Hi, I'm Lee Crites

I'm a baby-boomer, dad to 6, grandpa to 7, married 35 years; an alcoholic, a Freemason, Knight Templar, and active High Priest.

About Me

I consider myself to be your basic baby-boomer type American dude.

I have been married to the same remarkably wonderful woman for just over a third of a century. We have 6 kids and 7 grandkids. Yup, it's a wonderful life! We've moved all over the country with my computer consulting business, and have settled down finally in the Texas panhandle.

I now work for Xpeerant, a computer consulting company. I do Linux System Admin and Intrastructure Integrity Engineering.

I am a Freemason, a Templar Knight in the York Rite, and a 32nd Degree Mason in the Scottish Rite.

I am also a recovering alcoholic. I have been sober for over three decades.

Why I am a Mormon

I was raised in a protestant home. My family attended some type of protestant or non-denominational church most of the time. When I was a senior in High School, I had a one-on-one, in-depth, doctrinal discussion with one of the major protestant religionists in Texas. I had a few simple questions I thought, which he just could not answer. I was contemplating going into the ministry, and felt I really NEEDED the answers! It wasn't so much that he couldn't provide a *satisfactory* answer, as it was that he couldn't provide ANY real answer.

My first question was simply "Who is Jesus Christ?" He was preaching Christ; he was calling people to come to Christ -- but when push came to shove, he didn't know the answer to that one question. My second question was "What authority do you need to preach?" He gave answers to this, but since he didn't know who Christ was, how could he answer how to get the authority of Christ to preach His gospel?

Yet the very next day, during a revival meeting, he "called people to Christ" and "saved souls for Christ" -- all for someone he was clueless about. After that experience, I left the protestant churches altogether which is why I identified myself as both protestant and agnostic.

Later, when I was being taught by the LDS Missionaries, I discovered that virtually EVERYONE in the LDS Church could answer BOTH of those questions, with ease! Who is Jesus Christ? The actual, Biblical, real Jesus? How do you get the authority to preach His Gospel? The TRUE authority?

These are simple questions to those who know the truth.

I bear my testimony that these questions have authoritative answers, which are completely logical, totally reasonable, and Biblically sound, but more than that, are True! The restored Gospel supplies these, and many more, answers to your questions about God, the meaning of life, and how to return to God's presence.

How I live my faith

The Lord asked us to actually DO things -- not just pray and talk. So while we certainly pray, to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, for our friends and family and co-workers and such, the bottom line is to actually go out and DO something to help them.

With that in mind, as an active LDS Church member and High Priest, I:
* Am involved in the various local Masonic Lodge, and Scottish and York Rite charitable organizations.
* I am involved in homeschooling my family. I am also involved in the local university.
* I frequently go out with the Missionaries and other LDS Church members to help others in the community.

I'm not some awesome dude out slaying dragons, I'm just me. I do what little I can, right here where God planted me. Because what I have discovered is this: the Lord blesses those who bless His children. The more you strive to help others, the more that God will help you. I am significantly blessed -- much more than I could ever deserve, thanks to the opportunities that the Lord placed in my path to help His children.

What are some things that tell you there is a God?

Lee Crites answered...

There was a time when you asked a scientist if he believed in God, his answer would be something like "Of course I do, I am a scientist." Today you ask, and you're more than likely going to hear something like "Of course not, I am a scientist." It is all in your perceptions of things. I look in the mirror each morning, and realize that I have been allowed to wake up and live another day! This tells me I have been blessed by God. I have a loving wife and family, in whose company I can rejoice! This tells me I have been blessed by God -- and not just "God," but a loving Father. I can learn new things, and when I read, I can become inspired to be better and become a better man, husband, and father. Where else could that come from except a loving Father? I watch a sunrise chase away the darkness, and see the rainbow of colors as the sun comes up. This tells me that my Father loves me enough to give me this wonderful world to live in. I pray and meditate and ponder, and feel the stirrings of the Spirit giving me confirmation and inspiration. I recognize this as a gift from my loving Father. I realized that people will only see God if they are looking. He is there He wants to become our friend -- but He will not force Himself on us. We have to ask, seek, and knock. Then He is there. I see Him in everything around me!
Scott answered...

Everything in nature tells me that there is a God. The universe is so ordered, so perfectly in harmony. If you really study our wonderful little planet, you'll learn that it is so amazingly unique to be able to sustain life, that there is just no way the earth and its inhabitants were merely created by chance.
The most important reason I know there is a God, though, is because I have felt his presence in my life. Through prayer, I have built a relationship with him, and as such, I love him and know that he loves me.

Why do some call Mormonism a cult?

Lynn answered...

Some call Mormonism a cult because it is not a "traditional" Christian church. The primary complaint of the "traditionalists" (generally Protestant Churches) is that we do not believe in the doctrine of the trinity as it relates to the nature of the Godhead. The doctrine of the trinity was codified in the Nicene Creed in 325 AD, many years after the death of Christ and the Apostles. It basically says that the Godhead, The Father, Son and Holy Ghost, are one being in "substance." Since Mormonism does not accept this doctrine, they say we believe in a different Christ than they do and therefore are a cult. It is curious that this "trinitarian" doctrine is not taught anywhere in the Bible.

Mormons believe the Bible is the Word of God. The Bible (and the early church established by Jesus and His Apostles) teaches that the Godhead indeed consists of The Father, Son and Holy Ghost. But, it teaches that they are: 1) three distinct individuals as expressed in Acts 7:54-60 where Stephen is being stoned. "He being filled with the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God." And it teaches 2) they are one in purpose, not in substance (John 17 where Jesus offers his intercessory prayer, particularly verses 20-23.) This is what Mormons believe.

It is noteworthy that the early Christians were called the "sect of the Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5) and were considered a cult by the Sadducees and Pharisees, the predominant religions of the day.