Sometimes discouragement can set in when it seems that progress is too slow, or even non-existent. This happens when we look to ourselves and our time-table rather than keeping our eyes fixed on HIM. Isaiah 26:3 reminds us that “He will keep us in perfect peace when we keep our minds on Him.” I must constantly remind myself of that promise.
But Isaiah himself had a question about the length of his ministry and seeming lack of progress:
Isaiah 6:11-12 Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?" And he answered: "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
In other words, we don’t stop, we don’t give up, even when it all looks hopeless, we press forward towards the goal that is found in our Jesus.
I talk with people from polygamy who have lived their lives in hopelessness and loneliness, believing their misery is God’s will (of course, it isn’t!) But they also ask, how long? We bring them hope and Good News of Jesus—that He sacrificed for them so they can go to heaven, they are not required to sacrifice for Him to get a place in heaven.
We thank you for your support and prayers that enable us to bring the Good News to polygamists!
This month we are introducing Karen Bradshaw who is an ex-plural wife from the AUB polygamy group. She has given her life to Jesus and explains that God has laid it upon her heart to become part of the Shield and Refuge team. We are of course, seeking God’s will in all things. For the next several months, this will be "Karen’s Corner" - Karen will share her story of being born and raised in a Mormon Fundamentalist Polygamy Group. This is Part One of her story, she said, “I write this in the hope that others will be delivered from captivity!”
My first Memory:
“My heart was racing; my stomach twisting in knots, as I watched my six-foot father towering above me while he was suffocating my baby brother with his large hand! It is something I’ll never forget. He had done the same thing to me many times. It is terrifying not knowing if I would take another breath! I watched in complete terror as my father was killing my brother right in front of me! He was fighting with every ounce of strength he had in his little body, fighting for his next breath, fighting for his life! His face was soaked with tears, and I watched as his little body twisted and turned, unable to catch a breath of air. Watching and sitting in complete silence, frozen in fear, wishing I could do something to stop this nightmare and save my brother. I couldn’t breathe and my heart was racing faster and faster. My father held his face tighter until it turned bright red, then purple and then I saw his whole body go limp, he suddenly lost consciousness.
He wasn’t even a year old yet. I wasn’t even two.
Somehow, I felt so responsible. I felt angry that I couldn’t make it stop! I then watched him take my brother and force his head into a sink full of cold water. I thought he was drowning him, my brother gasped for air and he then began to scream and cry when his was pulled out of the cold water. He was dripping wet, water poured over the floor. My father held him close and scolded him at the same time, “You better stop crying or I’ll do it again”!
I felt like a sheet of ice! I couldn’t move, breathe, or say a word, paralyzed with fear. My mother had tried to stop him, but he yelled at her and shouted she’d better get out now or it will be worse! He pointed to the back door, she ran to the door, opened it and ran out into the darkness, crying.
This was the first remembrance of the daily terror we faced in the early years of my life. I lived in fear for my very life and didn’t know from one day to the next if I’d live or die!
Constant fear was my bed partner, and the only source of comfort was my incessant rocking! I couldn’t sleep without curling up in a fetal position and tossing my body back and forth until I’d fall asleep from exhaustion! I’d rock and rock trying to find safety, trying to find protection, trying to find peace!
I never remember talking about what happened or finding a safe place of comfort.”
MORMON POLYGAMY HISTORY
“ ... it is argued that polygamy was offensive to the traditions of the people; that it had to be stealthily introduced, as bigamy was punishable by law, and the less that was published about it the better. There is weight in this statement as an argument, for no one can fail to appreciate the difficulty of introducing a practice which the civilization of a thousand years had condemned as a relic of barbarism; it was indeed necessary to be secret. But once that silence was broken, and a lengthy revelation was given to the world, commanding all people to whom it might come to obey it, or "be damned," reticence as to its origin could be no longer needful. On a matter of such tremendous consequence as that which polygamy claims to be, [Joseph Smith] could not have been too explicit.
This revelation is dated "Nauvoo, Illinois, July 12, 1843," and was given to the [Mormon] Church and to the public nine years later, at a conference in Salt Lake City. Since that time, tens of thousands of sermons have been preached on its divine origin, voluminous treatises have been published and the Mormon press has teemed with articles in its defense; but in all of them the beginning of polygamy with the Mormons is left out.
Some of the elders who were early acquainted with the Prophet state that he was instructed by an angel visitor about the marital relations of the patriarchs while he resided in Ohio and was then informed that the time would arrive when polygamy would become the faith of all the Saints; but of this there is no evidence....”
~ T.B.H. Stenhouse, Rocky Mountain Saints, pgs 183-184
The author noted that when people subordinate their own sense of right and wrong to authoritative teaching, it is an easy matter for any doctrine to be introduced, however false and vicious it might be; additionally, when they constantly expect and accept mysterious revelations as divine, there is no limit to the foolishness or aberrant beliefs that can easily be imposed upon them and adopted into their religious behavior.
Q: If God is against polygamy, why is there no command against it in the Bible, and why didn’t Jesus teach against it while He was here? Jesus never said anything against living polygamy.
A: Even if it were true that Jesus did not teach against polygamy, we cannot manufacture a doctrine out of the Bible’s silence on it. However, Jesus clearly taught that monogamy was God’s original plan for marriage, and said so:
Matthew 19:4-6: "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate."
Jesus did not teach against polygamy but did teach for monogamy. But He also taught against committing adultery. How many ways does God have to say something before people will believe Him? Besides the argument of silence doesn’t fly. Jesus DID NOT teach against a lot of things, He didn’t teach against “Arson” for instance, but did teach us to love our neighbor and a loving neighbor would not burn down someone else’s property.
- “If polygamy gets you into the "Celestial Kingdom" then I'll pass..thx! D.”
- “Wow, as a genuine Christian this stuff is shocking for sure. So much evil control. B”
- “I cannot believe this is happening in America! It’s so horrific and shocking!! Why doesn’t the government step in and do something about it?? T.”
ANSWER: There is much concern by civil servants that they’ll step on the toes of “religious freedom”. The Supreme Court has already ruled that although a person can believe whatever they want, religious
freedom does not include religious law-breaking.
- “In listening to all of this, the focus seems to be on marriage, whether polygamy or monogamy. Do these Mormons believe that a single person can be saved? It does not seem so. Thank you for your very informative dialog weekly. God bless you. S.”
ANSWER: Marriage in a Mormon temple is required in order for a Mormon to progress to godhood. They believe our God became a God through eons of good works and that He is married - because no one can become a god unless they are married. Becoming a god, or "being exalted" is the ultimate goal for all Latter-day Saints and polygamists. Other faithful Mormons will enjoy one of the two mythical "lower" kingdoms of glory which Mormon doctrine has invented."
- We are still asking God for a host home for a woman who is no longer in the polygamy group. A home in the
vicinity of Salt Lake or Utah County, a home with no children, and where she wouldn’t be left alone for long hours each day. A home where she could experience Christian love and grace.
- We have been invited to share all about Mormon polygamy later this summer, at several venues in Montana where a large polygamy compound is located. Please pray for cultivation, seed-planting and generous watering as we minister God’s Grace to them.
Just call Doris: 801-649-3103, or Email: doris@shieldandrefuge.org |
