Heart of the Matter: Mormonism and Biblical Christianity

LIVE! From the “Mecca of Mormonism” Salt Lake City, Utah – THIS . . . is Heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology. . . . “Where Mormonism Meets Biblical Christianity Face to Face.” And I’m your host, Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion.

Show 34: Examining D&C 132

August 25th, 2009 If you have family or friends who cannot get Heart through television give them a call and tell them to go to www.hotm.tv. They can watch through streaming video from anywhere in the world!

“I was a Born-Again Mormon” Available through PDF download at www.hotm.tv. Check it out. Go to www.hotm.tv and you can have it in your hands within minutes.

Burning Heart 09

What is coming up? What is it? That’s right, friends, it’s . . . Burning Heart 09 The Big Tent Revival Live Bands (including Adams Road from Florida – who are a bunch of returned LDS missionaries who all found Jesus) and Jeremiah’s Fire. Box Lunches from Subway will be available along with cotton candy, popcorn, inflated things for the kids, and booths for the adults. Then we'll head inside a giant tent for the BIG TENT REVIVAL where I am gonna preach and teach a message of salvation. This event is certainly to fellowship, but we hope those of you who cannot say that you have been saved – Mormon, non-Mormon, we don’t care – come join us and give Jesus a chance.

When: Saturday Sept 5th 2009 Where: Sugarhouse Park Time: 5 to 8 pm Who: Everyone but disruptors, assassins . . . and white men dressed as Indians. Why: Worship, gather, meet and greet and say goodbye to summer.

Burning Heart 09 The Big Tent Revival Saturday, September 5th 5-8pm.

Examining Mormon Beliefs

Two weeks ago, we ended our program with a last-minute call from an LDS man from Brigham City. Of everything he said, he made two statements which I want to address tonight. They are statements that, if you don’t think about them, they seem to make sense in the way he presented them. In reality, however, they are ludicrous.

First, he said something like, “I’ve watched you talk about blacks and the priesthood and polygamy, but I think you need to look at the big picture,” the inference being that we are focusing on issues that are in the past that don’t truly reflect Mormonism present or its wider essence.”

Now think about this. First, if anyone is looking at the “big picture” it is those people who are willing to examine Mormonism and ALL that it has been, all that it is, and all that it continues to be. This is seeing what it truly represents. This is the Big Picture. There are so many millions who are in Mormonism today who selectively examine it through their own very narrow view.

They see that Jesus Christ’s name is in the name of their Church. (and they say, see, were “Christian” as if that would determine what Christianity is!) They hear his name used to end their public and private prayers. (and they say “see, we’re Christian”) In other words, they see what will verify their faith, and discard the reality of Mormonism as a whole. This is NOT looking at the “big-picture.” It’s looking for what you want to find.

A true “big-picture” perspective is to examine ALL of Mormonism – not just what you want to use to substantiate your pet personal beliefs. You want to examine DOCTRINE front to back and see how it compares to the Bible. You want to examine PRACTICES past and present, and see how they have contributed to the thing you embrace today. You want to be able to openly and freely admit that you have discovered that some things in your examination are wrong, are lies, and are evil. If you can’t, won’t, or don’t, you are NOT looking at the “Big Picture.”

And while I’m at it, let me throw this in for good measure. Can a person who is IN the LDS church speak out for the things they discover to be wrong? No. They will ex-you. This is why I do it. I am in a position to say all that is wrong without any repercussions.

The SECOND statement the caller two weeks ago made was the very Mormonitious thinking that says, “when you want to know the truth about something, you go to the source.”

They say:

“If you want to know about a Ford, go to the Ford dealership, not a Chevy dealership.”

When it comes to getting to the bottom line truth about Mormonism…

Truth and Belief in Mormonism

A billion dollar corporation and the people who love it, this is the most ridiculous logic I have ever heard. It’s like saying, when you want to know the truth about, let’s say, Watergate, we should have gone to Nixon. And when we want the truth about some major fast food chain feeding children dog meat, well go to the corporate officers and to people who just love the chain because it makes them feel so happy inside! Have you EVER heard anything more ridiculous in your life?

Mormons WANT you to join Mormonism with all their hearts. That is understandable. Many of them truly appreciate what the institution does for them and their families. These are the true believers. True believers will say ANYTHING necessary to obscure the tough questions and focus on the positive. It’s sales – pure and simple.

Seeking the Truth

You want the truth about Mormonism? Take the 60 Minutes approach. Go and speak to a Mormon. Take your toughest questions to them and listen to what they say. Pay particular attention to what they DON’T tell you. Then go to someone who has left Mormonism and knows their stuff. Not someone bitter and angry. Just someone who knows their stuff.

1. Sandra Tanner
2. Bill McKeever
3. Aaron Sha

There are all sorts of ministries out there and people who know the truth. Then ask them the same questions. The interesting thing is that where the corporation will back their claims up with clean corporate imagery and the true believers will deliver their answers with great sincerity – even tears – those who have been there and left will support what they say with evidence.

Joy in Finding the Truth

Let me ask you something: What benefit do we really get when someone from Brazil writes us and tells us they have learned the truth about Mormonism for themselves and are now following the biblical Jesus? We will never meet this person. They will never send us money. What we get is the absolute JOY in knowing that they have been freed from a life of religious bondage and more importantly, have come to a saving RELATIONSHIP with the Lord Jesus.

Introduction of Doctrine and Covenants 132

All right, our topic for the next two weeks is going to be an actually reading Doctrine and Covenants 132 – which is part of Mormon Scripture today – and detailing for you what that thing actually says.

But before we introduce this to you tonight, I must give some attention to our guest last week – the Man in White. In our ministry, I can tell when we really struck a nerve when BOTH sides of the fence – the LDS viewers and the Christian viewers – are up in arms over something we have done. When we introduced the term, “Born-Again Mormon” people from both sides freaked out. When I grew my hair, there has been some freaking from the LDS and some freaking from the Christians.

Well, my email this week has been nothing short of a freak show. The accusations from all sides range from insanity to horrendousness. People are assigning motives to me and our ministry. They are attacking our guest with all they’ve got. They are telling me I’ve sunk to a new low or that I’ve made a great mistake. So before we have a prayer, I want to shed some light on The Man in White.

First of all, he is a real person. He represented himself and his vision. We did not hire him, prompt him, pay him, or tell him what to say. He is not a scripted actor – though it is possible he could be acting. The Man in White stands out on the street on next to the LDS temple – sometimes all day – doing what he believes God has called him to do. This leads me to a second point. The Man in White says he believes God has called Him to do what he is doing. Those who know him personally are saying that this is false, that he is deluded, sick, and out of his mind. And some Christians are saying that what he is doing is evidence of how bad “receiving personal revelation” – which the LDS are big on – can get. I see both points and agree that there may be some truth to them.

Perspective on The Man in White

But this was not why we had him on the program. Please hear this again: We did NOT invite the Man in White on the program to exploit his apparent delusions or to show the LDS how “off” personal revelations can be.

Let me explain our perspective relative to these opinions. We live in an age where

Mental Illness and Perception

Almost everything can be summed up as mental illness. We call this progress in science and medicine. The manual for diagnosing these illnesses has grown from a single volume being this thick to a multi-volume set with each book being this thick over the past twenty-five years. Our view is that because someone does different things – strange things – very odd and peculiar things – does not mean they are sick. In our opinion, human beings all have mental illness and sickness is subjectively applied.

Thank God Vincent van Gogh wasn’t alive today, they would have put him on something and chained him to a corporate desk somewhere.

John the Baptist?

Jeremiah?

Isaiah?

Jesus?

God’s Sovereignty

We truly embrace the idea that God is sovereign and in charge of all things, and I personally stand by the belief that God is using the Man in White – whether you can prove him delusional or not. Our ministry is to reach out to any and all who have crumbled – in one way or another – under the weight of Mormonism. I believe the Man in White is one of them. Now, at the same time, Christians who criticize the LDS notion of receiving revelation love and support people who do some very odd things – so long as those things support their Christian cause.

Personal Revelation in Christianity

They are more than ready to applaud apparent zealots who bear giant wooden crosses and stumble around abortion clinics in the name of Jesus. Christians use the term, “I was lead,” to do this or that, or, “God has placed this on my heart.” These terms are synonymous with Mormon people receiving personal revelation. Christians are big on saying that personal revelation must be in line with the Bible, but how many Christians do things in their lives that are not given biblical veracity and yet believe they were “led to do them?” PLENTY.

Knock it off. Just knock it all off.

When it comes to doctrine, we stand by biblical authority. But in the day-to-day nuances of life, Christians believe in personal revelation as much as the LDS – perhaps even more, AND take actions that are outside the pale of biblical support when they do them.

The Man in White

I wanted the Man in White to come on the air for the following reasons, believe them or not: First, I believe God has, and will continue to use, him to get people to think, examine, and investigate their own hearts. To the non-LDS, the man in white was an outward picture of how the LDS ultimately want to be – holy, clothed in robes, shining above the rest. And yet the image is unsettling, and gives non-LDS an idea of what the ultimate goal of Mormonism is – human perfection. To the LDS, the man in white is but a mirror reflection. He is them. His ideals and ideas are theirs only taken to a celestialized extreme.

It was interesting that the one LDS caller we had regarding his appearance was NOT offended that he desired to be “as great as or even better than Jesus Christ,” but that he was wearing their sacred clothing in public! Can you believe this? This was a live expose on the differences between people who become religious and people who have a RELATIONSHIP with the true and living God. Everything the Man in White said was presented in the most lofty hyperbole – he was honest enough, bold enough, some of you would say insane enough, to tell it like it is. We were immediately drawn to him because he is unafraid. Whatever it is that motivated or moved him, the Man in White embodied, to the fullest extent, what Mormonism produces – people who believe they can become God’s.

And with Jesus Christ being an elder brother within Mormonism, and Joseph Smith himself claiming he had more to boast of than even Jesus Christ, and every faithful Latter-day Saint believing they can become a God, the Man in White was NOT out of line in his desire to become equal to, or better than, my LORD, my God, and my King.

I had a faithful viewer write and state that he believed that having the man in white on the program was a step-backward in the ministry. I wrote back and told him that I believe that this program will do more – around the world – to open LDS eyes, and to stop the progress of Mormonism, than any other program we have done to date. So let’s step back.

Topic: Mormon Scriptures and Polygamy

now, and watch and see what my God and King will do. And with that, let’s have a prayer.

Examination of Section 132

Mormonism lays claim to not just the Bible as the word of God, but additionally three other books of scripture as well as living oracles or prophets who receive revelation for the world. Their three other books are called the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants. In the Doctrine and Covenants, there are a number of sections, and one of the last to be delivered from God’s mouth to Joseph’s ear, according to believing Mormons today, is Section 132. Section 132 is interesting on a number of accounts. We have done a lot of talking about it over the years – primarily because it contains the “revelation,” Joseph Smith Jr. claims to have received on plural marriage. Every now and again we have members of the Church contact us and say that D&C 132 is NOT about plural marriage. And of course Salt Lake City Mormonism claims today they have nothing to do with plural marriage today. We are going to spend a few weeks going through Section 132 so you can hear for yourself what it says, and then you can ask yourself, “And this is still in the LDS book of scripture WHY?”

Section 132 contains 66 verses, and has been called by one commentator of LDS Scripture as “one of the very great revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants.” In 1831, Joseph Smith was involved in re-translating the Holy Bible (by virtue of spiritual insights he says God gave him). Sidney Rigdon was his scribe. When he began to read about the Lord’s favor upon His Old Testament prophets, he was perplexed about how these prophets of God ALSO practiced polygyny – which is the taking of more than one wife (polyandry is the taking of more than one husband – both titles fall under the broad name of polygamy – which is what I will use for convenience sake from here on out).

Verse one of Section 132 lays out for us why Joseph received the revelation in the first place:

(READ VERSE 1-2)

Joseph Smith's Revelation on Plural Marriage

Now the date of the publication of this revelation is July 12 1843, but most LDS scholars and researchers agree that the revelation actually was given about twelve years earlier since it is pretty well documented that Joseph Smith practiced plural marriage from as early as 1833. Vs 52 of Section 132 reveals that here in 1843 Joseph already had a number of wives because it has the LORD say to Emma: “And let my hand-maiden Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, AND who are virtuous and pure before me.” Did you understand this? Let me repeat it. Joseph had been secretly practicing plural marriage since around 1833, and here, about ten years later, he delivered a revelation on the subject and in the revelation he has God tell his wife Emma that she is too receive all (the women) that have been “given” to her husband AND . . . AND . . . AND those (other women) who would be found virtuous and pure before Him.”

According to Joseph Smith’s personal and private male scribe, William Clayton: “On the morning of the 12th Joseph and Hyrum came into the office in the upper story of the brick store on the upper banks of the Mississippi river. They were talking on the subject of plural marriage. Hyrum said to Joseph: “If you will write the revelation on celestial marriage, I will take it and read it to Emma, and I believe I can convince her of its truth, and you will hereafter have peace.” Joseph smiled and remarked, “you do not know Emma as well as I do.” Hyrum persisted and Joseph agreed to write the revelation and have Hyrum deliver it to Emma his wife, saying, “I will write it and we shall see.” Hyrum urgently requested that Joseph implement the use of the Urim and Thumim, which was a seer stone he used. Remember, this was 1843 about a year before Joseph’s deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God., so he obviously was still using said stone late into his life. Joseph declined, telling Hyrum that “he knew the revelation perfectly from beginning to end.” The revelation was given and recorded by William Clayton, then Hyrum took it to read to Emma, only to return saying that he “had never

Examination of Section 132

Joseph quietly remarked, “I told you you did not know Emma as well as I did.” Then Joseph took the revelation and left the office with Hyrum.

The revelation was shown to a number of men that day and was then copied. William Clayton then said that Joseph related to him and several others that Emma had pestered him so much over the revelation – asking him to destroy it – and that, in order to get rid of her annoyance, he allowed her to do it – knowing full well that it could be replicated at any time.

What I want to leave you with, before we go to the phones tonight, is one thought. It is based on verse 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the revelation. Remember that Emma Smith rejected the revelation. Remember that Mormonism today, while retaining the revelation in their scripture, has also publicly renounced and rejected it.

The Revelation's Serious Nature

Now listen to what Joseph has the Lord say relative to Section 132. It is SERIOUS business (unless, unless, God says things that aren’t really true. Ready?

VERSE three: “Prepare thy heart to receive and OBEY the instructions which I am about to give unto you, FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE THIS LAW REVEALED unto them MUST obey the same.” Does this include Emma? Does it include members of the LDS church today? Is this not their scripture?

“For behold,” God says in verse 4, “I reveal unto you a New and Everlasting Covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then ye are damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.”

This passage, in and of itself, is reason enough to believe one of three things – either Joseph was a liar, and was making this up, or God is a liar, and doesn’t mean what He says, OR plural marriage is a true part of the New and Everlasting Covenant and the Fundamental LDS people are the only ones who’ve got it right! Because verse four states unequivocally, that “no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into God’s glory.”

The Eternal Principle

Verse 5: “For ALL who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the LAW which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted before the foundations of the world.” In other words, friends, plural marriage is an eternal principle, and no blessing can be given unless it is obeyed.

Then in verse 6, God tells us, through Joseph Smith, why this covenant was introduced in the first place: “And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fullness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fullness thereof MUST and SHALL abide the LAW, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord.

It is no wonder, in light of this revelation, what future LDS leaders and prophets have said about polygamy. Listen:

(READ quotes)

Next week, we’ll continue to examine what the LDS today call scripture, Doctrine and Covenants 132.

Let’s go to the phones: (801) 973-TV20 (801) 973-8820

First-time callers, please. LDS callers if at all possible. Turn down the volume on your sets!

While the operators are clearing calls, let’s take a minute and remind you or introduce you to our Partner’s program.

RUN PARTNERS SPOT

From a couple who just left Mormonism.

EMAILS EMAILS EMAILS EMAILS

FROM MALAYSIA

Raveen

Hello there. My name is Raveen and I'm 27 years old. I'm a Malaysian and I've been watching your show on YOUTUBE. It's a really interesting program. Lately, the Mormon elders have been coming into my home and teaching me about the LDS church. I felt very welcome into their church and I was hoping to get baptized really soon. I believed everything they said and their teachings.. well.. not until I watched your show.. The one thing that I didn't believe in was THE PROFHET. The present one. To me a.. profhet is a Self Actualized person. A man who couldn't care less about what he looks like. His main objective in life is a focus decision. Well, this may sound funny, but I asked the Elders "Why is it so important to believe in the profhet? Isn't believing in Jesus Christ more important than anything else?" I'm the way, the truth, and the light. I'm so glad that I watched your show. I didn't know a lot of things about the LDS church and Joseph Smith until now.. and

Reflections on Mormonism and Personal Faith Journeys

The most disgusting and horrible verse is D&C 132. I read it. I didn't like it. Thanks for saving my life. There are a whole lot of people in Malaysia who have been deceived. No doubt it is a Muslim country, 45% of them are non-Muslims. And people like me, seem to know nothing about Joseph Smith and the LDS church because there's not much information on the internet either. I truly didn't know that Joseph Smith secretly had sex with young girls out of his marriage. I didn’t know that in history the people in Utah, many Mormons, were polygamous and had many wives. Thanks once again for having your show on YouTube. It's really good. It saved my life. I'll be watching your show every day. God Bless you.

A Transformation From Jehovah's Witness to Christianity

FROM A JEHOVAH’S WITNESS on FACEBOOK

Hello Shawn, ??I will try to keep this brief. My name is Brock, I called in to your show earlier this year. I am the Jehovah's Witness:) Well I just wanted to give you my testimony:??I am a 5th Generation Jehovah's Witness and was raised in this religion from my childhood on. My father, a very devoted Elder in the cong. and a great father. My grandpa a prior Presiding Overseer (Basically a Bishop) I will make this very short. My marriage to my wife of two years was winding down and I relied on the Church as a source of comfort. It seemed the worse my marriage got, the more I tried to WORK in the church since I was very well respected and I was advancing quickly. I had no relationship with God and frankly, That didn’t matter to me. I did not even know if God existed. But what did matter, was my own advancement in the Church. Eventually, I was divorced. My wife and I moved on. ??I was so angry at God for not providing me holy spirit when I needed it most. After all, I was doing so much work, why didn’t God return the favor right? Well, I set aside my concerns and met this wonderful girl named Jody. She was LDS. But this presented a problem. After dating her for a while I started to realize that our religions would not work! ??So just to make her happy, I started to research Mormonism and read the Book of Mormon, all this time in the back of my mind, I knew I would be able to prove Mormonism wrong, and bring her to my religion, A Jehovah's Witness:) SO I studied, and I studied, and I went to UTLM.ORG and found some real gems! Everything that I brought to Jody's attention only made her disaffected and emotional. ?Then I stumbled across one of your video clips on YouTube. I couldn’t get enough! It was so great to hear you talk about Mormonism compared to the Bible! I started taking notes, and took an active part in USING MY BIBLE! I had used the Bible my whole life and memorized many scriptures but I was now reading them differently. The big trouble is when you started reading things that contradicted my own religion! This caused me to break down.

A New Beginning in Faith

Three more months of watching your show gave me hope. And I stopped attending my Kingdom Hall. I relied on your show as my Church. However, you encourage your listeners to go to Church for yourself. So the next day at work I recalled a moment in my Kingdom Hall when an Elder made a comment about a Local Calvary Church being constructed down the road, and the entire audience Gasped! So that is the one that I decided to go to. And it worked out perfect! On Feb 8 of this year on my day off, I went up to the church office and told them that I was a Jehovah's Witness, they were very willing to bring out an associate pastor to talk to me. He told me how Truth was not in a Building, it was in Jesus Christ! Among so much other things, he answered my questions about holidays, being Born Again and I remembered everything you told me. That day, after I left, I prayed to God and asked for his Grace! I went to church that day and felt so at home! I took sacrament for the first time in my life (Witnesses only believe 144,000 people can partake of the emblems) I knew I was saved.??About a month later I convinced my Girlfriend Jody to attend. She

Journey to Faith

felt a little out of place because of the singing and the lifting up of the hands, but loved the message. Jody started attending again, and again. And it got to the point where she was reminding me to go to church!? I kept praying to God that Jody would have a relationship with him. Jody was scared to commit to anything since her ENTIRE family and friend base are Mormons (as you can see on our friend list on facebook)?But last sunday, the guest pastor started talking about in Matthew, the illustration of the Virgins attending the wedding festival, and some were not prepared, some did not ave oil in their lamps (Holy spirit) and he started talking about how we need our own relationship with God, going to church, reading your bible has NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. And when talking about testimony, he said "Get your own"?He invited anybody in the audience who has not entered into a relationship with Christ to please raise their hand. At that moment, JODY RAISED HER HAND! She stood up and repeated the prayer and asked to be saved in front of everybody! She said that she could feel the loving Grace of Christ Jesus that day! This was last sunday and she is already talking to me like a Christin, using terms like Grace and Salvation! She has never done this before, I can actually tell she has the holy spirit. She is very nervous to tell her family, and friends, but she says she is ready for when it happens!

Expression of Gratitude

I just wanted to thank you shawn for helping us in this spiritual journey this last year and a half. No doubt your program has assisted in both of us coming into the understanding of what it means to be saved. Jody admitted that your preaching style was a little harsh on people, but she is reading through your book now and we both watch your program every week:) God Bless,?? Brock

A New Hope

Shawn, I'm so excited to share this with you! I'm the guy who called your show a few months ago and asked you how I should leave the mormon church? Well I didn't go to fast and testamony meeting and hand my letter to the bishop. My wife wrote a personal letter explaining our concerns with the doctrin of the church and how we found Jesus and how simple the gospel is. I added some of my own things and we also included all the legal wording to streamline the whole thing thanks to Sandra Tanner. The Bishop actualy told us we didn't need to meet with him and he took care of everything and we don't need to sign anything to have our records removed and our children's. It was all finished and taken care of with that one letter! However he still wanted to meet with us because he had some questions for us… if that was ok with us? We agreed and set the appointment. This was last Tuesday at 8:30 during your show. We pulled into the parking lot, parked the car and said a prayer. I know that God was with us beyond a shadow of a dout! We walked up to the door and there was the bishop waiting for us. Tracee and I were both very happy we had big smiles on our faces and could not help sharing the love for God and our new found hope in the grace of Jesus. I know the bishop felt it too he started to smile as soon as he greeted us and invited us into his office. The mood was very happy and positive for all of us. Then he started to express his love and concern for us and how difficult this is for HIM. He was trying to bring the mood down to a somber one and as he atempted to do this God said NO WAY! We started to express our love for Jesus and grace and hope in the redemer. And how we became friends with "good christian" people and he jumped all over that and said "we aren't good christians?". This did not even phase us we were so filled with gods love we were just going of on how our lives are changed and how happy we are now. We were quoting scriptures and were 100% totaly in the Jesus zone! This went on for about 20 min and then we felt compleate I looked at

Leaving the Church

Tracee and she said to the bishop "I sorry did we cut you off? Was there something you wanted to say?" and he was just dumb founded and he kinda shook his head slowly and said "no" as if he wasn't sure what just happened. I could tell he was searching for words but didn't know what to say. Again he tried to make things sad and how we will be missed and how much he cares for us and loves us. At this point he knew he could not bring down to any admision of guilt or sadness for leaving the church. We shook hands, no hug and expressed thanks for his concerns an we walked out of that office on top of the world! This was the best bishop intreview ever!!! And the last!!!!!!!!!!!

Journey to Becoming True Christians

Praise God! I know he is with us in our journey to becomeing true Christians. Thanks for the show it is a great support for our family.

Upcoming Event

Hey! We hope you and everyone of your neighbors will join us at Sugarhouse Park on Saturday, September 5th at 5pm for our Big Tent Revival. God bless, see you next week, here on Heart of the Matter.