An Infidel in Mecca

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Holy Land of the Mormon Faith, Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. On Monday evening, I had the honor of visiting the new Art Museum with my parents and two sisters. They are all Mormon. So out of respect for them, I restrained myself from interrupting the tour guide as she explained the different displays. From my eyes the museum is an attempt for Mormons to find some substance to their faith. Their faith is anchored only to a single testimony.

The witness of visitation by God and of receiving new holy scripture. This alleged holy scripture chiseled on Gold Plates, the original source of the Book of Mormon, is nowhere to be found. It is said they were taken back to heaven until the world can handle the remaining sealed portion of its message. One can only image that marvelous day, when an angel from Heaven brings the plates and more written scripture is given to the Mormon saints. Joseph Smith, jr. is the witness. The only person who has supposedly seen God, the Father, and Jesus, and was instructed that no truth could be found on the earth and he needed to restore it. These main pillars of faith for the Mormon are based on the words of a single boy.

The museum tries to anchor the Mormon Faith to reality. There is no disputing that their was a farmhouse where Joseph lived when he was a boy or that the Hill Cummorah even exists. It is also remarkable all the effort and craftsmanship that early believers poured into their faith. But what can not be shown in any photograph or by any physical evidence is the truth of the claims made by the Mormon faith. It is not unlike what some early Christians attempted when visiting the Holy Land. Building large monuments to show where milestones in Jesus’ life took place. His birth, His miracles, His death, His resurrection. There is danger in creating idols or the needing of physical evidence for faith. It is even more dangerous to deceptively advertising these relics as proof of faith. Relics do not prove faith. They may demonstrate the commitment of the believer, but it does not prove the claims.

Later in the week, I returned to Temple Square. I had planned to met up with a small group that was passing out tracts at the North gate of temple square, but I arrived way too early. So as a non-member, infidel, I entered the gates of Mecca to the Holy Sites of the Mormon Faith. The visitor center was to my immediate right so I went in. I wondered around the first floor looking at the lovely paintings of Jesus and climbed the arching walkway up to the giant statue of Christ. It is a magnificent statue.

Next I wandered into the basement where the distinct Mormon story is told. The displays demonstrating the diverging beliefs and world view of the Mormon faith compared to traditional or historic Christianity. The theme was a restored gospel. It was in the middle of these displays when I was approached by two young ladies, Mormon missionaries.

They arrived at the moment I touched the screen to listen to a short narrative about the two witness of Christ. The Bible. The Book of Mormon. I listened and the two missionaries asked me how I felt about what I had heard. I took this as my Que to begin sharing my Christian faith with them. After talking with them for several minutes, I walked toward the next display and sat down. They followed cautiously joining me on a neighboring bench.

Eighty minutes later and at some point of the discussion two more missionaries joined us, they made their final testimonial witnesses and departed. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was about to begin rehearsal and they wanted to go and listen. So we parted. It is hard to remember everything I asked them about and talked about and heard, but much of our discussion was about truth, discovery of truth, feelings, the bible, the need for modern prophets. One point I remember asking them, “Why do you consider the Latter-Days after Joseph Smith the fullness of times, and not the time when Jesus walked in Galilee?” They assured me that the mission of Christ was important and nothing measured up to the atonement of Christ, but that Joseph weaved all the gospel together. Restoring it to its fullness.

Another moment that I wanted to share was about truth. The discovering of truth is unrelated to warm feelings. Human emotion is fickle. Truth is not. I shared with the missionaries that asking the Lord to confirm the truth of written words by feelings, is backwards. The written words should confirm themselves without tempting God for emotional proof. There is a subjective response for me when I read or discover truth in the bible. I did not ask for the response, it is given, though. My point is that if you are looking for a specific emotional response to measure your spirituality, you will eventually get it.

In the end, the challenge remains to me and to the rest of the world either Joseph was a prophet or he was not? Either the Bible is the word of God, or it is not? Either Joseph was a prophet or the bible is the word of God? Both can not be true. They both exclude that possibility. The only other option is that neither is. For me I have chosen to trust that the Bible is the word of God. That God is able to protect his words. The apostle Peter, recognized by Mormons, Catholics, and Protestants clearly states in his epistle,

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” 1 Peter 1:22-25 (ESV)

Dawn

I get really irritated with the endless distortions of the bible from different groups, but most of my irritation comes from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, who claim that the bible is the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. Two questions: Is the King James Version translated correctly? If not, then why use it? Two follow up questions: Do the supposed prophets of the Mormon faith still claim to be prophet, seers, and revealators? If so, then why not use their gifts to translate the Bible correctly?

I have spent the past months since the start of the year reading through the bible, I have had made it to 2 kings chapter 4, in the Old Testament, and the beginning of the book of Acts in the New Testament. Recent events have once again reminded me of my continuing irritation (possibly righteous anger) at the continued distortion of the bible by LDS apologetics particularly as it relates to their past practice of polygamy and their continued defense of it as an eternal principle of their gospel, even though they do not practice it anymore. Of course all of this comes from the recent raid, arrest, and rescue of abused children and their young mothers in Texas.

I understand the logic of why so many LDS need to defend a practice that they have not done for over 100 years, It is simply that their founding prophet Joseph Smith, jr. said it was an eternal law; So it must be so. Their belief in the law of plural marriage results from the false claim that the modern prophets of God are without error in their revelation from God. If Joseph Smith, jr. was wrong about plural marriage, then he might also be wrong about other things? That chink in the armor must be continually protected, in order to protect the rest of Joseph’s revelations.

It is the proofs that really get under my skin, the argument that Father Abraham was a polygamist, so other faithful men should also be polygamists. A carefully reading of the words in the Bible reveal that practice of plural wives was never in God’s plan. Starting with the first revealed practice of Lamech who had two wives and murdered a young man. (Genesis 4:23-24) Then Abraham whose union with Hagar is the continued source of turmoil in the Middle east even today. God told Abraham to put Hagar out his is camp (Genesis 21:12), and then God took care of her and her son. God later tells us that Isaac is Abraham’s only son. (Genesis 22:2) God accepted Abraham’s repentance from turning away from having more than one wife and remembered his sins no more.

Not to mention the favoritism of Jacob of Rachel over Leah (Genesis 29:30), and the family strife that it trickled down to the sons; the ten older ones were so jealous of the love that Jacob had for the son of his favorite wife, they conspired to first kill him and then sold him as a slave for twenty pieces of silver (Genesis 37).

Yet the pinnacle of the troubles caused is illustrated with King David and his son, Solomon. King David even with all his wives, still was ensnared by lust to covet another man’s wife, which lead to adultery and murder. ( 2 Samuel 11-12) And Solomon who married so many wives that they eventually introduces their idol worship into the Jewish Monarchy. ( 1 Kings 11:8 ) This is just a brief summary of all the trouble that came from plural marriage from the pages of the bible–It was all accounted as sinful, by God. But God is merciful and was able to forgive those who sought repentance for their sin. (Psalm 145:8-9, 14)

In the beginning God created Adam and Eve, that is God’s intended marriage–between one man and one woman.

I recently watched the movie, September Dawn, a movie based on the events of another September 11, were a wagon train of settlers were massacred by a group of Mormons. The movie depicted the events as an act of vengeance against the Missourians that had driven the Mormons out of their state. It is full of conspiracy and blind obedience to leaders. Regardless of who was involved, there has never been a genuine apology from the LDS church to the families of those killed. There is little doubt that the church had a role in it given the careful way the surviving children were distributed to various Mormon settlements near where the massacre happened.

The movie hinged around two brothers, one who was faithful in blindly following his leaders (his father) by taking more than wife, and actively participated in the massacre; and the other brother who was a rebel and did not blindly following his leaders (his father), who as the movie goes fell in love with of the young ladies in the wagon train. It was his love for the young lady, who was shot right in front of him (by his father) that lead him to save the baby, she was trying protect. A picture of how new beginnings or dawns are possible in the midst of calamity and tragedy.

But there is a new dawn. And there is still time for apologies. Might I recommend to the leaders of the church to not ignore another tragedy caused by their faith. I recommend that the Mormon church go down to Texas and work with the state to take care of all those “wards” of the state, they were created by their eternal law of plural marriage that some still practice. I know the church distances itself from polygamists as much as it can, but why miss an opportunity to restore some of the wayward followers of Joseph and return them to the “flock” of the faithful.

I would also recommend to the Christian leaders in Texas to reach out to the young mothers and their children and do as James told us “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows” (James 1: 27) and also as Jesus taught “for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ (Matthew 25:34-36, NJKV)

May the people of God not stand by and just watch the secular state gobble up more children and have them be raised as lifetime dependents of the state. It is a new dawn, Let us all stop living in the twilight of the past and embrace the bright morning sun (Maybe even for some the Morning Star–Jesus Christ).

Shadows of the Groundhog

It has been several weeks since I have written anything. Many topics have been filtering there way through my mind. Here are four that occupy some of my energy. They are pieced from four smaller entries, I almost deleted, but now have decided to publish together to honor the last six weeks of winter as predicted by a beloved rodent. I can relate to the groundhog shadows are terrifying things, (Psalm 23) The current story of my life is to wait for the spring a little longer. With the snow continuing to pile up, I am reminded that snow is nothing more than evidence of God’s storehouse and future provision of life (water) for us.

Ignoring a reformer.
Utah culture does not give praise to Martin Luther King, jr because of the influence of past Mormon theology.

In the state of Utah, for the Mormon majority, Martin Luther King, jr. is meaningless to its history or culture. It is why the State Legislature ignored the national holiday and began its session. It is why only recently the state even acknowledged his existence replacing their human right’s day. For one, He was a Black Christian pastor, in 1964, the LDS church still held their revealed truth that blacks were cursed by the sin and mark of Cain. In the 1960’s blacks had no right to the complete presence and glory of the Lord, especially a black pastor from one of the illegitimate daughters of corrupted catholicism.

They were only allowed to be dimly lit from afar by others. They were only allowed to pick up the crumbs from the white and delightsome race.

They could not hold the sacred priesthood or work out their salvation, as taught by the Mormon church. They were not even allowed to baptism each other into the church, only by the good works of their white brethren could they be ushered into the true church. It was only 10 years after the murder of Martin Luther King, jr that stubborn leaders of the church-among them the recently deceased Hinckley and now Monson- finally received new revelation from God, that the curse of Cain had ended and Blacks could once again after 5000 years of punishment be allowed to enjoy the full glory of God to worship him as priests.

Given another 20 years, perhaps the culture of Utah maybe ready to venerate the work that Martin Luther King, jr did to remind everyone what the bible teaches in Genesis that all men are created in the image of God; but it would then have to acknowledge at least in part the work of another reformer Martin Luther who challenged the universal church with the simple gospel that it is by faith in Jesus Christ not by working through a religious system that offers entrance into the Kingdom of heaven.

Praising a dead false prophet.
The end of last month brought the passing on the president of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Once again, I glanced at a piece of my former life. My life when I was blinded by my religious fervor. I listened as the sister of the dead false prophet give the final benediction for his life in a prayer. I was reminded of the unique doctrines of men that the LDS church has that are contrary to the words God has spoken.

In that short prayer, she praised the work of her dead brother and spiritual leader. She imagined him walking the halls of heaven with his eternal bride. It was not until the final ten or twelve words that God was even mentioned. It was her hope and faith that he was in a better place. It was her faith in the deeds of her brother that are not unlike her own that set him in his place of honor. It was only mere afterthought and habit to invoke the name of Christ, but only at the end.

This short prayer told me that the doctrine and fundamental belief of the LDS faith are the same as when I turned away from them a decade ago. That men are gods in training and their works gain them reward in the life here after. That Jesus is not the way; He is merely the ending of their own way. That philosophy alone reverses God’s way. Jesus is the author and finisher of anyone’s faith. He is the beginning, middle, and end of the pathway of faith that alone leads to presence of God.

Waiting upon the Lord.
Last spring when I learned that Lifeway was going to be beginning a new series of teachings to cover the breadth and width of the Bible. I asked God to grant me the privilege to teach from His Holy Scripture for the entire series. Six months later, I was given the news that my job was not going to be supported any longer. The current grant was not renewed and would expire.

I spent the weeks and months since then applying for jobs. The lowest point was around my birthday in October, when after hearing once again that “although you have many qualifications, we have decided to hire another candidate for this position, thank you for applying and good luck in future career”. In my heart I still knew that God wanted me to stay in Logan and continue to grow closer to him and to share (teach) the Bible to others. I applied for a job the first week of November to work as the new Geographic Information Specialist for North Logan City. My supervisor even helped me in writing my resume.

I recently interviewed for that position, but before I went into the interview my supervisor had called me about a possible position for me coming up early next year that would allow for me to continuing working on campus at Utah State University. During the course of the interview for the job working for North Logan city, I learned that one of my co-workers had also applied. And God whispered to me that this was not my job.

The next morning, I did something I had not done since I was LDS. I fasted (this was not a random thought, I had recently read a chapter in a book about 12 spiritual disciplines for men that was about fasting), it was not a long fast it was only for 6 hours, but I did no just skip breakfast and my morning snack at work; I was deliberate in having my hunger pains remind me of God presence and my prayer was for him to close and open doors of employment for me. The door slammed closed on that job, but the position that my supervisor had told me about was beginning to crack open more.

My continued prayer and for each day and especially Wednesday morning since then, when I fast and pray for God to open the door for me to get a job here in Logan that would last long enough for me to continue to teach the Bible to others as long as God wanted. Even if this job does not work out, I know that God will provide. I continue to have my strength rise as I wait upon the Lord.

Considering a new president.
This will be and has been the least productive thing that I spend energy on. But I can not stop considering the great dilemma I find myself in. I am a conservative. I have been since I first heard Rush Limbaugh’s radio show in 1988 (at age 14) I have not always listened to it, and recently I find myself spending more time listening to on-line bible sermons from oneplace.com, than listening to the guru of conservative radio. I do split with him on most all things related to God. He may be a Christian, but his speech lends him to be a leader of a political movement more than a devoted follower of Jesus.

Anyway, I can not and will not vote for Mitt Romney as the next president of the United States. The main reason is religion. He is Mormon. I will not place a Mormon in position of that much prominence that would place his church in a position to blind more people and snatch them away from the word of God-which is God’s special revelation about Jesus Christ. It is a matter of conscience.

On the other hand, Could I vote for Governor Huckabee simply because of religion? I am not sure. He would likely lead the nation about 90% of the way that I would like for it to run. But the United States of America is a secular state. Secular states needs secular leaders. I always feel uncomfortable when an America President has to make politically correct statements about other faiths or philosophies that I know are false. Again, I am uncomfortable putting fellow Christians in that position.

Also, I can also feel the pendulum of the pulse of America swinging from the conservative end of the spectrum back toward the liberal side. For me a liberal human secularist like Obama or even Hillary Clinton would do harm to the American culture and nation. That is why I stop in the center and currently support John McCain as the next president. It is the practical and logical choice for me. Not the one my heart would first pick, but an acceptable choice, when I factor and weigh every point and position.

Personally, I would like to see a constitutional amendment to protect marriage and to define it as a union between One man and One woman. I would like to see a constitutional amendment to protect the life of every unborn child, the only exception being the LIFE of the mother. I would also like to see strong action taken to secure the borders of our nation, with physical barriers, and the arrest and deportation of all illegal immigrants and the change of the the requirements to become a citizen, not allowing mothers do give birth to children that are automatically citizens. I understand these actions are harsh, but if America is going to be a nation of laws, we can not begin making exceptions for immigration, what is next, are we then going to have safe havens for pedophiles, rapists, drug abusers, when will it stop, It would not. The laws of the nation would then be meaningless.

Born Again Mormons

summary: Meeting someone in person and listening to them really changes past misconceptions or perceptions for the better sometimes. The internet can distort communication, but is still valuable in communicating.

…there may be a lot of errors in this entry, I will try to edit them out later, but I wanted to get this up tonight before bedtime…

First off, as much as I enjoy this medium of electronic communication of web logs and emails. They can misrepresent people unintentionally. Several years ago, I came across a book titled Born Again Mormons written by Shawn McCraney after browsing through the book and looking at his web page. I initiated contact with him over his tactic of having Mormons that became born-again (in the John 3 Biblical sense, also from Titus 3) to remain in the church and draw more members out with them in a grand hope to change the LDS church from within in a ground swell or a spark that would consume the entire church and “Christianize” it. When I say Christianize I mean to have it repudiate its false non-biblical teaching and reorganize itself into a biblical denomination. My opinion was that when any LDS are born-again they should run not walk to the nearest exit and plant themselves in a bible believing fellowship and surround themselves with other Christians. I also had a short squabble over the church infrastructure and its value. All this has now become water under the bridge.

This evening I was able to attend my home church and listen Shawn in person. There is no doubt that we both have grown in grace and have matured in Christ since those early disagreements. The one good thing about my past email conversations with Shawn was that he worked on his book some more and made a “second edition” or response book. This evening He graciously signed and gave me a copy. It is officially my second Christmas present. My wife bought me dinner on Saturday night at the Irongrill in Providence as my first present-the food there is good (If I can’t find a job anywhere else in Logan, I would love to apply as a cook there; this is another longer story). Any way, since I am partly responsible for causing Shawn to write the second book, I feel obligated to read it. It seems like it will be a good read. In fact, from what I have heard is sounds really similar to a book, I had thought or intended to write some day.

The most unusual thing about the electronic interchange we had years ago. That neither one of us is that way in a person to person meeting. He is a very likable and friendly person. Interestingly, before I left the church at age 22, from listening to him tell his conversion story it sounds like he was on the same road that I was just starting down. I am more amazed at his transformation and salvation than my own. I could have easily lived the same life that he did until he left the church. In the church I was always behind the mask of self righteousness in public, but in private I always knew that deep down I was nothing more than a filthy rag. I understand what he is doing and the method that he uses is the same method that contributed to my salvation. No one is a born-again Christian, in the sense that we all had a time in our lives that we did not have authentic faith and trust in Jesus. Some of us were blinded in work oriented religious systems, others in hedonistic lifestyles, or just plan denial of God. We are all lost and dead before Jesus dwells in our hearts. Our second birth or spiritual birth makes us Christian-adopted brothers and joint heir with Jesus to the Father.

The method of leading LDS out of their blindness using the only true Physician-Jesus (Matthew 9:12) to cure them, not to tear down their faith in God and organized religion. Jesus healed so many people from physical blindness the most famous the blind man from John chapter 9. He is also able to heal spiritual blindness. People that leave the church for those reasons often end up as worse off in the sense that they live a life of open sinful rebellion rather than the quiet sins of the heart that most Mormons endure. I did not leave the LDS church, I became saved and then gradually removed my affiliation with the LDS church. I spent some time searching for another traditional biblical church.

Surprisingly, I did not find one until I moved to Utah. There was some other factors, but contending doctrine to doctrine may have planted seeds, but my heart of stone did not crack from the pounding and contending for the faith that is much of evangelism. I know that it was a work that God alone did, and from many different mediums–interestingly one of those was the internet. In an indirect way, my wife was lead to salvation on-line and the transformation in her life was the deal closer that made me realized that Jesus, we read about Him and come to adore from the bible, even taught and revealed to some one on-line, not religion, is a great way to fish for and catch souls for God.

I finally saw the truth that organized religious systems would not save anyone. But that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. But most importantly He is my way, my truth, and my life. That is what Mormons lack-they know that Jesus is THE savior, but not that He is THEIR savior. and that They need him upfront and first, and that they only need him, they have nothing to add. It took me several years to learn this enough to have the courage to separate from the Mormon church.

No doubt leaving my entire family remains the most difficult part. I am in God’s family now–my ongoing pray is for the rest of my loved ones and family to also become part of God’s family. I pray for other Christians to placed in their lives, because my best witness now is to Live in Christ, because whenever I open my big mouth the conversation with them never ends well.

I was blessed to hear from Shawn tonight and to do my small part in getting the baptistery ready for a baptism tonight. I had a small moment to apologize to Shawn. He may not even remember it, but it was healing for me, because of the grief I may have caused him in the past over his first book. If only I had the same courage my wife did to publicly apologize for being a “Shawn” hater early on. Thanks be to a merciful God and for the mercy he pours onto all of us.

PS. I do plan to make a strong effort to drive down to Salt Lake City and do the hold the hands around the temple. I may even want to host one here in Logan, at the same time instead. That would be an even more powerful message. We’ll see…

Happy Hallow Eve’s (Halloween)

Last weekend My family and I traveled up to Twin Falls, Idaho to visit some family. We spent three days and two nights at my sister’s home. One of the highlights of the trip was when my wife and I cooked the world famous Maranatha Potato Soup for the family that we all ate Saturday night. One of the most interesting differences between most of my family and I is the amount of television they watch. Given that they are all devout followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints (Mormons) this is very surprising. I often wonder if as a child would my family have watched much of the prime time television, they brag about watching now. I often have the television on, but it is rarely the focus of my attention. Much of prime time television is either very “adult” in content (dialog) or borders on the occult (channeling, speaking with the dead, etc) .

Saturday night at my family’s Halloween party, I helped some of the kids including my own carve some pumpkins and scoop the seeds out. It was fun helping them. I was not really that happy with celebrating Halloween with my LDS family, but my attitude about it would change during the course of the trip. Many of them dressed up in costumes-my dad was ghost buster, except for one of my sisters and her husband along with my clan. I used the wimpy excuse we did not have room to pack any. The real truth is that as a tradition my clan-the Biblical Christians of my family-has not dressed up in costumes on Halloween.

Sunday morning came and we drove out northwest of Paul, Idaho to meet my wife’s dad and step mom. We followed them to their church-the First Christian Church of Rupert, Idaho. It was a large and beautiful worship center. We attended the second worship service (the contemporary one). Their church was a well “oiled” machine. I use the word oil because in the bible the Holy Spirit is often symbolized by oil (Zechariah 4) and it was smooth. I was most impressed with their young pastor, he was only 37. The only reason I know was because it was his birthday. I have to admit I was a little jealous because my home church is still growing to become the right congregation for the pastor God will send us and they did have a new and beautiful building.

I am still anxious about the idea of our congregation opening the deacon door, by reinstating formally called servants. Ten years ago our congregation split with many of the deacons leaving and forming a new church that is still vibrant today. I am more anxious about having women serve formally as deacons. Well I was impressed with the number of elders that the church in Rupert had. It had 8 elders. This was not even counting the pastor. Apparently, a large part of another congregation left and joined the church bringing many of their elders with them. Since the men were all Biblically qualified they all maintained their position of service in the Kingdom. Their church is elder ruled for those that may have been wondering about their church governance. More elders seems to be a great way to go for leading a church especially in this day when senior pastors often come and go rather quickly. A strong elder board can maintain a continuity within a church.

Now the sermon from pastor Dave. It was about being a light and salt in the world even on Hallow Eve’s night (Halloween). Rather than hiding away with a pious and self-righteous attitude go out into the world and participate in reclaiming the holiday for God. He was very animated with his preaching. It was a really refreshing worship time for me while I was there. It was nice to get away from the strain of our home church for one week and refresh our souls.

So tonight I will take my family over to our Baptist church and have a carnival night for the kids. It will be a lot of fun and energy. I have no idea what activities will be there, but the saints will be gathered. By the way, on Monday night our apartment complex held a trunk or treat where kids and their parents walk around a parking lot and get candy from the neighborhood instead of going to the house. I have never heard of this until I came to Utah. I am not sure why LDS seem to be in such a celebrating mood for Halloween. I am also not sure if much of the celebrating for Halloween may come from the fact that Logan is a college town rather than the prominence of the Mormon culture in the town.  Yet most of the students are from the Mormon church, so who knows? This town does get a different feeling or atmosphere around Halloween-at least I can perceive a difference. It is a feeling of spiritual oppression and darkness.

Sweet and Salty Mix–Part One

For length the following narrative is divided into three parts. This is part one that sets the stage.

Last Thursday, I took advantage of my afternoon break to sneak over to the Taggert Student Center Patio to see if some of my fellow Christians were witnessing to passersby. When I arrived there was no evangelical camp set up, so I decided to run over to the Aggie Quick Stop and get a cup of coffee. Walking down the main hallway in the student center, I changed my mind and instead kept walking out the west entrance with my small bag of a sweet and salty mix. I had brought the mix to work to eat as a snack and it was the last one in the box.

Two things before I get back to the narrative. First, the sweet and salty mix was suppose to be a high energy, healthy snack for my wife to eat on her daily pilgrimages to the elementary school with our three youngest children, our middle two attend the school, the youngest just along for the ride in her stroller which was a “gift” from my sister in Idaho. In this case gift means give away my baby stuff to someone else because it is filling up my house and all my children have outgrown the baby stuff.

Second, the snack was bought at Sam’s club that would be the Republican’s version of Costco for those of you familiar with the large warehouse–buy 12 dozen rolls of toilet tissue for the low low unit price of 12 cents even though whenever you leave the store you have spent a minimum of $100.00 dollars. So I had a nearly full box of these snacks, because I had bought them for my wife. She later discovered that she did not like them and that they contained more calories than a steak dinner. I volunteered to take the box to work and eat them as a snacks, because sitting at a desk for 8 hours behind a computer monitor requires more energy that walking three kids back and forth to school. By the way my wife decided to get those fancy on the go drink mixes that are added to bottled water, which by the way you can purchase in bulk at Sam’s for a great unit price.

The snack contains nuts that are salty, some raisins, sunflower seeds, and chocolate coated candies. Every bite may either be a salty one, a sweet one, or both.

Sweet and Salty Mix–Part Two

This is second part of the narrative…

Back to the narrative, Upon exiting the west side doors there was a bench conveniently placed as a rest area, so I stopped opened my snack bag and started to eat my snack. Then I became aware of my surroundings. I was facing a monstrous brick building. Although located on campus, It is not a public building. It is the Institute of Religion building.

The only equivalent I can think of is a theological seminary for Mormons. I had long been curious what the inside of the building looked like. I sat there and finished my snack weighing the possible scenarios of what might happen upon entering. Scenarios ranging from my spontaneous combustion to kidnapping. None of which happened.

I observed those entering and leaving through the front door for a few more minutes, then decided to preform a quick walk around to gauge the size of the building. After walking for four hours to get to the back of the building, It was a large building–just kidding it was about a minute. I decided to sneak in the back door. Upon entering an older gentlemen asked me if I need some help. It was obvious I did. I asked him where was the main office and that I was seeking information about classes taught at the Institute.

He lead me through a maze of hallways finally leading to a lounge that was by the front doors were glancing out the window I could see the bench I had been sitting at only three minutes ago. He invited me to have a seat on a comfortable chair while he went to find some information. He promptly returned with a pamphlet about the current schedule for classes and asked me what I was interested in.

I was guarded in my response, and answered that I was curious about the distinctive teachings of the Mormon church. He quickly countered that he could arrange for a meeting with some representatives of his church and we could meet and discuss those differences. I graciously responded that I had meet with Mormon missionaries on many occasions and never made it beyond the milk of Mormonism with them.

I omitted my last encounter with some missionaries because It would not have helped. The last encounter was having the missionaries knock on my front door and setting up an appointment to return. They never returned. I still wonder if I am on a blacklist of do not visit people because of my previous encounter with missionaries, or if they just forgot. Either way not very good representatives (or are they making promises they ultimately can not keep).

Sweet and Salty Mix–Part Three

This is the concluding part of the narrative…

Just then a young college student sat in the chair across the lounge and this instructor turned and asked her, if she knew of any good classes for an investigator to take. She recommended the Gospel Doctrine class that meet at 11:30, Monday and Wednesday. and She just happened to be in that class. I inquired what text was required-rather than saying scriptures, she responded with the gospel doctrines manual. I said I did not want to purchase any books.

The older gentlemen stood up and said he would check in the bookstore and see if they had any copies and left. I spent about five minutes listening to the young lady explain how the class worked. I politely listened and when she was finished the gentleman had returned with two books, of which he offered as gifts. I graciously accepted them.

I told them both I had to get back to work and that I was all ready 5 minutes passed my break time, but that I would consider attending one class to see what it was like. They both assured me that I could stop by anytime to attend and they would introduce me the instructor. I left the building with three works-a handbook for the Logan Institute of Religion, A new gospel Doctrine manual, and another quick reference guide of Mormon Doctrine.

I wonder if they would have been as polite to me if that had know three key facts–
1. I was an X-Mormon and now an Biblical, Evangelical Christian
2. I was not naive to Mormon Institute just with its current methods and message while I was still a member I had attended some classes
3. My only motivation was to see how the package of Mormonism was currently being given to members. I know how it has been packaged for non-Members.

In the end It had been an educational experiment, I decided not to pursue any further based on the little snack wrapper that was in my pocket on the walk back to my office. I was reminded of the snack when changing arms while carry the books because my arm was getting tired and they rustled against my leg. To me Mormonism is a sweet philosophy of human construction that has an answer to every question and for several of the questions even has more than one. It is a quick and pleasant way to feed the body. It is enjoyable to the appetites with little substance, but in the end just adds extra weight to the body. To me Biblical Christianity is salty. It is a real preservative for life and at times an irritant to open sores. And besides Jesus called us to be salt, not sugar. Matthew 5:13

My current motivation came from an inquire from a member of FOCUS wanting my wife and I to have a workshop on how to speak to Mormons for the college students that are not familiar with much about Mormonism. I have determined that I will asked him, if he would like to have lunch with me and I can talk with him about it.

Church of the Holy Muffin

Once again, I took the day off from work to go back up to campus at Utah State University to witness to the crowd that was drawn to the traveling preacher who decided to stay for a while longer. According to my wife, I have crossed another line that would displease my parents: proclaiming Jesus in a very public way. I am not here to please my parents, I am here to worship and please God, by doing His will. His will is to proclaim the good news and make disciples of all nations.

When I first arrived, I noticed that a friend of mine was open air preaching. Within a few minutes of starting to settle in another stood up on his soap box and proclaimed the beginning of a new religion to enter the world. The Church of the Holy Muffin. He obnoxiously mocked the outreach and blasphemed God. His actions only point to the deep need that is in our valley for the gospel. Within the course of several minutes the crowd was rallied up into a frenzy. At the conclusion of his persecution he tossed the muffin into the crowd and someone yelled, Amen brother.

When the muffin man was finished, my friend continued with a sobering response about the seriousness of the gospel relating his recent losses, both his wife and daughter had recently died and are now in the Kingdom of Heaven, and proclaiming the urgency for everyone to respond to the love of God and turn to Jesus. From his speaking about his loss, I was able to start into a conversation with a student about death and witnessed to him about all our need for Jesus and the work He did for us on the cross and our work to believe in him and the new life we can have in Jesus. A life of peace, joy, and rest. I will be praying for this student’s salvation. I may never see him again but the thirty minutes I spent telling him about the forgiveness and love of God planted a seed of hope and joy within. May God continue to draw him close and water that seed so it may blossom into a fruitful plant.

My message to the muffin man and to his disciplines is that although the chocolate muffin he had would satisfy the appetite for a moment and give life for a day or so. It will not endure nor can it sustain. There is only a single muffin there is not enough to go around. In the true gospel, the atoning blood of Christ can sustain and nourish all into everlasting life. That worshiping the creation (idol worship) rather than the Creator is folly. I am not talking about the chef that baked the muffin, I am speaking of God that made everything. And finally, Jesus is the bread of life. John 6:51 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

I had a great time today being a witness for Jesus Christ. By the way for any of you out there that think it is too hard, consider this:

I did not go alone, my wife, my five-year old, and my three month old came with me. The young ones behaved themselves well considering. It was not easy, but it was rewarding.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” [Matthew 6:19-20]

The Burden of Heritage

Celebrating the Past
On July 24th, the State of Utah erupts with celebration to commemorate the arrival of the first Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley, when Brigham Young made the famous, “This is the place” statement. The parades and celebrations remind the world of the high value Mormons place in honoring their rich heritage and connecting to their ancestors.

Many people of different faiths enjoy the hobby of searching out the origins of their families. They seek to find out as much as they can about the place and the time where their families came from. Some search for a connection to their forefathers and for any stories about their forefathers. Their hope is that discovery may give purpose or meaning for their presently empty lives. There is limited value in knowing who our forefathers were and about the triumphs and struggles, they faced. Their lives can show that we are are not alone in our experience of both difficult and joyful times. However, our dead fathers and mothers can not extend any help from the grave. Nor can aid be given by the living to those who are dead. We can not offer anything to give comfort or aid to those long passed.

Only the Everlasting God can reach beyond the grave to offer assistance through His Son the Resurrected Christ who defeated death. Jesus is the only source of hope from beyond the grave. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God alone can extended aid and offer help. Jesus teaches whether aid can be given to the dead in the gospel of Luke. Read Christ’s words found in the short narrative about the eternal destiny of two men and if they were able to render any aid beyond that barrier called death or if the living offered them any hope, found in Luke 16:19-30.

To the Mormon seeking family history and finding the names of past family members is more than a hobby. They believe it is a commission by God. The works of the Mormon faith are divided into three categories: Proclaiming the gospel, Perfecting the Saints, and Redeeming the Dead. This third category separate Mormons from Christians. The salvation of the dead becomes part of a mighty list of works that Mormons must do to guarantee salvation. Another hindrance that burdens Mormons with more tasks that must be done. It gives Mormons more busy work to distract them from experiencing the peace, rest, and security of completely trusting in the Lord. Jesus has completed the work to save mankind. Our task is believe in Christ and pursue our Messiah.

My childhood burden
I have memories as a youth of entering the magnificent Mormon temples and serving as proxy for the dead ancestors of the faithful to aid them in obtaining salvation and entrance into the third heaven (Celestial Kingdom). To ensure that families are together. I remember the misuse of the quotation of Elijah found in Malachi chapter 4, turning the heart of the fathers to the children and heart of the children to the fathers as the scriptural support to do all this work. In being baptized over and over again for dozens of Manuel’s or Paco’s and later having hands laid on my head dozens of times to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for those deceased spirits.

I can only imagine the time and effort that Mormons must do to redeem the dead. They must take each name through the entire endowment ceremonies as proxies. They also serve as proxies for “eternal” marriages for dead couples. All work that according to the Mormon faith must be done in this physical realm, on earth. Saving work that can only be done within the walls of modern Mormon temples no where else can the work of salvation be done for both the living and the dead. Some Mormons may claim that it is only faith that saves, but ask a Mormon friend or neighbor, why they work so tirelessly to do temple work for the dead, if works do not save or are not necessary? Then wait for the long pause. It is true that the work of God does take place in a temple, but the only perfect temple was the Body of Jesus. The work for salvation being His death on the Cross.

From the Bible
The Bible teaches that God’s free gift of salvation by faith in Jesus is a limited offer that expires at death. There are no second chances after death according to scripture “… it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” [Hebrews 9:27, NKJV (c) 1982] Mormons teach that there is a vast missionary effort in the afterlife to convert the lost to their Christ, and those dead spirits who accept the Mormon Christ in the afterlife eagerly await for their works to be accomplished by those who are still alive in sacred temple ceremonies. Upon completion the dead are able to cross out of spirit prison and enter into paradise. The living serving as proxies doing the work for the dead, acting in essence as a private messiah for the dead. The Bible teaches that Jesus alone is the Messiah for all. “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” [Hebrews 10:10, NKJV (c) 1982] There is no proxy or private messiah that can perform any sacred ceremony to save anyone, only Jesus Christ.

Any human effort to save the dead through endless temple work is nothing more than a needless burden of heritage.

But there are new pioneers in Utah, Christian Pioneers proclaiming the love of God. The love of God expressed in the coming of Jesus. [Romans 5:8] They have been commissioned to teach the blind, the deaf, and the sick about the hope, life, and salvation that comes from believing in Jesus Christ revealed to us by the inspired and complete message from God found in His Living Word- the Bible. Of all the words from Brigham Young, he at least spoke one truthful statement, “This is the place.” It is the place God desires for the lost to be redeemed.