Coming unto Christ


skalenfehl
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I read a great sign recently. It asked, "Have you prayed about it as much as you've talked about it?" Consider the mighty prayer that Enos and the brother of Jared and Alma, and any number of people in the scriptures offered up. It has been described as labor. Maybe putting as much work into talking to God about it as you do looking for reasons not to believe and arguing with random people on the internet would be more beneficial.

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...why do we LDS try so hard to convert abroad? Why does it matter if one is a mormon at all?

A brief history lesson in a rather large nutshell:

Going back far enough, God made a promise to Abraham that from his seed all nations would be blessed. This sacred covenant became evident through his grandson. You see, Abraham begat Isaac, who begat Jacob. Jacob became the father of twelve sons. The Lord changed Jacob's name to Israel and his twelve sons became twelve nations. His youngest son was Joseph who was betrayed by his brothers, nearly left for dead and then sold as a slave in Egypt.

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, spared Joseph who in turn saved his family, forgave his brothers and brought them to Egypt to dwell. He preserved them from starvation. Joseph was promised by the Lord that as a remnant of his robe was brought back to his father, so would a remnant of his seed be spared. Eventually Joseph and his brothers grew to be the twelve tribes of Israel.

Fast forward generations. These Israelites, slaves of Egypt, were liberated by Moses and led to the promised land after a 40 year trek that should have lasted days because they were such a hard hearted and stiff necked people. Eventually they settled their promised land in Jerusalem and were broken up into kingdoms (Southern Kingdom of Judah and Northern Kingdom of all the rest of the tribes).

By the time Lehi was called to cry repentance along with Jeremiah in Jerusalem, most if not all the tribes of Israel had been led away, scattered to all four corners of the earth. Little did Lehi know that he would be fulfilling a promise made to his forefather, Joseph who was sold into Egypt, that a remnant of his seed would be spared. You see, Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh, who was a son of Joseph, as he discovered from the brass plates kept at Jerusalem before its conquest.

The Lord led him out of Jerusalem to a new promised land, a land of liberty, which was foreordained to seat the New Jerusalem. A careful study of Jacob 5 and the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees (which Isaiah and the disciple Paul among others of the old world were familiar with and quoted/alluded to), informs us of the prophecy of the scattering and gathering of Israel.

When Lehi, Nephi, and their posterity understood this old world prophecy, they became keenly aware of their destiny and their divine mandate: to write their record, which would become a record of the tribe of Joseph, to come forth in the latter day as a marvelous work and a wonder, to usher in the gathering of all tribes of Israel. They knew that their distant posterity, the Lamanites--the forefathers of the native American Indians--would eventually be gathered along with the other eleven tribes. Therefore they knew how important the work to preserve their record--The Book of Mormon--was and its significance in the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ, which our Savior established among the Jews during His mortal ministry.

So what does all this have to do with Abraham and your question? As a covenant people, all people who are born into or adopted into the house of Israel, become chosen to labor in the vineyard to gather in the tribes. This is what missionary work is about. Joseph Smith, upon restoring the church, immediately began the work to send Elders into the world to spread the message of the restoration and the fullness of the gospel. Thus through Abraham's seed--the covenant people of Israel--all those who are baptized into Christ's true church with the authority to baptize unto repentance--all nations today are being blessed.

This is Jehovah's great work--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. His labors in the vineyard will not stop until the gospel has been taken to all corners of the earth and He declares it is finished. Then comes the burning of the vineyard and the great Jehovah, the same Jesus Christ, after the millennium of temple work, presents a celestialized earth to His Father.

This is why Mormons labor to diligently preach the gospel to bring fruit for the Lord to lay up unto the season. It is our calling as covenant people. We are fulfilling the Lord's promise to Abraham. This is why the Book of Mormon is so important and why it is the keystone of our religion. It testifies of these truths, many of which were removed or left out of the stick of Judah--the Bible. When you know the Book of Mormon is true by the power of the Holy Ghost as Moroni promises, then you know that Joseph Smith was called of Jehovah to restore His church and to bring to pass the marvelous work and a wonder, to usher in the gathering of Israel and to labor once more in the vineyard before the vineyard is burned.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the fullness of the gospel and is the only true and living church upon the face of the earth today, led by a prophet and apostles to continue this divine work. This is why it matters to be a "Mormon" as we are called.

Edited by skalenfehl
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A brief history lesson in a rather large nutshell:

Going back far enough, God made a promise to Abraham that from his seed all nations would be blessed. This sacred covenant became evident through his grandson. You see, Abraham begat Isaac, who begat Jacob. Jacob became the father of twelve sons. The Lord changed Jacob's name to Israel and his twelve sons became twelve nations. His youngest son was Joseph who was betrayed by his brothers, nearly left for dead and then sold as a slave in Egypt.

...

This is why Mormons labor to diligently preach the gospel to bring fruit for the Lord to lay up unto the season. It is our calling as covenant people. We are fulfilling the Lord's promise to Abraham. This is why the Book of Mormon is so important and why it is the keystone of our religion.

...

You know, after reading all of that, a singular thought came to mind. God is playing favorites with a particular race. He blesses one race, curses another, uses one to convert the other, marks the one with a darker skin curse, uses the history of one to compel the other to agree.

I never realized it, but this is a form of racism. I don't know where I'm going, but all of my recent questions are not helping me be a better Mormon.

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You know, after reading all of that, a singular thought came to mind. God is playing favorites with a particular race. He blesses one race, curses another, uses one to convert the other, marks the one with a darker skin curse, uses the history of one to compel the other to agree.

I never realized it, but this is a form of racism. I don't know where I'm going, but all of my recent questions are not helping me be a better Mormon.

From a flawed and mortal perspective it does seem racist, but we are flawed and mortal. God is no respecter of persons. Blessings are predicated upon obedience and curses and punishments are the result of disobedience and rebelliousness. He has never blessed or cursed anyone on a whim. This is not His nature. He marked Cain due to his defiance. Cain spoke with the Lord. He KNEW the Lord and yet he still rejected him and chose to follow Satan. This goes along with what I mentioned earlier that having proof doesn't mean anyone will follow Christ. It only makes them guilty of rejecting Him after their eye witness.

But essentially, you are correct. But He only cursed the Lamanites because of their defiance and disobedience. Laman saw an angel and heard the Lord's voice and witnessed miracles. And he still rejected the Lord. But He never compels. That is removing agency and this is contrary to His eternal law. But He uses means to persuade us to follow His commandments. It's as simple as telling your kids not to cross the street without looking both ways or touching the hot stove. You give them rules. But guess what? We have to go listening to our own wisdom and we get burned. God doesn't give us commandments and witnesses to hold us back. He gives them to us to protect us from Satan's subtleties and deceptions. History is proof.

God has always protected his obedient people from his disobedient people, but has never taken their agency away. But if his obedient people become disobedient, God allows agency to let things happen naturally so people learn their lessons. The Bible and Book of Mormon are replete with examples, time after time. And today, people still haven't learned from history.

Edited by skalenfehl
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I was taking exception to skalenfehl statement that God always protects people who are obedient. I was wondering, from skalenfehl's prospective, what the 6 million Jews did that would cause their annihilation. In other words, God was absent in their protection.

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I was taking exception to skalenfehl statement that God always protects people who are obedient. I was wondering, from skalenfehl's prospective, what the 6 million Jews did that would cause their annihilation. In other words, God was absent in their protection.

That's not what he said:

God has always protected his obedient people from his disobedient people

So far as I know, the Nazis were not God's disobedient covenant people.

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Thank you Vort for that clarification. It seems to me that the statement "God has always protected his obedient people from his disobedient people" is even more ridiculous then I originally thought. It re-confirms my feelings that religion is setup to disavow God from all of the ugliness that happens to humanity. We can't blame God for the destruction of 6 million Jews, the vaporization of communities from tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes and the like. But, it's ok for God's obedient people to commit genocide, even of women, children and of livestock, as the old testament has clearly stated.

Then, of course, we have one group of people fight another group of people, both claiming that they are the chosen ones of God and will fight to the death to prove it. It all seems ridiculous to me, when we have other pressing needs such as a child dieing of starvation in this world every 5 seconds, diseases inflicting abound, especially in the poorer nations. It would nice if we could all put this quibbling aside and get to the issues of feeding and making people healthy.

Edited by AZeus
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Yes pntkl, God allows his "chosen" people to commit genocide and the evil men, He has created, to commit genocide. Maybe if He was a little more unambiguous and showed that He loved everyone regardless of race and/or tribe equally and unconditionally, these kinds of things wouldn't happen.

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Yes pntkl, God allows his "chosen" people to commit genocide and the evil men, He has created, to commit genocide. Maybe if He was a little more unambiguous and showed that He loved everyone regardless of race and/or tribe equally and unconditionally, these kinds of things wouldn't happen.

But then agency would be destroyed. This is what Lucifer wanted and all the glory. It is a sad thing indeed, but if God didn't love everyone regardless of race and/or tribe equally, He would have sent Christ to die only for those who believe in Him and love Him in return by showing strict obedience to His just commandments.

"The Son of man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than He?"

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Yes pntkl, God allows his "chosen" people to commit genocide and the evil men, He has created, to commit genocide. Maybe if He was a little more unambiguous and showed that He loved everyone regardless of race and/or tribe equally and unconditionally, these kinds of things wouldn't happen.

You accuse Him falsely. It isn't His showing, that He is inequitable. Rather, it is man for which does and is accused. God isn't the adversary. Lucifer's argument with the Father is this, "Man will always be unworthy of your Grace, Father. From the mud he came, to the mud he returns. Let Us hold him in bonds." With his rejection of the Good Plan; it was in accordance with His Law, that he should be cast out. The ambiguity only lies with covetousness.

Love,

T.J. Wood

:deadhorse:

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