Happy New Heaven and New Earth!

I hope all of you had an excellent Christmas and New Years. May 2010 bring an abundance of unity into your life.



As I have been considering Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and the subsequent celebration of the New Year, I have pondered its significance from an internal millennial perspective. This time of year has fascinating symbolism. The winter solstice. The birth of Joseph Smith. The celebration of Jesus Christ's birth. In Hanukah, the festival of lights. The new year. All these things point to greater light and truth coming into the world or the dawning of a new millennial day.

However, carnal man will continue to look for the external in these symbols rather than recognizing the great internal truths that are being presented right in front of them. Carnal man will worship these symbols and expand them in increasing layers of complexity that become burdensome and heavy. For instance, Christmas is often condemned for being too materialistic and in many cases it is. It can become the most stressful time of year. This is a great example of how carnal man's worship of signs, symbols, and tokens becomes a burden. As the burden becomes too heavy, in desperation, carnal man then will become sufficiently teachable and perhaps will learn the true meaning behind the symbols. The meaning is about you!



The prophet Nephi spoke well when he said that as he read from the books of Moses and that which was written by Isaiah, he "did liken all scripture unto" him and his people that it might be for their "profit and learning" (1 Nephi 19:23). Most members of the church interpret this scripture to mean that Nephi applied the scriptures to the external circumstances of the children of Lehi and their journey to the promised land as well as their encounters with Gentiles. This is a true interpretation of that scripture. However, there are deeper and more profound levels of understanding. Ultimately, the whole (holy) point of the scriptures is about you! It is the journey you are taking to come unto Christ and become perfected in him. Jesus clearly asked the Nephites: "What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." (3 Nephi 27:27). The whole (holy) point of scriptures and prophets, symbols, tokens and signs is to point the way to this meaning. However, the carnal and literalist man will only see and apply scriptures and the words of living prophets to their external environment. What will escape carnal man is that all these things will bring him experience to understand who he is. Once the meaning of scriptures and all things external to us is comprehended, a new INTERNAL millennial day will dawn and there will be a new heaven (spirit) and a new earth (body). The carnal man will have been allowed to perish and the illusion that comes from partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil will dissipate. Your spirit and body will cease their enmity and unite. Men and women will remember once again who they really are and will begin to create that which brings unity and peace first within and then without.



It would be helpful to liken the life and mission of Jesus Christ to our own lives. There are few who apply this to themselves. As you may recall, according to the teachings of the church, our Heavenly Father had a plan for his children to come to earth and gain a physical body and experience. The pre-mortal Jesus (Jehovah) volunteered to be our Savior and redeem us from the Fall where man would partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He would provide an infinite AT-ONE-MENT to reconcile us with God due to man becoming lost in the illusion of a harsh Telestial world filled with sin, death and decay. In desperation, man would need to rely on strict commandments given by messengers because fallen man will categorize all things as either good or evil in order to have illusory safety and survival. As a result, God would give more and more laws and commandments to burden man so they would wake up and see that they are partaking of an illusion. But man in his carnal state would then begin to worship the law and the prophets and miss the mark. Therefore, a Savior would be needed to show lost and fallen man the way back to unity (Tree of Life). They would need to pass the cherubim (angels/messengers) which stand as sentinels to guard the way of the tree of life. God is love (1 John 4:8). He would never want us to live eternally in hell, misery and illusion. Therefore we must consecrate all things to the Lord, including and especially giving up the illusion that comes from partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, before we can partake of the tree of life.



Jesus Christ would clearly show us the way and the path to do this. The difficulty will be in actually seeing that His life can be likened to our own. Many will take up stones and cry blasphemy. Some have attempted to illustrate these principles in word and/or deed. Joseph Smith said: "Brethren, if I were to tell you all I know of the kingdom of God, I do know that you would rise up and kill me." (As recalled by Parley P. Pratt in MS 55 (September 4, 1893): 585.). He also said: "Would to God, brethren, I could tell you WHO I am! Would to God I could tell you WHAT I know! But you would call it blasphemy and want to take my life!" (Life of Heber C. Kimball, p.333).



Jesus Christ is our perfect exemplar who shows the way clearly. Thus Jehovah came to earth, born in a miraculous manner into humble circumstances. He passes through a veil of forgetfulness. The prophet John said: "And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace; And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness; And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first." (D&C 93:12-14).

Each of us decided to come to earth and have a physical experience. Each birth is miraculous in some way. Each of us passes through a veil of forgetfulness. As a result we forget who we are and begin to become lost and fallen in the physical world. It is a humbling experience to lose your memory and have to put the pieces back together. But God is merciful. We have an opportunity to go from grace to grace until we become a joint-heir with Christ and receive of the Father's fullness. Each birth is a miraculous event and journey. Christ's virgin birth is more than a literal miracle but is an important symbol of each one of us. It teaches us who we are and what we have the power to create in the physical world when we become aware and understand the symbolism of all things. The virgin birth of Christ symbolizes purity or creating that which is pure and unifying and can be seen in this way:



God ---> Mary ---> Jesus



Even so, when we begin to understand who we are, we will recognize that we have a trinity within ourselves. Our triune nature can be described as:

Intelligence ---> Spirit ---> Body


It can also be seen this way:

Spirit ---> Body ---> physical manifestation or creation


The fruits of this inspired physical creation unifies and generates peace on earth and goodwill towards men.


When we allow divine intelligence to flow into our lives through our spirit, our body will become servant to that revelation and that which is created brings peace on earth and goodwill towards men. A new heaven and a new earth are created (or discovered) when we become perfected in Christ and live our lives in this way. What we create becomes unifying to the world rather than generating more fragmentation, warfare and tribalism. We too will truly participate in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Our role that we play in this process is co-created with God before the foundation of the world. We can embrace it and take the truly straight and narrow path or we can continue to worship signs, symbols and tokens as most do. Though our role will obviously not involve suffering in Gethsemane or on the cross, still we will have an opportunity to play a unifying role that brings AT-ONE-MENT.



However, when we take the broad well travelled road and fall into the illusion of the Telestial world by partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil moment to moment each day, the body becomes the first rather than the last. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. Often the body is so centric that it has no awareness of spirit or intelligence. This physically dominant state leads to anything but peace on earth or goodwill. Even when our body is aware of its triune nature of intelligence and spirit, it often leads to internal tribalism, fragmentation and internal warfare which then become externalized. This is the source of all hatred and external war.



It is of interest to note that Muslims of the Sufi tradition made a distinction with the concept of Jihad or Holy War. They describe a greater jihad which is the war within oneself rather than the lesser jihad which is an external war against the infidel neighbor.

We could say that the wars between the Nephites (spirit) and Lamanites (body) were of a similar vein. They appear to be external wars but they can also symbolize the war within ourselves. This internal symbolism supersedes literal or carnal interpretations. As we draw closer to God, the internal will become a higher truth than the external. The final great war of Armageddon can be symbolized as the final struggle within men and women to give up the illusion of the Telestial world and allow Christ to come and become King. Or in other words for your spirit to become a righteous king over the body.

When you live a life of conscious awareness of who you are, you will see things clearer and in a different way. A millennial day will dawn inside of you and you will witness a new heaven and earth. May this be a truly NEW YEAR that begins the birth of a millennial day within you.

Peace and blessings to you in your journey.

The First Vision Rediscovered

Greetings, peace, and blessings to all. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. As we consider the First Vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith it is easy for Mormons as well as those who hate the church to only look at the First Vision through natural or carnal eyes. While I do know that Joseph Smith was indeed a true prophet and that the First Vision is true, I have come to see the event through millennial eyes. It has blessed my life in new and profound ways and has created the dawning of a new millennial day within my temple.

Nephi spoke well when he said: "Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him" (2Nephi 11:4). This important scripture plainly shows that symbolism of Christ is truly all around us. We are constantly being invited to come unto Christ and become prefected in Him. Nephi was blessed because he recognized that the multitude of laws within the law of Moses were customized sign posts for the stiffnecked children of Israel. Moses saught diligently to have his people perfected in Christ and enter into the rest of the Lord but they wanted Moses to speak on their behalf. As a result, they were given extensive carnal commandments until they were ready to awaken to who they really are. These carnal commandments all pointed to Christ. However, because the natural and literal man or woman becomes lost in the physical world of the senses, he or she ends up worshiping the symbols, instead of comprehending the meaning behind the symbols and applying the meaning to his or her own life.

Joseph was really no different than Moses. We as modern children of Israel are very similar to the ancient children of Israel. Stiffnecked literalists who wanted to be told exactly what to do. Joseph clearly wanted us to enter into the rest of the Lord and have the same experiences he had but history repeated itself and rather than Joseph being more like Enoch or Melchizedek he became more like Moses because of us and what we needed at the time. We really were not ready to learn who we are. As a result we received more and more commandments and doctrines that are camflouged in symbolism and allegory. The temple endowment is one of the more elegant and layered symbols that Joseph gave us. It is heavily layered in multiple levels of deep symbolism. This is in contrast to the straightforward school of the prophets and lectures on faith. The lectures on faith were eventually decanonized or "taken from our midst" because we as a people were not ready for them. Instead we received layer upon layer of complex structure, rules, laws, and commandments much like the children of Israel. It will continue to be this way until we are ready.

The First Vision is beautiful in its simplicity. When we go to this SOURCE of the RESTORATION and understand the profound symbolism of this event, then we will be RESTORED and connected with SOURCE. The First Vision is one of the most important symbols that is the typifying of Christ. When viewed through spirtual eyes we begin to comprehend our own nature and how we can be a blessing to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people.

As, I have mentioned in previous posts, when you see three individuals in unity and harmony, you are receiving a beautiful lesson concerning Jesus Christ and ultimately yourself. Jesus Christ is perfect and our great Exemplar as you know. He is Holy or in other words Whole-ly. Although, He was born into the world with a physical body like you and I and He had the same 5 senses and similar temptations, He did not succumb. He was directed purely by His Heavenly Father (Divine Intelligence). This Source of Intelligence and Purity was the revelation that guided his WHOLE life. As the Father spoke to His Spirit and His Spirit spoke to His body and senses, He was able to change the world forever. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of the triune nature of each one of us.

INTELLIGENCE ---> SPIRIT ---> BODY

Sometimes it is called:

MIND ---> SPIRIT ---> BODY

Or as I have mentioned before:

GOD ---> ADAM ---> EVE

Thus, to take upon ourselves, the name of Chirst, is to have an awareness of this principle and then to live in such a way. When we fail to do this, we choose another path that usually leads to partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. As we partake of this fruit from moment to moment in our lives, our body and senses call the shots, and our spirit ends up going along for the ride and then judging all things as either a great threat or giving us undisturbed pleasure. This fragmented perspective is in direct opposition to the Tree of Life which is about unity and oneness. Partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is a moment to moment occurence that leads to anxiety, fear, hiding, covering up, and blame. These feelings lead to an expansion of misery and take their toxic toll on our physical bodies and our minds which leads to death and decay. We fall into an illusion of a fragmented world of lone-ness, dreary-ness, and separateness. The Lord, in his mercy, puts cheribim and a flaming sword to guard the Tree of Life until we are ready to consecrate or give up this illusion. Once we give up the illusion, we are then free and can partake of the unity and AT-ONE-MENT of the Tree of Life. Jesus the Christ showed us the way. The First Vision event also gives us the clear "first vision" of who we really are so we can partake of the Tree of Life.

In the First Vision, you have a young uneducated farm boy going into a secluded grove of trees to pray. James 1:5 was a major influence on Joseph and gave him the courage to seek God in prayer and to ask questions. It was his first "uttered prayer" alone and as he opens his physical mouth, Satan attempts to foil his prayer and "thick darkness" gathered around him. Thus we see that worldy education and scholarship, as mighty as they may be, cannot answer the truly important questions of life. They will never be able to tell us who we are and in some ways we need to (as Yoda says) "unlearn what we have learned." Thus we see that the scriptures (dead and living prophets) point the way to God and personal revelation. Until we decide to "venture" (Joseph Smith History 1:13) as Joseph did, our spiritual journey will remain incomplete. Thus we see that "uttered prayer" because it uses physical voice, can be heard by Satan. When we ask God to physically hear the words that come from our physical mouth we may inadvertantly invite Satan to make an attempt to darken our minds. Thus we see that the territory of the physical and the senses is where Lucifer tries to influence. The prayer of the heart however, is always heard by God before we even have a chance to utter it with physical voice. As the Apostle Paul said: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26).

As Joseph's tongue was bound and he was about to yield to this unseen dark force, the Spirit interceded and a pillar of light descended above his head. It was above the brightness of the sun. Pure Light. He saw two personages standing above him. One pointed to the other and said this is my Beloved Son. Hear Him. Thus we see that Joseph was on the cusp of succumbing to darkness but endured until the light came. Even so, we may feel as though our lives are filled with confusion and darkness. We may recognize that our senses cannot be relied upon to save us and are ineffective. Thus we see that our physical senses are easily manipulated by Lucifer. But our Spirit cannot be controlled by him unless we let it. Thus we see that the power of God to illuminate the darkness is superior to Satan's power. Thus we see our spirit being awakened. Pure intelligence flowing into us.

Thus we see who we are:

God the Father ---> Jesus Christ ---> Joseph Smith

Intelligence ---> Spirit ---> Body

When we awaken to this fact about ourselves we enter a brighter world and leave the darkness and confusion behind us. God the Father represents pure intelligence that is infinite, co-eternal and can never be created or destroyed. Jesus Christ represents our obedient and submissive spirit that seeks only to do the will of the Father. Joseph Smith represents our body that materializes God's will in the physical world. This is who we are. This is the source of all creation. We are not merely the created but we are awakening to our role as creator. We are not merely acted upon but we are awakening to act and create. When we live in harmony with our triadic nature, we have joy and create that which is good. When our body and senses are lied to, controlled, and tricked by Lucifer, and our Spirit loses awareness, and fails to judge properly, then Divine Intelligence gives us curses (for our sake) and misery to let us know that we are going in the wrong direction. Or in other words, we are walking in darkness when it is really brighter then noon day. We will need dead or living messengers to guide us back to Christ. We will need His AT-ONE-MENT. We will know the TRUTH and the TRUTH will set us free.

I thank God for the prophet Joseph Smith. I thank God for this First Vision that happened in a "garden" eastward. The East symbolizes light and enlightenment. The symbol of the West symbolizes darkness, death and confusion. Though the church grew as it moved West, so did the number of external (carnal) commandments. These carnal commandments point the way back to the East. They point the way to Christ. We must go to the "SOURCE" of the "RESTORATION". That is why almost every temple's entrance points East. Towards the source of light. Even so, may we now turn towards the simplicity and brilliance of the First Vision to see who we truly are and awaken to a new millennial morning within our temples.

God bless you my friends.

Church Supports Gay Rights Ordinance

Historical and remarkable is what Millennial Mormonism Today calls the church's public endorsement of a gay rights measure designed to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in employment and housing. The recent battle between the church and the LGBT community over marriage had produced so much animosity, I really wondered if there could be reconciliation. I did not think it would happen this soon.

Michael Otterson, managing director of the LDS Church's public affairs office, spoke during a public hearing Tuesday before the Salt Lake City Council regarding ordinances proposed to protect gay and lesbian residents from housing and employment discrimination. This unexpected public support for a city ordinance by the church created a small media bombshell that made it into national headlines.

I was overjoyed that the church took a consistent stand with it's August 2008 press release which states that they are not opposed to civil protections and rights for gays and lesbians when it does not interfere with religious liberties and the traditional definition of marriage. That stance seemed to fall on deaf ears when it came to the media, some members of the LGBT community and even some Mormons particularly those of the Nicodemus variety who will likely become offended by this action.

The church took a bold step in declaring support for the Salt Lake City ordinance rather than merely not opposing it. The support came as a result of meetings of leaders in the LGBT community and the church. Apparently they were able to find common ground.

This is extremely millennial and Millennial Mormonism Today welcomes it wholeheartedly.
I thought I would share some of the more interesting comments about this historic event as well as some of my thoughts about those comments. All of these comments were taken from the Deseret News website reporting on this event.

Here is an anti-LDS comment. Notice the twisted skepticism and contempt:
"This is only Salt Lake City one of the areas of Utah slipping from LDS control. I still don't trust this. The LDS does NOTHING until after they are absolutely forced to do so."

It is important to note that the church could have chosen not to make a big fuss about this and simply not opposed it. I'm not sure how the church could be forced to publicly support this. NOTHING is also a very absolutist statement. Apparently, for this angry and bitter individual, any good or positive step the church takes is because somebody is holding a gun to their head. I wish this person peace and blessings and that their life may be healed from the contempt and bitterness they feel.

Here is a comment of the more Nicodemus variety:
"The Mormon church has moved far from the ideology of its founders, and will do pretty much whatever popular opinion tells it to do. Just wait. In a couple of decades or so there will be gay and lesbian Mormon bishops."

This one sounds like a fundamentalist who values tradition over revelation. I hate to break it to them and others but there have been and are gay bishops! They simply choose to remain faithful in their temple marriage in spite of feelings of attraction to the same sex.

I liked this one quite a bit:
"I think if the LDS church is going to do what the popular opinion is at the time, women would be able to hold priesthood positions by now. We invited a gay friend to church several times, and he wanted to stay in relief society with us, nobody made a big deal out it. Everybody welcomed him just fine."

Nobody should make a big deal out of it. We invite ALL to come unto Christ. Some people act like gays and lesbians are not included in the "who is my neighbor" aspect of the parable of the Good Samaritan. For the Mormon community and LGBT community I think it would be an interesting contemporary twist and likening the scriptures to ourselves and our day if we substituted Samaritan and replaced it with a Mormon or someone who identifies themselves as gay or lesbian. We should all go and do thou likewise. It would get us much closer to a literal millennium or at least an internal one.

Here is a comment from a LGBT rights activist that I really liked:
"I am thrilled to be standing shoulder to shoulder with the LDS church on this issue. There are so many areas such as this where we agree! Let's work on those and leave the others to rest for a while, Let's make sure all God's children are respected and protected from discrimination and have the rights they need to manage their affairs. Sure We'll disagree on the boarderlands of our ideologies, but in the center, there is much we can cooperate on. Thanks to the LDS Church for speaking up for what is right, even when (as is obvious from comments here) it may not be popular or advisable or may be misconstrued as being solely for PR. This allows the LGBT community their first glimpse of the compassion of the LDS church as opposed to their view of it as a frightening institution that wants to strip their rights."

Here is a classic Nicodemus Mormon:
". . . I've been a member for over half a century. The leaders of the Church are righteous people, full of love for everyone. I applaud all those who stand up for religious freedom. No one should ever be forced to believe a certain way even if it becomes popular or politically correct. The Gays in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah became the leaders of those cities. They tried to force everyone to think and become like them. Ultimately they were destroyed by God himself because in their perversions they would defile themselves and the children of God and would not repent."

As you can see, at the beginning of this comment, there is some "putting the brethren on pedestals" here. I agree that there are some who want to suppress the free speech of people who are religious, especially if they disagree with them. They should have stopped there. But then you see this person go off the rails and take a purely literalistic position on the Sodom and Gomorrah story instead of seeing the symbolism behind it. The uber-literalist perspective promotes hatred, intolerance, and sometimes even violence. It may surprise this Nicodemus Mormon that I have known some gays and lesbians who are extremely Christ-like. On the other hand I have met some Mormons and other Christians who are more like the Pharisees than like Christ.

This next comment is actually two comments. The first is a previous comment made by a member of the church and the second comment is clearly from the GLBT community. I post it simply to show that we have some work to do in healing some wounds, correcting ignorance, and misunderstanding:
"No matter what the church says or do it will never be good enough for the LGBT's..."Yup... kinda like how nothin' the GLBT community does is ever good enough for LDS members."

This posted comment shows that we don't always recognize that when we make harsh judgements, we then receive harsh judgements. As the Savior said: Judge not, lest ye be judged. It's not fun when we receive what we dish out.

Here's some comments that are about as Nicodemus Mormon as you can get. Notice in the first how uncomfortable he is with the idea that there could be revelation involved in this process:
"A big step back for the church. I can not sit back and have this spoon fed to me as revelation. We should have stuck to our guns. These people need help not compassion!"
"I never thought the church would cower to political pressure. Another decline of the church in these latter days."
"A sad day in Utah. The Church should have stuck to their guns. It certainly shows a weakness that we are becoming 'in the world."

Enough said.

Many years ago, my grandfather's grandfather practiced an alternative lifestyle. He had three wives. He was persecuted for that. It was not popular and the majority of people in the country looked upon that lifestyle with disgust and ignorance. He, like many others were hunted and threatened with sanctions for the life they chose to live according to their religious principles. He and his family even had to leave the country to live this alternative marriage lifestyle according to his conscience.

Today, there are people who are not going to choose to live the same way we do. They have the right to define themselves the way they want. If they want to define themselves by their sexuality then they should be allowed to do that. If they want to say that sexual orientation is 100% purely genetic and biological then they should have the right to take that stand. One thing that used to bother me and many other members of the church is when other Christians try to define who I am and what I believe. Who is anyone to say that I am not a Christian? We of all people, know what it is like to be persecuted, threatened, abused with acts of violence and even killed. We should remember our history and stand with GLBTs in support of tolerance and mutual respect and kindness.

This does not mean we need to agree on every issue. I believe we can find common ground and understanding. Much of the common ground will be found in living a Christ-like life. Once we have a more Christ-like perspective then we will be less condemning and more loving and kind.

Finally, I share one last comment that I liked:
"This is a great day. As an active member of the LDS church with a strong testimony of the Savior and the church I'm thrilled. People deserve to be treated fairly."

Once again, I express gratitude for the church's public endorsement of this ordinance and look forward to further steps by the church to create more tolerance and understanding.

Peace and Blessings to each one of you my friends.

I'm Sorry But It Appears You've Been Damned

In the prophet Joseph Smith's final sermon on this Earth he said "I believe all that God ever revealed, and I never hear of a man being damned for believing too much; but they are damned for unbelief" (King Follet Discourse). This profound statement should come as great comfort to Millennial Mormons everywhere. Millennial Mormons are in a great position to avoid being damned because they believe that personal revelation is absolutely essential to spiritual growth and development. They are open to receiving truth wherever it may come from. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, they seek after these things wherever they may be.


On the other hand, Nicodemus Mormons are only content to have Apostles, Prophets, Stake Presidents and Bishops tell them what they should do, even as Moses did with the Children of Israel. As a result they receive a rebuke and a warning from the Lord: "For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward" (D&C 58:26). Nicodemus Mormons are more uncomfortable with personal revelation and listening to the still small voice. Instead, hearing the physical voice of the Lord's servants is more comforting. Though the Lord rebukes and warns us about being commanded and compelled in all things, He understands that this is a necessary step in our spiritual journey and it is certainly better than wandering in spiritual darkness (the world). Accepting living prophets or messengers is an essential step in our journey but it is not the end of the journey. As we begin to create a personal millennium within ourselves we recognize, like Joseph, that we too believe all that God ever revealed, all that He has now revealed and that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.



The one thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. "Not us" we say. We're different and special. We won't fall into the same trap as those who came before us. Well, let's look at history and see if we can see any patterns.



When Jesus came to teach His gospel he encountered a people who were largely unprepared to accept what he was teaching. You will recall that the Pharisees at that time were looking for a physical/carnal Messiah who would deliver them from Roman captivity. They clung to the dead prophets (whom many of their ancestors killed ironically) in the scriptures and the law as found in the Torah. Most did not believe that there would be any new prophets or revelation and so they rejected John the Baptist and subsequently many rejected Jesus in the process. You could say that the Pharisees said "A Torah! A Torah! We have got a Torah and there cannot be anymore Torah." In the end, they were so outraged at what He taught, they sought to kill Him. Tradition is so powerful. Jesus voluntarily gave up his life to complete the Atonement (At-ONE-ment) and show us the way.


For those who were ready, the floodgates of new revelation burst forth. The canon of scripture was once again open. Living Apostles and Prophets returned to the earth and miracles were common. As time went on, history repeated itself. The Apostles and Prophets were killed. The canon of scripture began to close somewhere around the 4th century. Miracles were less common. Thus, the Dark Ages were ushered in.


And then, a new day began to dawn. A young uneducated farm boy asked a question of God which ushered in the Restoration of the Gospel. Miracles became common again. Many of the sectarian Christians were not prepared for such an event. They believed that Apostles and Prophets were a thing of the past and that there would be no new revelations. The Bible was closed and had been that way for centuries. God had been gagged and would not say anymore than what was in the Bible--after all that's what the Book of Revelations says right??!! In the end, tradition was too powerful and they became outraged at what Joseph taught. They sought to kill him and succeeded. Even in his final moments, the prophet Joseph Smith pointed the way to Christ.


Nephi identifies their thinking well when he says "A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible" (see 2 Nephi 29: 3-4, 9). Nephi goes a step further when he speaks on behalf of God and states this in regard to those who reject new revelation: "For unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have" (2 Nephi 28:30).

History once again repeats itself.


Is it possible today that history could be repeating itself again with members of our own church? Could Nicodemus Mormons today be saying: "Living Prophet! Living Prophet! We have got a living prophet". Might they not recognize that living prophets and previous scriptures have their role in preparing the way to Christ? They are not ends in themselves. Ironically, Nicodemus Mormons find themselves in the unenviable position as the Pharisees did and many Christians do today. They no longer ask, seek or knock. They have enough! Will tradition once again override new revelation?

Even temple attending members of the church, if they look at the endowment in superficial and carnal levels, will fail to make progress in their spiritual journey. They will be like the children of Israel prior to the Babylonian captivity who trusted in the temple (carnally and superficially) and found their world come crashing down around them. Jeremiah warned them by saying this: "Trust not in lying words saying , The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these" (Jeremiah 7:4).
Let me be clear. Having the scriptures, a living prophet, and the temple are wonderful blessings. They are essential aspects of the gospel. As Jesus said, he did not come to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfill (FULL-FILL) them. Living prophets, scriptures and even the temple can only take us so far. They all do the same thing--point the way to Christ. Until we are ready to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and live by personal revelation then we will continue to wander in the wilderness. As Joseph said, a man is damned for unbelief.

But Millennial Mormon! Don't we have the fullness of the gospel?! Yes, we absolutely do. What that means though is that we have everything we need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We have everything we need to begin to become like Him. Whether we choose to do that or not is up to us. If we are to become like him as the Bible and the Book of Mormon teach, then we must begin to live as He did which was by personal revelation from His Father in Heaven. (Many Christians today believe that it is blasphemy and robbery that we could ever become like Jesus Christ or our Heavenly Father. This is one of the reasons why they killed Joseph. It was a hard saying. Who could hear it?)

Millennial Mormons recognize the 9th article of Faith as extremely relevant each and every day. It says: "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God" (Articles of Faith). Most Nicodemus Mormons won't really comprehend that this article of faith has any personal meaning for them right at this very moment. They would only see this article of faith as pertaining to the living prophets revealing doctrine for the church rather than personal revelation. As a result of their dependence on living prophets and listening to their physical voice, many Nicodemus Mormons are not always well practiced at listening to the still small voice and continue to wander in the wilderness or are damned until they learn these lessons from history.

Eventually, as we embrace the Savior, come to know Him, take up our cross, and actually follow Him, we will "believe all things" (Article of Faith 13) and the internal millennium will begin. When that day comes, the words of the Apostle John will be fulfilled in your ears: "Beloved, now are we the sons (or daughters) of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2).


Peace and blessing to all of you my friends. May God be with you.



EPILOGUE:
I just realized that some people may be misinterpreting how I am using the word damned. Most of you probably know what I mean but for all those literalists out there I had better clarify. I am using it the same way Joseph meant it. What I do not mean is that damned means that you will burn in a literal fire, in a literal hell for literally all eternity. What Joseph and I do mean is that damned means you are temporarily stuck in your eternal journey until you understand these principles that God is trying to teach you. Take your time and learn for yourself.

Dan "Millennial" Brown and The Lost Symbol

Greetings to all! May peace and blessing be with you as always.

I just finished reading Dan Brown's new novel called The Lost Symbol. For those who don't know who Dan Brown is, he is the author of Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code. I enjoy his books because they center on historical and religious themes. Although they are fictional works, they present quite a number of historical and contemporary facts. It makes for excellent reading in my opinion.

Many Mormons had heard that Dan Brown had been poking around in the church archives doing research for this book and that he was doing a book on the Masons. Many Mormons were nervous that he was going to do an expose on the temple endowment and the connections with Masonry. This did not turn out to be the case. He only directly references the church twice. Both of the mentions are fairly neutral for someone who doesn't know much about the church.

The overall theme of the book will be of great interest to most Mormons, especially of the Millennial persuasion. One of the primary themes of the book is of apotheosis or man becoming a god. It is primarily a Masonic perspective on the issue but as most of you know, many early members of the church were Masons, including Joseph Smith. Joseph clearly saw many parallels between masonic rituals and Restoration principles and thus there are commonalities and overlap in Mormon temple ordinances and Masonry. There are differences as well of course.

In addition to early members of the Church, a large number of the founders of the United States of America were also Masons. Thus, much of the symbolism of the country is connected to Masonry. This will be difficult for many Nicodemus Mormons as well as Evangelical Christians to take because their view of the United States is consistent with it being a "Christian country". The reality is that most of the founders were Deists and have a strong Masonic background.

The novel takes place in Washington, D.C. and it is a page turner. I highly recommend it for everyone. If you are working on becoming a Millennial Mormon then I would strongly encourage you to check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Another theme of the book is the tension and hopeful reconciliation of science and religion. In many ways, the book parallels many of the topics I have discussed here on Millennial Mormonism Today.

Western civilization, over the centuries has created this separation of religion and science. The two have become like oil and water. Most atheists and agnostics cleave towards science in totality and most orthodox religious folks cleave to their religion in totality. The two appear to be at odds with each other and reconciliation between the two seems out of reach. Both sides seem to want to keep it that way. It appears that this schism has always existed. However, this isn't true. Most Eastern religions are not incompatible with science and you will not see the same fragmentation in the East as you do in the West. However, the West is in the midst of an incredible transformation.

Dan Brown has been able to tap into the pulse of the coming era. Something quite remarkable has happened as science has explored the fundamentals of physical reality. They have begun to find that things are not so tidy and neat as they once thought. The Newtonian laws of classical physics don't seem to work quite the same at the sub-atomic level. The advent of Quantum Physics has changed everything. Many of you may not know much about Quantum Physics but it is in the process of revolutionizing everything we know and everything we thought we knew about how the universe works.

As we get to the sub-atomic level, the rules seem to change and scientists are baffled by what they are seeing. Billions of dollars are being spent to try to figure out what is going on. As Quantum Physics hits the mainstream, scientists are desperately trying to interpret this strange sub-atomic world and the laws that govern it. As a result, new interpretations are developed frequently. Currently, there are 11-12 different interpretations of quantum mechanics and counting. There will likely be many more.

The bottom line with Quantum Physics is that there is a lot we don't know about our physical universe and how it is created. What this has done is "create space" for spirituality and science to begin to make tentative steps towards each other. For many, spirituality and science may be describing the same things with a difference only in terminology and semantics.

It is in this fertile ground that Dan Brown plants the seeds of his novel. His bridge between science and spirituality is the Noetic Sciences and Masonry. Noetic Sciences is the study of the mind and the role it plays in affecting matter--if any. For most classical scientists who tend to be strict materialists, there is no role for the mind to play and matter reigns supreme. For them, the Noetic Sciences are fringe or pseudoscience. For others, it is called frontier science and it challenges many of the notions of the mainstream. As Dan Brown alludes to in his novel, at one time, believing that the Sun revolved around the Earth and that the Earth was flat was considered mainstream and even scientific, based on what mankind knew at the time. Surely we are no different now. This is what Dan Brown explores in his novel and what I try to explore on this blog.

The symbolism of science and religion is consistent with many of the themes we have previously discussed. I am optimistic and hopeful that Science (physical body) and Religion (spirit) will be reconciled and unity and at-one-ment will be achieved. Science and Religion have been like two estranged siblings who are on the verge of healing their relationship and coming together again. I, like other Millennial Mormons, will look forward to that great day. In the meantime, I suggest you read the book and keep your eyes open. There are a lot of wonderful opportunities on the horizon.

Also, in the meantime, I would like to make Dan Brown an honorary Millennial Mormon. Congratulations Dan on your success and I look forward to hearing more from you.

Happy Halloween everyone! Try not to take things too literally tonight. Just because someone dresses like a witch does not mean she is involved in witchcraft. Have fun!

Peace and blessings to you my friends!