Disobeying the Commandments

 Prophets  

     Are you obeying the commandments from the right God?  The heading on chapter 13 of Deuteronomy says, "The Lord tests his people to see if they will worship false gods-..."  Verses 1-4 say, "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us sere them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.  Ye shall walk after the LORD you God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him."
     There are many ideas about what God is.  Moroni 8:18 says, "For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity."  Have you been praying to a "changeable being"?  Has your god always been god from "all eternity to all eternity" or did he have to ascend into godhood?  Is he a progressing, exalted man?
      These verses do not ask us to pray about a prophet.  We are not instructed to seek a certain feeling about a prophet.  The Deuteronomy passage is not subjective.  It is objective.  It is a thinking decision to decide which prophet to accept.  If you are praying to an exalted man, then you are not praying to the God of Moroni 8:18.  It is impossible to follow God's commands if you are following the wrong god.

Spirits

      In 1 John 4:1-3, we are commanded to try the spirits.  "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that is should come; and even now already is it in the world."

      Again, this verse does not mention prayer or subjective feelings.  A number of religions believe in Jesus, but Matthew 24:23-24 gives us a Christ warning.  "Then is any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it no.  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."  As we try the spirits, do they give witness to the Jesus of the Bible or of another Christ?  John 3:16 says that Jesus is God's "only begotten son."  Are we praying to the son of an unchangeable being or the son of an exalted man?  If the spirit bears witness to a christ that is the son of an exalted man, then that spirit is not from God.  Christ, the son of a "changeable being" is a false christ.  Let us follow God's command to "Try the spirits".

Gospel

      In Galations 1:8&9, the apostle Paul commands us not to follow other gospels.  "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.  As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."  There are stories of an angel with a sword confronting and commanding people to receive the teaching of plural marriage or receive damnation.  D&C 132:4 says, "For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory."  Here is a gospel that says receive plural marriage and be saved by faith after all you can do.  Paul was very careful and accurate in describing the gospel message to the church in Galatia.  He preached salvation by grace through faith.  He strongly stood against those commanding circumcision and the law for salvation.  The apostle Paul does not ask anyone to pray about the gospel or have a certain feeling of it's truthfulness.  It was objective, not subjective.  They were only to receive the gospel of salvation by grace through faith.  Polygamy was not a part of his gospel.  Paul preached about having good works, but he did not include it in his salvation message.  Are we following Paul's command to stay away from other gospels?

      May you follow the commands of the God who is an unchangeable being from all eternity to all eternity.  May you only be led by the Holy Spirit that testifies of the true Christ.  May you cling to the Apostle Paul's simple gospel message.  May God be with you always.

Global Warming & Climate Change?

      Did Jesus preached about "Global Warming" and "Climate Change"?  Here is an example of Jesus preaching about global warming and a permanent climate change in Luke 16:22-24  "...the rich man also died, and was buried;  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame."   In Matthew 10:28 Jesus said,  "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."  Apparently this warming and permanent climate change is going to affect a lot of people.   In Matthew 7:13&14, Jesus said, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."  You only have to murder one person to be a murderer.  You only have to steal one time to be a thief.  You only have to tell one lie to be a liar.  You only have to sin one time to be a sinner.  James 2:10 says, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."  Have you ever coveted your neighbors property?  Exodus 20:17 says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."   Matthew 5:28 says, "...whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."  Matthew 5:22 says, "...whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment":.."whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."  Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;..."   Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  Is there any hope for the repentant sinner who wants to avoid this inclusive "hell"?  John 14:6 says, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."   Romans 5:8 expresses God's love for sinners, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Romans 10:9&10 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."  
      Please take the time to read for yourself Jesus' many messages on hell or global warming and permanent climate change.  Repent and turn to God that He may save your soul.

100 Trillion Plans - Creation/Evolution

      

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

      Were you created or did you evolve?  Were you designed by God or are you a product of time and chance?  In 1860, an agnostic named Thomas Huxley debated Samuel Wilberforce at Oxford on the theory of evolution.  Wilberforce stated that a watch implies the existence of a watch maker.  Similarly, design in nature implies the existence of a Designer.  Huxley argued that six eternal monkeys or apes typing on six eternal typewriters with unlimited amounts of paper and ink could, given enough time, produce a Psalm, a Shakespearean sonnet, or even a whole book, purely by chance that is, by random striking of the keys.  Huxley pretended to find the 23^rd Psalm among reams of typed gibberish produced by his six imaginary apes at their typewriters. His point was this:  molecular movement, given enough time and matter, would be able to produce Bishop Wilberforce himself, purely by chance and without the work of any Designer or Creator. (Creation.com)
     DNA was not discovered until 1953.  (Huxley and Wilberforce did not have the advantages of  modern science.)  Each cell in your body has DNA, a set of plans.  If there are 50 to 100 trillion cells in your body then you have trillions of plans in you.  You were not a product of "time and chance".  You were carefully planned with 50-100 trillion sets of plans.  That is so amazing!  

Psalm 139:17 &18 says, "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."

Relationship with God - Michael Quinn

      Michael Quinn is a brilliant Mormon historian who worked at BYU.  He has spent much of his life studying and writing about Mormon history.  Though he is far from perfect, he has been very loyal to the Mormon church.  I like his statement about relationship with God:  "Baptism cannot give you a relationship with God, and excommunication cannot take it away.  Neither has eternal significance unless sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise.  I can only trust in God's love and in my relationship with Him."  (Mormon Mavericks pg.351)
     Religion is said to be the effort of man reaching up to God.  Christianity is said to be God's work of reaching down to man.  Some people are VERY religious and yet are very distant from God.  Others are not really religious and yet are very close to God.  Some people are extremely focused on their own religious accomplishment.  Others are very focused on God great mercy.  The woman at the well did not have a long list of religious accomplishments and yet she talked with Jesus face to face.  The Priests and Pharisees had long lists of religious accomplishments and did not even accept Christ or His miracles.  They wanted to kill Jesus.
      I like what Matthew 7:21-23 says:  "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."  What a powerful verse!  In reading about the life of Michael Quinn, it is obvious that having a close relationship with God was very important to him.  We should not be like the religious leaders of Jesus' day who were proud of their religious accomplishments, but hated Christ.  We should be more like the woman at the well.  We should strive to be close to God in spite of our unworthiness.  May we receive the tender mercies of God, our Savior and walk close to Him.

A Godhood Prediction

    Photo by Daniel Giannone on Unsplash

       According to Mormonism, how long would it take for a man to become a god?  I believe I can make an accurate prediction and narrow it down to the nearest second.  In the book Miracles of Forgiveness, Spencer W. Kimball said that God is "omniscient and omnipotent".  This means that God has an infinite amount of knowledge and an infinite amount of power.  You could also say that he has all knowledge and all power.  Let's suppose that I wanted to travel an infinite number of miles.  How long would it take me to accomplish my journey?  It would take me an infinite amount of time to travel an infinite number of miles.  Likewise, it would take an infinite amount of time to gain infinite knowledge and infinite power.  So I can safely say that it would not take one second more or one second less than an infinite amount of time to become a god.

     So how can this infinite problem be solved?  How did God become God if it would take an infinite amount of time to do so?  God solved this problem by already being God.  It would not take an infinite amount of time to travel an infinite number of miles if you were all ready there at your destination.  God did not have to gain infinite knowledge or infinite power because he already had infinite knowledge and infinite power.  He was already God!  Psalm 90:2 says, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God."  This verse is saying that God has been God at all times in the past and will be God at all times in the future.  Moroni 8:18 tells us that God did not have to change to become a God and that he already was like he is:  "For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity."  This is amazing!  Moroni 7:22 says, "For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting,..."  It has not taken God any time to become God because he has always been God.  Praise God for his infinite knowledge and infinite power!  Praise God for who he is!

Melchisedec Priesthood - Authority to Baptise

   Does my church have authority from God to baptize? Can a person be saved and filled with God’s Spirit at my church?

The answer is found in Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood served an important role in offering sacrifices for the sins of the people. But when Christ offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice on the cross, that system was fulfilled. No longer was it necessary to offer animals for sin offerings. We all deserved to die for our own sins, but Jesus took our place on the cross and paid the price once and for all.

Hebrews 4:14 says, “We have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.”

Hebrews 5:6 tells us that Christ is “a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

Hebrews 6:20 says, “Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

And Hebrews 7:17 repeats this truth: “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

In the Old Testament, when a high priest died, his son became the next high priest. The priesthood passed through many men because each one eventually died. But Christ is different. He rose from the tomb and lives forever to be our High Priest. Hebrews 7:21–24 explains:

“Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec: by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.”

To help us understand this, think of how we elect a United States Senator. We see their ads on TV and their signs around town. They promise to represent our state and work for our best interests. Once elected, the Senator leaves New Mexico and goes to Washington, D.C., to represent us in Congress.

In a far greater way, Christ, our great High Priest, represents us before God the Father in the heavenly tabernacle. Hebrews 9:24 says, “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.”

Hebrews 9:11–12 also declares, “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

And Hebrews 8:1–2 affirms, “We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”

Because Jesus is our eternal High Priest—alive forever and interceding for us—our authority as His church flows directly from Him.

Yes, my church has authority from God to baptize through Christ.

Jesus was crucified to fulfill the Aaronic and Levitical priesthood. He then became our High Priest after the order of Melchisedec and ever lives to intercede for us before the throne of God.

Praise God for His many blessings!

become a god/goddess?

Are you destined to become a god or goddess?

     1)  Do you have to go to the Celestial Kingdom to become a god?  2) To go to the Celestial Kingdom, do you have to be forgiven of your sins?  3) To be forgiven of your sins, do you have to truly repent?  4) Does true repentance involve forsaking all of your sins?  If you answered yes to these questions, then you need to ask yourself a very important question.  5) Have you forsaken all sin?  There are people who have forsaken some sin.  Few people have forsaken most sin.  Some desire to forsake all sin.  Some people are gradually trying to forsake sin but haven't done it yet.  But what matters is this:  Have you forsaken all sin?  If you have not forsaken all sin, then perhaps you have not truly repented.  If you haven't truly repented, then perhaps you haven't been forgiven.  If you haven't been forgiven, then you are not going to the Celestial Kingdom.  If you are not going to the Celestial Kingdom, then you can't become a god.
     In 2 Nephi 24, the son of the morning wanted to ascend into heaven.  He wanted to "ascend above the heights of the clouds" and "be LIKE the Most High."  His name was Lucifer and verse 15 tells us the outcome:  "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."  His blasphemous attempt to become LIKE God was completely unsuccessful.  In Isaiah 48:11-12 God said, "...I will not give my glory unto another.  Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last."

Civil War Prophesy - D&C 87

     In Doctrine and Covenants 87, the prophet Joseph Smith prophesied about the Civil War.  Does this chapter prove that he was a prophet of God?  Joseph Smith described a chain reaction of events.  The South called upon Great Britain and other nations.   Other nations were added to the Civil war until all the nations of the earth were involved.  Verse 2, 3 and 6 use the words "all nations."  The Civil War was very destructive in America, but it did not affect or involve "all nations."  The North controlled the ocean. Their blockade of the South would not have been possible if Great Britain had joined the war. 
     Verse 4 said slaves would rise up against their masters and "be marshaled and disciplined for war."  Freedom for the slaves didn't happen until the end of the war.  They were not "marshaled and disciplined for war" against their masters.
     Verse 6 said the inhabitants of the earth "shall mourn" the sword, bloodshed, famine, plague, earthquake, thunder and lightning "until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations;..."  The Civil was very destructive to the South, but it did not make a "full end of all nations."
     Verse 7 said the "cry of the saints... shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord...."  Today, saints still cry out to God.
     Politicians and statesmen spent decades compromising to avoid war.  Many people were predicting the Civil War.  However, when we look at the details of the prophesy in Doctrine and Covenants 87, it does not match the events that took place.  It is not proof that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. 

D&C 1:31 Least Degree of Allowance

     Suppose you are doing the "best you can do."  Does God make up the rest?  We always say that "nobody is perfect."  If we have repented and stopped most of our lying, coveting and stealing, is it good enough to get us by?  Is it a gradual process of repentance and gradually forsaking sin?  If we are looking to our goodness, how good is good enough?  If you are married, you try to overlook some of your partners faults.  Does God do the same for us?
     D&C 1:31 says,  "For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;"  This verse tells us how much sin God overlooks.  Helaman 4:24 say, "...the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples."  Many people describe repentance as a gradual process.  But D&C 58:43 says, "By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins - behold, he will confess them and forsake them."  Alma 11:37 is a strong verse:  "And I say unto you again that he cannot save them in their sins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven?  Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your sins."
     The Book of Mormon  and Doctrine and Covenants do not describe a gradual process of repentance or of doing the "best you can."  These scriptures do not speak about us doing a portion and God coming along to make up the rest.  Repentance is tied to forsaking sin.  Forsaking sin is tied to being saved.  In spite of what people say and think, it is clear what these scriptures say about repentance and salvation.  If we are looking to our works and the law, it is clear what the expectation is - perfection.

Deny...all ungodliness,..grace Moroni 10:32

     Moroni 10:32 is an if-then statement: "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."
     A friend of mine, Keith Walker, has compared this verse to the common example of vegetables and dessert!  "If you eat all your vegetables, then you get to have some dessert."  Many of us have heard this saying when we were young.  Now we all want to have God's sufficient grace but according to this verse, it is not for everyone.  His grace is only for those who have denied themselves of all ungodliness and loved God with all their might, mind and strength.  So who does this apply to?  Has any honest person really denied themselves of all ungodliness?  Has anyone purged themselves of all covetousness and evil thoughts?  Have you loved God with all your strength?  If you have prayed for 30 minutes, could you have prayed for 40 minutes?  If you have given to the poor, could you have given more?  If you have fasted for 3 days, could you have fasted longer?  Have you given all?  According to this verse, are you going to receive God's sufficient grace?  If you are honest, you are probably going to say no.  Will our own works ever be enough?  If we continue looking at our own good works, we are going to be disappointed.  Our only hope is to fix our eyes on Christ and depend on his complete work on the cross.  Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."