Centerplace.org has a forum where people of the RLDS/Reformation/sometimes CofC persuasion can go and commiserate about the mysteries of the churches which Joseph Smith spawned. At this time there is an ongoing discussion about how to witness to poor, deluded evangelical Christians: those who don’t have the “fullness of the Gospel.” One gentleman has been attending a Baptist church and isn’t sure how to approach the pastor or congregation about their abysmal missing link. In his words, and I hope I don’t break any copyright laws, “I have felt a very good Spirit in many of the services, and Brother (name removed) is a very humble, passionate, sincere and dedicated servant of the Lord. It has helped me get beyond all those negative experiences, and it has helped me to grow spiritually, as well. I came to the realization that even though these folks didn't have the Fullness of the Everlasting Gospel, they did have some light, and they were doing the very best they could with that portion of the Gospel that they did have. I realized also that it is only through a sense of charity that I was able to recognize this, and I'm thankful that my eyes were opened to this fact.” (Emphasis mine)

Is this how I felt about Christians while I was entrenched in the Joseph Smith church? Probably. I tried logging in to ask a question or two, but it’s been nearly three years since I was last on that forum and I think I have been kicked out. The questions I was asking at that time were making some people unhappy. They wouldn’t send me my password so I’m pretty sure I’m kaput where they are concerned.

So I Googled “Fullness of the Gospel” and found a website (LDS) which describes “The Preparatory Gospel and the Fullness of the Gospel” using the Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon, with one or two references to Matthew 1: 4, 8. To be honest I tried to read through it. I really did. It seems the “Preparatory” Gospel is administered by the Aaronic priesthood and the “Fullness” is administered by the Melchizedek priesthood. I’m not making this up. It got so convoluted that I got a cramp in my brain and had to stop reading. No wonder those people are so confused!

I found another website (also LDS) in which the writer states that even though you receive Christ, and are baptized, if you do not “endure to the end” you will be cast out of God’s presence. Somehow the Gospel message gets derailed between the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. The Jesus Christ who supposedly visited the people in the New World after His resurrection doesn’t resemble in any way the Jesus Christ of the Bible. It seems like this is just another way Joseph Smith made it up as he went along. What didn’t make it to the Book of Mormon somehow, through a profuse number of revelations after its publication, made it to the Doctrine and Covenants.

How convenient. Another book to cover your shortcomings. How blessed we are to have just one book: The Holy Bible, which has been around for centuries, translated into hundreds of languages but never losing its original meaning. One need only go to the original Hebrew or Greek to confirm the truth of the Gospel.

Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Thank you, Refiner’s Fire) describes Gospel as “The joyous good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.” Furthermore, it states, “The gospel is not a new plan of salvation; it is the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation that was begun in Israel, was completed by Jesus Christ, and is made known by the church.”

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” II Corinthians 11:3-4. (KJV) How much clearer can it get?

The savior, the spirit, and the gospel which the followers of Joseph Smith are so proud of are an illusion. The church which Joseph Smith started in 1830 is no church at all. He created it all with a stone, which, by the way, he stole, plus a bunch of hocus-pocus. Satan didn’t stop with Eve; he was just getting started. Just as Eve was conned by the devil, so the adherents of the Smith gospel are being conned every day.

It is experiences such as the peek at the Center Place forum that drive home the fact that these people are so entrenched in false doctrine that they are incapable of seeing truth. Sometimes I wonder just what will get through to them. My intellectual self tells me that only God through His Holy Spirit can get through; my emotional self says I need to beat them over the head with the real Bible. I think it’s just as well the forum didn’t send me my password. Speaking the truth in love is not my strong suit.

As someone once said, “When all else fails, read the instructions.” If we don’t have scripture ready to back up what we say it’s not going to work. Above all, if we don’t pray about it it’s not going to work, either.

In His amazing love

Jan

Oh, gosh, here I go again taking a big fat risk. But I’ll do it anyway because it was so interesting. At least to me. It may put you to sleep (no pun intended) but here goes: A few nights ago I had a very strange dream. Actually, all my dreams are strange, but this was one of the stranger ones. Understand I’ve had my fill of hearing about visions, “spiritual” dreams, revelations, voices and presences. This was just one of those REM moments, nothing more.

I was in a village which was inhabited primarily by Joseph Smith followers. I don’t think they were Mormons; more likely they were Restorationist types. While I was there an enormous ball rolled into town. As dreams go, it came from nowhere. It was probably fifty feet in diameter, maybe larger. Large enough to get everyone’s attention. It seemed to be made of a buff-colored, exceptionally heavy plastic, and it was covered with what appeared to be thousands of indecipherable markings.

Immediately everyone became excited, claiming that this was a sign from God, a message from Joseph Smith, a warning of the end of the world, or all three. The whole town hurled itself into a huge revival, with prayer meetings, impromptu church services, singing, chanting, you name it. I, of course, wasn’t quite so excited. After half-heartedly attending one or two of the sessions I found myself alone in the street. I approached the ball and found that a small strip of the material had come loose. I tore it off (Don’t ask me where I got the strength to do that but, hey, it was a dream.) and discovered written on the other side the name of a town in California, and the group of children who had constructed the monstrosity.

Armed with this piece of information I found an acquaintance sitting in a small diner with some of her friends. I gave her the scrap of plastic to read. Immediately she put it in her mouth and started to swallow it. I reached down her throat and managed to drag it out.

The rest of the dream is, thankfully, rather fuzzy. I awoke and said, “Huh,” or something like that. Then, as the day progressed, I thought about it. The woman in my dream was willing to suppress a vital piece of information simply to perpetuate the lie. How often has this type of stifling taken place through the years? Countless times. I was reminded of a dear friend of mine who has been in the church his whole life and believes that Smith was martyred. Even after being shown evidence that he died in a gunfight, killing two men before he was shot dead, my friend continues to maintain that Smith was a “sacrificial lamb.” In fairness to my friend that was the way Smith described himself on more than one occasion.

I found The History of the RLDS on the top shelf of a bookcase, dusted it off and looked for the gunfight. Therein was murder, martyrdom and sacrifice, but no gunfight. How can a multi-volume history exist with no mention of what really happened in Carthage that day? It’s possible I overlooked it because part of the answer was provided when I Googled the death of Joseph Smith.(The LDS history apparently contains the firearm information.)

Hits #1 & 2 (Wikipedia) got it wrong. Big surprise there. Hit #3 (PBS) has no mention of Smith having a gun. Hit #4 (Light Planet)has this to say: “On June 27, 1844, they were mobbed and shot while confined at Carthage Jail in Hancock County, in western Illinois. Climaxing more than two decades of persecution across several states, this event gave them an enduring place as martyrs in the hearts of Latter-day Saints.”

Next are a couple of You Tube videos. The first is a dramatization produced by the Mormons. It’s a short segment—about 6.5 minutes and portrays Smith as the sacrificial lamb. The comments are very telling. The second is a narrative by Bill McKeever of Mormon Research Ministry, in which he gives stunning descriptions of outright smothering of the truth by followers of Joseph Smith. For those of you who have visited the Carthage jail, you have no doubt heard the same “information” from your tour guides. But if you listen to McKeever, you’ll hear outrageous omissions, suppressions, distortions, concealments and lies told by these Latter Day Saints.

The Joseph Smith church is a lie, founded by a lying, conniving charlatan, perpetrated by those seeking their own self aggrandizement and perpetuated by a continuation of deception, fraud, intimidation, and ignorance. Again, for those of you who are seeking or questioning, please know that we here at Refiner’s Fire and Lifeline are praying for you to find your way to the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I’m glad I had that dream, silly as it was. It let me know this is a huge undertaking and that we need to keep on fighting the fight.

Love and Prayers

Jan

What prompted the cafeteria theme was something I read in a booklet by Chip Ingram entitled Finding Truth (Whatever Happened to Right and Wrong?) In it he tells about a man he met who had recently come to know Christ and was growing spiritually. Chip goes on to say, “He then casually told me that he didn’t agree with the ‘no sex before marriage’ part of Scripture, and that he didn’t want that restriction as a part [of] his Christian experience. The rest, though, he was eager to add, he found very helpful.”

I’m only using this as an example of something we are all probably guilty of at some point or another. It could just as well be that we just don’t think it’s necessary to go to church and that we can achieve spiritual growth just by taking a walk in the woods. In other words, pick and choose from the Word of God to suit our own agenda.

That’s what Joseph Smith did on a monumental scale. But badly, because he had no knowledge of the original languages of Scripture, and his ego got in the way of any common sense and rectitude

I don’t have any real idea of the readership of this blog. Since there are no recent comments I am assuming that you either agree with everything I say and go away, or you agree with nothing I say and go away. But I also assume that some of you are searching, and some of you come back, as I did when I stumbled upon Carol’s website http://www.lifeline2rlds.org and then upon this one. So, since I happen to be on this cafeteria kick, the following is just one suggestion where to start looking for some of J. Smith’s errors in his “inspired” version of the Bible.

If you go to Paul Trask’s Book, Partway to Utah, pages 102-112, 175-179, and 183-186 you will find a wealth of information on Smith’s desecration of the Bible to suit his own plan. He was a master at using various passages to justify his church’s existence. He was wrong, but he was very good at being wrong.

Then go to Carol Hansen’s Reorganized Latter Day Saint Church: Is It Christian? and read Chapter 11, beginning on page 195. Both books are downloadable on this site. Both will give you an idea of Joseph Smith’s use of hunks and chunks of Truth, coupled with his out-and-out lies, and the resultant disaster.

Finally, I want to share a little gem I found a couple of months ago while surfing the net. It’s taken from a well known website, Mormons in Transition and the essay is entitled "The Book of Hebrews and the Joseph Smith Translation" by Robert M. Bowman, Jr.* The point being made is in the use of a single word in chapter 6, verse 1a. The word is “leaving” and this is the context: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection. . .”

Here is Joseph Smith’s version: “Therefore not leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection. . .”

As he wrote: “Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors . . . Look at Hebrews vi.1 for contradictions—“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection.” If a man leaves the principles of the doctrine of Christ, how can he be saved in the principles? This is a contradiction.”

No, Mr. Smith, this is a total misunderstanding on your part. The Greek word aphiemi translates “leaving” which can mean leaving behind, but can also mean building on, or progressing beyond. Dr. Bowman points out that it can be like a teacher telling her class that they will leave addition and move on to subtraction. The interesting point is that both Matthew Henry and John Calvin addressed this very thing in their commentaries. But Smith didn’t have the faintest idea of the meaning of what he was revising, and to say it was an inspired translation is borderline pathetic and an embarrassment.

To continue with Smith’s quote in reference to this verse, notice the use of “I” when referring to the translation: “I don’t believe it. I will render it as it should be—“Therefore not leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works. . .”

By no stretch of the imagination is that inspired. But those who have been immersed in the books of the Latter Day Saints would have no way of knowing that. Unfortunately, Joseph Smith’s arrogance did not allow for questioning that which did not mesh with his template. Generations of unquestioning people have been misguided and lost because of him. If you are questioning, or searching, or if you have a loved one who is still involved in any of the Latter Day Saint churches, you have come to the right place.

If you find any of this confusing or incoherent, I urge you to click on this link and read the article for yourself. It's long and very detailed, but far more interesting believable than the Book of Mormon, which is agonizingly long and excruciatingly detailed.

In His amazing love

Jan

*Robert M. Bowman, Jr. is a very interesting person in his own right. He is a convert from Catholicism and ultra conservative. Since this is not a political blog I recommend that, should you have any curiosity about him, you utilize your search engine of choice. It’s always wise to check out sources, and you may be surprised at what you find.

I couldn’t let today go by without wishing everyone a most blessed Christmas and a better new year. Rejoicing in the birth of God’s only begotten Son and sharing the reason for the hope that lies within us, may our joy reach out to everyone who stands in need of the Gospel. Remembering that, no matter the situation, God is still in control.

Here’s a little reading assignment, as if you don’t already have enough to do herding grandkids, finding places to stash your new stash, schlepping the turkey from counter to oven to table, and making sure Grandma doesn’t drink too much eggnog.

Question: Why does Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon say Jesus was born in Jerusalem? (Alma 7:10) Then click on this (those of you who haven’t already read it and committed it to memory) and watch Jeff Lindsay stumble all over his rationale trying to justify it.

Praise the Lord.

This post is intensely personal. If you don’t want to know my most inner thoughts at the moment, I understand. But this is for those of you who are struggling with family members who are still in the clutches of Joseph Smith’s doctrines. At times it seems as if we take two steps forward and seventeen back.

As some of you may know I fractured two vertebrae in a car accident on October 13th. It has involved pain, a turtle shell brace, help with showering, dressing, getting in and out of bed, assistance with some aspect of nearly every activity of daily living. Finally, surgery last Thursday. As a previously healthy and very active senior citizen I had, in an instant, achieved the status of the people for whom I care in the nursing home. Without hubby Cecil, I probably would have ended occupying one of those beds, at least temporarily. Major bummer.

In the two years since I escaped the RLDS, Cecil has been gracious enough to frequently accompany me to my church, Fellowship Baptist in Aurora (Come and visit us sometime and receive a blessing beyond your wildest dreams.) The extremely high gas prices had something to do with it in the beginning. God moves in mysterious ways! But as he got to know our pastor, Lee Parsons, he went more willingly, oftentimes going when I had to work or was otherwise indisposed. He raves about Brother Parsons’ sermons, which are absolutely Bible-based and salted with the zest of someone who has been there and done that. He considers him one of the finest and most sincere human beings he has ever met. He shouts “Amen” from the pew with the rest of us and seems the epitome of a hardcore Bible-believing, fundamental Baptist. He and Brother Parsons have become very close friends. I, of course, have been in seventh heaven (no disrespect intended.)

When I had my accident Cec and Brother Parsons were in Aurora having lunch. I called Cec from the car and the rest of the day involved ambulance rides, x-rays, CT scans and MRIs. Bro. Parsons was there for us the whole time and stuck by Cecil like a third arm. The pain I was experiencing was greatly buffered by the interaction between the two men whom I feel closest to. I truly felt they were on the same page. Keep in mind that Cecil hasn’t been able to attend his church in Miami, OK because he hasn’t been able to leave me long enough. I have considered this a gift from God and have told myself that surely he must have “seen the light” by now.

A few days ago I was resting after a flurry of activity. For me a flurry of activity is going to church and coming home. Cecil and I were talking about the wonderful people at Fellowship Baptist and how fortunate we are to have them in our lives. Cecil mentioned Bro. Parsons and again commented on how well they get along. Then he added, “Even though we don’t see eye to eye on some issues I consider him one of my best friends.”

Understand—I am on pain medication and my brain doesn’t always thoroughly engage before my mouth starts running. “What issues?” I queried.

“I believe the Book of Mormon,” Cecil answered.

I was shattered with disappointment. Quite honestly, I don’t remember how the rest of the conversation went. But after he left the room I spent quite a lot of time in tears and prayer.

Now, in the cold light of reality, I can almost look at it rationally. Cecil has been a member of Joseph Smith’s church since the mid 60’s, most of his adult life. He has heard nothing but preaching from the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the “Inspired” version of the Bible for most of that time. How can I expect him to “get it” when he is not even looking or questioning, and he truly believes Joseph Smith was a prophet? What makes me think he will just gather up those books and toss them into the trash just because he agrees with much of what he hears at my church? Of course some of it is similar, which makes the Joseph Smith church, or any false church, for that matter, so insidious.

My error was in thinking for God. I believe we all do this on occasion. Okay, God, here’s what I think you’re doing because it’s a really good idea, it fits perfectly and it certainly suits my agenda. Let’s face it; God doesn’t need us arranging His plans for Him. What an abrupt awakening.

Someone once said to me, “Make plans but don’t plan the outcome.” I never really understood it until this little incident. I think I understand it now: we may think they’re our plans, but if we let God into them, it’s always His outcome.

God bless and thanks for listening. You are all in my prayers. Have a blessed holiday season and yes, it is okay so say Merry Christmas. I'll try to get God Doesn't Run a Cafeteria 2 up soon.

In His amazing love

Jan