ARE MORMONS CHRISTIANS?

Elder M. Russell Ballard, a leader in the LDS Church has said: “I am sure many of you have had the experience of hearing people say that ‘Mormons are not Christians because they have their own bible, the Book of Mormon.’ To anyone harboring this misconception, we say that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and the author of our salvation and that we believe, revere and love the Holy Bible. We do have additional sacred scripture, including the Book of Mormon, but it supports the Bible, never substituting for it.”
From the Book of Mormon (2nd Nephi 29:3-10) we quote the following from Jesus Christ:

“3. And because my words shall hiss forth—many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible.

4. But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and it shall proceed forth from the Jews, mine ancient covenant people. And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles?

5. O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people.

6. Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?

7. Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?

8. Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.

9. And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.

10. Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written.”

RANTINGS

Since the Fourth of July Holiday is completed for 2010, some personal observations may be in order. I heard somewhere that four out of five people interviewed in a large city, didn’t even know what the real purpose of this holiday was. Fireworks were heard in my neighborhood well after midnight, celebrating, I suppose, little more than noise and colored lights. The fire department heaved a sigh when no serious fires erupted in our area and the ER at the hospital was probably jammed with people injured by explosives.


Other than that, I suspect not many people really gave the holiday much of a serious reflection. Perhaps, in some respects, I too am guilty of taking our country for granted. There are so many things we can all name on what’s wrong with America and should we forget, the media will remind us.


However, if I get serious, my thoughts about my country take on somber tones. I think of my father who retired from the military and served during World War Two. The sacrifices he made for Old Glory were more than I can fathom. I think of my two brothers who served in the armed forces as well and our two sons who are currently on active duty. I ponder my own military retirement, my time in Vietnam and think of the many places around the globe that military life took us and when I do, it wells up inside of me feelings of deep reverence and awe for the privilege it has been to serve.


During one part of our career, we were away from the States for almost seven years straight, serving in various locations in the Orient and Europe.


When that “freedom bird” brought us home at last to the land of the big BX, I literally kissed the sacred ground on which that plane landed.


My arrival at a large grocery store, full of plenty of food and fresh produce, caused me to openly weep, after so many years of seeing how the rest of the world struggles just to survive. Most people in this country today have little regard for the flag or what it stands for or those who have bled and died to give us the freedom we enjoy today. When I see our flag go by, I am filled with deep and abiding emotion. America has many faults but it is still the greatest land on the earth. May God bless America!!