Fulfilling a calling. Malachi 3:1c; “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”
Luke 4:43; “And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.”
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Messenger of the new covenant … Jesus’ focus was unparalleled as He set about doing what God had sent Him to do. Are we as ready to ignore all else for the sake of the calling He gave us? When we examine the lives of those mentioned in the Bible, we see people like John the Baptist who obviously wasn’t too concerned about a dress code, and Jeremiah who broke pottery when prophesying (Jer. 19:10), wore the marred loincloth as a symbol Israel, like the loincloth, was good for nothing (Jer. 13:1-10). And while he used these and other teaching analogies, was always faithful to what God had called for him to do. While Jesus went out to preach the kingdom of God and fulfill scripture, we don’t see any mention of the Lord packing a houseful of ‘must-haves’. The Bible simply tells us He must preach in other cities. Matthew Henry noted He was content in what He had and just went about His work. Are we that content with Him?
I know as a Mormon I wasn’t content at all. I looked and sought out the numerous lists of what I had to do for salvation and then I waited. I didn’t wait for the Lord to show me what He’d created me for, rather, I was waiting for the phone to ring with the bishop’s voice telling me ‘I’d been called’ to fill a vacant position in the ward.
The messengers who call with a chore list for you to fulfill aren’t called of God. Where is the focus with this system or even a reminder that God fulfilled His word through His Son, Christ Jesus?
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Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor (2001), p 164; “If you do not magnify your callings, God will hold you responsible for those whom you might have saved had you done your duty.”
Mormons always feel that they have to serve the church and that by so doing, they are serving the Lord. Mormons spend so much time doing callings, going to the Temple, serving on committees, doing service projects, such as pack outs (helping people move), going to meetings, visiting the less active, that they have absolutely no time to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty,
clothe the naked, take in strangers, visit the sick (Matthew 25:35-40). The church finds the money to build another temple or a new business venture, but doesn’t have the funds to build a hospital for elderly members that can’t afford medical care, even though they have been faithful tithe payers. Instead of building another temple and then giving another lecture(s) (talk) about why members need to be more diligent in attending the temple, build an orphanage, build a school for the poor; supply the kids with books and food and clothes. The church wants its members to serve the church, not humanity at large. How come nobody outside the Mormon Church knows the name of the supposed “only living prophet on the face of the earth”.If i was the church president, I would be embarrassed that people don’t know my name.
The Mormon Church wants you to serve the church, not humanity at large. Church members spend s much time doing callings, going to meetings, participating in service projects, going to the temple often and then making sure to tell everybody about it during the next F&T meeting, helping people move, cleaning the church, visiting less active members at night without first calling them to see if it is OK. The church keeps you so busy you don’t have time to do what Jesus did: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, entertain strangers etc (Matthew 15;35-40). We have a prophet, supposedly, th only living prophet on the face of the earth, YET, nobody outside the LDS Community knows who he is. If I was the church president, I would be embarrassed. We build temples and then we get get lectured about how we aren’t going t the temple enough. Instead of building another temple, why doesn’t the church build a hospital for the poor or for elderly church members who can’t afford proper medical care.