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Black-and-white statements rarely are accurate when applied in situations that vary extensively and are complicated. Yes, the Church attracts people with problems, but it also attracts successful people (financially and emotionally). I spend time with missionaries somewhat regularly. I see a WIDE variety of people they teach who are attracted to the Church.
Also, just to say it clearly, Jesus’ ministry was focused largely on people who had problems – and who were dismissed by “the righteous religious”.
If the Church attracts and generally helps people with problems, I can’t call that a bad thing or criticize it – especially when it doesn’t attract only those people.
Before I joined the LDS church, I was Methodist. In the Methodist church, you were considered active if you attended during the major holidays. eg. Christmas, Easter, etc. I knew very few of the people in our congregation.
At the end of church, there was a mad rush for the door. The clergy was paid as well as some of the other key
positions. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
The LDS ward I was a member in, was small, friendly & welcoming. The first calling I had was the Ward Financial Clerk.
I’m surprised now that they gave me that position. Then, I had the idea months later, that our Bishop wanted to keep
me close so we could talk together & he could keep an eye on me. I frankly liked the attention. We could talk about
anything.
This was my last year in college before graduation. I went to an LDSSA conference & met my wife to be. After graduation,
I got a job in the same city where my future wife was teaching. We’ve lived there ever since. I’ve had a faith crisis along the
way. I’ve met people both inside & outside the LDS church that have helped me find a path that I can live with. None of us
live a perfect life that goes straight up. I would love to hear a talk in GC where the speaker details a challenge to their faith
and explained how they moved through it.
Has the gospel really changed my life? Yes, it has.
Have I perfectly lived the gospel? Absolutely, Not. That’s why I take the sacrament from time to time.
In the olden days, I loved to work service projects. Not because of the person being helped necessarily, but, for the companionship
of the membership who also serving. In my advanced age, I try to serve by just being friendly & introducing myself to people I
don’t know. That is a big contrast to my Methodist experience.
Old-Timer, I really like your comment. Especially the reminder about the focus of Jesus’ ministry.
I would have to say Yes actually Temple work and your covenants you make there in absolutely do 100% without a doubt because you make a covenant with the Lord to be a servant to him and sacrifice to him your worldly thoughts that you’re ability to look past all judgment and truly give to one another that means love one another unconditionally and not judge one another when you can truly do that and love your fellow man without any thought what that person has done or what that person is going through and truly give to that person when you can do that you will find true 100% change in yourself when you can stop looking at your fellow man and stop caring about everything that that person has gone through and love them unconditionally you will find your world has completely changed when you can truly look at somebody like Jesus does you will find the true gospel you have to learn the true meaning of sacrifice in order to find the gospel I cannot count the people that I know and I go to the temple everyday and I still cannot count on my hand how many people I know personally but know the true meaning of sacrifice that’s the key to it all when you can tell me that you have truly sacrifice something or you know the meaning of the word sacrifice you will know the true meaning of the Gospel you cannot do it halfway you have to do it 100% you must commit yourself you must give of yourself you must learn that when you sit down to pray and you can’t sit there for a good 20 minutes after you prayed to listen for the answer then you have not learned how to pray there’s so much more to everything that is the gospel it’s not just a book it’s not just about Christ it’s more than that you got to think about it Christ lived how many years ago and yet he’s still influencing the world today it’s like I heard it once said the Bible will be either the best selling novel ever or the biggest hoax Christ lived how many hundreds of years ago however long ago it was and yet he still is one of the biggest key people ever he’s still influences every one of our lives today. We still build temples we still build churches just so we can learn of him and pray to the Lord so that’s got to count for something right when we go to the temple we go and do endowment sessions we go and do ceiling sessions why because it matters there’s more to it of course but we can’t speak at that because it’s not secret it’s sacred we do baptisms for the dead because in order for us to become perfect we need to do that work so that they can become perfect they tie us to him it says so in the D&C the thing is is that if you listen to one of the talks by elder bednar he talks about how he finds his funny but people will sit there and write down everything he says during general conference why it’ll be in transcript 20 minutes from when he says it we need to learn to silence our minds and listen for what the holy spirit says to us we need to learn to be okay with being alone so that we can hear what the Lord has for us he speaks to us all the time but yet none of us are quiet enough to hear it because we’re too busy with outwardly worldly influences and yet you ask if the gospels true or if it changes lives really have you sat back quietly enough to listen to the answer to that question have you silenced your mind enough to actually listen for the answer to that question I urge you to maybe go to the temple if your temple worthy or even if you’re not sit on the temple grounds quietly in your car or under a tree and just meditate for a moment on that question and think about it have you sacrificed your time to sit there for a moment and think about that question is the gospel really changing lives and I bet you you will hear the answer to that question I mean if you think about it how many temples are on the planet today and that right there should give you an answer of yeah it does change lives I know for me that the power of the temple has changed my life dramatically I don’t know this is just one person’s opinion on this question I love going to the temple it’s the only place that I feel needed wanted respected and loved and it’s not about the names that I’m doing or the people that I’m doing work for because I know that they love me because they’ve chosen me to do their work it’s about the fact that I have been alone my entire life my family and I don’t get along we don’t speak for whatever reason family Dynamics what have you I chose to go a rough route but you know what no one in the temple not one ordinance worker has judged me because of my past because it’s not my present and it’s not who I was it’s who I am and without their love I would not be here today and I am grateful for that and I love every one of them for being open to the fact that I suffer from the most severe panic attacks ever and I suffer from fear of people but without them I wouldn’t be able to leave my home where I have been a victim of trapped by my own mind and I would be lost without them and they have dramatically changed my life for the good so yeah the gospel does change people’s lives and sacrifice does change people’s lives and I say this in the name of Jesus Christ! AMEN! Everyone experiences things differently, including every aspect of the Church and Gospel. I am happy your way works for you, but it won’t work for everyone – even many of the local church leaders I have known to some degree in my lifetime. [Admin Note: We hope you can continue to participate here, so it would be a good idea to spend some time reading posts and comments before continuing to comment, in order to make sure our mission and approach are a good match. We welcome orthodox members who can contribute to our mission in the spirit we try to foster, and we understand this site is not a good match for everyone.]
I would like to read the post above Old_Timer’s post, but it’s a solid wall of text. If you could section it out into paragraphs that would make it more inviting to read. Sorry, I’m a teacher by trade and I guess my standard formatting guidelines for my students when they write essays has gotten the better of me
🙂 I attended a “celebrate recovery” meeting at a local church last night. A woman gave her testimony. It was her life story and included rejection from her birthparents, foster care, adoption, perfectionism, sexual abuse, codependency, rape, learning struggles, suicide attempts, etc. etc. The way she tells it, the Gospel and being involved as a sponsor for celebrate recovery has given her purpose. She says that all the things that Satan tried in order to destroy her, God instead used them to turn her into a better tool and servant in His kingdom.
I know that these types of testimonies are encouraged at these types of meetings. They emphasize the low points in order to make it that much more dramatic when God raises them up to purpose and light. Still, there is power in hope. The Gospel brings hope to many that might not have any otherwise.
TruthIsLDSOnly! said the following. I want to understand what you said so I organized it as follows. If I miss represented anything you said, please let us know.
TruthIsLDSOnly! said the following in response to the question: Does the gospel really change lives?
Quote:I would have to say Yes actually…
1. Temple work and your covenants you make there in absolutely do 100% without a doubt because you make a covenant with the Lord to be a servant to him and sacrifice to him your worldly thoughts that you’re ability to look past all judgment…
2. and truly give to one another that means love one another unconditionally and not judge one another when you can truly do that and love your fellow man without any thought what that person has done or what that person is going through and truly give to that person when you can do that you will find true 100% change in yourself when you can stop looking at your fellow man and stop caring about everything that that person has gone through and love them unconditionally you will find your world has completely changed…
3. when you can truly look at somebody like Jesus does you will find the true gospel you have to learn the true meaning of sacrifice in order to find the gospel I cannot count the people that I know and I go to the temple everyday and I still cannot count on my hand how many people I know personally but know the true meaning of sacrifice that’s the key to it all when you can tell me that you have truly sacrifice something or you know the meaning of the word sacrifice you will know the true meaning of the Gospel you cannot do it halfway you have to do it 100% you must commit yourself you must give of yourself…
4. you must learn that when you sit down to pray and you can’t sit there for a good 20 minutes after you prayed to listen for the answer then you have not learned how to pray there’s so much more to everything that is the gospel it’s not just a book it’s not just about Christ it’s more than that you got to think about it Christ lived how many years ago and yet he’s still influencing the world today it’s like I heard it once said the Bible will be either the best selling novel ever or the biggest hoax Christ lived how many hundreds of years ago however long ago it was and yet he still is one of the biggest key people ever he’s still influences every one of our lives today.
5. We still build temples we still build churches just so we can learn of him and pray to the Lord so that’s got to count for something right when we go to the temple we go and do endowment sessions we go and do ceiling sessions why because it matters there’s more to it of course but we can’t speak at that because it’s not secret it’s sacred we do baptisms for the dead because in order for us to become perfect we need to do that work so that they can become perfect they tie us to him it says so in the D&C the thing is is that if you listen to one of the talks by elder bednar he talks about how he finds his funny but people will sit there and write down everything he says during general conference why it’ll be in transcript 20 minutes from when he says it we need to learn to silence our minds and listen for what the holy spirit says to us we need to learn to be okay with being alone so that we can hear what the Lord has for us he speaks to us all the time but yet…
6. none of us are quiet enough to hear it because we’re too busy with outwardly worldly influences and yet you ask if the gospels true or if it changes lives really have you sat back quietly enough to listen to the answer to that question have you silenced your mind enough to actually listen for the answer to that question I urge you to maybe go to the temple if your temple worthy or even if you’re not sit on the temple grounds quietly in your car or under a tree and just meditate for a moment on that question and think about it have you sacrificed your time to sit there for a moment and think about that question is the gospel really changing lives and I bet you you will hear the answer to that question I mean if you think about it how many temples are on the planet today and that right there should give you an answer of yeah it does change lives…
7. I know for me that the power of the temple has changed my life dramatically I don’t know this is just one person’s opinion on this question I love going to the temple it’s the only place that I feel needed wanted respected and loved and it’s not about the names that I’m doing or the people that I’m doing work for because I know that they love me because they’ve chosen me to do their work it’s about the fact that I have been alone my entire life my family and I don’t get along we don’t speak for whatever reason family Dynamics what have you I chose to go a rough route but you know what no one in the temple…
8. not one ordinance worker has judged me because of my past because it’s not my present and it’s not who I was it’s who I am and without their love I would not be here today and I am grateful for that and I love every one of them for being open to the fact that I suffer from the most severe panic attacks ever and I suffer from fear of people but without them I wouldn’t be able to leave my home where I have been a victim of trapped by my own mind and I would be lost without them and they have dramatically changed my life for the good so yeah the gospel does change people’s lives and sacrifice does change people’s lives and I say this in the name of Jesus Christ! AMEN!
My understanding to your response to this question “Does the gospel really change lives?” is:
1. Temple work / Temple Covenants
2. Love one another
3. Follow example of Jesus Christ
4. Prayer
5. Building Temples (Growth of the Church)
6. Listen for answers to prayer.
7. Temple
8. Examples of others (No Judgement)
Do I understand you correctly? I hope I’m not oversimplifying your post.
I think that “people intersections” change lives. I also think that faith in “divine intervention” (Deist creation and/or Christianity as defined as a literal belief that Jesus Christ saves are 2 examples) can change lives. Also, “divine non-intervention” (aka no one is going to save you – you have to save yourselves) changes lives – it changed my life. I like thinking of the gospel as “good news” – because we need the hope of good news.
I celebrate the “life changes” that happen when an individual finds a hairdresser they trust, they connect to the person delivering their mail, they find the courage to show up and make new friends, they are helped by an expert who clues them in about a system, they have a plumber they trust, etc.
Life is about being and finding good friends, and finding the right associates to help with the logistics of living in small ways.
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