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Hi there, welcome to Reformed Ex-Mormon. I am Pastor Brayden. It's a blessing to be here today with a brother in Christ, a sweet dear friend of mine, Haps Addison today. This is gonna be part two of a video series that we're starting to help with a lesson that Haps is teaching on just different cults and world religions and comparing that to Christianity and whatnot.
And so it's a blessing to have Haps here. So I'll turn it over to Haps and have him and kind of explain what this is for, the purpose of it and so on and so forth. So Haps, please go ahead.
Well, I am Pastor Happy with All Branch Ministries, and this is one of my closest friends right here and very excited that you can help me out with this and you know because you have one of my favorite stories of all time, but I don't want to get into that just yet.
So, I have a few questions. I don't want to jump ahead, but you know, I got a few questions. You know, so, you know, I wanted to ask you, you know, what is... So why do they call you the Reformed Ex-Mormon?
That's the name of your YouTube channel. And what is your history with the LDS Church? And how did the Lord lead you out of that cult, by the way?
Yeah, so the start on the YouTube channel name was a name that I came up with while thinking because I was like, man, I really want to do some stuff that's focused on Christianity as well as some Mormon stuff and some evangelism stuff and what could work.
And I'm a Reformed Baptist and would hold to that with my dying breath as of right now. And so, yeah, it's like, man, I'm Reformed and I'm an Ex-Mormon. I was like, oh, Reformed Ex-Mormon, that kind of, that almost rhymes.
It sounds good. We'll put it together. And so I praise God that the latter half of that name is true, that I am an Ex-Mormon. And more importantly, that I'm an ex in the sense that I'm now saved by grace and in Christ.
That's the, there's a lot of ex-Mormons out there, but there's not a lot of ex-Mormons that are now saved and are Christian. Yeah, so and then to talk about my history with the Mormon Church, is that the next portion of that question that you said?
Okay, yeah. So my history with the LDS is that I was raised LDS for 19 years. In that time, I was active, serving, being a good LDS person. I always like to tell people that when you think of the picture of what a Mormon looks like, right, that was me.
That was absolutely the definition of who I was, as Mormon-y of a Mormon that you can get. That was Brayden Patterson. And so that thinking, so when I graduated from seminary for all, from all, with all four years, I went and did double doses of their seminary that they had.
I memorized all their 100 scripture masteries. And so the LDS, that when I say these things, they would know what I'm talking about. And I was getting ready to go on and serve my mission. And in the process of serving my mission, getting ready to serve my mission, to put in my papers and whatnot, getting like medical records and immunization forms and dental records and all that kind of stuff that they have to do before they send somebody out on a mission.
I met this lovely young lady who just now happens to be my wife, but this young, lovely, very wise and smart, beautiful woman. I started dating her and I was very, very encouraged by my family to baptize her and her whole family.
And that if I didn't do that, that she wouldn't wait for me for those, those two years while I was gone on my mission. And, and in my mind, I was very, very well equipped and prepared to talk about anything regarding LDS theology, anything regarding Joseph Smith and anything regarding Brigham Young, anything regarding the temple, all those kinds of things.
I was very, very well equipped. As I said, I graduated from that seminary. And I was, I would even consider myself at that time, a Mormon apologist. I loved engaging with supposed Christians. I loved engaging with other people of different faiths.
I was very active in that way. And so I, I thought to myself, well, I can, I'll be able to baptize her and her whole family like that. It'll be, I'll have her baptized by the end of the week and her family baptized by the end of the month.
It'll be easy. And it was truly like that because I was in my mind, in my burning of the bosom, I had a testimony and knew what the LDS church taught was true. And so what happened, what, what took place through this is that, so I dated her for about a month and I gave her a book of Mormon.
And the next night I talked with her in her driveway for two hours. And in the process of this conversation, I covered everything that you could cover with regarding Mormonism, that being of the need of the reasons of prophets, the plan of salvation, the need of temples, the need of the atonement, all the, all this kind of language that the LDS use.
And I talked to her about the importance of being baptized, being married in a temple, all those kinds of things. And at the end of that conversation, she sat very, very quietly and listened to everything I said without interrupting me, without interjecting.
Let me get it all out. And I thought to myself, I could not have said that any better than what I just said, that, that, that, what I just said is true. And man, let's go down to the river right now and get baptized.
I said, I was thinking. And so, um, she looked over at me after I got done and I had this feeling inside my chest after I bore my testimony. And she looked at me and she said, Brayden, that's stupid and not in the Bible.
And it hit me like that. Yep. It hit me like that. It, it shut down what I just said from going from true to what I just said was absolute idiocy. And I have no reason for what I believe in. I have, all it was, was a feeling before.
Now this feeling has went from legitimate to not true, not true, a feeling of deceit, essentially. I go home that night. I open up the Bible, talking, thinking about all the things I just told her in that two hour conversation, Joseph Smith, plan of salvation, multiple gods, all this kind of stuff.
That's very central to the LDS doctrine. And I, eight years later today, I have yet to find one thing that I told her in its fullness in that night of that two hour conversation in the Bible. And so from that, um, there was a genuine care and concern of wanting to know the one and only true God, um, wanting to know who Jesus Christ was wanting to know how to have salvation.
So I don't want to say I was saved that night, but about a month later, I had the opportunity to have a wonderful Christian and Bible study, uh, that the Bible study was called leaving Mormonism for Christ.
And in this Bible study, uh, a gentleman named, um, Nathan and his wife, uh, Lindsay, but Nathan sat down with me and we were doing this little role-playing thing where I was to pretend to be the Mormon.
He was pretending to be the Christian. And we were going to have a evangelism conversation for the rest of the people to watch. And he opens up John one, one, and the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
And immediately I was just my attention. We couldn't leave that verse. We couldn't leave that conversation because I was so in awe that Jesus Christ is God. And that he was the one that paid my price upon a cross and that, that, that I have salvation only in what he has done for me.
And, um, so that, that from there after that, uh, just was discipled by very godly men, uh, including Matt Slick from karm .org, um, including Paul Thompson from Eastside Baptist church and some other, other great and mighty men and women of the faith that have helped me through some very difficult stuff.
And I'm still being discipled very much so, but yeah, that was, that was eight years ago. Um, and that's my history with the LDS church is that, you know, it was very heavily in it and, and very, very strong ties in it to this is false and this is.
Stupid. And now I know Jesus Christ. That's so, that's just so often, you know, I got, it's just so good. Um, you know, let me ask you how involved, how far back, uh, was your, your family involved in, in, uh, I mean, you told me that you were, uh, you, you were, um, a descendant of Brigham Young.
And so your family must have been Mormons for generations, you know, in generation. Yeah.
Yeah. My family is definitely steeped in the Mormon generate and Mormon his history and.
Genealogy for sure. And, and let me tell you, you had, let me just ask. Um, so you had a great childhood, uh, loving parents, loving brothers, loving family members. Yep. And, and, and I just want to get this straight.
You, you left everything to follow Christ. Yeah, absolutely. Yep. And,.
And how did that affect your family? You know, um, I, I think that because, you know, and we have to think about it from their shoes, right. And no, no, no, no, that's what I am without, without, without a bias as much as we possibly can.
And I will be very clear and say that, like you said, I, my family, I love them to death. They have not done anything wrong in that sense. That's right. Um, and so being, giving honor to my mother and my father as much as I can as a Christian now, right.
Um, yeah. You think about it in their shoes that one of their main focuses and doctrines of the LDS churches, families can be together forever. Uh, that's, that's kind of their foundational doctrinal statement that you will hear every single missionary ever say.
In fact, if you ask a missionary, what, what their testimony is oftentimes nine out of tens, they're going to say, I know that families can be together forever. And the whole idea of that is, is that, um, that heaven, isn't really heaven without my family there with me.
Um, heaven isn't heaven. I mean, um, what is his name? Uh, I wasn't Nelson. It was, uh, elder Holland of the LDS church talks about how heaven wouldn't be heaven without his wife. Um, and that's, that's not a direct quote, but that that's essentially what he talks about.
And so the idea is, is that, that heaven isn't heaven without your family. And so in essence, what I have done when I left the LDS church and I have foregone that possibility of being in the celestial kingdom with them is I have jeopardized that foundational doctrine for them.
Families can be together forever because I'm part of their family. That's not going to. And so there, there, there's a little bit of, um, sadness there. There is an, and part of, part of any Christians, um, response.
And this is something I think that would help the person that listens to this is that the Christian's response is that I hope that hops, I hope you're in heaven with me. I hope that my wife is in heaven with me.
I hope my neighbors are in heaven with me. I hope these things, but I only care about being with Jesus. At the end of the day, Jesus is going to ride every wrong. He's going to be the object of my work.
He's going to be the, the, the image of the invisible. He is going to be there with me. And that's all I care about. That's all I care about. I want you to be there, but I don't want you to be there for my dissatisfaction.
Habs. I want you to be there because Christ is worthy for you to worship him there. And so that's the fundamental difference between, between the view of heaven that the Christians hold versus the view of heaven at the LDS hold is that LDS, it's very centered upon how I feel and what I want.
Man-related families can be together forever versus the Christian is, I want Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. That's all I want. That's all I, all I need. And I want to worship.
Him forever and for eternity. Hmm. Yeah, that's, that's just awesome. You know, I, I, I just love how the Lord does that, you know, that, and you know, um, moving on. Um, yeah, I just think that's so powerful right there.
And, um, you know, so how do we, how do we know? I mean, I mean, man, they're, they're, they say they're Christians, the latter. I mean, the, the latter day saints of Jesus Christ, right. Yeah. They, they, they say they're Christians.
What, what's the distinguishing, distinguishing, um, differences between, um, the, um, the LDS church and, um,.
The Christian orthodoxy. Yeah, I love it. That's, that's a really, that, that is a loaded question there. Um, I, I would first say that we also have to realize where the LDS are coming from when they claim that they are Christian.
Not only do they think they're Christian, but they think that they're the only true church. And so they would say all other Christian faiths and denominations, like I said, last of our last video, they, they believe that all their professing creeds are an abomination in the eyes of the Lord.
And so they, they want the title Christian, but at the same time, they want to, uh, disfellowship Christianity as being a part of them. Do you see what I'm saying? So there's this, this pushing away and pulling close at the same time.
And so breaking down to you in the title of their, their, their church name, uh, the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints, um, latter day, it's a focus on eschatology as we've looked at a focus on this dispensational view that they held to, uh, that's far outside of orthodoxy, not even close to what dispensationalism is within Christianity.
But, um, the issue with this is, is that they fundamentally teach that 2000 years ago that the church fell away and that at the death of the apostles, that there had been no true church in that time, which you'd have a, have a plethora of, of scripture.
Uh, one being Matthew 16, 18, um, that upon this rock, I will build my church in the gates of Haiti shall not prevail. Um, Christ promises that, uh, you'd also have Jude four. Um, I believe it is that it says that this was once given for all, um, there was no falling away that, that, that was a promise, um, of God to us that the Christian, the Christian church will not fall away after his ascension.
Um, and so they fundamentally teach that the church fell away. So any, any belief that you and I have in, in Christianity is false. It's abomination in the Lord. Um, and therefore in the 1800s, Joseph Smith restored those things.
And so then we need to really look and see what the, the accusation or the claims are that come from this restoration of Joseph Smith. And so I would remind the listener that Galatians one eight, nine, for if we, or an angel from heaven come unto you and preach a gospel contrary to the one that you have yet received, let him be a curse.
And if, if another man comes to you and preach the gospel other than the one that you've yet received, let him be accursed. And so what Paul has done there is he's really, he's, he's listed out all possibilities of individuals coming and preaching to you a gospel.
And he's saying that if there, if that you need to compare the gospel that you have already received, that I, that Paul knows is inspired, if they were preaching a false gospel to you, which in that context of that text would be Judaizer saying that you need to be circumcised, right?
If they're coming and preaching an additional amount of works or additional things that are needed to that gospel, it's actually a false gospel. It's not really another gospel and it's to be accursed.
And so when we look at the claims of, of Joseph Smith about what he taught, and we talked about it last week, according to the gospel on their website, according to the articles of faith. One of the most obvious things that we would see that's different between Christianity and that of LDS is that they are, they believe that there's a requirement for works.
They, it's not just workspace salvation. They believe it involves faith to be fair to them, but it is absolutely faith or works included in that salvation that they believe in an exaltation and the issue with this.
And I, and you are very well aware of this, but just to remind the listener that here's this Romans three, there's a plethora of texts that we can go to, to talk about this, but Romans Romans three verse 28.
In fact, just the whole text of Romans three is beautiful, but specifically verse 28, it says for, we maintain that a man is justified apart from works of the law. Romans four. So chapter four, just here right after 28 there, but chapter four verse two, it says for, if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about for God, for what does the scripture say?
And Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to righteousness. Now to the one who works his wage, it is not reckoned as favor, but what is do, but to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.
And then it goes through David as well as the, this, this, that Abraham was justified and reckoned righteousness even before circumcision. You would see this repeated throughout multitude of chapters here in, in, in the book of Romans.
But when we look at the seriousness of this claim of, well, they they'll go, they'll go to James chapter two and say, well, look, faith without works is dead. So of course you have to have works. Well, we can't just take one verse and twist it to make it what we want it to be.
Galatians chapter two, verse 16 says, nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we believed in Christ that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, since by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
And then we would also see here in verse 21, I do not nullify the grace of God for righteousness comes through the law and Christ I needlessly. And so this, this goes for anybody that claims that their work saved them in any degree or in any fashion.
And I believe that that's what we would see in Matthew chapter seven, uh, when many will come to him and say, Lord, Lord, have I not done X, Y, and Z things, cast out demons prophesied and done all these many mighty miracles in your name.
And Christ says, depart from me, you workers of iniquity, you doers of lawlessness. Um, the, the issue of this is that this, that, that, that those works to you and I look good. Demon casting out great prophesying sounds great.
Uh, mighty miracles sounds great. Those things look like a good work to you. And I, the issue is that you're boasting about it before the Lord to be justified in there for their works of iniquity. It doesn't matter how, what the results of them was.
It doesn't matter what took place. Those things are works of iniquity. And so when we look at all these different scriptures, that that's the conclusion.
That we have to come to. Yeah. Um, you know, what I find absolutely fascinating is, um, you know me, I love church history. I mean, I study it, you know, and, uh, when you look back in the 1800s, that, that what was called the restoration movement where, um, you know, we got to get rid of the creeds and the confessions and the catechisms and what the church has been holding to this whole time.
And we got to start something new. And then all these cults started out of nowhere and they just started, there's something wrong with the church. Uh, we got the truth and, um, all the denominations that have spawned out of these, these little groups and stuff.
And what I found fascinating was, um, uh, Mormonism, I, I really got to say Mormonism had more things, more, uh, cults and, um, uh, so-called denominations or movements and everything have really, uh, uh, uh, uh, blossomed out of it.
You know, I mean, I mean, cults do really good. They, they don't do bad, you know, they, they, they actually do really good,.
You know, I mean, not good as in, you know, but no, I know what you mean. You know what I'm saying?
I mean, that, and the reason why they get so big is, um, but they have to tithe like 23 of their.
Earnings or something like that. Yeah. They have to do 10 of their pre-taxed income, um, which is a hefty amount when you consider it. And so, yeah, they, and they have to do that in order to have access to the temple, which they believed that if you are temple worthy, you're worthy of heaven.
And if you're not worthy of a temple recommend, you are not worthy of the celestial kingdom. And so now it's, it's definitely a pay to play kind of, it's like pay to get into.
Wow. Uh, let, let me also ask you this. So there's some claims out there, you know, which I already know that's true, but I'm just going along with it. Uh, there's some claims out there that, um, uh, well, you know, I hear that, you know, when it comes to most cults, they all start, uh, there's, there's usually a dress code.
Um, now is it true that they have.
Like, uh, uh, magic underwear? Yeah, I love it. Yeah. Essentially that is what it is, uh, without, without being apologetic towards them. They, they, they, they wear what they call it garments. They have symbols on it and it's, it's what the masons were teaching, uh, when Joseph Smith got those revelations, it has a square compass.
Um, and the, the issue where these all the time, all the time, yep. All the time. Yep. In order to be temple worthy, you have to be wearing them all the time. And they, they say it's an outward showing of an inward promise.
That's what they, that's what they call it. So essentially like how you and I wear a wedding ring to show the world of a covenant we've made with our wife before God, uh, a symbol of it. That's essentially what they're trying to do with garments.
Um, the, the issue with it is that when you look at this and you look in Genesis, um, they, they, they talk about how the, the figs is what they cover themselves in, in, in, in the garden of Eden. And so when somebody that's LDS is buried, guess what they're covered with is an apron that looks like fig leaves.
What did Christ do when, what did Christ do when he, when he saw Adam and Eve like that, he removed those garments and covered them with, with the offering of a sacrifice. Um, and, and you know, it's like,.
You know, you know what I love about that part is, is he always has a better covering.
Yep. Amen to that.
He always has a better covering, you know? I mean, we try to cover our own sin and everything, but Christ has always got to, you know, our, our, our God, we, we served as awesome God. We do. I just get excited when I talk about it, but, um, let me, let me ask you.
So, um, another claim is, um, that, uh, decided, I mean, uh, determining on how many, uh, um, I believe wives or children do you have here on earth determines, uh, how many planets you get to.
Populate in the afterlife. Is that true? Yeah. So the mainstream LDS wouldn't hold to it as, as firmly as what they did back in the 1800s. And that comes from Doctrine and Covenants 136. I believe it is.
I have my, my quad behind me and in there it talks about how, in order for a man to receive true exaltation, he needs to have a plurality of wives essentially is what it's talking about in there. And so for you to, in order to enter into the highest degree of glory, the highest degree of heaven and the celestial kingdom, they would call it exaltation, um, that you have to have a plurality of wives.
Now, however, the mainstream LDS do not, they, they, how they would go around that is that the prophet received a revelation that that's no longer to be a thing. And so now men can go into the exaltation without a plurality of wives.
Now they do still teach that you need to populate the world. Um, and so you need to have three plus kids. Uh, so in almost every Mormon situation, unless there's some, uh, some sense of, of God causing or, or, uh, decreeing that somebody is going to be infertile in their life in that sense.
Um, they, they need to, they must, they, they need to have three or more kids in order to, uh, be obeying God's command in that way. And so that's why you would see Mormons with large families is that they think they're obeying God, uh, by obeying the, the command that was given to Adam and Eve.
And so, yeah, no, I was going to say that they, the Mormon church still does practice, practice a sense of polygamy. Um, not, not in a physical sense, the mainstream LDS church, not in a physical sense.
However, if a man's wife that was sealed in the temple, they were married in the temple, they're going to be married in the next life. If that woman dies and that man marries another woman that has not been sealed in the temple, have not ever been married in the temple, he can marry her too for eternity.
And so in their mind, that is a plurality in heaven. So they, they still practice in, in a, in a spirituality in that sense of a polygamous relationship. Um, however, they, they do not do it physically because of the mandates of the state.
That prohibits such actions in a married life. So, so, you know, most Mormons I've ever met, they live, they like, they live, but seems from an outside perspective, these wonderful Christian lives with great morals, very kind and generous, uh, loving, uh, they love to talk about Jesus, you know?
Um, so that they, they look like Christians, they talk like Christians, they profess to be Christians and, um, but it's a different Jesus, right? A different gospel.
And a different spirit. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Just because somebody looks, looks, just because some, and, and we have to think about it truly at the severity it is. If somebody was to hand you a cup of water hops and you were dying of thirst, I would be so happy if you were to drink that water.
However, if I saw that guy pouring poison in the water before you gave it to you, I would not allow you to drink it. Right? Even if it looks like it, even if it's going to quench your thirst, like for a short moment, you're going to die from poison.
And so the reality of it is, is that the LDS are presenting what appears to be water appears to be Christian, but I'm sorry, you are denying Jesus Christ as the, I am, you are denying crisis being that one and only true God and the second person in the Trinity, you're denying his, his payment that was made upon the cross.
Um, there's a denial of that and that being that all the righteousness that you need, um, as Galatians chapter two, we just read it. Um, if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly.
They're making Christ die needlessly, um, because they believe that they have to pay the 10 tithe. They have to be baptized. They have to do a work in the temple X, Y, and Z that they have to live an obedient life.
And, um, I mean, we could even open up to several places in their book and in their stuff where it talks about this, that, that they believe that it's their works that justify them. And so that right there is a false gospel.
And I've never once heard any LDS person ever present to me something that's biblical in, in the sense of gospel. Um, and it's short of summation being the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ first Corinthians 15, one through four, never, ever had an LDS person even come close to telling me that when I asked them directly what the gospel is.
So yeah, you're absolutely right. False Jesus, false gospel, false spirit. And just because it looks good, doesn't mean that it actually is, it has poison there. And as the Christian, we need to be aware of these things,.
Understand those things. We got to know the real things. Yeah. We got to know that's the real thing. And in order to, um, to identify the counterfeit, you know, you need to know the real thing and that the Holy Spirit is going to, uh, let you know, like, Hey, wait a second and bring scriptures back to mind, you know?
And, um, uh, and so, you know, um, I, I'm going to cut this a short, I think we covered a lot, uh, cause I want to have room for questions and answers and stuff like that. But, um, if anybody has questions or they have loved ones or, uh, um, just somebody they, they generally care about that is caught up in this, um, uh, damnable cult, um, uh, please get ahold of my brother right here, Brayden Patterson.
And it's at reformed ex-Mormon on.
YouTube, correct? Yeah, absolutely. Yep. And yeah, reach out to me there. And I've, I've walked through many people, uh, that are dealing with different issues with it in regard to LDS. And so I'm totally open out in those conversations and would love to help anybody out that, that.
Needs help in those areas. Now, one last thing, um, uh, my brother from another mother, what's the.
Gospel? Ooh, that's a good question. Well, I just said it really, really quickly out of first Corinthians 15, one through four. Um, but you know, I, if I, if I had another 30 seconds to tell you what the gospel is, is that, um, you and I have sinned against our great and Holy God, and we will never be able to satisfy His righteousness, His, His law, um, because we have fallen short, very, very short of that law, uh, very, very short of His glory.
Um, and so it took God Himself because it is God Himself that we have sinned against to become flesh, live that perfect life, uh, never sinning, never violating everything, anything. And for Him to, to die the literal and physical death that you and I are deserving of, um, where He took the punishment, the wrath, the, the payment that we owed, Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin or death, Christ never sinned, but He suffered death and He tasted it for you and I.
And those final words on the cross mean everything to me to tell us, it's paid in full, it is finished. Um, Colossians 2, uh, 13 and 14 really come to mind, um, that, um, those ordinances that were contrary to us, that were hostile to us, were taken out of the way, nailed with Him to the cross.
Uh, Christ became sin, uh, who knew no sin, uh, for our behalf so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Um, and so through us having faith in Jesus Christ and that finished work that He's done upon the cross, He was buried and rose again on the third day, validating everything that He previously said.
And not only this, but when He was raised, He sat us in the heavenly places with Him. And so the gospel is, is Jesus is Christ's perfect life, His death, burial and resurrection. Uh, and we can go into much more depth on each one of those subjects, but we need to look for, to Christ alone for our salvation.
Yes. Amen. All right, my brother. Well, thank you very much. Anytime brother. Hey, I, I hope that everybody that is in this class of yours, uh, asks you a whole bunch of hard questions. Make, make, make Hap sweat a little bit.
Yeah, make me sweat.
Make me sweat. I've been sweating enough. It's been 115, 118 down here. It better get up in the 130s in this class, brother. I know. No, we just want to bless them. They're going through a ministerial, um, school.
So cool. So, all right, man, well, God bless you. And I'll, I'll probably.
Talk to you here in a few minutes, anyways, on our phones. So, yeah, absolutely. Hey, God bless.
All right. God bless.
