In April 2018, the Church’s new leadership went abroad to numerous countries spreading their brand of the gospel.
On the 16th of that month, their prophet Russell Nelson, along with his entourage, told so many lies it’s hard to quantify how much damage they instilled on these beautiful people.
For the sake of clarity we’ve split this up into the two main topics they zeroed in on; dowries, and tithes.
Today we’re looking at the latter, and tomorrow it’ll be dowries. We’ve pulled the most egregious statements, and listed them below. To read the Deseret News article in full, see ‘Dowry is not the Lord’s way’: In Kenya, LDS President Nelson says tithing breaks poverty cycle.
Before we begin, I confess that I’m more than a little riled up about this. I’ve found myself having to go to the Lord asking for forgiveness more than a few times already…ugh… For the life of me, I cannot understand why these well-to-do white Americans would go to an African country, and demand their money. I’m still wondering…how do they sleep at night? …
You can be sure they weren’t handing out passages of their canon where it says black people have no place among the righteous.
Moses 7:22 “And Enoch also beheld the residue of the people which were the sons of Adam; and they were a mixture of all the seed of Adam save it was the seed of Cain, for the seed of Cain were black, and had not place among them.”
Keep this in mind as we look at what Mr. Nelson and other leaders had to say.
In the title of the DN article, it said
‘tithing breaks the poverty cycle’.
Where is that in the Bible?
Jesus was poor, and He tithed, so what happened there? Mr. Nelson went on to state the reasons why they ‘preach tithing’…
““We preach tithing to the poor people of the world because the poor people of the world have had cycles of poverty, generation after generation,” he said. “That same poverty continues from one generation to another, until people pay their tithing. The law of the tithe was followed by ancient peoples as taught by Old Testament prophets. LDS faithful believe God restored the law and its blessings for those who follow it by giving one-tenth of their income to the church.”
In other words, the price of salvation for the average Kenyan is roughly $160.
Whatever happened to what their original prophet said in Mormon 8:32 “Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins.” You can read more of this at Wicked Churches Promise Forgiveness for Money.
Jeffrey Holland also ‘asked’ them to qualify for temple attendance –
‘He also asked them to begin recording their family histories and to attend the temple in Johannesburg, South Africa “as often as the circumstances and the finances and transportation will allow.’
As a reference for what it’s like in Kenya, we pulled a few facts and found the following info:
Nairobi, Kenya to Johannesburg, South Africa is 2,396 miles. It’d take 54 hours to drive that far, and cost $424, which is 25% of their yearly income.
So in addition to costs incurred just to get to the temple, there’s the other ‘little’ item of tithes. As noted above, that amounts to roughly $160 for the average citizen. Now we’re up to $584 just to go to the temple.
This means the Kenyan people are expected to spend 36% of their income to go to temple. And where do they get money for food, shelter, clothing, etc.?
No shame, or pressure there Mr. Holland. As another heads up…Kenyans are some of the most trusting, and loving people in the world. They take everything seriously, so when someone whom they deem as authoritative says things like this – they’re going to be the first in line.
They aren’t the cynical, wary people that Americans have become. The people in attendance at this event spent two days on buses going 50 mph over dirt roads. They’re serious about their faith.
It’s incredulous to us here at LAM how the Church has taken such advantage of the poorest of the poor. Shame, shame, shame on them.
Tomorrow we’re taking a very brief look at the history of biblical dowries based on what Mr. Nelson said.
Pray for the 2,000 people who attended this thing won’t you?
With Love in Christ;
Michelle
This is part of the reason that Kathy and I are visiting Liberia in October. We have asked to meet with the Mission President for a Live on-Air discussion specific to the Racist statements within the Book of Mormon.
Shameful is the perfect word to use. Thank you for this post.
Hey there Lee & Kathy!
Be sure to let us know details of your trip. If you want others to tag along, get in touch w/ Kirk – he mentioned that he’d love to go if y’all need help over there.
We’d love to hear the radio program if you’re able to secure that as well and provide it here on the blog and our site.
Thanks for all your hard work & God bless!
Michelle
Notice the similarity to this teaching about the tithe, and the teaching of the Word of Faith cult and how the more money you give to the false teacher and his ministry, the more wealthy you will become. In truth, the only one getting richer is the one scamming the people to send him money!
You’re absolutely right! The love of money, as His word says, is the root of all evil 1 Tim 6:10.
It’s tragic many fall into the trap believing that money will make them happy, or solve all their problems. Money can cause many problems, and it seems the culture for many as well as many in LDS Inc have fallen into that trap.
Pres Gordon B Hinkley once said that tithing was the only cure to poverty. In other words, give us your money and God will bless you. According to LDS doctrine, tithing only counts when you give it to the church. If you give money directly to the sick, the poor, the homeless, that doesn’t count. Why hasn’t anybody seen the evil in this belief system?
The other thing is Tithing Settlement. How come there is no Porongrapghy Settlement, Profanity Settlement, Honesty Settlement Adultery Settlement? I don’t believe the church cares a bit about anything other than your money and your willingness to provide free labor.
What happens when a faithful mormon needs to go to the Temple (assuming he did all the stuff required) but theres isnt one even remotely near? Is he expected to take a plane flight or spend a week for each journey? (Example: a rural, remote area of the Andes)
Awesome question Javier. So I hope I can shed some light.
This is where LDS members and biblical Christianity differ greatly. Christians believe the at Jesus’ death on the cross…the temple veil was ripped open and the temple was ultimately destroyed about 70 AD as in Matthew 27:51. And prior to His death in John 2:19 He tells His disciples “tear down the temple, and in 3 days I will build it again”.
So when Jesus died the temple was rendered obsolete. Jesus is now our Holy Temple, and as believers we have direct access to God. We know longer need the high priest to enter the temple on our behalf. Jesus is now our High Priest and we no longer are in bondage to laws and ordinances of the temple (singular).
Now the LDS church wants members to believe they MUST go to the temple and do Masonic rites and all the other temple ordinances in order to qualify for the “celestial kingdom”.
Jesus never told His disciples to go and build a bunch of temples. Rather He told them in Mark 16:15 to go into the world and preach the gospel.
God already knew there would be people throughout the world that for what ever reason would never make it to the temple, and that’s why He sent His Son. So now Jesus serves as our temple, and all believers have 24/7 direct access to the One true Holy God.
If I was on vacation in a different country, and I was kidnapped, and had no access to a Bible and prevented from freely going to church, my status in the “Body of Christ” wouldn’t be compromised, because I couldn’t go and perform a bunch of ordinances in some special building.
This article is about racism. Up until 1978 faithful African Americans were excluded from the temple. That alone should tell you something is seriously wrong with such exclusion. God is not racist.
The LDS church is spending BILLIONS on useless temples, when this money can be spent on humanity efforts, that will help ALL people not just LDS members. Making poor people in remote 3rd world countries spend money they don’t have to travel great distances to the nearest temple is absolutely horrible, and NOT from God. We can worship and praise Him, right where we are…No special card needed. Jesus is our temple recommend. Hallelujah.
Tetelestai-Melissa
Great insight and thanks for the added info!