Mississippi Bishop Response! 

I am a convert to the church, fun and crazy upbringing but love my family! Life choices put me on my knees to ask for some help and redirection. I had a dream then asked God to lead me to where I should go and the missionaries were at my door the next day. So much more than that, read the Book of Mormon and unexplainable experience to tell me the Church of Jesus Christ is where I should go. I am still not perfect after 20+ years but you would not want to see me without it. Sealed in the temple and have 4 daughters born in the covenant. I have learned to care about people, to care about choices and to try to be better. The Bible taught me about Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon introduced me to Jesus Christ, who became my savior and showed me how much he loves me and everyone else. I am forever in his debt and love Him so much! Thank you for your love to Him, it shows!

1:24:40 I disagree as a former nursery leader. We take the kid to the parents to have them change the diaper. That's the rule.

Well, the nursery teachers don't change the kids diapers. They go get their parents for that stuff.

STICK OF JOSEPH!! WOOOO 🥳🥳

“Above all, do not lie to yourself. A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern any truth either in himself or anywhere around him, and thus falls into disrespect towards himself and others. Not respecting anyone, he ceases to love, and having no love, he gives himself up to passions and coarse pleasures in order to occupy and amuse himself, and in his vices reaches complete beastiality, and it all comes from lying continually to others and himself. A man who lies to himself is often the first to take offense. it sometimes feels very good to take offense, doesn't it? And surely he knows that no one has offended him, and that he himself has invented the offense and told lies just for the beauty of it, that he has exaggerated for the sake of effect, that he has picked up on a word and made a mountain out of a pea--he knows all of that, and still he is the first to take offense, he likes feeling offended, it gives him great pleasure, and thus he reaches the point of real hostility…” - Dostoevsky

1:25:56 When I was interviewed as Bishop, I was counselled to prioritise my family, my job, and then my calling....I didn't need them to tell me that but these are subject to confirmation bias they're just trying to find what they can blame on the church. Where's the accountability. If you neglect your family as a bishop ots because you made that choice not because the church told you to. And if a church leader tells you to neglect your family, then you use your agency and say no lol simple as that

Heel hooks and choke holds teach others to be decent people? Mwahahahaha! As an MMA coach, I find this very funny! Let it be known, strangling & leg locking people doesn't actually change the content of their character.

1:24:38 Jonah, there shouldn’t be anyone changing diapers except for a parent or family member. Nursery leaders are not called to do this. Just to be clear.

Crossover we needed, Stick of Joseph and Ward Radio!

The last few minutes were indeed the cherry on top.

Cardon talking about niceness culture is so rich… TBMs are the kings of niceness culture. And then they play all innocent when they’re under attack

Invite him on the show, he says he would!

Holy sh!t I remember this guy- I was in the bishopric when he was a missionary. Not surprising.

1:24:00 because HE aspires to that he thinks everyone else does. His perception is the issues.

Nick doesn’t like singing praise to the man but sure seems to enjoy receiving praise for himself.

And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost. - 1 Nephi 8:28

Cardon putting them on 2x speed while I'm listening to this at 2x speed... and I can still understand them just fine.

I'm glad that you guys are online defending the Church. I like what Morgan Philpot said that the men of the Church need to protect the Church. The Church is the women.

Honestly, the part where Nick talks about the experiences of the people coming to him and telling him their problems/sins/whatever is disturbing. Nick knows damn well that he shouldn't tell anyone about this. If I was in Nick's ward, I would be extremely upset that he is talking about people's personal things that they thought they could tell Nick in private. Yet, here is NIck talking about them with JD. People in Nick's old ward could probably piece together who these people are. This man is causing so much destruction in his wake

By him leaving the church and immediately meeting with John Dehlin proves its all about getting publicity and praise from the world.

A friend of mine in the singles ward years ago told me this experience he had: he was a convert to the church as an adult. He was meeting with the bishop about something, and the bishop asks “ Do you have any problems with masturbation?” And my friend replies in all seriousness, “Nope, it’s been working great!” Poor bishop did not know how to react and fumbled around a bit before explaining to my friend that it was a bad thing, lol.

You guys calling him Travis kelce and Jason Statham. C’mon! He’s clearly Dave Bautista!

Its revealing. Family & Cultural misconceptions. He. Never saw what our theology truly is. Sad.

I DO NOT want to be a bishop, stake president, or mission president. I will accept those callings if asked, but I definitely would never volunteer for these callings. Edited to add this: I have been serving as Elders Quorum secretary for the past 4+ years.

My best friend of over 30 years, who we consider ourselves brothers, who is not a member of the church. Talking to him about church is like throwing garlic to a vampire. He grows his own pot, smokes at least 3 joints in a day. He has his own circle of friends as I have my own circle of friends. Our circles mesh time and time again. We go camping a million times together where i am the only person sober... sometimes the wife of another guy is there so two of us are sober. The members of my ward know all about him... never ever has anyone treated him like someone to avoid. This guy Nick is out of touch with truth. I do not believe anything he has to say. If he truly treated people because of piercings like they do not deserve his time of day... He is a terrible bad person and shame on him. Completely contrary to the teachings of the gospel that every person is a child of God and we should look at everyone as such. Wow.... feel bad for the guy when accountability time arrives... it will be deeply embarrassing.

I was curious enough to know why he resigned that I tortured myself and listened to the entire interview subjecting myself to over 3 hours of John Dehlin. It was clear that the former bishop never liked following rules and that being Bishop triggered him. But I felt like he resigned more because he didn't think there should be consequences for sin. I agree there are some bishops who need to use a more compassionate approach. I believe most people sin because of unresolved hurt. But I also believe the scriptures that God chastises those he loves, mercy can't rob justice, and we shouldn't partake of the sacrament unworthily. It was disturbing that he now subscribes to an "eat, drink, and be merry" philosophy. We need more and better training for bishops and stake president We need to do better at protecting children, supporting victims and holding abusers accountable and keeping them away from children! I'm fine with a "go thy way and sin no more" approach. I do not agree with not even acknowledging that sin is sin.

Deconstruction. Huh, it’s just destruction with a con in it.

I'm sorry Nick had such a hard life being a member Of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints. Please promise you let your kids to decide where they want to be in the church or Ex. I got mixed messages from a parent. I'm thankful that when I had no one to turn to or trust I turned my trust in the Lord . My prayers ar.e for that family will be blessed to know truth

The eat drink and be merry thing says it all. 😂😂😂😂🙏

“He’s calling himself out” is so spot on.

I remember, as a missionary, being pulled into an emergency zone leader meeting with our mission president. And him telling us, (due to some incidents similar to what this Nick guy perpetrated on this girl)in no uncertain terms certain terms that we were not there on our missions to fall in love and get married. We were there for one reason only : "TO FALL IN LOVE WITH THE GOSPEL " It's clear Nick never learned to do that.

This was incredibly revealing! As always well done boys!!! That outro from Cardon was one of the best most contemplative arguments for why any rational unbiased investigator into what ex Mormonism actually looks like will clearly see what we all see. Keep The Faith!

Props to Ward Radio for calling out the anti Mormon BS.

So many of Bishop Coomer's complaints about the church are just things he was himself doing or his bad assumptions about what he thought the church was forcing him to.

Is it just me, or does John Dehlin's beard make him look like a Bond villain?

Right now he's posing as this dedicated husband and family man, using that as an excuse for leaving the church. Here's my prediction: In a few years he'll be bored with the dedicated husband and family man schtick, and decide that's not really "him" either.

Kwaku, you have become a voice of reason for this group. I feel like you are outgrowing Ward Radio crew. I really enjoy your thoughts about Christ Consciousness on your channel. I can see the changes happening in you while your buddies stagnate. Thank you for your integrity!

It’s not always the words that matter as much as the tone.

LOVE the long form discussion on this and the less silly take on the subject...just my opinion 👍

In my opinion and from the perspective of a person who’s left the church I find this whole situation rather interesting. Either this guy has been deconstructing for much longer than he’s eluding to ( which I don’t think he has) or he’s got a world of decisions he’s gonna have to make especially entering the exmo community. Often the exmo community seems to be like a woke community where you need to accept all things woke. Which is a whole new community of what the f¥ck… It covers the gambit from virtue signaling, recognition of your privilege, all things lgbtq, atheism, patriarchy and the list goes on and on. I had to reconsider everything, however one big difference I didn’t have a spotlight on my life. If this guy says the wrong thing it could be a sh:t show… Let me say he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know - I would imagine he’s is more Mormon still than he realizes… Just leaving the church isn’t a simple switch you flip… Good luck to him and his family because he’ll need it. Btw if he was but hurt about your first podcast about him, wow he’s got an awakening coming his way… Social media can flip on a person in a second.

I was a selfish drug addict until I reached 40 years old. Now I am a Latter Day Saint. Seems like he is doing the opposite. I learned the hard way that those types of pleasure are empty and lead you to despair. BTW, watching your show helped me decide to join! 🙏

People from his ward watching this will easily be able to deduce who he’s talking about in his repentance interviews. So disrespectful. Like you said. For his 30 pieces of internet silver.

Nope. A 20 year old man kissing a 16 year old girl (forget about on his mission aided by his companion) is disgusting. Don’t make excuses for that or say it’s cute. If it was your daughter, you’d be enraged. That’s a power dynamic that leads to a girl being taken advantage of. This man doesn’t regret it and seems to even brag about it. It’s sick, and truthfully if I knew this about my own bishop, I’d be in the stake president’s office immediately about my issues with sustaining someone like that. ETA - He admits to kissing her while on his mission at 1:02:40.

This has given me a chance to think about what I’ll do if anyone tries to follow Nick’s example and quit from the pulpit in our ward. Gathering my family and walking out while saying loudly that our pulpit is meant for testimony of the gospel not the opposite. He almost ruined everyone’s Christmas Eve! I feel sorry for all the parents who had to expose their families to that when they showed up to worship. His ward was way too kind

Someone who doesn't want their resignation to go public wouldn't record it and share it with others. I don't buy he didn't want it to go public.

What's link to join the discord?

I'm going to use the expression "strengthens the farts out of my faith" now. 😂😂😂

In our ward, it seems that our Bishop and his family do family stuff just about every weekend… he’s a great bishop!!! His wife is great and his sons and daughter have served missions.

Thank you so so much for adding truth to what he said at the end. You are exactly right!! As a Bishop, he has no idea what the story on the other side is. I know a situation that multiple Bishops and Stake Presidents were lied to in order to receive restitution. As soon as a call was made, and the truth was told, they were shocked and did not continue, but said there was more work to be done. Thus, the protocols in place by the brethren.

@Cardon was incredible here-balanced, light-hearted, yet forthright.

Dang. This is just so sad. I hurt for his kids, his parents. I feel like John Dehlin has nailed his job of leading people through the mists of darkness and giving them a leg up into that great and spacious building. I pray he finds his way back. So sad.

For some reason this reminds me of interviews with the lead singer for Imagine Dragons (can’t remember his name). He’ll bring up how he was kicked out of BYU for having sex with his girlfriend leaving the average fan with a negative impression of the school and he was the victim. What he leaves out is the fact that his behavior was a violation of the HONOR CODE he signed to go there in the first place. That says more about him than it does about the school.

Love you kids. I am 74 and soo done with Niceness Culture. Keep on Keeping On.

So he had no time for his kids but he had time to become a black belt in BJJ?

As a person who struggled with a m word addiction in my young adulthood had my bishop told me what this man told that girl, my life would not be in the good place it is now. Being told i wasn't guilty wouldn't mean that God didn't believe I didn't need to make a change. I needed help. I needed someone to keep me accountable, and I'm blessed my bishop was willing to do that to help me

Where can we find this theme song to workout to?

You guys rock. Totally agree with you all. These people honestly make me mad and I’m pretty sure my brother, who was in the bishopric, started listening to these people and now he is in a faith crisis. It sucks watching his family have to go through that with him. These people make me so mad and you guys are so right in all that you say about this. Really appreciate your perspectives because I also whole heartedly agree with u. Thanks for standing up for THE TRUTH. Helps my testimony to be strengthened too. ❤

So, why don’t you sit down with him?

Let's strike the "Bishop" from all references to this guy. Ex-Bishop is tolerable.

If he’s been struggling with everything for 9 months before he leaves there could be a lot of damage control in his ward. If I were the next bishop I’d probably be interviewing literally everyone he interviewed in the last 9 months to make sure no damage was done

I feel like he is making this up as he goes. You think it can’t get worse and then… it does.

Mormons really do be the people in the great and spacious building mocking anyone who disagrees with them

I am so grateful Nick did the interview (sincerely). It exposes the path he went down and honesty his fraud where like Korihor he is believing his own crap. Think of how in the dark we all would have been if he shared his exit interview that went around and then was silent. That would have done more harm than this because we would all been speculating and giving him more benefits of doubt. Bravo Nick you did all of us a favor!

I've observed that when a priesthood leader goes rogue like that they're usually projecting

2:03:43 - Let me get this straight. Earlier this dude talked about how he neglected his family because he was so focused on his calling, and now just admitted that he neglected his family because he was so focused on this anti-Mormon rabbit hole... I'm sensing a pattern here, and it has nothing to do with the church.

On the plus side, Jackson’s laptop mic is still louder than Cardon’s.

The speed at which people go from “I don’t like X about the church” to “there is no God.” Is stunning

1:53:35 ward radio, you have to invite Marvin Perkins on the show to talk about this. It doesn’t talk about skin color in the Book of Mormon

One of the saddest parts of this story is how Nick talks about his mission companion. 1- Nick was TRAINING this kid. 2-he admits that he was not there for his companion because he was selfish. 3- now he puts his name out there as a “cool A@# companion” as though he supported Nick in his choices. Wanna bet that was one of this guys hardest transfers? What a crappy trainer to have. Nick abused his power when he had it on the mission and he abused it as a bishop later on.

My dad ran his own manufacturing business, served faithfully in ward and stake callings, and still had time to spend with his 6 children and date mom regularly. What church was this guy in?

I called it - when I watched his first video with my husband I knew his problem was he didn't feel comfortable with Bishop interviews. It is a hard job to be a bishop, but it must be extra hard to be a judge in Israel when you resent the rules.

To Nick, the man from Mississippi: @WARDRADIO was not making fun of nor attacking you, they were speaking truth to your deceptions. 2 Nephi 1;26 “…Ye say that he hath used sharpness; ye say that he hath been angry with you; but behold, his sharpness was the sharpness of the power of the word of God, which was in him; and that which ye call anger was the truth…”

This was great but so long. I cannot believe I watched the whole thing. Cardon's soliloquy towards the end was worth waiting for.

If the church took all his time how come he had time to earn a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu?

“the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.”

“No other success can compensate for failure in the home.”

This was a good one. 👍 This is why this guy had to be so vague in the first videos because if he explained all these thoughts everyone would see it’s all the exact same stuff.

Kuaku, remember, Joseph Smith was 14 when he was searching for truth, Jesus was 12 when he taught in the temple. I personally think a lot of teenagers, maybe today's youth but maybe not, I know I felt that pressure at 14 to know the truth.

When I had a faith crisis, I stepped back, listened to Mormon discussions, and voila, actually regained testimony. I did talk to God a bit too😁

The guy finally showed his hand, "It gave me a way out". This is a common scenario, people just waiting for the 'excuse' that will give them the way out. They were never in with both feet, to begin with.

1:37:01 he said he didn't want to chase a calling but because he just wanted to do good but that's the opposite of what he was shown saying before in this video. Contradicting himself🤦🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

That whole last bit about him not giving someone the time of day or caring about them if they had piercings and tattoos and when he leaves the church he all of a sudden cares about her, and ignoring a neighbor because he drinks beer and that’s the CHURCH’S fault- ugh- I just want to vomit. We have PLENTY of people we socialize with who drink. We were just at a neighbor’s house for a get together with other neighbors just a few weeks ago and they were ALL having beer or wine! And we KNEW they would be because we’ve been to their home BEFORE when they had alcoholic drinks. We stuck with our water and soda of course- I even had a glass of orange juice because he had a little wet bar and used it to make some kind of mixed drink. I have MANY friends with tattoos. Half of my kids friends have piercings and tattoos. I don’t think I even KNOW anyone who’s a member who refuses to associate with someone just because they “have a beer” with a neighbor or because they have tattoos or piercings. I think all the members I know ALL have friends or even family members who drink or have tattoos. I swear, this guy is either just lying through his teeth, or he’s just admitting to his OWN character flaws and blaming them on the church. I’m pretty convinced it’s the former. Especially since he’s in Mississippi where most people AREN’T members and DO drink. So all this time, he never associated with anyone who drank, never went to a work Christmas party because there might be wine, never went to a wedding where there were serving alcohol, never watched a football game with anyone who might crack open a beer and he certainly never talked to anyone with a tattoo and he didn’t care about them at all and would NEVER smile at them or ask them if they were having a nice day because “ew- she has a tattoo” and the CHURCH taught him that…..RIGHT? I can’t roll my eyes any harder.

That ex bishop is not mentally well. I hope the best for him and his family!

Kwaku has that old school meets new school, Saturday morning kung fu vibe..

When leaders don't follow the general handbook and think they know better it's never a good thing.

1:30:15 The Pressures and Time Constraints, for unpaid LDS Clergy, is significant. I wonder how many Bishop’s or Stake President’s kids felt deprived of Daddy Time?????

He literally said “eat drink and be merry’ is a better way to live. What a misguided dope.

Choose thee this day whom ye will serve but for me and my house we will serve the Lord😊

I listened to it live and yeah, there were a lot of issues that I agreed with, but they weren't faith shattering. Like Jackson, I felt it was faith strengthening. There are def things that need to change but it didn't make me leave. I see beauty in the world all around me! I don't need to leave the church to see it. I love people, I always have, no matter what other people look like, believe, say or do. There are members who DO walk with their noses turned away from others, but don't categorize that ALL church members are like that! Read more, study the scriptures more. Every single human being is a child of God & needs to be loved.

I truly want to be sympathetic to this man's plight, but so much of what he is saying comes off as disingenuous or even deceitful. He only came to understand that he can be nice to non-members after he left? Did he really ever have a testimony of Jesus Christ? The whole tone is just so odd to me. I am one of the only members in my family, and my husband is a convert, and I've never had an issue with loving or being kind to someone outside the faith, whether it is because they left or they were never in it. And I'm not some special case, I've been in wards all around the country and thats the norm. Like, what are you talking about? I think it is likely he has been deeply struggling with his faith for a long time, it just surfaced when he went down the rabbit hole. And how does he think that what Cardon said merits a physical threat? My husband and kids are in BJJ, those moves aren't because you want to snuggle or just have a nice chat.

That guy’s false humility is nauseating.

All I can say is watch out for the guy with the cauliflower ears. They've spent time on the mat.

Stop making Kwaiku skip meals man. That ain't right.Creatine in Sacrament water 😂😂 that one got me!!

John Dehlin and his new hero Nick Jones are such hypocrites. This ex bishop was a bad missionary, he chased after a 16 year old at 20 years old, broke serious mission rules while serving the Lord by mucking it up with her and then blames the church. What a joke. As I always say there is always more to the story. He was a failure in the church from the start and should have been sent home. He should have never been called as a Bishop to begin with and someone got it wrong obviously. They probably live in a fairly depressed place and had few options for a Bishop and failed to listen to inspiration against calling him as a bishop. I have seen this happen before. When fence sitters hear these stories I can understand why they lose the little faith they had because they don't know the entire story. This guy's wife although a child at the time when he started grooming her should also take some blame. A good church family would ensure their daughter stayed away from a missionary that was obviously trying to groom their daughter and a good member girl would know to stay away from a missionary that was grooming her. There is a lot of blame to go around and it is not the church as an entity that is to blame. If the roles were reversed and an active missionary was 20 years old grooming a 16 year old John Dehlin would pounce on it like a cat on a mouse and exploit it for everything it is worth. You know I am telling the truth John Dehlin. Mr. Jones also admits to knowing about sexual abuse committed by a church leader, makes the accusation, yet does nothing about it. Who is the pervert and protector of abusers in this story? That's right NIck Jones start naming names if your main concern is the kids. If I were you I would immediately ask this podcast to be taken down. We learned a lot from this podcast. Remember, John Dehlin exploits people's pain and makes a good chunk of money from it.

In Mormonism once a bishop you are not always a bishop

I have a lot of comments to be made about this dude but Jonah’s Freddy Mercury comment about Kwaku is still living in my head lol

Props to Kwaku for being the only person in this group that had even an ounce of empathy toward this man. The behavior of the other 3 looked a lot like the people in the great and spacious building, trampling and judging this man to a pulp for 2 hours straight.

The whole idea of marrying young to avoid sexual sin is kinda of a joke. Pornography has been shown to be harmful as well as addictive anyway. It also isn’t the churches fault as well, learning how to control your sexual impulses is important to marriage otherwise when things go sour or your needs aren’t being met you will have a huge risk of being unfaithful to your partner.

The guys who said he not a Nick is Bishop anymore and goes on to explaine why, MIC DROP! he said perfectly! Thank you

Cardin Ellis will you baptise me? 😝