Are you as mesmerized by what is taking place in El Dorado, TX as I am? Years ago my family lived next door to some Mormons. They were wonderful people and I loved them dearly. Every year they would give my family a Book of Mormon, which I tried to read but found boring. Mark Twain called it "chloroform in print." Although they described themselves as Christians, my parents assured me that they weren't. That bothered me, because they were so nice. The folks in El Dorado are a small, extreme branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), and don't represent the wider Mormon community.
As an adult I have done a lot of studying on Mormonism and in Seminary Kim and I were trained to witness to Mormons and how to teach others to do so. I have spoken to many members of the LDS church and have never led one to Christ.
Our Roman Catholic friends believe that the Pope is the highest religions authority on earth, that he is God's representative and spokesperson. The Pope has the right to speak ex cathedra and proclaim church doctrine that carries the same weight and authority as scripture. This has happened often over the centuries, and there have been times when one Pope heard from the Lord and spoke with authority, only later to have a different Pope hear something different from God and proclaim something else.
Mohamed would often make unilateral decisions according to the word of Allah as he led the early Muslims. Like the popes, his "word from the Lord" could seem contradictory and practical, depending on the times and the issues faced. Apparently God has the ability to adjust to the rapidly changing times.
Which is true for the LDS Church. Some think Joseph Smith was a con man, scoundrel and possible sex addict when he began the church. He established plural marriage in the 1840s and may have had over 30 wives himself. When Brigham Young led the Mormons west to Utah, he strongly upheld Smith's teachings on plural marriage and enforced them rigidly, ensuring the Mormons that it was necessary to obtain exaltation in the afterlife. There might have been a practical aspect to it as well. The Mormons would need all the people they could get in the rough country to tame and work the land, fight any Indians, and the more children you had the better chance there was that some would survive into adulthood.
Years later, the LDS Prophet, and I forget who it was, got a word from the Lord saying that plural marriage was no longer necessary and should be abandoned. God had changed his mind on the subject. God's timing on the matter was perfect, as it came just in time to allow Utah to be accepted into statehood. The U. S. wouldn't have allowed them in with the practice of plural marriage. Those members of the LDS church at the time who believed this particular Prophet was wrong about plural marriage split off and formed their own group, the Fundamentalist sect, and maintained the practice of polygamy. Their decedents are the folks in El Dorado.
What I take away from the life of Jeremiah is that a prophet is someone who lives by a couple of convictions. First, God is present and active. The prophet is overwhelmed by who God is and what God is doing, and must live according spiritual realites. Second, what God is doing right now is of vital importance. It is essential that we learn to perceive God's activity and become part of it.
As Baptists we believe that every Christian has the Holy Spirit living within them, and therefore can live in the presence of God, hear from God, confirm things with scripture, and respond to God's activity without the guidance of another spiritual authority. You are competent to be your own spiritual guide because God's Spirit is with you. You are your own prophet. What do you perceive God is doing, and how are you responding?
As an adult I have done a lot of studying on Mormonism and in Seminary Kim and I were trained to witness to Mormons and how to teach others to do so. I have spoken to many members of the LDS church and have never led one to Christ.
Our Roman Catholic friends believe that the Pope is the highest religions authority on earth, that he is God's representative and spokesperson. The Pope has the right to speak ex cathedra and proclaim church doctrine that carries the same weight and authority as scripture. This has happened often over the centuries, and there have been times when one Pope heard from the Lord and spoke with authority, only later to have a different Pope hear something different from God and proclaim something else.
Mohamed would often make unilateral decisions according to the word of Allah as he led the early Muslims. Like the popes, his "word from the Lord" could seem contradictory and practical, depending on the times and the issues faced. Apparently God has the ability to adjust to the rapidly changing times.
Which is true for the LDS Church. Some think Joseph Smith was a con man, scoundrel and possible sex addict when he began the church. He established plural marriage in the 1840s and may have had over 30 wives himself. When Brigham Young led the Mormons west to Utah, he strongly upheld Smith's teachings on plural marriage and enforced them rigidly, ensuring the Mormons that it was necessary to obtain exaltation in the afterlife. There might have been a practical aspect to it as well. The Mormons would need all the people they could get in the rough country to tame and work the land, fight any Indians, and the more children you had the better chance there was that some would survive into adulthood.
Years later, the LDS Prophet, and I forget who it was, got a word from the Lord saying that plural marriage was no longer necessary and should be abandoned. God had changed his mind on the subject. God's timing on the matter was perfect, as it came just in time to allow Utah to be accepted into statehood. The U. S. wouldn't have allowed them in with the practice of plural marriage. Those members of the LDS church at the time who believed this particular Prophet was wrong about plural marriage split off and formed their own group, the Fundamentalist sect, and maintained the practice of polygamy. Their decedents are the folks in El Dorado.
What I take away from the life of Jeremiah is that a prophet is someone who lives by a couple of convictions. First, God is present and active. The prophet is overwhelmed by who God is and what God is doing, and must live according spiritual realites. Second, what God is doing right now is of vital importance. It is essential that we learn to perceive God's activity and become part of it.
As Baptists we believe that every Christian has the Holy Spirit living within them, and therefore can live in the presence of God, hear from God, confirm things with scripture, and respond to God's activity without the guidance of another spiritual authority. You are competent to be your own spiritual guide because God's Spirit is with you. You are your own prophet. What do you perceive God is doing, and how are you responding?
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