|
|
|
4000 E.
Collins Rd. “Preaching
the Living Word through the Written Word (2Tim 4:2)” |
|
|
|
Grace Bible
Church Missionary Conference (April 15th -17th) Fri
(15th) 7:00 pm - Conference by Sandra
Tanner Sat
(16th) 8:00 am - Men’s Breakfast - “What
Would You Say to a Mormon?” by Pastor Hilbert. 12:00 pm - Ladies Luncheon at the
church. Q&A with Sandra Tanner 7:00 pm - Conference by Sandra
Tanner Sun
(17th) 9:00 am - Conference by Sandra
Tanner 10:00 am - “How to Detect a Cult”
(Col 1:18-20) by Pastor Hilbert. No Evening Service Guest Speaker:
Sandra Tanner
Since I was
born and raised in the Mormon church, and am a great-great-grandchild of
Brigham Young, I had very strong ties to the Mormon faith. I was about
seventeen before I ever attended another church. As a teenager my life
centered around the Mormon church. Because I was active and paying my tithing
I thought I was in pretty good standing with God. I knew I sinned but I felt
my activity in church would somehow outweigh what I did wrong. I believed (as
the Mormons teach) that I was inherently good. I had no fear of God's
judgment. Besides the things that were wrong in my own life, I began to have
doubts about my church. Could it really be the only true church? Was polygamy
really right? Why couldn't the Negro hold the priesthood? Was temple marriage
really so important? Why were its rites kept such a secret? Did God actually
command Mormons to wear special under-garments? I had many questions going
through my mind. When I started college I enrolled in the
Mormon Institute of Religion class. I started asking questions in class,
trying to find answers to my doubts. But one day my institute teacher took me
aside and told me to please stop asking questions in class. There was a girl
attending the class who was thinking of joining the church and I was
disturbing her with my questions. What a surprise! I had hoped to find
answers to the many things that were bothering me and now I had been silenced. Shortly after this I met Jerald and we
began studying the Bible and Mormonism together. As we studied I began to see
the contradictions between the Bible and the teaching of the Mormon church. I
had grown up thinking that Brigham Young was one of the greatest men that
ever lived. He was always presented to me as such a holy man—God's prophet,
seer, and revelator. Then Jerald had me read some of Brigham Young's sermons
in the Journal of Discourses on blood atonement. I was shocked! I knew what
Brigham Young was saying was wrong but I couldn't reconcile these sermons
with the things I had always been taught concerning him. I knew these were
not the words of a prophet of God. Jerald also showed me the changes that
had been made in Joseph Smith's revelations. The thought kept coming to me
that if God had actually given those revelations to Joseph Smith why would
they need rewriting? Surely the Creator of the universe could say it right
the first time! As I studied I not only found errors in
Mormonism, I also began to comprehend there was something wrong in my own
life. As I studied God's Word I realized I was a sinful hypocrite. In spite
of my sins I had thought I was right with God. Yet the Bible says: "For
the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus
Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). After Jerald and I were married we
started visiting the different Protestant churches. As I listened to the
sermons I began to realize that God was not concerned with peoples' church
affiliations, but with a personal relationship. Christ taught a way of love,
not a religious system. He stated: "By this shall all men know that ye
are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35). Paul
taught that we should "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and
hath given himself for us . . ." (Eph. 5:2). God reaches out to man, not because he
deserves it, but because God loves him. John wrote: "Herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). Paul wrote: "But God, who
is rich in mercy, . . . even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us
together with Christ . . . For by grace are ye save through faith; and that
not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should
boast" (Eph. 2:4, 5, 8, 9). I now want to share with you the
particular events of the day I surrendered my heart and life to Jesus Christ:
Early one morning (October 24, 1959) I decided to listen to the radio for a
while. I turned to the Christian radio station and listened to a sermon. The
minister was preaching on the great love of God and the mercy offered to us
through Jesus Christ. Nothing ever struck me with such force. I opened my
heart to God and accepted Christ as my own personal Saviour. The Holy Spirit
flooded my soul with such joy that I wept for over an hour. After the sermon
the station played this song written by Elton M. Roth— I love the Christ who died on Calv'ry, For He washed my sins away; He put within my heart a melody, And I know it's there to stay. In my heart there rings a melody, There rings a melody with heaven's harmony; In my heart there rings a melody, There rings a melody of love. This song fully describes the way I felt.
How glorious to know Christ died for my sins so I could have a new life in
Him. Our lives testify to all we meet whether or not we are truly Christians.
Paul wrote: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no
law" (Gal. 5:22-23). Sandra Tanner Today converts are swarming into the
Mormon church, but very few of them really know much about Mormonism. We feel
safe in saying that many of them are converted to the social program of the
church rather than to its doctrines. Those who were born in the church in
many cases "know" it is true but don't know why it is true. Many
Mormons will stand up in testimony meeting and dogmatically assert that
Joseph Smith was a prophet and that they belong to "the only true
church," but very few of them check to make sure that their faith is
based on reality. Many members of the Mormon church prefer to let their
leaders do their thinking ("when our leaders speak, the thinking has
been done"); it is so easy to let someone else do our thinking. The
Bible warns: "Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in
man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord"
(Jer. 17:5). We sincerely hope and pray that the Mormon people will begin to
awaken to the true message of Christ, realizing that in Him, and Him alone,
can we have salvation—salvation that brings genuine deliverance from sin and
real fellowship with the God who loved us enough to die for us. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
