Support
TILM
Ministry can support and encourage you. What are your greatest
needs? Any ideas on how to attract others who have LDS family members
to this discussion board?
TILM
find this group. I only found it through the book 'speaking truth in
love to mormons'. I had searched everywhere on the internet and found
basically nothing. You may want to try switching to Yahoo Groups, I
find it much easier to search and be found in their groups. I might
be partial since I have belonged to their groups for years.
As for attracting others, key words in the description of the group
would be important. I know I look forward to any little bit of
information from those of you who have 'been there done that'. Even
after reading Mark Cares book, I am still full of questions, such as
'what does the Bible say about families in heaven?' That is a BIG
issue with my TBM husband. I have many more questions but I can't
seem to think of them right now.
I look forward to hearing from everyone..
Nancy
Echo
Do feel free to throw out the questions and get some answers here.
What does TBM stand for?
What does the Bible say about families in heaven?
The only passage I can think of right now is this one:
Mathew 22:30 "At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be
given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven."
Can I ask why you ask? That might help me or someone else with giving
you a clearer answer.
> > to this discussion board?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Becki
Hi Nancy,
My name is Becki and I am a volunteer with Truth in Love Ministry. I
was born and raised in a prominent LDS family, was married in the
temple but left the Church when I was thirty. I know that the issue
of eternal families was very important to me so I can understand why
your husband thinks it's a big issue. In my mind, the hope of living
eternally with your family is the "carrot" held in front of Mormons to
get them to do the works necessary to gain eternal life.
Mormons are told that Protestant Christians believe they won't be with
their families in heaven. Assuring your husband that you believe you
will spend eternity with all family members who merely believe in
Jesus can be effective. He might never have heard that before.
In trying to understand why eternal families are so important to
Mormons it is good to look at the concept of families in general
within Mormonism. Mormons hold the family up with the highest of
reverence. In fact one of their prophets has proclaimed "Family
First", which is a big slogan within Mormonism. No one in the Mormon
Church thinks this is wrong. However, God tells us that he is a
jealous God and HE should be first within our lives.
In the Old Testament God preserved the tribe of Judah as a family unit
because of his promise of the Savior to come from it. That is why
there was so much emphasis on preserving family names in the Old
Testament and the New Testament Gospels--to prove that Jesus came from
this lineage. After Jesus died, God told us not to search out family
names (1 Timothy 1:4, Titus 3:9).
The only true eternal family is God's eternal family. The Bible tells
us that a person enters God's family through belief, not by blood.
(Well, actually through belief in Christ's blood, isn't that cool?)
That is a hard sell with Mormons because they believe that all people
are children of God. The Bible is clear that a person becomes a child
of God through faith (John 1:12, Romans 9:6-9, Galatians 3:26, 1 John
3:2, Ephesians 1:3-5). In fact, Jesus told the Pharisees that their
father was the devil (John 8:44) and John the beloved agrees with this
truth (1 John 3:10).
So, the members of a believer's eternal family are all other
believers. Praise the Lord if a person's spouse, parents or children
also believe in Jesus. In that case, then both a person's biological
family and God's family through belief will be together eternally
because they are one and the same.
The Bible does not place the emphasis on the biological family like
the LDS Church does. In fact look at what Jesus says here in Matthew
chapter 12:
"46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and
brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him,
"Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to
you." a
48 He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49
Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my
brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my
brother and sister and mother."
The Bible does not speak of any biological families living together as
a family unit in heaven. In fact, Jesus says there is no marriage in
Heaven in Matthew 22:29-30. "Therefore in the resurrection whose wife
shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. 29 Jesus answered and
said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power
of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given
in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. 31 But as
touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was
spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. 33 And when the multitude heard this, they were
astonished at his doctrine."
I think this is very powerful proof, however, when you bring this to a
Mormon, they usually have a pat answer. They say that this woman must
not have been married in the temple while on earth therefore she will
not be allowed to marry for eternity once the resurrection has
happened.
Hope this helps with some of your questions. I think the best thing
to focus on with your husband is the assurance that you know you will
spend eternity with your eternal family. This will not only be your
blood family who are believers, but this eternal family will be all
believers. This eternal family was won for you by the blood of
Jesus. You did not do anything to earn it. It is a gift to you
through belief in Christ! All praise to Jesus.
God's blessings,
Becki
TILM
Thanks so much for your words of encouragement. I find that my
husband 'picks and chooses' what he wants to believe of his church.
For instance, both of our daughters are adopted and obviously are not
'sealed' to us. He basically skirts around that issue since
apparently we will all be in the
telestial(?) kingdom together, although I may be in the outer
darkness ;-) Can I ask, what was the turning point for you? What
about your husband, did you figure it out at the same time. I was
actually raised mormon, but saw the light while in college.
Do you know if 'TruthInLoveMinistry' has any local support groups?
I'm in southwestern Idaho, just outside of Nampa.
Thank you again.
In his love...
Nancy
Becki
I don't think your husband is all that unusual in the LDS Church. I
find that many Mormons "pick and choose" what they want to believe
about their church. You asked about the turning point for me leaving
the LDS Church. That is a very long story which would take me too
long to write. Mostly the reason had to do with my struggle to gain
forgiveness. Within LDS doctrine, forgiveness is virtually impossible
to gain because it all depends upon your own works and completely
abandoning a sin. There is a short page I wrote on the Truth in Love
Ministry website at this address in regards to my search for
forgiveness, if you would like to read it:
http://www.truthinloveministry.net/urgency.htm#TextAnchor
Also, our Ministry has DVD's of a Seminar in which I presented at and
in that DVD I tell my story.
What might be more fun is if we just go to lunch together sometime.
It sounds like we must live fairly close together. Lori and I also
both live close to Nampa so maybe we should just all get together.
Our Ministry does not have any local support groups. However the
Church I attend in Nampa in which Pastor Cares is the Pastor has quite
a few ex-Mormons who attend. I have found that having so many other
ex-Mormons in the same Church and Bible classes provides lots of
support. This was especially true way back when I first started going
there in 1995. It was also a huge help to have Pastor Cares teaching
me in Bible classes because he understands Mormon teachings so well
and knows the language differences. Pastor Cares teaches a basic
Bible course that goes through the basic teachings found in the
Bible. This really helped me as I was replacing all the false
teachings that I had grown up with as a Mormon.
Just let me know if you would like to get together sometime. God's
blessings.
Your sister in Christ,
Becki