I've just read the article by John McLaughlin entitled: Be Christlike, Support Magic and noted your reply at the bottom.

I want to make a comment about it, but I must first point out for your readers, that as a person of a different nationality, and living in a third country, my comments do not refer to the politico-economic issues touched upon in relation to your local community.  Instead, I want to go straight to the 'Christian Believer' issues evident in both the article and its' response.

Many years ago, I lived in a small community, in a dead end street.  Everyone knew everyone, and everyone got on well together.

There was a woman in the street who had operating in her home, a 'home bible study', as part of a big born again Christian Church located quite some way away.  Even though it was my wife who was raised a born again evangelical Christian, it was I who eventually joined the group.  It was a wonderful group of people who were able to sit down and discuss theological issues, irrespective of disagreements.

One day, the Main Church announced that they were sending an 'official LEADER' for the group. It was the beginning of the end.

Now I admit that I am a clown - a stirrer - a heretic - or whatever I need to be in order to make things more lively and interesting, and everyone in that group knew that. One day I was introduced to a new couple, and Francie who ran the group, said; 'Don't pay any attention to R.P. He likes to upset people to see what they are made of. He's quite harmless really.

Now with this confession in mind, on the third week that the group was under the leadership of this appointed teacher, I walked into the assembly, with a book of Mormon under my arm. Someone yelled, 'Hey mate!  Wrong book!'

I looked down, and feigning surprise, said: 'Oh, tonight is the Christian one?'  Everybody laughed, except the leader.

Never have I been so penitent for a wrongdoing. That Leader subjected us to a two hour session on 'The Deception of the Devil'.

Eventually, being able to bear the man no longer, and knowing that at the very least, my interruption would be a welcome relief to the others, I began to question the leader about 'Deception'.

His arguement was based on the fact the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons are deceived by the devil. They don't have the truth in them. I asked him how it was that he knew that 'he' had the truth, to which he replied that he had the Bible. I pointed out that they also had the Bible, to which he replied that they didn't have the truth about the Bible. When asked again how he knew he had the truth, he replied that he had the Spirit of God. I pointed out that the others claimed the same, so it was hard to know which to believe.

He defended himself by pointing out that he had the Bible, the Spirit of God and the truth, and so the argument continued in circles for a little while. Finally I asked him to define 'deception'. After he did so I announced my understanding of his words as this:  The person who truly has the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, will never deny this truth, for he knows it to be true; and that the deceived person, thinking that he has the truth, will never deny his 'truth'.

The leader agreed with this conclusion, so I asked him, 'How then do you know that you have the truth, and are not deceived?'. This started off another round of 'I have the Bible, the Spirit of God and the truth.'

In my own life, the thing by which I judge the honesty, openness and integrity of those who proclaim 'truth', is their willingness to judge themselves and their words, to see if perhaps someone's accusation against them is true. Humility always allows for the possibility of error in one's life or heart. Arrogance won't have a bar of it.

For me, 'Fruit' in someone's life has nothing to do with their deeds or accomplishments, but the nature and Character of the Divine that they have cultivated in their hearts. As a famous pentecostal preacher once said to me, 'So many people who claim to be baptised and immersed in the Spirit of Christ, really have a spirit that is anything but Christlike.'

It's always hard for people to know who is a deceiver, but looking at their heart is a good place to start. This is why I wrote in my letter entitled: God's Judgement on the U.S.A http://magic-city-news.com/article_3621.shtml that, 'My knowledge of the New Testament tells me that the only way to survive judgement, is to judge oneself first'. It is also why I particularly liked two recent articles at Magic City entitled: Why the World Hates Christians By Ken Christian and Immorality & Our Future By Frank Speed.

I wish you all the best as you try to keep everything afloat over there in them there United States of America, and hope that those who read your newspaper will give their consideration to the agendas of the heart, and not the pocket.

R.P.Bendedek

Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com
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R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' (www.kingscalendar.com), and is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he currently teaches Conversational English in China. King's Calendar Social Commentaries may be found at: http://www.kingscalendar.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=331

"The King's Calendar" is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the (Essene) Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls.