You're Church Community - Please read and reply!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Connie on May 18, 2009 at 1:05pm

Jeromy and Marcelia, I went to your web link, but all I found there was blogs about conspiracy theories and the Catholic church. I admit I found them interesting, but there was no link to what you were describing. I would be happy to view it.

We are living in the time and age when all evil conspiracy theories will be exposed and fail. They are all referred to in the Book of Mormon, as great and abominable church, or that organization which perverts the right ways of the Lord.

As I'm writing this I'm listening to one of the things on your link. http://arcticbeacon.com/sound_tidbits/Cuppett/mp3/54Min-AlCuppett-I... It is pretty wild.

Jeromy, I really don't care who Joseph Smith knew, or what the rumors are. God had to choose someone to reveal the Book of Mormon through, and he happened to choose him. God does not require us to be perfect before he begins to work through us. I happen to know the Book of Mormon was revealed from God and that every single word of it is truth in its purest form. The reason the world fought against it, and drove the mormons out of the state of Missouri right after it was published was because it was poking holes in the Christian base. The Christian base is rooted in the Catholic church. Your link exposes all kinds of corruption in the past 2000 years of the Catholic church. It even gets into the bible. So, why wouldn't God want to preserve and reveal his word in its purity, as He promised He would do in the last days???? You don't have to convert to read the Book of Mormon. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/37/17-18,44-45#17



#
1 Ne. 22: 13-14
13 And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood.
14 And every nation which shall war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another, and they shall fall into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord. And all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it.


jeromy and Marcelia said:

I think you will be very unsuccessful in converting anyone here to Mormonism. The people you will encounter will be very far advanced in our knowledge of history and the nature of the body of Christ,which is why we are here to discuss the body life of the true church of Yeshua the Messiah.

Now you may find some interesting things about the LDS if you are willing to look. First you are in a cult started by a Freemason who was connected to Albert Pike the man who started the KKK. This is a fact search it out. you may be interested in investigative Journal listen to an interview Greg doest with a true ott 3-10-09. True was in one of the high blood families of the LDS. It is a very good show you will learn alot if you are interested.

I am not saying this to be hateful to you, I do not even know you as a person, The Internet is a place for friends to be made. It does not work well to discuss disagreements. The reason , we can't see your face you can't see ours. If we could there would be more of a chance to be understood and to show love.

I don't come on this sight to do apologetics. I come to encourage and be encouraged. If I want to talk to Mormons I invite them to dinner and a chat.We did, they did not come?

I do not have an issue with you I don't know you. I just think you have picked the wrong place to try to recruit.

You may say we are all so hateful and angry but trust me we are not angry we just will not fall for the false teaching of Mr. Smith .

http://www.arcticbeacon.com/greg/ Here you will find the show I spoke of. Very interesting it may lead you somewhere you don't want to go however,to truth.Look in the show archives 3-10-09 I would like to hear your thoughts after you listen.

Ro 16:17
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.

2Jo 1:9 -
Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son

Connie said:

Carolyn Spence said:

but the Jesus you worship really is different, has a different beginning, a different end, a different purpose, a different status, and a different spirit than the one being taught in the Mormon faith.

Carolyn, did you mean to write this or was it in error? If it was intentional, there has been a grave misunderstanding somewhere. I don't want to discuss it here, but just to let you know, I know what the Mormon faith teaches about Christ.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by jeromy and Marcelia on May 18, 2009 at 7:30pm

Connie you will have to look in the show archives.

trust you have done your homework on all the problems with the book of Mormon. As I said before I really think you will have a difficult time trying to get the folks from simple church to believe in Joseph Smith.

We are not your average "Christians who sit in pews with big ears no mouth and little brains" Most have taken an in depth look into history and are real deep thinkers.

I think you would be better off finding some people who you can face to face connect with. Then you can hash out the lies from the truth together.

I pray you come to know Yeshua in a deeper way , I would like this for myself also.




Connie said:

Jeromy and Marcelia, I went to your web link, but all I found there was blogs about conspiracy theories and the Catholic church. I admit I found them interesting, but there was no link to what you were describing. I would be happy to view it.

We are living in the time and age when all evil conspiracy theories will be exposed and fail. They are all referred to in the Book of Mormon, as great and abominable church, or that organization which perverts the right ways of the Lord.

As I'm writing this I'm listening to one of the things on your link. http://arcticbeacon.com/sound_tidbits/Cuppett/mp3/54Min-AlCuppett-I... It is pretty wild.

Jeromy, I really don't care who Joseph Smith knew, or what the rumors are. God had to choose someone to reveal the Book of Mormon through, and he happened to choose him. God does not require us to be perfect before he begins to work through us. I happen to know the Book of Mormon was revealed from God and that every single word of it is truth in its purest form. The reason the world fought against it, and drove the mormons out of the state of Missouri right after it was published was because it was poking holes in the Christian base. The Christian base is rooted in the Catholic church. Your link exposes all kinds of corruption in the past 2000 years of the Catholic church. It even gets into the bible. So, why wouldn't God want to preserve and reveal his word in its purity, as He promised He would do in the last days???? You don't have to convert to read the Book of Mormon. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/37/17-18,44-45#17



#
1 Ne. 22: 13-14
13 And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood.
14 And every nation which shall war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another, and they shall fall into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord. And all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it.


jeromy and Marcelia said:

I think you will be very unsuccessful in converting anyone here to Mormonism. The people you will encounter will be very far advanced in our knowledge of history and the nature of the body of Christ,which is why we are here to discuss the body life of the true church of Yeshua the Messiah.

Now you may find some interesting things about the LDS if you are willing to look. First you are in a cult started by a Freemason who was connected to Albert Pike the man who started the KKK. This is a fact search it out. you may be interested in investigative Journal listen to an interview Greg doest with a true ott 3-10-09. True was in one of the high blood families of the LDS. It is a very good show you will learn alot if you are interested.

I am not saying this to be hateful to you, I do not even know you as a person, The Internet is a place for friends to be made. It does not work well to discuss disagreements. The reason , we can't see your face you can't see ours. If we could there would be more of a chance to be understood and to show love.

I don't come on this sight to do apologetics. I come to encourage and be encouraged. If I want to talk to Mormons I invite them to dinner and a chat.We did, they did not come?

I do not have an issue with you I don't know you. I just think you have picked the wrong place to try to recruit.

You may say we are all so hateful and angry but trust me we are not angry we just will not fall for the false teaching of Mr. Smith .

http://www.arcticbeacon.com/greg/ Here you will find the show I spoke of. Very interesting it may lead you somewhere you don't want to go however,to truth.Look in the show archives 3-10-09 I would like to hear your thoughts after you listen.

Ro 16:17
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.

2Jo 1:9 -
Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son

Connie said:

Carolyn Spence said:

but the Jesus you worship really is different, has a different beginning, a different end, a different purpose, a different status, and a different spirit than the one being taught in the Mormon faith.

Carolyn, did you mean to write this or was it in error? If it was intentional, there has been a grave misunderstanding somewhere. I don't want to discuss it here, but just to let you know, I know what the Mormon faith teaches about Christ.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Connie on May 19, 2009 at 6:17pm

All I came up with was this article, http://www.arcticbeacon.com/greg/?s=mormon. I did spend quite a lot of time looking for the one you suggested, and I would have watched it out of curiosity. Is there anything in the article you would like to discuss? I find it contradicts what other pieces say on your website. You say the Catholic church is evil, that the Pope is the antichrist, which means satan is the grand counterfeiter imposing as the God of their world. And if the Catholics don't have the priesthood authority to act in God's name, none of the break-aways do either, which puts all of Christianity in the same category as the Catholics, which is basically exactly the same as the Mormons are saying in your article. So, if the Catholics, Mormons and Islams all have it wrong, the only one left is you. And if you are leaning toward the spirit as your guide, what happens if he guides you toward one of the other religions? The Spirit of the Lord has guided me through life. My family has all tried to follow it too. None of us have strayed. My children are all married to wonderful companions who strive to follow the spirit. They have family and personal prayers each day. They read and study the scriptures. They go to school and associate with others in the community. They work on the farm, ride horses, love their little cousins, come visit me all the time. Are they perfect? No. Saturday we caught the grandkids riding the Rino. The 7-year-old was driving, and about 9 others either hanging or sitting in the box. He said his mommy had given him permission, so he obviously told a lie. We dealt with it, again, because it has happened before, and we'll keep dealing with other problems as they arise, and I'm sure they will. That's life on the farm. The spirit still guides us. He even guided us to a really good deal on an oven yesterday. The spirit guides us through our finances, into decisions that affect us all, and helps us overcome our challenges. He blesses me for time spent here, believe it or not. The spirit told me not to include that link at the top of this post, but I think I'll do it anyway. I trust the spirit, but don't always obey it, because God gives us our agency. He does not force us to any religion or church, but He does bless us for choosing right. I am a mormon. I love Jesus Christ. I know how the spirit guides and blesses us. And, I live a happy and fulfilled life because of it.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tony Dale on May 19, 2009 at 9:54pm

Friends,

I have asked Connie not to keep promoting her Mormon faith on this site. We respect and even admire her tenacity and passion, but this site is for discussions on simple church life and practice. I have let her know that if she is not able to honor the intent of this site, that I will have to ask her to not post any more on the site. I hope the rest of you don't mind our doing this, but we are trying to keep the site focused on Jesus and what He seems to be doing in His church as He draws us back to simple Biblical approaches.

Every blessing to all of you following this track,
Tony Dale

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Connie on May 21, 2009 at 8:32am

John,
Dena and I were commenting on this yesterday. Not "this" in particular, but the idea of conformity. She mentioned in her blog something about how all religions expect conformity, and that was what she was trying to move away from. I see that same type of conformity here. What is Simple Church trying to conform to? If you could, would you conform to God? I don't know that I could all at once. That's why He leads us one tiny step at a time. All we need to do is stay on the path that he sets for us in our own understanding, and when we're ready, in our own time, and according to our own will, conform. God will force no person to heaven (conform). He will force no person to keep His commandments (conform). He won't even say, "If you want to receive life's greatest blessings in this life and the next, thou shalt......."(conform).

John, thank-you for saying this:
"However, what I have noticed is that you are very settled where you are and in what you believe. As I have been able to observe it, your faith in Jesus Christ is strong. The last thing I would want to do is to unsettle the basis of your faith. I do not ask you to believe a word that I have said. Be true to the convictions of your heart, respect the convictions of others and the Lord will guide and bless you."

John, I respect and admire your expression and convictions, and I appreciate knowing other people love the Lord. There is an element of trust that is not found elsewhere because fellow believers are honest and upright citizens like themselves. I would like you to share your testimony in a personal way, not as from the outside looking at it, but from the inside, how you feel about Jesus Christ.

If I might address the issue that got me into so much trouble here, or I suppose put the cap on it, Chuck Mix asked a sincere question, "what is the proper way to prepare lessons for church and what lessons are applicable because I feel that the pastor/church mold is not proper nor needed. there has to be more, there must be more of the community aspect of lessons in church, and I get confused on what that looks like........etc"
I provided a link to thousands of lesson ideas, which no one cares if others use and adapt them to their own circumstances. These lessons are prepared by professionals who know how to teach children, teenagers, and adults. I opened one of them just now and this one has so many good ideas. http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=a9832ce2b446c010VgnVCM1...

This particular lesson teaches us how to look for lesson ideas in our community.

There are only two scripture references that you would have to change, and for a quick reference to a bible verse that says basically the same thing, click on the first link in the lesson, and then click on the word you want to reference. In this case it would be "rock" and here two references on the top of the list are from the Bible http://scriptures.lds.org/en/hel/5/12a.

If sharing my church's resources is offensive to any of you, I'm sorry. Through lds.org you can search your families history free of charge, learn how to live providently, help with humanitarian aid, learn how to prepare a talk, blend a family, you name it, the resources are here, and they're free and willingly shared with nothing, absolutely nothing asked in return. We don't want to convert you as much as we want to help you. These resources were prepared for the whole world in many languages. This is what the Internet is meant for. I can honestly say I want you to stay where you are and work with the people you know. Help as many as you can come to Christ. That is all I want. If I might use Dena as a prime example, what would the LDS church do with the likes of her??? LOL. (Dena, we're buds right?)
I love you all, but you'll have to block me to keep from posting links, because it's how I think.
(((hugs))))
connie




John Walker said:

Connie:
Tony has done the right thing. I have always appreciated the warmth of your personality as you have presented yourself on this web site. Because of what I have seen as your sincerity, I have respected the fact that you hold to views that are different from many of us here. But when you join this or any other group of people who have a purpose in common, it is just good manners to try to contribute to those common aims and not oppose them. If you cannot in good conscience make a contribution that will further those aims, then the only proper course of action is to leave.
There are two things to understand about many of the people who contribute to SimpleChurch.com. Firstly, they have grown out of their dependence upon outward forms of human organisation as a basis for their Christian life. You have not. That is not to say that they hold themselves to be above yourself or others who remain within those organisations. Nor do they reject the profound need of every Christian for fellowship with other members of the Body of Christ. But they see the Kingdom of God as made up of individuals not church organisations no matter what their history. They understand the importance of the fact that Jesus, as the Head, relates directly with the individual members of the Body and not through human intermediaries be they people or organisations.

Secondly, many of them have grown up in churches who, just like yours, claim to be either the sole or the primary representative of Jesus Christ upon earth. Your church is by no means unique in this regard. In fact, most of the church institutions make similar claims either explicitly or implicitly. Some make the name of their organisation synonymous with the Kingdom of God on earth. Many of the contributors to this web site were taught, as you have been, that the churches to which they belonged were, in some way or other, separate from and above all the rest. They have now seen through this deception. You have not.

Connie, I know that God loves you and will honour the sincerity and the simplicity of your faith. But he does not love the organisation to which you belong. Its end, along with all the others, is graphically depicted in Revelation 18.

However, what I have noticed is that you are very settled where you are and in what you believe. As I have been able to observe it, your faith in Jesus Christ is strong. The last thing I would want to do is to unsettle the basis of your faith. I do not ask you to believe a word that I have said. Be true to the convictions of your heart, respect the convictions of others and the Lord will guide and bless you.

Yours in Christ
John Walker


Tony Dale said:

Friends,

I have asked Connie not to keep promoting her Mormon faith on this site. We respect and even admire her tenacity and passion, but this site is for discussions on simple church life and practice. I have let her know that if she is not able to honor the intent of this site, that I will have to ask her to not post any more on the site. I hope the rest of you don't mind our doing this, but we are trying to keep the site focused on Jesus and what He seems to be doing in His church as He draws us back to simple Biblical approaches.

Every blessing to all of you following this track,
Tony Dale

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dorothy on June 11, 2009 at 11:29pm

Ya, It seems like one person's simple revelation can bring more conviction, challenge, discussion etc. than a planned sermon.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by michael on June 12, 2009 at 12:46am

Hi All,

Going back to the original post on this thread, what our group has been doing for five years (and after launching five "daughter" churches from our original group) is to have a reading schedule. Yeah, I know, it sounds like liturgy, and it is, but it has precedent (i.e. liturgy is both biblical and historical) and, what's more, it works! We have an in-group website (yahoogroups, so free) where a group member can find and download the schedule of Bible readings for the entire year, plus people can post prayer requests, godly chit-chat, questions, announcements, etc. I also have taken responsibility to text that week's reading assignment and venue (it changes weekly) to all the people in our group. Thus, when we meet together for our regularly scheduled get-togethers on Friday nights, most people (there are always "slackers") are on the same page, having read and meditated on throughout the week the assigned portions of Scripture. This helps everyone be able to contribute intelligently to the discussions and to have already [mentally] prepared questions, applications, related songs, etc. Even visitors invited by group members receive the reading assignments before the night we get together. The effect is not a "dumbed down" Bible discussion (which is the problem with a lot of "What does this verse mean to you" approaches), but a discussion in which the original languages, cultural settings, history of interpretation, related biblical passages, etc (not to mention all of that personal meditation, which creates the potential for seasoned life application) are brought to bear on the texts we discuss. Even the children are involved at this level. It is safe to say that our weekly discussions are carried out at the Bible College (even seminary) level...all from within a person's home. What I am trying to say is that "spontaneous" does not always mean "Spirit-led." We have found that the Spirit led us this way, and that is how the Spirit led the early churches as well, using light liturgy that still leaves room for the Spirit to have His way.

Shalom from Manila,
--Michael

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page