Paradise and the Pit

Suppose that you were woke up one day in the midst of a maze, a labyrinth.

When you wake up you see a sign that tells you the following:

This maze has exactly two exits.   

One exit will drop you into an inescapable pit of spikes that will wound you and cause you excruciating pain.   

The other exist will admit you into a place where all your physical needs will be met and you can spend your days learning and growing without the distraction of having to provide for your needs. 

At the end of the day, the maze will be emptied.  All maze occupants who have not reached an exit by the end of the day will be ushered through the exit nearest to them. 

At various places in the maze, starting here, you can find guide books prepared by some who have successfully navigated the maze.  You can use these guide books or disregard them, as you choose.  Some who have passed through the maze have disregarded the guide books and written their observations on the walls.  You may ignore or heed these as you choose. 

You can also make verbal appeals for guidance from the creator of the maze.  But you may not agree with or understand all his answers.  Instructions for making appeals to the maze creator are found in the Guide Book.

On the wall beside the sign, someone has scrawled the words, "The guidebook is a fantasy."  Another says, "The maze never ends."  And a third hand has written the words, "There is no pit. There is no maze creator.  Do what feels good."

So, here you are, stuck in the maze.  What do you do?  Do you heed the writing on the walls?  Do you follow the guide book?  Or, do you ignore both and strike out on your own?

While this may seem like an academic exercise, it is actually a pretty close analogy to the life we are in. We are born into this world with no memory of what went before and how we came to be here.

While all of us aspire to be happy and have our lives reach a pleasant end, we are confronted with a variety of advocates who try to tell us what we need to do to be happy and to have a good end to our journey.  Also, when our day is done, whether we want to leave the maze or not, we will be removed (we die) and face a conclusion to this journey.

The Bible, The Book of Mormon and The Doctrine and Covenants all contain accounts of people who have died and returned to visit mortals and instruct them in what lies beyond and what they need to do to have a happy ending.  

In the Talmud and the Old Testament, Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Jacob and Moses all had face-to-face conversations with the Creator, which they characterized as a man speaking with his friend.  

In the New Testament, Peter, James and John saw Jesus conversing with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9).  And after his crucifixion Jesus appeared to the Apostles and other disciples, and upwards of 500 people in an incident that is referenced, but not recorded (1 Corinthians 15:5-6).  In addition, the Bible records that after the resurrection of Jesus, the graves of many were opened and saints who had "slept" arose and went into Jerusalem and ministered to many.  

In The Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 11), Jesus descends from heaven in the sight of a multitude in the Americas and they are allowed to feel the prints of the nails in his hands and feet and the wound from the spear in his side and they testify that he appeared as a resurrected person to them.  In addition, they mention that after the resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem, people in the Americas rose from the dead and ministered to the living.

Lastly, in The Doctrine and Covenants, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were ministered to by a resurrected John the Baptist, and later by Peter, James and John (D&C 128:20).  This is in addition to Joseph Smith having stated that he had dealings with Moroni, a resurrected  man who had died some where around 400 AD and had seen the resurrected Jesus (Joseph Smith History).  And in Section 76 of this book, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon assert that they also saw the resurrected Jesus.

In spite of having evidence and solemn testimony of various people spanning more than 6,000 years of  written history recorded in our "Guide Book" we have those who write on the wall that, "The Guide Book is a fantasy."  And the basis for their cavalier dismissal of the information in the Guide Book?  

Their dismissal of more than sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction in court stems from:

1) The fact that the Guide Book contains some accounts of extraordinary events which, given the few facts around the events, cannot be adequately explained or understood with today's technology or man's reasoning.  And,

2) the dismissers have not personally experienced an acquaintance with a resurrected person or with the Creator.

And, the bases for dismissal are ardently defended in spite of the fact that Guide Book gives pretty clear instructions on the exact steps needed to find out the truth or falsity of the instructions of the Guide Book (see Alma Chapter 32 in The Book of Mormon for the clearest version of the steps of the experiment).

So, here you are in the maze of life.  God offers a Guide Book.  Do you follow it or do you ignore it and rely upon the limited views provided by your fellow maze travelers?

For my part, I can say that I know that the Guide Book is accurate.  I have tested it using the experiments that the book says will validate it.  I far prefer to have a map, a guide, and the advantage of having conversations with the Creator to guide me through the more murky parts of this life.

Top Amazon Results Related to this Post:

1. Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics)
2. Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years
3. The Pursuit of God
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5. Book of Mormon
6. Book of Mormon | Doctrine and Covenants | Pearl of Great Price
7. Lectures on Faith

Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM). The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein. 

The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein.

Visit Tom's Amazon.com Author's Page

(c) Copyright 2015 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved. 

Your comments are welcome and invited. Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome, even ones that may unsettle me.

You Have Done It Unto Me: The Lie of Liberal Altruism

In the 25th chapter of Matthew, the Savior speaks of the final judgment.  To those who have done well and to those who have not, he offers the same explanation for the reward they are offered.  He tells them all that, "... inasmuch as ye have done [or not done] it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

He is referring to how they did, or did not, take care of the poor, the sick, the destitute and the afflicted among them.

Today, much of our political debate and divide appears to be focused on how we, as a society, believe we should go about taking care of the least advantaged among us.

For many years, as I read or heard these words, I believed that Jesus was speaking metaphorically. I believed he was saying that he was holding us accountable for our treatment of our fellow human beings.  And, he is certainly saying that.  However, I am now convinced that Jesus was not speaking metaphorically in this matter.  Rather, he was being completely literal.

We learn elsewhere that in his atoning sacrifice he suffered all the pains of humanity (D&C 18:11), so that he could learn to succor those in need (Hebrews 2:18).  I suggest that in a very real way, he has actually shared and felt the very pains of the homeless, the hungry, the naked, those in prison and those who wash up on the edges of our society like flotsam washing up on a beach.  And, that he did not suffer those pains in some abstract way, or as a derivative of what those people suffer, rather, through some incomprehensible mechanism he is and was able to fully feel the actual pains that each of us has and will suffered.  And, feeling those actual pains, he then can understand completely our situation and can comfort us, or forgive us, in exact measure according to our pain and need.

Knowing then, that He feels the pains of others, when we help those in need, when we relieve the suffering of those in anguish or pain, when we feed the hungry, we directly reduce the amount of suffering and pain that Christ suffers.  Likewise, when we cause others to suffer, we add to pain He suffers.  And when we fail to act to alleviate the pain and suffering of others, we fail to alleviate His pain and suffering.

I believe that is true.

In the light of that belief, some would suppose that I would be driven to embrace the social welfare model of government (aka Socialism, Communism, Progressivism, Liberalism, Fascism).  In fact much of the social welfare model of government wraps itself in a mantle of altruism about caring for the less fortunate among us. But, nothing could be further from the truth.

Socialists like Bernie Sanders and Liberals like Hilary Clinton and Barak Obama, seek to destroy the rich (other than themselves) and even to destroy the middle class, and make us all equally poor together.

I despise their cries to destroy the wealthy in order to help the poor.  And there is no hypocrisy in my feelings.  You cannot lift anyone up by tearing someone else down.

When Bernie Sanders, Hilary Clinton, Barak Obama and their ilk talk about helping the poor and relieving suffering, they are not talking about digging deep into their own pockets and giving until it hurts themselves in order to help others.  They are content to keep their own wealth, gained by feeding at the trough of the taxpayers.  They will keep their wealth, and instead they will dig deep into the pockets of others and force them to give until it hurts.

Their hypocrisy in their failure to live the very principles they are espousing is as clear and horrendous as that of any Christian preacher who rails from the pulpit against the evils of the flesh, and then is caught in adultery and debauchery.  And their altruistic battle cries of "soak the rich" mask the brutal reality of their policies which actually soak everyone who is above the poverty line in order to make us all poor together and ensure that the only path to wealth and comfort is through service to the State.

We need to re-enshrine the notion of individual action and individual accountability in our nation, especially when it comes to the issues of caring for the poor and disadvantaged.  A thrust toward individual accountability is in direct opposition to the Socialist thrust of collective accountability.

Each individual should take personal action to help those who are less advantaged than they.  Each person should do according to their ability and means.  This does not mean that we cannot band together into charitable organizations to magnify our efforts.  But, we should not ever rely upon the power of taxation, which is nothing less than forcible redistribution of wealth, in order to take care of those who are disadvantaged.

I make a notable exception in this for military veterans.  Military veterans are the only organization which has earned the right to partake of a portion of the public treasury to support them in their times of trouble. Because they have literally offered their lives in the service of our country, they are actually entitled to support through taxation.

Links Related to this Post:

• Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning
• Uncle Sam's Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America's Poor and What We Can Do About It
• Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto

Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM). The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein. 

The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein.

Visit Tom's Amazon.com Author's Page

(c) Copyright 2015 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved. 

Your comments are welcome and invited. Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome, even ones that may unsettle me.

Islam, Anti-Christ, and Prayer

The other day, I received this in my email.  Please read through it and I will comment at the end.

I know there are some of you that are Democrat and love Obama, but this is for Christians first, politics later.   I do pray that it doesn't offend anybody with the truth of the message, but it has to be sent. If you love your Lord first and your politics later, then you will appreciate this message. If you don't, I'm sorry I judged you wrong. When we get 100,000,000, that's one hundred million willing Christians to BOND together, voice their concerns and vote, we can take back America with God's help.   Become one of the One hundred million... Then let's get 200 million. It can be done just by sending this email to your friends.   Do the math. It only takes a single willing heart and a fed up SOUL. 

God Bless America and Shine your light on Her!   In 1952 President Truman Established one day a year as a "National Day of Prayer."   

In 1988 President Reagan Designated the first Thursday in May of each year as The National Day of Prayer.   

In June 2007 (then) Presidential Candidate BarackObama Declared that the USA "Was no longer a Christian nation.   

In 2009 President Obama Canceled the 21st annual National Day of Prayer ceremony at the White House under the ruse of "not wanting to offend anyone." HOWEVER... On September 25, 2009 From 4 AM until 7 PM, A National Day of Prayer FOR THE MUSLIM RELIGION Was Held on Capitol Hill, inside the White House. There were over 50,000 Muslims In D.C. that day. PRESIDENT OBAMA PRAYS WITH THE MUSLIMS! I guess it doesn't matter if "Christians" were offended by this event - We obviously don't count as "anyone" anymore.   Now President Obama is encouraging schools to teach the Quran for extra credit, while at the same time, they cannot even talk about the Bible, God, pray, or salute the American Flag. The direction this country is headed should strike fear in the heart of every Christian  especially knowing that the Muslim religion believes that if Christians cannot be converted, they should be annihilated.  

Send this to ten people, or even one hundred and ten!   And, send it the person who Sent it to you!. . To let them know that indeed, it was sent out to many more.

Okay, so that is the email I got.  First, let me say I really hate anything that resembles a chain letter. So, when someone sends me something that says "pass this on," I usually don't, just on principle. If you want to paste it into an email or put it on your blog or Facebook, feel free, but doing so won't prove your love of God or Country and not doing it won't reveal you as a Summer Patriot either. 

Regardless of the "chain-letter" feel, this one called attention to something that I think warrants widespread attention, especially from Christians.  And, since this blog is primarily focused on the collision space between God and Government, then this seemed appropriate.

Although it has consistently been soft-pedaled by the mainstream media, Obama publicly admitted in his books that he will stand with the Muslims.  Add to that a couple of other things in his resume.  
    1) During his first campaign I was watching one of his interviews where he referred to Islam as "my faith." Then he quickly backpedaled, saying "their faith", and the reporter totally let it slide. 
    2) In his own books Obama said he would stand with Islam. 
    2) For more than 20 years he claimed his spiritual guide was the Reverend Jeremiah Wright who takes the framework for his beliefs and preaching from "Liberation  Theology" which, if you didn't know, was created by the KGB as a means to get "Christian" ministers to preach the tenets of communism and anti-Americanism.

So, what we have in our current President of the United States is a Muslim who publicly embraces a theology that has it origins in the Communist Manifesto, which preaches that religion is nothing more or less than a means to control the masses ("... religion is the opiate of the masses.").

Some would be dismissive of all this and say, what does it matter if he is Muslim or not?  Well, to everyone who is not Muslim this is a really, really big deal, because it will ultimately determine if they live or die, when he gets his way.  You may think I am being melodramatic here, but it really is that serious.

Why would I say it is a matter of life and death?  Because, according to the teachings of "the religion of peace" anyone who is not a Muslim, a Christian or a Jew has the choice of either converting to Islam or being killed.  And Christians and Jews, if they want to live, get to pay an annual tax for the privilege of not being killed.  In Islam, there are exactly three categories of people: 1) Muslims 2) Infidels (Jews and Christians) and 3) Pagans.  And the Pagans are to be killed if they won't convert to Islam.  Now, do you understand why Pakistan and Bangladesh had to be carved out of India into separate countries and maintain a pretty hostile relationship with India?  It is because both Pakistan and Bangladesh are predominantly Muslim populations while India is predominantly "pagan."  Having pagans ruling over Muslims would be utterly intolerable, and produced violent results.

Now, one more point is worthy of mention here.  Many don't realize it, but Islam is anti-Christ.

Hold on!  Don't go all wild-eyed on me here.  Do you really know what that term means?

Most Christians get all wrapped up in the Book of the Revelation of Saint John (aka Revelations) and talk about "The Anti-Christ."  But they don't really even know what the phrase anti-Christ means.  They assume it means something like opposite-of-Christ.  You know, like in Star Trek where you have matter and anti-matter.  But, that isn't really what the term means.

What anti-Christ means is someone who says that Jesus of Nazareth was not the the Christ, meaning that they deny that he is the Only Begotten Son of God.

Islam promotes that there are four great prophets: Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed.  What is wrong with this picture is that Jesus was way more that JUST a prophet.  They even claim that Jesus did not ever claim to be the Son of God, even though he did on more than one occasion in the first four books of the New Testament, and of course there was that whole resurrection thing where he appeared to the Apostles, Paul, and upwards of 500 people at one time.  Add to that his appearance as a resurrected being, with the wounds in his hands and feet, to people in the ancient Americas, as recorded in the Book of Mormon and his divinity becomes pretty irrefutable.  Then, cap it off with his appearance in 1820 to a farm boy in upstate New York and later in the 1830s in Kirtland, Ohio to Joseph Smith Junior and Sidney Rigdon and prophet becomes the least of the terms appropriate for referring to Jesus of Nazareth.

So, when Islam says that Jesus is a prophet, folks think that means they are honoring and respecting him.  In fact, they are attempting to diminish him by saying he is NOT divine.  They are being anti-Christ. 

So, why would a closet Muslim lie about his religion and embrace communism wrapped in a mask of 

Christianity?  Well, I cannot know for sure, since he won't come out and tell the truth (the Qur'an [or Koran if you prefer] says it is okay to lie to infidels and pagans, so absolute rules of behavior don't seem to emerge from the Qur'an),  I surmise that he is looking for a scheme that will rationalize the imposition of some form of dictatorship or oligarchy - a totalitarian government which will have, as one of its aims, to make us all equally poor (except for those who are more equal than others, like the oligarchs and high ranking "public servants" who rule over us - they will get fancy houses, armed guards, servants, and chauffeured limousines).

When Obama declared that "the US is not a Christian nation," [see endnote below] he is saying what he wants, not what is.  And, he is well on his way to getting our government and laws divorced from Christ.  Once the divorce is complete, the moral underpinnings of our laws are cut away. that will lead to immoral laws (we've already seen some of those). Eventually, the laws will become so corrupt that people will cry out for a return to morality based rule.  They may even rise up in armed rebellion. What we will then get won't be a return to the Judaeo-Christian basis of laws that apply to all.  Rather, we will get something akin to Sharia Law, which discriminates against those of differing religious beliefs and puts a religious ruler in charge (like the mullahs of Iran) who can declare things to be both illegal and immoral and give their enforcers the confidence that the rewards of heaven are theirs for their zealotry in carrying out every instruction of their politico-religious leaders.

Not a pretty picture, is it?  Before you laugh it all off, consider the source. As a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka Mormons), I truly believe that we have a living prophet on the earth today.  I don't think he is perfect, but he is a very good man.  And, I believe that when he is acting in his office, he is telling me what God wants me to do.  However, I still fact-check with God himself.  And, I know that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Christ did what he did so that we would have freedom to choose.  He will not take that away from us and He is the one who inspired the Founding Fathers to write our Constitution.  He supports it.  

But, He will let us throw it away.  And a government that is truly run by God and according to His principles and teachings won't deprive us of choice, or tolerate mistreatment of others because they don't believe the same way as He wants us to. 

Every Christian who believes that the Bible is the word of God knows that in the end, Christ himself will return here to rule the world in person.  That is the only time it will be appropriate to have a theocracy in this land.  Until then, let the President and the Prophet be two different people.  And, let the government and the church not become one.

Endnote:  This is kind of an aside, but when I was looking into this quote I followed one link to FactCheck.org which is supposed to be exactly that - a source of facts instead of opinions.  Instead of telling me what he said, or did not say, the site tries to tell me what he meant.  " Here's what Obama meant to say,...".  Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I have found that FactCheck.org spouts editorial opinions instead of just providing facts.  So, rather than cite a source where the quote is written out, I linked to a YouTube video where you can hear exactly what he says.

Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM). The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein. 

The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein.

Visit Tom's Amazon.com Author's Page

(c) Copyright 2015 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved. 

 Your comments are welcome... Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome.