0:00:00 - 0:00:22Whom I respect spending a lot of time creating content for the internet uh in, in attempts to help turn people to Christ, which is a wonderful motive. And I wanted to spend a, a quick minute talking through what I see as ways that this could be done much more effectively. I think that it's a real shame
0:00:22 - 0:00:48to see tremendous people spending their time in ways that don't necessarily connect the benefits they could give to people um to those people. And I think just some slight tweaks in the practice could really help that. So here we go. So, so what matters? Why are we doing this? Well, we could go through
0:00:48 - 0:01:09a lot of scriptures on this, but in an attempt to make it brief, I, I think this is a pretty simple thing. What we're after is to help people learn more about Jesus and to live what they learn. That's it. That's the gospel. OK. Now, life's a challenging place. People are complicated. There's a whole
0:01:09 - 0:01:30lot of ideas floating around and in many different applications of how we can spend our time and, and think and feel and so that very focused purpose it, it can take on many, many, many different forms. And that's a good thing. It's a good thing for this to be broken down and applied and uh spread out
0:01:30 - 0:01:52and, you know, stretched to fit every, uh every person's possible needs. And that, that's, that's part of the equation. That's what's meant to happen. But one key with this is that whatever we do in that vein, if someone were to ask us, how does this help people learn more about Jesus or live more like
0:01:52 - 0:02:11Jesus? We need to have a really good answer for that. Now, that's not to say the gospel police are gonna bust down your door at 4 a.m. and you need to have something ready to go. Um You don't need to defend yourself to anyone but God. However, hopefully, that's a question you're actively thinking about
0:02:10 - 0:02:29because I'm not sure how you can prioritize the many different ways you could go about this and choose the best one without a metric. And the metric is how effectively are you helping people learn more about Jesus and live more like him? So even if you're teaching something that for most people seems
0:02:29 - 0:02:51far a field from normal gospel teaching. Like for example, how to reason, you should see a path to doing that and be able to make an argument that either you're doing, you're helping people learn more about Jesus and live more like him than, than any other thing you could be doing or that you're, you're
0:02:51 - 0:03:12intentionally chasing after a small subsegment of people who are not currently served by the ways in which the gospel is preached. You're going to rescue lost sheep type thing. Uh Used in the common understanding of that parable, which I do not um favor, I don't disagree with it. I just don't think it's
0:03:12 - 0:03:32the most useful of the many interpretations that, that are all probably correct Anyway, if you're off in the weeds in something that, that doesn't fulfill one of those two conditions, you're either targeting people that need the help that you can provide and they won't be served any other way. Or this
0:03:31 - 0:03:52is legitimately the best general way you can think of to bring souls to Christ, meaning for them to learn more about him and to live more like him, not just to talk about him or feel like they believe in him, but to actually be more like him. If, if you can't show that that's a direct connection to what
0:03:51 - 0:04:14you're doing. I'm not sure what the heck you're doing and, and you're really wasting precious resources. Some people out there are amazing. They're, they're amazingly intelligent. They're, they're well spoken. Uh They can create really attractive content that's fancy and easy to understand. That's all
0:04:14 - 0:04:32wonderful. But what are you using the talents for? Because this is what it's all about. All right. Now, let's go into some examples. This is not an exhaustive list. It's just a quick, let's run through some. So, first off, there are a lot of churches out there that spend some serious time. I should just
0:04:32 - 0:04:54say religious people. But, but let's say Christian, Christians out there who spend a lot of time arguing against other Christians. They, their goal in life is to diminish the validity of the belief of others. Now, I expect fully that if, if we were to ask why they're doing this, they'd say, well, they're
0:04:53 - 0:05:16, they, they believe in falsehoods and it's keeping them from God. All right, we'll try this tactic instead of just sort of, uh, in a raw fashion, ripping down what other people believe, find something that's better than that and show them that it has greater value, attract them through value rather
0:05:16 - 0:05:37than carpet bombing their faith. And then saying now, wouldn't you like this thing that's still standing right now? It's necessary to loosen the grip of false tradition. You can't preach the truth without preaching against false tradition. However, I th I think that the prime, the prime fault of this
0:05:37 - 0:06:00approach that, that so many do so many use is that they don't see that their own beliefs. Let's see. Let me back up. They don't see that belief systems are not monoliths, they're not one thing. Ok. So if you looked at all the named organized religions, you're going to find things of value in each of
0:06:00 - 0:06:23them. Some would have more than others. Some would have a lot more than others. Some would have a lot less than others. Ok. But there are things of value in there and, uh, to say, well, I'm gonna rip down this one and then push this other in its stead, well, the other one has faults too. And so in a
0:06:23 - 0:06:45way you're just trading chains because, you know, yours might be relatively better, but it's still just the cleanest dirty shirt. What we're after is to teach people more about Jesus and to help them live that more fully. And if that approach doesn't span the available options and, and pick from here
0:06:45 - 0:07:10and there to do it, then it's probably not as good as it could be. That's saying it very politely. Ok. Um There is an alternate alternative to that, but it's not in an institution, it's in a person, a person can be more like God, but an institution is gonna have tons of, of uh things that are good and
0:07:10 - 0:07:33things that are bad. Most people will too. I should clarify that most people will too. Ok. But what I'm saying is, you know, when Jesus strolled on to the scene uh in the meridian of time, he wasn't there to push a church, he was there to demonstrate the father and in as much as any belief system overlapped
0:07:32 - 0:07:59with that great, he said as much. He said, uh those, those that um he the disciples said there are people doing miracles in your name? And he said, well, they can't speak, they can't lightly speak evil of me then, can they? Right. So, it's really funny. But, you know, um, it's a different approach. So
0:07:58 - 0:08:17, um, the thing is there's just so much time spent in this, there's so much time spent in this. There are entire ministries where there's a guy who's just going around tearing down other churches. That's, that's, you'll see that pattern play out many times. What is the point is that really the best way
0:08:17 - 0:08:48you could spend your time? So, um now, now that's, that's one thing that there's another big, big, big use of time in churches in um in talking about Jesus in celebrating the belief of him, the existence of him. But it's completely disconnected from learning more about him and living more of what you
0:08:48 - 0:09:14learn. OK. That's really not good, really not good. If you could see how the Lord feels about this, you would feel very bad about it. How do you think he feels when a congregation is spending time every week, quote unquote, praising him while actively not doing any of the things they believe, they believe
0:09:13 - 0:09:35he said, it's not anyone else's belief, but they believe he said, and they're celebrating the, you know, his existence and allegedly that they believe in him. He himself said, you cannot believe in him without following his example. They're the same. You can't separate those he said, you can't love me
0:09:35 - 0:09:58without doing what I say, they're the same. You can't be my friend if you don't do what I say, those are all new Testament scriptures that I could show you. It's very plain, but all these congregations, they spend all this time talking about him and celebrating him without actually living what he taught
0:09:58 - 0:10:23without following his example that he showed. And this is extremely displeasing to the Lord. So if you're going to argue about different churches, focus the conversation on Jesus, not whatever practice they do or don't do or whatever else. The question is, what can, how can I use this to learn more about
0:10:23 - 0:10:47Jesus? Is there more there? And if not, then invert it and show other people more of the Lord, show other people more reasons to believe him and follow his example. You see and, and all of this is, it's not uh here's a box and take everything in the box or else get out of here. And you know, if you have
0:10:46 - 0:11:06the box, you're righteous. If you don't, you're wicked. Each person has a sovereign responsibility to learn what the Lord is like and live accordingly and that's theirs. You can't take it away, you can't shove it on people. It's theirs, it's theirs to choose, it's theirs to live. If you have things that
0:11:05 - 0:11:23you think would be helpful to other people to learn more about them, share about him, share them if you have better reasons, share them. You see in the end, you know, we think of the churchy stuff as separate from life, but this is very much the pattern of life as well. You wanna help other people think
0:11:23 - 0:11:42about what helps them and do what you can to help them. That's what the gospel is supposed to be. It's not something you beat someone over the head with and, and say like, oh, if you're not in my church, you're evil. This church is evil and we're, we're everything good because we celebrate, you know
0:11:42 - 0:12:07, we're so lucky and God has chosen us and somehow we figured it out. All right. What about history? This is a really common one in, in L DS oriented communities. Um There's a lot of talk for the L DS church that circles around history. People trying to argue in favor of that and a lot of talk against
0:12:07 - 0:12:26the L DS church that says, well, this couldn't be true because, and this couldn't be true because, and it's all, it's all around historical evidence. Um There's more I could say about this, I guess from my own history getting, getting pulled into these conversations. I just wondering what the heck is
0:12:26 - 0:12:59going on here. Here's the thing. Why would you hinge your beliefs on historic events that cannot, cannot underscore bold font cannot be settled through historic evidence. There are problems that cannot be solved. Almost any situation from history that is, um, uh, contentious. It can't be solved through
0:12:58 - 0:13:18history. That's the whole reason there's a controversy is because it's not clear, it's not clear. It's, it's murky enough that there will be intelligent people on, on all sides of it that make cogent arguments in favor of their position. And if you look at it, this is the way it is and that, that's not
0:13:18 - 0:13:38limited to religion that's all over across the board. If it's a contentious historic issue, odds are there's solid evidence that supports all sides of the equation. Oh Well, equations have two sides. But you know what I mean? All sides of the issue, someone on every side, they have something. Ok? Now
0:13:38 - 0:13:59, it could be the case that an ultra honest look at this like a, like a saintly level of honesty and intellectual rigor can yield a solid answer where there is controversy. Maybe that's the case. Ok? I think you could enumerate things where that's the case, but it doesn't matter because you're never
0:13:59 - 0:14:22going to persuade a normal person with that. A normal person does not have the depth in their model to accommodate that and the honesty to acknowledge it. You, you would have to write a very long book to sort of cut through all of this and no one's gonna read it and no one's gonna believe it and someone's
0:14:21 - 0:14:44just gonna summarize the alternative views in a tweet and that's gonna be enough to keep people out of it, out of your perspective. This is a complete and utter waste of time. Now that being said, there's a difference between saying through an appeal to history, I am going to prove once and for all XYZ
0:14:44 - 0:15:10and saying through a very brief pointing at maybe one thing I can show you that it's possible that this is true. Do you see the difference? It's an enormous difference. You do not need to sacrifice your life to go into column B. It's a very quick thing. You sh you find out something sufficient, you save
0:15:09 - 0:15:26it in a file somewhere. You're ready to go next time it comes up with somebody. And what this does is we're not pretending people are, are saints and that they just need the information and then they'd, it'd be enough. It's just because they don't have the information. That's like saying people are poor
0:15:25 - 0:15:51just because they don't have money. It's not the resources they lack. It's the resourcefulness by and large broad brushing poverty would not exist as a chronic issue. If people um yielded to superior ideas that were evident, people get stuck in generational poverty because they embrace very bad ideas
0:15:51 - 0:16:11that they ought to know better about and they just hold on to them in spite of all contrary evidence. It's the same thing. So you're not going to save people with a historic treaties on some issue. It's never gonna happen any good. You can do with that you'll do in five minutes of saying, hey, here's
0:16:11 - 0:16:29this counterpoint that's, that's impossible to dodge it, it doesn't prove that I'm right, but it proves that I might be right. You can't just dismiss this out of hand. That's the objective is, you're looking for something that's a solid enough anchor that people can't dismiss it out of hand anymore and
0:16:28 - 0:16:50then you move on. Right. So, um, you know, just to give you some practical examples of this. Um you know, with the current audience of these videos, there's a lot of people from an L DS background, there are folks who die hard, believe that there's no way on earth that Joseph Smith was a plaga mist and
0:16:50 - 0:17:14they've read these enormous books and whatever else and you know, they are, they are die hard into that. All you need is one contemporary piece of evidence that shows that he was in favor of it and then that blows their, their position completely apart. Does it, is it a lock tight, totally tied up thing
0:17:14 - 0:17:34that proves that he was a polygamist? Mm Probably not, but it's enough. OK. And do we have that we do? There's a letter in his own handwriting about it to one of his alleged plural wives and obviously, there's something very obviously uh extremely romantic about their relationship that would not be appropriate
0:17:34 - 0:17:57in any way except if they were married. There you go. Or you, you could also use William Clayton's child during that time. Uh and his, his journal entries about it. Um because obviously he didn't go back and rewrite every single day of his journal after years after the fact. And you can look at it and
0:17:56 - 0:18:16it's right there and it hasn't been edited. It's in context. So those two things are sufficient. You don't need to write this master's thesis on Joseph Smith's polygamy. This is just one specific example. If it doesn't apply to you, it's fine. It's just showing what I'm talking about. Now, here's the
0:18:15 - 0:18:34thing is when you take that approach, where you look for that one lock type thing that that is a counterexample instead of the historic treaties. You know, another example is people say that the book of Mormon can't be true because there's no historical evidence for it. Yes, there is, there's tons. But
0:18:33 - 0:18:52um you can, you can show for example that some of the, some of the things that they they mentioned were there. This is a common complaint is that the things that they, they said were there weren't actually in Ancient America. And you can show that actually before archaeologists knew about the fact that
0:18:52 - 0:19:08they were there, the book of Mormon said that they were there. And if you just show one or two or three of these things, then you deflate this argument. Um You don't completely counter it, right? But you're, you're giving reasons for it to not be dismissible out of hand so that you can pivot to the real
0:19:08 - 0:19:32way that you should show that things are valuable, which is by showing that they're valuable, it's through their utility. That's the point. So then instead of saying, uh well, we won't get into that just yet. So by doing these quick arguments, these focused, what's your strongest counter argument kind
0:19:32 - 0:19:56of approaches? What you do is you very quickly ferret out people and this is most of them who aren't asking because they want to know they're asking because they don't want to believe. And there is an enormous difference. You will never ever persuade anyone who's asking you questions because they don't
0:19:56 - 0:20:14want to believe. And they're, they're watching you like the Pharisees, watch Jesus to find something that helps them feel less guilty about dismissing your perspective out of hand, that's their objective. And so any tool you have that will filter those people out without filtering out the people that
0:20:14 - 0:20:35stand a chance at, at listening and giving you a fair shake. Well, that's a good thing. It's saving you immense amounts of time. So find those brief arguments because odds are those people who the people that stand up and shout the strongest for historic arguments. They don't live according to the history
0:20:35 - 0:20:57, they believe that's a key measure. And if you don't believe me, look at how many people in the world still think communism is a good idea. It's never ever worked according to logic. Not one of those people can say, I believe in historic evidence because they're denying it strongly. They won't acknowledge
0:20:57 - 0:21:14every single time that they've tried this and it's failed miserably. So for someone like that to come at you and say, well, prove to me that this, that or the other thing is true, but I'll only accept history. It's like, well, when have you ever done that in your life? You show me one time and I'll spend
0:21:14 - 0:21:32some time trying to pull out the history for you. And the fact of the matter is you're just wasting time doing things in a very inefficient way. The end result is gonna be the same. They're not gonna listen anyway, you just wasted your time so you can't go help the people that might furthermore, let's
0:21:31 - 0:21:50suppose that you get through all this rigmarole and you do manage to convert someone to the truth to appeal to history. Guess what's gonna happen when someone else comes along and maybe they're full of hot air. Ok? Or maybe something has changed and, and they're genuine. But the historic record is such
0:21:50 - 0:22:06that at the moment it's pointing to something that is not actually true. Has this happened in the past? Absolutely. Right. Just just as a simple perspective. Look at the, look at dinosaur skeletons and how often they change and they're like, oh, we're sorry, the hip bones actually shoulder bone, right
0:22:05 - 0:22:26? Or whatever. So if they're, if they do manage to be persuaded by history, they can be dissuaded through history as well. And that's not good because while it's true that if you pers and this is a big point, maybe I should just make this ni nice and separate and bold. If you persuade someone through
0:22:26 - 0:22:52utility, no matter how everything else shakes out, they will be convinced of the most useful thing. Right. Now, Do you see that? So no matter how diametrically opposite, the next version of this might be here and now they have the best version. Do you see the difference? And so it's a, it's a real protection
0:22:52 - 0:23:15. It keeps someone in the ideal path as far as we can be is persuade them of the utility. So what's an example of this? With, with scripture? Um Well, uh sorry, let me, this is a bullet that should be read. If they search and live via utility, every single change they make will bring them closer to greater
0:23:14 - 0:23:38truth and greater value because they're the same along uh on. If you take the time frames to the limit, they're the same. And this begs the question, if something is useful, who cares where it came from? Who cares? It doesn't matter. So, what are you out there for? Is your, is your purpose in life really
0:23:38 - 0:23:56to be reconciled to history? Is there any person who's like that? Who would say that, you know, my transcendent purpose. I just wanna be in line with history. No one believes that they want to get the goodies and, and most people wanna get him here now and, and, and some people want to get them long
0:23:55 - 0:24:13term. So if that's what you're all about, you would only pick up history if you thought it would yield that result. So why not just go for the result directly? And when history has something to do with it, that's great. But it doesn't become this idol that takes the place of the thing you're actually
0:24:13 - 0:24:44after. So what, how would the world change if the power manifested in our lives became the main evidence of truth? And what do I mean by power? I mean, the ability to get and keep what you want to affect the outcomes that you choose? So what if that were the measure of truth? I think things would be
0:24:44 - 0:25:08very different. Now, is this such a foreign idea? Here's some scriptures from Paul. He says in Romans 1519 that he preached through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the spirit of God. He called this fully preaching the gospel of Christ in first Thessalonians 15, he says for our gospel came not
0:25:08 - 0:25:28unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And then in Romans, 116, he said for, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the
0:25:28 - 0:25:49Jew first and also to the Greek. Now I'd be remiss if I didn't zoom in a little bit on this business of ending the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. So when most people start talking about the Holy Ghost's evidence, they're talking about feelings. When Paul is talking about the Holy Ghost, he is talking
0:25:49 - 0:26:15about understanding. He's talking about reasoning. Now, here's the thing about when you preach the gospel or improvement or whatever you calling it. If you lead somebody through, based on reasoning and experience, so actual utility, then what you've set up is something that cannot be displaced except
0:26:14 - 0:26:33through superior reasoning and utility. Now, when some people hear this, they say, yeah, but you can be tricked. Sure. You can be tricked. Anybody can be tricked, but that's not what we're talking about. That's not reasoning. That's, that's sort of, um, it's trickery. That's not what we're talking about
0:26:33 - 0:26:59when you understand something and you are thoroughly convinced, not bamboozled, but you can now independently make an argument to anyone else from your own understanding. Then that is a real foundation. That's really something because it can't be undone except by something better. There is no other mechanism
0:26:58 - 0:27:21of persuasion that's like that. How would you unseat history? Well, just other history. Does it need to be better history. No, not really. I mean, people pick and choose what they want but, um, it's, it's a few steps off from actual reality. There's a whole lot of perception in there. There's limitations
0:27:20 - 0:27:45of evidence, whatever, but reasoning itself. It's the closest thing to what we're actually after. It's right there in value. It's right there. So, here's the thing. Ok. Now, I, I believe very strongly that the book of Mormon is the word of God. If someone came to me and they demonstrated conclusive evidence
0:27:44 - 0:28:11that it was completely made up. Do you know that where I am in my life right now, it would not change a single thing. How could that be? Because my use of the book of Mormon uh at one time was based on the belief that it was the word of God. Therefore, I should believe what's in it. That is not my belief
0:28:10 - 0:28:35anymore. I have a knowledge that the principles that I have extracted out of that book are hardcore rock solid useful. I don't care where it came from anymore. Now, I still believe that it is a very much believe that it is the word of God. Ok. Um And so for that reason, I ascribe all this utility to
0:28:34 - 0:28:54Him. I mean, all utility comes from Him anyway, but, but it's still all lined up there for me. However, I don't have to rely on my trust in God anymore to do what the, the, the, the principles in that book, the principles that can be extracted from that book, say, because I've already tested them and
0:28:54 - 0:29:14they work great. You know, I, my mom doesn't have to convince me to wipe my butt anymore after I go to the bathroom, believe it or not, I figured that one out and now it's independent from her. She could change her mind on that and guess what? It's not gonna sway me. So I'm using this vivid example on
0:29:14 - 0:29:36purpose is a very big deal. And we don't get this. People are swayed by the craftiness of men and through the limitations of churches because they never upgrade to the direct connection to God, which is in your own heart in your own mind in your own life. If your pastor or priest or bishop or prophet
0:29:35 - 0:29:57or whatever else goes off the rails and you do too, you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing. You're not making full use of actually living these things. And so when you take these approaches of teaching people through history, uh in, in the way I'm, I'm, I'm describing like this big treatise
0:29:56 - 0:30:15of, I'm going to prove to you through history that this, that or the other is true. Well, OK, but all you're making is little clones of the same problem where the second the history changes they're gone or the second they see some hole in it, they're gonna say you lied to me, I'm out of here because
0:30:15 - 0:30:36they never built the evidence for themselves. The evidence that supersedes the history. It's, it's bigger than that. Right. It is very important. So, so this goes for the Bible too, the Bible too. All these people out there, they say they believe in the Bible, they don't live it. And guess what if someone
0:30:36 - 0:30:55came along and had some reason greater than whatever their parents were in most cases that persuaded them to believe this in the first place, they'd be gone. And sure enough, that's what happens why? Because they never live it. They never build their own evidence through utility to say, well, no, I now
0:30:55 - 0:31:15this isn't some weird new idea. This is some weird new idea. You see things in the scriptures like job says that, that uh he will trust in God and he doesn't care if he dies, you could even take his life. It's not gonna shake his trust in him. You don't get to that point while there are still intermediaries
0:31:14 - 0:31:45, you have to create this. Um What I mean by that is that you, you haven't made it internal yet, you have to internalize this stuff and actually live it. And that's how you become independent. All right, probably enough on that. So here's one that's gonna stir some pots. Um People fight over tenants
0:31:44 - 0:32:08and usually, usually the way this is done is we're trying to squeeze really complicated things down to a binary approach. It's either good or evil. Unfortunately, unfortunately, religious people are renowned for this. They, they love their, their buckets of good and buckets of evil and in their, in their
0:32:08 - 0:32:31worldview, those, the contents of those buckets does not change. Well, that's not the way God operates as you progress in awareness. What he does is he gives you a greater understanding of, of reality, a greater understanding of Him, a greater understanding of yourself and it changes things, it changes
0:32:30 - 0:32:50things what it's like. So he is unchanging. But we're brought along closer to him in ways where we have to change and not just in our behavior but in our understanding, including of right and wrong. It's like a chess board. There are some, there's some insane number of possible moves on a chessboard
0:32:49 - 0:33:11, but the whole thing's governed by just a couple of simple rules. Now you might look at the chess board in one orientation and, and then start deriving very specific possible next moves. That's a short list of the, the possible next moves on any given chessboard. I mean, there are a lot of pieces, but
0:33:10 - 0:33:29compared to all possible chess moves on all possible chess boards, it's a tiny, tiny list. You can do that. If you sat down, you could enumerate every single one and write it down. Now, if you said this is the game of chess, this is all there is to it. The next move from where the board is right now
0:33:28 - 0:33:49. That's all there is. And someone came along and changed the board and then said, look, there's a bunch of new moves, your head would explode. And that's modern religion. Ok. It's, it's probably ancient religion too. But that's the world's view of religion, religious people's view of religion. But God
0:33:49 - 0:34:10has these principles and, and they are above all of that and if you don't know what they are, then it's going to seem like the pieces are just constantly changing. But it's actually all governed by a really simple set of ideas. The chief most among them is love. God is love. If you had to reduce Him
0:34:09 - 0:34:37to one word, that isn't God, the only word you could pick is love, but he's a bunch of other things too. So, um you just as you get into greater and greater detail, you're going to find things that deviate from this simplistic perspective of Him. So, um what people do and they try, they think they're
0:34:37 - 0:35:03helping. But what they do is when people, when people have issues for which they will dismiss uh ministers or people out of hand, faith, faiths or people, or ministers out of hand and they'll say this is evil. There's no way that this has anything to do with God. The folks who want to help them, what
0:35:03 - 0:35:29they do is they make this long argument about how those people are, right? And God actually has nothing to do with those things. This is really, really bad. It's really bad. So at level one, it's bad because what you're doing is you're reforming the truth to fit the limitations of the people who say
0:35:28 - 0:35:51they're seeking it. That's really bad. Ok. Um One reason it's bad is that what you ought to be doing is helping those people have greater faith so that they receive whatever comes from God, whether they like it or not, whether they thought about it before or not. You see the business of drawing nearer
0:35:50 - 0:36:10to God is not the business of holding up what we think is right, right now and then throwing away everything else. We've already got that whatever can be had through that we already have. And so no surprise, the people that approach the gospel in this way, they never grow, they never change, they never
0:36:10 - 0:36:30become more like God. They never see more of God's power in their lives and they wonder why, they wonder why? Because God changes you. He's got more indifferent to show you than what you already have. If you believe his ways are not our ways. If you believe He's better than we are, then you ought to
0:36:30 - 0:36:52expect him to head on collide with things that you believe are true. Right. Good, whatever and the opposite too. So let the dead bury their dead. You're not saving those people. You're just persisting them in the false belief that they have something when they have nothing, they don't have faith in God
0:36:51 - 0:37:13. They, they're looking for some token religion that makes them feel good while not being good. And what our purpose is, is to help them actually actually become better. So what are some examples of this? Well, Jesus ate with publicans and sinners and he healed people on the Sabbath day. And these, you
0:37:13 - 0:37:32can go read it in the New Testament. These were things that the Pharisees thought were more than sufficient to dismiss him out of hand as an evil person. So that attitude was so strong that that as he did more and more miracles and as he taught more and more wisdom, they immediately responded by trying
0:37:32 - 0:37:53to kill him again and again, they just kept trying harder. They would not admit any amount of evidence as sufficient to prove that maybe he was actually good. It didn't matter what he did that they couldn't do. It didn't matter. It didn't matter how much power he had that they didn't have clearly he
0:37:53 - 0:38:14was evil because he heals people on the Sabbath day and he eats and drinks and he hangs out with publicans and sinners. Therefore, he's definitely bad. There's no question that the case is closed and that's wrong. And so if we do that, it's wrong, we shouldn't ever do what would result in us condemning
0:38:13 - 0:38:33the Lord. If we were alive at the same time, he was, that should be pretty obvious. Jesus asked for donations for his ministry. You might say, well, I don't know where it says that in The New Testament, we'll read it again. It's because you're reading in the filter of your belief that deviates from what's
0:38:32 - 0:38:51actually written there and this isn't your fault. We all do this. This is one of the reasons why it's so important to distance yourself from uh dead religion because you don't realize how much you're, you're hiding from your own eyes. You, you, you can read the the scriptures day in and day out. But
0:38:51 - 0:39:13if you're all in on a, on a religion that's got limits, you're not gonna see what's really obvious. So um Judas held the bag, what was in the bag money and people say, well, that could have come from Peter's fishing operation that could have come from here or there. Sure. Ok. That's definitely included
0:39:12 - 0:39:38. But he also had many, not just some, there were many widows who followed him and it says gave him money. Now you could take that even further where Judas says, uh it says that that he held the bag and uh when, when Judas complains about Mary cracking open the box of ointment, he says, that could have
0:39:38 - 0:39:55been sold and given to the poor. And John says, and he said this because he was a thief and he held the bag. Now, why would you just say give to the poor if he meant give to us because that's clearly what he meant. He wouldn't have said sell this instead and, and give it to the poor if it wasn't going
0:39:55 - 0:40:19into the bag according to John, that's why he said it. Well, now you can go back and see that. Um, when Jesus said to people that believed him, sell everything and follow give to the poor and follow me, he wasn't saying sell everything and go give to this other charity or something that has nothing to
0:40:19 - 0:40:45do with me and follow me. Now, he was not exactly saying give us all your money and come with us. He was telling the person sell everything you have and give it to those who you think you should basically. But the poor quote unquote, which absolutely included Jesus and his crew for whom Judas held the
0:40:45 - 0:41:09bag. Now that's, there's nothing controversial about that. It's clear as day. Ok? So if you think money and ministry equals evil, then you would condemn Jesus. What about the apostles? I mean, if it bothers you for money to be associated with ministry, I hope you throw your new Testament in the trash
0:41:08 - 0:41:29, at least rip out everything that comes after the gospel of John because starting in acts, the apostles required the followers to sell everything they had and give everything to the apostles. So if it bothers you for someone to ask for donations, I hope you've torn out acts and everything that comes
0:41:29 - 0:41:52after it from your Bible and thrown it in the trash because you can't have them both. All right. What about magical objects? There's a whole lot of people that spend a whole lot of time trying to say that, uh that uh Joseph Smith did or did not look into a hat he did or did not use the Sear stone, blah
0:41:52 - 0:42:13, blah, blah. You know, frankly, for the value I derive out of the book of Mormon, I would be more impressed, the more magic that was involved, quote unquote, it's a greater miracle, right? But that's just me, whatever. Again, for me, the whole, the whole idea that he translated a book in an ancient
0:42:13 - 0:42:32text. OK. Fine. The way he did it, I really don't care. That's enough for me to believe. Maybe it's true. Now, I'm gonna read the book and find out what value it has. The usefulness of the means is over. It's just a bridge to get you to the point that you can actually look into something without, without
0:42:32 - 0:42:56being all hung up in its potential impossibility. But again, if you have a problem with that, throw your New Testament into the trash. In fact, throw out the whole idea of the the of Israel and the covenant of Israel, throw it in the trash because Joseph, the grandson of Abraham was the means of saving
0:42:56 - 0:43:18the lives of Israel of continuing that line. And how did he do it? He looked into a cup. It says right there in the Old Testament, that's how he divined. That's how he received his revelations. He looked into a cup. Now again, people look at that and say, well, therefore this is rubbish. Well, I'm sorry
0:43:17 - 0:43:41. I if, if, if an entire nation was saved, in fact, the known world much more than just the Israelites, all of Egypt, all of the known world came to Egypt for um survival during that famine. And if you, if you tell me, look, a key connection in this is that dude, he, he looked in a cup that does not
0:43:41 - 0:44:04cause me to disregard the value of what happened. It causes me to pay attention to the means as something other than what I would dismiss them as otherwise. Does that make sense? So, um this is really important because it's all backwards. If someone's gonna have a problem with looking into a cup or whatever
0:44:04 - 0:44:24, a hat, looking at a sea or stone, I don't care what it is, what they have to contend with is the thing that happened because of it, not the means. And the last time I looked around, I don't see an awful lot of people with, with fruits to show that exceed these things, which is what would be required
0:44:23 - 0:44:42for them to have a valid complaint about them. Do you understand that if you're gonna complain about something Jesus, did you sure as heck better make sure that you've done things equal to, uh, uh, about the way he did things. If you're gonna complain about the way Jesus did things, you better make sure
0:44:41 - 0:45:02you've got, uh, the work to show that you can do. At least what he can. This is very important. That's where the Pharisees failed. They said, yeah, he's healed a blind man born from birth. That's never happened. He raised people from the dead. That's not something we see. Uh He's taught wisdom greater
0:45:02 - 0:45:27than any of us ever could, but we feel completely entitled to not only disregard him, but condemn him to death for being evil. Ok. Well, do you admit that all of those things would take the power of God? And if so what grounds do you have here? None, absolutely none. We, you keep going. There's a whole
0:45:27 - 0:45:52set of people from the scriptures that were called holy men by God who practiced polygamy. Uh Besides that part of the law of Moses, there were conditions under which a brother had to marry his, his deceased brother's wife, even if that was a polygamous union. So if God commanded it ever under any circumstances
0:45:51 - 0:46:15, can it be wrong all the time? If he Condoned or or commended, I should say, commended men as holy who also practiced it. Could it ever be said that this is always evil? Of course not. It's an absurd position. So you wanna argue the details of whether Joseph Smith practiced it or not, whatever, it's
0:46:15 - 0:46:38actually irrelevant to the question of, does God ever command it and, or is it always evil? No, it's not. And it's really clear, it's really clear. Now, the separate argument of whether the instruction from Jacob in the book of Mormon applies to all people who will ever live on this continent is a different
0:46:37 - 0:47:05question. But there it is. And by the way, that statement is true, in spite of the fact that God explicitly said that David and Solomon overdid it. So there you have it. Then you've got the fact that Hosea married a prostitute, which God commanded him to do. And so you might look at that and say, well
0:47:04 - 0:47:22, you know, if a, if a person, if a man today married a prostitute and everyone know knew she was a prostitute, you might say, man, there's something funky going on here. Well, how do you know? And why would it matter in that case? But you get the point. There are many examples of holy people practicing
0:47:21 - 0:47:49things that, that religious people today would dismiss out of hand as evidence that nothing they ever said or did is good. And it's an absurd position. I guarantee you 100 and 50% guarantee you that every single person with that attitude would have dismissed Jesus at least Matthew 11 6. He says, blessed
0:47:49 - 0:48:14is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. And that goes beyond just Him. It's everyone acting in his name or following his example or actually doing what he said to do. All right. So why do people do this? We got two more slides. Well, in the positive cases, I think that there are people out there
0:48:13 - 0:48:33who are hungry and thirsting for truth and they're not satisfied with what they're finding in whatever field they're eating in the, in the present church position, whatever that might be. But they know they're smart enough to know. They might not think this conscientiously, but a lot of them do that
0:48:33 - 0:48:56. If they, if they go directly for greater truth, they're gonna be booted out of their church. A lot of people know this. Ok, just like the parents of the man born blind and John 922 says they knew that if they told the truth, they'd be put out of the synagogue. The Pharisees had made it plain that anyone
0:48:55 - 0:49:20who supported Jesus in any way would be booted and they weren't about to cross that line. But if you want greater truth, you're going to have to go to where it's found. And if, if searching for and living greater truth puts you at odds with your church or your family or whatever their social group, you
0:49:20 - 0:49:39ought to question the value of all of those associations. What do you want more if you want God more than anything else, the choice is clear. You don't have a choice. You have to follow him, go read in Revelation where it talks about the lambs that follow him wherever he goes. You're not one of them
0:49:39 - 0:49:59right now if this applies to you, but he's giving you the choice to become one. And how do you do it? It's easy. You just follow his voice. It's simple. It's not easy, but it is simple and you do it no matter what it costs you because what you get in return, namely him is more valuable than any of those
0:49:58 - 0:50:26things. So another reason that people do this is that it is very difficult to preach the gospel, the real gospel while not living it. And so because people will do anything, it seems to prevent them to avoid uh repenting of their sins and actually living like Jesus would in your place, they'll grab on
0:50:26 - 0:50:47to anything they can to keep themselves afloat while falling down that pit. It's like falling out of a tree and you're just grasping for any branch you can. So with repentance, you just have to face the fact that you're jumping out of the tree and you're gonna hit the ground and that's ok. That's the
0:50:47 - 0:51:10point. Anything you use to distract you from the reality of the situation or the full weight of it. Um It's not good. Yeah, I met a man once. I don't know if I've told you this story. I met a man once and I, I'm gonna call him a holy man, I do believe he was a prophet and he came and went in a miraculous
0:51:10 - 0:51:33way. But he came, he, he, well, whatever I was talking with him and he was telling me the story of how this all started for him. He was an adult, he was working and he said, you know, um I kept getting in fights at work because I was, I was racist. He said, II, I fully admit it. And he was, he was a
0:51:33 - 0:51:50white guy and he said that he hated black people. And he, he was working, uh in a place where, where there were a lot of people from different uh skin with different skin colors. And so there were, there were white people and there were black people and he said he was just constantly getting in fights
0:51:50 - 0:52:12with the black people. And one day he got in a, in a fist fight with one of them and he got fired and as soon as he got fired, it's like his whole life flashed before him. And, and he said, he, he, he, he believed in God and he thought he was a Christian and he said he was ashamed. And he said, how can
0:52:12 - 0:52:45, how can I feel this way about any of God's Children and claim to believe in Jesus? And he was so destroyed by this that he took his stuff, what could, what he could bring with him? And he went into the woods and he said that he was gonna fast and pray until he was full of the love of God. And he did
0:52:44 - 0:53:03. And he said it took a really long time. You know, this is months. He was in the woods for months and I'm assuming he had to come out and get some food or whatever. But he, he was destitute. He was a beggar. He, he became a beggar because nothing in his life could be more important than fixing himself
0:53:03 - 0:53:33with God than reconciling with how he understood Jesus to be. And he said, he, he shared with me how this came to a conclusion. And um as part of that, God gave him some gifts. And uh one of these gifts was that he could see things that other people couldn't see, which was very interesting. But we, we
0:53:33 - 0:53:56would look if you, if you knew this guy and you heard his story, you look at his experiences after that as these miracles, it's the kinds of stuff you read about in the Bible and yet you look at exactly how he got there and none of you willing to do it. I'm broad brushing. I obviously don't have a lineup
0:53:55 - 0:54:17of every single person who might be listening to this. OK. But the question I'll, I'll rephrase or would you be willing to do something like that? Now, the interesting thing about this is that as far as things go, I think a lot of people do much more horrible things than, than being racist. I think that's
0:54:17 - 0:54:42a terrible thing to do. But I think that, that there are much worse things as far as causing harm to other people and yourself that we're ok with. And I think a lot of people would be ok with being racist again. I, I don't think that they should be, but my point is we really have to take this seriously
0:54:41 - 0:55:09when we are out of line with God, we need to fix that and we need to understand how important that is. Now, if you're a single person, it's sort of a different story. If you're married or you have kids, you've got responsibilities to other people that, that have to take a high priority. But uh and you
0:55:09 - 0:55:30got to tread lightly when you're trying to keep your priorities straight with, with that. But for single people, this is, this is a no brainer. There is nothing in your life more important than, than your relationship with God. And it really does take seeing that as the most important thing and until
0:55:30 - 0:55:52you do that, it doesn't matter what you shove in its place now with, with people that have obligations to other folks that God would not approve of them leaving, which is circumstantial and there's no blanket advice there. But you just, you need to find a way to chop up that transformation process in
0:55:52 - 0:56:14the res to fit inside of the resources you have to give it, but it can be number one right behind all the stuff that you can't set aside and that God will accept that He absolutely will and nothing you put in place of that is ever gonna be enough. It doesn't matter how much you convince yourself, it's
0:56:14 - 0:56:37enough, it's not enough. And you know, that deep down inside, you know, that talking about history and arguing against other churches and making your life, you know, purpose, fighting, fighting against whatever gospel belief that some person has. That is not the purpose. We have to learn more about Jesus
0:56:37 - 0:56:59and we have to become like him and we need to help other people do the same. And that's what matters. And, and if we're going after any of these things, it needs to be in the context of that and limited to that circumscribed by it. So you're running down these rabbit holes is gonna make you feel for
0:56:59 - 0:57:15a moment like you're actually doing something good like you're actually serving God. But you know, you're not while you're still sinning, you know, you're not, there's, you have no business helping people in these ways while you're still sinning. You're just wasting time and showing God you're not serious
0:57:15 - 0:57:41about actually believing Him. So get right yourself before you try to help others. It's like the gas mask coming, the oxygen mask coming down in the plane. You can't help people if you're passed out and if you're still willingly sinning, you're passed out, it's much harder to internalize the gospel and
0:57:41 - 0:58:10live it and help others to live it than it is to just regurgitate things that you hear or to fixate on something and make that your purpose. But that's what we have to do. We actually have to get to know Jesus and we actually have to get to become like him. That's what it's all about. Finally. Um I guess
0:58:09 - 0:58:31if you're still in this and you're still trying to figure it out for yourself. Repentance does not take time. It just takes desire. You just have to want it more than anything else. And that's a choice. Now, if you want help making the choice, the way you're going to get it is by seeking to find the
0:58:31 - 0:58:55reasons of why you should trust God, obey him and yield to him. And there are a lot of reasons. So that's a fruitful thing to dig into. But until you figure that out, there's really not much good you can do for other people as far as you know, in the scheme of things. So once you have aligned yourself
0:58:55 - 0:59:17to him, which is possible, it's possible for you. It's possible for everyone. Once you've done that, then thereafter, what you do, first and foremost is still not share all that with other people. It's, it's learning everything you can thereafter. And as you do that, that's the appropriate place for
0:59:17 - 0:59:40sharing these things with others. And then how do you do that? Well, again, it's not gonna be through writing a 12 volume Treaties on the History of Ancient Central America or something. First, it's through example, it's through living your life like Jesus would and only then, only then do we come to
0:00:00 - 0:00:22Whom I respect spending a lot of time creating content for the internet uh in, in attempts to help turn people to Christ, which is a wonderful motive. And I wanted to spend a, a quick minute talking through what I see as ways that this could be done much more effectively. I think that it's a real shame
0:00:22 - 0:00:48to see tremendous people spending their time in ways that don't necessarily connect the benefits they could give to people um to those people. And I think just some slight tweaks in the practice could really help that. So here we go. So, so what matters? Why are we doing this? Well, we could go through
0:00:48 - 0:01:09a lot of scriptures on this, but in an attempt to make it brief, I, I think this is a pretty simple thing. What we're after is to help people learn more about Jesus and to live what they learn. That's it. That's the gospel. OK. Now, life's a challenging place. People are complicated. There's a whole
0:01:09 - 0:01:30lot of ideas floating around and in many different applications of how we can spend our time and, and think and feel and so that very focused purpose it, it can take on many, many, many different forms. And that's a good thing. It's a good thing for this to be broken down and applied and uh spread out
0:01:30 - 0:01:52and, you know, stretched to fit every, uh every person's possible needs. And that, that's, that's part of the equation. That's what's meant to happen. But one key with this is that whatever we do in that vein, if someone were to ask us, how does this help people learn more about Jesus or live more like
0:01:52 - 0:02:11Jesus? We need to have a really good answer for that. Now, that's not to say the gospel police are gonna bust down your door at 4 a.m. and you need to have something ready to go. Um You don't need to defend yourself to anyone but God. However, hopefully, that's a question you're actively thinking about
0:02:10 - 0:02:29because I'm not sure how you can prioritize the many different ways you could go about this and choose the best one without a metric. And the metric is how effectively are you helping people learn more about Jesus and live more like him? So even if you're teaching something that for most people seems
0:02:29 - 0:02:51far a field from normal gospel teaching. Like for example, how to reason, you should see a path to doing that and be able to make an argument that either you're doing, you're helping people learn more about Jesus and live more like him than, than any other thing you could be doing or that you're, you're
0:02:51 - 0:03:12intentionally chasing after a small subsegment of people who are not currently served by the ways in which the gospel is preached. You're going to rescue lost sheep type thing. Uh Used in the common understanding of that parable, which I do not um favor, I don't disagree with it. I just don't think it's
0:03:12 - 0:03:32the most useful of the many interpretations that, that are all probably correct Anyway, if you're off in the weeds in something that, that doesn't fulfill one of those two conditions, you're either targeting people that need the help that you can provide and they won't be served any other way. Or this
0:03:31 - 0:03:52is legitimately the best general way you can think of to bring souls to Christ, meaning for them to learn more about him and to live more like him, not just to talk about him or feel like they believe in him, but to actually be more like him. If, if you can't show that that's a direct connection to what
0:03:51 - 0:04:14you're doing. I'm not sure what the heck you're doing and, and you're really wasting precious resources. Some people out there are amazing. They're, they're amazingly intelligent. They're, they're well spoken. Uh They can create really attractive content that's fancy and easy to understand. That's all
0:04:14 - 0:04:32wonderful. But what are you using the talents for? Because this is what it's all about. All right. Now, let's go into some examples. This is not an exhaustive list. It's just a quick, let's run through some. So, first off, there are a lot of churches out there that spend some serious time. I should just
0:04:32 - 0:04:54say religious people. But, but let's say Christian, Christians out there who spend a lot of time arguing against other Christians. They, their goal in life is to diminish the validity of the belief of others. Now, I expect fully that if, if we were to ask why they're doing this, they'd say, well, they're
0:04:53 - 0:05:16, they, they believe in falsehoods and it's keeping them from God. All right, we'll try this tactic instead of just sort of, uh, in a raw fashion, ripping down what other people believe, find something that's better than that and show them that it has greater value, attract them through value rather
0:05:16 - 0:05:37than carpet bombing their faith. And then saying now, wouldn't you like this thing that's still standing right now? It's necessary to loosen the grip of false tradition. You can't preach the truth without preaching against false tradition. However, I th I think that the prime, the prime fault of this
0:05:37 - 0:06:00approach that, that so many do so many use is that they don't see that their own beliefs. Let's see. Let me back up. They don't see that belief systems are not monoliths, they're not one thing. Ok. So if you looked at all the named organized religions, you're going to find things of value in each of
0:06:00 - 0:06:23them. Some would have more than others. Some would have a lot more than others. Some would have a lot less than others. Ok. But there are things of value in there and, uh, to say, well, I'm gonna rip down this one and then push this other in its stead, well, the other one has faults too. And so in a
0:06:23 - 0:06:45way you're just trading chains because, you know, yours might be relatively better, but it's still just the cleanest dirty shirt. What we're after is to teach people more about Jesus and to help them live that more fully. And if that approach doesn't span the available options and, and pick from here
0:06:45 - 0:07:10and there to do it, then it's probably not as good as it could be. That's saying it very politely. Ok. Um There is an alternate alternative to that, but it's not in an institution, it's in a person, a person can be more like God, but an institution is gonna have tons of, of uh things that are good and
0:07:10 - 0:07:33things that are bad. Most people will too. I should clarify that most people will too. Ok. But what I'm saying is, you know, when Jesus strolled on to the scene uh in the meridian of time, he wasn't there to push a church, he was there to demonstrate the father and in as much as any belief system overlapped
0:07:32 - 0:07:59with that great, he said as much. He said, uh those, those that um he the disciples said there are people doing miracles in your name? And he said, well, they can't speak, they can't lightly speak evil of me then, can they? Right. So, it's really funny. But, you know, um, it's a different approach. So
0:07:58 - 0:08:17, um, the thing is there's just so much time spent in this, there's so much time spent in this. There are entire ministries where there's a guy who's just going around tearing down other churches. That's, that's, you'll see that pattern play out many times. What is the point is that really the best way
0:08:17 - 0:08:48you could spend your time? So, um now, now that's, that's one thing that there's another big, big, big use of time in churches in um in talking about Jesus in celebrating the belief of him, the existence of him. But it's completely disconnected from learning more about him and living more of what you
0:08:48 - 0:09:14learn. OK. That's really not good, really not good. If you could see how the Lord feels about this, you would feel very bad about it. How do you think he feels when a congregation is spending time every week, quote unquote, praising him while actively not doing any of the things they believe, they believe
0:09:13 - 0:09:35he said, it's not anyone else's belief, but they believe he said, and they're celebrating the, you know, his existence and allegedly that they believe in him. He himself said, you cannot believe in him without following his example. They're the same. You can't separate those he said, you can't love me
0:09:35 - 0:09:58without doing what I say, they're the same. You can't be my friend if you don't do what I say, those are all new Testament scriptures that I could show you. It's very plain, but all these congregations, they spend all this time talking about him and celebrating him without actually living what he taught
0:09:58 - 0:10:23without following his example that he showed. And this is extremely displeasing to the Lord. So if you're going to argue about different churches, focus the conversation on Jesus, not whatever practice they do or don't do or whatever else. The question is, what can, how can I use this to learn more about
0:10:23 - 0:10:47Jesus? Is there more there? And if not, then invert it and show other people more of the Lord, show other people more reasons to believe him and follow his example. You see and, and all of this is, it's not uh here's a box and take everything in the box or else get out of here. And you know, if you have
0:10:46 - 0:11:06the box, you're righteous. If you don't, you're wicked. Each person has a sovereign responsibility to learn what the Lord is like and live accordingly and that's theirs. You can't take it away, you can't shove it on people. It's theirs, it's theirs to choose, it's theirs to live. If you have things that
0:11:05 - 0:11:23you think would be helpful to other people to learn more about them, share about him, share them if you have better reasons, share them. You see in the end, you know, we think of the churchy stuff as separate from life, but this is very much the pattern of life as well. You wanna help other people think
0:11:23 - 0:11:42about what helps them and do what you can to help them. That's what the gospel is supposed to be. It's not something you beat someone over the head with and, and say like, oh, if you're not in my church, you're evil. This church is evil and we're, we're everything good because we celebrate, you know
0:11:42 - 0:12:07, we're so lucky and God has chosen us and somehow we figured it out. All right. What about history? This is a really common one in, in L DS oriented communities. Um There's a lot of talk for the L DS church that circles around history. People trying to argue in favor of that and a lot of talk against
0:12:07 - 0:12:26the L DS church that says, well, this couldn't be true because, and this couldn't be true because, and it's all, it's all around historical evidence. Um There's more I could say about this, I guess from my own history getting, getting pulled into these conversations. I just wondering what the heck is
0:12:26 - 0:12:59going on here. Here's the thing. Why would you hinge your beliefs on historic events that cannot, cannot underscore bold font cannot be settled through historic evidence. There are problems that cannot be solved. Almost any situation from history that is, um, uh, contentious. It can't be solved through
0:12:58 - 0:13:18history. That's the whole reason there's a controversy is because it's not clear, it's not clear. It's, it's murky enough that there will be intelligent people on, on all sides of it that make cogent arguments in favor of their position. And if you look at it, this is the way it is and that, that's not
0:13:18 - 0:13:38limited to religion that's all over across the board. If it's a contentious historic issue, odds are there's solid evidence that supports all sides of the equation. Oh Well, equations have two sides. But you know what I mean? All sides of the issue, someone on every side, they have something. Ok? Now
0:13:38 - 0:13:59, it could be the case that an ultra honest look at this like a, like a saintly level of honesty and intellectual rigor can yield a solid answer where there is controversy. Maybe that's the case. Ok? I think you could enumerate things where that's the case, but it doesn't matter because you're never
0:13:59 - 0:14:22going to persuade a normal person with that. A normal person does not have the depth in their model to accommodate that and the honesty to acknowledge it. You, you would have to write a very long book to sort of cut through all of this and no one's gonna read it and no one's gonna believe it and someone's
0:14:21 - 0:14:44just gonna summarize the alternative views in a tweet and that's gonna be enough to keep people out of it, out of your perspective. This is a complete and utter waste of time. Now that being said, there's a difference between saying through an appeal to history, I am going to prove once and for all XYZ
0:14:44 - 0:15:10and saying through a very brief pointing at maybe one thing I can show you that it's possible that this is true. Do you see the difference? It's an enormous difference. You do not need to sacrifice your life to go into column B. It's a very quick thing. You sh you find out something sufficient, you save
0:15:09 - 0:15:26it in a file somewhere. You're ready to go next time it comes up with somebody. And what this does is we're not pretending people are, are saints and that they just need the information and then they'd, it'd be enough. It's just because they don't have the information. That's like saying people are poor
0:15:25 - 0:15:51just because they don't have money. It's not the resources they lack. It's the resourcefulness by and large broad brushing poverty would not exist as a chronic issue. If people um yielded to superior ideas that were evident, people get stuck in generational poverty because they embrace very bad ideas
0:15:51 - 0:16:11that they ought to know better about and they just hold on to them in spite of all contrary evidence. It's the same thing. So you're not going to save people with a historic treaties on some issue. It's never gonna happen any good. You can do with that you'll do in five minutes of saying, hey, here's
0:16:11 - 0:16:29this counterpoint that's, that's impossible to dodge it, it doesn't prove that I'm right, but it proves that I might be right. You can't just dismiss this out of hand. That's the objective is, you're looking for something that's a solid enough anchor that people can't dismiss it out of hand anymore and
0:16:28 - 0:16:50then you move on. Right. So, um, you know, just to give you some practical examples of this. Um you know, with the current audience of these videos, there's a lot of people from an L DS background, there are folks who die hard, believe that there's no way on earth that Joseph Smith was a plaga mist and
0:16:50 - 0:17:14they've read these enormous books and whatever else and you know, they are, they are die hard into that. All you need is one contemporary piece of evidence that shows that he was in favor of it and then that blows their, their position completely apart. Does it, is it a lock tight, totally tied up thing
0:17:14 - 0:17:34that proves that he was a polygamist? Mm Probably not, but it's enough. OK. And do we have that we do? There's a letter in his own handwriting about it to one of his alleged plural wives and obviously, there's something very obviously uh extremely romantic about their relationship that would not be appropriate
0:17:34 - 0:17:57in any way except if they were married. There you go. Or you, you could also use William Clayton's child during that time. Uh and his, his journal entries about it. Um because obviously he didn't go back and rewrite every single day of his journal after years after the fact. And you can look at it and
0:17:56 - 0:18:16it's right there and it hasn't been edited. It's in context. So those two things are sufficient. You don't need to write this master's thesis on Joseph Smith's polygamy. This is just one specific example. If it doesn't apply to you, it's fine. It's just showing what I'm talking about. Now, here's the
0:18:15 - 0:18:34thing is when you take that approach, where you look for that one lock type thing that that is a counterexample instead of the historic treaties. You know, another example is people say that the book of Mormon can't be true because there's no historical evidence for it. Yes, there is, there's tons. But
0:18:33 - 0:18:52um you can, you can show for example that some of the, some of the things that they they mentioned were there. This is a common complaint is that the things that they, they said were there weren't actually in Ancient America. And you can show that actually before archaeologists knew about the fact that
0:18:52 - 0:19:08they were there, the book of Mormon said that they were there. And if you just show one or two or three of these things, then you deflate this argument. Um You don't completely counter it, right? But you're, you're giving reasons for it to not be dismissible out of hand so that you can pivot to the real
0:19:08 - 0:19:32way that you should show that things are valuable, which is by showing that they're valuable, it's through their utility. That's the point. So then instead of saying, uh well, we won't get into that just yet. So by doing these quick arguments, these focused, what's your strongest counter argument kind
0:19:32 - 0:19:56of approaches? What you do is you very quickly ferret out people and this is most of them who aren't asking because they want to know they're asking because they don't want to believe. And there is an enormous difference. You will never ever persuade anyone who's asking you questions because they don't
0:19:56 - 0:20:14want to believe. And they're, they're watching you like the Pharisees, watch Jesus to find something that helps them feel less guilty about dismissing your perspective out of hand, that's their objective. And so any tool you have that will filter those people out without filtering out the people that
0:20:14 - 0:20:35stand a chance at, at listening and giving you a fair shake. Well, that's a good thing. It's saving you immense amounts of time. So find those brief arguments because odds are those people who the people that stand up and shout the strongest for historic arguments. They don't live according to the history
0:20:35 - 0:20:57, they believe that's a key measure. And if you don't believe me, look at how many people in the world still think communism is a good idea. It's never ever worked according to logic. Not one of those people can say, I believe in historic evidence because they're denying it strongly. They won't acknowledge
0:20:57 - 0:21:14every single time that they've tried this and it's failed miserably. So for someone like that to come at you and say, well, prove to me that this, that or the other thing is true, but I'll only accept history. It's like, well, when have you ever done that in your life? You show me one time and I'll spend
0:21:14 - 0:21:32some time trying to pull out the history for you. And the fact of the matter is you're just wasting time doing things in a very inefficient way. The end result is gonna be the same. They're not gonna listen anyway, you just wasted your time so you can't go help the people that might furthermore, let's
0:21:31 - 0:21:50suppose that you get through all this rigmarole and you do manage to convert someone to the truth to appeal to history. Guess what's gonna happen when someone else comes along and maybe they're full of hot air. Ok? Or maybe something has changed and, and they're genuine. But the historic record is such
0:21:50 - 0:22:06that at the moment it's pointing to something that is not actually true. Has this happened in the past? Absolutely. Right. Just just as a simple perspective. Look at the, look at dinosaur skeletons and how often they change and they're like, oh, we're sorry, the hip bones actually shoulder bone, right
0:22:05 - 0:22:26? Or whatever. So if they're, if they do manage to be persuaded by history, they can be dissuaded through history as well. And that's not good because while it's true that if you pers and this is a big point, maybe I should just make this ni nice and separate and bold. If you persuade someone through
0:22:26 - 0:22:52utility, no matter how everything else shakes out, they will be convinced of the most useful thing. Right. Now, Do you see that? So no matter how diametrically opposite, the next version of this might be here and now they have the best version. Do you see the difference? And so it's a, it's a real protection
0:22:52 - 0:23:15. It keeps someone in the ideal path as far as we can be is persuade them of the utility. So what's an example of this? With, with scripture? Um Well, uh sorry, let me, this is a bullet that should be read. If they search and live via utility, every single change they make will bring them closer to greater
0:23:14 - 0:23:38truth and greater value because they're the same along uh on. If you take the time frames to the limit, they're the same. And this begs the question, if something is useful, who cares where it came from? Who cares? It doesn't matter. So, what are you out there for? Is your, is your purpose in life really
0:23:38 - 0:23:56to be reconciled to history? Is there any person who's like that? Who would say that, you know, my transcendent purpose. I just wanna be in line with history. No one believes that they want to get the goodies and, and most people wanna get him here now and, and, and some people want to get them long
0:23:55 - 0:24:13term. So if that's what you're all about, you would only pick up history if you thought it would yield that result. So why not just go for the result directly? And when history has something to do with it, that's great. But it doesn't become this idol that takes the place of the thing you're actually
0:24:13 - 0:24:44after. So what, how would the world change if the power manifested in our lives became the main evidence of truth? And what do I mean by power? I mean, the ability to get and keep what you want to affect the outcomes that you choose? So what if that were the measure of truth? I think things would be
0:24:44 - 0:25:08very different. Now, is this such a foreign idea? Here's some scriptures from Paul. He says in Romans 1519 that he preached through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the spirit of God. He called this fully preaching the gospel of Christ in first Thessalonians 15, he says for our gospel came not
0:25:08 - 0:25:28unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And then in Romans, 116, he said for, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the
0:25:28 - 0:25:49Jew first and also to the Greek. Now I'd be remiss if I didn't zoom in a little bit on this business of ending the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. So when most people start talking about the Holy Ghost's evidence, they're talking about feelings. When Paul is talking about the Holy Ghost, he is talking
0:25:49 - 0:26:15about understanding. He's talking about reasoning. Now, here's the thing about when you preach the gospel or improvement or whatever you calling it. If you lead somebody through, based on reasoning and experience, so actual utility, then what you've set up is something that cannot be displaced except
0:26:14 - 0:26:33through superior reasoning and utility. Now, when some people hear this, they say, yeah, but you can be tricked. Sure. You can be tricked. Anybody can be tricked, but that's not what we're talking about. That's not reasoning. That's, that's sort of, um, it's trickery. That's not what we're talking about
0:26:33 - 0:26:59when you understand something and you are thoroughly convinced, not bamboozled, but you can now independently make an argument to anyone else from your own understanding. Then that is a real foundation. That's really something because it can't be undone except by something better. There is no other mechanism
0:26:58 - 0:27:21of persuasion that's like that. How would you unseat history? Well, just other history. Does it need to be better history. No, not really. I mean, people pick and choose what they want but, um, it's, it's a few steps off from actual reality. There's a whole lot of perception in there. There's limitations
0:27:20 - 0:27:45of evidence, whatever, but reasoning itself. It's the closest thing to what we're actually after. It's right there in value. It's right there. So, here's the thing. Ok. Now, I, I believe very strongly that the book of Mormon is the word of God. If someone came to me and they demonstrated conclusive evidence
0:27:44 - 0:28:11that it was completely made up. Do you know that where I am in my life right now, it would not change a single thing. How could that be? Because my use of the book of Mormon uh at one time was based on the belief that it was the word of God. Therefore, I should believe what's in it. That is not my belief
0:28:10 - 0:28:35anymore. I have a knowledge that the principles that I have extracted out of that book are hardcore rock solid useful. I don't care where it came from anymore. Now, I still believe that it is a very much believe that it is the word of God. Ok. Um And so for that reason, I ascribe all this utility to
0:28:34 - 0:28:54Him. I mean, all utility comes from Him anyway, but, but it's still all lined up there for me. However, I don't have to rely on my trust in God anymore to do what the, the, the, the principles in that book, the principles that can be extracted from that book, say, because I've already tested them and
0:28:54 - 0:29:14they work great. You know, I, my mom doesn't have to convince me to wipe my butt anymore after I go to the bathroom, believe it or not, I figured that one out and now it's independent from her. She could change her mind on that and guess what? It's not gonna sway me. So I'm using this vivid example on
0:29:14 - 0:29:36purpose is a very big deal. And we don't get this. People are swayed by the craftiness of men and through the limitations of churches because they never upgrade to the direct connection to God, which is in your own heart in your own mind in your own life. If your pastor or priest or bishop or prophet
0:29:35 - 0:29:57or whatever else goes off the rails and you do too, you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing. You're not making full use of actually living these things. And so when you take these approaches of teaching people through history, uh in, in the way I'm, I'm, I'm describing like this big treatise
0:29:56 - 0:30:15of, I'm going to prove to you through history that this, that or the other is true. Well, OK, but all you're making is little clones of the same problem where the second the history changes they're gone or the second they see some hole in it, they're gonna say you lied to me, I'm out of here because
0:30:15 - 0:30:36they never built the evidence for themselves. The evidence that supersedes the history. It's, it's bigger than that. Right. It is very important. So, so this goes for the Bible too, the Bible too. All these people out there, they say they believe in the Bible, they don't live it. And guess what if someone
0:30:36 - 0:30:55came along and had some reason greater than whatever their parents were in most cases that persuaded them to believe this in the first place, they'd be gone. And sure enough, that's what happens why? Because they never live it. They never build their own evidence through utility to say, well, no, I now
0:30:55 - 0:31:15this isn't some weird new idea. This is some weird new idea. You see things in the scriptures like job says that, that uh he will trust in God and he doesn't care if he dies, you could even take his life. It's not gonna shake his trust in him. You don't get to that point while there are still intermediaries
0:31:14 - 0:31:45, you have to create this. Um What I mean by that is that you, you haven't made it internal yet, you have to internalize this stuff and actually live it. And that's how you become independent. All right, probably enough on that. So here's one that's gonna stir some pots. Um People fight over tenants
0:31:44 - 0:32:08and usually, usually the way this is done is we're trying to squeeze really complicated things down to a binary approach. It's either good or evil. Unfortunately, unfortunately, religious people are renowned for this. They, they love their, their buckets of good and buckets of evil and in their, in their
0:32:08 - 0:32:31worldview, those, the contents of those buckets does not change. Well, that's not the way God operates as you progress in awareness. What he does is he gives you a greater understanding of, of reality, a greater understanding of Him, a greater understanding of yourself and it changes things, it changes
0:32:30 - 0:32:50things what it's like. So he is unchanging. But we're brought along closer to him in ways where we have to change and not just in our behavior but in our understanding, including of right and wrong. It's like a chess board. There are some, there's some insane number of possible moves on a chessboard
0:32:49 - 0:33:11, but the whole thing's governed by just a couple of simple rules. Now you might look at the chess board in one orientation and, and then start deriving very specific possible next moves. That's a short list of the, the possible next moves on any given chessboard. I mean, there are a lot of pieces, but
0:33:10 - 0:33:29compared to all possible chess moves on all possible chess boards, it's a tiny, tiny list. You can do that. If you sat down, you could enumerate every single one and write it down. Now, if you said this is the game of chess, this is all there is to it. The next move from where the board is right now
0:33:28 - 0:33:49. That's all there is. And someone came along and changed the board and then said, look, there's a bunch of new moves, your head would explode. And that's modern religion. Ok. It's, it's probably ancient religion too. But that's the world's view of religion, religious people's view of religion. But God
0:33:49 - 0:34:10has these principles and, and they are above all of that and if you don't know what they are, then it's going to seem like the pieces are just constantly changing. But it's actually all governed by a really simple set of ideas. The chief most among them is love. God is love. If you had to reduce Him
0:34:09 - 0:34:37to one word, that isn't God, the only word you could pick is love, but he's a bunch of other things too. So, um you just as you get into greater and greater detail, you're going to find things that deviate from this simplistic perspective of Him. So, um what people do and they try, they think they're
0:34:37 - 0:35:03helping. But what they do is when people, when people have issues for which they will dismiss uh ministers or people out of hand, faith, faiths or people, or ministers out of hand and they'll say this is evil. There's no way that this has anything to do with God. The folks who want to help them, what
0:35:03 - 0:35:29they do is they make this long argument about how those people are, right? And God actually has nothing to do with those things. This is really, really bad. It's really bad. So at level one, it's bad because what you're doing is you're reforming the truth to fit the limitations of the people who say
0:35:28 - 0:35:51they're seeking it. That's really bad. Ok. Um One reason it's bad is that what you ought to be doing is helping those people have greater faith so that they receive whatever comes from God, whether they like it or not, whether they thought about it before or not. You see the business of drawing nearer
0:35:50 - 0:36:10to God is not the business of holding up what we think is right, right now and then throwing away everything else. We've already got that whatever can be had through that we already have. And so no surprise, the people that approach the gospel in this way, they never grow, they never change, they never
0:36:10 - 0:36:30become more like God. They never see more of God's power in their lives and they wonder why, they wonder why? Because God changes you. He's got more indifferent to show you than what you already have. If you believe his ways are not our ways. If you believe He's better than we are, then you ought to
0:36:30 - 0:36:52expect him to head on collide with things that you believe are true. Right. Good, whatever and the opposite too. So let the dead bury their dead. You're not saving those people. You're just persisting them in the false belief that they have something when they have nothing, they don't have faith in God
0:36:51 - 0:37:13. They, they're looking for some token religion that makes them feel good while not being good. And what our purpose is, is to help them actually actually become better. So what are some examples of this? Well, Jesus ate with publicans and sinners and he healed people on the Sabbath day. And these, you
0:37:13 - 0:37:32can go read it in the New Testament. These were things that the Pharisees thought were more than sufficient to dismiss him out of hand as an evil person. So that attitude was so strong that that as he did more and more miracles and as he taught more and more wisdom, they immediately responded by trying
0:37:32 - 0:37:53to kill him again and again, they just kept trying harder. They would not admit any amount of evidence as sufficient to prove that maybe he was actually good. It didn't matter what he did that they couldn't do. It didn't matter. It didn't matter how much power he had that they didn't have clearly he
0:37:53 - 0:38:14was evil because he heals people on the Sabbath day and he eats and drinks and he hangs out with publicans and sinners. Therefore, he's definitely bad. There's no question that the case is closed and that's wrong. And so if we do that, it's wrong, we shouldn't ever do what would result in us condemning
0:38:13 - 0:38:33the Lord. If we were alive at the same time, he was, that should be pretty obvious. Jesus asked for donations for his ministry. You might say, well, I don't know where it says that in The New Testament, we'll read it again. It's because you're reading in the filter of your belief that deviates from what's
0:38:32 - 0:38:51actually written there and this isn't your fault. We all do this. This is one of the reasons why it's so important to distance yourself from uh dead religion because you don't realize how much you're, you're hiding from your own eyes. You, you, you can read the the scriptures day in and day out. But
0:38:51 - 0:39:13if you're all in on a, on a religion that's got limits, you're not gonna see what's really obvious. So um Judas held the bag, what was in the bag money and people say, well, that could have come from Peter's fishing operation that could have come from here or there. Sure. Ok. That's definitely included
0:39:12 - 0:39:38. But he also had many, not just some, there were many widows who followed him and it says gave him money. Now you could take that even further where Judas says, uh it says that that he held the bag and uh when, when Judas complains about Mary cracking open the box of ointment, he says, that could have
0:39:38 - 0:39:55been sold and given to the poor. And John says, and he said this because he was a thief and he held the bag. Now, why would you just say give to the poor if he meant give to us because that's clearly what he meant. He wouldn't have said sell this instead and, and give it to the poor if it wasn't going
0:39:55 - 0:40:19into the bag according to John, that's why he said it. Well, now you can go back and see that. Um, when Jesus said to people that believed him, sell everything and follow give to the poor and follow me, he wasn't saying sell everything and go give to this other charity or something that has nothing to
0:40:19 - 0:40:45do with me and follow me. Now, he was not exactly saying give us all your money and come with us. He was telling the person sell everything you have and give it to those who you think you should basically. But the poor quote unquote, which absolutely included Jesus and his crew for whom Judas held the
0:40:45 - 0:41:09bag. Now that's, there's nothing controversial about that. It's clear as day. Ok? So if you think money and ministry equals evil, then you would condemn Jesus. What about the apostles? I mean, if it bothers you for money to be associated with ministry, I hope you throw your new Testament in the trash
0:41:08 - 0:41:29, at least rip out everything that comes after the gospel of John because starting in acts, the apostles required the followers to sell everything they had and give everything to the apostles. So if it bothers you for someone to ask for donations, I hope you've torn out acts and everything that comes
0:41:29 - 0:41:52after it from your Bible and thrown it in the trash because you can't have them both. All right. What about magical objects? There's a whole lot of people that spend a whole lot of time trying to say that, uh that uh Joseph Smith did or did not look into a hat he did or did not use the Sear stone, blah
0:41:52 - 0:42:13, blah, blah. You know, frankly, for the value I derive out of the book of Mormon, I would be more impressed, the more magic that was involved, quote unquote, it's a greater miracle, right? But that's just me, whatever. Again, for me, the whole, the whole idea that he translated a book in an ancient
0:42:13 - 0:42:32text. OK. Fine. The way he did it, I really don't care. That's enough for me to believe. Maybe it's true. Now, I'm gonna read the book and find out what value it has. The usefulness of the means is over. It's just a bridge to get you to the point that you can actually look into something without, without
0:42:32 - 0:42:56being all hung up in its potential impossibility. But again, if you have a problem with that, throw your New Testament into the trash. In fact, throw out the whole idea of the the of Israel and the covenant of Israel, throw it in the trash because Joseph, the grandson of Abraham was the means of saving
0:42:56 - 0:43:18the lives of Israel of continuing that line. And how did he do it? He looked into a cup. It says right there in the Old Testament, that's how he divined. That's how he received his revelations. He looked into a cup. Now again, people look at that and say, well, therefore this is rubbish. Well, I'm sorry
0:43:17 - 0:43:41. I if, if, if an entire nation was saved, in fact, the known world much more than just the Israelites, all of Egypt, all of the known world came to Egypt for um survival during that famine. And if you, if you tell me, look, a key connection in this is that dude, he, he looked in a cup that does not
0:43:41 - 0:44:04cause me to disregard the value of what happened. It causes me to pay attention to the means as something other than what I would dismiss them as otherwise. Does that make sense? So, um this is really important because it's all backwards. If someone's gonna have a problem with looking into a cup or whatever
0:44:04 - 0:44:24, a hat, looking at a sea or stone, I don't care what it is, what they have to contend with is the thing that happened because of it, not the means. And the last time I looked around, I don't see an awful lot of people with, with fruits to show that exceed these things, which is what would be required
0:44:23 - 0:44:42for them to have a valid complaint about them. Do you understand that if you're gonna complain about something Jesus, did you sure as heck better make sure that you've done things equal to, uh, uh, about the way he did things. If you're gonna complain about the way Jesus did things, you better make sure
0:44:41 - 0:45:02you've got, uh, the work to show that you can do. At least what he can. This is very important. That's where the Pharisees failed. They said, yeah, he's healed a blind man born from birth. That's never happened. He raised people from the dead. That's not something we see. Uh He's taught wisdom greater
0:45:02 - 0:45:27than any of us ever could, but we feel completely entitled to not only disregard him, but condemn him to death for being evil. Ok. Well, do you admit that all of those things would take the power of God? And if so what grounds do you have here? None, absolutely none. We, you keep going. There's a whole
0:45:27 - 0:45:52set of people from the scriptures that were called holy men by God who practiced polygamy. Uh Besides that part of the law of Moses, there were conditions under which a brother had to marry his, his deceased brother's wife, even if that was a polygamous union. So if God commanded it ever under any circumstances
0:45:51 - 0:46:15, can it be wrong all the time? If he Condoned or or commended, I should say, commended men as holy who also practiced it. Could it ever be said that this is always evil? Of course not. It's an absurd position. So you wanna argue the details of whether Joseph Smith practiced it or not, whatever, it's
0:46:15 - 0:46:38actually irrelevant to the question of, does God ever command it and, or is it always evil? No, it's not. And it's really clear, it's really clear. Now, the separate argument of whether the instruction from Jacob in the book of Mormon applies to all people who will ever live on this continent is a different
0:46:37 - 0:47:05question. But there it is. And by the way, that statement is true, in spite of the fact that God explicitly said that David and Solomon overdid it. So there you have it. Then you've got the fact that Hosea married a prostitute, which God commanded him to do. And so you might look at that and say, well
0:47:04 - 0:47:22, you know, if a, if a person, if a man today married a prostitute and everyone know knew she was a prostitute, you might say, man, there's something funky going on here. Well, how do you know? And why would it matter in that case? But you get the point. There are many examples of holy people practicing
0:47:21 - 0:47:49things that, that religious people today would dismiss out of hand as evidence that nothing they ever said or did is good. And it's an absurd position. I guarantee you 100 and 50% guarantee you that every single person with that attitude would have dismissed Jesus at least Matthew 11 6. He says, blessed
0:47:49 - 0:48:14is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. And that goes beyond just Him. It's everyone acting in his name or following his example or actually doing what he said to do. All right. So why do people do this? We got two more slides. Well, in the positive cases, I think that there are people out there
0:48:13 - 0:48:33who are hungry and thirsting for truth and they're not satisfied with what they're finding in whatever field they're eating in the, in the present church position, whatever that might be. But they know they're smart enough to know. They might not think this conscientiously, but a lot of them do that
0:48:33 - 0:48:56. If they, if they go directly for greater truth, they're gonna be booted out of their church. A lot of people know this. Ok, just like the parents of the man born blind and John 922 says they knew that if they told the truth, they'd be put out of the synagogue. The Pharisees had made it plain that anyone
0:48:55 - 0:49:20who supported Jesus in any way would be booted and they weren't about to cross that line. But if you want greater truth, you're going to have to go to where it's found. And if, if searching for and living greater truth puts you at odds with your church or your family or whatever their social group, you
0:49:20 - 0:49:39ought to question the value of all of those associations. What do you want more if you want God more than anything else, the choice is clear. You don't have a choice. You have to follow him, go read in Revelation where it talks about the lambs that follow him wherever he goes. You're not one of them
0:49:39 - 0:49:59right now if this applies to you, but he's giving you the choice to become one. And how do you do it? It's easy. You just follow his voice. It's simple. It's not easy, but it is simple and you do it no matter what it costs you because what you get in return, namely him is more valuable than any of those
0:49:58 - 0:50:26things. So another reason that people do this is that it is very difficult to preach the gospel, the real gospel while not living it. And so because people will do anything, it seems to prevent them to avoid uh repenting of their sins and actually living like Jesus would in your place, they'll grab on
0:50:26 - 0:50:47to anything they can to keep themselves afloat while falling down that pit. It's like falling out of a tree and you're just grasping for any branch you can. So with repentance, you just have to face the fact that you're jumping out of the tree and you're gonna hit the ground and that's ok. That's the
0:50:47 - 0:51:10point. Anything you use to distract you from the reality of the situation or the full weight of it. Um It's not good. Yeah, I met a man once. I don't know if I've told you this story. I met a man once and I, I'm gonna call him a holy man, I do believe he was a prophet and he came and went in a miraculous
0:51:10 - 0:51:33way. But he came, he, he, well, whatever I was talking with him and he was telling me the story of how this all started for him. He was an adult, he was working and he said, you know, um I kept getting in fights at work because I was, I was racist. He said, II, I fully admit it. And he was, he was a
0:51:33 - 0:51:50white guy and he said that he hated black people. And he, he was working, uh in a place where, where there were a lot of people from different uh skin with different skin colors. And so there were, there were white people and there were black people and he said he was just constantly getting in fights
0:51:50 - 0:52:12with the black people. And one day he got in a, in a fist fight with one of them and he got fired and as soon as he got fired, it's like his whole life flashed before him. And, and he said, he, he, he, he believed in God and he thought he was a Christian and he said he was ashamed. And he said, how can
0:52:12 - 0:52:45, how can I feel this way about any of God's Children and claim to believe in Jesus? And he was so destroyed by this that he took his stuff, what could, what he could bring with him? And he went into the woods and he said that he was gonna fast and pray until he was full of the love of God. And he did
0:52:44 - 0:53:03. And he said it took a really long time. You know, this is months. He was in the woods for months and I'm assuming he had to come out and get some food or whatever. But he, he was destitute. He was a beggar. He, he became a beggar because nothing in his life could be more important than fixing himself
0:53:03 - 0:53:33with God than reconciling with how he understood Jesus to be. And he said, he, he shared with me how this came to a conclusion. And um as part of that, God gave him some gifts. And uh one of these gifts was that he could see things that other people couldn't see, which was very interesting. But we, we
0:53:33 - 0:53:56would look if you, if you knew this guy and you heard his story, you look at his experiences after that as these miracles, it's the kinds of stuff you read about in the Bible and yet you look at exactly how he got there and none of you willing to do it. I'm broad brushing. I obviously don't have a lineup
0:53:55 - 0:54:17of every single person who might be listening to this. OK. But the question I'll, I'll rephrase or would you be willing to do something like that? Now, the interesting thing about this is that as far as things go, I think a lot of people do much more horrible things than, than being racist. I think that's
0:54:17 - 0:54:42a terrible thing to do. But I think that, that there are much worse things as far as causing harm to other people and yourself that we're ok with. And I think a lot of people would be ok with being racist again. I, I don't think that they should be, but my point is we really have to take this seriously
0:54:41 - 0:55:09when we are out of line with God, we need to fix that and we need to understand how important that is. Now, if you're a single person, it's sort of a different story. If you're married or you have kids, you've got responsibilities to other people that, that have to take a high priority. But uh and you
0:55:09 - 0:55:30got to tread lightly when you're trying to keep your priorities straight with, with that. But for single people, this is, this is a no brainer. There is nothing in your life more important than, than your relationship with God. And it really does take seeing that as the most important thing and until
0:55:30 - 0:55:52you do that, it doesn't matter what you shove in its place now with, with people that have obligations to other folks that God would not approve of them leaving, which is circumstantial and there's no blanket advice there. But you just, you need to find a way to chop up that transformation process in
0:55:52 - 0:56:14the res to fit inside of the resources you have to give it, but it can be number one right behind all the stuff that you can't set aside and that God will accept that He absolutely will and nothing you put in place of that is ever gonna be enough. It doesn't matter how much you convince yourself, it's
0:56:14 - 0:56:37enough, it's not enough. And you know, that deep down inside, you know, that talking about history and arguing against other churches and making your life, you know, purpose, fighting, fighting against whatever gospel belief that some person has. That is not the purpose. We have to learn more about Jesus
0:56:37 - 0:56:59and we have to become like him and we need to help other people do the same. And that's what matters. And, and if we're going after any of these things, it needs to be in the context of that and limited to that circumscribed by it. So you're running down these rabbit holes is gonna make you feel for
0:56:59 - 0:57:15a moment like you're actually doing something good like you're actually serving God. But you know, you're not while you're still sinning, you know, you're not, there's, you have no business helping people in these ways while you're still sinning. You're just wasting time and showing God you're not serious
0:57:15 - 0:57:41about actually believing Him. So get right yourself before you try to help others. It's like the gas mask coming, the oxygen mask coming down in the plane. You can't help people if you're passed out and if you're still willingly sinning, you're passed out, it's much harder to internalize the gospel and
0:57:41 - 0:58:10live it and help others to live it than it is to just regurgitate things that you hear or to fixate on something and make that your purpose. But that's what we have to do. We actually have to get to know Jesus and we actually have to get to become like him. That's what it's all about. Finally. Um I guess
0:58:09 - 0:58:31if you're still in this and you're still trying to figure it out for yourself. Repentance does not take time. It just takes desire. You just have to want it more than anything else. And that's a choice. Now, if you want help making the choice, the way you're going to get it is by seeking to find the
0:58:31 - 0:58:55reasons of why you should trust God, obey him and yield to him. And there are a lot of reasons. So that's a fruitful thing to dig into. But until you figure that out, there's really not much good you can do for other people as far as you know, in the scheme of things. So once you have aligned yourself
0:58:55 - 0:59:17to him, which is possible, it's possible for you. It's possible for everyone. Once you've done that, then thereafter, what you do, first and foremost is still not share all that with other people. It's, it's learning everything you can thereafter. And as you do that, that's the appropriate place for
0:59:17 - 0:59:40sharing these things with others. And then how do you do that? Well, again, it's not gonna be through writing a 12 volume Treaties on the History of Ancient Central America or something. First, it's through example, it's through living your life like Jesus would and only then, only then do we come to
0:59:40 - 1:00:00teaching others by precept when you put that first ahead of all these other things, you're definitely, definitely living out a path that provides way less benefit than you otherwise could. So I hope you think about these things and if you have to make changes, I hope you do that.