Final Battle: Mormon Promises
They Wish They Could Keep
Religion Exposed v. Jesus
Jerry Stokes Testimony Fifth Generation Mormon: I believe Christians and Mormons will find my testimony interesting for several reasons. The first is because I was a multi-generational Mormon. I was not a Christian who experimented with Mormonism for a few years and then went back to Christianity. My mothers Bradford family was involved with Mormonism from its very earliest days helping to settle Spanish Fork Utah. My father’s Stokes family converted to Mormonism from Great Britain in 1849, crossed the Atlantic, and helped settle Draper Utah as an original pioneer family. Today, I am finding it is this group who are the toughest to reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Another reason I believe my testimony will be interesting is because I was very active for many years. I was ordained by Gordon B. Hinckley who is currently president of the Mormon Church. Like millions of loyal Mormons today, before I came to the Lord, I was too loyal to even pick up materials that the church would consider "anti-Mormon." Because of this I didn't leave the LDS Church because I discovered widespread deceptions or became angry, bitter, or disappointed about my experience with the Church. Actually, I had a good experience as an active member of the Mormon church. I was very proud of my heritage. It was only after I came to Christ that I discovered the depth of those problems.
Another reason I believe my testimony will be interesting is because my activity included my helping to train missionaries in Anaheim California. I spent a years "knocking on doors" for the Mormon Church. This experience put me in contact with a diverse community that included many professing Christians. As I shared the Mormon gospel with Christians, I experienced dozens of ways Christians responded and witnessed to me. Today after many years I can still recall some techniques that were very effective. I also like to share about some ways of sharing the gospel that are not as helpful.
My years of temple activity are another reason I believe my testimony is interesting. To work with Mormons it is helpful to understand key Mormon "idioms" rooted in their temple experience. Active Mormons are asked to attend temple services at least once a month. This means many Mormons have been through the temple hundreds of times. The temple experience deeply shapes a Mormon’s theology. Although the 1990 temple endowment has changed, the information Mormons receive there is important if someone wants to impact a temple Mormon. Much of the dialogue of the temple experience is rooted in what Joseph Smith included in his Book of Abraham.
My testimony will cover some historical highlights from my family's history as it relates to the early Mormon experience. If you know active Mormons, you already know how very proud they are of their heritage. For many of those active Mormons, no one has ever formally announced for them the reality of the fall of Joseph Smith's "First Vision," the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, or the Book of Abraham. These events were very important because beginning in the 1960's the reality of these "falls" began to influence the way the Church responded to the world as well as its own membership.
Many of the millions of active Mormons today are quietly aware of some problems, but their information comes in controlled carefully planned releases. Many Mormons today are "in denial" about the reality of what the force of those "falls" mean. Reaching a people "in denial" can be challenging. I have a deep love for these Mormons who have not yet come to terms with the reality that they are attached to an "empty shell" that Mormonism tragically is. If you are being drawn into a ministry to Mormons I want to encourage you in the Lord, while it is a difficult mission field they are a people worthy of your efforts.
Hosea 8: 1 "Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the LORD because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law...
Be Strong in the Grace that is in Christ Jesus 2 Tim 2:1
Jerry Stokes
Final Battle: Mormon Promises They Wish They Could Keep
Religion Exposed v. Jesus
Final Battle blog: http://finalbattlemormnpromisesthywishthykep.blogspot.com/
Jerry Stokes LDS Testimony
Fall Book Mormon pdf
Ten Differing Versions of Joseph Smith’s Sacred Vision
Fall of the Papyri Behind the Sacred Mormon Temple Endowment
DNA & Failed Promises of the Book of Mormon
Fabrico Santos DNA First Americans 1999
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