Okay, So The Church Has Been Hijacked -- NOW What Do We Do?

 

Previously: Why Are You Still Calling This Guy A Prophet Of God?

Last month in this space we discussed how Russell Nelson was never appointed by God to preside over the LDS Church. Neither have any current members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles been given keys and authority as prophets, seers, and revelators. None of these men hold any authority from the Lord to govern His Church. This accusation is objectively provable.  

This leaves faithful believers with a problem. For some years now, and especially more recently, astute members of the Church have noticed Church leaders have been changing the doctrines and teaching contrary to the scriptures. But they don't know what to do about it. "I can't just leave the Church" is a commonly heard lamentation.  

That's right, you can't. Not if you're a believer in the doctrines of the restoration as promulgated through the prophet Joseph Smith.  Indeed, you can't leave the church because you are the church  That's what the Lord Himself declares in Doctrine & Covenants 10:68: "Whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church."  That is the only definition of what the church is that you will ever find in the scriptures.

So, what we commonly refer to as "The Church" isn't really the actual church at all. The church is the community of believers. The congregation.  The assembly. The ecclesia. You were never supposed to rely on an organization for instruction, and certainly not for your salvation.  Yeshua the Messiah intended for you to rely on Him and Him alone.  The fallacy you were taught in Primary that you are to "follow the prophet" is pure poppycock, as is the false teaching that "the president of the Church can never lead the Church astray." There is no revelation from God even remotely suggesting such a heresy.  Joseph Smith himself rebuked the members for depending too much on the prophet.   The reason the Lord provided revelations through Joseph Smith was so that we would rely on no man for our salvation and instruction, but on His word as revealed through His appointed prophets.

So, once you've spent your entire life as a member of the corporate institution known as "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" and come to the shocking realization that said organization has been corrupted, what can you do? Simple. You just do what tens of thousands of believing Saints have been doing for the past few years: you embrace the church, but stop aligning yourself with and depending upon "The Church." In other words, you can remain a "Mormon" even while you let go of the institution that falsely claims to be in charge of all the Mormons. 

As many are becoming increasingly aware, the church of Christ is alive and well, and unlike the institutional LDS Church, this church community is thriving. You may not even be aware of us, because we have no leaders, no hierarchy, and no public relations department boasting about rapid growth and dubious financial acquisitions. This church is a movement that was prophesied must take place before the Lord returns, and there exists a book describing it titled Rescuing the Restoration: The Lord Sets His Hand a Second Time. 

So, if you are one of the many who are wondering where you could possibly land once you decide to let go of your false traditions, may I make a suggestion? Why not land with us?  Why not rejoin the Restoration the Lord began through the prophet Joseph Smith? The Restoration isn't dead, though it does seem to have been on life support for awhile waiting for the community of believers to awake and arise. That has finally begun, and the body of Saints is coming back to health. 

This "movement" -for lack of a better word- is already worldwide.   Just this past February a small group of this remnant convened for a conference in Boise for the purpose of reaching out to those who might feel disaffected by the corporate LDS Church.  Seven persons spoke for 30 minutes each, and I hope you'll give them a listen. Here are the videos:

First up is Tausha Larsen with a pertinent ten minutes of introductory comments on how the Restoration has been in grave danger but the Lord is now working anew, setting his hand a second time:

Next comes Tausha's husband Adrian, who reminds us that "it's not a good idea to be dishonest in matters of salvation; it's not a good idea to prop up the organizational structure by putting words in Joseph Smith's mouth 30 or 40 years after his death and claim that he said it." Adrian shows us how there is reason for hope

Whitney Horning is the author of Joseph Smith Revealed: A Faithful Telling, with a brilliant investigation into the question of whether or not our founding prophet practiced plural marriage. (Spoiler Alert: he most certainly did not.)

Doug Atwood lays out the Lord's proper pattern of sending servant prophets:

Aaron Bishop speaks on the massive number of changes in LDS policy and doctrine just since Russell Nelson took over. Needless to say, none of these changes were the result of revelations from God, nor were members of the Church given opportunity to approve of these changes, as required by God's law for the church.

Lt. Colonel Matthew Lohmeier made national news last year after being relieved of duty for exposing how the U.S. Military is openly indoctrinating military personnel in Marxist ideology. In this presentation he tells how he gives speeches all over the country (mostly at non-Mormon events) yet this is the talk he wishes he could give to every one of those audiences. Here is  "The Book of Mormon: An Interpretive Key To Current Events."

"What Christ acquired through his suffering at Gethsemane was knowledge and understanding of everything you have, or will ever go through, or suffer. He understands."  Denver Snuffer concludes this conference by speaking about some of the important things restored through Joseph Smith that today are being ignored by the institutional LDS Church. 

Notes & Asides:

CLICK HERE for the home page of the Rescuing the Restoration Conference where you can read about who we are and what we believe.

CLICK HERE to find all these videos on one page, including a brief Q&A session. 

CLICK HERE for a list of general resources, including where to find a fellowship group near you. (The remnant movement is already worldwide.)

CLICK HERE for a downloadable transcript of Whitney Horning's "Removing the Stain of Polygamy From the Restoration" with footnotes and sources, and CLICK HERE for a list of additional resources on this topic accessible online.

CLICK HERE for a downloadable transcript of Aaron Bishop's talk, "A Closer Look at the Great Day of Change in the LDS Church" with footnotes and sources.

CLICK HERE for a downloadable transcript of Matthew Lohmeier's talk "The Book of Mormon: An Interpretive Key to Current Events" with footnotes and sources. 

CLICK HERE for a transcript of Denver Snuffer's talk, "True Blue Mormon: Independent Faithfulness."

CLICK HERE for a google search listing some of the many news programs and podcasts Matthew Lohmeier appeared on that resulted in his excommunication from government service.

And finally, just a month after this conference was held in Boise, another conference took place in Lexington, Kentucky. The theme was "Hear and Trust the Voice of the Lord in the Storm" an apt topic for the times we live in. A few of the Boise speakers showed up to expound further on what they had presented in Idaho, along with a couple others we did not hear from previously. CLICK HERE to get access to those videos. 

Additional Reading:

Did The Lord Choose Not To Anoint 'The Lord's Anointed'?

As always, please comment below and SHARE this important information!