My friends;

How would you handle this situation? I am not an office holder in my church at present. Easter Sunday morning, a newly appointed Elder shows up wearing a large Masonic pin prominently on his lapel. My heart sank, and I became very uncomfortable in church that day. What would you do in my place? How would you handle it? Needing advice ...

- A regular poster of this forum, but because of the sensitivity of the question,

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2000

Answers

Darrell Combs....a regular poster to this forum.....is well informed on this issue.

Maybe he will respond.....or maybe you can search for his e-mail and write him.

I feel for you.....I really do.

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2000

Perhaps the only way to do this is to have an intimate chat with him, being sure that you have with you at least one or two other elders. You MUSt be sure to have your fact about Masonry clearly and strongly sorted out and verified by some independent authority -- writers who USED to be Masons are best. I know I've seen them and read them, but I can't pull any info on them at this time. I'll dig deeper and try to recover them, if you'd like. You might also contact the ministry of D. James Kennedy at Coral Ridge Presbyterian (the Truths That Transform ministry). they have excellent resources in these areas. Also, the Watchman Fellowship ministries, which can be found on the Web, are very good on this subject (although they consider us to be nearly a cult ourselves).

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2000

Anon.....

I have had opportunity to deal with a few members of the church that have been involved in Masonry... Some dealings have been successful, and some unsuccessful.... It is possible that the unsuccessful ones may have reconsidered since my talks with them.

First, as is stated in a previous post,, get ready to be involved on a personal basis and in it for the long haul. Many church members are naive when it comes to the Masons. They have believed the lie that it is based upon Scripture, and therefore it shares equality with the church. In reality, their union with the Masons end up taking first place in their lives. That is because of the pressure brought to bear through the organization and the disciplinary measures contained within it.

On one hand, they do not take their 'swearing in' very seriously, but on the other hand, they are often not willing to break their pledges either... Strange bit of irony there. Were I you, I would prepare to lay a foundation with this individual of complete and total denial of anything in life. Jesus Christ, and His church must come first. The man in question, must have a total committment to Jesus Christ. I would guess that he has difficulties in other areas as per his putting Christ and His church first in his life. In other words, his loyalties are probably not with Christ. Other parts of his life are, as a pattern of his life, taking precidence to Christ and the ministry of the church would be my guess.

Whether that is the case or not, the foundation of Christ taking first place, is the place to start. Might I add, is it not the place to start with all of us?! The more that you can impress upon him the necessity of this fact, the more truth the Holy Spirit has to work with - within his life.

This will possibly take some time. Asking the right questions in followup will be helpful. You have got to teach this man, and others, how to reason Biblically. When they learn this, they can tell the dark from the light. It is critical that they reason out the difference themselves. The best thing that you can do is to teach them how.

It is almost too easy a temptation to use a sledgehammer to break down the Masonary wall, however, it usually turns into a dissappointment to you, solidifying their position with the Masons, and losing a soul for eternity. What a simple thing it is to allow the Spirit to renew one's mind, when a fellow Christian takes the time to teach another how to reason according to the Scripture. This is putting on the mind of Christ. This is an imperative in Scripture for the Christian. Teach them, my friend. Teach them the Word. Do it personally and persistently.

Then as you have opportunity, allow examples in life to come into question as to what comes first in a person's life. Soon they will, hopefully, draw the obvious conclusion of being unequally yoked. Myself, and others in this forum are available to you for prayer and further encouragement.

Go get em, brother,

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000

My first thought was that this should be handled by one or more of the other Elders, since this man was in a position of spiritual authority, and although I know quite a bit about the Masons, I feel that since I am a younger man and he is also my elder in age as well as a spiritual elder, my confronting him would not be wise, or would not be well taken. I may have erred, but I called our pastor aside (he is one of the elders also) and mentioned in private my concerns to him, but have told no one else at present, trying to decide what to do.

I am interested in any other thoughts you might have for me. Thank you and God bless.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000

Anon,

Your age not withstanding, much time and effort with careful teaching questions in the right setting can help this man. I don't know that you needed to go to the preacher with your concerns,, I would think that the preacher saw the masonic pin on the man's lapel for himself. I do think that going to the man, and building a relationship of truthfulness and trust is most important. You can do this no matter the age.

Redeem the time,,, in other words, take advantage of every opportunity,,, and if need be,,, make opportunity.. Don't let your age be a barrier to building an honest relationship with anyone, even an elder in the church. Encourage him in the truth, respect him as an elder, and love him as a brother. Help him as needed. There are no age limits to telling the truth in love.

Go get em.. One thing I like to encourage myself with are these words... If it is right,,, Just do it...

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000

Anon,

You state that you have a good grasp on the facts behind and surrounding the masonic mess. That is good! You will need those facts if you choose to discuss this with the elder.

I had an elder in one church I served in who was involved in the masonic mess. Funny thing is, he was only a 3rd degree (highest of the basic degrees). He joined many years ago because he was a practicing mason, and if they wanted any work, they had to join the local lodge. It worked not only as a fraternal group, but also as the local "union" if you will.

No amount of discussion with this gentleman could convince him of the problems inherent within masonry. I have in my library the various books and texts that my grandfather used. When I showed him direct quotes from their own books re: making pledges of alligience to various false gods, he told me I was wrong and that I had no idea what I was talking about ... and I was showing him the info from their own material!

In the end, he became very angry with me ... tried to remove the books from my office (I even found him one Sunday morning trying to remove them without my knowledge .. I think you call that stealing). His anger got the best of him, and he tried to pick a fist-fight with me. Now, I was about 40, and he was about 70 ... go figure?!?!?!

He finally did all he could to have me removed from the pulpit ... on the grounds that I was against masonry. He had help from one other couple in the congregation (the only remaining charter members) who were both involved (he in masonry, her in Eastern Star ... the female arm of the group).

All that to say this ... know your facts, but with many it just won't matter. To many Christians involved in this group/club/heresy (?) it is just a group of good men and women getting together to do good things. They can't see the works=salvation that is wrapped up in it all ... or if they do, they won't admit it.

Feel free to email me direct if you want to discuss it further. I will be praying for you!

Darrell H Combs

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000