0:00:00 - 0:00:31 So from time to time I get questions about uh things like baptism or uh bread and wine and these sorts of things um that everyone has every sect has words for, but those words differ. So let's just call them ordinances or sacraments. And uh years ago when someone would ask me uh about baptism or ask 0:00:31 - 0:00:55 me to baptize them, you know, I'd, I'd share with them my understanding of that um whatever it was at the time and I would, uh you know, baptize them if that's what they wanted or if they were talking about wine and bread, you know, same deal, I'd share with them my thoughts on that and at least on one 0:00:54 - 0:01:29 occasion participated in something like that with other people. They weren't in my family. And uh shortly thereafter I stopped doing all that. Um So there are some huge topics that these fork into or tie into and um I don't um participate in those things for several reasons right now. So I don't participate 0:01:28 - 0:01:57 in others practice of those things because my understanding of uh let's see, let me back up because what I'm about to say will not sound it will not convey the meaning that I intend as you hear it. So, symbols and language, those are enormous themes and uh like language, for example, I've been toting 0:01:56 - 0:02:22 around an ever growing uh file of notes on this topic and I it, it, it's not published yet and it keeps bouncing around in as to what book it's going to appear in and like a lot of sizable topics because no one wants to read 1000 pages on a theme. Uh Well, I would, but I can't seem to find others who 0:02:21 - 0:02:44 would. Um usually what I end up doing when something gets that uh voluminous is I break it apart and scatter it among several books. Uh trying to minimize the overlap and hoping that in the scheme of things, people just get it on their own uh through, through waves, right? Waves of partially overlapping 0:02:44 - 0:03:11 ideas, I mean, the same theme, but just sort of different facets of it in hopes that these uh these things unifying an understanding in people. But anyway, symbols, here's just some brief scattershot thoughts about all this. So spirit is idea. All ideas are spirit. And when you um when you reduce those 0:03:10 - 0:03:43 two words or actions, that's a form of creation, you're organizing, you're uh transferring, transmitting, transforming uh the infinite realm of ideas or spirit into the tangible realm of physical creation. And that act is complex. It's, it does a lot of things all at once So one thing it does is it makes 0:03:43 - 0:04:09 it easier for others who have not had uh or have not completed the same practices you have, don't have the same experiences you have, et cetera. You give greater access to these ideas then you had where you got them from. So you're, you're engaging with the spiritual realm, so to speak and bringing these 0:04:09 - 0:04:40 things into a form that's more accessible and understandable than how you found them. Um But you can't do that without also uh imposing limits on those ideas that you yourself do not have or are not subject to. And that's all this is like a huge word salad. I'm sure um this in no way, is going to adequately 0:04:39 - 0:05:00 convey what could be said about these things. These are just crumbs falling off the table, but the bread is in the books. Um So anyway, I got a question about these sorts of things and so I'm just gonna rattle off some things that I hope stick to the wall and help somebody for now uh that hold you over 0:05:00 - 0:05:33 until the, the main event, the main meal. So symbols um or representations of things they uh can provide a lot of benefit. Um But um one of the reasons those benefits occur is that they can be non-specific. So for example, a word can have many senses, right? Or an action could convey many overlapping 0:05:32 - 0:05:54 or even disparate meanings, right? So, um this is certainly the case with things like baptism and this is going to be a shocker probably for a lot of people to hear what I'm about to say. There are different baptisms and there are different. So the bread and the wine thing that's called a lot of different 0:05:53 - 0:06:19 things by a lot of different people. Uh let's just call it the bread and wine. So the bread and wine that also has lots of different uh meanings. And there are different uh versions of that symbol um that, that practice that right? It doesn't matter what you want to call it that ordinance. And so just 0:06:19 - 0:06:56 like all information, these things, they come in waves and waves differ in amplitude and infrequency, they differ in content and in form. But you can organize many variations of an idea under a single head or in a form that is um well similar, but uh you can arrange category or form a category, a cluster 0:06:55 - 0:07:22 of these things that are self similar, right? So all forms of baptism are similar in some way, that's why they're all called baptism, right? And these things vary in what they do and by how much they do it, right? And so the reason I do not participate in these things currently is because God has given 0:07:21 - 0:07:52 me versions of these things that I have not yet found out in the world. And he has told me that I have to explain them the way he has explained them to me before I can practice them because something is lost when you practice uh lesser forms of something knowing more about it. Um I think that's the best 0:07:51 - 0:08:14 I can say it for now. So that being said, the specific question I was asked, it was about bread and wine and, you know, frequency and meaning and what do I do if my spouse isn't a fan? And do I go find other people to do this with? Here's my advice. Stop and think about what you're doing and why you're 0:08:14 - 0:08:43 doing it. If all you have is a what it really doesn't matter that much how you do it if you have a why it answers that question for you. And I hope that makes sense. So, um, I would avoid getting hung up too much on the particulars of things that you really don't understand and instead I would worry 0:08:43 - 0:00:00 about understanding them more than worrying about practicing them. I'm not in any way condoning, doing less than you understand what I am condoning is focusing your concerns on what you know most about because that is what is going to help you the most and hurt you the most. It'll help you the most. 0:00:00 - 0:09:24 If you do it fully with all your heart might mind and strength and it will hurt you the most if you don't, as you fully live, according to what you understand, God will teach you more and that's the way. And so the way to know more about what you don't know is by wholeheartedly doing what you do know 0:09:24 - 0:09:43 while you're asking, of course and seeking, but you can ask and seek all you want while you're not doing what you know, and not only will you reduce the likelihood or more accurately, the ability of God to teach you these things, but you'll almost guarantee that you will not see them when they're given 0:09:42 - 0:09:59 to you plainly. And even if you see them, you're not going to accept them because your heart is full of darkness. So your eyes are full of darkness, you don't see them and your desires are corrupted. So you won't want them. So I highly encourage you to focus on what you know about. Don't worry so much 0:09:58 - 0:10:19 about the things you don't know about and the, the path from one to the other is in doing all, you know, with your whole heart. I hope that helps. I will say that God prepare your hearts for great things because God has great things in store for those who love him and they will shock you in, in their 0:00:00 - 0:00:31 So from time to time I get questions about uh things like baptism or uh bread and wine and these sorts of things um that everyone has every sect has words for, but those words differ. So let's just call them ordinances or sacraments. And uh years ago when someone would ask me uh about baptism or ask 0:00:31 - 0:00:55 me to baptize them, you know, I'd, I'd share with them my understanding of that um whatever it was at the time and I would, uh you know, baptize them if that's what they wanted or if they were talking about wine and bread, you know, same deal, I'd share with them my thoughts on that and at least on one 0:00:54 - 0:01:29 occasion participated in something like that with other people. They weren't in my family. And uh shortly thereafter I stopped doing all that. Um So there are some huge topics that these fork into or tie into and um I don't um participate in those things for several reasons right now. So I don't participate 0:01:28 - 0:01:57 in others practice of those things because my understanding of uh let's see, let me back up because what I'm about to say will not sound it will not convey the meaning that I intend as you hear it. So, symbols and language, those are enormous themes and uh like language, for example, I've been toting 0:01:56 - 0:02:22 around an ever growing uh file of notes on this topic and I it, it, it's not published yet and it keeps bouncing around in as to what book it's going to appear in and like a lot of sizable topics because no one wants to read 1000 pages on a theme. Uh Well, I would, but I can't seem to find others who 0:02:21 - 0:02:44 would. Um usually what I end up doing when something gets that uh voluminous is I break it apart and scatter it among several books. Uh trying to minimize the overlap and hoping that in the scheme of things, people just get it on their own uh through, through waves, right? Waves of partially overlapping 0:02:44 - 0:03:11 ideas, I mean, the same theme, but just sort of different facets of it in hopes that these uh these things unifying an understanding in people. But anyway, symbols, here's just some brief scattershot thoughts about all this. So spirit is idea. All ideas are spirit. And when you um when you reduce those 0:03:10 - 0:03:43 two words or actions, that's a form of creation, you're organizing, you're uh transferring, transmitting, transforming uh the infinite realm of ideas or spirit into the tangible realm of physical creation. And that act is complex. It's, it does a lot of things all at once So one thing it does is it makes 0:03:43 - 0:04:09 it easier for others who have not had uh or have not completed the same practices you have, don't have the same experiences you have, et cetera. You give greater access to these ideas then you had where you got them from. So you're, you're engaging with the spiritual realm, so to speak and bringing these 0:04:09 - 0:04:40 things into a form that's more accessible and understandable than how you found them. Um But you can't do that without also uh imposing limits on those ideas that you yourself do not have or are not subject to. And that's all this is like a huge word salad. I'm sure um this in no way, is going to adequately 0:04:39 - 0:05:00 convey what could be said about these things. These are just crumbs falling off the table, but the bread is in the books. Um So anyway, I got a question about these sorts of things and so I'm just gonna rattle off some things that I hope stick to the wall and help somebody for now uh that hold you over 0:05:00 - 0:05:33 until the, the main event, the main meal. So symbols um or representations of things they uh can provide a lot of benefit. Um But um one of the reasons those benefits occur is that they can be non-specific. So for example, a word can have many senses, right? Or an action could convey many overlapping 0:05:32 - 0:05:54 or even disparate meanings, right? So, um this is certainly the case with things like baptism and this is going to be a shocker probably for a lot of people to hear what I'm about to say. There are different baptisms and there are different. So the bread and the wine thing that's called a lot of different 0:05:53 - 0:06:19 things by a lot of different people. Uh let's just call it the bread and wine. So the bread and wine that also has lots of different uh meanings. And there are different uh versions of that symbol um that, that practice that right? It doesn't matter what you want to call it that ordinance. And so just 0:06:19 - 0:06:56 like all information, these things, they come in waves and waves differ in amplitude and infrequency, they differ in content and in form. But you can organize many variations of an idea under a single head or in a form that is um well similar, but uh you can arrange category or form a category, a cluster 0:06:55 - 0:07:22 of these things that are self similar, right? So all forms of baptism are similar in some way, that's why they're all called baptism, right? And these things vary in what they do and by how much they do it, right? And so the reason I do not participate in these things currently is because God has given 0:07:21 - 0:07:52 me versions of these things that I have not yet found out in the world. And he has told me that I have to explain them the way he has explained them to me before I can practice them because something is lost when you practice uh lesser forms of something knowing more about it. Um I think that's the best 0:07:51 - 0:08:14 I can say it for now. So that being said, the specific question I was asked, it was about bread and wine and, you know, frequency and meaning and what do I do if my spouse isn't a fan? And do I go find other people to do this with? Here's my advice. Stop and think about what you're doing and why you're 0:08:14 - 0:08:43 doing it. If all you have is a what it really doesn't matter that much how you do it if you have a why it answers that question for you. And I hope that makes sense. So, um, I would avoid getting hung up too much on the particulars of things that you really don't understand and instead I would worry 0:08:43 - 0:09:04 about understanding them more than worrying about practicing them. I'm not in any way condoning, doing less than you understand what I am condoning is focusing your concerns on what you know most about because that is what is gonna help you the most and hurt you the most. It'll help you the most. If 0:09:04 - 0:09:25 you do it fully with all your heart might mind and strength and it will hurt you the most if you don't as you fully live according to what you understand, God will teach you more and that's the way. And so the way to know more about what you don't know is by wholeheartedly doing what you do know while 0:09:24 - 0:09:43 you're asking, of course and seeking, but you can ask and seek all you want while you're not doing what you know, and not only will you reduce the likelihood or more accurately, the ability of God to, to teach you these things, but you'll almost guarantee that you will not see them when they're given 0:09:42 - 0:09:59 to you plainly. And even if you see them, you're not going to accept them because your heart is full of darkness. So your eyes are full of darkness, you don't see them and your desires are corrupted. So you won't want them. So I highly encourage you to focus on what you know about. Don't worry so much 0:09:58 - 0:10:19 about the things you don't know about and the, the path from one to the other is in doing all, you know, with your whole heart. I hope that helps. I will say that God prepare your hearts for great things because God has great things in store for those who love him and they will shock you in, in their 0:10:19 - 0:10:32 uh their content and their potency and what they'll lead you to. So the best way to prepare yourself is by fully reconciling yourself to everything, you know right now.