No Coincidences

Tag: missionary

TRUTH about Heaven

On November 19, 1823, a young man named Alvin Smith died. The Smith family asked a Presbyterian minister to officiate at Alvin’s funeral. “As Alvin had not been a member of the minister’s congregation, the clergyman asserted in his sermon that Alvin could not be saved. William Smith…recalled: ‘[The minister]… intimated very strongly that [Alvin] had gone to hell, for Alvin was not a church member, but he was a good boy and my father did not like it.” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 401, 403).

On January 21, 1836, while in the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, the heavens were opened up to a still young man named Joseph Smith. It was recorded:

1 The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out I cannot tell.

5 I saw Father Adam and Abraham and my father and my mother; my brother Alvin, that has long since slept;

6 And marveled how it was that he had obtained an inheritance in that kingdom, seeing that he had departed this life before the Lord had set his hand to gather Israel the second time, and had not been baptized for the remission of sins.

7 Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God;

8 Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom;

9 For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.

10 And I also beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 7 of the Joseph Smith translation has an important clarification:

1 Now these are the words which Jesus taught his disciples that they should say unto the people.

2 Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged; but judge righteous judgment.

What is, righteous judgement, then? From the New Testament Student Manual:

“President Dallin H. Oaks explained these teachings and their application, basing his comments on the principle “that there are two kinds of judging: final judgments, which we are forbidden to make, and intermediate judgments, which we are directed to make, but upon righteous principles:

“First, a righteous judgment must, by definition, be intermediate. It will refrain from declaring that a person has been assured of exaltation or from dismissing a person as being irrevocably bound for hellfire. It will refrain from declaring that a person has forfeited all opportunity for exaltation or even all opportunity for a useful role in the work of the Lord. The gospel is a gospel of hope, and none of us is authorized to deny the power of the Atonement to bring about a cleansing of individual sins, forgiveness, and a reformation of life on appropriate conditions.

“Second, a righteous judgment will be guided by the Spirit of the Lord, not by anger, revenge, jealousy, or SELF-INTEREST(my emphasis added). …

“Third, to be righteous, an intermediate judgment must be within our stewardship. We should not presume to exercise and act upon judgments that are outside our personal responsibilities. …

“Fourth, we should, if possible, refrain from judging until we have adequate knowledge of the facts. …

“A fifth principle of a righteous intermediate judgment is that whenever possible we will refrain from judging people and only judge situations. … We can set and act upon high standards for ourselves or our homes without condemning those who do otherwise. …

“Sixth, forgiveness is a companion principle to [this] commandment. … In modern revelation the Lord has declared, ‘I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men’ (D&C 64:10).

“Seventh, a final ingredient or principle of a righteous judgment is that it will apply righteous standards” (“‘Judge Not’ and Judging,” Ensign, Aug. 1999, 7, 9–12).”

I will refrain from judging that minister at Alvin’s funeral who failed in almost all these points laid out by President Oaks. I will leave that judgement to God for such behavior.

What I will say is this: the hateful, vengeful God that condemns young children and the ignorant to eternal hellfire, is not my God. My God doesn’t create someone, give them a body, send them to earth, only to condemn them to eternal damnation because they never committed to a God they never heard of.

Where is the justice, mercy, and LOVE of that God? There is no love in that God. That is not my God.

My God loves all His children.

1 Peter 4:6 “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.”

How can it be, then? How can men be judged in the flesh when their flesh has long since been laid in the ground and returned to the dust from which it was formed?

Salvation for the dead through ministering to the dead. Baptisms and ordinances for the dead. Ordinances that the dead cannot, once dead, perform for themselves. For we, without them, cannot be made perfect, as they, without us, cannot be made perfect (Hebrews 11:40 , D&C 128:18).

Truth.

Pure.

Simple.

If this doesn’t make sense to you, please, re-read it. Then read it again, then read it again. New wine is difficult to fit in old bottles. Then ask me, and maybe I can explain in better. I know the missionaries can.

God doesn’t condemn you or your loved ones to hell because you haven’t met or been taught of the true Him. This is the great evil that Satan has perpetuated throughout Christianity.

THAT IS NOT GOD.

God is love. You, your father, your father’s father. He loves all of you. And you will all be able to hear the truth before any judgement is made. I love that God, and I am grateful for Him. And I am grateful for Joseph Smith for these pure, simple truths that he restored. And I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who affords me all this: forgiveness, love, peace, eternity with my family. Because He suffered for me. Again, and again and again and again I say, thank you.

To learn more about TRUTH:

CLICK HERE

March 10, 2022
Miracle Baptisms

My favorite calling I’ve ever had was Ward Mission Leader. For those who don’t know, I basically helped the full-time missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in any way I could. Getting to be around missionaries has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. There’s something powerful about being around young men and women that have sacrificed two years in the prime of their life to serve and share about Jesus Christ.

I’ve always loved stories of faith; stories of miracles that occur when full faith and devotion is given to something important. I want to share one of my favorite stories from my time as Ward Mission Leader.

Missionaries do a lot of amazing things; a lot more than just baptize. Simply teaching others about Christ is important. Serving and loving others is important. Being a representative of Jesus Christ is important.

That said, the reason missionaries devote two full years to a mission is the hope to share with someone the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, have it touch that person’s heart, see that person change their life for Christ, and ultimately that person making the decision to be baptized. Like I said, many amazing things can happen before a baptism. But, the decision to be baptized and the blessings that come after are the ultimate goal.

It was for that reason that I decided to set a high bar on a goal as my time as Ward Mission Leader was coming to an end. I was marrying Beth on 6/1/19. At that point I would change wards, the building and group I’d been going to since returning to church, and no longer have the calling of Ward Mission Leader. My greatest hope was that the missionary efforts we had developed as a ward could be continued after I left.

I set a goal in May for there to be three baptisms in the ward in the month of June. For some perspective, in the previous year our ward had two baptisms.

I started fasting and praying. I announced in a stake missionary correlation meeting that the Scottsdale YSA Ward would have 3 baptisms in June.

“That’s awesome! You have three people on date to be baptized?” I was asked.

My response, “No, we don’t have anybody on date.”

The goal was set nonetheless. I had faith that if the missionaries and myself fasted and prayed our hearts out, and did our part, a miracle would happen.

As the month of May progressed things started happening. There were some individuals the missionaries had been meeting with and teaching about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. There were two in particular that had been meeting with the missionaries regularly.

As we continued to pray with this singular focus in our hearts, one of those individuals committed to being baptized on 6/29. This was amazing!

There was a second person who wanted to be baptized but there was something getting in the way. It was a frustration of mine at the time because that person was worthy to be baptized but a technical requirement wasn’t met. Her living situation caused a problem. Again, fully worthy, but unable to get baptized until her living situation was changed.

On 5/25 it was time to call in faith reinforcements. Up to that point it had been the missionaries, Beth, a couple others, and myself committing our faith to this goal.

I wrote this as a reminder for myself on 5/25:

“I sent a text to ward missionary committee asking them to join fast for miracle three baptisms in June. It was kind of hard to send the text. There were moments that I wondered if I should send it and if sending it was right, if I was saying the right thing. I ended up being somewhat bold saying, “The missionaries and a few of us have been praying for something very specific: 3 individuals to be baptized into the Scottsdale ward in June. There’s a lot of faith in this as when we started there wasn’t a single person on date to be baptized. There is now one person who plans to be baptized on June 29^th. The missionaries and I are going to fast and pray for these three individuals to be led to us and for our ward to act when the opportunity comes. I invite each of you, if you’d like, to join us in fasting and praying for this tomorrow. I know that there are three people out there that need the gospel of Jesus Christ and are ready to be baptized. With faith, God will lead these people to us if we are ready to act, and if it’s His will and His plan. Thanks everybody! Love each of you.” Four minutes after sending the text, the missionaries texted me and said that the individual whose living situation was in the way had that issue resolved and just set their date to be baptized for June 8th. So much joy.

What was hard about sending that text was I wasn’t sure if what I was asking for was right. I always wanted to ask things of God only if it was His will. While I know God’s children coming closer to Him is His greatest joy, I worried that my intentions weren’t perfectly aligned with his. That was the doubt that came before I sent the text. I decided to send the text because I wanted to faith away my doubts. That is why I was bold. That is why the immediate text from the missionaries brought me instantly to the most profound joy, followed by tears.

It was a miracle.

I won’t go into details about how the miracle for this person took place. What I will say is this. It was a major frustration for me for some time that this person couldn’t be baptized despite having a sincere desire to do so, and being worthy to do so. A sequence of events took place that led to there being no issue with the baptism taking place. I was so grateful that a worthy individual could enter the waters of baptism and align themselves with Jesus Christ.

Another note to myself that I wrote that day so I wouldn’t forget:

Thinking back on (the issue), I was pretty worked up about it but somehow just moved on. I came to a feeling of peace about it that I didn’t even know was happening. But then it worked itself out, or God worked it out, and I look back and realize He spoke peace to my soul. I can almost hear Him, “Peace, my son. Don’t you know my hand is in these things? Don’t you know I will care for my children? Have faith.”

For those anticipating the miracle third baptism in June- it didn’t happen. In fact, the second one was delayed to July 13^th. I think that’s wonderful. I think of it as God’s way of reminding me that my faith is far from perfect. I set an arbitrary goal of June and to keep me humble He had the second baptism occur in July and the third didn’t happen. I’m far from truly aligned with His will. We’re far from being able to work all miracles. But God does watch. He does hear. He does care. In that ward, we had two baptisms the previous 12 months. In the 35 days after I left my favorite calling ever, the ward that saved my life, baptized two new members.

One of those members was recently sealed in the temple.

The first person I had the pleasure of seeing baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while I was Ward Mission Leader got married in the temple 5 months after his baptism.

Casper’s Baptism

Beth and I had the greatest pleasure of hosting 3 former missionaries in our home so we could all go to the wedding together. I remember sitting in the temple, waiting for the sealing. Waiting for Casper and Ashlee, two people that had greatly impacted and strengthened my faith, to be sealed to each other for time and all eternity. I was sitting and thinking.

Elder Dotson, one of the missionaries who had the honor of teaching Casper the Gospel, came and sat by me. He told me, “This is why we baptize people. Baptisms and endowments and all the covenants made are important. But this is what it’s all about. Two people getting sealed in the temple. Starting a family that will be together for eternity. This is why we do what we do. This is what it’s all about.”

I wish everyone could know the joy I’ve felt helping someone find what I’ve found. I wish I could share the joy of seeing two people sealed together for eternity. A love never to be separated. It’s the great plan of our loving Heavenly Father and what we’re here to do. Develop faith. Obtain and nurture an eternal family. Return to Him.

I’m so grateful for His Plan and the small part I get to play in it. There is no greater joy.

March 18, 2021
Paul’s Life and Letters

Book Review: Paul’s Life and Letters

By Dr. Sidney B. Sperry

Copyright 1955

__________________

This book was a breakdown of Paul’s life and everything he ever wrote – thus the title. I haven’t read the New Testament beginning to end. I want to finish the Old Testament first. This book helped me get a better understanding of Paul’s writings. His writing was deep and powerful. I also think his writings have always been and are increasingly misunderstood.

Paul was such a fascinating figure. I’ve long wondered what it would have been like to be alongside him. Everything he did he did with such zeal. Reading and learning about him, I’m awed by his work ethic. He’s somebody to be admired for his hard work. The fervor with which he did whatever he put his mind to. It’s motivating on one hand and terrifying on the other. Few can live up to the devotion Paul had to what he was passionate for. We are lucky his passion turned towards the Gospel of Jesus Christ and worship of God as we’ve seen how his efforts against the early saints caused much pain and suffering.

The book starts with a history of Paul. Where he was from, who he was, how he became who he became. The beginning was basically a historical biography of who Paul was. As Paul got into the portion of his life where he was writing so much, the book transitions.

This book is one I will refer back to often as I continue to study scripture. It had a great breakdown of Paul’s individual epistles and when they were estimated to be written. For example, chapter 13 was “Paul’s third missionary journey (continued).” It gave a detailed breakdown of the epistle to the Galatians including everything Paul said, the authenticity, importance, style, and doctrine from that epistle. I would find myself marking entire pages during these chapters.

There were many notable things I learned about Paul from this book. One was that he worked throughout his missionary ministry. Despite travelling all over the ancient world and spending many, many years as a full-time missionary, it never appears that Paul was paid for his ministry. He was given “gifts” from church members from time to time. But it seems very clear that Paul always worked. The predominant theory is that he was a tent builder. I found this very interesting given that many modern-day ministers point to Paul’s writings as proof that Paul advocated a paid ministry.

One amazing thing about this book was the feeling I had while reading it. Especially while reading the breakdown of Paul’s letters. There were moments where I’d pause and ask myself what I was feeling. This isn’t normally something I do, but I was aware I was feeling something. It was joy. It was a feeling like, ‘what is this earth and what does it really matter but to be a test for something greater? Live righteously and prepare to live with Christ and God forever.’ While reading his writings everything seemed so clear and simple. It was a feeling in my chest while reading his messages. Pure joy. Pure peace. Pure comfort in the future if I am faithful. Motivation to be faithful. As long as I am obedient and keep faith, I truly have nothing to fear. It’s a similar feeling to what I get when I read the Book of Mormon. That testified and made it so clear to me that what I was reading was the word of God, meant to lift up and inspire.

I’m grateful for this book and the understanding it gave me of Paul and his writings. As I mentioned, I know I’ll be using this book often as I continue to read scripture and one day study Paul’s writings more intently. The principles Paul taught were pure. He was called by Jesus Christ Himself which tells us of the importance of Paul’s work. The missionary effort Paul put forth and his contribution to building God’s kingdom is inspiring. He has the greatest conversion story of all time. We could all be better if we spent more time aspiring to be like Paul the Apostle.

October 22, 2020
The Social Dilemma (Netflix)
What is truth?

How do we know?

If you haven’t watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix, watch it as soon as possible. Could end up being the most important documentary of our generation. Given that we are the generation of documentaries, that would make it the most important documentary ever.

Why is this documentary important? Because it’s real and it’s happening now.

What will be the downfall of America? Have we given Civil War enough consideration?

Let’s do a quick thought experiment. What happens if Donald Trump wins the election this November? There will be 165 million mad people. Mad enough, maybe, to protest, riot, and maybe fight.

What happens if Joe Biden wins the election in November? There will be 165 million mad people. Mad enough, maybe, to protest, riot, and maybe fight.

Of course, 165 million people is an exaggeration because not everybody is this passionate, or angry, or inflamed about the upcoming election.

Let’s call the number 30 million on each side. Sound much better?

Why is this happening? Why are people always so angry?

There is an increasing gap between what we would deem the “center.” Center of anything. Not overly passionate about one side or the other. I’m not just talking about politics. I’m talking about anything. The middle is gone. The “hear the other side,” “hear them out,” “hear their opinions,” are disappearing. We’re turning into a world of people who think we know everything while not knowing anything.

So much from The Social Dilemma gave me an intense feeling of anxiety. One statistic mentioned was that a study showed lies are spread on the internet/social media 6 times more quickly than truths. What happens if a lie always has a 6x head start on the truth? What happens is what we’re seeing happen. Contention. Hatred. Vitriol. Anger. Confusion. Aggression. Fighting.

This brings me to the most important point.

What is truth?

Can we even know what truth is?

Truth is a concept society is starting to wonder exists. How do we find something our society is starting to believe is a myth?

This is where I turn off all my non-religious friends, but I would ask my non-religious friends: What is your truth? What do you turn to when everything around you is chaos, and confusion, and darkness?

I don’t say this to spread the divide more. I say this to invite others to find truth and make that truth love-based at all costs.

I love God because He loved me first.

What is truth?

God is truth.

He’s my truth. Maybe He isn’t yours. But you must find a truth to hold to dearly. This truth must be centered on love. We’ve seen what hate-filled “truth” results in.

How do we survive in an age of disinformation?

What do we do to protect ourselves?

I think first we follow all the suggestions given during the credits of The Social Dilemma documentary. I will list those here and then add my own suggestions.
1. Uninstall apps from your phone that waste your time.
  - Hint: most of them.
2. Turn off notifications. Especially for anything that vibrates your leg that doesn’t provide an immediate and important alert you need to see at that moment.
3. Use a search engines besides Google.
  - Qwant does not store your search history.
  - DuckDuckGo is another option.
4. Never watch a video recommended to you anywhere: Facebook, Youtube, etc. If it’s not something you went there to search for and to watch, just don’t watch it.
  - Wayyyyy easier said than done (but let’s all try!)
5. Use a Chrome extension to remove recommendations. Below are some options.
  - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/remove-recommendations-yo/hfnghnjkcpgagjbiheidccjnneoipbmb
  - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/remove-youtube-recommende/khncfooichmfjbepaaaebmommgaepoid
    I used this second one. Pretty amazing going to Youtube and not being bombarded by videos AI knows I want to watch. Squirrel! Squirrel! Squirrel!
6. Before you share anything online, fact check, consider the source, do the extra research (make sure it is GOOD).
  - If it looks like it’s designed to push your emotional buttons, it probably is. Don’t share it.
7. You vote with your clicks. If you click on clickbate you’re perpetuating the problem. Reward GOOD material.
8. Get different kinds of information.
  - If you are on Twitter, add people who have different opinions from you.
  - Talk to people in the real world about real issues.
  - When you find enough people in the real world to talk to, delete your Twitter.
9. Delete the social media accounts you really don’t need, that you don’t feel are healthy, that are taking you away from life. Delete it and embrace the freedom!
10. Get out of the system.
11. The World is beautiful. Live.
For Families:
1. Don’t give devices to your children. Don’t allow them on social media. Just don’t.
2. Minimal screen time.
  - Set a limit and stick to it. It was suggested to ask your child what they think is a good amount of time to spend looking at a screen each day. Your child will often give a reasonable response.
  - Create that limit and then give rewards for going under it. Set a 7 hour per week limit for screen time and your child spent 6 hours? 1-hour reward is a bowling trip or mini golf outing. I used to love incentives like these as a kid. I hope kids still do.
3. No devices in the bedroom a set amount of time before bedtime. This will also help with sleep because you’re removing blue light which signals to your brain that it’s time to wind down.
  - Here’s a suggestion – read a book instead of your phone!
4. Treat Social Media how Latter-day Saints treat dating – not before 16.
Here are my suggestions. If you can- delete it all. Just do it. I can almost promise you’ll feel better within a couple weeks, after the withdrawals stop.

Me personally, I have a Facebook. I use it so I can share my blog. It’s good to have. I see the use. I’m working on limiting my scrolling down my timeline to zero and especially not watching suggested videos in my feed. Suggested videos inevitably lead me to watching video after video of garbage material.

Another thing that has helped me a ton has been moving the Facebook app from my main page. I have it on page two. That way I’m not constantly slapped in the face by that addictive, dopamine-igniting red alert symbol. I have my Gospel Library on my home screen and if I find myself instinctively (or robotically) looking at my phone I do my best to open the scriptures and read those instead.

I understand all these things are easier said than done. It’s not easy to delete social media. It’s not easy, I get it. I’m right there with you. Technology is so good. It can be used for so much good. Why don’t we start using it for good again?

That brings me to my last point.

My final and most important point. What can we do to make a difference: Share GOOD stuff.

Emphasis on GOOD MATERIAL.

By good material I don’t mean you like it, or it tickled your fancy. I mean it is GOOD. It is wholesome. It is kind. It doesn’t make you explosively emotional but makes you feel gentle in your emotions. I mean good as in the good guided by the spirit. I mean good as in loving. I mean good as in spreading positivity.

I’m guilty like everyone else. I see a post from the Church, and I scroll right through. The AI (artificial intelligence) involved sees that (how scary is that?!). They know I scrolled quickly past something GOOD. We each need to make a conscious effort to spend time on the good stuff. Read the good stuff. Watch the good stuff. If you don’t have good stuff on your Facebook timeline, use AI for good! Go to google and search for Jesus Christ, the scriptures, conference talks, missionary messages. You know how when you search for that cute new jacket for winter and there are suddenly cute winter jackets on your timeline? Works the same way for good stuff. Search for good stuff. You’ll see more good stuff. Spend more time with the good stuff.

This is how we can combat and fight the echo chamber of hatred. This is how we remove political polarization. This is how we remove lies.

In the steps above I mentioned fact-checking what you share. How about this? Spiritually check what you share. Stop. Say a prayer. Ask yourself if what you’re sharing is spreading goodness, positivity, or love. If not, it can be deleted.

I often pray before I write, and I often pray before I share what I write. I always hope what I write is guided by something bigger and better than me.

Spiritually check everything you do online. Is this making me a better person? No. Get it out of here. Could this make someone’s day, bring a smile, alter someone for the better – SHARE IT.

This is what we can do. This is how we can make a difference.

I don’t ever say like and share on my blog posts because it’s become such a stupid thing to say. But we need to say it for the things that deserve it. Maybe we should change it to “LIKE AND SHARE GOODNESS.”

So, if you think this was worth reading, did something positive for you, or helped you in any way, please share it.

We can all do our part by sharing goodness.

You can join the discussion and learn more about the Social Dilemma documentary at TheSocialDilemma.com

I think this is important and I think it should be something we all start thinking about. Let’s start thinking about it. Let’s start doing our part.
September 24, 2020
Pride of the Gentiles

I write this as a complement to my testimony of the Book of Mormon as the Word of God.

For the purposes of what I’m writing I will focus on the Old Testament. I would gladly speak on the New Testament, but for simplicity I will focus on the Old.

Let’s look historically at the creation of the Bible. The text of the Old Testament was preserved and handed down by the hands of the Jews. It was protected by the Jews. If not for the Jews, there would be no Old Testament today.

By definition, a gentile is a person who is not Jewish. The Gentiles received the Bible from the Jews. Most of us are gentiles. If you come from Europe, have Catholic, Protestant, or pretty much any other Christian ties in your ancestry, you are most likely considered a gentile. Again, none of us would have the Bible today if it weren’t for the Jews.

It’s those same Gentiles who today say, A Bible, a Bible, we have a Bible! (2 Nephi 29:3). But how do you have the Bible? You have it from the Israelites, from the Jews. You didn’t do anything to gain it.

When Christ was crucified and resurrected the Jews of old who believed in Christ had a difficult time moving past their traditions. If you read about Paul and his missionary efforts, you will see that a major portion of his time was spent fighting Judaizers. Judaizers were “Christians in the primitive church who taught it was necessary to adopt Jewish customs and practices, especially those found in the Law of Moses.”

From History of the Christian Church, 1, 338 regarding Judaizers:

“These men were Christians in name, but narrow-minded and narrow-hearted Jews in fact. They were scrupulous, pedantic, slavish formalists, ritualists, and traditionalists of the malignant type. Circumcision of the flesh was to them more important than circumcision of the heart, or at all events an indispensable condition of salvation. Such men could, of course, not understand and appreciate Paul, but hated and feared him as a dangerous radical and rebel. Envy and jealousy mixed with their religious prejudice. They got alarmed at the rapid progress of the gospel among the unclean Gentiles who threatened to soil the purity of the church…”

For just a couple of examples of Paul’s contention with Judaizers see Acts 15:23-29, Galatians chapters 3 and 4, Acts 21: 20-25. That last example in Acts 21 would be roughly the year AD 58. At this point, 25 years after Christ’s death, there were still thousands of Jewish Christians following the Law of Moses.

I give this historical background to make a comparison to the Christian gentiles of today.

Christians who cannot accept any scripture outside of the Bible are the Jews of old. Holding firm to their traditions, fighting to preserve what they’ve always known, refusing to see the greater blessing of the Gospel right before them.

The Gentiles of today say, “I have a Bible.” By what source have you gotten your Bible?

2 Nephi 29 4-5:

4 But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and it shall proceed forth from the Jews, mine ancient covenant people. And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles?

5 O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people.

The Jews couldn’t accept further revelation – that Jesus was the Christ and in Him the law was fulfilled. Gentiles today – who have only been shown the mercy of God by being adopted into Christ’s fold – do the same thing. They have a Bible, they need no “other” Bible.

What does this speak of? It speaks of pride. This attitude says – “God has given us all He’s going to give us and now it’s up to ME, MAN to interpret what God is saying.” This pride removes God from the equation. You think God has disowned us? You think He’s given us all He can or will give us? WHY?!?!? God loves His children. Has He abandoned us?

The hard-hearted, prideful, and stubborn attitude of holding onto traditions has kept people from Christ since the start of mankind and it continues today. Let go of pride and accept that God still speaks to man. Pride makes us interpret the Bible how it suits us. Let go of pride and let God guide us.

The denial of modern revelation is the removal of God. It is the denial of either God’s love for us or His power in redeeming His children. How can people who can only accept the Bible not see that? They’ve removed a living God for God’s word. The Bible is God’s word to us, but what good is it if you don’t understand it? What good is it if you kick against the pricks? Let the spirit work within you and accept all truth God will give you. He will enlighten your mind and expand your spirit, but you must let Him, and stop removing Him by saying you have the Bible and that’s all you need.

The great apostle Paul spent his entire missionary career fighting against the Judaizers.

Today modern-day missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spend so much time fighting modern day Judaizers, traditionalists. We must Bible bash, meanwhile we have a far greater message: GOD STILL LIVES, GOD STILL SPEAKS, REVELATION IS ALIVE. He has provided a new Book of Promise – the Book of Mormon – to help and guide us. Not to replace the Bible but to supplement it. READ IT. And see for yourself if it speaks to your spirit. See for yourself if God still loves His children. See for yourself if Jesus is the Christ and if HE IS STILL redeeming his people. Set aside your pride!

2 Nephi 29: 6-9

6 Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?

7 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?

8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.

9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.

How accurate are those words written nearly 2600 years ago? Inspired writing. It is my testimony that the Book of Mormon can only bring a person closer to the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. I wish we could all remove our pride and stop being like the Judaizers of the primitive Church. Accept that Christ is as interested in us today as He was when He walked the earth 2000 years ago. Read His word. Hear His word. Feel his word. Accept his words. All of them.

August 20, 2020