| Dear Praying Friends,
December, cold weather and Christmas is upon us once again. We survived another election season and another year, along with many personal and family difficulties and victories. We praise God that we have had the privilege to assist many plural families discover that polygamy is not God’s way to eternal life. It takes a lot of courage for them to admit polygamy is not what they were taught it was and then act upon that knowledge. They are often shunned and rejected by family and friends, placing them in need of another support group. Christian churches can and should fill that need. It is our job.
1 Peter 3:15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.
God is our God of HOPE. Many who leave polygamy become hopeless and depressed as they transition. We need to be there for them with the encouragement and eternal hope that comes from Jesus Christ our Savior—born a baby in a barn, died on a cross with sinners, raised to life on day three—our Savior is God Almighty. Their savior is polygamy and a Jesus they believe is Satan’s spirit brother.
We have the only true hope to offer those who escape from false religions. Who knows if our time is short, if night time will soon be on us when no man can work? Praise God for every new day and new breath He gives us so that we can tell of His wonderful greatness to those who do not know Him.
We thank you for your support and prayers that enable us to continue to bring Biblical truths to polygamists.
MORMON POLYGAMY HISTORY
~ It all began with Joseph Smith ~
From the book, Mormon Portraits by Wilhelm Ritter von Wymetal 1838-1896, SLC: Tribune Printing & Pub
JOSEPH SMITH AND HIS PLATES.
“The truth about the golden plates, from which Joseph pretended to 'translate " the Book of Mormon, has been established since 1834, by E. D. Howe. I give the substance of the very curious affidavits, obtained by him from Smith's neighbors, in the Appendix to Part 1 of this book. There were never any plates of any kind. The book, a stupid historical novel, was written by Solomon Spaulding, stolen and "religiously " remodeled by Sidney Rigdon and published through Joseph Smith, whose wide-spread fame as "Peeper" and "Treasure-finder" enabled him admirably to assume the role of discoverer of golden plates.
Sidney Rigdon was a man of taste in the matter of choosing the right kind of a rascal to do his dirty jobs. But he failed in one respect; he thought he found a tool and he really found a master in Peeping Joe. “Now it will surely be interesting to the reader, that I can not only convict Joseph Smith out of his own mouth, giving his full confession of the original fraud, but I am also able to show that he contemplated an additional fraud with the "plates," and that, as usual, he thought to make a pile of money out of the second fraud, too. The witness in the case is Joseph's Nauvoo accomplice, Dr. John C. Bennett. Those who would refuse his testimony,' will not be able to contradict that of Mrs. Sarah Pratt.
Bennett says: "Shortly after I located in Nauvoo, Joe proposed to me to go to New York and get some plates engraved and bring them to him, so that he could exhibit them as the genuine plates of the Book of Mormon, which he pretended had been taken from him, and 'hid up’ by an angel, and which he would profess to have recovered. He calculated to make considerable money by this trick, as there would of course be a great anxiety to see the plates, which he intended to exhibit at twenty-five cents a sight. I mentioned this proposition to Mrs. Sarah M. Pratt, on the day the Prophet made it, and requested her to keep it in memory, as it might be of much importance. When asked by me in the spring of 1885 about this statement of John C. Bennett, Mrs. Pratt confirmed it fully and stated also that Bennett had reported to her this conversation with Joseph on the very day when it happened.”
Mormon Portraits, pgs 20-21
FROM OUR MAILBOX
“I always liked watching you on TV. Good shows like yours are not around much anymore! It has been difficult in so many ways moving back to SLC, but this is where I was born and lived until I was 31 years old. Thank you for all of the wonderful information you put forth!" --AN
“Mormonism gets around [all] this by believing the Bible is true only "as far as it's been correctly translated" i feel so bad for woman and children who suffer for their idea of what God
demands of them and are denied truth from their cradles." --BM
“Thank you for the update. Prayers for you and your ministry. From Saskatchwan, Canada." --MA
“Amen Ladies ...thanks for stepping up and speaking the truth." --BW
Responding to our presenting evidence Joseph Smith was a polygamist, a viewer responded: “How will the LDS white wash this and make it acceptable to the members? The church is so good at rewriting their history." --KS
ANSWER: True. Someone said that we just can’t trust the
Mormon church to be honest with their own history.
THANKS TO ALL OUR VIEWERS WHO SHARE THEIR COMMENTS.
SHELF ITEMS EXPLAINED:
Last time we listed some “shelf items”, questionable teachings in the Mormon-polygamy belief system. They are teachings that are not logical or are contradictory. Not knowing how to reconcile the questionable nature of these items, they put them on a proverbial shelf— their shelf eventually crashes when it gets too heavy with unanswered questions. Some of those topics will be explained from the Biblical standpoint.
1st Shelf Item: Who was the first God? How did He come to be God? Who designed the first God or first human?
God reveals Himself to humans in creation and within the pages of the Bible. We can know as much about God as He has revealed about Himself. If someone comes along and describes God differently than how God has revealed Himself, we must discount the intruders' claims. Many people throughout history have re-invented God, which is what Joseph Smith did.
To know the true God, we must read His revelation of Himself, not someone else's. God tells us Who He is - and that He has always been who He is:
Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
Isaiah 44:24 "I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,
God is Lord, King, Redeemer, the first God the last God the only God, the God who created heaven and earth all by Himself.
He isn't created, He has always been God. We are not gods in embryo as Mormonism teaches, we are His creation, and are at the mercy of our Creator.
God doesn’t reveal Himself one way to Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the 12 disciples, the Apostle Paul and then reveal Himself as someone completely different to Joseph Smith. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Who created the first human being? God did:
Genesis 1:27-28 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them.
Being made in God's image is not being made into God's nature. We read in the NT that His image is true righteousness and holiness - but that image was ruined when the humans He created obeyed the serpent and disobeyed Him.
God has revealed Himself as One and One God consists of The Father - The Son - and the Holy Spirit. The bible tells us the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God and that there is only ONE GOD. If several members of one family is understandable, why not 3 members of One God?
We’ve heard Mormons’ argument that the word Trinity is not in the Bible. The word isn't but the teaching is. Strangely, Eternal Marriage, Lucifer and Jesus being brothers, a mother in heaven, the pre-existence and many other Mormon doctrines aren't in the Bible - yet Mormonism believe and embrace those ideas.
More explanations of shelf items will be in our next Newsletter.
TERMINOLOGY DIFFERENCES:
HOLY GHOST
Mormonism: A spirit man. He can only be in one place at a time, according to Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie pg 359. The Holy Ghost is contrasted with the Spirit of God, which is the influence of the Godhead that fills the immensity of space which enables God to know what is going on. It is likened to electricity—Doctrine and Covenants 130:22-23. The HOLY SPIRIT is different than the Holy Ghost who is a god in the Mormon godhead.
Bible: The Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost are the same Person. He is a “HE” not an it. He is a Person not an ‘influence’. He is the 3rd Person of the Trinity. He has all the same attributes of God as described in the Bible.
THEY SAID THAT?
“The fall of Adam and Eve was no tragedy. It was a blessing in disguise, for without it none of us would have been born, since Adam and Eve, in their original state, were not able to have children, as the Book of Mormon explains” (Mark E. Petersen, Adam: Who Is He? p. 4).
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POLYGAMY IN THE NEWS:
“Pastor, author, and scholar, Vince Bantu, has been fired as a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, following allegations of polygamy that first surfaced five months ago. The announcement came after a group of whistleblower pastors sent the school a letter alleging Bantu had secretly married a second wife.. The pastors... claim Bantu engaged in polygamy to justify a history of infidelity. They also said Bantu argued a scriptural case for polygamy... Bantu, 42, denied the accusations and claimed the pastors lied out of jealousy… On its website, Fuller includes in its community standards that faculty must “abstain from what it holds to be unbiblical sexual practices.” This includes “explicit sexual conduct” outside of marriage. Additionally, faculty must agree that marriage is a “covenant union between one man and one woman.”
Fuller Seminary Fires Vince Bantu Following Accusations of Polygamy - BishopAccountability.org
Praises and Prayer Requests:
- We pray for all the families who are oppressed living in and serving polygamy groups. Praying God will set all the captives free.
- We pray for “A” who is struggling in her plural marriage, she needs to develop healthy mothering skills for her young children.
- Pray for the families to whom we provide Christmas. Pray they will accept the true gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ the LORD.
- We are helping TWO very needy ex-polygamous families for Christmas. If God lays it on your heart to help out please mark your contribution, “Christmas Families.”
NTERNET BROADCAST:
ALL of our programs (past and present) are available for viewing online directly from our website, (www.whatloveisthis.tv) or they may be viewed on your TV via a Roku device (If you have a Roku account, you can add Polygamy What Love Is This to your channel list at this link). Other Internet-to-television devices (Chromecast, many wi-fi-ready Blu-Ray players and gaming consoles) may also stream our programs directly to your TV from our YouTube or Vimeo channels.
Donor Options:
General Donations to A Shield and Refuge:
For other donation options, or to contribute to specific needs, visit: www.shieldandrefuge.org/support
If you would like to support A Shield and Refuge through automatic bank withdrawal, you can download the necessary form at the above link, print it out, fill it in, and either fax or mail it to us per the instructions on the sheet.
Checks can be made out to:
A Shield and Refuge Ministry
and mailed to:
PO Box 651292
Salt Lake City, UT 84165
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us!
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