Dave – Married to a Mormon before realizing the LDS church was not biblically Christian

I was born into a family with a long Christian heritage.

Both of my parents, all four of my grandparents, all eight of my great-grandparents, and as many aunts, uncles and cousins (that I know of) were believers.  Two of my great-grandfathers were pastors and Methodist “circuit riders,” my maternal grandfather was a Presbyterian pastor and my father was a bi-vocational pastor.

I became a believer at the age of 13 …

…in a pastor’s study at a church in suburban Dallas, Texas.  Rather than go into the pastoral ministry though, I became a radio and television broadcaster and I have served over 40 years in that industry, including work at several Christian radio stations in Texas, Florida and North Carolina.

Began dating a Mormon lady …

In 1970, a friend introduced me to his niece to whom I began dating.  My friend had mentioned beforehand that she and her family were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons.

Knew little about the LDS …

I really didn’t know much about the LDS, as they were known, other than what I had learned from a stop in Salt Lake City on a trip to California with my parents in 1955.  About all I knew was they were great American pioneers that had once practiced polygamy and had a work of “scripture” called The Book of Mormon.  I figured they were Christians also.  I was later to find out something very different.

We were married …

The dating with the young Mormon lady became serious and we eventually married.  I found out that although she was raised LDS, she had no interest in their religion.  Her parents, however, objected to her being married in my church, so a compromise led to a wedding in their home by a Primitive Baptist minister, her grandmother’s pastor.

I began getting pressure to become a Mormon …

Although I thought that eventually she would attend my church and make a commitment to Christ, this was not to be.  In fact, her parents–especially her father–began to pressure me into becoming a Mormon.  I refused, but only because I didn’t see a need for a change in my church membership.  It would be later before I would see the vast difference between the LDS church and Biblical Christianity.

My pastor gave me a book about Mormonism…

Although my church practiced baptismal aspersion (sprinkling) I had come to believe that, for me, baptism was immersion.  I contacted a Baptist pastor and in the process of being baptized, I became a member of his church.  When I mentioned to him my wife was Mormon, he gave me a book to read called, These Also Believe by Charles S. Braden, published in 1949.

Strange, unbiblical beliefs …

I read with fascination the strange, unbiblical beliefs of Mormonism, such as the denial of the Trinity, baptism for the dead, the denial of the inerrancy of the Bible, a works-based “salvation,” and three heavens instead of one.  I immediately contacted my father-in-law to see if these things were what Mormons actually believed.  He confirmed all of this.

Stunned …

… I began to read more in Braden’s book, especially his descriptions of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The more I read …

… the more I became interested in how the beliefs of these two religions, the LDS and the Witnesses (along with others, Christian Science, Unitarianism, The Way International and Seventh Day Adventism), were in direct conflict with what the Bible taught.

I already had a number of LDS books …

Already possessing a pile of books on Latter-day Saints my father-in-law had given me, I headed for the nearest Christian bookstore and bought quite a number of books on these pseudo-Christian religions, including Kingdom of the Cults by Dr. Walter Martin.

I learned so much I was asked to lecture at my church …

After reading and studying these books over the next few months, I began discussing what I was learning with my pastor and soon he asked me to do a series of lectures on Mormonism at our church.  After I did that, he told me I had done an excellent job (although I give all the credit to the Lord) and he asked a pastor at a nearby church if I could do a lecture series there.

Which became a ministry …

This led to another church, and another, and another and eventually turned into a ministry.  The ministry God has given me is now known as Next Step Outreach [no longer active].  The name comes from the fact that many in cults have a zeal for God, but need to take the next step–total faith in Christ alone!

My wife wanted a divorce …

Unfortunately, after a number of years, my wife decided that she did not want to be married to someone who–as she put it– “constantly put down others for their religion” (which, of course, was not what I was doing).

My three children came out of Mormonism as adults!

We divorced and through a long legal contention, our three children wound up with her parents who raised them in the Mormon church, much to my displeasure.  Eventually my prayers to God were answered, and as my children grew to adulthood they came out of the LDS church, for which I am grateful to the Lord.

Met my current wife with whom I share Next Step Outreach …

Some years after being divorced, I met Claudia whom I married in 1987.  Today, we together share a three-fold ministry, Next Step Outreach [no longer in existence], that involves educating Christians about the dangers of the cults, witnessing Christ to the cults and helping assist people out of cultic religions and into a saving relationship with Jesus.

May the Lord richly bless you,

Dave

Dave has written a booklet entitled, Challenged to Investigate: A Christian’s Response to an Invitation to Become a Mormon, found on this website.

(You may contact him using the information at the bottom of this page.)