Revelations and Revelation-Reversals

Today's announcement reversing the "November 2015" policy is the latest in a long-line of examples of God's spokesmen mis-speaking.  One of these three conclusions must be true:

Either,

1. God is waffling in the management of doctrine or policies or
2. His spokesmen are are often mistaken or confused in the revelatory process or 
3. Those claiming to be His spokesmen really aren't His spokesmen.

In any case, it makes me wonder why we need a middle-man, especially when large swaths of members knew (and said so) the original "November 2015" policy was incorrect.  It's hard for many members to place confidence in men who are seemingly no different than other men who don't claim to be the only living prophets authorized on earth to speak for God.  And furthermore, how do individual members know the real, true will of God?  Was the "November 2015" policy the true will of God, or is the reversal of that policy in April 2019 the true will of God?

When President Nelson said the following, it left little room for members to doubt the gravity of the revelation.  The language was 1978-esque.

"This prophetic process was followed in 2012 with the change in minimum age for missionaries and again with the recent additions to the Church’s handbook, consequent to the legalization of same-sex marriage in some countries. Filled with compassion for all, and especially for the children, we wrestled at length to understand the Lord’s will in this matter. Ever mindful of God’s plan of salvation and of His hope for eternal life for each of His children, we considered countless permutations and combinations of possible scenarios that could arise. We met repeatedly in the temple in fasting and prayer and sought further direction and inspiration. And then, when the Lord inspired His prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, to declare the mind of the Lord and the will of the Lord, each of us during that sacred moment felt a spiritual confirmation. It was our privilege as Apostles to sustain what had been revealed to President Monson. Revelation from the Lord to His servants is a sacred process, and so is your privilege of receiving personal revelation." emphasis added; Russell M. Nelson, Becoming True Millennials, January 10, 2016

Today's announcement, too, uses similar language in emphasizing discussion, thought and prayer.

“These policy changes come after an extended period of counseling with our brethren in the Quorum the Twelve Apostles after fervent, united prayer to understand the will of the Lord,” wrote President Russell M. Nelson and his counselors in the First Presidency, President Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring, in the statement. (source)

The Church's announcement today is not only a reversal of the "November 2015" policy, but it also revises its policy with regard to how it deals with homosexual and lesbian members - they will no longer be considered apostates.

While Church leaders still consider a same-gender marriage by a member to be a serious transgression, it will not be treated as apostasy for purposes of Church discipline. Instead the “immoral conduct in heterosexual and homosexual relationship will be treated in the same way,” Dallin H. Oaks said.

This is yet another example why the Church is not trustworthy - this compass is unreliable.  Please don't mis-understand me; I'm supportive of the changes the Church leadership made today.  It's not enough, but at least it's moving in the right direction.

There were those who knew the resting-state of will of the Lord before the living prophets, with regard polygamy, allowing all members access to the priesthood and temple and other controversial doctrines and practices.  Thankfully, some had courage to agitate the leaders to change.  Members of our generation have similarly had the courage to agitate for change when it comes to LGBTQ issues.  When thousands resigned in 2015 and 2016, after the "November 2015" policy was issued, a clear message was sent to the leadership, leading in the culmination of today's revelation.  We all have a part.  It's just a bit unfortunate that the pace is slow, and some leaders have to demonize those are who agitating for change - who are simply doing the will of the Lord.

Compasses, Rocks and Goal Posts

As a missionary in Guatemala, every day I woke up with the goal of "bringing souls unto Christ."  That was the big goal.  From there, as an LDS missionary, I further believed that really the only way a soul could "come unto Christ" was through repentance, baptism by immersion at the hand of someone with authorized priesthood authority, confirmation by the same priesthood and then ultimately making covenants in a Mormon temple.  Sometimes we were able to bring people to the waters of baptism, sometimes all we could do was bear testimony.  And in rare cases, we saw some who would enter the temple.

But none of that can happen unless we, and the people who agreed with us, accept one crucial premise: that there is only one true, authorized-and-endorsed-by-God religion on the earth.  And by virtue of that premise, all other religions and philosophies are false.

From a religious and philosophical belief, everything hinges on that premise for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Time and time again, leaders of the church, from the beginning, to today, have maintained that there is no middle ground.  Either it's Christ's restored church and kingdom on the earth today, or it is a fraud.  I will never forget the words of the Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley when he said in 2003, "Each of us has to face the matter—either the Church is true, or it is a fraud. There is no middle ground. It is the Church and kingdom of God, or it is nothing."

As a missionary, I asked people to always re-evaluate their beliefs and in that process, they should consider reading the Book of Mormon and ask God if it was true or not.  At that time I sincerely believed in truth and that we are all on a life-long journey to find un-alterable and un-changing truths.  Today, I still believe this.  I think we all ought to be open to feedback and checking our compasses to see if we are still heading in the direction of truth.  We all ought to be on the lookout for lies and half-truths in our quest.  We all ought to be mindful of where we build our homes.  We may think we have built on rock, but when torments and rains and winds come and our house sways, cracks and tumbles, we may need to re-consider where we rebuild our home.  And when we play a sport, such as football or soccer, we ought to expect that the posts or goal won't move for the duration of the game, otherwise the game may be pointless.

And as I asked others to re-evaluate their life decisions, religious beliefs and philosophy, I too should be willing to do the same.  After all, when the stakes are this high (a religion is either endorsed by God or not), I ought to take this seriously!

My "testimony" for the first 30 or so years of my life was roughly built on this framework:

The Book of Mormon is true (historically and philosophically), because I read it, agreed with most of its teachings and when I prayed about it, God caused me to feel good, peaceful and reassured.

Since the Book of Mormon is true, I now know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, since he was called of God to translate the golden plates using the Urim and Thummim and breastplate into English.

And everything else that stems from Joseph Smith (teachings, actions, doctrine) is from God since he was called by God.

Anything else that didn't "feel right" or caused a "stupor of thought" was of Satan.  A lot of "anti-Mormon" rumors were spread by Satan, including Joseph using a peep-stone in a hat to translate the Book of Mormon or marrying other mens' wives.  Anything Gerald or Sandra Tanner said, was also false and "anti-Mormon."

So, you might be able to imagine my predicament when I began to read Rough Stone Rolling in 2008 and 2009 and learned that "anti-Mormon" rumors and lies were indeed accurate!  And not only did Rough Stone Rolling confirm these things as fact, but the Church also produced essays admitting that many doctrines were now "theories advanced by men." What would you do the moment you suspect the compass you have been using is inaccurate?  How would you feel when the news is delivered to you that your home, which you thought was built on rock, is actually not?  That is how I began to feel.  I was at a cross-road and had a couple of choices: 1) ignore it all or 2) confront it and find the truth.  I chose to confront it.

I finished reading Rough Stone Rolling and proceeded to investigate more.  I entered the world of accusations and apologetics.  Gone were the days of trusting my feelings.  Now I was trying to de-tangle fact from fiction; truth from half-truth, both from leaders and apologists of the church and from its critics.

I won't review all the aspects of the Church doctrine I disagree with now, in this blog post - there are plenty of resources on-line that get into all that.  However, I will say that if there were just one or two issues, and that were all, then maybe I could keep them on a "mental shelf" and still maintain a strong belief in the dogma of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  But that is simply not the case.  Time and time again, I've concluded that what is unique about the Church is not good, and what is good about the Church is not unique.

As I begin to wrap up this blog post, I'll note some of the unique things about the Church, which I think are not good.  I'll phrase them in such a way using Christ as a spiritual north on a spiritual compass.

Would Christ use a scrying or peep stone (different from the Urim and Thummim) to translate ancient Egyptian scripture?

Would he be less than truthful about his abilities to translate ancient Egyptian text?

Would he call one of his apostles to use a scrying stone and be less than truthful about his abilities to translate ancient Egyptian text?

Would Christ marry another man's wife, especially after establishing commandments to not commit adultery and coveting?

Would He command his followers to do the same?

Would He deny eternal blessings to some children of God based on the color of their skin or some other God-given genetic factor?

Would He command or encourage his apostles to lie or deceive others or use carefully worded denials?

Would He prioritize building worldly assets over feeding the hungry?

Would He change his doctrine based on political or social pressure?

Would He excommunicate His followers for trying to make His religion a better and more safe place for its members and children while ignoring and not excommunicating physical and sexual abusers?

And would He accuse you or anyone of being ignorant, wanting to sin or being offended if you did discover any of the above?

Obviously, that is a lot to unpack.  If any of that causes you to scratch your head or cause you concern, I know exactly how you feel.  It is not a good feeling.  But you have to ask yourself, if The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were not true, would you want to know?  We asked this question, in the positive format, all the time during our missionary service.  I think the negative version of the question is just as valid and important.

Also, time and time again, in Sunday School, seminary and priesthood classes and in private conversations, we would often point to other religions who would do some or all of the above and consider this as evidence that that religion is not of God ("by their fruits ye shall know them").  Why would we not apply this same standard to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

I want to conclude with one more thought for you to consider.  I have not lost my faith.  In all this journey of re-evaluating my religion and philosophy for the past ten years, I learned what it means to "walk through the valley of the shadow of death" (Psalms 23:4).  The torch of certainty was taken from me and I was no longer spoon-fed what I must believe.  Now, I have to truly trust in God that things will work out fine; that He is still leading my life and that He has a purpose for me.  I often wonder if this is what Adam and Eve felt like after leaving the Garden of Eden.  I have concluded, this ten year re-evaluation has greatly increased my faith and trust in God.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all they ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

- Proverbs 3:5-6

There have been (and continue to be) many times in my life when I didn’t understand why I was having a certain trial or why something happened to my loved ones or me. At those times, the only thing that consoled me was knowing that a Father in heaven was in charge of the grand scheme of things and that in the end, things would work out for the best. God knows all things – past, present and future and I know if I put my trust in him, I will return to heaven again.

"Come What May and Love It"

I love Elder Wirthlin's talks. He doesn't deliver them spectacularly, but when you read them, they are marvelous. This talk was no exception.

Laugh

When our kids get upset about something, we try to take the edge off the situation by making it light. Sometimes it backfires, but a lot of times it seems to work. Sometimes a lot of memories are made by turning a bitter moment into a happy memory.

Eternal Perspective

If we keep things in an eternal perspective, we see trials and adversities in proper perspective.

Princial of Compensation

Elder Wirthlin said, "The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss." My seminary teacher Keith Rasmussen had a favorite saying in dealing with how we are sometimes treated by others because of our religious beliefs. He said, "we will pay in this life and they will pay in the next." I always wondered about that doctrine, but Elder Wirthlin seems to make it legitimate.

Trust in God and His Son

He typed a little note to his daughter that said, "put your trust in the Lord, do your best, then leave the rest to Him." One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

As the title reminds us, we can face any adveristy and overcome it. Our attitudes are what make the difference between leading a bitter life or a life of happiness.

Read the entire talk: Come What May, and Love It

Faith and Home-buying

My wife and I are in the midst of selling and buying a home. It is stressful.

At this point, we are in the option period of the contract to sell our current home. We have also made one offer on a very nice home. But at the same time, another nice home has come to our attention and we're working out some details on that home with the current owner. We may make an offer on that home too and then decide which one to purchase.

We went through this several years ago when we bought our first home. We looked at half a dozen homes before whittling the search down to two. Our home has served us very well. There have been some minor and major repairs, but we're still floating. It was a leap of faith with the first home. We had bought our first car six months before our first home and I was obsessivly worried about our finances. I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to afford a car payment and a new home. Also, we only had one child when we bought the home and so I was also concerned about being able to support a growing family. But despite all my worries, we survived.

We faithfully paid our tithing and made generous fast offerings. My paycheck gradually increased. We had our 2nd child and then our 3rd child and finally our 4th child. With the addition of our 4th, our house is quite cramped. Our 4th currently sleeps in our closet! We thought my company was going to move us with a job transfer, but the transfer never came. So we've decided that we're not going to wait for the company to decide our fate regarding a home purchase.

I made some initial calculations about how much we can afford. It wasn't until this week that I found a few flaws in my estimates. It turns out that our new mortgage will be much more than our current. As it is, our budget is very strained. I've not changed much ... I am still overly obsessive about our finances. So I've been pulling my hair out and ranting to my wife about how we might go bankrupt with this new house. But she keeps reminding me of the feeling we've had about this decision.

We've both felt that this is the right move (buying a larger home for our family). So now we just need to have faith and trust that everything will work out eventually ... just like when we fretted over buying our first home.

So I'm writing this while we're in the midst of selling and buying so that I can look back on this day and see that when we trust in the Lord, things will work out. I hope to report several months from now that all is well in our home and that our decision was indeed lead by the Spirit.

In my heart I know things will work out.