Since size matters to some in determining the "trueness" of a church, we
must consider that according to these numbers (in the US):
1. The Catholic Church - 67,259,768
2. Southern Baptist Convention - 16,439,603
the Catholic church is 400% truer than the Southern Baptist Convention, and
the Southern Baptist Convention is at least 300% truer than the mormons.
That makes the RCC a whopping 1300% truer than the LDS! C'mon, guys, you
have a long way to go to become the one true church!
My point? Size, growth rate, number of members, number of stakes, wards,
temples, missionaries, etc, has nothing to do with the truthfulness of the
message taught by these man-made establishments.
There is only one church, it belongs to Christ, and consists of people
who belong to Him...not by tithing, attending "services" or "masses",
peforming temple ordnances, learning secret handshakes, taking communion,
being baptised, burning candles, buying indulgences, doing any "good" works,
whatever that is, or jumping through any other number of hoops set up by
men, either before or after we are "saved". We belong to him because we
trust in Jesus Christ (the one revealed to us in the Holy Bible, not some
false one) for the forgiveness of our sins and we "accept" the free gift
that He has offered. We demonstrate this by doing his will.
So, discuss size all you want. Size really doen't matter. What is in the
heart of each individual is what matters. Do we truly love and trust Jesus
Christ or do we not? Is this evidenced in our lives by our works, our doing
his will?
Perry
From: Dave Hansen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] LDS Church has ZERO Growth!
Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2005 21:52:40 -0700
DAVEH: Your numbers seem a little low, John. How old are they? Here's
one from 3 years ago that is a bit higher......
http://www.religioscope.com/info/notes/2002_020_US_church_stat.htm
........And here is another that is from just a few months ago....
http://news.ucc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=72&Itemid=54
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
FYI ----- The Mormon Church is the 8t largest denom in the US with 2,
787,000 adherents. Churches of Christ in 9th with 2,503,000 members.
Within the US, growth rates for both groups are nearly flat line. In
foreign countries, however, Mormons have a very strong presence
(somewhere around 11 to 13 million) will the Churches of Christ have only
a few hundred thousands. I mention C of C because of the association
this church has with the beginnings of the Mormon church (IMO). JD
-----Original Message-----
From: Terry Clifton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wed, 27 Jul 2005 17:32:06 -0500
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] LDS Church has ZERO Growth!
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Blainer: You can prove anything you want with statistics. During the
year 2004, 3 new Mormon temples were dedicated, 2 re-dedicated, *0 were
taken down*, 119 in operation at end of year, with *ten more in various
stages of planning or building*. *_Converts baptized were 241, 239_*.
Total membership as of December 31, 2004, 12, 275,822, up about 3 million
from 1998. New stake buildings, new ward buildings always being built,
re-built etc, */none taken down or destroyed that I am aware of/*. /*All
church meeting houses are crowded,*/ some with three wards using
alternate time schedules, most with at least two wards doubling up.
Sounds like progress to me.
==========================================================================
For a crowd like that you need a wide road.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dave Hansen
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.langlitz.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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