Heart of the Matter

Live from Salt Lake City, Utah, this is Heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology. where we do all we can to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. I’m Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion., your host.

Show 7 536
No More Hacking Part V
February 7th 2017
Prayer

Responses to Last Week's Discussion

We received some response from last week's show and so I want to take just a moment to address the discussion we had with Jay Ball and Brian Zang. If you weren’t with us, we might call Brian and Jay men who are in some way committed to the tenets and doctrines – even some of the practices of Joseph Smith’s Mormonism – while having issue with the actual institution operating on earth today. One emailer wrote:

From: Thom
Subject: Brian & Jay
Message Body:
These two gentlemen are typical non-born again Mormons. They are lost in a false religion and have to decide which teachings are true and which are false. They can't say they are Mormon unless they can follow all of the teachings of Joseph S. Including the fact that he married eleven women who were already happily married (adultery).

Now, you know I know Mormonism fairly well, and you may be wondering why I didn’t take Brian to task over some of the more debatable points brought up relative to water baptism, repentance, temple work, priesthood, and salvation. Brian said some things that I didn’t necessarily agree with – and it is impossible to know the man’s heart or intentions. But he was at least verbally committed to “loving Jesus Christ,” and to wanting to live a life that was at least patterned after Him and His life. Listening to him I honestly believe that the only thing I could do was try and understand him, try and hear where he was in his walk (according to my understanding of the biblical faith – which is limited) and to allow God, through His Holy Spirit, to reach Brian with what I believe to be true – by and through His stated faith in Jesus.

Seeking Unity in Faith

Understand, Brian and Jay are hoping the same for me – that perhaps I will come back to the truths that they hold dear. And all the arguing and finger-pointing in the world will not bring our two parties together. Only faith and love will bring us together – and that is the work of the Spirit.

And so Jay and Brian and myself have come to a place where we are going to preach and teach what we believe to be true, we are going to engage peacefully with each other along the way, and both sides are going to try and really allow God to lead. Isn’t that all we can really ask of each other in this world? I think so. Because just take one minute and consider the alternative routes that have been used for centuries: I tell Brian he is wrong, and he tells me I am wrong, and these accusations grow to the point where we either just shake our heads or where we actually part company as enemies. Both of us are claiming Christ. Both of us are seeking to follow Him. I think it is about time we let any and all who claim His name to pursue Him as they see fit – and let God be the judge in the end.

A Moment from the Word

As many of you are aware, we are working through the book of Acts in our Milk gatherings on Sundays. In that book there was a debate about circumcision among the believers which the apostles met over in Jerusalem and then once a decision was made on how to view the practice among the gentiles, they wrote it out and sent it to three specific churches through Paul and Barnabas. In Acts 16 verse four we read the delivery of these letters or epistles of instruction at verse 4 which says:

The Greek Term 'Dokeo'

Acts 16:4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. The phrase, “they delivered to them THE DECREES” in the Greek is “the dokeo,” which best means, “to think.” I would read this then, that they delivered to the Gentiles letters for them to think about, ponder and consider in their own lives.

An interesting thing happens, however, to this Greek term Dokeo when it was translated into Latin through Jerome’s vulgate – Dokeo became Dogma – and with this change came a very different…

Interpretation of Faith: Greek vs. Latin

Interpretation of what was being delivered to the Gentiles at the hands of Paul. See, where the Greek “dokeo” means to think, the Latin Dogma means something a little more strident than just what “we think.” Through the Latin lens (Catholic) dogma has become a specific tenet or authoritative doctrine set forth by a body and mandatorily received by those who wish to remain in that body or group. Now this shift is really important – from Dokeo in the Greek, which we can define as “that which we think or believe to be right,” or “that which seems to be true or good,” to the Latin Dogma which means “that which is true and must be accepted and received.” (Which is the current understanding of the word, right?)

In other words, I would suggest that the faith through the Greek was subjectively understood: “That which one thinks or believes is good or right” instead of objectively demanded or “that which must be received as law.” Herein lies the difference between those who will die and go to God bearing the responsibility for what they have believed and lived and those who have done what the church and church leadership have demanded of them in hopes of being justified by their obedience to these demands. In my estimation the Greek fully represents the will of God in the lives of those who seek Him and the Latin which represents the ways and will of Man.

Teaching Through Choices

And with that let’s do a combined, “Board of Direction” and “If I had Kids Today.”

If I had kids today . . . I would begin to teach them as soon as they could understand that every minute of every day of their lives they are the ones who get to choose who they are going to be. And I’d try to wrap each day up asking them what they were on that given day. It would take five seconds but would later open up discussions. Let me explain.

But instead of just leaving the question open, you know: “Well Junior, what were you today?” I would help define their day’s choices by narrowing them down into three simple categories. Were you a RAT, a TSAR or a STAR. And I would set this question up by explaining to the child what these three things are:

Categories Defined: Rats, Tsars, and Stars

A RAT is a really filthy creature that carries disease, operates in the dark, and infests places on earth. Rats are not dumb – they are really smart and intelligent, but they use their intelligence to serve only themselves. Rats bite, leap up in people's faces, and bite babies. Then there are the TSARS. A Tsar is another name for an earthly ruler or king. They stand in power over a kingdom and are very powerful people on earth. Some Tsars are good and some Tsars are evil, but they are all rulers. Finally, there are STARS. These are not of this world. They are giant glowing suns of fire that hover in the heavens and are glorious. By comparison, a rat and even a Tsar are nothing compared to a Star. They are things that live in heaven and bring light to others – even from far away.

So after introducing them to the three – RATS, TSARS, and STARS – I would follow up each day and ask them, at the end of the day: So what were you today? And then follow up (without judgment) with “why and how” to help them work through their choices for that day. Finally, once they had the alphabet down, and had matured – like around the age of eight or nine, I would drop this on them: Do you know why I chose Rats and Tsars and Stars? (And they probably won’t) And then I say this:

The Message Behind the Words

All of us are given by God four letters to work with in our lives. Those letters are R, S, A, and T: And those four letters can form the word RATS, TSAR, STAR. And then I’d ask them to explain the main difference between these three words. That’s right – Rats is plural and Tsar and Star are singular. “Do you know what that means?” I’d ask. It means that there are lots and lots and lots of people who choose to be rats and very very very few who choose to be Tsars and Stars. Why? Because it’s very hard to choose to be a King or it's even harder to choose to be a heavenly glory. And from that basis, established in their little minds,

Institutional Control and Power Dynamics

At a young age, you can describe most of what is going on (in the lives of their friends and at school) through the terms Rats, Tsars and Stars. So let’s continue with Part V of “no more hacking at the branches but striking true at the root.”

Our last show on the topic (Dated January 17th of this year) we talked about how linguist and social gadfly Dr. Noam Chomsky, in a fantastic documentary called, Requiem for the American Dream, describes the ways and means that the 1% of Big Government, Multinational Corporations and Major Media outlets work to keep the majority not only out of power but pretty much out of the game of life by making them spectators rather than participants. My contention is that this has been the same goal of institutional brick and mortar religion and that they have accomplished these aims through similar principles Chomsky teaches about in the documentary.

Insights from Chomsky

In the world of Government, Corporations and Major Media Outlets Chomsky summarizes the overall desire for control as: “The Deliberate Concentration of Power, Wealth, and Control in the hands of few exercised upon the many.” And my suggestion is to say, “look around – don’t we see this same “deliberate concentration of Power, wealth and control in the hand of the few” in organized religion all around us? But in the name of God Himself?

Stop, look and listen. Take the time to attend church and really hear what is being said, requested, suggested and even demanded of you by . . . those in power and/or those who support those in power. From the single non-denom’s to the multi-unit denominations spread out over the world the aim is typically the same:

The deliberate concentration of power in the hands of the few (the Pope, the Prophet, the Reverends, Bishops, Pastors, and the Like) exercised upon the many (the billions of believers who like sheep have allowed themselves to follow someone IN ADDITION to God by Jesus through the Spirit).

Going way back, Adam Smith called these false shepherds, “the Masters of Mankind” who “make sure that their own interests are well cared for no matter how grievous the impact is on others.” Jesus described them perfectly when He walked the earth, saying in Matthew 23:15:

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of Gehenna than yourselves.”

In religion, the impact on others by the powers that be range from the seriously egregious (in the totalistic cults) to the bothersome (in some of the more open denoms).

Observation and Revelation

I have said, stop, look and listen. It requires this on your part as it is often this exercise of observation that leads to them being exposed. I remember when I was examining Mormonism after I was born again I sat in series of Sunday Meetings and counted the number of times Jesus was mentioned (NOT) including His name at the end of a prayer or testimony. I did this several times over the course of a few months. The average? Zero. I’m not kidding. No things have changed from what I’m told and that is good. But for a time this was my observation – which helped lead me out.

Chomsky points out (relative to Governments, Corporations and Major Media outlets) how James Madison made it clear that the goal of “the Masters of Men” was to prevent democracy at all costs because to do so would insulate the Masters from the disdain of the rabble and them taking power and wealth from them.

On this basis, the documentary unfolds and shows ten phases or principles that Governments, Corporations, and Multi-Media Conglomerates take to ensure that democracy is constantly reduced if not quashed. And in some 75 minutes Chomsky lays out the Principles and expertly explains them. They are:

• Reduce Democracy
• Shape Ideology
• Redesign the Economy
• Shift the Burden
• Attack Solidarity
• Run the Regulators
• Engineer Elections
• Keep the Rabble in Line
• Manufacture Consent, and
• Marginalize the Population

Again, taking the genius of Dr. Chomsky I personally see many of the insights he has in Big Government, Corporate and Major Media manipulations as applicable to organized religion large and small.

Now, before we move through his ten principles and apply them to organized religion there is something you really need to fully understand to appreciate the comparison.

I ardently maintain – more today than when I began down this path years ago – the following biblically supported points.

If you do not agree or see these points

The Messianic Promise and Its Fulfillment

I strongly suggest that, according to the Bible:

• The One True God promised to save the Nation of Israel from their sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. through a Promised Messiah.
• This Messiah, the Only begotten Son of God, came and suffered for sin, reconciling the World to God once and for all as the author and finisher of our faith.
• That this Jesus was the stone who the builders rejected which was prophesied about.
• As this stone or Rock, He told the religious rulers of His day that they could either fall on Him and be broken (humbled) or that He would fall on them and grind them to powder.
• They then crucified Him.
• The Lord’s Apostles were taught to preach that Jesus was the only way to be saved from the “promised grinding,” which was headed their way.
• All of those who wrote New Testament scripture wrote that His coming was going to be soon and the whole New Testament church was looking with anticipation of this eminent event – even an event that they said was “at hand.”
• In 70 AD, those who had received Him were saved from the grinding destruction promised and those who rejected Him were ground out of material existence by the Roman Armies.

Aftermath and the New Covenant

• After this “day of the Lord” and “His coming with rewards or judgment,” for His church, brick and mortar religion should have died.
• All attempts at recreating it or one have been a fail. Every single one. Even worse, most have been an exercise in ecclesiastical abuses.
• God promised to write His laws upon individuals' hearts and minds. (1st John 2:27)
• Believers continue to be the living epistles even out until today. (2nd Corinthians 3:3)
• “No man need teach His neighbor for all will know Him.” (Hebrews 8:11)

The Unshakeable Kingdom

• All things that can “be shaken” have now been destroyed.
• Only “unshakeable things” should remain (things of the Spirit).
• No vestiges of the material remain (they can be shaken).
• No build-up of brick and mortar edifices (they can be shaken) (All found in Hebrews 12 – read it!)

There are no priesthoods – they can be shaken. No temples made with hands – they can be shaken. No leaders to discipline us or lead us into heaven (they can be shaken). No institutional hierarchies or boards or rules, policies or regulations (all can and are shaken).

All Christian commandments are summarized in “faith and love.” We are all absolutely and utterly free from all things from Man.

Romans 14:22 "Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth."

Romans 14:10 "But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ."

2nd Corinthians 9:7 "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."

1st John 3:23 "And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

Conclusion

And since Jesus came and wrapped it all up, as recorded and promised and was said to happen at any minute in the Bible, all church playing is totally over.

And let me appeal to 1st Corinthians 15:20-28 just one more time as Paul said:

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God., by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."

The Influence of Control in Religious Structures

Be all in all. If you understand these points, then look around at the attempts men have made at playing church for nearly two thousand years, you will then see how the principles Chomsky has spied out in Big Government, Corporations and Major Media outlets are alive and well in the last bastion of men seeking to exercise control over the masses.

More next week.

Let's open up the phone lines: (801) 954-

And while the operators are taking your calls, consider this:

Reflections on LDS Membership

Emails

From: Darius
Subject: LDS Membership for someone already born again.
Message Body:

I have been spending a lot of time with the local LDS, as a group they seem well-intentioned and their lifestyle choices seem especially appealing to me – I know I do not have to join the church to live the lifestyle, though.

Anyhow, I decided to look into the church and naturally I wanted to see the criticism, so I have been watching some old episodes of your show Shawn, what you have to say resonates deeply with me. It seems very honest, fair – motivated by love and not hate. I have accepted Jesus into my life as the salvation and I am working on living a lifestyle which relies on divine guidance to direct me; it is of course hard not to allow my thoughts and fears to overrule that which I know in my heart to be the true path laid out for me by God.

Now whether or not the Book of Mormon was divinely inspired is something we will never know. I know that Jesus is the way to salvation. I know that Mohammed was at one point in his life an enlightened human being, but that later in life he moved further away from God and I can see the same thing in Joseph Smith's story.

I don't live in the US, but Jersey in the UK. I find some things about religious Americans strange to say the least, most especially this fixation on the end of the world/eschatology. I have always considered the Revelation to St. John not to be taken literally but rather it defines our personal spiritual journey; as we progress along the path to the New JerusalemThe spiritual reality of God's fulfilled presence with humanity—replacing Sheol after 70 A.D. (the state of oneness with God) we have many trials and tribulations along the way and we must each face our own beasts – the misuse of spiritual knowledge granted to us for selfish ends.

I fear that Joseph Smith, just like Mohammed, whatever level of enlightenment he had during his lifetime, in the end succumbed to the beast and became a man who misused his knowledge for personal gain in this world. As part of my personal journey, like yourself I have sought a deeper meaning in the bible by translating it myself, only in my case from the original Hebrew. This work seems to me to have been more faithfully completed by the LDS than by King James' team of interpreters.

My concern with LDS is that when I speak to the sisters and elders I always ask them what they think and they always answer "we" believe. This of course is not answering my question, but obfuscating behind received doctrine. So I resonate with the LDS lifestyle, I resonate with the LDS interpretations of the Hebrew in the Book of Genesis, but I could never subsume my PERSONAL exploration of Jesus Christ behind and my PERSONAL understanding of His works. In spite of this, I feel drawn to the LDS and I was just wondering if you had any words to offer me for my consideration, something which I may not have considered or may not yet have been shown to me. I would value greatly your opinion.

The Meaning of Love

Shawn,

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum (Latin for "The peace of the Lord be with you always"). And I mean that sincerely.

Jesus gave us 2 commandments: Love God & Love our neighbor (Mark12:30-31). What does it mean to "love our neighbor"?

In 1 John 3:18 it says "Our love should not just be words & talk; it must be true love which shows itself in deeds & truth."

I believe if we follow these 2 commands & persevere till the end (Matt24:13) we will be saved, & I believe the 1st letter of John gives us a clue on what this means. As you seem to be someone who is sincerely trying to live a life pleasing to God, what are your thoughts on this?

P.S. I ask this because many Christian leaders, such as Matt Slick, seem to imply that only the 1st command is necessary since they discourage doing good as believing in a works-based system.

Mike Robinson
Long Island, NY

Good afternoon, I'm not sure why exactly I'm writing you, but I feel the need to. A little about

Personal Journey to Faith Transition

I grew up NON LDS in a small Utah town. Over 10 years ago while I was attending UVU (UVSC, at the time), I was converted to Mormonism by 2 missionaries who knocked on my apartment door. Granted, I knew about the church from a young age because I grew up in small town Utah. Anyway, I ended up going through the Temple and have been a pretty active member through that time. After college, I left Utah and live in Nebraska now. My husband is Lutheran, but I made it very clear that I wanted to raise my family LDS (we now have a son). He has gone to church with me several times, but says he just doesn't feel right about it.

Long story short, I started going to his church and felt SO awesome there. One of the sermons was on Ephesians Chapter 2. Well, hmm… that doesn't mesh with what I've learned. Works don't matter, it is through Grace that we are saved. We do works because we love God and are thankful he saved us, not to be saved. I have spent the last week or so watching and reading everything I can. I have been engrossed in the New Testament! During this process I stumbled across you and your Channel. So I guess the reason I am writing it to tell you thank you. I can confidently say I am working my way out of Mormonism and it is helpful to see this path has been traveled by many.

Thank you again and God Bless!

-Steph

Realization About Faith and Salvation

Hi Shawn, To be saved we must believe in the name of Jesus. Name here doesn't simply mean a person's title. It refers to the manifestation of their character. So to be saved we must believe not in a name but a character. Now salvation came to the whole world when Christ became the final sacrifice. So in a way, all will confess Him Lord whether in this life of the next.

So putting salvation aside, what is left but what Jesus did. He did two things: loved and obeyed God.

Love and Obedience

These are the two qualities we must carry out in order to get salvation. Love is easy enough. We look at 1 Corinthians 13 and look at the fruit of the Spirit. Obedience is the second quality. Jesus carried this out perfectly. He obeyed the Father. Now what does that look like for us. What it means is that it takes a big burden off. If you hear from God: awesome – obey him. But if not, don't worry about it. The onus is on God is you're listening and He's not speaking. So you don't have to feel guilty about whether you're following Gods plan etc.

Preaching and Sharing Faith

What does it mean for preaching? Well we were never commanded. Jesus gave commands to people 2000 years ago, but not to you and I. All you and I have to do is love (and obey if you hear God). Now you can share about Jesus if you want but it's not a commandment to us today.

What does this mean? It means you can love without an agenda! How freeing is that! You can help a Neighbour without a tract in your pocket, you can be generous without trying to drop the name Jesus in. Because it's not about the name, it's about the character of Jesus: aka the love of Jesus.

So all the things like: greed, idolaters, fornicators, etc are just examples of people who do not love as the bible lays it out. All the things on the list are fine with love. Because in a way, love dismantles them into the form they should have been in all along. So if you're following the way of love you shouldn't have to worry about those things.

The way I came to this is because I started thinking that since life is so short there is no way I can be put on this earth just to preach the gospel. If it was that important to God there's a million different things he could have done apart from leaving it to us. He could have imprinted it in our conscience, he could have done a numerous amount of things. Life isn't about telling the good news. Life has to be about something higher: I'd say the highest quality is love. I think if there is a God, I suppose there'd be one thing He would like us to do: love.

What do you think?

Regards, Virgil

Shawn & staff at Alathea Ministries

Oh, happy day!!! Thank you for your kind response. I am looking forward to giving financial support this month. Both my husband and

Vital Ministry Support

I agree that this a very vital ministry to which we are most anxious to support. We did decide that will probably at the end of this month will be the best time.

The Practice of Laying on of Hands

One question we have as we transition out of the MORG (lol)… What is your feeling about "blessings" with the laying on of hands? My husband and I recognize that the so-called "melchizedek" priesthood is one of farce, but what of the practice of "laying on of hands" in Christ name only?

It has been a bit difficult discerning what is pleasing to The Lord on this matter. I feel in the past I have received confirmation to my prayers thru these "blessings." Now I trying to go more directly to The Lord with prayer. However, is "laying on of hands blessings" something we need to completely let go?

Closing Thoughts

Thank you in advance for taking the time to respond to this one question.

Sincerely,

Angel & Bill Hanson

PS. If you are ever in Tucson or Arizona, please let us know. You and your family are welcome in our home.