Mormon Coffee

At the LDS Church’s most recent General Conference held in Salt Lake City a little over a week ago, Elaine Dalton took the stand. Directing her remarks to the general membership of the Church, Mrs. Dalton delivered a talk she entitled, “Look toward Eternity!“Near the beginning of her talk, Mrs. Dalton asked,

Do you understand why it is so important to remain clean and pure?…I desire for every young man and woman, every young adult, and indeed each one of us to feel and know the importance of living a worthy and pure life. It is our personal worthiness that will qualify us to fulfill our individual earthly missions.

Mrs. Dalton identified our “earthly mission”: making the choices that will enable us to return to Heavenly Father’s presence and claim all the blessings He has in store for us.

It is, therefore, our personal worthiness that will qualify us to spend eternity in the presence of God.

In her talk Mrs. Dalton gave a nod to the need for Jesus Christ and faith:

It is through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we can resist temptation. Our faith will enable us to shun evil.

However,

To become unspotted from the world requires not only faith, but repentance and obedience. We must live the standards and do those things which will entitle us to the constant companionship and guidance of the Holy Ghost…

Furthermore,

Personal worthiness is essential to enter His holy temples and to ultimately become heirs to “all [the] Father hath.” … we can confidently enter the holy temples of God with a knowledge that we are worthy to go where the Lord Himself goes. When we are worthy, we can not only enter the temple, the temple can enter us. The Lord’s promises of salvation and happiness become ours… (emphasis retained from the original)

So the bottom line (for a Mormon) when looking toward eternity is personal worthiness. It is necessary to be clean and pure by one’s own merits. Our choices, our obedience, our purity, our worthiness will “qualify” and “entitle” us to go where the Lord goes and receive salvation.

Apparently, though grace through God’s mercy is available, it’s not a good idea to count on it.

According to Mrs. Dalton, she and her husband were given counsel on their wedding day from LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley:

“Always live in such a way that when you need the Lord’s blessings, you can call upon Him and receive them because you are worthy. There will come times in your life when you will need immediate blessings. You will need to live in such a way that they will be granted–not out of mercy but because you are worthy.”

President Hinckley’s counsel is antithetical to the teachings of the New Testament. There the apostles put God’s mercy at the very heart of His blessings and promise of eternal life. Consider these passages:

• It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. (Romans 9:16)
• When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works or righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)
• Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 1:21)

Mrs. Dalton expressed her gratitude for the counsel given her by President Hinckley:

Daily, these holy habits and righteous routines have helped steady us on the path that leads back into our Father’s presence. And today I say, “We thank thee, O God, for a prophet to guide us in these latter-days.”

I, too, am filled with deep gratitude, but not for a prophet who’s unbiblical pronouncements place me under the heavy burden of making myself worthy of Heaven. I am thankful for the sure promises of God found in His Holy Word. With King David I wholeheartedly throw myself upon the astonishing mercy of Almighty God:

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This might be old news as the blogoshpere goes, but it’s worth noting nonetheless.

About 2 weeks ago (24 September) the Salt Lake Tribune ran an interesting article under the “Living History” banner. Sporting no byline, the article drew comparisons between LDS history and radical Islam. Here are a few excerpts.

• What if a Muslim cleric in Riyadh said, “The intention of the Great Satan is to destroy us… If the United States persists in sending armies to destroy us, in the name of Allah we shall conquer them… they will find their own buildings in flames.”What if a radical imam said, “They raise a force to come and slay all the Muslims, men, women, and children… I will raise my sword and slay those who wish to destroy Allah’s people!”

  As an American, you might feel threatened. You might even send in the troops to smoke terrorists out of their holes.

  Oh, did I forget to mention the above quotes are from Brigham Young? Mostly, anyway. I’ve substituted “Allah” for “God” a time or two…

• The story of early Mormonism is one of violent persecution. Harassment, imprisonment, dispossession and murder chased the Saints into Utah. Mormons can make a case for being the most persecuted white people in America.But not all Mormons meekly hummed “Come, Come Ye Saints,” while being pistol-whipped. There is The Nauvoo Expositor, for instance, destroyed at the instigation of Joseph Smith. It printed, accurately as it turned out, stories detailing Smith’s extracurricular matrimonial activities. The same righteous fervor that burned in the mob’s breast that smashed The Expositor animated the Muslim crowds that burned Danish embassies over a cartoon defaming their prophet…
• Once in Utah, Young started grousing that maybe the people of the beehive should become an independent nation with God as their sovereign, and to hell with the USA.Washington took notice. The Mormon militia employed classic insurgent tactics when Col. Albert Sidney Johnston’s army was sent to restore order. Cattle were run off and supply wagons burned.

  As the army approached, it is well-known that Young threatened to burn and blow up everything in its path — homes, farms, towns — and fight from mountain redoubts. What isn’t as well-known is that he claimed to have agents provocateurs awaiting orders to burn down cities throughout the Midwest and in California.

  [U.S. President James] Buchanan wrote that he was told that “such is believed to be the condition to which a strange system of terrorism has brought the inhabitants of that region, that no one among them could express an opinion favorable to this government . . . without exposing his life and property to peril.”

Early Mormonism and radical Islam — sharing a strange system of terrorism.

The LDS Church promotes the idea that,

There are too many divisions in the world. Let us go forward proclaiming common ground and common goals. (LDS Bishop Alan Tong)

I bet these are some commonalities the LDS Church would rather not see proclaimed.

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Last night, Jerald Tanner, co-founder of Utah Lighthouse Ministry, passed away quietly after an eight year struggle with Alzheimer’s. I first had the privilege of meeting the Tanners back in 1977 when my wife and I took our first vacation to Salt Lake City. At that time Utah Lighthouse Ministry was known as Modern Microfilm and their bookstore was in their home.

In my opinion there was probably no better researcher when it came to the history and doctrines of the LDS Church than Jerald and I would venture to say that even many LDS apologists would have to admit candidly that he was a formidable opponent when it came to the subject of Mormonism. I think it is also safe to say that anybody who has had an interest in sharing their faith with Mormon friends and relatives have benefited in some way from the Tanner’s research.

Having personally watched his health decline over the past few years I view his passing with mixed emotions. Selfishly I will miss his meticulous, and cutting-edge research that has helped me personally assist many Latter-day Saints who were/are questioning their faith. However, knowing that Jerald has received the ultimate healing and now rests in the presence of the God and Savior he loved so well, brings comfort at this time of loss.

We hope that you will join us as we continue to pray for Sandra and the rest of the Tanner family during this time. He will certainly be missed by many.

• Condolences can be sent to condolences@utlm.org.
• In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be sent to the Rescue Mission of Salt Lake, 463 South 400 West, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101-2202, (801) 355-1302.

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