So there I was, immersed in the scriptures, like always, and I found something interesting that I wanted to share with you all. The thing that I learned, can be illustrated in the Book of Mormon as well as the Holy Bible.
Today, I wanna share it out of the Book of Mormon. In Alma chapter 22, there is a story about a missionary named Aaron, and his teaching the king of that land. As he began teaching the king, the first question he asked was, "Believest thou that there is a God?" (v.7) The king's response is, "I know that the Amalekites say that there is a God..." This man, did not fully understand his relationship with God, the Father, or His Son Jesus Christ. Aaron goes on to teach him, expounding the scriptures, and testifying by the power of the Holy Ghost that God lives. The king, after receiving this truth, prayed to the Father, "O God... wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee..." (v.18) This man would do anything to know God. Do we feel the same way?
Who is God, the Father? A modern-day Apostle, Elder Quentin L. Cook, taught, "God the Father is the Supreme Governor of the universe, the Power that gave us spiritual being, and the Author of the plan that gives us hope and potential. He is our Heavenly Father, and we lived in His presence as part of His family in the premortal life." He goes on to say, "The purpose of all that the Father has revealed, commanded, and initiated for the inhabitants of earth is to help us come to know Him, emulate Him, and become like Him so we can return to His holy presence." Sound like life eternal? Knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent? (John 17:3)
In what I am going to say next, I do not for a second want it to be interpreted that I am demeaning the doctrine of another faith. Nor would I dare disrespect them. That is not what the Savior would do. But I must share what I believe, and why I believe it. "We do not accept the Athanasian Creed. We do not accept the Nicene Creed, nor any other creed based on tradition and the conclusions of men," said President Gordon B. Hinckley, the late President and Prophet of the Church.
And why do we not? Because God is not a mystery. He doesn't want to be. "How are we to trust, love, worship, to say nothing of strive to be like, One who is incomprehensible and unknowable?" (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland) Remember, life eternal is KNOWING God. Knowing our relationship with Him.
We gain a witness of this truth, by praying in faith to our Heavenly Father, and receiving a confirmation from the Holy Spirit.
Like I said before, my intentions are not to prove others wrong. I wish, as did Aaron, to help others realize their relationship with the Most High God. He lives. His Son, Jesus Christ, stands at His right hand. Both, in resplendent glory. I hope to hear some feedback! And for my next blog, I'm going to write about who Jesus Christ is. Stay tuned! Same time, same channel. Stay classy.
Elder Hill
see also:
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/10/the-only-true-god-and-jesus-christ-whom-he-hath-sent?lang=eng&query=only+true+god
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/02/the-doctrine-of-the-father?lang=eng&query=doctrine+father
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1998/10/what-are-people-asking-about-us?lang=eng&query=people+asking
Today, I wanna share it out of the Book of Mormon. In Alma chapter 22, there is a story about a missionary named Aaron, and his teaching the king of that land. As he began teaching the king, the first question he asked was, "Believest thou that there is a God?" (v.7) The king's response is, "I know that the Amalekites say that there is a God..." This man, did not fully understand his relationship with God, the Father, or His Son Jesus Christ. Aaron goes on to teach him, expounding the scriptures, and testifying by the power of the Holy Ghost that God lives. The king, after receiving this truth, prayed to the Father, "O God... wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee..." (v.18) This man would do anything to know God. Do we feel the same way?
Who is God, the Father? A modern-day Apostle, Elder Quentin L. Cook, taught, "God the Father is the Supreme Governor of the universe, the Power that gave us spiritual being, and the Author of the plan that gives us hope and potential. He is our Heavenly Father, and we lived in His presence as part of His family in the premortal life." He goes on to say, "The purpose of all that the Father has revealed, commanded, and initiated for the inhabitants of earth is to help us come to know Him, emulate Him, and become like Him so we can return to His holy presence." Sound like life eternal? Knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent? (John 17:3)
In what I am going to say next, I do not for a second want it to be interpreted that I am demeaning the doctrine of another faith. Nor would I dare disrespect them. That is not what the Savior would do. But I must share what I believe, and why I believe it. "We do not accept the Athanasian Creed. We do not accept the Nicene Creed, nor any other creed based on tradition and the conclusions of men," said President Gordon B. Hinckley, the late President and Prophet of the Church.
And why do we not? Because God is not a mystery. He doesn't want to be. "How are we to trust, love, worship, to say nothing of strive to be like, One who is incomprehensible and unknowable?" (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland) Remember, life eternal is KNOWING God. Knowing our relationship with Him.
We gain a witness of this truth, by praying in faith to our Heavenly Father, and receiving a confirmation from the Holy Spirit.
Like I said before, my intentions are not to prove others wrong. I wish, as did Aaron, to help others realize their relationship with the Most High God. He lives. His Son, Jesus Christ, stands at His right hand. Both, in resplendent glory. I hope to hear some feedback! And for my next blog, I'm going to write about who Jesus Christ is. Stay tuned! Same time, same channel. Stay classy.
Elder Hill
see also:
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/10/the-only-true-god-and-jesus-christ-whom-he-hath-sent?lang=eng&query=only+true+god
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/02/the-doctrine-of-the-father?lang=eng&query=doctrine+father
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1998/10/what-are-people-asking-about-us?lang=eng&query=people+asking
Hi Mr. Hill, thanks for visiting me at "LOVE FOR ALL." The first thing I noticed that put a broad smile on my face (besides the obvious which is dialog about God) was that you ended your post with "stay classy." My car tag says "touch of class." Just a wee touch, lol! (and she giggles). I have many many questions. I met a Mormon on his blog but sadly he is a very atheistic ex-Mormon who has devoted his life to telling the world why Mormons are full of hooey. I think that every denomination has a place in the world and a value. There are a few things I am always careful about, not listening to other books being taught other than the Holy Bible, and other denominations trying to convert me. That's a no-no. We don't go into another faith or denomination and try to win them over to our side. I don't think God sees that as a right thing. We are to worship as we feel in our hearts is a right way for us as individuals, amen? I find great love for the Father in your blog and I'll check you out again. First question, (which I already asked in my reply to your comment on my blog) is what does "Elder" mean? Elder name, or Elder title? Why do you have your own Book of Mormon instead of just the Lord's word? Why do you live in townships? How do you live under such oppression? How do you find joy in having others dictate your life and tell you how to dress? Do you believe in the Trinity? I'll leave you with this for now. See you in the next post.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the response! I enjoyed your blog, by the way. It is so great to hear such enthusiasm for the Lord, nowadays. I hope I can answer your questions as best as I can! First off, we don't go into other denominations trying to "win" converts. We go door to door, inviting people to hear our message. We do it, because we feel that it is of great importance to the world! We do not, for a second, try to destroy other's faith. That is not what the Savir would do. What He did, was invite. Which is precisely what we do! We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. Fair enough? Elder is a title. We are ordained Elders in the Church, and we during our 2 year mission go by "Elder" instead of our given name. We do this, because "he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." (Matthew 10:39)When we are referred to others as Elder, we forget about ourselves. Plus, it helps others recognize that we are called to do the Lord's work. We believe that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, not a replacement to the Bible. It is a record of scripture that is comparable to the Bible, which was written in the ancient Americas. It does not take anything away from the Bible. It actually strengthens your testimony of the Bible! I wrote a blog about this on February 8th called "In the mouth of two or three witnesses..." I invite you to check it out, if you have time! It will answer your questions about why we study out of the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible. Now, to answer your questions about our "lifestyle." The small town that I am from is not a township. It is a town. I had to do a little research on that one, because I have never heard that before? And oppression,excuse my for my humor, but I lived in quite the opposite of oppression. :) I had a wonderful childhood and was blessed to be able to do more things than most children do. No one dictates my life, either. In fact, it is also quite the opposite. We are all given the gift of agency, and have the ability to do make any decision we want. We do have standards, which are much higher than that of society's. But you will find that they are not oppresive or dictative, rather, they allow us to live a full and abundant life. As a missionary, we wear white shirts and ties, (often time suits) because we are representing the Lord. When representing our master, we shouldn't be wearing Van Halen t-shirts, agreed? But when we are released from our missionary service, we can wear whatsoever suits our fancy. I find great joy in the standards of the Church! To outsiders, we seem a tad bit peculiar. But the Lord's covenant people have always been "peculiar." (Deuteronomy 14:2) And lastly, we do not believe in the Trinity. We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. We do not accept the creeds and traditions of uninspired men, but believe the testimony of the prophets and apostles found in the Holy Scriptures, which affirms their distinctness and singularity. Yet, unity of purpose and perfection. Hopefully I answered all of your questions! I look forward to speaking to you again soon!
DeleteHi Elder Hill, I will call you Elder Hill because I fully respect and understand why you take the title and in my opinion, it's admirable. Perhaps, should be sought by more people of the faith. Well, not so much the title as the idea of why the title. Yes, to lose ourselves in the Commission. What a gift! To be chosen by the Father for our several gifts and to do His blessed will..what a gift! You did a fantabulous job of answering all of my questions. I wouldn't argue one point and respect your values fully and understand your beliefs as well. I don't understand why you don't believe in the Trinity as it speaks in the Bible but I certainly respect that you don't. He will reveal all things in the day, amen? We have no need to argue scripture with one another on this side of eternity. That's something that has always disturbed me about some. I don't think God ever set us forth to argue His word. It's like Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. God bless these men because they try so hard. However, I just don't see Christ in the confrontational way they try leading people to Jesus. The Lord Jesus never walked up to anyone ever and said, "you're a liar and a thief and you're worthy of hellfire." I'm giggling as I type because I know they mean so well. I know their every effort is to lead people to salvation. But, I wouldn't want someone to tell me those things and expect me to receive it with love. I just believe whole-heartily that the Word must be received in the spirit of love or it's not truly received at all. Now, I'm not a missionary and I don't go door to door. I believe as the scripture says, "each man must be drawn of the Holy Spirit." I can't lead someone to Jesus if they are either reprobate or not being drawn. I've been told that I take the scriptures too literally. I know there's a lot of metaphor in the Bible. I don't believe there was a real place such as the garden of Eden. I believe that the garden represents a place within man's history where life was pure and good. I believe the serpent represents the evils that came. I believe the apple represents the sin. And that Eve represents the simple weakness of the sinner. Of course, I could be wrong. But it's like you said, "we are all given the gift of agency..." I choose as I choose. I realize my reply isn't exactly lined up with every sentence you said but I just thought I'd ramble on a bit and hope you don't mind reading it, lol. I enjoy reading your blog because it's clear and precise and decisive and most of all, devoted to the Father and His works. I bless you in the name of Jesus, Elder. I will be back many many times to see what you've had to post. I enjoy sharing views with other Christians and of course, we'll be seeing each other soon on the life side of this death we now exist in. So, I believe we should all be getting to know one another whenever possible. I feel closer to people sometimes in the blogosphere then I do in my church building. That's sad, isn't it? I've struggled lately with that. The religion. It's like you said about not accepting "creeds and traditions." I loved that! I feel you on that one brother! It's getting in the way of the Word these days. The ceremony, the religion, the traditions. The Bible says, "Beware of the traditions of men. Well..I'm beingware...lol. Well, I'll sign off until later. God bless you Elder Hill. Oh and loved the comment about Van Halen shirts. Amen to that too!!!
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