Heart of the Matter: Announcements and Reflections on Faith

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. Show 6 BOM 36 – Harvest A February 7th, 2012

And I’m Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion., your host.

We praise the True and Living God for allowing us to participate in this ministry. May He be with you (and us) tonight.

Important Announcements

Okay, please get a paper as it’s…

GRAPHIC: “ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!”

I’m gonna move quick here so listen and take note.

We hold church “deconstructed” every Sunday. Go to www.c-a-m-p-u-s.com for more information.

AM 820 replays Heart of the Matter every Sunday from 1 to 2.

We are going to be holding our annual Open Water Baptism this coming March 10th (a Saturday) at the following locations:

9am in Logan at the Alpine Church 12pm in Riverdale at the Alpine Church 3pm in Salt Lake City at the Adventure Church 6pm in Provo at the Provo Baptist Church

If you want to be water baptized show up at one of these locations, bring a set of clothes and a towel and a desire to claim Jesus as Lord of your life. That’s it and that’s Saturday, March 10th 2012.

It’s time to update our Alathea Ambassadors list. Check it out.

We are planning and scheduling a nation-wide tour to take place this coming summer of 2012. Here is a list of the parts of the Nation we will be and the days we’ll be there. Take note and if inclined, get in touch with the local churches, Christian radio and television networks, and let them know we’re coming out to “equip the true Saints” for the coming onslaught of… the Latter-day Saints.

Now listen, we are going to have a summer of Guest Host’s here on heart while I am away BUT I WILL BE HERE EVERY SUNDAY TO TEACH AT CAMPUS. GOT THAT? Okay.

We are gathering testimonies from people for our new television program which airs right here on TV20 Friday Nights at 8pm. The name of the show? The Ex-Files. So tune in.

If you were once LDS and are now a born-again Christian, please consider being interviewed on this important and timely program. Just go to www.exmormonfiles.tv and tell Bishop Earl who you are. We’ll go from there.

Finally, Alathea Ministries offers a number of products to help you in your growth and understanding of all things related to the growing and highly schizophrenic Mormon / Christian debate.

The three books we offer are: “I Was a Born-Again Mormon” “If/Then” and Where Mormonism Meets Biblical Christianity Face to Face.” We also offer an outstanding video tape called: “A Mormon President” Soooooo… go to www.hotm.tv and check it all out.

A Message from the Heart

Got an email last week that truly reveals what is at the Heart of many Mormons and at the same time this one really got under my skin.

What did it say? Speaking of our ministry this LDS man wrote:

“If people are going to leave Mormonism, then it's admirable that they can still have Jesus. They'll be in the Terrestrial Kingdom, and they'll be happier than they can imagine, so that's great: Salvation without doing works.

But if they leave the Church and forfeit the reward in the Celestial Kingdom because of deceit or misconceptions, or because you are exploiting the foibles of members (members don't define the true church; doctrine does), then that's immoral and abominable.

Apparently, you know you are doing evil, because you've ignored my past comments, or haven't been able to answer them.

I've told you that if Mormonism agreed 100% with the Bible, then we wouldn't be who we claimed to be: a second witness to Jesus Christ.

Yet you continue to allow people to leave the Church by not mentioning that important fact (among others).

You withhold truth, my friend, so you are guilty of allowing faulty judgments, which is deception. To seek followers through deception is walking a thin line, and playing with fire. You won't last long in that state.

So be warned, my friend. The near future will see your regret for your deceptions, unless you change your ways. I say this, because I fear for your children and other innocents close to you. I pray for them, because I believe you are putting them in…

Commentary on John 3:14-18

Last week we covered the familiar verse found at John 3:16. Tonight I want to back up a few verses then read through John 3:16 to John 3:18 and do some preachin.’

Stepping back to John 3:14, we read where Jesus himself said to Nicodemus:

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

The LDS articles of faith say:

“We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved BY . . . obedience to the LAWS and ORDINANACES of the Gospel.”

But Jesus Himself said “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus reiterates the point in verse 16, as we commented last week, saying:

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Again, here in the Bible Jesus Himself says: “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

But I have in my collection of Mormon Propaganda an LDS tract called, The Purpose of Life, printed in 1983 which contains this line: “You May Earn Salvation through Christ.”

(verse 17)

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

LDS Views on Salvation

The LDS have this strange, sort of “schizophrenic” understanding on salvation or on being “saved” means. On the one hand, they say salvation (being saved) is a free gift, and they equate it to being resurrected. This is the free gift, the grace of Christ works passed to all men. When a person goes once resurrected is up to their choices and works. That’s the first way they define salvation.

But then they have this Article of Faith that reads: “We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved BY . . . obedience to the LAWS and ORDINANACES of the Gospel.” In this sense, they equate salvation with obedience to laws and ordinances available only in the LDS church.

Then they have their Book of Mormon teaching that says: “For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, AFTER all WE can do.” (2nd Nephi 25:23)

Salvation Through Faith

But listen to what Jesus, again JESUS HIMSELF, said in His dialogue with Nicodemus. Notice how often He uses the word “believe or believeth”:

Speaking of Himself, He says (verse 18)

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Savation by grace through faith on Him – Jesus Christ, God incarnate, the Great I AM.

And with that let’s have a prayer.

So last week we harvested the Book of Mormonion – pulled that sucker out of the ground and noted that the first thing we noticed about it was it verbosity and a tremendous problem with grammar. What else do we notice about Joseph’s Book of Mormonion? Anachronisms.

Now, an anachronism is something that is out of place relative to chronology, or the order of things. If I were to state that: “The first car ever built was a Ferrarri Testerosa which was then followed by the Ford Model T,” you would detect an obvious problem with chronology in my statement. History tells us that the Model T came first and well before the Ferrarri Testarosa.

Well, good old Joseph, not understanding time and chronology nor the nuance of languages included a boat-load of anachronisms in his divinely delivered book. For example, Joseph included quotations from the King James version of the Bible. When this Bible was produced, the translators used many language characteristics fitted to the time and place of when it was produced. This includes

Analysis of Joseph's Usage of Language and Naming

Grammatical errors in the text of the King James version since found and corrected. But Joseph included the translation errors existent in the King James Bible in his Book of Mormon, which was supposed to have been written a thousand years before the King James was ever compiled.

Joseph uses the word "synagogue" in the Book of Mormonion, but "synagogues" were created AFTER (and in response to) the Babylonian captivity and Joseph’s BOM characters left prior to any synagogue ever existing. In other words, Joseph used the term in his false ancient text not knowing the word didn’t exist during the period he assigned to it.

Then there is the anachronistic use of elements Joseph (out of ignorance) used in his book. For example, he gave his made-up Pre-Columbian inhabitants domesticated objects like cattle, horses, sheep, barley, and wheat but made no mention of the types of objects that were available to such people. Why? Because Joseph, not knowing the facts, created OUT OF HIS IMAGINATION a world that simply did not exist. Reciting stories to his family was easy. They didn’t know what was fact or fiction. But we do now. Interestingly and ironically, those who follow him today are of the same mindset – facts are irrelevant as all the beauty and merit exist in the tale, in the feelings, in the myth.

Cultural and Historical Inconsistencies

Then there are the Greek proper nouns assigned to Joseph’s fictional characters in his book. Remember, according to Joseph, Lehi’s family left the Palestine by boat around 600 years before Christ. Well, somewhere between 100 and 200 years later a civilization in a far away place began to get legs – they were called the Greeks – and their influence on Jewish culture was profound. But there was no way Lehi and his family would have known anything about the Greeks or their culture because it didn’t truly exist when they supposedly left for the Americas by boat. Nevertheless, Joseph gives some of his Book of Mormonion characters GREEK names.

This would be like my claiming I have unearthed an ancient book, written in 500 AD. I never let anyone see the actual book except people in my family or from a family very close to mine, and then I claim an alien spacecraft came and took the manuscript away once I was done with it. Once I have the book printed, you discover that one of the characters in my book is named Harrison Ford. “Well,” you say to yourself, “I guess it’s possible.” But as you continue to read, you discover another name, “Mickey Mouse” and then another, “Luke Skywalker” and “Taylor Swift,” and “Hoss Cartwright.” At some point, you’d have to question the veracity of this book… wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you?

Well, this is what Joseph did when he included the Greek names __________ ________________ in his Book of Mormonion.

Protecting Against Criticism

Over the course of the six or seven years Joseph worked on his outline for the book, he had to have known he was going to make errors. Somehow he needed to protect himself for the mistakes he had to have known would crop up. As a means to head off obvious future problems at the pass, Joseph has his Book of Mormonion character Moroni actually say in the narrative:

“Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write, we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words. And when I said this the Lord spake unto me, Fools mock, but they shall mourn.” (Ether 12:25-26)

As a double indemnity, Smith also has Moroni say:

“ . . . and if there be faults, they be the faults of man. But behold, we know no fault. Nevertheless, God knoweth all things; therefore he that condemneth, let him be aware lest he shall fall in danger of hell fire.” (Moroni 8:17)

You know, this type of language, speaking boldly in the name of God, was popularized by Joseph Smith, propagated by Brigham Young, and continues today from the mouths of many Latter-day Saints who think it insignificant to speak in the name of the Lord. I find it highly disturbing that so much of what LDS members and missionaries alike say and do is in the name of Jesus Christ. They do not teach the doctrine or teachings of Jesus Christ in context but they have no problem using and employing His authoritative name to everything.

Critique of LDS Testimonies

I recently had a telephone conversation with a former LDS attorney named Greg who brought this to my attention. He said, in effect: Have you ever noticed that LDS people get up in fast and testimony meetings to testify of "the Church being true," "the gospel being restored," "that Joseph Smith is a true prophet," of "priesthood blessings," and they do it all in the name of Jesus Christ. When do the LDS ever get up and just talk and bear testimony of Jesus being God, the savior, the only source of salvation in their testimonies? Never! They always testify of a dozen things and might include Jesus being "the Christ" in the mix.

Good point, Greg. I also can’t help worry about how lightly they employ the name of Jesus Christ when testifying of “The Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and the Church being true.” Do they understand the serious implication of claiming something TRUE by the holy “name of Jesus Christ?”

Did former LDS General Authority Paul Dunn, when he would stand up and tell lie after lie after lie . . . and then close humbly, “in the name of Jesus Christ?” Do the missionaries when they promise and testify that Joseph is the true prophet of the restoration? I mean, the LDS love to say they do “everything” in the name of Jesus Christ! I am not convinced this is a very wise practice. But in the end, they got the habit from their founder, a man who had no fear of speaking for the living God – either in written or spoken words.

Addressing Concerns and Advice Requests

We’re going to open the phone lines a bit early tonight . . .

(801) 973-8820
(801) 973-TV20

. . . while our operators are clearing your calls I want to hit on a few emails and articles we’ve received.

Mormon Missionaries in Nursing Homes

Shawn,
My name is Dan K and I live in Chatham, Ontario, Canada.

Shawn I could use some practical advice and prayer. One of my volunteer activities is helping out with church services in a local nursing home. When I am not taking the service myself my job is to collect people for church and help those in need at the service. When I went in yesterday there were a couple of Mormon missionaries sitting at the back of the chapel. When I brought this to the attention of my supervisor I was informed that they were that with the permission of the House Chaplain. I was also informed that they would be doing services and to keep my opinions to myself. Shawn these folks have been with the Lord for 60-70-80 years and for most of them at this point do not have the discernment to recognize false doctrine and teachings. Leaving the nursing home or not showing up to the services they lead is not an option as I feel the need to correct false teachings amongst the people I care for so much.

Maybe this is a new tactic for the L.D.S. church, try to convert those that are not aware enough to recognize false teaching. I sure could use some advice.

From: Josef jtlong08@gmail.com
Subject: eternal existence

Message Body:
Hello, I was wondering if you could help clear up something for me. I witness to a lot of Mormons and one of the key verses I use is Isaiah 43:10. However, lately Mormons have been responding with something like, "God has always existed, because his spirit has always existed in the pre-existence" or something really similar.

I'm confused because I thought Mormons believed that 'God' and his goddess wives have intercourse and produce spirit babies on their planet, and then when someone is born on another planet, one of the spirit babies possesses that body. Is this correct? If so, then wouldn't the Mormon be lying when he says that their god has always existed eternally?

I just want to make sure I am using a sound argument and not creating a straw-man against the Mormons.

Carl
forgivingabraham@gmail.com

Do you have your born-again Mormon book available as an audio book in DVD or CD format that I could play in a computer or car? If not have you thought about making it available as an audio book?

From: dyers momo.nota@yahoo.com
Subject: preppers

Is it biblical to be a prepper? With “prepper” being a person who stockpiles food and other things in preparation for any

Mormon Beliefs and Historical Insights

litany of catastrophic events i.e. economic failure, earthquake, ect.

From: randy thegreatwhitehype18@yahoo.com
Subject: final thought

Message Body:
just wondering if you we're witnessing to a mormon, what would be your "final thought" in a sense. if you had a few last words to say to an LDS person, what would you say to get through to them? maybe you can point me to a show to watch where u answer this question. thanks shawn

From: Joe Seely jseely219@bigstring.com
Subject: Priesthood Rules

Message Body:
If a person is elected to serve as president in this country (U.S.A.) are they required to put the church first or the state first and would that cause a conflict… In other words… would his / her leadership be influenced by outside sources not viewed as one who has the country's growth in mind and an expediential religious growth in power / dictatorship?

Voting and Religion

From: chad hites jchites@yahoo.com
Subject: who do u vote for.

Message Body:
If Romney is a mormon and Obama is a musslim who should i vote for for President? I know mormons are wrong

From: kristian Christiansiordia@yahoo.com
Subject:

Message Body:
DId Jesus Christ have any biological brothers?

Personal Journeys in Faith

From: Jeffrey Hodge jeffahodge@yahoo.com
Subject: Former Ogden/U oF U non mormon Discriminant

Message Body:
Dear Shawn,
I was a non-Mormon from CT that moved to Ogden during my sophomore year to Ogden High School. I was an outcast as a non-Mormon by the way I talked to the way I dressed. I was like Kevin Bacon on Footloose. In Utah you are labeled either LDS or a total burn out, there is no middle class. Being raised Episcopalian I had no idea who was Christ either. My girlfriend tried to take her life after 4 years of dating due to the pressure from her family to get rid on me not being a LDS. I soon went on in a long life of seeing more of the world having a need to find truth.

I even went to India to study meditation and found myself getting more "spiritual" but more lost. Thank God at the age of 36 that someone had the courage to bring the Gospel to me at work in CT where I now live. I currently am a born again Christian and love to give the Gospel as much as I can. I just lost my job because I offered a Christian Fitness Class being the Gym Fitness Manager there.

Anyways I recently found your site and ministry and want to reach to the LDS community as well. MY heart feels for them now knowing the closed community of Utah and the deception. The one thing I do know that is that each person must seek truth first. The Lord will send someone with the truth of his word. You also must be willing to give all to follow Christ as he said. Sometimes that means those closest to you will not like you. God bless you all and feel free to contact me to help out the ministry in Danbury, CT. Love,

P.S. I sometimes where my cowboy hat when street witnessing so they know that I am not a LDS or Jehovah witness thanks to your influence of many great looks.
Jeff

Glen Eames
eames@atcnet.net

Shawn,

Just found out the paper will not print your op-ed letter about the first lady and president because according their rules you are not local,

The only word to discribe most mormons is "hubris" (If you say something they don't like they give you that smirk smile with all is arrogance and walk away)

FEB 2nd
SALT LAKE CITY — In a world of ever-increasing Internet use, some Mormons are stumbling upon facts or claims about their beliefs that leave them feeling blind-sided. But the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is trying to help church members understand more about their history. Richard L. Bushman is the author of "Rough Stone Rolling" which was published in 2005, and is viewed by many as the definitive biography of LDS Church Founder Joseph Smith Jr. Bushman said some church members have a hard time finding answers to questions and lose trust in the church, and even faith in God. After his book was published, Bushman began receiving emails from people with questions about church history.

The problem is not so much that there are no answers to historical questions, but that people discover this or that historical fact that they had never heard before. –- Daniel Peterson

"I've been aware that

Understanding LDS Church History

"The LDS Church has been concerned about this for quite a while," said Bushman in an interview with the Deseret News. "And the church historian has been saying for quite a while that we just need to get this information out." Elder Marlin K. Jensen is a member of the church's Quorums of the Seventy and also has served as the church historian. He has acknowledged how some people are surprised and troubled by what they read in church history, but that the church is trying to help Mormons understand more about their history. Jensen reported that the church is working on improving church curriculum for the youth so that people are not surprised when they stumble across things about the church's history.

Encouragement to Seek Knowledge

Daniel Peterson, a member of the LDS church and a BYU professor, talked about Mormons not knowing church history. "The problem is not so much that there are no answers to historical questions, but that people discover this or that historical fact that they had never heard before," Peterson told the Deseret News. "They then feel like the church had been hiding the fact and so lose a sense of trust."

Joseph Smith Papers Project

Part of the effort to educate the members of the LDS church more fully is the Joseph Smith Papers Project that reveals further writings and teachings of the prophet. Bushman advises anyone that has questions about church history or doctrine to not be afraid to ask or to search for answers. "You have to tell them to keep studying, keep looking, go to the depths of the problem."

"We’ve thought about it but operate at this point with limited resources and staff. Good things take time. If so led and are able, we’ll pursue this direction."