any former mormons out there?

[zerinus]

The reason I had for leaving the LDS church and ultimately embracing the Catholic faith was that I didn’t feel like I was really worshipping Christ in the LDS church. I felt like everthing was about me, or the person sitting next to me, or some other person. My blessings for doing this, my blessings for doing that. Listening to all the blessings everyone would receive through paying their tithing, magnifying their callings, going to the temple, being obedient, on and on and on. I’d sit there in church and crave a real worship experience.

---

Most importantly I get to really worship along side others, singing praises to the Lord. The entire mass is about Him and nothing else. This is what my spirit was longing for all those many years.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of action, and of service. It is the gospel of “loving thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). It is the gospel that says, “. . . Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Mathew 25:32). It is the gospel of action and of doing things for others and for God; not one of sitting passively in church and singing praises to God. Hence the LDS Church is service oriented, and teaches that our greatest blessings come when we are actively engaged in the service of God and of doing something for His Church and for others. As you know we do not have a professional clergy. All the work of the Church is done voluntarily by Church members. If your mind is not oriented towards that, then you are right, you would find the LDS Church a very uncomfortable place to be in. But that is not the fault of the Church. You have to look elsewhere for the source of that problem.

zerinus

 

[truthsilence]

Zerinus, of course you would jump to placing judgement.

You conveniently left out the part of my post where I talked of the importance of feeding the hungry and helping the poor. Do you have any idea the acts of mercy happening in the Catholic church, and many other organizations for that matter? My point is, these acts are done out of caring and love and are not talked about with a reward attached.

You just reminded me of how grateful I am to be out of that mindset. You cant see it if you’re drowning in it.

 

[truthsilence]

“But I sense more now the importance of reaching out to the poor, feeding the hungry and supporting the financial needs to keep the church running. Not for any return benefit to myself”.

Edited to be more clear in what I was trying to say.

 

[tundramom]

Welcome Home truthsilence!!

I too made the jump and left Mormonism and became Catholic. We are so blessed! :clapping:

Again, WELCOME HOME TO ROME!!! SLC is nothing in comparison.

in Christ
Steph

 

[JonathanKinsman]

No stone tables of Moses either; but the Spirit of the Lord bears witness to us that it is true. The same goes for the Book of Mormon.

Again, Zerinus, answer the question!!

You Mormons keep all sorts of records. Your bogus non-Christian denomination started in the 1830s. That’s a heck of a lot closer than Moses on Sinai! Where are your records???

It must bug the heck out of you gods-to-be to see so much early Mormon documents on the web, accessed by millions and without the reach of your Soviet-style, history rewriting hierarchy. Sorry, your ‘bishops’ never meet with me and my KofC brethren. You guys are great at burning bosoms and cerveza before carne (or is it ‘milksop’ before ‘gristle’) and “The Holy Ghost told me so” kind of feelings, but when it comes to mainstream Christianity: Mormons stand shoulder to shoulder with Moslems and other “Jews and Catholics got it wrong since Abraham’s time” sects.

If you can’t answer the questions, get out of the forums.

Go proselytize in the 'hood and tell the brothers about the “mark of Cain” on their black skin! You’re hypocrites and dissimulators, all we can do for you is pray.

 

[zerinus]

Again, Zerinus, answer the question!!

You Mormons keep all sorts of records. Your bogus non-Christian denomination started in the 1830s. That’s a heck of a lot closer than Moses on Sinai! Where are your records???

It must bug the heck out of you gods-to-be to see so much early Mormon documents on the web, accessed by millions and without the reach of your Soviet-style, history rewriting hierarchy. Sorry, your ‘bishops’ never meet with me and my KofC brethren. You guys are great at burning bosoms and cerveza before carne (or is it ‘milksop’ before ‘gristle’) and “The Holy Ghost told me so” kind of feelings, but when it comes to mainstream Christianity: Mormons stand shoulder to shoulder with Moslems and other “Jews and Catholics got it wrong since Abraham’s time” sects.

If you can’t answer the questions, get out of the forums.

Go proselytize in the 'hood and tell the brothers about the “mark of Cain” on their black skin! You’re hypocrites and dissimulators, all we can do for you is pray.

I am certainly not here to reply to this kind of message. It is obvious that you are not interested in (even capable of) a serious discussion; and I will not be replying any further to your posts.

zerinus

 

[JonathanKinsman]

I am certainly not here to reply to this kind of message. It is obvious that you are not interested in (even capable of) a serious discussion; and I will not be replying any further to your posts.

zerinus

Of course you won’t. You never have and you never will.
The Holy Ghost told me to expect this from you.:whacky:

 

[dorothy_smith]

It was not a one-of experience. I have felt the HG many times (even as a Catholic!) and many times since though rarely as strong. I am guessing that you have too.

I once had a wonderful experience in a Cathedral. I was kneeling alone and just enjoying the peace and quiet. I closed my eyes and seen a bright light. I felt myself to be crouched down amidst the light and had a wonderful feeling that I was home, that is to say, my spiritual home. I don’t know if it was the Holy Ghost or not but it was a really beautiful experience.

best - dorothy

 

[rmcmullan]

I once had a wonderful experience in a Cathedral. I was kneeling alone and just enjoying the peace and quiet. I closed my eyes and seen a bright light. I felt myself to be crouched down amidst the light and had a wonderful feeling that I was home, that is to say, my spiritual home. I don’t know if it was the Holy Ghost or not but it was a really beautiful experience.

best - dorothy

It sure sounds like it to me. It’s something that Catholics acknowledge but don’t really emphasize. Other religions, particularly the more evangelical ones, tend to focus more on such experiences. But I think some of the evangelicals have distorted such experiences so far out of proportion that they end up disaffecting more people than they sway. I am thinking of Earnest Angely and all those “You Are Healed!” tv preacher types. Infact I would put them more in the category of Satan’s counterfeit but what they are counterfeiting are honest manifestations of the Holy Ghost.

I knew a guy who said he would pray and ask for those kind of experiences and when he did, they came more frequently. The other thing is you need to stay close to the Lord or the spirit will depart.

 

[Allweather]

I am certainly not here to reply to this kind of message. It is obvious that you are not interested in (even capable of) a serious discussion; and I will not be replying any further to your posts.

zerinus

This is boilerplate Zerinus.

Z will whirl like a dervish in arguments that seem on the surface to be scholarly, but aren’t. When asked direct questions, he will not answer. When pressed, he will say he’s already answered, refuse to go on, and then he will evaporate for a day or two before reappearing in another thread, where the process will be repeated.

It occurred to me that Z is doing a mission here. Rather than send Z down to Chile to feed on Catholics, the LDS can let him do an internet mission, hanging out in forums, doing essentially the same thing the kiddies do when they come to our doors, which is to make the pitch, but when questioned directly, beat feet. Z isn’t really that much different from JWTruth, and come to think of it both religions specialize in obfuscation. Still, I’m glad he keeps coming 'round, because he presents Mormonism as it is, so that the questioning lurkers are in no danger of being suckered in. I’m sure he does more harm to the Cause than good.

 

[Karin]

This is boilerplate Zerinus.

Z will whirl like a dervish in arguments that seem on the surface to be scholarly, but aren’t. When asked direct questions, he will not answer. When pressed, he will say he’s already answered, refuse to go on, and then he will evaporate for a day or two before reappearing in another thread, where the process will be repeated.

It occurred to me that Z is doing a mission here. Rather than send Z down to Chile to feed on Catholics, the LDS can let him do an internet mission, hanging out in forums, doing essentially the same thing the kiddies do when they come to our doors, which is to make the pitch, but when questioned directly, beat feet. Z isn’t really that much different from JWTruth, and come to think of it both religions specialize in obfuscation. Still, I’m glad he keeps coming 'round, because he presents Mormonism as it is, so that the questioning lurkers are in no danger of being suckered in. I’m sure he does more harm to the Cause than good.

Allweather…
how quickly you figured out the Z-man…Kudos to you!

 

[Nan_S]

Just out of curiosity i googled “Zernius.” What I found was interesting.

I found a bunch of links back here to this forum.

And right under that I found the name Zernius on websites relating to fantasy adventures. It seems “Zernius” is the name of some kind of ancient pagan deity.

Z, what prompted you to select “Zernius” as your forum name?!?!?!?

Nan

 

[zerinus]

Just out of curiosity i googled “Zernius.” What I found was interesting.

I found a bunch of links back here to this forum.

And right under that I found the name Zernius on websites relating to fantasy adventures. It seems “Zernius” is the name of some kind of ancient pagan deity.

Z, what prompted you to select “Zernius” as your forum name?!?!?!?

Nan

Ah! That is my great secret. It is a secret incantation with a hidden formula that when I use it enables me to defeat all my enemies. That is why I always win my debates! When they see that name, it immediately casts a spell on them, and they can’t win! You have to know the secret formula that goes with it of course, which I am not going to tell you. It won’t work without that. But now you know the secret of why I always win my debates!

zerinus

 

[Karin]

Ah! That is my great secret. It is a secret incantation with a hidden formula that when I use it enables me to defeat all my enemies. That is why I always win my debates! When they see that name, it immediately casts a spell on them, and they can’t win! You have to know the secret formula that goes with it of course, which I am not going to tell you. It won’t work without that. But now you know the secret of why I always win my debates!

zerinus

LOL!
Man it (your spell) also must mess with your sense or reality :whacky: I have yet to see a debate that you have won…you just leave the thread when you are called on things and cant or refuse to answer them…that is not winning that is called “running scared”

 

[Nan_S]

Ah! That is my great secret. It is a secret incantation with a hidden formula that when I use it enables me to defeat all my enemies. That is why I always win my debates! When they see that name, it immediately casts a spell on them, and they can’t win! You have to know the secret formula that goes with it of course, which I am not going to tell you. It won’t work without that. But now you know the secret of why I always win my debates!

zerinus

Ah, yes, now the magician is revealed for what he is.

That means the magic will no longer work. The skeptics are on to you.

Apolyton Civilization:

After an hour, the battle was over. The smell of the dead permeated the air and the screams of the wounded cut to the bone. Versali stood looking down into the pass. The Romans had captured three cannon divisions in the battle. A sergeant came running up.

“Son,” he asked, “where is Major Zerinus?”

“He died at the outset of battle.” Versali said, turning to look at the sergeant.

LOL

Nan

 

[Allweather]

It doesn’t surprise me that Zerinus practices magic. My readings about Mormon history say that Joseph Smith and his family were fans of folk magic. I think that most magic is pretty harmless, and completely ineffective. I once dated a witch for a few months, and read some of the materials she kept in her home. Harmless. Diversionary. Ilusionary. Pathetic. Anyone who uses magic to get himself through the day is badly deluded as to the true nature of God’s creation, which, come to think of it, is the case with any TBM. I’m not suggesting that most TBMs practice magic, as Zerinus admits that he does. The Mormons with whom I am acquainted do not practice magic, AFAIK.

 

[Allweather]

I have a testimony of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true. What are you going to do about that?

zerinus

I don’t know what a Mormon means when he says “that the Book of Mormon is true.” What does a Mormon mean when he uses the word “true” with respect to the BoM?

My testimony of the Holy Ghost is at odds with yours. Naturally, I believe mine, and think that yours is either a fabrication, or is coming from a demon, rather than the Holy Ghost. I don’t believe for a moment that the Holy Ghost gives different answers to different people on this important question. Either you are wrong, or I am. In order to know which of us is wrong, we would have to look at other evidences besides our warm fuzzy feelings. First evidence would surely be the person of the so-called prophet, Joseph Smith. Leaving aside, for now, allegations of fornication and deceit, how do we assess the various “prophecies” that Joseph Smith gave that failed to come true in the fullness of time? I’ve asked this of you before, and you evaded the question.

 

[rmcmullan]

Allweather, I think you are standing on the edge of a great precipice that separates the Mormons and RC’s. I’ve noticed many of the posters here and in other threads don’t have much regard for what we’d call the testimony of the HG. You think it’s some device we use to turn off your brain and have you drink the Kool-aid anyway. I think you’re missing out an important part of the gospel going that way. It’s a very real thing, as real as faith and hope and charity.

Luke 24:30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

Also consider this:

1 Cor 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

Of course the question you bring up has no answer: what if we both pray the same prayer and ask the same question and both get different answers? There’s a bunch of mechanisms for that to happen. But I don’t think it means that God doesn’t answer prayers through the HG.

You guys are Catholic and that’s okay with me but if ever God wanted you to change your church affiliation he would need to give you a severe beating with a big old spiritual two by four. It would be a dramatic life-changing event. Likewise if he wanted to me to become Catholic. But it could happen and then you too would sound like zerinus and know what he means.

 

[Karin]

why do the LDS quote the Bible when they do not view it as being correct or missing parts?
Are they not better quoting from their book of mormon instead…since that should be correct etc.

 

[Allweather]

Allweather, I think you are standing on the edge of a great precipice that separates the Mormons and RC’s. I’ve noticed many of the posters here and in other threads don’t have much regard for what we’d call the testimony of the HG. You think it’s some device we use to turn off your brain and have you drink the Kool-aid anyway. I think you’re missing out an important part of the gospel going that way. It’s a very real thing, as real as faith and hope and charity.

On contrary, I have MUCH regard for the Holy Spirit, and the ability of the Holy Spirit to speak to the heart, and even have it serve as a confirmation of faith and action. The Holy Spirit speaks to my heart every day. However, I do NOT believe that the Holy Spirit expects us to turn our brains off and ignore the evidence. God gave us brains and expects us to use them. When a Mormon gets his BITB he should also look to history and scripture to find confirmations. When I look to history and scripture I do not find any confirmations that the BoM is “true” or that Joseph Smith is a “true prophet.” In fact, I find confirmations to the opposite: The BoM is a fiction that cannot be supported by any concrete evidence, and Joseph Smith is so obviously a failed self-proclaimed prophet, that to ignore that evidence about him, and go entirely with the BITB, is to take the brain completely out of the matter. I strongly believe, based on my own observation among my fiance and her family, that Mormons do not examine the evidence. If they did, they would do as my fiance is now doing: exit Mormonism and find a home in the Church that Jesus founded, that never went apostate, that has an unbroken line of apostolic succession spanning two millenia, and that calls us to use reason as a confirmation of faith and feelings. She is finally, after 25 years, examining the historical evidence of the Mormons, and of the Catholic Church, and finding what I have already found. And lest you think that she, now having abandoned Mormonism, is bereft of the BITB or the indwelling and leading of the Holy Spirit, let me assure you otherwise. This lady weeps at Mass, and during our daily Rosary, tears of joy at being finally enlightened by the truth of the mind, not just the cozy warm cuddlies that attend peopletestimonies about mythical prophets and fictional “scriptures.”