Why Our Ministry is so Critically Important
Ignoring Biblical Truth
Many factions' within our post-modern society, including the
Masonic Order, and even some religious leaders can be found
supporting, religious pluralism, homosexual rights, legalized
abortion, and other controversial social issues opposed by a biblical
Christian worldview.
A couple of recent examples regarding homosexuality illustrate this
point:
"Despite warnings of God's judgment, the Episcopal Church
USA has voted to confirm the denomination's first
openly homosexual bishop." (Agape-Press, August 6, 2003)
"We have all been taught that Freemasonry regards no man
because of his worldly honors..., nor does Freemasonry regard men
because of their race, color, religion, ethnic origins, or their sexual
orientation — it is only essential that a man be
good and true. To be a good Mason, it simply does not matter if a
man is black or white, Hispanic or Asian, Christian, Jewish, Moslem,
or Hindu, gay or straight."
(Joel Springer, President, Masonic Philalethes Society, June 2002)
Unfortunately, many people in our society, who claim to be
Christian, have succumbed to the unbiblical notions of our day, be it
homosexuality or so many other socially contentious issues. Nowadays,
many believers fail to have a Christ-centered, biblically-based
understanding of the glorious gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. They fail to have the type of conversion experience and
ongoing personal relationship with Jesus found through daily prayer
and mediation upon Scripture that keeps one from deviating off course
and drifting into a non-Christian worldview that embraces false
doctrine. Christians of this modern-day era fail miserably in thinking
and acting biblically.
As Christians we should be grief-stricken over what we see
happening in our world today. While the Order of Former Freemasons is
a Christian apologetic ministry aimed specifically at Freemasonry, it
is our hope and prayer that God will stimulate all Christians
throughout the world and steer us back to orthodoxy and the
foundational tenets of the historic Christian faith, and that we will
be determined to remain strong in defending our faith wherever it is
being compromised. The Body of Christ must rise to the defense of
Scripture and the principles taught within it, or we will fall victim
to the philosophies of contemporary culture while our society suffers
the consequence of perpetual moral decay for generations to come.
Masonic Determination
While they are not yet extinct, these days Masons could be called
an endangered species. At the turn of the 20th century, millions of
men, possibly one out of every five adult males in the United States,
belonged to one or more Masonic organizations. But as times and
attitudes change, and the truth about them continues to be revealed,
this invisible cult within our midst is
literally dying out. "The Black Camel is advancing on us"
say the Shriners, who have lost over one-third of their membership
since 1980. Freemasonry as a whole has lost nearly 60% of its
membership since it peaked from 4.1 million in 1959 to 1.7 million by
2001.1 It's hard to see
where they'll find young replacements for the members who are leaving
either in a hearse, or in droves from their breeding ground called the
Blue Lodge.
How is the Masonic Order responding to the harsh reality that their
existence hangs in the balance? They are taking some very desperate
measures to recruit new members, improve lodge attendance, build the
interest of its current constituents, and more importantly, defend its
heretical philosophy.
For example, the New Model Lodge, USA is a system of activities and
practices designed to revive and renew Masonic lodges in the United
States. This system is set out to help ailing lodges repair and
reverse the trends toward falling membership in Freemasonry.2
Masonic lodges are starting to conduct more community activities than
ever before to appeal to prospective members. They are planning to go
on television to advertise Freemasonry, through commercials, public
relations events, Masonic documentaries, and public service
announcements.
They are also targeting our children. More and more Masonic lodges
are sponsoring youth activities to recruit teenagers into the Masonic
teen organizations. The one for young men is called the DeMolay and
for young women, it is known as the Rainbow Girls. By attracting them
at a young age, they can begin to program their minds into Masonic
thinking and more easily recruit them into the Masonic Lodge, once
they become adults.
Some innovative ideas are being tried by lodges and grand lodges to
increase membership. One new phenomenon is the idea of one-day
initiation classes. Traditionally, it would take months of instruction
and ritual memorization before someone could finally become a third
degree Master Mason. However, with the increasing trends of apathy and
declining membership, many lodges are conducting one-day sessions in
the hopes of creating larger numbers of Masons in the shortest period
of time.
"I'm dead set against it," says Stephen Dafoe, a
prominent Canadian Mason and friendly O.F.F. adversary. He goes on to
say, in a recent interview for Canadian East.com, "Each degree
has a certain amount of memory work that the candidate has to
remember. Then he has to prove that he remembers that stuff before he
takes the next degree. When you slam them through all in one day I
don't think that it makes long-term committed members. If they don't
have the time to take the degrees in the normal fashion — one a
month or one every couple of months — then they certainly won't have
the time to come out and attend and support their lodge on a regular
basis."
Lack of membership generally means a lack of financial resources
that typically come in the form of annual dues. As a result, many
lodges have had to merge or form an amalgamation of sorts in order to
stay alive.
In the past, in order to become a Shriner one had to first climb
the latter of degrees until one became either a Knight on the York
Rite side, or a Prince (32°) on the Scottish Rite side of the Masonic
structure. Today, however, because of political turmoil between
Shriners and the Blue Lodge coupled with their desperate fear of
survival, the Shriners have made a resolution in April of 2000
allowing men to become Shriners after only becoming third degree
Master Masons. This was an important decision for the Shriners for
three reasons:
- Fewer Masons means fewer Shriners
- Fewer Masons in the York or Scottish Rites would mean the same
- As a result, fewer dues to the Shrine means real financial
problems
But the Shriners are so desperate that they are also considering
the idea of letting non-Masons join. They would be called "Civic
Members" and be given certain restrictions, such as increased
dues, and no voting rights. However, they will be taught about
Freemasonry and encouraged to join a Blue Lodge. Based upon current
trends, this will probably happen, and when it does, it is likely to
drive a wedge between Masons.3
Finally, the most important reason why our ministry must prevail is
the biblical mandate from God:
- Jude
1:3-4 - "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write
to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and
urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted
to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was
written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They
are...men, who change the grace of our God...and deny Jesus Christ
our only Sovereign Lord."
- 1
Peter 3:15 - "But in your hearts set apart Christ as
Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks
you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this
with gentleness and respect."
Yet, conversely, Freemasonry has been establishing a number of
Masonic Apologetics for a number of years now. Many even proclaim
themselves as "Born-Again Masonic
Fundamentalists." Their goal is to try to maintain the
positive image Masonry has enjoyed for most of its history, but more
so now due to the advent of the Internet. The World Wide Web has been
an Achilles heel for Freemasonry as it has removed its mystique,
unveiled its deception and exposed its biblically heretical character.
As a result, there are now organizations within Freemasonry designed
for no other purpose than to defend the Masonic faith.
A Masonic Declaration of War
"For as long as Freemasonry has existed, there have been those
who, for one reason or another, have been opposed to the world's
oldest and largest fraternal organization. For an equally long time
the majority of Freemasons have been silent in responding to their
critics. However, just as the printing press revolutionized the way
people think, so too has the Internet revolutionized the way people
think and communicate. As a result the Anti-Mason is given a new
medium through which they may present arguments condemning the Masonic
Fraternity. The time has come for Freemasons around the globe to
respond to our critics and restore our fraternity to the favorable
impression it once enjoyed in society…Make no mistake, our present
situation with regard to anti-Masonic criticism is both a battle and a
war in a figurative sense." This declaration was made on June 24,
2003 by M.A.S.O.N. (Masons Against Slanderous Offensive Nonsense)
We would agree with these Masons and say, it is indeed a battle,
but not only in the figurative sense. We declare, by God's Word, that
this is a spiritual battle; a type of warfare not fought with flesh
and blood:
Ephesians
6:12 - "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places."
We recognized that the battleground of Satan is the hearts and
minds of mankind. He will do anything and use anything, including
Freemasonry, to triumph over Christians and to keep non-believers from
ever accepting Jesus Christ. Yet, as disciples of Jesus, we also
acknowledge the weapons of our warfare; the helmet of Salvation that
keeps our thoughts on Him and the breast plate of righteousness that
guards our heart and emotions toward Him. We wear the belt of Truth to
remind us to speak the truth in love, to walk in truth and to worship
the God of the Bible in spirit and in truth (John
4:23), for it was He, Jesus Christ, who claimed to be the Truth,
the Way and the Life (John
14:6). Our feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace, ever ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us.
Above all, we take the shield of Faith, because the just shall live by
faith (Romans
1:17) in Christ alone, and without faith in Him it is impossible
to please God (Hebrews
11:6). With the shield of faith, we are able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked.
Therefore, if it is war they want, then to the glory of God, it is
war they will get! Although we walk in the flesh, we do not war after
the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong holds. And, since the
battleground is the mind, our weapons are able — by the power of the
Holy Spirit — to cast down imaginations, and every high thing that
exalts itself against the knowledge of God, including Freemasonry, and
is able to bring into captivity even every thought to the obedience of
Christ (2
Corinthians 10:3-5).
Finally in closing, although Islam is the fastest growing religion
in the world, even in America despite what happen on September 11th
2001, most lodges in the United States are made up of professing
Christians. What this means is, while there may be an attempt to
recruit Muslims into American Freemasonry in the future, you can bet
their primary target today will continue to be Christians. The danger
of this for the Church in America is that, the extent to which the
Masonic worldview can poison the hearts and minds of the Body of
Christ, will be measured in direct proportion to the success at which
Freemasonry can attract, recruit and retain Christian men and women
into its ranks. This is a tremendous threat to the Christian faith
here in America and around the world, yet by the grace of God and our
Lord Jesus Christ; we are here to prevent this from happening any more
than it already has.
| "The
only thing necessary for the deception of Freemasonry to
continue to triumph over the minds of interested Christians is
for Ex-Masons for Jesus to sit back and do absolutely
nothing." |
1 Masonic membership statistics from the
Masonic Service Association (back
to article)
2 New Model Lodge,
USA J. R. Martin, Houston, Texas (back to
article)
3 Masonry By The
Numbers, T.N. Sampson, Cornerstone Ministries, Valrico, FL (back
to article)
...
