Different views of heaven. It is clear that the LDS view of eternity is far different than that of Christians. The Book of Revelation speaks of us having the privilege of spending eternity giving honor and praise in the presence of our God and King. In Mormonism, Godhood is the prize. In eternity those who merit exaltation will find that throughout eternity everything revolves around them. They hope to receive their own world, and as they now worship their “Heavenly Father,” they will receive worship from their physically created offspring who inhabit that world.  As one Mormon commented on our blog, “If all you plan to do in heaven is worship God, won’t you get tired of that at some point? You must really like harp music to accept that particular role for eternity.” I have often said that such comments are born out of not having the same relationship we have with our Savior. Pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit, the hearts and attitudes of Mormons everywhere are changed.

Pray for Louise. I was invited to be on a local television program that deals with the subject of polygamy. The host is Doris Hanson, a woman who left a polygamist group and is now a Christian. I was asked to discuss several passages from Mormon scripture that address the issue of plural marriage. This is a live program and people are allowed to call in to the show and ask questions. One woman who called was Louise. She began by criticizing me for my criticism of Mormonism. I answered her questions as if she was LDS and she asked by why I assumed she was Mormon. I said it was because of her use of LDS buzzwords. She finally admitted that she was once a Baptist and had in fact converted to Mormonism, but that she believes in the same God now that she believed in as a Baptist. Taking her at her word, I commended her by saying I was glad that she does not believe in a God who was once a man or has a body of flesh and bones. She said that she did believe in a God like that. I then asked if she believed Jesus was God and she said no. I then told her that if that is the case, then she wasn’t a Christian as a Baptist either. I normally shy away from being so blunt, but when a person outright denies a fundamental teaching of the Christian faith, I think we have a responsibility to say it like it is. I am sure that if I told a Mormon that I was LDS, but denied the fundamental teachings that define what Mormons believe, they would waste no time in telling me I was not a Mormon.

Pray for Rachel. After the above show, one of Doris’ call screeners said a woman called to say she wanted to leave Mormonism but abruptly hung up before giving any contact information. Fortunately the station has caller ID so Doris called her later. Rachel is from a family of well-known Mormons, one of whom has written several books on LDS teachings. Doris told me that Rachel has “been questioning the church for some time now and even asked her husband what he would do if she discovered the church wasn't true and left it.  He told her he'd probably divorce her and take the kids.” This is what many Mormons face if they decide to leave “the only true church.”

Continue to pray for Isaac. You may recall my mention of Isaac, a returned missionary that came to our home when Tammy and I lived in California. Isaac had contacted me a while back to let me know that he no longer believes in Mormonism and does not want to raise his daughter in a lie. Isaac lives here in the Salt Lake area and we had planned to get together, but things didn’t work out. I finally got a hold of him to try again at getting together, but this time our conversation did not go well at all. He seemed like a completely different person. He didn’t want to meet and expressed a bitterness I didn’t sense from him before. I let him know that I was here should he change his mind. Pray he does.

Pray for Julie Bird. Julie and Andy Bird are committed Christians who Tammy and I have the privilege of worshipping with on Sundays. Julie and Andy also share our passion for pro-life issues. Several months ago they were ministering in front of a Salt Lake City abortion clinic when suddenly the police showed up as the result of a false report called in by one of the clinic employees. The employee alleged that Andy was taking pictures of clients entering the clinic. After Andy proved that the only pictures he had on his camera where those of his children, they then cited his wife with the charge of assault. The citation was based in the fact that Julie had given a woman a pamphlet as she entered the building; despite the fact that Julie never touched the woman or approached her in a threatening manner. In a normal world such an accusation would be viewed for the fraud it is, but sadly, after months of delays, Julie was found guilty to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace. The case is being appealed, but I think Christians everywhere need to understand that this is not at all an isolated incident. In fact, barring an incredible turnaround, I fear this type of “justice” will only increase as more pro-abortion lawmakers are elected on November 4^th. Unbelievable as it may sound, many professing Christians are trying to elect the most determined pro-abortion candidate for president this country as ever seen, a candidate that has promised that the first thing he’ll do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). We should not be so naive to think that this will have no bearing on our ability to speak freely against this and other atrocities that grate our Christian conscious. You can listen to an interview Aaron and I had with Andy as he describes what happened that day, and also what happened in the court room.

Pray for Scott. Each year the Ex-Mormon Foundation hosts a conference here in Salt Lake City. Sadly, many of those who attend are proudly agnostic or atheist. There are a couple of reasons that I choose to attend meetings like this. 1) It reminds me of why it is important to pepper our criticisms of Mormonism with reasons for the Christian faith. These are living examples of what will probably happen when people leave Mormonism, but do not replace that vacuum with the biblical gospel. 2) The Lord has often been faithful to allow me to speak with someone. The conference concludes with a dinner and a speaker. I was standing by myself waiting to enter the main hall when a man approached me named Scott. He said he recognized me from our YouTube video on Joseph Smith’s death at Carthage Jail. That began a lengthy conversation that carried on through dinner. Scott is an attorney who had several questions as did I. He told me that since leaving Mormonism he has become agnostic; however he twice stated to me that the down side of his agnosticism is that he finds that life has no meaning. You can’t help but grieve when you hear words like that. He gave me his card and I do plan to follow up.

Pray for me and Tammy as we head to San Diego on Friday for our year-end MRM board meeting.

We do appreciate every one of you and thank you for lifting up this work before the Lord.