To Those Who Don't Want It: Visitors Welcome!

Here is a wonderful discourse on "Visitors Welcome" directly from Jesus Christ himself.

3 Nephi 18:28-32

28 And now behold, this is the commandment which I give unto you, that ye shall not suffer any one knowingly to partake of my flesh and blood unworthily, when ye shall minister it;

29 For whoso eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to his soul; therefore if ye know that a man is unworthy to eat and drink of my flesh and blood ye shall forbid him.

30 Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out from among you, but ye shall minister unto him and shall pray for him unto the Father, in my name; and if it so be that he repenteth and is baptized in my name, then shall ye receive him, and shall minister unto him of my flesh and blood.

31 But if he repent not he shall not be numbered among my people, that he may not destroy my people, for behold I know my sheep, and they are numbered.

32 Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out of your synagogues, or your places of worship, for unto such shall ye continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them.

Every meetinghouse of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a phrase right under the name:  Visitors welcome. This is a manifestation of a charge from Christ to never throw anyone out of Church gatherings. No matter what a person has done or whatever they believe, all people are encouraged to attend public meetings of Latter-day Saints. Now, that doesn't mean that people can take over meetings to espouse their own ideas or use such gatherings to make demands on the Church to be more accomodating of their choices; it just means that no one will be bared from coming and listening. Church meetings are not places to air one's greivences with church authorities or policies or doctrine - there are many other venues to vent such things.  Church meetings are meant to give Latter-day Saints a setting to better learn and understand the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed through Joseph Smith.  Everyone is free to come, but our adherance to the "Agenda of God", the path to exaltation, will be the subject matter being discussed.

The Church of Jesus Christ is designed to facilitate personal development toward exaltation, which again is to align people with Christ and to become like God, as Christ will do. If a person comes to meetings at Latter-day Saint meetinghouses and they aren't interested in the "Agenda of God", it would not be surprising to feel a bit left out or even uncomfortable. Being out of alignment with Christ or at cross-purposes with him will invariably be discomforting.

Everyone is welcome to come and see what happens in public meetings of the Church. If someone doesn't like it, they don't have to come back but they are always, always welcome. 

Framing Things in the "Agenda of God"

Some want to know why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints behaves in the way it does and why it accepts some behaviors and not others. In the strange climate of belief that Christ covers all behavior in his never-ending shroud of love, it can be hard to see why a church that considers itself the only organization actually created and led by Christ acts in certain ways.

Actually, I think the actions of the Church of Jesus Christ can be readily understood and perhaps even predicted by an understanding of the "Agenda of God", which goes something like this: 

• to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ as restored through Joseph Smith; 
• to provide authoritative ordinances; 
• to administer God's covenants; and 
• to preach obedience and righteousness that lead people to exaltation.

The goal of Christ and his Church is exaltation, the life that God enjoys. The conditions of exaltation are readily known: entering and keeping the temple covenant sealing together of a man and a woman, alongside righteous living. Anything that detracts from the goal of exaltation is condemned and a change of heart and behavior toward exaltation (which is repentence) is enthroned.

God's agenda can be encapsulated like this, from Moses 1:39

39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

When anyone is quick to question why Christ and his Church function as they do, I think it is useful to remember the individual exaltation ("eternal life" from the scripture above) that Christ is charged by his Father to make possible for us and toward which Christ commands us. To expect the Church to bend to cultural or societal demands that are counter to the "Agenda of God" is to expect Christ to abandon his mission and God to ignore his goal.

In coming articles, I will place some controversial topics against the Agenda of God and comment on what I expect will be Christ's likely attitude toward them.

In God We Trust

Just in case one thinks this will be about slogans on coins and bills, this isn't about money. This is about who we trust.  When it comes to very important matters, those we trust become very important as well.

As time passes, you should learn that people and their institutions are not very trustworthy. Too many expect the local store to always operate in ways that make customers happy, but a business can't do that consistently.  Sometimes inflation intervenes, wages rise, and prices go up. If a customer has a fixed income, that isn't the store's problem and you can't trust the store or its owners/managers/employees to make sure the price of goods are always affordable for you.

The larger problem is that people are expecting far too much in almost every way from every external source.  Physicians must provide painless and complete heath. Governments must provide large assets (such as houses) at no or little cost to citizens.  God must punish the wicked immediately and rain down personal happiness, protection, and joy constantly, obedience notwithstanding. Many people have become very demanding of cures for every ill and that someone else must make the cure happen for them.

As a priest of the Hebrew God, I often concern myself with what people expect from my God. Larger than that and more importantly, I promulgate the concept that God expects behavior and devotion from us and he has already specified what the rewards will be.  The biggest problem is that, for a growing number of people, God's promises are simply not sufficient for them.

We don't command God, or rather we shouldn't, yet this is how most people approach him, with demands. God is treated like a butler and, if you happen to be a bit more obedient to his commandments, the modern person expects more reliable or more responsive butlering. This is the quick road to atheism, its spiritualist variants, or throwing oneself at demonism.

For the most part, humanity is "firing" God, setting up their own alternate deities in the form of communities or governments. This was all prophesied long ago, but many can't see it. The problem is more about people who want everything without a cost in money or effort and has little to do with God at all. When one rejects God, God lets one be on their own. When enough people reject God and chase their own demon-inspired ends, we get the mess we are in today and worse and it is not God's problem to fix.

What is the antidote? Return to God and trust him. If one keeps the commandments of Christ, one will have a more guided life, which brings more joy than tears - not exclusively, but more often. I have little hope in the heavenly redemption of nations at this point, but there is certainly the opportunity still for individuals and families to embrace a trust in God and his promises to the obedient.  Put your trust in God!

Time is Running Out

Many people spend time making bigger choices, such as buying a car or a house.  These things should be considered and the more information you have on big decisions, the better your decision will be.

There is no decision larger than who or what your God is.  I wrote about that before. It is important to choose wisely what gets your fullest devotion.

Sadly, circumstances are not working in favor of taking lots of time to make your choice on approaching God or not. Because of all the terrible things that people are doing in our world, God will soon take away the opportunity to have his blessings:

3 Nephi 15:10

And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.

This comes directly from the Father, Jesus is relaying the message. If you are an adherent of the teddy-bear version of Jesus, that is not the person you are dealing with, but his tough boss.

The sins of the Gentiles are described. Do you see these things happening commonly these days?

Rejection of "the fulness" of the gospel, combined with iniquity, is a sin against the Father's gospel. Jesus cannot absolve you of current iniquity and procrastination on this, as if this will never come.

If what is described happens (is already happening?), the Father says that he "will bring the fullness of my gospel from among the Gentiles".  Everyone should consider themselves a Gentile in this context, as this is what the Gentiles are - those who reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is "the fulness of the Father's gospel"? I think it is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the priesthood and its holders, the scriptures, missionaries, and everything that goes with these.

Here are some recent words of President Nelson regarding this:

As President of His Church, I plead with you who have distanced yourselves from the Church and with you who have not yet really sought to know that the Savior’s Church has been restored. Do the spiritual work to find out for yourselves, and please do it now. Time is running out.

When the time comes, that is it. The Gentiles (those who have not embraced the gospel and been baptized through the proper priesthood) will be cut off. I don't know if individuals can beg their way into the gospel after this time, but my basic warning remains - Don't bank on it.

Mostly likely, there will no longer be cute missionary kids knocking on your door and pleading with you to hear the message of the restored gospel. It will be hard to find and you will have to work hard to impress God to hopefully acquire it.  

Destinations

In updating this, I see that it is a fore-bearer for the Agenda of God.  The concept didn't arise out of nowhere!

Often enough on this blog, I have spoken of exaltation, or becoming as God. One could look on that goal as being like a destination. Others, in this case Jesus Christ, have reached the destination of exaltation and have mapped out a path that we can follow to come to the same place.  I have sometimes called this the Mariner's Log and those within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints often call this the Plan of Salvation. Whatever the name, the road to take and the destination to which it leads are the same.

As with any destination, as log as you are on the proper road, faced in the right direction, and moving forward, you will reach it. Prophets and the Savior himself called this road the "straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life." It doesn't matter how slow you move as long as you are on this path, you will reach the promised destination, just as you will on any road.

Of course, you can choose whatever destination you please.  We make this choice through our beliefs, actions, and intentions. Many people are not interested in exaltation so do not seek it. Some are caught up in the things of this world and follow a variety of paths that might lead to goals such as wealth or fame rather than God. Others may want exaltation, but either follow poor advice or disregard important elements that Christ requires along the way. It is very easy to be distracted away from the road that leads to a life like God's life.

God's purpose for the lives of his chidren is that they become like him. He has sent a Savior, given many prophets and apostles, established a church, and many more things to help each man and woman find the path to exaltation, face us in the right direction, and make our way forward. Avail yourselves of these things and you will one day reach the destination and share the joy of your God!

"...ye shall not resist evil,..."

In this time of dubious justifications for dwindling liberties and forced compliance, it is good to recall Christ's teachings on such times as these. I take some excerpts from the retelling of the Sermon on the Mount to those in America in the Book of Mormon, but the concepts are the same as those found in the biblical Book of Matthew.

3 Nephi 13:25 Agree with thine adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him, lest at any time he shall get thee, and thou shalt be cast into prison.

Christ doesn't want us to do jail-time that we may not escape.  Although a few of his servants were cast into prison, it is not something he wants for us.  We are to comply with our adversaries to avoid incarceration. Note the use of the word "adversary" - we are not to join the other side, only to work together as partners when it is advantageous. Don't make others destroy you as you can't preach to the living if you are dead.

3 Nephi 13:30 For it is better that ye should deny yourselves of these things, wherein ye will take up your cross, than that ye should be cast into hell.

Though we may feel set upon or treated unfairly, we remember Jesus and how he persevered in the face of injustice. Fighting for one's rights is likely to land us in hell for our unrighteous actions, for the ends often do not justify unrighteous means. The killing of innocent combatants to get to an evil leader may still require some eternal payment. The cross is the symbol of punishment misapplied in Christ's case and a physical proof that even when faced with tyranny, we will continue to be obedient to the Lord's commandments and our covenants with God.

3 Nephi 13:39 But I say unto you, that ye shall not resist evil, ...

In the end, evil reveals our true intentions.  Will we follow Christ in all things, or will we throw him aside when difficulties and rationalizations come?

In spite of lies and confusion all around us, Christ tells us to continue to look to him.  Our mission in life is not to destroy evil but to individually overcome evil as he did and not to be individually overcome by evil. As we retain our faith and hope in the promises of Jesus in spite of a sinful world, we will be victorious in our own lives and be another example to others on how to overcome and gain the real victory.

Living Up to Your Commitment

A rather unique doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reveals that all of us had an existence before birth as spirit children of God.  The Bible mentions this in reference to Jeremiah (1:5) and Job (38:4, 7). Revelations 12:7 talks of the "war in heaven", where the spirit children of God chose to follow either Jehovah (Christ) or Lucifer (Satan).  Satan's followers were cast down and Christ's followers were prepared to come to earth through birth.

When you chose Christ before you were born in mortality, it wasn't just a choice, it was a commitment.  You said you would follow Christ - that is why you are here.  Mortality is called a lot of things, but it may be thought of like a very extended military "boot camp".  It is designed to ascertain if you are qualified to be part of God's "army".

The biggest thing to remember is that you committed to this.  You enlisted in God's development program. I suppose you can say that you did not bargain for the trials presently faced, but it was all explained to you previously, including the fact that you would not remember anything prior to your enlistment.  Once you start down this path, you can't bow out until you complete "boot camp", at least not honorably. That is literally suicide on a few levels.

Repentance and baptism are described in holy writ as the gate that opens upon the path to the promised life with God:

2 Nephi 31:17-18

Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

Our lives are designed to be the testing of our committment to Christ and God that we gave before our birth. It is well to remember that punishments promised to the disobedient are proportionate to the committments and covenants we made.

Training is rigorous, to be sure. It is a proving ground, to say the least.  It was what God offered - the path forward.  Christ laid the trail and showed us the way. We must all prove ourselves worthy to continue on the path and every committed person will pass this test of mortality.  You can do it.