Church News

I saved some unopened Mormon "Church News" papers that my grandmother sent me several years back. I broke open the plastic cover of one of them, pulled the paper out and unfolded it. I sat at my desk for awhile and read it from cover to cover. I put question marks in some spots and underlined others. I wrote comments all over the back page.
As I looked through the many different articles, stories and pictures, I noticed that there was only three quoted scriptures from the Bible(KJV). Each one of these bible verses were on the back page of the one newspaper I had read. I then, took the plastic off of all the other newspapers and took a look through all of them. Here is a list of several topics that are contained in each of the newspapers:
Church History
Music
Plays
Pageants
Sports
Parades
Games
Church Growth in other Countries
Work
Education
Geneologies
Church Leaders
Church Conference
Temples
Church Buildings
I'm sure that I missed a few other topics.
After reading all of the papers that I had, I sat and pondered about what I had just read, or didn't read. These writings were not all what I was taught that they were. For a paper that was to be kept always on hand and never to be mistreated in anyway, the context of the newspapers do not have anything for growth in the spirit. These papers do not put any importance on our Lord and Savior, nor do they give any substance or guidance toward a spirit-filled life.
I was always told that good upstanding Mormons will keep their subscription going year after year and consider the papers to be part of God's word. (To obtain and keep a temple recommend, a worthy Mormon must have these in their home.) I remember being taught out of several of these papers when I was a kid. I always read them and looked forward to their arrival in the mail.
These Mormon newspapers merely boast about the Mormon lifestyle with emphasis on member growth rather than substance for the heart.