Pastors often say something like this at the close of a sermon as they give a public invitation(not found in scripture).If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you…come.If you “feel”led of the Holy Spirit…come.Now it is true,the Holy Spirit does speak and He does lead.But what does that really mean?

How does the Holy Spirit lead a Christian?How does the Holy Spirit speak to a person?

God is unchangable.Mal.3:6;James.1:17.God’s principles and methods of working are ever the same.

1.When the Holy Spirit “speaks”,He speaks SCRIPTURE.Rom.8:16.The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit,that we are the children of God.

How does the Holy Spirit bear witness?The witness of the spirit is the Bible.

Heb.3:7.Wherefore as the Holy Spirit(SAITH),today if you will hear his voice.Then in Heb.3:8-11 he quotes Psa.95.The Holy Spirit is speaking scripture.

Heb.10:15.Whereof the Holy Spirit also is a witness to us:for after that (HeSAID before).The in verse 16 and following he quotes Jer.31.The Holy Spirit said this.

The Holy Spirit takes the Bible and makes that personal to the believer.When a verse comes to your mind–the Holy Spirit is speaking to answer or to bring comfort.

2.The Holy Spirit leads all of God’s children.Rom.8:14.For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,they are the sons of God.

(1)He speaks to me scripture.

(2)He leads me according to scripture.

We don’t always recognize His leading.

In Acts.23:11.Paul wanted to go to Rome.In Acts.25:11-12He appeals to Caesar.Unto Caesar shall you go.In Acts.28:19.I was constrained(led) to appeal unto Caesar.

Two things about this leading of the Holy Spirit.

(1).It will be a “continual”leading.Phil.2:13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.If these desires are according to the scriptures–that is the leading of the Holy Spirit.The (will)to do it comes from God.2:13.Such a desire would not come from the world,flesh or the devil.

(2).It will be a “lasting” leading.Phil.1:6.

3.When the Holy Spirit speaks..He speaks to the (mind).Rom.8:5.For they that are after the flesh do (mind)the things of the flesh;but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit leads,His leading will be in our (thinking)not our (feelings).

 He speaks to our (thoughts)Eph.1:17.That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,the Father of glory,may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.(The Holy Spirit gives wisdom,revelation,knowledge of Him.)

Eph.1:18The eyes of your UNDERSTANDING(thats not FEELINGS)being ENLIGHTENED.)

Thats why Satan tries to distract our thoughts.Notice how difficult it is to pay attention in church.2Cor.10:5.Casting down imaginations.We have to give attention to this matter of (thinking)because thats how the Holy Spirit leads us.

He speaks to our minds…not our feelings.It is very difficult to describe how it FEELS to be led.THAT IS NOT A SCRIPTURAL TERM.NOT ONCE IS IT MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE WHERE THAT LANGUAGE IS USED.

One of the most antagonistic church members that I ever had wore a cap on his head that said “Don’t confuse me with the facts,my mind is made up.”Although his wife didn’t wear a cap,her husband expressed her sentiments exactly.That was part of their “belief”system.

Dr.Archibald Hart in his book,”Unlocking the mystery of your emotions,Word Publishing.has a chapter on,”How thoughts cause emotions”.

                        Beliefs:

These reflect the acceptance of something as true.Some beliefs are concrete while others are very abstract. I may believe that..1)when my car’s tires are worn to a certain level,I run a high risk of having an accident in wet weather;or 2)unless I am outstandingly competent and never fail in any project I undertake,I will not be accepted by my friends.The first belief is “rational,” since there is evidence to support it.The second is an example of what Albert Ellis calls an “irrational belief”as there is not a shread of evidence to support the idea.

Whenever we invoke absolute ideas such as “I’ve got to!” “I must” or”I ought” we are invariably invoking  irrational ideas.These irrational beliefs give rise to irrational thoughts which are then followed by illogical thinking.When this occurs with deeply personal matters,the emotional consequences can be disastrous.

Some irrational ideas we hold to are quite universal in character.Many have been identified and found to be common in emotionally disturbed people.They are probably present to some extent in all of us.

If we hold to any of the following beliefs we are clearly crossing the line from rational to irrational thinking.

1.I must be loved and liked by everyone,

2.I must be loved at all times without exception.

3.I must be perfectly competent in all that I do.

4 I must never fail.

5.I have no control over my own happiness.

6.Everything that happens to me is catastrophic.

7.Everyone must treat me fairly.

8.I must experience pleasure rather than pain in my life.

The irrational flavor of these ideas will become obvious as you think about them.They are based on absolutes (no exceptions,blacks and whites rather than grays) and set up expections way beyond what can be expected from human beings.These and similiar irrational ideas,to the extent that they are believed and held unconsciously ,can lead to many negative emotions.

It has been demonstrated over and over again that when a person..

Deliberately confronts and examines the ridiculous nature of these ideas…

Stops expecting them to be true…

Stops condemning himself or herself for being human and unable to meet everyone else’s expections..

Realizes at the deepest level of his or her being that God accepts us in Christ just as we are…

Stops judging him or herself and others for being human (only God has the right to judge) and..

Utilizes the resources of the gospel to help overcome all of this….

such a person can practically eliminate most of the serious and unwanted,unpleasent emotions.We are not as out of control  as we think we are when it comes to dealing with our emotions

What do Eve(Gen.3)Ken Copeland,Benny(miracle hair)Hinn and the mormons have in common??Jack explains it all on his web sight…They all believe that men can become gods.If Romney becomes Vice President we will have a god in the Zebra administration.http://mormonthing.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/can-man-become-a-god/

About 15 years ago after a serious heart attack I had a conversation with my physician.My doctor was a mormon.He was also my friend.I told him that I was having a difficult time with depression and could not sleep at night.My concern was that I did not want medicine for depression or sleep,but I knew that I needed help.

He suggested that I see a Psychotherapist,Dr.Frank Green in Wake Forest,N.C.I had never been to a Psychotherapist and preached against them.I now believe that probably everyone(especially Southern Baptist pastors need to pay a visit to the good Doctor).

When I walked into his office I had just come from leading a class at SEBTS where I was a facilitater in “Supervised ministry.”

I assumed that Dr.Green would have on a suit and tie.To my surprise he had on shorts,a casual shirt and white socks with flip flops.Dr.Green had a grey beard and reading glasses..the kind that fit way done on your nose.

After a brief conversation,he paused for a few moments and said,“What are you feeling?”I immediately told him “how”I was feeling.He said,”that’s not what I asked you,I want to know “what”you are feeling.To my dismay, I began to weep and said,”I’ve never thought much about “what” I was feeling,my concern has been what others are feeling.”I started on a profitable journey that day that saved my life.My feelings…love,anger,fear,despair,joy,hate and many more emotions are important and must be dealt with daily.

Dr.Green said,’When you go on vacation,do you take your theological books with you?Does everything you do center around your ministry without giving attention to your personal feelings?Do you know how to relax?Are you happy when you are not preaching or preparing to minister?IAnd on and on he went..nailing my hide to the wall.

Here is what he said to me that day.”Your biggest problem is…control.”You try to control your church,your home and everything that is going on.He said basically that I had to stop trying to control everything and everybody.I learned in the coming weeks that our emotions are important.Men tend to suppress their emotions like a real man.If you doubt what I’m saying,just ask a man sometime,”what are you feeling?I’ll bet you he will tell you how he is feeling.

When Dr.Green shared with me that…what we think affects our emotions(feelings) and our feelings affect our actions,I began to see that…right thinking leads to right emotions and right thinking and right feelings lead to right actions,my life began to change and it still is today.

Dr.Green suggested an excellent book for me to read,”Unlocking The Mystery of Your Emotions by Dr.Archibald D.Hart,who is a christian Psychotherapist.Dr.Hart maintains a private clinical practice specializing in ministers and their families.My copy is worn and held together by tape.I have used it in counseling other people.A fellow church member years ago asked me to counsel his wife who was suicidal.I met with her and shared with her the Biblical principles in Hart’s book.I also suggested that she see Dr.Green and she did.After awhile she said to me,”I want to thank you.You saved my life.”And may I say that knowing Christ as my Lord and with the help of Dr.Green and Dr.Hart my life was saved from an early death.

Sixteen months ago,our oldest son,Jay died .He died on his 33rd birthday leaving behind a wife and 6 month old baby girl.For several weeks I devoured the Psalms and re-read Hart’s book.I have not hesitated to deal with what I am feeling as well as how I’m feeling.

For those of you who think that emotions are for women and girly men,I feel sorry for you.I once thought that way,but I am free at last. Right Thinking…feeling…acting.Simple but profound.Simply profound.

Three books that I recommend other than the best…The Bible are:

1.The Velveteen Rabbit(one of my favorites).

2.All books by Dr.Archibald Hart.

3.Reaching for the Invisible God.Philip Yancey.

• Mormons Are Christian | mormons_are_christian@earthlink.net | MormonsAreChristian.blogspot.com | IP: 67.176.117.228
• I asked a mormon who commented to my post on mormons 3 questions..
• 1.Who is Jesus?
• 2.What did he do..accomplish on the cross?
• 3.Is salvation a free gift of God?
•  

  The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is often accused by Evangelical pastors of not believing in Christ and, therefore, not being a Christian religion This article helps to clarify such misconceptions by examining early Christianity’s theology relating to baptism, the Godhead, the deity of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

  • Baptism: .

  Early Christian churches, practiced baptism of youth (not infants) by immersion by the father of the family. The local congregation had a lay ministry. An early Christian Church has been re-constructed at the Israel Museum, and the above can be verified. http://www.imj.org.il/eng/exhibitions/2000/christianity/ancientchurch/structure/index.html
  The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) continues baptism and a lay ministry as taught by Jesus’ Apostles. Early Christians were persecuted for keeping their practices sacred, and prohibiting non-Christians from witnessing them.

  • The Trinity: .

  A literal reading of the New Testament points to God and Jesus Christ , His Son , being separate , divine beings , united in purpose. . To whom was Jesus praying in Gethsemane, and Who was speaking to Him and his apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration?

  The Nicene Creed”s definition of the Trinity was influenced by scribes translating the Greek manuscripts into Latin. The scribes embellished on a passage explaining the Trinity , which is the Catholic and Protestant belief that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The oldest versions of the epistle of 1 John, read: “There are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water and the blood and these three are one.”

  Scribes later added “the Father, the Word and the Spirit,” and it remained in the epistle when it was translated into English for the King James Version, according to Dr. Bart Ehrman, Chairman of the Religion Department at UNC- Chapel Hill. He no longer believes in the Nicene Trinity. .

  Scholars agree that Early Christians believed in an embodied God; it was neo-Platonist influences that later turned Him into a disembodied Spirit. Harper’s Bible Dictionary entry on the Trinity says “the formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is not to be found in the New Testament.”

  The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) views the Trinity as three separate divine beings , in accord with the earliest Greek New Testament manuscripts.

  • Theosis

  Divinization, narrowing the space between God and humans, was also part of Early Christian belief. St. Athanasius of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox) wrote, regarding theosis, “The Son of God became man, that we might become God.” . The Gospel of Thomas (which pre-dates the 4 Gospels, but was considered non-canonical by the Nicene Council) quotes the Savior: He who will drink from my mouth will become as I am: I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him. (Gospel of Thomas 50, 28-30, Nag Hammadi Library in English, J.M.Robinson, 1st ed 1977; 3rd ed. 198 The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS agrees with Athanasius and Thomas regarding theosis.

  • The Deity of Jesus Christ

  Mormons hold firmly to the deity of Christ. For members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS), Jesus is not only the Son of God but also God the Son. Evangelical pollster George Barna found in 2001 that while only 33 percent of American Catholics, Lutherans, and Methodists (28 percent of Episcopalians) agreed that Jesus was “without sin”, 70 percent of Mormons believe Jesus was sinless. http://www.adherents.com/misc/BarnaPoll.html

  • The Cross and Christ’s Atonement: .

  The Cross became popular as a Christian symbol in the Fifth Century A.D. . Members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) believe the proper Christian symbol is Christ’s resurrection , not his crucifixion on the Cross. Many Mormon chapels feature paintings of the resurrected Christ or His Second Coming. Furthermore, members of the church believe the major part of Christ’s atonement occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane as Christ took upon him the sins of all mankind.

  • Definition of “Christian”: .

  But Mormons don’t term Catholics and Protestants “non-Christian”. They believe Christ’s atonement applies to all mankind. The dictionary definition of a Christian is “of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to a religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ”: All of the above denominations are followers of Christ, and consider him divine, and the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. They all worship the one and only true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and address Him in prayer as prescribed in The Lord’s Prayer.

  It’s important to understand the difference between Reformation and Restoration when we consider who might be authentic Christians. . Early Christians had certain rituals which defined a Christian http://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/207/2070037.htm , which members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) continue today. . Please refer to: http://NewTestamentTempleRitual.blogspot.com If members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) embrace early Christian theology, they are likely more “Christian” than their detractors.

  • The Parallel with the “Rise of Christianity”

  Rodney Stark in his book “The Rise of Christianity” found parallels with the rise of Mormonism:
  A similar growth rate (40 percent for Christianity, and 43 percent for Mormonism) for both nascent religious movements. Conversions proceeded along social networking lines, primarily. While Christianity retained Jews’ belief in the Old Testament, Mormonism retains Creedal Christians’ belief in both the New and Old Testaments. The Romans martyred the Christian leaders, the mobs in Missouri and Illinois martyred the Mormon leaders. In both cases, they expected the fledgling movements to fail without their leaders.

  • The Need for a Restoration of the Christian Church:

  The founder of the Baptist Church in America, Roger Williams, just prior to leaving the church he established, said this:

  “There is no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking.” (Picturesque America, p. 502.)

  Martin Luther had similar thoughts: “Nor can a Christian believer be forced beyond sacred Scriptures,…unless some new and proved revelation should be added; for we are forbidden by divine law to believe except what is proved either through the divine Scriptures or through Manifest revelation.”

  He also wrote: “I have sought nothing beyond reforming the Church in conformity with the Holy Scriptures. The spiritual powers have been not only corrupted by sin, but absolutely destroyed; so that there is now nothing in them but a depraved reason and a will that is the enemy and opponent of God. I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among
  those who should have preserved it.”

  The Lutheran, Baptist and Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) churches recognize an apostasy from early Christianity. The Lutheran and Baptist churches have attempted reform, but Mormonism (and Roger Williams, and perhaps Martin Luther) require inspired restoration, so as to re-establish an unbroken line of authority and apostolic succession.

  * * *
  • Christ-Like Lives:

  The 2005 National Study of Youth and Religion published by UNC-Chapel Hill found that Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) youth (ages 13 to 17) were more likely to exhibit these Christian characteristics than Evangelicals (the next most observant group):

  1. Attend Religious Services weekly
  2. Importance of Religious Faith in shaping daily life – extremely important
  3. Believes in life after death
  4. Does NOT believe in psychics or fortune-tellers
  5. Has taught religious education classes
  6. Has fasted or denied something as spiritual discipline
  7. Sabbath Observance
  8. Shared religious faith with someone not of their faith
  9. Family talks about God, scriptures, prayer daily
  10. Supportiveness of church for parent in trying to raise teen (very supportive)
  11. Church congregation has done an excellent job in helping teens better understand their own sexuality and sexual morality

  LDS Evangelical
  1. 71% 55%
  2. 52 28
  3. 76 62
  4. 100 95
  5. 42 28
  6. 68 22
  7. 67 40
  8. 72 56
  9. 50 19
  10. 65 26
  11. 84 35

  So what do you think the motivation is for the Evangelical preachers to denigrate the Mormon Church? You would think Evangelical preachers would be emulating Mormon practices (a creed to believe, a place to belong, a calling to live out, and a hope to hold onto) which were noted by Methodist Rev. Kenda Creasy Dean of the Princeton Theological Seminary, as causing Mormon teenagers to “top the charts” in Christian characteristics. (see http://MormonTeenagers.blogspot.com) It seems obvious pastors shouldn’t be denigrating a church based on First Century Christianity, with high efficacy. The only plausible reason to denigrate Mormons is for Evangelical pastors to protect their flock (and their livelihood