About rameumptom

Gerald (Rameumptom) Smith is a student of the gospel. Joining the Church of Jesus Christ when he was 16, he served a mission in Santa Cruz Bolivia (1978=1980). He is married to Ramona, has 3 stepchildren and 7 grandchildren. Retired Air Force (Aim High!). He has been on the Internet since 1986 when only colleges and military were online. Gerald has defended the gospel since the 1980s, and was on the first Latter-Day Saint email lists, including the late Bill Hamblin's Morm-Ant. Gerald has worked with FairMormon, More Good Foundation, LDS.Net and other pro-LDS online groups. He has blogged on the scriptures for over a decade at his site: Joel's Monastery (joelsmonastery.blogspot.com). He has the following degrees: AAS Computer Management, BS Resource Mgmt, MA Teaching/History. Gerald was the leader for the Tuskegee Alabama group, prior to it becoming a branch. He opened the door for missionary work to African Americans in Montgomery Alabama in the 1980s. He's served in two bishoprics, stake clerk, high council, HP group leader and several other callings over the years. While on his mission, he served as a counselor in a branch Relief Society presidency.

New Testament Gospel Doctrine lesson 41 and 42

Due to an inadvertent accident, I posted lesson 42 prior to 41.  Funny thing is, I was posting comments that very day on a blog that was discussing Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  I guess the number 42 IS the right answer!

Anyway, here are the links to the posts.  Read there, comment here!

Lesson 41 – 1-2 Timothy, Titus
http://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-testament-gospel-doctrine-lesson-41.html

Lesson 42 – Epistle of James
http://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-testament-gospel-doctrine-lesson-42.html

Southern Baptist Convention is a cult

Yesterday at the Values Voter Conference, Rick Perry was introduced by Pastor Robert Jeffress, who insisted we should only vote for a Christian conservative. In later remarks, he explained that while Mitt Romney is a moral person, he isn’t Christian. He stated that Mormonism does not follow historical Christianity, and so is a cult.

Let’s look at the history of Christianity, shall we?  Depending on which religion you ask, Catholicism was established somewhere between 33 AD and 400 AD.  There was no Protestant/evangelical movement for more than a thousand years.

Martin Luther tacked his protest theses up on the Church door in  1516 AD. John Calvin and the other Reformers soon followed.

The Baptist Church goes back to 1609 in the Netherlands, with John Smyth, a Separatist as its first pastor.  Centuries later, over slavery, the Southern Baptist Convention broke away from the American Baptist Church. They chose enslaving blacks, and used the Bible to justify slavery.  This occurred in 1845.

1845.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began in 1830.  We have a longer history of being a Christian religion than the Southern Baptist Convention. It has a very short history. Even compared to Catholicism, the Baptist movement has virtually no history.  It is as much a Christian cult as Mormonism is!

I think scholar Harold Bloom described the Southern Baptist Convention best when he said they are the “Know Nothing” Christians.  And, now we find they are also a cult!

Matthew Brown – RIP

Yesterday seemed to be a bad day for great men passing on.  In the shadow of Steve Jobs’ death, we hear of the early passing of Matthew Brown.

Matthew was a scholar in LDS history.  I’ve heard him speak on occasion, and exchanged emails over the years with him.  He was always a gentleman, and always at the top of his game.

Of his many books I’ve read (or  consumed), I would probably pick his first book, Symbols in Stone as my favorite.  He gave a wonderfully detailed description of many of the symbolic items in the Salt Lake Temple, and their meaning.

There is a memorial fund at FAIR, where you can donate to assist the family.

http://bookstore.fairlds.org/product.php?id_product=1261

 

Breaking News: World ends today at 5, details at 11pm

The annual Ig Noble Awards are handed out every year at the same time the Nobel awards are given.  Unlike the Nobel, which gave awards in science to those who found our universe is expanding, and therefore is mostly made of dark energy, this year the Ig Nobles gave their award to the great prophets (mostly American) who proclaimed the world would end.

This year’s awards went to:

Dorothy Martin of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1954), Pat Robertson of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1982), Elizabeth Clare Prophet of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1990), Lee Jang Rim of KOREA (who predicted the world would end in 1992), Credonia Mwerinde of UGANDA (who predicted the world would end in 1999), and Harold Camping of the USA (who predicted the world would end on September 6, 1994 and later predicted that the world will end on October 21, 2011), for teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations.

 

http://news.discovery.com/space/ig-nobels-honor-doomsdays-that-never-happened-111004.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

The article goes on to mention many others throughout history who predicted the world’s end, a bit prematurely.

Beam me up Scotty, there’s no intelligent life in DC…

Here are a few recent news links that show me that there is very little intelligence within the Beltway:

 Pres Obama gets mad at Bank of America for raising fees on things not covered in the Dodd-Frank act.

Ben Bernanke finds out the hard way that Keynesian economics do not work even in the short run.

Eric Holder learns that selling guns to drug traffickers is not the way to run the ATF. Oh, and it is always good to tell the truth.

Pres Obama wants to give your cell phone number to the Repo-Man.

Green business that received $200 million stimulus grant downsizes.

Rick Perry shows that many Texans are just not smart enough to go to Washington.

White House attacks Republicans for not voting on jobs bill, when Harry Reid axed the vote.

 

And the politician who showed the most smarts this week?

Chris Christie realizes that the Jersey shore is a nicer place than the National Mall.  Who woulda thunk it?