And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Isaiah 8:17


If you are looking for messages about the Europe Area Humanitarian Mission, go to http://stayinginfrankfurt.blogspot.de/

If you are looking for Old Testament Videos, go to
http://salemzion.org/new/index.php/resources/adult-institute-old-testament/



Tuesday, October 25, 2011

No Classes Next Week

So sorry.
After our classes this week, I am off to Missouri to meet my new granddaughter, Amelia Jane, who decided to come 5 weeks earlier than expected.
So, NO CLASSES on NOVEMBER 1 (Springville), NOVEMBER 2 (Sugar House), or NOVEMBER 3 (Sandy and South Jordan).
Please call your friends and share this information with them!
Thanks.
See you next month.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

My favorite internet read in a long time

Who says Mormons aren't Christians?

By Dean Obeidallah, Special to CNN
updated 11:19 AM EST, Wed October 12, 2011
The Rev. Robert Jeffress of the Texas megachurch First Baptist Dallas called the Mormon faith a
The Rev. Robert Jeffress of the Texas megachurch First Baptist Dallas called the Mormon faith a "cult."
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Rev. Robert Jeffress recently called Mormonism "a cult"
  • Jeffress has a long history of hateful proclamations, Obeidallah says
  • Many Mormons are caring, compassionate people, Obeidallah says
  • Obeidallah: Isn't compassion what Christianity is supposed to be about?

Editor's note: Dean Obeidallah is an award-winning comedian who has appeared on TV shows such as Comedy Central's "Axis of Evil" special, ABC's "The View," CNN's "What the Week" and HLN's "The Joy Behar Show." He is executive producer of the annual New York Arab-American Comedy Festival and the Amman Stand Up Comedy Festival. Follow him on Twitter.

(CNN) -- The Rev. Robert Jeffress, a leading evangelical minister,claimed last Friday that Mormons are not Christians. Jeffress went on to declare that Mormonism is "a cult," meaning it's not a "real" religion, and he implored his followers to reject Mitt Romney, a Mormon, as a candidate for president because as Jeffress sees it: "As Christians, we have the duty to prefer and select Christians as our leaders."

Jeffress is infamous for his past "Christian" comments such as: Jews, gays, Muslims and Mormons are all going to hell; Islamencourages pedophilia; and that gays should be banned from the military because 70% of the gay population has AIDS.

At the time of Jeffress' comments about Mormons, I happened to be in Utah, the state with the largest percentage of Mormons in the nation. I'm not Mormon, meaning I'm not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And prior to this trip, I had met only a few members of the LDS Church.

I was in Salt Lake City because I'm performing as part of a stand-up comedy tour called "The Muslims Are Coming," featuring American-Muslim comedians performing free comedy shows across the country as a way, we hope, to counter misinformation and build bridges with our fellow Americans.

There we were -- Muslims and Mormons -- bonding on some level because we were both the subject of attacks from people on the far right. Earlier in this presidential campaign it was our time, withHerman Cain essentially arguing for discrimination against American Muslims simply because of our faith. Now the voices of hate had turned their focus to Mormons.

Over the last four days I have spent a great deal of time with members of the LDS Church. I'm not saying that I'm an expert on their teachings and, to be honest, I had some apprehension about Mormons because the LDS Church had publicly funded opposition to marriage equality in California, which I disagree with because I oppose discrimination against any American.

But I can now say without hesitation that the LDS Church members we met represented the best of Christianity. They were truly caring and compassionate people.

And perhaps it's overly simplistic to define an entire religion by the few hundred we met, but let's be honest: many define religions, races and ethnicities by a few of their worst examples. I prefer instead to define minority groups by their best examples.

While it probably doesn't matter to a person like Jeffress, the LDS members we met proudly consider themselves Christians. After all, the full name of their religion is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." If your religion has the words "Jesus Christ" in its name, it's kind of a tip off that Christ's teachings are important to you.

In contrast to the hate spewed by Jeffress, we found that the Mormons we met truly represent the Christian ideal of loving your neighbor. One of the best examples we found of a true Christian was Andrew Kosorok, a proud member of the LDS Church and a talented glassmaker who created an awe-inspiring glass exhibit called "99 Most Beautiful Names: A Sculptural Presentation of the Names of God from the Quran." Kosorok had sacrificed hundreds of hours of time from his family and friends and spent more than $7,000 of his own money to create this exhibit.

Why did Kosorok do this? Because he believed that fostering understanding and countering negative misconceptions about another faith -- in this case Islam -- was part of his duty as a Christian.

This passage from the New Testament is often cited as one that articulates Jesus' philosophy: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35)

In comparing the hate-filled language of Jeffress with the words and good deeds of the Mormons we met, it is clear to me who is best following the teachings of Jesus Christ and truly deserves to be called a Christian.

Please go vote for FAIR LDS podcasts: they are great!

THE FAIR JOURNAL SPECIAL EDITION October 2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a SPECIAL EDITION of the FAIR Journal. We are sending out this
special edition to notify you of something that cannot wait until the
next FAIR Journal is readied and sent out--it will be too late by that
point.

The People's Choice Podcast Awards, better known simply as the Podcast
Awards, are an annual set of awards given to the best podcasts as
voted on by listeners. This year, 1,441,712 listeners nominated 2,698
shows. Ten shows were chosen as nominees in each of 22 different
categories.

Our Mormon FAIR-Cast, which is located at www.fairblog.org, has been
nominated to receive a Podcast Award in the "Religion Inspiration"
category. We consider this nomination a great honor.


How We Were Nominated
------------------------------
Nominations were open for 15 days in September. Podcasts that received
votes were reviewed by a 22-member committee that took a variety of
factors into account. The total number of votes a podcast received
accounted for only 40% of the grading, with the quality of the
website's design (15%), quality of sound (15%), quality of deliverance
and show format (10%), and relevance of content (20%) also being
considered.


What We Would Like You To Do
------------------------------
Final voting for the awards began today, October 12th, and will end on
October 27th at 11:59pm HST. Each person (verified by IP address) may
vote ONCE EACH DAY during the 15 days that voting is open. In other
words, a single person can cast 15 votes if he or she votes once each
day.

Please support the Mormon FAIR-Cast by casting your vote at this
address:

http://www.podcastawards.com

Remember, you can vote once each day for the 15 days voting is open,
and voting only takes a moment.

To vote, go to the podcastawards.com and find the Mormon FAIR-Cast
entry. It is listed under the Religion Inspiration category, which is
near the bottom of the page on the right. It is the third category up
from the bottom. Click on the Mormon FAIR-Cast entry. Then scroll down
and enter your name and email address. Click on the button that
describes you best (Listener, Podcaster, or Both.) For most of you
that will be "Listener." Then click on the submit button on the right.

Please spread the word by telling your friends. Even if we don't win
the voting, we hope this will raise awareness of the great resources
we have. If we do win, it is even better. You can post a link with
instructions on Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus. Remind your friends
to vote each day, and thank you for your continued support of FAIR.

-Allen Wyatt
FAIR, VP Operations