The Sego Lily Foundation
The Sego Lily Foundation exists to glorify God by equipping born-again Christians for the work of gospel ministry to Latter-day Saints.
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It was spring, 1848, and the Mormon pioneers were hungry. Starving, really. The Great Basin demands meticulous and time-consuming cultivation to unlock its bounty. Winter had depleted whatever food reserves remained and harvest dangled hopelessly in the future.
Many desperate Latter-day Saints turned to the Ute people, Native Americans who thrived in the Rocky Mountains’ arid climate. The Utes were kind and taught these pioneers how to harvest the bulbs of Sego Lilies, white-petaled flowers that began to dapple the foothills. Those who ate the sego lilies were derisively called “bulb-eaters” by their LDS cohorts. But soon enough the Bulb-Eaters wore their nickname with pride for they had demonstrated a willingness to do whatever it takes to survive. The Sego Lily Foundation takes its name from this little snippet of pioneer history.
Today, more and more children of these pioneers are realizing that they’re still hungry. This time, however, they’re hungry for more. They’re hungry for God. And many, just like their forbears, are looking for help outside their faith. That’s where we come in. We teach born-again Christians how to feed Latter-day Saints the Bread of Life. Those who eat this Bread may have to wear an unflattering nickname, but they won’t be hungry anymore.
Sharing the Gospel of grace
Our final authority for faith and practice is the Bible. Within this divinely inspired book, certain passages are particularly relevant for ministry among Latter-day Saints. We highlight four as core ministry commitments.
1. Speak truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)
Many born-again Christians have told the truth, but with hateful insensitivity and uninformed arrogance. God’s good news is angrily shouted behind placards and disrespectful taunts. This behavior, no matter how well-intentioned, is sin (James 1:20). We are sorry, and we apologize to Latter-day Saints for these actions. We also acknowledge that the truth can be a frightening thing. A simple statement of truth can have far-reaching consequences (John 8:31-59). By God’s grace, we promise to speak God’s liberating truth (John 8:32) in a spirit of grace (James 3:17).
2. Equip the Saints for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12).
Jesus commands His followers to teach what they’ve learned ( Matthew 28:19-20 ). Jesus also commands that some of those followers teach full-time (Acts 5:42) — born-again Christians often call these men pastors. The co-founders of the Sego Lily Foundation are pastors, a fact that should not alarm any Latter-Day Saint for The Articles of Faith say, “We believe in same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelist, and so forth” (Article 6). We earnestly desire to fulfill our pastoral ministry (2 Timothy 4:5) by coming alongside born-again Christians “for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12).
3. Strengthen Local Churches (Romans 1:11).
A healthy local church is one of God’s most potent tools for evangelism ( 1 Thessalonians 1:8 ). We endeavor, therefore, to excel in building up local churches (1 Corinthians 14:12) and to encourage their leaders ( Hebrews 12:12-13) by providing sound words of instruction (2 Timothy 1:13) that can simultaneously destroy strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4) and impart spiritual life (Philippians 2:16).
4. Direct people to God (Acts 26:15–20).
We often hear, “I’ve given up on the LDS Church, but I haven’t given up on God.” We want these people to know that God doesn’t come through an institution, but through a Person (John 14:6). What’s more, many former Latter-day Saints have rejected Mormonism’s Heavenly Father mistakenly believing that he and the LORD God are one-in-the-same. Our greatest passion is to direct hurting Latter-day Saints, both former and current, to the true and living God who is both Savior and King (1 Timothy 1:1, 17).
Our History
In the summer of 2016, two separate events formed the seedbed for the Sego Lily Foundation. First, a tragic string of teenage suicides put one of our co-founders, Pastor Greg Baker, in touch with hurting LDS families. These heart-breaking interactions developed in him an even greater desire to see Latter-day Saints turn to the God of all compassion.
Second, one of God’s choice servants went home to be with Christ. Ira Ransom was a veteran missionary of five decades who not only gave his life to evangelizing Latter-day Saints but developed instructional methods that were used to great effect. Those who knew him wondered how to make the most of his substantial investment.
From there, a group of Utah-based pastors began to brainstorm of how best to take the word to hurting Latter-day Saints. After much prayer, deliberation, and trial-and-error, the Sego Lily Foundation took shape. Initially, we focused on Discovering God Together, an online resource that trains born-again Christians for an evangelistic Bible study with LDS friends. Now the Sego Lily Foundation concentrates on seminars for local churches, Sunday School and small-group materials that equip born-again Christians for day-to-day interaction with Latter-day Saints, and a written archive of resources that tackle hard LDS issues. In the future, we foresee pastoral training and assistance for church-planting in Utah/Idaho.
Statement of Faith
The Bible (the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments) is God's definitive and Spirit-inspired Word. It is without error as originally written, preserved by God's keeping power, and utterly trustworthy in all that it affirms. Taken in its natural, literal, and consistent sense, the Bible shall be the Sego Lily Foundation's final authority in all matters of faith and practice (Jn 7.17; 16.12–15; 1Co 2.7–14; 2Tm 3.15–17; He 6.18; Mt 5.18; Mk 13.31; 2 Pet 1.20–22).
There is one God. And He exists forever in three unified Persons—Father, Son, and Spirit—with each deserving identical worship and obedience. Co-equal and like-minded, this triune God functions with express roles in creation, redemption, and providence (Dt 6.4; Is 45.5–7; 1Co 8.4; Mt 28.19; 2Co 13.14; Ps 103.19; Ro 11.36). God the Father is a boundless personal spirit Who possesses flawless character, eternal knowledge and power, and works all things according to His purpose and glory (Jn 4.24; Ps 40.5; 145.8–9; 1Co 8.6; Ep 1.11; 1Ch 29.11; Ep 1.4–6).
Jesus, God's co-equal and co-eternal Son, possesses both divine and human natures in one person. This God-man became the incarnate Christ when He was conceived by His Spirit and born of a virgin. His sinless life, substitutionary death, and bodily resurrection fully satisfied God's wrath against man's sin and supplied a perfect righteousness for mankind; He now intercedes for everyone who calls on Him for salvation (Jn 1.1, 14, 18; Ph 2.5–8; Cl 2.9; Mt 1.18–25; Ro 3.24–25; 5.6–9; 8.32–34; He 7.25; 1Pt 2.24).
God the Spirit proceeds from the Father and convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment; He regenerates, sanctifies, and empowers all who trust in Jesus; He indwells every believer as an abiding Helper, Teacher and Guide in changing them into the image of Christ (Jn 3.3–7; 14.26; 15.26–27; 16.7–14; Ro 8.9, 29; 1Co 3.16; 6.19; 2Pt 1.20–21).
God created man in his image both male and female. Having sinned, man now suffers physical decay and death. Apart from God's exclusive and individual salvation, man will endure a second death, that is, endless separation from God. Mankind is inherently corrupt, prone to sin, wholly incapable to remedy that condition, and falls under God's righteous condemnation (Ge 2.7; 3.1–19; Ja 3.9; Ro 1.18; 3.9–18, 23; 6.23; Ps 14.1–3; Je 17.9).
Through the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ, God justifies unworthy sinners by imputing their sins to Christ and His righteousness to them. All who repent of their sins and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead, shall be saved apart from any human merit. (Ro 5.10–12, 10.9; 1Pt 1.18–19; Ep 4.1–11; 1Co 1.30; 2Co 5.21; Jn 5.24).
Those who trust in Christ alone as their Savior are born again by the Spirit, forgiven of their sins, and delivered from condemnation by God's grace to receive eternal life. They become new in Christ, set apart to walk in newness of life, and are kept eternally secure through God's power to preserve them (Is 55.6–7; 2Co 7.10; Ep 1.7; 2.8–10; Jn 3.3–7; 2Co 3.18; 1Th 5.23; Cl 3.9–10).
Believers are accountable to God in a local church, which are groups of born-again Christians assembled for the purpose of being a church. Local churches are commanded to worship regularly, support one another sacrificially, and maintain Christ as Head over all. Indwelt and gifted by the Holy Spirit, churches glorify God by building themselves up in the faith through the teaching of His Word, fellowship of the saints, mutual service, observance of the ordinances, intercessory prayer, and sharing the Gospel (1Co 12.12–13; Ep 1.22; 2.11—3.6; 4.5, 13–16; 2Tm 2.2, 15; Ac 1.8; 2.47).
All mankind will experience a bodily resurrection—those saved to eternal life and those unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment in a place called "the Lake of Fire"—and until that time, the deceased souls of the redeemed in Christ will remain in joyful fellowship with Him (Da 12.2; Jn 5.29; 6.39; Ro 8.10–11, 19–32; 2Co 4.14; 5.8; Re 20.13–15). The imminent return to earth of the Lord Jesus Christ will be personal and visible, to judge the living and the dead, and to establish fully His Kingdom in a new heaven and a new earth where the righteous will dwell with Him in joy forevermore (Mt 16.27; Jn 14.3; Ac 1.11; Phil 3.20–21; 1Th 4.15; 2Ti 4.1; 1Co 4.5; 15; 2Th 1.7–10; Re 20.4–6, 11–15).
God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as either male or female. These two distinct, complementary sexes together reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of one's biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person. Accordingly, our communication reflects the reality of God's created order—put simply, we use male pronouns to refer to those persons who were created biologically male, and female pronouns to refer to those persons who were created biologically female (Gen 1.26–27; 2.18–25).
Although rare, those born with hermaphroditism bear the image of God and possess all the dignity inherent therein. These image-bearers deserve all empathy, love, and support from the Christian community as they embrace their biological gender insofar as they may know it. Furthermore, these image-bearers, like all others, are encouraged to find their truest identity in the Lord Jesus Christ (Gen 1.26–27; Ps 139.14; Jer 1.5; Mt 19.12; 1 Cor 6.17; Col 2.9–10).
The term marriage has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in the Bible. God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman; sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, or use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (1 Cor 6.9–18; 7.2–5; Heb 13:4; Matt 15:18- 20).
To preserve the function and integrity of the Sego Lily Foundation of Utah, and to provide a biblical role model to the Sego Lily Foundation of Utah's members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by the Sego Lily Foundation of Utah in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Marriage and Sexuality. God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with the Bible nor the doctrines of the Sego Lily Foundation of Utah (Mt 5.16; Phil 2.14–16; 1 Thess 5.22; Acts 3.19–21; Rom 10.9–10; 1 Cor 6:9–11; Mk 12.28–31; Lk 6:31).