Mike Thomas

FROM JOSEPH TO JESUS

THE TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL & ANN THOMAS

ANN:
Before meeting the Mormons in my teens, I only knew what I had learned at Sunday school as a child and in R.E. lessons in school. I thought that a Christian was someone who tried hard to do good things, read the Bible, and prayed to God. My Mormon friends taught me that Jesus had paid for Adam's sin, that we are all born sinless, and are held accountable only for our own sins. Because Jesus died for my sins, I could work to be acceptable to God and hope one day to be judged worthy of heaven. It certainly sounded right, and I accepted it.

I was introduced to the Mormon Church via a card through the door offering a free Book of Mormon. I had been asking questions about God and the purpose of life, so I sent it off. Two Mormon missionaries delivered the book. Through their teaching, and visits to the church, my whole family was eventually baptised in March 1968.

MIKE:
I was eighteen years old when I first encountered the Mormon Church. I had felt for some time that there must be more to life than the little I was experiencing then. This feeling had been increasingly distracting for me and so by the time the Mormons came along I imagine I was ripe and ready for picking.

I took the missionary discussions, all the time feeling quite embarrassed about my ignorance of spiritual matters. I had had no religious upbringing except the usual Sunday school and my family were not churchgoers. This was an adventure and the missionaries presented answers to questions I had never considered. Everything was new and just seemed right. So I joined on 29 September 1972.

I mostly enjoyed being a Mormon. I had experienced the "burning in the bosom" promised to all true seekers and I felt special for having the inside track on truth. I was ordained an elder in the church on 25 February 1973 after a year of study. I then had more reason to feel good as I was assured that I now had more authority than any of the so called spiritual leaders in the world.

It was through the church that I met Ann. Our family started there and we found the church most helpful and supportive as we struggled with the usual difficulties encountered by young parents. Together we had gone to the temple and had been "sealed for time and eternity" and we continued to enjoy the "blessings" of temple worship. Altogether we were very happy.

There were, of course, down times. However the church was always there for us. Looking back I feel perhaps we needed them more than most, but they did not let us down and we have much to thank them for. Indeed it seems natural to ask, if it was so good why did you leave?

ANN:
I didn't know that what I had found was not the real thing, but a counterfeit, a deception. 18 years past before I finally had the courage to admit that my faith wasn't working and that all my efforts to please God only left me feeling inadequate.

MIKE:
For all the church had going for it there was one area in which it singularly failed me. I was looking for something when I joined and, with hindsight, I can see that it was the one thing the church couldn't deliver. Peace with God. When Ann and I became dissatisfied we really did not understand why. We just knew that something fundamental was missing from our spiritual experience. It was only as we began seeking with a real determination that we saw how radical the change in our lives would have to be if we were to get right with God. We were genuinely surprised to be faced with the choice of God or Mormonism.

ANN:
A Christian friend asked us to read the book of Romans in the Bible, in a Modern English version, and with no Mormon commentary. There we discovered the grace of God. I realised that the one thing I had never done in my life was to submit to Christ and ask Him to be my Saviour. I had believed in Him for 18 years, but I had been taught that the way to salvation was by obedience to the Mormon Church. They had effectively put themselves between me and God.

When I set out to read Romans I was looking for a solution to the problems of my Mormon faith. I wanted to get right with God so that I could be a better Mormon. I certainly got more than I bargained for! Now I was faced with a dilemma. Could I give up so much that had been so precious to me, had been my whole life for 18 years, and leave my Mormon friends? Or could I compromise and stay when I knew their teaching was false? You know, Jesus promised us abundant life, but He never promised it would be easy.

So many people think obedience is simply about the Ten Commandments, but really it is about attitude. What is the most important thing in your life? When I thought about it like that, there was no other choice I could make. I chose Jesus and the true gospel, and left the Mormon church. And I can honestly say that I have never regretted it. My life since really coming to know Jesus bears no comparison to all those previous years when I only thought I knew Him.

MIKE:
We made the right choice I believe and discovered a God who truly proves his faithfulness. So many scripture promises came true for us when we sought him and discovered that 'If you seek him, he will be found by you' (1 Chron.28: 9). Coming from a system that saw obedience to law as the way to God we were brought to rejoice in the fact that 'a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify' (Rom.3: 21). The assurances of God's word are a blessing to us beyond anything we could hope or ask for. We know that through faith in Jesus we have eternal life as a present possession and a guaranteed inheritance (John 5:24).

I suppose the biggest surprise was that Christianity, far from being the hopelessly confused and frighteningly confusing religion painted by the Mormons, actually makes sense. In all its expressions and in every aspect it is a beautifully harmonious faith. If it is seen by the power of the Spirit, seen for what it really is, it is irresistible, and for honest seekers a love affair is inevitable.