The Gospel of Jesus Christ - The Plan of Salvation Part VI

Last post we discussed the core and foundation of God's Plan of Happiness: The Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Now let's talk about what we need to do in order to put our Saviour's plan to use, and not waste it. Because whether or not we obey His commandments, He did suffer for us. We will allow that suffering and that pain to be for nothing if we ignore what He teaches us.

I feel like I should take a step back and reiterate something we talked about early on in this blog. I know these things to be true. However, I don't expect you to believe me, or act on anything I say. And, importantly, the purpose of this blog is not to persuade you or anyone else to act. It is my way of sharing what I believe. I want to share it for two reasons. 1. to help those who know me, to know me better and 2. to make this knowledge available for anyone who is looking for it.

So.

There are five major steps we need to take in this life.
The first thing we need to do is to develop Faith in Jesus Christ. We're not going to get very far along His path if we don't feel confident that He is leading us home.

The second follows naturally from the first; it is Repentance. Repentance means to change in whatever way is necessary in order to bring our life more in sync with the teachings of our Saviour. If we are participating in things that do not bring us to Him, then our faith in Him will cause us to want to change that and to begin living as He would have us live.

The third is not as intuitive as the first or second. The third step is Baptism by the proper authority. If we recall a post from the beginning of this blog, that proper authority was restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith, and the LDS church is the only church on the earth that holds this authority.

The fourth is more like a second part to the third. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is something we receive immediately after, and really part of, baptism. It is the blessing that the Holy Ghost (the third member of the Godhead) will be with us to guide us and help us along our way.

The fifth isn't so much a step as it is a way to live. Endure to the End, we call it. This really just means keeping steps one and two and on Sundays renewing step three through an ordinance called the sacrament.

Now, obviously there are other standards and laws that our Father and His Son have given us that we must live by. But to make a list of do's and don't's would be silly.

I love our Father's plan, and I know that if we follow these five steps that we will return to His presence after this life.

check out mormon.org if you have any questions.

_____________________________________________________________

Next post will be basically about that ^.

Where do we go when we die?

The Atonement - The Plan of Salvation Part V

I have put off the typing of this post for a long time because I feel intimidated by it. I don't know if I'm up to the task of doing justice to the topic of The Atonement of Jesus Christ. So here is my confession that this will not be a perfect treatment of the subject, and that it may not be sufficient to help you feel the significance of our Saviour's actions.

Last post: Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit and by so doing allowed each of us to come into this world in a "fallen condition".

As mentioned briefly before, spiritual death is separation from the presence of God, and physical death is the separation of our spirit from our body. In order to become like Our Father after we die we need to a) have our physical body, and b) return to His presence.

When Our Father laid out this plan he called for a Saviour. Jesus Christ volunteered His life for each and every one of us.

He came to the earth in the humblest of settings, born to a carpenter's wife in a stable with farm animals. Not a whole lot is known about His life between 12 and 30 years of age, but when He was 30 he began to teach the Jews (He lived in Jerusalem). He taught many things that upset the local religious leaders, the two greatest of which being that He was the a literal Son of God and that He was Jehovah of the Old Testament. (We may or may not talk about that second one later on, but not here).

The offense taken by the church leaders, and the threat they felt at seeing His influence over so many people led them to drastic actions. When he was 33 they had him arrested, and twisted Jewish and Roman laws to have Him killed.

Before He was taken, however, He went to a grove of olive trees with His apostles. He told them to wait at the gate, and he went in alone. There he knelt down to pray to His Father. Here began the first part of the Atonement. Some of His words to The Father are these:

"And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt." (St. Mark 14:36)

He pleaded with The Father, saying: 'if there is any other way for your plan to move forward, please, let us do it that way. If not, I will do what you need me to.'

Then he suffered.

The shortness of that sentence is such an injustice to the description of what he experienced, yet I have no better way to describe what happened.

He took upon Himself everything that we have ever, ever experienced. He felt every time we are hurt physically. Every time we are bruised emotionally. Every time we are battered mentally and spiritually. When we feel depressed. When we feel alone. When we feel lost or hopeless. When we feel discouraged, scared, stressed, anxious, sick, dizzy, overwhelmed. Most of all He felt when we feel the heavy weight of guilt for things we should not have done, but did.

In the Book of Mormon it says:

"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people." (Alma 7:11)

Even on this earth Christ was begotten by God, and so had the powers of God. Many people suggest that because of His elevated nature He was able to endure this trial with greater ease than any of us could. This is not true. In a book called The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Callister (a member of our church) he discusses something most people to do not consider. 

Here it is:

The pain that Jesus endured was well beyond what it would take to knock out and kill a mortal man. It was because he was descended from God that he could hold death and unconsciousness at bay and experience the whole of the suffering. Our weak bodies would flee to sweet comatose and escape the pain. His semi-immortal body was equipped to remain alive and awake for the duration of His torture.

Immediately after enduring this, He leaves the garden to be betrayed by Judas, one of his chosen followers, and arrested. Over the next 24 hours He is put on trial, spat upon, hit, stripped, whipped, crowned with thorns and dragged through the streets. 

He was then nailed to a wooden cross to hang 'til death. After the atonement was complete, Christ allowed His mortal body to die.

Continuing the scripture from above:

"And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." (Alma 7:12)

And so Christ suffered and died for us.

His suffering before the cross had a two-fold purpose. 1) to pay the price of our enormous list of shortcomings. 2) to understand every last ounce of our suffering so that we might go to Him and seek comfort.

We are not and will never be worthy to enter God's Kingdom on our own. Christ suffered so that He may stand for us and declare that we are His. He bought us with his blood and He will bring us in with Him.

And so he repaired our Spiritual Death.

He died on the cross, both as part of the suffering of our pains and our sins, and so that He could cross death's barrier and break its bands.

Three days after his crucifixion He rose from the dead, in a flawless, perfect, glorified, immortal body. He paved the way across the land of the dead into immortal ressurection.

And so he repaired our Physical Death.

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22)

Because of what Jesus Christ did we can all return to God's presence and progress forever with perfect immortal bodies.

I know that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and that He suffered and died for me. I know that He did so for each and every one of us and that He is always there to comfort us in difficult times.

I testify that He lives and that He is the Son of God.

I share these things in His name, even Jesus Christ.

check out mormon.org if you have any questions.

_____________________________________________________________

Next post: Now what? What do we do now that we know this?

The Fall of Adam and Eve - The Plan of Salvation Part IV

And so the plan was set forth. God and Jesus Christ created the earth for us and sent down our first earthly parents: Adam and Eve. They were placed in the Garden of Eden, made for them by God and Christ. In the garden there were two trees that were special. One was The Tree of Life and the other The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Moses 3:9)

Adam and Eve were given two commandments: 1) to multiply and replenish the earth and 2) to not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Here are the scriptures I just summarized above, read or skip them as you please:

--from here--

"And I, God, blessed them, and said unto them: Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Moses 2:28)

"And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,

"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Moses 3:16-17)

--to here--

And so they lived peacefully in the garden. We have no idea how long they were in there. However, we do know that at some point Lucifer, now called Satan, entered the garden to try to destroy the plan of God.

He did not know the mind of God, nor His plan. All he knew was that Adam and Eve had been commanded to not eat of the fruit, and so he went to tempt them to do so. (Moses 4:6)

Many churches teach that Eve was weak, and so she gave into the temptation before her. When she ate of the fruit, she knew she would be cast out. The subsequent idea is that she convinced Adam to also go with her and so our first parents sinned.

I want to clarify that that is not accurate.

Remember that the first commandment of God was that they multiply and replenish the earth. They were told to have children. They couldn't have children in the Garden of Eden; they were like innocent children themselves and (not least of all) had no idea how to go about it. (See 2 Nephi 2, read from verse 14 on)

Eve recognized (I imagine they were in the Garden for a very very long time) that they would not progress and would not have children if they stayed where they were. She understood that the two laws were juxtaposed to each other and they were required to make a choice. In order to have a satisfying discussion about why God would give them opposing laws, we will need a separate post (no promises, though).

She ate the fruit so that she could begin to understand, and begin to have children: their very calling on earth!

Adam was simpler. He wanted only to do as God said. Don't eat the fruit. Eve needed to help him understand why they needed to leave the garden. And he was convinced.

After they partook of the fruit God cursed the land for their sake, so that they would have to work hard to bring forth food.

Another teaching, common in other beliefs, is that we were meant to stay in the garden and that Adam and Eve screwed it up for all of us, and now we live in this crappy world.

Not only is this not true, it doesn't even make sense.

If it were God's plan for them to stay there, and if they were not supposed to eat the fruit of that tree, then why would God (who knows all) put the tree there at all?

Yes, you may say "well, to test them, and they failed". To which I say that if for them to fail that test were not part of God's plan, then His plan was not very well thought out. When he made the plan, He knew that they would eat it. If part of the plan was for them to not eat it, He would have made it so.

Anyways, on to the most important part of this post.

This event is called The Fall for a good reason. When our spirit leaves our body it is called physical death. When we leave the presence of God it is called spiritual death. Adam and Eve could not die physically or spiritually while in the garden. By being cast out, they assured their physical death (they were now mortal) and a temporary spiritual death (they could not be in God's presence).

This is the condition into which all of us are born. And this is the condition from which all of us must be saved!

I know that Adam and Eve were valiant children of God and that they did not commit a grevious sin, rather they transgressed the law and set God's plan moving along, as He intended.

check out mormon.org if you have any questions.
_________________________________

For us to be saved from physical and spiritual death we needed (and still need) a Savior. This will be the topic of our next discussion, and is by far the most central, crucial, and incredible part of Our Heavenly Father's Plan.

The Creation - The Plan of Salvation Part III

So after telling us of this wonderful plan, Our Father put it into action.

He directed Jesus Christ in the construction of this world.

As many people know there are Seven Days involved. We'll touch on each of those days and then talk about the creation as a whole and some ideas surrounding it.

Day One: Matter was used to form the earth.

Day Two: The waters and the dry ground were separated.

Day Three: The sun and the moon were created to rule over the day and night respectively. The stars were also created.

Day Four: All types of plants were made. Grass, flowers, trees, bushes, vines, vegetables, fruits, etc.

Day Five: All types of animals were made. Mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, insects, etc.

Day Six: God and Jesus Christ created Adam and then Eve to be the first parents on this earth.

After the creation of man and woman and every other thing on our earth God and Jesus Christ rested from their labors. This is called the seventh day, and is the reason that in the Old Testament the seventh day is a sabbath day. (Exodus 20:8-11).

In my post about why I believe God exists I shared a scripture that talks about how the earth and it's motion and the heavens all testify that there is a God (Alma 30:44). 

Now, today's biggest opponent to belief in the creation is the Big Bang Theory. I should clarify something: scientists do not use the term "theory" the same way regular people do. In physics a theory is something that is well established, and basically accepted as a fact. There may be some missing pieces. There may be some unfinished mathematics. But the theory is set in its place until something may or may not come along to prove it wrong. So, the argument that "well it's just a theory" is a weak one, since we don't use the term the same way (it just becomes a debate of nomenclature at that point). And, as someone who is learning more and more about matter and motion and forces I definitely do not wholly disregard the big bang theory as an explanation of the creation of this universe.

The discrepancy I don't understand is how this eliminates God as a factor. 

Now I want to clarify something. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints does not have any official stance on the big bang, and has not explicitly taught what I'm sharing right now. This is what I believe, and while it does not in any way go against the teachings of the church, you won't find it in any books written or sermons given by leaders of the church. (However, I've never found anyone in the church that rejects this idea, leader or otherwise).

I personally believe that God created the universe by means of the big bang.
I did not come up against this wall where I believe in God but the big bang theory makes sense so now I needed to rectify them. Not at all. God must have formed the earth in some way. God has certain laws to govern all that exists. The laws of physics are some of these laws. Doesn't it make sense for Him to use the same laws in the creation of the earth as those that will govern it afterwards? There is no reason, whatsoever, to believe that He could not have done it this way.

I don't know that God provoked the big bang and thereby made this universe. I think it, but I don't know it. However, I do know that He created this Earth, and that he did so for our eternal progress and our eternal happiness. I know also that He loves us very much.

check out mormon.org if you have any questions.
___________________________________

Next post: The Garden of Eden and The Fall of Adam and Eve

Premortal Life and The War in Heaven - The Plan of Salvation Part II

Before this life we were spirit beings. We were (and are) literal sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. We lived with Him and we were happy.
So why on earth would we leave his presence? (Pun fully intended).

One way that we know that we existed before the earth is a verse in Jeremiah in the Old Testament: Jeremiah 1:5 which says that before God created Jeremiah's body, He knew him.

Well, while we were happy, we did not experience the same complete joy that our Father did. In order for us to become equally happy as He, we needed to become like Him. 

There were three distinct differences between us and Him:

-He was perfect, we were not
-He had a body of flesh and bone, while we were just spirits
-He had children, we did not


So God presented a plan that would change each of these points. He told us that He would create a world for us to live, where we would be given physical bodies. He told us that on this world we would pass through many trials and difficulties. Part of the experience would be to live in faith. In order to do that, we needed to forget our life with our Heavenly Father, and so he placed a veil between us and him, to make us forget. This makes perfect sense; how easy would it be to always make the right choice if we remembered our life with Him and what it was like? It's like taking an exam with all of the answers on the board. We'd all get a perfect mark, but none of us would learn a thing.

After living our lives, if we did our best to follow God's Laws, given to us by His prophets (who he promised to send) then we would go back to live with Him, where we could continue to learn and progress (but now having physical bodies and having had personal experiences, and probably children too).

But then He told us about one problem. Only those who are pure can dwell in His presence. No unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God. So the moment we sin, we would be disqualified to return to live with our Father.

Well that stinks. Especially considering that part of the whole thing was our lack of perfection, so we're pretty much doomed to fail.

It was at this point that God told us about the most wonderful (and awful) part of His plan. He needed a Savior for His children. He needed someone who would go to the earth and live a perfect life. Someone who would be the ultimate example of love and purity. Then that person would need to pay the price, that none of us could pay, for all of our shortcomings. It truly is a wonderful, and awful, idea. That one man would love us so much to endure temptations, pains, and trials for us (and endure them perfectly). And then that that person would suffer at the hands of all of the places where we failed, and die for us.

I know that God's plan is perfect. And that it works.

Our eldest brother, the first born of our Heavenly Father said "I Will Go. I will resist all temptation. I will endure a life as difficult as any of my brothers and sisters." (I'm paraphrasing) "I will teach them exactly how they must live. And then I will pay the ultimate price for all of them, because they could not live as I. And let all the glory be The Father's"

How beautiful is the love of Jesus Christ for each of us?

Well, the part of the title that describes a "war in heaven" probably caught your eye. Here's where it starts.

Another son of God, named Lucifer, said "I have a better idea! I will be the Savior. I will ensure that each and every one of these our brothers and sisters will return to live with us by forcing them to obey. And when I have brought all of your children back, Father, give the glory to me."

Now, God didn't leave the plan open for discussion. He laid out the plan and called only for a willing Savior. So when Lucifer suggested they change the plan God declined, and chose Christ to perform the task.

Lucifer became very angry (I don't really know why, to be honest) and rebelled against God. He went about convincing many of our brothers and sisters to follow his plan instead of the father's.

Many of our siblings gave in and followed him.

For rebelling against Him, God cast them out of the Celestial Kingdom, and they became "angels to the devil" (Matthew 25:41).

Do you want to know how I know that you chose to follow our Father before this life? Because you're sitting here reading this. Everyone on this planet chose, at least before birth, to follow their Father's plan. Otherwise they wouldn't be here.

God created this plan for the happiness of His children, and if we live according to His plan, we will not only return to Him, we will come to know a perfect joy as we could never experience on this earth.

check out mormon.org if you have any questions.
_____________________________

Next post we will talk about the creation of the earth.
I will also touch on The Big Bang Theory, which I am not disregarding as possible.

The Plan of Salvation - Part I

Have you ever asked yourself the big questions?

Where do I come from?
Why am I here?
Where do I go when I die?

Well, I have the answers to these questions.

The answer to these questions is known as The Plan of Salvation.

I am going to tell you exactly where we come from, and why we came here (which also answers where we are going).

This post is going to be a bullet treatment, a summary, of the subject. Each following post will talk about one part of this plan.

-Before this earth existed we lived with God and He told us of His plan for us to obtain a perfect joy, by becoming like Him

-He created the earth for us

-He sent Adam and Eve to the earth to begin this mortal family

-Jesus Christ was sent to pay the price for all of the sins and mistakes each of us would make (the absolutely most crucial part of the plan)

-We are given God's Laws in order to return to Him, thanks to the mediation of our Savior.

-After we die we will live for a time in a place known as the spirit world awaiting the resurrection. Jesus Christ will return to the earth and begin The Millennium, and we will be resurrected (reunited with our bodies to never again be separated). We will face judgment and will either return to live with God or will go elsewhere.

My subsequent posts will, in turn, treat each of these points. I will use some scriptures in order to give validity to what will be discussed. However to save space and your reading time I will not give an exhaustive reference of verses to read.

I know that the plan laid out above (and in more detail soon) is the plan developed by our Immortal and Perfect Father. I know that this plan is the perfect plan of happiness and that we will obtain eternal joy if we follow His instructions.

check out mormon.org if you have any questions.
______________________________

The next post is about our life with our Father before, and something called the war in heaven.

The Bible and Other Scriptures

So.
God Lives.
He is Our Father.
He Loves us.

If you don't agree with me, that's fine, but this is the premise on which I'm going to talk about why Scriptures are written, so be ready for that.

All member of the human race are God's children.
God loves his children and wants them to return to live with Him.
In order to return to the presence of God we need to do our very best to live by His standards.
In order for us to have His standards, He must reveal them to us.

So God appears to a prophet and tells him what His standards are.
Rather than appear to each and every church leader, God commands said prophet to write down the things God teaches him.

Now, He could have said "here's list of do's and don't's, it's a couple pages long, publish this across the globe"

But instead He said "I want all my children to know the story of how the earth was created. I want them to know of their first parents on the earth. In fact, I want a thorough history of my people written down, so that future generations can learn from both their marvelous experiences and their grievous mistakes."

And so Moses (first) was commanded to make a record. The first five books of The Old Testament were written by Moses. The Old Testament is the history of the people of Israel. But it's not a cohesive whole.

Let's take a break and discuss the origin of the word "Bible" according to Mirriam-Webster's Dictionary.

In ancient Greek the word Biblion means Book, and the word Bible is it's plural.

So the word Bible literally just means "Books". This kind of explains why we call it the The Holy Bible, ("The Holy Books") since the word Bible in and of itself does not even imply a relationship to anything sacred.

Okay, so the Bible is just a collection of books, which makes sense since every section of it is referred to as "The Book of..." (i.e. The First Book of Moses Called Genesis, The Book of The Prophet Jeremiah, etc).

in fact, the majority of the New Testament is a collection of letters written by Paul. Not at all a sequential narrative kept by one person. Rather, someone took all these letters and copied them into a "Bible" ("Books").

Now, over hundreds and thousands, of years these books were kept, copied, translated, stored, hidden, burned, re-copied, re-translated, etc.

It's a miracle so much of the Bible survived at all.

Now, considering whether or not there can be more scriptures than just the Bible:

If we consider the map of the world

The Bible was mostly written in the circled area (1). These teachings could then spread across most of Africa, Europe, and Asia from there. In fact, some of Paul's letters are written "to the saints in Asia", but there was no air mail to send these teachings to the Americas (2).

Remember when we talked about The Book of Mormon? This is why God also revealed His standards to the Nephites on that continent. So that His children all over the world would have His Word.

Another reason is because God knew that through all of the copying, translating, changing, extracting, re-translating, etc. that the Bible would not remain in its original form. I mean, how could it? The fact that there are hundreds of versions of the Bible attests to this.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we also believe that two books called The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price are scripture. The Doctrine and Covenants is a series of revelations given to the prophet Joseph Smith while he was organizing the Church once again on the earth.

God has not closed Heaven, and there is no reason for us to believe that He cannot reveal more scripture if He chooses to. In fact, there are some verses in the Book of Mormon that put it a little strongly:

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.

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. (2 Nephi: 29: 8-9)

For the whole chapter follow this link: 2nd Nephi Chapter 29

I believe that God reveals His will to His children, and that his inspired prophets have written these things down for us to read in these days. I also believe that He can reveal more if He so chooses. 

check out mormon.org if you have any questions.

_____________________________

The next few posts I will address The Big Questions.

Why am I here?

Where do I come from?

Where am I going after this life?

I know these are clichés, but don`t you want to know the answers?!?!

I know that the teachings of the Church are true, and that we have the real answers to these questions.

Why I Believe God Exists

In my first post I promised to talk about why I, personally, am convinced that God exists.

Every time I learn more about the Earth, and more about our bodies, and animal life, and vegetation (and on and on) I am more and more convinced that there is a God.

In a TV series called Planet Earth we learn about a group of trees called the Boreal Forest, also known as The Tiger. This massive forest is found 500 miles south of the Arctic Tundra. "[It] contains A THIRD of all of the trees on Earth, and produces so much oxygen that it changes the composition of the atmosphere." (Planet Earth).

I remember watching this for the first time and wondering at the incredible "coincidence" that there should be almost all the trees we need tucked away up in an uninhabitable part of the world where man would never settle and de-forest. 

This is one small thing (of the many) that testifies that there is a God.

I'm reading a book called The Physics of Superheroes. It was written by Physics Ph.D. James Kakalios, a professor at The University of Minnesota.
During one chapter he talks about the Sun and how it literally supports all life, in many, many ways.

Two of the ways that the Sun provides life are: by creating wind currents which brings water from the ocean onto the main land. And the rays of sunlight that carry energy, which plants photosynthesize into energy that they can use. This is how animals (including humans) get energy by eating these plants.

The nuclear fusion that happens in the core of the Sun only happens because (if you don't like physics just read the bold text) the nucleus of a Helium atom has a mass slightly less than that of two deuterium nuclei. In fact, The Helium nucleus is exactly 99.3 percent the mass of two deuterium nuclei. If it were 99.4 percent of the mass then the deuterium nuclei would not form and nuclear fusion would not proceed. Stars would be dim and would not be hot enough to create wind currents, or provide energy to plants. If the Helium nucleus were 99.2 percent the mass then too much energy would be expelled from the Sun. And in the early universe too much nuclear fuel would have burned and very few stars would have been able to form. (information taken from The Physics of Superheroes, by James Kakalios)

This is mind-blowing!!! In fact, at the end of the paragraph where this information is found, the author (an atheist) writes "The source of this amazing fine-tuning of the basic properties of nature is the subject of current investigation." (Kakalios) 

The source is God. 
It is generally understood that the majority of scientists do not believe in God. I find this incredible. That those who best understand the perfect system in which we live can disregard the possibility of creation by design.

In The Book of Mormon, one of the prophets spoke about this:

...The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator. (Alma 30:44)

I have had many spiritual experiences that have caused me to strongly feel that God not only exists but that He is my Father and that He loves me very much. Many times I have received an answer to my prayers. Things that I have asked for have happened, and I've received answers to questions.

I testify that God lives, and that He loves me. I know also that He loves all of His children. This knowledge has brought so much comfort and guidance in my life. 

check out mormon.org if you have any questions.
__________________________________

In my next post I want to talk about The Bible and other scriptures like The Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon - Mormon History Part III

As I said, Joseph was not called to be a prophet that day in the grove, at fourteen years of age. In fact, he was not given any additional instruction for another three years!

But! Before we talk about how Joseph came to obtain and translate The Book of Mormon I'm going to tell you the story of the book itself, so that Joseph's tale will make more sense.

Do you remember in my second post when we spoke about God calling Prophets and the children of men killing them off? Well, that's pretty much how The Book of Mormon starts off.

In roughly 600 BC there was a family in Jerusalem. The father of this family's name was Lehi. He was called by God to preach repentance to the people of Jerusalem. The people not only rejected his words, but they tried to take his life. God commanded Lehi to flee with his family into the desert.

Now, as soon as I wrote that above paragraph I realized how ludicrous it sounds. God told Lehi to preach, and when the people got mad at him it seems that God said "Oh! Nevermind, get outta there!"

But it's not so ludicrous when we understand (a little better at least) the mind of God. He needed to call his people (Jerusalem) to repentance. He knew they would not listen. However, God will always provide His children the chance to repent and return to Him. Many are familiar with the Bible story of Cain and Abel. After Cain has slain Abel, God comes and asks him where his brother is. Obviously God isn't asking to find out where Abel is; he already knows. He isn't asking to see what Cain will say; he already knows. He is asking to provide Cain the opportunity to confess what he has done and reduce his crime. God extends as much opportunity for mercy as is possible in all situations.

The other reason God called Lehi to preach to The Holy Land when he knew it would end in flight, was for just that reason. God needed to send Lehi out into the desert, so that The Book of Mormon could come forth.

Back to the story.

Lehi's family brings with them, another family (God commanded them to do this so that they might raise children).

These families live in the desert for many years, when eventually (and after many trials) they arrive at a great body of water. Nephi is the most righteous son of Lehi, and he constantly seeks guidance from the Lord. As such, he is given the guidance he seeks. When they arrive at the water God commands Nephi to build a boat, and teaches him how to do it.

The two families (now intermarried and with grandchildren) climb aboard the boat putting their trust in the Lord.

<<I am obviously giving a very short summary>>

Now, God has promised Lehi and the two families a land all to themselves, where they will flourish and thrive and grow abundantly, provided they obey the Lord.

The boat lands in some distant place, and the families settle the new continent. The place they land is now known as The Americas.

The, now very large, family continues to grow and spread, and build until they are, essentially, a new civilization.

Sadly, there was a divide. Nephi's older brothers, Laman and Lemuel, always jealous of and angry with Nephi oppose Nephi's leadership after their father's death.

So the people separate. The people of Nephi leave and live elsewhere in the land. The two people, named after their progenitors, were called the Nephites and the Lamanites.

About 1000 years pass over the course of the entire book. The records of the Nephites always being passed down, either to the prophet or the king. In general the Nephites obeyed God and the Lamanites did not. Though both people spent a considerable amount of time ignoring God and being called to repentance.

The two people are almost always at war.

In roughly the year 400 AD the Nephites cease to obey God, and give up the blessings promised to those who would listen to Him. 

The Lamanites utterly destroy the Nephites.

Now, one man, a prophet of God, named Moroni still lived in hiding and held the record of the people: the record that told the history of the Nephites over the past 1000 years from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem.

God commanded Moroni to bury the record in a hill, where it would come forth at a future time.


Back to 1820. Joseph sees God and Jesus Christ. Three years later (1823) as Joseph prays earnestly in his bedroom he is visited by an angel. The angel says his name is Moroni, and tells Joseph of an ancient record buried in a hill nearby. He was given a vision of where to find them.

He was instructed to leave the record where it was for another four years. In 1827 he took the volume, and by the gift and power of God began to translate it into English.

The Book of Mormon has now been translated into over a hundred different languages and is read across the world.

I have read the book, and have prayed to ask God if the book is, indeed, scripture written by his Prophets in ancient times. I have had some wonderful experiences in my life, many of which have come while asking for these kinds of answers and I do know that the Book of Mormon is what it claims to be.

As I said previously (my last post) if The Book of Mormon is true, then it only makes sense that Joseph Smith was a prophet, directed by God to translate it. If he was indeed a prophet, then surely the church that he organized under The Lord's direction is God's church. This is how I have come to know, personally, that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church of God on the earth, and that the prophet that guides our church today is inspired by God.

I want to rewind and reiterate something I wrote in post number one. The purpose of this blog is not to convince anyone of anything. The purpose is to share what I believe, and by extension why I believe it. Any details I give about why the church (to me) must be true, is not to persuade you to agree with me, but to share with you a more personal level of my beliefs.

check out mormon.org if you have any questions.
_______________________________________

That pretty much concludes the foundation of the modern day beginnings of the church (on a superficial level, at least) and now we can talk about other things, like the LDS stance on many issues, and smaller things like why we don't drink coffee.

I wanted to give an info tidbit on the name of The Book of Mormon, and our nickname (Mormons), but I didn't want to make my post too long. 

So feel free to stop reading now.

Moroni, the last prophet of the BOM ("Book of Mormon" is quite long to copy out so many times) was given the record by his father Mormon. Yes, Mormon is simply the name of one of the prophets in the book itself. Now, the reason his name is significant enough to have the book named after him is this:
The record began as more or less a personal journal of Nephi (remember Lehi's son?), who kept this writing on metal plates to preserve them for his posterity. In fact, he kept two records. One was more of a historical record, and the other was more of a spiritual one. This writing was added to as it was passed down the generations. After ~1000 years of kings and prophets keeping this record, you can bet that it was more of a library than a book. Mormon took the records of his people and condensed them into a single cohesive whole. In fact, you can see that it is someone narrating part of a larger story several times when he says things like "And a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, which now began to be numerous, cannot be written upon these plates" (3 Nephi 26:6)

So because Mormon compiled the book it is named after him. Early persecutors of the church called members of the church "Mormons" because of the book. Which is where we got the name.

The Restoration - Mormon History Part II

So we left off on a bit of a dark note.

God's servants, who held his Authority, had been killed and that Authority, removed from the earth.

I said that it was roughly 1800 years until the next time the Priesthood would be restored to the world.

In the year 1820 there was a young man, his name was Joseph Smith. He was born April of 1805, so he was only 14-15 years of age at this time. This young man lived in Manchester, New York.

He lived in an area and a time of great religious debate. To quote him:

"Some time in the second year after our removal to Manchester, there was in the place where we lived an unusual excitement on the subject of religion. It commenced with the Methodists, but soon became general among all the sects in that region of country. Indeed, the whole district of country seemed affected by it, and great multitudes united themselves to the different religious parties, which created no small stir and division amongst the people, some crying,“Lo, here!” and others, “Lo, there!” Some were contending for the Methodist faith, some for the Presbyterian, and some for the Baptist." (Joseph Smith --History 1:5; Click here to see full text)

His family, even, were followers of more than one religion. Joseph, like the rest of his family (and the rest of his town) was very concerned about what he should do, and which church he should join. (he gives a full account found here. 5-12 are especially relevant to his difficulty in choosing a church)

In his account he tells us that he attended the different sects "as often as occasion would permit", and helps us understand that he truly just wanted to know which church God would have him join.

One day he was studying the scriptures, certainly searching for some kind of answer, when he came across the first chapter of The Book of James. In the first chapter, fifth verse, it reads:

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5)

Joseph Smith relates:
"Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know" (JS-H 1:12)

I have had the wonderful experience of finding an answer I need in the scriptures. This must have been such an incredible experience.

Joseph "reflected on it again and again". He says in the following verse that "at length [he] came to the conclusion that [he] must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else [he] must do as James directs, that is, ask of God."

And so he determined to go into a grove of trees near his house to pray. He tells us that he had never made any attempt to pray vocally before.

Now, I don't want this entire post to be padded with quotes, but I really feel that he shares his experience better than I can. So this next quote is a long one, and it tells us what happened as he prayed that day in the woods.

"After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

"But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

"It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" 

Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ that day. They appeared to him to begin The Restoration of The Priesthood of God.

But before they appeared, we read that he was "seized upon by some power which entirely overcame [him]." 

Satan had reigned on the earth for nearly 2000 years and he didn't want anyone to mess things up. The fact that the serpent tried to silence Joseph, gives me more reason to believe that this was a crucial moment in the Lord's Kingdom on Earth. Of course, there can be no darkness where there is light, and the devil could not bear God's presence; so he fled.

Having been delivered from evil, Joseph looked up into the faces of his Eternal Father, and his Saviour.

He, of course, asked them which church to join (though I'm sure he just sat in silence and astonishment for a very long time), and They told him that none of the churches on the earth at that time held God's Authority.

Joseph was not called to organize The Lord's church on this day, but a few years later.

There are a few key things that we learn about God from this boy's experience.

Satan's influence is real. And as much as he wants us to believe he doesn't exist, to better tempt us, he does.

We learn that God the Father and Jesus Christ are two distinct beings: a matter that, sadly, is debated.

We learn that we are made in the image of God.

We learn, also, that God answers prayers today. He has not closed heaven, he has not forsaken us. If we go to Him in sincere prayer, He will answer us. 

I know that on that day Joseph Smith did see God and Jesus Christ. I know that he was later called to be a prophet of God, and that the church established by God through him is the true church on the earth.

check out mormon.org if you have any questions.
                                                    

In my next post I will talk about The Book of Mormon. In short, it is an ancient record of the people of the Americas, delivered by an angel into the hands of Joseph to be translated. 

That sounds absolutely ludicrous.

But. I have read The Book of Mormon, and have prayed to ask God if it is true, and I know that it is.

The typical extrapolation we make in the church is that if The Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph really must have translated it from an ancient record. And if he did so, then he truly must have been called of God.

And so, it is through The Book of Mormon that we can know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church of God on the earth.

The Great Apostacy - Mormon History Part I

In order to have a discussion about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we need to lay down a bit of a foundation. The basic foundation is that God exists, He is our Father, and He loves us. Second, The Holy Bible is true.

Now, I don't really expect you to accept those at face value. I do want to talk about real reasons why I know God exists, and why I believe the Bible to be true. However, the purpose of this blog being to discuss the LDS church I want to start with its origins. 

Later on we will most definitely talk about God and the Bible and other things. For now, let's assume that God exists and the Bible is true, so that we don't have to debate that every time they come up.

In my first post I referred to the "modern-day origins" of the Church. The reason I used that phrase is because the Church is not new. It has existed since the time of Adam. 

God communicated with Adam, and gave him instructions. He told him what was right in the sight of God, and what was wrong. I'm not talking at all about the Garden of Eden, I'm talking about after the Garden; after Adam and Eve were kicked out and started having children. Our Father sent angels to Adam to teach him, and to give him Authority.

This Authority is called the Priesthood of God. It is the authority to act in the name of God. To compare it to something mundane: it's like the authority a police officer has. The Officer is not the Crown. But he can act in the name of the Crown. When a police officer arrests someone, he does so in the name of the Crown. The King doesn't come down into the streets and slap handcuffs on the criminal, but if the authority of the law is exercised correctly the arrest is as valid as if His Majesty Himself were to say "you have the right to remain silent, etc."

The Priesthood of God works this way. It is the power to act in God's name. Many prophets of the Old Testament (the first half of the Bible) performed miracles. The most famous, probably, being Moses. He commanded the Red Sea to move out of the way, and it did! Not because Moses was so powerful as to command the elements, but because God is. And Moses held God's authority.

That kind of power and authority is precious, and is not to be abused, nor can it be. 

So when God's children generally stopped listening to him, and obeying his instructions, he of course removed that authority from the Earth. He cannot have unrighteous individuals teaching false principles in His name.

This happened a few times. 

God would select someone to be His prophet, restore the Priesthood to the earth, and teach His children. After some time (years, decades, centuries) men and women would start to disregard, and even kill, God's prophets. At which time he would again remove his authority. If you read the Old Testament you will see this pattern occur.

At the meridian of time God sent his Only Begotten Son to the earth: Jesus Christ. When The Saviour came to the earth we were in a state of "no priesthood". In addition to being the Son of God, he was also God's Prophet, and restored the Holy Priesthood. He gave this authority to several people, namely The Twelve Apostles (Peter, James, John, etc.)

Now, Christ's mission on earth was much (MUCH) greater than to reorganize God's church. He came down to perform The Atonement, and pay the price for all of our shortcomings. We will definitely discuss The Atonement, as it is the single most important part of God's plan and of our beliefs. But it deserves a post all to itself.

Jesus Christ, upon fulfilling his mission on earth, returned to our Heavenly Father, leaving his Priesthood Authority with his Apostles, who then led the church for many years.

The true doctrine of Christ's teachings very quickly began to change. In fact, the majority of the New Testament consists of letters written by the Apostle Paul to different cities correcting them, and the things that they had begun to change and teach incorrectly.

The Apostles were constantly persecuted, and eventually all were killed.

Once again the Authority of God was removed from the earth.

But this time was different than all other times. The following period with no Priesthood is known as The Great Apostacy.

God would not return to restore his Priesthood Power and Authority for roughly 1800 years!

______________________

In my next post I will talk about The Restoration of the Church, and the Priesthood.

I do want to pursue a more casual conversation about the things we teach and believe in the church. But it's important that you understand the "modern-day origins" of the LDS church, so that we can have a more meaningful discussion of these things.

check out mormon.org if you have any questions.

Born Into It

I believe that I was born into The Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints because it was the only way I would ever be a part of it.

If I had grown up outside the church and two guys in white shirts, ties, and black name tags came up to me to share their beliefs, here's the furthest that would've gone:

-polite introductions
-"No, I'm not interested"
-"Yeah, I guess I can listen 'til my bus comes"
-take pamphlet to later be thrown out
-"No, you can't come to my house. No, you can't have my phone number"
-The End

I'm not a particularly rude guy, but I also like things when they're simple, and when I have less to worry about. Being a member of the church just gives me more things to worry about and more things that I have to do.

So if being a member is such a pain, why do I still go? Why do I bother living the principles and beliefs of the church, and why on earth am I writing a blog to share these things with you?

Because it's worth it.
The things that I believe as a Mormon, and the principles that I live have brought a lot of happiness into my life. Way more than anything else ever could. My choices, as a result of what I believe, have led me to my wife, my daughter, my bun in the oven, and a myriad of non-family blessings.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church of God on the earth, and it has given me the tools I need to make a wonderful life, and to have an amazing family.

If you do not want to read a blog about the Mormon Church, then read no further.
I am here to tell you what we do, why we do it, what we believe, and why I know it's true.

As I grew up I remember my parents always telling me that I shouldn't believe the things taught at church just because they believed them. They taught me that I should discover for myself if I too believed them.
That is how everyone in the church is taught, whether they're children or adults. Everyone is invited to find out for themselves if they believe what is taught, and they are given the tools to go and find out.

Before starting my next post I want to make a request.
This blog is intended to share what I truly believe. If you feel the need to challenge that, or argue with it, I would rather you gave me some way to contact you (email, etc) to have an interesting and enlightening discussion. However, I do not want this blog to become a grounds for heated debate (as the internet too often becomes). Please refrain from negative or aggressive comments. Though, I will respond to all comments, even those not in keeping with my request.

Thank you.