Mormonism increasingly draws Spanish-speakers as converts

This garbage post deserves no response.

I'm a fifth generation Mormon

Absolutely devastating response. I had no idea you were fifth generation. That would go back to the beginning, wouldn't it?

So many “Spanish-speakers” are RC.

So this is from Rome => Utah. Ergo:

Frying pan => fire

Sad.

I had no idea you were fifth generation. That would go back to the beginning, wouldn't it?

It would go back to the 1850's.

no bait, a Catholic Bishop said it.

Really? Can you name him or provide a link?

Many years ago, before becoming a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I spent time studying to prove the church wrong.

You should have spent time studying the failed prophecies of Joseph Smith - they are too numerous to list. Then you should have read Deuteronomy 18:22 - "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him." That was enough right there to prove the LDS false.

Secondly, you should have studied the life of Joseph Smith harder. Particularly the parts where Smith consistently dabbled in the occult prior to his 'revelations'. Then you should have read Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (the section of scripture that pronounces God's judgement on those who practice these arts). You should have paid particular attention to verse 12: "For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." No true prophet of God would ever dabble in anything that God had pronounced an abomination.

Finally, you should have read II Corinthians 11:14, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" and asked yourself if Moroni fit that description. And if you disagree and claim, no, Smith's visions were real HOW DO YOU KNOW?? WERE YOU THERE???? DO ANY OF THE GOLDEN PLATES SURVIVE IN A MUSEUM ANYWHERE FOR YOU TO PERSONALLY LOOK AT AND EVALUATE FOR AUTHENTICITY AS THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXIST FOR THE BIBLE? IF NOT, WHY NOT?

I was one of you Bible only people....I was “Saved”....Then I started asking questions....

First, merely hearing the way of salvation or rote reading of your Bible does not make you saved anymore than going into a garage makes you a car. Had you truly studied Scripture you would know this. True salvation requires a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, not mere belief.

Read Matthew 7:22-23 - "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." These verses specifically teach that doing works in the name of the LORD alone don't cut it. Christ must KNOW you, and you must KNOW Him. John 1:12 also says, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" A personal relationship only achieved by acknowledging the depravity of your own sin (Romans 3:23), understanding what the tragic consequence of your sin is without Christ (Romans 6:23), that Christ is your only hope (John 14:6; John 3:16), and calling upon His Name (Romans 10:13).

Does this then mean that works mean nothing? NO, James would refute that in Chapter 2, verse 17 where he says faith without works is dead. BUT, it does not mean works is the means of salvation, it merely means that where there is true saving faith, there will always be works! Contrary to the LDS, works are not the means of salvation but they are the proof of it.

Ephesians 2:8-10; "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

Again in Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Romans 4:2-3; "For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Abraham's FAITH is what saved him, and the works that he did proved the existence of that faith.

Works alone without faith in the true person of Jesus Christ (the Christ of Scripture not the counterfeit version propagated by the LDS) will not cut it with God. Look at Isaiah 64:6, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Do you honestly believe based on these verses that any works without Jesus Christ will merit anything? No way. Look also at the example of one of the thieves crucified with Christ (Luke 23:42-44). And please note that Christ told that thief, ("And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.") that he would be saved. I'm sorry but there is no way in hades the Roman soldiers took that thief down off the cross so he could go do some good works to earn his way to paradise, and then later nail him back to the cross again to finish being crucified! And yet Christ told him his FAITH WAS ENOUGH!!! A direct contradiction to the works based theology of the LDS. The real truth of Scripture (ALL OF SCRIPTURE) is that its not faith + works, or just works without faith, what the truth is: is the battle cry of the Reformation, "Christ Alone, through Faith alone, because of Grace alone". Its faith alone, and then because of grace the works follow! Someone comes along and claims to be a Christian but lives like the devil is merely proving he's a fake. In the same context an LDS attempting to earn his way into heaven following the decrees of a bunch of false teachers isn't going to make it either!

Secondly, even the demons of Hell understand the concept of a personal relationship and just believing in God is not enough in James 2:19, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." Are you going to suggest that demons are saved because they believe in who God is???? No, of course not which is the point. And I would also point out that even the demons have more sense than an LDS member in the above passage for they (devils) acknowledge only ONE God, rather than the multiplicity of gods the LDS believe in, including the belief that men may become gods. No demon believes that one. Although they do love to deceive man with that one! The age old lie whispered to Eve by the serpent in the garden in Genesis 3:5,"...and ye shall be as gods...." Everytime I see or hear the LDS teaching of men becoming gods theology I can hear the serpent hissing.

No, the fact that you LEFT a bible believing church for a false prophet PROVES you were in fact NEVER SAVED to begin with. "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." I John 2:19 Also look at John 10:26-29, "But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. Please note that in the above passages those who are truly redeemed cannot be snared by a false prophet or teacher, Christ preserves and keeps those who are his! Had you truly been 'saved' you could not have left your bible believing church and would have been shown the falseness of the LDS. Christ would have preserved you had you been his!

The truth is your 'belief' never reached your heart which is why you were asking questions. And because you had never been indwelt with the Holy Spirit and regenerated from above left you an easy prey for false prophets and teachers such as the LDS. You had these questions and couldn't understand things because without the Holy Spirit you could have searched the Bible until the cows came home and still understood NOTHING. Which is why men have come up with so many different ideas, they are void of truth and cannot understand what they read."But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." I Cor. 2:14

Another reason there are so many 'ways of salvation' is the schemes of the devil himself. Always deceiving unregenerate man. 2 Timothy 3:13, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."...."Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:.." I Peter 5:8. Deception is very real in our world, the Devil revels in it, and most men are usually deceived by it. And thus comes all the ways and means of salvation. If anything what you contend proves the Bible is wrong and all mainstream churches equally wrong, I would refute is the proof they are RIGHT!

Finally, how can anyone KNOW what they believe is right you ask? Simple. The Holy Spirit instructs us. But he can't do that until you acknowledge your own lost state apart from Christ. The REAL one, not Mormonism's wishy washy loosey goosey brother of Satan had to earn his own salvation before he could redeem us weak counterfeit version. Then will the Holy Spirit not only regenerate you, but will begin to instruct you; you will begin to understand the deeper truths of Scripture, and He will dwell within you giving you all the guidance you need to discern truth from error.

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26

"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise," Ephesians 1:13

"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." Ephesians 4:30

"That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us." 2 Timothy 1:14

Based on the Bible alone, man has created a confusion of Gods.

No, based on the Bible alone the reason there is a confusion of gods is because man has rejected God's revealed way and tries to come up with his OWN WAY. Kind of like the LDS substituting a false christ, a works based salvation, a plethora of false prophets & teachers, 3 heavens, and delusions of deity.

Sorry for the long post, I couldn't let this one go.

If it was not necessary, then why did Jesus Christ himself undergo it with the only person on earth at the time who was legally authorized to administer the ordinance?

Who baptized John to make him legally authorized?

If, you could find the ONE WAY in the Bible, and come up with non-conflicting doctrines from the Bible alone, you would have a base to stand on.

As it is, you have the conflicting thoughts of men who create their own groups and denominations. There are too many who “speak for God” with conflicting words.

Your “god” of the Bible is very confused, just look at the different teachings you have come up with.

You even fight among yours as to who got the meaning of the words of the Bible right.

So stop telling us we are wrong, tell us why your way is the TRUE WAY, instead of the other understandings of the Bible.

By the number of conflicts among you folks, that rely on the Bible alone, you have no solid base to stand on. Come back and teach the Bible when you can agree on what it says. Being me ONE WAY to be saved, and not the many, conflicting choices you give now.

Fred, I asked you way back on post #415, "how do you become saved?"

You've never answered. Why?

A better sermon I have not heard in a very long time. Bravo ... and SELAH!

This ought to be fun to watch.

And you see what the poster did with The Truth offered unabashed straight from the Bible teaching. This is proof of the spirit which directs the mind of those lost in cults. This is one of the sacrriest post exchanges I’ve witnessed on FR, showing demonic influence so openly!

The Reformed LDS say they are the right branch, following Joseph Smith’s heir. There are other LDS groups that say that polygamy is the right way.

It sounds like your religion already has its different doctrines and denominations.

Thank you for that wonderful teaching...

God Bless you, cg

:)

It was wonderful, wasn’t it!

Your “god” of the Bible is very confused
_______________________________________

Fred, please be careful about what you say...

Dont blaspheme God...

Thanks for the edification gramma. It was wonderful!

Your “god” of the Bible is very confused, just look at the different teachings you have come up with.

Not as confused as your gods F.

1. Multiple, conflicting versions of the 'first vision'

2. Condemned and illegal - yet practiced anyway then 'revealed' ok, then revoked yet practiced elsewhere doctrine of polygamy.

3. Book of Breathings and Kinderhook plates along with fraudlent-yet-accepted by LDS GA translations

4. Mormon non-archaeology

5. thousands of changes in the most perfect book over the past 150 some ought By the number of conflicts among you folks, that rely on the Bible alone, you have no solid base to stand on. Come back and teach the Bible when you can agree on what it says.

Dozens of mormons who don't believe SLC LDS doctrinal watering down. Why should we accept you anymore than RLDS or FLDS who consider you to be a non-mormom. Perhaps I can fix your confusion for you

Come back and teach the ~~Bible~~BOM when you can agree on what it says.

There.

Yes it was great and edifying...

:)

And you are right in your # 472...

We all need to tread softly about the things of God...

personally, Fred, I would NEVER have said that...

If, you could find the ONE WAY in the Bible, and come up with non-conflicting doctrines from the Bible alone, you would have a base to stand on.

I already did, and cited the scripture references. Its not my problem if you won't believe any of them. Its not my place to MAKE you believe, if I could I would. Its up to the Holy Spirit to draw you to Himself. So ultimately your rejection of truth will ultimately be your problem since I can 100% guarantee you if you continue on your present course Jesus WILL say to you ...depart from Me I never knew you. And that comes straight out of Scripture which you refuse to believe. It won't stop me from speaking the truth however. And, since you've now been shown the truth even though you still willfully reject it, your blood will be on your own head.....I now have a clear conscience.....

As it is, you have the conflicting thoughts of men who create their own groups and denominations. There are too many who “speak for God” with conflicting words.

You mean like Joseph Smith and all his followers?????? Those conflicting opinions???? How about that REFORMED LDS group or how about those groups which still practice polygamy and claim the Salt Lake City LDS to be in error???? Gee I think I see denominations there! THOSE CONFLICTING OPINIONS PERHAPS?

Your “god” of the Bible is very confused, just look at the different teachings you have come up with.

My God (big G) knows exactly what's up, He's not confused at all. But you are, again not my problem that some men can't accept the plain teaching of Scripture and try to reach God on their own terms instead of God's terms. My teachings have been entirely consistent thank you and so have His! On the other hand you do have that little problem of different teachings by Mormon apostles and prophets. First polygamy, then the govt gives you a hard time and suddenly a new revelation no polygamy allowed....then there's that little treatment of african americans bearing the 'curse of cain' thing and can't hold the priesthood, then when you're struggling to gain African converts suddenly poof there's a new revelation again....and so on it goes.....yeah, huh uh, different teachings...sure thing.......(Yawn)

You even fight among yours as to who got the meaning of the words of the Bible right.

Just where did you get this idea from???? My church is entirely consistent and united and no infighting. Oh, I get it the various denominations routine again???? Well geez louise, even the LDS has DENOMINATIONS! Again, how about that RLDS group eh? If you are going to apply the existence of denominations as proof there is no truth you'd better leave the LDS post haste and become agnostic. If you DON'T leave it, you've just been exposed as a hypocrit.

So stop telling us we are wrong, tell us why your way is the TRUE WAY, instead of the other understandings of the Bible.

Sorry bud but I'm merely repeating what Christ ALREADY said.....John 14:6......"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." And again in Acts 4:12......"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Notice Christ NEVER MENTIONED JOSEPH SMITH!!!!!! You have a problem with the TRUE WAY which opposes the LDS take it up with him.

By the number of conflicts among you folks, that rely on the Bible alone, you have no solid base to stand on. Come back and teach the Bible when you can agree on what it says.

Again not my problem you can't understand the Bible and see nothing but conflicts. I don't see any myself. But hey, straighten out the conflicts within the LDS and the RLDS first and then we'll talk. Geez louise, you LDS can't even keep your OWN doctrines straight or AGREE on what the Book of Mormon should say and so its undergone at last count at LEAST 3,500 changes since written!!!! You can't even keep your OWN CHURCH consistent in just over 150 years and you want to hurl accusations at mainstream Christianity which has been around for over 2,000??? LOL!! Although in all fairness when you have a 'living prophet' you can change whatever you want to and when challenged hey, just claim a new 'vision' or new 'revelation' of the LORD! This of course enables you to ignore all the doctrinal changes and dare I say it - conflicts - within the LDS itself. LOL!! Seems to me the pot is calling the kettle black here.....Conflicts, conflicts, conflicts.........

You really should read "The Changing World Of Mormonism" by Jerald and Sandra Tanner here: http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changecontents.htm

Yeah, yeah I know its a 'hate site' yadda yadda yadda. Too bad for you its got copies of original source documents, along with original source citations from your OWN LEADERS gleaned from the vaults in Salt Lake City. Again (Yawn). I submit you won't review any of these quote 'hate sites' unquote because you are AFRAID to.....

Being me ONE WAY to be saved, and not the many, conflicting choices you give now.

I assume you mean BRING instead of being. And I already did - John 14:6 for starters. Hint: And its not through the LDS or through Joseph Smith or any other MAN.