The praise rightly goes to those who have gone before me.
To those who have LIVED under the rules and regulations of MORMONism and have told THEIR stories to Free Republic.
And yes, even to the massive MORMON Empire; that is absolutely ANAL about recording EVERYTHING that it's ever done and making it available to the world!
Yes, I know there are many who have gone before all of us here on this forum, and they’ve put in a lot of time and effort. I seem to remember a Sandra and Gerald Tanner, from reading some of their materials years ago. I think Sandra Tanner was a great-great granddaughter of Brigham Young (I can’t remember how many “greats”). She’s done a lot of work in exposing the duplicitous and deceiving ways of the Mormon institutional organization and hierarchy - with ample documentation.
Utah Lighthouse Ministry
http://www.utlm.org/
Then there is Walter Martin and his wonderful reference book - “Kingdom of the Cults”
http://www.waltermartin.com/cults.html
The Mormon cult and the Jehovah’s Witnesses cult are two of the “homegrown cults of the USA”. And I believe they are both two of the biggest CULT GROUPS in the USA.
And of course, what I’m talking about here in terms of CULT GROUPS (which they are) - is in terms of basic, foundational and historic Christianity (i.e., its teachings and doctrines) -versus- the false, apostate and satanic teachings of cult groups. They are a CULT GROUP when they depart from the foundational teachings of Christianity - and they are NOT CHRISTIANITY as a result, but a “pretend-to-be-Christianity” which is, by DEFINITION of Christianity - a CULT!
Now ... I know that many who are secular and not religious at all, or simply celebrate Christmas and Easter and that’s it, think of “cults” as the “Jim Jones types” ... where people are killed in mass suicides by drinking kool-aid and shooting Congressman, etc.
But, this is not the definition that Christianity uses. So, I would advise others to not get this confused with that secular idea of a cult group (as you might read in some large metropolitan newspaper).
What we’re talking about here is a CULT GROUP in terms of the authentic Gospel of Salvation (per the Scriptures, and only the Scriptures and not other spurious sources) and with the Bible being the absolutely authoritative and inerrant Word of God.
To bring home the point on the source of authority being God’s Word, I frequently bring up a very important “church declaration” (and that’s “church” as in the body of believers) - called the “Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy”.
http://www.bible-researcher.com/chicago1.html
This is a very important document from the church, as the body of believers and from their leaders who represent them. This would be akin to the Council of Nicea, where leaders gathered to recognize and affirm that Jesus is, without a doubt, the Son of the Living God, and that has become part of our teachings and doctrines ever since then - and BECAUSE that’s what the Bible teaches, and not simply because some leaders “say so”. We can check their statements against the Bible and see that they are saying (in short-hand form) the same thing that the Bible is saying - and that’s why Christianity adheres to it - from then until now.
The Bible being God’s Word and Christians of today putting that forth as a point of recognition of what the Bible says, in being God’s Word - this is another “church gathering” and pronouncement on the order of the Council of Nicea.
SO ... I have personally dealt with those who come to spread the false doctrines and teachings of their CULT GROUPS - like those from Mormonism and from Jehovah’s Witnesses. And I’ve spent time with them and I see they are very deceived in their own minds and their thinking is clouded and they are blinded (as the Bible says) by Satan’s deceptions and wiles and they are taken in by the “ways of the world” which they make out to be God’s ways, but they are far from God’s ways - according to the Scriptures.
There are a lot of us who see those false doctrines - which do seem to be increasing these days and deceiving even more people than in the past. But, we’re told that this deception and false teachings will go on until the time that Jesus, the Messiah of Israel returns to his earth - to take His place as ruler over all the nations (all those you see right now) - and then He will rid the world of all these false doctrines and teaching and deception.
HOWEVER ... for those who have been deceived and “taken in” by those false teachers of some “unknown gospel” (which God has not given) - they will be LOST by then and be condemned to EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION in the lake of fire, as we see told in the book of Revelation. And this is what we’re trying to prevent for many of these people - that “eternal damnation”.
SO ... it doesn’t have to do with simply saying ... “Haha ... I’m right and you’re wrong!” ... and then walking away. No, not at all. It has to do with the ETERNAL DESTINY of these people and the fact that they will end up in the LAKE OF FIRE and ETERNAL TORMENT. That is what is at stake here, and not merely some “online argument” - as some people seem to think it is.
And ... we do so not only out of concern for these people - BUT ALSO - out of a COMMAND to us from our Lord Jesus Christ, in which we are to go out into the world to proclaim the true Gospel of Salvation - in order that THEY MAY BE SAVED — and not allow them to trust in a FALSE GOSPEL which will not save them from that coming judgement that we read about in the book of Revelation.