Posted on 02/23/2013 1:20:54 PM PST by District13
SALT LAKE CITY The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Friday the creation of 58 new missions, including one in Utah.
The announcement came after the LDS church saw a drastic increase in members interested in serving missions following LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson's October announcement that the church would lower the age of mission eligibility to 18 for men and 19 for women.
(Excerpt) Read more at ksl.com ...
You didn’t even read the statistical study did you?
The work will continue, as has been prophesied of. The new missions are another sign the Lord is hastening His work. I expect we'll see great things coming in the next few years.
John Dehlin, a Mormon, points out in a couple of his PowerPoint presentations that only 5 million Mormons are active. See 400: Top 5 Myths and Truths about Why Committed Mormons Leave the Church
Per this Lds site linked here, the Mormon church has...
...NO stakes in almost 53% of all countries (92 of 175)...
...0-1 stake in almost 63% of all countries (110 of 175)...
...NO temples in 71% of all countries (124 of 175)...
Per John Dehlin, many disaffected/disassociated Mormons wonder about the "efficiency" of a Mormon god for whom 99.9995% of the world has NEVER heard of Mormons...
Tell us Teppe...How are your gods going to necro-dunk the BILLIONS of the dead if over 70% of these countries don't have a temple in them???
(Post #23 is for you as well, Rip)
Keep drinking the koolaid teppe. the numbers say otherwise. Even your elders are on record saying that huge numbers are leaving.
(I forgot to ping you as an add-on re: post #23...where 71% of countries don’t have an Lds temple...almost 63% have 0-1 stake located in these countries — and almost 53% have ZERO stakes...NO REAL LOCAL community...)
If we're going to go with "minority" numbers like what you offer, then we would have to conclude that your god has "prospered" Islam as well, eh? (After all, Islam has 1.5 BILLION adherents -- over 20% of the world's population -- and growing)
Hinduism is approaching a billion; Chinese traditional religions and Buddhism each have almost 400 million apiece.
Even if we go with 19th century religious upstarts, the Jehovah's Witnesses have done well in #s...are you claiming that your gods have "prospered" JWs, too???
BIC Exmo bump. I am one of the at least ten million still being counted. Count all you want good friends, it’s still a crock.
So...territorially...BRAND "new" missions for Mormons = less than 7% even of its "NEW" category...
Note to ALL: Gamiliel was not a Christian.
(Lds love to cite non-Christians to reinforce what they say when Christian sources are sadly lacking)
So District13, out of ALL of the Christians speaking in the New Testament, you could only find a non-Christian to cite for reinforcement?
Think about it, District. Your OTHER "revelations" -- like D&C 20:9 & 42:12 both claim that the Book of Mormon "contains the...fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ."
That would mean, then, if Joseph Smith is not a "false prophet" in what he said in 20:9 & 42:12 -- that the Book of Mormon at least contains the ESSENTIAL "gospel" teachings...not EVERYTHING taught by Mormons...but the ESSENTIAL ones...lest we turn the word "fulness" on its head...
Tell us, District, which of these Mormon teachings are non-essential for "Mormon gospel" purposes????
Mormon "sacred" things not found in the Mormon "sacred" BoM:
1. Church organizational structure and titles of leaders [Hey, we don't need to provoke pagans into laughter by coming up with religious titles like the bishopric, do we?]
2. gods...plural [due to insistance by some FReeper Mormons that they only worship one godhead, a few FI have begun referencing that belief as polymonotheism]
3. Plurality of wives doctrine [Ah. Polymonogamy]
4. Word of Wisdom [I guess the people of South America weren't very wise about Brazilian coffee]
5. God is an exalted man [Who knew this facebook boy would make it big? Hmm...a god who worshiped his own god/gods once upon a time, eh?]
6. Celestial marriage [If you want to become an eternal polygamist, current Lds church policy says you can...just make sure you secure permission of anybody you've divorced & get "married" to your multiple SERIAL spouses one at a time in the temple for eternity]
7. Men may become Gods ["Hey, God, move over...you can go ahead & take my measurements for my throne"]
8. Three degrees of glory [Mormons tout resurrection for all; yet John says there's a resurrection unto "damnation" (John 5:29) -- not too glorious]
9. Baptism for the dead [monopoly on the religio-necro industry, that's for sure! I think we should call this a polymonopoly on necro-baptisms...when are they going to open up fast-food-like windows to meet the demand to grow with more genealogical records online?]
10. Eternal progression [at least til you hit the ceiling of your assigned glory...you terrestials aren't getting out!]
11. The Aaronic Priesthood [yeah, like the Bible -- apostle Paul -- says, these 12-year-old "elders" better keep to one wife!]
12. Temple works of washings, anointing, endowments, sealing; along with temple -- at least for its newly re-purposed usage [I guess the people of the Book of Mormon times weren't very "sacred" compared to contemporary Mormons]
Then early Christians should have forsworn Jesus Christ and become pagan, since pagans covered the whole world at the time, and by your logic God had certainly blessed the pagans more than the followers of Jesus.
In modern times, if you follow the theory that popularity equals Godly approval, then you would be a Muslim today. And vote Democrat.
Then how can Jesus be G-d? Jesus was a human who had flesh and blood.
Jesus did not become God.
Scripture tells us that God became God in the flesh as Jesus Christ-—He was fully God, and fully man. This incarnation was His choice and His doing.
But it also tells us that God is eternal and almighty, with no beginning and no end. That puts to rest the Mormon teaching that He began as a plain human being and somehow “became” a god.
The former shows the power of the creator God, while the latter falsely teaches of a semi-deity whose beginning is no different from our own. IMO, the purpose of that teaching plays to human pride.....it says, see, God used to be nothing more than a man, so you can aspire to be a god, too.
True
Jesus is eternal, like the Father...not a created being
Excellent succinct response.
Read in Acts Chapter 5 where Gamiliel gives sage, sound advice: (I am paraphrasing) If these Christians are not from God, they will be scattered and amount to nothing; but if they are from God, they will prosper.
You will know them by their fruit.
The super religious people of the Bible were the very ones who crucified Jesus, who persecuted the Disciples, stoned Paul, imprisoned Peter . . . .
Be careful who you condemn to hell - that’s above your pay grade.
God is eternal and almighty; He was never a man, and He is not flesh and blood.
The Son of God Jesus was once flesh and blood and also a man and now is Flesh and Bone and Eternal!
1 Tim 3:16
16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
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