Category: Knowledge of God

I and my Father are One

Perhaps the primary example of scripture in support of the one substanced god without body, parts, and passions is John 10:30.

“I and my Father are one.”

At the cost of critical thinking, which is to say, never to question the accepted incomprehensible dogma of centuries, this scripture seems to overlook the potential connection to the word purpose. Is it possible Christ meant one in purpose?

  • John 17:20-21
    • That they may all be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee…
      • Are we to assume that Jesus wants the Quorum of the Twelve to absorb into one entity with the Father and the Holy Ghost and become 15?

The Fall, the Atonement, and Mercy

Just as God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are one in purpose but three distinct beings, so the pillars of the gospel share a like similitude. Although we view the atonement as the center and core of our religion, without the fall, there is no atonement.

Adam’s fall brought about temporal and spiritual death and from this death all must be ransomed. The ransoming act must be carried out by a person without sin and He must be known to all creations.  (This is the primary source of God’s power; see D&C 29:36).

A Trinity of Purpose, Beings, and Pillars

The three greatest events ever to occur are:

  1. The Creation
  2. The Fall
  3. The Atonement

They are inseparably woven together in to a tapestry exactly as the Godhead is woven into a numeric count of one.

To most of Christianity, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are mysteriously connected into a single essence or substance. This is often called the Trinity Doctrine.

The history of the Catholic Church seems to be swept under the rug and the argument between Arias and Athanasius all but dismissed (James L. Barker, Apostasy From the Divine Church, pp. 238-271).

Is Life Really A Test?

What does it mean to be tested? Testing is an assessment intended to measure the respondents’ knowledge or other abilities.

From a conceptual standpoint it means to reveal a person’s thinking on the matter. This is in contrast to the traditional school environs of multiple-choice testing against the textbook or a standard.

Life is not a multiple-choice lab of experiences. Learning comes in the form of self-discovery, not in guessing an instructor’s thoughts. Unlike math, which is a function of absolutes, except in academia, too often students are not tested on thinking capability but rather on getting the ‘so-called’ right answer.

Trust vs. Faith

Trust and Faith are very similar, but they each have a unique distinction. This paper will illustrate that faith precedes trust and that deep abiding trust is the faith that created the heavens and the earth.

By definition, trust is used as a part of faith. If they were identical, they would be one word. Faith is…

  1. A firm belief in something for which there is no proof
  2. Complete trust (based upon previous experiences – my addition)

The Final Plague

The Final Plague

Of the ten plagues Moses called down upon Egypt, the first 9 had little if any impact upon the Israelites. The final plague however, not only impacted the House of Israel, but a meditative study will reveal its applicability today.

As you know the final plague was the destroying angel going forth at the stroke of midnight to kill the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, Israelite and Egyptian.

The Lord gave Israel and anyone else who cared to listen, a list of instructions for how to avoid death. This is another way of saying the Lord gave mankind the Rules of Engagement for living.

Yeast and Unleavened Bread

Yeast is the leaven in bread.

Before the Passover evening, the Israelites were commanded to remove all the leaven or yeast from their houses. During the Passover meal, they were to eat unleavened bread.

WHY?

Anciently, yeast was viewed as a corruptible agent. Although yeast makes bread rise, it also causes fermentation. Perhaps it was Jehovah’s way of teaching Israel to remove all corruption from their lives.

It may have also represented man’s inability to rise from corruption and put on incorruption without the gospel and without the Savior. Without the atonement, no man can put on incorruption for resurrection is not possible without Jesus Christ.

The Great I AM

What’s In A Name?

For years I have been fascinated with the account of Moses and the burning bush found in Genesis. How many times have you heard someone say, “Well, I haven’t seen a burning bush but I know its true?” or “I’m waiting for the burning bush, just a small ember will do.”

When Moses went up to Mt. Sinai, it was familiar territory for him. He had been there many times before. It was to him, the temple. Here he received his endowment. Christ had visited Gethsemane many times before his final atoning visit. That’s how Judas knew where to find Him.

The Complete Meaning Of Repentance

In church we learn the 4 Rs of repentance:

1. Recognition. We must recognize what we have done wrong.

2. Remorse. We must feel godly sorrow for our mistakes.

3. Restitution. We must try to restore what has been lost as a result of our transgressions.

4. Resolve. We must resolve never to commit the sin again.

The Book of Mormon teaches us at least 66 Rs:

Conflict: The Source of Progress

Human nature teaches us to avoid conflict. Natural law (God) teaches us that conflict is a necessary part of life and can bring us closer to God.

Consider the following study conducted by Boulding in 1964 on conflict.

Boulding brought together managers from across multiple industries—forming them into teams and telling them that their problem-solving techniques would be analyzed.  What Boulding didn’t tell these managers, however, was that a “devil’s advocate” or critic would be planted in half of the teams.  The critic’s role was to challenge the team’s solutions, and push them to consider additional ideas throughout their problem-solving process.

What Boulding discovered, was that the teams having a devil’s advocate all performed significantly better in their tasks, and produced multiple options for successfully solving a problem.

Then, halfway through the experiment, Boulding allowed each team to expel one member.  Every team having a devil’s advocate chose to expel that critic.

Boulding then observed that the quality of those teams’ analysis and problem-solving abilities rapidly declined.  Boulding concluded that, ironically, the highest-performing teams ended up eliminating their  competitive advantage—because they didn’t like how the critic’s comments made them feel.

Intellectually, it is easy for many of us to buy into the idea that competition and confrontation can indeed cause others to perform better, and can spark creativity within an organization—but on a personal level,we don’t like how conflict feels.

Being willing to take, and learn from, criticism is an important skill in becoming an effective leader and communicator.

God places before us a constant stream of conflict to temper our capabilities and mold them into God-like characteristics.

Teaching and holding the students accountable

Teaching:

The act of showing love by holding the student accountable for growth

What does it mean to hold someone accountable? Have you ever held someone accountable for what they want? Some years ago my son Stuart asked me to help him prepare for a mission. One of the things he asked me to help him with was cleanliness, or should I say, lack thereof.

During the initial weeks of his preparation, he heard a repeated question: “Stuart is your room up to missionary standards?” He never argued with me from that point on. Having a clean room was something he wanted. He gave me permission to hold him accountable for serving a mission and a clean room was a stepping-stone along the way.

Reason and Logic

I was studying this morning and came across an article written by Dallin H. Oaks in 1993.  Within the article is found the following paragraph.

“God invites us to reason with Him, but I find it significant that the reasoning to which God invites us is tied to spiritual realities and maturity rather than to scholarly findings or credentials.  Three times in modern revelation the Lord has spoken of reasoning with his people.

1.    D&C 45:10, 15
2.    D&C 50:10-12
3.    D&C 61:13;
**    See also Isaiah 1:18

The Second Coming: Who Knows?

Question:  Who knows the exact time and date of the Lord’s Second Coming?

In the book Jesus The Christ, by James Talmage, pg. 575, we read:

All speculation concerning the time of the Lord’s appearing, whether based on assumption, deduction, or calculation of dates, was forestalled by Christ’s averment: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”  (Mark 13:32)

This is Mark’s version of the passage.  Matthew omits the phrase, neither the Son.  The JST leaves the phrase in according to Br. Talmage.
On page 589, the appendix to the chapter, Br. Talmage adds the following explanation:

With An Eye Single…

A Single Eye

What does the Lord mean when he says: “And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light…” (D&C 88:67)?  The ability to singularly focus distinguishes the difference between those who have the spirit and are happy and those who do not.  You wouldn’t think of checking your e-mail during your personal prayers, yet what’s the difference when you allow the mundane things of the world to occupy your mind during church?