revelation – Page 4 – Temple Study

The Doctrine of Continual Revelation

October 23, 2009 by Bryce Haymond 15 Comments

President Thomas S. Monson

The emails I receive these days give me ample opportunity to teach the gospel. Below is my response to a fundamentalist.

I will explain why you do not understand the doctrine of continual revelation, and why it is leading you away from the truth.

First, a scripture:

And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.

Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written. (2 Ne. 29:9-10)

Revelation can be a nebulous thing. It is not always so clear cut that it builds on top of prior revelations and is in harmony with them. Every prophet that has ever lived on the earth was rejected by his own generation because they thought he did not conform to the “old revelations,” that they changed them, and gave them something new. Joseph gave us the script. And I repeat. [Read more…]

Temple Construction Costs vs. Humanitarian Aid?

October 16, 2009 by Bryce Haymond 27 Comments

LDS Humanitarian Services

I received a comment this evening from YouTube user JAMaddict, which stands for Jim and Pam Addict, on my video Inside the LDS (Mormon) Twin Falls Temple. This is what they said:

It makes me physically ill to think about the “hand selected” granite flooring. What a waste, when so many millions of people need various types of aid.

Before you start going on and on about LDS’s humanitarian efforts, don’t bother! Since LDS refuses to release their financial records, no one knows for sure, but the best guess is that they give 2% of their total income to aid. That’s sickening. ((I’ve removed the moderated comment from the video page.))

This was my reply message back to them:

The LDS Church has given over $1.1158 billion dollars in humanitarian aid in 167 countries worldwide since 1985. You can see the breakdown per year here:
http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,4606-1-2329-1,00.html

If you want to get more specific, you can see the 2008 Welfare Services Fact Sheet here:
http://www.providentliving.org/welfare/pdf/WelfareFactSheet.pdf

$282.2 million in cash donations
$833.6 million in material assistance

That includes:

61,308 tons of Food

12,829 tons of Medical supplies

84,681 tons of Clothing

5,965 tons of Educational supplies

8.6 million of Hygiene, newborn, and school kits

1,100,059 days of labor donated to welfare facilities

What is sick about that? ((Direct message to JAMaddict YouTube user, also known as Jim and Pam Addict.))

I might have also mentioned that anciently only the very finest materials were used to construct the House of the Lord, including gold, silver, iron, copper, timber, and stone (see this description of Solomon’s temple), and the Lord has revealed that they are to be built to the same standards today. It is God’s House, not ours, and He will have it built the way He reveals to His prophets.

If we had spent the humanitarian aid money we have since 1985 instead on temple construction, we could easily have over 100-200+ more temples throughout the world than we have now, essentially doubling the number we have taken 179 years to build, and providing the blessings of temple worship to many more of our members ((Estimate based on Suva Fiji Temple cost, approx. $5 million U.S. dollars (http://www.fletcherconstruction.co.nz/project.php?project_id=66&archived=yes), and Brisbane Australian Temple cost, $11.5 million (http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?locale=0&sourceId=4d3619f1707cd010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=7cecc8fe9c88d010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD ) )). But our goal is not to just build temples, but to do what the Lord has commanded, “to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church, or in any other, or in no church at all” ((The Prophet Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, page 732)).

Who’s on the Lord’s Side? Who?

March 16, 2009 by Bryce Haymond 4 Comments

Isaiah's Lips Anointed with Fire - Benjamin West (1738-1820)

I spoke in my ward’s sacrament meeting yesterday. Here is a copy of my talk:

I’m grateful for this opportunity to speak to you today about a subject that is very important to me, and hopefully to you. I pray that the Spirit might be with us so that we may both be edified by these things, and that we can apply what we learn (D&C 50:22).

The topic I’ve been given is twofold – first, the hymn “Who’s on the Lord’s Side?” and second, “following the prophet.” While these two topics don’t seem to relate to each other on the surface, I think the point is that those who follow the teachings of the prophets are truly on the Lord’s side.

First a short story. [Read more…]

The Christmas Story and the Temple

December 24, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 6 Comments

Recently I’ve been pondering the place of the temple in the Christmas story. Last week my wife and I attended the Conference Center performance of Savior of the World which was very well done and depicted the birth and resurrection of Christ. One of the first scenes involved the temple at Jerusalem. As I have read through the Christmas story in the book of Luke I found that the temple holds a central theme in the account. Here are some of my thoughts: [Read more…]

The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 1

September 8, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 24 Comments

San Diego California Temple exterior (click for larger view)

A week ago my parents took a trip down to California to see my younger brother dance with the BYU Ballroom Dance Team at the Embassy Ball in Irvine, California. As part of their trip they had the chance to do some fun things, like go to Disneyland. Whenever they are on a vacation during the sabbath, however, they try to do things appropriate for that day, such as visit any nearby temples. The San Diego California Temple was only about 80 miles away, and so they made their way down I-5 last Sunday afternoon to see it.

They enjoyed their visit at this unique temple, but by and large the most interesting thing that they experienced there that day was a story that the service missionaries told them who serve there. [Read more…]