Sunday, April 22, 2012

Does the Book of Mormon Add to the Bible?

Since the publication of the Book of Mormon, there has been controversy concerning it and it's message. I would like to reference the controversial scripture that seems to thwart the Book of Mormon from it's cover page which reads, "Another Testament of Jesus Christ".

"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:" - Revelation 22:18

This scripture was written by John the Revelator, on the Isle of Patmos, sometime during the latter end of the 1st century. Now whether or not other sacred texts were written after is not relevant to my argument today.

It is a fact that the Books in the Bible were compiled together during the 4th century shortly after the Nicene Council. If this is true, then prior to this, the book of Revelation itself stood alone and during the compilation of the Bible those other Books were added to the Book of Revelation, then. This would mean, by those who wish to demean and discredit the Book of Mormon with this gross misinterpretation of this individual scripture, would condemn their own sacred texts and by their own standards blatantly declare that the Bible itself is a spawn of sin and was compiled contrary to the commandments of God. Therefore, those who wish to pursue this argument further must decide either John the Revelator was a liar and was not inspired of God, discrediting the entire Bible itself, or that scripture speaks exclusively to the Book of Revelation.

The Book of Mormon is the Word of God just as much as the Bible. 

A depiction of the Nicene Council.
"The Book of Mormon IS the most correct of ANY book on Earth and a man will get nearer to God by abiding IT'S precepts than by ANY other book on Earth." - Joseph Smith Jr. (Emphasis added.)

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

For God So Loved the World

We all have read or heard or know the scripture John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." The purpose of this blog today is to cover a couple of things. First God's motives for making choices and yours.

Reasons for making decisions can basically be categorized into 3 sections the 1st being fear. I'll give examples to illustrate these differences.

Fear. Let's reflect on our Savior Jesus Christ. When Jesus suffered for our sin's, His reason for doing it wasn't because He was scared what would happen to Him if He didn't do it. If He did not do it He would not be afraid of us rising against Him and punishing Him or torturing Him, although all of those happened because He did do it. Jesus is God, He isn't scared of anything He has no reason to be. So His suffering for us was not because He was scared of what would happen to Him.

The second reason is because of self gain. Jesus personally did not gain anything from suffering for us and dieing for us. He didn't get a million dollars, nor did He get a new house on the beach. He did not get that job promotion He might have been looking for or some great reward for His outstanding zeal and courage. Like fear, He is God has all power and is in control of all things, He had no reason to do that for Him to personally gain at all.

The third reason is because of love. Jesus knew what our state would be if He did not die for us. He knew we would be worse than dead, far worse. He knew the suffering that we would deal with for all eternity. This kind of motive is charity. Pure love. Doing something for no other reason than because you love and care about someone. Jesus' motives for suffering for us was because He loves us.

This relates to us because of God's commandments. What are our motives for keeping God's commandments? Are we afraid that we might suffer consequences from not living how we should? Are we doing it because we want to earn a great reward and go to heaven were you live the good life? Or are we doing because we love Him?

"If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15)

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Zombie Apocalypse!



We have all either seen movies or played games that involve a Zombie Apocalypse. Sometimes I just like to  come up with scenarios about what I would do if a virus was to spread, infecting people and turning them into zombies. To introduce you into the zombie apocalypse realm, you must first know that there are several different types of zombies. Some are ultra-athletes who can run faster than cars and can jump like 20 feet in the air, but there are also the classic slow and mindless zombies who for some reason can only say, "BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIINNNNSSSSSSS", but either one has a weakness... decapitation. (You can't do much without a head.) In order to destroy a zombie one must remove the head from the body. Complete annihilation must be enforced in order to keep these blood thirsty vagabonds at bay. So you probably wonder what in the world does this have to do with anything religion related. Well, I will begin.
Never trust a zombie. Even if he tells you he's just waiting for the bus...

In every zombie movie there is a survivor group. This group works and stays together to keep their safety in a zombie apocalypse. A similar statement was made by an ancient american prophet,
"And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls." (Moroni 6:5) This is the reason why it is a commandment to go to church because we live in a spiritual zombie apocalypse, exposure to the virus WILL turn you into a brainless monster who's only train of thought is destroying life.

As well as a survivors group a zombie apocalypse can only be endured if you got the right weapons. I hate to say it, but you'd last about as long in a zombie apocalypse with a pair of scissors as a package of franks at a hot dog eating contest. You get the point, you need to be well armed if you want to withstand a horde of raging zombies set on eating you. Well, what weapons do we have to fend ourselves in this great spiritual zombie apocalypse? What does God say?
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) This is the weapon that we have been given. God has given us His word to help us fend ourselves from these spiritual undead.

Or if he tells you he just wants a hug... he really just wants to eat you.
In conclusion has there ever been a zombie movie where someone from the group doesn't decide that their way is better and that they can stand alone? I am not aware of any. They decide, "Hey I'm going to explore this dark and creepy room by myself!" and what usually happens? A few short moments of suspense and then BAM! They are gonzo. They get attacked and if they survive they become infected and are worse than dead. So what can we learn from this? DON'T STRAY FROM THE GROUP! Don't suppose that you are smarter or any better able to survive the unending waves of soul destroying demons. Survival comes by being obedient to the rules, however unlike a zombie apocalypse these aren't unwritten rules. These are the commandments of God.

Well, despite the light heartedness of this blog I hope you learned a thing or two about how you can apply a zombie apocalypse into your life. I invite you to keep the commandments of God... and buy a machete.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Have Miracles Ceased?

In this day and age we live in, God ministering to men through visions, dreams, or even in physical manifestations, seem to be all, but believable. A person is usually ridiculed and thought of as a lunatic if they make a claim similar to these. The sadder part is most of these persecutors would be ones who come from a Theological based faith. So this is the question I will pose, if we believe that there is a God in Heaven, why would He not be a God of Miracles?


No man or woman can pull down miracles from heaven unless they truly believe and have faith that it will happen. In the story I'm about to post; a man's son that is possessed by a demon is brought before the Savior and He is asked to cure the child. He is informed that His very own disciples could not cast out this devil, but Jesus cast out the devil immediately. The disciples saw this and they wondered why it was that they could not cast out the demon. They had cast out demons before and the would cast out demons after, but I want you to look for the reasons why the Savior tells them they were unable to administer to the child.


"...There came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perversegeneration, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."
(Matthew 17:14-21)


In conclusion I'm going to quote a prophet from the Book of Mormon who simply answers this question, "And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles. And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust." (Mormon 9:19-20) As an additional testimony that these scriptures are accurate and true, Jesus Christ did not perform miracles in Nazereth because of their unbelief (Matthew 13:58).  Brothers and sister, we must believe. We must. If we do not we will not be privileged to the things which could have been ours if we had, but believed. True belief. I invite you to search within your hearts and commit to follow Christ by keeping His commandments, diligently seek to know Him and understand who He is by reading the Word of God, and by emulating His example in kindness, love, and patience.