Franktalk wrote:I have zero expectations of the church.
We have that in common.
I have many expectations in Christ.
Excellent, rip out the religious section of your yellow pages, hang those pages on a wall and throw a dart as to which Christian denomination you will join. You can have "Christ" in any of them, and with such an attitude, for you a particular church is irrelevant. It wasn't so for me nor those on this board.
The church is a vehicle and nothing more.
"Nothing more" is right. The LDS church leadership would not agree with you at all. The LDS church claims to be much more than just a "vehicle" that you can choose amongst many.
The people I go to church with are honest hardworking men and women. I like to hang out with those kinds of people.
So do I, just not in a religious setting.
I fellowship with people I like not because of the building.
Well, that ain't a Mormon belief or attitude. A person is Mormon (and not any ol' random Christian) because the church claims it is unique in having the priesthood authority and in effectuating the ordinances necessary for salvation. According to Mormonism, having "Christ" is not enough on its own. You do understand that right?
Why would you measure faith by active membership? Abraham is the root of the tree of faith. The entire church is trying to be a branch on that tree. The root is made by a nonmember. Have you not read scripture?
So, show us a scripture, teaching or doctrine that LDS leaders teach as showing the LDS church as a voluntary branch of Christianity amongst many, that all lead to the same place? The LDS church teaches that it has
exclusive and
singular authority for the salvation and exaltation of men. Sorry, but the LDS church does not share that authority with any other Christian denomination. If it did, you wouldn't have to be baptized into the Mormon church if you were already once baptized. You do, and the church does not.