Comments about ‘In the Whirled: Why Christianity needs a church’

4. They expand your circle

This is especially true of Mormon congregations, which are organized by geography. Without a church congregation, my circle would be as large as my neighborhood block and my work associates.

I obviously need an explanation of the above quote from her article.
Mormon wards ARE organized by geography...and thus the circle IS only as
large as the neighborhood and LDS workplaces.

Her church congregation is that small circle....why does she say the opposite?

"We have a church- and it's not one that man established, but God."

Of course you think yours is the only "God" approved one.

Just like every other religion.

Religion is so predictable.

To: non believer - PARK CITY, UT: First of all, your comment related to "there is no physical evidence to support their teachings!" does not make it. There are too many examples in this world where things once thought of as umproven, only turn out to be proven and now are accepted as reality. Don't let your learning be clouded over by this type of thinking as you will never move forward. While my comments are not specifically directed towards religious beliefs, you tend to make sweeping statements that at some point in time you may wish you had not made the statement. Becasue something is not proven today, tomorrow may change everyone's thinking and you may be left behind. Simply keep an open mind and not close off things you do not understand at the present time.

RE: Supporting LDS Church, The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is a sign to the entire world that the Lord has commenced to gather Israel and fulfill covenants He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
Messianic Congregations(Jewish Christians) believe the Abrahamic covenant is unconditional given to the Jewish people, despite her national rejection of Yeshua the Messiah. God will purge Israel of unbelief during the Great Tribulation, the time of “Jacobs’s trouble” ,resulting in the national acceptance of Yeshua as her true Messiah(Is 52:13-53;12),(Jer 30:7),(Ezek 20;33-42)(Daniel 9:27)(Zec 12:10,13:8-9)(Romans 11:26).

God will ultimately fulfill every aspect in the Messianic kingdom, At that time the Jewish people will know God personally through Messiah Yeshua and will possess the entire land of Israel according to its Biblical boundries, (Gen 12;1-3;15:17-18;) Jer 31: 31-34) (Romans 11:25-28).

This should be titled why Christianity needs to indoctrinate children and the answer would be because its the only way to maintain followers as every next generation slowly distances itself from it.

Enjoyed your article, Tiff. There were real reasons and spiritual reasons that you addressed for belonging to a church. The Biblical one is explicit in Hebrews 10:25- to not forsake the gathering of the saints.

I grew up in a large, happy LDS home and only knew the support and love of family and community. My parents refused to let us complain, criticize or denigrate our church family, neighbors, school authorities, etc. When we asked where the rest of the ward was on a chapel clean-up day, my sweet father would quote Jesus' words to Peter: "What is that to thee? Follow thou Me!" (John 21:22). We would laugh and carry on. It took a few years, but we got the message. It took away the envy, self-pity and gossip, and gave us joy and self-esteem in the Lord. As active adults, we realized that not every member was raised as we were, but we were never made to esteem ourselves as better than anyone else. We realized there was no "They" in a community; it's all "We".

Although no longer of the denomination, I will always cherish my heritage of church family.

LValfre - if missionaries do what they are supposed to do, they are not to disparage the beliefs of those they are teaching.... if they do speak negatively of another religion, then they are not teaching how they are supposed to.

'What you're saying is sounding very hypocritical.'

If I had torn down someone else's beliefs, yes, that might be true. But I no more speak for the behavior of all those whom I share beliefs with any more than do you speak for everyone is believes something else. Let me ask you this, if there are those who believe like you but do things that our of character with the way you believe, does than make you a hypocrite? Really?

Christ didn't create his church as some sort of cultural hangout - he created his church as a means of saving Gods children. Without the "true church of Jesus Christ" there would be no priesthood authority - no power to bind on earth and bind in heaven and as a result no salvation beyond death. Simply setting on some mountain side and reading the New Testament isn't going to save you beyond death. Saving ordinances are required by the same Jesus that people want to get to know. Christ said "if you love me keep my commandments". Yes these are commandments not suggestions. Receiving saving ordinances is a commandment given by Jesus Christ himself.

No church - no salvation.

re: patriot 3:21 p.m. June 8, 2012

"No church - no salvation."

Therein (again) is the problem w/ orthodox christianity.

I'm a Gnostic and firmly believe that salvation comes from within through knowledge and self-improvement.

I found the article to be touching.

I personally agree with the notion that Christians and any other people's movement has the need to gather, discuss, learn and strength the ideology.

I left the LDS Church many years ago. However, I still I'm very much interested in what is going in Mormonism.

There is a moment in which you have to decide if the religion or organization you follow satisfies your mind and spirit. Many people like to follow quietly and like conformity, others have different needs and the church (any church) is no longer able to answer your questions.

The problem starts not necessarily when certain doctrine or teaching doesn't make sense to you. But the crisis many time starts when other members seem to suffer with your questioning and analysis and think of you as an apostate for daring to ask or comment.

As a child of God I miss the communion of the saints. However, as a child of God I cannot let an organization deny my own reasoning, faith and common sense. After all "the glory of God is intelligence".

Reasoning/individual vs. conformism/community: I will always choose reasoning/individual.

I saw a poll recently where people were asked to name the first thing they thought of when they heard the word "Christian". Among people in the under thirty age group that first thought was "anti-gay". Among that age group that is an extremely negative association. Christians may have trouble converting that demographic.

To believe in Jesus Christ and to follow his teachings of loving others, forgiving others, doing your best in all aspects of your lives and giving of your time and talents to the service of others, you DO NOT need an organized church or religion.

All "Christian" churches are built on one man or woman's view of Christ. This is true for the Catholic Church, the Baptists, Lutherans, Jehovah Witnesses, Eastern Orthodox and yes, even the LDS church.

Just live your life by following these tenets and you will find peace and happiness.

1) Love for myself first,
2) love for others,
3) kindness to others,
4) gratitude,
5) keeping my word and being honest,
6) striving for excellence in all I do,
7) forgiving others for their offenses yet also allowing the demands of justice to be met as needed for those wrongs, and lastly,
8) obeying the laws of the land.

I don't need to nor should I, hand my life over to any religion that is built on the ideas of a man or woman that evolve because of expediency or because the leader of the religion has a different view.

It's preposterous to think that you NEED to go to a building to find spirituality.
Going to a building only removes the guilt of thinking you don't measure up by staying home. Organized religion is guilt driven, not love driven.

Christ established a church for a reason and promised it would never fail. Had the church been unnecessary, he would never have established it.

On "expanding your circle," one critical commenter indicates that only the circle of Mormon friends is expanded by being a Mormon. Really? When I was a missionary, I spent my time with far more people who weren't LDS than those who were. And a huge chunk of that was service time, not proselyting time. Organized religion DOES help people break from TVs, computers and smart phones, and interact more with humans, including those with different beliefs.

Those who distrust organized religion are often resentful of a) certain people in that church or b) being told what to believe or how to live. Fair enough. No one enjoys being hurt or commanded by others. Sadly, some tend to dismiss the strong, wonderful relationships with others and write-off the amazing things churches accomplish, preferring instead to trivialize or demonize organized belief as beneath them.

Of course, to each his own. Most organized faiths teach about choices and free will as a gift from God. I just wish those who choose to go it on their own would resist the temptation to dismiss or denigrate organized churches and those who attend simply because they're "organized."

The Deuce says in another way, 'If you don't like it you can leave'.

Thinkman,

How can you follow Christ's teachings without following His teachings? He clearly set up a Church organization with Priesthood leadership and intended that we follow all His commandments, e.g., among others, being baptized and keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and not just the 8 very important items on your list.

Bramabull,

I understand the sentiment you express about the weightier matters of the law, and agree to an extent, but I've seen too many people lose direction in their life adopting that attitude. The scriptures are clear that BOTH personal worthiness and service to others are necessary. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, AND to keep himself unspotted from the world." For whatever reason, for LDS, the WOW is a part of keeping oneself unspotted from the world.

You don't need a building or rituals or the perpetual cash flow problem religion has to have a relationship with Christ.

Big church= big business. Bigger church = bigger business. When churches start publishing financials and disclosing the extent of their holdings (and how much is benifitting the poor and needy) then I'll be happy.

There would be no Christianity today if Jesus lacked the courage to question religious authority and challenge much of the faith of his fathers as it had been taught to him. When he said that one had to lose his life in order to find it, I suspect he was speaking from personal experience. It’s a phenomenon that’s common to converts to the LDS Church and to life-long Mormons who discover on their journey through life that Mormonism is but one small part of a much larger cosmos.

‘Judge not, lest ye be judged,’ Jesus taught. Yet for 2,000 years, the religion that proclaims Jesus as Lord and Savior has often been a harshly judgmental religion. What a shame that his words continue to be lost on those who have no ears to hear.