When Being Narrowminded is Good

by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2014, all rights reserved.

Chapter 1

When I was in El Paso, TX, there was a merchant there.  His main product that he sold was something else, but he also sold twelve ounce cans of soda pop at a very reasonable price.

I would sometimes stop by there and get a soda.

He found out about my electronics background and paid me to help him get his electronic sign working right.

We also talked about Theology.  He was of that persuasion where they pray to Mary, who, I'm sure can't even hear the prayers prayed to her, and would not be able to grant the requests being made if she could hear them.

A man I met in the Chicago area thought that Mary, having received a request could then go to the Lord with it.

No, I really don't think heaven is set up that way, in case Mary went to heaven, and my guess is that she probably did.

I'm pretty sure the Lord wouldn't allow Mary to be an intercessor for people on earth now that she's no longer on earth.  The Lord would say, "They should be praying to God the Father or to me, not to you."

Mary, after all, is just another sinner saved by grace, like the rest of us.  "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Rom 3:23)

The man in the Chicago area said, "But she was a virgin."  Yes she was, until after the birth of Jesus, but then she lost her virginity to her husband Joseph, and they had at least six children the normal way.

The names of the boys were James, Joses, Simon (not Peter), and Judas (not Iscariot).

And if someone has never sinned sexually, there are many other ways to sin.  The book of James tells us that the hardest thing to control is the tongue, and probably most people on earth have at one time or another sinned with their words.

Even on earth, mothers of Kings or heads of nations don't have 24/7 access to their sons.  Most earthly Kings probably try to be nice to their mothers, but Kings have their business to attend to.

They have taxes to collect.  They have their nation's defenses to take care of.  They have other statesmen to meet with, about international trade, and many other matters.  They don't just drop everything because their mothers would like to have a word with them.

And what did Jesus say while he was on earth and was told that his mother and brothers wanted to talk to him?  He said, "My mother and brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."

On another occasion, when Mary tried to bring a problem to the Lord's attention, he answered, "Woman, what do I have to do with you?"

To pray the Rosary or any other prayer that is prayed to Mary is to commit the sin of idolatry, in violation of the Ten Commandments of Exodus chapter 20.

When the man in El Paso saw that he was not persuading me to believe like him, he said to me, "You need to be more open-minded."

No I don't.  Not on the subject of Theology.

I have my electronics, and mathematics, and computers, and usually do my own automotive work.  But none of those is my strong suit.

My strong suit is Theology, and God has called me to be a Priest.  I've been learning the Bible since I was a little boy, and that was a lot of decades ago.

I don't say that no one can teach me anything.  I've learned from Kenneth E. Hagin, and from Norvel Hayes, and from Charles Capps.

But if you're going to try to teach me something about Theology, you'd better know what you're talking about, and I'd like to see some scriptures to back up what you're saying.

So I stopped getting my soda from that man, and I'm not available to help him anymore with his electronics.

He can continue down his wrong road.  After all, we have freedom of religion in the United States, and you can choose the wrong religion if you must.

But if you choose the wrong religion, there will be a price to pay, and for some, the price will be spending the rest of eternity in hell, unfortunately.

And Jesus said most people go to hell:

Matt 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in there:

Matt 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there are who find it.

The time and place to get your Theology right is in this life, not after you've already arrived in hell, because it will be too late then.

The Bible says, "Buy the truth, and don't sell it."  In other words, get the truth and hold tightly to it.

The merchant in El Paso is right that I'm narrowminded when it comes to Theology.  I'm just not open to new ideas that are contrary to scripture.

Once a man has found the right religion there is no good reason for him to be considering changing religions.  There is no religion better than Christianity, that gets your sins forgiven and gets you to heaven.

Of course, there are different varieties of Christianity, and what you want is the full-gospel, Pentecostal, tongue-talking (unknown tongues), charismatic, glossolalia variety.

Where would you go from Christianity?  There's nothing to go to from Christianity.

It's like Peter said,  after Jesus said a certain thing, some of His followers stopped following Him.  Then Jesus said to the disciples, "Are you also going to go away?"

Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."

Peter was quite right.

To whom would you go instead of Jesus?  There's no one to go to instead of Jesus.

I mean, no one to go to that would do you any good.  Unless you'd rather join the ranks of those who prefer to believe lies.  But that won't do you any good.

I mentioned before about the man who had been an evangelical Christian and then joined the Church of Religious Science.

That church is not just a little different from Christianity.  It is not Christian at all.  They don't believe the Bible.

How could a man fall into that?  Apparently, he wasn't much of a Christian to begin with.

Jesus said, "To him that has shall be given, but from him that doesn't have shall be taken away even what he seems to have."

That man didn't have much of God to begin with, and then lost what little he had.  Does he really think that hell is not such a bad place?  He'll change his mind about that soon after arriving in hell.

"The man that wanders out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead."  (Prov 21:16)

If you're occupied with pushing the frontiers of science.  If you're inventing new machines.  If you're a negotiator, perhaps it's good to be somewhat openminded.

There was a fellow on TV, a Mathematician,  who spent about five or more years proving Fermat's Last Theorem, Andrew Wiles, a British Mathematician who was also a Professor at Princeton.  He found it appropriate to consult with other Mathematicians, somewhat.

I guess proving that theorem is quite an achievement, and perhaps it advanced mathematics somewhat, although I'm not really sure that it was the best way to spend five years.

But if that's what he felt he should do, I guess that's between him and God.

If you're involved in an endeavor like that, perhaps you need to be somewhat open minded.

Chapter 2

But if you've spent time studying the Bible, and you've found God's plan of salvation, and have become a Christian, then it's time to be narrowminded if people approach you about departing from the truth.

I mentioned before about a man with whom I had been close.  We went to the same church.  We went to Christian summer camp together.

But he stopped being a Christian.

Jesus said, "He that endures to the end shall be saved."  You don't get credit for living half your life as a Christian, and then quitting the Lord.

For practical purposes, that's pretty much the same as if you'd never been a Christian.

After I learned that the man had quit being a Christian, I continued to try to be cordial with him.

But the man said some nasty things, and became, I think, a spokesperson for the enemy.

I finally had to tell the guy that he and I can't be friends.

2Cor 6:14 Don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

2Cor 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

2Cor 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

2Cor 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and don't touch the unclean thing, and I will receive you,

2Cor 6:18 And will be a Father to you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

Notice verse 17, above.  It says come out from among them and be separate.  In other words, "Be narrowminded."

Once you've become Christian, there's not something better than being a Christian, except that the Lord wants you to be a Christian who is baptized with the Holy Ghost with the speaking in unknown tongues.

If you're a Christian and don't have that, ask the Lord for it, and when you pray, believe that you receive the things you ask for, and you shall have them. (Mark 11:24)

God told the Prophet Ezekiel, "When a wicked man turns from his wickedness to righteousness, his wickedness shall be forgotten.  And when a righteousness man turns from his righteousness to wickedness, his righteousness shall be forgotten."

So that man who turned from being a Christian to being an unbeliever, his having been a Christian is forgotten with God.  It's as though he had never been a Christian.

Also, while God is the ultimate authority on this, not me, I believe that man is a Hebrews chapter 6 kind of person.

Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify to themselves the Son of God again, and put him to an open shame.

Those who meet those qualifications can't be renewed to repentance, and I believe that man meets those qualifications.

I'm not at all rejoicing if the man is lost.  And I made efforts to try to get him back on the right road.  But I guess he thought he was smarter than me.

And maybe he is smarter than me about some things, but not about Theology.

The man took some of his education in a foreign country.  He returned to the States on a break from his education, and stopped by to see me.

We had a bite to eat somewhere.  During our conversation, he said, "You know the Bible better than I do."

I believe that statement was correct.

Of course, if he had started then, and diligently studied the Bible, he might have surpassed me.  But I don't think that he occupied himself with that.

The Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..." (Psa 111:10)  That man gave up the fear of the Lord and gave up wisdom.

And what did he get in exchange for giving up the Lord and wisdom?  Well, pretty much NOTHING.

But you can't live someone else's life for them.  You can try to persuade them.  But if they insist on going to hell, then they'll probably wind up in hell.

When they arrive in hell, they'll see that they made a very bad choice.

But you can't get down on your knees in hell and pray a sinner's prayer of repentance and get saved, or, if you try it, the demons in hell will just laugh at you.  No, the time for that was back during your life on earth.

And if you didn't get the job done on earth, then you'll pay, and pay, and pay, and pay for your mistake.

Jesus said that in hell, there's crying and gnashing of teeth, where their worms don't die, and the fire is never quenched.

And why do people gnash their teeth?  People gnash their teeth in anger.

After I got into the military, I heard an expression I hadn't heard before, "That torques my jaws."  What does it mean?  It means, "That makes me angry."

And why are people in hell angry?  Because they could have had salvation through Jesus, but missed out on it.

Maybe the Devil told them there's no hell.  That's what those liars, the Jehovah's Witnesses say.  Oh yes, they say there's no hell.  But Jesus said there is a fiery hell.

Now someone is lying, either Jesus, or the Jehovah's Witnesses, and I know it's not Jesus.

Maybe someone told those who miss out on salvation that there's no God.

But there is a God, and there's a hell.

The Bible says that hell was created for the Devil and his angels.  When Satan rebelled against God, some of the angels rebelled against God with Satan.  So now, we call them demons (or, devils).

God doesn't want people to go to hell.  That's why he sent his Son, Jesus, to die for our sins.  But Jesus dying for our sins doesn't count for us, unless we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord.

But if you just somehow never get around to getting straight with God by getting born again, then the default destination for everyone is hell.

When you get a new computer, it comes with the factory settings, the default settings.  Then you can start making changes to your preferences.  Sometimes you can click on a choice with the mouse to "Return to default settings."

The default destination for humans is hell, unless they make other arrangements.

The other arrangement necessary to make is getting born again, like Jesus said to do in John chapter 3.

You get born again by obeying Romans 10:9,10--

"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you're saved.  For with the heart man believes for righteousness, and with the mouth conffession is made for salvation."

And in Rev 3:20, Jesus said, "See, I stand at the door, and knock:  if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will eat with him, and he with me."

Matt 7:22 Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Matt 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

"On that day" means on Judgment Day.

Notice in verse 22, above, that they had cast out demons.  You can't cast out demons unless you're a Christian.  So, they had been Christians.

But then they wandered out of the way of the understanding and remained in the congregation of the dead.

They became like God told Ezekiel.  They turned away from the Lord, so their righteousness that they had had by the blood of Jesus, as Christians, was forgotten by God.

___James chapter 1

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are dispersed around, greetings.

2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations,

3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all men liberally, and won't find fault, and it shall be given to him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

7 For let that man not think that he'll receive anything from the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted,

10 But the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he'll pass away.

11 For the sun has no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower of it falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for after he's been tested, he'll receive the crown of life, that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man,

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust has conceived, it produces sin, and sin when it's finished, produces death.

16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.

18 He chose to father us with the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

19 So, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,

20 For the anger of man doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God.

21 So, lay apart all filthiness and the unnecessary naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man seeing his natural face in a mirror,

24 For he sees himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

26 If any man among you seems to be religious, and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is for nothing.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

___James chapter 2

1 My brothers, don't have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

2 For if a man with a gold ring comes to your assembly in fancy clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes comes in also,

3 And you have respect to him that wears the fancy clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand there, or sit here under my footstool,"

4 Aren't you then partial in yourselves, and have become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my beloved brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

6 But you have despised the poor.  Don't rich men oppress you, and bring you before the judgment seats?

7 Don't they blaspheme that worthy name by which you're called?

8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor like yourself," you do well,

9 But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as sinners.

10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

11 For he that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not kill."  Now if you don't commit adultery, yet if you kill, you've become a breaker of the law.

12 Speak in such a way, and do, as those who'll be judged by the law of liberty.

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.

14 What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and doesn't have works?  Can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister needs clothes, and lacks daily food,

16 And one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what good is that?

17 Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yes, a man could say, "You have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works."

19 You believe that there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But don't you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?

22 Do you see how faith worked with his deeds, and by works faith was made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."

24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise also wasn't Rahab the prostitute justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

26 For like the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

___James chapter 3

1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation.

2 For in many things we offend all.  If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies.

4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants.

5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things.  See how great a matter a little fire kindles!

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.

7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind,

8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God.

10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be.

11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter?

12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries?  Or a vine, figs?  So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.

13 Who is a wise man, possessing knowledge among you?  Let him show out of a good lifestyle his works with meekness of wisdom.

14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and don't lie against the truth.

15 This wisdom doesn't descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be reasoned with, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace by those who make peace.

___James chapter 4

1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from?  Don't they come from your lusts that war in your members?

2 You lust, and don't have, you kill, and desire to have, and can't obtain, you fight and war, yet you don't have, because you don't ask.

3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask wrongly, so you can consume it on your lusts.

4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.

5 Do you think that the scripture says for nothing, "The spirit that lives in us lusts to envy?"

6 But he gives more grace.  So he says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you.

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.

9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and cry, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up.

11 Don't speak evil about each other, brothers.  He that speaks evil about his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil about the law, and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, who are you that judges someone else?

13 Go on now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit,"

14 Actually, you don't know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is a puff of steam, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

15 For you ought to say, "Lord willing, we'll live, and do this, or that."

16 But now you rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.

17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.

___James chapter 5

1 Go on now, you rich men, cry and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.

2 Your riches are corrupted, and your clothes are moth eaten.

3 Your gold and silver are rusted, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire.  You've heaped treasure together for the last days.

4 See, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you've kept back by fraud, shouts, and the shouts of those who've reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.

5 You've lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, you've nourished your hearts, like in a day of slaughter.

6 You've condemned and killed the just, and he doesn't resist you.

7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.  See, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.

8 You also be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is getting near.

9 Don't grudge against each other, brothers, so you won't be condemned, see, the judge stands at the door.

10 Take, my brothers, the prophets, who've spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11 See, we count them happy that endure.  You've heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you don't fall into condemnation.

13 Is anyone among you afflicted?  Let him pray.  Is anyone merry?  Let him sing psalms.

14 Is anyone sick among you?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven.

16 Confess your faults to each other, and pray for each other so you'll be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man is does a lot of good.

17 Elijah was a man subject to the same kind of passions that we are, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

19 Brothers, if any of you strays from the truth, and someone converts him,

20 Let him know, that he that converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.