MASONRY: Beyond The Light by William Schnoebelen

Many Christians believe Freemasonry is a fine, Christian organization. But as Bill Schnoebelen climbed to Freemasonry's 32nd degree he discovered horrifying facts about this organization that lower level Freemasons never learn. Now a born again Christian, Schnoebelen reveals all while he answers questions like these:

... Is Masonry a religion?

... Is a Mason serving two masters?

... Who is Jesus to the lodge?

... Do Masons use dangerous and forbidden oaths?

... What is the Eastern Star?

... What is the Lodge's evil ancestry?

... Who are the children of Baphomet?

... Is there a witchcract connection with Masonry?

... How can you protect your family?

... Should a Christian be a Mason?

... How do you get out?

FOREWORD

This book has been a tremendous effort, and I would like to thank the many people who prayed for its completion. The Deceiver does not like books written on this difficult and controversial subject, and the spiritual warfare has been intense.

I acknowledge humbly the prayer support of the people (too numerous to mention) behind this book, and pray it will bring glory and honor to the name of my “Worshipful Master,” Jesus Christ.

Some extraordinary people were indispensable in putting this book together. I would especially like to thank my wife, Sharon, for her loving support and patience with her “writer husband,” as well as her thoughtful insights and immense help with the typing and editing.

I would like to thank Ed Decker, who was both an important inspiration and a helpful editor and critic during the formative stages of this project.

I need to also mention the helpful insights, wisdom and research assistance from Mick Oxley, Aron Rush and Jim Zilonka.

The purpose of this book is to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) that many might be brought from darkness into light!

William J. Schnoebelen

READ OR DOWNLOAD HERE

SPANISH VERSION HERE (At the bottom of the page).

FANTASY DANGERS

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:23-27).

We live an age of technology-driven fantasy, and a rapidly-growing number of people live in fantasy worlds.

The human imagination is a gift of God and can be used for good as well as evil, but man's fallen condition and the existence of dark spiritual powers means there are great dangers in fantasizing.

The first appearance of “imagination” in the Bible is a warning about evil imaginings: “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

The corruption of the imagination was one of the first steps in the downward slide to idolatry and moral perversion in man's early history as described in Romans 1. “... when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but BECAME VAIN IN THEIR IMAGINATIONS, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21).

The same thing happens in the lives of individuals. If the imagination becomes perverted, the person's life will reflect this.

The heart is the source of man's actions. God's Word says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life”, and, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 4:23; 23:7).

A fleeting thought is of little consequence, but what the individual allows his mind to dwell upon, what he harbors and nurses in his heart, will determine the course of his life.

This is a loud warning in an age when individuals can connect 24/7 in the most private manner with any and every aspect of the pop culture, and there are a great many dark and perverted things with which one can fill the imagination. In fact, dark and perverted is an apt description of much of today's music, movies, television programs, video games, and novels.

Jesus warned about gaining the whole world while losing one's soul. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

What would He say about those who sell their souls for nothing but a figment of the imagination!

Fantasy Science Fiction

Science fiction and the superhero genre of entertainment have grown ever darker, stranger, more sensual and godless, and many people are living a dark fantasy world portrayed in books, movies, video games, and online virtual worlds.

Science fiction has been a godless world since its inception. There might be “a god”, a “force”, but it is not the holy Creator God of the Bible. Many prominent names in science fiction are atheists and haters of Jehovah God.

Carl Sagan, whose best-selling sci-fi novel Contact was made into a movie, was one of the high priests of atheistic evolution. In this novel, he has the main character debating two preachers and saying, “There is no compelling evidence that God exists”. In 1997, Sagan said, “I share the view of a hero of mine, Albert Einstein: 'I cannot conceive of a god who rewards and punishes his creatures or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves.' Neither can I--nor would I want to--conceive of an individual that survives his physical death. Let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egotism, cherish such thoughts'“ (Parade, March 10, 1997).

Isaac Asimov, in a 1982 interview, said, “Emotionally, I am an atheist. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time” (Paul Kurtz, “An Interview with Isaac Asimov on Science and the Bible”, Free Inquiry, Spring 1982, p. 9).

Only a spiritually-blind man can say there is no evidence for the existence of a Creator God. The evidence is EVERYWHERE!

Robert Heinlein, called “the dean of science fiction writers”, rejected the Bible and encouraged “free sex”. He promoted agnosticism through his sci-fi books.

Arthur Clarke, author of many sci-fi works, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, promoted evolutionary pantheism. He told a Sri Lankan newspaper, “I don't believe in God or an afterlife” (“Life Beyond 2001: Exclusive Interview with Arthur C. Clarke”, The Island, Dec. 20, 2000).

Kurt Vonnegut was an atheist, and as an honorary president of the American Humanist Association he subscribed to its code which “does not accept supernatural views of reality”.

Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, was an agnostic and humanist who envisioned a world in which “everyone is an atheist and better for it” (Brannon Braga, “Every Religion Has a Mythology”, International Atheist Conference, June 24, 2006).

Ray Bradbury (d. 2012), author of Fahrenheit 451 and the Martian Chronicles, grew up in a Baptist home, but he described himself as “delicatessen religionist”. He was particularly enamored with Buddhism and Eastern religion, even calling himself a “Zen Buddhist”. He was a pantheist and an evolutionist. He considered Jesus a wise prophet, like Buddha and Confucius, a man who became christ through self effort (“Sci-fi Legend Ray Bradbury on God”, CNN, August 2, 2010). Bradbury claimed that when it comes to God, “none of us know anything”. He said, “We must become astronauts and go out into the universe and discover the God in ourselves”.

H.G. Wells, author of such science fiction classics as The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, and The First Man on the Moon, converted to atheistic Darwinism as a college student under the influence of Thomas Huxley (“Darwin's Bulldog”) and spent the rest of his life preaching atheism and an extreme form of eugenics. He wanted to create a master race through Darwinian survival of the fittest and urged society to have “no pity and less benevolence” toward the inferior. Not surprisingly, he was an early advocate of “free love” and lived a debauched moral life. He was a serial adulterer, even committing adultery with the daughters of his friends. One of his partners in adultery was fellow atheist and eugenist Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. He died an “infinitely frustrated” and broken man, with no hope for the future, neither for himself nor for the human race. This is the result of an attempt to live in a fantasy world without God.

Science fiction has never been not a spiritually neutral genre, and there are great spiritual dangers in delving into this fantasy world.

The sci-fi superhero genre today is moving ever deeper into dark realms.

Consider James Holmes, who murdered a dozen people and wounded nearly 60 more in a movie theater where Batman: The Dark Knight Rises was premiering. Jesus taught us that murder is an acting out of the impulses of the fallen nature (Mark 7:21-23), and the sin nature can be inflamed. Holmes had dyed his hair red and said he was The Joker, the clownish, ultra-violent enemy of the superhero Batman (“NYC Police Commissioner Said Alleged Shooter Calls Himself The Joker”, Fox News, July 20, 2012).

Today's Batman comics and movies are worlds apart from the original Batman stories. They are vile and ultra violent. In the 2008 movie Batman: The Dark Night, a man's face is filleted by a knife, another's is burned half off, a man's eye is slammed into a pencil, a bomb is stitched inside of a man and exploded, a man is bound to a chair and set afire, a child is threatened by a man with a melted face, and clowns are shot point-blank in the head. In the comic book “Batman: The Dark Night” The Joker murders an entire television audience.

Thirteen years earlier, not far from where Holmes acted out his perverted fantasies, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 13 and wounded 21 in a public school. They, too, were acting out demonic fantasies that had been enflamed through violent music, video games, and dark movies.

Pop Idol Fantasy

The entire field of pop idols, from Elvis to Justin Bieber, is a fantasy. The pop stars are real people, but their pop idol personas are fantasies created by clever music industry people from Colonel Parker to Johnny Kitagawa.

The latter, head of Johnny & Associates, has been creating pop idol boy bands for 50 years in Japan, the world's second largest music market. Young men called “Johnny juniors” are carefully chosen and then trained for five years before being placed with other juniors into a boy band. An additional two years is required to train them to perform together and to “act like certified idols” (“Unraveling a fantasy: A beginner's guide to Japanese idol pop”, AVClub.com, Jul. 18, 2014).

Japanese producer Yasushi Sikmoto has done with girl bands what Kitagawa has done with boy bands. 

The ultimate fantasy pop idol is Hatsune Miku. One of the most popular Japanese pop singers of all time, she performed sold-out concerts attended by tens of thousands of screaming fans and opened for Lady Gaga. But she doesn't exist. One hundred percent fantasy, she is an avatar created by the Japanese company Crypton Future Media. She is projected onstage as a dancing hologram. She is the ultimate scantily-clothed pop singer of youthful fantasy with an unrealistically proportioned figure and a hyper-cute, Manga-influenced face. Girls fantasize that they are Hatsune, and boys fantasize that she is their girlfriend. One fan said, “She's rather more like a goddess: She has human parts, but she transcends human limitations. She's the great post-human pop star” (“Hatsune Miku: The world's fakest pop star”, CBNNews, Nov. 9, 2012). Hatsune Miku is the avatar for Yamaha's Vocaloid (“vocals plus android”) software which allows anyone to use her voice (actually that of Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita) on their own songs, so the songs performed at her “concerts” are all fan written. More than 100,000 songs have been created and many have gone viral on YouTube and the Japanese equivalent Nico Nico Douga and other forums. Vocaloid “has fostered the rise of a vibrant, nation-spanning community of do-it-yourself musicians, artists, filmmakers, and writers who create their own pop-culture products through the avatar of cartoon girl”. “For fans, creating and sharing content is as much a part of the experience as the singer herself”.

Indeed, Hatsune Miku is the ultimate “me generation” pop star. It is me singing for me and to me, with others participating in my me-fest! The reference by a Hatsune fan to “goddess” is enlightening, because goddess worship is pure fantasy and has always been about the worshiper. Idolatry is all about the pursuit of personal happiness apart from the Creator God.

The heart and soul of pop idol fantasy is sex, as with pop music as a whole. The boys and girls of the idol bands are carefully selected to fit within the current definition of cute and sexy, and the unisex aspect appeals both to “straights” and homosexuals.

“Kawaii [the Japanese idea of cuteness] is deployed to elicit glee from tweens and salaciousness from adult, manga-loving men” (“Unraveling a fantasy: A beginner's guide to Japanese idol pop”, AVClub.com, Jul. 18, 2014).

Fantasy Digital Worlds

Virtual worlds are hugely popular. More than 15 million people have participated in Second Life alone, the most popular of the many virtual worlds, creating fantasy depictions of themselves, fantasy identities, hanging out at fantasy places, having online fantasy sexual relations, even buying and selling fantasy property.

Players reinvent themselves and “embark on the kind of adventures he or she has always dreamed of”.

The player creates an avatar to represent himself. This began in 2006 with Nintendo's avatar-building tool in the Wii gaming console. The avatar was called a Mii.

The whole concept of having an avatar “means that you can change everything about yourself; your appearance, your personality, your ethnicity, even your gender”.

You can be a pirate, a knight, a witch, an animal, a combination human-animal, a sex goddess, a superhero, or whatever you can imagine, in a world that doesn't exist. You can be as strange or as beautiful, as good or wicked, as you please. One gamer said, “It's like playing god … with yourself”.

The avatar has been called a “mini-me”. Winda Benedetti, a gaming reporter, describes her avatar as physically perfect, with its “flawless hair and skin” and “attractively proportioned” figure on which clothes hang “with a stylish perfection”, remarking, “She's little more than a cartoon, but still, my mini me--my avatar--I can't help it, I wish I was her” (“I can't help it--I wish I were my avatar”, NBC News, Nov. 25, 2008).

In Second Life, there are many different worlds, such as Dynasty of Dragons, Isle of Faerun (“a land of magic”), Midnight Dreams (“a dark role play and combat environment focused on Vampires”), Museum of Magical Arts, Morgan Straits (“a role play community set in the Golden Age of Piracy”), and Remnants of Earth (“a cyberpunk fantasy role playing game”).

Users are drawn into virtual worlds by the offer of free entry levels, but they usually end up spending money, sometimes a lot of money, to purchase entrance into deeper levels and to buy virtual goods. During the first ten years of its existence (2003-2013) Second Life users spent $3.2 billion!

Users become emotionally attached to the virtual worlds. I heard a woman on the Kim Komando computer radio show describe the deep distress she experienced when her virtual world was unplugged by the bankrupt parent company. She had spent a lot of time and money building her virtual paradise, and the highlight of her day was to enjoy it, but it had disappeared overnight. 

Avatars can communicate with and interact with other avatars, which often leads to problems in real life. Many marriages have been destroyed when one partner formed a fantasy attachment to an avatar. People have ran away from their families to live with people they met online.

One report on this was “Avatars and Second Life Adultery: A tale of online cheating and real-world heartbreak”, The Telegraph, Nov. 14, 2008.

Multi-player online video games

“Some studies suggest that gaming is absolutely taking over the minds of children all together”.

“Virtual life becomes more appealing than real life”.

Nothing takes over young people's hearts and minds more than MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing games).

The most addictive games in 2015 are the following: Madden, Dota 2, Grand Theft Auto, Tetris, Candy Crush Saga (the company is valued at $7.5 billion), Minecraft, EverQuest (called “never rest” and “ever crack”), The Sims (player has omnipotent control over people), World of Warcraft (called World of War Crack), Call of Duty (the last two are played by more than 100 million players), Halo 3 (called Halodiction),Total War, Pong, Civilization, Diablo 3, Super Meat Boy, Team Fortress 2, Dark Souls 2, Counter Strike, Starcraft 2, Persona 4 Golden, Monster Hunter 3, Elder Scrolls, Angry Birds, Faster Than Light, Peggle, League of Legends, Civilization V, Pokemon.

Even in remote places like Nepal, gaming is becoming popular. A report on Nepali gamers in the Kathmandu Post (Aug. 29, 2015) was entitled “By Their Bootstraps”. Gaming started in Nepal in internet cafes in 2010. The 2015 Colors E-sports Carnival at the Civil Mall had 500 participants competing at Defense of the Ancients (DOTA), a multi-online battle game.

Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Sports is a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry that attracts more than 51 million American participants. Fantasy players spend an average of $465 a year on their fantasies. Two leading fantasy companies, DraftKings and FanDuel, are worth an estimated $1 billion each.

“In fantasy sports a participant creates his own team, selecting players from a real-world sports league like the NBA, National Football League, or England's Premier League football. As real games are played, a fantasy team competes and is ranked against others based on the actual-game performance of its players” (“Like the real game, fantasy sports now worth billions”, AFP, Jun. 28, 2015).

Fantasy Comics

In Asia, the Manga culture has captured the imaginations of multitudes of young people. (Manga is Japanese; in Korea it is manhwa, and in China it is manhua.) Anime refers to the animation of Manga as television programs and movies.

Manga has had a large influence on Japanese pop culture. It has been said that one cannot understand modern Japan “without understanding the role that manga play in the society”.

Manga is a multi-billion a year industry that has has spread to Europe and America.

Manga refers to comics that come in a wide variety of genre: romance, superhero, superheroine, science fiction, etc.

Manga is popular within a wide variety of society, including children, students, businessmen, and housewives.

Manga stories often mix real world scenes with alien worlds. The characters are normal people with shadow lives via superpowers or robot or alien friends. There is a lot of witchcraft (such as soul migration). There is also a lot of sexual content and homosexuality.

It is fantasy escapism, and it has been described as a “pop cultural obsession”. Manga fans often dress and act like their Manga heroes. They attend Manga conventions. They become fixated on Manga.

One 13-year-old wrote, “I have a problem, I'm addicted to the computer and on the computer all I do is watch anime and read manga and that is what I'm addicted to the most and I stay up all night because of it” (“Anime and Manga Causing Sleep Deprivation”).

Fantasy Romance Novels

Romance novels are the most popular literary genre in America, capturing 55% of book sales, and they appear in 90 languages other than English.

The romance novel exploded in popularity in the 1970s. In 1976, sales reached 40 million copies. By 2008, sales were 74 million.

Many romance novels have a strong sexual content. A recent example is Fifty Shades of Grey, which even delves into sadomasochism. This type of thing has no place in a Christian's life.

“But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints” (Ephesians 5:3).

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11).

“These novels were written to be titillating, and I really don't think there's a huge difference between this and porn. It's 'soft porn,' and indeed many women find themselves far more aroused by reading something like this than they would be watching porn on a computer. So women who devour novel after novel like that aren't that much different from men who watch porn all night” (“Romance Novels: Dangerous, Harmless, or Just Fun?” Jan. 16, 2012).

Dr. Julia Slattery warns that there are similarities between what happens to a man when he views pornography and what happens to a woman when she reads a romance novel. “There is a neurochemical element with men and visual porn, but an emotional element with women and these novels” (“Romance novels can become addictive”, May 30, 2011, KSL.com).

She is seeing more and more women “who are clinically addicted to romantic books”.

Even G-rated romance novels take the reader into an unrealistic world typically populated by strong, beautiful heroines and handsome, caring men who “fall in love”. They can produce addiction to a fantasy world and dissatisfaction with real life.

In 2011, the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health in Britain reported that romance novels “are a cause of marital breakdown, adulterous affairs and unwanted pregnancies”.

Best-selling author Shaunti Feldhahn notes, “[S]ome marriage therapists caution that women can become as dangerously unbalanced by these books' entrancing but distorted messages as men can be by the distorted messages of pornography”.

As with anything, there is the danger of progression, by starting out with harmless novels and clean Christian romance novels and then branching out.

“I've known so many Christian teens who just devoured all the romances in the church library, and then headed to the public library for more, and ended up almost addicted to really steamy stuff” (“Romance Novels: Dangerous, Harmless, or Just Fun?”).

Why Living in a Fantasy World Is Wrong

We are not saying that fiction and fantasy are totally wrong.

I am not saying it is wrong ever to read a novel or watch a harmless movie or play a harmless video game or some such thing.

I am saying that there are great dangers lurking in the realm of fantasy today, as we have documented.

And I am saying it is wrong to live in a fantasy world instead of living in the real world.

This is wrong for the following reasons:

• Reality cannot be escaped; it can only be ignored for a short while. Each individual is a soul made in God's image and each individual will face God in judgment. “Amusement” refers to non-thinking (a=none, muse=thinking), but all of the amusement and escapism and fantasy and alcohol and drugs in the world will not change the soul's appointment with God.

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27).

• Living in a fantasy world can hide the soul from salvation. God loves each sinner and wants to save him before it is too late, but the opportunity for salvation is finite. If an individual choses to live in a fantasy world in this life, he can wile away his opportunity. You won't find the gospel of Jesus Christ in popular video games, sci fi, manga, pop music, etc.
• Man-made fantasy is an empty, foolish thing compared to the real God and real salvation and real life as God intended it to be lived.

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:23-27).

—DC

BIBLICAL CONSISTENCY AND THE BELIEVER’S TREATMENT OF FALSE TEACHERS

If Christians are to be kind and loving to everyone (Luke 10:29-37), some question why 2 John 10-11 teaches, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine (‘the doctrine of Christ’—vs. 9), do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds” (emp. added; cf. Wells, 2015). Also, why did Paul instruct Timothy to “shun profane and idle babblings” (2 Timothy 2:16; 1 Timothy 6:20-21)? Are Christians to shun those with whom we disagree, and even go so far as not to greet them or allow them into our homes?

First, Scripture, indeed, repeatedly calls for Christians to love everyone—whether family, friends, fellow Christians, or enemies (Matthew 5:43-48; 22:36-40; Romans 12:9-21). We are to “[r]epay no one evil for evil” (Romans 12:17, emp. added), but strive to “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave” us (Ephesians 4:32). But Christian kindness and love is not antithetical to such things as, for example, punishing rule breakers. A father who loves his son, and would even die for him, will promptly discipline him for unruly conduct (Proverbs 13:24; Ephesians 6:4). A school principal may genuinely love and care for every student under his oversight, but he may occasionally have to expel a disorderly child from the school for at least two reasons: (1) so that the hundreds of other students who want to get an education can safely and successfully do so, and (2) in hopes that such drastic measures will cause the unruly child to awaken to his senses before it is too late (and he does something far worse as a teenager or as an adult). An uninformed outsider, who sees a father disciplining his son or a school principal punishing a student, may initially think less of these adults and wonder how they could call themselves Christians. The logical, more informed bystander, however, will quickly size up the situation and easily see the consistency in the loving, disciplinary actions.

In the epistle of 2 John, the apostle expressed his concern for the eternal destiny of Christians, saying, “Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward” (vs. 8, NASB). John was alarmed because deceptive false teachers who denied the incarnation of Jesus were a serious threat to the salvation of Christians. “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh” (2 John 7). These false teachers (known as Gnostics) alleged that Christ could not have been incarnated because the flesh is inherently sinful. And, since the flesh is supposedly intrinsically evil, Gnostics taught that Christians did not need to resist fleshly temptations. Just “do whatever feels good” and know that such wicked actions are only physical and not spiritual. Allegedly, the soul could still be pure, even if the individuals themselves participated in wicked activity. (For more information, see “Gnosticism”, 1982, 2:484-490.)

The apostle John (who had “seen” and “handled” the actual body of Christ—1 John 1:1-4; i.e., Jesus did come in the flesh) repeatedly condemned the central teachings of certain Gnostics who were confusing and misleading first-century Christians.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world (1 John 4:1-3, emp. added).

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil…. Whoever has been born of God does not sin (1 John 3:4-9).

False doctrine was a real and present danger in the first-century church, just as it is today. Christians were (and are) to be on “guard” because “some have strayed concerning the faith”—profane and idle babblers and teachers of contradictory doctrines of “what is falsely called knowledge” (Greek gnosis; 1 Timothy 6:20-21; cf. 2 Timothy 2:15-26). Denying the physical life, death, burial, and resurrection of the body of Christ was heresy, and thus John and others warned the early church of such deception. What’s more, claiming that “all unrighteousness is not sin”, was to directly contradict the Law of Christ. In truth, “the works of the flesh are evident”, and “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19,21, emp. added). John wrote: “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God”, because “all unrighteousness is sin” (1 John 3:10; 5:17, emp. added).

Christians are commanded to withdraw fellowship (lovingly, faithfully, and sorrowfully) from brethren who rebel against the teachings of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15). Such actions by Christians and churches are taken for at least two reasons: (1) to keep the church and the Christian families that comprise her from being harmed spiritually by the defiantly unfaithful (whose very tolerated presence would have even more damaging affects than an incessantly disruptive student in a school room; cf. 1 Corinthians 5:6-7), and (2) in hopes of causing the wayward child of God to come to his senses (being “ashamed” of his sinful conduct; 2 Thessalonians 3:14; 1 Corinthians 5:5)—repenting of sin and being restored to the family of God.

Similarly, in 2 John 10-11, the apostle of the Lord instructed hospitable Christians to recognize the seriousness of greeting and housing deceptive false teachers. [NOTE: “The greeting was ‘Chairo!’ literally, goodspeed or God speed. This greeting was more than mere formality; it was an approval of the course being pursued by the one thus greeting, and included a desire for success in the effort attempted” (Woods, 1979, p. 349, italics in orig.).] First-century roaming teachers and preachers “depended on the generosity of the members of the church” for their housing and hospitality (Marshall, 1978, p. 74, emp. added). John the apostle, however, wanted the church to understand the serious threat that these dangerous false teachers posed to the precious bride of Christ. Doctrinal error is not something to “play with”, especially when such error involves the foundation of the Church (the life of Christ—2 John 7) and the denial of sin (the very thing that results in eternal death for the impenitent—Romans 6:23; Luke 13:3,5). By refusing to house and bid God-speed to deceptive teachers, the ungodly efforts of these misleading “messengers” would be greatly diminished. In time, they might choose to (or have to) stop their sowing of error altogether because of lack of opportunities, assistance, and encouragement. Such a result combined with genuine repentance would be the very thing for which Christians hope and pray.

Anyone who can see the reasonable and loving consistency of parents telling their children to “be nice to everyone”, but “don’t listen to these dangerous people” (showing them pictures of known child molesters), should be able to see the consistency of God’s message concerning Christian love and hospitality, and the way Christians react to false teachers who espouse damnable error. Children who shun dangerous sexual predators are protecting their own innocence, as well as keeping themselves and their families from a moment (or a lifetime) of grief. What’s more, the avoided, dangerous strangers are not given the opportunity to continue in their sins. Thus, the children’s obedient avoidance of them could be of great help to the sinful strangers in the highest way possible—if they awaken to their spiritual senses.

Christians are actually fulfilling the Law of Christ to “do good to all” (Galatians 6:2,10) even as we identify and refuse to embrace and fellowship false teachers. We are “doing good” to the “household of faith” by helping keep her pure and unaffected by cancer-spreading deceptive teachers (2 Timothy 2:17-18). Allowing error to spread would be tantamount to “rejoicing in iniquity”, which is unloving (1 Corinthians 13:6). What’s more, the false teachers themselves are in no way encouraged to continue down the road of deceit. Rather, it is the hope and prayer of Christians that false teachers would become convicted of the error of their ways and repent before the Master Teacher (Luke 2:47; John 7:46) returns and judges them eternally for their doctrinal deceit (2 Peter 2).

[NOTE: Near the conclusion of his excellent commentary on 2 John, Guy N. Woods made an appropriate observation that both Christians and critics of 2 John 10-11 should consider: “John does not here forbid hospitality to strangers, or, for that matter, to false teachers when, in so doing, false teaching is neither encouraged nor done. Were we to find a teacher known to be an advocate of false doctrine suffering, it would be our duty to minister to his need, provided that in so doing we did not abet or encourage him in the propagation of false doctrine…What is forbidden is the reception of such teachers in such fashion as to supply them with an opportunity to teach their tenets, to maintain an association with them when such would involve us in the danger of accepting their doctrines…The test is, Does one become a partaker by the action contemplated? If yes, our duty is clear; we must neither receive them nor give them greeting; if No, the principle here taught is not applicable” (pp. 349-350, emp. added).]

REFERENCES

“Gnosticism” (1982), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).

Marshall, I. Howard (1978), The Epistles of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).

Wells, Steve (2015), “Should Believers Discuss Their Faith with Nonbelievers?” http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/discuss.html.

Woods, Guy N. (1979), New Testament Epistles of Peter, John, and Jude (Nashville, TN: Gospel Advocate).

KEEPING THE CHILD’S HEART

No amount of training and discipline will work if the parents do not capture and keep the children's hearts. If their hearts become estranged, the children will experience spiritual shipwreck.

The heart is the center of the individual's life. It is mentioned 833 times in Scripture!

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

The wise parent says, “My son, give me thine heart…” (Prov. 23:26). When children are young, they naturally give their hearts to their parents, and a parent can keep that child's heart if he deals with him or her in love and godly wisdom.

Terry Coomer observes,

“Let me ask you a most serious and sobering question. Do you have your child's heart? You as a parent have to get the child's heart. Not only must you get the heart of the child, you must keep the heart of the child...I can hear someone say, 'Pastor, I knew a Christian family where there were three children and two of the kids grew up to serve the Lord and one was a horrible rebel.' The answer is here; the parent did not have the heart of the rebel or he did not keep the heart of the rebel...You have to get the child's heart! The problem in every spiritual problem is the heart! Parents, rebellion begins in the heart. Children's lives wander because their heart wanders...The one who has the child's heart will eventually have his life and his loyalty” (Rearing Spiritual Children, pp. 70, 72).

Following are some of the ways that a child's heart is stolen from the parent:

1. The heart can be stolen by parental hypocrisy.

When parents are hypocritical and do not walk sincerely with the Lord in the home, the children become discouraged and frustrated and they are easy targets for the devil.

2. The heart can be stolen by an unwholesome husband-wife relationship.

As we have said, one of the most important things a father can do for his children is to love his wife, and one of the most important things a mother can do for her children is to love her husband. One respondent observed,

“Having a loving relationship that is ongoing with your wife helps keep the children's hearts. When the children see that, they know they have a place of security. Giving your spouse love and affection in front of the children is a positive as well”.

3. The heart can be stolen when a father provokes his children to wrath (Eph. 6:4).

When this happens, the father loses the hearts of his children and they are easy prey for the world. We deal with this extensively in a later section of this chapter on Child Discipline.

4. The heart can be stolen by parental neglect and letting the children live largely in their own worlds.

One missionary who has visited many churches and has observed how that a great many of the young people turn out to be rebels observed,

“I think the most important thing would be to keep close relationships with the children. Lots of parents are too busy with other things instead of being spiritually close to the family. Children grow up in their own world with the videogames, movies, music, headphones, Internet, etc., which causes great rebellion. Once they are old enough to choose for themselves, they will go their own way and not listen to their parents”.

5. The heart can be stolen by lack of patience and love, by carnal criticism.

Parents must be very patient and kind with their children. They are delicate. We must have rules and the rules must be enforced and there must be discipline, but we must never forget that they are children and that learning godly character habits and spiritual growth does not happen overnight. It is a long process. The parents must not forget the long and probably arduous process it took them to get where they are.

Many of the respondents mentioned the necessity of showing genuine love to the children. Following are a few examples:

“Give lots of hugs and tell your children frequently that you love them. Even if this gets a bit syrupy do it anyway. Children want this even if they pretend not to. And really mean it”.

“It is important as a parent to show your love and acceptance of them consistently from the beginning. Saying 'I love you,' hugs, and actions that support these words are constantly needed to reassure them”.

“Young people don't need good teachers as much as they need ministers with a pastor's heart. They need to know that they are cared for before anything else”.

6. The heart can be stolen by a lack of close communication and involvement.

Consider the following testimonies from parents:

“Listen to your kids. Really listen and try to understand what they are going through. Take an interest in the things that concern them, even if they seem very trivial to you”.

“When they come to you and want to talk, it is important that you listen and don't jump all over them or belittle their concerns. Then they feel safe to confide in you or bring their questions to you, and you have opportunities to teach and instruct their open hearts”.

“I'd like to share a piece of advice that someone gave me when we adopted our twin daughters in 1990, and that is, 'You can't spend too much time with your kids.' That's it. Spend time with them every chance you get, even if you are just in the room, doing something else; be there. Be a presence in their lives. And talk at every opportunity. Always welcome their point of view in family decisions. If they know they are being listened to, they ride along. Be genuine about this. When big blow-ups arise, get everybody to sit around the table and work something out”.

“Winning children's hearts is something that needs to be done when they are young, by spending time with them, teaching them, and developing interests together with them. Do not put them aside for work, or for your hobbies that do not allow them to be around. Do not think that you will be able to win their hearts after you have allowed someone else to win them”.

“I believe that parents can reach the hearts of their children by having a relationship with them. That is, after all, how God reaches us and gets our hearts for Him. Parents in today's society have too little time for their children. Even when kids are homeschooled, my experience is that the majority of the homeschooled kids are teaching themselves. My nine-year-old son is always coming up to me and asking to do something with me. Now, I can't always, but if I never took the time to say, 'Ok, let's sit down and play a game,' then he would want nothing to do with me because he would see that I want nothing to do with him. We must make time to put down what we are doing and sit down with the kids. We parents have to take the time to raise our children. That means spending time with them in God's Word and out of God's Word”.

“We believe that one thing that has worked for us has been just staying very, very involved in the child's life, showing an interest in her, talking to her, making sure she knows that she is the most important earthly thing we have, loving her. We have always wanted her to feel that we are open and can discuss anything with her. As a result, she feels completely comfortable talking to us about just about anything, or, for really embarrassing stuff, to her mother”.

7. The heart can be stolen by lack of involvement by the father.

We have mentioned the necessity of involvement by the parents, but here we want to emphasize the importance of the father's role. One of the most important ways to keep the children's hearts is for the father to be involved in their lives and to be fulfilling his responsibility to be the spiritual head of the house. Malachi 4:6 says that Elijah will “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse”. Thus, we see that when the father's heart is turned to the children, their hearts are turned to him. If a father has been unengaged with his children, he must repent of this sin and confess it to his family and set out to make things right.

“We reach and keep the hearts of the children because of our relationship with them. It is their love for us, just as it is our love for our Lord and Savior, which will cause them to continue to respect us and listen to us. I think back to my own experiences growing up. My earliest memories are of my dad reading me the Bible when I was very young. He cared about our neighbors. I'll never forget him sending my brothers and me out to rake our 90-year-old neighbor's yard. Alongside my dad, we would also shovel his walkway in the winter. Dad made sure we never accepted money for helping out the neighbors. He always had us looking for ways to help those around us. Dad always took the time to sit and talk to me about everything and anything. He was my best friend when I was a teenager. I always felt I could go to him and talk to him about anything. He was very clear about what was sin, and as a result of his teaching me, I also knew very clearly what was displeasing or pleasing to God. Because of my love and respect for my dad as well as for God, I didn't stray into sinful practices which were prevalent in the seventies. I didn't want to disappoint either my dad or my Heavenly Father. Even while at a secular college (Brown University), I devoted myself to my studies, not participating in the darker side of campus life”. 

One pastor told me that no matter what he is doing with his son, even watching a movie, they discuss what is going on. The father points out things that he sees that are spiritually dangerous, and he encourages his son to state his opinions freely. He is teaching his son how to exercise moral and spiritual discernment. The Bible says that spiritual growth comes when the senses are “exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). This pastor and his wife are working to maintain the type of relationship with their children that will encourage them to discuss their struggles and temptations freely. This father encourages his children to share their hearts during family devotions. The kids have grown up from a young age conversing with their parents about their inmost concerns. It has become a natural thing, and this has carried over as they have gotten older.

If this communication is jealously guarded and maintained, when the children reach adolescence they will still share their hearts with the parents and the worldly “generation gap” will be bridged. The parents will be able to guide their teenage youth through the great pitfalls that characterize this particular time of life.

Some fathers take their children on regular “dates”. One man told me that few things thrill his young daughters more than their “dates” with Dad. He observes that this has helped him keep their hearts. The same man has a close relationship with his son and plans activities that they can do together that will allow them to talk one on one. He testifies that his son's heart is always tender toward his authority when he makes the effort to stay close to him and to communicate with him.

Following are testimonies about fathers “dating” their children:

“When [my oldest daughter] was sixteen, the Lord laid on my heart to spend more time with her. For the next two years, every Sunday after church we would go get a Coke and take a drive. Sometimes we would drive for hours and just talk about the Lord. She would ask spiritual questions and we would talk about them. No subject was out of bounds. We talked about developing our relationship with the Lord. We talked about how to really pray and what she was learning from her Bible. What was God speaking to her about? We would talk about what she was looking for in a young man for a godly husband. I made sure she understood that she needed a young man who would not be led by his emotions, but one who would be led by the Word of God. I explained that a young man who is led by his emotions would eventually lead her into sin. We prayed together and became closer as a father and a daughter. I made sure she understood what her mother and I expected from her when she left our home. The key here was it took time. I had to make the time. To this day she still talks about her drives with Dad. This time spent with our daughter on the Lord's day helped her at a time when she was preparing to leave our home to understand the importance we and the Lord placed on our spiritual lives. Parents, spiritual communication is the first key to rearing godly children” (Terry Coomer, Rearing Spiritual Children, p. 45).

“Communication has been one of our big things. When you have a lot of children they get lost in the group, so we have made a point of individual days and times. I might take one of the children out to breakfast before school or for a coffee and chat, and that is that child's time. I think we have kept communication going that way. We feel that communication between the parent and child is tantamount to being able to mould their lives for the Lord. Many times when children reach teenage years they don't want to have anything to do with their parents, but I think a lot of time the problem is that communication links weren't set up early in life. So even when they were four and five years old, we were taking them on dates, one on one, so that we could be connected and involved. That's been one of my venues for discipleship. We've sat at McDonalds and done Bible studies” (Missionary Tony Evans).

8. The heart can be stolen when there is a lack of candor and confession and humility on the part of the parents.

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

“Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:21).

9. The heart can be stolen when there are rules without a clear biblical basis and the children are not taught the reason for the rules.

Some of the respondents emphasized this as follows:

“Don't just have rules, have biblically-based convictions. When a child questions them, thank him for asking and give the scriptural reasons. Reassure the children that it is always good to come to the parent with questions, no matter how tough”.

“Always be willing to listen to them. Give honest answers to their questions. Show them respect; respect their opinions. If there is a standard they need to follow because it's biblical, explain why. Teach them to have a love for the Lord that is separate from yours, to cultivate a relationship with the Lord of their own. Don't always hammer at them about right and wrong but also explain to them WHY some things are right and WHY some things are wrong, how that God wants to protect us from the consequences of bad choices if we will be wise enough to choose the right way”.

10. The heart can be stolen when the children are not saved and grounded in God's Word and when they do not know how to apply God's Word to their daily lives.

Children that do not have a real personal relationship with Christ and are not grounded in God's Word are prime candidates to have their hearts stolen by the world, the flesh, and the devil. We have dealt with this in the chapter on “Discipleship”.

11. The heart can be stolen when there is a lack of prayer.

Fervent, effectual prayer is one of the most important ways that the hearts of children are kept for the Lord and protected from being stolen by the enemy.

12. The heart can be stolen by a worldly friend, relative, or teacher.

Parents must jealously and lovingly guard against unwholesome relationships that draw the children's hearts away from them and toward evil. We previously gave the sad story of a girl whose heart was stolen by a worldly boy friend.

13. The heart can be stolen by the world's pop music and its self-centered, rebellious philosophy.

I have repeated this often, because it bears repeating. Few things have the power to steal a child's heart to the world more than pop music.

14. The heart can be stolen by a worldly school environment, whether Christian or secular.

15. The heart can be stolen by an evil influence that comes through literature or video games.

16. The heart can be stolen by a carnal affection for sports, which becomes a bridge to the world.

There are a few of the ways that the hearts of children can be stolen from the way of righteousness and truth.

Consider the Bible example of how David lost the heart of his son Absalom. We read this sad story in 2 Samuel 11-15. First, David sinned grievously in the matter of Bathsheba and lost his testimony before his family (2 Samuel 11-12). Second, David fell for Amnon's lie and sent Tamar, Absalom's sister, to his room. After Amnon raped Tamar, David was angry but he did not apologize to Absalom or exercise discipline or deal with the problem in any practical way, as far as we know from Scripture (2 Sam. 13:1-7, 21). Third, after Absalom murdered Amnon and fled away, David longed for him but he did not send for him and deal personally with him (2 Sam. 13:37-39). Fourth, even when David let Absalom return, he refused to talk with him (2 Sam. 14:21-24). Fifth, after Absalom burned Joab's barley field, Joab convinced David to see Absalom, but it was too late; by that point Absolom's heart was totally estranged from his father and filled with hatred and he had determined to steal his throne (2 Sam. 14:28 - 15:6).

How did David lose his son's heart? He lost it through at least six of the ways listed previously: through hypocrisy, neglect, poor husband-wife relationship (it is doubtful that David's polygamy would have provided the climate for a quality husband-wife relationship), lack of confession and humility, lack of communication, and lack of discipline.

—DC