New YouTube vid shows church DECLINE

[_Polygamy Porter]

Paul Maughan strikes again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAP2KLk920w

[_Ray A]

Paul Maughan strikes again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAP2KLk920w

I don't know how you do it, PP. That was another very moving You Tube clip! I could hardly read the writing about "wards lost" because of listening to "The Spirit of God Like Fire Is Burning". My God, this is such a powerful religion! And the great finale was President Hinckley breaking down in tears, because of his absolute, and total conviction, which seemed to reflect, "If only you knew what I knew".

Thank you, PP!

"Two men looked out from prison bars, one saw mud, the other saw stars."

[_guy sajer]

Paul Maughan strikes again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAP2KLk920w

I don't know how you do it, PP. That was another very moving You Tube clip! I could hardly read the writing about "wards lost" because of listening to "The Spirit of God Like Fire Is Burning". My God, this is such a powerful religion! And the great finale was President Hinckley breaking down in tears, because of his absolute, and total conviction, which seemed to reflect, "If only you knew what I knew".

Thank you, PP!

"Two men looked out from prison bars, one saw mud, the other saw stars."

Wow, Pres. Hinkley broke down in tears. Forget all the damning evidence, that's enough for me. He simply wouldn't start blubbering if it weren't all true. How do I re-up?

Just a passing thought, though. If Pres. Hinkley really does know so much, why the hell isn't he sharing it with us and the world? After alll, isn't that the role of the Prophet? Also, don't keep you light hidden and all that rot.

OK, quick pop quiz. All believers out there, please identify 1 deep insight Pres. Hinkley offers to the world that can't be found somewhere else.

And no, the evils of multiple ear piercings doesn't count. Sorry.

[_Ray A]

Wow, Pres. Hinkley broke down in tears. Forget all the damning evidence, that's enough for me. He simply wouldn't start blubbering if it weren't all true. How do I re-up?

Just a passing thought, though. If Pres. Hinkley really does know so much, why the hell isn't he sharing it with us and the world? After alll, isn't that the role of the Prophet? Also, don't keep you light hidden and all that rot.

OK, quick pop quiz. All believers out there, please identify 1 deep insight Pres. Hinkley offers to the world that can't be found somewhere else.

And no, the evils of multiple ear piercings doesn't count. Sorry.

Why cast your pearls before swine? Damning evidence? If you were ever a Mormon, Guy, you have forgotten the conviction that penetrates the very soul.

*Oliver Cowdery describes these events thus: “These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, ‘Interpreters,’ the history or record called ‘The Book of Mormon.’
“To notice, in even few words, the interesting account given by Mormon and his faithful son, Moroni, of a people once beloved and favored of heaven, would supersede my present design; I shall therefore defer this to a future period, and, as I said in the introduction, pass more directly to some few incidents immediately connected with the rise of this Church, which may be entertaining to some thousands who have stepped forward, amid the frowns of bigots and the calumny of hypocrites, and embraced the Gospel of Christ.
“No men, in their sober senses, could translate and write the directions given to the Nephites from the mouth of the Savior, of the precise manner in which men should build up His Church, and especially when corruption had spread an uncertainty over all forms and systems practiced among men, without desiring a privilege of showing the willingness of the heart by being buried in the liquid grave, to answer a ‘good conscience by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.’
“After writing the account given of the Savior’s ministry to the remnant of the seed of Jacob, upon this continent, it was easy to be seen, as the prophet said it would be, that darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the minds of the people. On reflecting further it was as easy to be seen that amid the great strife and noise concerning religion, none had authority from God to administer the ordinances of the Gospel. For the question might be asked, have men authority to administer in the name of Christ, who deny revelations, when His testimony is no less than the spirit of prophecy, and His religion based, built, and sustained by immediate revelations, in all ages of the world when He has had a people on earth? If these facts were buried, and carefully concealed by men whose craft would have been in danger if once permitted to shine in the faces of men, they were no longer to us; and we only waited for the commandment to be given ‘Arise and be baptized.’
“This was not long desired before it was realized. The Lord, who is rich in mercy, and ever willing to answer the consistent prayer of the humble, after we had called upon Him in a fervent manner, aside from the abodes of men, condescended to manifest to us His will. On a sudden, as from the midst of eternity, the voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us, while the veil was parted and the angel of God came down clothed with glory, and delivered the anxiously looked for message, and the keys of the Gospel of repentance. What joy! what wonder! what amazement! While the world was racked and distracted—while millions were groping as the blind for the wall, and while all men were resting upon uncertainty, as a general mass, our eyes beheld, our ears heard, as in the ‘blaze of day’; yes, more—above the glitter of the May sunbeam, which then shed its brilliancy over the face of nature! Then his voice, though mild, pierced to the center, and his words, ‘I am thy fellow-servant,’ dispelled every fear. We listened, we gazed, we admired! ’Twas the voice of an angel from glory, ’twas a message from the Most High! And as we heard we rejoiced, while His love enkindled upon our souls, and we were wrapped in the vision of the Almighty! Where was room for doubt? Nowhere; uncertainty had fled, doubt had sunk no more to rise, while fiction and deception had fled forever!
“But, dear brother, think, further think for a moment, what joy filled our hearts, and with what surprise we must have bowed, (for who would not have bowed the knee for such a blessing?) when we received under his hand the Holy Priesthood as he said, ‘Upon you my fellow-servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer this Priesthood and this authority, which shall remain upon earth, that the Sons of Levi may yet offer an offering unto the Lord in righteousness!’
“I shall not attempt to paint to you the feelings of this heart, nor the majestic beauty and glory which surrounded us on this occasion; but you will believe me when I say, that earth, nor men, with the eloquence of time, cannot begin to clothe language in as interesting and sublime a manner as this holy personage. No; nor has this earth power to give the joy, to bestow the peace, or comprehend the wisdom which was contained in each sentence as they were delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit! Man may deceive his fellow-men, deception may follow deception, and the children of the wicked one may have power to seduce the foolish and untaught, till naught but fiction feeds the many, and the fruit of falsehood carries in its current the giddy to the grave; but one touch with the finger of his love, yes, one ray of glory from the upper world, or one word from the mouth of the Savior, from the bosom of eternity, strikes it all into insignificance, and blots it forever from the mind. The assurance that we were in the presence of an angel, the certainty that we heard the voice of Jesus, and the truth unsullied as it flowed from a pure personage, dictated by the will of God, is to me past description, and I shall ever look upon this expression of the Savior’s goodness with wonder and thanksgiving while I am permitted to tarry; and in those mansions where perfection dwells and sin never comes, I hope to adore in that day which shall never cease.”—Messenger and Advocate, vol. 1 (October 1834), pp. 14—16.

Oliver Cowdery - excommunicant, and apostate, then repentant returnee.

[_Ray A]

Where will "Mormonism" end? It will never end:

Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, the East Indies, and other places, the standard of truth has been erected: no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing, persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done.

* History of the Church 4:540; The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, p.218-219

26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. Ether 12

You are fighting a losing battle. You may win a few battles, but in the end you will lose the war. Better to surrender now. You cannot, and you never will, defeat the purposes of God.

[_guy sajer]

Wow, Pres. Hinkley broke down in tears. Forget all the damning evidence, that's enough for me. He simply wouldn't start blubbering if it weren't all true. How do I re-up?

Just a passing thought, though. If Pres. Hinkley really does know so much, why the hell isn't he sharing it with us and the world? After alll, isn't that the role of the Prophet? Also, don't keep you light hidden and all that rot.

OK, quick pop quiz. All believers out there, please identify 1 deep insight Pres. Hinkley offers to the world that can't be found somewhere else.

And no, the evils of multiple ear piercings doesn't count. Sorry.

Why cast your pearls before swine? Damning evidence? If you were ever a Mormon, Guy, you have forgotten the conviction that penetrates the very soul.

Oh, pulease, what a lame excuse. Are there not possibly millions of sincere, honest, decent people out there in the world looking for true direction from God? Is this not the role of the prophet for crimeinees sake? If GBH has such wonderful insight into God and the human condition, let him declare it.

He doesn't, because he has NOTHING to say, no special insight into God and humanity, that you can't get from any two-bit street preacher on the corner. The value added of the Mormon Prophet to humanity is ZERO.

I never had a "conviction that penetrates the very soul." I had emotional experience that I was indoctrintated to interpret as the Holy Spirit.

And even if I did, they were not more valid, real, meaningful than those experienced by millions upon millions of others in differently, and often diametrically opposed, belief systems.

[_Ray A]

I never had a "conviction that penetrates the very soul." I had emotional experience that I was indoctrintated to interpret as the Holy Spirit.

I don't doubt that at all.

And even if I did, they were not more valid, real, meaningful than those experienced by millions upon millions of others in differently, and often diametrically opposed, belief systems.

I don't doubt that, either. And I think it's a very good thing when it happens to people.

[_harmony]

Wow, Pres. Hinkley broke down in tears. Forget all the damning evidence, that's enough for me. He simply wouldn't start blubbering if it weren't all true. How do I re-up?

Just a passing thought, though. If Pres. Hinkley really does know so much, why the hell isn't he sharing it with us and the world? After alll, isn't that the role of the Prophet? Also, don't keep you light hidden and all that rot.

OK, quick pop quiz. All believers out there, please identify 1 deep insight Pres. Hinkley offers to the world that can't be found somewhere else.

And no, the evils of multiple ear piercings doesn't count. Sorry.

This reminds me of the dumbing down of the public school system, of teaching to lowest level instead of to the highest, and then complaining that we don't compare well to the rest of the world. Well, DUH! When the mandate is "no child left behind", any child that is above average is going to be bored stupid. And that's exactly what correlation has done for the church. Anyone who 'gets it' is bored stupid. And if our leaders were actually leaders, they'd know that and they'd fix it. But they aren't, so they don't, so we're still bored stupid.

[Guest]

I love the song and the way in was sung as it brings back some good memories - but those are few.

[_Jason Bourne]

Paul Maughan strikes again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAP2KLk920w

Wow/

I am well.....


Underwhelmed. I am not sure where the fool who did this came up with his numbers but they seem way off.

Sure some have left, some will. Growth has slowed. But overall there is still net growth.

So PP go take a cold shower and cool off dud......