Question:
Do you think it is necessary in prayer to “empty the mind”, allowing God to speak or to show the person praying an answer? This is referred to as “contemplative” or “listening” prayer, and it reminds me of meditation and other Eastern religious practices.

Five different times in the Old Testament the Israelites are told to be still. Each time they were faced with crisis and were anxious. The best known of these passages is probably Psalm 46:10:

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Each of these passages refer to God acting and the Israelites allowing God to do what they cannot. To some extent prayer ought to be a time to be still also. We are waiting for an answer from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we need to wait on His reply.

There is a significant difference between being still and emptying the mind. Being still is to let go of anxiety and know that God is in charge and will respond. Emptying the mind implies having a blank canvas to be written on. We are warned in 1 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.

Satan would love to speak to us and influence our decisions and he will if given the opportunity. An empty mind gives him that opportunity. We need to pray with an understanding of what scripture teaches us. We don’t empty our minds, we direct, discipline and focus them. Don’t allow your mind to wander off from what you are praying about. Concentrate and focus on the matter you are talking with God about. Be careful not to pray with your mind already made up but at the same time remember what you have learned from scripture so you can test the spirits.

I encourage you to see the support and prayers of others especially when the matter is of critical importance.

What is the difference between Mormon beliefs and Christianity?

Wow, this is a huge and complex question. I’ll give a brief answer then recommend you borrow a DVD from the office called, “The Mormon Puzzle.” As Christians we always want to begin with an understanding of what is taught about Jesus. We teach Jesus is the unique one and only Son of God.

They teach:

• “His humanity is to be recognized as real and ordinary–whatever happened to Him may happen to any one of us. The Divinity of Jesus and the  Divinity of all other noble and stately souls, in so far as they, too, have been influenced by a spark of Deity–can be recognized as manifestations of the Divine.”
• They teach Jesus was a pre-existent spirit-child; like they believe all of us were.
• Mormons teach that “God once was as we are now, and is an exalted man…” They also teach that men can become gods also. They recognize 4 authoritative books; the Bible(as long as it is rightly translated–and some Mormons accuse the Catholic church of intentionally polluting it) the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and the Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Of these they trust the Bible the least.

This is a very brief answer. The differences are vast and significant. Let me encourage you to view The Mormon Puzzle then get back to me if you have more questions.

Pastor Don W Reeves

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Our question is about the original scrolls. Are they still in existence? We’re wondering about the books written by the Old Testament and New Testament prophets.

We do not have any of the original documents of either the Old or New Testament. We do have a fragment of 1 John dating from about 125 AD one from Mark appears to be from as early as 50 to 68 AD and one possible fragment of Matthew from about 60 AD. The first document is unchallenged by scholars the dates of the other two are debated. The earliest fragments containing portions of the Old Testament come from about 300 BC. Many of these are from the Dead Sea Scrolls. All of these fragments are copies of copies of the
originals. Interestingly and importantly, the fragments we have are very consistent in their content.

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Our family is reading 2 Kings and often is says about how other things the king did are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah (or Israel). Are these books still in existence?

20 As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? – 2 Kings 20:20

You’ve asked a great question. In 1 and 2 Kings the phrase, “the annals of the kings of Israel” appears 18 times, “the annals of the kings of Judah” appears 15 times, and the “annals of Solomon” appears 1 time. They were records (chronicles) of a kings reign noting major political, military, and religious events. We are not sure if these were official or unofficial histories. Since much of what scripture says about many of the kings is so negative I wonder if the annals were as blunt in their assessment. Annals were common in Babylonia and Assyria and apparently Israel and Judah. As far as I know none of them have been found. Perhaps in some future archeological dig one or more will be found. It might be interesting to read them.

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