Is The JESUS Of Mormonism The Jesus Of The Bible? How Can We Agree In Faith?

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once
for all delivered to the saints.
Jude 1:3

I would like to start this post by saying that I love COGIC Presiding Bishop J Drew Sheard, I consider him to be a friend and very encouraging leader and have reached out to him personally prior to posting this. He is one of the few that have ever volunteered to assist me in ministry and church development and he is a Pastoral leader extraordinaire.  

With that said, I am totally disappointed that out of all the very astute scholars within our church, that  Bishop was seemingly without sound advice or prep in the meeting referenced in the video with leaders of the LDS (Mormon) Church. My question is why? How did this come to be?  

It would seem, and I well may be way off and wrong, but a meeting of this magnitude between two organizational leaders, would have been orchestrated thoroughly FIRST...Statements prepared, agreements solidified and a clear statement of operation, on both sides, issued in preparation for this meeting and resultant actions. While I see nothing wrong with partnering with anyone to better the condition of the community, there is a big problem when we start talking about issues of faith as if they are one in the same or unimportant...

With a Baptist, Methodist or other Christian faith, we can safely say we worship the same JESUS. When I say that I am referring to the JESUS of history, the one who IS God by nature and essence, whose works and mission is thoroughly biblical. 

However, the JESUS of Christian Cults such as Mormonism, and non-Christian Cults such as Jehovah's Witnesses are a wholly different JESUS' than the JESUS of scripture. The JESUS of the Cults is an individual who was a created being, had to come into existence at some point, was and is the exalted "spirit-brother" of Lucifer, Michael and other angelic beings, (as Mormonism teaches) and one who is NOT God in the same nature or essence. The JESUS of the cults has to come into higher knowledge and does not enjoin the eternal uninterrupted hypostatic union (God/Man status). The JESUS of the Cults "becomes" God over time and or through enlightenment or by ordination or appointment. 

While all of those things are not unique to the teachings of Mormonism, there are enough of them that are and this is the problem. We can't agree to have unified faith in two wholly different Jesus' because the implications from that are completely different. To be satisfied that faith in the Mormon JESUS is tantamount to faith in the JESUS of the Bible is NOT how the Saints were told to "earnestly contend". 

As you have followed this blog for years, please know that we will continue to do what we do best...examine the Church in relationship to the culture and seek to apply a Biblical lens to all things. 

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Joel Osteen, Jude 3, & The Acceptance Of False Doctrine

"I'm not one to judge the little details of it (Mormonism)"

In another interview, referenced in my FIRST ARTICLE on the subject, Pastor Osteen states that "Mormonism is a little bit different, but I still see them as brothers in Christ" ~ Pastor Joel Osteen CNN Situation Room w/ Wolf Blitzer

A Brigham Young University Professor says this:

“Cherry-picking similarities while failing to mention major differences is a powerful way to misrepresent and mislead.” ~ Peterson, Daniel (Professor at Brigham Young University) "Focus on Similarities Can Prove Misleading,” Mormon Times, November 6, 2011, 8.

Pastor Osteen says that he sees practicing Mormons as "Brothers In Christ" This means that he believes that one can believe in and practice Mormonism and yet be saved. However, individuals commissioned to teach Mormonism contend that it is misleading to speak of similarities between Mormonism and Christianity while looking over the differences as noted above.

So let us examine what the leader of the largest Christian church in America simply doesn't have enough time to distinguish. Let us look at what the pastor calls the "little differences" between Mormonism and Christianity and see if these issues are important enough to distinguish the difference between Mormonism and what we know as Christianity.

The Examination: What Do Mormons Believe?

The Mormon Church:

Officially founded April 6th, 1830, the Mormon Church in belief and practice actually began 10 years earlier in 1820 when two angelic beings, claimed to be God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) appeared to one Joseph Smith, claiming that the beliefs and practices of all churches in existence at that time were corrupt and that it would be Smith's job to restore the church back to God.

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Signs Of A Cult

While there are many different types of cults such as religious cults, new age cults, and even political cults interestingly enough, even in a day when knowledge and information is at an all time high, cults and cult leaders seem to flourish.

What I would like to point out is that many of the things that occur within cults are similar. The question is why do cults and cult leaders continue to thrive and how do we identify cults? 

As it pertains specifically to religious cults, here are a few answers to those questions. Please feel free to respond with more: 

I - Cults Lead With Hate

One of the primary ways to identify a cult and cult leaders is that they nearly always implore or promote a message of "hate" and hatred. Unlike Christianity, who's message is rooted in love, the message of the cult leader is rooted in self-righteous zeal and operates off of a baseline of hatred. The target of cult leaders are hated not only because of who they are, but often because of what they have gained and by who others are around them. So in essence, the object of hatred is not only the target, but the persons associated with the target. The cult leader spends excessive time attempting to seduce those closest to their target to hate and despise the target. 

II - Cults & Cult Leaders Overtly Appeal To Emotion And Emotionalism:

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