17 Points of the True Church

More than anything I'm writing this post to have a place I can remember where I can turn to whenever I want to review these points.

When I was in college I heard this story about 5 college friends. 

Since that time, I've heard it said that this is "Mormon Folklore." Whether it is or is not, the truth found in these 17 statements remain powerful, eternal, and, well, true. 

On Deseret Book's website, you can find the talk given by the man who claims these 17 points. Here is what the website says in the description of this talk:

"In this classic talk, Floyd Weston recounts the extraordinary experience of five college friends. Using only the New Testament as their guide, Floyd and four of his friends from college identified the key doctrines and organization of the Church established by Christ. Separated by the events of World War II and the pursuits of careers and families, the friends re-unite and discover that in their individual quests to find the true church, as described in the New Testament, each had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. An inspiring and faith promoting story."

In the end, it is neither here nor there whether these 5 friends actually are real or not. What is true is that we must approach God on our very own, and put forth the desire and effort ourselves to find and know the truth regarding His restored Church. 

Either Joseph Smith was His prophet, or he wasn't. If he wasn't, then you lose nothing in finding that out straight from God (no one else). But if he was, then you stand to gain eternity by finding out straight from God (no one else).  Essentially, you have nothing to lose by studying this out in your own mind, reading the Book of Mormon, looking into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and humbly kneeling in full faith to ask God if it is all true or not. Through the power of the Holy Ghost He will make it manifest to you - if you are honest in your search and your honest heart is full of faith that God can and will answer you. Go ahead. I challenge you to the test. 

 As for me - I did all those things over a period of many years, and I received my answer directly from God and in a powerful way. It imprinted the eternal truth that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints truly is His restored Church - the 'vehicle' through which His gospel is administered and through which His Israel is being gathered (for Israel is much more than just the geographical region, but it is a state of heart and a group known as His Kingdom on earth.)

Come see for yourself! All are invited!  And know ahead of time, that should you ever join, you are joining a "hospital for the sick", not a "kingdom of perfect people." This is the entire reason for having His Church in the first place - so it can be a place to teach His children, where they can teach, uplift, support, love, and befriend each other. A place where His covenants can be learned and practiced. A place for all those humans who are not perfect, but who are striving for that perfection by following Christ, knowing that one day He will make that perfection reality. 

You're invited to join us! It's the single one thing that has given my path more light, more understanding about life, about who I am, why I'm here, and where I'm going. It has given me the strength to meet life's challenges and 'yoked' me with Christ so that my burdens have been made lighter. And it has utterly helped me understand "Why me?" and "Why do bad things happen to good people?" and "What about all those who die without knowing about this?" and so many others of life's questions.

I once read the Book of Mormon contains the answers to all of life's most important questions. It truly does. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. It is His word, along with the Holy Bible when it translated correctly. 

So here I leave the 17 Points of The True Church for your perusal and my 'remberification'. (Yes, I just made that word up.)

 

THE 17 POINTS OF THE TRUE CHURCH

Note1: All scriptures are from the King James Version of the Bible

Note2 : You will need to scroll down to the appropriate verse(s)

1. Christ organized the Church (Eph 4:11-14)
2. The true church must bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 5:23)
3. The true church must have a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 2:19-20)
4. The true church must have the same organization as Christ's Church (Eph 4:11-14)
5. The true church must claim divine authority (Heb 4:4-10)
6. The true church must have no paid ministry (Acts 20:33-34; John 10:11-13)
7. The true church must baptize by immersion (Matt 3:13-16)
8. The true church must bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-17)
9. The true church must practice divine healing (Mark 3:14-15)
10. The true church must teach that God and Jesus are separate and distinct individuals (John 17:11; 20:17)
11. The true church must teach that God and Jesus have bodies of flesh and bone (Luke 23:36-39; Acts 1:9-11; Heb 1:1-3)
12. The officers must be called by God (Heb 4:4; Ex 28:1; 40:13-16)
13. The true church must claim revelation from God (Amos 3:7)
14. The true church must be a missionary church (Matt 28:19-20)
15. The true church must be a restored church (Acts 3:19-20)
16. The true church must practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 15:16&29)
17. "By their fruits ye shall know them." (Matt 7:20)

 

As an added fun bonus - here's a testimony from a Baptist preacher on how the Lord lead him to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I appreciate the questions he asks at the beginning - because they were questions I had when I finally reached that place in life where I felt the same way: 

 "If you feel like your spiritual journey, wherever you are on the grid, has kinda felt a little all over the place, sometimes it feels like really great and other times, not so much, and maybe you've visited a ton of different churches, and maybe you've been a part of a few different things, but you can never kind of figure out where home was. If that's you, I just wanna applaud you for exploring and searching."