A Confession of My Religion

I believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing and all-present God who lives in eternity and embodies all truth, love, justice, and mercy and who is the supreme intelligence in all the universe and who has created all that exists in the same universe and who is a personage of Flesh and Bone and in whose image all mankind is created and who is the direct father of all the souls or spirits that inhabit mankind and who is aware of and plays an active part in the journey of each of His spiritual offspring.

I believe that faith in God is the foundation of religion and the exercising of faith is the purpose of the earthly experience.  That both repentance and prayer are fundamental acts of faith and that through repentance and prayer, God may directly affect or influence our lives.

I believe that in order to provide mercy without denying justice, God provided a proxy individual to be punished in my place even if I do not accept that proxy punishment. I believe that through this eternal sacrifice, I can overcome my natural limitations, be forgiven of my crimes or sins, be lifted above the natural calamities of this world, be given power whether in this life or the next to deny the injustice others may inflict upon me through their poor decisions and to put away all fear including the real fear of death and its potentially eternal sting.

I believe that a though the Holy Ghost, truth, comfort, love, wisdom, direction and many other forms of inspiration can be communicated to man from God and that these communications are entirely good, uplifting, wholesome, and beneficial in every case or in all instances.

I believe that the search for truth and the adherence to true principles is an empowering act of faith and the pursuit of truth through faith is one of life’s purest yet painful pursuit.

I believe that marriage is a divine institution empowering mankind to overcome all that is base, carnal, sensual, and devilish and to be part of a higher order of life both in this world and the next.

I believe that life did not begin with this world and does not end with this world but has always and will always exist through different stages of organized matter and different levels of intelligence, estate and endowment.

I believe the entirety of the purpose of life is to achieve exaltation and by doing so we glorify and uplift the God that created us all.

I believe that obedience is greater than sacrifice and that sacrifice is an essential part of religion and that servicing others is a higher order of sacrifice. That faith leads to sacrifice but also leads to the submission to God through obedience to his commands and principles and that obedience will guide us to exaltation.

I believe that organized religion is an abomination before God unless it is done by his authority organized through his Holy Order of Priesthood and is directed by Him through His Son and the administration of Angels.

I believe that there is opposition and competition in all things and as God seeks for the Exaltation of his spiritual offspring, the building of worlds, the uplifting of each soul; so does the enemy seek the destruction and misery of those same spiritual children.

I believe that happiness in the present is possible; and as we exercise faith, happiness can become our constant companion.

I believe that someday all of mankind will be redeemed from death and hell through the resurrection made possible by the eternal sacrifice of the great redeamer and that all resurrection beings live in a constant state of happiness being rewarded greater then they feel they deserve.  That resurrected beings do not experience physical pain nor exist in the darkness of fear.

I believe that it is through the use of both official and unofficial covenants that God both empowers and endows his earthly children and also opens the way for Exaltation. That covenants allow God to increase our blessings as we exercise the faith to make and keep those same covenants.  That God is bound to keep His end of the covenant so long as we keep ours and that official covenants require the duly constituted priesthood signs, oaths, names, and tokens done before God, Angels, and Earthly Witnesses in a specific earthly place dedicated unto God for the administration of those same covenants.

I believe that a life lived based on the pursuit of self-indulging pleasure or one that focuses on pleasure does not bring happiness but masks misery and those who indulge in the forbidden things of this life will find themselves in bondage, without character, with pain unending and fear of both the future and the past.  True love cannot thrive in an atmosphere of self-indulgence or a world with a self-centered core.  All joy comes from living or following the commandments of God through much tribulation and great trials.