What if Mormonism Isn't True, Pt. 2

Just when I just about the construction we talked a lot about so far this is about deconstruction of belief in Mormonism and shears and what that's all about the stuff we really experience that people go through with the idea of this podcast is to reach people who have come beyond that, as we have and are either ready to begin building faith in Jesus Christ and walking with him as a disciple or are just curious about what that might look like, but maybe not ready to take a step so is important deconstruction as were were about reconstruction here so what I like to ask each of you and Matthew will serve you here. Why didn't you read Bill faith after Mormonism, why, why didn't you just become that it just right and I are an agnostic. That's a really great question. Ultimately, of course, I think it's God that kept me that that led me to him if you but God uses many means to bring us to him. And so I think it was the fact that God has blessed me with a certain amount of understanding of of the latter-day St. doctrine of his Scriptures of the Bible and the experiences I had throughout my life. They now can witness to me had I just remembered wondering for a while and what am I going to be in my going to be an atheist in my my going to be one of my going to do with my life trying to reconstruct my life and reconstruct my self-image and I just looked back at all the times I felt like God had protected me during my mission when I felt like I was being led to do certain things. I just just the thought just couldn't get out of my mind. I just had this thought that there has to be a God. There is just so obvious that he is been working in my life ever since I was a child. Maybe there were times where I was not attuned to that or I wasn't really cable understanding God's work in my life that I feel like it always been working in my life. And so that's that was the kind like where I started out as my platform foundation. I start off with is that there has to be a God and I felt like that's God exists and that he loves me and that he's not going to abandon me and that there is truth that there that there is a reason they were here and the reason why he saved me so from there. Then I said I started to to study the Bible and that's that's where I that's where I started to learn about Christian doctrine really start understand the Bible by God's grace.

Michael looked regal for yeah I was definitely thinking about going atheist. Additionally also tired of being told what to do and where to be all the time and just like I had been taken advantage. But when I really sat down and thought about it I realize I couldn't blame Jesus for anything that it was it was just this man-made religion that it hurt me but there's Jesus is guilt guiltless blameless and I also thought back to experiences in my life where I finally got it reached out to me and make any sense to her family into atheism. I accidentally stumbled across the true gospel and I didn't realize that I had it, God he he got me really good. I was I was trying to defend the church from this argument called the impossible gospel argument that says you look more and since we are saved by grace. After all, we can you deny ourselves of all ungodliness before God's grace is sufficient for us. So I was struggling with that and I found an answer for. And that was the doctrine of imputed righteousness that it's okay if I haven't done all that I can do because Christ is perfect and it's his righteousness that is given to me and you know, God allowed me to kinda find passages in the book of Mormon, of all places that that teach imputed righteousness and then I sounded all over the place in the Bible obviously and I first of all, this is really cool like the book of Mormon and the Bible support each other because you know the true and so I was walking around believing in this Protestant doctrine and then one day just just hit me and I realized you know I am Protestant realize that this is definitely not Elliott's doctor and so when the rest of the church fell away for me when I realize it wasn't true that part remained because it wasn't connected to the church. It was something that God led me to beforehand in preparation so that I would become an atheist. When I had my faith crisis so when I think about this question, I think about God drawing to his son. So when I was when I was at the point where I was ready to say I'm not Mormon anymore. I don't know what I but I'm not Mormon, and more. I was having discussions with some Christians online at the time I probably came across as some of the Mormons that we know that we interact with who, on the outside, sometimes to the defect pending the church's teachings. But then they'll say things that kind of deal that part of the our rebellion to God by going to his word and I know I was presenting very much the kind of mind that online as I was discussing with these Christians and was asked kind of directly by one of them. Why, why aren't you stamp if you if you do those presenting some of the some of the standard arguments against the reliability of the Bible and arguing for okay so maybe Mormonism's teachings on eternal families are true were on basically universal salvation into one of the treated group is of of heaven. Maybe that's not true.

I would say, but at least it's appealing. At least it's better than anything you've got it on through those types of arguments to the Christians and I was discussing with and possessed fairly directly, why, why don't you become an if you don't believe Mormonism is think Mormonism is better than Christianity then why don't you become at it just pans my answer was that because I believe in Jesus and believed in what he did for me and then that person pose the question today and asked do you think you could deny Jesus Christ and walk away from that and I left that conversation later that night, and when sat in their living room and thought about that question for a long time and realize that now I couldn't deny Jesus Christ that where I have been brought to was fit for Jesus Christ and though there were a lot of things that I didn't have worked out in my mind, there was a lot of study that I did understand the foundations of Christianity coming out of Mormonism. But as far as faith in Christ that was solid. That was something I held onto and out tomorrow morning is that when I tell my story, but that's that's why I chose to rebuild.

Because that was there for me it was something that didn't come from all the study that I've done something like that, God, and on my luck if you brought me to a place where I had everything else is coming.

I have trust in Jesus Christ, so we talk a lot about fears what fears we had about Mormonism being not true what fears we had about walking away from Mormonism and then trying to make a life in Christianity. But let's talk about what what it is about my doctor has given us hope and joy. Matthew would you say that question is how this so much I could answer what fears I had was where would I go from here. I think we are all we remember that taco is of the game at Ballard. I think about all he has to give the talk went where you go from here. You know where the only church with profit fossils ready go from here, and I like that. Those words kinda bothered me and you know I like it is right. I mean where do I go and so I I after a lot of study and prayer in I a come to. I started watching debates and that started to be introduced to reformed theology on all get into that right now but I just found it so logical and so coherent and so consistent that it just it just completely just it just illuminated my mind every time I would read and study and I just wanted to know more and I just had a huge thirst for knowledge does buying commentaries and Bibles in books and everything I could find and I just loved it. I couldn't. I couldn't stop reading it so while I had a fear of losing my friends and family, but same time there is justice thirst for knowledge and that led me to the church I attend now and of the fear where I do know I was going to go it's it's just been so blessed by God to to find a faithful Christian church where I do have that same kind of fellowship and love and and inclusion that I felt when I was a latter-day St., and not only that, but where were just can were fed by the word of God every week and were just praising God were just enjoying and loving God and just becoming so enraptured and in God's holiness and his his love and and it's just an amazing feeling to go there to church every week and you know you cannot have about you guys but some days I would struggles Arctic latter-day St. to wake up on Sundays and say I gotta get ready for church enough.

I am not a morning person so that's where I struggle, but and and some of them so I Don't get to church like yes this is just so incredible. I just praise and thank God that I have a family now and I'm part of a part of a family of fellow Christian believers where we we all had the same experience of knowing God's love and knowing salvation through Jesus Christ and to share that is is just incredible and I think that's that's just what I love wanting to share the gospel with Latter Day Saints because they have this fear.

Where could they go on and I have this and I think there's there's so much out there. You could have something like this you could be part of the family of Christians you could. You can find fellowship. It's not as scary as as they make it out to be there. There is life after Mormonism. So that's this is 11 very great blessings. I've had my life since leaving the church and in fighting my Christian church. Thank you. Michael would buy you yeah I remember.

Not long after I left the church. We just kinda laying on my dad and thinking oh my gosh like Don I just I just sacrifice my exaltation for my morals in augmented an outer darkness now and then somebody sent me the book, the prodigal God and I read that and is just life-changing. I finished that and I was like I made the right decision and I just literally felt the weight like a weight coming off of my shoulders after I left that I didn't know was there and also I just have this freedom and at first I didn't know what to do with it. It was like you know you been so long that the agency in Mormonism and yet they tell you what time to go to church where to go to church. The basically how you should dress shirts for what shirt you should wear if you're going to pass the sacrament they tell you what your calling is going to be you don't have choices and actually kind of miss that. Initially I was like I don't want to decide. Like the church now and I can decide how I want to serve the ones the pastor just to come tell me what God told him for me to do because I don't want to make these choices but but you learn some good loving it afterwhile and it was like I could see color for the first time after couple months and I never would have just driving and seeing the raindrop my windshield. I'm just looking man this is beautiful and should have. Enjoy the world at all, because I've been so laser focused on my worthiness and being a little bit better every day and that was all I could ever think about others just stopped and that in that mindset and this is been amazing for me to just have this simple faith in Jesus Christ and Camille to trust that he's got everything under control and I don't have to worry I'm not a little bit better today than I was yesterday. You know, because my worthiness or my my salvation doesn't hinge on my perfect obedience anymore hinges on his perfect obedience and he never fails and there's so many things that I've enjoyed like I I got the ESV Bible and I love it and you I start reading that John 11 on my own. While this don't really support the church like I thought of dating and being able to read whatever translation of the Bible. I want to go to whatever checks I want to go to is incredible but but nothing beats the fact that no one is born and I was afraid that if I send the Holy Ghost was in a league is abandoned me in the teeth of Sam when I need the most. Until I got my act together but now I know that no matter what I do nothing completely out of God's hand and let go because I'm on this child and to me this is just this is just incredible. It is so much bigger than what I believe my whole life, promises, graces, so mind altering is when you realize that you are is and he's brought me to that point and is not going to go that's that's a total mind shift for someone coming out of the audios for one of the things that wasn't immediately apparent to me about the difference in edit similar to what you said Michael Jordan. When you said that it was like you could see color for the first time.

One of the first things I started telling people after we left and started attending other Christian churches and trying to find a good home church to attend, was that it was so amazing to actually worship God. For the first time and it seems strange because some of the some of the hinges they have the same right so it really is. We sang how great thou Art and that's been a favorite of mine for a long time because it was my grandma's favorite and you sing that in Christian churches as well, but the act of on a Sunday morning, going to church and singing praise to God was something so different than what I had experienced before and it's hard to describe how how important that was to me so I remember singing one Sunday amazing Grace and the last. The last verse really hit me. This is when we've been there 10,000 years pressure ending as the son, no less days to sing God's praise than when we first done and standing in a Christian church singing that song, amongst 600 other believers just belting it out. I realized you know that I was experiencing joy maybe for the first time say that there's been plenty of points enjoy my life but it's of my children my wedding day, but to to experience the joy in my relationship with God, I think, was definitely a first for me and I couldn't help but contrast it with some of the arguments that you see sometimes online permit from Latter Day Saints when they argue about how how paltry that the Christian view of heaven as compared with peers. You know what you think you just floating around on clouds and worshiping God all day and got last verse of us always like I wouldn't mind at all – that's amazing. So and is so yellow skin and prayers for ever. I'm good with that.

It was that it was a real eye-opener for me. Yeah I you making me think to like from the fear that I had about leaving the church. If I could go back in time and make the same decision knowing that I would experience the same pain that leaving the church because I would do it 100 times over because I just know that it's it's worth it.

And once you experience Jesus realizes worth dying for, and all the things he lost or just nothing compared to what you gained any final thoughts just want to say hmmm. Praise God for bringing us to the truth and bring us to Christ in a really, really just want if there are Latter Day Saints here are listening to us.

Maybe just ask yourselves what what if Mormonism is true, what is, is it so terrifying is as it sounds, or appears to be a mean what we've all we three have been very blessed by God to have been let out the church and to be led to Christian congregations where we feel welcomed and loved and we found Jesus Christ we have happiness and joy in there is life after Mormonism. So I just wanted to leave at that, music for the outer brightness podcast is graciously provided by the talented Breanna Flournoy and by Adams road. Learn more about Adams Road W.ministry.com is diseased in my insistence that Jesus is now Jesus calls us to the