No Coincidences

Tag: god

  • Seer Stones

    Seer Stones

    Imagine giving someone a spyglass in the year 600.  A spyglass is the refracting telescope you picture pirates using on the open sea before finding their target.  The sinister pirate stands on deck, extends the spyglass to its full length, looks through one small hole and sees what his own two eyes could barely make out on their own.  A ship.  Ripe for plunder.  The spyglass wouldn’t be officially invented for 1000 years, in 1608 by most accounts.

    Imagine giving that to someone in the year 600.  They would be amazed; it would be such a phenomenon to them.  Another example is the microscope, also invented around 1600, but perfected over the next 400 years to what we have now.  That would blow someone’s socks off in the year 600.

    The James Webb Space Telescope is replacing the Hubble Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope known to man.  Imagine showing that to someone in 1830.  There’s a good chance they wouldn’t believe their eyes.  There’s a good chance the people from these times would consider what they’re being shown witchcraft or sorcery.  If you showed someone a modern-day microscope found in every high school science class and told them you could see the cells of a plant they might put you to the stake for burning i.e. Salem Witch Trials.

    The James Webb Space Telescope is described:

    “will provide improved infrared resolution and sensitivity over Hubble, and will enable a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology, including observing some of the most distant events and objects in the universe, such as the formation of the first galaxies.”

    I don’t know what all that even means, and I’m here, in the year 2020.  The word “events” seems to imply that this telescope will be powerful enough to literally look so far away that we’re seeing the past.  I won’t get anymore into the science of telescopes and microscopes because I didn’t pay enough attention in my science class to give accurate information about that.

    My point is this: if in history you showed someone a device that wouldn’t exist for 1000 years, they might not believe it, or they’d think it was some sort of magic.  That is exactly how people reacted in 1830 when Joseph Smith talked about seer stones.  Miraculously, it’s how people react today to the idea of Joseph Smith using seer stones.

    The natural eyes of Joseph Smith were seeing revelation and things of the spiritual realm just like we look through a telescope and see things that we previously could not.  God-fearing people everywhere believe in heaven and hell, God and angels, and yet can’t accept a prophet of God seeing things we don’t.  The concept of a stone being the medium should not be a stumbling block.  Who in the year 600 would have thought glass would be the medium with which we look into the cosmos? 

    Our nature today is to be so skeptical of anything of a spiritual nature.  If you stop and look at it in a logical sense, the principle is sound, the logic is there.  The same people today who hold a cell phone, press an icon on a screen, type in a statement, and suddenly have billions of results, scoff at the idea of a stone that helps translate ancient scripture.  How crazy is that?  99% of people today don’t understand internet, email, or electricity yet use it every single day.  To be clear, I don’t understand how most of those things work, I don’t understand the intricacies involved.  I don’t have to understand, I see it in front of me, whether I understand it or not, the proof is there.  It exists.

    Seer stones are not cooky, bizarre, unprecedented technology.  They are a different kind of telescope.  When Joseph Smith looked into them, he saw, through revelation and the power of God, things he couldn’t see with his natural eyes.  A person in 1830 couldn’t comprehend a mobile phone. Many today refuse to comprehend the thought of a seer stone.  It doesn’t mean seer stones didn’t exist.  There’s so much we don’t understand, and we are marveled by technology daily.  Is it that difficult to think God had a device that would allow man to do extraordinary things long before the mobile phone?

    I know that seer stones exist, just like cell phones.  I know that Joseph Smith used them to translate an ancient record.  The Book of Mormon wasn’t written by a natural man.  It was translated through the medium of a seer stone, provided by God.  All of us here in the year 2020 who don’t understand how the very phones we hold provide all the miracles they do, how can we be so skeptical?

    ______________

    For anyone who would like to learn more about seer stones the link below is a great resource and watch this short video:

    https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/seer-stones?lang=eng

  • Light You Reflect

    Light You Reflect

    Alexandros Papaderos

    In a book titled It Was on Fire When I Lay on It by Robert Fulghum, he tells a story about when he asked Alexandros Papaderos the question, “what is the meaning of life?”

    Robert Fulghum relates that Dr. Papaderos pulled a small round mirror out of his wallet.  He said he had found the mirror and scratched it on a stone until it was round.

    Dr. Papaderos said, “I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine-in deep holes and crevices and dark closets.  It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find… As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life.  I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light.  But light-truth, understanding, knowledge-is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.

    “I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know.  Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world-into the black places in the hearts of men-and change some things in some people.  Perhaps others may see and do likewise.  This is what I am about.  This is the meaning of my life.”

    Doctrine & Covenants 45:7

    “For verily I say unto you that I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the light and the life of the world-a light that shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not.”

    The mirror found by Dr. Papaderos was not rounded and clean when he found it.  It took scratching it on a stone.  This symbolizes the refining process Dr. Papaderos undoubtedly went through to become a source that could reflect light.  We are born with the light of Christ.  When you look upon a young child you easily see that light.  As we grow the light we reflect dims, or it brightens.  It is our effort that determines this.

    Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are blessed to know by what source we can reflect light.  We reflect the light of Jesus Christ.  He is the light.  We can all be the reflection. We are made in the design and shape of our Heavenly Father, made in His image.  The source of all light.

  • Worldwide Fast

    Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Russell M. Nelson, asked the world to fast on Good Friday, April 10, 2020.  His invitation:

    “I invite all, including those not of our faith, to fast and pray on Good Friday, April 10, that the present pandemic may be controlled, caregivers protected, the economy strengthened, and life normalized.”

    Russell M. Nelson

    I was a member of a group on Facebook for the Worldwide Fast.  Last I checked, that group had over 537,000 people! Click Here To See the Group

    This group turned into a worldwide testimony session.  There were so many amazing posts.  I spent the entire morning after Good Friday reading them.  There were two that I really loved.  I asked permission from the original posters to share their stories.  I hope my friends and family (those who didn’t already see these) enjoy them as much as I did.

    The first was about a young boy: 

    My 7 year old nephew wanted to be part of today’s fasting and prayer. He loves to eat, so this was a true sacrifice for him. He’s been very prayerful all day. His mom found him praying in the yard. When she told him she was proud of him, he responded “Sometimes we just need to find our own sacred grove.” Isn’t that true?!?! The pure faith of a young man has served as an example and blessing to the world many times throughout history. I pray that the faith of this little boy and all the world fasting and praying together today result in modern day miracles.

    Many of the posts were about children and they were some of the most touching.  This is a reminder that we must “become as little children.” (Matthew 18:3)

    The second post said:

    I could not join the first global fast on March 29th. I was battling with COVID-19, fighting to stay alive. During this difficult time, I received a promise from my Heavenly Father: “These tribulations shall be but a small moment. But WHEN you are healed, testify to the world of the God of mercy”. I recovered through the fasting and prayers of others by God’s grace and mercy. Tomorrow, It is my turn to give back and to join this fast for all those who are facing this tough battle around the world so they may be blessed like I have been. I love Christ’s comforting words:
    These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
    May God bless us all!

    I am so grateful for these two powerful testimonies and I’m so thankful they shared them.

    I hope as a world we don’t soon forget this.  As things do return to normal, I hope we don’t immediately turn back to our old ways.  I hope we can learn, grow, love, and rely on God more than ever.

    Isaiah 40:31 reads:

    “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

    A friend posted something that I think is important to remember. He pointed out that the footnote for wait says “to hope for or anticipate.”  Let’s remember things won’t change overnight.  But as we continue in faith, Christ will pour out his spirit on us and the world can change. Finally, how grateful I am for a prophet that can lead a worldwide initiative of faith.  This affirms my testimony that he is a Prophet of God and he leads God’s church.  All are welcome to follow.

    We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet

  • Faith

    It’s a topic I will spend my life studying and trying to understand.  This will likely not be the only time I write about faith.  It is something so dear to me, my faith.  I keep coming back to this topic even though I’ve struggled to put together a stimulating thought on the subject.

    Great quotes come to mind, even some just from this last General Conference: 

    “Faith is the antidote for fear.” 

    Ricardo P. Gimenez

    Faith must be based on truth and eternity. 

    “Faith is the power by which God created the universe.” 

    Hebrews 11:3

    I’ve spent a large part of the last couple years contemplating faith.  What makes it so easy to find for some and so hard for others?  What makes some so sure God is there and others so skeptical?  Is it our nature?  Is it something inside of us?  Is it a simple characteristic difference between persons like blonde, brown, or red hair?  Are we already born with little or a lot of faith?  That doesn’t seem quite right.

    It makes me think of a quote I read recently.  It was in Book 1 of Theophilus of Antioch to Autolycus.  The early writings of a Christian Bishop to a Pagan:

    “Do you not know that faith is the leading principle in all matters? For what husbandman can reap, unless he first trust his seed to the earth? Or who can cross the sea, unless he first entrust himself to the boat and the pilot? And what sick person can be healed, unless first he trust himself to the care of the physician? And what art or knowledge can any one learn, unless he first apply and entrust himself to the teacher? If, then, the husbandman trusts the earth, and the sailor the boat, and the sick the physician, will you not place confidence in God, even when you hold so many pledges at His hand?”

    Theophilus of Antioch
    Mustard Seed

    I once had a discussion with my grandpa about the Book of Mormon.  We discussed the gold plates that Joseph Smith discovered.  Those plates were taken to heaven and were only ever seen by 11 witnesses plus Joseph Smith himself.  Here is a paraphrased version of the conversation with my grandpa:

    “Why do you think the plates weren’t left here for us to see?  Wouldn’t it help so many to physically see them?  Then everyone would believe.”

    His response, “In my experience, even if the plates were right in front of some people, they would still deny.  Why do you think they were taken away?”

    “Well, probably to protect some, for that reason you said.  Some would see them and still deny.  Also, they may have been too sacred to keep on earth.  They may have been mistreated or lost if they stayed here.”

    Then he said something I’ve always remembered. 
    He said,

    “I think there was a much more important reason.  One of the most important things we’re on this earth to develop is faith.  If you saw the plates, there would be no faith involved.  You would know.  And yet, there’s always some measure of faith involved.  As I said, even some looking and touching them may still deny and explain it away as a fanciful story.  But, here’s the important part – because you have never touched them, seen them in anyway, because you had to read the words and feel it in your soul and heart, your testimony is stronger.  Because you never saw them, it involves faith. But could you know with more of a surety they were true if I were holding them in front of you right now?”

    “No,” I replied.

    “Exactly.  Your testimony of them is not based on physical touch or sight.  You’ve felt the words deep in your soul.  That’s more than your eyes can ever give you.  That’s what we’re here to develop.  Faith.”

    Those words have always stuck with me and always will.  I will have so much more to say on this topic as I continue to write.  My message to everyone I love, whether part of my religion or not:  Have faith.  Acknowledge the hand of God in your every day.  To continue off what Theophilus said above, you get a job and then you have faith you will get paid.  You eat food and you have faith it will help your body keep moving.  You wake up and have faith your legs will carry you to where you want to go.  Understand that you live your life by faith and develop it even more.

    Mustard Seed Growing

    One last famous quote by Thomas Aquinas:

    “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

    Faith – Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square

  • General Conference April 2020

    Remember the theme.  No coincidences.

    In October of 2018, less than two years ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made a huge change; the switch to two-hour church with an emphasis on having a church and Christ-centered home.  How amazing that within two years we are in a position where we are unable to gather together at church.

    Coincidence?

    Because we haven’t been able to gather for church, you might think we are unable to partake of the sacrament.  How grateful I am to have the priesthood authority of God and to have a bishop with the keys to authorize me to bless the sacrament in my home.  I was given that opportunity the last two weeks, since we haven’t been able to go to church.

    I am so grateful for the organization of the church.  I’m grateful for the authority to bless and pass the sacrament in my home.  There is no confusion.  My bishop gives that authority and I can act on it.  Without my bishop’s permission, I could do no such thing, for Christ’s Church is a church of order.

    God is planning ahead for us and we are in His hands.  This becomes extraordinarily evident when we consider the revelations delivered to us by Russell M. Nelson in the last couple years.

    Let’s look at October 2019. God’s Prophet made an interesting statement at this time.  We should read it very closely given the current state of our world: 

    “Thus, the year 2020 will be designated as a bicentennial year. General conference next April will be different from any previous conference. In the next six months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel.”

    He continues,

    “Select your own questions. Design your own plan. Immerse yourself in the glorious light of the Restoration. As you do, general conference next April will be not only memorable; it will be unforgettable.”

    How prophetic.  As my former roommate (not a member of my church) noted, “I think that’s a weird coincidence.”  Yeah, I’d agree, if I believed in coincidences. 

    Our Prophet asked us to ponder two questions in order to make this upcoming general conference special.  His questions were:

    1. “How would my life be different if my knowledge gained from the Book of Mormon were suddenly taken away?”
    2. “How have the events that followed the First Vision made a difference for me and my loved ones?”

    I hope we are all considering these questions thoughtfully and prayerfully. 

    I don’t know what’s coming on April 4 and 5.  There may not be any grand announcement; there may be no huge changes.  I know it will be a great spiritual growing experience.  I know I will come out of this upcoming conference different than I am right now.

    And if a great announcement or great change comes, that is wonderful.  A living Prophet leads this Church.  I believe he is in close communication with Heavenly Father.  I know that the direction he sends us will be another step towards God’s great purposes.  I can’t wait. 

    Members of the Church:  I hope we don’t forget what our Prophet has said and I hope we’re listening.  Look at the world around us.  It is a critical time to be listening to the Prophet and heeding the advice he delivers to us.

    Here is President Nelson’s concluding statement from last conference:

    “Now in closing, I leave with you my love and my blessing that each of you may become happier and holier with each passing day. Meanwhile, please be assured that revelation continues in the Church and will continue under the Lord’s direction until ‘the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done’.

    I so bless you, reaffirming my love for you, with my testimony that God lives! Jesus is the Christ! This is His Church and we are His people. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.”

    …

    Leave a comment on how you’re preparing for conference.