NOM

Matthew 6:25-34
25 Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? 26 Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto [a]the measure of his life? 28 And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Mark 6:7-10
7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; 8 And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: 9 But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats. 10 And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.

Ephesians 6:13-20
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

GoodBoy wrote: ↑

Thu May 31, 2018 2:54 pm

We recently learned that the brethren have a gigantic "emergency fund". Why? Where is their faith? This goes directly against the teachings of Jesus.
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They apparently don't believe the above scriptures. They also refuse to follow Christ's instructions that he gave to his 12 apostles to travel without purse or script but to rely on God for their needs. They instead rely on the arm of flesh and their stipends.
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They also lack the faith to participate in an open debate, Alma and Amulek style or to even take unscripted questions in public.
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They apparently don't really believe that God is with them and can confound their enemies, and make them tremble like Alma and Amulek did to Zeezrom. They are afraid.

Matthew:19:16-24
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. 23 ¶ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

oliver_denom wrote: ↑

Thu May 31, 2018 3:06 pm

Instead, they teach that you should donate even if it's at the expense of necessities like shelter or food. That's what's wrong. We should be more like the brethren on this point, not less.

GoodBoy wrote: ↑

Thu May 31, 2018 3:12 pm

oliver_denom wrote: ↑

Thu May 31, 2018 3:06 pm

Instead, they teach that you should donate even if it's at the expense of necessities like shelter or food. That's what's wrong. We should be more like the brethren on this point, not less.

I agree with you completely, except that they've way over-done it with their rainy-day fund. That is a hell of a lot of rain that they are prepared for.

oliver_denom wrote: ↑

Thu May 31, 2018 3:06 pm

I don't fault them for being secular, I fault them for encouraging the membership not to be.

• Prophesy every once in a while, like their scriptural counterparts

• Confound critics of the Church, like their scriptural counterparts

• Heal the sick and afflicted, like their scriptural counterparts

• Perform miracles, like their scriptural counterparts

• Call heads of nations to repentance face to face, like their scriptural counterparts

• Risk their lives to call the world to repentance, like their scriptural counterparts

Not Buying It wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 01, 2018 5:47 am

But I mean, the OP makes an excellent point. If the Brethren really believed they are what they claim to be, and what they insist that we sustain them as, they would:

• Prophesy every once in a while, like their scriptural counterparts

• Confound critics of the Church, like their scriptural counterparts

• Heal the sick and afflicted, like their scriptural counterparts

• Perform miracles, like their scriptural counterparts

• Call heads of nations to repentance face to face, like their scriptural counterparts

• Risk their lives to call the world to repentance, like their scriptural counterparts

That they don't even attempt any of these things tells you everything you need to know about how much faith they have in their own abilities. But they will sure as hell try and make the members think they are somehow special and do something other than sit in meetings and give canned talks to fawning admirers.

Hagoth wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 02, 2018 12:18 am

I can't stop thinking about that excerpt from Leonard Arrington's journal where he talks about how afraid The Brethren are about making decisions and consequently exposing themselves to making mistakes. I think these men, despite the arrogance that some of them exude, live in a perpetual state of terror, either of being revealed as all smoke and no fire, or of failing to keep the church thriving and growing, depending on how much they actually believe their own story. Simultaneously terrified of investigation by mortals, and the wrath of God. Rock and a hard place. On top of that they have to deal with the pressure of pleasing, impressing and competing with their Q15 peers. A bunch of alpha dogs guarding an imaginary bone.