Adventures in Denver: Much Fun

Friday, July 06, 2007

Much Fun

We hope everyone had a fun 4th! Ben, Elijah, and I went to Chillicothe (where my parents, sister's little family, and lots of other fun relatives live) for the 4th of July. Ben made very wonderful kabobs which were a big hit, we got a special visit from Sammi, Ellie, Jacia, and Pat since Ellie and I are both pregnant and we had to catch up, and then we went over to my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Diane's for fun and fireworks watchin'. It was good times. Elijah was thrilled with the fireworks and Julienne didn't even cry at all.

The pictures are of the guys (my Dad, Will, Ben, and Uncle Jerry) playing a fancy game that has to do with throwin' bean bags in a hole. Apparently, there are fun games that don't involve electricity, who knew? Oh, and the old guys beat the young guys, I believe it was 10 times in a row, but the young guys finally came through for one game in the end. So anyway, hopefully there will be more pictures whenever I figure out the problems I'm having with uploading them (or when Ben comes home and fixes them for me). Have a fun Friday!

EXTRA PICTURES: so I added some more pictures to this post because they were taken on or around the 4th. The baby is my niece, Julienne again. I just can't help myself. :)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Great pictures! Wish we could have been there. Instead I barbecued in the rain here in Salida.When I finished , being very wet, it stopped raining. Then we had to wait until after 10 for the firecrews to get their act together and shoot off the fireworks from S mountain. Oh well.
Miss you guys but glad to hear from you. We are praying for the new baby and Kims pregnancy and such.
love to all,
Uncle Roger; 7:02 PM, July 07, 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.