Heeding the Voice of the Prophets

We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth. (Articles of Faith 6)
We believe all God has revealed, all He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. (Articles of Faith 9)

One very distinguishing characteristic of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that sets it apart from 'traditional' Christian churches, is it has modern day prophets and apostles. You can't find that anywhere else, and I have to say it was one of the biggest things that first attracted me to the Church.

The Church is lead by a prophet of God, whom we call the President of the Church. The current prophet is President Thomas S. Monson. We also have a structure of organization and church leadership similar to that of the Primitive Church Christ established here on the earth.

The 'job', or a 'job', of the prophets, apostles, and leaders of the Church is to give the world guidance and tell and help us to live good, prosperous, and Christlike lives. Now this seems to be a popular point of contention by those who have problems with the Church, "I don't need people to tell me how to live my life." Well, I agree none of us need guidance in our lives, but man it sure does help, and we're pretty lucky to have it.

Some look at our Church as being "controlling" and "restrictive", telling us what we can and can't do, or what we can or can't consume. But these rules, commandments, and other forms of guidance we have received in these latter-days, actually does the opposite of "restricts" us, it helps keep us free. It keeps us free from the crutches of addiction to many things (alcohol, drugs, tobacco, eating to excess, pornography, etc.). Freedom is integral part of the Plan of Salvation, without it we cannot practice agency (the ability to have and make free choice). We lose that freedom of choice when we allow outside forces to make decisions for us, addiction being one of them. I know some of you may argue that, "I use my 'agency' to choose to do these things." That may be true when you first start these things it is often because you want to, but there comes a decisive point when a dependency is developed and whether you realize it or not you allow these substances to dictate you, your time, and your finances. Before I was introduced to the Church I had my fair share of addictions. Like most I started these things because I wanted to, deep down I knew they were wrong but I did them "because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind". For example I started drinking once in awhile, maybe a Friday every 2 weeks. Then I wanted to do it more, so every Friday and Saturday. Again, wasn't enough so started doing it after school. Then I started actually doing in school, even in some classes; I would just fill up a water bottle with it and sip it during class. Now did I feel like I needed it? Not necessarily. I realized I craved it when I didn't have it, but I enjoyed it still, it was still pleasing, 'unto the carnal mind'. I realize now that there is a distinct difference from the 'happiness' things such as alcohol brought me and the true happiness I receive from friends, loved ones, and the Gospel. The happiness I received from those were temporary and fleeting, and when I didn't have it I felt bad, at times miserable and depressed, but true happiness, that fills you forever, it stays with you no matter what problems you face; you turn to those things that give you true happiness, not to the bottle or the bowl, and you may overcome any adversity.

Now these addictions to substance is all very different from that of "heeding the voice of the Prophets". I always have the freedom to choose to listen to what they say. I can can choose not to listen to God's commandments, I can choose not to listen to Church leaders, I can choose to do whatever I want. And there in lies the key difference we, as the body of the Church, listen to and obey guidance given to us by our leaders because we choose to, not because we are forced to. And I know that through adherence to both commandments new and old and to guidance given to us by revelation, we will experience rewards greater than we can fathom, and we all will be blessed for doing so.

I am trying to truly heed the guidance we receive from the Church leadership (everything from food storage to trying to remain debt free). Have I been the best at it? No. For awhile I viewed things like not watching R rated or inappropriate movies as something that was maybe for some people but I didn't need to adhere to it. But I ask myself, does it make sense to follow just some of the commandments, just the ones that you like to follow, or are easiest? I think the answer is obvious.

I can't tell you how many times my life has been blessed by listening to guidance from the Church leaders. One recent example is our Ward goal (I really don't know if that is the correct term...) for our Ward Mission was to know the Articles of Faith. Well I didn't go to Primary so I had some memorization to do. I wrote out the Articles on a piece of paper and decided to practice memorizing them during my lunch break at work. One night (I work nights) my boss asked me what I was doing, and I told him I was memorizing scripture for my Church. He asked what scriptures and I told him it was the Articles of Faith. This lead us into a lengthy conversation about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which he had really never heard of, just knew about the "missionaries on bikes" whom he thought were awesome). As we talked I could tell he liked a lot of the things he heard and was eager to have another conversation about it. Immediately after talking, it clicked in my head, this is why we were given that direction by our Church leadership.

I believe that the continuation of prophetic guidance is not only necessary, but also testifies the love that God has for His children is not fleeting. We in this dispensation are not sheep lost from the flock, doomed to wander in the dark, no, we have a constant torch that stays lit with the power of revelation by Heavenly Father. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Word of Wisdom

I was thinking idly today about the average Friday night down at a typical public university; there's hardy a better setting to study the effects of alcohol, tobacco, and other substances. Now I don't hate alcohol, in fact prior to my discovering the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I had tried it (I had decided to stop drinking well before my investigations though), but it is blatantly obvious the harm it does to the human body, psyche, and mannerisms. Self-control is a huge issue when it comes to alcohol: A. most can't keep it to one or two (a somewhat healthy amount) and B. most lose their ability to control their actions completely, when partaking of it in excess. Also, alcohol is addictive (I'll address this a little later). I don't mean to be picking so much just on alcohol, and we all know the "evils of alcohol" now, but what about 170 years ago? Research into alcohol and tobacco and their effects did not really begin until quite recently; therefore the harmful effects of these substances were only, formally, recognized recently.

Back in 1833, the Prophet Joseph Smith received the revelation now known as "The Word of Wisdom"(D&C 89), which more or less are dietary guidelines. It states, among other things, that alcohol, tobacco, and drinks with high amounts of caffeine (it actually says hot drinks but Church leaders later said this referred to tea and coffee) are harmful and should be eliminated from our diets.

Now take yourself back to the 1830s, temperance had not really taken off. I mean some famous temperance organizations had formed such as the Sons of Temperance but were not established in the United States until a decade after "The Word of Wisdom" was revealed.^[1] Other groups like the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Templars of Honor and Temperance, and the Prohibition Party were all established quite a bit after the revelation.^[2][3][4] So I believe it is safe to say Joseph Smith was not just 'latching onto a fad' because movements desiring the prohibition of alcohol, although had some supporters, had really not become popular yet (not for another decade at least).

Okay so I've heard a few people say, "What's wrong with alcohol? Jesus drank wine, are you saying He was wrong?" To answer no, Jesus was not wrong, for it was not a commandment at that time. God does not reveal things all at the same time. Heavenly Father gives us prophetic messages pertaining to the times we live in. I read somewhere (unfortunately I cannot remember where...) that during biblical times water often carried diseases and had a great deal of harmful bacteria, so in a way wine was a safer alternative to water.

Lastly, alcohol is addictive. I have seen many people develop a dependence on alcohol. This isn't to say all people who drink are addicts, but alcoholism and binge drinking are all too common problems in our society. Now alcoholism is not necessarily a physical addiction like nicotine, but I believe it is often as, if not more, debilitating.

Now it's tobacco's turn (I don't think I'll need to say too much here). Look at all we know of tobacco's horrible effects: carcinogen, a addictive substance, causes asthma, weakens lungs, breaks down skin and tissue (chewing tobacco especially), etc. I wonder why God warned us about this... Again we all know these horrible effects now, but would we have known if we lived almost 200 years ago? I highly doubt it. Modern science had not determined the harmful effects of tobacco usage, again, until quite recently.

Now at this time there were no real organizations or movements against the use of tobacco. So again as with alcohol, Joseph Smith was not just going along with the 'popular' thing.

What the Word of Wisdom does is tell us how to lead healthy and long lives. Our body is a temple; adherence to the Word of Wisdom (keeping our body clean) is almost like "temple work" (okay, kind of a stretch...). To be healthy (both in a physical and mental sense) we must be free of dependencies and addictions. Another ill effect of the addictive substances warned against in the Word of Wisdom is they impede on our 'agency' (agency means 'freedom of choice' it is a term commonly used in the Church and is a central part to the Plan of Salvation).

In closing there is no doubt in my mind that the Word of Wisdom was a prophetic message given to the Prophet Joseph Smith by our Heavenly Father. It is a blessing to have such a message given to us and I have no doubt it is a reason why Latter-day Saints have a longer life expectancy than the average American, and even the Japanese (who for a long time were believed to have one of the highest).^[5] Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God and this is only one example of the important and wonderful revelation given by God, in these latter days.

Also here is a link to a good Ensign article on the Word of Wisdom: Cancer, Nutrition, and the Word of Wisdom

[1] New York Times. Sons of Temperance. 1892. 09 Jul 2008
[2] The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). 09 Jul 2008
[3] McGowan, Denis P. "Temperance Orders". Phoenixmasonry. 09 Jul 2008
[4] Prohibition Party. "Outline of History". The Prohibition Party. 09 Jul 2008
[5] Hu, Arthur. "Arthur Hu's Index of Diversity: Life Expectancy." Arthur Hu's Index of Diversity. 29 Jul 2008