No Coincidences

Tag: united

Temple Miracle

I don’t recall a good temple miracle story for myself. I love the temple. I feel peace in the temple. The truth is, I’ve felt like I have a difficult time after the temple. The idea that you can take the temple with you and feel peace in the world after leaving, I’ve personally not experienced that. My experience has been more that as soon as I leave the temple Satan doubles and triples his efforts to bring strife and impatience into my heart. I feel the world engulf me when I leave that peaceful home. Of course, those are probably my own shortcomings.

So, if you asked me my best “temple story”- a story where I felt overwhelming peace, or received a profound answer to prayer, or something drastic in my life changed after a visit, I wouldn’t immediately have an answer. That’s not to say those things haven’t happened. I believe if we don’t write down the miracles we experience we seldomly remember them. What a sad thing to forget miracles.

Salt Lake Temple

Which leads me to writing this, to be sure I don’t forget this subtle, but profound and important miracle.

Recently Beth and I went to the Mesa temple open house. It was an extraordinary experience. It was my first time doing a tour of a temple. I’ve obviously been in the temple many times, but never taken a tour. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve been to the temple. Since Covid, I’ve only been to the temple once, for my sister’s wedding, aside from this recent open house visit.

Touring the temple was amazing. Every picture inside the temple was spectacular. I had a hard time not pausing to stare at every picture of Jesus Christ I encountered. I would have held up the tour if I had done so, but I love staring at any depiction of Christ and trying to fathom who He is.

The beauty in every detail of the temple is awe-inspiring. It is a place of pure peace. I kept tears at bay as I walked through the halls and eternally significant rooms as I realized how much I had missed that place.

This leads to my miracle. It’s small, almost unnoticeable, but significant.

Beth and I had been having some difficulty the few days, maybe week, leading up to this open house visit. Normal marriage stuff. Strife, snippy comments, unkindness, our house hadn’t been a super peaceful and happy place. I say this with the vulnerability of knowing we (as people, society, etc.) don’t often admit these things, but it’s important to understand what happened after the temple.

There was something I realized I needed to say to Beth earlier that day, but it was difficult to say because it’s extremely difficult for me to be “touchy-feely” or “lovey-dovey.” Wasn’t how I was raised. So there was something I needed to say but it was going to be difficult. Then, after the temple, it came out so naturally and easily. I believe the temple brought it comfortably out of me. Maybe because being in the temple had reminded me of the covenants I made there with Beth.

On our drive home from the temple I told Beth this:

“Things have been hard the past few days but that’s marriage. It’s not always going to be great. It’s going to be difficult and we know that. But I need to remind you, and I need you to know, I’m not going anywhere. I’m never going anywhere. And neither are you. We are here for each other no matter what, no matter how hard it gets. We made covenants to each other and I plan on keeping mine and I know you plan on keeping yours. And throughout any challenge we’ll become closer, and more united, and stronger for those challenges.”

This led to a conversation about the covenants we made and how important our faith is to us, and to our relationship. I know Beth and I will always be together because I know what our relationship is centered on. Our relationship is centered on Jesus Christ and a covenant we made with each other that included Him. Without that rock, without that stable foundation, the world is just too shaky and full of turmoil. But I know we will grow through any challenge because we made eternal covenants and we plan on sticking to them.

Where Beth and I were sealed for eternity

I believe being in the temple in some subconscious way reminded me of the covenants we’d made and made it so easy to have that deep, emotional, and important discussion.

I’m grateful for the temple and the covenants I’ve made there. Life and marriage is difficult enough. With the option of walking away, too many do. The temple is God’s house and I know that to be true. I know it is a beacon in a dark world. I know it is where peace can be found. I know it is where eternal covenants and a welding link can be established. I am eternally grateful for that home. I am grateful for the miracle it provided me that day. I am grateful for the miracle the temple is in my life every single day, whether I visit it or not, due to the covenants made there.

San Diego Temple

November 11, 2021
The Trinity

I’m not going to cite a bunch of scriptures supporting my point. In my experience that does nothing because individual scriptures can be interpreted in a million different ways. Any scripture I give that seems clear as day to me to show God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as three distinct personages is quickly explained away and followed up with another scripture that someone believes shows they are one being.

Instead of trying to convince anyone of this doctrine, I more want to give my thoughts on it. I also want to briefly discuss the importance of this doctrine and why I believe it has been so adamantly fought over throughout the centuries.

First, the “they are one” controversy with the many scriptural references is so easy for me to understand. They are one in intent and purpose, so they are one. Christ, when praying to His Father said, “let them be one, Father, as you and I are one.” (John 17:21-23) Why would Christ say this? Given the doctrine of the trinity, was Christ praying that his apostles would morph together into one super spiritual being? No, it doesn’t make sense. What Christ was praying for was literal. “Let them be one, as you and I are one” – in intent, purpose.

Second, what sense does a unified being make? I know we are human, and we don’t understand much of anything about the true nature of Heaven, of eternity, of what is next. I have faith in a lot, but I understand little. Maybe the next life is filled with multiple personality Gods and beings that I’m meant to worship. Maybe God can split into three personages. Maybe He did this to make us understand some deep, important principle. Maybe? Or maybe every person who counseled over this principle (the famous Nicene Creed) and ultimately came to a decision we follow hundreds of years later didn’t understand. God isn’t setting out to confuse us. He doesn’t want us to NOT comprehend Him. He wants us to know how much He loves us. He wants us to know He SENT His only begotten son, who also loves us. He wants us to know the Holy Spirit can be a constant companion to us. He doesn’t want to confuse us. He isn’t throwing out stumbling blocks all along the way to make things more difficult. This life isn’t intended to be a maze of confusion that we may be lucky to determine what God wants us to know. He wants us to seek Him and to seek truth. He WANTS us to understand. God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are three separate, distinct beings. I don’t know this (yet), but I have faith and hope that it’s true.

Joseph Smith saw them. That’s why that moment was so significant. They didn’t speak to Him from the clouds. They appeared in their bodies. To show him, “you are like us, and we are like you.” They have bodies of flesh and blood. Christ really came here, His Father’s Son, to attain a body and die for us. That principle is pure and beautiful.

Have you ever wondered why Christ ate fish and bread with the apostles after his resurrection? Why was that account included in the scriptures? The scriptures are full of important information, obviously. Why was this seemingly unimportant detail included? Not because Christ was trying to make His apostles comfortable. It was included because it was important. Christ was showing that He had a body. Just as we, when we are resurrected, will be resurrected with our bodies.

This brings me to the third point, exactly why this doctrine was fought so hard against for all of history. Satan is cunning. Satan knows what is and isn’t important to our salvation. With the fervor and aggression Satan has fought this doctrine with, it seems obvious to me how important it is. This doctrine is so important because the corruption of it distances us from our Heavenly Father. That is Satan’s great purpose. What greater way to distance us from our Father than corrupting His image into some unknowable, un-understandable, un-comprehendible being? It is the opposite of what God is. He knows us, He understands us, He comprehends us, and he wants us to understand Him. This bizarre trinity He’s been morphed into makes it so hard to communicate with Him. How do you communicate a triple being you can’t imagine? Not the same, personal way you can communicate with your own father. Not the way your loving Heavenly Father wants you to communicate with Him. A father that sent His only begotten Son to save the rest of His spirit children.

I wish I could be more eloquent on this topic. Of all topics I wish I had a poet’s or philosopher’s eloquence for, this is it. Because it’s important. But I’m not a poet or a philosopher. My words fall short of what I want to portray. I wish so much that everyone could know Heavenly Father the way I feel and know Him. He and Christ are so important to me. Combining them in one takes away one of the most important persons in my life.

This truth is eternal, and this truth is important.

To learn more about the truth of the Godhead, visit here:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/article/do-members-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-believe-in-the-trinity

May 21, 2021
Letter to a Sinner

I write this with as much humility as possible. Fully knowing and understanding my weaknesses have given me perspective. It is my faults and errors that make me feel like I can write this letter.

I remember when I came back to church I was asked to not take the sacrament for three weeks. It was one of the more difficult things I had to do, although it doesn’t sound like much. I think it was the moment I realized I had changed. Something that in the past might not have affected me too much, really hurt. It was difficult coming back and immediately feeling like maybe I’m not enough. Maybe I could have gone the route of resentment. Instead I realized how much I didn’t want to have to go through that again.

I don’t in any way imply I’m better than someone who can’t take the sacrament and does feel resentment. We all have our own paths. Mine was of being completely away, coming back, and realizing I deserved my three weeks. Some are never officially away so that state of probation seems unfair or not right. I understand that.

This is my letter to the sinner. A reminder, that includes all of us. This is the sinner who has made mistakes. This particular sinner might come from a perfect family and part of their struggle is feeling like they don’t fit in in the one place they should feel welcome. This sinner might feel judged by the very people that should love them the most. It doesn’t matter if those family, friends, and caring loved ones are right or wrong. It matters how the sinner interprets things. We all live our own experiences and encounter the world in different ways. We must, to the best our abilities, see the world in perfect light and perfect truth.

Here is my letter to a hypothetical sinner:

You will never be like the “perfect” people you see around you. You won’t. Your path has been set. Your path has been set partly by different “luck,” different experiences. Partly by your choices. My life was set by very bad choices. But now that I’ve come out of the other side, my joy is greater than I could have ever imagined. You won’t be “perfect”, but you’ll be who Heavenly Father sees you can be. You won’t be “better” than those who never made the mistakes you made, but you might be stronger. Your path will lead you somewhere wholly different. And if you decide you want to come through to the other side: to truly know your Savior, to know forgiveness, to know what being welcomed home feels like even if you don’t think you’ll ever deserve it – if you come to that other side with that relationship with your Savior, your testimony will be welded in steel, as hard as diamond. You’ll have gone through the refiner’s fire and come out united with He who gives all strength. This is no excuse to continue to sin. You know the light. You’ve seen and felt the light. I knew the light and I turned from it. I hope to help anyone not make the same mistake.

You will make mistakes. You will sin. But no matter what, you have to remember Jesus Christ. Because while the world will judge you and you’ll have to struggle with that, He will judge you with a perfect love and comprehension. Remember that those around you are trying to judge you with love. They’re trying to love you righteously. Jesus Christ doesn’t try. He is perfect love. Don’t forget it. Don’t forget that those around you whose points of view you can’t understand, they’re trying to be like Jesus Christ. They may be falling short. But that’s not for you to judge. Just as they can’t judge you, you can’t judge their intentions or efforts. Just love and do your best.

I’m sorry you have to go through trials. But do not lose sight of Jesus Christ. Do not. He is the only person true peace can come from. Whatever you do, whatever mistakes you make, do not forget HIM. He won’t forget you. I promise.

At this point I must apologize. Throughout this letter I’ve referred to you as “the sinner.” I know that phrase hurt the whole way through. I know it because I’ve felt it. I did it throughout the whole letter to get to this point. I want to remind you, “sinner” is not who you are. It will never be who you are. We all sin but that’s not what God and Jesus Christ see in us. No matter how many mistakes we make. No matter how many slip ups or downright wrong things you do, you are not a sinner. You are a child of Heavenly Father. You are growing. You are learning. I reiterate something I said earlier, this does not excuse your sin. Sin is wrong, you know that. Christ will see your sin. What means much more to Him is your repentance. He doesn’t see who you were but who you will be.

“God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming than about who we once were. He cares that we keep trying.”
Elder Dale G. Renlund in April 2015 Conference talk “Latter-day Saints Keep on Trying”

March 25, 2021
Which Church?

I often have religious conversations. As often as possible I try to have those conversations with people of different faiths.

I’ve had great conversations with someone who is devout in their faith of Jesus Christ. He doesn’t believe the Book of Mormon to be true. We have many great discussions. Our discussions are always extremely cordial, soft-spoken, and kind. I think we are both extremely aware and conscious of our tones when we get into topics. Early on in our discussions things would get somewhat heated every once in a while. I don’t remember a time when we yelled at each other or it ever got out of hand, but there’s always this feeling when we talk. It’s a feeling of being on the edge of a cliff. Like we’re justttt teetering on the edge of it being a full-blown argument. We could topple over the edge at any moment.

Our discussions are almost always centered on disagreements. There are many, many things we agree on. Obviously, what good is it for us to dwell on those things? We get to the meat of our differences and try to learn from each other, I love it. But like I mentioned, there’s always this dangerous balance. It makes sense since we disagree.

Our extra-cautious approach protects us. We both love Jesus Christ and His principles with all our hearts. We’ve both been saved by Him in powerful ways. I believe this is what keeps us from toppling over the edge. The constant fight within ourselves to let love, tolerance, patience, and agreeing-to-disagree trump those powerful emotions brought on by Satan in the midst of a heated discussion centered on doctrine and eternity.

I’ve had similar discussions with many different faiths. Catholics, Presbyterians, Bahai. I’d like to have these discussions with every faith on earth.

If we all believe in Christ we should all be able to agree on so many points, right?

No matter what there’s always that feeling. Are we going to go over the edge? Is this going to turn from friendly banter and growth to a “I’m right you’re wrong!” And a storming out of the room?

This particular friend I started the story about and I have in the past discussed John 17:21:

“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou has sent me.”

When we had this discussion my point was this: How can we be one in Christ if so many sects disagree?

His standpoint is that as long as we believe in Christ we are one. We are all one under Christianity. Under this great umbrella, we are all one in Him. That sounds great, and I love that. In theory that is so beautiful. There are some immediate problems with this, though. For one, I’ve been told I’m not Christian. Where do we go from that? For another, I’ve mentioned the contention that so easily arises when two groups disagree. As much as we want to be one in Christ, how can we be when there’s that underlying tension of disagreement? While millions of people can have a good Christ-like conversation with other faiths, there are also wars over these topics.

Let me be EXTREMELY clear about one thing. There is some truth and light in all religions that teach and promote peace and love. I love any religion that brings someone closer to God and especially if it brings someone closer to Christ. All religions that love Christ and focus on Christ have light to them.

There seems to be this issue when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims to be THE True Church of Jesus Christ.

The millennium is coming. A time is coming when all Christians in the world will begin to be persecuted. It won’t matter if we’re Baptist, or Catholic, or Protestant. What will matter to the world is the belief in Christ. As the world unites against Christians, what banner do Christians unite under? Is it Christ alone? Is there no one organization He would have us look to? With all the arguments, contentions; standing on the edge, ready to topple off, between different Christian sects, how can we possibly unite as one? If we do unite, who do we listen to? What do we follow?

God is a God of order. He wouldn’t have us blindly wander as the world unites against all believers. He can’t have us guessing which way is up and which way is down. So, where is our banner? Do we follow the Catholic Church, the Pope? Do we follow some non-denominational sect? We’ve never been able to unite. When the world is in chaos, will that be the time the Christian world pulls it together and joins as one? I don’t see that happening. Especially as the world in general becomes more and more divided.

We must be one. We must be united in Jesus Christ.

My belief is that the Church to follow is Christ’s restored Church. There is no more beating around the bush. The Church of Jesus Christ has come out with a worldwide declaration that makes clear what we’ve always declared:

“In humility, we declare that in answer to (Joseph Smith’s) prayer, God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph and inaugurated the “restitution of all things” as foretold in the Bible. In this vision, he learned that following the death of the original Apostles, Christ’s New Testament Church was lost from the earth. Joseph would be instrumental in its return.
“We declare that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, organized on April 6, 1830, is Christ’s New Testament Church restored.”

The declaration is clear. This is the banner. The keys of the gathering of Israel were handed down to Joseph Smith by Moses himself. Those same keys have been passed down for 200 years and are now in the possession of God’s prophet on the earth today, the speaker of the above declaration, President Russell M. Nelson. Only by God’s official authority could the gathering of Israel be accomplished; without contention, without fighting, without controversy.

This is my testimony and I leave it in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

__________________________

If you would like to learn more about the gathering of Israel, the keys that have been handed down, the restoration of Christ’s Church, and why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sends out so many young men and women to preach the gospel, please click below:

https://www.comeuntochrist.org/belong/meet-missionaries

A missionary would gladly teach you more about what we believe. Thank you for reading.

June 18, 2020