Christian Doctrine and the Gospel according to Finian

Today I'm going retro. Since nobody goes to Church or cares about religion any more I'm going to conclude the third installment of the trilogy with a summary of Christian doctrine then describe what I believe because many will argue what I believe doesn't fall within their definition of Christianity. I watched Pastor Rob's sermon last week at the biker Church during the rally.

Pastor Rob delivered a sermon that was the second part of a two part series entitled "I'm Dead. What's next?" He talked about the reality of hell. Not in a hellfire and brimstone way but in an honest matter of fact way. He quoted a survey that said 57% of Canadians believe in heaven. (That means 43% don't.) He also said only 41% believe in hell. (That means the majority of Canadians don't.) He made some very good points. Truth isn't a public opinion survey. What the majority of people believe doesn't matter. The truth matters.

For example, say I was crossing a busy street. Someone sees me and notices a huge semi that's gong to run me over if I don't move out of the way and they warn me. I respond with That's OK. I don't believe Semi trailers exist. The fact is, what I believe doesn't matter. If I don't move out of the way, it will run me over. Pastor Rob also said it is a tactic of the Devil to try and convince people hell doesn't exist. He's succeeding at that quite well.

The concept of hell fits in with the concept of karma. We are all free to choose but we cannot avoid the consequences of our choices. Think of hell like a court of law. Society has laws you must abide by if you want to live there. If you don't abide by those laws you have to go somewhere else. The question we need to ask is what kind of society do we want to live in. If we don;t abide by those laws, we won't be there.

Pastor Rob admitted most people, Christians included, don't like to talk about hell. A lot of people can't understand why a loving God would create such a place. Pastor Rob said that God is loving but he is also just. Take Eileen Mohan and the Surrey Six. Would it be fair those murderers went to the same place as Eileen and her son? No it would not. Mercy cannot rob justice.

I don't believe Hell is simply a place for the unbelievers. Christ called the religious leaders at the time liars, hypocrites and extortionists. "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Christ taught as ye sow, so shall ye reap. What we do in life matters. As Gladiator said, what we do in life echoes in eternity. Our choices have eternal consequences.

Here's my twist. The Bible says that God is not a respecter of persons. In every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. Rewarding good people for doing good is a part of natural justice. What kind of reward - money? No. Peace and joy.

As for punishment, I believe the torment we experience isn't something that God does, it's something we do to ourselves. After this life we experience time differently. If we look back on our life and experience all the pain and suffering we caused others, that would be a natural consequence of our conduct. I don't believe everyone receives the same reward or the same punishment. It wouldn't be fair if someone who was a little bad went to the same place someone who was really bad went. If you cheated on your income tax you shouldn't be with murderers. For me it's simple. If you spent your life lying, cheating and stealing, you will end up with people who did the same. Like the Chinese painting I previously talked about.

I used to say if a parent has a child and cares about the child it will tell the child not to play on a busy street. Say the child disobeys that warning, gets hit by a car and dies. There would be no point for the parent to take the child over their knee and spank it for eternity saying I told you so. That would be pointless. It would not represent justice either. I believe hell is what we experience when we see and feel all the pain and suffering we have caused others.

Another aspect of suffering is the fact that after this life, all our lies will be in plain view for the world to see. Everyone will know Blaze shot Brittney Irving and that he cooperated with the police to avoid jail time. All his lies and false allegations will be made known. At that point he will be forced to crawl back into the darkness and hide from everyone who knows the truth.

Mormons believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I believe that.

Evidently Pastor Rob from the Biker's Church believes in baptism as well. So do Baptists and Catholics. In fact, Catholics believe that baptism is so important they started baptizing babies because they thought that if a baby died without being baptized it would go to hell. I don't believe that but they do and that's one of the reasons they started baptizing babies. Pastor Rob waits till they're 7 or 8 and I am inclined to agree with that although I have no problem with those that baptize babies. I was baptized when I was a baby in the United church. I decided to get rebaptized when I was an adult to reconfirm the vows my parents made on my behalf.

Pastor Rob said that rebaptism isn't necessary. He said instead of rebaptism Christians have repentance. I believe that. Some protestants criticize Catholics for confessing their sins to a priest and doing pennence. I see it as harmless. People can argue what does saying a few Hail Marys and Our Fathers got to do with anything?

Although their is merit to that argument one thing it teaches is the concept of repentance. Many born agains have completely lost the concept of repentance. They claim they said I believe once many years ago so now they don't have to keep the commandments. I don't believe that.

When I was with the Guardian Angels in south Seattle we attended a local Black Baptist church. I found that to be very positive and edifying. The preacher was a man like unto Martin Luther King. He was very charismatic. I don't like Pentecostal Churches myself but I found their service to be very sincere and genuine. Sadly I find many White Baptist churches up hear a bit divisive and intolerant. Yet I still believe in the freedom of religion.

Jesus set the example for us by being baptized by John in the river Jordan. He went to John because John held the priesthood authority. John was from the tribe of Levi and was a descendant of Aaron. That means he held the priesthood by birth right. The book of Hebrews mentions a second priesthood that wasn't given my birthright, it was given by making an oath named after the order of Melchisedec.

I'm not going to argue about priesthood authority. Every religion believes they're right and every Church believes they have the priesthood. That's all that needs to be said. All I'm saying is that baptism was a commandment and if we claim to be Christian we will strive to keep the commandments. I was never really big on doctrine. I was big on service but that was a long time ago. Now I'm just trying to make ends meet like everyone else. My priority is the freedom of religion because we can all see where this WEF globalism is trying to take us.

There are a few things the Mormons believe that I don't believe. That doesn't mean they are a cult. They have a right to their beliefs just like everyone else does. We really have to stop saying everyone who disagrees with me is a fascist or a cult. That is the road to Communism and I reject it. As Laura-Lynn pointed out, many churches have been pushing the Covid false narrative and have been a huge disappointment.

Mormons believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. For the most part I believe that but if Canada becomes Communist I will not obey it. As Martin Luther King taught, noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. I believe the founding fathers fulfilled their duty. The Shanghai lock-down is the perfect example of why Communism is bad and why people flee Communism to come here. Obeying that is something I do not agree with. The Canadian Charter of Rights is the law that I sustain.