No Coincidences

Tag: Book of Mormon

  • My Ignorance and Further Light and Knowledge

    My Ignorance and Further Light and Knowledge

    I have an embarrassing story I’m going to share. I’m not that embarrassed by it or else I wouldn’t share. Though, part of the reason I’m not embarrassed by it is probably due to how I’ve progressed from the ignorance I had at that point.

    Early on when I was coming back to church I started meeting with the missionaries and an individual who was curious about the church. One day after months of meeting together and discussing the Book of Mormon, he sat us down for a serious chat. The friend that had been meeting with us for months informed us that it wasn’t true. That’s a story for another day.

    There was a moment that has stuck with me that I haven’t forgotten. This friend, and he is a friend to this day, talked about the unity of the Christian faith. He talked about how LDS doctrine was way off, and most of Christianity, outside of us, agreed on the most important things.

    I wholeheartedly disagreed with this and still do. I see little unity in Christianity. See my post two weeks ago, A Kingdom Divided.

    This is the embarrassing part. At that time, I believed that Godhead vs. Trinity beliefs were roughly split 50/50 in Christianity. I thought for every Trinity leaning Christian sect there was a Godhead leaning sect. This was pure ignorance on my part. I had no idea that there were basically only two sects of Christianity that believed in the Godhead, and the rest followed the Trinitarian belief.

    To illustrate the divided nature of Christianity, I used the worst example. Based out of my ignorance, I stated that the issue of the Godhead vs. the Trinity was a perfect example of an important disagreement between Christianity. This friend who was essentially a Bible scholar looked at me like I was growing a second head. It was like he suddenly realized I had no idea what I was talking about and I lost all credibility.

    He said, “You know the LDS church is one of the only Christian churches that believes in the Godhead right?”

    I really didn’t. Now I did. Of course, it’s actually not that straight forward. While the belief that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are three separate and distinct beings is a minority belief, there are still many, many sects that believe in the Godhead.

    There was something important I learned from this experience, though. I’ll never know enough. There will always be things I don’t know. There will always be things I’m ignorant of. There will always be someone smarter than me. There will always be someone who understands history and the Bible and Christianity better than me.

    That said, if that “smarter,” “more learned,” or “Biblical scholar” doesn’t have the additional light and knowledge of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, whether they realize it or not, I will always have more than them. Even if I might not be what the world would call more learned on the subject, I’ve been introduced to truth and light from Heaven. Those that are biblical scholars are studying a dead text. The Bible is important, and wonderful, and a guider, but it is dead. It is no longer living. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christ’s restored church , is a living church. Further revelation and knowledge will always beat studying an ancient and sometimes misunderstood text.

    I have confidence in what I know. But I am not cocky in my understanding. I know there is so much I don’t know. I know I can’t Bible bash with the best of them.

    What I can do, and I hope I do, is rely on the Holy Spirit, the living spirit of revelation, to help me to teach others the truth I know. I may not know everything, but the Holy Spirit does. As long as I have Him with me, and preach and teach with His guidance, I can be confident. I can be confident not in what I know, but in what the Spirit knows and what He can reveal to me.

    I’m grateful for that embarrassing moment. It taught me to never be cocky. It taught me who I need to rely on.

    Ultimately, you can battle over interpretations of Bible verses until you’re blue in the face. The truth is, Christianity is the thing that Christ preached against more than anything – separated, disjointed, contentious. Christianity doesn’t agree because Christianity no longer relies on the Holy Spirit for revelation and truth.

    This led to mass confusion and misunderstanding in Christianity. The things “Christianity” are often the most consistent on (like the Trinity) were decisions made by men who had rejected God and His guidance.

    We need God to reveal truth to us. If we push Him out, He’ll let us fumble about. We’ve seen Christianity fumble about since it rejected Christ’s apostles and started to have their debates and creeds.

    The more I study the Nicene Creed and how the Trinitarian belief came about, the more confused I get. It’s something I hope to write about. But honestly, not sure I ever will because it’s such an ambiguous and ridiculous process that led to this “unanimous” belief.

    We need answers from heaven or we are lost. Christ’s church isn’t dead. It is living. Without that living church, we are lost.

  • Ministering

    Ministering

    Alma 35:7

    “And it came to pass that Alma and his brethren did minister unto them.”

    This is referring to the poor people of the Zoramites who had been forced to leave their homes and their city because they believed in Jesus Christ. These poor Zoramites were welcomed to the city of Jershon by the Ammonites, a recently converted group of Lamanites. I’ve written about the corruption of the Zoramites before.

    The Zoramites were so mad at these poor members of their society that they had already banished that they told the Ammonites in Jershon to not allow these poor individuals to live in their city. The people of Ammon, being decent human beings, ignored the demand from the wealthy Zoramites to cast out these poor people again.

    This is where the verse quoted, verse 7, comes in.

    Alma and his brethren ministered to these poor Zoramites. It was Alma and his brethren who preached to the poor Zoramites which ultimately led to them being cast from their homes. The people of Ammon also ministered to these people.

    Doesn’t this seem like an obvious thing? To take care of an innocent group of already poor people who were forced to leave their homes?

    If there was any question whether the teachings of the rich Zoramites were corrupt and had their roots in an evil nature, this behavior seems to confirm this fact. By their fruits you shall know them.

    And what’s up with the rich Zoramites that made them leave? It wasn’t enough that they forced these people out, making them pack up and go with what little they had to another town? They had to follow these people and try to get another town to not allow them to be there? How petty is this? This makes me think of some who leave the Church. Isn’t it enough to just leave? Do you have to follow the Church around bashing it, hating it, trying to destroy it?

    It is said that adherence of the sabbath day is what separated the Jews from the rest of the world and today respecting and keeping holy the sabbath day should be a mark of Christians, though that has unfortunately changed. That was the sign in ancient sign. What is the sign today?

    What sets apart Christ’s true church? It should be ministering to the one. Christ’s church should have a clear focus on ministering to one another, and to others.

    Christ’s church is not vindictive, it is loving. Christ’s church is not exclusive, it is inclusive. Christ’s church should be a community of saints supporting each other in every physical, emotional, and spiritual way possible. Christ’s church should be like Christ’s ministry. It should be a church of ministering to the one and to the all.

    The Ammonites are an extraordinary example of ministering. “And [they] did minister unto them.” Even with the threat of war, they still ministered. Even with the threat of murder, they ministered.

    What is our excuse as members of the Church of Jesus Christ if we aren’t ministering to each other? The Church of Jesus Christ has an organized, cohesive, important program of ministering. If we aren’t doing our part to minister to one another then we aren’t doing our part in separating ourselves from the world.

    I’m grateful that Christ’s church has an organized emphasis on ministering. I’m grateful I get to be a part of it. I’m grateful that Jesus Christ was the example of a perfect minister.

  • Ministering of Angels

    Ministering of Angels

    I read something from Hugh Nibley recently that stood out to me. It was very simple, but it jumped out at me. I think there is a profound truth about our existence in the vast universe behind this simple realization.

    What I was reading was a lecture from Nibley’s Book of Mormon class in the 1990s.

    Hugh Nibley asked a question:

    What is it that angels do when they minister to an individual?

    His answer – “It’s quite simple. They talk to them.”

    When Christ was on the mount of transfiguration with Peter and John and He was ministered to by angels, what did they do with Christ at that time? They spoke to Him.

    When Nephi was taken up in vision atop a mountain and spent time with an angel, what did the angel do? Talk to him.

    When Daniel was in the Lions’ Den, the angel shut up the mouths of the lions, but what else did he likely do? Do you imagine the angel and Daniel just sat there looking at each other? I think not. I think it likely the angel was talking with Daniel while they were in the den together.

    Same goes with Shadrach, Meshach , and Abednego who were thrown in the fiery furnace. Do you imagine the angel was standing and staring at them? I don’t.

    What is the significance of this?

    What is the ministering of angels? The ministering of angels is quite often angels simply conversing with mortals.

    What is the point?

    Angels come from another realm to visit mortals, and what do they do? Talk.

    Yet we’re surrounded by mortals all day every day. How often do we really talk?

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a ministering program. I think this program gets overcomplicated. All the program really asks is for us to talk to each other. Angels come from other dimensions to do it. We can pull out a phone and have someone on the other end of a line in seconds. We can be angels every day. All it takes is talking to people.

    I think this a profound thing to consider. All it takes for you to be someone’s ministering angel is to reach out and talk to them. This can be the difference in someone’s life.

  • Worldwide Family

    Worldwide Family

    *This was written in 2022, thus the mention to only Ivy.

    Beth and I are blessed in our lives to have the maximum amount of support from both of our families. If we ever needed support or help in any way, we would have help from all sides. 

    Not everybody has that.

    Some have moved away from their support systems. Some don’t have support systems.

    Recently we had a rough day in our household. I was in the office so Beth was on her own with Ivy. Ivy had been slightly under the weather and Beth was not feeling well at all. I knew it was bad when Beth did something she has never done and hasn’t done since: asked me to skip practice with my basketball team and come home.

    Right at that time I was responding to a thoughtful text from someone at church. She had complimented me on a talk I had recently given at church. This person from church had noticed Beth wasn’t at church the prior week. She asked if Beth was doing ok. I mentioned that Beth was under the weather. This kind woman from church asked, as she always does, if there was anything she could do to help. Bring dinner over maybe? 

    Normally I would have said we’re ok, and thank you. But I had just received this code red from Beth and knew she was struggling. I told this saint from church that a meal would help a lot.

    A couple hours later – chicken, green beans, potato salad, rolls, mac n cheese, and ice cream sandwiches were dropped off at our doorstep.

    We are fast approaching the time where I could be ANYWHERE in the world, and a faithful servant of Jesus Christ would be there to support me. I realized what a comfort it is to know I can go anywhere and feel instant brotherhood, love, and support from members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

    I am beyond grateful for my family. I am also beyond grateful for my church family. I know that it is the light of Christ that makes someone who is busy in her own life to drop everything and bring dinner to another family. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a community of loving support and will soon cover the whole globe. 

    I hope we never forget part of why the Church of Jesus Christ exists. It exists to bring food to those in need. It exists to provide a platform for us to stand with those in need of comfort, mourn with those who mourn, succor those in need of succor (Mosiah 18:9).

  • Why is the Book of Mormon Needed?

    Why is the Book of Mormon Needed?

    In honor of General Conference this weekend, I’m going to post a short and simple message.

    I know that we take the Book of Mormon for granted. I know that there are infinite purposes and benefits to us having the Book of Mormon on earth.

    Why do we need the Book of Mormon? Below is one critical reason.

    The Lord declared that there would be a sign before the gathering of His people, and before He started to establish Zion.

    The Book of Mormon is that sign. It is God’s sign that the Abrahamic covenant is still in force. The elect of the Lord are being gathered. This has been prophesied.

    This is why we need the Book of Mormon.

    “In fact, if there were no Book of Mormon, the promised gathering of Israel would not occur.”

    -President Russell M. Nelson

    Or else where are people gathering? Do we see any other gathering in the world today? Surely it must be happening. God can’t be a liar.