Teaching Script
Before we get into our subject tonight which is to further discuss the standard places and attitudes people who leave the LDS church land and/or adopt, and how these locations, responses and attitudes are often merely extensions of the power of Mormonism over them (but in Dark ways) I want to explain two things for your consideration.
First, why we call ourselves, as a little group, Yeshuan’s. Remember, we test and examine everything as we believe that the things of God deserve real examination.
When we say the word, “Christian”, we think it comes with so much baggage today that we really want nothing to do with it – especially relative to religious history, political intonations and denominational demands.
We suggest that most Christians today are known more for what they stand against that for whom they love and serve and obey.
The second thing about the name Christian is it is sort of a cluster in and of itself. Remember, it started off back in the day as a pejorative.
Additionally Christos, in Greek, and Messhiach, in Hebrew, are terms that were used and assigned to people other than Yeshua of Nazareth – including priests and regular old Kings because Christ and Messhiac just mean, “the anointed.”
So, to refer to ourselves as Christians is still somewhat vague and refer only to the title of anointed which was given to many people.
Then, as we’ve made clear, the name Jesus is a joke (even though I still use it by habit at times), so for clarity we chose to go by the anointed ones given name by His father, Yeshua, as a means to separate ourselves both from tradition, current reputations AND to be more in line with all that our Lord was truly named by His Father.
Speaking of names, some of you know that I personally identify myself and my brand of being a Yeshuan as that of a Christian Anarchist – a title that is frequently misunderstood but in no way is related to anarcho-syndicalism or secular anarchy, but simply means that I allow or place no other thing between Yeshua and myself in terms of how I think, live or believe.
No idols or intermediaries to come between my heart and mind for His person in bringing me to God.
That said, I fully submit to people on this earth where authority has been created, bestowed and recognized by society as a whole.
For instance, if I speed down the interstate and a Highway Patrolman pulls me over, I recognize him as fully empowered and authorized to enforce the established laws and I would readiy submit to his or her execution of such as its authorized representative – no problem.
I am frankly troubled by people who show police officers disrespect when they are rightly executing their office.
But if the officer for some strange reason said, “Deny God,” or accept the State as your God such a request would exceed his authority and I would not comply no matter what the consequences.
Easy enough, for most.
Then suppose the officer of the Law gives me a ticket for excessive speed which requires I go to court. I would certainly comply with the laws of the land and appear in court where I would respectfully stand before the appointed Judge, who is empowered to oversee and execute justice in her or his jurisdiction.
In that courtroom I would respectfully follow all the established rules – I would stand up when speaking to the Judge, I would refer to him or her as, “your honor,” and the reason for this is the judge is the personification of the Laws of the land, and showing him or her respect and following their courtroom rules indicates that I respect the Laws of the Land and am willing to conform myself to those empowered to execute them.
Again, easy to understand.
The fact of the matter is, when anyone has been given the right to represent a “higher authority on earth,” if I respect that authority and the institution that they represent, I will, as a Christian Anarchist, submit to them and respect their authority within the limits of their respective jurisdiction.
If they represent an authority I do not agree with, however, like their a CEO of some conglomeration or some non-governmental position, then I would exercise my right to reject them and what they represent and even disrespect them if it is called for.
But again, that said, there are very few legitimate authorities I will disrespect on earth who are merely acting in accordance of their respective position.
Here is my point – and think about this. Men and women who believe or present themselves as having the authority to stand in the place of God, who demand respect, compliance, and obeisance have NOT been given that right or authority by God – not one of them!
They might CLAIM to have authority and to deserve deference in their apparent status, but the Bible makes it clear, especially in the face of “victorious eschatology,”
GRAPHIC “VICTORIOUS ESCHATOLOGY”
that when Yeshua died on the cross God Himself tore the veil in the temple in two signifying that there would never be any intermediaries between God and Man once that age wrapped up.
None.
Instead, every single individual human, by and through the death of Yeshua has the right and ability to directly approach God without any human representatives involved.
Even when men and woman claim to represent the authority of a specific church or denomination have NO authorization, authority, power or right to be respected in their false positions of authority.
So, stand up and respect officers of the Law, Judges, the President of the United States and if they offend or harm you, take it up through the channels provided but it is time all people refuse, in the name of honoring God directly, to respect, stand, show deference, or pay money to anyone who allows themselves to be seen as any kind of intermediary between God and you – not a pastor, Bishop, President, Pope, priest, Reverend, Elder, Deacon, Prophet, apostle, Imam, Rabbi or any other religious leader.
Those days are over and the Bible PROVES it. This is how I am a Christian Anarchist and I invite you adopt the same attitude.
Last week we embarked on what I see as the first response many LDS people take to leaving their once active, temple attending membership in the Mormon church – and I categorized it under the general subject of “sin.”
I used that term because that is the way active LDS people would categorize their behaviors, whether its drinking tea, coffee or alcohol, using forbidden substances, or dabbling in sexually licentious behaviors.
We maintain that sin has been paid for in full, and so we do not use that term as having such a direct definition before God any longer – but that’s another subject.
The second major landing spot is a big one and is one that is so broad it takes on different expressions so I am just going to title it Anti-Mormonism, and break that term down into some manageable categories.
Being “anti-Mormon,” an anti-Mormon or anti-Mormonism are nuanced attitudes that often represent themselves in as many ways as there are people.
“Anti-Mormon,” and “an anti-Mormon” typically describe an individual that dislikes everything about Mormonism including their members.
This makes someone who is anti-Mormon at least in the most extreme cases, virulent toward any and all things LDS – the church itself, its leaders, its teachings, its culture, temples – literally everything that orbits in or around Mormonism – members included – are frankly, despised. Hated.
This is the most heated position some people have toward the LDS whether they were former members or never members, the hatred is the same.
I’ve never fit this profile though the members claim I have or do.
I am actually a people-person and I do not hate any individual on earth – especially people of faith but never for their gender, race, sexuality, sin, inabilities or whatever else they can be hated for.
I get annoyed by people – especially people proud for something they have not merited -but no hatred.
That said, this type of anti-Mormon can become overwhelming in some souls causing them to rage – almost without a pause – against all things LDS (including the people.)
And here is our first observation about people leaving the church who land in anti-Mormon-land – they continue to live in the chains of the church that they have left behind and there are few sadder sights.
For those of you within the sound of my voice who might find themselves in the clutches of this mindset I’ve got a direct observation for you –
And I’m sorry, cause its gonna sting but I say it in love –
You’re boring because you have allowed yourself to become one note on the piano of life, consuming every conversation with your hatred for Mormon things and you only prove how it still has its hooks in you.
The problem is you haven’t replaced the mindset and attitude with something better, more fulfilling, more real and true, and until you do you will probably continue to just hit that single note.
Herein lies the reason we are doing this short series – to help interested people discover what actually works to free them from this particular type of bondage rather than helping keep it alive.
Why even care? Because the faith we hold dear is aimed at helping liberate people from the vicissitudes of religious bondage, from the bondage of false teachings, the bondage of sex, drugs and living by the flesh, and frankly from bondage to any other thing besides Him.
We maintain that liberty can come (to those serious about being truly liberated) by a direct, unencumbered relationship with God through faith on His Son.
That is what we offer and promote – faith and love.
So that is the first level of being an anti-Mormon – hatred for everything associated with Mormonism including Mormon practitioners.
The next level of anti-Mormonism is found in those who love (or don’t mind Mormon members so much) but really truly have a distain for the institution.
Admittedly, that is my form of anti-Mormonism – my utter contempt for its leaders housed on North Temple here in downtown SLC and some of the leaders at the local level who toe the party line and push people into chains.
This attitude can also consume former members and so as a means to mitigate my anger toward it I have spent the majority of my life searching out and discovering spiritual truths through a contextual analysis of scripture to replace the damage the leadership allowed during my forty years of membership.
Today, my ire only gets up when I do this program as a means to expose them for who they are and what they do because in my day to day of life I don’t follow them, care to know what they do, or try to address their actions. I recommend this path to all former LDS people as well.
In fact, we recommend the following to any ex LDS person alive
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Replace all that Mormonism did to you and taught you with sound biblical instruction (not church, by the way) and
Let go of all the things that serve to infuriate you which includes continually pursuing and reopening all your wounds repeatedly by following sources that make their living keeping Mormonism alive in your heart.
And what and who are they? Before we address and discuss them, let’s first talk about why you subscribe to such sources and why you are so devoted to what they offer you.
You were once, on some level, a believing participant in a fictional religion who very effectively taught you about God and what He expects and demands of you.
Along the way, you literally enjoyed the culture surrounding all of that religious myth-making. You bore testimony, you gave money, you spent time, and you served the institution. In that capacity you probably benefited by it all – and perhaps suffered by it too.
But people don’t stay in Mormonism because it is entirely uncomfortable. There are perks to being active and those perks cause us former members to wonder if walking from it all was right in the first place.
Perhaps you “felt the Spirit” in your former LDS experience, maybe you had some great relationships, or watched as your children thrived in the culture.
Perhaps the LDS teachings were truly your rock and root to all things about God and now outside of it all the warnings they used to give about leaving or apostacy are coming home to roost – even subconsciously.
So you know what you do in response to all of this?
You tune in to sources that will continually remind you that you were right in leaving.
And all of these sources are just new-fangled forms of anti-Mormon or anti-Mormonism – depending on their aggression, views, stances and approaches.
I want to suggest to you that you are better than this.
Your life has much more meaning than to spend any part of it reassuring yourselves that the LDS church was and is as bad as you believe it to be.
There is much much MUCH more for you in things that matter, in things that can alter what you were, and in things that can effectively replace your having been LDS.
And the one thing that we have literally watched work in the lives of those who pursue it is seeking God through Christ in spirit and truth and without Religion.
All the rest – everything else offered, whether it be a continual stream of more anti-Mormon rhetoric, Mormon-mockery, or new or updated information on the church, of more organized religion, of imbibing in sin, or philosophy, or humanism, or atheism – all of the rest, we have observed, just leads to more . . . bondage – in the end.
I am not personally against the suppliers of anti-Mormon material and all that they do anymore than I am personally against anyone freely doing what they are inclined to do.
But this does not mean I won’t critique their contributions to the spiritual well being of former LDS people for the simple reason I do not find their efforts as truly helping in rightly liberating souls.
All I see are personal empires that some people have made in their lives to capitalize on the evil Mormonism creates while noting that all of them fail, in the long run, in effectively replacing the spiritual death exiting LDS people experience.
Sure, they form new cultures, which again, is fine for those of you who want them, and yes, they may give wounded people community, friends, and online conversations, but we stand boldly and without apology that none of such things offer a genuine legitimate replacement to what former Latter-Day Saints left behind.
This was my complaint right out the gate with Sandra Tanner and Gerald Tanners ministry – it harps and harps and harps on evidence (and good evidence, I might add) on how deceptive the LDS church was and is, but where is a suitable life-raft for those who have abandoned ship?
I mean their actions are akin to the US involving itself intimately in the affairs of Afghanistan or South Vietnam only to walk away leaving them without any sort of viable replacement on how to govern themselves once we departed.
John Dehlin, at least, tries, at times, to offer a more balanced view of things in his online resources, but in the end, what he does offer ex-LDS people is inferior to what can actually, point for point, replace the spiritual devastations the former Latter-Day Saints held dear.
Unfortunately, John’s content does more to keep anger and resentment for the institution alive rather than bringing hope and peace and faith for people who have been devastated spiritually.
Ironically, and I say this with love, John seems to actually believe he can offer people something more, something better, than a direct relationship with Jesus.
You might suggest that there is not genuine thing – belief, approach, wisdom or faith – that can completely meet the spiritual needs of all people and to this I would suggest you are in grave error and that you speak without knowledge or with the wrong type.
There are plenty more out there, all scrambling in one way or another to become the go to for former Latter-Day Saints.
Most of them use hooks against the LDS history or doctrine to reel people in but not one of them, that we have seen, have ever promoted a free, unencumbered, non-church, biblically based view that can, will and does truly set the captives free.
We are not a go to – I certainly am not – but we do relentlessly point all souls to a direct, unencumbered, non-religious, free relationship with the living God by and through faith in the finished work . . . of His Son.
I am not against the work of the Tanners, or John Dehlin, or any of the others, but in the end, all of it stops short, all of it feeds into the bondage Mormonism introduced to peoples lives, and none of it offers the Spiritual solution a contextual view of scripture makes plain.
In my book, and in the scope of what genuinely liberates the human soul, these fails are unconscionable, self-centered, and lack in the selfless, sacrificial, insufferable love “exiting LDS folk” both need and deserve.
Right on the heels of the ex-Mormon formats, we have another landing spot that seems to help the exiting LDS spiritually, and therefore seems to be more in harmony with what really works but the fact of the matter is, these offerings serve to bring ex-LDS folks back into more bondage – and of a similar type.
This comes from the outstretched hands of other institutional religions. This is really hard for some people to realize because for them, any outreach to God, whether formalized in the doctrines of a religious institution or not, is always good.
But from the context of scripture this is far from the truth. As mentioned earlier, when the Son of God died on the cross for the sins of the world, the veil that once separated the world of Man from the holy place of God was torn in two.
This signified forevermore that all people, from that day forward, had access to God without any mediaries ever again.
Unfortunately, human beings are unable to accept this and have ever since inserted themselves between Man and his Maker, where God Himself says that this should not be – which is why He sent both His Son and the Spirit of His Son into the world.
We ardently promote this direct subjective relationship all people can have with God, and maintain that this is genuinely
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“Faith without Religion,” and encourage folks to come to see for themselves that this is biblical and the most liberating way to spiritually thrive – in a direct unencumbered and uninterrupted relationship with Him.
Not understanding these principles, however, many ex-LDS, and most of the rest of the religious world, allow intermediaries and their associated institutions (when applicable) to interfere with what should be direct access to God, and find themselves once again, entangled in the wisdom and ways of men and the chains that come with it all.
Granted, organized religious does offer something most people long for in their religious observances – community with like minded people, fellowship and events that can be enhanced when others are involved like worship, service to the community, volunteering and the like.
But all of these things can be participated in without religion, and without human demands on who, what, where and how a person must believe.
Additionally, when former Latter-Day Saints join other religions, most of them find these expressions failing by comparison to the impressive governance, organization and power of the LDS collective, and often fail to see the value in submitting to more unauthorized authority in their lives when it tends to offer them so much less.
Regrettably, former members who seek out religion in different forms merely substitute one organizational approach to God with another, never really knowing that there is a much more liberating way that God Himself offers all who are willing to seek.
This way has been shunned and shut down by religionists from every corner of the world because it does NOT serve to keep them in operation and so they reject these reasonable explanations out of hand while condemning those who see and accept them.
For the LDS folks leaving the church who insist on joining another religious institution of any kind, we would suggest the following:
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Find a church that does not impose overt doctrinal musts or practices on your family, one that sides with agape love, and all of its fruit and seeks to teach you biblically based principles in spirit and truth rather than biblically based demands.
Beware of any pastor or church that claims to possess authority of any kind over you, and reject any group or person that seeks to govern your life in any way with their version of what you must be over who you might become through faith in Yeshua.
Above all – please hear me – above all seek to discover right out of the gate if the church you attend or the pastor or reverend presenting it represents, teaches or endorses Reformed or Calvinist theology – also known as Five Point Calvinism.
There is nothing – no more revolting doctrine on earth than these and you are far better off an active faithful member of the false LDS empire than believing in the God they promote and the salvation they endorse.
In my estimation, they are nothing more than, The American Taliban. In fact, while we are here and on the subject of Five Point Calvinism, let me give you an example of the mindset of these people.
Reformed theology has some men who are outspoken in this world. One is Matt Slick (whom I love as a person and brother but not his beliefs) another is Jeff Durban, another is James White and there are many others.
Let me share with you the mindset of Jeff Durbin which often comes out in subjects like homosexuality, abortion and even against people who differ with his hard legalistic doctrines.
Ready? In a recorded media interview, Pastor Jeff Duban said,
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“Abortion should be considered a crime. It should be considered murder. You’re unjustly taking the life of a human being. And so that’s murder. And what I’ve said is the historic position of Christian church, that if you take the life of a human being, unjustly, then what the state owes you — if it’s proven and it’s true — is capital punishment. You forfeit your right to live.”
Jeff Durban
Five Point Calvinist
I am not promoting abortion nor am I condemning women who have had them. I find the whole thing very sad, very damaging and hard on all participants.
But the “historic position of the Christians church” says nothing about those who take the life of a human being other than to forgive them – with historic meaning Yeshua’s teachings.
And this is just one example of the absolute worst Christian view on the face of the earth. So, whatever you do, my exiting LDS brothers and sisters, don’t join the American Taliban if you are looking to be rightly led in the faith.
You might as well buy a turban or a Birka and follow the rules of the Afghani taliban because in the end, they pretty much share the same view of God.
(By the way, next week we are going to do a special show where we Crack Calvinism in half exposing its error – so watch out for that).
Sadly then, exiting LDS folk are left to their own devices, which as stated, is literally the dark fruit of Mormonism itself and typically leaves them either embracing sin (as their former church defines it), deep bitterness, anger and even hate, or being devoted to another form of false religious authority and doctrine and therefore continuing to live lives in bondage.
I rejoice over the rare ex-LDS folks who are able to retain a love and devotion for God and His Son after leaving the church, who refrain from pursuing their fleshly desires, who reject diving head-long into sources that keep Mormonism and all that it has done to harm them alive, and who freely move out into life in faith in God and love for others without the trappings of organized religion.
But these are typically few and far between.
Finally, in the realm of religious substitutes that some LDS souls embrace, there exists the pseudo-LDS extension or sects that somehow are able to convince LDS souls who see the modern leadership of Mormonism as failing that the teachings Joseph Smith remain true and that they are the chosen ones to keep it going on earth.
Again, this is just another result of the power and persuasion of what Smith introduced to the world that in the end always, without exception, leads to more religious bondage in the lives of those participants who choose to run after them.
I’ve little to say to people trapped by the tides of these influences and their influencers, but they are out there and tend to thrive when good LDS people are led to believe that yet another man bears the spiritual gifts of their long dead founder.
These expressions break my heart for the simple reason they are honestly like sheep being led to another spiritual, and even sometimes a physical, slaughter.
The last form of religion many members embrace, which IS a religion contrary to those who maintain them, is that of atheism and dark agnosticism which are pretty much non faith religious observances.
Here is the reality of such, hard as it might be to hear – it’s a choice. No different than any choice each of us make when it comes to God.
In other words, it’s a choice to not believe as much as it is a choice to believe. It’s a choice to mock God as much as it is a personal choice to honor Him.
There are no proofs either way, folks – not our education, not our feelings or emotions nor our intellect.
Faith AND NON-faith are simply choices we make based on the evidences we see around us and how we choose to interpret and assign them to ourselves.
Sadly, our atheist friends see the same evidences around them as insufficient for choosing faith as people who choose faith find those same evidences as supportive.
There is no debate with an atheist – there is nothing to say to them other than to express your love for them, which is also a choice, and to respect their decisions to not believe.
We cannot judge them on God’s behalf, we cannot condemn them as God Himself gave them and all people the right to choose to believe or not.
But sadly, atheism and agnosticism are the last dark fruits of Mormonism itself as promised and those who eat of it find themselves truly in the power of the one that created it.
Again, in all my years, there is one real, valid, effective solution to Mormonism once embraced but then abandoned.
We will begin to present our findings orbiting around it in the weeks to come.
Let’s open the phone lines 220-222-hotm and while we wait lets remind you that every Thursday from 11AM to 1PM MTN we do a live call in as well.
CLOSE
Next week, give us one chance to explain what we have discovered to be the best landing spot or response any person on earth can discover – if they are interested in an unencumbered relationship with God.
See you then, here, on Heart of the Matter Full Circle.
