by Lisa M. | Apr 30, 2013 | About Mormons
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes inadvertently called the Mormon Church, has launched a new website that is designed specifically for those from the People’s Republic of China who have joined the Church while living in other countries, according to a Meridian Magazine article titled “New Website to Serve Chinese Nationals, Help Members Find Church in China.” Members of the Mormon Church believe in “obeying, honoring, and sustaining” the laws of the land in which they live, as the 12th Article of Faith states. The new website, Mormons and China.org, is set up to help members from China to do that.
“Many of these Chinese members remain where they have been working or studying, but many also return to China and do not know how to find the Church in their country and may not understand how they should comply with Chinese laws in relation to religious practice,” the article said.
“Over the years, the Church has built a strong relationship of trust with the People’s Republic of China by always respecting the important laws and traditions of that country,” Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who has long supervised the Church in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under the direction of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said in the article. “In order to observe Chinese traditions and directions on religious activities, the Church is blocking access to this website so it cannot be viewed in China.”
Dispelling Rumors and Answering Questions about the Church in China
“The Church hopes that making information public will help counter unsubstantiated rumors that circulate about the Church in China,” including whether Mormon missionaries are being sent there, according to the article. Elder Oaks said that the Church doesn’t send any proselytizing missionaries to the People’s Republic of China and doesn’t have any plans to do so, according to the article. The new site is also unrelated to the recent announcement lowering the eligibility age for full-time missionaries, according to the article. (more…)
by Gale | Apr 16, 2013 | About Mormons
Many people think of sacrifice as an old-fashioned thing. In the Bible it seems to be something confined to the Old Testament, done away with in Christ’s “new law.” When the ancient Israelites failed to qualify to “enter into God’s rest,” He gave them a “schoolmaster law,” which was a law of outward ordinances. Rituals, and practices, and patterns of religious behavior were all symbolic of the Christ, a preparation for the higher law to come. When Jesus was offered up, He became the great and last sacrifice by the shedding of blood, and asked us to come unto Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and to place our sins upon the altar. As we progress, we are also able to place our will upon the altar, and to surrender our lives to His service.
What then of sacrifice? Sacrifice means giving up something for a higher good. When one considers the two levels of priesthood, the Aaronic or lower priesthood, and the Melchizedek, or higher priesthood, sacrifice couples with repentance as Aaronic principles. They are foundational—the floor of the eternal, precious edifice that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Upon them, we build on a sure foundation, adding the Gift of the Holy Ghost, our desires to reconcile with God, and our surrender to His will.
In Mormonism, which is the Church of Jesus Christ restored in it’s fullness in these last days before His Second Coming, Latter-day Saints exercise the principle of sacrifice in many ways.
Tithing
Tithing is by definition one tenth of one’s increase, and has always been a law of the gospel. A person who pays tithing in the proper spirit realizes that all he or she has comes from God, and that all He requests is one tenth in return as an offering. By living this law, followers of the Savior reap the blessings He has promised to the obedient. In fact, He blesses us so much, that we are again in His debt. The paying of tithing is ennobling. Tithe payers increase in humility, sensitivity to the Spirit, faith, and patience, even as they are blessed line upon line with the doctrines of the kingdom, and even with worldly sustenance. This is not a prosperity gospel, but a sustenance promise. Those full-tithe-payers who have faced financial emergencies have been rescued time after time by miraculous means. (more…)
by byustudent | Apr 11, 2013 | About Mormons
As school comes to an end, I really feel like the messages that I continue to learn through my study of the Book of Mormon become stronger and stronger. I can tell that the Lord wants me to prepare for what life has ahead of me.
This week, I was pondering the question, “Why does the Book of Mormon contain so much war and fighting?” Specifically, I wanted to know how do these stories of battle apply to us. It was this thinking that brought me to an answer found in Ether 8. In verse 26, Moroni (whom after studying so much I have found to be a great writer and very influential on me) states,”… am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men…” Once again, Moroni makes no doubt in his words. He has been commanded by the Lord to tell us about these wars for our own recognition of evil. The Lord wants us to be able to know the difference between right and wrong and this is one way in which he can reinforce it. (more…)
by byustudent | Apr 9, 2013 | Mormon Reflections
BYU Students Share Letters & Reflections on Scripture
BYU (Brigham Young University) is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the “Mormon Church.” As part of their undergraduate coursework, BYU students take multiple semesters of spiritually uplifting, stimulating religion classes.
In this series (see below), students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the Book of Mormon in the form of letters to someone they know. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures.
In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to speak to all of us of the relevance, power and beauty of the Book of Mormon, a second witness of Jesus Christ and complement to the Bible. The Book of Mormon includes the religious history of a group of Israelites who settled in ancient America. (The names they use are those of prophets who taught the Book of Mormon peoples to look forward to the coming of Christ—Nephi, Lehi, Alma, Helaman, and other unfamiliar names. We hope those names will become more familiar to you as you read their inspiring words and feel the relevance and divinity of their messages through these letters.) (more…)
by byustudent | Apr 9, 2013 | Mormon Reflections
BYU Students Share Letters & Reflections on Scripture
BYU (Brigham Young University) is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the “Mormon Church.” As part of their undergraduate coursework, BYU students take multiple semesters of spiritually uplifting, stimulating religion classes.
In this series (see below), students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the Book of Mormon in the form of letters to someone they know. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures. (more…)
