The Book of Mormon: How Baptist Can You Get!


skalenfehl
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@skalenfehl I believe I heard about this guy while serving my mission 15 years ago. It puzzles me how one can be so engaged with the Book of Mormon and early church teachings and not be converted, but I think he may be serving a valuable mission building bridges and reaching hearts and minds that otherwise couldn't be reached.

 

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19 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

@skalenfehl I believe I heard about this guy while serving my mission 15 years ago. It puzzles me how one can be so engaged with the Book of Mormon and early church teachings and not be converted, but I think he may be serving a valuable mission building bridges and reaching hearts and minds that otherwise couldn't be reached.

 

He is certainly converted to its teachings. Or as Nephi wrote:

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2 Nephi 33:10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.

Perhaps you are puzzled at how he is not converted to the LDS church, though he is clearly converted to Jesus Christ.  Or why would Jesus Christ make appearances to people who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Who doubts the testimonies of the following two individuals? 

And:

Is this part of God's strange act in the last days? 

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D&C 95:4 For the preparation wherewith I design to prepare mine apostles to prune my vineyard for the last time, that I may bring to pass my strange act, that I may pour out my Spirit upon all flesh...

We read the same in the book of Joel:

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Joel 2:28 ¶ And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.

Why did Jesus Christ not point Will and Afshin to our church? I don't know. But I certainly believe them. After all, we are in the last days. In 1836, the Lord told Joseph Smith the great and dreadful day is "near, even at the doors." (D&C 110:16) Anyway, I love their testimonies! 

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4 hours ago, skalenfehl said:

Why did Jesus Christ not point Will and Afshin to our church? I don't know. But I certainly believe them. After all, we are in the last days. In 1836, the Lord told Joseph Smith the great and dreadful day is "near, even at the doors." (D&C 110:16) Anyway, I love their testimonies! 

Indeed. He has a plan that is simple to understand and follow, and yet immense and complicated in the details we won't fully grasp in this lifetime. Nothing wrong with enjoying a beautiful testimony.

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I am really enjoying this Baptist Minister's channel.

This has been discussed before, but he isn't a Baptist Minister (at least according to the Baptists themselves).   He only claims to be (according to the Baptists).  

It is good that he is preaching those things, but it really shouldn't be portrayed as a Baptist Minister preaching to a Baptist congregation.  All Baptist sects (without exception) have a very negative view about (what they call) Mormonism.  It's in all their official statements, regardless of sects.  

Edited by Scott
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I can understand that.  It reminds me of an old joke:

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"

Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

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Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"

Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

 

That's funny, and I'm very glad that he is building bridges; but as far as I am able to find, the only non-LDS (or whatever we are supposed to call ourselves now using an abbreviation) person I can find who considers Lynn Ridenhour to be a South Baptist Minister is Lynn Ridenhour himself.   That's just as far as I can find though; so it obviously isn't definitive.  

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It puzzles me how one can be so engaged with the Book of Mormon and early church teachings and not be converted

I was searching around and found that he used to be a member of this very forum and has some posts.   His posts have a lot of answers and insight as to his beliefs and reasoning.  You are anyone else interested can read what he posted:

Here was the answer he gave on this forum as to why he isn't LDS:

Morning Star asks why I am not LDS?

Excellent question.

Bottom line is: I'm your best advocate! I can get more done outside the church. Practically speaking, I'm accepted in both camps. I preach in Baptist churches; I speak in Book of Mormon churches. I live here in Independence where the world headquarters is for your cousins in the faith. I'm talking about the RLDS brothers and sisters. There are thousands of Book of Mormon believers here in town that are not LDS and who let me minister in their churches.

On a more philosophical note, I see my calling and ministry as: building bridges. I share some church history quotes that are meaningful to what I do.

“...We are asked, ‘is the church of God, and the kingdom of God the same organization? And we are informed that some of the brethren hold that they are separate.'

This is the correct view to take. The kingdom of God is a separate organization from the Church of God. On this point the prophet of God gave an example, which he asked the younger elders who were present to always remember. It was to the effect that men might be chosen to officiate as members of the kingdom of God who had no standing in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (LDS History of the Church, 7:382).

Also interesting, he is (or was) a baptized member of our church (at least according to his forum posts):

was a member for approximately six years during the '90s. Because I live in Independence, MO, where there are, I would say, over 50 Book of Mormon sects, the ministry the Lord has called me to is: 1) regional, and 2) admittedly rather unique. In a nutshell, the Lord wants me to minister among ALL the Book of Mormon groups; i.e., LDS, RLDS, Elijah Messenger, Temple Lot, Remnant, Restoration, etc. Not just one.

Some more interesting posts:


In 1996 the Lord said, “I want you to also minister among the LDS.” You must keep in mind--Independence, Missouri, is the world headquarters for the RLDS. There are thousands of Book of Mormon believers around town here who are not LDS. There is much squabbling here over the issue of presidential succession--the question of who was to be the rightful successor to Joseph, the martyr. Feelings run deep and are set in concrete. Some say Brigham Young was the rightful successor; others say Joseph’s son, Joseph III, was the one to lead the restored church of Jesus Christ after the prophet had been murdered. The LDS and RLDS seem to stay in their separate camps here in town. They rarely speak or interact. And then we have the “spin off” groups; the self-proclaimed successors to the prophet. I would say—we have thirty or forty Book of Mormon groups around town

---

in Independence, MO, the world headquarters for your cousins in the faith, the RLDS. Their Book of Mormon is the same as yours, but for some reason, they changed the chapters and verses. I don't know why but they did. Since I live here among thousands of RLDS Book of Mormon, most of my chapter and verse references are quotes from the RLDS version of the BofM.


 

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