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Deceived!


Back in June of this year Vermonter’s were shocked to learn about the disappearance of a twelve year old girl who had lived in the town of Randolph. Towards the end of that month her body was found close to the home of her uncle who is a convicted sex offender and prime suspect in the case. If I hadn’t been caught up in leaving for vacation I would have written a letter to the editor of the Burlington Free Press expressing my outrage. Although the newspaper probably wouldn’t have printed it, my opinion is still something I feel strongly inclined to share-so here goes. I would have written: “When I think about that poor little girl and anyone who loved her, I could cry. And when I think about all too many of our State Legislators and judges; I could vomit.” Why! Law enforcement officers have uncovered evidence that while the little girl’s uncle was molesting another child he was conning his parole officer and a judge into believing he won’t do that kind of stuff anymore. Oh how I wish we had laws in Vermont where the punishment truly fits the crime; laws such as mandatory castration, and lengthy imprisonment, followed by lifetime probation, with a mandatory death penalty for convicted repeat offenders. If we had such a law in place that sub-human slime-ball would not have had an opportunity to practice his “craft of deception.”

Deceiving one another is as common as a cold and it’s been going on since the beginning of time. 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:1-6 (ESV)

The devil successfully deceived Adam and Eve into trading living in Paradise and enjoying a life of indescribable happiness in fellowship with their Creator, in exchange for a piece of fruit; a sin which, unless forgiven, would cause them to suffer misery by being separated from God eternally. And, I might add, by allowing themselves to be deceived, Adam and Eve had in effect also bequeathed that awful sentence as part of a horrible legacy to each of their descendants, including you and me. We enter this world as condemned sinners traveling on the road to Hell and the only way we can get off is by freely accepting Christ’s love as exemplified on His cross. If we choose otherwise we doom ourselves into remaining a spiritually dead still-life throughout eternity. Jesus put it this way when He lovingly explained mankind’s terrible plight to a Pharisee named Nicodemus when He told the man “you must be born again,” (John 3: 3 & 7).

Among the many kinds of sins we each commit are those of deceiving each other and we also deceive ourselves. Mary Howitt reminds us “the fine art of deception” isn’t confined to the human race. “’Will you walk into my parlor?’ said a spider to a fly; ‘Tis the prettiest little parlor that you ever did spy.”’ There’s no need to elaborate on the truthfulness of that statement, is there? I’m sure I’m not the only person here this morning who is aware of the unpleasant effects of being deceived. Who of us older folks don’t know of at least one marriage that was devastated when a surprise revelation of unfaithfulness on the part of one spouse finally surfaced? Am I the only one who is aware of a recently widowed or divorced vulnerable woman living alone or an elderly person being fleeced by an unscrupulous auto mechanic or roofing, furnace or driveway contractor? Can you think of anyone who was snookered into believing the well known phrase “I love you,” or “I’ve accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and invited Him into my heart.” which in the course of time proved to have been the exact opposite all along? I could go on an on but it isn’t necessary, is it?

We’re all defective human beings. At one time or another each of us has been deceived, and each of us, including little kids, has deceived someone else; lots of times. For instance, does this scenario sound familiar? Two little kids are playing. The smaller one suddenly screams. The mother rushes out of the kitchen and into the playroom to find her daughter lying on the floor with a cut lip. The crying girl screams: “he knocked me down,” because he really did. “No I didn’t,” says her brother. “Can I help it if she tripped over my foot?” As I mentioned earlier, deceiving and being deceived is very common. So much so, that the Holy Spirit inspired the New Testament authors to pen the following concerning spiritual deception.33 “Do not be deceived1 Corinthians 15:33 (ESV) 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words. Ephesians 5:6 (ESV) 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 (ESV) 7 Little children, let no one deceive you.” 1 John 3:7 (ESV)

Just as the devil at the dawn of human history deceived Adam and Eve into not believing what God had said; there are many men and women “pastors” in phony Christian Churches today who have been deceived, and in turn are deceiving the folks in the pews into not believing many of the things our Creator God is communicating to His human creatures through the Sacred Scriptures. There’s a very good reason why the devil obviously doesn’t want anyone to believe the absolute truth contained in the Bible. For instance, consider the following warnings.

19 “Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency, 20 Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies), 21 Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21 (AMP)

Apparently there were some folks in the Corinthian Church’s who were conning themselves into believing that engaging in these kinds of practices would not exclude them from entering into God’s heaven. Out of pastoral concern the Apostle Paul lovingly attempted to set them straight.

9 “Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality, 10 Nor cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (AMP)

The bottom line is; we must not allow ourselves to be deceived or to deceive ourselves. God is telling us that this is our responsibility and He has given each of us the freedom to choose. That’s why I’m constantly reminding you folks to search the Scriptures for yourselves to see if what I’m teaching is of God. In the preface to a little booklet the author echo’s my advice by cautioning his readers to “read this material prayerfully, asking Yahweh to guide you into His truth. And read it with an open Bible, an open heart and an open mind. Be skeptical of my conclusions, and of preachers, teachers and religious authors, all.” (A) End of quote. In other words, don’t allow yourself to be deceived by any of those guys, including me!

For instance, I recently read a review of a book entitled “Pastor Driven Stewardship” written by a man who, according to the reviewer, “has served up a ten-step system designed to help pastors wring more money out of the people in the pews. In fact, the chapter that introduces the ten-step system is appropriately called, “There’s Gold in Them Thar’ Pews!” The book even comes with a money-back guarantee” and promises the pastor using the ten-step system, “Your churches giving will increase by at least 10 percent within five weeks of beginning your stewardship series, or we will give you your money back.” “To be blunt, the reviewer continues, Pastor Driven Stewardship” is a masterpiece of deception, and a classic of how to manipulate God’s people out of their money. Its blatant purpose is to show pastors just how to do it! “Sitting in your pews each week,” [the author] Mr. Rogers unashamedly observes, “is a gold mine of resources waiting to be lovingly extracted and put to work for Christ.” Unfortunately for the author’s ultimate victims-the gullible sheep-his unbiblical methods of wringing money out of them is anything but “loving.” A more honest title for this book would be “Pastor Driven Fleecing.” (B)

Perhaps the most widely misused biblical references employes to con the sheep out of at least ten percent of their money is in Malachi 3: 7-12. Are any of you folks familiar with these verses? Although I have cited them in the past, I did so in their proper historical context. Let’s look at them.7 “Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse–the whole nation of you–because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. Malachi 3:7-12 (NIV)

Some self-serving preachers have really perfected “the fine art of fleecing the sheep” just as Mafia goons shake-down storeowners by promising them protection from their handlers. After reading the Malachi passages, the preacher bursting with rapid fire loud, passionate enthusiasm, makes his pitch which might sound something like this. “Do you want to know why so many things are going wrong in your life? Have you ever wondered why some of you are having such a hard time making ends-meet? I’ll tell you why. You’re robbing God! That’s why! You’re not tithing ten percent of your gross income. How do you expect God to pay my salary and the rest of the staff and finance all of our great programs and all our other operational expenses unless you tithe? Tithe, tithe says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Test God on this and see it come back to you tenfold. You won’t know what to do with it all. Guaranteed! My son Mike used to attend a huge independent Baptist church in Anchorage which at this point in the service the ushers went up and down the aisles armed with offering plates which held one of those credit card things. All the sheep in the pews had to do was swipe their card and get ready for the floodgates of Heaven to open and shower down mega blessings upon them. Yeah right!

“God’s commands to tithe are located only in the Old Testament, except Matt. 23:23, which pertains to Pharisees still living under the Mosaic Law. Those tithing laws were intended solely for physical Israelites living under the Old Covenant and were limited to a tenth of the increase of their produce and livestock-not their monetary gain.[i] Furthermore, there isn’t a single instance in the New Testament commanding a Christian living in the New Covenant Age to tithe. Not one!

Do not be deceived. Don’t let anyone deceive you and don’t, don’t deceive yourself. On the authority of God’s infallible Word I can assure you that every man in a pulpit has not been called and placed there by God. Congregations should require a thorough background check before the church hires a pastor or other church leader. Unless they have something to hide, no candidate will object. All too many people sitting in the pews are naïve and gullible. They owe this precautionary measure to themselves and their children. Especially the children! A horrific case in point is the massive indisputable copiously documented accounts of the sheer evil perpetrated by Roman Catholic homosexual pedophile priests. The horrors those poor altar-boys were subjected to, among other things, included beatings and forced participation in orgies, bestiality and some even had to make visits to the Cook County Hospital Morgue which I will not elaborate on. Obviously there are pedophiles outside the Catholic Church. An interesting fact however is that, “A recent survey of victims discovered that “93” percent of victims of priests under 18 years of age are male” as opposed to 20 percent of the victims of abusers in the general population.” (C)

“The numbers of abused children are impossible to determine, but reasonable estimates can be made. If about five percent of the priests in the United States are known to have abused minors in the past fifty years, then it can be assumed that about five percent of the total of 400,000 priests worldwide have abused, that there are about 20,000 current abusers. The number of victims per abuser is uncertain.” “Even using smaller multiples, it is almost certain there are hundreds of thousands of victim’s world-wide, perhaps even millions.” (D)

Please don’t misunderstand me. Some of the nicest, kindest and most caring people I have ever met are homosexuals. As I have said on many an occasion from this pulpit and at Harvest Time, I would rather have them for a neighbor than some professed Christians I know. However, in the Corinthian and Galatians passages I cited earlier concerning the continuance of certain sinful practices which will exclude people from inheriting the Kingdom of God we must remember God doesn’t allow anyone to perish eternally because they were born as a swindler, drunkard, loose-cannon or the like. On the contrary, in the course of time they freely chose to engage in these kinds of sinful practices. The Bible teaches that homosexually is an abomination and a perversion of the kind of human sexuality our Creator intended men and women to enjoy (Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1: 26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim. 1: 9-10; Cf. Deut. 22:5; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-5; Jude 1:7). These self deceived homosexuals have conned themselves into believing that their behavior is normal, while nothing could be further from the truth. And God only knows how many of these demonically deceived perverts are still infesting today’s Catholic Church. I can’t help wondering if most Catholics haven’t already figured this out. The only possible clue I have is that “While Mass attendance in Vermont is slightly higher than the national average,” Bishop Matano [recently] said, nearly 70 percent of Vermonters who identify themselves as Catholic do not attend Mass.” (F)

Perhaps most Catholic priests aren’t homosexuals but rather are sincere hard-working servants of the Risen Savior. I sure hope so. I really feel bad for them. I know some wonderful Catholic priests whom I respect and admire, but I honestly can’t help wondering whether or not they are homosexuals. Every Catholic priest! I can’t help feeling this way. It’s just that I can’t be absolutely certain. Can you? Because of the infamous culture of deceit and the massive world-wide cover up throughout the years of this shocking tragedy; a cover up involving Popes, cardinals, bishops, right on down to the local parish priest who were often bound by “The Seal of Confession” or intimidated by blackmail. I’m not sure I can really trust any Catholic priest today. I don’t want to be deceived. And I don’t want to offend the Catholics the Lord has caused to cross paths with me, especially the one who joins me for a couple of sliced of pizza each week, a man whom I value as one of my best friends. But, more importantly, I don’t want to offend my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ if my appearance at a Catholic Mass regardless of the occasion, may somehow be construed as my being apathetic in any way towards some of the teachings and activities taking place within this colossal “Church of Darkness.”

I want be able to face Him on the Day of Judgment with a clear conscience knowing I have given a lot of prayerful thought to this issue and I urge each of you to do the same. Search the Scriptures for yourselves and see if what I have been saying can be backed up biblically. And please become informed and read the book I have been quoting from as well as others. It’s entitled: Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church. (G) Incidentally, the author of the book is still a practicing Roman Catholic. For the life of me I can’t think of a single good reason why anyone who loves the Lord would want to have anything to do with this organization unless the devil had conned him or her into deceiving themselves big time. I hope I haven’t come across as being a sanctimonious hypocrite. I assure you both I and my fellow bible believing Christians each know without a doubt, that we were all a bunch slime-ball sinner’s who have been saved by nothing but Gods amazing grace (Eph. 2:8-9). There’s nothing, absolutely nothing from preventing any of those despicable people I have been speaking about earlier from asking Jesus to forgive them, too. And if any of you folks haven’t already done so, there’s nothing to prevent you from doing the same.

Lord willing, next week….


(A) The Tabernacle of David, © May, 2008 by Adison Martin; 1060 Tappan Circle, Orange City, Fl. 32763.

(B) Searching Together Magazine, 366 Bench Street PO Box 377, Taylors Falls, MN. 55084, Summer-Winter 2006 issue.

(C) Ibid.

(D) Mart, “Victims of Abuse by Priests,” p. 469, cited in SACRILEGE: SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH by Leon J. Podles, © 2008 by Crossland Press, P.O. Box 26290, Baltimore, MD. 21210, p. 330.

(E) Louise Haggert, The Bingo Report: Mandatory Celibacy and Clergy Sex Abuse (Freeport Maine: Center for the Study of Religious Issues) p.188, cited in Sacrilege p. 492-493.

(F) Article entitled: BISHOP: Increasing Sunday Mass attendance top diocesan priority; The Vermont Catholic Tribune, August 1, 2008.

(G) Another excellent resource  is Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church’s 2,000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse, © 2006 by Thomas P. Doyle, Richard A. W. Sipe, and Patrick J. Wall, 111, Volt Press, a division of Bonus Books, Inc. (255 Sunset Blvd. , #711, Los Angeles, Ca. 90069.

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August 24, 2008 Posted by Categories: Uncategorized 5 comments

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