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Paul Cardall denounces Mormonism?


Nofear

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Anybody know more about this Oct. 7, 2020 post?

https://www.facebook.com/PaulCardallMusic/posts/10157626705621497

I’m usually very private about my faith because I respect each of you from a variety of Christian denominations, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and even some of my Atheist and Agnostic friends. I respect your journey as you’ve respected mine. With so many beautiful flowers it makes no sense to fight over which flower is the best.
As a Christian, there comes a time in our lives when we can no longer deny a spiritual transformation that occurs in our lives as we honestly, humbly, and submissively seek answers and healing from God.
Over the past decade, my life has dramatically shifted away from Mormonism towards Christ. Growing up I believed in Him and knew Him because I relied on Him desperately with every illness. I give God the credit for guiding my medical team on raising me from the dead, temporarily like Lazarus, and fixing me though organ donation. Jesus changed my heart literally and began changing my heart spiritually these past few years.
The law of Moses was fulfilled and yet for 45 years I’ve continued to read the law and participate in rituals with a symbolic veil over my eyes (2 Corinthians 3:15). Like Saul, I was ambitious in declaring boldly that I knew it all...but that’s a whole other conversation. Needless to say, like Saul I, too, was blind and I apologize.
On my road back from Damascus I discovered this poem from Carol Lynn Pearson and though I don’t expect the majority of you to understand, this poem speaks to me.
I love you all so much.
If you are interested in pursuing a life filled with sincere healing—free from judgement in a world where Jesus asked the woman caught in the very act of adultery, “Where are thine accusers?” “None, Lord.” “Then neither do I condemn thee” come with me. Where Jesus waited to mentor a woman at the well He knew was living with a man who was’t her husband, whoever was forever changed by that one by one encounter, then come. And to many more misfits, outcasts, moths, who were rejected by the Church of His day, that He encountered and healed, come let’s follow this Jesus. He is my God and He wants to be your God. All are welcome to the table. Come with me, let’s go follow Him and encounter all those in need of healing, compassion, mercy, and love. None are rejected. Know the truth and this truth, which is Jesus, will set you Free... I testify of this—I am free.
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Shame, I liked his music. I will probably continue to like it, but I can't empathize with his exitmony in the slightest. 

2 hours ago, bluebell said:

I don't know who that is.  His 'exit testimony' greatly annoys me.  

Me too. It looks like boilerplate non-denom therapeutic-deism K-LOVE fluff complete with the standard eisegesis of the woman at the well and the women in adultery. I can't regard that sort of pseudo-theology as anything even resembling rigorous. The continual modern eliding of the so-called "dark sayings of Jesus" and the entire Old Testament in the name of nigh-idolatrous modern zeitgeist is incessantly frustrating. 

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4 hours ago, bluebell said:

I don't know who that is.  His 'exit testimony' greatly annoys me.  

A composer.  When I worked at the Church bookstore back in 2001, he was quite popular.  Best known then for the music version of Evans' The Christmas Box.  Haven't kept up with the LDS music industry.

Looks like he had some tough times:

https://www.deseret.com/2009/9/11/20339646/with-a-new-heart-beating-in-his-chest-paul-cardall-beats-odds-yet-again

https://www.heart.org/en/news/2019/11/06/prolific-pianist-uses-music-to-heal-inspire

Edited by Calm
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23 hours ago, OGHoosier said:

Shame, I liked his music. I will probably continue to like it, but I can't empathize with his exitmony in the slightest. 

Me too. It looks like boilerplate non-denom therapeutic-deism K-LOVE fluff complete with the standard eisegesis of the woman at the well and the women in adultery. I can't regard that sort of pseudo-theology as anything even resembling rigorous. The continual modern eliding of the so-called "dark sayings of Jesus" and the entire Old Testament in the name of nigh-idolatrous modern zeitgeist is incessantly frustrating. 

It might be a stage of his continuing journey, I had a phase of the K-Love stuff too, and now I found it doesn't suit me. I guess this Mormon girl will be a forever thing, just a more nuanced one.

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2 hours ago, Tacenda said:

It might be a stage of his continuing journey, I had a phase of the K-Love stuff too, and now I found it doesn't suit me. I guess this Mormon girl will be a forever thing, just a more nuanced one.

Fair enough, I should be more respectful of people's development. 

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2 hours ago, Calm said:

What is K Love?

K-LOVE is a radio station which broadcasts Christian pop music. It's ironic that I denounce it as it's actually my favorite. I enjoy the songs and they're more uplifting than most, so I often listen to it if it's just me in the car. However, the songs are all very fluffy, positive, encouraging, Jesus-loves-you, the-only-scripture-we-ever-reference-is-John-3:16 stuff. There's a ton of songs which address themselves directly to the Savior and basically serenade Him, which I find a little strange given my LDS upbringing which emphasizes a certain formality and decorum when referring to or addressing  divine beings (it's ironic since our faith collapses the ontological gap between God and man more than most Christian theologies, but these singers go to lengths to sound like they're on a first-name basis with Him.) They do play songs that actually talk about the moral obligations of Christianity and the necessity of enduring trials, but they are few and far between, and I can't think of any off the top of my head which really address the "justice" part of "justice and mercy". It's lovely, positive, and encouraging stuff (they do bill themselves as "positive, encouraging K-LOVE"), but it isn't particularly balanced doctrinally, and anyone who bases their theology around those kinds of sentiments is in my opinion missing a lot of what Jesus actually said and did. Everything Paul Cardall said in that post could have been a K-LOVE lyric, so while I'm sure he's sincere I'm mostly just disappointed that he apparently chooses only one side of the divine coin. 

But then again, I don't have much space to talk. I love the dark sayings of Jesus. I love it when He calls us to be better, commands it, when he informs the Pharisees that they are children of hell and threatens those who harm children with millstones and oceans.  I love it because it means He cares. A God who is endlessly affirmative, encouraging, and smooth ("a God who doesn't rock the boat and won't even row it" in Elder Holland's words) seems to me to be, functionally, a God who doesn't care, a God who has no stake in us or the world we create. Furthermore, justice is important to me. I need to know that if I can't make it happen, in this life or the next, God will make sure that people don't just get away with evil. Forgiveness is fine, wonderful even, if repentance is truly carried out with all that it entails. But effortless avoidance of consequences for evil? I can't abide that. A universal "Jesus saves everyone no matter what, rejects none" is repulsive to me. I would have a very, very hard time worshiping the God Paul has chosen. 

And effulgently self-righteous stuff like this which debases those things I find holy ("The law of Moses was fulfilled and yet for 45 years I’ve continued to read the law and participate in rituals with a symbolic veil over my eyes") gives me an opportunity to obey the Savior's command to not even be angry. Though admittedly the scriptures give few examples of that commandment actually being followed (cf. Captain Moroni, Paul, Peter, the entire Old Testament), so the temptation to disobey is quite strong. 

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8 hours ago, OGHoosier said:

Fair enough, I should be more respectful of people's development. 

A funny, not so funny, story. Early in my faith journey, I was cleaning out our camper and turned on the radio and it was the K-Love station. I liked listening to the music, not so much the sermons, but didn't mind the music. Anyway, my husband walks in the cramped camper and asked what I was listening to, and he even got a little upset that I was. Maybe he was worried that I was leaving the church. Recently, our very TBM friend told us she loves to listen to it. So maybe quite a few enjoy that type of religious music. 

 

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2 hours ago, Tacenda said:

A funny, not so funny, story. Early in my faith journey, I was cleaning out our camper and turned on the radio and it was the K-Love station. I liked listening to the music, not so much the sermons, but didn't mind the music. Anyway, my husband walks in the cramped camper and asked what I was listening to, and he even got a little upset that I was. Maybe he was worried that I was leaving the church. Recently, our very TBM friend told us she loves to listen to it. So maybe quite a few enjoy that type of religious music. 

 

As a boy I lived in a southern town in Florida. It used to sponsor what was termed as the "Biggest All Night Sing" in the world. It was southern gospel at its best and all of the great groups would attend - The Oak Ridge Boys, Happy Goodman Family, Florida Boys, Gaither Family....every great group that was singing always came out. It was held at the football stadium, which was built for the two things - the All Night Sing and the Rodeo - both sponsored by the local Kiwanis Club. It was great going and listening to the music.

The All Night Sing closed down several years ago, but they still do the Rodeo.  I still love the music. 

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4 hours ago, Tacenda said:

A funny, not so funny, story. Early in my faith journey, I was cleaning out our camper and turned on the radio and it was the K-Love station. I liked listening to the music, not so much the sermons, but didn't mind the music. Anyway, my husband walks in the cramped camper and asked what I was listening to, and he even got a little upset that I was. Maybe he was worried that I was leaving the church. Recently, our very TBM friend told us she loves to listen to it. So maybe quite a few enjoy that type of religious music. 

 

I like it, but can't deal with it for very long.  Most of the songs are too similar in words and style for me to listen to very long.  

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21 hours ago, rpn said:

Doesn't sound like a denouncement of Mormonism any more than a decision to no longer describe ourselves as Mormons is.   It sounds to me like a conversion to Christ.

 

From reading the comments in his post, and his responses to them, it is pretty clear that he is leaving the church.  I agree that denouncing is too harsh a term for his transition however. 

 

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5 hours ago, Calm said:

A football stadium that is actually a rodeo?

We used to call it the cow palace after the rodeo because everywhere we played was full of manure.  The stadium was built/owned by the Kiwanis club - it was a huge stadium relative to all our competitors. Bonifay, Florida was only about 4,000 people then; the town only has about 2,600 today.  We were a AA school, but our stadium where we played was more like 4 A or 5 A school. 

One of the joys of living in a small southern town. 

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19 hours ago, pogi said:

 

From reading the comments in his post, and his responses to them, it is pretty clear that he is leaving the church.  I agree that denouncing is too harsh a term for his transition however. 

 

Oh, I don't know. Likening the Church to Saul's Judaism and suggesting that he must leave Mormonism behind in order to come to Christ -- to somebody like me who believes the opposite on both points -- sounds like a denouncement. ;)

Edited by Nofear
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