Jesus Christ

Has anybody ever told you that the best of people go through the hardest trials? Why is that? It is because God is refining His people for a very special purpose. In a book titled, Be Not Afraid—Only Believe, written by Ted L. Gibbons, and published in 2009 by Cedar Fort, Inc. (pp 125-126), Gibbons shares what this special purpose is: Testing, Trying, or Proving Jesus is a problem solver. He can do anything. He can fix any- thing. But He is more than that. If His only concern was to keep us from pain and sorrow, He could institute a millennial condition among us now. In the Millennium, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4). But He is concerned with more than simply eliminating unhappiness. He is not exclusively concerned with ensuring that we are good. The Lord does want us to be... Read the rest of this entry »

After Jesus’ death, the apostles chose seven men to assist them in the work of running the church and teaching the gospel. One of these seven was Stephen, a man with a strong reputation for loving and following God. He, with the others, were set apart to their new role through the laying on of hands, which means the apostles placed their hands on Stephen’s head, gave him a blessing from God, and conveyed the authority from God to do his work. Stephen quickly encountered difficulties. He was falsely accused of blasphemy and brought before a council. They may have been surprised, as they leveled their accusations, to see that Stephen was transfigured. He had the face of an angel. They had no intention of finding Stephen innocent of the trumped up charges. However, Stephen maintained his courage and preached to them concerning the blessings God had given the people and the sins of his accusers. The listeners were angry but Stephen was accompanied by... Read the rest of this entry »

God the Father Shows Himself Today God does show Himself; He has in times past and He has in what is known as this dispensation or spiritual time, preceding His coming. He will again show Himself at the Second Coming. There are many beliefs concerning the nature of God the Father. So many, in fact, that it can be difficult for those engaged in cross-religious discussions to be sure they are speaking about the same Being. We all have an idea or image as to “who” and “what” God is within our mind’s-eye, and we often forget that others may not see God the same way we do. These differences are present because beliefs about God have been diluted and modified over time, after the death of the Savior and His apostles. God as a glorified perfected Being was a given. Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, was taught and exemplified in His life and mission. So why doesn’t Heavenly Father just show Himself to all immediately? Well,... Read the rest of this entry »

Before I say anything else, I want to make it clear that the real answer to this question is beyond the scope of this article; indeed, it is beyond the scope of mortality and all things temporal: for “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Furthermore, “it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned [all the principles of exaltation]. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 6:306-7). I am now able to attempt a basic answer to the above question. One of the most profound statements that will act as a beginning to our answer was made by the Prophet Joseph Smith. He said, “It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,... Read the rest of this entry »