Hello, this is pastor gary from first baptist church of laplata. Here is a story of local interest: the Mormon temple just off the beltway in Kensington, MD, will open its doors to the public for the first time in almost 50 years next Spring. There are currently 252 Mormon temples around the world, but Maryland’s Temple is used by Washingtonians as a landmark for beltway traffic reports. I still remember the first time I ever saw the temple in 1978, I thought the spires were rockets. Mormons generally meet in church buildings called wards which are open to the public, but the temples, which are not open to the public, are used for special ceremonies such as baptism for the dead and eternal marriage. Despite their secret handshakes, special underwear, and strange ceremonies, Mormons are generally very fine, faithful people; however, their theology is whacked. Mormons hope to be gods one day; as Mormon President Snow famously taught, “As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man can become.” A good Mormon will get married in a temple for time and eternity and will eventually be granted his own planet for which he and his spouse will generate spirit children to populate it—just as the God of the Bible and His wife supposedly did on earth. While I disagree with the teachings of the Mormon cult, I do plan to visit the Kensington temple when it opens next year: not to convert…just out of curiosity.
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