Today is the day that Britain gave same sex marriage equal footing
with biblical marriage and the day that Britain slipped in to darkness and
fell under condemnation from God. Let us be clear when we say that The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ continues to
condemn the move taken by the government of the United Kingdom because it is at odds
with the law of God and because of the actions of those who stand in government office and whom have made this decision the country will feel Gods condemnation at a point and time of the Lords choosing. It must be understood that just because the public feel that it is a good move and one
that should have been made means nothing in the sight of the church and also in
the sight of God and his Law. The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ will never
allow marriage between same sex couples as it is a violation of Gods law and
will remain that way regardless of what the law of the land says. We must be
allowed to be able to say that we do not condone this violation and condemn it, just as those who agree with it are given endless time in the press to promote it. I
t is our God given right to object to this law and we will defend our right to argue against it fiercely as God would
want us to.
If you have any questions or are interested in finding out more about the Restored Branch of Jesus Christ please email us: info@restoredbranch.com
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Offical Statement: Same Sex Marriage
The Coming of Christ
As the
leadership of The Latter Day Church we have been asked many times ‘When will
the Lord Come?’ It is the belief of The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ and
also my personal belief that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God is not for away, quite how far away we don’t know but I do know that the
pieces of the Jigsaw that need to be in place for the events preceding thee
coming of the Lord to be put in play are there and the stage is set.
We must
be watchful and mindful of our place in this wicked world, for it is rapidly
coming to an end, that is to say that the days of the wicked are truly coming
to an end, and only when the world is fully ripe in iniquity will the Lord draw
back the veil and reveal himself unto all the world. I would caution all those
that are in the belief that the Lord has and continues to delay his coming, for
he will come at his appointed time, not the time that we want him to come but
in his own due time. This thinking is not the doctrine of the scriptures or of
the church and is incorrect and dangerous thinking. Let me state again that the
Lord will come during a time of great wickedness when the earth is full of iniquity
and when it is ripe for a cleansing the like of which mankind has never witnessed
before. Many of the signs of his coming have been given and have shown
themselves, so the Latter Day Church make it very clear that the coming of the
Lord is very close, he is no longer at the door, but rather his is through the
door and awaiting to speak.
My
brothers and Sisters do not be lulled in to a false sense of security in
thinking that the Lord will come and show himself when all the world has become
righteous enough to receive him, this is false doctrine and is not scriptural
but rather an insidious doctrine spread by churches who wish to maintain a
missionary force throughout the world in order to advance membership rather
than to spread the truth that we are in the last throws of a dying sinful
world. The Lord will not wait for us all to become righteous, when he is ready
he will come, and this will be when the cup of the world runs over with
wickedness and evil. So we need to be faithful and righteous and if we are not
then it will be to our downfall and no ones fault but our own.
Again it
is the policy of the church and the doctrine of our faith that the Lord will
not come until the world has been given an opportunity to hear the warnings,
given by those in authority, messengers sent to prepare the way before him. We
do not expect the Lord to come and judge the world without first giving it a
warning and preparing the way to escape the judgments and allow a time for
those who are wicked to repent. This has been the pattern of our Father God
since the foundation of the world and just as he endowed the Saviour to
commission Noah to warn the world before the flood and to warn the people that if
they repented they would be saved. Now today the same is to be said of us, we
have been commissioned by God the Father through his son Jesus Christ too warn
the world that it today is the time to start to repent and start to live your
lives righteously.
It is
our solemn belief that the coming of the Lord will happen in this generation,
that the Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ are here to warn expound and exhort
all to repent. The day is very close at hand and I declare that all Latter Day
Mormons should set there houses in order now! If you have work to do then do
it! If there are things that are amiss in your preparation then get them sorted
and do not put it off. Keep the commandments of God, do as you are directed, do
not turn your face from him or his church or his commandments and if you serve
with humility and faith and with prayer your house shall be set in order and
you shall be prepared for whatever these days of tribulation have in store for
you. I bless that you will heed the words of the Lord and his servants for the
day soon cometh when all shall be darkened and the light shall not be lifted
until the Lord of hosts the son of God shall stand amongst you and proclaim
with the host of heaven that I am He whom the father has sent and every knee
shall bow and every tongue confess that he is the Christ.
Saturday, 1 February 2014
Recognising a Living Prophet
Throughout the history of the world the majority of
people have never been able to recognise a living Prophet no matter where he is
raised or on what continent he springs from. Only a few were and are able to
believe that God could speak to a man who wears the common clay of ones own
generation. The rest of the people would idolize the prophets of the past,
while they stoned and killed or even persecuted the living Prophets of the
present. It is a fascinating study of human nature to see how these people
would usually honour the Prophets of the past rather than acknowledge that they
have a living Prophet in front of them. Once the Prophets were dead, they would
place them on imaginary pedestals, turning them into perfect individuals who
had never made a single mistake or who had never said anything controversial.
Then they would make a selection from their teachings which suited their own
particular tastes, and smugly go about living their, lives of wickedness while
mouthing a few popular phrases which identifies them with these servants of
God. In other words they bend the reality of the Prophets life to suit their
own lives and the state in which they find themselves so that they feel better
about living a lie or a sin.
As Latter Day Mormons and members of The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ we know without a doubt that men cannot live without living prophets amongst them for it is the living prophets that stand amongst the people who will denounce these hypocrites who say they are followers God but instead obey their won licentious desires. Living prophets will not allow men to pick their teachings to pieces and construct a crazy quilt pattern of personal interpretations which matches popular opinion of the day. This is why Prophets are seldom popular with their own generation because they tell it as it is and stand to correct all those that do not stand in righteousness. It is the task of the people of each generation to discover weather or not God has risen up a living Prophet for them in their day. The Bible teaches us that whenever Prophets are raised up, certain things will begin to happen. Doctrines will be clarified, new truths will be revealed, prophecies will be given, thekingdom of God will be revitalised and every honest
seeker after the truth will be able to observe the power with witch a true
prophet carries out his mission.
As Latter Day Mormons and members of The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ we know without a doubt that men cannot live without living prophets amongst them for it is the living prophets that stand amongst the people who will denounce these hypocrites who say they are followers God but instead obey their won licentious desires. Living prophets will not allow men to pick their teachings to pieces and construct a crazy quilt pattern of personal interpretations which matches popular opinion of the day. This is why Prophets are seldom popular with their own generation because they tell it as it is and stand to correct all those that do not stand in righteousness. It is the task of the people of each generation to discover weather or not God has risen up a living Prophet for them in their day. The Bible teaches us that whenever Prophets are raised up, certain things will begin to happen. Doctrines will be clarified, new truths will be revealed, prophecies will be given, the
It is a fact that in all of holy writ there is not one single instance where God ever selected a professional holy man to be one of His prophets. In every case the call came like a bolt out of the blue, totally unexpected and very often to men who considered themselves weak and incapable and these people were amazed that God should honour them with revelation or consider them worthy of a prophetic calling at all. In many cases the work progressed very slowly and in the face of massive rejection and persecution. Many people said God would not speak to a mere normal person, they held aloft their scriptures containing the writings of prophets from the past, that in most circumstances had been clipped and spliced to suit their world view and with these held aloft would say that this was all the revelation they needed. They proclaimed that the new young prophet was making up his revelations that they weren’t from God, and how dare he stand and say such blasphemous things. However this was to be expected, these people could not recognise a living prophet any more than the people could at the time of Christ they were blinded and stuck in their ways and numb to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
In the case of the Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ much of what is written above is the case for us. The Prophet is a normal man with a normal life and family, but God has called him to be a Prophet and today the gospel doctrines are being clarified, new revelation is being brought forth and people are being awakened to seek the truth that has for so long been lost or corrupted. We are indeed living in a time of clarification and a time when the Lord God has indeed spoken to men again and is leading a people in his way. This is what the
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.
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Official Statment: Blacks and the Priesthood
This week the LDS Mormon
church based out of Utah in the United States
made a statement concerning blacks and the Priesthood and tried in vain it
would seem to re-write their past history of hatred and bigotry. With this in
mind we thought that it would be important to let the world know that not all
Mormons are like this and that the Mormon faith established by the Prophet Joseph
Smith did not take the decision to exclude blacks but rather it was a decision
based on the actions of one Brigham Young and the church led by him.
Many people have asked
the question ‘Why did the Mormon church not ordain black men to the Priesthood’
to answer that question we have to look at the original church under the
Prophet Joseph Smith. It is an established fact the Prophet Joseph Smith never
denied membership in to the church based on race or colour and indeed several
black men were made members and also ordained to the Priesthood during Joseph
Smiths lifetime.
The first known black
member of the early church was ‘Black Pete’, who joined the church in Kirtland Ohio . At least two
African Americas, Elijah Abel in 1836 and Walker Lewis in 1844 were ordained to
the priesthood during Joseph Smiths lifetime. Two decedents of Elijah Abel were
also ordained Elders, and two other black men, Samuel Chambers and Edward
Leggroan were ordained Deacons. Early black members in the church were also
allowed admittance in to the temple at Kirtland Ohio . It is here at Kirtland that Elijah
Abel received the ordinance and ritual of washing and anointing.
By 1839 there were about
a dozen black members in the church. Later at Nauvoo it was reported that at
least twenty two black members were registered including free slaves. Indeed we
see that from their very own LDS archives that in 1836 the rules established by
the church for governing assemblies in the Kirtland temple include attendees
who were ‘bond or free, black or white’ (History of the church, Vol.2, Ch.26,
p.368.
So it is an established
fact that there have been black members of the Mormon faith and holders of the Priesthood
since 1832. Elijah Abel was a personal friend of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and
helped rescue him from mobs in Missouri
bent on taking the life of the Prophet. Elijah Abel however died in the Salt Lake
Valley out of favour with
the church due to his being black. So what do we know? Joseph did ordain black
men, but not black slaves.
Brigham young however was
no Joseph Smith and in 1852 widened that ban to all black men free or bond and
he did so using a much disputed set of scriptures known as the pearl of great
price used and printed for the first time in 1852, and used Abraham 1:26 to
justify his ban. Brigham young then initiated the Priesthood ban excluding all
people of Hamitic lineage from the Priesthood and higher ordinances of the
temple all this was done in 1852. The reason he gave was that ‘Negroes’ were
the descendants of Cain, and Cain killed Abel, it would be against the justice
of God to extend the Priesthood to the descendants of Cain. This seems very strange
that God would allow one Prophet to ordain black men and then tell another not
too, is God not the same yesterday today and forever? Surely if God knew it was
wrong he would have instructed Joseph to stop it. The fact is it had nothing to
do with God and more to do with hatred and bigotry on the part of Brigham
Young.
The LDS priesthood ban
was rescinded but never repudiated on June 8th 1978 by President Spencer W
Kimble, just in time for a temple to be built and dedicated in Brazil a country
with a very dense black population. It
would seem to some that the 1978 proclamations has never been answered until now,
it certainly has never been discussed by the LDS Church
in a manner that would invite discussion. Now we see that they claim that
Brigham was acting as a man and he made an error based upon the thinking of the
day, but it did not stop the Lord working through him as a Prophet. We find
this very interesting. What are they saying? That the Lord works through evil
men and men who make constant mistakes? This also is against the scriptures and
also against Gods actions when a Prophet rejects God he is removed from his Position.
Would it not be better to say that since Joseph Smith we the LDS church have
not had a Prophet chosen by God but rather chosen by the will of the people a
point that Brigham was keen to proclaim many times in his life “I do
not profess to be a Prophet. I never called myself so; but I actually believe I
am, because people are all the time telling me that I am.” Journal of
Discourses, 5:177
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Our Right to Educate Our Children Our Way
In The
Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ and as the Prophet of the church I have
always encouraged the church and its members to seek prayerfully to support
parents no matter the type of education they choose for their children,
including state education, independent secular education, independent Christian
schools, and homeschooling.
It will be of concern to many to read
of the report on “Elective Home Education,” compiled on behalf of the
Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) by Graham Badman here in
the United Kingdom .
The areas of specific concern to Christians and indeed Latter Day Mormons (and
many non-Christians) will be the proposed compulsory annual registration of
their children and inspection visits by representatives of the Local Education
Authority (LEA).
In many cases, it is precisely because
of the poor standard of LEA provision that parents have chosen to educate their
children at home. There will also be concern that these proposed inspection
visits should involve conversations between LEA representatives and the child
alone—without the parents present. This latter point is an abuse of parental
responsibility and rights and as we know the Lord puts great store in the
rights of parents in the scriptures both old and new.
Elective
home education: the deliverance (in elective home education) or delegation (to
schools) by parents of any and all compulsory educational provision is a legal
duty, not a legal right. It is our legal duty to ensure our children’s
education is suitable and efficient. The education acts confers this duty on
parents, because parents know their children best
and are therefore in a position to ensure the provision is suitable for them.
Mr Badman seems not to have grasped this idea at all; indeed he seems to think
that they, the parents have no clue.
The famous quote from successive
education bills—repeated in the Education Act 1996, Section 7—does indeed refer
to duty:
Duty of
Parents to Secure Education of Children of Compulsory School Age
The
parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive
efficient full-time education suitable—
(a) To
his age, ability and aptitude, and
(b) To
any special educational needs he may have,
Either
by regular attendance at school or otherwise.
This is in line with the biblical position:
You
shall teach them [God’s laws] diligently to your children. (Deuteronomy 6:7) Train
up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from
it. (Proverbs 22:6)
And you,
fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the
training and admonition of the Lord.(Ephesians 6:4)
Whichever form of education we choose
for our children, the parents and specifically as indicated in Scripture, the
fathers are responsible, and we will answer to God for the choices we make.
Please let us be firm when we say that
as far as the church is concerned the educational needs of children are first
and foremost the duty of the parent rather than the state. Parents may delegate
this educational responsibility to those whom they trust, but this delegation
in no wise removes their responsibility for the education of their children. Latter
Day Mormon and indeed Christian parents should think long and hard about
whether the teachers at their children’s school are bringing them up according
to the values that the parents want, and if not, then it should be considered a
mistake to send our children into such an environment.
Many
Christians and indeed many believers, whatever their denomination in the UK,
have chosen to home school their children for precisely this reason. In the
past, there has been no reason for parents to need to justify this decision to
the state. The Bible makes no requirement to justify this position and supports
those who take it. In an atmosphere where increasing numbers of Christians feel
that they suffer discrimination for their faith, this report could open up one
more avenue for such discrimination.
As the
prophet of the church it is my wish to see many of the children involved now
with the church or those that will latter be involved with the church to be either
educated by the church in its very own school or to be home schooled, so that
we can indeed educate our children in a way pleasing unto the Lord and so that
we may stand blameless before God when asked what we did for those placed in
our care by the Father.
(Source for Sermon taken from Answers in Genesis)
(Source for Sermon taken from Answers in Genesis)
Saturday, 7 December 2013
A Sure Knowledge of God
Its is a great blessing
that we have in the Latter Day Church to know that God does indeed live, that
he is alive and that Christ is his only begotten Son not only in spirit but
also in flesh and that he is the Saviour of the world. However we must all of
us remember that we have not learned all that there is to know about him or the
Father, neither is it possible for all of us to learn all we need to in this
mortal life, it is impossible for us all to know everything about them or to
fully comprehend their being. For many of us it is enough to know that Jesus is
the Christ and that he took upon himself all the sins of this world and that
the Father is our Father in spirit and that he rules in his place. For many of
us when we enter in to the presence of God the Father and his Son many of us
will be crowned with exhalation and the glory and promise and the sure
knowledge that comes with it. However until we do enter into their most perfect
presence and receive this most wonderful of blessings for many of we will not
fully know the only true God and Jesus Christ in their entirety.
For Latter Day Mormons
the scriptures give us a guiding light however in to some aspects of the God
head and the nature of the beings that make up this most glories leadership.
The scriptures show us the personality of God, for example the Saviour said in
John ‘My Father is greater than I’ (John 14:28) and in Luke he invited the disciples
to touch him after the resurrection and to handle him and se what had transpired
‘A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have’ (Luke 24:39). It is
understood by us all that Man was created in the image of God and that this was
to be taken in the literal sense not just as a mystical utterance but as a real
and indeed personal statement by the creator and as Latter Day Mormons we know
that we are created in the image of God and that as we are create din his image
much of his personality is indeed in us.
Much of the personality
of God is questioned today, it is questioned that he even lives at all and to
us as followers of God the Father and his Son it can seem very absurd that such
as thing is questioned, however it must be remembered that man does not have
all wisdom and knowledge and that many men believe that they have and try to
explain away things that they do not understand, however we know that God has
all wisdom and knowledge and that he stands supreme above all. To all who are
doubting let me ask you this do we believe that God has all wisdom? If so then
he is absolute. If there is something he does not know then he is not absolute
in wisdom and to think such a thing is absurd and lacks faith. The nest question we need to ask is doe she
have all power? If so then there is nothing in which he lacks. If he is lacking
in wisdom and power then he is not supreme and there must be something greater
than he, and this is again absurd and lacing in faith. Our scriptures give us
the answer to this question without question. In the book of Mormon for example
Nephi the Prophet says ‘O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all
things, and there is nothing save he knows it’ and the same again in the
D&C when the Lord himself speaks and says ‘The Spirit of truth is of God. I
am the spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying he received a
fullness of truth, yea, even of all truth’ (D&C 93:21-26) and finally the
Prophet Alma said of God ‘Great is our Lord, and of great power his
understanding in infinite’
For us it is a Joy to
know who the Father is and who our Christ is and he is everlasting and they together
form an everlasting truth that will never be extinguished. No matter if we keep
the truth and guard it or it is passed to other to guard the sacred flame it
will go on forever and ever. However we have been given the task of guarding
that flame and it is up to us to learn as much as we can in this life so that
we may stand before them at the judgment in full knowledge of who they are and
why they are so that we may be able to stand as them at same future time and
place.
Saturday, 2 November 2013
Marriage Ordained of God
The house of God is a
house of order and not a house of confusion; this has been the way from the
beginning of creation. In the beginning God instituted marriage, he made man in
his own image and likeness, male and female, and in their creation it was
designed that they should be united together in the sacred bonds of marriage,
and one is not made perfect without the other. This means that man is not
without the women in the Lord, neither is the women without the man in the
Lord. This means that no man can be exalted in the kingdom of God without the
women, and no women can reach the perfection and exaltation in the Kingdom of
God alone, Marriage between Man and Women and none else, this is what marriage
means to God and this is what it means to Latter Day Mormons and members of The
Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ.
Members of The Latter Day Church know that marriage is ordained of God that it is not just for now but for eternity and that we take upon ourselves the very nature of God himself in agreeing to enter in to the marriage covenant. We also know that those who have taken upon themselves the responsibility of the marriage convent should see fit they do not abuse the course of nature, that they do not destroy the principle of life within them, nor violate any of the commandments of God. The commandment that was given in the very beginning to our first parents to multiply and replenish the earth still stands and is still in force upon the children of men. There is no greater sin that could be committed by people who have embraced the gospel than to prevent or destroy life in the manner indicated. We are all born in to this world that we may have life, and we live that we may have fullness of joy and if we will obtain a fullness of joy we must obey the law of our creation and the law by which we may obtain our righteous hopes and desires.
Marriage is the crowing
glory of the gospel of the Gods. Marriage is a principle which, when entered in
to presents more serious problems than any other. It should be received in the
spirit of patience and love, even that greater love which comes though the
power of the Holy Spirit, Nothing will prepare mankind for the glory in the Kingdom
of God as readily as faithfulness to ones marriage and the convents that are
made at marriage.
Let us be very clear on
this subject. We believe that without marriage the purposes if God would be
frustrated, so far as this world is concerned, for there would be none, to obey
his other commands. There appears today in this world a flood of iniquity that
is overwhelming the world in sin. One great reason therefore is the neglect of
the marriage covenant, it has lost its sanctity in the eyes of the majority and
indeed in the eyes of those who stand and rule over us. To the world it is at best
a civil contract and nothing more, it is also something that is far too often
an accident or a whim, or a means of self gratification. And when the
sacredness of the covenant is ignored or lost sight of, then a disregard of the
marriage vows, under the present moral thinking of the masses, is mere
indiscretion. However what we want to impress upon the world is the legitimate
union of the sexes under the law of God.
Marriage under Gods
covenant is the greatest, most glorious, and most exalting principle connected
with the gospel. However let is be stated that we believe and hold true to the
fact that all those married by the authority of men are only doing so until
death. The Lord God will not accept at the hand of man, an offering, vow, or
contract, which is not entered into in accordance with the laws which govern in
his kingdom and which he, God the Father, has established. Man made obligations
and agreements, in which the Lord does not enter, and which were not made by
him, or by his word, which is law, shall come to and end when men are dead and
gone from this earth. However for the marriage contract to be made valid and
binding for eternity as well as for time, the two parties involved must enter
in to the marriage relationship in full obedience and accordance with the laws
upon which such blessings are predicated. The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ
declare today unto all the world that marriage between a man and a women is
ordained of God and that it is the preserver of the human race, just a Jeraneck
tell us in the second section of the Book of Jeraneck when he says:-That all
who come within the walls of the holy temple or tabernacle may know that it is
through man and women that our seed and our children go forward (BofJ Sec2
v49). Without it, the purposes of God would be frustrated, virtue would be
destroyed to give place to vice and corruption and the earth would be void and
empty.
As Latter Day Mormons we
know that God has instituted marriage and that he has ordained it to be between
a man and a women and that it is the most important thing that both young men
and young women should be preparing themselves for in their youth. Let us be
clear that we expect all our men and women to be married by one holding the authority
given to them by God and that authority can only be found in the Latter Day Church
of Jesus Christ. There needs to be a sentiment laid down among our young people
indeed among us all that favour of honourable marriage should only be carried
out by one holding the authority of God. No man holding the priesthood of God
and who is worthy and of age should remain unmarried. We should be teaching our
young men and women that the law of chastity is one of the most vital importance's,
both to children, and to men and to women. God the Father has told of the
penalties of transgressing this law of chastity, of virtue and purity. The
Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ expects its young men and women to be pure,
spotless without blemish and so it is necessary that the Gospel of Jesus Christ
be taught among them from the cradle.
The Gospel of Jesus
Christ is the gospel of the Father and it is the gospel of love, it is the law
of love, and love of God with whole heart and mind is the greatest of all
commandments. This should be remembered in the marriage relationship, for while
it is said that the desires of the women shall be to her husband, and he shall
rule over her, it is intended that rule shall be done in love and not in
tyranny.
The Father through his
son has commanded us that marriage among members of The Latter Day Church of
Jesus Christ should be performed in his holy House not just for time but for
all eternity just as they were done in the days of the ancients here upon this
land in the days of Jeraneck. :- It is expedient that a man come before God in
righteousness and a women comes before
God clean and in righteousness and that they be joined together for eternity
and that they pledge themselves to God and they must do this upon the holy Urim
and Thummim for the Urim and Thummim are representations of revelation and prophesy. With these two
powers within the temple man my gain revelation and women my gain prophesy and
they may work in unity one with another to bring about the greater glory of God
and that is that a women may have children and that a man may have authority
over her. (BofJ Sec2 v58-59).
Members of The Latter Day Church know that marriage is ordained of God that it is not just for now but for eternity and that we take upon ourselves the very nature of God himself in agreeing to enter in to the marriage covenant. We also know that those who have taken upon themselves the responsibility of the marriage convent should see fit they do not abuse the course of nature, that they do not destroy the principle of life within them, nor violate any of the commandments of God. The commandment that was given in the very beginning to our first parents to multiply and replenish the earth still stands and is still in force upon the children of men. There is no greater sin that could be committed by people who have embraced the gospel than to prevent or destroy life in the manner indicated. We are all born in to this world that we may have life, and we live that we may have fullness of joy and if we will obtain a fullness of joy we must obey the law of our creation and the law by which we may obtain our righteous hopes and desires.
In closing let it be
said to our people and indeed all people, get married, and marry right. Marry
in the faith, and let it be performed in the Lords house with one in authority.
Live so that you may be worthy of this blessing. And let us remember as Latter
Day Mormons the gift promised to those who receive the covenant of marriage and
fulfil the measure of their creation and remain faithful till the end for they
shall have no end those and only those shall truly know the one and only wise
and true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.
Saturday, 26 October 2013
All Children Are Alive in Christ
Latter
Day Mormons and members of The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ know that through
the atonement Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice and paid the debt for Adams transgression. We know that the second Article of
faith tells us this when it says ‘We believe
that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's
transgression’.
The crowning glory of all Latter Day Mormons is to be married in the sight of God man with women, when they are joined together they are not only fulfilling the commandment of God but the commandment of eternity. It is with the great union that Man and Women become as the Gods and are endowed from on high to create life and do as the Gods before them and bring in to being life from the eternal world unto this mortal world. As parents we are given the blessings of creating the temples that will house the father’s spirits and in turn it is our duty to make sure that those temples and spirits are looked after and that they fulfil the measure of their creation. Let us not forget that we, each and everyone of us were all mature spirits before we were born, and the bodies of the little children that we have been endowed to create will grow just as our sprit has done little by little. Latter Day Mormons know that the Father loves all his children just as we love our children and he would not allow any of his small and innocent children to be denied access to him if they should die before the age of accountability.
Much of
Christianity is tainted with the false doctrine of original sin which tells
them that all men are born under condemnation and tainted with the sin of Adam.
There are millions of people professing to believe in Christ the Lord who believe
that all children are born under this condemnation. The Latter Day Church of
Jesus Christ state that this is dangerous and indeed a very false doctrine and
we do not adhere to it or any of its principles. The Latter Day Church maintains that this is the most
damnable doctrine ever taught by the false religions of men.
Latter
Day Mormons and all those that belong to The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ
now that no child ever born to man is subject to sin until they reach the age
of accountability, until they begin to know and to understand right from wrong
and become accountable before God almighty according to the age which he
himself has appointed unto man, which is eight years of age. We therefore state
that baptism means nothing in the case of infants because they can not repent,
they have nothing to repent of in the first place, let us not forget that not
only is baptism and outward symbol that you choose to follow God but also used
for the remission of sins.
Let is
be made clear today that we believe that God has not placed any taint upon any
little child no matter how or where they come into this world, it is through
the atoning blood of Christ that they are redeemed from all of Adams sin,
Christ took it upon himself that is the great work of the atonement, let us
remember that the scriptures tell us that ‘The
glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth. Light and
truth forsake that evil one. Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning;
and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant
state, innocent before God’.(D&C 93: 36-38). This revealed truth given
to us by God tells us that all children are innocent in the beginning, which
means before the foundation of the world, before Satan rebelled, all men are
created innocent. Make no mistake when a child is born it is born clean and
innocent from the sin of the world and from past generations.
It is
with this in mind that we know that all children who are born are innocent and
that if they should be called home to the presence of God in their infancy they
will be called home to the full Celestial Glory of God. It matter not to God
whether that infant or baby is a Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, or any faith you
can imagine they are all the same in the sight of God. What a Joyful blessing
this is that we proclaim to the world, is it not right that all those that grieve
or have grieved for the loss of a little one should know that their little one
is not lost but is safe and at peace in the arms of the Lord.
The Lord
has made it very clear to us that the age of accountability is that of eight
years. After we reach our eighth birthday, we are supposed to have
understanding sufficient enough to choose to be baptised, it is the Lord who
takes care of those under this age, and little children under the age of
accountability are not subject to the law of repentance. This is something that
God has declared himself, it is not something that the church has decided to
implement but rather it is the eternal law of God.
The crowning glory of all Latter Day Mormons is to be married in the sight of God man with women, when they are joined together they are not only fulfilling the commandment of God but the commandment of eternity. It is with the great union that Man and Women become as the Gods and are endowed from on high to create life and do as the Gods before them and bring in to being life from the eternal world unto this mortal world. As parents we are given the blessings of creating the temples that will house the father’s spirits and in turn it is our duty to make sure that those temples and spirits are looked after and that they fulfil the measure of their creation. Let us not forget that we, each and everyone of us were all mature spirits before we were born, and the bodies of the little children that we have been endowed to create will grow just as our sprit has done little by little. Latter Day Mormons know that the Father loves all his children just as we love our children and he would not allow any of his small and innocent children to be denied access to him if they should die before the age of accountability.
It is
therefore the duty of every Latter Day parent to teach their children the
truth, to bring them up in the way of the Lord, to teach them the first principles
of the Gospel, to teach them the necessity of baptism for the remission of sins
and for membership in the church
of Christ . It is your
duty to teach them the things that pertain to the kingdom of God
that they may comprehend the truth and walk in the light of Christ that they
may have the fellowship of him with them all the days of their lives. Latter
day parents knowing the truth and knowing that they are the custodians of the
spirits of the eternal father should always strive to bring their children up
in the way they should go, keep them close to your heart, show them that you
love them, that you are their parents that they are your children, and keep
them near to you so that they will not go far from you in this world or the
next.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
Free from Limitations
‘Where there is no vision, the
people perish’ (Proverbs 29:18)
As Latter Day Mormons it
is important that we express to the world what we believe and why we believe
it. With Latter Day Mormon doctrine we will be able to do just that and it will
not be open for debate and it will be recorded for all to see.
The Latter Day Church of
Jesus Christ is free from limitations for it is the church of God
and is led by the Law of Revelation. We believe that it is the will of our
Father in Heaven to converse with us today and that he is ready to do so just
as he was in ancient days. The Latter
Day Church
does not consider it strange that the Lord should speak to man in this day as
he did in ancient of days. Are our Father and his son less interested in man
today? Have we advanced so much that we have passed beyond the need of divine
help? It was said by one ancient Prophet ‘Where
there is no vision, the people perish’ (Proverbs 29:18) and another great
prophet said ‘Surely the Lord God will do
nothing, but he revealeth his secrets unto his servants the prophets’ (Joel
2:28-29). We proclaim to the world
that the Latter Day Church
stands alone in the belief that the Father and the Son still reveal themselves
and their truth to man as was proclaimed by the ancient prophets.
The Latter Day Church of
Jesus Christ believe that the Bible does not contain all the revelations given
by the Gods and that it contains only fragmentary accounts of the dealings of
the Lord with his servants the ancients prophets. The Latter Day Church
proclaims that the only Bible that is near to completion is that which was
revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith and although his work was cut short on the
work in perfecting the Bible we should hold true to what was revealed to him
even through it was not completed. We stand and proclaim to the world that the
Inspired version of the Bible is the most correct Bible that mankind has in its
hands. We believe that through modern day revelation that the Bible will be
perfected in these last days and that it will be done under the direction of
the Lord through his chosen servant. As we proclaim this there are those that
will say that this is further evidence of our fall from the presence of God.
However if men will permit reason to guide them in the path of common sense he
will have to conclude that there is no reason or justification for the belief
that everything that God wished to say to his children is to be found in the
pages of the Bible today. Such thinking and false doctrine closes the moth of
the almighty denying him the power to speak. These people then populate the
myth that there is no need for further revelation in saying that the Bible is
complete and in need of no further work. In saying this about the Bible they
then hold true to the fact that if this is true of the Bible then it is true
for all other forms of scripture. Do we honestly think that the Lord did not
have any interest in other peoples outside of the holy land, to speak to them
and to guide them by his word? That thought yet again try’s to limit God by
mans standards and limitations something that The Latter Day Church of Jesus
Christ does not do for we know that God has revealed many things unto his
children no matter where they may live upon the earth and why shouldn’t their
account of the gospel be heard just as the bibles is.
The Latter Day Church of
Jesus Christ believe that all the essential ordinances of the gospel were
changed, modified and corrupted by mans will and not by Gods divine
instruction, that the church that was established by God had changed and that
as Isaiah proclaimed, men were drawing
near to the Lord with their lips but their hearts were far from him (Isaiah
29:13). We hold true to the belief
that the church in ancient days had become so corrupt that the heavens were
opened and a restoration was indeed needed to correct what was incorrect and
again restore the faith of God. The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ also
believe that this is not just a one of occurrence and that when the church of
God falls in to apostasy God withdraws his spirit form it and awaits a time to
restore it again, this we hold true to today just as in the time of the Prophet
Joseph Smith.
The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ stands as the
restoration of the gospel of Christ and the Mormon faith. The church of God
will be led by revelation and the opening of the heavens and the coming forth
of heavenly messengers and with this the restoration of the faith of God. The church of God
must be led and blessed with revelation it is by this fruit that we shall know
that it is the church
of God . The church of God is built upon revelation it lives
for revelation and thrives upon it.
Latter Day Mormons know
that all the answers to the many mysteries that today surround us can be found
in the revealed works of God, which stand as a testament to him and to the
Saviour. We do not grope around in the dark searching for answers, we do not go
following every tom dick or harry that comes forth proclaiming to have received
revelation or indeed follow after imaginary beings or ghosts, no we know the
truth and we abide in the truth. Latter Day Mormons are therefore free from
error and from those that wish to deceive and draw those away in to error. God
is our guide and we follow him and him alone and in doing so we walk in righteousness
and in the light and follow is doctrine.
Saturday, 21 September 2013
The Atonement
The Atonement
And there
appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed more
earnestly; and he sweat as at were great drops of blood falling down to the
ground.
(Luke 22:
43--44)
As Latter Day Mormons we
understand that Christ could choose to live or die. He was always the master of
life and death. Jesus had the power to die, he received that from his mother, and
she was mortal therefore endowing Christ with the ability to die. Due to his
mother being mortal Jesus had blood within his body just as you and I have
blood within our bodies, blood is the life of our mortal body. As our hearts
pumps the blood it circulates around our bodies giving us life. We must bare in
mind that Christ, Jesus father was not a mortal man but rather an omnipotent
being, a God. We do not have power to pay down our lives and take them up
again. But Jesus had power to lay down his life, and he had power to take it up
again, and when he was he was put to death on the cross, he gave up his life on
his own accord. When he was nailed to the cross he meekly submitted, but he had
the power within that he could have resisted, but he chose not to and therefore
submitted himself to the atonement. Christ came in to the world to die that we
might live, and his atonement for sin and death is the force by which we are
raised to immortality and eternal life. We may not fully understand how is was
that this was done or why he was required to perform the work for us by the
shedding of his blood, but this is the case, and we are owe all to him for he
bought us through the shedding of his blood.
As Latter Day Mormons we
must understand that the atonement only works when we are prepared to accept it
in our lives and that acceptance is found in repentance. Christ does not and
will not redeem any man for his individual sins who will not repent and who
will not accept him. All of those that refuse to accept him as their personal
Saviour and refuse to turn from their sins will have to pay the price for their
continued sinning and shunning of the atonement remember is was Christ who said
‘For behold, I, God, have suffered these
things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent’ (D&C
19:16-19)
It must be made clear
that Christ took upon himself the burden and weight of sins of the whole world
past, present and future. It can sometimes feel hard enough for us to carry the
weight of our own sins let alone those of the whole world form the beginning of
time to the end of time. It is something that we can just not comprehend. The
suffering of Jesus Christ, the mental and spiritual condition is something that
we can not and indeed should not for us as mortal beings it is unfathomable to
understand the passion of the Christ and the effort that went in to doing what
he did for us.
There are many people in Christendom
that believe that when he was hosted upon the cross and the nails driven in to
his hands and feet that this was the greatness
of his suffering that that all was accomplished upon the cross. However
as Latter Day Mormons we believe that his great suffering took place before he
was placed upon the cross and that it took place in the garden of Gethsemane .
It was in the garden that of Gethsemane that
the blood shed from every pore that an angel was sent from the courts of the
Father to aid him and give him comfort because the pain and suffering was so
intense. Christ revealed to us in these Latter Days just what he went through
in the garden when he says ‘Which suffering
caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of the pain, and
to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit and would that I
might not drink the bitter cup and shrink’ (D&C 19: 18) Christ tells us
here that this wasn’t upon the cross but in the garden of Gethsemane. Now it must
be understood that we do not take away from the cross and place all of the
atonement in the garden, for the cross was where he spoke unto the father and
where the Father cried from heaven for his loss and where Christ fulfilled
scripture and became like unto us and took upon himself death and therefore
gained the resurrection. But it must be remembered that the pain and agony of Gethsemane was so intense so powerful that Christ the Cod
of this world called unto his father and asked ‘If it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I
will, but as thou wilt’ (Matthew 26:39).
Saturday, 7 September 2013
Here By Design Not By Accident
For Latter Day Mormons
and members of the Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ the theory of evolution
which prevails today regarding the origin of man, animal life and also that of
vegetation, that they all sprung from the same original germ which formed
itself out of the sea or some volcanic explosion millions of years ago in the
very distant past is to us absurd. This theory assumes that life began spontaneously;
this is the foundation of the theory of evolution. The question that we need to
ask ourselves as mankind is if spontaneous generation could be possible in the
past then is it possible now? If not, then why not? This question like so many others
has not and continues to not be answered today and leads people down a dark and
inescapable tunnel of lies and mistruth and subjection, one that has no basis
of truth but rather one of is and maybe’s.
It is our duty as Latter
Day Mormons and as believers on Christ to show the world that Adam was a real
man that he did nit evolve from a lower form of life that he was made by God in
his image, that he had not developed gradually from the animal kingdom but that
God breathed life in to him and gave him a mind and enlighten spirit. We must
learn now before it is to late that we can not believe in both the gospel of
creation and evolution, we can not at the same time accept the plan of
salvation laid down by God in the holy text and then embrace the origin of man
given by the corrupt men of the world, they are direct conflict with one
another there is such a wide gap, even to such an extent that it is more a gulf
than a gap. If you hold true to the doctrine of evolution then you must accept
the view that man has evolved from a lower form of life, that we were cave men
no better or advanced than the lowest form of animal life and that we have
become what we are today by accident and mishap, in doing this you deny Christ
and all that he was and is, you deny the atoning sacrifice of Gethsemane and
the cross and that we are Gods children.
As Latter Day Mormons we
reject that life, we reject evolution and all its flaws, and we embrace the
restoration of all things and that God is our father and that through him all
was created. This is what we stand for in our homes in our place of work, in
our places of worship and in our hearts. So the message of this sermon is stand
true to Christ and to our Father in heaven and to the beauty of the creation,
because when we examine the creation it is far more complex and beautiful than
any theory of evolution will ever be.
As Latter Day Mormons we
have an obligation to teach our children truth and not fiction. The truth for
us is that the Lord has given us the information regarding life and how is came
in to being. The Lord has given us the information about how this earth along
with the life upon it and that of other earths has been created. As Latter Day
Mormons we must be clear on this subject. Life did not commence upon this earth
spontaneously, not at all. We must remember that there is no beginning and
there is no end to Gods creation, there never was a time when mankind did not
exist somewhere in the universe and when the time was right for our world to be
created God followed the same pattern as he had done many times before in
creating life upon our world. We were with the Father in spirit before this
world was created, for us that was our beginning, but for creation itself there
is not beginning and there is no end (D&C 93: 21-26)
We know that man was
created in the image of God, that we are in essence like him not only in spirit
but also in body, that we resemble him. If we had the honour and privilege to travel the
stars to other worlds that populate the heavens that our Father has created and
behold the life upon it we would see that they would be peopled with beings
that look like us, they too are the creations of God and so therefore are the
same race as we are for we are all the children of God and therefore created in
his image. We must remember that it by no means places upon them the same restrictions that are
placed upon us. For example they maybe more exalted then we are they may have
advanced further than we have in ideas and behaviour and in doing so may have become closer to the
creator than we have done.
However it must be stressed that they would be created in
his image juts as we are in his. For us Adam was no cave man, but he was in a
very real sense the most nearly perfect man in the form and feature of our
father in heaven. Adam was for us our beginning, here upon this earth. "And the Lord God said unto Moses, For mine own purpose have I made
these things. Here is wisdom, and it remaineth in me. And by the word of my
power have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of
grace and truth. And worlds without number have I created, and I also created
them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only
Begotten. And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many. But
only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you;
for behold there are many worlds which have passed away by the word of my
power; and there are many also which now stand, and numberless are they unto
man; but all things are numbered unto me; for they are mine, and I know them….The
heavens, they are many and they can not be numbered unto man, but they are
numbered unto me, for they are mine; and as one earth shall pass away, and the
heavens thereof, even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works,
neither to my words; for this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the
immortality, and eternal life of man". (JST Moses Revelation v 21-25)
For us it is a false and
foolish idea to believe that life, everything in it commenced from a small
beginning, no matter what the evolutionist say or how they try and explain life
coming in to being whether it be from the microbes in the sea or by some
volcanic accident or from the rocks from a distant world falling on to this one
by accident it matter not it is all false. There is no truth in it, for God has
given us his word by which we can know and all who are led by the spirit of God
can understand through the Holy Ghost the truth of these things. Its is perhaps
a sign of the times we live in today to see that religion in its corrupt forms
has led men to believe in this twisted theory of evolution. When the churches
built up by man give such twisted views of God and his kingdom no wonder men
stand and proclaim that there is no God and that they and they alone have the
answers to the origin of man. It must however be remembered by us that this is
the vain foolishness and narrow mindedness of man. These men of so called great
intelligence and scientific knowledge and wisdom stand and declare that life on
this earth is but a spontaneous act, and that they no nothing of life upon any
other world and that even if it did exist it would be confined to the same laws
that are in place here, that of Darwinism, what a foolish and arrogant
statement to make. For not only are we now forced to believe that life here begin
in this way but that life across the entire universe would have to begin in the
same manner.
Latter Day Mormons in
some cases do agree in some sense with the scientific inquisition in as much as
we do think that life does come from the same single source, but we hold true
to the belief that that single source is not a tiny microbe either from the sea
or space but from God, our father, he is the creator of life and he placed life
on this earth in varied forms, and also on other worlds as well. He is the
single source and the only source that life came from. He will continue his
work on this earth and upon other planets, or worlds, which will take the place
of this earth when it has come into its exalted glory. He will continue to bring
to pass his purposes of peopling worlds and bring to pass the immortality and
eternal life of his children long after we have passed in to eternal salvation
and exhalation. This is something that should enlighten the minds of men. It
should strengthen their faith and give encouragement to those living life, that
we are not here by accident but by design and that we have a purpose to being
here and that we are sons and daughter of God. However this false theory of
evolution continues to permeate every facet of life, form school right down to
centres of religion and it prevails through the world so much that is debasing
our world and it is not allowing us to ennoble or uplift those around us.
Saturday, 17 August 2013
Taught By Their Mothers
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and
when he is old, he will not depart from it”
(Proverbs 22:6)
Women can initiate or
encourage many activities to create this kind of home. Latter Day Mormon women
can do just this with daily morning and night family prayers, a regular time
for studying the scriptures, well-planned family home evenings, teaching
moments to often the problems of life, lessons of example in honesty and integrity,
special occasions for fun and relaxation all contribute to the ideal home.
In many foreign countries
round the world different ideologies touch their children, and keep them from evil.
These people in foreign countries train their children in their homes and
families in the way of right and truth, so much so that the destructive,
godless philosophies and heresies of their teachers run off without penetrating,
like water of a ducks back and their children remain true to the faith. So for
us that must be the answer. Family life, home life, family home evenings,
dedicated, selfless parents. This is the way that the Lord has ordained it to
be, this is the way our lives ought to be.
It must be remembered
that some homes do not reach this ideal. But important learning takes place
when we apply gospel principles to solve our problems. By prayerfully and consistently
working one step at a time, a woman can upgrade the amount and quality of spiritual
learning in her home. Every woman can obtain knowledge of the gospel, keep the
commandments, and be a righteous influence on others.
It is no coincidence that
the both the Book of Mormon and the Book of Jeraneck tell us stirring success
stories of strong gospel minded women who establish homes for gospel learning.
In the book of Mormon the mothers of some two thousand boys planted deep
spiritual roots so effectively that their sons remained steadfast and true to
the teachings of their homes, even when separated by distance and anguish of
war. They exhibited incredible courage and faith. In the book of Jeraneck we
learn that the people of Ridnon esteemed the role of motherhood above all else,
and that it was the mothers role to teach and mould the young children in the
style and substance if the gospel so that they may stand true to the faith, as
Jeraneck said at the beginning of the Book of Jeraneck ‘But it is from my Mother that I have learnt a greater understanding of
humility, respect and love and it is to her that I give thanks for the man I am
today’ (BofJ chapter 1:2).
So we can see that these
children had been taught by their mothers that if they did not doubt the Lord
that he would deliver them and be with them and guide them all their lives. In
order for Latter Day Mormon Mothers to teach their children effectively they
must be accepting and loving. Latter Day Mormon Mothers must be able to use their
own faith to teach their children, who in turn will develop great faith, and
who will also in turn learn to love the Lord Jesus Christ and their father in
heaven. Latter Day women who make their homes canters of gospel learning and eternal
truth have ears that hear and hearts that understand. Great blessings will come
to them as they listen to the counsel of the prophet and the church and obey
the word of God.
Saturday, 10 August 2013
The Lords Action Plan
The Lord has given the
church our plan of action, the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has also
Given us the Priesthood which
is his power and authority so that we may act for him in carrying out his
Action plan. As a member of The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ it lifts my
spirit to think my heavenly father entrusted us his children with such a
responsibility to promote the Lords teaching on Earth.
We his followers and
members of the church have a duty to push forward to set goals this year, this
month, this week to promote the gospel especially The Book of Jeraneck this
special witness of the Lord is also a witness that the Action plan of the Lord
was also a part of the lives of people on this island.
Probably one reason we do
not have more success in doing the lords work is caused by our state of mind.
We need to be single minded with this in mind; I give you 12 points not in
detail but as a guide.
1] REPENTANCE: Do not let this way you down Read MATT 11
28-30
2] PRAYER: Pray
always that you may come off conqueror D/C 10.5
3] SERVICE: When you find yourself a little gloomy bury
yourself in the lord’s work. Be an example to the world, go the extra mile.
4] WORK: We should work at taking care of the
spiritual, mental, social, and Physical needs of ourselves and those whom we
are responsible for.
5] HEALTH: Be aware of our health seek good medical help
and be mindful of our
Lords help in keeping us healthy.
6] READING :
For those in distress Read the Psalms My favourite Psalm 22
7] BLESSING: We must use the priesthood to build up our
spiritual strength never be reluctant to use the Priesthood for a blessing it
is your right.
8] FASTING: Only by this can we hope to one day live up
to the contents of MATT 17-21
9] FRIENDS: Without friends we are not whole we need and
in fact we must have friendship in our lives. D/C84 13
10] MUSIC: When Saul was troubled by an evil spirit,
David played for him with his Harp and Saul was refreshed and in those immortal
words IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE PLAY
ON
11] ENDURANCE: To press on in troubled times even when
depression is all around leads to sunshine. 1CORINTHIANS 2-9
12] GOALS: Let your minds be filled with the goals of
being like the Lord, and you will crowd out depressing thoughts as you
anxiously seek to know him and his will.
In the lords name god
bless our church this year and its members.
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You are also welcome to join us at our Sunday services, which are held at 10:30 - 1:00 every Sunday. Contact us for details. God Bless and keep you.