No Coincidences

Tag: bible

  • November 2023 Israel-Palestine Conflict

    November 2023 Israel-Palestine Conflict

    I wrote about the Israel-Palestine conflict earlier this year.

    Here we are 10 months later. I encourage anyone to go read my original post. I just did. It helped me refresh in my mind the complexity of this issue. This issue clearly isn’t going away in our lifetimes. I think it’s only a matter of time before this issue could impact our actual lives so it’s good to be aware of what’s going on.

    Before I write this, be aware that I am aggressively avoidant of the news. It’s so conflicting and I don’t trust it. If I’m going to look into this topic, I’m going to do a lot of research and reading. Beth just said she didn’t know how to interpret the news because she’ll hear one thing and then the complete opposite from moment to moment. So, some of what I write here might be considered politically incorrect. I don’t care.

    I recently accidentally listened to a soundbite from the Republican presidential debate. Someone was asked what Israel should do to the terrorists, Hamas. The response was so… aggressive. I had a bunch of other adjectives there at first, for what the response was. I removed them because I don’t want to offend anyone. That said, I will voice my opinion here. I hope anyone reading who would use aggressive terms about what Israel should do will consider the complexity of the situation before proclaiming that Hamas must be destroyed by any means necessary.

    I just went to search for exactly what was said by that Republican candidate and found an article in the Washington Post with the title:

    “Candidates use violent rhetoric on Israel-Gaza war without mentioning humanitarian aid“

    I think it’s immensely important to remember that the pursuit of vengeance is causing more atrocities to be performed.

    Terrorism is bad. Obvious statement? Of course. So is retaliation, withholding food, water, and medical supplies to innocent people, bombing hospitals, war crimes.

    Division.

    Pro-Israel or pro-Palestine. These are labels.

    This entire world is focused on creating more divisions among us. Satan reigns in the hearts of men.

    The world is not black and white. The Book of Mormon is a story of two groups of people that couldn’t coexist. They had a centuries-long feud based upon an argument over the right to rule. It is written from the perspective of the Nephites so it can often incorrectly be characterized as a story of good guys versus bad guys. The story of the Nephites and the Lamanites is not a story of good guys and bad guys. It is a story of two groups of people with differing views, ideologies, politics, and cultures that each felt they were in the right.

    The world is not black and white. It is seldom as simple as good guys and bad guys. That’s what we’re seeing in the Middle East right now. A study of the Book of Mormon can show us exactly where this kind of feud leads. It can only lead to complete destruction on both sides.

    Some quotes from my last post on this conflict –

    “What’s worse is what is being done to Israeli people, we are becoming animals.” 

    Two Blue Lines

    “It’s clear that there will not be peace if we continue to demolish innocent peoples’ houses…”

    Two Blue Lines

    “All former Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security service, think the FBI) leaders were unanimous; Israel must talk with the terrorists.  They must talk with anyone that might talk to them.  Peace cannot come through military or tactics or fighting or intelligence.”

    Israel-Palestine Conflict

    “When conflict becomes decades of conflict, an eye for an eye becomes 100,000 eyes for 100,000 eyes.”

    Israel-Palestine Conflict

    The two great commandments of God are to love and to love (Matthew 22:36-40).

    This conflict doesn’t end until forgiveness and love supersede vengeance and bloodshed.

    Now, look at the cover picture, at the top of this post. Look at it closely. Stare at it. Put yourself there. Be the man in that picture for a fraction of a second. I did. That’s why I’m writing this post. My heart breaks for those caught in a war. My heart breaks for those who want nothing to do with this conflict, caught in between angry, vengeful, hateful factions. My heart breaks for men and women holding their dead children in their arms.

    I am not Pro-Israel or Pro-Palestine. I am Pro-peace. I believe we all should be.

  • How did the Trinity come to be? – The Nicene Creed Post 1

    How did the Trinity come to be? – The Nicene Creed Post 1

    Most of my blog posts are personal experiences with little research. They’re mostly just stream-of-thought writing. That’s what I prefer.

    Every once in a while, I want to write about a topic I know nothing about, which results in some (or a lot) of research. My Adam-God Theory post is one that comes to mind.

    I’ve long wanted to write a post about how the Trinity came to be. To prove this, years ago I gave my thoughts on the Trinity in this post.

    And wrote about how I know the Godhead to be true in this post.

    This has been a topic pretty consistently on my mind for a long time.

    Quick definition so we can all follow along (because this isn’t going to be an advanced or complicated post), the Trinity refers to the belief that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are all one being. Most of Christianity believes in the Trinity. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through the experience of the prophet Joseph Smith, believe in the Godhead. The Godhead is the belief that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three distinct beings who are one in purpose (John 17:21-23).

    I’ve long wanted to learn more about how the Trinitarian belief came to be. I know it developed from the Nicene Creed. But if this is a falsehood perpetuated throughout history, how did it become so dominant? I’ve wanted to understand this history better. Part of the motivation to understand this better comes from the dominance of the Trinitarian viewpoint. When I’m trying to relate to other Christians, the Trinity vs Godhead question really becomes an issue.

    To know God you must know who He is. When I talk to a Christian, we both believe in Jesus Christ, but who is Jesus Christ? It’s OK to say we both believe in God and go from there, but sometimes not understanding who God is keeps me and other Christians from really being able to progress and learn from each other.

    Personally, I believe this is why this misunderstanding has been so perpetuated throughout history. Satan is cunning. He knows if we don’t know who our Father is, it becomes so much harder to worship Him.

    Is that an unfair statement for me to make? I can hear all the Catholics and Protestants and Lutherans and Baptists in an uproar when I state that a core belief of theirs has been perpetuated by Satan to confuse them. I understand that this is inflammatory. When I’m told by those same groups of people that my belief that God the Father and Jesus Christ are separate and distinct beings is a lie that Satan has deceived me with, it hurts. So I get it.

    This is why I want to understand where the belief in the Trinity comes from.

    When I read the Bible, it’s so abundantly clear to me. It doesn’t make any sense to me that people can read the Bible and conclude that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are one person. And yet, I’m in the minority, so clearly, there’s more to it.

    We all have our biases. I have always known Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to be separate individuals. I have always known Christ to be my advocate with the Father. I have always known Heavenly Father to be my literal Heavenly Father. Seeing it any other way is hard. I get that others have always seen them as the same being. Others have read the scriptures with them being the same entity in mind. I get it.

    Which leads me to my point.

    As I studied this more, trying to understand it, the more confused I got. How this came to be is so confusing. I wanted to write a post simply explaining the history of the Nicene Creed and how the Trinitarian belief came to be and I’m realizing giving a “simple” explanation is going to take a lot more reading to understand.

    Some things stood out as I’ve studied this topic. I have a 62,000+ word document of research, quotes, and other information from my study of this topic.

    What stands out are the words I come across when reading how the Trinitarian belief came into existence.

    “Argument” – 13 times in my notes.

    “Debate” – 7 times in my notes.

    “Power” – 18 times in my notes.

    These are the words I kept coming across as I studied this topic.

    One word stands out that I haven’t come across thus far in all my reading. That word is “revelation.” In all that I’ve read it’s always “debate” and “power” and “trial” and “gain” and “politics.” No revelation

    I would love for a biblical and historical scholar to give me a crash course on the history of the creeds. For now, I continue to read, and study, and try to understand why the Christian world trusts a gospel principle that was handed down by power and politics, with little reference to the God they were trying to understand.

    I conclude this post without a conclusion because I don’t yet have one. It will be the first of many posts about the Nicene Creed and the Trinitarian belief.

  • Does God get Impatient?

    Does God get Impatient?

    Sometimes I have heard the comment when discussing scripture that God “lost his patience.” In this way of thinking, enough was enough for God. The Lord of Lords and King of Kings had come to the end of His straw. His patience was lost.

    There are countless examples we can look to where a perceived loss of patience occurred. In these examples, our human eyes see a loss of patience. Examples include the times the Lord told Moses He was going to destroy the Israelites (Exodus 32, Deuteronomy 9:12-14) or Uzzah touching the ark (2 Samuel 6:6-7).

    Does God change His mind?

    Various Google searches of “Is God impatient” come up with many titles like “God is patient – until He isn’t.” I propose that this is not the right way to think about God. I lose patience with my toddler, often. We all lose patience, often. Does God “lose patience” with me? I don’t think so.

    Remember the omniscient thing? Omniscience=all knowing. If God knows the beginning from the end, how can He lose patience? He knows what’s coming.

    From this link during some of those Google searches:

    “God is never said to be patient about things or circumstances. Why? It is because He knows all things. He knows the beginning from the end. He does not have any need of that kind of patience. When we speak of the patience of God, we are not talking about enduring hard times; we are talking about being longsuffering toward people.”

    David Hocking

    Patience, like time, is a human thing. It doesn’t apply to God. We apply it to Him in our attempt to understand Him. But how can God be “patient” if He already knows everything?

    So why are these examples, where it seems like the Lord changes His mind, included in the scriptures? Why is the account of the Lord saying He was going to destroy the Israelites and raise up a seed through Moses, only to “change His mind” included in the Bible?

    The question, “Why is it in the Bible” is almost always answered, “to teach us about Christ.”

    Let’s look at the Moses example.

    Moses is talking to Jehovah when he pleads on behalf of the children of Israel. He is interceding on their behalf. Who does Moses represent here? – Jesus Christ, our advocate with the Father. So, in this case, Moses was being a type of Christ and Christ was assuming the role of God the Father. We were learning from this scripture that Christ is our advocate with the Father, the same way Moses was the advocate for the Israelites with Jehovah.

    We must be careful in applying our human traits to God. God is not us. He works on a completely different plane. We can’t comprehend His ways and it’s important, because of our lack of understanding, we don’t lessen His power and perfection in our finite minds.

    God doesn’t lose patience with circumstances. He can’t. He knows all the circumstances. He knows the beginning. He knows the end. God doesn’t lose patience with us. He can’t. He is perfect in everything, including His love for us. He can want the best from us, He can want us to be better, He can want us to make better choices. But He DOES NOT lose patience with us. He is longsuffering. He is loving. He is perfect.

  • The Prints

    The Prints

    There’s a subtlety throughout scripture I don’t think we discuss often enough.

    We know that when we are resurrected, we are resurrected to our perfect frame. Not a hair on our heads will be lost. We will be perfected (Alma 11:43-44).

    We also know that when Christ showed Himself after His resurrection, He retained the prints in his hands, wrists, and feet (3 Nephi 11, John 20).

    Why does Christ retain these markings? Why does He keep these reminders of the most pain and suffering any person has ever experienced? It’s because Christ doesn’t remember the suffering when he looks at those marks. He remembers us.

    He could choose to remove those physical “blemishes.” Instead, He keeps them as a reminder.

    He also probably keeps them for us. So that when we see Him, we can be reminded of what He did for us. So we can remember His suffering and in turn realize how deeply He loves us. In this sense, Christ may have Thomas the Doubter (unfair title) in mind (John 20:25).

    Everything in scripture can hold some deep significance.

    I think this often overlooked fact holds spectacular significance.

    He was pierced through, tortured, suffered for us. He will never forget us. We are etched in the palms of His hands.

  • Of Goodly Parents

    Of Goodly Parents

    Over Christmas, I watched family home videos with my family. We played a video from 1994, a few months after my sister Adie was born. I was four at the time. I was singing to Adie.

    Early in the video, I was singing Humpty Dumpty, Old Mcdonald, and Jack and Jill. Then I started singing Follow the Prophet.

    Adam was a prophet, first one that we know.

    In a place called Eden, he helped things to grow.

    Adam served the (King!) Lord by following his ways.

    We are his descendants in the latter days.

    Of course, at that age, I stumbled through most of the song and got many prompts. King was my confident guess at who Adam served. My answer was as right as the correct lyric anyway.

    My mom joked while my whole family was gathered around watching, “See, we did teach you about the Bible.”  We laughed.

    I don’t remember singing that song to Adie when I was four, obviously. But that song is so ingrained in my heart and soul, it’s a part of my being. Watching that video, it’s a physical, emotional, and spiritual remembering. As an adult now, thinking about that song, it feels like it’s always been a part of me. After watching that quick video, I know why.

    Parenthood is infinite tiny moments. I know that every day provides thousands and thousands of opportunities to have an impact on Ivy and Sage. I’m grateful for the thousands and thousands of moments my parents impacted me.

    My parents have flaws just as I do. I pray to Heavenly Father that, despite my many shortcomings and flaws, I can have a positive impact on Ivy and Sage, just as my parents had on me.

    If you’ve read the themes in my writing, you know there are three things ingrained in me that I know to be true.

    1. I have a divine inheritance; I am a child of God.
    2. I am loved.
    3. I am watched over.

    I hope to ingrain these same truths into the hearts and minds of Ivy and Sage. I wish to remind them here of what their souls already know. That is the greatest gift I could give them.