Seven of Everything

After raising your child their whole life, it is expected that you will be able to attend their wedding. It is a moment of celebration and joy. It is a moment to be shared. You want to support your child in this big decision, watch them commit to the love of their life, and express congratulations. Then they come to you and tell you that they are getting married in the temple where only select people may enter and you are not one of them. This is hurtful, your own child telling you that you cannot see them make their wedding vows. It even sounds like they are saying they don't want you to be there, after all that you have done for them, they come to you and tell you that you are not invited to their wedding. This same hurt and pain is felt by God our Father when we say, 'after all You have done for me in raising me, teaching me, training me for the difficulties to be experienced on earth, and sending me down here to earth, I don't want You to be part of my life,' or,...

I heard an analogy the other day which essentially posed a question, why should I join your church? It went something like this, If I'm in a corvette and you are in a lamborghini and we are both on the same road to heaven why does it matter that I get in a lambourghini to drive the same road and get to the same destination? The point was, it doesn't matter what church you join to get to heaven. There are several weaknesses to this analogy and I will present some of them here and what could make it stronger. The first weakness is that a car with a single driver or single family of passengers is not a good representation of a church. A car must represent a single person or possibly a single family. The analogy could be modified to be an airplane, ship, train or bus. Also, types of cars cannot be well used in an analogy such as this because there is no example of a perfect car. The main weakness is that it does not take into account what happens when we drive up to our fina...

If you are familiar with the reference in the title you may know that the question actually states, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Luke 10:25 So why did I change the wording? It is because eternal life and salvation, or being saved, are synonymous terms. You cannot have one without the other and you cannot loose one without loosing the other. Another term also synonymous with these is to inherit or enter the kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven. Some people believe that to be saved the only thing that must be done is "confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and ... believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead" (Romans 10:9); that is enough, it is as good as done, the final judgement of salvation has been declared upon their soul, they are saved. Jesus was asked this question four times during his recorded earthly ministry; none of his answers give the impression that we can sit back and relax and still be saved. There are sever...

President Monson stated in April 2016, "Our goal is to obtain celestial glory . " Those who have been baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are in the kingdom of God. We are in a portion of the kingdom of God that is here on earth. We are in a portion of the kingdom of God where we can have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. But this is not our goal. We look forward to a millennial time when we will live in that portion of the kingdom of God where Christ will reign personally upon the earth. But this is not our goal. Our goal is to obtain celestial glory which is to live in that portion of the kingdom of God where the Father reigns personally.

There are several verses in the scriptures which refer to being born again or being reborn, but many of those are assumed to be talking about a second spiritual birth after the first mortal birth here on earth. However, the phrase to be reborn or born again in and of itself does not put a number on the times that we have been born or the types of birth. This allows for the question, if mortal birth wasn't our first birth, is there evidence in scripture that we were born before our mortal birth? The answer is yes and here is one example: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again ( 1 Peter 1:3 ) To beget means to procreate or generate offspring as the father. Our mortal birth by God was a creation not a begetting. God did not beget our mortal body, our earthly fathers did. In this verse Peter is saying that God the Father has begotten them again, which requires that He has begotten them before. God the ...

There are a few places that teach us that we lived before we were born as taught in the Holy Bible. One of those places is an obscure reference: As Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents. ( John 9:1-3 ) If life before birth did not exist then part of this scenario makes sense: Master, ... did ... his parents [sin], that he was born blind? Jesus answered, ... his parents [hath not sinned that he was born blind]. I am confident that the apostles knew that God does not administer judgments or punishments before the offenses occur. It is reasonable to assume that they did not know if God would punish the parents through an affliction on their child. In this case at least, we know that this did not happen. However, if we omit this portion of the dialogue, we read it as follows: Master, ....

About eight years ago, I accepted a priesthood assignment to go down to Lake Jackson Texas, south of Houston, and work all day to clean up fallen trees. There were about 400 men from the Austin/Round Rock area that went to that area to help remove trees from the local residents yards. Many areas did not have power. There were over 500 men from Mormon Helping Hands as well as other volunteers, along with probably around 100 chainsaws in use all day. I was put in charge of a group of nine people; we worked at four houses and cleared out around 10 fallen trees and major limbs, half of which were larger than my arm span in diameter. One had fallen against a house and damaged the roof. My group worked from about 10 - 5:30, or so, and it was a major success. At church the next day several people who had gone down were surprisingly not sore. My reaction was that they did not have enough faith - they didn't work hard enough. But then I realized that the opposite is more likely the cas...

One of the ten commandments is "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee . " This commandment is the premise for a topic that occupies my mind often. Respect for authority is a gospel principle that applies to all areas of life. Family authority Government authority Church authority At certain periods for life School authorities Employment authority The obedience of the two thousand stripling warriors saved their own lives and the lives of many others as well as the freedom of their country . There is only one authority that trumps all the others and it is God's authority. But God usually works with the other authorities. When the underlings are faithful to God, He inspires the leaders. If they are not acting according to His will he deals with them in His own manner and it is not for us to usurp authority or take it upon ourselves to correct the situation without direct inspiration t...

The Gift of Prophecy A prophet is any person who has the gift of prophecy. The gift of prophecy is a gift of the spirit, and therefore, can be received only by those who have been given, and received, the gift of the Holy Ghost. The gift of the Holy Ghost is received as part of baptism. Baptism has two parts - water and fire. Receiving the Holy Ghost and keeping it with you constantly is the baptism of fire, a continual process of cleansing and remitting sins. As Moses said "Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them ! " God would, if we would do what He has asked in order to receive His spirit. Some may mistake this scripture, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy , " to mean that to testify of Jesus makes one a prophet. But the opposite is true, in order to truly testify of Jesus with power we must have the spirit testify to us of this truth. This is the spirit of prophecy. The Calling of ...

I talked with a friend a while ago about religion. He said that he had been Christian for a while and studied to become a minister for about seven years. He is no longer a Christian, however, and the reason he gave me was because he didn't know anyone who had the gifts of the spirit; specifically, he wanted the gift of healing by the laying on of hands. But he realized, as he put it, that they do not exist or that no one has them. We didn't go into the details but I was sad for him because he hasn't seen it before. I am sad because I have seen the gifts of the spirit all my life and have known people with all of the gifts mentioned in scripture personally. I have known people who have seen visions. Visions of angels and visions of future events that came true. I have known people who have received miraculous healings, some under my hands. When I say that, I'm not talking about in my professional career as a doctor but as an elder in Christ's church. Through the ...

"The day of your resurrection will be a day of judgment that will determine the kind of life you shall have hereafter." ( Choices, by Elder Russell M. Nelson ) I have gathered what I think are all the scriptures that show a direct link between the resurrection and judgement. These are not scriptures that show that the resurrection will happen only or that the judgement will happen only. There are plenty of scriptures that show that they will both happen, but these are scriptures that show that they are inseparably connected. The resurrection and judgement are one, there cannot be one without the other. First comes the reuniting of the spirit with the body and second is the reuniting of the soul to God. The second reunion may not be permanent but both reunions will happen to all men, both righteous and wicked. No one will be resurrected without being judged immediately following and no one will be judged at their final judgement without first being resurrected immediately...

There are several sets of two in the scriptures some are more obvious than others. Here is a list and then I will explain each one: Pairs Man: male and female Baptism: water and fire Sacrament: bread and water Body: spirit and physical Death: first and second First Death: physical and spiritual Resurrection: spirit with body and soul with God Opposites Light and darkness Day and night Good and evil Heaven and hell There are many more opposites but those were the ones I could think of in relation to the scriptures. Several of the pairs are inseparably connected or only separated by time. Man with the woman in the Lord are two different people but are inseparably connected . Baptism of water and of fire are two different ordinances and experiences but are inseparably connected and incomplete individually. The bread and the water of the sacrament are separated by time but are part of one ordinance and are incomplete individually. The physical body and the spiritual...

There are a few scriptures that have intrigued me over the years and it has made me wonder which state is better and which one is worse. To start, they are both bad. One of them states that they would be better off if they had never been born. The other states that they would be better off to be drowned with a millstone around their neck - in other words, they would be better off dead. In both cases they did something really bad. We'll explore one then the other. Never Born Matt 26:24 "Woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born." Mark 14:21 "Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born." 3 Ne 28:34-35 "Wo be unto him that will not hearken unto the words of Jesus, and also to them whom he hath chosen and sent among them; for whoso receiveth not the words of Jesus and the words of those whom he hath sent receiveth not him; and...

“‘Jesus had not finished his work when his body was slain, neither did he finish it after his resurrection from the dead; although he had accomplished the purpose for which he then came to the earth, he had not fulfilled all his work. And when will he? Not until he has redeemed and saved every son and daughter of our father Adam that have been or ever will be born upon this earth to the end of time, except the sons of perdition. That is his mission. We will not finish our work until we have saved ourselves, and then not until we shall have saved all depending upon us; for we are to become saviors upon Mount Zion, as well as Christ. We are called to this mission.’” Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939, p. 442; emphasis added. “There is never a time,” the Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “when the spirit is too old to approach God. All are within the reach of pardoning mercy, who have not committed the unpardonable sin.” Teachings of the Proph...

This post is an explanation of the use of the fifth quote by Joseph Fielding Smith in my previous post, Misunderstanding Baptism for Salvation . To understand that post please first read, Understanding Baptism Line upon Line . Question: Is baptism necessary to gain entry into the terrestrial and telestial kingdoms? Won't all who are resurrected and go into these lower kingdoms have to be baptized before they can leave paradise? What will happen to those in paradise who refuse to accept the gospel and accept baptism, even by proxy? Answer: The scriptures are very clear in declaring that baptism is for the celestial kingdom only. For a place in the terrestrial or the telestial kingdom, baptism is not required... The kingdom of God mentioned by the Savior in his conversation with Nicodemus points clearly to the fact that it is the celestial kingdom that is meant. This is also implied in the instructions given by our Savior to his apostles when he left them. They were to go into al...

This post is an explanation of the use of the fourth quote by Joseph Fielding Smith in my previous post, Misunderstanding Baptism for Salvation . To understand that post please first read, Understanding Baptism Line upon Line . Will those who enter the terrestrial and telestial kingdoms have to have the ordinance of baptism? No! Baptism is the door into the celestial kingdom. The Lord made this clear to Nicodemus. We are not preaching a salvation for the inhabitants of the terrestrial or the telestial kingdoms. All of the ordinances of the gospel pertain to the celestial kingdom, and what the Lord will require by way of ordinances, if any, in the other kingdoms he has not revealed. It seems to me to be so clear that the ordinances of the gospel are for those who are entitled to enter the Celestial Kingdom, based on obedience to the principles of the gospel, that there should be no question about it.... The First Presidency have said in answer to a similar question: "We know...

This post is an explanation of the use of the third quote by Joseph Fielding Smith in my previous post, Misunderstanding Baptism for Salvation . To understand that post please first read, Understanding Baptism Line upon Line . Baptism is the door into the celestial kingdom. All the ordinances of the gospel pertain to the celestial kingdom, and any person who is faithful to the covenant of baptism will be entitled to enter there, but no person can receive an exaltation in the celestial kingdom without the ordinances of the temple. The endowments are for advancement in that kingdom, and the sealings for our perfection, provided we keep our covenants and obligations. People baptized, and who are not endowed in the temple of the Lord, may enter the celestial kingdom. But that does not mean that a baptized person is going to get the exaltation in that kingdom. He is not going to pass on to the fulness just by being baptized. He will not pass on to the fulness even after he has been bapt...

This post is an explanation of the use of the second quote by Joseph Fielding Smith in my previous post, Misunderstanding Baptism for Salvation . To understand that post please first read, Understanding Baptism Line upon Line . The Prophet says a man may enter into the terrestrial or the telestial kingdom who has not been baptized with water and who has not in this life received these ordinances, but he can never enter into the celestial kingdom without complying with these eternal laws. Each kingdom, of course, is governed by laws. We have nothing to do with the laws of the telestial or terrestrial kingdoms, so far as the preaching of the gospel is concerned. Our mission is to preach the salvation of the kingdom of God, where he and Christ dwell, which is the celestial kingdom. And all of the principles of the gospel which have been given unto us pertain to the celestial kingdom. (DS p.25-26) The paraphrase of Joseph Smith is fairly accurately interpreted as to the meaning of wh...

This post is an explanation of the use of the first quote by Joseph Fielding Smith in my previous post, Misunderstanding Baptism for Salvation . To understand that post please first read, Understanding Baptism Line upon Line . Who, among Latter-day Saints, is seeking a place in the telestial kingdom? Who, among the Latter-day Saints, is seeking a place in the terrestrial kingdom? With those kingdoms we should want nothing to do; it is not the intention of the man who is baptized into the Church, or ought not to be, to so live that he will not find a place in the celestial kingdom of God; for baptism, itself, is the way into that kingdom. Baptism is of two-fold nature; primarily for the remission of sins, and then, entrance into the kingdom of God, not the telestial kingdom, not into the terrestrial kingdom, but entrance into the celestial kingdom, where God dwells. That is what baptism is for; that is what the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, is for—to prepare us t...

This is a disclaimer with regards to my many posts about baptism as a requirement for entrance into the kingdom of God. Not the celestial kingdom only, but also the terrestrial and telestial kingdoms - the whole kingdom of God and not just a part of it. In many of my posts I sound strong. That is on purpose. I am the most vocal person on this topic that I have found from a Google search. Part of my boldness comes from illogical push back that I have received from people primarily relying on Joseph Fielding Smith's opinions and not on scripture. It is my opinion against his. His holds more weight because he has held a position of authority, but mine has more logic. In either case, I believe that going back to the revelations is best and if new revelation comes out, then it will clarify understanding even more. If I was told to stop broadcasting my opinion about this by one of my priesthood leaders I would un-publish every blog post that I have written on the subject. I do not ...

There is a very large house with three floors and many wings and several rooms in each wing. We don't know much about the top floor except that it is similar to the second floor but much better. The person who holds all the keys to the house is responsible for all of the duties and responsibilities in the house. Examples of what keys are for include: the front door, the stairwell, rooms, closets, and windows. Only the key holders can assign or delegate responsibilities. In this house there are many responsibilities. There are two types and two levels of responsibilities. The two types of responsibilities include temporary, such as cleaning, serving and teaching, and permanent, such as opening the front door, preparing the food and guiding people up the stairs. The two levels include responsibility over the first floor only and responsibility over all of the floors. Here are a couple ways that those with keys work together with those who have permanent responsibilities: In orde...