JaneDoe's "What I believe"

[Jane_Doe22]

Articles of Faith 8 & 9:
"8 We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."



These two are HUGELY important for me personally. Touching on different points:

- The Bible: yes the Bible is the word of God. I LOVE the Bible. My personal favorite book in all of scripture is John. If you exclude the books that tell of Christ's mortal ministry directly, my next favorite book of scripture is Isaiah because I love the imagery and it "clicks" really well for me. I first read the Bible cover to cover at age 9. In my current read through of the Old Testament, the current focus is spotlighting the ladies therein, and it's been very enriching. This week's focus is on the story of Deborah.

- The clause "as far as it is translated correctly" is not to discount the importance of the Bible at all-- it's the word of God! Seek the best translations and learning, honoring that precious book! Dismiss bad / biased translations.

- While the Bible is the word of God, it's not the only words of God-- He still lives and speaks! The Book of Mormon is also believed to be scripture, along with "Doctrine & Covenants" and the "Pearl of Great Price". And open to more!! I always look forward to continual learning & growth, knowing that it is line upon line knowledge comes.

 

[Jane_Doe22]

Article of Faith #10:
"10 We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory."

 

[Jane_Doe22]

Article of Faith #11:
"11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

This one is HUGE for me personally. Every person has the right to worship God according to their own conscious. They need to do their own research and follow the results of that. If "Bob" tries to stand in the way and says "you go to do what I say", then Bob is coming between that person and God-- that's a big problem!! We each should strive to follow God and be His disciple, not Bob's. Bob is also a sinner and in desperate need of the Savior Jesus Christ.

 

[Jane_Doe22]

I got distracted from the for a few days.

A topic that is on my mind a lot the last couple of days is baptism. That super important ceremony wherein a person and God enter into a covenant. The person believing in Christ, with a repentant heart, is immersed in the water, the old sinner symbolically dying, and the new reborn disciple of Christ (metaphorically) resurrecting from that grave. They take on the name of Christ, clean and loving Him. Divine by that love & promising strive to keep His commandments. Loving God, the Most High. Loving your fellow men, to comfort those in need of comfort, mourn with those that mourn, rejoicing in Christ and sharing that joy. Baptism is SO important-- to formally choose this path, to join with Christ, become a member of the body of Christ, and growing spiritually.

Baptism is an exciting and important thing. I am thrilled that my daughter wants to be baptized! We're planning it for later this summer, when we can have lots of friends and family there to celebrate with us.

 

[Jane_Doe22]

Looking what to talk about…. Maybe I should do another round of “Mythbusting about what Mormons believe “ or just something else…