I won't take the time to go into the events preceding the coming of the Lord... that's another blog entry altogether. I did want to share some feelings on one aspect of the end times, though... that's been on my mind a lot lately;
"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." (Matt 24:9-12)
As the Church has grown up and matured, it has ever-increasingly gained the attention of the Adversary, who has waged a very visible and overt war against it. We saw it in the '70's with the advent of professional anti-Mormons like Walter Martin and Ed Decker, who transformed the ugliness of hatred and religious bigotry into a lucrative cottage industry. We saw it in the '80's with slick multimedia presentations, "Witnessing to Mormons" seminars and workshops, and a plethora of "ministries" that were formed for no other reason than to persecute the Church. Finally, we saw the flat-out smear campaign against the Church when Mitt Romney ran for the office of President of the United States.
But something is changing.
The Church has achieved a level of prominence and credibility that, while galling to the anti-Mormon crowd, has succeeded in eroding and invalidating much of the more spurious and sensationalistic accusations against the Church. This has led, in my humble opinion, to a greater societal acceptance of the LDS Church than at any other period in the Church's history. Great news, right?
Never underestimate the Adversary.
The battle is not over... it has merely changed fronts. What used to be played out center stage from outside is now quietly being waged within the Church itself. This cancer is called "New Order Mormonism." Instead of attacking the Church from without, as he has always done, Satan is now attacking the Church from within... attempting to poison the roots, and to eat out the heart of the Church from the inside.
In the "good old days," if one became disaffected with the Church, they would simply leave. Some became bitter, caustic voices of criticism, but it was criticism from OUTSIDE the Church. Apostates were just that... apostates, and FORMER members of the Church. Easily dismissed. Easily ignored. The Few, the Crazy, the Terminally-Disaffected. The Eternally Bitter.
Today, however, those who would have otherwise clenched their fists and stomped noisily out of the Church are choosing instead to stay... and attempt to destroy the Church from within. They quietly maintain their membership for the purpose of sedition and actively advancing their agendas... acceptance of homosexuality, gay marriage, and ordaining women to the priesthood being just a few.
These wolves in sheep's clothing gleefully brag that they do not believe that the Church is true... in fact, they actively promote the idea that the Brethren have led the Church astray, and that the Church is nothing more than a "corporation" whose bureaucracy should be run democratically by the membership.
When asked why they would belong to a Church that they don't believe in, they smile and respond with "Because I can." They call themselves "Cultural Mormons," and have decided that maintaining appearances and assuaging family pressures while openly opposing the Church and the gospel are justifiable behaviors. But they're not content with just that.
They interject their agenda in every forum they can... while teaching Gospel Doctrine or the Sunbeams. They WANT to stay "active" in order to "reach" as many members as they can. They are, in many cases, openly defiant. They brag about how their Bishops "know how [they] feel" and chortle at the naive efforts of their leaders to "love them back" into the straight and narrow.
This kind of insidious "attack from within" is devastating. I once lived in a ward where a sitting Bishop apostatized and took half the ward with him. It's been over 20 years, and the ward has never recovered.
This kind of insidious "attack from within" is devastating. I once lived in a ward where a sitting Bishop apostatized and took half the ward with him. It's been over 20 years, and the ward has never recovered.
I believe that this is how many of the "very elect" will be deceived in the last days... through other smiling members of the Church who are dedicated to destroying testimonies, instilling doubt, and spreading the cancer of "calling evil good, and good evil."
It will certainly be interesting to see how the Church reacts.
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