Sharing the Gospel via Facebook

I’ve been using Facebook to share my testimony.

Here’s an ongoing discussion I’ve been having with a High School friend:

Hey [Name],

Thanks for the reply.

I’m not sure what you mean by the statement “we simply serve…a totally different Jesus”. Here’s who we believe and serve as Jesus Christ: http://bit.ly/who-is-jesus-christ

I’d be interested to know what specific beliefs you have about Jesus Christ that are different from the Jesus we believe in. We too believe that “Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father, but through [Jesus].”

You’ve used the analogy a couple times about the “Nate M” you know and another “Nate M”. What if I told you that the same Nate M you knew in Elementary and High School has been to Europe 4 times, lived in Chile for 2 years, has 3 kids, and has lived in Utah for 12 years? How could you know if any of that was true? Matthew 7:20 is a legitimate answer: “…by their fruits ye shall know them.” I could show you pictures, share journal entries, introduce you to my children, and invite you to investigate for yourself. You could then confirm for yourself that all those statements are true.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all knew and served the same Jesus. However, their writings in the New Testament vary slightly because they had different perspectives.

We believe that the Book of Mormon is another testament of the same Jesus found in the Old and New Testament, only written in a different part of the world. Nowhere in the Book of Mormon are there contradictions about the Jesus of the New and Old Testament – only confirmation from a different audience who knew and worshiped the same Jesus.

The Book of Mormon confirms our belief in the Christ of the New and Old Testament. It was written by righteous people, starting in the time of Jeremiah of the Old Testament, who fled before Jerusalem was destroyed (see Jeremiah 26:17-19 and Jeremiah 52:3-5).

These people were able to communicate with God just as the prophets of the Old and New Testament. They too were a chosen people – the descendants of Joseph of Egypt. They too followed Jesus Christ and had his teachings. They too
were sons and daughters of God whom He loved.

To say these people didn’t exist and didn’t record their experiences about Jesus without reading their writings would be like saying that I never did any of the things I mentioned after high school. I’m the same Nate M, but I have more experiences now.

As far as mis-interpretations of the Bible, I’ll just ask you a question: If there is only one Bible, why are there hundreds of thousands of churches that all interpret it differently? There are many translations of the Bible, some of which actually leave out entire verses or change the meaning of the verses by modifying the text.

The Book of Mormon was translated one time by one person, Joseph Smith. He translated ancient text written by inhabitants of the Americas. Therefore, there are not multiple interpretations with variances.

If you’d really like to know what Mormon’s (or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) believe about Jesus, I invite you to read the Book of Mormon from start to finish, to meditate and compare what it says with the Bible, and then to sincerely ask God, the Eternal Father if the Book is true. I know that if you do this, you will come to know of it’s truthfulness for yourself just as you know the Bible is true.

In 2 Nephi 33:10-12, Nephi, one of the prophets in the Book of Mormon, gives this invitation about the words he’s written:

“10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.

“11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.

“12 And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day.”

I’ve appreciated your questions: they’ve encouraged me to re-explore my core beliefs, to read the Book of Mormon again in its entirety with specific questions in mind that I’ve never even thought about before (ie. What’s the difference between Mormons & Christians?), and to learn even more about my relationship with our Savior.

I look forward to your response and ongoing discussion about our belief in Jesus Christ.

Nate

This was in response to this message he sent me:

Hey Nate,

The comparative study went very well and I appreciate your response along with others that I reached out to.

The biggest insight I gained from this study and the most glaring was that we simple serve a different Jesus. Same name with some of the same attributes, but a totally different Jesus. Because of that, it puts us on very different paths because in John 14:6, Jesus says “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father,but through Me.” So if we serve a different Jesus, than finding the right one makes all the difference in the world.

You see, I could here someone talk about a Nate, that loves the Yankees, grew up in Idaho, loves the Raiders….and I could assume that they must be talking about You. But if I hear that this Nate guy is a party animal and hates any organized religion, I would know beyond a doubt that this Nate is not Nate M. This is the same thing with Jesus. If they have the same name, but differ in many other attributes, we are talking about a very different God. Would you agree with that?

As we grow our families and look to leave a legacy of truth, the answer to the truth of who Jesus is becomes essential.

Above you also mentioned that the there are mis-interpretations to the King James Bible. Can you give me some of the specific mis-interpretations? Also, you said you believe the Bible to be the word of God as long as it is translated correctly….is that the same for the Book of Mormon?

Thanks bro for the great conversations..

[Name]

Thanks Nate