BLAINE: Kevin, you said exactly what I anticipated you would say--you even bore your testimony, exactly as I predicted. I have heard it all before from other anti-Mormon activists. I can only say that many men ask, but not in faith. Faith is a gift of God to those who love him, and please him. I am not your judge, but from what you are telling me, I have to conclude you did not ask in faith. You asked with a foregone conclusion of what you would receive. The gifts of the spirit are rampant in the LDS Church, among its members. These gifts are available to all if they will. Charity is the greatest of the gifts of God. Why? Because with it, all truth comes into focus. Have charity for Joseph Smith and other Latter-day Saints, and you will find your entire outlook will change. I have charity for Joseph Smith and for others who lead and have led the LDS Church. I try to have charity for all, including you, otherwise I would not stay on TT. I believe there is good in all men . . . (and women) (:
What Joseph S. did by asking is actually a repeatable experiment. ALL MEN may ask and expect to receive an answer, according to the epistle of James. They will get one, IF (getting an answer IS conditional)they ask in faith with nothing wavering. (James 1:5-8) I did ask in Faith with "real Intent" from a honest quest for the Truth. God answered me and showed me, but i got a different answwer than you. We can't both have a TRUE contradictory testimonies. . I bear you my testimony that Joe Smith was a False Prophet, that the LDS church is not the one true church and that it's real founder is that Devil the Angel of Light as the LDS own documents testify to that fact. Moroni 10:3-5 "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." I do not need to pray about whether it is right to steal to give to the poor. God's word already tells me do not steal. The Book of Mormon fails the basic test of comparison with the Bible Is 8:20 Those that were more noble searched the scriptures daily to see if things were so. Act 17:11 Beloved believe not every spirit but TRY them Don't pray about it. Test it! Compare it with the "Book-of-books." If you've been adrift on the sea of feelings, pushed this way and that by impressions and impulses that could easily be from the dark side, throw your anchor onto the Biblical bedrock. Don't put your faith in feelings but put your faith in the One who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) D&C 9:8 "But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right." I also studied it out and know with my mind that there is no such thing as Reformed Egyptian for example. "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: BLAINE: Kevin has access to a lot of stuff written by Mormon authorities. I proudly congratulate him on getting the items below correctly. But the problem is, IF God told Joseph what Joseph says he did, then that is the way it is, despite denials, rationalizations, arguments, put-downs, outright lies, etc to the contrary. What Joseph S. did by asking is actually a repeatable experiment. ALL MEN may ask and expect to receive an answer, according to the epistle of James. They will get one, IF (getting an answer IS conditional)they ask in faith with nothing wavering. (James 1:5-8) "My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right � and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that those professors were all corrupt . . ." (Joseph Smith, "History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 5-6.) It was this directive that caused Smith to establish his church in 1830. It was this directive that caused God (if you believe The Book of Mormon is inspired) to reveal that there are only two churches � the church of the Devil and the church of the Lamb (1 Nephi 14:10). It was this directive that caused LDS Apostle Orson Pratt to teach that marriages outside of the LDS church were illegal and the children of those marriages are illegitimate. It was this directive that caused LDS Apostle Charles W. Penrose to state in his Rays of Living Light � Divine Authority that Christian creeds are valueless and that Christendom has no inspired apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers and hence no authority. It was this directive that caused the LDS church to produce a tract in 1982 titled �Which Church Is Right?� which states that other churches cannot save souls and that they have no divine authority. "We talk about Christianity, but it is a perfect pack of nonsense....Myself and hundreds of the Elders around me have seen its pomp, parade, and glory; and what is it? It is a sounding brass and a tinkling symbol; it is as corrupt as hell; and the Devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century."( Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, page 167 - 1858) Judy Taylor wrote: I don't know where the Mormon Boys have gone, they've been quiet - must be either busy or overwhelmed - so I can't check with them - but Kevin isn't this the same song and dance Joseph Smith came up with before he found the golden plates that he deciphered with the urim and thummin that later became the Book of Mormon. Everybody had bad theology and all the Churches were messed up so God had to enlighten him so he could start all over again and add a whole new book to the Word of God. jt On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 16:43:19 -0500 "Caroline Wong" writes: Sorry Kevin, I often delete your messages without reading them thoroughly and that one must have zipped by. Because I know bad theology has dogged Christianity from the beginning, and that great theologians (not to mention pastors, elders and the ordinary joes on the pew) have errors in their theology, I would never claim that all I believe is right and true. I remember NT Wright saying 1/3 of what he teaches is probably wrong; the only problem is he didn't know which third. We all laughed when he said that because he is a very good theologian. I doubt his error rate is as high as one third but there is definitely error. If NT Wright has that humility about his great understanding and learning, can I do less? Augustine was reputed to have said, "I was wrong" on his deathbed. C.S. Lewis said the first thing he'll probably say when he gets to heaven is "I was wrong". And I'm far lesser in understanding than these two men. I have great confidence in what I believe about the Person I believe in. But I keep an open mind. Now before you jump on your keyboard and type "so open your brains fall out" I'll add that 23 years immersed in the Word and scripture have left an indelible impression on my brains. Every time I hear something, I remember what I've read in the bible, and what other people have said on the same topic and I come to a reasoned conclusion. I'm sure you do the same. :-) Do you have humility in your theology? Love, Caroline ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
