"The
Spirit has left the Church." "Miracles and gifts of the
Spirit are gone in the Church."
"Members
are no longer seek and follow the Spirit, but just blindly obey human
leaders in a business disguised as a church."
These
are favorite charges of apostates seeking to seeking to tear
down the Church or even to draw and lead their own followers
from the ranks of the Church. If those charges resonate with you, may
I suggest you examine the past few years of talks from the President
of the Church and note the number of spiritual experiences, gifts of
the Spirit, and touching miracles that have been shared?
The
life of President Thomas S. Monson, for example, is one rich in
spiritual experiences and miracles encountered in Christlike service.
This is a man who listens to the Spirit and not merely a businessman
pushing for better key performance indicators in the coming quarter.
Those
who are in the Church and actually live its teachings in faith have,
in my opinion, abundant evidences of the gifts of the Spirit and are
taught in many ways the importance of following the Spirit. Miracles
do happen, sometimes abundantly, as we have experienced here in
China, though plenty of human stuff happens every day, more
frequently and more predictably than our encounters with the hand of
God. I've described a few here.
In
his 1993 LDS Conference talk, "Acquiring
Spiritual Knowledge," Richard G. Scott had a quote from a
past President of the Church:
President Joseph Fielding Smith gave this admonition:
“Today
we are troubled by evil-designing persons who [endeavor] … to
destroy the testimonies of members of the Church, and many …
are in danger because of lack of understanding and because they have
not sought the guidance of the Spirit. … It is a commandment
from the Lord that members … be diligent … and study …
the fundamental truths of the gospel. … Every baptized person
[can] have an abiding testimony. … but [it] … will grow
dim and eventually disappear [without] … study, obedience, and
diligent seeking to know and understand the truth” (in
Conference Report, Oct. 1963, p. 22).
Don't
be deceived by those teaching rebellion, claiming that the Church now
lacks the Spirit. Pay more attention in your sacrament meetings, in
your scripture study, in reading Preach My Gospel (the guide
for missionary work), and in your listening to LDS Conference. Pay
more experience to your own experiences as you obey the commandments
and do your duty in serving others and praying for their welfare. We
live in an age of miracles — don't miss the excitement.
Here
are some resources from recent LDS Conferences to consider:
As
a final tip, experiencing the guidance of the Spirit can be enhanced
when we follow this advice from President Eyring and prepare
diligently for such gifts. This comes from his talk "Bind
Up Their Wounds" in the October 2013 Priesthood Session:
As
a quorum member, as a home teacher, and as a missionary, you cannot
help people repair spiritual damage unless your own faith is vibrant.
That means far more than reading the scriptures regularly and praying
over them. The prayer in the moment and quick glances in the
scriptures are not preparation enough.
The
reassurance of what you will need comes with this counsel from the
84th section of the Doctrine and Covenants: “Neither take ye
thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds
continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very
hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man.”
That
promise can be claimed only if we “treasure up” the words
of life and do it continually.
Jeff Lindsay has been defending the Church on the Internet since 1994, when he launched his
LDSFAQ website under JeffLindsay.com. He has also long been blogging about LDS matters on
the blog Mormanity (mormanity.blogspot.com). Jeff is a longtime resident of Appleton,
Wisconsin, who recently moved to Shanghai, China, with his wife, Kendra.
He works for an Asian corporation as head of intellectual property. Jeff and Kendra are the parents of 4 boys, 3 married and the the youngest on a mission.
He is a former innovation and IP consultant, a former professor, and former Corporate Patent
Strategist and Senior Research Fellow for a multinational corporation.
Jeff Lindsay, Cheryl Perkins and Mukund Karanjikar are authors of the book Conquering
Innovation Fatigue (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).
Jeff has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University and is a registered US
patent agent. He has more than 100 granted US patents and is author of numerous publications.
Jeff's hobbies include photography, amateur magic, writing, and Mandarin Chinese.