God’s Not Dead

Yesterday I watched the movie “God’s Not Dead”. It was a fun movie and one that I would recommend to everyone. It is about a college philosophy professor that starts his class asking the students to write God Is Dead on a piece of paper and sign it. If they will all do that then he tells them that he will not waist the classes time explaining why God is a myth and never has been real. One student, Josh Wheaton, refuses to do it and the professor says that if he won’t sign the paper or quit the class, then he must prove that there is a God to the class during the next three class periods. Josh feels that God want someone to defend him and believes C.S. Lewis’s statement “only a real risk tests the reality of a belief”. Josh goes to his minister about his situation and the minister has him look up two scriptures.

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33)

For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:48)

When Josh asks the minister why he feels the need to do this, the minister says: “that it is the still small voice in you. That is the way the Holy Ghost communicates to us. All you have to do is decide if you will listen. It’s not easy, but it is simple”. Josh accepts the challenge even though it is against his girlfriend and parent’s wishes and the prospect of losing his opportunity for law school. At one point Josh asks the professor “What happened to you? Why do you hate God?” Continuing to press the professor reveals that when he was twelve years old his mother died even though he prayed to have God save her life. The professor says: “All I have is hate for God” to which Josh replies: “How can you hate someone that does not exist?”

The movie includes the stories of others that are struggling with their own questions of faith in God and trials with cancer and relationships. There is even a cameo from Willie Robertson from Duck Dynasty when a reporter asks a question about his faith he responds:

“All this stuff we have, fame, money, even this life is temporary. Jesus is eternal. Jesus said: “whoever will acknowledge me before men, I will acknowledge before the Father in Heaven and whoever will deny my before men, I will deny before the Father.”

Throughout the movie there are two basic themes that the atheist professor pushes: 1) The Big Bang Theory that the universe created itself and 2) if God did exist, why does he allow evil? In the end Josh wins over the class and the professor is silenced.

Can anyone prove that God does or does not exist? The answer to that question is no, you cannot prove absolutely either way. If someone could prove that God does exist, then faith would be dead. There would be no need for faith, we would all know it. What about all the witnesses in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon that said they saw Jesus Chris? I believe that they are telling the truth, but there is no one that was there that is alive today (except the Apostle John and the Three Nephites, but until they appear in public they don’t count). What about Joseph Smith’s first vision? I believe he also is telling the truth, but no one else was there. We have to take his word and those in the scriptures to the Lord to gain our own testimony and when we do, all we can do it testify of what we know, others will still have to have faith in our word and then  get their own testimonies.

Our Heavenly Father has given all his children agency and that includes the ability to believe in God or not. He will never force anyone to believe. But the promise is there that if we will ask with sincere faith, he will answer us (James 1:5-6). Once we have gained our own witness that God is real our faith is replaced by knowledge; however, even when we testify of what we know others still need to have faith and try it for themselves.

There is an account in the Book of Mormon of Korihor, an Anti Christ, that was preaching that there was no God and Christ would not come. Alma, the head of the church, questioned Korihor:

And now what evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only.

But, behold, I have all things as a testimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true; and will ye deny them? Believest thou that these things are true? (Alma 30:40-41)

At one point in the movie, Josh says to the professor: “It is not enough that you don’t believe, you want everyone here to not believe as well”. This is the problem with most atheists, they are not satisfied until they destroy everyone’s faith and our ability to worship God openly and freely. One of the problems I occasionally deal with as a bishop of a student ward is a member that is questioning their faith because one of their professors, like the atheist professor in the movie, has challenged their belief in God. There are a few professors that feel the need to question a student’s faith, their belief in traditional marriage, and moral standards. Fortunately, these professors are a minority and there are many who are strong individuals of faith that help build their students, not tear them down. One of the reasons we have student wards and stakes is to help strengthen our member’s faith and combat the philosophies of men that are taught as truth on our campuses.

I did disagree with one principle in the movie and that was that an expression of belief in Jesus Christ can save us from a life time of sin and wickedness. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, all mankind will be resurrected. The Apostle Paul taught: "for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22). Though the resurrection is a free gift to all, what glory we are resurrected to is dependent on the gift of the grace of Jesus Christ and how we live our lives. The Book of Mormon teaches that we are saved by "grace, after all we can do" (2 Nephi 2:23). There is too much to discuss this week what this means, so this will be my topic next week.

At the end of the movie the lead singer of the Christian rock band, The Newsboys, challenged the 10,000 people at their concert to text everyone of their contacts with the message: “God’s Not Dead”. He said if everyone had at least 100 contacts, that would be 1,000,000 testimonies that God is not dead.

I want you to know that I have gone to the Lord in prayer many times to know if God is real and if Jesus Christ died and was resurrected as the scriptures say and I have my own witness that God does live, Jesus is the Christ, we have living prophets on the earth today (Thomas S. Monson), the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, was translated by the prophet Joseph Smith, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored Church of Jesus Christ. One day Jesus Christ will return to the earth and at that day all shall see him and every knee shall bow and everyone will confess that he is Jesus Christ. Until that day comes everyone will have to have faith and gain their own witness.

Spread the word – God’s Not Dead. I welcome your comments and questions. 

Believe In God

Have you ever wondered if God is real? If he is real does it matter if we believe in him? If he is real and we don’t believe in him does that matter? The answer to all these questions is YES.

There are many around us that do not believe. Some say that God is something that man has created to help us through difficult times. They also say that we are a product of evolution and that everything has happened by chance over millions of years. If God is real and we do not believe does not make him not exist?

In the first chapter of Genesis the first verse it says: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Later in that same chapter it says:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

We are not a product of chance or evolution. God created us in his image. Perhaps you will say that the scriptures are just stories made up by men to enslave us to the traditions of men and to guilt us into living according to their ideals. How can we really know the truth about God and can it be proven? If God does exist, why doesn’t he just show himself to us?

There is another scripture written by a prophet here on the American continent about 124 B.C (it is interesting to note that those who created our calendar believed in God) he said:

Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. (Mosiah 4:9)

We are here to develop faith in God and in his Son Jesus Christ. The first Article of Faith states: “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost”. Why do we need to live by faith? President Wilford Woodruff, fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said:

“During our life on the earth, we are to walk by faith and not by sight.

“Faith is the first principle of the Gospel. What is faith? Paul, in writing to the Hebrews, undertakes to explain it. He says that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen;” and to prove this he goes on to tell what different men accomplished through faith [see Hebrews 11]. I look upon faith as one of the most important principles that God ever revealed to man.

“If we had correct understanding we should all see as the Lord does, and should understand how his purposes will be accomplished; but we are to walk by faith and not by sight.

“When we get to the other side of the veil, we shall know something. We now work by faith. We have the evidence of things not seen. The resurrection, the eternal judgment, the celestial kingdom, and the great blessings that God has given in the holy anointings and endowment in the temples, are all for the future, and they will be fulfilled, for they are eternal truths. We will never while in the flesh, with this veil over us, fully comprehend that which lies before us in the world to come. It will pay any man to serve God and to keep His commandments the few days he lives upon the earth.

“Brethren and sisters, you should live by faith, realizing every day that all power rests with God, and that it is through him that we are able to live in peace and enjoy plenty.

“The Gospel of Christ requires faith all the day long.” (TheTeachings of Wilford Woodruff, Chapter 15)

Alma, another American Prophet, who live about 75 years before Christ was born, told us that we could develop our faith by testing the word of God. He compared the word to a seed that if we plant the seed and nourish it and if the seed began to grow, then we would know the seed is good. He then said:

when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.

Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.

And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good. (Alma 32:28, 29, 32, 33)

The challenge for us is to develop our faith by keeping the commandments and seeing if we become better people. We are to follow the example of Jesus Christ and love all men, even our enemies and see if blessings come. As we do these things we will come to know it is right and our faith deepens and we know by the Holy Ghost the Gospel is true and that God does live and will bless us as we keep his commandments.

There are many who teach that there is no God or Satan, that whatever we do is ok as long as we do not harm others it does not matter how we live. That is the same lie that Satan has been spreading since he was cast out of heaven and sent here to the earth. His entire existence is spent trying to convince us that he is not real and if he is not real then there is no God. The Book of Mormon gives an example of this when an Anti-Christ came among the people spreading these lies. He was brought before the Prophet Alma to be judged. Korihor accused Alma and the priests and teacher of teaching the people to believe in silly traditions. Alma asked Korihor if he believed that there is a God to which he said no and asked Alma for proof that God existed. Alma said:

Now Alma said unto him: Will ye deny again that there is a God, and also deny the Christ? For behold, I say unto you, I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come.

And now what evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only.

But, behold, I have all things as a testimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true; and will ye deny them? Believest thou that these things are true?

Behold, I know that thou believest, but thou art possessed with a lying spirit, and ye have put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God. (Alma30:39-42)

I believe that there is as much proof that God is real as there are those that think they can prove that there is no God. It is up to us to choose faith and believe, to test the testimony of the prophets in the scriptures. As we live lives of faith we eventually come to know for ourselves what is true. If God were to come down and show himself, there would be no doubt; no room for faith. We must live by faith so we can prove ourselves worthy of his blessings. Having a sure knowledge ends the need for faith. Without faith we do not have agency and without agency then justice has no claim on us and mercy has no role for those who repent and seek forgiveness. The time will come when Jesus Christ will come again and reveal himself to the world. Then our faith will be no longer needed we will all know. We will all bow down on our knees and confess that Jesus is the Christ and that it was he who came in the meridian of time to his people and they rejected him.

The closing chapter of the Book of Mormon has a promise to all those who will read it and ponder what it means. The promise says:

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. (Moroni 10:4-5)

No other book has this promise. We are promised that if we read the Book of Mormon and ask God in the name of Christ if it is true, he will answer our prayers through the Holy Ghost. We can know the scriptures are true, that God does live and that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. We are his children and if we keep his commandments we will prosper and be blessed.

I have tested that promise and have been given that witness to know that we are created in the image of God that Jesus Christ lived and died for our sins. I know that after three days he rose from the dead and lives today. Because I know these things, I know how to live and what I must do to be worthy of eternal life after I leave this mortal world.

It does not matter that there are those who deny that God is real. Their lack of belief does not change the reality that God lives and those who do not believe will in the end bow their knee and confess that he lives.

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