It came in public print yesterday from Andree Seu. (HT: SharperIron)
She is one of my favorite authors for World magazine. And I am not too surprised by her post and the warm response to Beck. (Hey, though my own precious momma detests Mormonism, she loves the testimonial words that come out of Beck’s mouth).
It would all be telling for me if this man ended up on a turbulent trajectory path like Martin Luther with his organized, universal Church. Beck does have a full decade within a Church he seems to fully appreciate. And unfortunately, I don’t see him moving religiously anytime soon. For a passionate, patriotic American conservative in these latter days, the LDS Church is the ideal home. Right? What more could you want?
Well, for starters, I hunger for a place where there is gospel grace refuge. I was not at just one time in the past – desperate. I am daily desperate for grace which I don’t deserve. I am that needy. Secondly, this grace is so amazing because of its source – the holy, transcendent God – the One who is wholly other. Search the LDS Kingdoms far and wide – all three levels – and you don’t see Him revealed as such.
Of course, to protest the theological underpinnings of the well-established Authorities dominating the American I-15 Corridor is no small Christian matter. Who has the courage to probe deeply and lovingly confront one’s religious family?
Only one who has a heart gripped by the Gospel.
Jesus in Idaho Falls 
To all Beck supporters, regardless of religious background:
“You cannot serve God and Ayn Rand.”
The September CT hits on Ayn.
When I was a senior in high school here in Idaho Falls, I detested the required readings of Ayn in English Honors class.
“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Atlas Shrugged.’ One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves elves, dwarves, orcs and hobbits.”
Hopefully, you also got to read Tolkein.
No Tolkein. So later in life I read through the whole trilogy with one of my boys before the movies came out.
At age 17, I read through ‘Atlas Shrugged’ and told my English teacher that for my final senior paper, in contrast, I would be analyzing C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. In the end, she gave me a bad grade and told me I was too preachy. She loved Ayn.
Presently, I am reading the last christian on earth: Uncover the Enemy’s Plot to Undermine the Church (Regal, 2010) by Os Guinness.
On pages 34-35, he wrote,
“The Christianization of the modern world is leading to the modernization of the Christian faith and away from the way of Jesus. Similarly, as we shall see, the Christianization of America has led to the Americanization of the Christian faith and away from the way of Jesus.”