Adventures in Denver: On the Road...

Saturday, March 01, 2008

On the Road...

"I think that I will always be partly a country girl," said Kim. "What about you? Are you in any way country?"
"I don't know, maybe a little," Ben replied.
"I think you are a little; but it's undiscovered."
"Haha, did you just call me a little, undiscovered country?"
"Heehee, yep."
"I think my country's name would be Bensylvania."
"What about Benswana, or Benmark."
"Hmmm...Benland...Papua New Benny...Bendia...Benezuela?"
"Hey, that's how it's supposed to be pronounced anyway."
"Your right, how funny."
"Haha, maybe NetherBends or Benegal."
"Ooh, good one. And you would be MonaKim!"
"Nope, Kimbodia, haha."
"Yep, or maybe AntarctiKim or Kimdonesia."
"MorroKim"
"The United Kimdom. Ooh, how about Benkino Fasso...no, wait, BenKimo Fasso!"
"Nice, you got both in one, that was good."
"How about Tushy Land!" interjected Elijah.

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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.