Answers!!? uuh huh. :)

So this will be news to even Paul. He's the one who asked me to do this. I did a very long time ago and didn't tell him about it. :) I wanted him to see this blog first. 

I surprisingly had never read the entire Book of Mormon on my own.  I have read it a lot, but always reading with somebody else like my mom or whole family.  I hadn't ever really thought about the fact that I hadn't read it on my own soo I decided to.  :) It took me about a year because I usually only read one chapter a day.  I finished around February sometime.  I was really happy and excited that I had finished reading the Book of Mormon completely on my own so I told Paul that I finished and he asked if I could do Moroni's promise.  Moroni 10:3-6 I told him that I had prayed about the truthfulness of the church a long time ago and already had my answer, but he wanted me to do it again. I said alright I'd do it, but it would probably take a little while because Heavenly Father doesn't always answer right when you ask.  He never really asked me about it again.

Answers come in all different forms. The answer I received was the given to me in a way that I definitely knew it was my answer, but I'd never been answered that way before.  I actually got my answer fairly quick.  I prayed about it almost every night.  I read the scriptures every day as we are commanded to do and I usually read right before going to bed and I'm usually pretty tired while reading.  One Sunday I was in church and had the thought that I should read that afternoon because I wouldn't be so tired and I could read a lot more than just one chapter. Later that day, a while after church, I was in my room reading the Book of Mormon (I started reading it again almost right after finishing it) and I honestly don't even remember where I was reading, but I suddenly got this HUGE feeling of love for the Book of Mormon. Not just like an "oh this is a cool book..." No. Really. This overwhelming, overpowering love for it to the point that it almost brought me to tears. And I rarely cry about things like that.  It took me by surprise so I just sat on my bed kind of stunned thinking... whoa. Where did that come from?  I realized right then that that was my answer.  It was really cool. :) And I am really glad Paul asked me to pray about the truthfulness of the book because now I will remember that specific love I have for the Book of Mormon. Answers don't always come that soon though.  Heavenly Father answers prayers and questions when it's the right time for you.  Sometimes prayers don't get answered for a long time and people think that either Heavenly Father doesn't care about them, or that what they're asking isn't true or doesn't matter.  False! Heavenly Father does care, he will answer you're prayer and not just leave you hanging and anything that truely matters to you matters to the Lord.  I believe that God gives answers when we're prepared for them.  If we ask something not really believing that we will be answered then His answer would probably go unnoticed.  He waits for when we truely put faith into our prayers and are prepared to accept what his answer is. :)

The End. I have to go to work now. I had an hour to kill at school before work started and I thought this would be a good use of my time. Don't you agree?

And I'm A Mormon.

After years of study I have finally arrived at a place where I can say with assurance that The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints is the One True Church.

I have received a testimony in my spirit that his church is true. I have finally learned that I cannot rely on my logic or the 'facts' that I may 'think' to be true. Instead, I am now allowing God to directly teach me His truth, which is not limited to reality or our fallen version of truth.

Let it be known that on April 1st, 2011, that I have finally seen True truth and will follow it for the rest of my days.

Oh and by the way: This April Fool's Day post is completely fictitious.

Happy Birthday Michelle!!!

Happy 20th birthday Michelle!! :D Blogging with you has been an incredible pleasure! ENJOY YOUR CAKE?!

World[s] Without End?

Being convinced of something is not a decision that one can make. It is something that happens as your mind takes in information. You can decide whether or not the information being taken in is credible, but the process of being convinced happens on its own with little to no effort.

It is widely believed that the universe and time has a beginning, well this is exactly what the Bible teaches, even before Science could back it up. However, many scientists have suggested that the universe has "always" existed. Even before the Big Bang, there were materials in a super compact form till the Big Bang took place. Something that was and still is a central truth that lends itself to my being convinced of a theistic world-view, is the problem of "Infinite Regression":

An infinite regress in a series of propositions arises if the truth of proposition P₁ requires the support of proposition P₂, the truth of proposition P₂ requires the support of proposition P₃, ... , and the truth of proposition P_n-1 requires the support of proposition P_n and n approaches infinity.

 The way I have heard it best explained is to think of the history of everything as a VHS (A VHS is a primitive form of video storage and presentation which were utilized before people invented useful things). You get the VHS from a VHS rental store and when you get home to watch it you find that whoever rented it prior to you did not rewind it. You proceed to rewind the tape to get to the "beginning" but the tape just keeps rewinding. In fact, you decide to leave the tape to rewind for 20 years and it still has not stopped. Let it go another [infinite number] of years and it still will never stop rewinding.

So there is your first dilemma, you can not get far enough back to even stop the tape to begin playing it forward. But for the sake of logic, lets grant that you can press play once you "reach" the beginning of an infinite past. Your second problem is that you will never read the "present", even if you were to fast forward at as large of intervals of your liking, you would never be able to cross an infinite period of time. In other words, you and I would never be able to make it to what we call today if an infinite amount of time had to be crossed to get here.

Going even further, granting the universe an attribute of an infinite past, we are in a way "deifying" the universe. An infinite past is not something that is naturally tenable, therefore, on its own, having super-natural attributes, the universe always existing does not do anything for those arguing for a secular world-view.

So the only way I can see a secular world-view being remotely sustainable would be for everything to come from nothing, nowhere, never. Hmmm it seems my best attempt at defending secularism is precluded by logic itself. Oh well, I tried. ;)

In yet another effort to offer secular basis for life, the theory of "Multiverse" comes into play. This theory does not attempt to solve the problem of infinite regress, but does attempt to solve to problem of "Fine Tuning" which states:

The fine-tuned Universe is the idea that the conditions that allow life in the Universe can only occur when certain universal fundamental physical constants lie within a very narrow range, so that if any of several fundamental constants were only slightly different the universe would be unlikely to be conducive to the establishment and development of matter, astronomical structures, elemental diversity, or life as it is presently understood.

Starting after the problem of when, where, and what created everything, the multiverse makes it easier to believe that life can arise by chance, however statistically improbable it might be, due to the infinite number of universes that came into being at the beginning. This makes sense to me, logically, but I might remind you that the "Multiverse" is as evidentially sustainable as God is. Meaning that both require faith, which strikes odd to me that a secularist would be ok with that.

What does any of this have to do with Mormonism? Thank you for asking, you win!

Mormonism actually includes forms of both secular theories we just discussed. Like I said earlier, I have no logical problem with the multiverse theory, but I still can not see how a person can rationally hold to a world-view that fosters an infinite regression.

LDS theology holds that Earth is not the only world that is inhabited with people by our Father God. In fact The term used is "Worlds without end". This is a type of Multiverse, yet not necessarily removed by separate universes, yet if there are other worlds with people who the Jesus that died on Earth died for, it would eventually be possible for this to be evidentially supported (In the event we find such worlds).

Mormonism also holds that God the Father was actually a man on a world much like ours, with a God to Him as He is to us. Many Mormons believe that this is not the only cycle that has occurred in history. Many hold that Each God has His own God. This is one of the more perfect examples of infinite regression I have come across.

In talking with Bryan about this in the past, he admitted that this was one of the biggest things he did not understand and had a hard time believing. I was and still am impressed with his honesty and in no way am trying to prey on his weakness by posting this. In fact I purposely waited about a year to post on this subject specifically because it was one of his weaker areas of faith.

I am in no way trying to suggest that a person needs to "know everything" in order to hold certain beliefs. Neither am I trying to say that all beliefs must be rational. All I am trying to do is to get us to take a closer look at exactly what it is we believe. What we are sub-consciously convinced of. And for us to decide whether or not we are ok with that.

Apologies for the long post, but it does serve as a gauge showing how much this matters to me.

God Bless you all!

Baptism. Taufe. טבילה 洗禮 Covenants

If you know all those languages then that is really cool. Kudos to you. And don't worry, we don't baptize this way in our church. haha It's quite a bit more peaceful. :P

To answer your question, yes. Oh you don’t know what the question was? The question was, “Didn’t someone (Bryan) already write about Baptism forever ago?” The answer is, yes. But I’m writing about the covenants we make at baptism, which is the reason we place so much importance on it in the LDS church.

When someone is baptized into the LDS church they “take upon them the name of Christ”. This is meaning that we will do our best to act like him; to be a part of him. It’s like when a girl gets married and she takes the last name of her husband. She is tying herself to him and showing that her husband is a part of her, that she is devoted to him and that they have joined together to move forward towards the same goals. It is this way when we take Christ’s name upon us. It shows that you readily stand up for the church, your standards, God and the Savior. You take his name upon you and covenant to always behave in a way that would never taint his name or disrespect it.

In the LDS church we take the sacrament every Sunday, which I know is not just something the LDS church does. I’ve been to a catholic mass before and they also had the sacrament there. I was surprised because I didn’t realize that others religions take the sacrament. For them, the sacrament is just performed and partaken of to remind them of Christ’s suffering for us. The bread=body, the water=blood. That’s basically common knowledge I know and in the LDS it also means that. However, it means more than that for us. When we take the sacrament we are renewing the covenants we made at baptism. We are cleansing ourselves of the sins we may have committed over the past week just as we were washed clean of our sins at the initial baptism.

I usually try to use mostly biblical scriptures, but since I'm talking about something that is LDS specific I will use Book of Mormon scriptures to explain our ways on the topic.

These are baptism scriptures talking about taking the name of Christ on them.

3 Nephi 18:11
Moroni 6:3-6
Mosiah 18:8-10 (The full written out version of the covenants we make. In what I wrote, I generalized what the covenants were by saying "taking on the name of Christ."

The following are sacrament scriptures talking about taking the name of Christ on them which is what we do at baptism. We renew our covenants during the sacrament as well.
D&C 20:77,79 (These are the sacrament prayers)
3 Nephi 18:7-10

Anti-Mormon Literature.

In June I wrote about the term "Anti-Mormon".

Bill McKeever, founder of Mormonism Research Ministry

I mainly pointed out that the term itself doesn't seem appropriate... I'm not "Anti-Mormon" in the sense that I'm against Mormons... My best friend IS Mormon. For the specifics on the post please use the link above :)

This time, I'd like to focus on the claims of "Anti-Mormons". Whether or not this Anti-Mormon literature should be viewed by Mormons or Christians.

If you don't know already, I (Paul) have been looking into Mormonism extensively for about 2 years now. In talking to Bryan, we decided it would be a good idea to try the "Moroni Promise". Which basically means to read the Book of Mormon, then pray to ask God if it's true or not. Well, I did just that... and over 14 months later, I've yet to receive confirmation either way as to the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith having any authority from God.

In my conversations with Bryan ever since my first attempt to gain this 'testimony' of the BOM he spoke of, he didn't have any idea why I haven't received one... That is until I got his last letter.

In his last letter Bryan posited that the reason I may not have received my testimony is due to the amount of "Anti-Mormon Literature" I've subjected myself to. He also said that This type of literature is likened to "Spiritual Pornography" that it damages the spirit.

I was actually surprised at this seeing as Bryan and I had at one time agreed that Anti-Mormon literature wasn't a big deal and that anyone could read whatever they want. (Within reason of course).

After reading this I looked up past conversations I have had with Bryan to try and see where he was coming from... or if this was really what he believed, or if was an answer someone else suggested.


I found this bit that I had sent him back in July of '09: Anti-Mormon. Mormon J. Nelson-Seawright writes that "the terminological sleight of hand involved in the label ‘anti-Mormon’ allows [Mormons] to ignore the differences between honest and honorable men and women who oppose us, on the one hand, and unprincipled villains, on the other." Mormon Joni Hilton advises fellow members: "First of all, anti-Mormon literature, Internet sites, conversations, ideas, etc. are like spiritual pornography. Once they are in the mind, they are very difficult to get rid of. As you try to reach out to your husband, I would advise you to avoid any material, even if you think it might help you understand him better. You don’t want those seeds of doubt planted in your own mind, because no one is immune to them." -found from mrm.org


Bryan never responded to that email (He was usually pretty busy, no fault on his part) He did say this when I asked if it was ok for him to even read this stuff: "We can find and read anything…. Just type anything in google, and you can read stuff. I have talked to two bishops about the things I am learning with you. They don’t have a problem with anything. They are happy I am learning more about the church."


I can't go back and 'un-learn' all the "Anti-Mormon" literature I've ever read, but I can be shown that it was in error... I have to say that I would never join a church or religion without doing my own investigation into both the good and the bad. (Not that I haven't made the mistake of doing just the opposite in the past...) I don't expect the history of the LDS church to be perfect. But I do become concerned when I find that certain truths are being 'hidden' or 'harder to find'. If I was a missionary of the LDS church I would give as objective a picture as possible to those I was trying to convert. I wouldn't want to white-wash history and present a favorable view of the religion just to get numbers. (Not saying this is what Bryan's doing... in fact we made an agreement that he would never 'trick' anyone into the church by using shady tactics or omitting key information that would otherwise deter their joining the LDS church.) 


Even within Christianity... As a Christian, I am disgusted at the mirrors and smoke employed to show Christianity in a favorable light. The dirty truth is that almost every early follower of Christ was called to serve as a martyr. Believing in Christ is not a way to get rich or "Live Your Best Life Now". It's not a means to get more friends or be accepted. I want so much to inform potential converts of true Christianity. That they may die for Christ, that it's easier for a camel to fit thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. That we must take up our cross and follow Him, forsaking all others... Not even "wasting the time" to bury your own father. If this type of thing were to be considered "Anti-Christian Literature then I would be buying it in bulk and distributing it to every serious believer I encounter. Oh wait, I guess that is what I'm doing. Haha. 


So if Anti-Mormonism is what's keeping me from having a testimony of the truth of the LDS church then I would that Elohim just keep His testimony. For if He's not strong enough to overcome a few misled "Mormon haters" then He's not who I thought He was. 


What do you think? Should Mormons read "Anti-Mormon" material? Should Christians read Atheistic material? Would/could this material be the cause to keep someone from seeing the truth? Or might it be possible for God to make Himself real to even Christopher Hitchens before he succumbs to his cancer? (I pray for your healing Christopher)


Grace and Peace!

1 Year Anniversary! :D

I just happened to look at the date of this blog's inaugural post: 12/29/09

So I'm a day late but I wanted to at least call attention to this momentous occasion! :)

We've gone through quite a bit of changes in the last year and have even more in store for you starting right away in 2011!

Looking forward to finding truth with all of you. Thanks for a wonderful year!

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

From Elder Meyer, buahahahahahhahahahahhahaha no

Merry Christmas

I have the awesome blessing of being able to post right before Christmas. Christmas, I love Christmas! Why? Because it is a time when most people are open to the subject of Jesus! Is December 25th really Jesus's birth 'date', no, but it is a day we have adapted to acknowledge the birth of our Saviour and I love this extremely easy opportunity to talk about Him! And it is really easy when you have kids. I love the look on people's faces when they ask my kids, "So, what is Santa going to bring you?" and we politely and lovingly tell them we don't 'do' the Santa thing. And tell them why 'we' celebrate Christmas. Even though St Nicholas was a great man and did good things, he certainly will not take away from my Lord. But truly I could never understand why people would try to encourage their kids to believe in a man (Santa) who they can't see that brings gifts only for them to find out it was all a lie and then truly not understand why these same kids have trouble believing in another man (Jesus) that they also can't see who wants to give them a gift but is not a lie. Hmm....

Wherever you, the reader, are this Christmas, whether alone or with family or with friends, my prayer is that you will find the love of Christ and understand what He did by coming into this world, dying for us, being raised from the dead and is ever interceding for us at the right hand of the Father. And truly have the joy of Christmas filling your heart until it bursts!

Be Blessed!

Debbie

Atheism vs. Theism

Hey guys! And Gals! ;) I'd like to dedicate this post to some things I've been going though lately.

The image above is a "cheap shot" at atheists... Making fun of people who believe something different from you is an incredibly easy thing to do. I mean, Atheists are pros at taking their own cheap shots at religion!

Yeah...


How does this relate to Christianity and Mormonism? It doesn't. But you can make anything relate to anything with a little bit of duct tape.

Christians can poke fun at Mormons for trying to become Gods, not drinking coffee, having soooooo many kids ;). Mormons can make fun of Christians, well for a whole lot of things... ha... believe me, there are things.

But there's more to it than just poking fun at other people... There's an amazing conversation to be had with people who are critical of your views. If you spend all your time listening/reading/watching only things you agree with, you'll never learn anything new. You'll never be challenged. You'll grow complacent and begin to forget why you believe what you believe. When you talk to people who agree with you, you can let things slip. Say things a little more casually than they deserve... Then when you come across someone who doesn't share your beliefs you find you can't articulate exactly what it is you believe... You might not even remember why it is you believe what you believe!

So this is a post of admonition. Let's get past our differences, as LDS, Ortho-Christian, Atheist, Agnostic, and Scientol- well... yeah.... tis' the season after all... ;)

Here's a Facebook group that might be good for some of you to practice on. It's a discussion forum between atheists and theists. Enter at your own risk, I am not responsible for the content some people may post ;)

Short n sweet ;) But hey, if you've got any questions about Mormonsim, Christianity, or whatnot, please ask away!

Cheers!

Where was the Atonement again?

Hello! Soo it's finals week. :/ Forgive me for shirking my duty of posting due to stress and studying and more stress. ha However, yesterday I received a letter from the ever so famous Elder Bryan Meyer who sent a post he wrote along with his letter. So today, we will be hearing from Bryan Meyer. Enjoy! (His post was kinda confusing. haha He did it really fast so I'll try to make it make sense.)

Hey everybody! This is Elder Bryan Meyer posting-ing through his good friend Michelle. I have awesome blog ideas, but I have hardly any time to write them. So I'll save them for 2 years. By that time I will forget them. So...

The mission is great. Hard, but great. I love it. I've helped a lot of people. It's grrrrreat!

Hopefully Michelle won't ruin this small post. So if there are any mistakes with anything, blame her. :D (you see what I put up with?? ;) haha jk he's an amazing friend.)

This post is about the atonement. And when it happened. I've been confused why everybody is confused about when it happened. Not confused but... why Mormonism says it took place in the Garden and Christian sects says it took place on the cross.

Garden of Gethsemane:
Matthew 26:39:
39. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

It says this cup. Referring to having possession.

Luke 22:42-44:
42. Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
43. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
44. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Likewise, it says this. It also said an angel strengthened him. It also says he was in agony and great drops of blood were falling.

Mark 14:35-36:
35. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
36. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

It says this cup and this hour.

Now, the cross:
Matthew 27:46:
46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Mark 15:34:
It says the exact same thing as Matthew 27.

John 19:28, 30:
28. After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
30. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Which of these two sounds more like the atonement? In the Garden it talks about his suffering, his feelings, the blood falling from him and an angel strengthening him. The cross just says the few things he said. Nothing about his pain or an angel having to strengthen him. In John 19:28, 30 it is unclear on what he is referring to. The scripture being fulfilled could be the lifting up on the cross and the end of the atonement. Death was a part of the atonement. So the scriptures are fulfilled and his ministry/mission/last step of the atonement is over.

So ya, that's all I have time for. Hopefully this all made sense. May God be with you until I post again. Fare thee well!
-Elder Meyer

This is Michelle. I want to add something I learned yesterday that I thought was just interesting. When you lose a lot of blood you become very very thirsty. He said while on the cross that he was thirsty. When they gave him vinegar I thought they were kind of spiting him. He wanted water, but instead they gave him something nasty. Vinegar and gall. In reality, in those days they used vinegar and gall to deaden pain. They were trying to make it easier on him, but he had to refuse because he had to do it alone which is why the Lord drew his spirit from him in the garden as well. The physical pain Christ went through wasn't the atonement. We all go through physical pain. He had to suffer each persons emotional and physical pain which happened in the Garden and that's what made the atonement what it is. None of us has ever had to deal with that. And we never have to deal with our pains by ourselves because he suffered them for us. We can always go to him. Anyways, that's my little spiel.

(Matthew 27:34: They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.)

Have an amazing week!
~Michelle

Written by Michelle and Bryan.
Michelle+Bryan= Brychelle! :P

The Chosen One/ Faith: Myth or Legend?

As The Chosen One, I shall bring balance to the Farm! I was nominated by the Academy Awards to be a contributer on this amazing blog so here comes the introduction of...The Chosen one!
Name: Jacob Andrew McClellan

Former Place of living: Provo, Utah

Current Place of living: Mapleton, Utah(which has one traffic light and one gas station)

Claims to Fame: Got stuck under a garage door, drove a van by the age of 7, stuck my head between two basketball poles(Bryan knows all about it.) :)
Favorite Color: Green with a hint of sky blue

Favorite Fruit: Kiwifruit

Dreams and Hopes: Grow a kiwifruit farm in Utah. Become a famous business man and sip lemonade out of a twisty, bendy straw that tastes like strawberries.

Social Security Number: If I don't know it, why should you?! :)

I am excited to start contributing to this blog! This is the first post I've ever posted in me whole life, so nobody can criticize without my permission....you have my permission. :) I am of the LDS church and it has been an incredible experience. I have known Bryan since 7th grade so....a lot of years.

Faith is a crucial part of the LDS religion. Even more crucial than kiwis are to the New Zealand culture. That's a lot of crucial! Anywho, let's get down to the basics. Faith is defined by Alma in Alma 32:21 as "Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.". I always think of Santa Claus when I read this verse. :) Now faith requires two things for it to work wholeheartedly, action and power. I have a story about a man:

Once upon a time, there was a man. The end!!....just kidding :) And because this man was a rock climber, this man decided to climb up Ayers Rock in Australia. He's strolling all around on this rock, when he decides to look out at the view. It was a gorgeously, blisteringly hotly day in Australia. Something shiny below him caught his eye. He leans out farther to try to see it. Nope, can't see it. So, he leans farther out. Still couldn't tell what it was. So, he leans even farther out, when all of a sudden!!....
Falling....

falling....

falling.....til he snags a tree branch jutting out from the cliff wall! Now he starts praying like never before!

"Lord, please help me off of this cliff, I have a life to live! I have places to go and people to see! I have a wife who I love dearly, I have three children who I hope love me! I still haven't finished my 1000 piece puzzle I started in 7th grade!".

Well, after a time, God answers, "Hmmm...would you let go of the branch if I sent a helicopter with a ladder to save you?"

"Oh yes, Lord! I would let go!"

"Alright, would you let go of the branch if I sent a rescue squad to save you?"

"Yes oh yes! I would ever so let go!"

"Good, good. Now, will you let go of the branch if I told you I was going to send a burst of wind so powerful that it would blow you back up to the top of the cliff?"............

The Official End

Faith requires that we put our trust in the Lord. It is not an easy thing to do. But it is always worth it.

Now put yourself in this dude's position. Would you have enough faith to believe that the Lord would push you back up by wind? Previous to the story, I said the faith requires action and power. God provides the power, the only question is: will you provide the action?

May your kiwis grow ever so large and may your Christmas be merry!
P.S. Another scripture on faith: Hebrews 11:1.

Good or Evil - is there a difference?

This month I would like to open some discussions on the subject of movies. I believe in our culture the movie/tv industry plays a large role in people's lives. One single television show can capture a viewer for a whole season, or more. And one movie can be the topic around the dinner table for months.

In recent years I am very puzzled with the infatuation of all the 'witchcraft' & 'vampire' themes that are out there. I know it's been around a long time - but it seems to have taken a shift. Now the warlocks and vampires are the good guys? Honestly, I don't even understand the attraction to 'horror' flicks. Many Christian families I know and love are thrilled with all these Harry Potter & Twilight movies. Many love the 'dark' characters who somehow have become the 'stars' of the film industries.

On a brief word study I did on the word, 'light', it seems that this is a place or example of who or what we are suppose to be or follow after, instead of pursuing things reserved for darkness. I found several scriptures supporting this belief. (just a few off the top: John 8:12, Matt 5:14, Job 12:22, Psm 18:28) Even God in the beginning of Genesis saw the need to separate the light from the darkness. Now, I know in some of these cases we are talking about physical light and dark, but I believe there is something more here.

Don't misunderstand me, I love a good action or romance film like the next gal, however how did we come to a place where our classic good against evil...and good wins (the important part, lol) get to a place where we don't even know which characters are the good ones or the evil ones. The Lord of the Rings is a good example. My family love these movies and there is much 'evil' in it. But the writer doesn't blur the line between who is good and who is evil. From the beginning it is clear who is the 'good' and who is the 'evil' and the importance that the good is suppose to win, and does, according to the finale of the movies. Great, classic story line. But, more and more movies 'blur' that line and it is getting harder to see the 'light' and 'dark' sides.

Lastly, if we read in 2 Tim 1:7 that God has not given us a spirit of fear.....then why do so many seek after 'fear' as a form of entertainment?

Hmmm, ok, I'm ready for opposition - I think (lol)

Deception

de·cep·tion

1. The use of deceit.

2. The fact or state of being deceived.

3. A ruse; a trick.

de·ceive
1. To cause to believe what is not true; mislead.
2. Archaic To catch by guile; ensnare.

This week in conversation with Michelle, the question came up of "If you could ask President Monson one question and get his answer, what would that question be?" For myself, I'd like to ask him the following question:

How do you know that you aren't being deceived? 

Michelle said she'd love to hear that conversation and I myself would love to hear his answer! Thinking about it, there's really only one answer I can come up with: You don't. 

The whole point of being deceived, is that you don't know about it. Sure you could eventually come to a conclusion that you have been deceived, but at that point you're no longer caught in the deception. To what you were once blind, you can now see clearly. 

How then are we to be sure of anything? Well as far as I can tell, the best way to root out deception, is to ask the hard questions. The awkward questions, the ugly questions. Being skeptical of everyone and everything is healthy in my view. There are far too many people/organizations out there that have scientifically perfected the art of deception, to the point where well meaning followers can deceive others without even knowing they're deceived themselves! 

I know this to be true, just look at the two faiths represented in this Blog. Mormonism and Christianity. Both religions have devout followers that believe spreading their message is one of our greatest priorities. But in the end, only one, if one of these religions can be true. It is easy for me to suspect Joseph Smith as a deciever, and in turn to see every Mormon as a well meaning deceived-deceiver only trying to do what they think is best. It was a little more difficult to try and see my own Christian brothers and sisters in the same light. But I had to, I have to hold myself to the same standard as I hold others. I have to hold Christianity to the same standard I hold Mormonism. 

So how about it: Are you currently being deceived by what you believe to be true? How would you go about trying to make sure that you aren't? I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.

Outer Darkness, Spirit Prison and Hell. Are they Different?

No.

Okay that’s my post. Wanted to keep it short. See ya!

What? You expect more from me then that?? Jeez. High maintenance.

Alright well, first off, what I say is what the LDS church teaches. I'm curious about what other faiths believe though soo... tell me. :)

Something about Outer Darkness and such:

We believe that if you are not baptized in the LDS church before your death you go to spirit prison where you can be taught the gospel in heaven and then someone on earth can do the work for you and you can actually be moved out of spirit prison. Since there’s a post about the different heavens on here, I’ll assume you will know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, read Bryan’s post called “Heaven? Heavens?” There are things that must be completed on earth for you to reach the celestial kingdom so having your baptismal work done for you after you’re dead will not get to you to that state, but you can enter the telestial kingdom.

Something else about Outer Darkness and such (Don’t you love these headings? They’re really helpful.):

This will probably come as a shock to some people. I’m pretty sure it caught me by surprise. You don’t go to Hell for being “bad”. If you murder someone on earth you will be judged by God at the judgment bar and will have to repent and such, but it does not qualify you for Hell. Sending someone to Hell is a serious matter, it’s not just for people who made a wrong decision. It’s saved for the worst sin that can be committed. Denying God. If you know and believe in God and have his spirit with you and know the truth then you actively and knowingly reject Him that is an unpardonable sin. That will bring a path to Outer Darkness. I’m pretty sure my teacher also mentioned that not even Hitler would be sent there…

Something more about Outer Darkness including examples (and such):

We have some examples of this in the Bible. (There are also things about this in the Book of Mormon, but I try to not quote from the BOM as much. Since the Bible is the common book of teachings. If you want to hear what the BOM has to say about it though tell me. I’ll post some stuff from it.) Jonah was a prophet of God, right? Well of course right. Jonah had gone against God and was in the “belly of Hell” not literally, but spiritually. In Jonah Ch. 2 it says:

1 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly,

2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the

belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed

me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

This next one is from Matthew. I think it’s saying that people who commit sins on the earth, but do nothing to the spirit of people are not those we need to fear. Well… don’t take that to seriously. You might die. Fear them. By all means. But eternally, and spiritually. Don’t. Fear those who tear down your spirit. Because once you lose your spirit and what is true (Heavenly Father and Christ) you will lose your place in Heaven.

Matthew Ch. 10

28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Well I don't have anything else to say right now, but I can answer questions! Thank you for tuning in. :) (p.s. the verses were having troubles posting in the right format so they're randomly spaced and on random lines. haha)

Remember Remember the 25th of December?

"Remember, remember the 25th of December,

The Birth of Christ our Lord,

I know of no reason why the Birth of Christ

Should ever be ignored."

Hey Merryamartyr here!

It's my first post so be nice...

Today were gonna talk about religious holidays. Whether Mormon or Christian we share many of the same "Holy Days" and we all put a ton of focus on these occasions. Christmas, Easter, Pioneer Day, Good Friday, Palm Sunday, April 6th, or May 15th; all these days have great importance to our religions and in turn to who we are. What I would like to discuss is whether or not they should play as large of a role as they do.

In Christianity, the attendance of Church meetings double for Easter and Christmas which is great but what is the real cause. Many people feel they need to be better on Sunday because they are nearer to God or maybe he is watching more closely and this is amplified even more on these "Holy Days". I mean should we really treat our neighbors more kindly during the holidays or should we be better Samaritans all year. Should we merely contemplate the wonderful miracle and mystery of our Saviors birth on the 25th of December and his death and resurrection on easter or would it serve us better to keep this Good News on our lips all year long.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with celebrating these days but are they really more important than any other day. Wouldn't we make just that much more of an impact on the world if every day we gave liked Christmas, meditated on God's goodness like Easter, or _______________ like on Pioneer Day! ( Someone explain that one to me :D ) Anyway, these are just my thoughts, I am much more interested in hearing yours!

In the Love of Christ,

Merryamartyr

Misconstrued Much?

Hello, all you funny little internet goblins. Sorry I'm late by a day or so. Here's a quick thought.

When you try to define any religion solely by the contents of their respective scripture, you're going to oversimplify, generalize and assume a dangerous amount of information that may or may not be true. I've seen plenty of books and websites that are devoted to thoroughly refuting the Bible of any credibility it may claim—and come to think of it, the same is true for the book of Mormon.

Now, I'm a Christian, and though I may often be ashamed of the believers, I'm not ashamed of the God I believe in. Furthermore, I believe the Bible to be his own directly inspired word.

But here's the thing—it's not a rulebook, it's a narrative. It's a story about people being people and God being God. Therein lies the potential for enormous conflict and insane amounts of perversion and sin—some graphically depicted, no punches pulled. Let's be honest here—the Bible is chock full of things that kids under seventeen aren't allowed to see at the movies.

<=[Mum and Daddy forgot to fast-forward through the Ezekiel 23 part.]

So what does the Bible have to do with me? It's an inspiration and a conduit for Truth—even if that truth is metaphorical and not literal—and it's a way to open my perception. It's a way for my very finite mind to learn, no matter how vaguely, how to recognize the appearance, movements, characteristics and habits of God. That's the important part.

Are there some literal truths in there? Oh, yeah. You can bet on it—the Bible has proven time and again to be more scientifically and historically accurate than scientists and historians themselves, from things like the existence of King David or the Hittites to the evidence of the universe literally having been created from nothing. Do some research and utilize your friendly neighborhood Google. This info is common knowledge now, but nobody likes to admit the Bible's historical accuracy had one-upped them at any time on any matter.

But I'm not here to prove the accuracy of the Bible and my point remains the same: while I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God himself, it's still only a book. It's only a book because without God's Spirit, it can accomplish nothing and prove nothing. That's why people who try to pick holes in Christianity by way of the Bible think they've already won so solidly—they've reduced the entire movement to the words in a book. Once they experience the movement of God in their life for what it is and can still refute it with logic, then I'll be impressed.

It hasn't happened yet. I don't think it will.

Happy Halloween Almost!

Hi. I’m back! And yes, that's me. Ta-da! I know this is long overdue. To get on with it, I’ve decided to write about abstinence. I’m not actually sure why… It’s not something I’ve been thinking about lately or anything, but I think someone said something about it in church a couple weeks ago and it just seemed like a good thing to write about.

Q: LDS members abstain from everything that isn’t church related and the rest of the world deems “fun”. True or False?

A: You better have said false.

Q: LDS members abstain from everything that isn’t church related and the rest of the world deems “fun” except for Lemonade. True or False?

A: True.

Don’t quote me on that. :P That’s absurd. Of course it’s not true!

I’m going to start with a short story about a boy named Glenn. Chelsea will know who I’m talking about. Haha One night when we were freshman in high school, Chelsea and I were on my computer and I wanted to add a friend from school to my msn messenger. (Yes, this story comes from the days when that was new and huge.) His email address had the word kryptonite in it. So I typed in his email and added him on there only to find the person I added was online so we started talking to him. Chels and I found out soon enough that this was not the right person. We had just added a boy one year older than us who was from Belgium!! He spoke pretty good English though and we actually ended up becoming friends with him. (I later found that my friend I was trying to add spelled kryptonite differently for his email.) I talked to him and he found out I was LDS. He asked me some questions because he’d heard of our church. He asked about polygamy (surprise surprise :P) and about us not drinking alcohol. We talked about not smoking, using any form of drugs, drinking alcohol or coffee, etc. He couldn’t understand it, but after a little while he said, “Wait, so can you just not have anything that your body can become addicted to?” Bingo! I don’t think I’d ever thought of it that way, probably partially because of my age, but it’s the basic reason. As LDS members, we do not use anything that could even remotely bring about the possibility of addiction. Everyone knows that the LDS church has the Book of Mormon besides the bible. We actually have another book of scripture as well called the Doctrine and Covenants which was written by Joseph Smith about the latter day revelations the church was receiving. It’s also a history of the church after it was restored by him. In Section, or Chapter, 89 we have what we call the Word of Wisdom. It’s revelation of what is good and bad for our bodies.

D&C 89:4-9

4 Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation—

5 That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him.

6 And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make.

7 And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies.

8 And again, tobacco is not for the body , neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill.

9 And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.

So yeah. Don’t get addicted to things. Besides, usually the things people get addicted to are very harmful for the body. The substances are impure and are not natural. Anyways, that’s one form of abstinence.

Another one … fidelity to your spouse. And clean moral standards. Abstinence from any temptations of sexual behavior. There’s not much to say about this one. It’s not only in the the LDS faith that people have the belief that you “wait until your wedding night”. However, I’ve never heard it stressed more by someone outside of my church. It’s hurtful towards our Heavenly Father to treat his gift to us of our bodies wrongly. They are delicate and are meant to be respected and need to be respected. Choosing to not abstain from this can lead to a lot of heartache, a lot of problems in families and your own personal life and it is not worth the risk.

Since Elder Packer is pretty popular right now I will quote him. Elder Boyd K. Packer said, “Now words can be used as weapons against you. If they throw the word diversity at you, grab hold of it and say, “I am already diverse, and I intend to stay diverse.” If the word is tolerance, grab that one, too, saying, “I expect you to be tolerant of my lifestyle—obedience, integrity, abstinence, repentance.” If the word is choice, tell them you choose good, old-fashioned morality. You choose to be a worthy husband or wife, a worthy parent.”

The end. That’s all. Goodnight. Amen.

How Are You Doing!?!

Life is always full of surprises, challenges and changes. Recently our family has made a big move from Michigan to Texas. Not only is the climate completely different, I am finding that the people and culture are very different too. It always amazes me how even though we all live within the United States, each state has it's own 'flavor' and way of doing things. But for all the differences I see, one thing still remains. All people are looking for validation of their existence and love, true love and for someone to care about them. This observance had me thinking... 'do I properly display the love that Jesus Christ had shown or the type of love that our society teaches'? Surface, self-seeking love seems to be pretty common in our culture. It was long after I started thinking about this, that I was tested on this very topic.

I find this type of love where ever I go. Even at church, at times. Most greetings today include, 'how are you' and the most typical response is 'good' or the occasional church going response of 'blessed and highly favored', but I can't help but wonder if it is a true statement and should I attempt to dig deeper to see if indeed they are 'good' or just let it go, because after all I have my own issues, too. (note the hint of sarcasm)

We are currently staying in an RV park as we are looking for property. There are many, many dog owners in this park who break just about every dog 'rule' that the park has set up. One evening my 7 year old and another friend took our beloved Labrador to the pet park to throw a ball around with him. Another woman came to the park without having her dog on a leash and their dog got away from her and barked quite aggressively at our 7 year old. Our lab, who instinctively protects our little girls, picked up this 'lap dog' who was about a tenth of his size and shook it around like a rag doll and sent quite a message to leave his owners alone. Now...here is the challenge, with the woman crying hysterically the husband shouting out every swear word I believe he posses in his limited vocabulary...can I display the love of Christ I know He wants me to yet still not get walked all over by this unreasonable soul? Hmmm, I'm usually up to a good challenge - so I dive in.

After we determined that both dogs were going to be ok (well, theirs needed a couple stitches-ouch) I tried to get his focus off the dog and on to his personal life. Focusing on the dogs weren't producing anything good - they refused to admit their dog was equally at fault as our dog was. Eventually I was able to break though. Even though she rejected my offer to pray with her, after a day her husband did allow me to speak 'God' into their lives. Come to find out that his wife's mom died a few months ago, their son was in a bad car accident a few years ago and she still carries a ton of grief around from these two events. She is on anti-depressants, common for women in their 40-50's, these days and generally is having a hard time with life. She views this dog as her entire life.

This experience of showing God's love, I find, was much harder than praying for waitress with a brace on her wrist, or for the friend that needs a job. I don't know what God is going to do with this new contact, in fact the park had to move our location for 3 weeks because of a scheduling error, and wouldn't you know it is only 3 lots down from this couple - God does have a sense of humor.... but it always amazes me that if we stop and take the time to find out what is in people's lives, they usually open up and let you see a little about truly 'how they are doing'.

My hope, as a Christian, is to always display the love that God the Father has shown to me through Jesus Christ and even though I may not be perfected in it I must keep trying. After all, isn't Jesus' reputation is on the line?

John 13:35 (By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”-NKJV)

Debbie