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Belief in Jesus Christ's dealings with Joseph Smith and the other leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a matter of faith.

As with all christians, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected, and His atonement for our sins, which is a free gift if we will accept it...is the key and principle issue which over-rides all others.

I would agree on this most critical tennant and join together shoulder to shoulder with all my other Christian friends of all denominations to jointly fight the pressing evils of the day that threaten our Republic and way of life.

...and avoid contention amongst ourselves which serves to weaken us in the fight for our society, and not push on the other issues where we differ in interpretation or other principles which are in the end, of less consequence than our joint, sincere belief in Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem and Savior of all mankind, the only path and gate through which any of us may return to our Father in Heaven.

Thanks Jeff. You are one of my favorite LDS posters on here. Thanks for your example.

It would seem there is a bit of the spirit of Gov. Boggs on FR tonight. I would hope that we can all stop the infighting and focus on the real struggle we are engaged in.

This is starting to get ridiculous.

"Belief in Jesus Christ's dealings with Joseph Smith and the other leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a matter of faith.
As with all christians, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected, and His atonement for our sins, which is a free gift if we will accept it...is the key and principle issue which over-rides all others.
I would agree on this most critical tennant and join together shoulder to shoulder with all my other Christian friends of all denominations to jointly fight the pressing evils of the day that threaten our Republic and way of life.

...and avoid contention amongst ourselves which serves to weaken us in the fight for our society, and not push on the other issues where we differ in interpretation or other principles which are in the end, of less consequence than our joint, sincere belief in Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem and Savior of all mankind, the only path and gate through which any of us may return to our Father in Heaven."

Well said Jeff.

Thank you Jeff one of the hardest lesson and to be patience with those who rail against you.

This should be a good year to learn that.

I have become upset with some of and one in particular of the anti to the point that was unbecoming of me.

I am so thankful this is out in the open I have known this for a long time by slight innuendos along the way now I feel free at last that I was not imagining this stuff.

This could be a blessing in disguised

...our joint, sincere belief in Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem and Savior of all mankind, the only path and gate through which any of us may return to our Father in Heaven.

You're a MORMON?

"He (Joseph Smith) is the man through whom God has spoken... yet I would not like to call him a savior, though in a certain capacity he was a god to us, and is to the nations of the earth, and will continue to be."

- Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 8:321

"You call us fools; but the day will be, gentlemen and ladies, whether you belong to this Church or not, when you will prize brother Joseph Smith as the Prophet of the Living God, and look upon him as a god..."

- Herber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 5:88

"If we get our salvation, we shall have to pass by him [Joseph Smith]; if we enter our glory, it will be through the authority he has received. We cannot get around him [Joseph Smith]"

- (as quoted in 1988 Melchizedek Priesthood Study Guide, p. 142)

There is "no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. If Joseph Smith was verily a prophet, and if he told the truth...no man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God"

- Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, p.190

"I tell you, Joseph holds the keys, and none of us can get into the celestial kingdom without passing by him. We have not got rid of him, but he stands there as the sentinel, holding the keys of the kingdom of God; and there are many of them beside him. I tell you, if we get past those who have mingled with us, and know us best, and have a right to know us best, probably we can pass all other sentinels as far as it is necessary, or as far as we may desire. But I tell you, the pinch will be with those that have mingled with us, stood next to us, weighed our spirits, tried us, and proven us: there will be a pinch, in my view, to get past them. The others, perhaps, will say, If brother Joseph is satisfied with you, you may pass. If it is all right with him, it is all right with me. Then if Joseph shall say to a man, or if brother Brigham say to a man, I forgive you your sins, "Whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them;" if you who have suffered and felt the weight of transgression—if you have generosity enough to forgive the sinner, I will forgive him: you cannot have more generosity than I have. I have given you power to forgive sins, and when the Lord gives a gift, he does not take it back again."

- Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p.154-155

"It is because the Lord called Joseph Smith that salvation is again available to mortal men.... If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation,"

- Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 396, 670

They succeeded in killing Joseph, but he had finished his work.

He was a servant of God, and gave us the Book of Mormon.

He said the Bible was right in the main, but, through the translators and others, many precious portions were suppressed, and several other portions were wrongly translated; and now his testimony is in force, for he has sealed it with his blood.

As I have frequently told them, no man in this dispensation will enter the courts of heaven, without the approbation of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jun.

Who has made this so?

Have I?

Have this people?

Have the world?

No; but the Lord Jehovah has decreed it.

If I ever pass into the heavenly courts, it will be by the consent of the Prophet Joseph.

If you ever pass through the gates into the Holy City, you will do so upon his certificate that you are worthy to pass.

Can you pass without his inspection?

No; neither can any person in this dispensation, which is the dispensation of the fulness of times.

In this generation, and in all the generations that are to come, everyone will have to undergo the scrutiny of this Prophet.

They say that they killed Joseph, and they will yet come with their hats under their arms and bend to him; but what good will it do them, unless they repent?

They can come in a certain way and find favor, but will they?

Brigham Young,

--JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES, vol. 8, p. 224

Dear Reader: what does it sound like to YOU?

As with all christians, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected, and His atonement for our sins, which is a free gift if we will accept it...is the key and principle issue which over-rides all others.

- - - - - -
HOGWASH! How about telling the REST of the story.

That ‘grace’ is after all you can do, and mostly applies to the resurrection not salvation (exaltation to the LDS), and that ‘accepting’ means becoming LDS and participating in all the required works and ordinances. Also, you forgot to mention that the ‘atonement’ (the shedding of blood for sins) took place in the GARDEN not on the CROSS in LDS theology.

It sound’s so ‘Christian’ when you say it but the LDS use the same terms but with different meanings. Mormons ARE NOT CHRISTIAN and for most of the past 150+ years they haven’t wanted to be.

Now if you want to challenge me on this, I can and will provide quotes and sources for the above teachings I have clarified and the LDS view on ‘Christians’.

I am sick and tired of the LDS spitting doctrinally on my Lord and Savior and on Christians and spinning and REDEFINING CHRISTIAN TERMS THAT HAVE BEEN USED FOR 2000 years, then turning around and wanting to claim they are Christians too, when by their prophets own admission they worship a different Christ than we do and believe (and teach) that they (the LDS) are the only REAL Christian and the rest of us are apostates, then they pull this malarkey and claim they are Christians too. It is disingenuous at best and deceitful at worst.

believing in Smith and his stories isn’t a matter of faith, it is something that can be looked at objectively and weighed to see if it is likely true or not. God never tells us to leave our brains at the door, rather He wants us to USE our brains. And when looked at objectively, Mormonism doesn’t stand at all, warm fuzzy feelings included. A faith that cannot withstand intellectual and factual scrutiny (and Mormonism cannot) is a faith that is not worth having.

So, Jeff, do you KNOW you are going get to the Celestial Kingdom and godhood? do you KNOW that you have ‘done all you can do’? Do you KNOW that when you die you will return to God the Father for Eternity? Are you ‘perfect’ as your prophet Kimball taught that you need to be?

Because I do and I am perfect (made perfect through the blood of Christ) so do other Christians. Mormons can’t say the same if they are honest with themselves.

...and avoid contention amongst ourselves which serves to weaken us in the fight for our society...

(Yeah, well...Jeff...tell us how much of your tithing $ to the Lds church thru the years has funded...
...Lds.org?
...BYU-TV & other multi-media?
...Lds curricula?
...Lds books?
...Lds pamphlets?
...and translations all of the above...?
...with these venues' references to us Christians being involved in some "universal apostasy"...& that the D&C 1:30 says the Mormon church is "the only true & living church on the face of the earth" & how anyone not part of the Mormon "Lamb" church is of the "church of the devil" (1 Nephi 14:9-10)...& that ALL of our creeds are an "abomination" -- and ALL Christian professing believers are "corrupt???"

Tell me: IF you served as an Lds missionary, how many times did you reference the "universal apostasy" in your discussions with "prospects?"

So many Mormons are like a boxer who dresses up, heads into the ring, goes to someone on the other side of the rope, tries to bash their head in, and then as soon as somebody starts to head into the ring, the Mormon boxer says: "Now don't be contentious here!"