This I know to be true........

2013-06-09T16:03:00.001-07:00

A Bible Quote:

Romans 8:16-18

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

2013-06-09T16:01:00.002-07:00

A Book of Mormon Quote:

Moroni 7:45

"And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

Seek the truth...........

2008-04-14T15:59:00.001-07:00

Excerpts from an address given by Elder Ballard to more than 1,400 Brigham Young University-Idaho graduates on April 11, 2008 :

Along with the terrible effects of pornography, the Internet and other media are often used to spread falsehoods, Elder Ballard said. "Every month there are 60 billion searches for information on the Internet. Many are seeking information about the Church; and while some are finding the truth, others find anti-Mormon sites that mislead them and defame the Church," Elder Ballard said.

With all the falsehoods and misconceptions about the Church found online, Elder Ballard urged the graduates to use their knowledge and testimony of the gospel to influence seekers of truth. "Today I want to encourage you to reach out to others in the world to help change the perception and even the hearts of millions of our Heavenly Father's children by correcting misunderstandings by sharing with them the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ," he said.

More information can be found here......link

Getting at the Truth about Mormons...

2008-03-31T15:35:00.000-07:00

Archbishop Fulton Sheen (1895-1979) said:

There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing.
This quote from Archbishop Sheen of the Catholic church can also summarize what the majority of non-Mormons believe about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is quite a different thing to believe the myths and untruths that seem to paint many of the anti-Mormon blogs, however, to know truthfully what the Mormons believe in is quite a different thing.

If you truthfully want to know more about the Catholic religion, you would go to someone who strongly believes and pratices that religion. Likewise, if you want to know more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you would go to someone who believes in and practices that religion.

The negative information that is posted on the anti-Mormon web sites and blogs are placed there by those who have a false idea of what the LDS church is really about.

If you are serious about learning the truth, then go to LDS.ORG, or JesusChrist.LDS.ORG

Jesus the Christ...

2008-03-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

His earthly life covered a period of thirty-three years; and of these but three were spent by Him as an acknowledged Teacher openly engaged in the activities of public ministry. He was brought to a violent death before he had attained what we now regard as the age of manhood's prime. As an individual He was personally known to but a few; and His fame as a world character became general only after His death. Nevertheless, man never lived of whom more has been said and sung, none to whom is devoted a greater proportion of the world's literature. He is extolled by Christian, Mohammedan, and Jew, by skeptic and infidel, by the world's greatest poets, philosophers, statesmen, scientists, and historians. Even the profane sinner in the foul sacrilege of his oath acclaims the divine supremacy of Him whose name he desecrates.

--- from Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage

The Atonement of Christ...

2008-03-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

" The atonement of Christ is so great in its effects and so far-reaching in its consequences that it easily qualifies as the most important occurrence in time or in all eternity. Nothing ever has or ever will surpass it in significance. Nothing is greater in the entire universe or in the history of created things than Christ's atonement. The atonement of Christ is infinite in time, space, and quantity - infinite in scope and eternal duration. All death is answered; every creature under the Savior's dominion is resurrected. All sin is compensated for; every combination of sins is covered. The Atonement goes beyond personal sin to include disappointment, sorrow, and suffering caused by the sins of others. It even extends to the sickness and infirmities we must bear just because we are mortal. It was made by a being who was God before he came to earth, who was the Son of God on earth and who will be God eternally and endlessly."

-- from Gethsemane by Andrew C. Skinner (pages 11 & 12)

The tree is known by its fruits...

2008-03-21T10:43:00.001-07:00

“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matt. 7:15–20.)

The Apostle Paul said: “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. … “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.” (Rom. 14:10, 12–13.)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can be judged by its fruits. The LDS Church only wishes to do good, and to provide for the needy of this world. Millions of dollars and countless hours of volunteer work is spent each year on those who are in need and are not members of the LDS Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conducts humanitarian activities worldwide. From 1985 to 2007 Humanitarian Services provided more than $1.01 billion in total assistance to needy individuals in 165 countries. (See LDS.ORG)

For millions of people in need around the world, the humanitarian outreach program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers hope and the potential for a life that transcends disease, poverty, and despair. The following is an example of what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has done in the past:

Humanitarian assistance rendered (1985–2006)
Cash donations $201.3 million
Value of material assistance $705.2 million
Countries served 163
Food distributed 54,905 tons
Medical equipment distributed 9,152 tons
Surplus clothing distributed 73,226 tons
Educational supplies distributed 5,857 tons

This is what the LDS Church is known for in other countries throughout the world. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the LDS Church is growing so fast outside the United States - in fact, there are more members outside the United States today than within.

By their fruits ye shall know them. I have never seen an anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, anti-Baptist, or anti-Muslim DVD or pamphlet put out by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is not what the LDS Church is about. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is quietly going about doing good.

There is a lesson here to be learn by all of us. Instead of just going about, let's strive to go about doing good.

James, the brother of Jesus...

2008-03-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

Since reading the book many years ago entitled Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage, I have been interested in learning about the earthly family of Jesus Christ.

Jesus of Nazareth had four brothers, or more correctly, half-brothers, and at least two half- sisters, so He came from a rather large family. In both Matthew and Mark of the New Testament, the brother named James is written first when listing the four brothers of Christ. By being written first, we can assume then that James was the oldest of the brothers of Jesus. That being said, then James, the brother of Jesus, knew Jesus Christ longest on this earth - other than His mother, Mary. More is known about James than any of the other brothers of Jesus.

What must have it been like to grow up with an older brother that was perfect in all ways? Jesus never sinned, therefor, He never did anything wrong. Children were no different in the days of Christ than they are today. I am almost certain that Jesus was ridiculed and made fun of by the other children - including His own brothers. We can only yearn for a glimpse into the home life of that family, but all we know is that James seems not to have accepted him as the Messiah until after his resurrection, according to the Gospel of John.

After Christ's resurrection, He sought out His brother James, and James repented and became a devout believer in the Messiah and a powerful leader in the early church. In his letter to the Galatian saints, Paul refers to James, the Lord’s brother, as an apostle. Many scholars believe that it was James, the brother of Jesus, who wrote the epistle of James. It is interesting to note that in that epistle, James does not refer to himself as the brother of the Lord but as his servant, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I am certain that Jesus dealt with his siblings in their early childhood years as He always dealt with people - with love and kindness. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that the four brothers of Jesus became believers after His resurrection and followed after Him all the remaining days of their lives.

I believe that there is a lesson here for all of us.

A symbol of Christ...

2008-03-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

The LDS critics often mention that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be a Christian religion because they do not recognize the cross as a symbol of one who believes in Jesus. While it is true that Mormons do not wear the cross as jewelry, nor adorn their chapels and temples with the cross, Mormons believe that the cross is a symbol of the dying
Christ, and Mormons would rather remember and celebrate the risen and living Christ. This was the greatest miracle in human history - Christ rising from the dead - and this is what the Mormons wish to remember. Not that they will ever forget the great sacrifice that Christ made for all mankind on the cross at Calvary - this cannot and will not be forgotten.

Thousands and thousands of men have died on a cross, as this was a popular death among the Romans and Assyrians, but only one Man rose from the grave after being nailed to the cross. Most of the other thousands of names have been forgotten that died on the cross, but because He rose from the dead, Christ will always be remembered.

Because our Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of his death as the symbol of our faith. As President Gordon B. Hinckley once said, " And so our lives must become a meaningful expression, the symbol of our declaration of our testimony of the Living Christ, the Eternal Son of the Living God."

President Gordon B. Hinckley expressed it best here on why the LDS members do not have the cross on or in their buildings of worship.

The Joseph Smith Papers Project...

2008-03-13T06:56:00.001-07:00

The Joseph Smith Papers Project is huge.....and I for one can't wait until it is completed. This project will include everything ever written by him, dictated by him, or received by him.

The last paragraph in the Mormon Times article states : "The terrible things said about Joseph Smith come largely from ignorance about the past," Jensen said. "(The project) is just a connection to the past that helps you visualize and understand the early Saints."

It is estimated that the first volume compiled from these many papers will be available at the end of the year.

That should be some interesting reading..........

Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling

2008-03-07T07:37:00.000-08:00

I just started reading a book that I have had for some time entitled Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Lyman Bushman. Bushman's most notable published work, From Puritan to Yankee: Character and Social Order in Connecticut, 1690-1765 won the prestigious Bancroft Prize in 1968, an award considered to be one of the greatest honors for a work on American history.

So I found it interesting while reading the Mormon Times here that Bushman just gave a speech on Wednesday at Weber State University.

In his speech, he stated, "the LDS church is in good company, with Judaism, Islam and Christianity all making extraordinary claims" and that the LDS Church simply needed time to become more familiar to the world in general."What is needed for Mormonism to become respectable is for it simply to age", Bushman stated.

I pondered that last statement and wonder how factual it is. There are so many individuals and organizations that still look at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as fanatical, extremist, and belonging to a cult. I wonder if those that think that way will ever believe anything differently. But perhaps their children will.

This is a very good article, and I encourage you to look it over here.

This is the last paragraph from the Mormon Times article on Bushman's speech: "Piece by piece," Bushman observed, "the elements of the arguments against Mormonism can be dealt with."

Well said.

National Council of Churches USA…

2008-03-04T13:17:00.000-08:00

The National Council of Churches USA has recently made a list of the Top 25 Churches in America that is quite interesting and informative. But what I also find interesting is what church organizations make up the members of the National Council of Churches USA.

Interestingly, four of the top five churches in their Top 25 Churches in America survey do not belong to the NCC…..I wonder, (but won’t take the time to find out) , how many of the top 25 churches in America don’t belong to the NCC when four of the top five don’t.

I also noticed a few churches that belong to the NCC that I have never heard of, and have linked to the churches sites to learn more about them. If you wish to learn more also about the churches listed as belonging to the NCC, you can do so here.

To learn more about the Lord Jesus Christ, visit JesusChrist.lds.org

Changes in the Book of Mormon...

2008-03-01T11:13:00.000-08:00

The anti-Mormons love to bring up the issue of the changes that have been made to The Book of Mormon since 1830. They especially like to do this while quoting Joseph Smith as saying the Book of Mormon is more correct than even the Bible.

When Joseph Smith said that the Book of Mormon was the, " most correct of any book on earth", his view had little relation to the grammar, spelling, or punctuation used in the Book of Mormon. Because of the truth that the Book of Mormon brings to the world, the correctness of the book lies in its message. That is why Joseph Smith concluded be saying a person can "get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book".

But what about all the changes in the Book of Mormon? Some anti-Mormon blogs are talking about more than 400 changes since 1830 in the Book of Mormon. Well, they are correct. There are many thousands of little changes in the Book of Mormon. Listed below are some of those changes made in the Book of Mormon since 1830.

- Words deleted: that (188 times), the (48 times), it came to pass ( 46 times), a and an ( 40 times), had (29 times).

-Words added : of (12 times), and, is, and the ( 7 times)

-Grammatical changes: which to who ( 891 times), was to were, (162 times)

-Typographical errors: aaswer, amog, bacause, daghter, theit, uttered, among many.

That is just a short list of these type of changes, which also include many spelling changes that were made.

As late as 1828, there were as many as four dictionaries that were available. Examples from these four dictionaries show the variations in spellings commonly accepted at the time Joseph Smith was dictating the Book of Mormon to his scribes:

Sheridan:
published 1784

creatshur

scriptshur

claushure

Walker:
published 1794

cretshure

scriptshur

clauzhure

Perry:
published 1805

creature

scripture

clauzhure

Jameson:
published 1827

creture

scriptyur

clauzhur

These same type of changes were also made in the Bible. Simply compare a 1611 King James Version of the Bible with a Kings James Version of today, and you will also see thousands of changes. This does not distract from the meaning and message of the Bible....it simply makes it easier to read today.

Visit my blog here to learn more about the changes that the Bible has also seen in the last few hundred years.

Most importantly, neither the Bible nor the Book of Mormon have to be infallible to get its message across.

To learn more about the Lord Jesus Christ, visit JesusChrist.lds.org

New web site about Jesus Christ...

2008-02-26T11:34:00.000-08:00

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a new web site where everyone can witness for themselves what the LDS Church believes in concerning our Savior, Jesus Christ. He plays an essential role in all of our lives, and this is a wonderful site to share with all the world regarding our love for Him.

The Prophet Joseph Smith was often asked, “What are the fundamental principles of your religion?”

“The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.”

To learn more about the Lord Jesus Christ, visit JesusChrist.lds.org

Americans switching faiths / dropping out

2008-02-25T12:13:00.000-08:00

(AP) -- The U.S. religious marketplace is extremely volatile, with nearly half of American adults leaving the faith tradition of their upbringing to either switch allegiances or abandon religious affiliation altogether, a new survey finds.

The survey found the Roman Catholic Church has lost more members than any faith tradition.

The study released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life is unusual for it sheer scope, relying on interviews with more than 35,000 adults to document a diverse and dynamic U.S. religious population.

While much of the study confirms earlier findings -- mainline Protestant churches are in decline, non-denominational churches are gaining and the ranks of the unaffiliated are growing -- it also provides a deeper look behind those trends, and of smaller religious groups.

"The American religious economy is like a marketplace -- very dynamic, very competitive," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum. "Everyone is losing, everyone is gaining. There are net winners and losers, but no one can stand still. Those groups that are losing significant numbers have to recoup them to stay vibrant."

The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey estimates the United States is 78 percent Christian and about to lose its status as a majority Protestant nation, at 51 percent and slipping.

The rest of this interesting article can be viewed here: Survey

Mormon YouTube videos...

2008-02-22T08:40:00.000-08:00

There are about 35 YouTube videos about the Book of Mormon placed there by Fairlds.org

If you are interested in the truth about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, this is an excellent place to start with 35 short videos on various topics. No matter what you have read or heard elsewhere from various anti-Mormon propaganda, here you will see and hear the truth of what Mormons believe in.

Book of Mormon videos

What Is This Thing That Men Call Death?

2008-02-22T06:44:00.001-08:00

The following is taken from one of my favorite blogs, Temple Study

You can listen to the new song by going to the Temple Study blog or on this blog....enjoy.

“What Is This Thing That Men Call Death?” - New Recording by Janice Kapp Perry

Most people in the Church by now are probably familiar with the hymn that Janice Kapp Perry wrote a couple of months ago to accompany a poem written by President Hinckley. President Hinckley published his poem in the May 1988 Ensign article entitled, “The Empty Tomb Bore Testimony,” but he notes that he penned the words many years previous to that at a friend’s funeral.

If you’ve received an email about the hymn you might already know the story behind it. If not, head over to Meridian Magazine which has an article posted detailing the creation of this hymn, including links to the sheet music. The circumstances surrounding the production of the hymn are certainly a “tender mercy” of the Lord, as Janice Kapp Perry describes it. She received official approval of the arranged hymn in the mail from President Hinckley the day after his death.

I think this hymn epitomizes the LDS belief and feelings surrounding mortal death. To members of the LDS Church death is nothing to fear, but a passing into and a beginning of a different stage of our existence. It is progression. Death is not the end, but a beginning of greater things! These doctrines and principles could not be taught more clearly and purely than in the Lord’s temples which dot the earth today. President Hinckley was pivotal in nearly tripling the number of these sacred edifices around the world.

This hymn was sung by the Tabernacle Choir at President Hinckley’s funeral (video link). Since then, Janice Kapp Perry has just recently produced vocal and instrumental recordings of the song with Prime Recordings, Inc.¹. These recordings are very well done. She has made them freely available for all, so I have posted the vocal here for your listening:

What Is This Thing That Men Call Death?

Words by Gordon B. Hinckley, Music by Janice Kapp Perry

What is this thing that men call death,
This quiet passing in the night?
’Tis not the end, but genesis
Of better worlds and greater light.

O God, touch Thou my aching heart,
And calm my troubled, haunting fears.
Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,
Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change
With recompense for victory won;
The gift of Him who loved all men,
The Son of God, the Holy One.

Mormon education...

2008-02-20T13:39:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK CITY 19 February 2008 At a summit this Friday, America’s Promise Alliance will contend that high school drop-out rates are increasing. The group, founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, has gathered data that was announced today at a press conference and will be more deeply discussed on Friday, according to the New York Sun.

Despite this and other reports describing the challenges faced by many teenagers, there are examples of exceptional teenage commitment and accomplishments across the world. One illustration is how seriously many high school-age Latter-day Saints approach education. Many Mormon youth are not only staying in school; they are also taking extra classes.

The entire article can be read here: Mormon education

Another anti-Mormon myth...

2008-02-20T06:47:00.001-08:00

The following was taken from here:

Question: Isn't it true that "Mormon" in Chinese means "Gates of Hell?"

This gross misrepresentation can be heard in The God Makers movie and from anti-Mormons parroting the falsehood which it foisted upon them. Robert W. Blair, professor of linguistics at Brigham Young University, is one of several scholars who have answered that charge. He explained that in the Chinese language foreign words are converted into characters which, when read aloud, more or less approximate the sound of the foreign word. In the case of "Mormon," it is represented by two characters that closely approximate the English pronunciation of "Mormon."

The second symbol used for "Mormon" would mean "gate," "door," or "way" in the pure Chinese. Professor Blair said the same symbol would be used to represent the second syllable of the names Simon, Truman, Naumann, Gohrmun, or Siemen. The first syllable of "Mormon" could have been written with one or two syllables, depending on the emphasis desired for the "R" sound. The two-syllable choice would have placed more of an accent on the R: "Mo(are)Men." Instead, the Church selected a symbol that reflects an "r-less accent" or "Mo-Men" sound.

In selecting a Chinese character to represent the first syllable of Mo-Men, almost any one of about 30 Chinese characters that are read as "Mo" could have been chosen. Let us quote from Professor Blair's research:

The symbol that was actually selected is the character specifically used to represent a like sounding syllable in foreign words. When not used to render a meaningless syllable of a foreign word, this character suggests "smoothing something with the hand." (If one were to take this literal rendering seriously, one could explain Mo-Men as meaning "hand-smoothed Gateway," or "way smoothed by hands." Further, interpolation might suggest that it was the bleeding hands of Jesus Christ that smoothed the way to salvation!)
What the crafty enemies of the Restored Church have done is to pervert the facts in such a way that only those knowing Chinese can see their fraud. From the thirty characters which have the reading Mo, they substituted one which means "devil" (and which is not the character used by the Church) and then propagated the lie that in Chinese the word "Mormon" means "Devil's gate," or "Gateway to Hell."

Never Give Up...........

2008-02-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

"Part of our mortal training is to walk by faith, repent of our sins, and call upon the Lord in daily prayer. We rejoice in the moments when promptings by the Holy Ghost are kindly given, and we are urged along the proper path of life. But each of us faces many difficult times here in mortality. All sorts of voices are screaming at us from the stadiums of public opinion. Our course will never be the popular way of the world. There are obstacles strewn in our path upon which we may sprain an ankle or stub a toe. But we must keep going. We move on in the strength of the Lord, each accountable for our own performance at the end of our mortal race. We must be able to declare with Paul:

"'I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

"'Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing (2 Tim. 4:7-8).'" - Gary J. Coleman, "Jesus Christ Is at the Center of the Restoration of the Gospel," Ensign (CR), November 1992, p.43

It is OK to diss Mormons.........

2008-02-15T15:04:00.000-08:00

This wonderful article was taken from here: Seeing Red AZ

In todays society, it is not politically correct to defame, malign, discredit, denigrate, or hate any group....whether they be Jews, Muslims, Gays, Lesbians, Blacks, or the Australian Aborigines.......except Mormons. It is OK in our society to call Mormons liars, to discredit their leaders, to hold anti-Mormon rallies at General Conference in Salt Lake City and at Temple dedications.

Ask yourself why...........

But even Jesus Christ Himself was spit upon, called names, ridiculed, and finally crucified by others who thought that they knew better than He. We see the same type of people around us today that existed in the days of Christ. That much has not changed.

Now to the article...........

----------------

How Republicans ended up with Shamnesty McCain

More on religion in politics from The American Spectator.

Mike Huckabee stoked the fires of paranoia in a New York Times Magazine story when he asked, “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?” One-time presidential candidate the Reverend Al Sharpton spoke for many true believers when he said, “As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyway.”

Bill Keller, host of the Florida-based Live Prayer TV warned his reported 2.4 million e-mail subscribers that a vote for Romney would mean a vote for — you guess it — Beelzebub. “The presidency is the most powerful position in the world,” Keller told American Spectator contributor Carrie Sheffield. “If Romney was elected president, it would give mainstream credibility and acceptance to the Mormon cult and lead millions of people into that cult.”

Slate magazine contributor Christopher Hitchens demanded that Romney answer for the racist past of his faith. “His church was officially racist until 1965, believing that black people were an inferior species,” Hitchens fumed, while Slate editor Jacob Weisberg said that the religion’s founder Joseph Smith was an obvious con man, and that “Romney has every right to believe in con men, but I want to know if he does, and if so, I don’t want him running the country.”

Republicans now have two liberal Baptists to choose from, neither one with a small government bone in his body. Is it possible that evangelical Republicans were so anti-Mormon that they cut a deal with the devil?

What does it say about the principles of the faith-based of this nation when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints holds the unenviable distinction of being the last acceptable group to defame with impunity?

Mormon Secrets...

2008-02-15T07:03:00.000-08:00

A well written post excerpted from : Meridian

Secretive Mormonism?
By John A. Tvedtnes

With Mitt Romney’s candidacy for the Presidency, much attention has been given to his affiliation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly (though incorrectly) called “the Mormon Church.” In recent months, commentators and journalists have stressed the “secretive” nature of the religion.

It seems strange to consider as “secretive” a church that has some 60,000 full-time missionaries teaching its doctrines and converting roughly a million new members every three years. The church’s major doctrines are summarized in its thirteen Articles of Faith, and these and other beliefs are explained in its scriptures, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. These beliefs are discussed openly by church leaders in worldwide television and radio broadcasts of the semiannual general conferences held in Salt Lake City in April and October.

Hundreds of books describing Mormon beliefs have been published by the church-owned Deseret Book and other church-affiliated organizations, including a number of books that discuss temple rites in detail. The five-volume Encyclopedia of Mormonism, published by Macmillan in 1992, remains the most comprehensive explanation of the church’s history and teachings. A searchable on-line version has been posted on the internet at http://www.lib.byu.edu/Macmillan.

The church’s own websites (http://www.lds.org and http://www.mormon.org) have much information about the movement, including searchable versions of its monthly publications since 1970. Access to past publications is available on Deseret Book’s GospelLink CD-ROM set. All documents held in church archives have recently been made available on another CD-ROM set, Mormon Studies. Not bad for such a “secretive” organization.

Commentators frequently refer to Mormon temple rites as the heart of secret goings-on. It is true that some elements of the temple are so sacred that we do not discuss them publicly, but most of what goes on in the temples is well-known. One need not look far to learn that the most important such rite is the solemnization of marriage for time and all eternity and that vicarious ordinances (sacraments in Roman Catholic parlance) are performed for deceased ancestors, beginning with proxy baptism.

Even the endowment ceremony, the one most commonly held in Latter-day Saint temples, is mostly public knowledge. Most of the teachings presented during that time derive from the Book of Moses, published in the Pearl of Great Price. During an endowment session, we are reminded of our responsibility to obey the basic laws given mankind by God, such as the law of chastity (including fidelity after marriage), the law of obedience to God’s commandments, the law of sacrifice (which culminated in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross), the law of the gospel (salvation through Christ), and the law of consecration of one’s time, talents, and other divine blessings, to building up the Lord’s work on the earth.

Elements that are not discussed openly include ritual elements of temple prayer and the actual endowment or giving of signs, names, and tokens designed to enable one to pass the angels and ultimately to enter the presence of God. These may seem strange to most modern Christians, but they were common in early Christianity, as I have discussed in some of my published articles on ancient temple rites. [1]

Two millennia ago, various pagan writers criticized Christianity for being secretive. In response to one such critic, named Celsus, a prominent Christian theologian named Origen (AD 185-254), wrote:

In these circumstances, to speak of the Christian doctrine as a secret system, is altogether absurd. But that there should be certain doctrines, not made known to the multitude, which are (revealed) after the exoteric ones have been taught, is not a peculiarity of Christianity alone, but also of philosophic systems, in which certain truths are exoteric and others esoteric (Against Celsus, 1:7).

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (died AD 386), in his Catechetical Lectures, described early Christian rituals performed following baptism that are readily recognizable to Latter-day Saints who attend modern temples.

So how did the idea of “secretive Mormonism” arise? Frankly, it came from some of the many anti-Mormon “ministries,” of which there are roughly 150 in the United States alone. One former Mormon, for example, calling himself a “temple Mormon” (his term), claims that, in the temple, Latter-day Saints worship Satan. The claim is utterly false and laughable to those who know the central role played by Jesus Christ in Mormon theology.

Unfortunately, journalists and non-Mormon commentators seem to rely more on these hostile writers (or others influenced by them) for information than on authoritative sources. It’s like asking a Buddhist monk for information on Southern Baptist beliefs.

Exaggeration? I don’t think so, and I suspect that most of my thirteen million coreligionists would agree with me. Brigham Young once said, “There is no such thing as a mystery but to the ignorant” (Journal of Discourses 2:90).

The Ugly Truth...........

2008-02-14T06:46:00.001-08:00

I have personally witnessed anti-Mormons getting away with things in Salt Lake City that they wouldn't dare think of doing to the Jewish or Muslim community. My question is why do we, as Mormons, allow it to happen? Perhaps it is because even our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, allowed the wicked of His day to spit upon Him and to crucify Him. Even so, we allow the wicked of today to do the same to us.

The following is excerpted from here: The Unpleasant Truth

As I’ve written here before, during this Republican presidential campaign something very ugly arose. It manifested itself in various ways. For example:

Mike Huckabee’s now infamous question about whether Mormons believe Jesus and Satan as brothers. What is Huckabee had said, “Don’t Catholics believe Mary and Jesus are co-redeemers of mankind?” He would not have dared say such a thing - and maybe that’s my point. But if he had, The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, and similar organizations, would have been all over him. There is no “Mormon League.”

The official web site of a recognized candidate for President of the United States (Huckabee again) included comments like, “let’s dispose of that Mormon trash.” Insert the word “Jewish” or “Catholic” or “”black” in that sentence for “Mormon” and ask yourself if a hue and cry would not have arisen in those cases. But no hue and cry arose, and the candidate left those comments — and links to viciously anti-Mormon web sites - up on his own official site.

Someone named Joel Belz wrote a long essay in World Magazine, a leading Evangelical publication, stating that Mormons as a group generally lie, and that Romney’s so-called “flip-flops” could be attributed to that Mormon tendency. What if Belz — or anyone, for that matter — had argued that “Jews steal,” and therefore Joseph Lieberman could not be trusted with control of the U.S. Treasury? You’re right, that unimaginable.

The unpleasant and undeniable fact is that in the United States today it is still possible to get away with making statements about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that simply would not be tolerated regarding any other religious group.

Another unpleasant and undeniable fact is that by and large, such statements are not loudly and vigorously denounced, but get at most a sad shake of the head from observers who ought to be outraged.

A Mormon View of Death...

2008-02-13T07:11:00.000-08:00

Taken from: LDS.org

SALT LAKE CITY 12 February 2008

“If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). So inquired the anguished Job. On this one fundamental question hang much of the hopes and fears of mankind. And how one answers it will largely determine not only how one approaches death but also how one lives life.

The passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley has moved Latter-day Saints to reflect more deeply upon the meaning of death and its implications for how we live our lives. Death is not the final stop on life’s path but a mere gateway that leads to an eternal course that we continually shape by our choices. President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles likened the long journey of human life to “a grand three-act play” in which the first act is a previous pre-mortal existence with God, the second act is the trial of this mortal life, and the third act is a glorious future of eternity. Such a broad vision of life endows each moment with eternal significance.

During President Hinckley’s recent funeral, the choir sang a hymn that he himself composed titled “What Is This Thing That Men Call Death?” There is no doubt how he answered Job’s question. Echoing his typical brightness and optimism, the hymn proclaims that death “’Tis not the end but genesis of better worlds and greater light.”

Accordingly, Mormon funerals are typically marked by an atmosphere of hopefulness and peace. They generally are not burdened by the inconsolable grief and despair so often seen in other funerals. Latter-day Saints who mourn the death of loved ones are lightened by the assurance and understanding that the gospel of Jesus Christ offers. In addition, some might be surprised by the lack of formal ritual in these funerals. The commemoration service is conducted by a lay minister and features heartfelt tributes and comforting music. Moreover, the basic format, tone and length of President Hinckley’s funeral are typical of what might be seen in the funerals of regular Church members.

Regarding the undaunted way in which Latter-day Saints confront death, well-known literary scholar Harold Bloom proclaimed the following: “What is the essence of religion? … Religion rises inevitably from our apprehension of our own death. To give meaning to meaninglessness is the endless quest of all religion. … Of all religions that I know, the one that most vehemently and persuasively defies and denies the reality of death is the original Mormonism of the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator Joseph Smith.”

Most important, this affirmation of life in the face of death arises from faith in God’s abundant mercy. Joseph Smith taught that God is “more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive.” It is on such a foundation that the fears of death can be reconciled with the hopes of life

The Prophet Joseph Smith's vision...

2008-02-11T10:40:00.000-08:00

"Great was the Prophet Joseph Smith's vision. It encompassed all
the peoples of mankind, wherever they live, and all generations who have
walked the earth and passed on. How can anyone, past or present, speak
against him except out of ignorance? They have not tasted of his words,
they have not pondered about him, nor prayed about him. As one who has done
these things, I add my own words of testimony that he was and is a prophet
of God, raised up as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty to usher in
a new and final gospel dispensation. Of the Prophet Joseph Smith, we could
say:

" 'When a man gives his life for the cause he has
advocated, he meets the highest test of his honesty and sincerity that his
own or any future generation can in fairness ask. When he dies for the
testimony he has borne, all malicious tongues should ever after be silent,
and all voices hushed in reverence before a sacrifice so complete.'
(Ezra Dalby, manuscript, Dec. 12, 1926.)"