New to this site-Please help

Hello Everyone!

Hi!

My question to you is this…. How do you continue in the church without having fear/doubts that you are being led astray or offending Christ?

Here’s how it’s worked for me. First of all I can’t, from a personal, experiential viewpoint distinguish between Christ and the Father, or Christ and the Holy Ghost. They feel the same to me, or, I have only ever felt one of them in my life. Since we are told via JS that they have the same mind (Lectures on Faith), that doesn’t bother me. It actually ‘fits’.

I have felt the Spirit many, many times. Usually it’s in a minor, peaceful, quiet way. But a few times, it has been overwhelmingly powerful, like when I was baptized by Fire, when I was immersed in Love, and when I was filled with Joy. In all cases, the feelings and ‘spirit’ was of a kind. Familiar to everything I’d experienced both before and after these experiences. So I have, by my own understanding and experience, absolutely no fear such as you mention.

And I have learned that if Mormonism is messed up, it’s not so messed up that I can’t experience God by following it in mind and deed.

I get the overwhelming feeling I am being led by God in my daily walk. There are still many questions, but every time I focus my mind & heart on things relating to the Church, I pass through the doubt and tumult and into peace. I even experience peace when I have to admit that either I just don’t know, or I am actually wrong in my beliefs and must change them or lose the Spirit. Getting to that point has been painful at times, but the rewards are amazing.

There are so many things that I love about the church. The lifestyle, the structure, the endless resources and opportunities to grow and learn!

Me too.

But how do I move forward knowing the major flaws in the history?

Know that ALL HISTORY has flaws, both from the viewpoint of what facts we actually REALLY know, and, from the viewpoint of the historian who is proposing a necessarily idiosyncratic view of the ‘facts’. Know that most of what we FEAR when we read ‘history’ is simply other people’s doubts and hang-ups. When we address the source material ourselves, the FEARS are different entirely, or just not there. That has been my experience, anyway. It’s really, really different.

How do I not fear that I am being led astray?

Good question. Believe in yourself; believe in God, that He is, that He rules. That He loves you. Have faith. Plead to God for faith, for belief.

What about during the second coming when things are going to get really bad. Can I really trust the prophet now, then? How do I raise three boys and have them go on missions and answer these questions to seekers honestly? Most importantly, how do I continue in the church and not worry that I am offending Christ! I am so sad that my husband, etc. would want to keep me from giving all the glory to my God. I do not want to think of Him as a man. I certainly do not want to believe there are others like Him or that we can become one of Him (not in his likeness). I am afraid to go to the temple. I have gone through one time and to be honest it was scary for me. I only want to glorify God and promise all of me to Him, not a church or man.

Well. You do need to work through all that. Let the Holy Spirit guide. A very few people actually need to leave the Church and join with other groups/religions, to get to the point of being able to progress in life. Most of us just need to deal with our doubts and fears, and carry on right where we are. Best wishes!

HiJolly

Yeah, the hardest thing for a Mormon to do is trust their inner self and the things the Spirit tells them. Well, mostly when it is not in keeping with the mainstream orthodox beliefs of the church.

It can be scary and hard to let go of “the arm of the flesh.” We have been taught that believing things differently is “of the devil” or leads to apostasy.

If you follow what the Spirit tells you I think you will be on the right path. Your path.

I think that as humans it is always good to double check our motives, though. Especially when it comes to choices that can be harmful and unloving.

I can relate to your concerns! I do believe that God in One and that we are one with God. It has been delightful for me to realize that I can consecrate myself to my God without any middle men. As I’ve gotten closer to God and come to know him better I have realized that he really is Love. He is not going to condemn us or destroy us for our journey in this life. Especially if all we are trying to do is find our truth.

Welcome to the board! I think you’ll enjoy it here.

I agree with godlives.

How do you continue in the church without having fear/doubts that you are being led astray or offending Christ?

The main thing I would say is that I don’t believe Christ is offended by anyone who seeks him earnestly and tries to do his teachings, regardless of what religion they are. But you can be led astray by well-meaning individuals (as well as ones with bad intentions). You do have to learn to have your own relationship with God and to rely on your own spiritual experiences and interpretations and not just others. A church gives you a canvas, but you bring the paint, and you create the painting.

Hi Phase III. Welcome.

There are times past and times present when the problems of church history bothers me. Sometimes it has caused me to wonder if Christ was running the show or if this was just another man made effort to follow God like so many before it. But time and time again, I too come back to peace when I consider doctrine or questions. And when I have experimented with leaving the church or considering another faith, I haven’t been able to duplicate that faith or experience the same spiritual experiences that I do with the church. So….. I think I have had to adjust my view or my definition of what an earthly church run by Christ looks like. If the definition of Christs church means that the history will be flawless or that the Lord won’t let the leaders blow it, then I suppose I would be right to conclude that this church must be false. But if God works with this church like he works with me, then its a very different proposition. I can fail and blow it and not quite get there as I give my best efforts and He stays with me, supports me, and leads me along. My weakness or progress or process seem to be ok with Christ as he helps refine me or help me manage things.

I don’t really need the church history to be perfect anymore. I still have questions and gaps in my understanding, but I feel peace that Christ is leading this group of sheep and loving the effort and nurishing the effort and doing His miracles inspite of it all. I think that is what the D&C scripture means when he says “….with which I the Lord am well pleased, speaking of the church collectively and not individually.” (D&C 1:30)

Maybe what I am learning is that all this muckiness is ok. Perhaps Christ is more tolerant of imperfect process than we are. Perhaps that is what makes his love more powerful than ours too. I think all I need to know is that Christ is leading me here to and that he is in charge of the work however it looks on the outside. Maybe to some the outward expression of obedience looks to us like my child’s crayon scribble drawings. But to a loving devoted parent, maybe it looks like a masterpiece.

Blessings.