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Former Brigham Young University Professor Tells of Mormon Family’s Conversion to Christianity
ChristianNews.Net ^ | Oct. 23, 2013 | Heather Clark

Posted on 10/23/2013 11:12:44 AM PDT by Colofornian

A former Brigham Young University professor is sharing the story of how she and her husband, along all of with her children, left Mormonism for Christianity through God’s work of grace in their life.

Lynn Wilder is the author of the book Unveiling Grace: The Story of How We Found Our Way out of the Mormon Church, released in late August of this year. Until March 16, 2008, Wilder was a professor at Brigham Young University and a dedicated member of the Latter-Day Saints.

In a recent article in the Daily Beast, Wilder provided a condensed overview of her personal testimony, which occurred over a two-year period as God worked in the hearts of her family members.

Wilder states that in 2006, she and her husband Mike decided to visit a Christian church, but were careful to choose a gathering two hours away where no one would recognize them.

“We were paranoid, worried that if someone from Brigham Young University saw me at a non-denominational Christian church, I would lose my ecclesiastical clearance and my job as a professor,” Wilder wrote. “Only at BYU would someone lose their academic position for finding salvation outside the Mormon church.”

During this same time, Wilder’s son Micah became a born-again Christian. He announced to his fellow Mormon missionaries that he did not believe that men are saved by the works that Mormons require, and was sent home as “unworthy” to be a missionary. Just days later, Micah began serving a Christian organization in missions instead.

In the time that followed, Lynn Wilder began searching the Scriptures for answers. She states that the word of God opened her eyes to the truth.

“I read my Bible, sometimes hours a day, and truly felt I was being washed,” Wilder explained. “In its pages, I met a Jesus who was able to save me from my life of working to be ‘good.’”

Writer Sharon Lindbloom of Mormonism Research Ministry also notes that Wilder’s was impacted when she read 2 Corinthians 11:4, which states, “For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another Gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”

“Another Jesus!” Wilder said to herself. “That’s exactly what we have.”

The movie Luther, which focuses on the life Protestant reformer Martin Luther and his repudiation of the requirements imposed under the Roman Catholic religion, hit home for Wilder as well. She knew full well of following man-made requirements under Mormon rules.

“I was simply overwhelmed by the Spirit,” she said. “I went face down in surrender to Christ.”

The Brigham Young professor then set out to buy herself a cross necklace to show her love for Christ, but there was one problem—crosses were taboo at the university.

“Mormons don’t revere the cross. They see it as an instrument of death, not the place where Christ became the savior,” she stated. “[I]f I was caught, I would be called in by my superiors and lose the ecclesiastical clearance I needed to work there.”

So, Wilder hid it under her clothing with the hopes that no one saw.

Months later, Wilder requested a leave of absence and took another job in Florida. On March 16, 2008 (3/16/08), she submitted her resignation in honor of John 3:16. Both Wilder and her husband had renounced Mormonism and turned to Christ.

“We lost a religion, but we gained Christ,” Michael Wilder stated in the 2011 documentary Unveiling Grace. “And that’s a good trade.”

When word broke, Wilder says that she received a lot of criticism, but states that her joys outweigh her sufferings.

“I was stupid, a liar, an adulterer, a drug addict, and had committed gross sins,” she said. “Despite the rejection I faced from 30 years of friends, despite the fact that I lost status, position, money, might lose children and our home, I walked away and never feared again.”

Now, Wilder is sharing her story with the world in spoken word and pen, and several of her children are likewise sharing the Gospel through the music ministry Adam’s Road—including her son Micah.

“Words cannot describe the feeling of finally knowing the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that you’ve always wanted to,” he said, becoming tearful. “Reading His word for the very first time and being washed clean by that word and understanding what his Gospel really was–that’s what changed my life. … I’ll never be the same.”


TOPICS: Books/Literature; Religion
KEYWORDS: byu; inman; lds; mormonism; professor
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To: 1010RD

So you don’t take faith seriously. Well that is no shock...


141 posted on 10/24/2013 7:38:39 PM PDT by ejonesie22 (8/30/10, the day Truth won.)
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To: ejonesie22

LOL. I am your Nigel Farage (you are the EU).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFXSj5WofYA


142 posted on 10/24/2013 7:44:06 PM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: ejonesie22

Here, I’ve wiped the mat with you guys. I’ve used logic, reason and the Holy Bible. You don’t like the results. I understand that, but you’ve got nothing. Despite all your training, preparation and ambition, you lost to a bantam weight amateur [in your eyes, think David v. Goliath].

Go to bed. Have a good sleep, my FRiend. Start again tomorrow. Lights out.


143 posted on 10/24/2013 7:46:29 PM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: 1010RD

Um, yeah, ok if you say so. Never lose your delusion as they say...

LOL...

Wow...


144 posted on 10/24/2013 7:51:15 PM PDT by ejonesie22 (8/30/10, the day Truth won.)
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To: ejonesie22

Sorry I couldn’t help myself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz1oLyNw8Pg&feature=player_detailpage#t=36

Now it really is lights out and to bed with you young man.


145 posted on 10/24/2013 7:52:44 PM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: 1010RD

You are a very odd duck...


146 posted on 10/24/2013 7:54:12 PM PDT by ejonesie22 (8/30/10, the day Truth won.)
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To: ejonesie22

You’ve got to be able to look at yourself, ejonesie22, and laugh. I do.


147 posted on 10/24/2013 7:55:04 PM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: 1010RD

Still wont answer the question. I am so glad you post, really. Very useful...


148 posted on 10/24/2013 7:55:42 PM PDT by ejonesie22 (8/30/10, the day Truth won.)
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To: 1010RD
Sorry, I wasn’t doing a comprehensive dissertation on all the myriad schismatic Catholics, nor every branch of that dense bush.

Sorry, but this tepid apology doesn't cut it.

Why not? Because the very word "Protestant" itself is based upon an extremely specific "protest" celebrated every late October...Reformation Day IS "Protest" Day...when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Wittenberg Door.

For you to write off the very foundational essence of what it means to "protest" -- the "protest" in the word Protestant...as some mere branch neglects the reality that just about EVERY Protestant branch comes from the trunk of Luther...

Your previous posts were guilty of misrepresentation & ignorance; your apology here is guilty of reductionism...

149 posted on 10/24/2013 8:04:19 PM PDT by Colofornian
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To: 1010RD
2. The above establishes clearly that Jesus the Lord has a God and that Jesus the Lord has a Father. They are two distinct personages. t

(You just can't stop misrepresenting the Christian faith, can you? Christian theology has ALWAYS taught 3 persons...a multiplicity/plurality of persons! 3 persons within the same God... If you're married, you & your wife are both of the one humankind...but different persons...You have the same name, but distinct personalities...You are biologically distinct, yet Jesus in matthew 19 says "you are no longer two, but one" (flesh)...

If that's true of you as one marital unit, then I'm not so sure why you Mormons continue to militate vs. the unity of God.

We as Christians don't go around claiming Mormon couples don't involve two persons...we don't try claiming you have one person in every marital arrangement...so stop pretending we teach that God is one person.

150 posted on 10/24/2013 8:11:02 PM PDT by Colofornian
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To: 1010RD
Peter is an excellent exposition, but it doesn’t certify a universal priesthood...

What? Women & boys 11 & under aren't part of God's elect? Or they are not part of "households"? (reference to these priests is that they are a "household" -- v. 5)...or do you mean to imply that women & boys 11 & under aren't part of the citizenship of given nations or people groups...as v.9 references?

To hear you tell it, you would likewise exclude women from citizenship in nations...and reduce them to slave status within households...

Sorry...but Peter... in verses 5 & 9 is referencing an entire nation of Israel...a "peculiar people"...a "household" of faith...

151 posted on 10/24/2013 8:17:12 PM PDT by Colofornian
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To: 1010RD
...half my brain is tied behind my back...

So THAT explains it!

152 posted on 10/25/2013 4:15:47 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: 1010RD
I’ve used logic, reason and the Holy Bible.

One outta 3 is a poor record.

153 posted on 10/25/2013 4:16:57 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Colofornian; Jeff Head; 1010RD
(You just can't stop misrepresenting the Christian faith, can you? Christian theology has ALWAYS taught 3 persons...a multiplicity/plurality of persons! 3 persons within the same God...


Jesus Christ is God’s Son, spiritually and physically.

He calls Him Father, He prays to Him.
We are to pray to Him, God the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son.
God’s voice was heard at Christ’s baptism, coming from Heaven while He was in the water. The Holy Sirit also descended.
Three seperate entities/Gods.

Santorum endorses one-time rival Romney

Thursday, May 10, 2012 12:32:46 AM · 416 of 492
Jeff Head to stpio


154 posted on 10/25/2013 4:20:13 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Colofornian; oldbill; Mrs. Don-o

What attracted me to this thread is oldbill’s cogent recognition of you and your posse as religious bigots, deserving the same treatment as any bigot. I’ve demonstrated that the LDS are Christians using the Bible.

You simply don’t agree, but you, nor Mrs. Don-o, nor anyone may define a Christian. That is reserved for God himself and to understand that we use the Holy Bible as a guide.

Anyone who knows Mormons either as friends or family, as I do, knows that they are good people, who raise good children, follow as best as possible Christian principles in their lives and love and obey God. They don’t do what you do, but neither do Catholics. Why all the vitriol, then?

Bigotry. You’re a bigot, a religious bigot and it is plain to all the world. Feel free to disagree, but your condemnation of the LDS condemns only you.


155 posted on 10/25/2013 8:12:56 AM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: Colofornian

We agree, then, that God the Father is not Jesus Christ the Son. You’re learning, but I’m getting bored. Ping me when something interesting comes up (not petty Mormon-bashing, but something of theological import, you know, worthy of Christian concern).


156 posted on 10/25/2013 8:15:52 AM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: 1010RD; ejonesie22; All
You: Anyone who knows Mormons either as friends or family, as I do, knows that they are good people, who raise good children, follow as best as possible Christian principles in their lives and love and obey God.

I took the time a few yrs ago to show how there wasn't a single Mormon doctrine out of 20-30 you've expounded upon on FR upon which you were not in alignment...yet you consistently speak of Mormons in the third-person.

Quite curious.

You distance yourself from Mormons, but you actually don't in any way (theologically).

157 posted on 10/25/2013 8:44:07 AM PDT by Colofornian
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To: 1010RD; reaganaut; colorcountry; greyfoxx39; SZonian; Utah Binger; SENTINEL; P-Marlowe; All
You: Bigot

Bottom line, losing traction on the Biblical front, you have to resort to personal labels & name-calling.

Which actually (ironically) ties in quite nicely with the thread...'cause you see later into the article the name-calling this ex-BYU prof had to endure from fellow "loving" Mormons:

ALL: Note in this thread's article how former BYU Professor Wilder was called every lifestyle in the book:

“I was stupid, a liar, an adulterer, a drug addict, and had committed gross sins,” she said. “Despite the rejection I faced from 30 years of friends, despite the fact that I lost status, position, money, might lose children and our home, I walked away and never feared again.”

Sorry, 1010 ... "loving" people who have loved Prof. Wilder anywhere from one to 30 years don't don Satan's accusatory mask as we see with the above names...

You: I’ve demonstrated that the LDS are Christians using the Bible.

1010, if LDS were "Christians" and many, many, many of the worldwide Christian church members are Christians then guess what? Mormons would be "OK" -- even happy -- when one of their own leaves a so-called Mormon Christian church and lands in another Christian church.

The fact is they are not; I've pinged former Mormons on this post who can reinforce the similar treatment Professor Wilder and her family have rec'd from Lds. The treatment Mormons receive when they find a Christian church belies the "we're Christian, too" argument. That is as plain as daylight.

Bigot...Bigotry. You're a bigot, a religious bigot...

Well, 1010, I love you. That includes loving you with the truth.

You are of tremendous value to our Lord. You don't have to "prove" your worthiness to Him; He already thinks you're so worthy He sent His Son to die for you. I can't imagine any more solid communication than that what He thinks of your great significant value & worthiness!

And that value goes for the kids at home you've educated; and your wife. Will you not let our Lord rescue them, too?

Will you continue to put religiosity in the way of your family's direct personal relationship with our Lord?

If you won't prayerfully consider doing that, then at least take to heart your own words:
If religious tolerance is of such great value to you, then why with this post did you fail to show it? Can you not religiously tolerate me and what you slandered as a "posse?"
If you don't want to encourage what you reference as "religious bigotry," then aren't you encouraging Freepers & lurkers to treat us in a religiously "bigoted" way? Isn't hurling the "B" word 4x in a post a clear depiction that you are intolerant of us and are now encouraging others to follow suit?

How is that consistent? How is that coherent?

158 posted on 10/25/2013 8:57:33 AM PDT by Colofornian
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To: 1010RD
I would like to exit this thread, if you don't mind. I didn't say anything about LDS people other than that their religious beliefs diverge radically from historic Christianity ---- which the LDS faithful are the first to acknowledge, because they and their own clergy and scholars have always seen this as a plus, "historic Christianity" being, in their view, corrupt.. It's not as if it's any kind of secret, nor (from their point of view) particularly controversial. So be it.

Peace to you.

159 posted on 10/25/2013 9:30:35 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("See something, say something.")
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To: 1010RD

“That’s an awful lot of “physicalness”, no?”


If the Mormons stopped obsessing over their gods’ penis and what he does with it, they probably wouldn’t have to ignore scriptures like this: “before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me” (Isaiah 43:10).

“End Part 2 of 2.”


The people laughing are not laughing WITH you.


160 posted on 10/25/2013 9:40:51 AM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans
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