Rectification of a Seeming Contradiction

According to reliable NDEs (near death experiences), numerous experiencers report seeing God.  This detail is perfectly in line with the Book of Mormon that teaches that the dead are immediately taken home to "that God who gave them life" (Alma 40:11).  

But if God appears at death or during these NDE's, wouldn't that knowledge destroy any further need for faith?  And without faith, there would no longer be a need for preaching to the dead (1 Peter 3:19).  But Peter in the New Testament says that Christ went and preached into the spirits in spirit prison.  

However, according to NDEs, God appears, but does not identify Himself as He does to the prophets.  That is why the testimony and annunciation of God at these prophetic visitations is so important.  God wants His prophets to know exactly who is speaking to them.  

Consequently, when researchers collect NDE stories from around the world, the elements of the experience are similar, but experiencers may report being visited by Muhammed or Buddah, etc. In one NDE, a man who was not religious and previously an atheist asked God which of all the Churches was true and reports he was given a smile but not an answer that that question.  

Purpose of Religion: Being Good and Doing Good in Christ

I wanted to share with you the value and purpose of religion.  It can be hard to see the value of most religion because most religion have lost sight of their purpose.  Sadly, many religions have become more about entertainment, money, and valueless ideologies then purpose.

Rejecting religion is sort of unamerican and counter-constitutional.  Constitutional government was established dependent upon religion to do it's job. Yes, there was to be a separation of Church and State.  The State was designed to operate within its jurisdiction of enumerated rights, and the Church was to operate within the confines of it's purpose. 

"Avarice, ambition, revenge, and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.". -John Adams, 2nd POTUS

"So that, however it may be mistaken, the end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom: for in all the states of created beings capable of laws, where there is no law, there is no freedom" — John Locke,Two treatises of government, p. 234 (1689).

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

"Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith."

Alexis de Tocqueville,  Democracy in America

There is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility and of its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.

Alexis de Tocqueville,  Democracy in America

The purpose of America was to establish a nation free of aristocrats, which a division of powers, and a system of checks and balances. This is because "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."  America's leaders were not to be  based on birthright, but by election.  A moral people were meant to elect moral leaders. Instead, an immoral electorate choose immoral leaders like JFK, LBJ, Bill Clinton, and Trump.  And then we are surprised that these immoral leaders continually disappoint us, sell out, and serve corporate special interests. 

What is the purpose of religion?

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Religion is not just idealogy but supposed to be about upholding morality (do no harm to self or others), and helping the poor.  If your institution calls itself religion, but is busy doing something else, it isn't religion.  Real religion is supposed to encourage and reinforce moral living, and provide welfare for the disadvantaged.  Tragically, most religions do very little welfare, or humanitarian work, and teach even less morality. 

The Founding Fathers would roll over in their graves if they saw all the federal social programs we have today.  The Founders specifically intended that the federal government should not be engaged in welfare programs. Welfare was to be administered by the Church.  This is because, corrupt politicians use welfare to buy votes.  Also, Government is great at redistribution of wealth but can't rehabilitate the welfare recipient. Conseqently, the welfare check becomes a "handout" and not a "hand-up".  Free money "enables" the poor and keeps them down and disadvantaged. Government entitlements give out fish but doesn't teach people how to fish. 

Religion, is to provide welfare, and at the same time rehabilitate recipients.  "God takes the slum out of the person, and the person takes themselves out of the slum".  We saw this work somewhat in the Augusta ward where people were baptized and they immediately moved out of the Ward. In other cases, where people only came for the handouts, it didn't work as well. 

History witnessed the failure of Rome and Greece.  There was a lot of scientific innovations and a lot of philosophy and public discource, but these facts did not prevent their fall.  Rome and Greece lost their moral foundation.  The immorality of the Silk Road (drugs) and Pompeii (sex), pervaded Rome resulting in an explosion of idle and illegitimate poor. 

The false religion of Rome did nothing for the poor and actually sponsored and promoted the immorality. The people gave away their freedom to the Ceasars in exchange for their promise of "social justice" via "free bread and circus" (socialism). But the problem of poverty only worsened. 

Today, we are witnessing the slow errosion of freedom together with the errosion of morality. Poverty, disability, real  unemployment is at all-time highs.  Estimates are that 50% of the US population recieve some sort of government welfare. And those takers, are going to naturally elect politicians that promise to keep the handouts going. Nothing else really matters when you are dependant and not independent. 

The US is 20+ Trillion in debt with continued record deficits.  If the FED interest rate on our debt were to increase, our debt interest payment would exceed our 3 Trillion in yearly tax, and we would be bankrupt. But the US is continuing to print money (quantitative easing) and the FED is continuing to artificially hold interests rates at record low levels (2.5%). 

Missionaries are out there teaching about Jesus, purpose, relationship, and perspective.  Missionaries are teaching repentance, eternal families, word of wisdom and chastity. Missionaries are teaching individual and families to actually pray and read scripture.  Missionaries enjoyed a great upbringing and are showing gratitude by trying to show others how they can have the same great family life they had.

Now there are many Christian families that enjoy great family lives and are not LDS.  But these families still follow moral ideals. LDS have a higher responsibility just like the Levites among Israel. The other 11 tribes were not expected to do the responsibilities that the Levites were expected to do.  Simiarlily, LDS have additional responsibilities to serve in the temple and serve missions that we are accountable for, but that other Christians are not. 

Christianity is superior to all other idealogies, because 1. It's true 2. teaches golden rule 3. equality of man 4. personal responsibility 5. need for change 6. morality (do no harm) 7. universal salvation. 8. humility 9. thankfulness  

Also, Christianity almost teaches a nearly universal salvation which is unlike most idealogies. 1. where there is no law there is no sin. 2. One day every knee shall now she every tongue confess that Jesus is Christ (requirement for salvation) 3. Vicarious proxy ordinances. 4.  Many people are considered righteous or Christian even though they don't know it because of their faith. (Lamanites were baptized by fire and holy ghost and knew it not)(because Abraham believed God, it was counted until him for righteousness) 

But for those who know better. Have been taught the truth and come out in open rebellion against God and reject him.  I'm not sure in that case. 

Women in the Apostolic Church

https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/early-christian-prayer-circle

https://www.fairmormon.org/conference/august-2008/the-israelite-temple-and-the-early-christians

Near Death Endowment

While most research scientists, and medical doctors; including a vast majority of Nobel Laureates are people of faith, a few vocal and visible scientists like to argue that science somehow fails to measure the existence of God or life after death. However, I think these science communicators are overlooking a fascinating branch of legitimate science into near-death experiences (NDEs) that has been going on for over 40 years. 

Dr. Bruce Greyson is an international expert into near-death experience research at the University of Virginia, Division of Perceptual Studies. Dr. Greyson has personally collected over 1000 NDE accounts from all over the world.  Dr. Greyson and other researchers have collected a mountain of profound scientific evidence in support of human consciousness beyond death. 

https://youtu.be/kRmTYHcBXsk

https://youtu.be/gN_VI-wobsc

IANDS is an educational nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) focuses resources into providing information and promoting research into NDE-related subjects.  

A great example of an NDE is Steve Gardipee:

https://youtu.be/peMIHK87e6w

While NDE's are all a little bit different, there is a common thread that runs through them all.  Most experiencers of positive NDE's consider them to be a divine gift or endowment of 1. divine perspective, 2. divine identity, and 3. divine purpose.  Also, many NDE's support the reality of eternal family relationships involving deceased family members as spirit guides. 

Like Paul's conversion, nearly all these NDE's are transformative.  The experiencer never comes away from the experience the same. Like Joseph Smith following his First Vision, experiencers report having their hearts filled with love for days afterward and oftentimes for the rest of their remaining lives. 

So, if these NDE's are so profound, and wonderful, then why does God only gift this endowment to a select few? Often, the experiences report being athiests, agnostics, a casual believer or even rebellious. Does God bestow a similar endowment on His believing children? 

The key to this is that the blessing of divine perspective, identity, and purpose can be given by alternate means than by almost killing you. In the Book of Mormon, Lehi and Nephi's vision of the Tree of Life served as such an endowment. Likewise, King Bejamin's speech transmitted this same divine knowledge to those gathered at the temple. The Pearl of Great Price-Moses records his vision of God that empowered his ability to later resist Satan's temptations. 

In our day, Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ serve to transmit this same divine message of perspective, identify, and purpose.  Temples also reveal and secure the eternal reality of family relationships. 

Think about it.  When God chooses to reveal Himself to mankind, the message of divine perspective, identity, and purpose is the message God chooses to communicate again and again.  And this is precisely the same message the LDS temple transmits to God's people and why the latter-day temple is true and why the Bible in Isaiah 2, Mica 2, Ezechiel 37, Malachi 3,  Revelations 7, etc. foretold the restoration of the temple would preceded Jesus Christ's second coming.  This latter-day temple would ultimately be Christ's divine mechanism and institution (house built without hands) to bring about world peace and a paradise on Earth. 

https://youtu.be/Fd8tVXN9y6Q

It is sad that evil is never far away from good.  It is apparent that the Theosophical Society of America is very interested in influencing the narrative surrounding these NDE's. These TSA members seem to favor interpretation of these NDE's that promote false doctrines of 1. unconditional blessing (God loves all but blessings are conditioned on accepting Christ and repentance) 2. reincarnation 3. medium/spiritism 4. astrology 5. energy healing 6. meditation instead of prayer and 7. minimizes importance of the physical body. 

Roses and Thorns

Spencer,

I feel your frustrations.  I'm not sure how to motivate people to follow the Spirit to make big changes in their lives either.  If you figure it out, let the rest of us know. I know that we must love people into stuff, but also use reason (head and heart).  Love and reason is is the Spirit of God. Motivating by fear, coersion, embarrassment or any other way is not of God. 

Investigators learn pretty quickly that joining the true church will change their life.  In addition to all the "thou shalt nots", Gods kingdom involves a number of "thou shalts".  People don't like "thou shalts".  People are scared of the "thou shalts." False religion pacifies people into thinking God doesn't have very many expectations of them.  So, its easy for people to talk themselves out of keeping commitment and progessing. 

It is true that all you have to do to be saved and go to heaven is accept Christ as your Savior.  But, as you know, heaven is made up of different kingdoms, mansions, rewards, responsibilities, callings. 

The kingdoms of glory may not actually involve a physical separations. (Higher can visit or do all the responsibilities of the lower) More likely we all work together but like the ER (doctor, nurse, tech), or any work place their are different levels of responsibility. The doctor can do all the tasks of the lower positions, but the lower (nurses, techs) are not trained to do the responsibilities of the doctor.  

If we want to enjoy the highest responsibility, we need to learn to take responsibility, to give our lives to God and like Christ,  have the attitude of Christ where he said again and again, "I came not to do my own will, but to do the will of the Father who sent me".  If we wish to not only be saved, but merit exaltation and the highest reward of heaven, we must be willing to not only accept Christ, but receive/accept/adopt the love and faith of Christ for doing His Father's will. (Charity = pure love of Christ for His Father and towards always proactively doing the will of God the Father in all things). 

Christ was the greatest of all, not for imposing His own will on the Earth and mankind, but because He, completely subordinated His will to the that of His Father in all things. Magic (white or black) involves the natural and supernatural imposition of our own will on the universe for good or evil.  But since magic involves our own will, even white magic is wrong. Priesthood involves the natural and supernatural imposition of the will of God on the universe. 

I have some kids who are picky eaters.  All they seem to want to eat is Raman and Mac n' cheese. We are kinda guilty of giving into that and let the kids always have what they want for breakfast or meal time.  This is called "short-order cooking" as opposed to expecting that our children "eat the well balanced meal that mom or dad has made".  We sometimes give into letting our kids "short-order" other aspects of their life. 

We should respect children and all people and validate our children's feelings, wants and needs. But there are consequences to always letting kids and adults "short-order" breakfast as well as other aspects of their temporal and spiritual lives. 

1. People will tend to limit themselves only to what they are comfortable with and not try new things. 

Just as parents understand the nutrition of food, God understands the spiritual  nutrition of all things and ofttimes puts things on our plates (like spiritual spinach) that we are expected to develop a taste for. 

With abundant screens, and choices, we tend to always let our kids pick what they want to watch or listen to instead of parents controlling the remote control and imposing a nature or history show on them or some classical music. 

2.  Short-order cooking our lives can make people less resilant and adaptible . We kinda understand this when we talk about "helicopter parents" raising "snowflake children", "micro-aggressions" and "safe spaces". 

If we approach situations only thinking in terms of what we want, or how to make the experience perfect for us, inevitatably we will be disappointed. Nothing in life goes as planned or comes out perfectly. When life fails to meet with our exact expectations or something doesn't go exactly as planned, we might feel more anxiety, and stress about it and then become overly focused on those negative details. We can then begin to become avoidant of new situations or situations that are out of our control. In some cases, we can short-order cook ourselves out of living life. 

All things in life (relationships, marriage, career, activities, ourselves) can be likened to a rose bush.  The thorns come along with the flowers.  If things don't go exactly as planned, we can get focused on the thorns and even begin to believe that our whole life is nothing but thorns.  Or we can keep our focus on the beautiful flowers.  Then when we look back at an event or marriage or life, we may not completely forget the thorns, but we also see and remember all the beautiful blooms. 

Mosiah 3:19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

Elder Maxwell said: 

“our relationship to living prophets (God) is not one in which their sayings are a smorgasbord from which we may take only that which pleases us. We are to partake of all that is placed before us, including the spinach, and to leave a clean plate!” Elder Maxwell, Things As They Really Are, P.74

I have several friends who built set about to build their dream homes.  After touring their beautiful homes and listening to the hundreds of details about design, features, and decisions I was surprised to hear that they were considering selling their supposed dream homes not long after completion. Why? How is it possible?  It turns out that it is impossible for any man to build the perfect house, because what he wants is continually changing. So, immediately after building what you thought was the perfect home, you realize it isn't because what you want has changed.  My wife (real estate agent) tells me these dream homes can be difficult to sell because what one person might go out of their way to design into a home might just be a design feature that noone else wants and that makes the home nearly unsellable. 

When some people complain about all the various things that are expected of LDS people. I understand were they are coming from. It can seem like a lot. I appreciate the recent attempts to consolidate and simplify. Also, I appreciate reminders that we are never expected to "run faster than we have strength" and to just "lift where we stand". But, God has a marvelous work that He is bringing about in these latter days. Tragically, there is a lot of work and the laborors are few.  God can defineately do all His own work, but blesses us to participate in it with Him. 

Love and Warmest Regards, 

David Brosnahan