Bound in Heaven? by
Jim Robertson
 In
the 29 years of this ministry, the most common thing I do is to
get involved with counseling people. This is especially true with
young people or couples. A Christian young adult will start dating
a Mormon with the understanding that the Mormon must be Christian
because the name on their church has Jesus Christ in it (The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). And besides, they're
just dating as friends and nothing is serious. However, as time
goes by, they begin to be a steady couple and the thought of marriage
starts being discussed. The Mormon will finally say that if the
relationship is to continue, the Christian needs to become Mormon
so they can be married in the Mormon Temple. By now the Mormon
knows that the Christian is so emotionally connected to the Mormon
that the heart overrules the head and the Christian is
hooked.
The Mormon uses Biblical scriptures like Matthew 16:19 to prove
they must be married in the temple so they can be married for
eternity. (-whatever is bound on earth is bound in heaven-). If
the Christian doesn't know the Bible very well, this would appear
to be proof of the eternal marriage. However, any Bible, including
the older Bible which Mormons used, will cross reference this
verse to John 20:23. Here we see that if one person sins against
another and the sinner doesn't repent or the other doesn't forgive,
then looking back at Matthew 16:19 we see that the sin and the
unforgiveness are "bound on earth" and will have to be answered
to by both parties in heaven. However, if the sin is forgiven
and the other party repents, then the sin is "loosed on earth"
or doesn't exist any longer and God has forgiven both parties.
So Matthew 16:19 is not talking about eternal marriage, it's talking
about the forgiveness of sin.
In fact, if we go to Matthew 22:29-30, Mark 12:24-25 and Luke
20:34-36 we see that Jesus Himself said after this life there
is no marriage; we shall all be as the angels in heaven. (Note:
We don't become angels, but we become like the angels in
heaven.)
 Sometimes
I hear the couple say the Christian will continue to go to their
Christian church and the Mormon will go to their Mormon church.
This may work for a while until they start having children. Then
the fights begin as they argue about which religion to raise the
kids in; Mormon or Christian. In many of these cases I'm asked
to get involved. If both parties are firm in their beliefs and
refuse to change, I see many of these resulting in divorce. The
Mormon usually initiates this because he/she believes they must
be married in the temple for eternity in order to go to the highest
heaven, or the Celestial Kingdom. The Mormon man wants to go to
the highest heaven which is the only way he can become a god to
rule over his own planet. The Mormon woman wants this because
she desires to become a goddess or a queen to her husband.
The concept of being married for eternity to the one you love
is a very attractive idea to the individuals who are allowing
their heart to overrule their head. The concept is a wonderful
idea, but it's not what God had in mind. He only meant for this
to be a practice here on earth, but he has a more beautiful plan
for us in heaven.
Young adults are easily deceived because they believe the Bible
is the word of God, but they don't know what it says. The Mormons
prey on people like this. We need to start at an early age teaching
our children what the Bible says so when deception like this comes
along they will see it for what it really is: a deception from
the Devil himself.
Christians contemplating dating or marriage to a Mormon need
to be aware of the warning from God in 2 Cor.6:14 where Paul says,
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion
hath light with darkness?" The interesting thing about this whole
situation is, Mormons today claim to be Christians. Until 1971
Judy and I, as Mormons, were taught that when asked if we were
Christians, we were instructed to say, "no, we're not Christian,
we're Mormon." We were taught Christianity was hatched in hell
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, pg.176). John Taylor,
in Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, pg 167 said, "We talk about
Christianity, but it is a perfect pack of nonsense and the Devil
could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity
of the 19th century." So this deception continues today!!!
The conclusion of all this is, the Christian , in his or her
decision to date or marry a Mormon is setting him or herself up
for a big fall. The Mormon, however wonderful he or she may be,
is planning a temple marriage contrary to what the Christian understands.
The decisions we make today determine our destiny.
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The Man Who Would Be God by Lloyd Sharp
"Virtually every single theological heresy begins with a misconception
of the nature of God." Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian
Research Institute, coined this phrase. It highlights the importance
of how one views God. In the Bible we learn that God is eternal
and there was never a time when he was not God Almighty. This
is drastically different from the LDS teaching that God the Father
used to be a man and evolved to become the God of this world.
We will look at this teaching, its logical implications and what
the Bible has to say about the matter.
In the Beginning...
While the Bible is clear that "In the beginning God…," Mormonism
would be more aptly explained with "In the beginning man…" This
is because Mormonism teaches that God is an exalted man. This
teaching has been espoused by every single LDS president and was
first taught by Joseph Smith himself. Joseph Smith stated that
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and
sits enthroned in yonder heavens…. If you were to see him today,
you would see him like a man in form" and that God "was once a
man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt
on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did" (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith,
pp. 345-346). This doctrine of evolving from man to God is known
as Eternal Progression. It is this doctrine of eternal progression,
Mormons believe, that will allow faithful Mormons to become gods,
just as God the Father did. This is best seen in the LDS manual
Achieving a Celestial Marriage. Page 132 reads, "By obedience
to eternal gospel principles, he progressed from one stage of
life to another until he attained the state we call exaltation
or godhood."
1+1=3
 There
are some serious logical problems with the doctrine of eternal
progression. The first main problem is known as an infinite regress.
Imagine that what Joseph Smith taught was true for a moment. God
was a man, created by a god who was a man, who was created by
god who was a man back into infinity past. You could never get
to the first Mormon god because he would always need a creator!
This infinite regress of gods makes it impossible to have a first
cause. Second LDS president Brigham Young admitted the difficulty
in finding the beginning of all things within Mormonism when he
said, "Many have tried to penetrate the first cause of all things…
It would be as easy for a gnat to trace the history of man back
to his origin as for man to fathom the First Cause of all things"
(Journal of Discourses, 7:284). Other logical problems abound
as well. For example, the Mormon God evolved to godhood by abiding
by various eternal laws and regulations. If you can never reach
the first LDS god, then who created these rules? Even if you could
reach the first LDS god, how did he get his body? Who created
the earth he lived on? How could he overcome sin, if there was
no god before him to define what sin is? As we see, the lack of
a first cause makes the Mormon concept of God not only confusing,
but also limited and illogical. This goes contrary to scripture
which states that God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33).
An example of the limitations of the God preached in Mormonism
is seen in the creation of the universe. While the Bible teaches
that God created the universe Ex Nihilo (out of nothing), the
LDS church teaches that God can only create things out of preexisting
material know as element. Rather than speaking the universe
into existence, the God of Mormonism forms elements together to
create planets, people, etc. LDS Apostle John Widtsoe stated that
"God, the supreme power, cannot conceivably originate matter;
he can only organize matter. Neither can he destroy matter; he
can only disorganize it…. The doctrine that God made the earth
or man from nothing becomes, therefore, an absurdity." (Widtsoe,
A Rational Theology, p.12). How God can be "the supreme
power" as Widtsoe said, and be limited to organizing preexisting
material seems to be a self-defeating statement.
The Final Verdict
While many Latter-day Saints continue to struggle with how God
can be an exalted man and still not be limited, the Bible offers
a better alternative. God is eternal and is the only God ever
to exist. Isaiah 43:10 states that "before me there was no God
formed, neither shall there be after me." Through the prophet
Malachi God said that "I am the LORD, I change not" (Malachi 3:6).
Numbers 23:19 makes it clear that "God is not a man," not even
an exalted one. In the New Testament we read that God is a Spirit
(Jn. 4:24) and a spirit does not have flesh and bones (Lk. 24:39).
God creates by His powerful word. When He speaks in Genesis, the
universe leaps into existence. God is unique in every way from
His creation and rebukes any who compare Him to man (Ps. 50:21;
Romans 1:22- 23).
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From the Mail Bag
(The following letter was so moving that we thought it best to
print the whole thing to see the heart of this person).
Dear Judy,
I recently finished reading your book, Out Of Mormonism, and it
has helped to put together some of the puzzle pieces for me that
I've never quite been able to understand.
 I
grew up in the Mesa-Tempe-Chandler area and have always been very
aware of the Mormon influence in this community. All through my
school years, most of my friends were Mormon. I saw them as good
people, but because none of them ever actually tried to "witness"
to me, I never really knew what they were all about. I became
a true Christian when I was in high school and was always simply
told that Mormonism was contradictory to true Christianity and
to treat it as any other cult. While that is certainly true, I
was never taught about the actual doctrines and beliefs of Mormonism,
and the many specific ways which it blatantly mocks the one and
only true God. Your book helped me to see those things. It is
so true that in order to protect yourself from the enemy, you
must know who he is!
I worked for a few years at a Christian bookstore and we always
had your "Witness To Mormons" book on hand, although I never looked
inside it. I didn't know enough about Mormonism to think that
my Mormon friends actually needed help. I figured that they were
happy and they seemed to know Jesus, so I didn't pester them any
further. Then my life-long best friend, who is also a true Christian,
had a crisis in her family; her sister became engaged to a Mormon
and was about to be baptized into the LDS church. Panicked, the
family ran to Concerned Christians for help. Praise God, she came
through the ordeal even more in love with the TRUE God than ever
before. That's when I realized that Mormonism was even more dangerous
then I had initially thought. Since then, I have known a number
of friends who have run to your organization for help in struggling
with Mormonism. Each time they have emerged from their trial triumphantly
because of the aid that you provided through God's leading.
Because of what your organization has done for my brothers and
sisters in Christ all around the world, I wish to give you what
little I can to support your mission. I know without a doubt that
Concerned Christians is doing the noble work of God by helping
to bring His children safely back to Him. Thank you for loving
God and His children and not backing down from His call to duty.
Chandler, AZ
Concerned Christian's staff,
Thank you for your awesome ministry! I receive your "Cross" newsletter
via snail mail, so I'm sending you my e-mail address. Please save
as much money as you can and don't use any unnecessary postage.
I have been praying for my husband to leave the Mormon faith.
He is not active, but is strongly influenced and "will never denounce"
the Mormon faith. Because of his feelings I am not able to support
your ministry financially at this time, but please know that you
are in my prayers. If there is anything I can do here in South
Florida to help your ministry, please let me know.
Lauderhill, FL
Dear Concerned Christians,
I appreciate Concerned Christians very, very much!! Every person
you can save from the Mormon Church is a great blessing! Again,
thank you and God bless the excellent work you are doing for the
Kingdom of the Lord.
Scottsdale, AZ
Concerned Christians,
Thank you for all of your hard work and effort. This isn't much,
but we hope that it helps with bringing the good news of God's
love to those in need.
Tempe, AZ
Dear Jim,
Thank you for everything you are doing. I'm not LDS, but I find
that I need to learn more about their beliefs; how else can I
defend myself and my beliefs. I've lived in Utah for three years
and I've never felt so alone. I enjoy reading your articles and
look forward to receiving your newsletter. God Bless!
Ogden, UT
Dear Jim & Judy,
Thank you so much for "The Cross", for all you both do for the
community and for all those you help make the transition out of
Mormonism, as well as their families and loved ones. I have wondered
- if there had been a "Jim & Judy" - back when Joseph Smith started
his religion - perhaps many people would have been spared the
conversion - "Out of Mormonism."
Mesa, AZ
Dear Bob,
I enjoy "The Cross" very much I was born and raised in Salt Lake
City, UT. My family homesteaded the Salt Lake valley with Brigham
Young and the Mormon pioneers. I became the first Christian on
both sides of my family. I took a class from Marvin Cowan called
"Early Utah History and the Mormon Pioneers." It taught me a lot
about my roots. Needless to say, I faced and still face a lot
of persecution. Keep up the great work and know that I'm praying
for the ministry of Concerned Christians.
Lewisville, TX
 Dear
Concerned Christians,
Thank you so much for continuing to send me your very informative
newsletters. I'm a real estate agent and have worked with numerous
young Mormon couples. It breaks my heart to see the satanic deception
they are under. I am so thankful for a ministry like "Concerned
Christians" that have a heart to reach out to those lost in Mormonism.
I shared the article you had in the August/September issue regarding
"What the Mormon Temple Represents" with our home Bible study,
and it was such wonderful and helpful information! Thank you for
your commitment to such an excellent ministry, and providing such
great witnessing resources for those of us who interact with Mormons
on a daily basis. This is the first time I've donated to your
organization, and the Lord willing, it will continue on a regular
basis.
Chandler, AZ
Dear Friends,
Oh, how my heart is first full of thankfulness for the work you
are doing, and secondly the flip side of that coin is the heart
break of the Mormon cult. I had to write you because two precious
boys just came to my door; so clean, so precious and so convinced
they have the true religion. Yes, two young men from the Mormon
church. You look into their eyes and see that they have been so
well drilled and indoctrinated. I am 73 years old and on SS, but
I enclose a small check even though it's not much. I continue
to pray for you and pray that others with the means can do so
too, so you can keep your ministry going strong.
Buckeye, AZ
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What Joseph Smith Never Counted
On - Part 1 by Bob Betts
Anyone who reads some of the things Joseph Smith said as recorded
in History of the Church and Journal of Discourses, knows that
this self-appointed prophet was quite full of himself and quick
with a revelation. Some cases in point:
-
 Oliver
B. Huntington, Joseph Smith's friend and scribe, recorded something
very odd that Joseph told him. "'The inhabitants of the moon
are more of a uniform size than the inhabitants of the earth,
being about 6 feet in height. They dress very much like the
quaker style and are quite general in style, or fashion of dress.
They live to be very old; coming generally, near a thousand
years.' This is the description of them as given by Joseph the
Seer, and he could 'See' whatever he asked the Father in the
name of Jesus to see." Journal of Oliver B. Huntington,
Vol. 3, p. 166.
In Journal of Discourses, Vol. 13, p. 271, Brigham
Young affirmed Joseph's teaching about "the inhabitants of
the moon… ." Incidentally, Brigham then went one-up on Joseph
by stating his own incredible beliefs regarding "…the inhabitants
of the sun."
What Joseph never counted on was that, over a hundred years
later, man would actually land on the moon and find it completely
devoid of life or any sign that life ever existed there.
- In 1835, Joseph unfolded the papyrus that he found in the
armpit of one of his newly acquired Egyptian mummies and beheld
the hieroglyphics. As he wrote in his History of the Church,
Vol. 2, p. 236, "I commenced the translation of some of the
characters or hieroglyphics, and much to our joy found that
one of the rolls contained the writings of Abraham, another
the writings of Joseph of Egypt, etc.,--a more full account
of which will appear in its place, as I proceed to examine or
unfold them. Truly we can say, the Lord is beginning to reveal
the abundance of peace and truth."
What he never counted on was that, in the late 1960's, real
Egyptologists would be allowed to examine and translate the
papyri. They discovered that these were actually ancient Egyptian
burial instructions which had absolutely nothing to do with
Abraham or Joseph. Joseph Smith claimed this was THE BOOK
OF ABRAHAM. You'll find it in The Pearl of Great Price,
one of the four books that Mormons accept as scripture.
- In 1830, when Joseph published The Book of Mormon,
he declared in the Introduction, "I told the brethren the Book
of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth,
and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer
to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."
What he never counted on was that, after his death, his successors
would find almost 4,000 errors that needed changing in his
"most correct book." The LDS faithful are quick to inform
you that those changes were a result of minor punctuation
errors created by the printer who deliberately sabotaged their
holy book. But, don't be fooled. The changes were not just
multiple punctuation, spelling and sentence structure errors.
But, many words were added and deleted, resulting in multiple
textual and doctrinal changes. And, some of the changes were
made as late as their 1981 Edition, which is their last edition.
In Part 2, in the February/March issue, we will look at more
things in this genre that will expose Joseph Smith for who he
really wasn't.
Editor's Note. Read other bazaar teachings by Joseph Smith,
Brigham Young and others in Amazing Mormon Quotes by Robert
Betts. It's available at our Mesa office, or through this newsletter,
or our Concerned Christians' on-line bookstore (www.concernedchristians.org).
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We Appreciate You By Bob Betts
Praise God and thanks to all of you who gave financial gifts,
large and small, over the past two months. Thanks, also, to those
of you who couldn't give, but prayed for our needs. Approximately
40% of the year-to-date shortfall of almost $16,000 was erased.
As the Office Manager for Concerned Christians, it's my responsibility
to make a year-end push to try to erase the other 60% of that
shortfall. We still have an almost $10,000 need to make up before
the end of the year if we're going to just break even. That would
be such a blessing.
Be assured that our budget belt is about as tight as it gets.
Concerned Christians' total average operating expenses (including
salaries) is under $12,000 per month. That includes all of our
books and other publications, our video library, the mortgage,
the utilities, etc.
This being our final newsletter in 2002, this will be our final
appeal for your financial assistance. If you are needing or wanting
a last minute tax write-off for 2002, please keep Concerned Christians
in mind for that purpose.
We thank the Lord for His provision over the past year; and
most especially, for the dozens of souls He has given us to help
bring out (or keep out) of Mormonism and into His kingdom.
We trust Him for His future provision and we depend on you to
be His instruments.
We pray your Christmas
holiday will be blessed and that you have a prosperous, happy
and safe New Year.
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