I'm including the link to the site for the reconciliation committee of JCRB/CoC in case there's someone out there who hasn't seen it yet. Tell me this an "informal" committee as Bro Rudy so states. When I tried questioning him on this he said something incredibly cute like, "It's a free country." Indeed it is, and therefore, I can keep questioning. If any of you are interested, it would behoove you to visit the JCRB website and peruse the Q&A section. However, if you have a question for them, I suggest you keep it to about 25 words or less. Otherwise you'll get kicked out and you'll have to trim your question to the point where you don't get to ask the question you really want to.
Now, on this site, please go to Comment #8 under It Must Be Said, posted by Brother Ev from Maine. The Peace Committee has been in existence for months. Actually years. So, what is this "committee" they voted on to discuss the name? The Name Committee? With all due respect, do they need another committee?
People, the CoC has been in apostasy for decades! Why are we still bothering with them? What's next? Maybe we should start negotiating with Pope Benedict XVI to see if we can get in on their plan of salvation. He seems to have it all wrapped up.
Guess this should be titled Saturday Afternoon Ruminations. I do a lot of that. And now it's almost Saturday evening and I'm still appalled at how computer illiterate I am. Blessings to you all. Keep up the good fight. Keep the full armor of God on, or at least close at hand. And, by all means, hold on to the Rod of Iron!
Jan
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Letter from a Friend
Our friend, Hartley Stanbridge, of Las Vegas, Nevada has been sending us emails about his take on various happenings in the church, in government, and in the world. He is a deeply spiritual man and I have a special place in my heart for him as he was present at my conversion. He also is the elder who performed the sacrament of baptism in Las Vegas. George Toomey and Ray Treat also loomed in the background, but that is another joyful matter for another day.
Shortly after the April CRE/JCRB conference we received a letter from Hartley requesting our perusal and correction—editing of his thoughts about what took place there. We have been working on it and have just about completed it, so I emailed him last night asking him if I could post it, after his final approval. He emailed back saying yes, and added this, which I have taken the liberty of posting here:
"In the last days there will be cries of 'Peace, Peace!' and there will be no peace—smoke trails across the skies, with tall columns of smoke rising high into the sky, with fervent heat beneath that will melt the elements right out of the rocks—the sun will become seven times hotter—great fires—the seasons will become confused—the seas will heave themselves beyond their bounds—earthquakes—thunder and lightning.
AND YET TO COME—cities will be abandoned—famine and pestilence—death and hell given power to kill a fourth part of the earth—a great earthquake—every mountain and island moved out of its place—a great war—Saints to be martyred—a third part of the earth and seas and men will be destroyed—men will be afflicted with great sores—exceedingly great hailstones shall fall weighing a talent (60#)—the merchants of the earth will become destitute—the economic system will collapse—two witnesses will be murdered, rise and ascend into heaven—and after all the words of the Book Of Revelation are fulfilled, God's Tabernacle will come to the earth—no unclean thing of man, of beast, of fowl, or fish of the sea shall remain alive on the earth; all that is left alive will be called Sanctified.
If these things do not inspire respect, fear, and repentance, to bow down before and angry God, what will the puny little words I offer do?
If just one person would look up and say 'Oh my!' and consider that this is not a challenge to debate, but the final determination and warning of a God that cannot lie. Every word is to be fulfilled as God caused it to be written, and sent forth for our understanding' guidance and protection.
The days of frivolous debate and self aggrandizement are truly over. Faith! Determination! We must resolve to become true Saints, to become anxiously engaged, to lie prostrate before God and confess our errors, omissions and sins with grieving hearts. Those who yearn for forgiveness will not be disappointed; God will not forsake those who turn to him, who wrest their hearts upright. They will be welcomed.
Gee, Cec and Jan, I feel sorry for you. Every time you say Hi, I bury you with all this, I will try and restrain the passions within me. Use this, too, if you see something good in it.
It is in me, but has been stifled all these years by the guys who say 'We have enough.' So BLESS you both . . . . Hartley"
Expect more from this wonderful man in the near future.
Shortly after the April CRE/JCRB conference we received a letter from Hartley requesting our perusal and correction—editing of his thoughts about what took place there. We have been working on it and have just about completed it, so I emailed him last night asking him if I could post it, after his final approval. He emailed back saying yes, and added this, which I have taken the liberty of posting here:
"In the last days there will be cries of 'Peace, Peace!' and there will be no peace—smoke trails across the skies, with tall columns of smoke rising high into the sky, with fervent heat beneath that will melt the elements right out of the rocks—the sun will become seven times hotter—great fires—the seasons will become confused—the seas will heave themselves beyond their bounds—earthquakes—thunder and lightning.
AND YET TO COME—cities will be abandoned—famine and pestilence—death and hell given power to kill a fourth part of the earth—a great earthquake—every mountain and island moved out of its place—a great war—Saints to be martyred—a third part of the earth and seas and men will be destroyed—men will be afflicted with great sores—exceedingly great hailstones shall fall weighing a talent (60#)—the merchants of the earth will become destitute—the economic system will collapse—two witnesses will be murdered, rise and ascend into heaven—and after all the words of the Book Of Revelation are fulfilled, God's Tabernacle will come to the earth—no unclean thing of man, of beast, of fowl, or fish of the sea shall remain alive on the earth; all that is left alive will be called Sanctified.
If these things do not inspire respect, fear, and repentance, to bow down before and angry God, what will the puny little words I offer do?
If just one person would look up and say 'Oh my!' and consider that this is not a challenge to debate, but the final determination and warning of a God that cannot lie. Every word is to be fulfilled as God caused it to be written, and sent forth for our understanding' guidance and protection.
The days of frivolous debate and self aggrandizement are truly over. Faith! Determination! We must resolve to become true Saints, to become anxiously engaged, to lie prostrate before God and confess our errors, omissions and sins with grieving hearts. Those who yearn for forgiveness will not be disappointed; God will not forsake those who turn to him, who wrest their hearts upright. They will be welcomed.
Gee, Cec and Jan, I feel sorry for you. Every time you say Hi, I bury you with all this, I will try and restrain the passions within me. Use this, too, if you see something good in it.
It is in me, but has been stifled all these years by the guys who say 'We have enough.' So BLESS you both . . . . Hartley"
Expect more from this wonderful man in the near future.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Leadership, Who, Why, and When?
For the benefit of Mr. E. Coy I have, I hope, identified myself to the satisfaction of all. No secrets. The following contribution is from my husband, Cec—short for Cecil. As in Cecil L. Moon:
One of the great current occupations of the membership and the priesthood of late is isolating the problems of our beleaguered group. There is no question that we have problems, but all too often they are misidentified. We often suffer from category error in our attempt to give definition to that which we seek, and the actual will of God. Our thwarted goals are also amplified by the inherent qualities of those who seek to give a name to the problems. Many of those on both sides of the various issues are in themselves, good and spiritual people. Many of these wonderful people would be invited to share the fellowship of almost any congregation and enjoy the company of other good people. As a result, I have come to believe we need to redefine that which we seek in leadership. What is our goal for theses leaders? What are God’s purposes for them?
We would all be ecstatic if, at some august gathering, it was revealed by the dramatic arrival of a personage, that we were to benefit by having a prophet, a first presidency, a bevy of apostles and a fully filled-out spiritual hierarchy with the assurances of God Almighty that they were indeed His choice to continue the work. If that were to happen, I would throw my backing of these men my full throated voice and vigorous support. It could happen. I have a firm belief that God can do anything He wishes and that it would be to my benefit to enjoy the fruits of His decisions. Barring that, I must take my lessons from Christ, who managed to handle some everyday problems with miraculous application. At the wedding feast he was the welcome guest who did not allow the party to be dampened by the lack of wine. On the shores of Galilee, He was the gracious host who provided the sustenance to the multitude from the loaves and fishes. The Son of God was more than willing to rise to the occasion and handle the mundane chores of life. Neither of these examples involved great spiritual enlightenment. They involved service to people whom He loved. Should we do less? I am sure the people in the examples were greatly enhanced by His actions. Some may even have seen the spiritual aspects.
We have every day activities which need to be accomplished by our greater church body which would enhance many avenues of the ministry being offered. The nuts and bolts of administration and the coordination of ministry are needed, after consultation with the Lord, to further the faith. Much of this is now accomplished by many devoted people in the CRE. Much of it is not. If you can easily answer the following questions, you may tell me that I am barking up the wrong tree and ignorant of the workings of the church:
l. How many baptisms occurred in 2006? 2005?
2. How do we reach every priesthood member in the Las Vegas Branch? How many members are there? Grain Valley? Holden? Etc.
3. What are the financial responsibilities of the branches to the central church?
4. How many members filed a tithing statement in 2006? 2005?
5. What steps are we, as a body, taking to formulate a Sunday School curriculum? Is it based on Restoration Gospel or boilerplate from a publisher?
You get the idea. This is information which should be available to each and every member, completely and correctly upon legitimate inquiry. These are largely temporal matters and yes they benefit in their implementation from consultation with God as do all matters in the lives of the Saints, but they are still temporal. Could we benefit from having an organizational structure in place? Could we benefit from having a CEO/president/director? Could we benefit from having a strong corporate face with leadership and resources?
The importance of organization is stressed by the Lord many places throughout scripture. It starts with the admonition: . . . for where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matt. 18:20) Does it then follow that if we are duly organized, He will then gather with us and the furtherance of the Kingdom will be at hand? It appears that the loftier offices, being spiritual in nature, are the province of the Lord. Those men who actually aspire to these offices probably lack the humility to function properly within them. We have a demonstrable history within the church to back this up. The age-old saw about getting the cart before the horse may indeed, be appropriate here.
One of the great current occupations of the membership and the priesthood of late is isolating the problems of our beleaguered group. There is no question that we have problems, but all too often they are misidentified. We often suffer from category error in our attempt to give definition to that which we seek, and the actual will of God. Our thwarted goals are also amplified by the inherent qualities of those who seek to give a name to the problems. Many of those on both sides of the various issues are in themselves, good and spiritual people. Many of these wonderful people would be invited to share the fellowship of almost any congregation and enjoy the company of other good people. As a result, I have come to believe we need to redefine that which we seek in leadership. What is our goal for theses leaders? What are God’s purposes for them?
We would all be ecstatic if, at some august gathering, it was revealed by the dramatic arrival of a personage, that we were to benefit by having a prophet, a first presidency, a bevy of apostles and a fully filled-out spiritual hierarchy with the assurances of God Almighty that they were indeed His choice to continue the work. If that were to happen, I would throw my backing of these men my full throated voice and vigorous support. It could happen. I have a firm belief that God can do anything He wishes and that it would be to my benefit to enjoy the fruits of His decisions. Barring that, I must take my lessons from Christ, who managed to handle some everyday problems with miraculous application. At the wedding feast he was the welcome guest who did not allow the party to be dampened by the lack of wine. On the shores of Galilee, He was the gracious host who provided the sustenance to the multitude from the loaves and fishes. The Son of God was more than willing to rise to the occasion and handle the mundane chores of life. Neither of these examples involved great spiritual enlightenment. They involved service to people whom He loved. Should we do less? I am sure the people in the examples were greatly enhanced by His actions. Some may even have seen the spiritual aspects.
We have every day activities which need to be accomplished by our greater church body which would enhance many avenues of the ministry being offered. The nuts and bolts of administration and the coordination of ministry are needed, after consultation with the Lord, to further the faith. Much of this is now accomplished by many devoted people in the CRE. Much of it is not. If you can easily answer the following questions, you may tell me that I am barking up the wrong tree and ignorant of the workings of the church:
l. How many baptisms occurred in 2006? 2005?
2. How do we reach every priesthood member in the Las Vegas Branch? How many members are there? Grain Valley? Holden? Etc.
3. What are the financial responsibilities of the branches to the central church?
4. How many members filed a tithing statement in 2006? 2005?
5. What steps are we, as a body, taking to formulate a Sunday School curriculum? Is it based on Restoration Gospel or boilerplate from a publisher?
You get the idea. This is information which should be available to each and every member, completely and correctly upon legitimate inquiry. These are largely temporal matters and yes they benefit in their implementation from consultation with God as do all matters in the lives of the Saints, but they are still temporal. Could we benefit from having an organizational structure in place? Could we benefit from having a CEO/president/director? Could we benefit from having a strong corporate face with leadership and resources?
The importance of organization is stressed by the Lord many places throughout scripture. It starts with the admonition: . . . for where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matt. 18:20) Does it then follow that if we are duly organized, He will then gather with us and the furtherance of the Kingdom will be at hand? It appears that the loftier offices, being spiritual in nature, are the province of the Lord. Those men who actually aspire to these offices probably lack the humility to function properly within them. We have a demonstrable history within the church to back this up. The age-old saw about getting the cart before the horse may indeed, be appropriate here.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
It Must Be Said
In order to prevent my head from exploding I have decided to start a blog in which I can air all my "stuff" and invite you to share in the airing. This blog is not intended to tread on any toes—well, not too hard—nor is it an invitation to say ugly things about people, places or things. Briefly, I am an adult convert. About four years ago I was baptized in a hot tub in Las Vegas, Nevada, into the Restored Church of Jesus Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints prior to the apostasy and subsequent split in 1984.) Since then I have been watching with some degree of alarm the changes which are taking place within the church, and have reached the conclusion that there needs to be a heightened awareness among the branches in these latter days regarding just who we are, where we are going, and who comprises the heirarchy. Rather than post questions on various discussion boards and risk stirring the pot, as it were, I'm going to post my questions and comments here on my very own blog, and I encourage you to share with me any comments, testimonies, and further questions you have.
Question #1: What is the name of our church?
Question #2: Who and what is the JCRB?
Question #3: What is a "faction" and who determines upon whom this label is placed?
Question #4: The dreaded "if the JCRB takes the RLDS name . . ." where does that leave those of us who have chosen not the join up with them? Possible answer: refer to question #3
Just a few things to chew on. My one request is that anyone who chooses to respond to this blog do so lovingly and prayerfully, remembering that we are all creations of our Heavenly Father.
Question #1: What is the name of our church?
Question #2: Who and what is the JCRB?
Question #3: What is a "faction" and who determines upon whom this label is placed?
Question #4: The dreaded "if the JCRB takes the RLDS name . . ." where does that leave those of us who have chosen not the join up with them? Possible answer: refer to question #3
Just a few things to chew on. My one request is that anyone who chooses to respond to this blog do so lovingly and prayerfully, remembering that we are all creations of our Heavenly Father.
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