I was recently invited to attend a book review as the authors presented a new book, “Whom Say Ye That I Am? Lessons from the Jesus of Nazareth” (published by Greg Kofford Books). The authors are LDS church members. Historically the LDS church has taught that Jesus of Nazareth and the devil, Lucifer, are half-brothers in the spirit world. They believe that God the Father is a polygamist, that we have a “Mother in Heaven” who gave birth to all the spirits of those born on the earth. Jesus is their firstborn. Lucifer challenged Jesus in his bid to be “savior” of our world and lost. When Jesus was chosen, it angered Lucifer, he rebelled and became the devil. Myths to be sure, but solid Mormon doctrine!
I’m giving you this background to show why I was interested in this book review. I was curious if they would address that belief in their book about Jesus. Well, they didn’t!! They discussed the historical Jesus, they spent time in Israel, they read and re-read the Gospels in several different bible translations. They wanted to meet the historical Jesus they said. As we listened to the story of their research in writing the book, we discovered that, even though they think they found the historical Jesus of Nazareth, we had to conclude that they didn’t. It was only another mythical Jesus they came up with. We say this, because after the review, there was a Q&A time where someone asked, “Jesus taught that there are no marriages in heaven, Mormons believe in eternal marriage and families, how did they deal with that issue?” Good question. And this is where the truth of their research surfaced. They admitted they couldn’t reconcile Jesus’ words with Mormon doctrine, so they studied ‘outside of the gospels’, they found other literature, other gospels from ‘other Christian groups’ and decided that Jesus probably really didn’t mean what He said, that He was only answering according to the single example that was given. And said maybe the Bible was not translated correctly on this point. Troubling to be sure but typical of the spiritual blindness of the culture we work in. The truth is before them, but they disregard it and embrace only what their “itching ears want to hear.”
Most who are born and raised in Mormon polygamy groups go to their graves believing that their loyalty to their polygamy group has indebted God to them. They look forward to waking up in heaven and rewarded with the promotion to godhood. They believe that since the beginning—God was a polygamist who begat millions of spirit babies each with the potential of becoming a god in their own right through righteous living and polygamy. They need the truth!!
Colossians 1:13-14 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
God has rescued us, may He use us as POWER TOOLS to help rescue them. We are available to speak to your group about Mormon polygamy. Just call Doris at 801-649-3103
"I am listening to ALL of the programs I missed since you left TV.......I can turn it on and listen while I am doing other things on the computer. I am listening this morning about Brigham Young. I know the LDS church is a huge cult and I was sucked in after a car accident. The doctor that operated on me also baptized me. The interesting thing is he divorced his wife and married his office lady.......He has not only left the LDS church but now on Facebook does not believe in God. How sad is that... I want to thank you so very much for your show. Today I received a letter from LDS Church telling me my name has been removed from church records. I am so happy and relieved. I never would of had the nerve to end my membership. P.
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"I just wanted to say I love your show. I’m a Catholic & have learned so much about Christianity in your shows. Your show has got me reading the gospels daily & I thank God that I found your program. May God bless you."
It looks like Utah investigated the misuse of food stamps by the Kingston polygamy group, and found that there had been no fraud involved. In 2016 the FBI conducted a raid where they confiscated records and computers for their investigation. The IRS was also involved in the raid, no statement from the IRS has yet been made. Former members of the Kingston group have said that they keep a double set of books for protection in the event they are investigated. Their scheme seems to have worked.
About the recent SNAP fraud by the FLDS, the director of eligibility at Utah’s division of the Department of Workforce Services, has said that further investigation will determine if the polygamy group will have to pay back the fraudulent benefits they received or perhaps be suspended from receiving future benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) program. The director is quoted as saying, “If we can determine that there was indeed trafficking, then the next step would be whether we can establish a dollar amount that was missed.” Eleven members were charged in 2016 by Federal prosecutors with food stamp fraud and money laundering to the tune of $11 million. FLDS leader, Lyle Jeffs escaped while awaiting trial and was on the run for almost a year. He was then sentenced to almost five years in prison for leading the multi-million-dollar scheme which involved transferring benefits to a communal warehouse and several FLDS front companies. The recipients of the food stamps would turn them in to their leaders as part of their “Law of Consecration” doctrine. The families would go hungry, while the leaders would purchase big ticket items with the laundered money, and themselves would feast on steak and lobster and other high cost foods. ~ Welcome to Utah Polygamy! ~
In this space are stories of some of the people and families that A Shield and Refuge Ministry have helped escape from polygamy. Real names places and dates are changed to keep the privacy, confidentiality and safety of those we’ve helped.
A few years ago our ministry was donated some billboard space which included several billboards strategically placed from the Northern Utah border to the Southern border. As a result we were able to help several people escape from polygamy groups.
One 17 year old girl called our toll free number asking for help to get away from her abusive father. We nicknamed her Hazel, she told the story of being in a family where both parents were abusive. She didn’t see her father very often and when she did, theirs was more a disciplinarian than a loving parent/child relationship. In fact her father was physically abusive to all the children. He was a high official in one of the prominent polygamy groups. Her mother was one of many plural wives with 14 children.
As we spoke on the telephone I discovered that Hazel was not yet 18 years old, so the only way we could help her if she came to us as an escapee, was if the parents were notified and gave legal permission for us, or anyone else, to help their daughter. We knew this was highly unlikely to happen.
So Hazel ran away from her parents home, she didn’t tell anyone where she was—not even us. She was about nine months away from her eighteenth birthday, but that made no difference, she was still a minor and could never legally get help from sources outside the polygamy group.
When someone contacts us asking for help, we always arrange a private meeting, in a public setting, for safety reasons. We meet each other and discuss the details of the situation they are coming from and how best we can help them. I wanted to at least meet her and get acquainted, but her parents were keeping a close eye on her and were having her watched by others as well, so we were not be able to meet with her undetected. Finally, after she had run away, she contacted an attorney, and asked for help in getting emancipation.
I was able to go to the court proceedings in her petition for emancipation. It was so sad to see her all alone, with no family support, no mother, no father, no siblings, no lifelong friends were there to show they loved and cared for her or even to offer a defense against her plea for emancipation. They had completely abandoned her.
The court granted it to her and she was freed forever from the bondage of her abusive father and from the fear of being a future polygamist wife.
The following are some unbelievable quotes made by early and present-day leaders of the Mormon religion concerning polygamy or, as it is also called, Celestial Marriage.
Answering an objection on the part of the Masonic orders against the Patriarchal order of Marriage, Brigham Young stated:
There is another class of individuals to whom I will briefly refer. Shall we call them Christians? They were Christians originally. We cannot be admitted into their social societies, into their places of gathering ... because they are afraid of polygamy. I will give you their title that you may know whom I am talking about--I refer to the Freemasons. They have refused our brethren membership in their lodge, because they are polygamists. Who was the founder of Freemasonry? They can go back as far as Solomon, and there they stop. There is the king who established this high and holy order. Now was he a
polygamist, or was he not? If he did believe in monogamy he did not practice it a great deal, for he had seven hundred wives, and that is more than I have; and he had three hundred concubines, of which I have none that I know of. Yet the whole fraternity throughout Christendom will cry out against this order. "Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear."
What is the matter? "I am in pain", they all cry out, "I am suffering at witnessing the wickedness there is in the land." Here is ONE of the "relics of barbarism." YES, ONE OF THE RELICS OF ADAM, OF ENOCH, OF NOAH, OF ABRAHAM, OF ISAAC, OF JACOB, OF MOSES, DAVID, SOLOMON, THE PROPHETS, AND JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES.
- Brigham Young, Feby. 10, 1867; Deseret News
NOTE: Such heresy spoken by the LDS president! It needs to be pointed out that he names Adam, Enoch, Noah, Isaac, Moses and “the prophets” as polygamists as well as Jesus and HIS apostles. None of those men were polygamists.
We are always interested in what our readers and supporters find interesting regarding the topic of polygamy.
If you have a particular question, or would like information on a news event or topic relating to polygamy, or have a concern, we invite you to send your request to us via email: doris@shieldandrefuge.org We also like to receive suggestions for topics to cover on our weekly internet and Roku broadcasts. Feel free to let us know what’s on your mind.
Also, if you know anyone who is in polygamy who has questions or may want to escape, they can contact us at: Toll free: 1-877-425-9993
As we spring into the lovely season of renewal, let us remember the following promise from God:
Genesis 8:22 "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." - NIV |
