Hell Fire

I saw this image on Facebook, and many more like it smeared across the religious debate pages, seemingly in some attempt to convert the Mormons into "Biblical Christianity" and "Traditional Christianity." I can only guess the intention behind posting such images is fear or the belief that a picture matched with an interpretation of a Bible verse will somehow jolt a Mormon into changing his or her ways.

There is one issue, well....actually two I have with this image. I don't care that Joseph Smith is being defamed and mocked. That kind of stuff is going to happen, but what is the thought process behind the supposedly link between mocking Smith and getting LDS to convert? Do people really think that calling Smith a liar and a fraud and claiming he is in Hell will somehow get Mormons to convert? I wouldn't think of ripping into John Calvin to try and convert Presbyterians (and, yes, I know that Smith was a Prophet and Calvin was just a religious leader, so the semantics can stop before they get started....I'm just drawing a comparison).

Gracing the binary landscape of the immortal time waster of the social networking world brings a lot of name calling. Smith, according to many Christians on the Internet, was a liar, charlatan, sex crazed maniac, megalomaniac, murdered, swindler, liar, and a host of colorful adjectives that will somehow get Mormons to convert to "Biblical Christianity" and "Traditional Christianity." I've just never understood the thought process. Maybe someone can help me.

And, there is another issue I have with the image; namely, the same issue I had attending a Southern Baptist Church for so long:  the seemingly joyful attitude some have with others being punished in Hell. It seems mightily sadistic to hope for such punishment on anyone, let alone pass judgment on those of the past. Hitler's name always comes up with the Hell conversation, and this deep desire of some people to have eternal hell fire eat away at people who they think should be punished.

Personally, I hope nobody goes to Hell. I would hope that everybody finds a way to accept the Fullness of the Gospel and can live in Heaven. Regardless of if the person is Hitler or Stalin or Ted Bundy, everybody deserves Salvation and Jesus died for everyone. Yes, there are many who did some very evil things in this life, but I don't want to just brush them off and revel in the idea that they are suffering. Maybe it is just me, but I don't want to see people suffering and I don't particularly feel glad with the thought that someone is in Hell. I'm no better than anybody else in this world and somehow thinking that I am because I believe in Jesus makes me a terrible person--the complete opposite of humble and charitable. 

The Rejects

The 21st Century has come to see a rise in Satanism and a popularity that has come with it that transcends reason. This is because, at first glance, one would probably link Satanism to some murder cult, or one might wonder why anyone would worship a spirit who would bring you into Hell (Spirit Prison) for an eternity of being away from the presence of God? Well, that is because the most recent concept of Satanism follows the LeVeyian view of Satanism, which used Satan as a signifier for the way that society is moving towards. Society, Anton LaVey claimed, is moving towards a Do-What-Thou-Wilt-Mentality. "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law" (The Law of Thelema) was an old saying made popular again by Aleister Crowley. Basically, the whole idea is that Satan is a metaphor for the current direction that society is moving towards, so Satanists are just accepting the final result. Most are Atheists in some sense and view Satan as something far different than the Adversary or a Fallen Angel or anything like that. It is a strange and morbidly fascinating idea or pop-culturism mixed with religion.

 

There are Satanist groups popping up around America, gaining popularity through social media and news reports. One such group is based out of Minneapolis. They recently posted this on Facebook:

 

 

 

This post really got to me. These are the people who should be given most all of the focus when it comes to Missionary Moments. These are the people who are forgotten, pushed away, avoided, laughed at, and generally talked about behind closed doors. We are all Spirit Brothers and Sisters (Gospel Principles: Chapter 2) and Jesus died for us all (2 Corinthians 5:15). Everyone is deserving of Salvation (Romans 6: 23) and the Fullness of the Gospel. I heard a lot of nay-saying from people when I told them I tried sending a Book of Mormon to the Unabomber and the Son of Sam.

 

But, these are the kinds of people who specifically need to hear about the Gospel. These are the people who specifically need to know about Christ. And, when I posted a Book of Mormon torrent on a torrent site devoted to graphic pornography and violent videos, I was told that I shouldn't have done that, but the torrent was downloaded a pretty good number of times. All I put was a pdf. file for anyone to download, and they did. I even made a goal for 2016 to get one Juggalo to read the Book of Mormon.

 

We shouldn't leave the rejects for the Satanic Temple. We should help them find Christ and help them read the Scriptures and come to Church.

 

 

Jesus Tissues

Jesus Tissues

 

Sometimes, around the university I worked at and elsewhere, I would see some Koreans passing out little packets of tissue. 

 

Korean churches would pass out wet tissues

instead of tracts. On the packets would be

information about the church and a Bible

verse.

 

The university was unhappily perched on top of a steep hill that looked down on all the restaurants and bus stops. That hill, oh, that hill was a constant source of displeasure and whining (징징) from the students. But, as students and professors walked down the hill there were usually some church ladies passing out wet tissues. In Korea, it is common for the Protestant groups to hand out little packs of tissues with a church name and a map to the church. This is in place of the religious tracts I use to receive in America.

 

It is usually some older Korean housewife or young girl (and sometimes with that young girl, I see a guy about the same age.  I am guessing he is trying to get some ''boyfriend points'). And, even though I have been in Korea for ten years, only five times have any of them approached me and actually spoke (Once in English and four times in Korean).  I usually walk past them, usually walking with many other Koreans who I don't know but whom we share a common bound because of proximity of studying and working, and all the Koreans are offered the tissue, but most of the time the church goers step back when I come near them as they do when other foreigners walk past them. It is not that they don't care about our souls and Salvation (I hope not), but something more ingrained within the ESL culture in Korea:  a fear that the white person won't be able to speak Korean.

 

Or, it may just be that I'm really ugly, but I doubt this.

 

One particular day and one other time, I stopped and asked the church goers why they didn't offer me any religious tissues. Walking past them, they didn’t give me the tissue: They just held them closer to their chest as if they were blocking their spiritual hearts. I told them (in Korean) that God can understand Korean, and that the soul is more important than a perceived language barrier (Genesis 11). Anyway, there are cartoon pictures of Jesus all over the tissue packs, so even if the foreigner doesn't understand Korean, they can still understand that the tissues and tracts have to do with Jesus.  That is the most important thing─at least to me. Plus, the foreigner could feel a true heart for God if they are offered the tissues. The older ladies looked at me with wide eyes as I talked to them. Faces etched with looks of deep contemplation. We all stood there for a moment until one of the ladies slowly gone me a pack of Jesus tissues.

 

 

 

Anyway, wasn't Jesus' native language Aramaic?

 

Is this Elvish?

 

 

He probably spoke Greek, too. I speak English and Korean, and that well-intentioned woman only spoke Korean. But, prayers are always heard, despite the language we choose to send them up in.

 

The other times that I was offered the tissues and the church goers spoke in Korean, I thanked them, happy that they weren't put off by my foreign appearance, but offering Emergency Jesus Squatty Potty Tee-pee (as my friend calls the churches’ tissue packs).  Once, a church in my area offered moist-tissues, which was awesome, and got the attention of all the students at my uni, saying that it was cool for God to give moist-tissues out. That church got a lot of publicity with that idea.

 

I mean, I like the Korean version of Jesus, especially the jacked-up one:

 

 

 

And, the wise looking Jesus from the musical Jesus Jesus:

 



 

 But, Jesus died for us all. We are all saved because of Him. There should be no worry about language and whatnot. The Spirit will speak to everyone in their own heart in their own time. We just need to help set up the meeting.

 

Goal for 2016

After completing the Seven for Seven plan last year, I needed something new for this year. There is always a need for a Missionary Challenge, at least for me. Having something to look forward to and really strive for helps drive my top seated ambition. I thought and thought about something really difficult to do, but also something that would yield some big results. I already tried to send some Books of Mormon to The Son of Sam and The Unabomber.

 

So, what could I do?

 

And, I got it!

 

My plan is to get at least one Juggalo to read the Book of Mormon.

 

 

I use to listen to Insane Clown Posse a lot during my university days (especially the Carnival of Carnage album), and I can't believe that I never thought of this before.

 

Juggalos, for some reason, are considered a gang under the FBI standards for being classified as a gang. This is very weird, since Juggalos are really only a group of music admirers. You can watch a video about it here.

 

So.... This is my goal for this year, and I am reminded of 2 Corinthians 5:15:  "And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."

Temple Square

I was at Temple Square with my very Buddhist wife, who has been trying to learn more and more about Mormonism. This interest has spawned from the examples of the LDS church she has seen and been around. The brothers and sisters she had met have greatly influenced her, and I've tried to be an example for her since we got married. But, she has never been exposed to anything related to Protestantism, Christianity, and Mormonism, so our progress has been kind of slow. Trying to get a Buddhist to understand the tenants and doctrines of Mormonism requires starting at the base level. My wife had no basic understanding of the principles of the Bible, God, and whatnot. So, I am surprised sometimes when she asks a question that I assume she would know. I mean, at Temple Square, we were in the North Visitor's Center, looking at a 3-D rendering of Jerusalem. 

And the following conversation took place (In Korean):

Wife:  Jason, what is this?

Me: It is Jerusalem.

Wife: Why is it here?

Me: Because Jesus lived here.

Wife: He lives here still to this day?

Me: (taking a moment to think) No. He died in about 33 A.D.

Wife: Was there only one Jesus?

The conversation went on about how Jesus died, his place in Heaven, and whatnot; and, what struck me was that my wife had been viewing Jesus as Buddha the entire time, thinking that there were many Jesuses everywhere in the world and throughout history. I mean, there is the Medicine Buddha:

Korea is full of temples that have three Buddhas sitting next to each other:

There are halls of ten thousand Buddhas; because, as I was told by a Buddhist Monk, "Ten Thousand Buddhas are much more helpful than one Buddha."

And, a fat Buddha:

There are hundreds of types of Buddha around. I even went to a Buddhist temple that had the Medicine Buddha, the Sri-Lankan Buddha, the Chinese Buddha, and one more Buddha (I can't remember which one, exactly), all in different rooms for the believer to choose from. So, when my wife first heard about Jesus, it would have probably been natural for her to assume that there would be many Jesuses like there are many Buddha. And, I, when I first started learning about Buddhism, assumed there was only one Buddha like there is only one Jesus. We both has assumptions about the other religion and we both didn't think that it would have been different. 

When I told her that there was one Jesus, the story of Jesus started to make much more sense to her and all the paintings in the North Visitor's Center started to come into focus. There has always been only one Jesus. And, now, we are back on the path to getting her baptized.