Christ’s Church or Man’s?

Once again the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in the news and those within and with out the church are all up in arms about a change in policy dealing with children living in homes with parents in a same gender relationship. My purpose today is not to debate the policy but to pose a question to everyone that is saying this policy is one of hate and they are leaving the church. Is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the restored gospel of Jesus Christ (as the church declares) or is it simply another church of man’s making? For those who want more information on the policy itself go here:

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/handbook-changes-same-sex-marriages-elder-christofferson?HP_FR_11-6-2015_dPAD_fCNWS_xLIDyL1-A_

or

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865640934/Elder-Christofferson-explains-updated-LDS-Church-policies-on-same-sex-marriage-and-children.html?pg=all

For some of the best discussions about the policy check out these:

http://blog.fairmormon.org/

and

http://gaymormonguy.blogspot.com/2015/11/waiting-on-lord-same-sex-adoption.html?m=1

and

http://wellbehavedmormonwoman.blogspot.com/2015/11/response-to-new-church-policy-gay-marriage-children-baptism.html

For now, back to my question, is the LDS church really Christ’s Church today or not. If it is his church, and Christ is the Head of the Church then he directs the affairs and policies through his chosen leaders – the living prophets. If it is Christ’s Church, and I testify that it is, then there is a reason for the policy and it is one of love, not hate and no amount of posturing or protesting will effect His commandments. If the LDS Church is not Christ’s Church but just another church founded by a man for whatever reason, then everyone can go on protesting and threatening to leave the church hoping that the leadership will will come to their senses and realize the error of their ways and change.

So there is no misunderstanding where I stand on this question; I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ’s Church on the earth today. President Thomas S. Monson is the Lord’s Prophet and speaks for him to all of God’s children wherever they are – to all nations, kindred, tongues and people. I stand with the church’s leaders, the policies, practices, teachings and programs. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord and his prophets.

The simple reality is if this is Christ’s Church, then everything about it is true; if it is not Christ’s Church then it is all false and it really does not matter what the church does or does not want to do. There is no middle ground. Parts of it cannot be true and other parts not true. God does not work that way. One of the teachings that the resurrected Lord taught the people here in America was what the name of his church should be:

Have they not read the scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day;

Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name; therefore ye shall call the church in my name…

And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel.

And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it.

But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return. (3 Nephi 27:5-11)

The first way to tell if it is Christ’s Church is it will bear his name, not the name of a man or something else. The second test is if it is built on his gospel. Christ himself testifies of the restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith:

Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments;

And also gave commandments to others, that they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all this that it might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophets—

And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually—

What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. (Doctrine and Covenants 1:17-18, 30, 38)

Let me share the story of Saint Denis, the patron saint of Paris, to illustrate my point. The story says that Saint Denis was martyred in A.D. 250. After his head was cut off, Denis is said to have picked up his head and walked ten kilometers (six miles), preaching a sermon the entire way (News That Matters). The number of miles he walked does not matter. If the story is true, the number of miles has no bearing on the validity of the story; if he indeed was able to pick up his head and take that first step is all that matters. If he did that, then he could also walk the ten kilometers.

The same argument can be made as to the validity of the LDS Church; if God and Christ did indeed appear to Joseph Smith, if the Angel Moroni did appear to him and give him the gold plates, if he did translate the gold plates into the Book of Mormon, and if he did receive the priesthood to restore Christ’s Church again on the earth; that is all we need to know because the rest is true as well.

Every member of Christ’s Church needs to know for themselves if these things are true and then commit to sustain and follow the Prophet, the Twelve Apostles and other general and local leaders. Any member who has a testimony of the truthfulness of these things understands that Jesus Christ leads this Church through His Prophet. The policies, commandments, ordinances, priesthood authority are his and only He can change them. It is not changed through any protest or pressure from an individual, group, or government.

It saddens me to see friends and family covering their Facebook profile pictures with rainbow colors in support of same gender relations, coming out in opposition to, and threatening to leave the church. Either they never had a real testimony that this is Christ’s Church or something has happened in their lives that has caused them to lose the Holy Ghost that they once had and the light of their testimony has gone out, or they are simply going along with the crowd in support of political correctness.

The scriptures teach that in the days before the Lord’s return even the elect will be deceived. I invite those who are struggling with this policy or any other aspect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to go to the source of truth and not the voices of apostates, or those who have no concept of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their agenda is to spread lies and animostity about the purpose of Church doctrine and policies. Go to the Lord and ask him in faith, test the Lord by keeping his commandments and see if this is Christ’s Church or Man’s. I testify that it is Christ’s Church.

Your comments and questions are welcome.

The Love Dare

Just over a month ago (Sunday, September 27, 2015) I introduced the Elder’s Quorum in our student ward to a 40-day program called the Love Dare. Each day there is a challenge to do something for your spouse. The Love Dare is from the movie Fireproof (A Stephen & Alex Kendrick Production). It is about a couple that have decided that their marriage is over and about to divorce. The husband calls his dad to tell him that his marriage is over and his dad asks to come see him. When he arrives he asks his son if he has any interest in saving his marriage and his son responds that he does but he does not think his wife wants to. The father challenges his son to the 40-day Love Dare, that saved his mother and his marriage, and he reluctantly agrees. The rest of the movie takes us through the process of a young man that does not believe in God or his marriage and his transformation from a selfish person to a man that is committed to his marriage and learns what true love is and how to show it.

For the past 35 days (we have 5 more days to go) each night before going to bed I have sent the challenge for the next day and each day these husbands (without their wives knowing what they were doing) were asked to follow the challenge. Each Sunday we have asked for someone to share some of their experiences. There have been some funny stories shared and very tender moments. 

Day 1 – Love is Patient

The first part of this dare is fairly simple. Although love is communicated in a number of ways, our words often reflect the condition of our heart. For the next day, resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to your spouse at all. If the temptation arises, choose not to say anything. It’s better to hold your tongue than to say something you’ll regret 

In the Love Dare book each day includes a scripture reading for the day, the challenge for the day and some background information on the topic. The following is an exert from The Love Dare Book – Day 1: Love is Patient.

I promised them that I would be part of the challenge along with them. I am normally a fairly patient person and don’t have much of a problem when it comes to letting my temper get out of control. The first day of the program was Monday, September 28^th and about mid day I got a call from my daughter and she asked: “where is your car insurance papers?” I thought it was a strange question coming from her. When I asked why she said because mom had an accident. She had parked the car at our daughters work so our grandson could go in and show his mom the new shoes grandma just got him. Our grandson asked if she would come in with him so she did. She did not put the car in park and it rolled down a hill and hit another car.

After taking a few deep breaths, I remembered the challenge today to demonstrate patience and not say anything negative. I thought ok Lord, I know the only reason this happened was to see if I was committed to this Love Dare Challenge. I think I passed that first test.

Day 3 – Love is not selfish

Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important to you. It’s hard to care for something you are not investing in. Along with restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse something that says, “I was thinking of you today.” 

Over the next few days my wife kept commenting that I was taking the accident and the cost of the repairs pretty good, that I did not seem upset with her. I think the Lord did bless us for my ability to show patience because we should have paid a $500 deductible but instead only had to pay $300 because of an accident forgiveness credit that had accumulated.

It was late on day three and I was coming home from an evening of interviews with some couples in our ward and I remembered that I hadn’t done anything for the challenge that day. I stopped at the store and purchased an Orchid for my wife (that is her favorite flower). While I was there another member from the ward was also buying his wife some flowers as part of the challenge. We smiled know we both were trying to fulfill the challenge - a bit late but we were trying. I took them home and my wife was already in bed so I put the flowers on the table in the kitchen with a note telling her that I loved her and was not upset with her because of the accident. By now I was thinking that I was going to be able to milk this accident for a long time. Oh, wait the challenge today says love is not selfish – oh well so much for milking the accident!

It has been interesting to do each challenge. Some days have been a struggle, but others come naturally. It has been a wonderful growing experience for us all. Today (Sunday, November 1st) we had a combined Relief Society and Priesthood lesson where I told our wives what we had been up to for the past 35 days. I asked for some comments on how their husbands were doing and it was fun to hear their comments. One commented that she did not realize her husband was doing it because most of the things he already did. She only found out about it when he asked her to look for something in his email and she saw all the messages that I had been sending and read some of them. She felt good to know that her husband was participating in the challenge but it was not much different for her.

We gave each couple a handout with the 40 days of challenges and asked them to go home and discuss them together and for the wives to start with day one and go through them as well. Hopefully in another month we will all be having fun trying to out do each other with kindness, patience and love.

I would challenge anyone readying this to check out The Love Dare and the movie Fireproof. Give it some time and honest effort and I can promise the results will be worth the effort.

Fireproof Movie - www.fireproofthemovie.com (Sherwood Pictures & Provident Films)

The Love Dare by Stephen & Alex Kendrick, B&H Publishing Group (available from Amazon, EBay and other retailers. Also available at www.fireproofthemove.com

Fireproof Trailer

Your comments and questions are welcome.