Brad Shepherd

Merry Christmas in deed.

@nailzministries @KnowingJoseph The test of faith is what you chose to do with the words from the plates, not the plates. Relatively few people saw the resurrected Savior. The rest of us are to believe on the witness of others, confirmed by the Holy Ghost. Hopefully the pattern is clear.

@KnowingJoseph I find it funny that the Torah and the Bible and all of that connected to it gets shared with the world and displayed. But the Golden Plates well let's just keep that a secret away from everybody but take my word for it.

Catherine Smith Salisbury, speaking about her brother Joseph and the Book of Mormon: "We had supposed that when he should bring them home, the whole family would be allowed to see them, but he said it was forbidden of the Lord. They could be seen only by those who were chosen to bear their testimony to the world. We had therefore to be content until they were translated and we could have the book to read. Many times I have read its sacred pages, I have wept like a child, while the Spirit has borne witness with my spirit to its truth." Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 1996), 1:521-22.

@GrandpaJoeSux You're trying very hard to swap priesthood for victimhood. You're an agent, built to act for yourself, not to be acted upon. Own it.

"You need to fill the gap Priesthood session left yourself! That's what the women do!" - they say Try telling my wife that I'm going to be gone on Friday night to go to a EQ football watching activity and she needs to get our 2 toddlers and baby to sleep by herself. Sure, I could go, but I'd feel guilty the whole time, my wife would feel abandoned and resentful, and I'd be thinking about ways to get home faster instead of enjoying being with men. Priesthood session gave us authoritative permission to be somewhere else and know we are doing something important.

@GrandpaJoeSux Join F3 and work out with a cool group of guys in the morning. You didn't lose anything that can't be replaced. The victim card is very unsightly.

The comments are FULL of women who do not understand what Priesthood session meant to us. “Just invite some guys to meet at Dairy Queen!” They say. Well, first, what do you think our wives would say to that? “Hon, I’m going to invite a bunch of guys from Elders Quorum to go get ice cream.” She’d think you were speaking in coded gay lingo or at best it was a concerning way to spend your precious free time and the free time of other adult men. Let me say this again, women DO NOT understand what we lost.

You'll never hear a Latter-Day Saint say you are not Christian or that you're going to hell for your beliefs. The inverse is commonplace. The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches an expansive salvation that causes us to not need those divisive judgments or offer those condemnations. As far as we're concerned we're on the same team. Even if you insist on banning us from the league.

You say it’s ludicrous not to consider them Christians, but the Mormon Doctrine of the Great Apostasy basically makes the same accusation of us. That we lost the priesthood, and “none had authority from God to administer the ordinances of the gospel.” At best, you can honestly describe us a semi-Christian. Before the restoration of the Gospel under Smith the world was “in darkness” according to Joseph Smith, and our churches governed by “the precepts of men.” Why not say, along with Smith “Their creeds are an abomination in His sight.”?

@aualliso @1LLoyd24 @iamian You have that in reverse. By the 100s there was mass confusion over simple points of doctrine and no more authorized leadership. It's not interpretation. The pure doctrine was clearly lost.

@1LLoyd24 @iamian To claim the early Christian church entered apostasy is literally insane.

Why 1820? By Hyrum W. Smith (summary of 27 September 1988 devotional, Ricks College) Year - Event 0 - The Savior is born. 30 - The Savior begins His ministry. 33 - The Savior is crucified. The Church is established under the Apostles. 42 - Peter establishes the Church in Rome; ordains Bishop Linus (the root of the Catholic lineage). 43 - Paul returns to Rome and finds immediate apostasy from Peter’s teachings. 64 - Nero has Linus the Deacon (successor to Bishop Linus) killed. The authorized Church disappears from Rome. 70 - The Roman Tenth Legion destroys Jerusalem. ~78 - Bishop Linus receives a letter declaring the Church to be “universal.” The term Catholic (universal) is adopted. 96 - John the Revelator is exiled to Patmos, writes Revelation, then disappears from record (save modern revelation) 101 - The Apostasy is complete, as none on earth can say, “Thus saith the Lord.” 320 - Constantine convenes the First Council of Nicaea to “define God.” The Nicene Creed becomes the basis of Christian doctrine. The Roman Catholic Church becomes the Church of the State. The Reign of the Popes begins. 785 - Empress Irene convenes the Second Council of Nicaea. Saints are canonized, and idol worship enters the Church. ~900 - Pope Joanna (recorded by Lutheran historians, denied by Catholic sources) reigns, becomes pregnant, and vanishes from history. 1100 - Three rival popes excommunicate one another and go to war to determine who is the true pope. 1200 - The printing press emerges. Pope Innocent III (“the Boss Pope”) fights on three fronts and institutes the sale of indulgences to fund his wars. 1300 - The Renaissance begins: a cultural revolution sparked by literacy and access to information. 1492 - Columbus sails and discovers the New World, a land prepared for future freedom. 1515 - The Reformation begins. Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, questions indulgences and nails his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg chapel door. 1523 - Luther is excommunicated. The Church proclaims that killing him “would not be murder.” Protected by German princes, he becomes the founder of the Lutheran Church. 1534 - King Henry VIII, denied divorce by the pope, creates the Church of England (today’s Episcopal Church). 1540 - John Calvin establishes the Huguenots (modern Presbyterians). 1560 - In England, John Knox, a disciple of Calvin, organizes the Puritans. 1575 - Bartholomew’s Day Massacre: Catholics slaughter Protestants in Paris. 1620 - The Puritans sail to America. Discovered by Columbus, invented by the Puritans, a nation is born. 1776 - The American Revolution begins; the Declaration of Independence is written. 1781 - The war ends. 1787 - The U.S. Constitution is signed, guaranteeing the freedom of religion for the first time in history. 1805 - Joseph Smith Jr. is born in Sharon, Vermont. Perhaps, at last, the Church can survive again on earth. 1812 - The War of 1812: America secures its independence permanently. 1818 - Karl Marx is born in Europe, and the opposition raises its leader. 1820 - Joseph Smith prays in the Sacred Grove. The Restoration begins. 1830 - April 6, The Church of Jesus Christ is formally established. In that same year, the U.S. Patent Office closed, believing “everything that could be invented has been invented.” Progress since then has eclipsed all prior millennia. Conclusion Why was the gospel restored in 1820? Because it was the only time it could possibly have survived, and it almost didn’t even then.

@sierradivinely We can get you a mattress too! : ) youtu.be/QHyZs7eT6Jg?fe…

@sierradivinely You might like this video. My kids love watching this one and the others in the series. youtu.be/SiNSCCB5ABo?fe…

@Andyfdonaldson @Homofosho228435 @SprawlOnoSendAi @joshnaa2gez Dude. Come hang out let's grab lunch and we'll have a conversation. But what you're talking about is not going to happen over a Twitter exchange.

@bradshep @Homofosho228435 @SprawlOnoSendAi @joshnaa2gez I’m glad you find value in your faith, but your perspective will not win over curious minds like me. I was hoping you had a deeper thought I hadn’t yet considered.

I will say this, the Book of Mormon is either from God or a demon, not of man. Its production was clearly supernatural. Considering it invites men to come unto Christ, I’m going to say it’s not from a demon.

@Andyfdonaldson @Homofosho228435 @SprawlOnoSendAi @joshnaa2gez I have no idea what you know. I can say I do know it's true. I know every attempt to disprove it's claimed original story or to smear the character of the prophet who brought it forth have failed. Those attempts always will fail. What sticks is the truth.

@bradshep @Homofosho228435 @SprawlOnoSendAi @joshnaa2gez I’m genuinely interested what you think I don’t know that would change my mind? Arrogance and dogma annoy me- but I LOVE being proved wrong. As per your original statement- what do i not know or know enough about the Book of Mormon?

@Homofosho228435 @Andyfdonaldson @SprawlOnoSendAi @joshnaa2gez There's no breaking through willful ignorance. Those who spend the most time studying the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the life of Joseph Smith, from us normal folk to those with PhDs on the subject, are their most ardent defenders. Your summary reading doesn't cut it.

@Andyfdonaldson @Homofosho228435 @SprawlOnoSendAi @joshnaa2gez 'my dad's stronger than your dad' My original statement stands. Knowing about is not the same as knowing.

@bradshep @Homofosho228435 @SprawlOnoSendAi @joshnaa2gez I bet I know more than you about the Book of Mormon- what am I missing? And @Homofosho228435 It’s not nice to tell children Santa isn’t real.

@bethanyjbabcock I love the idea. My wife is super allergic to the newspaper ink though. Instant migraines for her. Not sure how common that is and I've wondered if there's a perhaps less toxic alternative that could help with the paper come back effort.

Update… we started getting the paper and 10/10 recommend!!!! The older kids (11 and 9) are asking insightful questions about world events. My youngest (7) has to find a word he doesn’t know the meaning of every day. Dropping them off at school it’s funny to look back and each of them are reading a section like little old people on a train to work. Each morning is also a game of hide and go seek because we live on a little bit of land and have no idea where the paper will be each day. My oldest heads out in shorts and cowboy boots with a headlamp before the sun is up 😂 I wonder if papers will make a come back?

@bethanyjbabcock Very cool. Tell your husband and his friends to look up F3 Nation. It'll add a fitness element to that faith and fellowship effort, and then they can have a whole big group of guys knock out all the deferred maintenance items in that restaurant!

Every Saturday for the last 5 years my husband has gone to breakfast with a group of other men to a small Mexican restaurant. Often they are the only customers. Sometimes it’s 4 of them, sometimes it’s more than a dozen. They talk about faith, family and life. Once the men noticed some maintenance items that needed attention at the restaurant and took it upon themselves to handle it. He came back this last time and said the owner refused to take their order. She announced it had been 5 years since they started coming and she had something special for them. She and her family proceeded to bring out plate after plate of food for the men. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, coffee cake you name it. Becoming a regular at a local spot can truly change someone’s life. Like a real hallmark movie this weekend 😭

@mimimama_12 @shaunmmaguire Take the friendly sentiment as a W and leave it at that. I could never feel bothered by someone using that wonderful nickname for us.

@shaunmmaguire Thank you! I wish all would stop calling us by a nickname that we no longer use and use our real name which is the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints.

Christians are under attack in America Mormons are Christians Jews have an incredible amount in common with Christians We should all be united Flame me

@ScarletOHater @moseskagan Thank you for the love. It is meaningful. And, you certainly won't offend any of us by using the nickname, but we do appreciate those who support the desire/effort to use the full name as much as possible.

@bradshep @moseskagan I don’t want to use any defamatory term. Thank you for your comment. You are all in my prayers/ I am sickened by what happened in MI.

1. When terrible things happens to Jewish people, I am always heartened by non-Jews who reach out to express their sorrow & support. 2. In my personal and professional lives, don't think I have never come across a Mormon person I did not ultimately come to admire. Am no expert on the theology, but you are, in my experience, wonderful neighbors, friends & colleagues. Am therefore breaking my personal prohibition against commenting on breaking news (which is not what people follow me for) to say: Am horrified by what happened in MI & sending love to all of you.

@moseskagan You're a good dude Moses. Thank you. And you can always count on us to be in your corner.

We don't hate it! It started as a derogatory term 200 years ago but it became a well-liked nickname. Recently we've been asked to emphasize the full name of the church which includes the name of our Savior, and referring to ourselves as members of that church. Using the nickname less. That's all.

@moseskagan Yes. And please tell me why they hate to be called Mormons. I am very confused.