If you are going to
read this blog post, please read it with an open mind. I am not condemning
anyone for their beliefs nor am I saying that they are wrong. Also, I have a
lot to say and its not quite in any order so my thoughts may be jumbled.
Today a friend of
mine tweeted about a video. This friend is a Christian and a very good person.
I have honesty never met someone who is as nice to everyone as she is. I look
up to them and hope to be able to be that loving one day. The video this friend
mentioned is “The Bible vs. Joseph Smith”.
Now is the time that
if you are extremely defensive you should stop reading.
First, let me say
that if you are going to spend your time tearing down another religion then you
have way to much time on your hands.
As many of you know I
am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or in short,
the Mormon Church. I want you to know that I have a very strong testimony of
the gospel. I feel it in every part of my soul. I love the church and
everything that it teaches. It makes me a better person. Although I have never
lived without the church I have gone through periods when I was not as active
as I should have been and I did notice a difference in my life.
The video that was
referenced was posted for one reason and one reason only; to tear down and
disclaim the church. In fact, one of the comments on the video says
“Never apologize for
exposing evil, remember that Christ came to set the captives free, and all who
are bound or captive to a cult, religion, philosophy etc that is not in the
realm of truth is under the influence of Satan. All who live by The Truth will
be persecuted one way or another. God is no respecter of persons in judgment.”
I want to ask a
simple question. Does Christianity not teach us how to be better people? If the
answer is yes, which I know for a fact that it is, how then is the LDS church
evil? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints IS a Christian religion.
I believe in God, the
eternal father. I believe in his son, Jesus Christ, who is the savior of all
man kind, who came to earth to live a perfect sinless life and then to suffer
for our sins, so that we will be able to return to live with our heavenly
father. And I also believe in the Holy Ghost. I believe that Jesus is my older
brother and that he loves me unconditionally. If that does not make me a
Christian then I don’t know what does. If I am not a Christian then I don’t
know anyone who is.
I have been told
numerous times in my life that I am not a Christian. For Goodness sakes, it is
literally in the name of the church. The
Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints.
In this video, a man
spends his time trying to disclaim the prophets of The Book of Mormon. However,
that is not what I want to focus on today. On that topic I think it comes down
to a matter of faith. If you want to find something wrong with something bad
enough, you will. If you spend enough time and energy looking at something with
a negative view instead of an open mind then you WILL find something. If you go
into anything with a negative mind set then you will not find anything
positive. Not just when it comes to religion, but anything at all. I learned in
a class this week that your thoughts control your life. If you will something
strong enough, then it will happen. Your thoughts have more power than you
think they do. If you go into something with a closed mind then you will not
find anything good about it.
Okay, next subject.
Like I said, jumbled. Christians believe that God is an unchanging God, correct?
If he is unchanging then wouldn’t his church be unchanging as well. If during
the time the Jesus was on the earth he organized a church with apostles and
prophets and that was the true church of God, why then would we not have
prophets and apostles today? If God really loves us as much as we believe that
he does, and he is really as unchanging as we believe that he is, then his
church would stay the same.
My favorite scripture
comes from Doctrine and Covenants section 35 verse 1. It says “LISTEN to the voice of the aLord your God,
even bAlpha
and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose ccourse is one deternal round,
the esame
today as yesterday, and forever.”
If Gods course is the same today as it has
always been and as it always will be then again, wouldn’t he have the same
church and the same structure of the church today as he did back when Jesus was
still on earth? It would only make logical since.
For me the only church that makes logical
since is the LDS church. Everything about it makes perfect since.
I have one last point to make before I bare
my testimony.
I am going to go back to the comment where
the poster of the video called our church “evil”.
Mormons are generally good people. We are
taught not to swear, not to drink, not to have sex before marriage, not to do
drugs, to be nice to all people, to love everyone and many other things. No
where, EVER, in the history of the church has there been something taught that
was evil. No where, EVER, in the history of the church has anyone preached
anything that would harm another human being or ourselves. Some would argue
polygamy, but let me point out that members of the church were not the only
people to practice it. There are many instances in the bible where polygamy was
said to be okay. For instance: Exodus, 1 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Deuteronomy.
I don’t by any means think that it is acceptable, however it needs to be noted
that it is not evil and that if people want to persecute the church for it then
that would make them hypocrites. Modern day Mormons do not practice polygamy,
our ancestors did, just as modern day Christians do not practice polygamy,
their ancestors did. Latter Day Saints
are some of the most giving, loving, charitable, people in the world.
Even if the church is not true, then I see
no reason what so ever that we as Christians would be damned to hell.
Christianity teaches to love one another. An LDS hymn says “Love one another as
I have loved you. Try to show kindness in all that you do. Be gentle and caring
in deed and in thought for these are the things Jesus taught.”
Even if being a member of the church makes
me a sinner, then we are no different from you. We all sin differently, and who
are we to judge each other based on how they sin? I by all means am not
perfect, but neither are you. I have things that I am working on, as does
everyone else in the world. If people were perfect then there would be no need
for Jesus. Why would we need a savior if we didn’t sin? We wouldn’t.
I want to bare my testimony of the church
now. You don’t have to read this part if you don’t want to, but I feel
impressed to share it. Hopefully what I have to say will have somewhat of an
impact on someone, somewhere.
I know without a shadow of a doubt that the
church is 100% true. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that he came on earth
to save me and all of you from our sins. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet
of God, and that the Book of Mormon is true, as is the Bible. I know that
Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today. I know that we are all children of God,
and that we lived with him before we came to earth and we have every
opportunity to return to live with him after we leave earth.
I am more grateful for the knowledge of the
church than I am for anything else in my life. It is who I want to be, a good
person.
I challenge each of you to read the Book of
Mormon, and when I say that I don’t mean, sit down with a highlighter and pencil
and paper looking for the faults. Read it with an open mind. Pray about it. I
promise you that if you really want it the lord will testify the truth of it to
you.
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