An Open Letter to Pastor Bruce Short

Nashville, Arkansas with about 6,000 residents has two hometown newspapers, The Nashville News and The Nashville Leader. In the Monday, October 8th edition of the News and the Wednesday, October 10th edition of the Leader the same letter to the editor was published. The letter was written by Bruce Short, Pastor of one of Nashville's many small congregations. I received a call from an older Christian couple who were disturbed after reading Bruce's letter. They encouraged me to write a reply.

After reading and rereading the letter I was disappointed in Bruce's word choice which basically said you can't be a Christian and be a Democrat. This is simply not true. This is not Biblical. Bruce's statements are divisive to the Christian community and are spiritually abusive. When your words or actions tear down another, attack or weaken a person's standing as a Christian to gratify yourself, your position or your beliefs that is spiritual abuse. When extra-biblical rules and standards are linked to one's salvation or standing with God, that is spiritual abuse. The widespread and generally held belief of Christianity according to the Bible is, salvation is in Christ alone. Legalism adds requirements beyond Jesus' sacrifice. Jesus stood against that very same legalism. Today I stand against that legalism.

Below is a copy of my reply sent to the editors of both local papers.

An open letter to Bruce Short,

While I join with you in asking our Christian brothers and sisters to have no affiliation with ungodliness, the understanding of the Democratic Party platform planks you mention aren’t exactly accurate.

In case you were misinformed about the Democratic Party platform,

Advocating for safe sex, is a far cry from “embracing free sex.” Studies have shown a decline in teen pregnancy, from 34.3 per 1,000 nationwide to 6.3 per 1,000 study participants* and abortions, from 19.9 per 1,000 nationwide to 4.4 per 1,000 study participants* due to the availability of birth control.

Should we trust in abstinence only education? One doesn’t have to look too far for the answer. Our neighbor Mississippi has abstinence only education and the highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation, 55 births per 1,000 teens aged 15 to 19 in 2010. Studies published this year by the Guttmacher Institute show teens who received comprehensive sex education, including instruction on birth control, waited longer to have sex and had lower rates of pregnancy. If you truly want to see less premarital relations and fewer teen pregnancies then you must support the Democratic Party platform.

Advocating for a woman’s right to choose is not “embracing murder.” Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are pro-choice are deeply concerned for the well being of the mother as much as an anti-abortion advocate for the unborn child. The problem with pro-life politics is the definition of life is exclusive. Pro-life politics excludes the lives of the mother, those on death row, women children and non-combatants living in countries considered our enemy as well as billions struggling to stay alive faced with disease and a scarcity of food or clean water. Pro-life politics does not consider those in this first-world nation who lack proper healthcare without which life would not be sustainable. In fact, many pro-life politicians have fought vigorously for an elimination of initiatives aimed at reducing infant mortality and early childhood problems, initiatives essential to promote health of the most vulnerable citizens. As a Christian I understand the sanctity of life extends to all life, not just the unborn. If you truly want to see fewer murders then you must support the Democratic Party platform.

My Christianity informs my politics as much as I am capable of making that true. As a Christian my preference is for policy that brings the greatest amount of good to the largest number of people. These policies are found in the Democratic Party.

Albert Motta

Howard County Committeeman, Arkansas Democratic Party Faith Caucus 

(end of letter)

At every church I was blessed to Pastor  I gifted the Elders, Deacons and anyone else in leadership with several books. The first and most important was always, "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" by David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen ISBN13: 9780764201370

I gave a copy to Bruce back in 2007. Get yourself a copy. You will be blessed!

An Extremely Brief Comparative of Mormonism and Christianity

It has been years since I took my last comparative religion course so I will keep this to what I remember. In other words, this will be brief.

As this is an election year much of social media is a buzz with the topic of religion, especially Mormonism. I am too young to remember the first Catholic who won a parties nomination but I have done some reading on the subject and find things today are quite similar to then. People still fear what they don't know, and they still spread that fear via misinformation. Today however, we have an advantage of setting the record straight with an ever widening audience because Al Gore created the internet. It's alright if you didn't laugh, I'm quite happy with an 'ugh'!

It is not my intent to prove one right the other wrong nor one better than the other rather to point out the similarities and differences in two schools of religious belief.

I've made it easy if you are a non-believer or a religious scholar. Just use the links provided and follow along.

On God
Mormons believe that God the Father was once a man who progressed to Godhood. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity but I am going to refute that idea." Smith also taught, "We are precisely in the same condition and under the same circumstances that God our heavenly Father was when he was passing through this, or a similar ordeal."

The History of The Church Vol. 6, Ch. 14, p. 305-6  reads, It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and that He was once a man like us. Yea, that God himself, Father of us all dwelt on the earth the same as Jesus Christ Himself did. You have got to learn to be gods yourselves.

"It appears ridiculous to the world, under their darkened and erroneous traditions, that God has once been a finite being." LDS Presiednt Brigham Young

According to the Mormon Articles of Faith, "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be." (see Isaiah 43:10)

According to the Christian Bible, God has always been eternal God, (see Malachi 3:6) God was never a man, (see Numbers 23:19) God is Spirit (see John 4:24) not flesh. Nowhere in the Bible can it be found that God 'progressed' to Godhood rather just the opposite; God is God, always was God, always will be God.

On Jesus
Mormons say because they believe Jesus is divine, they are Christians. Christians respond that because Mormons don’t believe in accordance with the Nicene Creed (see below) promulgated in the fourth century that Jesus is also the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Jesus that Mormons have in mind is someone else altogether.

Mormons believe that Jesus Christ was the firstborn spirit-child of the heavenly Father and a heavenly Mother. Jesus then progressed to deity in the spirit world. He was later physically conceived in Mary’s womb, as the literal “only begotten” Son of God the Father in the flesh (though many present-day Mormons remain somewhat vague as to how this occurred).

Mormons also believe Lucifer is Jesus brother. Before you freak out about that let me explain; they are brothers in the same way all of humanity are brothers. We are all created by God the Father, and as His children, all are brothers. According to Mormon doctrine we are all created spirit beings who live in heaven with God where we develop into the person we are. When we reach the limit of our ability to progress in Heaven with God as spirit, we can choose to live away from Him on earth for a while by being born into a family. Now I've strayed ...

Biblically, the description of Jesus as the “only begotten” refers to his being the Father’s unique, one-of-a-kind Son for all eternity, with the same divine nature as the Father. Jesus is eternal (see John 1:1) deity, (see John 8:5) Jesus did not progress to deity but has always been God. (see Hebrews 13:8)

There are some similarities and stark contrasts between Mormonism and Christianity. This post only scratched the surface in two areas. I hope even in its brevity this information is helpful. If you read something here you believe posted in error, please leave a comment.

*Revision: My links work fine in draft form but for some reason are not translating to the post so I've added (see passage) after each entry.

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Restoring Honor?

I’m not sure if I should laugh at the way Glenn Beck distorts the facts to support his fear driven narrative, or cry because of the people he is misleading with his lack of formally educated spoon fed pabulum, made up of misinterpreted out of context bible verses and quotes from people he disagrees with, served up with a dash of vitriol.

With (false) humility Beck said he wouldn't give his speech on the steps where Dr. Martin Luther King changed history. While standing on those very steps the thought came to him, "Who do you think you are?" So Beck is not going to give his speech from those steps. "No," says Beck, "I'll be two steps down, right where I belong."

"You're going to see the Spirit of God unleashed, unlike you have probably ever seen it before, at least at a public function." Glenn Beck proclaimed talking about his Restoring Honor Rally this weekend. I can't help but wonder if he is referring to Genesis 19:24, or 2Kings 19:35, or maybe Revelation 16:21.

Beck says, "This rally is about the things Martin Luther King stood for.” Dr. King was a social and economic justice Christian and this is clearly evidenced in his most famous speech.

Beck, on a recent radio program said, “I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can.” Beck’s rhetoric is not just in opposition to Dr. King’s teachings it is in opposition to the teaching and beliefs of Beck’s own Mormon Church. Christianity on the whole is agreed on this, that God is a God of justice, personal, social, and economic.

The Restoring Honor Rally is not going to be political according to Beck, but Sarah Palin is headlining. You might know her, she is the former Governor of Alaska who quit her job mid-term, amidst ethics violation charges which were later proved, to “help all America” by traveling around the country shouting, “Don’t retreat, RELOAD” about everything from political legislation to elections and most recently in support of Dr. Laura Schlessinger racist n-word rant. Racist hate-speak and the support for such using violent imagery might be permissible however, it is unacceptable and does nothing to restore honor, rather quite the opposite.

The more I think about it there seems to be a theme here, sort of a bait and switch only the idea is not to get the listener to trade up as much as it is to get the listener to believe the exact opposite of what is promised. Beck claims this rally is about the things that Dr. King stood for, and clearly it isn’t. He says it isn’t political but invites Sarah Palin, Michele "come armed and dangerous" Bachmann, Dick Army and more. Beck even claims the Holy Spirit is going to speak through him and proclaims the Spirit of God will be unleashed unlike we’ve ever seen it before. Surely Beck isn't talking about Genesis 11:7 because I've heard them all speak before and they're pretty 'wee wee'd' up already.

I wish I could be in Washington this weekend. Laughter is good medicine and I have been feeling a little out of sorts lately. The event is not being televised however, it can be viewed on the internet with your paid subscription to an extreme Beck channel via his website. With the subscription rate one would hope to avoid the Goldline infomercials. That being said, I will not be receiving any healing this weekend, at least not from the Spirit of God through Glenn Beck, just two steps down from where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. changed history.