Heaven Bound

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“Then Moses said, ‘This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea:

If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive ino the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.” Numbers 16:28-30

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May 15, 2023

This past Monday May 15th was a day of heart wrenching contrasts. We were traveling out of state to the funeral of my father’s youngest sister. She was blessed with a long and prosperous life and was the last of ten siblings to pass away. As we were traveling, we received news of a mass shooting in our community. We are a large town but not really a city so the community was devastated to learn that three people had lost their lives that morning and that two police officers had been wounded along with other bystanders. The shooter (we later learned) was 18 years old and died at the hands of police officers when he refused to put down his weapon and fired on them. I was reading this on social media as we were traveling to our destination … and it was completely devastating to learn what had been happening in our community that morning.

Once we reached the location of the funeral we took our seats looking around for various family members some of whom we had not seen in many years. The hugs that followed and the memories shared did its work in tempering the sadness with smiles and chuckles at the recollection of happier times in years gone by.

Bittersweet

But it was bitter sweet. My aunt who passed away as well as much of my extended family are not saved. Oh, yes, the funeral was at a “church” or rather one which masquerades as a church, I should say. And who am I speaking of except The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – the Mormons.

For those of you who are not familiar “the Church” or Mormons as we know them today was started in 1820 by Joseph Smith who after a series of visions claimed he was told by God that ” all other churches or denominations were corrupt” and an “abomination”. And that he was to do a new thing by restoring the true church of Jesus Christ to the earth and the gospel which had been lost. In order to do this he would need to write a new book which would be superior to the Bible translated from buried golden plates on which ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were written – known today as The Book of Mormon.

After gaining a huge following Smith was assassinated in 1844 while being held in jail in Nauvoo, Illinois on charges of polygamy. Now you might think that would be the end of this wild scheme but martyrdom can be like fuel to a fire and when a talented and charismatic man by the name of Brigham Young took the reins everything would change. Moving the faithful West from Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 – it was really only the beginning.

Biblical Doctrine vs Mormon Doctrine

God per the Bible – The eternal I am. Self existent from everlasting to everlasting. The one and only God who exists in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God per Mormon Doctrine – Was once a man who received exaltation to Godhood by following the tenants of the everlasting gospel – which they claim to be Mormonism. There are many God’s who reign over the various planets throughout the Universe (again, according to them) each existing with his own spirit wife (or wives) producing spirit children for the planet they over see. Any Mormon male who follows all their various rites and rituals satisfactorily may on his death do the same.

Jesus- per the Bible. Fully man and fully God, the second person of the Trinity whose existence is from everlasting and by whom all things were created whose death and resurrection made it possible for guilty sinners to be reconciled to God by his death on the cross.

Jesus per Mormonism. Just one of many spirit children of Elohim and his wife who was chosen at a divine council to be sent to earth to be the Savior. His brother Lucifer (who per the Bible is a fallen angel – not a spirit brother to Jesus as Mormons claim) was outraged that he was not selected and began a diabolical plan to thwart Jesus from the task he had been sent to do.

The Holy Spirit – per the Bible, the third person of the Triune God.

The Holy Spirit per Mormonism- A Spirit but not part of the triune God.

The Bible – The inerrant, immutable, unchanging word of God.

The Bible – per Mormonism. Reliable only as far as it has been translated correctly. Which provides an automatic out for them regarding any part of it that does not line up with their doctrine.

And this is just scratching the surface.

The Way it Was

When I was growong up in Utah as a non Mormon in a predominantly Mormon town … very small town – the differences between Mormonism and Christianity were huge. Remember they had rejected all other denominations as corrupt. Fast forward to the last few years particularly with the advent of The Chosen television program and you will find they are now going to great lengths to be viewed as Christian in the traditional sense where in the past they sought to be distanced from other denominations. I would be so bold as to say they are now in the process of attempting to not only be accepted but to dominate. And with the immense popularity of The Chosen co-produced by Evangelical Christian Dallas Jenkins in cooperation with VidAngel a Mormon production company it is not hard to see how this is working out as The Chosen is immensely popular among Mormons.

Korah’s Sin

In the book of Numbers Korah and his followers are questioning the leadership of Moses. In spite, of being chosen by God for the task of leading the Israelite people Korah and his bunch are resentful of his authority to the point of rebellion. Moses listens to them then takes it up with God where it is then put to the test. If God has not sent Moses the men will die a natural death (in due time as through the course of life) but if God had sent Moses the earth would open up swallowing the rebellious in a sudden, swift and terrifying death – which is exactly what happened.

Sudden Destruction

Before I continue, I want to say that the incident I am about to share has no personal reflection on my Aunt as she was a sweet and delightful woman that I have loved since childhood. I mean her absolutely no disrespect but found the following to be very interesting and worthy of contemplation.

After the service we traveled to the outskirts of town where you will find probably the most dismal Cemetery in existence. It is literally sand …a big ant hill. People have done their best to mitigate its horrendous appearance by covering the graves in colored gravel decorated with all sorts of accoutrement from the deceased particularly if they were children. Our family gathered around the gravesite for closing remarks and prayer. The casket was resting to the right from where I stood while the actual grave site (the hole) situated to the left was covered by a piece of plywood and a thin layer of fake green grass. After the closing prayer by my cousin – my Aunts youngest son – her more immediate family began gathering on the green carpet next to the coffin for photos. This would be her children, grandchildren and their spouses. I saw them taking pictures but was busy talking to other relatives so I wasn’t paying close attention- suddenly I heard a great commotion and screaming which startled me and as I turned to look the plywood over the hole had given away and all who had been standing on it – adults and children were suddenly and unexpectedly dropped in to the grave. As you can imagine there was an immediate scrambling to pull people out as the rest of us stood with our mouths hanging open – the coffin rocking widly side to side and close to tipping over completely as the plywood gave out. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Mortified, yes but not hurt as no one had expected to try out the gravesite ahead of the deceased.

Now, I don’t know how often something like this happens. I’m surprised the funeral home did not have the area roped off to keep people off the actual gravesite. My husband said he was watching and wondering how long the plywood would hold out before it gave way as more and more people were added for photographs. And sure enough at some point the stress became too much and down they went.

Why Now?

I couldn’t help but give some spiritual thought to all of this and while it was more than likely just one of those crazy things that eventually ends up on things like America’s Funniest Home Videos … I still thought there was something to be learned – besides the obvious – beware of standing over open grave sites. I mentioned it to my daughter who smart girl that she is stated that it reminded her of the incident known as Korahs Rebellion in the book of Numbers where the earth swallowed up the people who were in rebellion to God’s appointed authority Moses. “Wow, yes,” I said, “I think you’re on to something”. As I thought about it more I realized that my cousin – my Aunts youngest son who is highly involved in the Mormon Church was the last to speak before this incident. He gave the closing prayer. I don’t remember his exact words and with my hearing impairment could not catch most of them anyway but what I could hear was the very unusual usage of the term “Lord” … as in “Dear Lord” which is obviously how most Christians pray. However, I have never in 68 years living among Mormon people heard prayer started this way. They usually use the term Heavenly Father or Savior in a generic sense but never Lord. I think this is a direct reflection on interacting with other Christian denominations through media such as The Chosen because this is new. Now, before you think “well, that’s good” – not so fast. How can you address Jesus as Lord while rejecting the authority of his word? Jesus is the Living Word. Mormon theology has not changed – only the terms they use have. Any surprise then when the plywood gave way that it was my cousin who had given the closing prayer who fell into the pit along with his wife, children and grandchildren. I think not.

Rebellion – it comes in many forms and by its very definitionis a rejectionof authority. A troubled teen who takes to the streets with a gun and religious leaders who preach sermons and use words that while sweet on the tongue are cloaked in rebellion. Like Jesus said of the Pharisees –

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” Matthew 23:15

Why? Because they rejected the authority by which Jesus spoke. So making converts was completely useless. The blind cannot lead the blind or they will both fall in to a pit – as the scripture says. Matthew 15:14

Regardless of whether the Cemetery incident was a complete fluke or something more – the imagery for me was extremely powerful. And my heart cries out to the Lord for my many friends and family lost to this diabolical religious system- including my own dear younger brother. These people are for the most part sweet, kind and compassionate human beings – productive citizens who make their neighborhoods and cities a better place to live but are completely lost in a false religious system – that by its very nature is in rebellion to the true God of the Bible.

Please pray for them and all lost to false religions – the merging of all these religious systems are happening right now – in real time – an obvious sign of the times in which we live.

And, as always-

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper who love thee “. Psalm 122:6

Watching and waiting with YOU for the soon return of Jesus! Cindy