This week I had a disturbing esperience. A fine young man, a Latino, in Barrio Lucero in Salt Lake City, who was at the time we were there, the Elders Quorum President, has become disaffected with the Church. He was having difficulty reconciling the long delay in providing Blacks the priesthood and the current Church doctrine and policy toward Gays and Lesbians with His view of a loving God. He thought it unthinkable that God would give a detailed revelation to Joseph Smith with respect to the Nauvoo House, which he saw as in Joseph´s personal interest, and yet be silent on such important topics as these.
As I communicated with this young man, it became apparent that he had become critical of the
Lord´s annointed prophets, finding fault with them, and even speaking evil of them. This is the first and almost universal step on the road to apostasy. It has caused me grief to contemplate the choices this young man is making. I pray for him, that he may humble himself before the Lord and find his way back into the light.
I have been praying this week for my children and grandchildren, pleading that they will not be overcome in this day of tribulation with the sophistries of the adversary and his cunning, but false doctrines. Whenever we cut ourselves off from the Lords annointed servants who hold the keys of the Holy Priesthood, we cut ourselves off from God. If we will follow the prophet and receive his words as if from the Lord´s own mouth, and if we will humble ourselves before God and not trust in our own wisdom or in the arm of flesh, He will teach us His ways, and we will not be overcome by the false doctrines of our day.
"And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people. For they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant; they seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world . . . . What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." D&C 1:14-16, 38.
It's been a very busy (and difficult) couple of weeks and I haven't taken the opportunity to read your blog, so I've missed a few posts. I just read this one and it strikes so close to home for me as Dannan and I have seen some of our friends lately leave the church. I absolutely agree that very often, if not always, the first step to getting off the path for these otherwise very faithful saints is to start criticizing and evil speaking against the Lord's anointed. I have been sharing this conviction with my family and I too, know that an important pillar against being deceived in this day and age is to honor and respect the brethren and receive their council as if from God. I do believe we must also get our own confirmation from the Lord for ourselves of ALL things, for the Spirit truly testifies of truth! Thank you, Dad, for serving so faithfully and setting the example for all of us! Love you!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more, Melanie. In my lesson this week for Institute, we were given counsel to help protect us against the false doctrines of our day, and that counsel included asking: (1) What do the scriptures say on the topic; (2) What do the Presidents of the Church, especially the living President, say on the topic; and (3) What does the Spirit tell us. I have a personal witness that the Spirit will bear witness of the truth and of the living oracles if we ask in faith and with real intent. It is so important that we live our lives so that we do not clog the channels of communication with God, and that we measure all things against this template of truth.
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