I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come, Follow Me for Doctrine and Covenants 20-22. If you missed last week’s insight, Doctrine and Covenants 18-19 click here for it. Please share this with your friends or use this picture to save this pin to read later.
The Consistency of God.
“Proving to the world that the holy scriptures are true, and that God does inspire men and call them to his holy work in this age and generation, as well as in generations of old;
Thereby showing that he is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.”
Doctrine and Covenants 20:11-12
In the first 15 verses of Doctrine and Covenants 20 Jesus Christ declares the role of the Book of Mormon in the restoration. Namely, that it proves the restoration has real and authentic. The Book of Mormon proves that God is consistent and speaks to us in our day and age as a sign of His love. It proves that God is, not was; and that He speaketh not spake.
We accept the Testimonies of the Bible, Book of Mormon, D&C and the Pearl of great price. God always speaks and we should always accept His words! Just like the saints in the days of the Apostles accepted a New Testament even though they had an Old Testament.
The Bible teaches us that the words of God to Noah were not enough for the people of Moses, nor the words of God to Moses enough for the people of David, nor David for Christ. And the Gospels were not enough for the people in the days of the Apostles. So why would that change?
The truth of the matter is, whenever there is an authorized servant of God in the land he delivers truth from God to the people. This is how scripture is written! “whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture” Doctrine and Covenants 68:4
We seek God and follow Living Prophets, our highest source of epistemology is the Spirit of truth which delivers truth from God Himself! We turn to the Law Giver and His Spirit to guide us in these latter days. The Apostles and Prophets in our day work just like in the days of old, they teach and preach what they are given by the Holy Ghost (Who is the messenger of Christ) and in turn we seek a divine individual confirmation and then we have the mouth of two witnesses and we can know our epistemology accurate.
I am thankful that God consistent and is willing to send the Holy Ghost to testify of truth to us, of truth TODAY. That we need not only rely upon the word to Moses, Noah, and David, but we have the word of God to US in OUR Day. Because He loves us the same as Noah, Moses, and David!
Elder Theodore M. Burton.
Ministering vs Home Teaching vs Ward Visits.
“Visit the house of each member, and exhort them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties.”
Doctrine and Covenants 20:47
In April 2018 General Conference President Nelson announced that the brethren have “made the decision to retire home teaching and visiting teaching as we have known them. Instead, we will implement a newer, holier approach to caring and ministering to others. We will refer to these efforts simply as ‘ministering.’” When we were called to live this ‘holier approach’ most members took it as permission to not actually ever visit their families, after all, we were no longer reporting if we did our visits… But for me, I actually took it as simply an attempt at rebranding home teaching and trying to get us to actually do it; because as a Church, we never have truly done home teaching. Let me explain:
In 1963 home teaching was introduced to the Church. Prior to home teaching, we had ward teaching. Were every ward teacher would visit the home of every member every month (sounds just like how we were doing home teaching right?). When home teaching was introduced the brethren explained that its goal was to help us watch over the Church. In the Oct 1972 General Conference Elder James A. Cullimore explained the difference between home teaching and ward teaching:
This [Home Teaching] differs from ward teaching in that greater emphasis is placed on watching over the family, rather than just making a monthly visit. Instructions have been given that the duty of the home teacher is to keep in touch with the families, to watch over them, to contact them in whatever manner necessary, in order to watch over them. We are told that home teaching is not just the one visit a month, but that home teaching is never done. We are to have concern for these families every day as long as they are assigned to us. The one visit a month to a family is important, but it is only one means of contact as we watch over our families…
After nine years of home teaching, however, I am afraid we are really still doing mostly ward teaching. We are still prodding the priesthood home teachers to “hurry and get your home teaching done—the month is nearly over.” Even now the home teacher is heard to say, “If I really had a message to take to my families, I could do my teaching.”
These things indicate we really don’t have the vision of “watching over the Church.” We might have a great record of percentage of homes visited each month, but the real test is: Are we affecting the lives of the individual members of the family for good through our contacts?
Home Teachers—Watchmen over the Church (Italics and bold added)
I don’t believe we ever caught the vision of home teaching. I think we, up until President Nelson discontinued home teaching, the Church as a whole was still just doing ward teaching. Honestly, if you re-read the first paragraph of that quote and substitute ministering for home teaching, it could have been delivered in general conference when they announced ministering.
“[Ministering] differs from [home] teaching in that greater emphasis is placed on watching over the family, rather than just making a monthly visit. Instructions have been given that the duty of the [ministering brothers/sisters] is to keep in touch with the families, to watch over them, to contact them in whatever manner necessary, in order to watch over them. We are told that [ministering] is not just the one visit a month, but that [ministering] is never done. We are to have concern for these families every day as long as they are assigned to us. The one visit a month to a family is important, but it is only one means of contact as we watch over our families.”
Harold B. Lee hinted that Home Teaching might need to be rebranded (maybe as Ministering?) so that the members understood its role, he taught, “Maybe the home teacher should be charged more clearly to describe his mission to watch over and to strengthen to see that members do their duty. … They think themselves as teachers of the Gospel message only. Maybe we ought to be calling them home guardians or sentinels and to report their stewardship to the fathers of the ward. We must do something to change the emphasis from teaching to guardians, ‘watching over the church kind of concept.’ Until we get that into our minds, we are not going to do the kind of home teaching that is going to get results.”
The Prophet Joseph.
“Behold, there shall be a record kept among you; and in it thou shalt be called a seer, a translator, a prophet, an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the church through the will of God the Father, and the grace of your Lord Jesus Christ,”
Doctrine and Covenants 21:1
Gaining a personal testimony of the divinity of Joseph Smith’s call as a Prophet of God is vital to gaining a testimony of the Restoration, for without the Prophet there is no chance that the Church is true, but if Joseph was called of God then there really was an apostasy and restoration!
“The great question which all men in our day must answer—and that at the peril of their own salvation—is: Was Joseph Smith called of God?”
Bruce R. McConkie
I testify that Jesus Christ and God the Father really did appear to Joseph Smith. And that Joseph Smith was called of God to be the Prophet of the Restoration!
Baptism
“Wherefore, enter ye in at the gate, as I have commanded, and seek not to counsel your God. Amen.”
Doctrine and Covenants 22:4
It is not just Salvation that we as members of the church seek, for that is only entering into a kingdom of glory, we seek the Celestial Kingdom and that degree of glory requires covenants. Baptism is the covenant and the gate to enter into the Celestial Kingdom and the beautiful thing about the Gospel is this gate is open to all who are but willing to enter in.
Robert D. Hales.