Recommended Book—transformed: A Spiritual Journey

First, there was Muscle and a Shovel, which described the way a man came to a knowledge of the truth concerning salvation that is taught in the Scriptures. Published in 2018 was The Ivory Domino (available from Cobb Publications), which showed a similar pilgrimage—only this time out of Roman Catholicism. In between these two, Lance Mosher wrote Transformed—A Spiritual Journey, published in 2015 by World Video Bible School. As with the other two books, this one is a quick read (241 pages).

The author begins by describing his early childhood in Phoenix, Arizona with his father and mother, who were Lutheran. At the age of five, however, they divorced. His father found a “friend” (twenty years younger than his former wife) and the author, Lance, and his sister moved with them to Michigan. The children, who only stayed for the summer, then went back to live with their mother during the school year—only she had moved from Phoenix to Henderson, Tennessee. (Don't get ahead of the story.)

During the school year, the children would live in Henderson with their mother; their summers were spent in Michigan with their father, who continued to take them to the Lutheran Church. In fact, the older sister began catechism classes there and was thereafter “confirmed.” In Henderson, the mother had quit attending worship altogether. One year, the children returned to Michigan for the summer, and the stepmother was gone—a second divorce for their father. Undeterred with his marriage record, however, he already was dating again, and this woman would become their second stepmother.

During fifth grade, Lance received a Bible at school because the Gideons had been allowed to come there and give Bibles to any student who desired one. They were pocket Bibles containing the New Testament, along with Psalms and Proverbs. It meant a great deal to young Lance to have his own copy of the Scriptures. (Your editor also has one of these; they were distributed by the Gideons on the campus of Illinois State University about ten years earlier.)

Lance had become friends with a boy named Derek, whose family decided to begin worshiping every week. They settled on a Baptist church while the lads were in the sixth grade, and the author went with them. All of the facts presented thus far are set forth on the first ten pages of the book (only in a far more interesting fashion than this summary). Pages 11-13 describe Lance's “conversion” at a Baptist youth meeting. As one might imagine, it involved inviting Jesus into their hearts (12). The dangers of Baptist doctrine can be seen in what the youth pastor taught these youngsters:

He taught us that we would always be saved, now that we had Jesus living in our hearts. There was no way we could lose our salvation. That sounded great to me! (14).

These may be the two deadliest doctrines in the universe: 1) Telling youngsters (or adults) that they are saved by inviting Jesus into their hearts when the Bible says no such thing, and 2) Convincing them that they can never lose this salvation no matter what. However, Lance and Derek were congratulated both by the author's non-churchgoing mother and his new stepfather. Several months later, Derek was baptized, but Lance was not since he had been “baptized” as a baby. Why was Derek baptized? “It makes me a real member of the Baptist Church” (16). In other words, his Baptist baptism had nothing to do with being saved.

It is safe to conclude that Lance experienced little spiritual growth over the next few years; he actually admits being involved in bad behavior. Despite all of that, he remained open to truth. A fellow employee (at an afterschool job) told him she did not eat pork. When he asked why, she told him to read Leviticus 11. He did, and when it said not to eat pork, he determined that he should not do so. Another friend at work, Devin, explained to him that Leviticus was part of the old covenant but that we are under the new (65-66). Devin became an important part of Lance's life, always showing him Biblical answers to questions.

Next, Lance got involved with a Pentecostal group, where the “pastor” and his wife both spoke to the audience (77). It was a different experience. He was asked what he had done to be saved, and he said that he had asked Jesus into his heart. The response was:

“That's all well and good, but did you know that's not how you know you're saved? You know you're saved when you speak in tongues,” Mick said (81).

He was also told that sprinkling was not enough; he needed to “get dunked.” These Pentecostals were part of a Christian band, which Lance had joined. There is much more to the Pentecostal experience, which is interesting to read and consider. So, how does this whole scenario look as though it is going to turn out? We have been introduced to three different religions (Lutheran, Baptist, Pentecostal). None of these three agree with each other.

To make matters worse, the co-worker who spoke to him of Leviticus and pork asked him if he looked the passage up. When he told her we are not under that covenant, she asked who told him that. He answered that Devin had shown him what the Bible says. She immediately replied that Devin's church was a cult (101). Despite all the negativity and error, Lance ultimately finds his way to the truth. This spiritual journey is well worth reading and meditating upon.