Que Sera, Sera

I almost forgot! According to Harold Camping of Family Radio, the world will end tomorrow (as opposed to last May 21st when obviously it did not).

(Big Sigh)

100% of all end-of-the-world predictions have been wrong. It's like playing a lottery you have no possibility of winning. Has Mr. Camping ever read Matthew 24? Perhaps he is really trying to predict his own passing?

When I was in junior high one of my friends told me the world was going to end on such-and-such a day. She knew because there had been a speaker at her church and the speaker showed them all the signs from the Bible that had "come true". My friend told me to read the Book of Revelation and that it would scare me to death. I did read it, or tried to, but found it too confusing and gave up. Decided to pray instead. And wouldn't you know, here we are +/-35 years later, still waiting for the world's demise.

Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see. Que sera, sera. What will be, will be.

UPDATE: There was a 4.0 magnitude earthquake near the Family Radio headquarters!!! I cannot imagine the reaction inside that building. ROFL

I tried to find something about end times predictions in the late 70s to pinpoint what my friend was talking about  and I found this list of predicted dates of the end of the world on Wikipedia (Martin Luther made the list!).

More Counterfeit Christianity!!

The very same week I published the example of Counterfeit Christianity from Family Time Radio, I received an Anointed Unusual Bible Faith Church Prayer Rug from St. Matthews Churches. This scam is well-documented on the Internet. The "rug" is a piece of paper about the size and weight of a paper place mat. I'm suppose to kneel on it and pray for something I need then send it back to the church along with a letter telling them my name and address and asking them to pray for me. Will they pray for me? I don't know. Will they prey on me? Definitely.

There are five pieces in the envelope - an instructional letter, the prayer rug, a special prophecy, success stories, and a return envelope. The only Gospel message is on the back of the prophecy sheet. It says, "Due to Christ's death on the cross and His resurrection, we all who are redeemed can gain eternal life. Christ died on the cross for our sins (St. John 3:16)." What I find most disturbing about the mailing is the trinket I'll receive if I return the letter and rug with my prayer request: a Deuteronomy 8:18 Prosperity Cross. (Deut. 8:18: "You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.")

The "prosperity" found through the cross is NOT worldly wealth. I would say the prosperity of the cross is defined in Colossians 1:19-20: "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross."

Or in 1 Peter 2:24: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."

Yes, pray for what you need. Yes, ask fellow believers to pray for you. But, no, don't get caught-up in prosperity gospel scams. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

Counterfeit Christianity

I got this flyer in the mail some time ago. What really caught my eye is the date: May 21, 2011 – my wedding anniversary! The end of the world on my anniversary?! Maybe I need to rethink my dinner plans....Or maybe not.

Eschatology is my least favorite subject so I didn’t rush to read through the flyer. It is a legal-sized piece of paper divided into four columns, printed on the front and back in smallish (for my old eyes) print. It is from Family Radio.

So this week I finally read the flyer. First time through I thought (among other things) Where’s the Gospel? The second time through I found what I think is suppose to be the Gospel. It is the only time Jesus is mentioned. From the bottom of page 2 and top of page 3 of the flyer:

Because God is so great and glorious He calls Himself by many different names. Each name tells us something about the glorious character and nature of God. Thus in the Bible we find such names as God, Jehovah, Christ, Jesus, Lord, Allah, Holy Spirit, Savior, etc. Names such as Jehovah, Jesus, Savior, and Christ particularly point to God as the only means by which forgiveness from all of our sins and eternal life can be obtained by God’s merciful and glorious actions.

This forgiveness was made possible because Christ took upon Himself each and every sin of each and every person He saves from the wrath of God. The Holy Bible describes this astounding action as it was demonstrated by Jesus, who never ceased to be God, being put to death on the cross to show how He paid for sins. He then was raised from the grave and returned into heaven.

That is why the Bible has much to say about those who place their complete trust in Christ, who did all the work required for salvation, after they become saved from the wrath of God.

To make things more interesting, the last two paragraphs are deleted from Family Radio’s html version here, but are still found on the website’s pdf version here.

Family Radio claims to be a Bible-based Christian broadcasting ministry with no church affiliation. If Family Radio is Christian, and its founder Harold Camping claims to be Christian, why are they ashamed of the Gospel???

Salvation comes by the grace of God alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone as Lord and Savior who was crucified and died on the cross for our sins.

…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. – Romans 5:8-9

Snakes Alive!

When I heard churches called "snake handling" I thought they must be joking. I guess it is no joke:

Religious snake-handlers busted in Kentucky

I've got a new favorite quote (from the last paragraph of the article): "You can purchase anything off the Internet except common sense."

You can say THAT again!

The Media's Favorite Cult

Excellent news, shoppers! The FLDS now has an online store:

http://fldsdress.com

It appears their vacation outside the compound taught them something about capitalism and marketing. Good for them! Enterprising Americans!

I admit, I am tempted to buy one of those little dresses for my 3-year old. Or one of the nightgowns! So cute!! Kinda pricey.... I could make them for less.... if I could sew properly.

Moral dilemma - is it right to support (via a business transaction) a polygamist cult?

(Yeah, that's coming from someone who just vacationed in Vegas. Ha ha ha.)

But wait! Before you answer, did you know the Walton family that founded (and still owns a large percentage of) the Wal-Mart chain is Mormon?

Caught between a rock and a hard place...

Fashionistas [edited 4 hrs. later]

There is an AP article about the FLDS ladies' apparel: Polygamist Wives' Clothing Looks to Past

Interesting secular viewpoints regarding women who dress "in uniform" for their faith. Modesty seems to offend some people.

Personally, I kind of like the darker dress in picture 2.

And if you are curious about what I look like, the woman on the far left in picture 3 looks a lot like me!

Addendum: I showed my oldest daughter (17) the picture of the lady I thought looked like me and she said, "If you were younger, yeah."

Ooooouch! Ok - She looks like me 20, 10, 15 years ago.

Also, two blurbs from the article that caught my eye:

The clothing is also stitched with special markings "to protect the body and to remind you of you commitment," Bennion says. She declined to go into detail about the stitchings because she said it would be an infraction against the fundamentalist Mormon community to talk about their sacred symbols.

Now I am definitely intrigued by secret sacred symbols! I wonder what they are? Have to Google that later!

Celebrity stylist and salon owner Ted Gibson thinks it gives off a "homely" impression."It says 'I don't really care very much. I really don't have time to worry about the way that I look, because I have 20 children,'" Gibson said. "He's going from wife to wife to wife, so why should I look any better than the other ones?"

On the contrary, I think they care a great deal about how they look. It appears to us that having a uniform (or basically one outfit) to wear over and over would be a no-brainer every morning. But that one outfit has to comply with so many rules regarding length, cut, color, neatness, and, apparently the secret sacred symbols stitched into it! That one outfit isn't just some school uniform, it is God-pleasing work to earn salvation.

They are a brand new breed of Pharisees.

Freedom, Part 2

Once again (and this time complete) the first freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

I didn't intend to have a second post on religious freedom but the situation with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) piqued my interest. This is the church/compound that law enforcement authorities raided this week in Texas and removed hundreds of women and children. Members of the church are accused of polygamy, and physical and sexual abuse.


The guarantee of "free exercise" of religion obviously does not provide protection for unlawful behavior. That's a good thing....Right? In this case involving the FLDS the answer is obviously and emphatically Yes! Law enforcement should have stopped this cult's activities years ago.


There is an interesting article regarding the FLDS on MSNBC titled "Is Texas Group a Religious Sect or a Clear-Cut Cult?" From this article:

Janja Lalich, a sociologist at California State University, Chico...told LiveScience she definitely thinks the Texas compound should be called a cult. "If you've got a group that's abusing hundreds and hundreds of women and children, let's call it what it is," she said....the distinction between a legitimate sect and a cult is simple: It depends on what or whom you worship. "In a healthy or legitimate religion or sect, you are presumably worshiping some higher principle or some higher authority," Lalich said, "whereas in a cult people tend to end up worshipping that living human leader." She added, "Your salvation is tied up with that particular living leader, and obeying orders and not breaking the rules, and subjecting yourself to whatever personal transformation you're expected to go through to be on that correct path to salvation."

She hits on some of the hallmarks of a true cult:

1. Abuse or violence used against those who disobey, disagree or try to leave.

2. Leaders who claim to have the key to salvation. Outside of the cult there is no hope for salvation.

3. Leaders who claim to have a mandate from God, to speak for God. (The FLDS leader claims to be a prophet.)

4. Separation from those who do not believe as you do.

5. Teaching that obedience to the laws of the cult will result in personal transformation

Cults exist and have existed in small scale and in large scale throughout history. This isn't the first and it surely isn't the last. Plenty of cults exist and go unnoticed because members are not overtly breaking secular law. Yes, even cults are guaranteed freedom to practice their religion.

Now that I think about it, in some ways the Texas authorities who broke up the compound were acting much like Martin Luther. :-)