Saturday, May 10, 2008

ESCAPE

I just finished the greatest book. It is titled Escape by Carolyn Jessop.

The book is non-fiction dealing with Carolyn's ordeal with a polygamist marriage.

I read about the book on a friend's blog page and I am sorry to say I was extremely judgmental before even reading the book. But I was interested.

On Amazon as I read the review on the book, it struck me as odd a young woman would put up with the things a wife caught in polygamy was forced to endure. It was easy to become very proud and haughty before even opening the book.

As I opened the book the first night I found it hard to put down. My opinion changed dramatically in the first 50 pages.

I definitely suggest it as a must read for the summer.

The book also brought to light the sad truth of followers of Christ who are misled by so called prophets who become tyrants and glorify themselves and their own agendas.

It is so important for us as Christians to be aware and study what is being preached in our pulpits. Not all sermons are from God. If we are not studying our Bibles on our own and diligently seeking God's will in our lives, how will we know what is truly God's Word?

Most of God's servants are honest men of God but some are out to get rather than give and glorify themselves. If you hear something that makes you uneasy or creates a question in your mind, please take the time to check it out. God has given us a conscious for a reason. He has also given us His Word to use as a daily guide to live by. He will never have us do something that is contradictory.

If you are hearing something from a pulpit that is contradictory, RUN. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He will not change.

It was amazing to me as I read this book how many people continued to follow "the prophet" even after he made ridiculous rules that could not be justified in the Bible.

Stay sharp and stay focused.

A very close friend and I were talking about a church near her recently. It is growing so much. Right now there are over 1000 members. But many problems exist. Recently they had to address a big one- divorce among the parishioners and what to do about it. So they opened a divorce recovery class.

No kidding. Rather than deal with why people are getting divorced, they wanted to deal with it after the fact. They also stated it would be a good way for singles to meet.

What? How about a class to help those with marriage difficulties?

This same church also has made some radical changes to appease their members such as keeping sermons "lite". They even list the times in the paper for the "lite" sermons so if the sermons on tithing, hell or true christian living were too much for you to hear, you could go hear a sermon on love or changing the world we live in rather than changing yourself.

A false prophet can also give us the illusion we are all right and it is the world that is wrong. We need to go on the way we are and ignore everyone around us.

What we need to do is read the Bible and make our decisions from the Bible not from the world, our own choices or anyone else. God has shown us how to follow the path. We are now required to follow if we want to be in tune with Him.

Just think of it as a treasure hunt. The Bible is our treasure map and along the way we find little treasures hidden. Each one is a fun surprise to find. We might not even realize how valuable it is right away but one day we wake up and see just how important that treasure is. The biggest treasure comes at the XXXX where we are welcomed into heaven. Get your map out today and start on that path! See you at the end.

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles?" Matthew 7:15-16

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