Separation of Church and State

 Can we teach school without God? It is impossible. First or all, God created time and space. Our school building takes up space that was created by God. We are using time which God created to occupy that space. We have not created our own space and time for educating students. During school we breathe air that was designed by God. We enjoy the sunshine that God created. We are teaching students that have been created by God. We have not created our own children. Furthermore, the students we teach have been made in the image of God. There is no scenario where we could teach even one second without divine intervention. Nature/science itself proclaims the majesty of God. "For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse." Romans 1:20

Eternal Insecurity?

 

Eternal Insecurity

          A man on Facebook proclaimed that the “once saved, always saved” doctrine of eternal security is “leading people to hell!”  He didn’t give any reasoning for his statement, but is there any truth in his words?  A man hears a sermon, says a sinners pray and the preacher states “once saved, always saved”.  Then for the next 30 years, he doesn’t return to church.  The fruit of the spirit are not seen in his life.  He does not reach out to God because he thinks his ticket has been punched for the pearly gates.  He takes the preachers word on it.  Is he trusting in God or trusting in a mere procedure?  Do procedures save?

          Does our friend fall into the Ezekiel 18:24?  “But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live?  All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.”  Is our salvation-confident friend hell-bound?

          Is he in the lukewarm category?  Revelation 3:16 says, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”  Is our friend going to be spat out and rejected?

          Is our friend in the “never knew you” category?  Matthew 7:21-23 states, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

          Romans 8:35-39 tells us that circumstances do not separate us from the love of God.  “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?.... neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Is it possible to be always loved by God and on the fast track to hell at the same time?  Can we have unconditional love for those who are going the wrong way?

          So what about the preacher’s words?  A man raised his hand, walked the aisle, repeated a sinner’s prayer and the preacher stated “once saved, always saved”.  Is this saying, inadvertently, leading our overly-confident, complacent friend to the gates of hell?

Gods of Mormonism?

 Quotes from the Journal of Discourses 6:1-11

2.  "...God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens."  

3.  "We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity, I will refute that idea, and will take away and do away the vail, so that you may see."

4.  "... and that he was once a man like us;"

5.  "...you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves,..."

6.  "To inherit the same power, the same glory, and the same exaltation, until you arrive at the station of a God and ascend the throne of eternal power, the same as those who have gone before."

7.  "My Father worked out his kingdom with fear and trembling, and I must do the same; and when I get my kingdom, I shall present it to my Father, so that he may obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and it will exalt him in glory.  He will then take a higher exaltation, and I will take his place, and thereby become exalted myself.  So that Jesus treads in the track of his Father, and inherits what God did before; and God is thus glorified and exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all his children."

8.  "The mind of the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal with God himself."

9.  "The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end....  There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they co-equal with our Father in heaven."

10.  "Knowledge saves a man; and in the world of spirits no man can be exalted but by knowledge.  ...If a man has knowledge, he can be saved;"

A Temple Not Made With Hands

 

Heavenly Temple

Not Made with Human Hands

By Robert Jacquez

      There are many temples around the world which have been built by human hands.  But there is another sanctuary in heaven.  The Apostle Paul stood on mars hill and surprised the Athenians when he spoke of where God does not dwell.  "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands" (Acts 17:24).  Paul gave the same message to the Corinthians.  "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1).  Hebrews 9:24 continues this theme.  "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us."  We have all seen doll houses.  They can be nice but they are just a small figure of a real house.  If the glorious temple built by king Solomon is merely a figure of the true temple, then the temple in heaven must be beyond glorious!  Hebrews 9:11-12 says, "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."  Can you imagine a temple made by God, the greatest designer in the universe?