In the previous blog, I discussed how some great men broke away from the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation and started their own churches that were more in line to the way they interpreted the Bible.
But these men, in spite of their good intentions, lacked two things: revelation and authority. They lacked the revelation and authority from our Heavenly Father to start their own religion.
In 1820, a 14 year old boy faced a dilemma - which church should he join? There were so many different denominations out there vying for every one's attention. Some members of his family joined one church, others joined another church. What was a boy to do?
The young Joseph Smith did what all of us need to do on a daily basis: turn to the scriptures and get on your knees. Joseph read in the Bible that if anyone lacked wisdom, to ask of God. And that is what Joseph did. He got down on his knees and asked God which of these many churches he should join. God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph and Joseph was surprised by the answer he received: he was told to join none of them, for they were all wrong. How can that be? All wrong? Why? How?
The true church as organized by Jesus Christ fell into apostasy, and there were many years of darkness upon the earth. No one on earth had the authority to perform baptisms, to heal the sick, to bless the Sacrament, or to lead the Church of Jesus Christ. Thus Joseph was told to join none of them.
During the next few years, Joseph receive the necessary authority and keys of the priesthood. In 1830 the fullness of Christ's gospel was restored to the earth as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized containing all of the doctrines and ordinances necessary for eternal salvation. The period of darkness on the earth had ended, and many important truths had been restored once again.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not worship Joseph Smith, but they do honor him as the first prophet of these latter days. Joseph Smith was persecuted all his life for having seen a vision of the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Yet he never denied having seen the vision, having said "I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it." He was eventually murdered for his beliefs. Which always amazes me. In this country that was founded on the belief of freedom of religion, it still amazes me that someone could be murdered simply for his belief in God, and the murderer never brought to trial. The Mormons, as far as I know, is the only religion in America that had an extermination degree signed by the Governor of the state of Missouri. Think about that for a minute. A Governor signed an order to exterminate an entire people simply for the religious beliefs. What other religion in America has this happened to? There is no doubt in my mind that Satan also knows that the Gospel has been restored on the earth, and is doing everything in his power to destroy it.
Which leads me to blog briefly on the current presidential election. Honestly - is the world going to fall apart if the President is LDS? Why all this talk about Romney being a Mormon? All the talk about whether or not Mormons are Christian amaze me...........really. I am surprised at how many people are bigots in this day an age. If memory serves me correctly, wasn't here someone by the name of Lieberman running for president in the last election? A Jew I believe..... and the Jews crucified Jesus Christ. They don't even believe that Jesus is the Christ! Yet I never saw the bigotry against Lieberman as I do against Romney. Obama is running for president this year, and I have no idea what religion he is! Sometimes he claims to have been raised a Muslim, and sometimes he's some kind of Christian. Where are the bigots now? This is just more justification to me that Satan also knows which church has restored the gospel in these latter days, and he will do whatever it takes to destroy it. Even if it means bringing out the bigots in full force. If you don't vote for someone simply based on their religious beliefs, how different is that from not voting for someone due to the color of their skin or their gender? Bigotry is bigotry. Period.
Ok........ I'll get off my band wagon now. ; -) I watched football most of the day, and I am in a good mood since LSU lost today. Unfortunately, Boise is losing to Hawaii as I write this. I will be in a better mood if my Buckeyes get into the BCS Championship game again this year. Go Buckeyes!!! IMHO.
