First Presidency Message, April 2016

28 April

Proverbs 20:7; “The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.”

Liahona April 2016After reading some of the messages produced by the Church, there are times I have to shake my head and wonder why. Why do they tell the lies they do, and why don’t members call the leaders out on the lies…?

Today we’re looking at the latest First Presidency Message, ‘Prophecy and Personal Revelation,’ April 2016.

You can read the entire message in full at the link above. Upon a cursory glance in this month’s message, one will notice at least three problems straightaway.

1.The image provided in the Liahona Magazine is troublesome. This image shows a set of four tangled roadways for kids to follow, which if done correctly, should lead them to the proper outcome.

The problem with the image is found in the message it provided. It said; ‘Prophets and apostles speak for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They teach us how to follow Jesus…’

Questions:

  • Are they following Jesus, or the prophets and apostles?
  • Why don’t the prophets and apostles point exclusively to what God says in His word?
  • Why do they have to listen to the prophets to find out what Jesus wants them to do?
  • Why don’t they ever say ‘the prophets teach us how to follow Heavenly Father’?

2.Once again, the mantra was to follow the prophet. Mormon Apostle Henry Eyring told members the Bible states God only speaks through prophets because Joe Smith revealed this to them. The true church, he said, has been restored and ‘receives constant guidance from heaven’. Quoting from the Old Testament, Mr. Eyring also stated, ‘“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).’

  • The problem? We’re no longer living in the Old Testament era. Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us God used to speak to us through prophets, but now He does so through His Son –

Hebrews 1:1-2; “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.”

3.Mr. Eyring also contradicted what Gordon Hinckley said in an interview he gave to an Aussie television station. Mr. Eyring stated, ‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always been led by living prophets and apostles, who receive constant guidance from heaven. [emp. mine]

Now granted, I wouldn’t have known about the contradiction without recently reading the interview in question, but this makes me think they can say whatever they want, and more times than not, usually no one is the wiser. The reason is because the average Mormon may not sit and research church history like we do here at the ministry.

Case in point:

On November 9,1997, Gordon B. Hinckley gave an interview to an Australian television show, ‘Compass’, and reporter, David Ransom. There are two serious problems in the exchange, the first is the contradiction of Hinckley, and the second is Hinckley denying he didn’t know why the Church changed their minds about giving the priesthood the blacks in 1978.

COMPASS INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT GORDON B. HINCKLEY
Aired: November 09, 1997

RB: As the world leader of the Church, how are you in touch with God? Can you explain that for me?

GBH: I pray. I pray to Him. Night and morning. I speak with Him. I think He hears my prayers. As He hears the prayers of others. I think He answers them.

RB: But more than that, because you’re leader of the Church. Do you have a special connection?

GBH: I have a special relationship in terms of the Church as an institution. Yes.

RB: And you receive……..

GBH: For the entire Church.

RB: You receive?

GBH: Now we don’t need a lot of continuing revelation. We have a great, basic reservoir of revelation. But if a problem arises, as it does occasionally, a vexatious thing with which we have to deal, we go to the Lord in prayer. We discuss it as a First Presidency and as a Council of the Twelve Apostles. We pray about it and then comes the whisperings of a still small voice. And we know the direction we should take and we proceed accordingly.

RB: Now up until 1978 I understand Blacks were not allowed to be priests in your Church?

GBH: That is correct. Although we have Black members of the Church. They felt that they would gain more in this Church than any other with which they were acquainted and they were members of the Church. In 1978 we (the president of the Church) received a revelation under which all worthy men would receive all the blessings of the Church available to them as well as to any others. So across the world now we are teaching the Gospel to Blacks, Whites, everyone else who will listen.

RB: So in retrospect was the Church wrong in that?

GBH: No I don’t think it was wrong. It things, various things happened in different periods. There’s a reason for them.

RB: What was the reason for that?

GBH: I don’t know what the reason was. But I know that we’ve rectified whatever may have appeared to be wrong at that time.

RB: Is it a problem for the Church that it it still has a tag of being racist?

GBH: No I don’t think so. I don’t see that anywhere. I’ve been to Africa. I’ve been to other places. I don’t see any evidence of that any more. There’s some misconception of course that among some people. But I don’t see much evidence of that any more.

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