All Things Witness

Thoughts on the mission and power of Jesus Christ

Author Archives: JeffC

Salt Lake temple


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The Holy Church of God

Have you ever read a passage of scripture – maybe even for the ‘umpteenth’ time – and had it hit you so profoundly that it’s caused you to re-evaluate something? Or maybe even re-evaluate everything? It’s caused a total shift in your paradigm of some principle, or even your foundation?

In my last post, I talked about the things we believe, but which are false, that prevent us from coming to know the truth (often called unbelief or traditions of the fathers in the scriptures). The truth must be our goal, because it’s the truth that sets us free. When we can truly let go of one or more of the false beliefs that we hold, the scriptures can open up to us in new ways, allowing us to have these profound experiences of life-altering understanding enlighten us. It is breathtakingly beautiful.

Now with that background, when I talk about the ‘Holy Church of God’, what do you think I’m referring to? Is it an organisation or institution? If so, which one?

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Our Iron Gates

Jesus told His disciples that in the latter days, many of even the very elect could be deceived (Matthew 24:24). That means that wherever you and I think we are in terms of being elect, we’re at risk of deception. Stop and think about that. Think about how important that is to you. Is it important to you that you avoid deception – I mean really important? What would you give up in order to ensure you had the truth?

Would it be nice to you to avoid deception or is it essential? Is your job more important than avoiding deception? Are family relationships more important than avoiding deception? Is staying comfortable in your traditions more important than avoiding deception? Is there anything you wouldn’t give away to God to avoid being deceived in these last days?

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Come Unto Christ

A few years ago, I was asked to speak in one of the sessions of our Stake Conference.1 As I was sitting on the stand before the meeting started I was watching the people as they entered the chapel and took their seats. It was then that I received what I believe was a very special gift from the Lord. For just a few minutes, I was given to see each of the people in the chapel as the Lord sees them (to some small degree only I’m sure). Many of them I didn’t know at all; others, I knew as acquaintances or even friends, but didn’t know of their personal struggles, their doubts, their particular trials.

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Woman lying in bed waking up


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Awakening

If you’re a believer in the Book of Mormon, then you’ve probably read the opening chapters of 1 Nephi seeing the young man Nephi as the example we are to follow. As we read the scriptures – any scriptures – we tend to put ourselves in the shoes of the ‘hero’. After all, we’re to pattern ourselves after the lives of righteous men and women of the past, right? Abraham and Sarah, Enoch, Noah, Deborah, Esther; in the Book of Mormon: Nephi, Alma and Helaman. Of course, Christ is our great exemplar, but many of these ancient prophets show us patterns to follow in our quest to become like Him.

While that is true, I believe there are also other characters and people we are supposed to consider ourselves as – not in terms off what we should be doing, but perhaps given by prophets as something of a ‘reality check’ of where we actually are in our lives. A few years ago as I began another read of the Book of Mormon, the realisation came to me that Laman and Lemuel serve exactly that purpose; and at the very beginning of 1 Nephi, the Jews at Jerusalem do, too.

Latter-day Saints like to talk about how wicked Laman and Lemuel were. We would never be like them, right? Except … maybe we are.

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Rebirth

Last year I returned home for first time in over 40 years. You see, home for me is Australia. It’s where I was born and raised for the first 12 years of my life. While I’m now well into my 50’s and sound like a proper pom, my heart has always remained down under.

That visit home was very special in so many ways, not least because I was able to spend loads of time with my older brother Tony and his very special family. He and I are like chalk and cheese. We really are polar opposites in almost every way – we don’t even look anything alike. In fact, a common question we were asked was, ‘Are you really brothers?’

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Greater Things

I’ve just finished reading 3 Nephi on my latest read-through of the Book of Mormon. I’m always amazed at how much more I gain from this magnificent book of scripture each time I read it, and marvel at how much more there must be to learn, if I could only have eyes to see.

Christ begins speaking to the people in the land from chapter 9 of 3 Nephi, then appears to them in chapter 11. The last words we have from Christ to the Nephites are in chapter 28, so it makes about 20 chapters in total containing the direct teachings of Jesus.

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For Our Day

‘I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents…’ (1 Nephi 1:1). Latter-day Saints will be familiar with these words and can probably quote much of the rest of this verse, having read it and heard it countless times over the years.

It’s not possible for me to put into words just how much I love the Book of Mormon, It was written specifically for our days and is so wonderfully complex, beautiful and applicable that I constantly marvel at it. 

Now, if you’re not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you might be a little wary of the Book of Mormon. You might think the ‘Mormons’, as we are usually known, are a little weird, maybe you worry that we’re a cult, or maybe you’ve heard some really troubling things about our history (or present). You might want to stay away from the Book of Mormon in order to keep your distance from the religion.

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Noah's ark on the waves


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Follow … who?

‘Follow the Prophet’. Since its inclusion in the Primary songbook in the 1990’s this has become a refrain heard repeatedly in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The song was commissioned by the Church, the writer asked to write something about Old Testament prophets that children would enjoy.

I recall with a smile on my face our many times singing this with our children when they were little, marching around our living room furniture, ‘Follow the prophet, he knows the way …’, and still find the lyrics curiously amusing that the people of Noah’s day didn’t listen to him because they were, ‘busy sinning’.

The question is, though: is the mantra true? What does it mean?

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In the Space of Not Many Years

In the last General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder David A Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a prophetic warning. He reminded us that the Book of Mormon was given specifically for the days in which we live, and that its prophets had seen our day. They therefore knew what would be of most value to us.

It was in this context in which Elder Bednar quoted from the book of Helaman, discussing the tremendous wickedness that came upon the Nephites, ‘… in the space of not many years.’ (Helaman 6:32) Interestingly, this phrase is repeated in the book of Helaman another two times (see Helaman 7:6, 11:26).

This pattern is repeated in 3 Nephi, when the Nephites had ‘continual peace’ across their nation in their 28th year (3 Nephi 6:9), only for their entire government to collapse within only two years. (See 3 Nephi 7:1-2). This happened shortly before the apocalyptic destructions that occurred among them prior to the resurrected Christ visiting them.

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Brigham Young


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When History Troubles Faith

This is a topic that has been on my mind for some time, but I’ve really struggled to find the right words. The purpose of this website is to build faith in Jesus Christ, but as soon as we start to talk about mortals – any mortals, no matter how ‘righteous’ they are or we think they should be, we are going to encounter problems. How can we then discuss anything potentially controversial without damaging the faith in Christ we wish to build?

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