The Mormon Church converted Native North Americans convincing many that they were descendants of a lost tribe of Israel. They told them that they were descended from a tribe that came to the New World more than 2,000 years ago. New DNA evidence is shaking the Mormon faith of Native Americans by calling their identity into question. The DNA evidence says their ancestors arrived from Asia, not the Middle East.

Should the Mormon Church apologize to millions of Native Americans? I don’t think they will. They will more than likely summarily dismiss the scientific findings as heresy. This will probably promote a new interpretation of the Book of Mormon (from the latest revelations of modern prophets, no doubt ) in an attempt to fix this clash between the DNA evidence and their “scripture”. The Mormon church will find it difficult to admit errors in a book their prophet (Joseph Smith) called the most correct book on Earth.

There have always been problems with the Book of Mormon. It contains references to a seven-day week, domesticated horses, cows and sheep, silk, chariots and steel although these had not yet been introduced into the Americas at the time of Christ.

Frankly, I feel sorry for Mormons. They appear to be victims of a hoax.

If it’s an honest mistake, the Mormon Church should just apologize for it. If it is not an intentional deception, I guess church leaders had better find a quick way to explain this new evidence!

Our neighbor lost his father. His father was sitting in his customary spot in front of his house watching the traffic pass by. A tractor-trailer on the interstate lost a rear tire. The large tire bounced through four lanes of traffic untouched, crossed a deep ditch, came through the media, then through the frontage, and struck this man head on after weaving its way between two posts of the awning on his carport. It struck him with such force that it knocked him from his wheelchair out onto his lawn. The tire continued at such a high rate of speed that it penetrated two walls of the garage, stopping only after striking the corner of his house. (It hit the house hard enough to move it off the blocks!) The injured man died on the way to the hospital.

There were so many factors that had to be just right for this to happen. It was so bizarre that many family and friends simply explained it by saying, “When your time is up there is nothing you can do about it!”

Is that true? Well, what if you are on a airliner and the airliner crashes because the pilot's time is up? Does that mean the co-pilot's time is up? You and 200 other passengers die in the crash, was it that your times were up? That doesn’t make sense to me!

Are we really at fate’s mercy? Did destiny make this man park his wheelchair in just the right spot to be killed by a run-away Goodyear? Or, could this merely be a tragic accident caused by someone not properly tightening lug nuts?

Tragedy strikes for many reasons. We can’t always explain why! We are human. We make mistakes. We make choices. Sometimes we suffer from a bad choice made by others. There are true victims, you know!

This is also a violent world. If you live in a flood zone or tornado alley then you might die from a flood or a tornado! Is that fate's design? Is that God's fault?

Let’s stop blaming God and fate what is simply a tragic accident. There are some things that occur here that have no simple explanation. Just scratch your head and leave it to God. You don't have to understand it. You don't have to explain it. You just have to accept it.

Let God be God. There is no injustice with him regardless what he allows to occur. He is still in control. He is still good.

There are no perfect persons and no perfect relationships. We all struggle. We all must work hard to keep relationships viable. There are no perfect matches. We are merely different persons with different needs, wants, wishes and desires.

Some persons bring wounds from former relationships. They expect the person in their current relationship to “fix” them. They quickly learn the other person is just as wounded as they. This places extra strain on an already difficult situation. Complete healing is only possible through the total forgiveness and rebirth God alone offers.

Some persons are born with low self-esteem and struggle with this issue all their lives. This makes them particularly easy to wound unintentionally. Without the constant love and forgiveness of a perfect God, they rarely feel worthy enough to be loved. With God’s unconditional love and acceptance, they are able to form healthy relationships with other persons.

Some persons are bottomless pits of need. They search all their lives for sufficient love and attention. The love and recognition received one minute dissipates in the next. Only the continual affirmation and constant companionship of God can fill such deep need. Without God, they are doomed to suck every person dry that has contact with them.

Some persons are users and abusers. Without God, they simply use up and discard persons like empty containers.

A house that sits empty will quickly fall down with no one resident to maintain it. With God resident in us and our relationships, we are no longer empty and in disrepair.

She endured two “break-ups” before agreeing to marry me twenty-eight years ago. She walked in my shadow when I was a self-elevated egotist. She raised three babies and sat with them through countless hours of church services alone while I was “the Preacher”. She endured low pay to no pay while I experimented in numerous career choices. She was there as my personal grief counselor when we buried my mother.

She has driven for hours listening to me “go off” about a political issue or my latest crusade against injustice in this world. She has sat with me through countless action/adventure movies and historical documentaries. She has rubbed my tired feet and massaged my sore back. She has comforted me as I worked through childhood traumatic experiences. She has struggled with me in my life-long battle against fear, anxiety and depression. She has supported me when even the heavens have appeared to be aligned against me. She has loved me in spite of me being me.

She is my angel. She is the mother of our children. She is my wife.

I love you, Sweetie!

You are a child of God. You were birthed from above. You came into Christ through personal faith in Jesus Christ. You grow in Christ through personal pursuit of God’s presence in you. God will sustain and grow you as you stay attached to him.

Christ produces in you his supernatural fruit (peace, patience, goodness, kindness, self-control, etc.) as you seek him daily. You learn by listening more closely to him. Trust no one to reveal what only he can reveal! Trust no one more than you trust God’s presence in you!

Study the Master’s life and teachings then study the Acts and writings of his Apostles and close followers. Observe how the early Christians met and worshipped. Observe how they discovered the proper way to meet and function in their culture and community. Discover your own local Christian community. Discover how best to live out Christ in your culture and city.

Gather regularly with other Christians. Do not gather to observe. Prepare to participate. Consider yourself an “equal”. Discover with other local believers how best to function as an individual in a corporate expression of Christ’s bride and body! Do not let any one person "lord over" the rest of the assembly. Take turns edifying one another as God grants revelation to each of you.

Stay away from structured Christian meetings where Christ and Christian living is merely discussed. Make Christianity your lifestyle. Meet weekly with others who serve Christ daily.