Lost In Translation

According to the Book of Mormon, a seer is someone who can translate ancient, unspoken languages into English. The Book of Mormon is based on golden plates that Mormon founder and seer Joseph Smith discovered and translated. Unfortunately, those plates were “taken back to heaven.”

In 1835, the Mormon Church purchased some Egyptian papyri for $2,400 because Joseph Smith claimed it had been written by Abraham. Smith translated the papyri into the book of Abraham, which is now considered inerrant scripture by LDS followers, and is contained in The Pearl of Great Price.

The papyri, lost shortly after Smith translated them, were assumed to have been destroyed in a fire in 1871. Amazingly, the papyri were rediscovered in New York’s metropolitan Museum of Art in 1966. On the back of one papyrus is a map of Kirtland, Ohio, where Joseph Smith lived at the time. The Deseret Morning News of Salt Lake City acknowledged that these papyri must have been the same that belonged to Smith.

Since the late 1800s, scholars have been able to accurately translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. Unlike in Smith’s time, the papyri could be translated to determine whether the LDS founder was a true prophet from God, or a liar.

Unfortunately for the Mormon Church, Smith turned out to be a liar. The papyri had nothing to do with Abraham. It was the Egyptian book called Book of Breathings, dated between 50 B.C. and 50 A.D.

Clearly, Joseph Smith concocted an entire book (at least) of LDS scripture. Should this not give LDS followers great pause? Unlike biblical Christianity, Mormonism is based not on facts but on whether followers have a burning in their bosoms when they pray about Joseph Smith.

If you’re a Mormon, please consider the facts carefully, repent of your sins, and trust in the Jesus of the Bible alone—not in your own good deeds (which God declares to be filthy rags apart from His salvation) or a burning bosom. I’ll look forward to seeing you in heaven.

Take a look at this YouTube video:

Source: Carm.org

Proving The Deity Of Jesus On Youtube

Jehovah’s Witnesses like to point out that no one has seen God (1 Timothy 6:16), and say that that proves that Jesus can’t be God. There is an interesting way to answer that question, and I made a video and put it on Youtube. It’s about 5 1/2 minutes long; I hope you enjoy it.

Smart Cards in Canada

When my wife and I went to visit her family in British Columbia recently, I took Smart Card gospel tracts. Generally, they’re more effective for starting a conversation than simply handing out, because people are intrigued by them, and like to find out what the purpose is. (It’s astonishing to me how many people actually believe that the square will turn green if they’re a good person.) 

One day my wife, two nieces, and I were walking around an area by the water with several little gift shops. I handed the clerks Smart Cards as we left each shop. We walked into one store that had rather crude items and T-shirts, and I handed the clerk one. After we were finished shopping, we walked back by the shop on our way to the car and the lady poked her head out of her shop and said, “Thank you so much for the card; I needed that today.”  

Another day, we sat in front of a threesome of teenagers at National Treasure 2. Before the movie started, the kids, who were devoted fans with homemade National Treasure T-shirts, offered us a clue (a handwritten message on a scrap of paper, which they said was the first clue from the first National Treasure movie). At first I said, “No thanks.” They asked me to take it again, and I said I’d take it in exchange for a Smart Card. They each took one, and did the little test, and were confused with the result. I told them it’s actually a trick because no one is good, and I discussed a few of the Ten Commandments with them. I got to the Third Commandment, and I asked the one kid if he’d ever taken God’s name in vain, and he said he didn’t believe in God. I knew the movie was about to start, so I ignored his objection, and asked whether he’d be innocent or guilty by the standard of the Ten Commandments. He admitted to being guilty, and admitted he’d be headed for hell. It didn’t concern him, because he didn’t believe in God or heaven or hell. Right as the movie was starting, I just asked him to please think about it, and read the Bible.  

Later, after we had returned home, I gave one to the cashier at Arby’s. He studied it for several minutes, and agreed with me that no one is good, as Jesus said. As we were eating our food, we heard a coworker exclaim, “That’s the coolest you-need-God-in-your-life thing I’ve ever seen!” 

I’ve grown to enjoy handing out the Smart Cards and leaving them in ATMs and other things that accept credit cards. It fits right in the credit card slot. People are intrigued by the tract and often ask for more for their friends or want to stop and talk about it. It’s an easy way to start a conversation about the gospel.

A Perfect Prophet?

The standard for prophets is perfection (Deuteronomy 18:20–22). Every Mormon should be anxious to determine whether Joseph Smith met the standard, regardless of their burning bosom.

Joseph Smith wrote the following prophecy in April 1838. Doctrine and Covenants (LDS scripture) 114:1 says, “VERILY thus saith the Lord: It is wisdom in my servant David W. Patten, that he settle up all his business as soon as he possibly can, and make a disposition of his merchandise, that he may perform a mission unto me next spring, in company with others, even twelve including himself, to testify of my name and bear glad tidings unto all the world.”

Unfortunately, David W. Patten died in October 1838.

How is that for perfection?

UnChristian is Bogus

The authors of UnChristian based their book on surveys of non-Christians and their negative views of Christians. They use these devastating survey results to urge Christians to change their behavior for the better. There are four major problems with this whole mindset:

1. There are so many false converts in Christianity that it’s nearly impossible to tell who really is a Christian and who isn’t. Non-Christians judging Christianity by its false converts would pervert the results of any survey. In Mark 4:1–20, Jesus explains false converts—people who think they’re Christians, but really aren’t. Christians are certainly capable of sinning, but they’re not capable of a lifestyle of sin (1 John 3:8). If someone doesn’t act like a Christian, he or she probably is not a Christian. If a person gets drunk on Saturday and then goes to church on Sunday and work on Monday where he or she earns a dishonest living, is that individual a Christian? More than likely this person is a hypocrite who will be spewed out of Jesus’ mouth. I believe there are a large number of false converts in this country, which affects people’s view of Christians, and the accuracy of the research.
2. Who cares what non-Christians think? Non-Christians are enemies with God (Colossians 1:21), dead in their transgressions (Ephesians 2:1), and children of the devil (John 8:44). Certainly, we should care about non-Christians and not elevate ourselves above them, as salvation is a free gift for all. But we should not care what they think about us when we have forsaken this world.
3. If 100 years of watered-down gospel and friendship evangelism haven’t made people like us, why would anyone call for more gimmicks? The modern gospel is that Jesus loves you and wants to make your life better, and if you pray the sinner’s prayer, you’re guaranteed heaven—don’t ever doubt it. There is no discussion of repentance or God’s justice or hell. The boldest evangelists are those who invite people to church, but most people are content to not speak to anyone and simply offer their lifestyle as an example. This has been the M.O. for the average Christian’s evangelism for several decades. Those who endorse this method and are proponents of this book now have data to show that it isn’t working. Rather than going back to biblical evangelism, they endorse continuing down the path that—demonstrated by their own data—is going in the wrong direction.
4. Christians should live holy lives, not for outsiders or as an evangelism method, but because we’ve been commanded to by Him who saved us. God has given us eternal life, and living an obedient life is our reasonable service to Him (Rom. 12:1). Obedience includes being obedient to Jesus’ command to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15), not just hoping people will notice our great lives, but warning them about the hell they deserve, and telling them what God has done to save us. Some people will hate you for it. Some people will love you for it. I’ve been hugged by more strange grown men on the street in the last two years of witnessing than in the previous 28 years of my life. I can’t say that I really want to be hugged by strange men, but I’m glad that the gospel caused them to react happily, and I pray that they won’t just have a moment of happiness, but they will find eternal life.

We don’t need books and surveys to tell us people don’t like Christians. Jesus told us that 2000 years ago (Luke 21:17). Our duty is to preach the Gospel and leave the results up to God. Some will love us for it, some will hate us.

List of Practical Applications Developed from the Knowledge of Evolution:

My God is a God of Judgment

People are fond of saying that God is a God of love. I certainly agree (1 John 4:8), but I disagree with what they generally mean when they say that.

These people often fail to understand that justice is not only integral to God’s character but also essential for His holy love. God wouldn’t be loving if He were not a just Judge who will account for every sin ever committed. If someone commits a horrible crime, we all want to see that person brought to justice. How much more does God want to see justice done?

Consider Psalm 9:7: “The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.” And Matthew 12:36 says, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.”

The Bible says that God is angry at sin (Romans 1:18). This becomes apparent when we look at what happened to Jesus on the cross. It pleased God the Father to unleash His wrath on Jesus (Isaiah 53:10), because Jesus took our sins on Himself.

If your idea of God doesn’t correspond with what the Bible says about God, you’ve made up a god to suit yourself. This is called idolatry, and is a violation of the second of the Ten Commandments.

Jesus is the only One who shed His blood for our sins, and He’s the only Way to get to heaven (John 14:6). You must repent and put your faith in the one true God—a God of love and judgment—to spend eternity in His holy presence.

Is Jehovah God’s Name?

Jehovah’s Witnesses love to stand on peoples’ doorsteps and point out that their religion uses the proper name of God. However, they may be surprised to note that the Watchtower disagrees with them.

Page 23 of the 1969 edition of the Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures says, “While inclining to view the pronunciation ‘Yahweh’ as the more correct way, we have retained the form ‘Jehovah’ because of people’s familiarity with it since the 14th century.”

Does the Watchtower really want to let people’s familiarity with a word define God’s name?

According to page 885 of the 1971 edition of Aid to Bible Understanding, Yahweh is “the most likely pronunciation” of the Hebrew letters YHWH. It’s ironic to me that these people proudly refer to themselves as Jehovah’s Witnesses when they have such a great focus on using God’s personal name. In my opinion, they should promptly change the name to Yahweh’s Witnesses.

The truth is that no one knows the proper pronunciation of YHWH. The word Jehovah came about when a Catholic monk inserted the vowels from the Hebrew word for Lord (Adonai) into YHWH. Further, YHWH is never found in the New Testament, but in the New Testament of the New World Translation the Watchtower inserts the term Jehovah more than 200 times.

While accepted Bible translations using LORD in place of YHWH may or may not be the ideal solution, this at least avoids the intellectual dishonesty and hypocrisy that the Watchtower has to employ to continue its use of Jehovah.

The good news is that while God deserves our utmost reverence, all who believe in Jesus as their Savior from sin don’t need to debate endlessly about the exact vowels for God’s proper name. We have become God’s adopted children (John 1:12). I don’t call my human father by his proper name. I call him “Dad.” By God’s grace, I’m God’s child, and I can call him Abba, Father (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6).