Saturday 25 January 2014

No Peace Until Christ Comes


At times the world in which we live can look like a very scary place that’s because right now it is, make no mistake about it Satan has complete control over his domain. It seems that the world has been abandoned by God and that he has forgotten about us and that we are alone without guidance and without his love. For Latter Day Mormons when we look at the world it serves as a constant reminder to us that the Lord’s promises are indeed coming to pass, we do not worry at the state of the world for ourselves but rather for the wicked for we remember that the Lord has promised to send forth his angles to gather in all the righteous unto his kingdom and to call in all those that are righteous and at peace. The Lord has proclaimed that all his people should remove themselves from the wicked world for it is no place for the righteous, and so we Latter Day Mormons know that one day we to will be asked to do the same, for peace is lacking and God is peace. What we have to understand today when we look at the world is to be realistic and understand that peace has departed from the world, that the devil does have power over the hearts of men and therefore over his dominion. This is seen in the continued actions of men, the distress among the nations of the earth, in the continued troubles that we all see in lands all around the world including our own nation and nations not to far from us in Europe such as today in the Ukraine were violent protests are going on in the name of peace, peace no such actions represent peace but instead represent violence and hatred by organisations who revel in such actions in the disguise of peace.

As Latter Day Mormons we must remember not sugar coat the situation we find ourselves standing in today we must be honest and say that there is no peace, that men’s hearts have indeed failed them. Therefore greed and dishonesty have a bigger place in their hearts than the righteous intentions of peace. Let us be clear, evil is to be found all over the earth and is making its self manifest in the selfish interests of nations and peoples. Let us make no mistake that the times in which we are living are dark and evil and are as the Prophet Jeraneck for saw when he said ‘But I fear for your time more than I fear for mine, for your time will be seven times worse than mine, for your time will see great tribulation for I have seen these things and an Angel of the Almighty has shown me many things even the great darkness that will engulf your land.’ (BOJ 15:73).

With this in mind I believe that these days should be a time of warning not only unto us as Latter Day Mormons but also unto all the world, and we who know the truth, we who are blessed by God with revelation of the last days, it is up to us to raise the voice of warning unto all men across all nations, that this time is a time that the Lord has told us will usher in his second coming and it is a time of wickedness and a time were no real peace will be found. Now, we see today that the nations of the world have gathered together in order to try and gain a peace in Syria, but it must be understood that although they may indeed gain a peace Syria or in whatever land they discuss there will never be world peace because of the wickedness of men. Syria is the battle ground of corrupt religion and the wants of men and the evil of secret combinations and governments, not about human rights but about who controls the Middle East. When we look to the Ukraine we see that the wickedness of the people id made manifest in large numbers, are the protesters or rioters really going to achieve their armies this way? The answer is No! All they are doing now is bringing the government in to a civil unrest which could if not checked slide in to a wider conflict including neighbouring countries. Have we forgotten that the Ukraine lies at the boarder of Russia, do we think for one minute that Russia will tolerate a civil war on its boards. There is much going on in Ukraine that is evil and uneasy and none of it is about peace or human rights or the rule of law, rather it is about the wickedness of men’s hearts.

Now we say that we Latter Day Mormons should be less concerned about watching the times and season for the coming of Christ, but rather we should be praying and preparing to be ready for when he comes again. Today more than ever we live in a time when the leaders of the world are crying peace and security and this is a false promise as outlined by Paul when he talks about the last days and he make it know unto us that the leaders of the world will cry ‘Peace and safety’ and their eyes will be closed to the evil that surrounds them and they will try and not see the destruction that is upon them. How right is Paul, how right was he when he said these words for today we let evil go unchecked in order to keep a wider so called peace, when in reality there is no peace and that so called peace is false and instead of crying repentance unto all nations we have decided to cry abstinence and self preservation in order to keep war from our own lands. We might ask the ultimate question, what’s the matter with the nations of today? Today many nations are at war contending against each other many entering in to agreements to gain arms, trying to curtail other nations and trying to build themselves up and take away peoples freedom, all the while at the same time asking for peace conferences and talks and establishing so called peace agreements all this is being done to try and establish peace throughout the world, but they cannot do this because they will not get down to the real fundamental principles upon which real pace is based and as long as selfishness and greed and the desire for power and wealth remains in their hearts there will be no peace no matter the steaks. Now because of this when one does stand and proclaim to the world ‘I can bring peace, I will stop all war’ men will stand and listen and follow regardless of the price they are going to have to pay, this man will stand in a time of great upheaval and say these very things and people will follow him and he will be the great ant-Christ and men will not see it, because they are blind and do not understand real peace. Let us be very clear! We could have peace, peace throughout all the world if only those that are at strife and war would repent and in doing so obtain a contrite spirit and broken heart and in doing this they will find love in their hearts and love for their neighbours and love for God, this is real peace.

As Latter Day Mormons we need to understand that the call for peace today is not because the nations of the earth have found the love of God, but it is because of fear and unrighteous, fear and greed and their own self interests. With this in mind we know that all these searches for so called peace are destined to ultimately fail because the fear that is in their hearts is also in the hearts of their neighbours and if that is true then how can they have real peace. What we say now will seem very controversial but is true never the less. We say it is controversial because this continued asking for prayers of peace is a futile act that we are called upon by members of other faiths. Every new year we are asked to pray for peace throughout the world but this proclamation is not a sincere request because we can not pray to the Lord asking for him to listen to our cry for peace or victory over evil, what we should be asking is not what we want but rather what does the he the Lord want, what is his wish for us. When we stop asking the Lord to do what we want and instead start asking him what he wants then he will listen but until then our prayers will fall upon deaf ears, for are the nations of the earth really asking for peace or are they asking for there own evil desires. I don’t know of any just war or any just call for peace that is being proclaimed today. Even the conference of so called peace taking place over Syria and the Ukraine are all in vain and will fail because there is not one party sitting around the table of peace that really desires peace but rather they are all together to control and to exhort control over their fellow man and to obtain that which has not been given them but rather they are their to destroy the hearts of their fellow men and to lay blame.

As a church of God we may be accused of not proclaiming all is well and proclaiming a story of peace, but the scriptures tell us that things will get worse before they get better, so why sugar coat the truth. No! We say prepare, pray and stay close to God for the storms are here and they will continue, trouble in the earth will increase there will be distress and calamity among the nations of the earth until the Master comes. We are saying unto the church not to look for peace in the near future because it will not come, but rather look forward with rejoicing to the day of the Lord, and do it with faith and hope and in the fear of the Lord. It is true that we should look to the future with joy and humility with a righteous desire in our hearts to serve the Lord and keep his commandments, for the world is telling us with all its wickedness that the day is drawing ever nearer to his coming. For if peace reigned upon the earth now we would have no need for him to come, for he is to deliver us from evil and usher in a time of peace and he will do this because the nations of the earth can not find peace without him.

Let all Latter Day Mormons start now if you haven’t already to prepare, prepare for the end of days and also for the coming of God. Lets us prepare in spirit and in body, let us still do as Jeraneck did and proclaim peace, yes, but let us not be fooled in to thinking that we will bring about a real full peace, let us proclaim peace in God, in the Saviour and in doing so bring those that are lost home to his living care. Let us remember not to cast our pearls before swine, for this should not be done and that the lord himself will one day withdraw his people from the world in preparation for his coming. Let us stand as the example of God on the earth today and do only as he commands and not what people command. Let us look to him for our guidance and not to what the world tells us is right or wrong, so be strong and be valiant for we are his people and only he can bring peace to the earth and so let us be ready to help in that work when he reigns again.

Sunday 5 January 2014

Official Statement: New Years Message

The New Year’s message of the Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ for 2014 is family unity and family commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ, this is the most important thing that we the church wish to advocate this year. The adversary has turned his attention to the destruction of the principle of the family in our society today and he will stop at nothing to bring it down or reduce its significance in the world we live. We find that on every side there continues to be a sustained attack on the basic integrity of the family as the foundation of what is good and noble in the world. It has become apparent that many efforts are being made by governments across the globe to limit the size or even the effectiveness of families, sometimes under the guise of saving the world from overpopulation or discrimination against those who choose not to have families. Many of these government proposals include placing some sort of legal penalties on those who may choose to have more than two children, such as stopping or decreasing child benefit or stopping married couple’s tax breaks or stopping tax breaks for family’s altogether. Their ultimate aim? To destroy the family unit and its effectiveness in the world. Even many more governments are now adopting ever more liberal views on abortion which would suggest to the church the ever more blatant disregard for the sacredness of human life and the family.

In a world which in the grip of the adversary and governments blind to his power we find that families are more and more being torn apart by increasing use of illegal drugs and the abuse of legal drugs without the governments of the world doing much to stem the problem and instead allowing many drugs to be legalised, this action is putting more and more strain and demand on the families already under great strain. Because of this great strain families are becoming fractured and the ever more present contempt for authority in our society by more and more young people is beginning in the home with disrespect and disobedience towards parents whom the governments of the world are bemoaning every minute of everyday.

The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ and I as Prophet know that today more than ever the forces of evil attack the individual by tearing away at the roots of the family and it is becoming critical for Latter Day Mormon parents to maintain and strengthen the family every day. There very well may possibly be a few very strong individuals in the world who can survive without the support of a family unit around them, but more and more of us find ourselves in need of the love, teaching, and support that come from those who care very deeply for us. The primary function of a Latter Day Mormon home is to insure that every member of the family works to create the climate and conditions in which all can grow toward perfection. For all parents, this requires dedication of time and energy and this means providing for more than just their children’s physical needs but also for their spiritual needs as well. We need to make sure that in this new year of 2014 that we spend more time making our families and our homes successful in devoting our best creative energy to the most important unit in society, our families. We need to ask ourselves some very important questions. What is our relationship towards our family? Is it merely a routine, unrewarding part of your life? No, it is not! Both parent and child must be willing to put family responsibilities first in order to achieve family unity and peace and salvation.

My brothers and sisters we must remember that although we live in wondrous times, full of many marvellous things there are also great challenges and temptations all around us. I pray that our Heavenly Father will give all of us the strength in this coming year to reach our one true potential. I pray that his Spirit rests upon the homes of the Church, and indeed the all the home sin all the world, that there may be love and harmony found within them. May our Father in heaven preserve and protect our families this year, God bless you all in 2014 and remember who we are and what we have been placed here to do, God Bless you all and have a Happy New Year.

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