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You said: I'm going to need a source for that last half. It is common knowledge that the more members the more tithes will be collected. More buildings usually means more members.
Too bad because the commandments are love. That is why it is impossible to know God for those who sin:
(New Testament | 1 John 2:4 - 6)
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
We are only saved when we endure to the end:
(New Testament | Matthew 24:13)
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
The living allowances given the General Authorities, which are very modest in comparison with executive compensation in industry and the professions, come from business income and not from the tithing of the peopleWow...I guess there's a profile for the position of "Coptic Orthodox priest" on the professional/business website LinkedIn?! So strange.
Anyway, as you will see there, the average salary is $48,000 per year. That's about 8K less than the average household income in the United States, which is $56,516.
So I'm still not seeing how being a priest is so incredibly lucrative.
Meanwhile, it would appear that your 'apostles' make significantly more than that. Elder Eyring apparently made around $86,000 in 2000, according to leaked pay records, and also the 'living allowances' given reach into six figures...how is this not just payment (and quite substantial payment, at that) disguised as other things in the ledger so that you can keep up your claim of having 'no paid clergy', as though that makes you morally superior in the first place?
As usual, when it comes to Mormon claims against other churches, the most fitting response is "Physician, heal thyself".
It seems like we believe the Bible:They must "keep the commandments" "after all they can do" and "endure to the end". It seems like they miss God's grace.
I still have my testimony. I haven't lost it. I know God lives and that Jesus Christ died for us and took upon Himself the sins of those who repent. Not those that are sorry they got caught, but those who have Godly sorrow for their sins. I also know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Joseph Smith did not make it up nor could he or any other person.Do you know God? They had no testimonies of Mormonism. The elders decided to baptize them anyway. I, at least, believed I had a testimony until I learned more of the non-biblical doctrines and a lot of other things.
True.
Except for children that die before the age of accountability and those who lived without the law, you are correct. Jesus gave us the two great commandments which I believe are the hardest to keep. They are truly about LOVE. All of the other commandments hang on them because the commandments are LOVE. I pray that we will learn to LOVE one another as God LOVES us because God is LOVE. It is all about LOVE.No one can endure to the end without first belonging to the Shepherd.
Romans 8
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Ephesians 2
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
I still have my testimony. I haven't lost it. I know God lives and that Jesus Christ died for us and took upon Himself the sins of those who repent. Not those that are sorry they got caught, but those who have Godly sorrow for their sins. I also know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Joseph Smith did not make it up nor could he or any other person.
Except for children that die before the age of accountability and those who lived without the law, you are correct.
Jesus gave us the two great commandments which I believe are the hardest to keep. They are truly about LOVE. All of the other commandments hang on them because the commandments are LOVE. I pray that we will learn to LOVE one another as God LOVES us because God is LOVE. It is all about LOVE.
The living allowances given the General Authorities, which are very modest in comparison with executive compensation in industry and the professions, come from business income and not from the tithing of the people
Some members of the Church are unaware that some General Authorities receive a modest stipend as a living allowance. Nevertheless, it cannot be said that the Church has a professional ministry in the traditional sense.
Calls to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or the First Quorum of the Seventy are calls to “for-life” positions
members of the Twelve serving full-time until they die and members of the First Quorum of Seventy serving full-time until retirement to emeritus status at age seventy. At the present time, calls to other Quorums of the Seventy do not require the same full-time commitment, so those who serve in these positions do not receive the living allowances.
There are many people who call themselves Christians who are born again (baptized) and continue to sin.
You can call it whatever you want; it's still payment for being in that official position, so this is really just semantics, in the popular sense.
Well duh...you don't have actual clergy, so how could you have a professional ministry in the traditional sense? That's silly.
So is the priesthood, unless a person is for some reason laicized/defrocked, or becomes too old or ill to serve. But it is normal that they should serve until they die. There are even some cases like that of HG Bishop Macarius of Qena in Egypt, when the servant reposes while praying the liturgy. We should all be so blessed.
Okay. The point is that these allowances seem to sometimes be quite a bit more than you were trying to criticize my own Church for paying its priests, so it seems pretty hypocritical on the part of Mormons to do such things just because they call what they give their authorities something other than a salary. If they're receiving it for being in that position, and it's not going to charitable purposes or something but being kept as their personal money that they have received as a result of their position, then it's a salary.
That is my goal.Eight-year-olds don't know what they're getting into. Everyone sins, law or no law.
According to Mormonism, you are supposed to keep your second estate --- time is running out. Will you start keeping all the Mormon commandments right now?
Doctrine and Covenants 132
15 Keep my commandments continually, and a crown of righteousness thou shalt receive. And except thou do this, where I am you cannot come.
You are using tithes to pay your leaders yet you criticise the way the LDS Church uses our tithes and the for profit tax paying arm of the church when we actually have much in common. In essence you are being critical of the operation of your own church and that is why your mud won't stick.
You can call it whatever you want; it's still payment for being in that official position, so this is really just semantics, in the popular sense.
Well duh...you don't have actual clergy, so how could you have a professional ministry in the traditional sense? That's silly.
So is the priesthood, unless a person is for some reason laicized/defrocked, or becomes too old or ill to serve. But it is normal that they should serve until they die. There are even some cases like that of HG Bishop Macarius of Qena in Egypt, when the servant reposes while praying the liturgy. We should all be so blessed.
Okay. The point is that these allowances seem to sometimes be quite a bit more than you were trying to criticize my own Church for paying its priests, so it seems pretty hypocritical on the part of Mormons to do such things just because they call what they give their authorities something other than a salary. If they're receiving it for being in that position, and it's not going to charitable purposes or something but being kept as their personal money that they have received as a result of their position, then it's a salary.
Well my boss made over $400,000 a year and I don't believe he even had a master's degree. One of my daughter-in-laws has her master's and I doubt she makes as much as you do. Life is not monetarily fair.I have a master's degree...where's my $116,000 'living allowance'?!
Missionaries are not trained to baptize non-believers. Missionaries teach people to believe in and follow Jesus Christ and His teachings. We believe in keeping the commandments.So you say baptism is the new birth but people continue to walk according to the world? How can you say someone is born again, but still captive to Satan? How can you say that non-Mormon baptism gives a person the new birth? Mormons don't recognize non-Mormon baptisms! Why do missionaries baptize unbelievers?
You are using tithes to pay your leaders yet you criticise the way the LDS Church uses our tithes and the for profit tax paying arm of the church when we actually have much in common. In essence you are being critical of the operation of your own church and that is why your mud won't stick.
Missionaries are not trained to baptize non-believers. Missionaries teach people to believe in and follow Jesus Christ and His teachings. We believe in keeping the commandments.
That is my goal.
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