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How Billy Graham Avoided Scandal His Entire Life
Charisma News ^ | 3/1/2018 | J. Lee Grady

Posted on 03/05/2018 6:41:26 PM PST by metmom

Evangelist Billy Graham lived 99 years, wrote 30 books, met with 12 sitting American presidents and preached the gospel to millions. But when he is buried this Friday, March 2, in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, he will be remembered not only as a world-changing hero of faith but as a humble preacher whose personal integrity set the gold standard for every minister in this country.

Why was this man so respected? How was he able to keep his ministry free from scandal for more than 75 years?

In 1948, when Graham was just 30 years old, he and his small ministry team met for Bible study and prayer at a tiny motel in Modesto, California. The other men in that meeting including assistant evangelist Grady Wilson, singer George Beverly Shea and song leader Cliff Barrows. Graham challenged them to pray about what codes of behavior they needed to adopt in order to keep the ministry clean.

The results of that meeting were profoundly prophetic. The men outlined what would become "the Modesto Manifesto"—a list of core ministry values that became the guiding principles of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The BGEA was founded two years later, in 1950, just one year after media coverage of Graham's eight-week gospel campaign in Los Angeles made him a household word.

Here are the four key components of the Modesto Manifesto, along with notes that Cliff Barrows jotted down in their meeting:

Honesty: "It was resolved that all communications to media and to the church would not be inflated or exaggerated. The size of crowds and the number of inquirers would not be embellished for the sake of making BGEA look better."

Integrity: "It was resolved that financial matters would be submitted to a board of directors for review and facilitation of expenditures. Every local crusade would maintain a policy of 'open books' and publish a record of where and how monies were spent."

Purity: "It was resolved that members of the team would pay close attention to avoiding temptation—never being alone with another woman, remaining accountable to one another, etc. A practice of keeping wives informed of their activities on the road and helping them feel a part of any and all crusades they undertook would be encouraged."

Humility: "It was resolved that members of the team were never to speak badly of another Christian minister, regardless of his denominational affiliation or differing theological views and practices. The mission of evangelism includes strengthening the body of Christ as well as building it!"

Graham has always been a spiritual hero to me for this reason. Early in his ministry—in fact, before he ever became famous—he realized that his ministry was a stewardship from God and that he could not run it any way he wanted. He had to manage it according to clear biblical principles.

Graham never forgot his humble roots, and he never let popularity change him into an egotistical monster. Even though he was invited to dine with presidents, queens and celebrities, his passion was taking the message of Christ to the common person. And when an usher tried to segregate black and white sections of an auditorium in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1953, Graham removed the barriers himself. Related Articles

"I am not a great preacher, and I don't claim to be a great preacher," he once said. "I've heard great preaching many times and wished I was one of these great preachers. I'm an ordinary preacher, just communicating the gospel in the best way I know how."

He also carried with him a healthy fear that he might try to touch God's glory or take credit for evangelistic results.

Graham said: "So many people think that somehow I carry a revival around in a suitcase, and they just announce me and something happens—but that's not true. This is the work of God, and the Bible warns that God will not share His glory with another. All the publicity that we receive sometimes frightens me because I feel that therein lies a great danger. If God should take His hand off me, I would have no more spiritual power. The whole secret of the success of our meetings is spiritual—it's God answering prayer. I cannot take credit for any of it."

So much of what we call ministry today has been compromised by ego, marketing and man-made agendas. Some of our own "Spirit-filled" preachers are happy to sell a healing or a financial miracle for $29.95. Others claim spiritual superiority because they have the largest following on social media or because so many lined up to attend their packed conferences.

We have exchanged honesty, integrity, purity and humility for hype, fake anointing, manipulated photos, inflated attendance reports, sensuality and boastful swagger. God forgive us.

Billy Graham raised the bar for all ministers. I pray we will never forget his legacy.


TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; General Discusssion; Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS: billygraham; christians; scandal
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To: Jamestown1630

For me, it wasn’t contentious.

But as soon as I posted what Graham said about believing that infant baptism made the babies into Christian’s. the contentiousness never stopped.


201 posted on 03/07/2018 9:54:00 PM PST by Bodleian_Girl
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To: P-Marlowe

Thanks for the info!

I never realized there are TWO different forms of LDS baptism.


202 posted on 03/08/2018 1:57:39 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: metmom
Could you name a few denominations and just who is promoting them as being better than anyone else’s?

Well...


 
 

MORMON
ATTITUDES OF SUPERIORITY
 

  1. I’m Superior; I have a special gift of the holy Ghost -- you don’t!
  2. I’m Superior; I have God’s true priesthood power -- you don’t!
  3. I’m Superior; I can go in God’s secret Temple -- you can’t!
  4. I’m Superior; I’ve been Endowed with special Gifts and Knowledge -- you’re just normal!
  5. I’m Superior; I’ll have my family with me in heaven -- you’ll be with strangers!
  6. I’m Superior; I’m becoming a God -- you aren’t!
  7. I’m Superior; My women know their place as servants of man and yours don’t.
  8. I’m Superior; YOUR creeds are wrong because they come from man - mine comes from God (you can find each one printed in our Scriptures).
  9. I’m Superior; I don’t HAVE a creed - I’ve got 13 Articles of Faith.
10. I'm Superior; I have 4 "Bibles"-- the standard works (5 if you count the JST) -- you've only got one: in as far as it is translated correctly.
11. I’m Superior; I can lie with impunity about such things as church membership, church growth, church doctrine, church history, church influence, etc. —                           -- You can’t.
12. I’m Superior; I am right (everybody knows) when I say 'evangelical' Christians are lunatics -- 
                           -- You’re a hideous narrow-minded bigot, who is persecuting me by practicing discrimination by saying I'm not a Christian.
13. I'm Superior; I have a testimony about a prophet -- you don't.
14. I'm Superior; I have a Scripture-producing Amos 3:7 prophet -- you don't
15. I’m Superior; I have a Living Prophet who talks to god every day -- you have a dim-witted hireling of Satan who only talks to himself.
16. I'm Superior; I have my calling & election made sure -- you don't.
17. I’m Superior; I have magic underwear to protect me from the bogey man -- you don’t.
18. I’m Superior; I have secret clasps and grips to give the angel so I get admitted to the celestial kingdom -- you don’t ;so you can’t.
19. I'm Superior; I know secret handshake codes for afterlife entrances-- you don't.
20. I’m Superior; I will see Joseph Smith setting on the right hand of GOD, when I get to Mormon heaven, and he will recognize me and judge me favorably                              -- You’re on your own; when you get to wherever you’re going!
21. I’m Superior; I’m going to hie to Kolob -- you’re going to who knows where.
22. I’m Superior; I get to have a harem and act like a celestial stud for time and all eternity -- you don’t.
23. I’m Superior; I have sun stones, moon stones, sky stones, cloud stones, Saturn stones, and the evil eye of Osirus guarding my temple
                            -- You have nothing but a stupid cross.
24. I’m Superior; My church has billions in assets stashed away -- yours has taken a stupid vow of poverty.
25. I'm Superior; Last - we have the power to keep a whole race out of our priesthood if we wanted to reinsert our 148-year legacy  (we ARE still keeping an entire GENDER at bay!)
26.  I'm superior; I have the "higher law" -- everyone else "lives under the "lesser law' because I say so...(over and over).
 
 
Revision 46.5
Semi-Official creed of the EXclusive club of Freeper Flying Inmans.
All rights liable to be abused.

203 posted on 03/08/2018 2:00:55 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: metmom
And...


"One indeed is the universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved, in which the priest himself is the sacrifice, Jesus Christ, whose body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the species of bread and wine; the bread (changed) into His body by the divine power of transubstantiation, and the wine into the blood, so that to accomplish the mystery of unity we ourselves receive from His (nature) what He Himself received from ours."

--Pope Innocent III and Lateran Council IV (A.D. 1215)

 

Then there are the JW's and I'm just SURE that the Oneness Pentecostals fit in there somewhere as well...

 

 

204 posted on 03/08/2018 2:03:24 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie

There is the church baptism for converts and kids and the Temple baptisms where Temple Worthy mormons go to baptize the dearly departed infidels.

I was never Temple Worthy.


205 posted on 03/08/2018 2:03:33 AM PST by P-Marlowe (Freep mail me if you want to be on my Fingerstyle Acoustic Guitar Ping List)
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To: Jamestown1630

I'm just saying that all of this contentious, and sometimes snarky, back-and-forth isn't useful - not to mention that it's ungracious, and certainly not the way that Jesus would express himself.
 
 
 
Thanks for mentioning this...
 
 
 

 
Matthew 15:16
   "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them.

Matthew 23
 
  1.  Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
  2.  "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
  3.  So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
  4.  They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
  5.  "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries  wide and the tassels on their garments long;
  6.  they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;
  7.  they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them `Rabbi.'
  8.  "But you are not to be called `Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.
  9.  And do not call anyone on earth `father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
 10.  Nor are you to be called `teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.
 11.  The greatest among you will be your servant.
 12.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
 13.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 
 14.  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 
 15.   "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. 
 16.  "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, `If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'
 17.  You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
 18.  You also say, `If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.'
 19.  You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
 20.  Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
 21.  And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.
 22.  And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
 23.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
 24.  You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
 25.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
 26.  Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
 27.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.
 28.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
 29.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.
 30.  And you say, `If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
 31.  So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
 32.  Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
 33.  "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
 34.  Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.
 35.  And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
 36.  I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.
 37.  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
 38.  Look, your house is left to you desolate.
 39.  For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' "
 


Mark 7:26-27
 26.  The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
 27.  "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
 
 
 


206 posted on 03/08/2018 2:06:06 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Jamestown1630
I’m not at all interested in your various arguments with Bodleian Girl, over baptism. I think arguments like that are a destructive distraction, and don’t really mean much to individuals who are sincerely seeking God.
 
 
I think that Bodleian Girl has a right (and an obligation) to point out false teaching where she thinks she's found it.  Oh that others might follow the biblical examples we have access to.
 

 
 
Romans 15:4
 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
 
 
Romans 16:17
   I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
 
 
1 Corinthians 4:17
   For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
 
 
1 Corinthians 11:2
 2.  I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings,  just as I passed them on to you.
 
 
Ephesians 4:14-15
 14.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
 15.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
 
 
2 Thessalonians 2:15
   So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings  we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
 
 
2 Thessalonians 3:6
  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching  you received from us.
 
 
1 Timothy 1:3-4
 3.  As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer
 4.  nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith.
 
 
1 Timothy 1:7
  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
 
 
1 Timothy 2:7
   And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle--I am telling the truth, I am not lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.
 
 
1 Timothy 4:1-2
 1.  The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
 2.  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
 
 
1 Timothy 4:6
   If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.
 
 
1 Timothy 4:11
  Command and teach these things.
 
 
1 Timothy 6:3-5
 3.  If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching,
 4.  he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 
 5.  and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
 
 
2 Timothy 1:13
  What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
 
 
 2 Timothy 2:15-17
 15.  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
 16.  Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
 17.  Their teaching will spread like gangrene.
 
 
2 Timothy 3:16-17
 16.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
 17.  so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
 
 
 2 Timothy 4:3-4
  3.  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
  4.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
 
 
Titus 1:11
   They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach--and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
 
 
Titus 2:1
  You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.
 
 
Titus 2:15
  These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
 
 
 Hebrews 13:9
 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.
 
 
 2 Peter 2:1-3
 1.  But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
 2.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
 3.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
 
 
2 John 1:10
  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him.



207 posted on 03/08/2018 2:11:17 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Jamestown1630
I’m sure where he is right now, Billy Graham doesn’t care at all.

Yup!


Dead; in his grave; awaiting the Last Trump along with the REST of the Dead in Christ.


 
Daniel 12:2
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
 
 
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Listen, I tell you a mystery:
We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
 

Ephesians 5:14
This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
 

1 Thessalonians 4:13
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

208 posted on 03/08/2018 2:14:14 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Jamestown1630
Responding to them has been a waste of time and energy that may have been better spent on some other endeavor.

I gave up playing defense LONG ago!

209 posted on 03/08/2018 2:15:26 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: P-Marlowe
Heck; some folks here think I'm a heretic!!



210 posted on 03/08/2018 2:31:02 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: P-Marlowe; StormPrepper; teppe; Normandy
I was never Temple Worthy.

Don't feel too bad, as only about 15% or so of Mormon's actually are.


I know that in my years of interacting with them on FR; I've yet to see one of them make the claim that they WERE TW!!!


I don't see what's so hard about it...


 

 
 

Temple Recommend Questions



1 Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?

2 Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer?

3 Do you have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel in these the latter days?

4 Do you sustain the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and as the only person on the earth who possesses and is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? Do you sustain members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators? Do you sustain the other General Authorities and local authorities of the Church?

5 Do you live
the law of chastity?

6 Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church?

7 Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

8 Do you strive to keep the covenants you have made, to attend your sacrament and other meetings, and to keep your life in harmony with the laws and commandments of the gospel?

9 Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen?

10 Are you a full-tithe payer?

11 Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?

12 Do you have financial or other obligations to a former spouse or children? If yes, are you current in meeting those obligations?

13 If you have previously received your temple endowment:

Do you keep the covenants that you made in the temple?
Do you wear the garment both night and day as instructed in the endowment and in accordance with the covenant you made in the temple?

14 Have there been any sins or misdeeds in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but have not been?

15 Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the Lord's house and participate in temple ordinances?

211 posted on 03/08/2018 2:38:37 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
 

 


Posthumous baptisms are performed at the church’s 159 temples around the globe, mostly by young people. Members are escorted to a decorative baptismal font resting on statutes of 12 oxen. An adult or older teen male reads a short prayer, and the member – representing the dead relative – is immersed in water. Each baptism is recorded in the database.

At a conference this year, LDS leaders stressed the importance of proxy baptisms – saying God wants all his children “home again, in families and in glory” – and encouraged young members to get involved. The church has nearly 16 million members worldwide.

 

O...K...

Let's see if there are enough folks around that CAN actually do this - needing a CURRENT TR: Temple Recommend.

 

The idealized vision of a family with a husband and wife married in the temple and children present

describes only one out of five LDS families in the United States and less than 3 percent of LDS families in Japan. 

 

Based on the above information, it seems likely that the highest rates of temple attendance among Mormons are in the Mormon heartland – the Wasatch Front and other parts of the Intermountain West.  The percentage of Mormons who regularly participate in temple worship in that Mormon heartland is unlikely to be as high as the percentage noted in the 2012 Pew Survey – 65%.  Given the methodology of the survey, that number appears to reflect the behaviors of highly engaged Mormons.  The other data provided above suggest that the real number is much lower than the Pew number, perhaps as few as 25% in the U.S. and much lower outside the U.S., but an exact number isn’t known.

https://www.mormonsocialscience.org/2012/01/19/q-what-percentage-of-mormons-regularly-participate-in-temple-worship/

 


 

 

...the exact percentage of Mormons with Temple recommends are not published by Church authorities... http://mormonconspiracy.com/lds-temple.html

(Neither do they publish IN-exact figures!)  

 

“Since the church believes that one must be ‘temple worthy’ in order to attain the Celestial Kingdom, having the power to grant or withhold recommends gives the local bishops immense power. Furthermore, in predominantly Mormon areas the lack of a recommend can often mean the loss of a job or being shunned by one’s neighbors. These slips of paper are most valuable.” --- Laytayne Colvett Scott, Mormon Mirage, pg. 193  


 

It  seems to me that if a TR is SO valuable; the church would make every effect to be SURE that each of it's members had one.

 

 

 

212 posted on 03/08/2018 2:42:15 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
 

 ... in order to attain the Celestial Kingdom...

 

 

Speaking of which...


 

AFTERLIFE: The Mormon afterlife is divided up into four levels. From the lowest to the highest they are: hell, and then three levels of heaven: the telestial, the terrestrial, and the place where God dwells, the celestial (also called the kingdom of God). The celestial is also divided, the highest level being "exaltation," or becoming a God.

CELESTIAL KINGDOM: See Heaven.

EXALTATION: This is becoming a God in the highest level of the celestial kingdom.

GRACE - The Mormon concept of grace means making oneself worthy of the grace of God by doing good works in the church, temple, and community.

HEAVEN-The Mormon church teaches there are three levels of heaven (three "degrees of glory"):


 
Hold this thought  --->   ...and for Mormons who have not met the requirements of the Church.

213 posted on 03/08/2018 2:46:04 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
 don't see what's so hard about it...
 
 
Compared to ... the good ol' days...
 
 
 

Temple Recommend Questions: 1857

 1. Have you committed murder by shedding innocent blood, or consenting thereto?
 2. Have you betrayed your brethren or sisters in anything?
 3. Have you committed adultery, by having any connection with a woman that was not your wife, or a man that was not your husband?
 4. Have you taken and made use of property not your own, without the consent of the owner?
 5. Have you cut hay where you had no right to, or turned your animals into another person’s grain or field, without his knowledge and consent?
 6. Have you lied about or maliciously misrepresented any person or thing?
 7. Have you borrowed anything that you have not returned, or paid for?
 8. Have you borne false witness against your neighbor?
 9. Have you taken the name of Deity in vain?
10. Have you coveted anything not your own?
11. Have you been intoxicated with strong drink?
12. Have you found lost property and not returned it to the owner, or used all diligence to do so?
13. Have you branded an animal that you did not know to be your own?
14. Have you taken another’s horse or mule from the range and rode it, without the owner's consent?
15. Have you fulfilled your promises in paying your debts, or run into debt without prospect of paying?
16. Have you taken water to irrigate with, when it belonged to another person at the time you used it?
17. Do you pay your tithing promptly?
18. Do you teach your family the gospel of salvation?
19. Do you speak against your brethren, or against any principle taught in the Bible, Book of Mormon, book of Doctrine and Covenants, revelations given to Joseph Smith the Prophet and the Presidency of the Church as now organized?
20. Do you pray in your family night and morning and attend to secret prayer?
21. Do you wash your body and have your family do so, as often as health and cleanliness require and circumstances will permit?
22. Do you labor six days and rest, or go to the house of worship, on the seventh?
23. Do you preside over your household as a servant of God, and is your family subject to you?
24. Have you labored diligently and earned faithfully the wages paid you by your employers?
25. Do you oppress the hireling in his wages?
26. Have you taken up and converted any stray animal to your own use, or in any manner appropriated one to your benefit, without accounting therefore to the proper authorities?


 


214 posted on 03/08/2018 3:04:12 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
 The world has lost another great religious leader; yet no one is disparaging HIS arcane belief system!
 
Here is a memo (some claim it to be true; maybe) that appears to have been penned almost 7 years ago; not 57 years ago...

Office of First President & Living Prophet®:

April 1st, 2012

URGENT!


Fellow MORMON Freeper Christians!!
 
Due to the charges being leveled at our pesky opponents of "Out Of Context" comments;
we have been challenged repeatedly to then post the TRUTH IN context!
How dumb do they think we ARE??
 
We do not have to spend time refuting the facts against MORMONism;
we get LOTS more mileage out of claiming the Christians are in error,
then backing away and watching them sputter.
 
So, bottom line, stay aWAY from defending our faith, as it is a vain effort.
 
So, do what you can to stick to CONSERVATISM
(You can even rag on Mitt, if you want - it makes your message seem more authentic that way.)
 
As always, Tommy M.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

215 posted on 03/08/2018 3:15:45 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
 HEAVEN-The Mormon church teaches there are three levels of heaven (three "degrees of glory"):
Celestial - for Mormons who have kept ALL of the laws and ordinances of their church.                                                        (Where the Father lives.  Only about 15% of Mormons have a VALID TR card.)
Terrestrial - for religious people who aren't Mormons and for Mormons who have not met the requirements of the Church.     (Where approximately 85% 0f Mormons will end up)
Telestial - where unbelievers go


 
 
The Doctrine and Covenants
Section 76
 
 92 And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever;
 93 Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory forever and ever.
 94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;
 95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.
 
 
Those who inherit terrestrial glory will “receive of the presence of the Son, but not of the fulness of the Father.   https://www.lds.org/topics/kingdoms-of-glory?lang=eng  (click view more) 
 
 
 

216 posted on 03/08/2018 3:20:41 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Bodleian_Girl
But as soon as I posted what Graham said about believing that infant baptism made the babies into Christian’s. the contentiousness never stopped.

But that's the problem.

He never SAID that.

You seem to have understood what he said to MEAN that.

All he said was that he thought *something happened* which is not *Baptism saves babies*.

And do you allow for his views to change and mature over the course of 57 years or are you going to continue to hold what you think he meant against him forever?

217 posted on 03/08/2018 3:52:39 AM PST by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith..)
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To: metmom

Yes, he did say that.

If you agree with him, that infant baptism turns infants into Christians, that’s your belief.

I don’t share it and believe that Graham was wrong on the issue.

I believe he was also wrong in his embrace of Islam and Catholicism.

Your mileage may vary of course and those may be beliefs you share with Graham.


218 posted on 03/08/2018 9:38:12 AM PST by Bodleian_Girl
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To: Elsie

So we’ve seen ;-)


219 posted on 03/08/2018 4:01:56 PM PST by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Elsie

With all respect, I’ll accept some ‘snark’ from Jesus, as his words come down to us and in His pursuit of His Mission, that I won’t accept from ‘just anybody’.

Jesus is the one who told is to ‘turn the other cheek’.
I happen to interpret that in the metaphysical way:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_the_other_cheek#Metaphysical_interpretation


220 posted on 03/08/2018 4:45:37 PM PST by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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