About the editor
I was born in Germany as a Lutheran in 1949. At the end of my seeker years I grew away from the Eastern philosophies and I became a committed Christian at age 21 but then converted to Mormonism age 22. After getting married at age 27 in the UK we migrated to Germany and then later at age 37 to Australia. In 1995 (age 45) I lapsed as a Mormon and turned Christian. I am 65 now and my wife and 6 children have abandoned the LDS church together with me in 1995. My name is still on the LDS record but I fellowship with evangelical Christians. I have reached the Cross Roads and came under the Cross in 1995 and am simply a Christian saved by the Grace of God. Most of my family fellowship with us in Christian Churches.
Walter, Melbourne Australia 2016
My thoughts about leaving
Staying on the LDS record for the time being may give my voice more weight among my dear Mormon relatives and friends. I don't get the label Ex or Anti hung on me. I am able to discriminate between mostly sincere believers and false doctrines. Most Mormons practice their faith in honesty before God. I pray that God will bless the Mormon people with his choicest blessings and ever increasing wisdom and grace towards a complete reformation of the LDS religion. I testify that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the LDS church has told 101 lies to prop up their faith and truth. If God needs that sort of help then the Holy Ghost is redundant. I testify that Jesus Christ is very much alive today with signs and miracles outside of the Mormon Church. Jesus is the embodiment of light and truth and all sufficient for our Salvation. Choosing the very kindest wording I would say that Joseph Smith's doctrines at best are a distraction from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light in him there is no darkness at all.
James 1:17 Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.
John 8:44 You (some of Jesus listeners / Pharisees) belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
I was born in Germany as a Lutheran in 1949. At the end of my seeker years I grew away from the Eastern philosophies and I became a committed Christian at age 21 but then converted to Mormonism age 22. After getting married at age 27 in the UK we migrated to Germany and then later at age 37 to Australia. In 1995 (age 45) I lapsed as a Mormon and turned Christian. I am 65 now and my wife and 6 children have abandoned the LDS church together with me in 1995. My name is still on the LDS record but I fellowship with evangelical Christians. I have reached the Cross Roads and came under the Cross in 1995 and am simply a Christian saved by the Grace of God. Most of my family fellowship with us in Christian Churches.
Walter, Melbourne Australia 2016
My thoughts about leaving
Staying on the LDS record for the time being may give my voice more weight among my dear Mormon relatives and friends. I don't get the label Ex or Anti hung on me. I am able to discriminate between mostly sincere believers and false doctrines. Most Mormons practice their faith in honesty before God. I pray that God will bless the Mormon people with his choicest blessings and ever increasing wisdom and grace towards a complete reformation of the LDS religion. I testify that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the LDS church has told 101 lies to prop up their faith and truth. If God needs that sort of help then the Holy Ghost is redundant. I testify that Jesus Christ is very much alive today with signs and miracles outside of the Mormon Church. Jesus is the embodiment of light and truth and all sufficient for our Salvation. Choosing the very kindest wording I would say that Joseph Smith's doctrines at best are a distraction from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light in him there is no darkness at all.
James 1:17 Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.
John 8:44 You (some of Jesus listeners / Pharisees) belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
It is amazing how much fruits can be found outside of the Mormon church that the LDS have not even become aware of due to its controlled culture of exclusivity. God is very much alive and well, but all that Mormonism new revelations are dismantling the prophetic mantle. At the same time real miracles happen and that is why tens of Millions of people of other faith become Christians.
More
I was a marginal Church goer, Seeker, Practitioner of Transcendental meditation and the follower of Jesus in a group of comitted Christians prior to my baptism in the Mormon church as a 22 year old. The main reason I joined is that the Mormons where so sure they knew, had books to prove it, and convinced me that my church was in error and hence God needed to send angels and another messiah who indeed morphed into a God King before he was assassinated. Of course the official story is martyred like a lamb.
As European converts we have been duped into trusting Joseph that he has been called by God to fix a Christianity that God despises and look what a mess he created (FLDS). The predominantly positive culture of today's mythically founded LDS church is mostly the merit of its Judaeo-Christian roots and the willingness of succeeding administrations to undo the practice of some of the damaging heresies introduced by Joseph in the name of God. I have been too serious and too trusting to ignore an authoritative claim that I could not refute. I didn't join because I wanted to give up my culture, I did it cause I thought I had to or God would condemn me (remember the woes). I resisted the urge to yield for 3 years while grappling with doubts until I got sufficiently depressed to agree to be baptised in June 1972 at the age of 22. This was based on a scripture that obedience to whatever little light I received is a prerequisite for a testimony. And then there was the D&C passage that taught we should not demand a further witness. So both me and my wife have gone through a double disillusionment or 360 degrees faith journey to convert out of and back into Christianity and it has shaken up the faith of some of our kids as well. We dropped out of the Mormon church in 1995 after about 6 months of intensive study of LDS church history (Mainly the Tanners publications and whatever else we found in the Christian book stores).
Today's Christianity is not perfect, but it has more truth life and spirit than what we where lead to believe by Mormon propaganda. I am not aware that the LDS gospel sales pitch has changed and the missionary sales force is bigger than ever. Granted it does some good in many peoples lives, but for us the fruits have been sweet and sour and I could not lie to my kids and turn them into LDS missionaries.
I recant, renounce and disavow the false claim to exclusive divine representation and sole truth claim of the Mormon church as well as all false doctrines and other Mormon teachings, ordinances and covenants. I reject any other fraudulent or counterfeit claims and PR statements that mask the seriousness of the Mormon dilemma in its claim to sole truth and whitewash the transgressions and character flaws of its founder and his occult practices and his engagement in blood oaths and secret societies. Jesus only is trustworthy and will remain the sole means of my salvation and my Christian callings. Jesus Christ not Joseph Smith the God-King.
Having rejected Mormonism I still love the Mormon people and respect their culture of faith. Loving Mormons while rejecting their religious claims is not a contradiction. True Love for people must includes love for liberating truth and requires trustworthiness and honesty. Many Mormons are in my extended family and I recognize that the Mormon people regardless of their misguided doctrines have established a respectable positive identity with sound principles for life (Family teachings, Covey 7 habits etc) by leaning heavily on commonly shared Judaeo-Christian roots and a commonly shared cultural experience and a people group identity. Keep in mind that it what was probably a majority that followed their new leader in an exodus beyond the borders of the United States to establish a society in an unpopulated area . The Mormon spiritual-cultural identity with strong values has become an asset in today's liberal largely atheistic / agnostic society. Mormons have largely been kept in ignorance about the conflictedness and misguidedness of the origin of their faith and due to their innocence they have excelled as a pillar of society.
Find us on facebook - Buttons below - Don't forget to press the Like button within facebook as well.
I was a marginal Church goer, Seeker, Practitioner of Transcendental meditation and the follower of Jesus in a group of comitted Christians prior to my baptism in the Mormon church as a 22 year old. The main reason I joined is that the Mormons where so sure they knew, had books to prove it, and convinced me that my church was in error and hence God needed to send angels and another messiah who indeed morphed into a God King before he was assassinated. Of course the official story is martyred like a lamb.
As European converts we have been duped into trusting Joseph that he has been called by God to fix a Christianity that God despises and look what a mess he created (FLDS). The predominantly positive culture of today's mythically founded LDS church is mostly the merit of its Judaeo-Christian roots and the willingness of succeeding administrations to undo the practice of some of the damaging heresies introduced by Joseph in the name of God. I have been too serious and too trusting to ignore an authoritative claim that I could not refute. I didn't join because I wanted to give up my culture, I did it cause I thought I had to or God would condemn me (remember the woes). I resisted the urge to yield for 3 years while grappling with doubts until I got sufficiently depressed to agree to be baptised in June 1972 at the age of 22. This was based on a scripture that obedience to whatever little light I received is a prerequisite for a testimony. And then there was the D&C passage that taught we should not demand a further witness. So both me and my wife have gone through a double disillusionment or 360 degrees faith journey to convert out of and back into Christianity and it has shaken up the faith of some of our kids as well. We dropped out of the Mormon church in 1995 after about 6 months of intensive study of LDS church history (Mainly the Tanners publications and whatever else we found in the Christian book stores).
Today's Christianity is not perfect, but it has more truth life and spirit than what we where lead to believe by Mormon propaganda. I am not aware that the LDS gospel sales pitch has changed and the missionary sales force is bigger than ever. Granted it does some good in many peoples lives, but for us the fruits have been sweet and sour and I could not lie to my kids and turn them into LDS missionaries.
I recant, renounce and disavow the false claim to exclusive divine representation and sole truth claim of the Mormon church as well as all false doctrines and other Mormon teachings, ordinances and covenants. I reject any other fraudulent or counterfeit claims and PR statements that mask the seriousness of the Mormon dilemma in its claim to sole truth and whitewash the transgressions and character flaws of its founder and his occult practices and his engagement in blood oaths and secret societies. Jesus only is trustworthy and will remain the sole means of my salvation and my Christian callings. Jesus Christ not Joseph Smith the God-King.
Having rejected Mormonism I still love the Mormon people and respect their culture of faith. Loving Mormons while rejecting their religious claims is not a contradiction. True Love for people must includes love for liberating truth and requires trustworthiness and honesty. Many Mormons are in my extended family and I recognize that the Mormon people regardless of their misguided doctrines have established a respectable positive identity with sound principles for life (Family teachings, Covey 7 habits etc) by leaning heavily on commonly shared Judaeo-Christian roots and a commonly shared cultural experience and a people group identity. Keep in mind that it what was probably a majority that followed their new leader in an exodus beyond the borders of the United States to establish a society in an unpopulated area . The Mormon spiritual-cultural identity with strong values has become an asset in today's liberal largely atheistic / agnostic society. Mormons have largely been kept in ignorance about the conflictedness and misguidedness of the origin of their faith and due to their innocence they have excelled as a pillar of society.
Find us on facebook - Buttons below - Don't forget to press the Like button within facebook as well.
