Not True - Part 2

Hello this is Matt slick from the match looked like podcast right defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundation of the truth of God's word.

Your chosen Truth Network podcast starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing The Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network your post world objective facts known as the personal truth or feelings. Sometimes people refer to my truth, torture to suggest that there is no objective reality, but rather only what each of us perceives to be true within Mormonism. The idea of triggering supreme Mormons had wanted to share the rest of the world.

While all others who were not Mormon have some portion of it, but not the fullness Gen X or group of people who were in their teens and early 20s when the Internet MetLife for the general public dialogue and slow downloads. When I first began discussing my religion on my back in 1999 there was a lot of optimism about what this new medium to do for communication between people of different backgrounds only if you doomsday prophets suggested that it could be detrimental to the very idea objective truth might fall down the rabbit hole began with an attempt to be a missionary for my faith.

I've been a full-time Mormon missionary in Hungary for two years from 1997 to 1999 when I returned to the US I moved to greater Cincinnati area married and began working for an insurance company. I tried to share my Mormon beliefs with one of the security guards in the building where I worked. She was a kind older African-American meeting in Charlotte.

We were talking discuss religion for a few minutes each day. I gave her a copy of the book of Mormon center appear full-time missionaries to begin meeting with her as my missionary efforts are paying off. After several weeks of lessons. She handed me a copy of the book of Mormon that I can her and a packet of printed pages from various websites. She told me that she spoke with her pastor and that he had told her that the Mormon religion was racist. I appeal to my own conduct with her.

She asked me if I was aware that black people were not allowed to hold the others of this priesthood until 1978. I told her that I was aware that she asked if I was aware of any of the other things, church that were represented in the materials that should vanity. I told her that I would have to look into them, but that anyone can post anything on the Internet and that doesn't make it true. In this episode, I am the other sons of light discuss what it's like to stare down the scary question. What if Mormonism is true on Paul Bunyan's Matthew the nuclear And she's mightily X Mormon apologists. Let's get into it. His podcasts were not were not just about the construction we talked a lot about so far this episode about deconstruction of of of belief in Mormonism and fears and what that's all about. And that's definitely a real 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 that step. So is important.

Deconstruction is where we're about reconstruction here so what I like to ask each of you and Matthew will serve you here.

Why did you really build faith after Mormonism, why, why didn't you just become yesterday 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 the Scriptures of the of the Bible and the experiences that I had throughout my life now can witness to me. I'd I just remembered wondering for a while and what am I going to be in my going to be an atheist. To me, my going to be what am I 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's been working in my life ever since I was a child may be. There were times where I was not attuned to that or I wasn't really capable of 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 in you 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 by you Michael what to what you rebuilt. After Mormonism yeah I was definitely thinking about going atheist initially also tired of being told what to do and where to be all the time and just lay actually had been taken advantage of.

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 that there is Jesus is guilt guiltless blameless and I also thought back to experiences in my life where I felt like God and reached out to me and it didn't make any sense to 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, the impossible gospel argument that says you look more and since we are saved by grace. After all week and new age to deny ourselves of all ungodliness before God's grace is sufficient for us. So I was struggling with fat and found an answer before 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 forms 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 found all over the place in the Bible obviously and I first is all this is really cool like the book of Mormon and the Bible support each other because you know they're both 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. I'm a 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 that I would become an atheist.

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 am, but I'm not Mormon in more I was having discussions with some Christians online and at the time I probably came across as as some of the Mormons that we know that we interact with who, on the outside sometimes seem to be defect pending the church's teachings.

But then they'll say things that kind of deal that in their heart the our rebellion to God by going to his word and I I know I was presenting very much that 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 but if you stamp if you if you because 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 internal families are true were on basically universal salvation into one of the three groupies 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 that at the Christians and I was discussing with and was asked 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 an activist. And my answer was that because I believed in Jesus and believed in what he did for me and then that person posed the question to me 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 realized that now I couldn't deny Jesus Christ that where I had been brought to was faith in Jesus Christ.

Even 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 to that when I tell my story, but that's that's why I chose to rebuild because that was there for me and it was something that didn't come from all of the study that I've done. It was something like that, God, and on my left. If you brought me to a place where I had everything else is coming. I have trust in Jesus Christ, so we talked a lot about fears what fears we had about Mormonism being not true what fears we had about walking away from Mormonism and trying to make a life in Christianity. But let's talk about what what it is about life after one 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 up. We are meant that taco was at the game at Ballard. I think about all he had give the talk went where do you go from here. You know where the only church with profit fossils where you go from here, and I like that. Those words kinda bothered me and you know I was like it is right. I mean where do I go and so a 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 in all and I will 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 as buying commentaries and Bibles and 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 an 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 is loving and it's just an amazing feeling to go there to church every week and you kinda 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 sets where I struggle, but and and some of them so I Don't get to church. Mike yes this is just so incredible. I just praise and thank God that I have a family now and I'm part of it. I'm 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 in 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 what 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 they just had this freedom is first I didn't know what to do with it. It was it's like you know you been so long with the agency in Mormonism and yet they tell you what time to go to church where to go to church. The weekly basically how you should dress shirts life would have a shirt you should wear if you going to pass the sacrament they tell you what your calling is going to be you don't have choices and actually kind of missed that. Initially I was like I don't want to decide Mike church now and I can decide how I want to serve the ones the passengers 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 to end up 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 hit my windshield obviously cannot man this is beautiful and happy. Enjoy the world at all, because I think so laser focused on my worthiness and being a little bit better every day and that was all I can 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 doesn'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 nothing beats the fact that no one was Mormon.

I was afraid that if I send the Holy Ghost was gonna leave me 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 and plucking 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 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 is not going go that's that's a total mind shift for someone coming out of the obvious faith.

One of the things that was immediately apparent to me about the difference donated similar to what you said Michael were when you said that it was like he 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 faith. 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 what we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun and standing in a Christian church singing that song, amongst 600 other believers just belting it out. I realized he know that I was experiencing joy maybe for the first time I shouldn't say that there's been plenty of points of joy in my life. The births 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 you and I couldn't help but contrast it with some of the arguments that you see sometimes online from from Latter Day Saints when they argue about how paltry that the Christian view of heaven as compared with peers. You know what you think you're just floating around on clouds and worshiping God all day and got last verse of the song is like. I wouldn't mind at all. That was that's amazing. So it is worthy of it.

So yeah let's give him praise for ever. I'm good with that.

It was that it was a real eye-opener for me. Yeah I you making me think she would like for all 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've 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 were listening to us. Maybe just ask yourselves what what if Mormonism is true, what is, is it so terrifying as 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 of 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, thank you for turning into this of the outer podcast we love to hear from you. Please visit the out of Facebook. Feel free to send us a message that send a message of the pain appreciated. July we also have and how to write his and others also send this on to hear from you soon, subscribe to the other brightness podcast on podcast cast box cast cast the modified stitcher.

Also you can check on YouTube channel. If you like it certainly right great also connect with Michael just whined, blogs, and sometimes Poland as well. Music for the other brightness podcast is graciously provided by the talented Breanna Flournoy and by Adams Road. Learn more about Adams Road. By visiting their ministry page. It Adams Road ministry.com state bright fireflies to show the kind that may this is Truth Network