Adventures in Denver: Summertime News

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Summertime News

So, Kim is now through the first trimester, and things are going pretty well. It is a big bummer that she has to give herself shots everyday, but it will all be worth it when we have that lil' person staring at us and filling its diaper! Ha! I am doing research for KU this summer, so that is keeping me pretty busy and also paying the bills. Elijah is exploring most things these days, we taught him about the air conditioner the other day, so he was running around the apartment pointing to all of the vents and saying "There's another one airtondishen"...
Well, that is about it for now, Elijah's birthday is on July 13, so for anyone who is contemplating presents, he needs clothes! (3T-4T)

Elijah says:
"Tooshie pockets have pictures"

And now for your Elijah pic:

4 comments:

Pam said...: Great Pic!!! I know for a fact that it is not new!! Cute nonetheless!! Pam; 4:26 PM, June 14, 2007
WILL said...: Nice blog guys-it really is shiny!! Great pic of the E-man too!!; 8:57 PM, June 14, 2007
Kristen said...: Wow, this was a long time ago! He looks so sweet and innocent, or at least moreso than he does now!; 7:16 AM, June 15, 2007
Benny Kaan said...: Yeah, we need to get some of our newer pics onto our computer...but this is one of our faves!; 8:07 AM, June 15, 2007

Coming to a Place of Deception

By Michael Wells

James 1:14, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”

Galatians 5:16-17, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

I am starting to believe that people are deceived because there is something in them desiring the deception. First, if Satan has the ability to deceive all men, then all men would be deceived. Obviously he does not have that kind of power. So what does he look for in a man that would allow for a deception? Satan is looking for something in the heart of man where the deception can begin. It would be impossible for Christ to deceive any person, for there is nothing in Christ that the flesh desires. True Christianity cannot deceive, for again, nothing in the flesh wants anything at all to do with Christianity.

Christianity has one message for my flesh: “Move over!” So what is it that makes man’s heart open to deception? I believe it is the desire of a heart that says, “I can be God.” Rephrased, it is the desire of the heart to be independent from God. This is why the Mormon religion is so successful; it is cleverer than the early Catholics who embraced the local gods of the people, or just gave them different names. As you know, many “Catholic” countries are rife with blends of Catholicism and witchcraft. Haiti is an example. However, the Mormons offer something more: man can actually become a god. Man can invite his wife to his celestial kingdom, where she can be eternally pregnant. This “deception” has incredible drawing power to those who have suffered under the hand of their unjust god, or who have served a god all of their lives. After all, who would not want to believe that he could become the one who hands out punishment and receives gifts from others?

Such a person is deceived with a ludicrous teaching, but moving past the cobweb to the spider, we see at the root a heart that says, “I want to be God.” Deceptions all offer the flesh something, and Christ is always taking something away from the flesh. When someone converts to Mormonism, or any of the other “-isms,” I never feel that the Mormons won one while the Christians lost one. Instead, I believe that the person, in believing the deception of Mormonism, actually revealed a heart previously hidden that is anti-Christ. Again, we see that nothing is working against us. God is permitting all the “-isms” for the revelation of hearts. The germ of every cult is this promise of keeping the flesh alive through some kind of God-playing. The amazing thing is that it holds any attraction, when it is so much easier to have a God than to play God.