Mormons for $3 Million
Sex Case May Pry Open Finances of LDS Church
Crisis of Identity
Judge orders Mormons to provide sex-abuse records
Pressure to Forgive Challenges Mormon Families, Divides Wards
Sexual abuse of children in the Mormon Church
Clergy Ignores Victims, Allege LDS Plaintiffs
Mormon psychologist's recanting about church flaw puzzles some

Reasons to Reject the Book of Mormon

1. There is no room for the Book of Mormon because the Bible itself claims to be all-sufficient, compete and incorruptible and our judge on the last day.
2. The Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible.
3. The Book of Mormon makes many scientifically false statements.
4. Absolutely none of the specific historical content of the Book of Mormon has been verified through Archeological finds.
5. We do not have the Gold Nephi Plates for the world to examine.
6. Although the original 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon was alleged to be inspired in its English translation, there have been thousands of changes, corrections, additions and deletions. Most Mormons have never seen the original 1830 "inspired" edition and would be shocked if they did.
7. Although they claim direct guidance by God, the Mormon church is among the most divided church in the world with more than 89 different sects who will not cooperate with each other.
8. The book of Doctrines & Covenants is very different depending upon which sect you are talking to.
9. The three witnesses of the B of M were all excommunicated by the Mormon church and were of less than ideal character.

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God's Simple Plan