The problem with subjective spiritual experiences is that they can’t be verified. Or can they? I’ll share an experience that is more in line with the standard orthodox LDS narrative about what we can expect to receive from God if we seek Him with faith and real intent.
God demands that our hearts turn to the fathers or we will be wasted at His return. This requirement is not to turn to them in just a figurative way, where we do genealogical work to connect ourselves with our recently deceased forebearers. That work is a wrongheaded effort to seal people to those kept in prison. The return of our hearts will require us to have the same religion, and the same beliefs in our hearts that the original fathers had beginning with Adam. Only in that way will our hearts turn to the fathers.
In the comment section of a recent post here on LDC, a long-time reader asked some excellent questions about the sealing power, the temple and the ordinances there. His questions caused me to go to the Lord in prayer to obtain greater understanding. I share some of what I have learned here in the hopes it will help others with similar questions.
Perhaps the key takeaways from this post will be the following: 1) In spite of the fact that there are now 162 LDS Temples, we need a temple to which the Lord can come and in which the Lord’s servants can administer authorized ordinances of salvation anew. 2) The ordinances administered in the LDS Temples are no longer valid because they have changed the ordinances and therefore broken the covenant.
One of the disadvantages of putting so much of one’s energy into a worldly career is the drain on both time and energy to focus on the true purpose of life – finding ways to bless one’s fellow man. Being at the epitome or last days of this worldly career seems to have sapped from …
I was blessed to witness three baptisms last week. Although he lives 120 miles from me, it was good to be there with a friend for his baptism. The ordinance was performed by the same man who came from Utah to baptize me. Our community is small and scattered here in California. In fact, for …
I attended our ward Sacrament meeting today. Because of General Conference next week, we held our monthly Fast and Testimony meeting. A majority of the testimonies were from the sisters sharing their thoughts about the Women’s meeting last night. The number of testimonies of a loving God and Savior were about equal to those of …
My Bishop is a wise man. He has the spirit of discernment. I know he and my Stake President asked me to not write publicly about our conversations on my blog, but things have changed. In our last interview, when I said I was ready to get my temple recommend, he said he didn’t believe …
On that fateful Passover night in the Meridian of Time before Gethsemane, the Savior instituted the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The Sacrament was a change from the way His disciples were used to observing the Passover. Therefore, the Messiah gave them a commandment to do the things which they had seen him do, …
My bishop asked to visit with me again on Sunday afternoon. We spent an hour discussing my health – both mental and physical – my career, my financial condition and my blogging activities. Although he doesn’t read my blog, others in the ward do and have shared misgivings about me. I thanked him for the …
I’ve noticed a constant theme over the past few years as I have written about those who have been excommunicated from our church. I don’t know if it’s just coincidence the subject has come up so many times or if I have sought it out. I’d like to explore the idea of submissiveness with you …
This is not a review of the movie. There are spoilers. It is a commentary on priesthood blessings. Here in the Mission Field On this Pioneer day down here in California we went and saw Ephraim’s Rescue. I think it played one time last week in Simi Valley and tonight’s showing in Ventura was a …
I have never equated perfection as meaning without flaw or error, rather as having flaws and errors removed. The resurrection is a free gift to all. We will all live again with immortal bodies. But the quality of our life in the hereafter depends entirely upon us and our efforts to be worthy and prepared for the greatest of all the gifts of God – eternal life.