With No Contention

Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk the truth. I can't hide it. Back in home. A daily program powered by the Truth Network.

This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you what. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host. Welcome to Truth Talk Live.

This is Russ East, your host, sitting in for Stu Epperson. I am serving with the Truth Network here in Salt Lake City, Utah. I've been in Utah for about thirty-four years. Doing ministry, trying to just share with our friends that live in this state. And all over the country.

Of members of the Mormon Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That they can know, like it says in 1 John 5:13 through 15, that they have eternal life. But it's only in Jesus. It's only in their faith in Jesus. But those who believed in Jesus.

It's so simple, it's so profound. It's such a gift that sometimes it's hard to really fathom when when a group has tacked on all these other things on top of it. to make it feel like you have to somehow be worthy through temple rituals, through various different codes and different statutes that you have to c to be abiding by. And then you get to go into the higher echelons of the Mormon concepts of heaven and so forth. I've got my friend Tom with me.

He and I both. We're saved out of the Mormon church. We have no spirit of contention. Billy Tom. No, absolutely.

How's it going, Russ? Doing great, doing great. I'm just sharing with our listeners today that concept of a spirit of contention, it's a phrase that I think is important to understand when you're Whenever you're talking to somebody who is of the Mormon church, It's a phrase that means something to them because in the Book of Mormon, it's talked about: the spirit of contention is from the devil. We don't have that. We're not haters.

We really love. You, if you're a member of the Mormon Church, we want to have good dialogue with you and not mock you, not. be ridiculing or anything, but we want to Are we your enemy because we tell you the truth? Paul asked that question. And so we want to open up dialogue with you.

Last week, we had a very nice lady named Tracy from Arizona call in.

So if you'd like to call in, maybe you're listening from Lynchburg, Virginia, or Dayton, Ohio, or Toledo, Ohio, or somewhere in the Carolinas. We'd love to hear from you and answer questions that you might have about how to reach Mormons for Christ, 866-348-7884. That's 866-348-7884. Grayson will take your call and he'll have you just be on hold for just a second, and then we'll bring you on the line, and you can ask away. Today's program on Truth Talk Live, we want to talk a little bit about a certain topic.

And I'll let Tom kind of introduce his his interest in this topic and the study that he's done in this.

So Tom, we had talk over the text message just the other day. Tell our listeners kind of one of the passions in your heart to try to Articulate and convey to our friends who are Mormon when it comes to a certain aspect of Christian doctrine or theology, or just how we got the Bible and so forth, too. And maybe how the Mormons might say how they got their scriptures, and we kind of do a little comparison. Tell us a little bit about your thoughts there. Absolutely.

Well, so I am absolutely passionate about the textual transmission of the Bible, the Old and New Testaments. Upon getting saved and giving my life to Christ in my 20s, I became a student of the scriptures.

So I've been at this for 20 plus years. And the more that I dig and the more that I look, the more astounded I am at the textual evidence there is for the Bible. And so my scholarship, I'm currently pursuing a doctor of ministry and my scholarship surrounds biblical textual transmission and its accuracy. And so, I mean, that's about as much as I have to say there. I love the Bible.

I love the evidence we have for it. And I I I guess when you compare that Apples to oranges here with the LDS scripture. The wealth of textual evidence that we have for the Bible is astounding, and there's just not a lot you can say. in regards to what kind of textual evidence there is for LDS scripture.

So now I will recognize that the LDS saints, they do recognize the Bible as one of their standard works. but that is one of their standard works and they have an open canon.

So, my position is there's a closed canon in the Old and New Testaments. There are no other books that are authoritative in the life of a believer.

So, but a little bit about my scholarship and my passion.

Okay, excellent. We've got a caller. We have a gentleman from Ohio that would like to get in on the conversation. I believe it was a couple weeks ago. That we had a chance to speak with you, sir.

You're on Truth Talk Live. And maybe have you had a chance to meet with those Mormon missionaries for the last seven years? I did, and you remember, this is awesome. This is my love about Truth Talk Live.

So this is Bossman from Dayton, Ohio. And yes, I did follow through with the dear missionary girls. from the LDS. And by the way, I just learned this, guys. And by the way, our guest, you are a man after my own biblical loving heart.

Oh my gosh, I love that you're studying where our Bible comes from, and that's just phenomenal. I'd love to pick your brain. After you go through all your work, school work.

So, back to the LDS. What I learned, first, I'll start with the end of the story. Um the end of the story is this. Um I will be meeting Lord willing Bishop Joey. They go they have hierarchies in the LDS And If this was the top uh elder of the Dakin uh Mormon or no.

I don't like to say Mormon now because Bishop Joey actually said to me, guys, and this is for all the listeners. They find the name Mormon.

somewhat offensive. They also find um Calling them LDS, but I'm saying it in short, Bishop Joey, if you're listening, and I will send this to you, sir. Um They find LDS somewhat offensive as well.

So I'm trying to be sensitive to their. their feelings. And one thing I learned about you guys But Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints members. There you go.

Now that's not offensive, ladies and gentlemen. They are really big. That religion is really big centered around human emotions and feelings. I noticed that from the girls who stopped me and said, Hey, would you like to go to church?

So, all the way at the beginning, I just noted, it's like the Lord said, Dustman take note of every time they allude or refer to They're personal. Feelings, the feelings and emotions that come over us as human beings.

So, that was one of the first things I learned that I thought was very interesting.

So, let me get to the middle of my Fired. I dark here. Um they invited me To take a tour, watch this, take a tour of their church building. And I did.

So I met them on a Friday. And I met two older elders in the the uh Latter-day Saints. Uh Service there in Dayton, Ohio, a man by the name of Andrew. and a woman by the name of Miriam. And since those were biblical names, you guys, and I'm a biblical peek like our brother here who's going to school for it, I was able to parlay that into a conversation about their names and where they come from in the Bible.

And it was just an awesome, awesome exchange.

So here's what happened though. Here's what happened.

So they said, can you come to church with this busman on Sunday? I said, I will be here.

So when I showed up, I sat down in the very front row.

so that I could hear the speaker. And that was not to drag myself, ladies and gentlemen, and say, well, I'm Buchman, I'm sitting up in the front. No. I'm 56 years old. I played rock and roll music way too loud in my past as a band member for many bands.

I've wanted to hear these folks, guys.

So, watch this. This is the God movement. I ended up showing up, ladies and gentlemen, True Talk Live listeners. Oh. There's some music.

Hold that thought. Hold that thought. Don't go away, Buckman. We got to hear this story. Praise God.

I think something good's going to happen here. I can't wait to hear what this thing is all about.

So stay with us. Stay with us. Don't touch that dial, as they say. And we'll be right back. You're listening to Truth Talk Live.

With my friend Tom, Bussman, myself, Russ East. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. This is Russ East. If you just joined us here, You're a You're going to have a treat here because our friend Bustman from Ohio, he He went to a Mormon church.

He went to a tour after meeting up with some missionaries from this church, we'll call it the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have a different Jesus. I have to tell you, though, of course, but. For sake of just clarifying who we're talking about, we're talking about a church. that I came out from And so do our co-host Tom.

He did as well. But Buskman, he went to a Mormon church recently, and then he was invited to go to a Mormon ward or church service on Sunday.

So tell us, you went to the front row. You notice there's a lot of emotions flowing from the missionaries, really high on emotions and things. But you're at the front row of the Mormon church on a Sunday. What happened next, Buskman? Absolutely, my dear brothers.

And I got to say this. My heart is totally, totally changed. towards these dear folks. They truly are Guys, shout out. searching for God or as the Mormon book says Getting nearer to God.

That's the whole premise that this religion is built upon: being quote unquote nearer to God. And so that's what draws my heart because I know the true Jesus. He lives inside of me, and He just, He loves those dear Latter-day Saints members. More than we do, gentlemen.

So here's that was that was the the impetus and my motivation to go through all of these motions that these dear religious people who want to be nearer to God have.

So I'm sitting in the front row. And I'm waiting for a s a sermon, I guess. And anyway, a dear gentleman, they're very calm. They're very meek. They're very mild in their in their dress.

I mean, the girls were were wearing pretty, pretty dresses. The boys were all in smart suits. And the men and the women looked the same. They were dressed to their church nines. And I found that refreshing after what we've been through in America the last few years, amen.

So I go in there and I sit at the front row. A nice gentleman takes the podium. and says this. Ladies and gentlemen, you came on a special Sunday as we're in a fast. For some kind of good reason.

I forget what it was, guys, but the whole church was on a first Sunday of the month. Yeah, the first Sunday of every month they do a fact and testimony meeting. There you go.

Yes, and they yeah. Yeah. Yes, yes, it was testimony meeting.

Now, brother, I didn't know that. And God had me show up on testimony meeting.

So I was like, oh my goodness, this is fantastic.

So I heard the gentleman say that. And honestly, guys, I thought it was just for the members.

So I gently raised my hand from the front row, The man at the podium says, yes, sir. And I said, is that open to visitors? And he said, yes, it is. And that's when I believe I was under the unction of the Holy Spirit in a way, gentlemen. I've never experienced So I'm not sure if you hated what you shared about Jesus.

You went up to the front. Watch this. Yeah, watch this.

So there were probably four members, male members, there were no females, that came up and gave their testimony. And one was a young man that really, really broke my heart, guys. And he quoted. From Mosiah. I thought he said Moses, but there's a chapter in the blue manifesto written by Joseph Smith.

named Mosiah. And I was trying to find the verse in that chapter and guys, he just went off on it so fast and I couldn't follow along.

So It comes to be my turn. Yes, the Book of Mormon. The another testimony of Jesus Christ, which is emblazoned with another manifesto. Another. And I found that interesting, gentleman.

So anyway, so they called Buzzman up there. And I am not kidding you. I was under the Spirit of God like I've never sensed in my life. True talk in my life.

So I open up to the f to the fly leaf. And the fifth Paragraph Down on the introduction page of this blue manifesto written by Joseph Smith Such this. This book is to be praised higher than any other book on earth for its accuracy.

Something to that. It says that a man will get nearer to God by abiding by the precepts of this book than any other book. That's exactly what it says, isn't it? Isn't it? No, you're you're the you're the ex, if I can say Mormon around you, sir, without being offensive.

And I don't think you are because you're redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So right there in in in these dear people's manifesto, and that's what I'm calling it. That's what I'm calling it. Manifesto, because they're believing it to be doctrine from God. And I was just so heartbroken, but I had a sense of. Discipline.

And I looked at all these men and women, beautifully dressed, little boys, little girls, had their eyes and their hearts fixed on me. And I had the podium, and they were so polite. And I said. Is there any, and I said a lot more than this, but for the sake of our time here on Truth Talk Live, I'm limiting it. And you can go to my Buskman Report podcast on Rumble if you'd like to see the whole story and hear it.

Because I talk straight about it.

Now, you don't, I didn't film anything inside the church service. I I thought I might, you know, maybe sneak uh a recorder in there. But then God said no. Nope, busman, you do it according to my rules.

So I left all the recording devices at home. And I recorded it with my brain. And anyway.

So I get to this point where I say, is there anyone in this room? that truly believes. And I held up the Book of Mormon. That Truly believes that this book is raised and to be considered higher, and then I raised up my Bible. Then next button And I scanned, starting with the man.

The older men. I looked, I found all the older men in this. probably 150, 200 feet people, folks. Build up this room. Sides, the side seats were filled up even, not just the center rows of padded pews.

And Everybody was just fixed. Nobody would say a word. I looked at one gentleman and I caught his eyes, and he shook his head. Yes. That particular man claimed that the blue book in my left hand.

Was to be more accurate and followed than the Holy Bible in my right hand. And I said To anyone else in here that believes that, I want you to know, click. The mic goes silent. And two very, very nice gentlemen dressed to the nines walks right up to me and said, sir, would you please come with us? And they were so kind They were so gentle.

One was the size of a house. This guy was huge. And he walked alongside of me, and then Bishop Jolie was on my left side. And we're walking out off the stage and onto the carpet that leads to the back of the room. And I looked to the congregation and I said, This, gentlemen, I said, this is exactly what they did, the religious people did to Jesus Christ in his day.

Take note. And these dear gentlemen just stayed silent and walked me out of the room. And it was Bishop Jolie. On my left it said, sir. Can I talk to you in my office?

And I said, I would love. to talk to you, sir. Yes, by all means Show me to your all posting.

Now I want to hear what happens next. Wait, wait, wait, Buckman, I want to hear what happens next. But I want to share this verse, this passage with you, and you tell me if you think this passage applies to what you're talking about. In Romans. 10, 1 through 4.

It says, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel, or in this case the Mormons, is that they might be saved, for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going to we'll be right back. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. Romans 10, 1 through 4 says, Brethren, my heart's desire in prayer to God for Israel is, or in this case we could say the Mormons, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves into the righteousness of God.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Busman, we have just one more minute, then we're going to take a caller from Utah. And so please just tell us in one minute what happened in that office. They're at the winner on that Sunday. Yep, what happened in that office is I will be meeting, Lord willing.

with Bishop Jolie to discuss the matters further. I did take them to school on a lot of biblical stuff, and it's too much to put into one minute.

So, um I just want to say Pray. for missionary uh Osman. Missionary Polish? Andrew, Miriam. David Chase.

and Bishop Jolie. Because those were the people that I came in contact. God put me in contact with. Amen. Amen.

Thank you for calling. Thank you so much. Bray Leona, thank you for calling in on Truth Talk Live, calling in from Utah. How can we help you, encourage you, or just answer some questions about our conversation today? Yeah, yeah, so I have just a lot of LDS friends who kind of have this.

It's a common thing you hear about how Christians and Mormons are the same. And as a Christian, I disagree with that. I don't believe that I'm hearing about all these doctrinal differences.

So, kind of, what are some ways that I can. Lovingly, as a Christian, encourage my LDS friends, but also scored it. Yeah. Yes. Tom, would you like to help answer Braley's question?

And then I'll jump in as well. But Tom, would you like to help answer Braley's question here?

Well, sure.

So, first of all, I think this is my daughter.

So, everyone say hi to Braylee. That's my kid. Hi, Brayley. Hi.

So yeah, so it's kind of cool that she called. But anyway, so if I thinking about differences and how we can describe the differences, the the fullness of the gospel is actually listed in the Old and New Testaments in the Bible. And it is final and it is fully complete in Christ. And so we come to him on the basis of what Paul says in Ephesians 2:8 through 9, and that is, we are saved by grace through our faith, not of works.

so that we can't boast about our salvation. It is a gift of God, it says. And so I mean that gospel in the Bible is actually the power of God unto salvation, as Paul the Apostle says in Romans chapter one. And so that's a little bit different because in the LDS representation of the gospel, what you have, gospel means something completely different than a free gift. It actually means adhering to rules, going to the temple, paying tithing, obeying church leaders, maintaining your testimony.

And so that is actually a clear distinction between the LDS gospel and the Christian gospel. Yes, and just to really just Encourage you all the more here. I'll just say that one of the things you can do is you can just ask your friends who are Mormon, you can say, Hey, hey, would you share with me your testimony?

Now you're not validating it, you're not giving them a high five, but you're just being courteous, you're asking them to share their story with you. And then when they've shared how they became a member of the Mormon Church, Then you can also say a question like this: like, what's the most special thing to you about being a member of your church? And then you can also ask the next question: Do you have the assurance, the confidence that you have eternal life, like it says in 1 John 5? 13 through 15. And it says that you can know that you have eternal life for those who believe in the name of the Son of God.

And just see what happens there. And then after you've listened to them and you've just asked them a couple more of those short questions, you've kept those in your mind, Then just ask them.

Well, thank you. Thank you for sharing that with me. Do you mind if I share my testimony with you? And then so this way, you've been able to crystallize in a relational way, in a very normal conversational way, you've been able to share the gospel with them. And then, and I think that's just a really great way, because you've initiated the question to them.

You know, you have an authentic, genuine interest in them. You're learning about what makes them tick, what they find so compelling in the Mormon church, so special, so important. And then you can find out if they've ever even heard of 1 John 5, 13 through 15, which is a beautiful verse for anybody. But for a Mormon person, they may not have ever looked at that verse before. They have a lot of verses that they memorize when you're in high school, the mastery, I forget what they call it, the scripture memory mastery series or something like that.

I believe in seminary they study. But then, in addition to sharing the gospel that way. You want to also start off with, I don't have a spirit of contention. And that's just a phrase that I think can go a long way because you're speaking their language. You're sharing with them that you don't hate them, that the devil is not a part of this conversation or atmosphere whatsoever.

You love them. You want to just share with them the grace and truth of Christ. Then I think if you can ask them a question that might pertain to Something about maybe about LDS theology or something that might just get them to think a little bit. You know, you could ask them about maybe like the three Nephites. The three Nephites are these that Jesus supposedly had met up with here on the Americas And they were given the priesthood.

And they wanted to live. Forever. like supposedly like the Apostle John. which is not true, but this is what they would believe. And so these three Nephites, they were supposedly given this right to be on the earth today.

And their Mormon people believe that they're walking around and they're doing good and they're sharing the message of Mormonism to people. But you can say, well, but if they had the priesthood and if the Apostle John had the priesthood. Um And they never died.

Well Why would we need a restoration exactly? Why couldn't they propagate the Mormon Church? And so that's just one little pebble in their shoe to be thinking about. And you can get books and you can read about. Things not to play like a juvenile game of you know, gotcha, but it's just things to make you think.

Does that help a little bit? Did they Brayley? This is really valuable feedback. Thank you guys so much. These are great things I can use and say to just be loving and also kind of.

direct those conversations for sure. Yes, absolutely. And we have a bunch of materials. Just get with your dad, and I'll send a box of stuff to your dad, and we'll be glad to just share a bunch of great resources with you.

So thank you so much for calling, Brayley. Thank you so much. Okay. All right, well if you'd like to call in, the n the number is 866. three four eight seventy eight eighty four.

That's eight six six three four eight seventy eight eighty four And let me ask Tom to share A little bit about how The m the Mormon church would Would describe the transmission of the Book of Mormon. to us. How did that happen? Could you just share with our listeners That process, because in the beginning of the Book of Mormon, it says that the Book of Mormon is a volume of Scripture comparable to that of the Bible. And so, boy, that's really putting the bar pretty high, right?

And so, would you want to share that a little bit about some of the things like the hat and the erm and thummum and the plates and the seven-year waiting period and just and think for it to be translated and so forth? Sure, but first I will just say that there are tens of thousands of manuscripts for the Bible and in various languages from various time periods. And so, what we have in the biblical record, and the only variance that we see across manuscript evidence. is syntax and punctuation, but plain meanings remains.

So literally comparing apples to oranges here because the the text for the Book of Mormon, and this is all on the Gospel Topic Essays on the LDS Church website, but on the text of the Book of Mormon came about through through staring into a hat. looking at a sear stone. And the text supposedly came to the prophet or the president at the time, Joseph Smith, through the text came to him through the sear stone. And he would dictate said text to his scribes.

So, and then all the textual evidence for the Book of Mormon. is supposedly gone back to heaven. And so we don't have anything to compare it to. What we do have to compare to for the Bible is extensive. I mean, it's like...

it'll blow your mind when you start looking at it.

So they're two different in fact, they're not on the same playing field as the LDS scripture would claim it is.

So it's completely different. Yeah. I'll just kind of change subjects a little bit here, but along the lines of transmission, how we got the Bible, if anyone has an opportunity to just go on their laptop, on their phone, and type in these letters for this website, C S N As in Nancy, TM, see CSNTM, csntm.org. And I remember, Tom, when I was at the Bridge Church in Centerville, where you serve there. uh here in Utah, I shared that website with you.

And um It's an incredible website. It's the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts. And if you go to csntm.org, you're going to see things that you would have to travel across the Atlantic Ocean to see in person. But there's this ministry that has gone to these museums such as the Chester uh the the uh The Chester Beatty collection. Um in Dublin, Ireland.

And this is an amazing collection of of copy of actual Papyrus from about the two hundreds Revelations and other parts of the New Testament. And so this is just one of many of these examples where you and I can. We can see these things with our own eyes. And it's just really incredible to realize that God has preserved his word. over all these years.

And so we can go to that website, csntm dot org, and we can see that there's been other types of collections of of Papyrus that have been put onto parchment, such as around five hundred AD. Uh codex. Alexandrinus and Codex. uh Vaticanus and Codex Sinaticus And these are all just Codex is just a collection of like a bound volume of scripture. And then these other words at the end of that just pertains to locations of where they were found.

And and they have just so many uh page after page after page of of early copies of our scriptures. And it would take us You know There's books that have been written on this topic, but We could go on for hours, but if you haven't had a chance to dive into some of these things, you know, feel free to call us and we'll get you some information: 866-348-368. 78, 84. We want our Mormon friends to see that the Bible is reliable, it's trustworthy. And so, if you have a question about this topic, Please give us a call, 866-348-7884.

We have one more segment, so stay with us here on Truth Talk Live and we'll be right back. True to the top. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. This is Russ East, your host. Welcome all of our listeners that are all across the Truth Network.

You might be listening on the Truth Network app. You might be listening on your your phone. You might be listening on radio, driving around Utah right now. You might be somewhere in Dayton, Ohio, Toledo, Lynchburg, Virginia, Raleigh, North Carolina, Winston, Salem, Charlotte. You could be somewhere w I I can't even imagine where you might be right now, but the Lord, I believe, has opened this door for you to be listening to good Bible teaching 24-7 on the Truth Network.

I've got my friend Tom with me. I'm going to ask Tom to share his thoughts on a verse in 2 Corinthians 11. And I just want to be sure, Tom, that I'm not taking this out of context. Tell me, because you used to be a Mormon. You came to Christ just like me.

Uh when we were young. And so, this is the verse. Tell me if this resonates with our friends who are Mormon, okay? It says. For if he he says verse 3, chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians, but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we have not preached, Or if ye receive another spirit which ye have not received, or another gospel which ye have not accepted. You might beware you might well bear with him.

So He's saying, you know, I hope you guys don't Just fall into Some subtlety here, some beguiling here. And he mentions three things: a different Jesus, another Jesus, another spirit. and another gospel. Is that plenty to make a comment on, Tom? What would you like to share with our listeners about that verse in relation to our friends that we love so much, the Mormon people?

Sure.

Well, I don't want to divorce it from the rest of the passage because if you go down to verse 14, so 2 Corinthians 11, 14, the Apostle Paul actually says that the work of the enemy, it shouldn't be a surprise. He says, no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as angels or servants of righteousness. And so when we think about this, of course, like what would the enemy of our souls want us to do? He'd want us to be distracted from the truth and the simplicity of the gospel. And that is that we come to Christ solely by faith. We are saved solely by faith.

By our faith, and we're saved by His grace. And I mean, just go to the book of Galatians if you want, or the letter of Galatians if you want commentary, because the Apostle Paul is angry in that letter for the Galatians accepting a gospel that is Jesus plus works. And that is precisely what our dear Mormon friends have done. They've got a gospel that has Jesus nominally at the center. But then ultimately, the burden of their salvation is on their shoulders.

So they're working hard. They're trying to make their own salvation happen through their performance, through their goodness, their kindness, their giving. And no, it is a different Christ. It is a different spirit. Is it a different gospel?

I completely agree with this, and I hope that that's good enough commentary. Oh, absolutely. I appreciate that. And I just think that what you just said there, you know, is it's not mean-spirited. It's like if you had a doctor that you went to and you weren't sure about what this little Funny little thing was on your skin, or the way you were feeling this wasn't right.

You want a doctor to be kind, but you'd want him to tell you, him or her to tell you straight up what's happening, right? You want the truth. You want graciousness in telling you the truth. But in this case, when we're touching on some very sensitive things here, probably even more so than a physical ailment or something like this, because this is eternity we're talking about here. This is.

This is something that's spiritually life and death, separation from God forever if we don't get this right, because He's the Almighty. He's the one who sets the rules. He's the one who we need to submit to and abide by. just as much as we see a speed limit sign on the highway. We're concerned about an officer with the lights coming on and pulling us over and giving us a big ticket.

Well, this is a lot more serious if we don't get this right.

So, this is what Paul said to the Galatians in Galatians chapter 1, in verse 6. He says, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ and to another gospel, which is not another. And so, here's the thing: on the front, like Buskman was saying earlier in the program, the gentleman from Ohio, on the front of many of the Book of Mormons, it says another Testament of Jesus Christ. I kid you not, that's exactly what it says. And it's just so sad.

It's so blatant. It's almost like a. flap in the face. to God, because here we have in Old English, you might have a version of the Bible that's modern and that's great. But in this older one here of King James, it says, which is not another, but there would be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. That's some strong language, isn't it, Tom? Absolutely.

In fact, if you look at Paul's letters in the New Testament, what he does is he opens them pretty much the same, with the exception of this letter. There's a traditional prayer of thanksgiving that happens in his letters, and he replaces this with a rebuke in verse 6. And following. And so that's precisely what's happening. Paul's not happy with the situation in Galatia because of A, Jesus plus works.

gospel and he's astonished he is marveled that there's so many soon deserting the gospel that that they've been called to, which is Faith in Christ.

So yeah, absolutely. And for those listening right now who might think that we have some just kind of like a vendetta against the Mormon people, no, that's not it at all. You know, we we just Our our lives have that as so much of a of a central part of our Of our existence. I mean, we grew up in this. You know, we were saved out of it.

And so our hearts are just broken for the Mormon people that are striving so hard to try to get out of the telestial degree of glory. If you're listening right now and you're a Mormon, you may not. Realize this, but your church teaches that if you don't reach the certain level that gets you out of the telestial degree, you're never going to see, you're going to never see Jesus. It says in the book called Gospel Principles. It says that you'll only be visited by the Holy Ghost.

Now granted, that idea Is a in and of itself, it's a it's a It's a beautiful idea. I don't want to take away from the idea of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, but At the same time, to say that you're not going to be with Jesus or the Father because you weren't good enough Do you realize what that's saying? And then, if you get to the second level, the terrestrial degree of glory, you'll be visited by Jesus. How often is that? What does that really mean?

Now, in Mormonism, of course, the concept of one times one times one is one. A bean the triune God, three persons, one essence, it's not taught. And so you have this totem pole. You have this bronze, silver, gold, metal concept of God. And it's sad, and it's like this carrot that's being dangled in front of you.

And you're being told if you can just do a little bit more, if you can just do more than you can try, like Spencer Kimball taught in the miracle of forgiveness, you have to do more, do more, try harder than you can. And it just I just want you to let it go and realize Jesus. did everything That was necessary. His life was perfect. His life was perfect.

He is the God-man. He is God the Son. And we could talk more about that, say, in a Zoom call with your, you know, we could talk on the phone later. Just give us a call at 866-348-7884 and leave your number. And if you'd like to talk, if you're in Utah listening, I'd be glad to get you lunch.

And my wife can join us if it's a lady calling in. But we wish we went on to be there for you. And I know at the bridge in Centerville, do you want to just share about your church services and how you guys have a real heart for everybody? But tell us a little bit about how people can visit and pray for the bridge in Centerville, Utah, and whereabout that's located. Sure.

Well, we're located at twelve eighty four West seventy five North in Centerville, Utah. The Bridge community is a place where we just want to help people find Jesus and follow Him fully.

So, you can come to our services at 9:15 a.m. or 11 a.m. And you don't have to dress up. You can come dress up if you want. You can come casually.

But our liturgy is pretty standard for a non-denominational church. You'll hear the Bible taught. You'll hear some modern contemporary worship. You'll be greeted at the door. You can drink coffee if you're into that.

It's a really relaxed environment. And we do. We just strive to help people find Jesus and follow Him fully. We'd love it if you join us, and we'd love it if you come learn about Jesus with us. And while we're just making invitations, I want to invite those of you in Utah if you'd like to be a part of our Banquet coming up, our Thanksgiving banquet.

We're having it this Friday at the Hilton Garden Inn in Sandy, Utah. And you can just go to UPF. the acronym for Utah Partnerships for Christ. And you can get your ticket there. Also, of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that on Sunday the 16th, of this month, just this coming Sunday now.

It's the big outreach. It's the Hope for America with Greg Laurie. And if you've never been to an event like this, I went to one in Boise, Idaho, and it was super great music. A great time of the gospel being presented. And I got to be one of those people that gave a Bible to two.

young girls with their moms and they had made a decision for Christ. That they wanted to receive him as their savior. And so, what a blessing that was. And if you have any interest. to help with maybe helping with setup.

or with cleanup or being an usher or helping with people that make a decision to put their faith in Christ alone, just go to harvest.org and you can find out all about that. I'm going to give one more invitation here. And then, Tom, I want to give you an opportunity to share anything that's on your heart. That you might find encouraging to people. You think, oh, but there's the music.

Okay, I'll tell you about our. Trip to Greece. Footsteps of Paul next year, September 22nd through the 2nd. Just go to pilgrimtours.com and look for the trip from Utah Partnerships for Christ. It's gonna be a great trip.

We'd love to have you join us on this. We're also putting together a trip to the Ark. in Williamstown, Kentucky. It's not solidified yet, but we're working on it. Thank you for joining us and thank you for listening to Truth Talk Live.

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