"When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men" (Eph.4:8, NKJV).

Some of you know that when I was at College I became a Mormon for three years until my careful investigation of its history and practices revealed it was a fraud. I did not escape it so easily, though. Making my home among the Baptists for a period while I probed Mormonism and all its opffshoots even deeper, hoping to find a pure offshoot, I briefly became a member of the moderate wing of Mormonism, the Missouri-based Reorganized (RLDS) Church (today renamed the 'Community of Christ'). It did not take me long to discover that it too had falsified some of its history in order to defend its position against some of Joseph Smith's more radical, occult-inspired doctrines (multiple gods, Freemasonry-inspired temple endowments, Adam as God, etc.). Worse, from my point-of-view as a member of this group, the Reorganized LDS Chucrh was in transition and discarding its own Restorationist roots in order to become a New Agey, semi-secular, ecumenical, socialistic club. Today's RLDS church is practically indistinguishable from the liberal cocktail of left-wing, ecumenical political-religious groups.

I left the RLDS church still clutching to a cocktail of Smithisms, including the Book of Mormon (Mormonism's primary book of Scripture) and some of Smith's revelations (from the Doctrine & Covenants), and started a group called the Independent Church whose purpose, broadly speaking, was to retain the good that Smith had brought forth and amalgamate it with evangelical Christianity (though in reality it is more complex than that). It became progressively clear to me, though, that the Book of Mormon was a fabrication with no historical basis, in spite of some very excellent parts of high spiritual callibre (which I tested in various evangelical churches in Norway by reading extracts and getting hearty endorsements but without telling them the source). And that's the problem with Mormonism and all false religion: its attraction to Christians is the many biblical truths it teaches, but the snare is all the occultic lies. Mormonism is a typical example of the sin of ancient Israel: religious syncretism, which someone I knew once described as being 'Christianity-Plus' - that is, Christianity with a lot of extra stuff tacked on.

I don't have time to untangle the complicated web of deceit that Mormonism is today as I have done that elsewhere. My purpose in bringing up my past now is to illustrate an important principle in exiting all systems that are a blending of emet (truth) and lies. It doesn't have to be Mormonism per se - it could be anything that claims the label 'Christian' or 'Messianic'. So what I want to share is not so much about Mormonism but any and all systems that mix emet (truth) and lies together as we seek to make Yahweh, through Yah'shua (Jesus), our only Elohim, and not any man-made system.

I had a dream two nights ago which I want to share with you. I was on a journey in a large city with a couple of Mormon missionaries who had found me (depicting my conversion). They took me to a building which was more of an 'operational centre' than a 'church' (Mormonism is more like a buisness corporation than a 'church' in the sense understood by Protestantism). There I handed over my luggage to the Mission President (who was in charge) as I was going to stay there (depicting my 3 year membership in the LDS Church).

There was a 'break' in the dream (representing the 3 year passage of time) and I found myself in the entrance of the Mission Centre once more, where I had arrived. I wanted my baggage as I was leaving (representing the time I left the Mormons). However, the Mission President was very reluctant to let me have my luggage back (it is not easy leaving the LDS Church - all kinds of manipulation and pressure is applied to you to guilt you into staying). But I was resolute. I demanded my luggage at once and would not yield until I had it. The Mission President at length stopped and started going through a detailed inventory of all my personal belongings (the Mormons are highly organised, like a business corporation) and checking off individual items as they were procured (the LDS Church treat people as though they own you and your wealth - you give them the legal right (spiritually) to do so once you have entered covenants through their various baptismal, confirmation, priesthood and temple ordinances). There were four items that the Mission President was not intending to return me - three copies of the Book of Mormon and a very old Bible - the LDS use the King James Version, though they also have their own 'Joseph Smith Translation', which the RLDS Church have the copyright to, known as the Inspired Version - this Smith created by liberally altering the KJV by pretended 'revelation' and without any kind of manuscript warranty - to justify many of his teachings. I suspect that this 'Bible' I left with them represented this mutilated Bible translation (eventually published in 1867). The three Books of Mormon I suspect represent the original one written by Smith, the modified one used by the LDS Church, and the modern 1966 version created by the RLDS Church.

In the dream I finally left alone in search of a railway station. I boarded a bus which was very odd inasmuch as the driver sat in the middle of the vehicle, and not at the front. I was not on it long as the railway station was just a few hundred yards down the road and round the corner, where I disembarked. This odd bus represented my transition phase between Mormonism and becoming fully Evangelical, the 'Independent Church' period in which we continued to use the Book of Mormon in a seconadary rôle along with some of Smith's revelations from the Doctrine & Covenants. This phase of my life lasted 4 years when we finally renounced the Book of Mormon, Smith's revelations, and everything to do with Mormonism, before becoming Evangelical Christian. We then called ourselves the New Covenant Christian Fellowship. Seven years later we became Messianic and the rest you all know.

What is particularly interesting about this dream is that I had it now, 19 years after quitting Mormonism in all its forms. I knew that leaving a cult like Mormonism wasn't easy because it (like so many other systems) has powerful religions demons that steer it. So why was I having this dream now, and why is it, every now and then, I have dreams about being in some Mormon setting? The revelation I got yesterday, after I awoke, enabled me to make a very belated but complete severance. You see, the mistake I made was to give Mormonism the credit for the truths they had instead of giving all the credit to Yahweh! They did not originate them! And I am speaking about the good things they have such as high moral principles, family-centredness, and the belief in contemporary revelation. All of these are good but my error was to be in some ways grateful to them instead of to the One they belonged to originally, Yahweh-Elohim.

Yahweh demands everything from us and He in His turn gives us His Son who gives us everything He has. Yah'shua (Jesus), our Cohen Gadol (High Priest), is our one and only intermediary between us and Elohim. He recognises no men or priests as channels to Him (the Mormons teach you have to go through Joseph Smith too), not organisations, churches or groups. And whilst congregations are commanded to exist along with various toqefim (authorities) such as pastors, elders, and so on, neither they, nor their organisation, are ever to become bridges between man and his Messiah. The sin of priestcraft, which such institionalised organisations like Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox say are indispensible to salvation (such as Orthodoxy's 'Five Sacraments' which they alone can dispense), is also the sin of idolatry. The hierarchy established by Yahweh is very plain:

Priestcraft turns this around in various ways such as:

It's of course a little more complicated than this because toqefim (authorities) change both at marriage (when a wife comes under her husband, for example) and when at Shavu'ot we move from the individual one-to-One covenants of Pesach and Bikkurim to communal ones. But let us simplify matters for now for the sake of clarity.

In my dream I was leaving behind everything the Mormons gave me, including the truthful so that the spirits behind the whole mix could make no further claims on me. There are those who, for example, credit Hitler for having made Germany's first autobahns as a 'good' thing. However, the true Author of fast and effective transit systems is ultimately Yahweh and so I intend to give Yahweh credit for every good thing that even tyrants enabled. He rightly demands all credit for all things tov (good) because He is the author or chayim (life) and of inspiration itself. A true believer refuses to take credit for what he has done that is tov (good) because He knows in his lev (heart) that all good gifts come from Yahweh.

"No one is good but One, that is, Elohim (God)" (Mark 10:18, NKJV).

Everything ultimately boils down to ownership. Yahweh, as owner of all, always has the right of prior claim and is waiting for us to return everything to His domain. It is the same with marriage. If a woman has had multiple partners prior to marriage, then her lawful husband has prior claim on everything that went before, even if there were 'good' things from her previous men. Only that which is lawful according to divine tavnith (pattern) and Torah is legitimate because only that which is legitimate is ultimately owned by Yahweh as a stewardship apportioned by Him. Returning everything that belongs to husbands, fathers and to the Divine Husband therefore constitutes the LAW OF RETURN. That way the enemy has no hold on us and can make no demands of us because of what we have accepted from them.

I have often said that I learned good things from the various religious systems I have passed through. However, I wish to give no dark spirit credit for the good misappropriated for wicked ends. Should I credit the Book of Mormon for including numerous quotations from the King James Version of the Bible, or should I credit the KJV for that good? No, I should not even credit the KJV, and certainly not King James whose name is on that Bible, nor the translators of that version (one of whom was a drunk), but rather Yahweh, the author of all correct translation! Then I will not fall for the sin of idolatry. You may not think the distinction is important, but when it comes to spiritual legalities, it absolutely is.

It is important that we not only leave the false in our past behind us. knowing that Yah'shua (Jesus) has forgiven us for false beliefs and wrong associations if we have genuinely turned away from them, but also transfer credit for all the tov (good) of the past back to Yahweh. He alone is good. And all that remained in Mormonism that was tov (good), I ascribe to Him, not Mormonism. I ask no less of what my listeners and readers glean from my writings - give all the glory to the One above. Amen.

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