When I am witnessing to a Mormon, how do I convince them that God is not flesh?

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Permalink Reply by Paige Robertson on March 16, 2008 at 12:28pm

Hello my DEAR FRIEND!!!
I am soo glad to hear from you! and this is totally a God thing becuase my brother n law and sisters in law are all LDS and hav ebeen heavy on my heart for years after I gotmore educated on Mormonism, and studied it consistently. I took Mormonism 101, (Understanding Mormonism) Which is a awesome class to take, then met with Dennis and Rauni Higley who are ex mormons who were "up there" I guess you could say. They both were heavy in to missions, and worked down here at the church office building. They worked at the Temple too and traveled around the world preaching mormonism, then they started to see some concerning things happening in the church and conflicting scriptures. Anyway, I have learned alot and I also think that The Bible vs the Book of Mormon dvd is a great tool to witness with as well. Did you see it? It really helped me and Im sure it will help you.
I am soo thrilled that you left me a reply on this. I am happy to know you are an x mormon because I can ask you questions about the faith and how I can reach out to the mormons more effectivley.
My inlaws unfortunately are not willing to budge. They can not see clearly through thier veil of deception. Teresa, please help me here. What can I do? Any suggestions? I mean, they have seen the bible vs. the book of mormon, they have heard me talk, and they have seen my walk, but there is no openess. There is no willingness to check out our faith, or even research thier own faith more extensivley.
Teresa, do you think you can help me. I dont know what to do. Is it time now just to let go and let God? Thank you
Paige

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Permalink Reply by Teresa on March 17, 2008 at 5:41am

Paige:

I will continue this discussion when I get home from work.

Teresa

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Permalink Reply by ActualMaureen on March 25, 2008 at 9:05am

Hello Paige,
I thought this was a very interesting question. We often have mormon missionaries that canvas our neighborhood, and I often find myself in the position of defending my faith. (Gotta hand it to those Mormons, they are serious about their mission work! I wish some of our churches were as passionate about training up missionaries!) I've noticed that they employ certain tactics in their attempts to win converts. First, they put you on the defensive... instead of answering questions about THEIR faith, they ask you questions about YOUR faith, leading questions that they are well prepared to argue. For example, when I refused to read their book of Mormon on the basis that the Bible was complete, and Revelation warns us not to add to it, they bring up that the Bible is not chronological, and then quote a verse from the old Testament out of context. It caught me off guard, and after I FINALLY got them to leave, I went and looked up the verse and found that they were taking it completely out of context. (The missionaries did not want to give me the source of the verse either, I had to look it up myself.) (Moses was saying that the LAW was complete, and not to be added to, the Mormons were insinuating that this verse invalidated the New Testament.) I always left my encounters with the Mormon missionaries feeling very frusterated, because I felt I had not only failed to witness to them effectively, but I did a poor job defending my own faith. I have since learned that one of the best ways to reach a mormon is to get them to question their OWN faith. (Instead of them questioning yours!) I actually found a fabulous tract called "The Visitors" which explains some of the Mormon beliefs, and counters it with Biblical truth.

Some questions to ask:
Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God?
Don't you teach that God was once a man? (They do in Journal of Discourses, Vol II, pg 40)
But the Bible says God is a Spirit (John 4:24)
You don't teach polygamy any more, but don't you believe that God the Father has many wives?
(They do in The Seer by Orson Pratt, pg 172)
You believe that God the Father is now on a planet near the star Kolob with his wives having spiritual children? (The Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 3:9, 16)
But the Bible says: Our Father, which art in HEAVEN (Matt 6:9)
Doesn't your church teach that Satan and Jesus are spirit brothers? (Their prophet, President Kimball taught that, Ensign magazine, Dec 1980, p.5)
The Bible says Jesus is God, the Creator of everything in heaven and earth, (including Lucifer) (Col 1:16-18)
Could you tell me about the war in heaven? (According to Mormon teachings, thats when Jesus and Satan both approached God with their plans of salvation.) Don't you believe that there were many "gods" present? (Abramham 3:23-28, & Talmage, Jesus the Christ, pp 15-16)
But the Bible says I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.." Isaiah 45:5)
So you believe that Jesus is the savior only because His plan was accepted?
(The Bible says... John 1:10)
Mormons teach that the "spirit children" who are faithful to Jesus and faught "valiently" during the spirit war are born as babies with white skin. (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol 1, JF Smith, pg. 61) and the children who didn't fight as valiently are babies born with black skin (Mormon Doctrine, by Bruce R. McConkie, pp 526-527, 1966 edition)
(come on now, I don't have to tell anyone that THAT is not in the BIBLE!)
Mormons believe they will become gods with planets of their own, if they are obedient to the faith. (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, pg. 430)
The Journal of Discourses shows that Mormons once taught that Jesus had many wives, the two sisters of Lazarus and Mary Magdalene. (Vol 1, pg 345 and Vol 2, pg. 210) They believe that Jesus couldn't become a god unless he was married.
Bible: Heb 13:8, John 1:1-3, Rev 1:8
I could go on and on... my point is...

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Permalink Reply by Teresa on March 25, 2008 at 7:44pm

Color Me Confused! The Mormon Missionaries present a "gospel" that seems so understandable when they first present the discussions to a potential convert, but wait til you spend 6 months attending their church. They throw so much fantastic claims about Joseph Smith and the early church missionaries that it takes a real leap of faith to accept what they present. Once I read the Bible for myself, I saw so much discrepancies between what I was learning in Sunday School and what I was reading in my daily Bible reading of the King James Version Bible. Jesus met with me within the pages of my Bible and boy--what a difference 3 chapters of the gospel of John makes! There are Mormons out there with a real hunger for the truth. But remember: speak the truth in love. Some of the biggest hinderances to me leaving the Mormon Church was Christians who were offensive with the truth. Perhaps, I was closer to the truth than "Christians" whose faith consists of little more than a disdain for Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. God is in control and the Bible says that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Teresa

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Permalink Reply by Bob B on March 27, 2008 at 5:17pm

Teresa, I am really glad that you found the Lord in spite of some of his people who need a lesson in loving people. I am so amazed how the Lord works to bring people to Salvation. Every story is intimate and personal. I have a burden for people who are trapped in cultic groups like the Mormons. I have debated, pleaded, and did every thing I could except stand on my head trying to help them see the truth. I recently saw a video that proved that the book of Mormon was filled with lies about a culture that it said existed in America was proved to be non existent. But the LDS still remain. Coming out of an abusive group I can understand the loyalty element that is present. Denial is very powerful if it means it will cost you so much. I refuse to get into endless debate as some one said to me recently. I believe that we need to befriend these souls and stop being afraid of contamination by them and share with them our relationship that we have with the lord. That doesn’t mean compromising our faith, but it does mean loving them because God Does.

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Permalink Reply by Teresa on March 27, 2008 at 6:06pm

Thanks, Bob for your response. Coming out of Mormonism was probably the most difficult thing I have ever done, but the peace of mind once I found the truth was worth it. Last Sunday I was worshipping in church and I just found so much gratitude in my heart for all that Jesus did for me at Calvary. It was enough to bring tears to my eyes. The truth is worth all the pain we go through to find it. I still need to forgive those who were most hateful to me. Pray that I will find the grace to forgive.
Teresa

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Permalink Reply by Bob B on March 27, 2008 at 8:34pm

Check out my forum on healing those who have gone through spiritual abuse. Maybe it will be a help to you. God bless BobBu

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Permalink Reply by Teresa on March 28, 2008 at 9:20pm

I will look into your forum on healing from spiritual abuse.

Teresa

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Permalink Reply by PrayerQuake on March 25, 2008 at 10:55am

You can quote them out of the bible John 4:23-25 (New International Version)

New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society


23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

THis is the KEY: 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

25The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

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Permalink Reply by PrayerQuake on March 31, 2008 at 11:01am

Christopher, I like what you said and its relation to scripture. You also have a way of putting things that are easy to receive. Good job

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