P.O. Box 640109

El Paso, TX 79904

28 December, 1997

Dear Children,

It’s Christmas Day, it’s snowing pretty heavy out side right now, and I’m starting early on the sermonets in hopes of getting one week ahead. I’ve had two reports of errors in my writings and as a preventative action I’ll attempt to have a week for myself and my checkers (Hadassah and Arthur) to review before publishing. You see it was only a few days ago that I received a letter from Mr. Robbie stating that in the sermonet dated 7 December, 1997, I had a mistake. In the last line on page 3 it read "Reading from II Timothy 2:9-15" when in reality it should have been I Timothy 2:9-15. That correction has now been made. And I believe it was yesterday that Hadassah mentioned an error in the message dated 14 December, 1997. In the second paragraph on page 3 it read, "Talk about myths! What these homosexual people have to say about the Word of God, the Holy Bible, can only be labeled as warped and twisted fairy tails." Admittingly it was a mistake, but after reading it again, and thinking seriously about what was said, I think I’ll leave it as it is; it makes perfectly good sense to me. So it’s reassuring to know that a few people are paying close attention to what’s being said. Thank you Robbie and Hadassah.

OK, but before we get started with the message let me tell you what we (Brother Frank and myself) did yesterday. We went about 100 miles out into range country and saw miles and miles of wide open prairie, but that’s only what we saw on the way out. You see the final destination of our journey was a little farming town called Del City (population approximately 600). This is the town that I have felt (for the last couple of years) would be an excellent spot for one of several locations for the FMH Children’s Club. It has been my dream to have homes (farms and ranches) that could take in homeless children, and it was on this very special day that Brother Frank had the opportunity to see it with me. We went out to Del City and visited with a farmer friend by the name of Mr. John.

And during our little outing we had the opportunity to eat lunch at Rosés Cafe (I think that was the name of it). When we arrived there was only about five or six people already in process of filling their tummies, and it was one of these groups of fine folks who Brother Frank so boldly struck up a conversation with. You see God was leading him along, telling him what to do, because the people who he struck up a conversation with were paramedics; you know 911. And one of the three was a lady named Ms. Amy Jo. Now I didn’t ask her whether she prefers to be called Amy or Amy Jo but for now we will go ahead and give her the full blown southern name of Ms. Amy Jo (I like it).

But anyway, after Brother Frank drug poor old bashful me into the conversation, and got me talking, we soon discovered Ms. Amy Jo was a local (she lived in Del City). And what we also discovered was that she loved kids. You see what she told me was that she had always had the desire to be involved with an organization that helped kids. And you had better believe that this lady is sincere about helping people. Not only does she work full time as a paramedic but she also takes on a part time job as a firelady (fireman). She is one hard working dedicated person.

Now only time will tell but I’ve got a very sneaking suspicion that God is up to something. You see the reason I say that is because in preparation for our trip I was planning to pack a lunch for both Brother Frank and myself... but God told me not to. He told me to eat in the local restaurant because there were some towns people who we needed to meet. That was what He told me and the rest is history. God is working... He has a plan... and it’s slowly but surely beginning to take shape.

And that’s exactly the way He makes His plans happen; through God called people, working together, giving of their talents, and with one goal (vision) in mind. You see there were a chain of events that took place that day that only happened because of people who God was using to develop His plan. It started with Him telling me not to pack a lunch, then it was Mr. John who shortly after our arrival suggested that we have lunch at Rosés Cafe, and finally Brother Frank who was led by God to strike up the conversation. I love it!!! Ain’t God great!!!

So that was how we can now say "welcome to the mailing list Amy Jo". But now to finish the story about lunch at Rosés. You see the conversation that took place with the 911 Team only came about because Mr. John was late meeting us at the cafe. We got there before he did and it was the waiting that allowed us the introduction. But when Mr. John did finally get there, and as we were discussing religion (he gets the weekly sermonet too), he gave me a bit of sound advice as a friend. He said (in so many words), "when you start messing with peoples religions you had better look out".

His statement was very true, and I appreciate his concern, but I also have a responsibility to God. You see there are many churches and religions in the world of today, and it’s my responsibility as a Christian (follower of Jesus) and as a father to show my children (and any of you who might want to listen too) the real truth about them. You see I want my children to escape the tormenting flames of Hell, and they can only do it if they first of all accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and second of all fully understand the tricks of that old slithering slimy snake of a devil called Satan.

You see the thing that we must all remember is that Satan, before he was Satan, was Lucifer. He was the most beautiful angel in Heaven, he had much power and many talents, but his reason for being was to serve God. He was made for the sole purpose of doing what God created him to do. And it just so happens that one of his talents, one of the things that he had been given the ability to be very good at, was to lead the worship service to God. You see in Heaven they have Church... and what a Church service it is. In fact most of the churches of the world would be very uncomfortable in Heaven’s Church because they (Heaven’s congregation) get a little noisy. You see the angels and the Heavenly host shout the victory out loud and give God all the glory for it. They have Holy Ghost music, Holy Ghost singing, and Holy Ghost worship... and it’s all directed for the glory of the One and Only True God. And that was Satan’s (Lucifer’s) original intended purpose; that’s what he was suppose to do.

And that was exactly what he did until he got a little too big headed. You see all his power and might got to his head, and that was when Lucifer became Satan and likewise that was when God couldn’t use him anymore. That was when he took his talents for worshipping God and started worshipping himself... and that is why so many of the churches and religions of today are not of God. Satan has used his God given abilities to create beautiful and inspiring worship services for himself... and that is why so many of our churches are all messed up. Satan is good at what he does and especially when it comes to religion.

Now the religion we are going to be looking at today began way back in the early days of America. You see the pilgrims came to this part of the world so they could worship the One True God. But with Satan being Satan, things soon started to fall apart. The once great America that was founded on One True God soon began to worship many gods. And it was in the late 1700’s that the United States Constitution was slightly modified to include the First Amendment which stated "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof".

That was all that was need for many new religions to come into being. And it was one of them that started out innocently enough with a dear old sweet lady by the name of Mary Baker Eddy. You see she is the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. But before we get too deep into her religion let’s take a brief look at her early years as a child.

Now the information that we will be using in the message for today has once again been taken from the seemingly never ending source of information called the Internet. And it was all taken (except for the Scripture and my comments) from the Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) web page. So with all that in mind here we go.

Mary Baker Eddy "...was a precocious child born in 1821 to God-loving, God-fearing rural New England parents. Her early education was typical of that then afforded children in one room country schools, but was further enhanced by her oldest brother Albert who kindly and consistently exposed her to scholarly subjects such as logic and Latin.

Fragile health restricted her natural enthusiasm for life and often interfered with regular school attendance but she delighted in listening to and learning from several respected clergymen who were friends of her father. She would lie in bed and eagerly listen to intellectual wrestlings which took place on many evenings when her father and visitors gathered at the Baker family hearth and debated issues of politics and religion.

Mary Baker’s mother was a kindly, spiritually devout woman whose natural tendency included God in daily conversation and problem solving. At her mother’s knee Mary learned to pray. Her father’s faith was stern and rigorous. From both parents she absorbed Biblical viewpoints which commonly occupied the hearts and minds of most people in early nineteenth century churches. At twelve years of age she protested the doctrine of eternal damnation, but with her protest was accepted into the church membership."

Now the key to this young girl’s (Mary Baker’s) future development in her religious beliefs can be seen in the last sentence of the previous paragraph: "At twelve years of age she protested the doctrine of eternal damnation..." In other words she didn’t agree with what the Word of God has to say about Hell. She didn’t agree with the fact that there is a trash dump in eternity, where all the human trash (humans that are trash) gets burned, through a never ending agonizing process, and this place is called Hell. She didn’t care whether God said so or not, she didn’t think that it was right for such a place to be so she just wouldn’t believe it. And even though she didn’t believe in what her family’s church believed in they accepted her as a member anyway (wrong move on their part).

So this was the way her life began. But 45 years later, after many trials and tribulations, and having lost two of her husbands in death, we see her disbeliefs taking her deeper into the depths of Satan’s religion. Reading once again from the Christian Science web page, concerning the death of her second husband, "In January, 1866 Phineas Quimby died... Two weeks after Quinby’s death, Mary Patterson, walking with friends to a Temperance meeting, slipped on the icy pathway and fell, sustaining severe internal injury. She was carried into a nearby residence. A doctor was called. It was thought she could not survive, but after a night of insensibility and great physical distress she was tenderly transported to her home and cared for in her upstairs bedroom. The doctor and close friends did what they could, but all feared that she would soon die.

The third day, however, Mary asked for her Bible. Alone in her room, she prayerfully opened the loved Scriptures. She read the account of Jesus healing a paralyzed man... Like the man who was healed nineteen centuries earlier, Mrs. Patterson rose up from her bed, healed... During three years following her healing Mary Patterson forsook society. She devoted her thought to study of the Bible... It was essential that she understand how she was made suddenly well after such suffering from her fall upon the ice... She fathomed a glorious truth: that God’s grace is never withheld from some when bestowed upon others... Mary made notes of her observations of scriptural proof of God’s presence and power. She researched and prayed, even as she listened to the angel messages which came readily to her consciousness. At last she wrote her book. It is titled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."

Now as we get further into this topic of Christian Science we will better understand what the science part of this religion is all about. You see Satan’s deceptions work very well in the lives of those who are willing to listen to him. You had better believe that he will take every opportunity to profit from even the good in our lives if we will only allow him the opportunity. And that is how, as we will see very shortly, this accident that should have meant certain death to Mary turned into an opportunity for Satan and his false religions.

But continuing on with her story, " Once again Mary entered into a state of matrimony. Asa Gilbert Eddy became not only her companion but her right-hand advocate and helper. Their union continued until his untimely passing five years later. From that time on Mary Baker Eddy stood before the world as revelator of the promised Comforter of the Spirit of Truth which would make practical the understanding of Jesus’ own words and miracles. As the founder of a new religion, Mary Baker Eddy met with resistance and public scorn...Though Mrs. Eddy passed on in 1910, the discovery she made is safely guarded in her church... So it is that Christian Scientists strive to emulate Christ Jesus in thought, word and deed...Mrs. Eddy is adamant in her teachings that there is one God who is All-in-all: One Christ or spiritually ideal man, and one Christ Jesus who revealed completely this one Christ. Christian Scientists do not worship Jesus as God, but revere him as the Son of God and Savior of Mankind."

See what I mean? Satan is one tricky dude when it comes to religions. Now to most people what we have just read would seem innocent enough, but with very careful consideration of each and every word we can better understand where this woman and her religion is coming from. The important thing to remember is that Mary Baker rebelled against the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Bible, and she wrote a book of her own which described God’s Word the way she wanted it.

And that’s the way Satan works. In fact that’s a very good description of how Satan (when he was Lucifer) became Satan. As the true story goes, reading from Isaiah 14:12-15, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."

Satan (Lucifer) didn’t want to obey the will of God, the Word of God, because he wanted it all done his way. And resultantly, what he got for his rebellion against God, what he got for doing things his way, was this same promise that Isaiah gave so many years ago: Satan will very shortly have his very own kingdom where he can do things the way he wants to and it’s called Hell.

And that’s exactly what the religion of Christian Science is all about. But continuing on with the reading from the Internet web page, picking it up where we left off, "Christian Scientists do not worship Jesus as God, but revere him as the Son of God and Savior of Mankind. They also respect with gratitude and appreciation the God-inspired, God-directed revelator of truth to this age, Mary Baker Eddy. It is ludicrous to aver that Mrs. Eddy is deified by those who recognize her as the one chosen by God to present the Comforter Jesus prayed for God to send---another Comforter which would not usurp his place as wayshower but take its place in the fulfillment of His prophecy. Even the angel of Jesus Christ sent to signify the Revelation of God to be given to those who serve Christ’s Cause inspired veneration in John who fell at his feet to worship him. Then the angel---Christ Jesus’ own angel said, " See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them keep the sayings of this book: ‘WORSHIP GOD’ Through Christ all are to be made kings and priests in the dominion and service of God."... To understand Mary Baker Eddy is the one great need; as the churches embrace her teaching, even now they begin to do so, she will take her place among revelators and not be deified."

Now the writers of this Christian Science stuff really know how to play around with words. It’s an art (a wicked art) to take the Word of God and make it say what you want it to say. But anyway let’s start off this study by working in reverse. The Scripture that was quoted in the preceding paragraph is found in Revelation 19:10 but let’s start our reading with verse 1: " And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever."

I realize that the book of Revelation is pretty tough to deal with but I’ll try as well as I know how to make it simple. The book of Revelation is the story of the future events that all us Christians have been waiting on for so long. This book tells the final chapter in The Great Book called The Holy Bible. This book tells us in very much detail how the God of the Universe, in the form of three (The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost), whup up on Satan and all his little demons. This is the final chapter (book) where Satan gets exactly what he deserves. This is the story of the showdown of all showdowns. This is where Satan finds out that he has met his match.

Now remember that what we are reading are the words of the apostle John as he "saw" these things being presented to him through God’s own home video (vision). John was seeing all this mind boggling stuff and I can guarantee you that he was having Holy Ghost goose bumps running all over him. This was some heavy stuff but it was the kind of stuff that makes you want to shout Hallelujah Praise the Lord!!! But anyway, what John sees in this vision is the Church of Heaven, the one that I was telling you about earlier, shouting the victory. You see one of Satan’s finest, the most wicked and evil city of all, even worse than the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, had just been destroyed. The city of Babylon, with all it’s wicked and evil false religions (the great whore), had just been destroyed, and everybody in Heaven was happy.

"And the four and twenty elders and the four beast fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife had made herself ready. And to her was granted that she would be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, see thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

What an awesome experience this had to be for John. To be able to witness all of these great and glorious things and to try and describe the resulting emotions and feelings would be impossible. But John didn’t have to describe them because he showed them. When he became overcome by it all and fell down at his fellow servants feet he showed just how shook up he really was. This fellow was not a God created angel but a Christian who had died and gone on to heaven. He was not what the Christian Science teachers will try and teach you. He was a follower of Jesus and likewise he was telling John that everything that he was seeing was the prophecy of Jesus (sneak peek of things yet to come). So therefore the fellow servant (Christian) was saying to John "don’t worship me because I’m just like you; worship God".

But what John had seen was nothing in comparison with what he was going to see. Because in the very next verse, "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

You see the point that the Christian Science people are trying to get across is that Jesus Christ is not God... and they are wrong... and that’s what we will continue on with next week.

Untill then keep on a studying your Bible (King James Version)... because as you can see Satan and his disciples have gotten pretty good at what they do... and if you ain’t very careful he’ll trick you too. Hang on tight to the True Word of God and Keep The Faith!!!

Love,

Dad (Bruce Hallman)