General Conference, April 2015, “Seeking the Lord”; “The more we understand the extraordinary role of Christ in our lives, the more conscious we become of our purpose here in
mortality, which is to have joy…I believe that as we deepen our understanding of the Savior, we will have an increased desire to live joyfully and a conviction that joy is possible…Every day, we should consider including frequent interactions with the teachings of Christ. …
The choices and priorities we make with our time online are decisive. They can determine our spiritual progress and maturity in the gospel and our desire to contribute to a better world and to live a more productive life.
For these reasons, I would like to mention three simple habits that will establish healthy online activity. …
Habit number 1: Visit the Church’s official website for resources. …
Habit number 2: Subscribe to the Church’s official social networks. …
Habit number 3: Make time to set aside your mobile devices.” – Elder José A. Teixeira Of the Seventy
1 Thessalonians 4:8; “He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.”
What was the prominent teaching item in this man’s list of ‘must-dos’? Did you notice?
Mr. Teixeira provided a laundry list of things to help us build a better understanding of Christ, but missing was an instruction to open the BIBLE. Sigh…
This man’s ad hominem directives will do nothing but lead someone away from the Lord, not to Him. Even the last three suggestions he listed focused attention solely on the Church and their opinion of Him. There was no extraneous resources listed or advised for Mormons to evaluate or learn from.
Mormons should take heed of what the Apostle Paul said to the Thessalonians. They like to blame an unnamed person for mistranslating the Bible and in so doing, have rejected the Bible altogether.
If they reject God’s word (which they do, with the qualifier “insofar as it is correctly translated…”), then whatever Jesus they embrace is not the Jesus of the Bible. “A different Jesus is a different Gospel, and a different Gospel cannot save.” (Justin Peters)
What I’ve never understood is how they’ll say they worship a different Jesus while at the same time pull out the Bible and try to qualify their claim that they’re Christians…
To us, we know their game for public relations to “look like” Christians while not refuting past or present doctrine. To recent converts, who don’t know the LDS doctrines, what the LDS now says “seems Christian”. We know this as the Mormon’s have come here and to you many times and said, “You are wrong, we ARE Christians.”.
This reflects what their leaders are telling them NOW; however, the newly converted and members of recent years don’t know what we know. Now, Michelle, Ed, and Melissa KNOW from research and experience that the leaders are changing the public image of themselves. This image has even fooled long-time Christian foundations and pastors, for example, Billy Graham and the even that well-known university in the East here.
These people have hosted Glenn Beck, etc. of Mormon membership and are aligning themselves with that “Christian-look” of the LDS. We are surprised that these long-time churches fell for it but shouldn’t be as they DIDN’T DO THEIR RESEARCH!!!
To us, we know their game for public relations to “look like” Christians while not refuting past or present doctrine. To recent converts, who don’t know the LDS doctrines, what the LDS now says “seems Christian”. We know this as the Mormon’s have come here and to you many times and said, “You are wrong, we ARE Christians.”.
This reflects what their leaders are telling them NOW; however, the newly converted and member of recent years don’t know what we know. Now, Michelle, Ed, and Melissa KNOW from research and experience that the leaders are changing the public image of themselves. This image has even fooled long-time Christian foundations and pastors, for example, Billy Graham and the even that well-known university in the East here.
These people have hosted Glenn Beck, etc. of Mormon membership and aligning themselves with that “Christian-look” of the LDS. We are surprised that these long-time churches fell for it but shouldn’t be as they DIDN’T DO THEIR RESEARCH!!!
“…the more conscious we become of our purpose here in mortality, which is to have joy.” Another point is this: our purpose here is NOT for ourselves to have things, joy included. We are here to serve Him. Jesus said that the 2 greatest commandments are: TO love God with all of our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves. So we are here to serve God and our neighbor.
Mormonism promotes self-serving ideas. Working to your own salvations, godhood, etc. are just a few of the whole LDS principles. It’s a falsehood of many non-Christian religions: earning for self. Conversely, Christianity, doesn’t have that self-serving purpose. This is why many people find it hard to convert to Christianity-seems too easy…
Want to really have ‘joy’? Serve God and your neighbor and know that Jesus paid the price for your sins and you are now free to serve Him. No ordinances. No man-made laws. Nothing to earn..
You hit the nail on the head! We aren’t here to fulfill a self-serving life mission of finding joy! Love what you said here!