Deception III: Who's at Fault

There is an ancient saying, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." When it comes to deception, that is a truthful saying. There was a question that was once posed to a general audience (a forum group) "when one is deceived who's at fault? The deceiver or the one willing to believe the lie without ever being the Berean & checking what they hear against the word of God." That is a good question, one that many people have philosophically asked, and had many lengthy midnight discussions about. So what does society say, and what does Scripture say.

Society teaches not to argue with authority. If someone of authority teaches you something, you should accept what they teach as correct. Society teaches that if something istaught wrong, then the fault lies within the teacher not the student. There is a hierarchy of student to teacher: minor student, advanced student, grad assistant, teacher, professor. (This isn't set in stone and there are multiple levels of hierarchy) You can teach the ones under you, but you can't argue with the ones above you. Because they have letters either preceding or proceeding their names, we give them a distinct honor and hold them, in essence, infallible. Therefore, if they falsely teach something, the fault lies within the teacher. But, who's going to point out the mistakes. This also lies within the church. How many pastors accept correction from a lay person, let alone an associate. Unfortunately, there comes a level of ego, that surfaces when someone with a degree is challenged by an uneducated person. (Before any body gets a hemorrhage ask yourself, am I like this? and be honest with yourself. No body likes to be rebuked even by a "commoner". At the same time, there are pastors who are open to rebuke, I'm generalizing as a whole, not saying all are this way, just most)

So what does society as a whole teach? They teach the fault lies within the teacher for misleading, but they can't mislead if they have the education. They are just teaching something different. What does scripture say as to where's the fault?

James 3:1 "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." (NIV) There you go, even Scripture shows that it is the teacher that will be judged more strictly. Therefore, it is the teachers fault. Not so fast, Slick. Let's look at another piece of Scripture. I John 4:1 "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (NIV, emphasis mine) Do not believe, but test the spirits. Why don't we test those that teach. In today's instantaneous, sped up, broadband, MacNews society, we want it now. We don't want to have to do the work, we expect the teachers to put in the time, therefore they should have it right. We want to believe what is given to us and not to question it.

When it comes to authority, who in the early church had the most authority? Paul would have to rank right up there in authority. What happened to him while he was in Berea? What does Scripture say? "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul taught was true. (Acts 17:11 NIV, emphasis mine) They examined the Scriptures and compared it to what Paul taught to see if Paul was teaching correctly. Did Paul rebuke them or get upset with them? It was recorded about their character, if you're upset with someone, you generally don't refer to them as noble.

So who's at fault for deception, the teacher or the student? According to Scripture, it's both. But, the fault for being deceived lies with the student. There are so many warnings not to be deceived, and to test everything. Test me, and when I'm wrong rebuke me. I will easily change my thoughts and teachings if I am shown the error of my ways, but there is a way to rebuke me. Show me in the Bible where I am wrong. If you show me a magazine article and say, "Dr So and So says this, and he proves you're wrong, therefore, Daniel you need to change." You'll have a battle on your hands. But if you use Scripture and say, "Daniel, when you taught this, did you think about this? I think this Scripture shows where you are mistaken." I will study and when proven wrong, I will change. I am also man enough to apologize to those offended and to correct myself in public.

"A wise son heeds his fathers instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke." (Prov 13:1 NIV)

Have a blessed week

Daniel Vandenburg

Deception II: Choosing to be Deceived

During the course of the seminar I have been involved with, I have come across many different types of people and different responses. The general responses range from "It's all a bunch of hooey, and you are just perpetuating the curiosity of those who wouldn't have planned on reading the book (seeing the movie)" to "I believe what I want to believe and I won't let anyone else tell me different." It's that last statement I want to discuss. Why would someone choose to be deceived?

Do you want to know how absurd that statement is? When I was in elemental school, my teacher asked me, "Daniel Vandenburg, what is 1 plus 1" If I would answer 3, the teacher would correct me. After correcting me, I said, "Well, I believe it to be 3, therefore I won't let you tell me any different." What would the teachers response be? She'd be perplexed at first, and then dismayed, that someone would choose to believe a falsehood.

Why would someone choose to be deceived, when the truth has been presented to them? First is ease of belief. It is easy to believe a lie than the truth. Daniel, are you off your rocker again? The truth is so much easier to believe. Is it? How many married couples, when confronted with adultery, would rather believe their spouse wasn't cheating on them? How many people would close their eyes to abuse? How many people would believe their child is innocent of any crime, despite overwhelming evidence against them? Humans would rather believe a lie, because it is easy.

Second is the peer pressure. If you surround yourself with a group of individuals that think different than you, studies have shown, within a given amount of time, you begin to think like them. You begin to share opinions and attitudes. Why? Confrontation. Most people despise confrontation and will concede a belief if it meant not fighting. Daniel, you're full of hooey, I'm well grounded in my beliefs and nothing is going to change me. Good. But, I have known a lot of people that were well-grounded in their beliefs, and it happened to them. People utter 5 words that will lead them to catastrophe. It won't happen to me. WRONG!!! Civilizations have fallen because of that deception. If you think it won't happen to you, then think again.

Thirdly is the belief that there is no such thing as absolute truth. I will believe what I want to believe and you believe what you want to believe and there is nothing wrong with that. That problem is two fold. First, it denies the Laws of God, and second it denies logic. I can see how it denies God's Laws, but logically speaking it makes sense. Does it? Let me tell you a story: A priest is listening to a woman speaker talk about absolute truth. Every time she makes an emphatic point, she glares at the priest. She talked about homosexuality, fornication, and abortion. All the while staring down the priest. Towards the end of her speech she says, "If I believe something to be right, then it is right for me. If you believe something to be right, then to you it is right. No one can tell you what you believe is wrong." With that, the priest quietly got up from his chair and walked over to the ladies purse. He then opens it up and begins to rummage through it. The woman stops her speech and yells at the priest, "Stop that! What you're doing is wrong, you can't go through my purse." The priest looks up at her and replies, "I believe it's right."

"A wise son heeds his father's instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke. (Prov 13:1 NIV) When rebuked with the truth, do not choose to be deceived.

Have a blessed week

Daniel Vandenburg

Deception I: The Truth about Deception

What is deception? An outright lie, or a partial truth? Deception is a lie designed to make the person believe it to be true. If I said I was 7'12" you wouldn't believe me, but if I said I was 5'9", 180lbs, brown hair, mustache, and wore glasses you would believe me. If you did believe me, you have been deceived. Though most of that is true, I am not 5'9". That is where the deception is made. Humans are not idiots (though some peoples actions make that statement deceptive), they don't believe and outright lie, but humans are gullible and will believe a lie, if it is sprinkled with a kernel of truth.
"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible." (Matt 24:24 NIV) One of thethe hardest things to do is deceive an "expert". Yet, today, there is an attempt to deceive "experts". If one truly knows and believes the truth, then they can not be deceived. As stated earlier, those who are "experts" about me can even be deceived. There are Christians that appear to be strong in their beliefs and convictions, yet, even just recently, have been deceived. Teachings, they thought, were infallible and unshakeable, have been shaken. Does that mean that they are weak? That they aren't strong in their faith?
Yes and No. A momentary lapse of reason, and they failed. After coming back to their senses, they realized they were deceived. In order to know our faith, we have to be tested in our faith. Many years ago, a gentlemen, whom I regarded as a strong Christian, said, "If someone held a gun to my head and told me I would die if I said I believed in Jesus, I don't know what I would answer. I don't know if I would deny Jesus." I puffed out my scrawny chest (spiritually and physically) and responded, "I wouldn't deny Jesus. I would accept death." My was I wrong. I deceived everyone in that room, especially me.
Was a gun held to my head? No, but my life from that point on, reflected a denial of Jesus. I became involved with a woman right after that. From there I deceived myself with the "everybody is doing it" and "I'm not hurting anyone else" and "there's nothing wrong with how I am living." With all those quotes and the life I was leading, I was denying Jesus. Those who knew me, thought I was a Christian. So, they would do what I was doing, thinking, "Daniel is doing it, so it must be ok." I quickly turned my back to Jesus. Thankfully, He didn't turn His back to me. And I must point out, my undoing was not because of the woman. She wanted me to continue on the path I was headed before we met, but I wanted the best of both, and lost both.
Afterwards, I was like Jonah. God had a plan for me, but I was running the other way. Finally, I was swallowed up, and spit out. I have been redeemed by God for my disbelief. He led me to another woman, sadly, that too didn't work out, but God has another plan for me. Maybe, somewhere out there, God has designed the one for me. Maybe she's from my past, or maybe she's in my future. I don't know, it's in God's hands from this point. But the point of this discussion is not to feel sorry for Daniel and his failed relationships. It's about deception.
The saying, "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, then it's a duck." I wouldn't' be to sure of that. Check it out completely. If something is based on reality and claims to be authentic, check it out. Do your own research. I just finished with a seminar on The DaVinci Code. The seminar was titled "Separating Fact from Fiction". When I say I finished, I mean, I still have 5 sessions left. (The next 5 Wednesdays) and when I say I finished, I mean, I am a keynote speaker. It is sponsored by the Abilene Wesleyan Church, Pastor David Swisher, pastor Jessica Swisher, and myself are the ones conducting it.
The sessions are "Priory of Sion" presented by Pastor David, "Can We Trust the Bible" presented by me, "Who Was/Is Jesus" presented by Pastor David and myself, "Paganism, the Occult and Sexuality" presented by me and "Suppression of Women by the Church" presented by Pastor Jessica. The one thing we were very careful to do was we didn't want to condemn the book, tell people not to read it or see the movie, nor boycott everything about it. Nor were we going to stand up and defend the church in it's wrong doings. We systematically did a lot of research, to bring the facts to the surface. The book is a nice mystery and a decent page turner. I would recommend it, but don't believe it, lest you be deceived.

Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg

Seek the Truth

Just recently, a movie was released, it was based on a best selling novel. The book and subsequently the movie was fictional. The mantra for those that don't understand the damaging effects it has to Christianity, is "It's just fiction, so why are you concerned with it." And I must admit, for the longest time I wasn't. I did view it as fiction and not worth my time to respond. Then people started asking questions based on the book and asking how come I don't believe it.
Then one day, God thumped me on the noggin, and planted a truth in my spirit. What if, you were standing there in line and someone walked up to someone else behind you, and started talking to them. You were not part of the converstation, nor were you invited into the converstation. Then one person says, "What I am about to tell you is going to be the truth." And the conversation stears toward your parent. They say, "So and So has 3 children (truth), they've been married for 30 years (truth) and then proceeds to tell lies about your parent. Harmful, hurtful, and hateful lies. Knowing you're not part of the conversation, do you still sit idly by while your parent is trashed or do you speak up and say, "I know the truth and what he says is not the truth."

Knowing that God is greater than anyone and that He doesn't need defended, I will still defend the truth. Why? For 2 reasons. First, He may not need me to defend Him, but He wants me to defend him and secondly, because silence is still acceptance.
I don't want to get too deep on the DaVinci Code aspects of things. The church is hosting a seminar on the DaVinci Code, and I am one of the panelists that will be sharing some things about it. I will discuss a couple of things here, though.
First of all, the idea of Jesus being married isn't something new. It's not something that just popped into this writers brain. There is a psuedo christian sect that has been teaching the marriage of Jesus for a mighty long time. They've taught that Jesus had children. The only thing I am unsure of, is if they teach that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
In the early 80's there was a book that promoted Mary and her baby as the holy grail. Once again, if this was a deep truthful secret kept by a secret society, they did a poor job keeping it. I definately wouldn't want them to keep a secret for me.
Aside from the other blasphemous aspects of the book (will be discussed later), I wanted to point out the strong occult teachings. The book is laced with it. In one part, the police chief made the comment about devil worship and the main character reprimanded him. In essence he told them that the Christians are narrow minded idiots and there is nothing wrong with any non christian practice. He gave him a history on early worship practices (which is goofed up anyway) and said that's how early cultures worshipped their gods. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with what they do.
I opened up my bible and found myself in Luke. "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatter" (Luke 11:23 NIV) Simply put, either you are for Jesus or you're not. If you have questions, ask. Most importantly. SEEK THE TRUTH!
Have a blessed week
Daniel Vandenburg