Re-baptism pt. 2

Well, I just came home from the Doctrine of Christ Conference in Boise.

It was incredible.

I have never experienced such a collective, genuine love of the Lord and each other anywhere else in my life. Except maybe at the Paul McCartney concert I went to in 2011. But really - it was something that I had never seen before. I was so happy. The speakers didn't waste anyone's time. They spoke about important things that encouraged people to become better, to have faith, and to rely on the Lord.

Everyone was invited, and even some people from Sweden came.

It was a happy event that I will never forget.

I came away wishing that as many people as would hear the Lord's voice would be rebaptized, as a covenant with the Lord to follow Him through the events of the coming years, and for the rest of their lives.

At the time of the original passover with Moses and the children of Israel, Moses gave them a task, as a sign, for them to perform or the firstborn of each house would be killed by the Destroying Angel. The sign was to brush lambs blood on the top and sides of the door frame with a bunch hyssop. This was the sign to the Lord that people were willing to show Him that they wanted to follow Him. Those who recognized the voice of the Lord in the command were saved. Others perished.

There is one group out there, the group that put on the Doctrine of Christ conference, who claims the Lord is opening again the heavens. That something new is happening. And when that which is new is come, that which is old is put away. They say the Lord would have people rebaptized, to show that they accept what He is doing anew.

The only requirements for baptism, given by the Lord, are:

"And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

    

And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God. And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

    

And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.

   

And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things. And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them. And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them."(3 Nephi 11:32-40)

Believe in Christ(this is more than thinking he is real - it is turning to Him and doing as He tells you) and be  baptized. If anyone declares more or less than this for a requirement of baptism, then they are not building upon the Rock that is Christ and they don't have a valid baptism.

This group of believers is the only one in all the world that I am aware of that follows properly the pattern set out by our Lord for baptism. 

It is claimed amongst the group that a person who desires this baptism and is baptised will be able to withstand the day of the coming of the Lord. All others will be burned at His coming. This is not unlike the passover in Moses day. Who ever is willing to hear the voice of God in the invitation, they can request a baptism here: https://bornofwater.org/.

The only thing required of you is that you are willing to covenant by baptism that you will follow the Lord. No one wants your money to be baptised, no one wants you to follow anyone other than the Lord to be baptised, you don't become a member of some institution or organized church, you only become the Lord's. You don't need to come to meetings(although most desire to) you don't need to do ANYTHING except what you feel the Lord tells you to do. 

Acts 2 tells us of the last days:

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

When we are baptized, we are told we "take upon us the name of Christ"(2 Ne. 31:13; Moroni 6:3; D&C 20:37; Etc). The baptism is, in other words, a "call" for the name of Christ.

So call upon the name of Christ. Be baptized. Follow the Lord with full purpose of heart. Be safe at that last day.

Re-baptism

Today's thought will be interesting to Mormons. It may be interesting to christians, too honestly. And since this is to all people everywhere... Y'all Jews and Muslims can maybe find it interesting.

I was reading through the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible. You might have to be in a unique position to be interested in reading that, but I think it worthy of any person's attention. 

Here is a thought that I couldn't make sense of before reading Joseph's added translation:

"Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved."(Matthew 9)

Here is the JST:

"Then said the Pharisees unto him, Why will ye not receive us with our baptism, seeing we keep the whole law? But Jesus said unto them, Ye keep not the law. If ye had kept the law, ye would have received me, for I am he who gave the law. I receive not you with your baptism, because it profiteth you nothing. For when that which is new is come, the old is ready to be put away. For no man putteth a piece of new cloth on an old garment; for that which is put in to fill it up, taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles; else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish; but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." (JST Matthew 9)

He says "I don't accept your baptism because..when that which is new is come, the old is ready to be put away" or in other words "Your old baptism isn't valid because something new is happening".

So you have the Pharisees wondering why this new claimstobeaprohpet guy won't accept their baptism as valid. I can't help but put myself in their position. My church is prospering. We have great political ties, lots of money, people are converting, the temple is busy - God obviously loves us. Otherwise, we wouldn't have such great prosperity, right(speaking from the Pharisees' standpoint, obviously)? And THIS GUY thinks he can just barge in, claiming to be the Son of God, and have me believe that my baptism, an ordinance so treasured in my culture, is invalid? Get the hell out bro! 

Well those were my thoughts when I put myself in their shoes. 

But 2000 years later, here I am, not in their shoes, wondering why Joseph thought he ought to clarify this. Or better yet, if you'll believe it, why God would have, Joseph clarify it. And you have a group of used-to-be Mormons, or still-are Mormons, or otherwise -  claiming a similar message. And, interesting to me, is that I heard their message before I learned about this talk by Jesus in the JST. What am I to do then?   

Testimony of two? 

Hmm. If I told you my testimony on the subject, you would dismiss it; and by you, I mean all zero of my readers. But let me tell you, Zeroites, I think it is worth considering. Why did Jesus say this? Why did He have Joseph restore it? Why is this group claiming it today? No one else is. Not that I am aware of anyway. 

Righteous Judgment

There is a lot of talk about deception lately. The reason it is so prevalent is because there are quite a few people who are coming forth, who had itching ears, having listened to some bogus doctrine of a false preacher and are telling about how they were led into a position where there is now a large pile of dog poo on top of them. It ruined or harmed their lives in a terrible way. 

Here is how it starts most of the time:

You have a person - there have been both men and women -  who claims they have some great message. Or maybe sometimes they just start teaching things that are really pretty good and praiseworthy things. They manage to hook and reel in a few people who hear the truth they have taught. 

They begin to teach you that they have obtained a higher law from heaven. You can now become a raging whore and sleep with people who aren't your spouse because, well it's just a higher law and, well I have taught you the truth before! Why would I lead you astray now?

A common teaching of these people is that you are not supposed to judge. They love quoting Jesus when He says "Judge not, that ye be not judged" and leave out "but judge righteous judgement".

Here is what that teaching does: when the teacher's heinous teachings are revealed by people outside of their group, their disciples propound that "we will not judge them, for it is not ours to judge, but Gods!" and then feel justified in continuing their whoredoms, secret abominations, lyings, priestcrafts, and so on. Their idol can not be touched because we are not supposed to judge and therefore I have no right to say that they are right or that they are wrong. 

Duuuuuudeeee....

Let's take a look at the last part of what Jesus said about judgment - that you should judge a righteous judgement.

What does righteous mean? If you were a little child and were viewing the word, what would you make of it? 

It has the word "right" in it. I know that right is the opposite of wrong. I know that right means correct. 

Ok. Judge not that ye be not judged, but judge the correct judgment. Judge the things that are right to be worth acting on and the things that are wrong not worth acting on. 

If we read the scriptures prayerfully this would not be so confusing.

Here is also part of a marvellous discourse by Moroni on judging correctly:

      "For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he cannot be servant of the devil. Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually. But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.

      Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil. For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him. 

     And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged. 

     Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ."

I am so grateful for that last statement. Search diligently in the light of Christ. Are the scriptures Christ's words(D&C 84:45)? Good, search them diligently. 

Earlier Moroni says that whatever persuades us to believe in Christ is good. Would something that tells to to do anything against the scriptures persuade you to then believe what Christ has said, or disbelieve what He has said? 

Forward, And Not Back

Was watching "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" at work today(a classic) and towards the end, the Gettysburg was addressed by Honest Abe himself.

In lieu of all that is going on, I thought it worthy of repetition here:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

There is a reason this is a famous speech. The work is still unfinished. There still remains a great task before us. Go forward, and not backward. On, on to the victory!

A Good Conversation

One of my best friends (and only friends... err) is a brilliant scriptorian. In a good way. Not a scholarly way. He makes good use of the big HG(2 Nephi 28:26).

He called me up the other day after he read something in the Lectures on Faith about God cursing Adam and Eve after their disobedience. He realized something in response to something my mother-in-law had said to us a few days earlier that "[she] doesn't know much about prophecy, but she knows that when a woman is in a leadership position, it's a bad thing." The thing he realized was that before our first parents' transgression, they were both accountable to God and God only. After their transgression, Adam was made to "rule over" Eve(Moses 4:22). It was the curse placed on them - both of them - by God as a result of the woman obeying someone other than God. Therefore, she was to be "ruled over" by the one who was willing to obey Father. This is not to say it is good for man to rule over woman. But for now, it is right. And you have to understand, "rule" in it's most pure form takes on the role of a servant, ministering truth to those who aren't getting it directly from God yet. Some who have occupied this role in past generations have certainly misused it to get gain, praise, and to harm others. This is the way of the Gentiles... but we are way off track now.

I have, unfortunately, encountered a "prophetess" who was able to gather a small following. She sells classes to people for hundreds of dollars, claiming that they will bring people to God. She was able to get some of her followers to commit adultery, claiming that it would bring them "higher light and truth" than they previously had.

Shit man...

There are thousands of stories of men doing equally horrible things as "leaders", I know. This was just a fresh, personal example of my own.

Anyway. We have one Hillary Clinton running for America's presidency. Eesh.

This is where my friend and I continued our conversation:

"So Hillary is trying to rule, right? And I noticed" he said "that it is the way of the world, not to be redeemed from God's curses, but to reverse them. And that just makes things worse than they were! The perverse curse is worse than the first!"

You see, if we wanted to be redeemed from the curse, then man and woman would both be accountable to God again. No one "rules" over anyone else.

Well, we went down the list of curses that God pronounced on Adam and Eve after they fell and sure enough, we are busy down here trying to reverse them all.

An Angel of Light, Eh?

An old legend:

"When Satan, the hater of all good, saw how they continued in prayer, and how God communed with them, and comforted them, and how He had accepted their offering—Satan made an apparition.

He began with transforming his hosts; in his hands was a flashing fire, and they were in a great light. He then placed his throne near the mouth of the cave because he could not enter into it by reason of their prayers. And he shed light into the cave, until the cave glistened over Adam and Eve; while his hosts began to sing praises.  And Satan did this, in order that when Adam saw the light, he should think within himself that it was a heavenly light, and that Satan's hosts were angels; and that God had sent them to watch at the cave, and to give him light in the darkness.  So that when Adam came out of the cave and saw them, and Adam and Eve bowed to Satan, then he would overcome Adam thereby, and a second time humble him before God.

When, therefore, Adam and Eve saw the light, fancying it was real, they strengthened their hearts; yet, as they were trembling, Adam said to Eve:—  "Look at that great light, and at those many songs of praise, and at that host standing outside who won't come into our cave. Why don't they tell us what they want, where they are from, what the meaning of this light is, what those praises are, why they have been sent to this place, and why they won't come in?  If they were from God, they would come into the cave with us, and would tell us why they were sent."

Then Adam stood up and prayed to God with a burning heart, and said:— "O Lord, is there in the world another god besides You, who created angels and filled them with light, and sent them to keep us, who would come with them? But, look, we see these hosts that stand at the mouth of the cave; they are in a great light; they sing loud praises. If they are of some other god than You, tell me; and if they are sent by you, inform me of the reason for which You have sent them."

No sooner had Adam said this, than an angel from God appeared to him in the cave, who said to him, "O Adam, fear not. This is Satan and his hosts; he wishes to deceive you as he deceived you at first. For the first time, he was hidden in the serpent; but this time he is come to you in the likeness of an angel of light; in order that, when you worshipped him, he might enslave you, in the very presence of God." Then the angel went from Adam and seized Satan at the opening of the cave, and stripped him of the pretense he had assumed, and brought him in his own hideous form to Adam and Eve; who were afraid of him when they saw him.

And the angel said to Adam, "This hideous form has been his ever since God made him fall from heaven. He could not have come near you in it; he therefore transformed himself into an angel of light." Then the angel drove away Satan and his hosts from Adam and Eve, and said to them, "Fear not; God who created you, will strengthen you."

And the angel left them. But Adam and Eve remained standing in the cave; no consolation came to them; they divided in their thoughts. And when it was morning they prayed; and then went out to seek the garden. For their hearts were towards it, and they could get no consolation for having left it."

(Platt, Rutherford Hayes (2011-03-30). Bible. O. T. Apocryphal books. English

Joseph Smith said,

"We may look for angels and receive their ministrations, but we are to try the spirits and prove them, for it is often the case that men make a mistake in regard to these things. God has so ordained that when He has communicated, no vision is to be taken but what you see by the seeing of the eye, or what you hear by the hearing of the ear. When you see a vision, pray for the interpretation; if you get not this, shut it up; there must be certainty in this matter. An open vision will manifest that which is more important. Lying spirits are going forth in the earth. There will be great manifestations of spirits, both false and true." (STPJS 161)

We are only saved as fast as we get knowledge though (STPJS 217)

We get knowledge by visions, dreams, visitations, through the power of the Holy Ghost (See 1 Nephi 10:17-1 Nephi 14; D&C 76:116-118).

So we need to have experiences with the other side of the veil, but if we are not careful, we may be deceived. 

A strait and narrow path indeed.

An Email Exchange With My Stake President

Here are some emails I exchanged with my home-ward stake president. Sorry for my horrific writing skills. I hope it's coherent:

4/15/15

President ------,

Hi, how are you? I remember a conversation we once had where you were explaining to me that there can be no more dispensations of the gospel because we are in the "last dispensation". I think my last stake president in the singles ward had a similar conversation with me.

I was reading in the book "Words of Joseph Smith" which is just a consolidation of all of the unedited/in their original un-spell corrected from Nauvoo era discourses, letters, etc. and I came across this passage from a talk that Joseph gave October 5, 1840(ten years after the church was established and over four years after Elijah came to the Kirtland temple in 1836) which says:

"Elijah was the last Prophet that held the keys of this priesthood, and who will, before the last dispensation, restore the authority and delive[r] the Keys of this priesthood in order that all the ordinances may be attended to in righteousness. <It is true that the Savior had authority and power to bestow this blessing <but the Sons of Levi were too predjudi[ced]>>
And I will send Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord &c &c." (Joseph Smith Papers Project;http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/instruction-on-priesthood-5-october-1840?p=17&highlight=keys%20of%20this%20priesthood)

The part that caught my attention what the part that talks about how Elijah WILL come BEFORE the last dispensation which hasn't happened yet if Joseph is saying this in 1840. It is just interesting to me that Joseph speaks in a future tense after the revelation of Elijah in 1836 and after he had clearly received a dispensation of the gospel years previous.

This says to me that Elijah still needs to come to do a work, and that the "last dispensation" maybe hasn't happened yet.

I looked on LDS.org for quotes and sources where Joseph called his dispensation the last dispensation and the only thing I could find was a quote from section 112:30 which says:

"For unto you, the Twelve, and those, the First Presidency, who are appointed with you to be your counselors and your leaders, is the power of this priesthood given, for the last days and for the last time, in the which is the dispensation of the fulness of times"

It doesn't call it the last dispensation, but "the dispensation of the fulness of times"

And then the only other quote I found was from the song "Praise to the Man" but that was written after Joseph died and he had no hand in it.

I guess I am just wondering what your thoughts are on that. It would seem that there actually might be another dispensation of the gospel.

I hope that the email makes sense and I a sorry for my lack of articulation.

I hope you are well and miss being in the Bountiful stake.

Best wishes,

Chris Park

4/15/15

Hello Chris,

Good to hear from you. All is well for me and my family.

I would be happy to share my thoughts with you. It may take a week or so as I am buried with work and committed to a youth training on the 25th which I am not as prepared as I would like to be. However, I will get back with you shortly after that.

Thanks

President ------

4/15/15

No problem. Thank you for being so quick to respond!

Thanks,

Chris Park

5/19/15

Chris,

I hope all is well. Thanks for allowing me to take care of some matters before responding to your email.

I would share two thoughts with you. When the Aaronic priesthood was restored Joseph was told that it would not be taken from the earth “until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness”. This would indicate to me that this dispensation of the fullness of time was here to stay.

Also, in a revelation about the sacrament the prophet was instructed by Jesus Christ that He will partake of the sacrament with Joseph Smith, Moroni, Elias, and others which include Peter, James and John. The Savior also reminds Joseph that it is by them that he was ordained an apostle. And that the keys of His kingdom were committed to Joseph for this “dispensation of the gospel for the last time; and for the fullness of times”. (D&C 27:13)

So from these I feel that our understanding that this dispensation of the fullness of time is the last dispensation.

I have faith that Jesus Christ is leading His Church and I trust in his ways.

Thanks for the opportunity to share my simple understanding with you.

Sincerely,

President ------

5/31/15

Heya President,

I guess I get what you're saying about the Aaronic priesthood (D&C 13 right?), but that priesthood is not the "fullness of the priesthood"(D&C 112:30) so I have a hard time equating "fullness of times" with "lesser priesthood". John had the lesser priesthood to baptize and preach repentance, but it was not until Jesus came with the fullness that all the authority was there.

Also, referring back to my last email, Joseph Smith equated the Spirit of Elijah with the higher, or Melchizedek priesthood (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 337). Joseph said in 1843 that Elijah was yet to come before the last dispensation. Would this not suggest that the Melchizedek priesthood will come, or be dispensed, again with Elijah, even if we believe it is already here?

As for what your second point suggests, I looked at the scriptures and at the History of the Church version of that revelation. When you quoted it, there was an "s" missing at the end of the word "times". Your reply read, “dispensation of the gospel for the last time" rather than the original "dispensation of the gospel for the last times". Before the portion you quoted there is an "a". All together it reads "a dispensation of the gospel for the last times". This suggests to me that it was only "a" dispensation that is for the "last times" rather than "the last dispensation". Going back to my original email, Joseph saying that this is the last dispensation is nowhere to be found in either church history or in the scriptures.

I guess I am just having a hard time reconciling these things. What do you think?

Thank you very much for your response, it got me thinking and searching for more.

Chris Park

6/1/15

Christopher,

Sorry about not properly quoting the scripture as I was hurrying to reply and get back to work.

I don’t think there is anything I can say to make it a black or white point of doctrine. I know that we do not have a full and complete written history off all Joseph Smith taught. But we do have those that lived with him and were taught by him personally and many of those people came west following Brigham Young and other Church leaders who continued to teach what Joseph taught as well as the revelations they received from God.

I believe that we have had continued prophets on the earth leading the church of Jesus Christ under His (Christ’s) direction. I believe the principle of line upon line, precept upon precept and have seen this in the Church and in my own life. So if a prophet tells me this is the last dispensation, I am going to believe him.

I guess this is the best answer my simple faith can give you. I hope you can find an answer that can build your faith.

Sincerely,

President ------

6/5/15

President,

Thank you for your insight. I understand where you are coming from I think, but if later leaders say that this is the last dispensation when Joseph said there would still be another, who is right? Can one president simply discount Joseph's words when God said that this generation will have His(God's) words through Joseph(D&C 5:10)?

I know that Spencer Kimball called some of Brigham's teaching's "false doctrine" and presidents have discounted each other since, but I feel like Joseph actually knew what he was saying, rather than just theorizing, because of visions and visitations from God and angels, whereas Brigham Young and those after never had seen the Lord and been taught by Him. Heber J Grant said himself in a letter to one sister:

"Dear Sister:

Answering your letter of the 12th.

I know of no instance where the Lord has appeared to an individual since His appearance to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Sincerely your brother,

[signed] Heber J. Grant"

(Heber J. Grant, letter to Mrs. Claud Peery, April 13, 1926, typescript in Lester Bush papers, University of Utah Archives.)

So would those after Joseph have the right to claim things about him that he never claimed about himself if they never had this authoritative learning from the Lord?

I think if we are going to learn the truth we ought to listen to President Joseph F. Smith's advice that, "We have accepted the four standard works as the measuring yardsticks, or balances, by which we measure every man's doctrine." and ask if the scriptures and the man who brought them forth are saying that he brought forth the "final" or "last" dispensation. Right?

What are your thoughts?

I am always grateful for your answers as they send me to God seeking for the truth.

Thanks

Chris

-------------------------------------------------

Now, I'll admit, I was baiting a little with that last email. I didn't understand how all that could be said was "follow the prophet" when we had this very interesting conversation material to pick up on. So, to my stake president I say sorry for baiting. He never responded after that last email. To everyone else, open up your eyes. These things at important.