A Message of Death

As you all know, someone recently sent a message to your Mother, me, and each of you. It was not sent with malice or evil intent, nor was it sent to harm. Nevertheless, it is a message of certain death. This message was in the form of a talk delivered at Brigham Young University by Kyle S. McKay. He made many open attacks against our Lord, Jesus.

I never imagined publishing a Mormon talk here, but I do so now to expose variant definitions of God that the Mormon church teaches. Below the video, I have compiled an abbreviated list of the false teaching of this man. There were many more, but I have listed only those that are most egregious.

Dead Lance Made New

The Bible contains a fantastic promise.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV, emphasis added

The experience of being made new is a supernatural event that is so life-changing that it can only be of God. I can remember that there was an old Lance who was reactive, judgemental, and excessively self-righteous. God, not me, killed the old man and put him in the grave. Then He raised me up to be something new.

Your Mom sometimes gives me a stern look when I see my reflection in the bathroom mirror, point, and say, “You look just like an ass I once knew.” Crude? Perhaps. True? Absolutely. Those who have never experienced this mighty change from death to life tend to doubt its reality. It is natural to question things that are outside the scope of our own experience. If that is where you are, I hope you can trust that I have not and will never intentionally lie to you. So what does all this look like?

⁵For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection; ⁶knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin. ⁷For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him;

Romans 6:5-8, WEB, emphasis added

Dead Lance Nearly Got Out

I was enraged when the sender forced a message of death into my home and upon you, my children. I felt a familiar spirit and knew old dead Lance was trying to escape the grave. It scared me a little.

Instead of making this response immediately, I spent a day with Potato. I changed the fluids, fixed a flat, and took a long meditative ride. Continually I prayed that rascal, ol’ Dead Lance, back in the grave.

My Response

For this response, I will only focus on the fourth and fifth items in the above list because they are essential and related. I will only discuss the other items if you want to discuss them privately.

We all know that many injustices against me occurred here in Rockland, Idaho. A few weeks ago, I mentioned to your Mom that while I remember there were injustices, I struggle to recall the details.

McKay suggests that I anxiously wait for Jesus to correct past offenses, enact vengeance, and bring justice. Indeed, if this is true, I will bitterly remember every detail of every unresolved aggression. As a new creature in Christ, I discovered I do not need vengeance or justice. Consequently, the details of past aggressions fled my memory. Personal attacks continue as I preach the gospel to a blind people. These insults fade as a mist, and I have peace.

Jesus did not die to correct injustices. I know of no bible passage that makes this claim. Instead, the Word of God is evident,

¹³You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;

Colossians 2:13-14, WEB, emphasis added

When the old dead me remembered injustices, the perpetrator’s sins didn’t matter; mine did! Recalling the wrong actions of others and desiring vengeance was wicked. It was sinful to focus on other men’s failings and not to see my own.

Another man’s sins are between that man and God. They have nothing at all to do with me. The wrongs done against me are still out there but they are not mine to worry about.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse . . . Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

Romans 12:14, 17-19:

God will forgive the sins of others if and when the perpetrator is made new in Christ. Jesus does not right injustices; He rights men by making a man’s heart right. Consequently, a heart that is right with God cannot be wrong toward men. Their accusations against me do not ignite flames of anger. Instead, they whisper peace continually. I pray that those I once counted as enemies may come to know this joy, freedom, and peace with God.

¹Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: ²By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; ⁴And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

Romans 5:1-4, KJV, emphasis added

Clarification for Sender of the McKay Video

One week after publishing this post, excluding this section, the person who distributed the McKay speech to my family suggested that I had interpreted it incorrectly. Consequently, I amended my original response to include the following audio update and clarification.

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The I Am

In John 8:24, Jesus said, “… if ye believe not that I am [he], ye shall die in your sins.” The Bible translators inserted “he” into the text to make it more readable in English. I wish they hadn’t. The original Greek manuscripts read, “… if ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.” I Am is how God revealed Himself to Moses from the burning bush on Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai.

God will not forgive us unless we believe in Him, as He revealed Himself in both testaments. Because McKay described a different Jesus, his words are truly a message of death. He redefined the nature, work, and gospel of Jesus. Kyle McKay defined Jesus in a way that God Himself never revealed. Indeed, death will follow those who believe in and follow this man.

Questions for Mormon Bishops

• By redefining Jesus’ work on the cross, is McKay guilty of going after other gods as defined in Deuteronomy 13:1-5?
• By teaching that Jesus will do what the Bible does not teach, is McKay guilty as described in Deuteronomy 18:20-22?
• By rejecting the gospel defined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, is McKay accursed as described in Galatians 1:6-9?
• Can the Mormon people know the truth and become noble like the Bereans, Acts 17:11?

The Christian Life

There is a big difference between church life and the Christian life of a disciple.

Church life is all about going through the motions for the sake of tradition. It may include truths we create to bend God to our will. It seldom involves a determination to bend our will to align with God. When you lived with us, we knew only the church life. This failure continues to be our most haunting regret.

The Christian life is about surrendering yourself and all you have to Jesus. It is allowing God to make you new as only He can. Jesus told the rich young man, “Go and sell that thou hast… and come and follow me.” The man couldn’t do it and missed out on every good thing. But, those who follow Jesus have a peaceful assurance and personal daily communion with God. These are gifts that true disciples hold as a most precious possession.

Your Mom and I constantly pray that you will desire, above all things, Jesus! We love you so much.

Dad