Posted on 03/17/2010 2:50:32 PM PDT by reaganaut
I write today for my son and other young men about what an extraordinary privilege it is to be an Aaronic Priesthood holder. You have been ordained and given POWER, by someone with authority from God, to act in God’s name on the earth today.
You know all about superheroes. It’s fun to watch movies and see the powers superheroes like Spiderman, Batman and Superman have. But that’s just the movies and not real.
However, from the moment you are ordained a deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood, you are given more power than all the superheroes in the world combined -- and it is REAL power. It’s a special power, of course, and it can only be used if you are living the commandments.
It’s also a power that lets you help others, but you can’t use it for selfish reasons: to get things or do things that Heavenly Father doesn’t want done. However, when you use your priesthood power righteously, wonderful things will happen and you will see miracles, from simple to awe-inspiring, in your life.
What does it mean to be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood? First, it means God has enormous confidence in you. Imagine a powerful king who rules over millions of people telling you he trusts you so much that he is going to give you his signet ring.
When you have his ring you have the authority and power to do things in the king’s name. That king would have to love you very much and he would have to have enormous faith that you will make good decisions and do what is right.
But this is not a make believe situation; it’s real. Priesthood is the greatest power in the universe and our Heavenly king, God, will trust you with his power throughout your life as long as you remain worthy. He expects you to be sober, to keep the commandments, share the gospel and use priesthood power to help and serve others.
Second, more than the fact that you have power, being an Aaronic Priesthood holder means that you have duties and responsibilities given you. God requires you to do certain things and you will answer to him somedayabout how well you did what he asked you to do.
You can still have fun and enjoy life, but he wants you to be serious in representing him, honoring the priesthood and setting a righteous example for others.
A good way to understand what it means when you are ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood is to consider some of the responsibilities and blessings that come to you as a deacon, a teacher and a priest. All young men ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood hold the keys of the ministering of angels.
This is a literal promise and at times angels with attend and watch over you although you will not necessarily see them.
As a deacon you are to pass the sacrament, watch over the church, bear testimony of Christ, warn, expound, exhort and invite all members to come unto Christ. To do this you will need to keep the commandments, and carefully study the scriptures and the teachings of today’s prophets and apostles.
You are charged with helping the bishop by gathering fast offerings, caring for those in need, fellowshipping quorum brethren, and strengthening and uplifting the members.
When you become a teacher, under the direction of your priesthood leaders, you are to prepare the sacrament and are charged with speaking well of others and strengthening members by encouraging them to live the commandments.
You too warn, expound, exhort, teach and invite all to come unto Christ by home teaching, speaking in church, being an example of righteousness and integrity, and speaking kindly about others.
A priest adds to these duties baptizing and administering the sacrament. He is commissioned to visit members in their homes and to urge them to pray and attend to their family duties.
Isn’t it amazing how much the Lord trusts the young men in the church and how much he depends on them?
When Wilford Woodruff went on his first mission, he "went out as a priest, and my companion as an elder, and we traveled thousands of miles, and had many things manifested to us.
"I desire to impress upon you the fact that it does not make any difference whether a man is a priest or an apostle, if he magnifies his calling. A priest holds the key of the ministering of angels. Never in my life, as an apostle, as a seventy, or as an elder, have I ever had more of the protection of the Lord than while holding the office as a priest.
"The Lord revealed to me by visions, by revelations, and by the Holy Spirit, many things that lay before me.”
What a wonderful honor it is to hold the Aaronic Priesthood and how important it is to do everything in your power to always be worthy of this great privilege given you by God.
We remember the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - what He did for us. We remember his body that was broken for us and His blood that was shed for us.
But since the LDS believe that the atoning for sin occured in the Garden of Gesthemane when Jesus supposedly LITERALLY sweated blood, why talk about his broken body?
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Good catch...
During a pre-calc midterm, I prayed that my answer to working a quadratic equation was true, but the professor must have been an apostate!
- - - - - - -
ROFL. I tried a different mormon excuse on my (LDS) Hebrew prof at BYU. I mistranslated something and when he questioned me on it I told him “translate doesn’t mean translate”.
He didn’t buy it. LOL.
Oh,wait, I get it. Water = sweat
Sacrament prayer over the bread:
“O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen”
Please stop saying that I don’t know what I believe. And stop saying evil things about my Savior, that He is not my Savior, but rather is your Savior. It is both insulting to me and to my beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.
Yeah; that HUMBLE part gets me kinda choked up too!
But since NONE of the LDS Temple Rituals can be FOUND in this new, GOD given Scrpture; one can ONLY surmise that they came from Man.
Or SATAN perhaps?
You either dont know what you believe...
or you dont care...
Roof ???
When ???
Where ???
Your ignorance knows no bounds.
In conclusion let us summarize this grand key, these “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet”, for our salvation depends on them.
1. The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything.
2. The living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works.
3. The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet.
4. The prophet will never lead the church astray.
5. The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time.
6. The prophet does not have to say “Thus Saith the Lord,” to give us scripture.
7. The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know.
8. The prophet is not limited by men’s reasoning.
9. The prophet can receive revelation on any matter, temporal or spiritual.
10. The prophet may advise on civic matters.
11. The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich.
12. The prophet will not necessarily be popular with the world or the worldly.
13. The prophet and his counselors make up the First Presidency—the highest quorum in the Church.
14. The prophet and the presidency—the living prophet and the First Presidency—follow them and be blessed—reject them and suffer.
I testify that these fourteen fundamentals in following the living prophet are true. If we want to know how well we stand with the Lord then let us ask ourselves how well we stand with His mortal captain—how close do our lives harmonize with the Lord’s anointed—the living Prophet—President of the Church, and with the Quorum of the First Presidency.
Ezra Taft Benson
(Address given Tuesday, February 26, 1980 at Brigham Young University)
--MormonDude(I trust COMPLETELY anything our Leaders say!)
I just think it’s odd how much time you spend going after Mormons. Don’t you have something better to do with your time? (We are a peculiar people, I’ll give you that.)
Saundra, what does it mean to “take upon them the name of thy Son?”
STOP IT!
YOU’VE TURNED blue!
They used to claim that at LDS baptism the new member was given a ‘spiritual blood transfusion’ that made them a descendant of Aaron.
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Really ???
How ignorant of the Bible the mormons are...
Too bad it is unbiblical. Were the words that Jesus spoke not good enough?
Because Saundra, the God of the Christians has told us to do so.
In fact, this one particular passage from Jude chapter 1 sems tailor-made for the Mormons:
3Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Saundra, what does it mean to “take upon them the name of thy Son?”
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CRICKETS
She doesnt know...
Just cut and paste for the ignorant FAIR and FARMS and LDS .org
Saundra cant even find the roof top...
Ya know the converts have to do this to prove their “worthiness”
Saundra and the other mormons in these threads werent born into the mormon corporation...
so they get the dirty jobs...
going up against the REAL Christians...
The mormon god has grandchildren...
Wait, give her a chance. C'mon Saundra, I'll wait...
I just think it’s odd how much time you spend going after Mormons. Don’t you have something better to do with your time?
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Hmmmmmmmmm Saundra...
Youre the one who hangs out in these threads...
Don’t you have something better to do with your time?
Like read the Bible for yourself ???
Learn of the REAL Jesus of the Christian bible ???
Repent and be saved ???
Your ignorance knows no bounds.
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Watch it...
mormons worship ignorance...
You might be accused of worshipping Reaganaut...
after all Joey Smith is worshipped for his ignorance not his intelligence...
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