Yes, we send out missionaries to share the gospel message because we think it is important and can be a great blessing in peoples’ lives.
If people want to believe differently then that is fine. We are happy to let people worship as they please.
Yes, we send out missionaries to share the gospel message because we think it is important and can be a great blessing in peoples lives.
Well, you've just answered your own query then...that if you don't agree with [fill-in-the-blank], why not just ignore it and let them choose to practice and believe as they wish?
So our answer is likewise: Yes, we send out online missionaries to share both the Law [anything that will help to see that they are trusting in themselves/own efforts] and the Gospel message because it is important and is a blessing in the lives in transitioning Mormons like Szonian and SENTINEL -- and in reinforcing Lds-turned-Christians like CC, GF, Reaganaut and others.
The Lds church has online missionaries, does it not? (I guess I'll answer my own Q: "Yes, it does" :) )
Now the Mormon version of "the Law" is that...
...there's only one true and living church -- and we aren't it! (Doctrine & Covenants 1:30);
...there's only one church of the Lamb -- and we aren't it (we're under the Book of Mormon's label as the "church of Satan" -- see 1 Nephi 14:9-10)
...the rest of us are "apostates," as were all the generations before us going back almost 2,000 years [which has also been part of the Lds missionary "message" ... President Marion G. Romney, when he ran the Lds missionary enterprise in the 60s, ensure that the "apostasy" and restoration was one of the top four discussion items...
So, Norm, you can see why we might be in a posture of both "defense" at times (answering these claims)...as well as sharing the gospel...
And, you see, the gospel we share actually is a wee bit closer to SOME of the original things shared in the Book of Mormon..."plain and precious things" that the Mormon church quickly lost.
Examples?
...relying ALONE upon the merits of Christ... (Moroni 6:4)
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is ONLY IN AND THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD THAT YE ARE SAVED. (2 Nephi 10:24)
And, before Smith got it wrong in 2 Nephi 25:23, he at least got it right both in parts of 2 Nephi 2:4-8: Salvation is free
And by the law no flesh is justified
Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered. Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life
(2 Nephi 2:4-5, 7-8)
Now, may I remind you that to be in God's presence is to the Mormon reserved for the highest degree of glory? And that only the Messiah's merits (not ours) will place us in the Father's presence?
So you can see, too...that the "gospel" version of Mormonism is badly off-track...and since they are claiming, "We're Mormons, too," you can see, can't you, how confusing that's going to be to non-Christians when they hear the revised Mormon version..."saved by grace, after ALL YOU CAN DO" and works-righteousness, and as Spencer W. Kimball emphasized, pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps.
The Bible makes it clear that:
1. Works nullify grace (see Romans 11:5-6)
2. Works don't save (John 6:28-29; Eph. 2:8-9; even the Book of Mormon agrees -- 2 Nephi 26:25, 27; Ether 12:8, 33)
3. The gospel does NOT include laws (Romans 3:19-24) or ordinances (Col. 2:16-17) or works (Titus 3:5-7)
4. And the law is distinct from the gospel (2 Tim. 1:13) ...
5. And that's crucial...'cause the Law doesn't save (even the Book of Mormon agrees here -- Mosiah 3:15; 13:27; Alma 334:13-14; Ether 12:11; 2 Nephi 25:27; 2 Nephi 2:5,7)
So, I'd be glad to dialogue with you more about these distinctives.
Even if your CHURCH believes that if they do NOT enter into the MORMON religious organization they will NOT be in the presense of GOD for eternity?
"We are HAPPY to LET people worship as they please"?
The Law of the Harvest Practical Principles of Effective Missionary Work
-SNIP-
The publication of the Preach My Gospel manual in September 2004 represented a major step forward for the LDS missionary program. For the first time in the history of the standardized missionary program, all LDS missionaries were educated about their own essential role in ensuring convert activity through quality prebaptismal preparation.
-SNIP-
Other denominations lack the full gospel, modern revelation, and the divine authority that are necessary to build Christ's Kingdom on Earth. LDS and non-LDS missionary efforts are not equivalent. Nonetheless, it would be a mistake to categorically dismiss positive lessons from other groups without careful investigation and analysis. Selected items are presented in the same spirit that Joseph Smith proclaimed: "Have the Presbyterians any truth? Yes. Have the Baptists, Methodists, etc., any truth? Yes. They all have a little truth mixed with error. We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true 'Mormons.'"[3] Citations from successful evangelists of other faiths are used to corroborate many of my longstanding observations in an LDS setting. Statistical comparisons with other faiths are also employed, as claims of "rapid growth" are meaningless without contextualizing benchmarks. To make comparisons as appropriate as possible, high-commitment groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-Day Adventists are most frequently used in comparisons rather than low-commitment Protestantand evangelical groups.
Sorry, Normandy...THIS doesn't sound like such a benign, "We'll let others worship as they please" tactic. It sound much more like a marketing tactic by a for-profit organization.