Author, Unveiling Grace, (2013)
Professor of Education at Florida Gulf Coast University
Former tenured professor at Brigham Young University
Co-founder of Ex-Mormon Christians United for Jesus
Doctorate in Education
Written more than 50 scholarly publications
Lives in Ft. Myers, Florida
Married to Mike
GUEST BIO
Finding Our Way Out of the Mormon Church
By
The 700 Club
CBN.com-BECOMING A LATTER DAY SAINT
Lynn and Mike met in college and were married soon after graduation. Although they both went to church growing up they never developed a relationship with Jesus. Lynn decided she wanted to learn more about the Bible so she signed up for a correspondence course about the Old Testament. By the end of the course, Lynn was convinced these were the “latter days” and wanted to know more. Two men knocked on their door in August 1977 wearing badges that said, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.” Although skeptical at first, Lynn and Mike decided to try Mormonism together. Ten weeks later they were baptized by immersion and became members of the Mormon Church. Lynn and Mike became very active in the church attending temple services, tithing faithfully, teaching doctrine, and spending countless hours fulfilling religious duties every week as they raised four children in the faith. Mormons understand the role relationships play in potential converts’ willingness to accept new ideas and the Mormon culture. When they were first introduced to the Mormon Church Lynn and Mike were invited to dinners and to church activities. “The Church had a powerful grip that sucked me in,” shares Lynn. “We attended church each week and taught our children the Mormon gospel. The church was like family to us,” reveals Lynn.
THE PERFECT MORMON LIFE
In 1999, after finishing her doctorate in education Lynn was hired by Brigham Young University and the family moved to Utah. Within a year, Lynn was promoted to associate professor and earned tenure the following year. She tried to do it all -- work, family and church. She strived to be a good Mormon wife and mother celebrating as each of her children made their first visit to the temple and encouraging them in their faith. She grew and canned vegetables, stored water and did genealogy. Lynn also fulfilled church callings by teaching monthly in the Relief Society, a women’s organization that was auxiliary to the priesthood. “We believed we would please Heavenly Father with our callings and our works,” shares Lynn. As a result of their honorable behavior and a righteous life, they believed Heavenly Father would bless them. Mormons use the term “Heavenly Father” as the personal name of one of the three gods in their godhead.
Lynn lived with a lot of pressure to conform to the standards of Latter Day Saints. “I felt great pressure to have everything look great on the outside, and to do everything well,” reveals Lynn. If others were going to join Mormonism she needed to look like she had it all together. “As a Mormon, I was self-centered. All day long I worried if I was doing the right thing. I worried whether each decision I was making throughout the day was moving me closer to being good enough to be accepted by Heavenly Father,” recalls Lynn. For a long time a veil of Mormon legalism clouded her heart and mind. She was caught up in the rules and regulations of the Mormon gospel unable to see the real Jesus until her son Micah made an unexpected discovery.
A CRISIS OF FAITH
In 2004, Micah began to read the Bible on a required two-year Mormon mission. His search for truth led to Lynn and Mike’s own investigations into Mormonism and Christian beliefs. Micah challenged his parents to read the New Testament. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to belong to God one hundred percent of the time. I was comfortable with my compartmentalized faith where I only needed to think about Heavenly Father when I was engaged in church work,” shares Lynn. Yet the more she and Mike read the Bible the more they recognized contradictions between teachings in the Bible and Mormon Church doctrine. Lynn finally surrendered her life to the Lord in 2006 and He began to open her eyes to her sins one by one. This process took more than a year. “It took another four years of learning God’s Word until I felt more stable in my understanding of what was true and what was false. Working out my salvation has definitely been a process,” reveals Lynn. Mike decided to follow the Lord in 2007. That same year, Lynn resigned from Brigham Young University. Then she and Mike resigned from the Mormon Church. Gradually, all of their family left the Mormon faith and are now Christians. She is thankful God allowed them to know the truth before they die.
As a result of their journey out of the Mormon Church, Lynn and Mike created a ministry called Ex-Mormon Christians United for Jesus, a ministry to specifically reach out to those still in Mormonism as well as to teach Christians how to avoid joining Mormonism. Their children are involved with a musical ministry called Adam’s Road. Together their goal is to see Mormons come to the Christ of the Bible and to help Christians avoid joining the Mormon Church.
DOCTRINAL COMPARISON OF MORMONISM AND THE BIBLE
Mormonism teaches:
- The Bible is Not Infallibl
- The Mormon Church is the Only True Church
- God the Father has a Body of Flesh and Bones - Mormon scripture, The Book of Doctrines and Covenants [D&C] 130:22
- Plurality of Gods- Do Not Accept the Triune God—Man Works His Way to Godhood D&C 132:20, D&C 132: 37, Abraham 4: 1–31, 5: 1–21
The Bible teaches:
- The Bible is the Infallible Word of God
- The Church Consists of the Body of Believers
- God is Spirit
- There is One God
- God is Not a Man
- Triune God
- Christ Atoned for All Sins
- Eternal Life is a Free Gift of God
- Gospel is Not Secret; It is Openly Proclaimed
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