I've watched a few of your videos and find your story fascinating. I would agree with you that the church has become corrupt and there are a lot of false doctrines out there. This doesn't mean that the truth hasn't always been there though. "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." "This is what we must do to basically be with God on the other side of the veil."(7:53) In numerous places the New Testament says that it's through faith not obedience that we are saved. There is nothing we must do. Look up Ephesians 2:8-9 about works. It's by our heart that we are justified (Romans 10:10). This leads to action. Faith naturally leads to repentance, that leads to Baptism. In maintaining our faith, we are enduring until the end. I'm not a fan of the word "endure" though. It's something that should become easier over time as we walk in the Spirit. This is how I know I have the Holy Spirit. Denying myself keeps becoming easier, and I have become a slave to righteousness (Romans 6). Jesus says that the two greatest commandments are to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."(Mathew 22:37) "Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."(Mathew 22:39-40) Love is not an action, but it leads to it! This is the beauty of the Gospel! Let me ask you the same question I would ask an atheist. Do you believe what you believe b/c you think it's true or b/c you want it to be true? Deep down inside I believe most atheist don't want to worship God. It's an illusion. I read your PDF with all those verses. Let's just say I would interpret them very differently. I wish the LDS church was true. I don't want my nonbelieving friends to go to Hell, but morals come from God and I'm not him! I'm going to look at this (those verses for example) as objectively as possible. I encourage you to search the RUclips video "Former false prophet Andy Poland talks about Mormonism and feelings." His story is similar to yours, but he later found he was being deceived. Not all miracles come from God (Exodus 7) "Spiritual Witnesses" is another good RUclips video. -God Bless
I would say that my interpretation of the scripture used to be very similar to what you just described. When a Jehovah Witness would bring up the “faith without works is dead,” verses, I used to lament in my heart that they had “just missed it,” and that they would be blessed to realize that we are justified by our “good works” but that we do those works after receiving the love and power of God freely, through our faith in Jesus Christ. We don’t work to earn anything. The good works in our life are just evidence and proof that we have faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot take credit for the good works the Holy Spirit does through us, but we can thank God for his wonderful goodness. No man will be boasting in heaven that his own works got him there. The works are a gift from the Holy Spirit that come naturally after having true faith in Jesus Christ. So now what? Are you a prophet to follow? Which church teaches the exact doctrine that you just stated? Is it Bethel, UPPERROOM, a house church, Joseph Prince, the Southern Baptist Convention, Desiring God, Lutheran, or Methodist? What church do you attend, where you are taught these exact things? Who is your prophet? If it is Jesus Christ, which church is He guiding and supporting to this very day? Where would you take someone who is seeking the truth? Where would you trust a little sheep to go and be fed? You said, “In numerous places, the New Testament says that it’s through faith not obedience that we are saved. There is nothing we must do.” So, what of the following passage in scripture? ”Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”-and he was called a friend of God. “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.“ James 2:20, 22-24 ESV I am not saying that these few verses encompass all the theology of God. Not at all. But you can see that it is easy to get caught up in phrases that are stated in the Bible. The most important thing is, what has Jesus revealed to you to be true? You will be judged according to your knowledge of what the Truth is. I will say, that though I used to say, “faith alone,” I can see that God will justify the man or woman who exercises charity over the man or woman who “believed all the right things.” If you don’t believe me, read 1 John, and Revelations, just to start. How many scriptures will you have to gloss over in order to maintain the narrative that you have typed? You can tell me lovely and beautiful things about your interpretation of the scripture. I used to sound like you, and I understand your mentality. I too had the Holy Spirit guiding me in my life, and I was in complete gratitude for all the goodness He worked out in my life, that was not of my own power or goodness. That does not make the doctrine you teach the Narrow Path. Jesus Christ has revealed his narrow path to me, and I will not deny him. I saw MANY miracles outside of this church before I discovered the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, ( all miracles come by faith in God) but I was able to discern that though people outside this church had the gift of prophecy, they were not leading me down the narrow path, and I sought God with all my heart about this, crying out to him, and one day I came across the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, as you have heard in my testimony video, and I found the narrow path. He continues to teach me about this path as I seek and find Him every day. I invite you to read this talk given by our Prophet. All are invited to receive personal revelation. I perceive that you have received your own revelation from God through seeking and finding. According to our prophet, this is available to all of us. www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/04/revelation-for-the-church-revelation-for-our-lives?lang=eng I wish you the best. Maybe we will meet each other one day.
I have watched the Andy Polland video several times. It has not shaken my conviction in what has been revealed to me to be True. I will look into the other video you suggested.
@@SharonSeekingJesus I would agree with a lot of that video you sent. I'm not against personal revelation, but it has to go checked. I live in Utah and no, I don't go to that "evil" Apologia church. I can assure you many people leave the LDS church after they believe God told them it was not true in one way or another. The problem is personal revelation (God told me it's true or isn't true) goes both ways and it isn't unique to Mormonism. The real question becomes, why is it emphasized so much in the LDS faith if it's completely subjective. I would consider this a giant red flag. This isn't the case in other religions unless you count cults. There is no similar passage to the Moroni challenge in the bible, and please don't get my started on the abuse of James 1:5. I pasted James 2:24 into RUclips and found the answer immediately. What I suspected was correct. The Greek word for justified has two meanings. It can mean "to show to be righteous" or "declare righteous". God's word doesn't contradict if interpreted correctly. If you read that passage in context or even use the New Living Translation you will see it. I'm skeptical you didn't already know this. Did you really not take the short time to find the answer or was it a good "contradiction" not worth checking b/c it fits LDS doctrine? This would more than prove my point from earlier. Deep down inside you want the church to be true, so you are subconsciously (in this case consciously) reading the bible to make it fit LDS doctrine. Same goes for other church issues I might add. I try to read it as objectively as I can. That's part of why I occasionally listen to David Alexander. If I'm wrong about James 2:24 and you have something really clever up your sleeves, I would love to hear it!
QUESTION: Why does the bible have historic artifacts that prove parts of it's history, but the BOM doesn't have a single historic artifact to support the BOM, despite the millions of nephite and laminites along with their vast cities?
If you follow the link, it will take you to an article that gives some evidence of these “millions” of Nephites and Lamanites and their vast cities. I found this article on my own a few days ago, and it hasn’t been suggested to me as evidence, but I can see that it is, from a secular viewpoint. There actually is a lot of historical artifacts to support the “Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” If you search for them, you will find them. The idea that there “isn’t any” is just a myth that gets passed around from mouth to mouth, and cannot be supported any longer. God bless you in your journey, Brother. I pray you find the greatest peace and joy, as I have found, in the narrow path of my Savior Jesus Christ.
@@SharonSeekingJesus You have simply sent a link that shows there are unexplored ancient ruins. Everone agrees that there are MANY unexplored ruins, just as there are many sites that HAVE been excavated. The point is, that every time they excavate an ancient ruin it shows there are biblical artifacts, but that there are ZERO BOM artifacts! Why is that? Are you aware of a single mormon church archaeological expedition that is currently digging for artifacts? (hint: there are none) Why wouldn't the mormon church be looking for an artifact to support the BOM history? Could the mormon church not be searching for historic artifacts because they know the BOM history is not true?
@@kevinedward4195Kevin, by all means, if that matters so much please go to all of South and North America with your resources and prove us wrong. Nothing is stopping you. I hope you find what you are (not) looking for. The Church is not an excavation company, it is not a archeological institution, nor a make 'Kevin happy organization'. It is a Church which has a 'soul' purpose of improving the wellbeing of mankind by incorporating faith and hope to those who believe in God and providing truths to acheive God's purpose of acheiving immortality and Eternal Life. If you don't want to accept that and need evidence in order for you to have faith, then you will likely be sad for a long time.
Do you understand that the Book of Mormon is based on a lost civilization isolated from the old world? The Bible has been culturally significant in our society for ages, of course we will find evidence for it. In just 200 years of the Book of Mormons existence, we have found countless supporting evidence. It’s irrational to think there’s nothing out there in favor of it’s truth. The church doesn’t publish official locations, one reason being it’s not needed. It’s a spiritual witness of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for sharing your light with the world!
So simple, so pure!
Wonderful message!!!
Thank you for the wonderful video
Thank you Sister Sharon! Your message here is wonderful!!
Hi Sharon, I appreciate your content! Thank you.
I've watched a few of your videos and find your story fascinating. I would agree with you that the church has become corrupt and there are a lot of false doctrines out there. This doesn't mean that the truth hasn't always been there though.
"We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."
"This is what we must do to basically be with God on the other side of the veil."(7:53)
In numerous places the New Testament says that it's through faith not obedience that we are saved. There is nothing we must do. Look up Ephesians 2:8-9 about works. It's by our heart that we are justified (Romans 10:10). This leads to action. Faith naturally leads to repentance, that leads to Baptism. In maintaining our faith, we are enduring until the end. I'm not a fan of the word "endure" though. It's something that should become easier over time as we walk in the Spirit. This is how I know I have the Holy Spirit. Denying myself keeps becoming easier, and I have become a slave to righteousness (Romans 6). Jesus says that the two greatest commandments are to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."(Mathew 22:37) "Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."(Mathew 22:39-40) Love is not an action, but it leads to it! This is the beauty of the Gospel!
Let me ask you the same question I would ask an atheist. Do you believe what you believe b/c you think it's true or b/c you want it to be true? Deep down inside I believe most atheist don't want to worship God. It's an illusion. I read your PDF with all those verses. Let's just say I would interpret them very differently. I wish the LDS church was true. I don't want my nonbelieving friends to go to Hell, but morals come from God and I'm not him! I'm going to look at this (those verses for example) as objectively as possible. I encourage you to search the RUclips video "Former false prophet Andy Poland talks about Mormonism and feelings." His story is similar to yours, but he later found he was being deceived. Not all miracles come from God (Exodus 7) "Spiritual Witnesses" is another good RUclips video.
-God Bless
I would say that my interpretation of the scripture used to be very similar to what you just described. When a Jehovah Witness would bring up the “faith without works is dead,” verses, I used to lament in my heart that they had “just missed it,” and that they would be blessed to realize that we are justified by our “good works” but that we do those works after receiving the love and power of God freely, through our faith in Jesus Christ. We don’t work to earn anything. The good works in our life are just evidence and proof that we have faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot take credit for the good works the Holy Spirit does through us, but we can thank God for his wonderful goodness. No man will be boasting in heaven that his own works got him there. The works are a gift from the Holy Spirit that come naturally after having true faith in Jesus Christ.
So now what? Are you a prophet to follow? Which church teaches the exact doctrine that you just stated? Is it Bethel, UPPERROOM, a house church, Joseph Prince, the Southern Baptist Convention, Desiring God, Lutheran, or Methodist? What church do you attend, where you are taught these exact things? Who is your prophet? If it is Jesus Christ, which church is He guiding and supporting to this very day? Where would you take someone who is seeking the truth? Where would you trust a little sheep to go and be fed?
You said, “In numerous places, the New Testament says that it’s through faith not obedience that we are saved. There is nothing we must do.” So, what of the following passage in scripture?
”Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”-and he was called a friend of God.
“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.“
James 2:20, 22-24 ESV
I am not saying that these few verses encompass all the theology of God. Not at all. But you can see that it is easy to get caught up in phrases that are stated in the Bible. The most important thing is, what has Jesus revealed to you to be true? You will be judged according to your knowledge of what the Truth is.
I will say, that though I used to say, “faith alone,” I can see that God will justify the man or woman who exercises charity over the man or woman who “believed all the right things.” If you don’t believe me, read 1 John, and Revelations, just to start. How many scriptures will you have to gloss over in order to maintain the narrative that you have typed?
You can tell me lovely and beautiful things about your interpretation of the scripture. I used to sound like you, and I understand your mentality. I too had the Holy Spirit guiding me in my life, and I was in complete gratitude for all the goodness He worked out in my life, that was not of my own power or goodness. That does not make the doctrine you teach the Narrow Path.
Jesus Christ has revealed his narrow path to me, and I will not deny him. I saw MANY miracles outside of this church before I discovered the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, ( all miracles come by faith in God) but I was able to discern that though people outside this church had the gift of prophecy, they were not leading me down the narrow path, and I sought God with all my heart about this, crying out to him, and one day I came across the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, as you have heard in my testimony video, and I found the narrow path. He continues to teach me about this path as I seek and find Him every day.
I invite you to read this talk given by our Prophet. All are invited to receive personal revelation. I perceive that you have received your own revelation from God through seeking and finding. According to our prophet, this is available to all of us.
www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/04/revelation-for-the-church-revelation-for-our-lives?lang=eng
I wish you the best. Maybe we will meet each other one day.
I have watched the Andy Polland video several times. It has not shaken my conviction in what has been revealed to me to be True. I will look into the other video you suggested.
@@SharonSeekingJesus
I would agree with a lot of that video you sent. I'm not against personal revelation, but it has to go checked. I live in Utah and no, I don't go to that "evil" Apologia church. I can assure you many people leave the LDS church after they believe God told them it was not true in one way or another. The problem is personal revelation (God told me it's true or isn't true) goes both ways and it isn't unique to Mormonism. The real question becomes, why is it emphasized so much in the LDS faith if it's completely subjective. I would consider this a giant red flag. This isn't the case in other religions unless you count cults. There is no similar passage to the Moroni challenge in the bible, and please don't get my started on the abuse of James 1:5.
I pasted James 2:24 into RUclips and found the answer immediately. What I suspected was correct. The Greek word for justified has two meanings. It can mean "to show to be righteous" or "declare righteous". God's word doesn't contradict if interpreted correctly. If you read that passage in context or even use the New Living Translation you will see it. I'm skeptical you didn't already know this. Did you really not take the short time to find the answer or was it a good "contradiction" not worth checking b/c it fits LDS doctrine? This would more than prove my point from earlier. Deep down inside you want the church to be true, so you are subconsciously (in this case consciously) reading the bible to make it fit LDS doctrine. Same goes for other church issues I might add. I try to read it as objectively as I can. That's part of why I occasionally listen to David Alexander. If I'm wrong about James 2:24 and you have something really clever up your sleeves, I would love to hear it!
QUESTION: Why does the bible have historic artifacts that prove parts of it's history, but the BOM doesn't have a single historic artifact to support the BOM, despite the millions of nephite and laminites along with their vast cities?
www.businessinsider.com/ancient-civilizations-that-were-hiding-in-plain-sight-2023-1
If you follow the link, it will take you to an article that gives some evidence of these “millions” of Nephites and Lamanites and their vast cities. I found this article on my own a few days ago, and it hasn’t been suggested to me as evidence, but I can see that it is, from a secular viewpoint. There actually is a lot of historical artifacts to support the “Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” If you search for them, you will find them. The idea that there “isn’t any” is just a myth that gets passed around from mouth to mouth, and cannot be supported any longer. God bless you in your journey, Brother. I pray you find the greatest peace and joy, as I have found, in the narrow path of my Savior Jesus Christ.
@@SharonSeekingJesus You have simply sent a link that shows there are unexplored ancient ruins. Everone agrees that there are MANY unexplored ruins, just as there are many sites that HAVE been excavated.
The point is, that every time they excavate an ancient ruin it shows there are biblical artifacts, but that there are ZERO BOM artifacts! Why is that?
Are you aware of a single mormon church archaeological expedition that is currently digging for artifacts? (hint: there are none) Why wouldn't the mormon church be looking for an artifact to support the BOM history? Could the mormon church not be searching for historic artifacts because they know the BOM history is not true?
@@kevinedward4195Kevin, by all means, if that matters so much please go to all of South and North America with your resources and prove us wrong. Nothing is stopping you. I hope you find what you are (not) looking for. The Church is not an excavation company, it is not a archeological institution, nor a make 'Kevin happy organization'. It is a Church which has a 'soul' purpose of improving the wellbeing of mankind by incorporating faith and hope to those who believe in God and providing truths to acheive God's purpose of acheiving immortality and Eternal Life. If you don't want to accept that and need evidence in order for you to have faith, then you will likely be sad for a long time.
Do you understand that the Book of Mormon is based on a lost civilization isolated from the old world? The Bible has been culturally significant in our society for ages, of course we will find evidence for it. In just 200 years of the Book of Mormons existence, we have found countless supporting evidence. It’s irrational to think there’s nothing out there in favor of it’s truth. The church doesn’t publish official locations, one reason being it’s not needed. It’s a spiritual witness of Jesus Christ.