House of Truth Ministries Christian Witnesses
July 2015
House of Truth Ministries is about sharing the Gospel in various venues.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (ESV)
July 2015
House of Truth Ministries is about sharing the Gospel in various venues.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (ESV)
Summer Activities
This summer is exciting for my wife and me. There is a company called Homestay that brings young kids from China to the US to learn about the US culture and the English language. We will be hosting some of these kids.
We had a family devotional with the first two kids that were with us. We provided the tracts in Chinese and English. It appeared they took some of the tracts with them when they left.
We will have a booth at the La Habra Corn Festival this year. This will be our thirteenth year in a row. We are in need of volunteers to help man the booth. The dates are August 7th, 8th and 9th. The days and times are Friday 5:30 pm - 11:00 pm, Saturday 11:00 am - 11:00 pm and Sunday 12:00 am - 9:00 pm. If you would like to volunteer, please go to the calendar section of the website or call me at 562-452-2490.
We had a family devotional with the first two kids that were with us. We provided the tracts in Chinese and English. It appeared they took some of the tracts with them when they left.
We will have a booth at the La Habra Corn Festival this year. This will be our thirteenth year in a row. We are in need of volunteers to help man the booth. The dates are August 7th, 8th and 9th. The days and times are Friday 5:30 pm - 11:00 pm, Saturday 11:00 am - 11:00 pm and Sunday 12:00 am - 9:00 pm. If you would like to volunteer, please go to the calendar section of the website or call me at 562-452-2490.
Topic of the Month
In this newsletter, I would like to take a look at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints or The Mormon Church’s views of Christian churches, their beliefs, their members. This is important to know because of how the LDS church wants to be perceived by the public today. The LDS church wants to be viewed as a mainstream Christian denomination even though their beliefs are radically different.
While watching “Meet the Mormons” on Netflix, I realized there is an illustration of the above paragraph. Amazon’s description is as follows: “Meet the Mormons examines the very diverse lives of six devout members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Jermaine is one of the devout members mentioned in the movie. He has an older sister, Gabrella, who is Baptist. Below is what they said in the video.
Jermaine: "She attends a Baptist Church not too far from the house."
Gabrella : “We've never really had a disagreement, even though the religious faiths are different, the beliefs are the same.”
Jermaine: “I’ve always tried to build on common beliefs. You can always acknowledge that there are going to be differences, so there’s no need to debate much about that.”
In the above discussion, it could lead people to believe that the Baptist church and the LDS Church have the same beliefs. However, they do not have anything in common other than vocabulary. In Joseph Smith’s early days, there were churches competing for members. Joseph specially mentioned the Baptist, Methodist and the Presbyterians in The Pearl of Great Price: Joseph Smith- History,
“5. Indeed, the whole district of country seemed affected by it, and great multitudes united themselves to the different religious parties, which created no small stir and division amongst the people, some crying, ‘Lo, here!’ and others, ‘Lo, there!’ Some were contending for the Methodist faith, some for the Presbyterian, and some for the Baptist.”
“9. The Presbyterians were most decided against the Baptists and Methodists, and used all the powers of both reason and sophistry to prove their errors, or, at least, to make the people think they were in error. On the other hand, the Baptists and Methodists in their turn were equally zealous in endeavoring to establish their own tenets and disprove all others.”
“18. My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join.
19. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: ‘they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.’”
We can see that these three churches do not agree on everything according to Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith presents a different picture of these churches than Jermaine and Gabrella.
It is one of the goals of the LDS Church to get people out of the main line churches and to convert them to the LDS Church. This is the result of what Joseph Smith said in his history about the Christian churches. This can be seen below from these two quotations.
“By divine commandment we are a proselyting church. More than 23,000 missionaries are abroad in the world today, unselfishly giving of their time, means, and talents to spread this message of the Restoration. They are in most nations of the free world. Their message is to all mankind everywhere—to the world of the Catholic, the Protestant, all the so-called Christian world; to the world of the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Muslim, the Jew, the Shintoist, the follower of Confucius—to all people of all races and all creeds.” President Spencer W. Kimball, “The Stone Cut without Hands,” Ensign, May 1976.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has many beliefs in common with other Christian churches. But we have differences, and those differences explain why we send missionaries to other Christians, why we build temples in addition to churches, and why our beliefs bring us such happiness and strength to deal with the challenges of life and death. I wish to speak about some of the important additions our doctrines make to the Christian faith. My subject is apostasy and restoration.” Dallin H. Oaks, “Apostasy and Restoration,” Ensign, May 1995.
When Christian churches form non-profit organizations for community outreaches so other churches can join, they should be careful. The LDS Church will take the opportunity to appear as a mainline Christian church. Then the LDS Church will seek converts from among the members of the Christian churches as well as from the community.
While watching “Meet the Mormons” on Netflix, I realized there is an illustration of the above paragraph. Amazon’s description is as follows: “Meet the Mormons examines the very diverse lives of six devout members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Jermaine is one of the devout members mentioned in the movie. He has an older sister, Gabrella, who is Baptist. Below is what they said in the video.
Jermaine: "She attends a Baptist Church not too far from the house."
Gabrella : “We've never really had a disagreement, even though the religious faiths are different, the beliefs are the same.”
Jermaine: “I’ve always tried to build on common beliefs. You can always acknowledge that there are going to be differences, so there’s no need to debate much about that.”
In the above discussion, it could lead people to believe that the Baptist church and the LDS Church have the same beliefs. However, they do not have anything in common other than vocabulary. In Joseph Smith’s early days, there were churches competing for members. Joseph specially mentioned the Baptist, Methodist and the Presbyterians in The Pearl of Great Price: Joseph Smith- History,
“5. Indeed, the whole district of country seemed affected by it, and great multitudes united themselves to the different religious parties, which created no small stir and division amongst the people, some crying, ‘Lo, here!’ and others, ‘Lo, there!’ Some were contending for the Methodist faith, some for the Presbyterian, and some for the Baptist.”
“9. The Presbyterians were most decided against the Baptists and Methodists, and used all the powers of both reason and sophistry to prove their errors, or, at least, to make the people think they were in error. On the other hand, the Baptists and Methodists in their turn were equally zealous in endeavoring to establish their own tenets and disprove all others.”
“18. My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join.
19. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: ‘they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.’”
We can see that these three churches do not agree on everything according to Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith presents a different picture of these churches than Jermaine and Gabrella.
It is one of the goals of the LDS Church to get people out of the main line churches and to convert them to the LDS Church. This is the result of what Joseph Smith said in his history about the Christian churches. This can be seen below from these two quotations.
“By divine commandment we are a proselyting church. More than 23,000 missionaries are abroad in the world today, unselfishly giving of their time, means, and talents to spread this message of the Restoration. They are in most nations of the free world. Their message is to all mankind everywhere—to the world of the Catholic, the Protestant, all the so-called Christian world; to the world of the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Muslim, the Jew, the Shintoist, the follower of Confucius—to all people of all races and all creeds.” President Spencer W. Kimball, “The Stone Cut without Hands,” Ensign, May 1976.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has many beliefs in common with other Christian churches. But we have differences, and those differences explain why we send missionaries to other Christians, why we build temples in addition to churches, and why our beliefs bring us such happiness and strength to deal with the challenges of life and death. I wish to speak about some of the important additions our doctrines make to the Christian faith. My subject is apostasy and restoration.” Dallin H. Oaks, “Apostasy and Restoration,” Ensign, May 1995.
When Christian churches form non-profit organizations for community outreaches so other churches can join, they should be careful. The LDS Church will take the opportunity to appear as a mainline Christian church. Then the LDS Church will seek converts from among the members of the Christian churches as well as from the community.
PRAYER AND SUPPORT
Thank you for your prayers and financial support. All donations are tax-deductible. Checks can be written to House of Truth Ministries, and they can be sent to the address below. Online donations are accepted as well.
House of Truth Ministries
Box 729
La Habra, CA 90633
My E-mail
jeff@HouseOfTruthMinistries.org
Our website
http://www.HouseOfTruthMinistries.org
House of Truth Ministries YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQtvAk11yMYsOfFhy3W81jw
Christian Witnesses' YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpIQy8YGTBX181POz72yxuA
Online Donation
http://HouseOfTruthMinistries.org/Donate.html
Thank you for your prayers and financial support. All donations are tax-deductible. Checks can be written to House of Truth Ministries, and they can be sent to the address below. Online donations are accepted as well.
House of Truth Ministries
Box 729
La Habra, CA 90633
My E-mail
jeff@HouseOfTruthMinistries.org
Our website
http://www.HouseOfTruthMinistries.org
House of Truth Ministries YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQtvAk11yMYsOfFhy3W81jw
Christian Witnesses' YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpIQy8YGTBX181POz72yxuA
Online Donation
http://HouseOfTruthMinistries.org/Donate.html