There are some that have asked about my background, where my beliefs originated and what important phases of my life contributed to the convictions, views, and beliefs\u00a0I hold true\u00a0today.<\/p>\n
Doubting Mormon for 16 years<\/strong><\/p>\n I was born to parent\u00a0members of\u00a0the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). My parents\u00a0attended church rather infrequently, but tried very hard to make sure my sisters and I attended church on\u00a0Sunday and when adolescents, encouraged us to\u00a0participate in church sponsored programs.<\/p>\n I remember especially the once a month “testimony” meetings where all, including children barely\u00a0able to talk, were encouraged to stand and “bear their testimonies” that they: “know the church and Book of Mormon<\/em>\u00a0are\u00a0true, that God spoke to Joseph Smith telling him to reorganize\u00a0his\u00a0church, and that God continues to lead\u00a0living prophets in\u00a0directing\u00a0that\u00a0church to this day”.<\/p>\n I remember these “testimony meetings” quite\u00a0vividly because I was perplexed at how anyone could say a church was true. What did it mean? Even at the age of 9 or 10, I thought\u00a0a lot about what those testimonies\u00a0meant. I was baffled and even irritated that: \u00a0“I didn’t know it was true!<\/strong><\/em>” and often felt I would have liked to stand and said just\u00a0so, but never got the courage even though I would often\u00a0mentally rehearsed doing so when listening to the youngest of children parrot their peers and leaders.<\/p>\n Such\u00a0was a common thought often as\u00a0I attended these monthly. \u00a0I recall reflecting: although I was told I would\u00a0receive\u00a0the\u00a0Holy Ghost by having church leaders, men holding priesthood, lay their\u00a0hands upon my head and bestow it upon me, I experience nothing when they did.<\/p>\n I reflected that even if the book of Mormon were true, a person’s interpretation of it could certainly be false as was obvious considering the hundreds or maybe thousands of individual historical tenants and concepts to misunderstand with varying degrees of inaccuracy. I knew I\u00a0could NOT say I knew a church or book couldn’t be true considering how many varied interpretations abounded. I knew a book couldn’t be true or correct, only an interpretation could be true and certainly many of the various interpretations would have to be false?\u00a0 Truth exists to be know, one could NOT just have the truth because they were members of a church or had a book in their hand.<\/p>\n 1971 Crisis brings\u00a0decision to live the faith of my family<\/strong><\/p>\n In early 1971, a couple friends of mine were arrested for possession of marijuana and I realized but for a trivial\u00a0change in circumstances, I would have been arrested along with them. It was a wake up call. I reflected that I needed to change my ways. I made a quality decision and decided I would change my ways to serve the better way I believed God had provided in Mormonism.<\/p>\n As I contemplated\u00a0changing,\u00a0I had reflected\u00a0that my father told me how he received a burning conviction of the presence of God, the authenticity of the church and trust worthiness of the Book of Mormon when he was in the Navy. He told how he prayed in earnest to know so and received a convincing response. \u00a0I was ready to change and exercise a\u00a0belief that God would answer my prayer and honor a request for help and guidance.<\/p>\n Incidentally, I didn’t\u00a0asked if there was a man to follow or if the\u00a0organization or the\u00a0book were\u00a0true; I felt I had already had it revealed that such questions were too ambiguous to have guiding relevance.\u00a0 Instead, as I prayed, I was impressed with a concept:\u00a0 if I wanted to change, I needed to find better friends. I felt convinced; I wanted\u00a0to find new friends that would support my decision to change and begin to live righteously.<\/p>\n As I prayed,\u00a0I simply asked for God to help me find better friends that would support my decision to change. I asked that he guide me to find friends that\u00a0would help\u00a0me keep my resolve to\u00a0live the Mormon\u00a0faith.<\/p>\n Within 3 or 4 days my grand mother died and my family traveled from California to Utah for her funeral. After we arrived in Utah, many things began to fall into place and I felt a strange strong conviction that my grand mother was near and that the timing of her\u00a0death was orchestrated so that I would encounter\u00a0the friends and fulfill the life choices\u00a0I had prayed for.<\/p>\n In the short few days after arriving in Utah to attend to my\u00a0grand mother Geneva’s funeral, I met Elaine Halling the sister of Dean Halling,\u00a0a childhood friend. Discovering her strong convictions to live according to the principles taught by the\u00a0Mormon church,\u00a0I\u00a0knew she was the answer to my prayer and felt I would one day marry her. This I did 3 years later.\u00a0During the rest of 1971 until graduation from high school in June 1972, I would travel almost once a month to visit her.\u00a04 years to the day of first realizing my love\u00a0for\u00a0her in 1971,\u00a0my son Adam was born in 1975.<\/p>\n For the rest of 1971, until June of 1973, I studied\u00a0the Bible<\/a> new testament, Scattered parts of the old testament, Book of Mormon<\/a>, Doctrine and Covenants<\/a>, and the\u00a0Pearl of Great Price<\/a> (Mormon standard works). While God\u00a0was true to honor my decision and request for help in finding better\u00a0friends, I also found I had a strong desire to study and found it quite rewarding to\u00a0discover the concepts and principles the scriptures revealed to enjoy a fulfilling life.<\/p>\n It was during this period of study, I developed an independent attitude that I wanted to discover my own interpretations of my faith. I investigated\u00a0commentaries, but soon realized I abhorred reading what others thought the scriptures meant. I felt I was being lead and even inspired to\u00a0find truth first hand and didn’t want my interpretations spoiled by the incorrect ideas and notions of others.<\/p>\n As I studied, I also built upon my earliest\u00a0realization: a book couldn’t be true, only concepts and principles within a book could be truth; that a church or prophet couldn’t be true either, only the concepts and principles understood upon hearing from them could be true. Even if a man shared a truth, the perceived interpretation is what actually determines if\u00a0what was heard was truth.<\/p>\n The difference is subtle but very important.\u00a0The principle placed the burden of truth on the hearer and not the speaker. Truth had to be discerned. It was more important to interpret correctly than to just hear. One can not simple believe some idea is true just because a speaker was favored with a church position or favored to have\u00a0his ideas recorded or favored to speak in a church building.<\/p>\n Soon all my study consisted of\u00a0study into\u00a0principles, concepts and the\u00a0synergy of concepts\u00a0I discovered in\u00a0study. Study turned from a focus upon historical facts, superficial\u00a0 tenants\u00a0and dogmas to discovering the self evident truths that could be found underlying the words of the Lord and prophets. With but a little thought and desire to know the underlying truths of an event, there was a whole lot more to know than just the words or surface of a\u00a0text.<\/p>\n From mid 1973 till 1977, I was occupied working to pay for and attend\u00a0college. In addition, I was now\u00a0supporting\u00a0a\u00a0young family, which by\u00a01977 had grown to two sons.<\/p>\n Learning to\u00a0govern by principle<\/b><\/p>\n As I graduated College in 1977, I prayed asking God if I should take a job out of state. I didn’t get a\u00a0yes or no answer. \u00a0Instead, I was was given\u00a0to understand a concept of value\u00a0comparison\u00a0and the guiding principle upon which I would decide all future choices involving life alternatives.<\/p>\n I felt inspired in deciding where to work after graduation: if I valued living the\u00a0Mormon faith more than career opportunity, then it would be better\u00a0to take one of the job opportunities in Salt Lake than in another state.\u00a0 With the principle using value comparisons upon which to decide, It was also\u00a0obvious which was the better choice. I had received the principle upon which to make decisions that far exceeded the value of a\u00a0one-time\u00a0yes or no reply.<\/p>\n Feed a man that is hungry and he’ll be hungry again, but teach a man to fish and he’ll never be hungry again. I took the job in Salt Lake and made a determined decision to devote\u00a0the free time I gained upon completing\u00a0college to passing my CPA exams and studying the foundations of my faith.<\/p>\n Fundamentalist Discovery<\/strong><\/p>\n In my free time, my\u00a0emphasis was on understanding my faith. In 1978, I was lead to discover a small group of fundamentalist Mormons bold enough to proclaim the law of consecration and United Order; “utopian”<\/em> ideas of Momonism. I soon discovered\u00a0there were\u00a0fundamentalist concepts<\/em>\u00a0promising great benefits in the Mormon Faith ; concepts that had\u00a0never heard growing up; concepts that had NOT been taught to me although they were considered fundamental to the Mormon faith in an earlier time.<\/p>\n The idea of having a part in creating a Zion<\/em><\/strong> society united in economic efforts\u00a0as in the bible days of\u00a0Acts 4:32 and the days of Enoch were extremely appealing. I felt the\u00a0truth of such principles were self evident and it helped that founding church leaders so adamantly taught of its’ benefits and eternal importance and significance.<\/p>\n I thought\u00a0it incredibly ironic that such\u00a0eternal<\/em> concepts, purportedly delivered by revelation from God to multiple\u00a0prophets, began\u00a0being rejected by\u00a0main-stream Mormonism as early as the time of the seventh prophet in\u00a0the\u00a01870’s and even more ironically were openly and publicly taught against by the church leadership in 1890 and then completely abandoned by them by 1906. Yet there had been revelations leading up to 1890<\/a> telling of the approaching general church apostasy.<\/p>\n I was very happy to discover the 1890 manifesto was originally a deceptive ploy carefully\u00a0crafted\u00a0by church leadership to satisfy the federal government while no true mormon would be deceived. Meanwhile, the faithful few Mormons true to their principles were directed to continue the practice of their faith underground as many did and thousands still do to this day. By 1905 the church was taken to ex-communicating practicing members while the faithful understood the law of the kingdom had simply been removed as a tenant of the church.<\/p>\n The decision to\u00a0leave main-stream mormonism seemed\u00a0easy. \u00a0It appeared\u00a0intuitively obvious that with my beliefs and goals, I had no doubt I was doing what was right.<\/p>\n By 1980, I\u00a0also knew the ideas of this small group were worthy and I had no doubt about\u00a0leaving my job and making\u00a0efforts to join the\u00a0community trying to live the most holy principles of Mormonism\u00a0in the desert of \u00a0Nevada.<\/p>\n The Discernment of Truth is a Personal Responsibility<\/strong><\/p>\n During the\u00a0period that I formally took an\u00a0independent stand\u00a0from the church, I confirmed my conviction to the\u00a0realizations of\u00a0my early adolescent years.<\/p>\n Discernment<\/strong> of truth is\u00a0personal<\/strong>. As much as we might wish and prefer to trust and rely upon another, like a prophet, to discharge these two\u00a0responsibilities for us, it is NOT possible. No one else can decide for us what we believe is true! Success in Life – We Live By Faith<\/b><\/p>\n For the first 29 years of my life, I had a pretty standard but ignorant belief about\u00a0how God answered prayers.\u00a0 I believed that once I made my petition in the “name of Jesus Christ”, I was granted a\u00a0reply or denied according to how God saw everything.\u00a0 Receiving an answer to prayer was pretty much in the same category\u00a0as asking the bank for a car loan. Maybe I would get it, maybe not. It all depends upon our personal\u00a0righteousness and God’s willingness to extend unmerited grace.<\/p>\n In September 1983, I attended a Word of Faith Praise and Worship service hosted by Robert and Marty Tilton. This was my first introduction to Success in Life through Faith in Jesus Christ<\/b>.<\/p>\n I soon discovered that Success in Life was determined according to\u00a0principles or laws that were much older than the teachers of my\u00a0day.\u00a0 Although I had read much of the Bible, I had missed noticing that Success in Life was central theme to\u00a0the teachings of Jesus Christ. I discovered the central theme:<\/p>\n Our Success in Life is solely determined by what\u00a0we believe, It is not by obedience to laws and ordinances of the gospel.<\/b><\/p>\n With this discovery, I commenced an intense study to understand the concept of belief<\/em><\/strong> and the principle of acting in\u00a0faith<\/em> <\/strong>according to the Bible. I found the\u00a0basic principles and laws for success in life were put into effect the day this universe was first conceived. Universal laws regarding\u00a0faith and belief continue to apply today just as they did the first moment of creation. That the only work required of\u00a0God to appropriate any promise was to\u00a0believe we receive.<\/p>\n I also\u00a0soon realized the key foundational concepts essential to Faith that promote an abundant life were not only missing from Mormonism’s key standard works (other than the bible), but that they actually contradicted the\u00a0most important founding\u00a0principles and central\u00a0concepts essential for one to act in faith believing, nothing doubting.<\/p>\n The universal laws of success, central in “teachings<\/em>” of Jesus Christ, today continue to be taught and clarified in the central themes of many new age teachers such as found in Rhonda Byrnes “Secret<\/em><\/strong>” and Ester Hicks\u00a0“teachings of Abraham<\/em><\/strong>” where they are simply referred to as:<\/p>\n The Secret, The Law of Attraction<\/b>, and\u00a0The Art of Allowing<\/b><\/p>\n Christians who value the teachings of Jesus Christ will be delighted to recognize the clarity and power which the Secret and teachings of Abraham bring to their Christian beliefs and values. Christians can\u00a0quickly benefit from understanding the Secret and Law of Attraction \u00a0because as Christians, they already possess a personal basis for believing\u00a0the power of\u00a0belief and faith in their\u00a0knowing:<\/p>\n If you possess Christian beliefs, rest\u00a0assured you will be blessed by the Secret and Teachings of Abraham as they:<\/p>\n Ideas and concepts found in the Seth materials go much deeper to explain how the christian principles operate in reality and that\u00a0such actually work within our\u00a0personal perspective of reality being a mental construction of our beliefs.<\/p>\n Best of all,<\/b>\u00a0 the Secret, Teachings of Abraham and Seth Material bring almost immediate relief\u00a0 and freedom from pain, struggle and bondage so many associate with this life.\u00a0 We can receive relief as obstacles are overcome by understanding the underlying principles of reality, simple techniques and processes that aid in discovering joy and believing beyond the current self imposed limitations of our physically manifest environment.<\/p>\n After all, that’s what Jesus said was the purpose of his coming:<\/p>\n “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.”<\/strong> \u00a0 \u00a0John 10:10<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Additional Fundamentalist Mormon Study:<\/strong><\/p>\n Additional Study: Thoughts of Faith<\/a> –\u00a0Christian Era<\/strong><\/p>\n Additional New Age Study<\/strong>:\u00a0“The Secret<\/em><\/strong>”<\/p>\n The Secret (Original 2006 Movie)<\/a><\/p>\n The Metaphysical Secret – Law of Attraction<\/a><\/p>\n Additional Study: Jerry and Ester Hicks\u00a0\u00a0“Law of Attraction<\/a><\/em>”\u00a0– Abraham Era<\/strong><\/p>\n Key Concepts – Introduction to Abraham<\/a>\u00a0– Hicks<\/p>\n
\nTeach a man\u00a0the principles of value key in\u00a0making choices\u00a0between alternatives and he’ll be able to make choices for the rest of his life.
\nTeach a man\u00a0the concept of truth and the principles for discerning\u00a0truth, and a person\u00a0has a\u00a0basis\u00a0upon which all truth can be discerned thereafter.<\/p>\n
\nDeciding<\/strong>\u00a0how to apply<\/strong> a discerned truth to\u00a0our own unique circumstances is personal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
\nUltimately ONLY we ourselves can decide what we discern true and what we do about it.
\nConceptually, this\u00a0truth of is self evident!<\/p>\n
\nNo one can make up our mind for us as to what we will do with the truths we find.
\nThese are actions of the mind. Only we control our mind. No one can make up the mind of another!
\nIn actuality, all such is\u00a0subject to our own unique perception. All such\u00a0is subject to our own unique and personal interpretation.<\/p>\n\n
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