Sunday, April 03, 2011

Temples of God

In the Holy Bible is this prophesy in Malachi 4:5-6:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful dy of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who lives in The Bible Belt, I am often ridiculed for my beliefs. I am the first to admit that many of them just seem kind of "out there". A boy prophet. Gold plates. The practice of polygamy (which I will be the first to admit that I don't understand or like) and I am totally relieve that we aren't called upon to practice in this dispensation. I can assure you that if I didn't know that God himself had given me an answer as to the truthfulness of my church, I would be the loudest opposer. If I didn't know with all my heart that I belong to the true church of Jesus Christ, I would search for it my whole life over because I love my Savior Jesus Christ with all my heart.

Often times though, I am reminded how fortunate I am to belong to a church that has all the pieces of the puzzle. One of those huge pieces is: A sealing power that binds families for eternity.  Go here to see my belief about this prophesy in Malachi.

I have to admit that when I see someone lose a family member to death, I want to forcefully proclaim that there is a way for them to still be with their loved one forever. I also want to give this most precious gift to my non-Mormon friends who have not been privileged with the blessing of the sealing power, yet. Really, what greater gift can God give us than for our families to be together forever? This talk by a female leader in my church was so powerful to me in explaining the true doctrine of the family.

One of the greatest blessings that I enjoy in this life is the certainty that my family has been bound together by God. When LG and I were married, we were sealed in a temple of God, but God's power. Of course God's realm is not just 'til death do us part, but is for time and all eternity. And because LG and I were sealed in the temple of God, our children were born "under the covenant" which means that they are sealed to us forever also. And because our parents were sealed, we are likewise sealed to them. And guess what...this work goes on for the dead and it goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. Thus, "the hearts of the children".We can all be together forever. The only thing that could steal this promise away is our own unfaithfulness.

Go ahead and call it all jibberish if you want, but I know it to be true. There is no place in this whole wide world like the temple of God. Only the temple of God has given me a glimpse of what it will be like for eternity. And it is too good for me to even behold.

If you happen to be one of my few readers who are not Mormon and are genuinely interested in these temples of God, I just want to tell you that once in a while, you can go inside. The temple in Atlanta GA has been rennovated and before it is rededicated to God's work, the general public is allowed to tour. Go here for details.

I thank God daily for the blessings of the temple where I learn about my Savior Jesus Christ and where I also have been the blessed recipient of eternal endowments and blessings. These blessings are available for all and I wish that more people could get past the "out there" stuff and realize that God is a God of miracles and his ways are not our ways.

Oh and for you non-Mormons who may visit us in Utah. Know that when you come out to Utah to see us, we will not only take you to the greatest snow on earth or the marvelous beauty of the Rocky Mountains or red rocks, but we will take you to the Salt Lake Temple. It's gorgeous, it's where we were married and it took the Mormon Pioneers 40 years to build. It's an incredible place. I like to think that there are still many people on earth today that would give that kind of sacrifice for their God.



3 comments:

Nicole said...

Im so happy that you are close to whats so important to you. There is no better feeling then being with those that support and share in your beliefs. I know that you very much believe that we as believers share the same Jesus and so do I. The Jesus we believe in is bigger than our make believe denominations and our rules. He surpasses our self imposed laws. I know also that you value honesty which is why I must say this. It breaks my heart to know that you were judged, but to be fair so are we. What I mean by this is we are also judged by mormons. I have had mormon missionaries try to convince me that their was something missing from my faith. Something better and bigger than what Jesus did on the cross. To be honest even this post is being judgemental, because to believe that you and your faith somehow have the secret to everlasting marriage is in effect saying we are missing something. However my faith and the bible tells me that I will be with those who are saved for eternity and personally I believe there will be more in heaven than just the ones we labeled as "saved". I know in the deepest parts of myself that I will be part of the family of believers where my friends will be just important as my family. Our family will be the family of God and I will love you like my own child and my own husband, but thankfully I will also be with my own family as well. I will be with them because Christ sealed us with his blood. We will spend eternity in heaven. Please understand that I am not denying the power of your practices, but what I am saying is be careful to judge yourself accurately. We (bible belt Christians) judge you no worse than the Mormon faith judges us and I know this from personal experience and a lot of your post. Sadly it is a symptom of religion.. we all think we have it figured out. More sadly than that is we dont.I pray this is not taken the wrong way, but my heart aches thinking that you would believe Jesus is limited to ceremonies. His work on the cross was enough. Personally I didnt say til death do us part because I dont think death is the end, but I do believe that heaven will be bigger than families and friends. It will be everlasting joy. It will be eternity spent in the prescence of God. It will be my family, your family, all of us worshipping our creator forever. What a wonderful day that will be!! Love you sister from the bottom of my heart.

Tonya C. said...

Thank you, Nicole, for your well-reasoned and kind response to this post. I agree with you. Religion is a man-made structure that actually separates instead of unites humanity. As much as I like Alice (who is a complete stranger) and her blog, I also want to believe in a God of love and not divisions. I don't believe his judgments are as harsh as the ones we humans place on each other. I don't feel that I am missing anything by not belonging to any certain religion. If there is a God and a Judgment Day I will happily stand before him and explain the manner in which I lived my life.

Thanks again to both of you for this thought-provoking conversation! <3

Nicole said...

Im so happy that you are close to whats so important to you. There is no better feeling then being with those that support and share in your beliefs. I know that you very much believe that we as believers share the same Jesus and so do I. The Jesus we believe in is bigger than our make believe denominations and our rules. He surpasses our self imposed laws. I know also that you value honesty which is why I must say this. It breaks my heart to know that you were judged, but to be fair so are we. What I mean by this is we are also judged by mormons. I have had mormon missionaries try to convince me that their was something missing from my faith. Something better and bigger than what Jesus did on the cross. To be honest even this post is being judgemental, because to believe that you and your faith somehow have the secret to everlasting marriage is in effect saying we are missing something. However my faith and the bible tells me that I will be with those who are saved for eternity and personally I believe there will be more in heaven than just the ones we labeled as "saved". I know in the deepest parts of myself that I will be part of the family of believers where my friends will be just important as my family. Our family will be the family of God and I will love you like my own child and my own husband, but thankfully I will also be with my own family as well. I will be with them because Christ sealed us with his blood. We will spend eternity in heaven. Please understand that I am not denying the power of your practices, but what I am saying is be careful to judge yourself accurately. We (bible belt Christians) judge you no worse than the Mormon faith judges us and I know this from personal experience and a lot of your post. Sadly it is a symptom of religion.. we all think we have it figured out. More sadly than that is we dont.I pray this is not taken the wrong way, but my heart aches thinking that you would believe Jesus is limited to ceremonies. His work on the cross was enough. Personally I didnt say til death do us part because I dont think death is the end, but I do believe that heaven will be bigger than families and friends. It will be everlasting joy. It will be eternity spent in the prescence of God. It will be my family, your family, all of us worshipping our creator forever. What a wonderful day that will be!! Love you sister from the bottom of my heart.