From: ksjwr@acad3.alaska.edu (REDELSS JOHN W)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Christians are not Christians.
Keywords: Mormon, LDS, Christian
Date: 5 Oct 92 22:54:00 GMT
Organization: University of Alaska - Fairbanks
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41.UAC

To all foaming-at-the-mouth Mormon haters (You know who you are):

Give me a break!  Do you really think God wants us fighting about Jesus?  This
sounds more like something Satan would want us to do.  Listen to yourselves:
	"You're not a Christian!  You're not a Christian!  Neener, neener,
neener.  You're not a Christian!

I'm new in this newsgroup.  I stopped by to see if I could receive some light
and truth.  Instead all I get is this devilish wrangling.  Repent, or Jesus
will be unhappy with you.

So what if the Mormons are making an honest mistake?  Doesn't Jesus love them
too?  If so, won't he straighten them out bye and bye?  How do we serve Him by
fighting among ourselves?

I am a Mormon that converted from the Baptist faith over thirty years ago.  I
became a Mormon because I honestly believe that Jesus visited Joseph Smith in
New York state when Joseph was fourteen years of age.  Sure, he may have been
lying.  He may have been crazy.  He may have received a Satanic vision.  But I
honestly don't think so.  I think he saw the Father and the Son and spoke to
them.

In the New Testament the Savior says that to follow him, you have to follow
whom he has sent.  Well he has sent Joseph Smith.  If we don't follow Joseph
Smith, we aren't willing to follow the Savior.  If we refuse to follow the
Savior, then we are not Christian.  Christians are the followers of Jesus
Christ

Mormons are the only Christians in the world because only they are following
the man, Joseph Smith, whom Jesus sent.  If a man who lived in the days of
Peter, James and John had refused to follow Peter, James or John would he have
been a true follower of Jesus?  I think not.  

We cannot reject those Jesus has sent to us and claim to be His followers, that
is, Christians.

Do you actually know for a fact that Joseph Smith did NOT speak to the Father
and the Son?  Do you know for a fact that Joseph Smith was a fraud or a
lunatic?  What if you're wrong?

Sure you have the Bible, but so do we.  How can you be certain that you don't
misunderstand it?  Are you sure you understand it completely?

You think I'm wrong about Joseph Smith being a prophet sent by Jesus Christ. 
Well, what of it.  If I am, it's an honest mistake.  The Savior will surely
lovingly correct me somewhere along the line, won't he?

But what if you are wrong?  If you are wrong, you are fighting against the
Savior.  That's not really a very good idea because you know whose side that
puts you on, don't you?

In your place I would be nice to Mormons just in case.  The Savior asked us to
love each other in any case.  And he didn't say we should only love people who
belong to our own church.

For myself.  I love Jesus of Nazareth.  I love him more than life itself.  I
love him more than myself, more than my wife and kids, more than my Mormon
church, more than anything.  And I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. 
I'm willing to do the things he has asked me to do.  I'm willing to love all
men, even foaming-at-the-mouth Mormon haters.  I'm sure they'll change their
minds when they find out what the truth is.

Jesus Christ is divine.  He is God.  He is the creator of the heavens and the
earth.  He ransomed us from our sins when he sweat blood from every pore in the
Garden of Gesthemene.  He really died on the cross, and three days later he
raised himself up from the dead, a resurrected, immortal man.  Without him we
belong to Satan.  With him we can dwell in the presence of God, forever.  This
is salvation to live with Jesus and the Eternal Father forever.

Jesus Christ is the center of my faith.  Joseph Smith means nothing to me
except I believe that Jesus sent him.  The Book of Mormon means nothing to me
except that it teaches me about Jesus even better than the Bible because it
hasn't been translated by so many uninspired men.  My Mormon church means
nothing to me except I believe that Jesus wants me to be a Mormon.

When I was a Baptist, I believed in Jesus.  But my faith in Jesus has grown
enormously since I became a Latter-day Saint.  The only reason I became a
Mormon was because I felt that the Latter-day Saints were preaching Jesus
better than any of the Protestant denominations.  And in thirty years I have
not learned of anything in the LDS church to make me feel differently.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints preaches Jesus better than any
other church on earth.  That is why I love it so.

So, stop fighting about Jesus!  He doesn't like it.  He wants us to love one
another.  If our mistakes are honest mistakes, He will give us additional light
and truth bye and bye.  I really believe this with all my heart.