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From The Mail…

 

Dear Mr. Decker, I was doing a search on a different subject when I found your name and the Saints Alive logo.  It brought back so many memories.  I have owed you a "thanks" for the last seventeen years and have never gotten in touch with you before. 

I joined "The Church" when I was in the Navy.  I worked with a nice clean-cut young man from Utah, who took the time to tell me about his Church.  I read the Book of Mormon, out at sea, prayed about it, (got no answer) but still was baptized in Hawaii when we came into port.  By the time I got back to the States and started to learn more about "Mormonism" I was already in. Over the next fifteen years I fought a battle of trying to go to Church and live all the commandments in my own strength, and giving up. Then after a while starting all over again. After a divorce and re-marriage, my new wife started witnessing to me along with her friends and her Bible study group.  I was given a lot of "Saints Alive" material to read.  I was given music and tapes to listen to and I was in a giant tug-of-war. 

I finally got so mad at the Christian s and the Mormons that I told both to leave me alone.  I was going to try something I had never done before.  I was going to read the Bible for myself, and see what God had to say to me, and go from there.

After I read the whole Bible I was baptized in a Christian Church, and had my name removed from the LDS Church, (that was a nightmare), but I did it.

Anyway, this is a long way around to tell you that I appreciate your work and want to thank you for your part of getting me mad enough to read the Bible for myself. ..Howard

 

 

Dear Ed, I want to thank you and God bless you for defending Christian ity!! And for exposing the Mormon church for what it is. Satan’s LIE!!!! Recently I was pulled into it, and I thank God for revealing the truth to me. The Mormons have a way of loving you into their way of believing. They tell you they are Christian s and they believe in the same God you do until they think they’ve got you. I’m so thankful I have such a wonderful foundation in the scriptures. When I began questioning there beliefs and quoting scripture from the only word of God I think I scared them off. I can see how someone who doesn’t have a good Christian foundation can be sucked into this cult. I say Praise God for people like you to get the truth out there. Thank you so much and God Bless you always. Cynthia

 

 

Dear Ed, My mother is a member of the Eastern Star.  My brother and I have known for years that it is an organization hiding under the cover of Christian ity.  We do not discuss it with her because it causes a wall to come up between us, and she will not talk about it.  Mother believes it is Christian because she says they do good.  She is a Southern Baptist which makes it even harder.  She says she will have their rites at her funeral.  She is 82.  Recently my uncle, her brother, died at 91.  The Eastern Star group were supposed to have the rites at the gravesite, but since it rained, they performed them inside the church.  I almost got up and left!  It was so sacrilegious!  They repeated the words, "So mode it be" (I think that's what it was.) over and over like in a pagan ritual.  You probably know what it means.  I don't.  I cannot stand the thoughts of having to endure that at my mother's funeral.  Can I leave when that part comes?  Can I ask them to do it after we have our own little graveside service?  If it rains, can I get up and walk out if they do it in the church?  What shall I do?  I need a plan.  None of my family wants to endure that either.

Do you have any idea of a way I can submit the Truth to my mother, without making her angry?  In past years the Southern Baptists have made some very strong statements against evil, and some strong statements for Truth, but they will not make them against Freemasonry and their related organizations.  It's unbelievable!  God's people are opening up their doors to Satan and inviting him into their sanctuary. 

A few years ago the pastor of our church (He's no longer with us.) recognized the Masonic Lodge #?? and the Eastern Star group in an evening service.  He asked them to stand and then he proceeded to give a 20 minute speech explaining the different names of the groups of ES.  I could hardly stand to sit there and listen to it, but later I protested that he had spent more time on the Masonic guests than he had giving out God's Word.  He promised he would never do that again.  I found out that he was a third degree Mason because his father was one, and when his father died, the Masons helped his mother and family survive.  So they were considered "good."  He said they would not have made it if it had not been for the Lodge.  He read some books I gave him, but said he didn't remember saying or doing any of the things written in them.  He was a very weak pastor as he didn't want to step on anyone's feet when it came to the Lodge or ES.  I believe he knew in his heart that is was not right, but he would never admit that.  He was also weak in other areas, too.  He would shout when he preached, but it fell on deaf ears because everyone knew he was weak spiritually.  He retired and is now serving at an interim pastor in churches who are waiting for their search committees to find a new pastor. 

I have known that Freemasonry is evil for many years, long before I had heard of your organization or received your material in the mail.  My father was a Mason, but I'm not sure how far up he went.  I believe it might have been very high.  The Holy Spirit revealed it to me, and I pray for my mother to "come to the knowledge of the Truth."  I ask God to set her free from the influence of it before she dies, so she will not have that on her.  Do you believe she will suffer loss in the judgment because she believes this organization is of God and will not separate from it?  She was saved as a child.  She is very active in the church, she attends regularly, and she is one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet.  What do you think?  How does her involvement in Eastern Star figure into her rewards?  I hope you can answer that for me?   Will all her work for God be burned?

As you can see, my heart is so burdened for my mother.  I want so badly for her pastor to tell her that she needs to remove herself from the ES.  Could I approach him without her knowing, to find out if he is pro-Mason?  I live about one and a half hours away from where she lives.  Possibly I could call him up sometime before I go to her house and talk with him?  What do you think about that?  If he is against the Masons, and if he would speak out against them, she might just turn around and leave them, because she respects him very much.  However, it is not likely that he would speak out, as so many pastors are fearful to speak against the Lodge.  The members are too powerful.  I also doubt he would speak to her privately.  If you can, please answer these questions.  You will be much appreciated! Helen

 

Dear Helen...thanks for your email... My own father was a Mason and my mother Eastern Star.. Dad renounced me as his son when I began to write about it and it took several years to work through it. It wasn't until 2 years before he died, when he was in the hospital and thought he was going to die, that he renounced it and lived several years in a time of unfettered peace and joy in the Lord.

My Mom (in her mid 80's now) is a strong Christian and hasn't the first idea of what ES is and only joined at dad's insistence and even then attended very few meetings.... She knows the Lodge business is not of God and I don't have any concern over her salvation...she is a saint of the Lord. Dealing with family, especially elderly family is really tough.

How involved is she, was she?? If she was a "token" member because of your father, I doubt if you have to worry about her salvation. About the funeral, I suggest that you talk to whoever is in charge and suggest that the ritual would offend you and several other of the immediate family and you would prefer that it not be done at the funeral or graveside, in consideration of the family.

My father had made my older sister the executrix of his will  because he wanted that ritual and knew I would not do it.  But by the time he passed away, he didn't want it either and anyway, I did the funeral and would not have allowed it.

I would talk to your mom about your concern that ES may be something that Jesus would not have his own mother involved with because: 1] oaths, 2] things in secret, 3] the very symbol of ES is the pentagram and 4] FATAL, the letters on the points of the star give away the secret...supposed to say FAIR AMONG THOUSANDS, ALTOGETHER LOVELY.  But on the pentagram, fatal means fatal...5] In whom do you trust, Mom, Jesus or the ES?

Ask to pray a prayer with her, and then just hold her hands and pray a prayer that you [both] trust in Jesus for your faith, salvation and hope of heaven, not in  any temple made by men, in groups, lodges  or even churches that we love, but in Him... We put aside all things of the flesh and  set all things behind and look to Him for our place in heaven... amen

Then let it go if she isn't active in the lodge, have peace... If she is, talk to her pastor.... see gently where he stands and if he isn't a Mason, then explain you problem to him and ask for his help...remember, you may not get it even if he isn't a Mason.

Here is something I wrote a while back about my own dad and the SBC problems with FMY:

"During that time of family turmoil, when my Dad became so violently upset over my book, The God Makers, and the publication of my first article on Masonry, I wrote to several national Christian leaders who were Masons to seek their counsel in dealing with the dark side of masonry and its specific effect upon my family. One was Dr. James Draper.

 On June 4, 1984, when I wrote to James Draper, he was the President of the Southern Baptist Convention. In the letter, I shared that my family had been involved in Masonry for a number of generations, and that my questions and bold position had caused a great division in my family because of my father’s strong defense of the fraternity.

I said that I had been told he was a 33rd degree Mason and that I needed some straight answers. "If I can’t trust you, I might as well throw in the towel."

I asked him, "Dr. Draper, how can a Christ centered Christian put his thumb to his throat in an oath? How can a Christian call upon the name of Jaobulon as the true God? Please! My father and mother talk about ending their lives and Dad has a very bad heart. I need help quick! I pray that you can speak to this problem before it destroys my family."

Dr. Draper responded in a letter dated June 18,1984.  He stated that he was a 32nd degree Mason, having joined the lodge as a young preacher many years ago. He did not evade my implication that he might just be a stumbling block in this matter of my relationship with my father.

He wrote, "I do not recommend anyone become a part of the Masonic Lodge. I have not been active for many years. From what I read and the things I have been able to find out, some of the additional teachings of the Masonic Lodge are very heretical and certainly not conducive to Christian commitment."

 "However, I have discovered that many Masons are not even aware of those things and feel they are actually extending their commitment through the Masonic Lodge. Do not ascribe to your father everything you have read about the Masons. The letter closed with the remark, "Again, let me tell you that I do not recommend the lodge." It was signed, In His Love, Jimmy Draper.

 In late July, I received a copy of Jimmy Draper’s Letter of Demit, dated July 17,1984. Addressed to the Estelle Lodge No. 582, A.F. & A.M. in Euless, Texas, he described his membership as that of Blue Lodge masonry, having been raised to the degree of Master Mason. (In his letter to me, he had indicated he was raised to the 32nd degree. I am inclined to believe that his letter to me was in error on that point.)

 Dr. Draper wrote that he had never felt his Christian walk challenged by his involvement in masonry. He said, "All this is to say that my experience with the masons has been a positive one." He wrote that while he had been inactive for the last 14 years, he had "maintained my dues in the organization. I have many cherished friendships in the Lodge and am grateful to God for them."

It wasn’t difficult to see that Dr. Draper was struggling between his long term friendships with good people and the Biblical position regarding Freemasonry.

 His letter of Demit continued, "For the past several years I have been studying the teachings of Freemasonry. Obviously, there is much taught in advanced degrees that I was not taught. (This is way I am sure he was in error stating that he was a 32nd Degree Mason...ed) In studying Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and other books produced by masons, I have learned that there are additional teachings to the ones I learned. While Freemasonry teaches the unity of God, it does not center on the Jehovah God of the Bible and His only son, Jesus Christ... while the Bible is honored, it is not viewed as the sole rule of truth. Good works and virtue are seen as the key to heaven."

"In these critical times in which we live, I find that I must carefully identify myself with the Lord Jesus Christ and no other entanglement must be seen as competing with that commitment. The Bible tells me that "If eating meat causes my brother to stumble, then I will not eat meat." It is obvious that my membership in the Freemasons is a stumbling block to others. For that reason I must ask that my name be removed from the rolls of the [Lodge]."

"I make this decision after many months and several years of prayer and study. My love for you as brothers in Christ remains constant. I am not on a crusade to discredit Freemasonry. I simply must make clear in my own life that my sole and supreme allegiance is to my Lord Jesus Christ and no vow must be seen as competing in any way with my love for and commitment to Him."

Well...that's it for now...... I pray that you will be able to sit down with your Mother and work through these things....let her know that even if it is a stumbling block and  point of stress for you, she needs to evaluate her membership in the same light that Jimmy Draper did.
God Bless you in this matter.. Your brother in Christ, Ed Decker 

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