Goodbye Yellowbrick Road

Mormonism and the Heart of the Matter

LIVE FROM THE MECCA OF MORMONISM

• SALT LAKE CITY UTAH – This is Heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology., where Mormonism Meets Biblical Christianity, face to face. Show 35 365 Goodbye, Yellow-brick Road October 29th 2013

And I’m your host Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion.. We praise the True and Living God for allowing us to participate in this ministry. May He be with you (and us) tonight.

Heart of the Matter is extending out further into the world through efforts like those of our dedicated brother, Aaron Tunnel in Arizona. Take a look: The point here is Mormonism is growing leaps and bounds in areas where information is lacking. Aaron has taken it upon himself to do something about it – at least when it comes to Latin America and Spanish speaking people everywhere. If you are also lead of the Spirit and can help Aaron build up his ministry, please contact him. In fact, let me extend an invite to any and all who speak ANY language – if you are interested in bringing Heart of the Matter to your country, contact Aaron, and he will explain the process he has constructed to rage against the Mormon machine.

(RUN AARON’S VIDEO HERE)

GRAPHIC of AARON TUNNELS SITE HERE

Love Versus the Institution

That being said, I want to reiterate something very, very important to me – I am not against Mormon individuals – at all. I’m hard on them, yes, especially when they try to pull fast ones here on the show, but in the end I do love them – in fact I actually love people of all beliefs. But it’s the “Mormon machine,” the “institution,” the zeitgeist or spirit of Mormonism that causes (Irish broog) “me blood to boil” – NOT the individuals in flesh and blood. Please don’t get these lines crossed when it comes to me or this ministry.

Quite frankly, (and as I think most people have figured out by now) I have an equal amount of distain for most religious institutions including corporate American Evangelicalism. But again, I hold no animus against my brothers and sisters who are trapped and controlled by these pathetic “arches” – only love – as I know they are doing their best to deal with what they are being taught and told by the culture. So – if lead – feel free to join in our all out war against “these principalities,” “these powers,” “these rulers of the darkness of this world,” and “against spiritual wickedness in high places” – but know we do love the people trapped and held captive by them along the way. I think that’s the call – hate the institution, love the institutionalized (and those who we think should be).

Worship in Spirit and Truth

With that, how about a moment from the Word: Ever think you are free – or have been set free – only to later discover that you have merely adopted a new prison cell? It’s easy to do and from what I’ve seen happens all the time. There are a lot of things out there (in this fallen world) aimed at taking us captive – and admittedly some of them can seem liberating (at first glance) but only end up chaining us up all over again. I think it takes something far stronger than “a concerted personal effort” to avoid such trappings because even our “concerted efforts” can become their own prison cell, can’t they?

In our Sunday Milk Gatherings we have been covering John 4 where Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well. I believe that it is in this setting that the Lord delivers some of the most important passages in all of scripture, saying: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

There is so much in these two verses it would be impossible to properly explore them in the short amount of time we have tonight, but let me try and get to the Heart of the Matter, as it were: First, Jesus tells us that the Father, who is Spirit, seeks for people to worship Him in “spirit and in truth.”

Why would the Father desire this? I would suggest for our own good because to do otherwise leads us right into religious bondage, right? Also, not that Jesus does not say the Father seeks people to worship Him in “spirit alone.” True worship of God cannot come from truth alone either. It has to be in “Spirit AND Truth.”

Human kind has a

Worship in Spirit and Truth

Long and varied history of attempting to worship God from an opposite position – in “flesh and in error.”

From what Jesus says, I think we can safely say that the Father does NOT seek people to worship Him through such appeals but just the opposite – in SPIRIT (NOT the flesh) and in TRUTH (NOT by false tradition or error).

The Greek word used here for “worship” is proscuneo – and in every case, it means one thing – to lay oneself out flat or prostrate before an object in adoration or honor. In a physical or fleshly sense, true worship would be people laying their bodies out or kneeling before God. Also, in a fleshly physical sense, worship is not singing or raising hands – that is praise. But physical worship (proscuneo) ALWAYS means laying our bodies out. But notice that Jesus does NOT say the Father seeks those who worship Him in “a physical way and in truth,” but in Spirit and in truth.

Spiritual Surrender

So ask yourselves, what, then, does it look like to “lay ourselves out” (worship) in (or from) our Spirit? Maybe we can ask: What did Jesus lay (out in a spiritual sense) in His worship of the Father? His will, right? His ways, His desires, and even His physical life, right? Contrary to most modern definitions and practices this, in my opinion, is the best definition of worshipping God (in Spirit): “that the Father, who is Spirit, sees those who will lay their will and life flat before Him?”

But take note – laying our lives and will out (worshipping Him in spirit) is not enough. Many people the world over lay their lives out for God but in total error – even to the point of throwing themselves on funeral pyres or flying hijacked airplanes full of people into skyscrapers. The submitted Christian life must be laid out in Spirit AND in truth. Following religious traditions does not necessarily mean people are worshipping God in spirit and in truth. It in many cases such worship is, as CS Lewis said, “just people talking with borrowed voices.” That’s not worshipping in Spirit and in Truth – that’s bondage to an inferior system, philosophy, or theology.

No, the Father seeks those who will lay their lives down first from the heart but always in light of His truth. So we look to His Word – search it, scour it, rip it up and down – in an effort to first comprehend His truths, and then to pursue them in Spirit. The idea of this, brought to us by Jesus' words to the woman at the well, takes us right into our topic tonight.

Personal Reflection

But first, let’s begin with a word of prayer.

PLAY “FROM THE WORD” intro here

GRAPHIC

PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER

I have decided to delay our comparison of Mormonism to Five Point Calvinism until next week because it’s time to really make things plain. I’ve tentatively titled tonight’s show: “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road,” but hearing it, I’m not sure we were ever on the Yellow Brick Road, so the title is probably a bad one. Maybe we should title the show – “Coming out of the closet” – and no, it’s not what you might think. I don’t know how to be except who I am. I used to try and fool people (in my LDS days) by feigning characteristics that would be appreciated, but once I came to faith, God has brought me closer to being comfortable with my heart-felt self. No, it is not what most people would consider traditional, but who I am and how I am is from my heart of hearts – like it or not. With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit back in 1997, and after attending a school of Ministry, I was then equipped to live and express my thoughts doctrinally.

Unorthodox Beliefs

Here’s where “the coming out of the closet part comes into play” . . . much to the chagrin of my fellow evangelical brothers and sisters, I have always maintained ideas (and even doctrines and theologies) that many modern Evangelicals consider . . . shall we say . . . “unorthodox.” This started way back when we penned our first book, Born-Again Mormon. The title alone made some very uncomfortable because it did not conform to their ideas (not biblical ideas, but their ideas) of who could be born-again and not. Inside the front cover of this first book, I unapologetically stated my mission – it is a mission I continue to stand by today – and I articulated the mission in four statements:

First – To introduce Latter-day Saints

Spiritual Rebirth and Evangelism

to the God-given gift of spiritual rebirth through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Second –

To assist Born-Again Mormons in their sacred mission of peacefully bringing other Latter-day Saints to the Lord.

Third –

To help Born-Again Mormons appreciate and support positive aspects of Church membership while simultaneously (but politely) rejecting any doctrine or practice contrary to biblical truth and authentic Christian beliefs, and

Fourth –

To patiently help initiate an integration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into the existing body of Christ. And the Christian apologists freaked – and wrote scathing blogs. And Pastors in Utah worked hard to keep my person from getting involved in the church. But God had other plans and by His grace He took our stance toward the LDS, and built a ministry. Over the years we have tried really hard to unite with the local evangelical churches but when everything is said and done, they wouldn’t have much to do with us. In seven years we were invited to speak at no more than eight churches in the state, received financial support from no more than from five of them, and participated in three church events.

To be honest, I think the Pastors knew I was unorthodox, could perceive I did not interpret the Bible and life as they have, and collectively decided, when considering my religious person, that they could see that something was “just not right” with what they saw and heard on weekly television. They were right. Maybe my stance against the term “tithing” clue them in. Maybe it was my weekly get-ups, or my use of words like, “shitake mushrooms,” “effing,” or “idiot” caused the general ban – or maybe it was just my stance that Mormon people can be just as saved as Christian people that irked them most.

Ministry and Belonging

Whatever the reason, a ban was in place. I used to resent it, in fact it used to really hurt my heart because while I may not know how to be anything than what I am, I did love and care for the Body here in Utah. Still do. But looking back now I can see – and the Lord has let me know, in no uncertain terms, that I never belonged to American Evangelicalism nor its churches in the first place. I belonged to Him.

What does this mean? It means I seek to do His will and His will alone – I care nothing for the will and ways of Man – not their fame, their fortune, or their power. I seek to worship Him in spirit and in truth and therefore read and study to show myself approved, discovering for myself what is biblical truth . . . and what is not. Our objective in this ministry is to live up to the position He has put me in and prepared me for – to reach the LDS (and anyone else) with biblical truth.

This last comment brings us to the precipice of an enormous impasse – and adds to the imagery of my coming out of the closet. Already built to question and take the more liberal road, and then placed in a position to reach the LDS with biblical truth, I have come to a place in my walk where there are a handful of doctrines that American Evangelicals embrace . . . that I reject. This has already alienated me and the ministry from a number of former Christian friends and media sources. But too bad.

Doctrinal Disagreements

What are the issues?

• EschatologyStudy of “last things”—TGNN teaches all biblical eschatology was fulfilled in 70 A.D. More or end times.
• Calvinism, predestination, free-will and OSAS.
• The resurrection
• The Trinity
• Miracles today
• Worship
• Doing Church, and
• Eternal Punishment

How can I seek to honestly lead LDS people out from the chains of Joseph’s gospel only to lead them right into Christian churches that are not much better? I can’t. So while we are going to continue to focus on LDS issues relative to Christianity, we are going to additionally clarify (through scripture) what I believe the Bible says relative to the aforementioned topics . . . and more. Additionally, I am going to appeal to resources from Christian friends that also speak to these topics (in addition to teaching from the word about them) as a means to help you clear the woods of the doctrines and philosophies of Man.

For example, when it comes to the notion of God punishing people in fire forever and ever and ever without end, consider the following short film.
(RUN TOILET FILM HERE)

One of the beautiful things about art – and film is perhaps the most persuasive of all art forms as it appeals to all of the human senses (except

Art and Interpretation

For maybe taste – but the great thing about art is, like Jesus parables, we all take something different from the elements presented. I’m not going to explain to you what we just watched – but I am willing to go out on a limb and present it for your consideration, and to give you all some food for thought until we can get to the biblical position on the subject. If you want more information relative to what the Bible says on the matter, just email us and we’ll forward it to you. shawn@alatheamedia.com And please write in the subject line: “Requesting more film information.”

So I’ve stepped out of the closet tonight. What does it mean? Keep watching and we'll address all of this stuff show by show. But I hope you will take into consideration that I have always tried to present truth – and I will continue in this vain. I am willing to admit I have been wrong or made mistakes, but I would not make stances unless I was convinced, by His Spirit and written word, that they are true.

Contact Information

Let’s open up the phone lines: (801)

Conclusion

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