What is Faith, and Why is it Important?
There is more than one answer as to what faith is. It means different things to different people.
Lay Blessings and Priesthood Blessings
“O Lord, hear the prayer of thy servants, according to the blessing of Aaron over thy people, that all they which dwell upon the earth may know that thou art the Lord, the eternal God.” -Ecclesiasticus 36:17
It has been commonly accepted within the Restoration that the Priests and Priestesses of the Levitical Order do not have the authority to bless, because with the High Priesthood restored, the Elders should be called for. This custom and practice requires some clarification.
Pseudepigrapha or Restored Work? (Part 2)
“Behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.” -2 Chronicles 33:19c
While the world would keep us constantly in self doubt, having to always prove ourselves by hitting worldly markers of success and staying within the mean, God would have us see ourselves as powerful, complete, forgive and giving. He would turn ourselves away from serving ourselves by accumulation things and toward using our limited time and energy in the service of God and our fellow beings. This life is a test, a limited time to free ourselves from the perceptions given to us by others and our five senses, to living from our eternal spirit and in communion with the Divine Spirit that the physical world separates us from.
Pseudepigrapha or Restored Work? (Part 1)
“And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” -Exodus 24:7
The term Pseudepigrapha is a technical or scholarly term that refers to a work that is written under a false name or pseudonym. It’s use gets murky because it can refer to a work in which the author merely seeks to hide his or her identity for anonymity or to avoid persecution, or are attributing their doctrine to a famous figure. It is further clouded by the fact that H. R. Charles and James H. Charlesworth each published collected volumes of Pseudepigrapha, giving the unlearned the the notion of an “acceptable canon” of Pseudepigrapha. Many works in the canons themselves are regarded as Pseudepigrapha.
A Revelation on Judgement
A revelation of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit through the mind of Alexei Christopher on April 22, 2023 in Columbia, SC. On this occasion, he was holding resentments in his heart against perceived offenses and harboring bitter thoughts that he was wont to speak. The Master, by grace, gave the following instruction:
Unity in Diversity
“Thou shalt bless thy fellows, and thy children and servants, and theirs; and all who seek to learn the righteousness of God, and the peace of his Kingdom of thee, and all whom God has committed to thy care.” -Book of the Law of the Lord 4:2
In order for there to be unity, we must be conservative about our judgments, and allow others to come to know God on their own terms. It isn’t about their rightness, but rather us knowing our own place in determining their rightness before God. We all have sins, faults and errors in both doctrine and judgement, in which the Holy Spirit is working with us, by and by He will purify us in His own due time, and teach us line upon line, precept upon precept. Because of Ego, we are exceptionally good at seeing others’ faults, and imagining God’s judgment matching our own.
Personal Experiences and the Spirit of Discernment
Note: This article originally ran February 8, 2020.
In 2017, I participated in San Francisco’s Night Ministry. It is an outreach program with a fifty year history in which priests and pastors from various denominations walk the streets of San Francisco’s Tenderloin. They do not go out to preach, but rather walk slowly and wait for people to approach and make conversation. It is often described as a “listening ministry.” One may speak to the homeless, someone leaving a bar or any random person, but whoever wants to speak, it is the service of the priest to hear, validate and offer counsel only if asked.
To the Conference of Restoration Elders
AN EPISTLE OF ALEXEI TO THE CONFERENCE OF RESTORATION ELDERS COORDINATING COUNCIL AND THE SAINTS OF INDEPENDENCE
On December 27th , 2019, The Lord called for the scattered Saints in Independence and throughout the world to gather into a solemn assembly and repent individually and collectively as a people, and to begin to mend the divisions that as yet prevent the redemption of Zion and the building up of the Holy City. Many of the Saints obeyed and gathered together to offer prayer in Independence and in satellite churches in various lands on Yom Kippur, September 27, 2020. At the meeting, the Spirit moved Alexei in response to their assembly.
The Faith to Move Mountains and the Wisdom to Leave Them Be
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” -Matthew 17:20-21
Dear Brothers and Sisters, my mind is moved to write to you to address your great faith that you have in the Lord in a time when you will need it, and also to add a word of wisdom to that wellspring that you draw from. At this time, a great plague is moving across the land and the governments of every nation, kindred, tongue and people are in turmoil and confusion. At this time, we must remember what we have learned from the Gospel.
An Epistle to Joel and the Indignant of the Believers
The following is an epistle from Apostle Alexei Christopher Mattanovich to nonbelievers. This epistle was voted on and sustained as canon for use in the Church of Jesus Christ in Christian Fellowship by the Assembly of Saints April 6, 2020.
Forgery or Misattribution?
“Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord.” 1 Samuel 10:25a
In Lost Christianities page 9, Bart Ehrman begins by stating, “Almost all of the lost scriptures of the early Christians were forgeries.” He goes on to state, “Scholars have long recognized that even some of the books accepted into the canon are probably forgeries. Christian scholars, of course, have been loathe to call them that and so commonly referred to them as pseudonymous writings.”
A New Understanding of the Restoration
“Be faithful to the spirit of the Restoration, mindful that it is a spirit of adventure, openness, and searching; walk proudly and with a quickened step, be a joyful people, laugh and play and sing, embodying the hope and freedom of the gospel.” -Doctrines of the Saints 2c:12-13
Someone asked what religious tradition I was brought up in and how it helped me grow spiritually and accept other traditions. My response may open a whole new world for you.