Luke 14:27 “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”
Today we’re taking a brief look at an article from the July 2020 Ensign. The article proposed five different ways for members to find answers to their questions about the ‘gospel’. For the sake of brevity, we’re looking at just a couple of the items mentioned. To read the article in full, see Ensign, ‘Do You Have Questions about the Gospel? Here are Five Ways to Find Answers’, July 2020.
To be sure, I was taken aback at the mere title of their article. Making matters worse was upon reading through it, there wasn’t a single mention of God’s holy word. As a backdrop to this article, I wanted to share what the Lord showed me this week.
I came across the following post about the authority of God’s word from Ligonier Ministry that seemed very fitting for our topic today —
Ligionier.org “We can be confident in the power of the preached Word of God because it is in this Word that our Creator has placed His might. The gospel belongs to God, as we read in Romans 1:1. It is something that He has devised and invested with the authority and power to call His elect to repentance and faith.”
Solidifying their statement further, my Bible study this week reiterated the importance of His word. In Dr. Tony Evans’ presentation on 1st John, he reminded us what John said in his epistle from 1 John 2:27. All believers are filled with the anointing of His Holy Spirit. It’s a built-in detection system alerting us to truth, and error.
As I read over the LDS periodical, sweet Jesus reminded me of what I had already seen earlier in the week.
Briefly, here’s the list of 5 ways Mormons can look for answers …
- Check Your Sources
- Rely on the Words of Prophets … Even if you don’t understand everything about some Church leaders’ messages, remember that their words come from Heavenly Father—they come from a source of love and truth.
- Study the Scriptures … Really Study
- Learn How to Receive Revelation
- Hold On to What You Do Know
Keep in mind their advice to study the scriptures doesn’t mean the biblical scriptures. We know this because of their deeply ingrained mistrust of God’s word. The ‘scriptures’ they’re talking about comes from LDS canon.
The advice to check your sources came with the reminder to seek advice from other like-minded individuals. This is what led into the 2nd item that said to rely on the words of the prophets.
Their article was a devastating look at how they control members. While prepping for this article, my mother called me. She asked if I could give her advice on something she heard from a fellow church member. She said that what this person said didn’t sound right so when she asked her bishop about it, he told her that he didn’t know what the Bible said regarding the issue at hand.
She told me I was the only one she knew of that had studied the Bible, and wanted to know how to find the answer to her question from the Bible. This was a great segue to share the truth (PTL!), and it’s another reminder of how clouded the minds are of those in the Church.
Make no mistake my friends, I’m grateful beyond measure the Lord allowed me to speak with my mother! The other side of this is the deep anguish my heart holds for my people as a whole. I have no words to describe how sad I am for their predicament.
Their article, and my experiences this past week, are a good reminder for us to share the truth with a Mormon today – don’t ever give up beloved!
With Love in Christ;
Michelle
Encouraging news! And how sad for your mom that no one in her church could answer her questions, and felt comfortable enough to ask you ( an apostate). I’ve never had anyone at church blow me off like that. If they don’t know they will look into it and get back to me.
And I had many pastors over the years say something to the effect…” Don’t just take my word for it…check it out for yourselves.
Be a Berean search the Scriptures.
Yeah, I was quite surprised by her question! I was able to show w/ scripture why the woman’s comment about the last days was way off. Needless to say the topic was rather heavy … That said, I was highly encouraged she’d ask me of all people for my opinion. 🙂 Thank You Jesus!