“Whatever level of spirituality we now enjoy in our lives, whatever degree of faith in Jesus Christ we now have, whatever strength of commitment and consecration, whatever degree of obedience or hope or charity is ours, whatever level of professional skill or ability we have obtained. It will NOT be sufficient for the work that lies ahead.
The Lord Jesus Christ has a great work for us to do, it is a greater work than we have ever done before…He is hastening his work, and He is preparing the Earth, and His Kingdom, and us, for His Return.” - Elder Clark. August 2015

I'm not sure who Elder Clark is, woo hoo!

This is the most guilt-inducing thing to say. And what does one of her TBM friends say? "BEST POST EVER!!!!!!"

I can't believe someone would post it, which has to indicate that they like it and believe it, and then someone else thinks it's the best post ever.

I guess when you hear that over and over you start to like it. You will never be good enough. You will never be good enough. You will never be good enough. But, hey, god loves you!

P.S. I am very close to pruning all but a few of my mormon so called "friends" on Facebook. Their posts literally make me sick to my stomach sometimes. And make me use words like "literally."

I wish I could do this but many of them are family. It would. Amuse more problems than it solves. I found in those cases unfollowing them did the trick. I'm still friends but don't see their crap in my feed.

I just completely left Facebook last year and don't miss it at all. I'm sure my TBM family members are happy without my snarky comments or anti-Mormon posts. ;)

I didn't always play nice.

brandywine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just completely left Facebook last year and
> don't miss it at all. I'm sure my TBM family
> members are happy without my snarky comments or
> anti-Mormon posts. ;)


Me, too - I absolutely was sick of the put-downs, "I'm better than you," ad nauseum. I couldn't figure out how to delete my page so I just changed my name to "fool" and stuck a picture of some ugly pink mold and deleted all the details.

My non-Mormon Grama used to say "fools names in foolish places." I swear she was prophesying Facebook!

"Their posts literally make me sick to my stomach sometimes. And make me use words like 'literally.'"

Well, if you literally get sick to your stomach, then it's literally okay to use that word.

Posts from TBMs are often real eye rollers.

On the more humorous side, one of you recently posted a clip of a FB page and I chuckled at the first post at the top that said

"Holland is my "fav" apostle!"

'Hastening' is quite the action verb! At my age and station, I don't do a lot of hastening. But I can remember many a time when I was all about the hastening! The times I was all about "let's get'er done!!" and "time's a'wasting!".

But what always followed the hastening, and allowed what had just been hastened to be appreciated? But the mormons don't talk about that; it's always hurry up and hurry up! And then hurry up some more!

Also note that Elder S. Kent Clark (I'm just guessing on the name) is contradicting the late, great (or grate) Rev. Al Packer, who (from my perspective) spent time during a fairly recent conference flogging the 99 year condo leases at City Creek, by haranguing the faithful with his apostolic mutterings about the Second Coming being two, and possibly three generations down the road.

And what is there to prepare? Jesus isn't coming back to play golf and we've got to get the fairways and greens in shape! He's ghawd! He can tell a mountain to move hence, and it will move!

One of the 'teachings' I distinctly remember from the 60s is that the burning of the 'tares' would seem like a natural occurrence, and the rapture would not really be noticed in all the fuss and bother of the physical occurrences, and that there would be people and nations still on the earth when the dust settled, and that many people would not realize that JC had returned and was sitting on a throne in one of two places in America. He would not be recognized by the world as The Man!

Oh man, the 60s were a grand time to be freakin' mormon, except for the most part you couldn't get laid.

I got rid of all of them. They left me no choice

This is how I interpreted the quote: "You all suck, you always have and always will. Bow yer head and say yes. Now pay your tithing and stop sniveling.

I seriously wonder why I ever thought anything like this was uplifting. Ugh.

brandywine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is how I interpreted the quote: "You all
> suck, you always have and always will. Bow yer
> head and say yes. Now pay your tithing and stop
> sniveling.
>
> I seriously wonder why I ever thought anything
> like this was uplifting. Ugh.

{{{ CLAPPING }}} **** THIS is SO true !!
Thank you , brandywine !!

Thanks Momto15 :)

claire Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> “Whatever level of spirituality we now enjoy in
> our lives, whatever degree of faith in Jesus
> Christ we now have, whatever strength of
> commitment and consecration, whatever degree of
> obedience or hope or charity is ours, whatever
> level of professional skill or ability we have
> obtained. It will NOT be sufficient for the work
> that lies ahead.
> The Lord Jesus Christ has a great work for us to
> do, it is a greater work than we have ever done
> before…He is hastening his work, and He is
> preparing the Earth, and His Kingdom, and us, for
> His Return.” - Elder Clark. August 2015
>

So what's the point of doing ANYTHING if it will not be "sufficient"?

I have a GA to thank for helping me get out of that psychologically damaging organization.

We don't get a lot of GAs in our neck of the woods, so I thought that having one come to a meeting at work would be a great thing.

That's basically what we got though - a guilt-inducing, "You will never be good enough," speech. We left just feeling depressed. Soon afterwards, my job was done and I went permanently inactive.

It helped me to recognize the damage that the Church had done to my self-esteem over the years. I saw it for what it was and I left. I felt better about myself right from the moment that I made that decision.

The Church wants obedient, work-themselves-to-death little minions, and I don't mean the cute yellow kind.

Well put.

I have enjoyed listening to other Christian preachers over the years and have been enlightened by a few of their ideas. Recently Dr. David Jeremiah has been doing a series on Agents of the Apocalypse. His understanding of the Book of Revelation and the Second Coming are different and more clear from what the morg teaches. What I find fascinating is when people in the morg resort to guilt and shame, that's a clue, the don'T know what they are talking about and don't know who God is. What I find unbelievable is that I bought into their mumbo jumbo for 36 years. There are no words to describe the joy and relieve I feel being out of their lies, guile, hate, and fear mongering.

I left FB two years ago after being hacked by a group called iYogi. I think the hackers did me a favor because it was a reality check to shut the crap down.

Why doesn't anyone in authority give a talk and say:
"I can't tell you how much 'we' appreciate all of the time and money you have given the church. As you know, I make a six figure salary. 'We' are fully aware that all of you don't make a dime from the long hours you give to the church. There is no way on earth that I would have a demanding full time job like some of you, and then spend countless hours serving the Lord in such difficult jobs like scouting or Primary. I just wanted to say thanks ."

+1

Yet another constant reminder how members can never be "good enough," "not quite measure up," "less than perfect, even worse, INADEQUATE."

God, it brings back all the old insecurities all over - reading that makes me want to go puke, and I was feeling fine up until a moment ago.

Talk about CONTROL FREAKS. They need people clinging to their every word, and their bloody carcasses because if they don't, who will pay their salaries in the high sixes?

As for hastening anything, the only return we're going to see in the short span of time we have here on Earth, is our return to the dust when our lives are over.

The poor peons who live for this MORG of a CULT of a fabrication pretending to be a church, are to be pitied. Thank God for leading us OUT.

Amen.

I spent nearly 40 years of my life feeling "not good enough". Well, not anymore! I'm good enough.....I'm better than good enough! I'm fantastic!

I left the mormon church and I denounced the holy ghost. According to "the church" I should be wallowing in sin and hate. News Flash Brethern and Sistern! I am happier than I have ever been. I have a great spouse, great kids, a job I love, a nice house, food on the table. Not rich by any standard of the word, but I have everything I have ever wanted. Granted, my life is not perfect, but whose is?

In the 10 years or so since I got out for good, I have boosted my self esteem from the sewer to actually feeling good about what I have accomplished. I pulled a career out of nowhere, got out of a whole lot of abusive relationships, made new and better relationships, got all of my problems talked out, got on meds, lost a bunch of weight, and look at me now! I bet $1.98 I would be dead by now if I have stayed in the church.

One of my steps for getting better was to really limit my Facebook exposure, because of quotes like the one above. My life has been richer and fuller with real relationships!

applesauce

So glad to hear a happy ending. Taking charge of your life feels so good!

I'm happy for you too applesauce!

They have a weird dichotomy in their beliefs. On the one hand, no unhallowed hand can stop the work. On the other hand, if they take their shoulder from the wheel, the whole plan will fall apart.

Which is it? Is Jesus all powerful, or does he need an army of dutiful servants to get stuff done?

If God can create the entire world, why does he need you to pay 10% of your income and scrub toilets at his house?

I hadn't been on Facebook in years. When I took a look at my family, I was mortified, and sad. (Many were young twenty-somethings...)

Favorite book? The Book of Mormon
GA quotes/guilt inducers/holier than thou
Glen Beck quotes
Right wing paranoia

Who do they think they're preaching to? Most of them don't know any non-Mormons... so it's a show for fellow LDS zombies.

LDS(ain'ts) are never good enough - even in their smugness - so it's no wonder circular nonsense like this they crave.

Yea- they offer no alternatives but to "turn off that [Mormon] noise".

No good examples, practical advice or "guidance". Just a bunch of worthless, meaningless, hollow words.

No depth or hope, no reality... and certainly no peace, of mind, or body. Words like this are akin to a whipping.

Mormon dullness and endless toil, without reward, is abrasive and unattractive.

Escape forever into lasting happiness, endless beauty and superb satisfaction by being yourself, listening to yourself and honoring yourself (and others).

+1

Fear, fear, fear, obey. Nothing to dampen the spirit more. I say Love, love, love, create, grow, and expand.

Why doesn't god just burn us all and get it over with. This is why I'm forever POOPED!

I am so glad I don't do social networking. I do get to hear second hand some of the dumb posts by family members from my son and wife. Man, we've got some scary numbskulls in the group.

When I read that, I think it's totally conventional. It's a faith, not works argument. An argument that is age-old and extraordinarily familiar. The argument is that Jesus requires something qualitatively different from even major achievements in daily life, in order to follow his teachings and prepare the way, etc.

Because it's conventional, it shouldn't make one feel anything except bored, because it doesn't need saying AGAIN. The concept's familiar, unless the speaker is going to make a new or broader point.

But a new or broader point never happens in Mo'ism, because it's just a corporation masquerading as a church. If the speaker really had something to say, he'd explain the relationship between ordinary accomplishment and Jesus' law, or he'd contrast the two, or something. But in Mo'ism? Nothing. Then the members shout "Awesome!" But have no idea what they're applauding because there's no there, there. It's just a loyalty call-out. (Boring!)

The speeches are just to fill the time and keep the members attached. They're left thinking whatever they want to think: "try, try, then try some more; or Jesus looks down on you; or whatever your efforts are, they're paltry." There's no correction of the members' misconceptions from above, because it's a fraud. It's content-free. It's what people who have never been taught religion think religion sounds like. And that's good-enough for the higher-ups. At least it has been, until now.

I only have one FB friend who posts Mormon stuff, and that's because this person has only been back from her mission since last fall. I haven't quite unfollowed her, but every time she posts something church related, I hide it.

Well, Jesus isn't my employer, so...

Believers have been expecting Jesus's return for nearly two thousand years now. I would have thought that the porch light bulb would have burned out long ago.

Alternatively, let's suppose that Jesus is on this Earth in human form right now. Where would he be? What would he be doing? My best guess is that he would be in Africa, or some other third world place, building wells, distributing food, or giving out free medical care. He's already said what he had to say. I believe that he would be rolling up his sleeves and giving real help to the downtrodden. Would we even know him if we saw him?