Mormon Dilemma 339

08 August

Name of the Church

The Importance of a Name”, Liahona and Ensign, November 2011; “The name the Savior has given to His Church tells us exactly who we are and what we believe. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior and the Redeemer of the world. He atoned for all who would repent of their sins, and He broke the bands of death and provided the resurrection from the dead. We follow Jesus Christ.” — M. Russell Ballard

Luke 12:2-3; “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. 3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.”

This statement is a ruse to confuse. This man along with the other leaders of the Church sound good don’t they?

Let’s look for a moment at the name of the Church.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church of Jesus Christ denotes a Christian church.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints denotes a church of Latter-day Saints and overshadows anything to do with Jesus.

The truth is that this church is about the people. Their late prophet Gordon Hinckley even stated as much when being asked why they don’t have crosses.

Ensign, May 1975, pg. 92;“…“If you do not use the cross, what is the symbol of your religion?”  I replied that the lives of our people must become the only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship.

Again, where is Jesus and where is the cross?  And remember how we talked about the word atonement awhile back? Look at the way this guy uses the word atoned in this sentence. Does this sound like something he’s serious about and has respect for? 

I have no doubt Mormons believe they’re following Jesus. The problem here is that it’s the wrong Jesus.

Tags: , , , , , ,

2 Responses to “Mormon Dilemma 339”

  1. teensofalltrades August 14, 2012 at 1:39 am #

    I am sorry, but i find this article kind of offensive. the reason why mormons don’t have a cross is because we believe in the LIVING Jesus. if you want more clarification, visit http://www.mormon.org. also, don’t judge a religion before you know more about them.

  2. camdenc August 14, 2012 at 8:40 pm #

    teensofalltrades – Thank you for posting a comment on the blog and I pray that you will look at some other stories provided herein.

    Please don’t be offended by this article, its intent is to inform people both inside and outside of the LDS church of what the actual teachings and doctrines of the church entail.

    Us Christians believe very much in the LIVING Jesus, of the Bible. We use the cross as a symbol on our churches or as a pendant around our necks in complete honor and reverence of our Great God and Savior, Jesus the Christ. We are overjoyed and thankful beyond words that Jesus rose from the dead on the 3rd day, and it is our blessed hope (assurance) that we will be partakers of the resurection to come. He has given us that assurance through His Holy Word, the Bible. We shout to the world… “He is risen!”

    For me, personnaly, when I see a cross it deepens my love, adoration, and thankfulness for Jesus. To be reminded of what He went through to save me. ME! The chief of all sinners, wretched, hateful, prideful, envious, a thief, a liar, an adulterer, a fornicator, an idolator, etc… That He loved me soooo much that He would leave Heaven, empty Himself of His God attributes, feel cold, hunger, thirst, tiredness, etc. as He was growing up. Then to be challenged at every Word He spoke by the so-called religous leaders of His day on His very own Words from the scriptures. A joke of a trial, spit on, stripped naked, beat, beard pulled out, 4″ thorns jammed into His skull, humiliated, struck 39 times with leather straps that had pieces of rocks and bones braided into them, nailed to a Roman cross… all the while having compassion on His torturers and asking the Father to forgive them. (Any one of us in our fallen sinful state would’ve called down the 12 legions of angels to vindicate us and save ourselves) He slowly, painfully suffocated on the cross… BUT, worse than all of that, He was for the first time in eternity, seperated from the Father when He bore ALL the sins of mankind, past, present, and future on Himself. He didn’t say a word in anguish up to the point of “My God, My God… why have You forsaken Me?” (Psalm 22). That was the darkest time for Him, when God the Father turned away from Hiim as He became sin for us.

    He eventually died of a broken heart, as evidenced by the blood and water that flowed from His side when the soldier pierced Him with the spear.

    He went through all of that for me and for YOU. I know that the LDS church teaches that He bore the sins of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane when He sweat great drops of blood… but nowhere in the Gospels or the Epistles does it say that. The letters of the New Testament are chock full of references to the cross… Paul said that he would only preach Christ, and Him crucified. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”. Galatians 2:20

    In Colossians 1:20-22 it says; “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight”. We have been made righteous in the sight of God by the Blood of the Lamb.

    His death paid for my sins, for your sins, for everbody’s sins!!! When He said, “It is finished”, in the original language He said, “Paid in full”. That is what is so glorious about the cross… not that He suffered and went through all of that gruesome agony, but that “Jesus paid it all… All to Him I owe… Sin had left a crimson stain… He washed it white as snow”.

    When I wear a cross around my neck or a t-shirt with one on it, it is my proclamation to the world that I am not ashamed of my Lord. I wear it as a “badge of honor” in that He would be so kind to allow me to carry His Name to the rest of the world. It is such a great honor and privelage to proclaim to the world that, “Jesus suffered the cross as full payment for your sins and if you will believe and follow, you will have fellowship with Him and be saved from the wages of sin”. We don’t consider that cross pendant as some sort of “lucky charm” or even believe that it has any power, being it is an inanimate object. It is the preaching of the cross that has power. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God”. 1 Corinthians 1:18

    Finally, there is no judgement here on anybody’s religion. We are not to judge, because we will be judged by the same measure that we judge. We are not called to be judges, what we are called to be is “Fruit Inspectors”. We look at the doctrines and beliefs being preached under the microscope of the very Words of God… The Bible. We don’t avoid false doctrines or sit by while the Bible is marginalized or mis-quoted. We are here to make sure that sound doctrine is preached to the utter most ends of the world. We are defending Christianity from the accusations of the LDS church. We are called apostate christians, completely devoid of any authority by the LDS church. We are nothing less than the “whore of Babylon”, according to the LDS church. The LDS church says, “We draw near to God with our lips, but our hearts are far from him”. They also say, “We worship an unknown god like the Athenians did”. The “church” is made up of the body of believers. Christ is the Head, we are the body. Not any single denomination or organization represents the Lord here on earth… We as His followers are the “salt and light”, His disciples, and His representatives. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God”. 2 Corinthians 5:20

    (P.S…. The person that runs this blog and the volunteers that help with content and with postings all have a minimum of 20 years as members of the LDS church. Besides being “members of good standing” for 20+/- years, we have 15-20+/- years of in-depth research on Mormonism and its differences with Biblical Christianity…We know probably more about the LDS church than most current members do. We have “peeled back” the outside layer seen by LDS members and “gentiles” of the world, to expose the origin, history, and secret aspects of the “Mormon” religion)

Leave a Reply