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April 25th, 2012
11:23 AM ET
Romney's days as a Mormon bishop(CNN) - CNN's Mary Snow looks at the years Mitt Romney spent as a Mormon church leader in Massachusetts. You can also read the entire Belief Blog series of stories looking at the faith of the 2012 GOP presidential candidates, including Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain. Watch The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer weekdays at 4pm to 6pm ET and Saturdays at 6pm ET. For the latest from The Situation Room click here.
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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While the noise what to pray, who should pray, and how is buzzing around. For the followers of Jesus, 2 Chronicles 7:14 provides guidance to the heart of humility to which the Lord will answer. Prayer is not parroting a bunch of words for the sake of being religious. Prayer is the cry of the heart for salvation of souls. The question is not the how, why, or selected set of words of piety. The real question is: If you life was to end today and you were standing before the Lord of the Universe, would your eternal soul be ready? Would he say, "Well done thy good and faithful servant OR depart from me your doer of iniquity - I never knew you? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAtD_-YKKe8&feature=plcp
Google: The White Horse Prophecy
Understand what the evil mormonians are up to
KNOW WHY NOT to Vote Romney2012
http://youtu.be/l70e1TfN34w
Life is full of blessings and these blessing are easily hidden when we focus on things that really don't matter in the long run.
"Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine".
-Gordon B. Hinckley
God, that kids ugly
Prayer changes things
Prayer doesn’t not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.
An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!*!
Romney is an alien from Planet Kolob
His wife #1 Ann, looks like an alien, and probably worships Planet Kolob too.
How can these people POSSIBLY be Christians.
Joel Osteen is a fraud and liar.
Just like Joseph Smith was...
Do Mitt and Ann wear the Mystical Magical Underwear?
America wants to know.
Instead of worrying about their "underwear", why not take a look at how good standing members of the church view marriage and preach respect for one another.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkUwh1YUMtE&w=560&h=315%5D
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/DkUwh1YUMtE?version=3&hl=en_US
Once upon a time an Early Christian Church deacon decided that Xtianity wudn't be such a pariah religion and so brutally persecuted if the Church embraced pagan customs, philosophies and religions by synchretization. He rejected the Jewish Bible the Church used at the time. Rewrote the Gospels
Here's a little truth about the Mormons from a real person. Not from a fluffy commercial paid for by the Mormon Church.
http://youtu.be/FFi_MsVKD3Q
Seems like a reasonable, caring guy. He will be missed at church, sounds like he knows that. I wish him the best. He can count his blessings for living in one of the most wonderful places in the world, Cache Valley 🙂
I know of several people who have left the church a few have become less active (only attending on special occasions). I treat them warmly and with love. That is not how everyone responds but it is how they should respond. Everyone has their own choices to make, life is a long-term endeavor and there are many ways to find happiness. I believe the church improves the odds of a happy family life as all the teachings are very positive, Christ and service centered. I know many that leave will later return to the church, i have seen that as well, but if they don't I will love them the same.
'God' is the sound the mind makes when it doesn't want to think anymore
...or when it can't seem to get started in the first place.
I have had many wonderful Bishops leading my Mormon congregations in the 15+ wards that I have lived in over the years in Virginia, California, New Mexico, Maryland and outside the country in Chile and Kenya. They are very dedicated to helping families succeed, for children to learn and develop, for members to live service minded lives centered on Jesus Christ and their spouse and children. Bishops dedicate many hours to serving their congregations and it is more service, than it is leadership and never control. Serving as a Bishop is a big sacrifice of free time for 4-5 years but comes with great rewards knowing you are doing a good work that helps others succeed. I am sure Mitt Romney served as an excellent Bishop and Stake President (another 5 year commitment I imagine). I am grateful for the many volunteers, those many Bishops, Young Women leaders, Counselors, Sunday School teachers, Primary leaders, Coaches and friends I have had throughout my life in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Here are some very troubling Quotes from the Second Prophet (leader) of the Mormon Church. Mormon Bishops must adhere to the words of their prophets, present and past.
Brigham Young said your own blood must atone for some sins.
"There is not a man or woman, who violates the covenants made with their God, that will not be required to pay the debt. The blood of Christ will never wipe that out, your own blood must atone for it . . . " (Journal of Discourses, vol. 3, p. 247; see also, vol. 4, p. 53-54, 219-220).
Brigham Young said you must confess Joseph Smith as a prophet of God in order to be saved.
"...and he that confesseth not that Jesus has come in the flesh and sent Joseph Smith with the fullness of the Gospel to this generation, is not of God, but is Antichrist," (Journal of Discourses, vol. 9, p. 312).
Brigham Young said his discourses are as good as Scripture.
"I say now, when they [his discourses] are copied and approved by me they are as good Scripture as is couched in this Bible . . . " (Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 264; see also p. 95).
Brigham Young said he had never given any counsel that was wrong.
"I am here to answer. I shall be on hand to answer when I am called upon, for all the counsel and for all the instruction that I have given to this people. If there is an Elder here, or any member of this Church, called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who can bring up the first idea, the first sentence that I have delivered to the people as counsel that is wrong, I really wish they would do it; but they cannot do it, for the simple reason that I have never given counsel that is wrong; this is the reason." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 16, p. 161).
Brigham Young compared his sermons with scripture.
"I know just as well what to teach this people and just what to say to them and what to do in order to bring them into the celestial kingdom...I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture. Let me have the privilege of correcting a sermon, and it is as good Scripture as they deserve. The people have the oracles of God continually." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 95).
Brigham Young said you are damned if you deny polygamy.
"Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives, and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned," (Journal of Discourses, vol. 3, p. 266). Also, "The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy," (Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, p. 269).
Brigham Young said you can't get to the highest heaven without Joseph Smith's consent.
"...no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith," (Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 289).
Brigham Young boasted.
"What man or woman on earth, what spirit in the spirit-world can say truthfully that I ever gave a wrong word of counsel, or a word of advice that could not be sanctioned by the heavens? The success which has attended me in my presidency is owing to the blessings and mercy of the Almighty . . . " (Journal of Discourses, vol. 12, p. 127).
Brigham Young said Jesus' birth was as natural as ours.
"The birth of the Savior was as natural as the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood–was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 115).
Brigham Young said that God the Father and Mary 'do it.'
"When the time came that His first-born, the Saviour, should come into the world and take a tabernacle, the Father came Himself and favoured that spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting any other man do it," (Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, p. 218). "The birth of the Savior was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood - was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 115). Note: the late Bruce McConkie who was a member of the First Council of the Seventy stated "There is nothing figurative about his paternity; he was begotten, conceived and born in the normal and natural course of events..." (Mormon Doctrine, by Bruce McConkie, p. 742).
Brigham Young said that Jesus was not begotten by the Holy Spirit.
"I have given you a few leading items upon this subject, but a great deal more remains to be told. Now, remember from this time forth, and for ever, that Jesus Christ was not begotten by the Holy Ghost." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 51).
Brigham Young taught that Adam was God.
"Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is Michael, the Archangel, the Ancient of Days! about whom holy men have written and spoken - He is our Father, and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do. Every man upon the earth, professing Christians or non professing, must hear it, and will know it sooner or later." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 50).
Brigham Young made a false prophecy?
"In the days of Joseph [Smith] it was considered a great privilege to be permitted to speak to a member of Congress, but twenty-six years will not pass away before the Elders of this Church will be as much thought of as the kings on their thrones," (Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, p. 40).
Brigham Young comments about blacks
"You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind....Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings. This was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 290).
"In our first settlement in Missouri, it was said by our enemies that we intended to tamper with the slaves, not that we had any idea of the kind, for such a thing never entered our minds. We knew that the children of Ham were to be the "servant of servants," and no power under heaven could hinder it, so long as the Lord would permit them to welter under the curse and those were known to be our religious views concerning them." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 172).
"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 10, p. 110).
Now if that last portion didn't strike you as unbelievably horrible, than imagine this....Mormons are taught to believe every word of their prophets as though they were the words of God: Unquestionable. And these are quotes from just one of their prophets.
Now imagine the President of the USA being Mormon.....
Amy,
Your statement that Mormons are taught to believe that everything their prophets speak is the word of God is simply false. Always has been. Here's a quote from Brigham Young that you conveniently omitted:
“I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self security. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not. "
And this idea has been reaffirmed through the decades, up to and including this talk from one of the LDS Church apostles last fall:
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/the-doctrine-of-christ?lang=eng
These ideas - blood atonement, Adam-God theory, racism in any and all forms - have been repudiated by leaders of the LDS Church for *years*.
Seriously. There are plenty of reasons not to like Mitt Romney, and plenty of reasons not to like the LDS Church. Don't like the LDS Church position on gay marriage? Say so. Angry that it took them too long allow blacks to have the priesthood? Say so. Think Mitt Romney's a lying weasel of a politician? Say so.
But stop this deceitful approach of digging up the discredited quotes of one man from 150 years ago. It's incorrect, misleading, dishonest and more than a bit silly.
-Michael
ONLY FOR THE NEWCOMERS:
Bottom line: Romney is Mormon because he was born Mormon. Should we hold this against him? After all, BO also believes in "pretty/ugly wingie thingies, bodily resurrections and atonement mumbo jumbo.
Warren Buffett, THE AGNOSTIC, for President !!!!
Bill Gates, THE AGNOSTIC for VP !!!!
One should be voting based on rational thinking. Believing in angels, satans, bodily resurrections, atonement, and heavens of all kinds is irrational.
just try to be a little more open-minded Reality. Hoping that something good will become of you, your family, friends, strangers on the street, after they die is a good thing. Living like your day-to-day choices matter is also a good thing. Having additional purpose for your life can help to make each day more meaningful.
REALITY
I just discovered I'm Agnostic. you know why? I tell u constantly that the Bible does not have to be true but it works! Now when Bill Gates says this u call him an Agnostic but then u call me a Xtian. Most people Bill inclusive may not be your type of believer so just leave them alone.
One must have the facts to have an open mind. One such result:
The Apostles' Creed 2011: (updated by yours truly based on the studies of NT historians and theologians of the past 200 years)
Should I believe in a god whose existence cannot be proven
and said god if he/she/it exists resides in an unproven,
human-created, spirit state of bliss called heaven?????
I believe there was a 1st century CE, Jewish, simple,
preacher-man who was conceived by a Jewish carpenter
named Joseph living in Nazareth and born of a young Jewish
girl named Mary. (Some say he was a mamzer.)
Jesus was summarily crucified for being a temple rabble-rouser by
the Roman troops in Jerusalem serving under Pontius Pilate,
He was buried in an unmarked grave and still lies
a-mouldering in the ground somewhere outside of
Jerusalem.
Said Jesus' story was embellished and "mythicized" by
many semi-fiction writers. A bodily resurrection and
ascension stories were promulgated to compete with the
Caesar myths. Said stories were so popular that they
grew into a religion known today as Catholicism/Christianity
and featuring dark-age, daily wine to blood and bread to body rituals
called the eucharistic sacrifice of the non-atoning Jesus.
Amen
(References used are available upon request.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MeQNSk50A0&list=PL4E784EC0770935C0&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKiHNXufcVo
There. That's better.
great to see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has made such a strong positive impact in his life! Thanks for sharing
great to see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has made such a strong positive impact in his life! Thanks for sharing his story
And another honest perspective:
http://youtu.be/bup4ydQ7jFQ