Friday, April 11, 2008

A Fine Mess with the FLDS Church

My wife, Lucy, and I have been listening to all the flap going on in the news regarding the polygamist mess and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Lucy thought some of comments which have been floating around needed to be addressed, a clarification if you will, regarding the fact that the FLDS group is not the same as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS); no more so than the Catholic Church would claim to be associated with, say, the Southern Baptists.

What’s in a name? If you call yourself a Christian it would be a natural assumption to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Then how come quite a few folks who claim to be Christians directly oppose those teachings in public, instead directing others down a path never intended by the Lord? I know there are a few out there, I won’t get down in the gutter with them; but they know who they are, who point their fingers at the Mormon Church and think that’s the problem. “Those Mormons aren’t Christians because they don’t worship “the same Jesus we do” and other moronic castigations intended to belittle that which they have no understanding of; but I don’t want to get down in the gutter so I’ll not go there.

No, the wool being pulled over your eyes comes from a different threat. The soothing voice which beckons good Christians away from the true teachings of the Gospel and down a path never intended by our Savior whispers in your ear that it’s okay to ignore the most important aspects of Jesus Christ and the Gospel. The teachings which Christians hold most sacred, that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God, the Saviour of mankind, that life is everlasting because of the Atonement; these are of no importance according to Oprah.

You heard right, Oprah would have you discard Christianity in favor of “feeling good about yourself” with no regard for the eternities. Don’t believe me, then I’ll let Oprah tell you in her own words and in her own voice.

This is the same Oprah who’s backed Obama for the Presidency of the United States of America. How long will America stand without God, without following the teachings of Jesus Christ, without the necessary element of faith in a majority of citizens? Ask yourself this, if what is being taught isn’t from God, then where are these new teachings from and who is it that teaches us not to believe in God and in Jesus Christ?

I wanted to let anyone reading this to know where I stand. I believe in God the Eternal Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost. I believe the Bible to be the word of God, accounting for the clerical and intentional errors contained therein. I believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God as a second witness of the divinity of Jesus as the Christ. ( I’ll pause while some of you tear a piece of clothing ) I believe that each man, woman and child is a true child of God, having been made in the image of God. We are therefore heir to all that has been promised. May we all seek to obey His commandments that we may fully take advantage of the resurrection which provides us with life in the eternities. May we accept the atonement provided by Jesus Christ and return to our Father in Heaven is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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