Taking the Sacrament

June 28, 2010

When investigating the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the question often arises, “What do I do when the Sacrament comes around? Am I allowed or even supposed to take it?”Taking the Sacrament

The LDS sacrament is known to other Christians as the Eucharist, Communion, or generally, the Lord’s Supper.  Two priesthood holders, usually young men, bless first the broken bread and then the water, which have been placed in trays. After the respective prayers, these trays are passed to the seated congregation.

When it comes to you, you can either take one and pass it, or just pass it.  Either way, no one will fuss.

In my personal opinion, there is no harm in taking the Sacrament without being a member. No one is going to look at you like you’ve blasphemed their faith by partaking. I, along with many other members, allow my children to take the Sacrament and they haven’t been baptized as members yet.

However, it is important to understand why we take the Sacrament: 1) It reminds us of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and His great sacrifice on our behalf.  2) It serves as a renewal of the covenants we made at our baptism.

Regarding the first, I feel that most visitors would have no problem viewing the  bread and water as symbolic of the body and blood of our Redeemer.  The second reason just doesn’t apply though. Without having been baptized, you can’t renew those covenants.

Essentially, it’s up to you. You’re certainly under no obligation to take the Sacrament. If you feel more comfortable passing the tray along, that’s perfectly acceptable. If you’d like to take it, you’re welcome to do so, though it will mean far more to you after baptism.  This weekly ordinance allows baptized and confirmed saints to maintain the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, the greatest gift we can have in life.

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The Book of Mormon: The Mormons’ Bible?

June 14, 2010

You know that book the Mormons read?

> Twilight?

No.  Try again.

> The Book of Mormon?

Yes, that’s the one.  How much do you know about it?

> It’s the Mormon version of the Bible.

Um, okay.  We need to talk.  This article is for you.

First, it’d be good to understand what the Bible is.  The Bible comes in two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament.  I’ll use bullets to summarize as quickly as I can:

Old Testament

  • Begin date: “In the beginning…”
  • Moses writes about creation, Eden, the flood, the tower of Babel, Abraham, the establishment and exodus of Israel.
  • Law of Moses instituted for Israel.
  • Other prophets and historians write about Israelite conquests and generally the lineage history of the  house of Israel.
  • Stories of the Lord’s intervention, prophets foretell Israel’s captivity in Babylon.
  • Israel is taken captive by Babylon (around 600 BC), then eventually set free to rebuild; prophets foretell the coming of the Messiah.
  • End date: About 400 BC.

New Testament

  • Begin date: About 1 BC.
  • Jesus is born and hailed as the Messiah, he grows up and starts teaching and performing miracles.
  • Jesus is crucified for the world’s sins and is resurrected (33 AD); he establishes a Church on the shoulders of his Apostles.
  • An important Jew (Saul) hates this upstart Church and tries to destroy it; he is later visited by Jesus and becomes Paul, an important missionary.
  • Paul travels all over Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome teaching about Jesus; many NT books are letters to his followers.
  • Some writings from other Apostles (Peter, James, John, etc.).
  • Prophesies of the eventual return of the Messiah, Jesus.
  • End date: About 70 AD.

Mormons believe the teachings, visions, and prophecies in the Bible (both testaments) to be the word of God breathed to the prophets who served as scribes and mouthpieces for the Almighty.

> You’re kidding me.  Mormons read the Bible?  The same one I read?

Yup.  We English-speaking Mormons prefer the King James Version.

> So, how is the Book of Mormon any different?

Well, let’s examine the Book of Mormon.  It actually has two major sections, too.  The first one is the main story:

Lehites

  • Begin date: About 600 BC.
  • Israel is about to be taken captive by the Babylonians (see Old Testament, above); the Lord tells a prophet named Lehi to get his family out before it happens.
  • They travel away from Jerusalem, through the desert, to the sea and build a ship.
  • The Lord brings them across oceans to the American continent (they probably land in Mexico or Guatemala).
  • Lehi’s family breaks apart into Nephites and Lamanites.
  • A lineage history of the Nephites, their kings and the wars with the Lamanites.
  • Prophesies of their future and of the coming Messiah.
  • Signs testify when the Messiah is born (a new star, 1 BC), and when he dies (earthquakes, tempests, volcanoes, 33 AD).
  • The resurrected Jesus arrives and shows crucifixion nail prints in his hands and feet, teaches the gospel, performs miracles, and sets up a Church.
  • Peace reigns for centuries.
  • Wickedness returns.  The Nephite dynasty is destroyed.
  • Mormon summarizes everything by inscribing this whole story on thin sheets of gold, bound in book form (about 400 AD).
  • Mormon gives the gold plates to his son, Moroni, who adds the Jaredite history, journeys to a hill in New York, and buries them in a stone box.
  • End date: About AD 421.

Jaredites

  • Begin date: about 3,000 BC
  • Jared and family are led by the Lord to leave the tower of Babel; they move out and build barges to float to the American continent (probably Mexico).
  • Jared’s brother sees visions of the future and foretells the coming of a Messiah.
  • Lineage history of Jared’s descendants; wars, kings, important events.
  • Jaredites turn wicked and destroy themselves.
  • Ether summarizes the account on metal plates, they are recovered by the Nephites, and added to the gold plates by Moroni.
  • End date: about 600 BC.

> So, wait.  That’s not even the Bible stories or anything.  Instead of Moses and Paul you’ve got Nephi and Jared and Moroni.

Yes.  It’s vital to see the distinction between the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  They are about two completely separate groups of peoples on opposite sides of the globe.  That’s the main difference.  To put it simply:

Bible = Middle East

Book of Mormon = America

> But you mentioned Jesus.  Is that the same Jesus as in the Bible?  How does he show up in America?

Same Jesus, born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth: the Son of God.  After he died and was resurrected, he appeared to the peoples of the Book of Mormon.

> I heard that the Book of Mormon replaces the Bible, and I’m not comfortable with that idea.

They are two very different accounts of separate peoples.  They’re like cake and ice cream.  Neither one is meant to replace the other.  In fact, they are enhanced when used together.  Give me both!

> Okay, but wouldn’t the Bible have mentioned something about the Book of Mormon?

It does!  The Lord told the Bible prophet Ezekiel that the stick of Judah (the Bible) and the stick of Joseph (the Book of Mormon) will be joined together “and they shall become one in thine hand” (Ezekiel 37:16-17).  Also, Jesus Christ taught the disciples that he had other sheep, “which are not of this fold” whom he intended to visit (John 10:16).

In the Book of Mormon, an angel explained to Nephi that “These last records [the Book of Mormon] . . . shall establish the truth of the first [the Bible] . . . and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved” (1 Nephi 13:40).

What they have in common is their devotion to the Savior of all men.  Jesus is the long-foretold Messiah.  We may be saved from our sins and crimes and from death itself through His holy name.  These books of scripture tell us how we can receive this precious gift.  I recommend you read both.  You may order a free copy of each from mormon.org (the official Church website).

> Alright.  I’m clicking on that link right now!

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Why Do Mormons Believe: Meet Mike and Cristine

June 7, 2010

This is a new segment on our site, featuring the stories and faith of regular members of the church.

Mike and Cristine

Mike and Cristine Mason have been married for over 5 years, they are the parents of a beautiful and active 2 year-old boy.  They were baptized March 22, 2009.  Mike is a salesman, Cristine works at a university as an administrative assistant.  The following excerpts are from an interview with them conducted May 16, 2010.

How did you find the LDS Church?

Mike: Back in 2003, I received a revelation that Jesus Christ was real and that I am a son of God.  That revelation just hit me and I was walking around for three days singing hallelujah.  And I thought, “Well, if I’m a son of God I’d better read what that means, because the only Son of God that I’m aware of is Jesus Christ.”  So I went to start studying the Bible, day and night I just read it and read it and read it.  Then I realized that I needed to be baptized, but the only thing I knew was that there were churches that baptize you.  So I’d go and try out different churches, and it would be good for awhile, but then we’d run against some theological differences–what the Bible says and what they were doing was two different things.  And my enthusiasm would wane, and I’d fall back into the world again and then start searching for a new church again.

The last church I went to before I found The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints helped me break out of a lot of the molds of the things that happened in the 4th Century.   During the 4th century, the Nicene Creed and the doctrines that came from the Creeds bind a lot of the Protestant churches up from receiving further revelation.  The United Pentecostal Church didn’t believe in the trinity, they believed in Jehovah as Jesus Christ.  So they helped me think outside the Protestant box, and when I came to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I was already believing that Jehovah was Jesus Christ, though the Pentecostals still saw them as one God, all grouped together.  But again, the Bible hit their doctrine, and I knew that the Bible was my Gold Standard, so my enthusiasm waned.

At that time, I was working a lot of hours, making a lot of money, living the luxurious lifestyle.  But I was not spending any time with my family.  I could feel us spinning apart–my child was growing up without me.  One night I saw the end coming–I knew that if something did not change, it would all completely fall apart.  And there was a commercial on TV (and I HATED these commercials growing up–”Isn’t it about time”).  So I saw the website, www.mormon.org and I got on and started comparing the doctrines and things just started lining up–”oh my word!  They’re not kooks!”

As I was talking with the missionaries, I had question after question after question–they even brought the Mission President to our home to help answer my questions.  There had been nothing else that I had found that had been this living, this powerful, as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Just the fruit, what it has brought into our lives, the way it has changed my life.

Cristine: I’ve always felt that light inside me, driving me to seek religion.  I grew up as a Catholic, we went to church on Sundays–even though I didn’t have much community involvement.  But I’ve always had that fire for the Lord.  And after we got married, we began this search together.  And we were attending that Pentecostal church, and it was good, but not great.  And all of the sudden one day, [Mike] had done a search on my phone and I saw “www.mormon.org” on my phone and I thought–”what is this?? Oh my goodness, where are we going now?”  One day he happened to mention that some people were coming by that night to teach us a little bit about it.  One night he had been in their parking lot and he met with the Elders and they really got in to the meat and potatoes of it all.  At first I was a little hesitant, but I decided that I would just feel them out and see what they were saying and if it rang true, then I would listen to them.  So they came and I thought, “Well, this isn’t so bad.  It sounds like it could be true.”  So then that opened the door for me to listen and accept it.

And then I have realized, “Wow, this really is a fullness.  Why would it all just have to be in the Old World?  Why couldn’t Jesus have come to this continent?  People are always saying, “Don’t put God in a box” and then they limit what He can do or where He can be.  It helped me to believe, to have that testimony of the Book of Mormon as another testament of His life.  As we got into more discussions with the Elders, we had more and more little revelations of the truth of it, as well as starting to see the fruits of it in our own lives.

Have you met with opposition as you’ve joined the church?

Mike: I’ve had friends that I’d left from other churches that I knew I had to tell them that I had joined the church.  One gentleman, who I had been Mikefriends with for the longest time, he is a die-hard Pentecostal and I knew that my first test of being a member of the church was that I had to bear him my testimony.  And he rained fire on my head.  He wanted to argue, he wanted to fight–and I just stayed my course and kept repeating, “I know this is true because I thought about it, I’ve prayed about it” and the result of that conversation was that I realized that my hands were now welded to my plow.  I had taken that step of commitment.

When my mom found out what church we were going to, she said, “Are those the Mormons?  You know they don’t even believe in God.”  I’ve had to go against my grandmother, the matriarch of the family–very strong and hard-headed sometimes.  I’ve had opposition from my family.  However, my dad supports it–he’s seen the change in us.

Cristine: Most of the opposition we’ve had has come through his side of the family. I remember one weekend we were on vacation, and his grandmother found our primary book [Cristine teaches the children in the Church's Primary organization], and said, “that looks like a nice program, but they don’t teach from the Bible.”  And I said, “Yes they do.”  She warned me that I should be careful and really think about what I was doing, and I replied,  “You know I take this pretty seriously, and you can be sure that I have prayed and thought about it.”

How has it changed you?

Mike: The change has come about in three ways: The first was spiritually.  It helped me eliminate a lot of bad physical habits, all on the spiritual power of my testimony.  As soon as I knew the church was true, I quit my smoking and other habits that instant.  Never looked back.  The power of the testimony just happened instantly.  The second is mentally–I have a mental illness that was misdiagnosed for a long time, but after becoming a member of the Church, cleaning up my life and finding balance with everything, I’ve been able to be re-diagnosed with much better outcomes.  The third is physically (Mike has lost over 60 pounds in the last few months and he looks great).  But it’s also changed my marriage–the way I relate to people and the way I relate to my wife.

Cristine: And the Lord is who brought Mike and I together, and as we’ve studied together, it’s helped us seal our marriage.  Again, the fruits are evident in our lives, as well as our little boy’s life.  Sure, he’s a little hyper, but his prayer life is coming together.  He’s the first one at the dinner table who reaches out his hands and says, “let’s pray”.Cristine

Additionally, we have received so much support and encouragement with the Church, especially when things were really at their worst.  We ask ourselves, “Could we have gotten that help anywhere else?”

And I had a friend at work, who is LDS, and I would go to her and ask her about the Church.  I remember when Mike was having difficulties with his illness, I would go to her and say, “I just want to go somewhere where people will accept him for who he is.  It is not a very easy thing to accept a person for their differences, but I am just hoping that this place will have the structure in the men’s group that they would accept him, and not shun him.”  And thus far it has gone really well.

Mike: I would echo what Peter said to Christ when Christ asked him if he was going to leave Him too, and Peter answered, “where would we go?  You have the truth.” And that is what I would say today.  In our year and some months in the church, I haven’t been the perfect Latter-day Saint, but it comes back to–where else am I going to go?  This is where the truth is.  And as far as waning excitement that has happened in the past with previous churches, I’ve already been through the peaks and valleys with this church, and the Spirit just draws me back in.  We’re here to stay.


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The Standard of God

May 31, 2010

I have often found in this wide world, that many people don’t understand the Mormon way of living.  This is evident based just on the question, “what can’t Mormons do?” as if restrictions on behavior is something strange.  Well, first off, it isn’t to me.  Not very much.  It isn’t strange to me that I don’t smoke, drink, gamble, cheat, or steal and that I do go to church, pay tithing, read scriptures, stay chaste and so forth.  That is the standard by which I live.  Everybody has a standard, or guidelines by which they make their decisions.  So then, why did I choose my standard?  Let me explain it to you.

First and foremost, God has a standard.  He has a way of living that He wants for us.  He has revealed, and continues to reveal, that way of living to prophets throughout the ages.  Through Moses, He instructed the children of Israel to obey a strict set of laws.  Jesus Christ instructed the Jews a different (and better) way of living that relied more on developing a good heart that dictates good actions.  I don’t doubt that that same Being inspired Buddha, Mohammad or Confucius to teach their respective peoples a better way of living.

Here’s the important part:  God does this so that His own children might be happy.  That’s right; God gives rules for you to be happy.  If He can persuade His children to lift their way of living to a higher level, even on just a single point, it brings Him joy because they are living up to a standard that is naturally better.  It isn’t so much that God will punish those who break commandments; the commandments are there to prevent actions that cause damage.  If I do action “A” then “B” will be a result.  If “B” is good, then God wishes us to do “A,” otherwise He must forbid it.

There are several problems people see with this standard.  First, they don’t see beneficial results from supposedly good actions, nor do they see bad results from bad actions.  Then they wonder why the standards are there in the first place.  Patience.  That’s why we believe in personal revelation.  We can ask our Heavenly Father if such a thing is for us.  After receiving an answer, we trust in that answer and believe that someday, somehow, that trust will be for our good.

Second, many people find themselves not living in harmony with their beliefs.  That is, everybody eventually finds themselves where their actions don’t line up with what they know they should be doing.  They then have a choice.  They could change their actions, or change their beliefs.  Either will relieve the situation and not doing either will always result in misery.  You would be the most wretched person if you constantly wish to be unchaste while acting in celibacy.  Or you could be miserable believing that you ought not to drink alcohol while sitting at the bar getting drunk.  The key is to alter the action that is keeping us from God instead giving up His standard.

Third, when we make a poor decision, we naturally are loathe to accept the consequences for that action.  We would like to get the benefit of something we didn’t do and avoid the penalty for something we did do.  It is true that Christ’s atonement allows us to repent and avoid the dire consequences of our actions, most especially being separated from God, but it is definitely easier to prevent making a mess of our lives than to work through the repentance process.  The time spent destroying spirituality could be spent building it up instead.  God’s standard helps us reap blessings with the time we have and not to spend it in trials and pain.

So in light of all this, it is imperative that each of us keep to the standard of God and stick to it.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is there for us in our moments of weakness and to pick us up at our worst moments, if we are just willing to accept help.  It will be uncomfortable, there is no doubt there, but growth means growing pains.  The path of least resistance is quite comfortable, but doesn’t lead to the desired end.  We desire a better end, a more excellent way and one that brings a life of real joy and satisfaction.  That is why we do the things we do and try our best to live according to God’s standard.

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Pleasure versus Happiness

May 16, 2010

In the Book of Mormon, a prophet declares, “Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy.” Indeed, the Plan of Salvation that our Father in Heaven has prepared for us is often referred to as the Plan of Happiness.  We also learn that Nephi and his people “lived after the manner of happiness.”  But what is happiness?  What qualities are found therein?

In recent years I have been amazed at how consumerism continues to expand indefinitely.  From iPhones to the food we eat, life is a never ending torrent of advertisements telling us that “it is okay, you deserve it.”  As if to say that we are “entitled” to let go once in a while without consequences.  Unfortunately, this has translated into us feeling that we should be able to “let go” whenever, wherever, and for how ever long we please.

Those who buy in to this subtle deceit are led to waste so much of their time,  money, and other resources that they become trapped by consequences that are now out of their control. These consequences come, among other things, in the form of broken homes and marriages, poor health, debt, and perhaps the most fearsome, they become enslaved to the ever-powerful chains of sin.  In my mind, it stems from the person not being able to forego the easy pleasures of today, for the hard-earned happiness of tomorrow.  I see so many people whose whole goal in life seems to be focused on one thing and one thing only–pleasure and the more the merrier.  They are so consumed with the newest fashions in clothing, or having that new car, or the latest technology in televisions or game stations, or what they are going to do Friday night, that when they wake up late Saturday morning, they have nothing but fading memories that only leaves them hungering for more.  It is like eating Kix; you can eat 10 bowls at eight AM and by nine you are hungry again.

This has led me time and time again to contemplate on the difference between pleasure and happiness.   What types of activities and pursuits do I have?  Do they bring only pleasure, or will they bring lasting happiness.  More often than not, happiness demands sacrifice and large amounts of it.  Nevertheless, happiness is always sweeter and more desirable than pleasure.  For me, happiness is akin to vine-ripe strawberries.  One must water and weed, fertilize and wait, but there is nothing quite like that sweet taste at the end of June after two months of hard work.  Here is a quote by James E. Talmage (a leader of our church at the turn of the 20th century)  comparing pleasure and happiness.  I hope that you will take the chance to reflect on what you spend your time pursuing and, if needed, change.  You will never be sad  you did when you eat the sweet fruit, fresh off the vine and hopefully you will never want to go back to that nasty, store-bought stuff.

“The present is an age of pleasure-seeking, and men are losing their sanity in the mad rush for sensations that do but excite and disappoint. In this day of counterfeits, adulterations, and base imitations, the devil is busier than he has ever been in the course of human history, in the manufacture of pleasures, both old and new; and these he offers for sale in most attractive fashion, falsely labeled, Happiness.

“. . . Happiness includes all that is really desirable and of true worth in pleasure, and much besides. Happiness is genuine gold, pleasure but gilded brass, which corrodes in the hand, and is soon converted into poisonous verdigris. Happiness is as the genuine diamond, which, rough or polished, shines with its own inimitable luster; pleasure is as the paste imitation that glows only when artificially embellished. Happiness is as the ruby, red as the heart’s blood, hard and enduring; pleasure, as stained glass, soft, brittle, and of but transitory beauty.

“Happiness is true food, wholesome, nutritious and sweet; it builds up the body and generates energy for action, physical, mental and spiritual; pleasure is but a deceiving stimulant which, like spiritous drink, makes one think he is strong when in reality enfeebled; makes him fancy he is well when in fact stricken with deadly malady.

“Happiness leaves no bad after-taste, it is followed by no depressing reaction; it calls for no repentance, brings no regret, entails no remorse; pleasure too often makes necessary repentance, contrition, and suffering; and, if indulged to the extreme, it brings degradation and destruction

“True happiness is lived over and over again in memory, always with a renewal of the original good; a moment of unholy pleasure may leave a barbed sting, which, like a thorn in the flesh, is an ever-present source of anguish.  (James E. Talmage, Improvement Era, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 172-73.  Quoted in: Jesus the Christ: A Study of the Messiah and His Mission According to Holy Scriptures Both Ancient and Modern [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983], 230.)

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