Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

By Mormon Readers

Q: What made you leave the Mormon Church? Obviously there must have been some commandment that you couldn't keep. Did you have a bad experience that made you bitter against the Church?

A: I am not bitter in the least, but, on the contrary, I am full of joy that God has poured into my heart. I have a confident assurance based on the authority of the Lord’s promise that I am forgiven of all my sins for time and all eternity. Can you imagine what that is like? It is so incredibly wonderful that His pardon has transformed my life. Rather than being bitter, I am full of thanksgiving for His undeserved grace and I want to share it with you.

The fact is that you want to believe that I am bitter. It is perhaps comforting to you to think of me as bitter? Many Mormons I’ve talked to take it even further: They have approached me with the assumption that I left the Mormon Church because of some particular sin they assume I must have committed. These blind Mormons are so disturbed by my faith in the Lord, that they cannot handle it. Without knowing me at all, they have accused me to my face of leaving the Church because of various things that they know nothing about. One young man accused me of adultery out of the blue, with out ever even seeing me before! It just made him feel better to think of me as some kind of gross sinner, regardless of the facts. Others have asked about smoking or drinking, or being unable to accept priesthood responsibilities—none of which is true.

On one occasion I was having a pleasant visit with some LDS folks on the street prior to the temple pageant one evening in Manti, Utah, when a zealous young Mormon man came up behind me and rudely interrupted in a loud voice. He shouted, "I know who you are! I saw your web site on the internet. What commandment was it that you couldn’t keep that made you leave the Church? I know it was something. What sin were you committing?"

Despite the interruption, I patiently tried to explain to him that I chose to leave the Church because I believed it to be untrue and therefore not of the Lord, so I had to leave out of loyalty to God. But this did not satisfy him. He kept repeating his mantra, "You’re not answering my question. What commandment was it that you couldn’t keep?" My other Mormon friends even came to my defense at that point, but he was still not satisfied. He was shouting, "You’re afraid to answer my question. What commandment was it that you couldn’t keep?"

Finally I said, "OK, OK. I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you. I admit it. There was a commandment that that I couldn’t keep. Here it is: In Matthew 5:48 Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." I had a real hard time with that one. I just couldn’t do it. How about you? How are you doing at keeping that one?"

Needless to say, he went silent.

Look, you must understand that evangelical (Bible-believing) Christians believe in obeying God’s commandments. God’s standard of righteousness stands, and has never been abolished. It makes no sense for anyone to leave Mormonism to become an evangelical Christian for the purpose of continuing in some pet sin, because sin is still wrong (even more so) to the evangelical Christian. If anything became clear to me at all when I received God’s pardon of all my sins, it was the absolute holiness of the God who is a consuming fire.

It is remarkable to me how even my own sisters, brother and parents (when they were alive) have tried to psychoanalyze me to figure out what commandment I was trying to escape by leaving the Church. The problem is that I don’t fit neatly into their little Mormon box. I obviously didn’t leave the Church to smoke or drink. I didn’t leave to commit adultery, as I have been faithfully and happily married to my wife for more than 30 years. I didn’t leave to escape church responsibilities because I am very involved in my church and in various ministries. So just why do they think I left the Church? They still have not figured it out. It seems they cannot handle it if I found the Church to be untrue. They, like other Mormons, need for it to be for some other sinister reason. So, Mormons continue to stand in judgment, because it makes them feel better.

Let me tell you again what drives me. My friend, I left the Mormon Church out of loyalty to the Most High God, because Mormonism utterly collapsed when I honestly examined it. I found it to be the creation of a false prophet. Yes, I know that you disagree with my conclusions, but you cannot change the fact that this was what I, personally, found as I prayed and dug into the Bible. Mormonism being false has nothing whatever to do with either my sin or lack of it. Truth stands on its own merits. I urge you to look at the teachings of the Church in light of the truth of the Bible, not based upon personalities. I have never claimed to be anything other than a sinner saved by grace. But I testify to you that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, and the message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone is the truth. The question you must deal with is not "what sins does Mark Champneys have," but "what does the Bible actually say?" Perhaps there is a deeper question: Where is your first loyalty? To the Most High God, or to your church organization?

(Jeremiah 29:13 KJV) And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Your friend,

Mark Champneys