Are Ghosts Real?

LIKE the Bigfoot and UFO phenomenon, there is certainly something out there that could be characterized as ghosts or spirits.
However, in LDS doctrine, these can't possibly be deceased people. Ghosts as the world call's them, are simply demons, the hosts of Satan, looking to deceive man.
These demons have spent since the time of Adam watching the earth and its mortal residents. Some could easily impersonate a dead person, since they might have observed/tempted that person throughout much of their life.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie agrees in his book "Mormon Doctrine," that ghost appearances are probably of devils, not former mortal residents of earth. These devils have never had a body.
When any person dies, they do not linger around us. They go straight to the spirit world, a separate dimension from us. The spirit world is divided into a paradise for the righteous and a hell for the wicked.
Some righteous people might temporarily and for a good purpose be able to show up in an earthly person's dream or vision, but the plan of salvation would be flawed to let either good or evil people linger around earth after their death.
Worse yet is if they could haunt a place for years or come back whenever they felt like it, but they can't.
What do these devils have to gain by impersonating deceased persons? By so doing, they can draw people away from divine sources and make them think that séances and spirit contacting can lead to revelation. They may even tell people some true things, but their true objective is to lead us away from God.
Why pray to God for guidance, if you can contact the dead and take their more exacting and enticing advice?
The Bible calls contacting the dead "spiritualism" and that it is an offense to God (Leviticus 19:31 and 1 Samuel 28). It is a form of sorcery and has no basis in the gospel.
The dead cannot be contacted by any means from this earth. They are separate from the world. Rare and brief dreams/visions by worthy family members are the only cases where the dead would return and then only briefly and one-time.
If some people would spend as much effort trying to gain true revelation as they do contact the so-called dead, they would likely exalt themselves.
And, the only ones who can really contact the dead are other dead people. Church members and believers in the spirit world do missionary work the majority of the time there. The good are busy with that, while others are too busy repenting or being in torment to return to earth, even if they could, which they can't.
As a sidelight, no one except God or inspired persons can read a person's thoughts (D&C 6:16). Devils can't read our thoughts. They can put thoughts or temptations in our minds, though.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

Do UFOs Really Exist?

       "Aliens" and UFOs in Legoland California's "Miniland," almost hidden in a Las Vegas Representation.

UNIDENTIFIED Flying Objects ("UFOs") have received lots of notice in recent decades. Anything that's a mystery to man catches the fancy of many people.
For the atheists, the "God is an astronaut" approach fits the bill, with UFOs used to explain away deity.
For others, it may simply be a quest to try and find evidence of UFOs.
Aside from errant, high altitude weather balloons or top secret government aircraft (as the Stealth bomber certainly might have appeared as a UFO to many before it was publicly unveiled), can UFOs really exist?
There's something out there flying around that people keeping seeing — it's not all from their imagination.

 The  first "Enterprise" ship in Vulcan, Alberta, Canada, a small town themed after "Star Trek."

For the Latter-day Saints, what might a UFO be? There are some possible answers that fit into the gospel framework.
Scripturally, "there are no angels who minister to this earth but those who do belong or have belonged to it." (D&C 130:5)
This seems to me to totally preclude any "aliens" from being angels.
However, God has created other earths and all "inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God." (D&C 76:24).
Humans are his standard, made in his likeness (Genesis 1:17). So, non-human aliens as intelligent beings would NOT exist then, except in science fiction.
These worlds were also created by Jesus Christ and are saved by his same redeeming power. But, Christ died on this earth, the wickedest of all God's creations (Moses 7:36) and even many non-Christians accept that Christ was at least a historical figure in earth's history.
Yet, what about these other earths? Christ's atonement still redeems the people there and so what do they know of him? Their scriptures must at least mention another planet, our earth, where he died for the sins of all. They know of us.
Since ours is the wickedest earth and focused on weapons and warfare, we might have the best weapons, but what about other technology?
Could one of these other earths be very far advanced in say space travel, because they are more righteous and haven't wasted all their time and efforts on war?
If so, that would be the first possibility to UFOs. Are they resident humans of other earths come as a pilgrimage to see the wickedest earth, the one planet where Christ, who is also their Savior was born in mortality, died and was resurrected? Perhaps.
These people seem to simply be observers, who don't harm or threaten people. Crop circle markings and occasional, unexplained animal mutilations are among the only physical traces attributed to UFOs (and those evil twists could be more like Satan's power manifested than that of aliens).
Actual abductions of people are more likely fabricated tales, or the unreal experience of mentally ill people.
Another possibility of UFOs fitting into the gospel is if angels and exalted beings do travel in such vehicles and they are occasionally glimpsed.
Do celestial beings need vehicles to travel in?
There are references in the Old Testament to celestial "chariots" (Isaiah 66:15, Jeremiah 4:13).
In 2 Kings 2:11, "a chariot of fire and horses of fire" were used to take Elijah to heaven (translate him). Unless that is pure symbolism, it does imply a vehicle was used. How might a person in ancient times describe a flying vehicle? They knew chariots, but they did not know space vehicles.
When God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, they didn't need a vehicle of any sorts, at least for short range travel. Neither did the Angel Moroni.
Another possibility for UFOs in the gospel sense is that they could be coming from the City of Enoch or the Lost 10 Tribes. Both these are to return to the earth in the last days. Would they have scout ships here first?
Neither of those two lost groups of people are likely on earth, at least not in this dimension. So, them being off planet, it does make some sense that they are scouting around.
If they physically live on another planet, they may have vehicles and those could be far advanced of anything the earth has.
Otherwise — without explaining UFOs away as "other earth" visitors, UFOs could be some sort of tool by Satan to lead us away.
Some people do spend much of their life seeking UFOs, a distraction from the gospel and serving others.
Is the rise of UFOs somehow related to the world's increasing wickedness and that Satan and his hosts can somehow grandstand some physical signs in the sky because of that?
The Scriptures do talk of signs and wonders in the heavens before Christ returns. (D&C 45:40).
Could UFOs be some part of that prophecy? Perhaps.
Of course if you believe in UFOs abducting people, then that's certainly a sinister side to UFOs, but why the Lord would allow Satan and his demons to do that kind of kidnapping is not logical.
So, unless UFOs are pure apparitions, there are humans piloting them and they could be connected with another earth, the lost 10 tribes, or City of Enoch.
And, it is only the unwise person who simply believes UFOs don't exist at all.

Eight Improper Things to Do in Sacrament Meetings

OK, some courtesies and guidelines of conduct for use in church meetings just aren't taught today, like they should be.

Here are 8 guidelines I have for Sacrament meeting conduct:
1. Don't let your children keep and play with the sacrament cups. Besides the noise, there's the principle of sacred usage.
2. If you walk out of the chapel during the sacrament services, don't return while it is still going on. Likewise, don't try to enter a chapel while the actual passing of the sacrament is underway. It is distracting to others and is simply common sense not to intrude on such a sacred rite.
3. Don't let the door slam, if you do leave the chapel. Help it slowly shut, quietly.
4. Don't go in and out multiple times in a sacrament meeting, or let your children do that. Again, it is distracting and disturbs reverence. Better to stay in the foyer, if you have to leave/return more than twice. (I counted one man and his child leave and come back in the chapel 11 different times during one recent sacrament meeting.)
5. Do not, I repeat do not, ask the congregation to turn to a scripture during your sacrament meeting talk! The brethren have often said not to do that and yet some must think they are an exception to that, despite that it is a noisy and disrupting practice.
6. Take care not to let your young children mangle the hymn books.
7. Strive to teach your children to take the sacrament with their right hand. Parents should be the ones to ideally teach that, not others.
8. Don't let children play with nor eat out of noisy paper or plastic wrapped containers -- and clean up after your kids after they eat in the chapel. (I've seen too many bishops in a ward, or the ward that meets afterward, who have to vacuum the chapel after a service, with a little hand vac...)

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

What Living By the Spirit Really Means ...

THE Gospel teaches man needs to ideally live by the spirit, but what does that mean?
To me, it means this:
"God said, 'Thou shalt not kill;' at another time he said 'Thou shalt utterly destroy.' This is the principle on which the government of heaven is conducted -- by revelation adapted to the circumstances in which the children of the kingdom are placed."
(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 256.)
So, there are not as many absolutes of right and wrong that we might imagine there are.
It all depends on the circumstances. If we live by the spirit, few of the commandments may be absolutes ... we simply need continual revelation to know the exceptions when they come
And, Christ will likely judge us by the intent of our hearts, as well as the circumstances, more than by the absolute letter of the law.
But we can't take things too far and bend this "adapted to the circumstances" doctrine to try and vainly justify sin or vain ambition either.


NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

A Look At the Spirit World ...

                                                   Where do the spirits of the dead go?

WHAT comes after death is perhaps man's greatest mystery.
What does happen immediately after death?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is blessed with a wealth of revelations on that subject, whereas most of the world must rely on the near death experiences of various people for their sketchy information.
First of all, ALL people who die end up immediately in the spirit world. That's an absolute, unless someone is instantly resurrected in the twinkling of an eye.
Second, where is the spirit world?
According to Brigham Young (Deseret News Aug. 27, 1856) and Parley P. Pratt, is it simply on earth.
Elder Pratt said it is in the inward, spiritual realm, invisible to mortals. He said the veil exisits to separate the two (From his "Key of the Science of Theology" book).
Today, we would probably envision the spirit world as occupying the same space, but being in a different dimension from the physical world.
Notwithstanding, it is often stated by church members in obituary notices or funeral talks that he or she "was called home."
Why is the spirit world "home"? It is not anyone's permanent realm and no one who has not died has ever been there before.

  In addition, when we die, our spirit is naked, yes without clothes! Just as we entered the mortal world naked, our spirit is initially naked -- and it appears that someone is dispatched to meet a spirit just before he or she enters the spirit world and gives them a robe to wear.

(Source: Wilford Woodruff, History of His Life and Labors, as recorded in his daily journals. Prepared for publication by Matthias F. Cowley, September, 1909. Reprinted by (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 7^th Printing, 1978), 541.)

 "The Vision," compiled by N.B. Lundwall in 1945 is probably the best overall source for information on the spirit world, outside the standard works.

D&C 138 is another must read to grasp the spirit world.
There is an instant judgment once you arrive in the spirit world. If you are wicked, you will be in misery and separated from the good people.

Read D&C section 76 and it indirectly has some great insights on the spirit world. 
Verse 73 states that it was the terrestrial level residents of the spirit world who Jesus Christ opened up gospel teaching to during his three days there. No mention is made of telestial level spirit world inhabitants being preached too.
In fact, verse 85 states that telestial spirits will NOT be redeemed from Satan until the last resurrection (after the millennium).
So, this implies that telestial level residents of the spirit world are NOT taught the gospel there. They are "they who are thrust down to hell" (verse 84) and are "they who received not  the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus" (verse 82).
Telestial level residents of the spirit world are apparently still in the spirit prison and are not able to mingle or interact with those of the other 2 kingdoms.
The spirit world is also organized into two parts, paradise, for the righteous and hell for the wicked (Alma 40:11-14).

It is sin and false traditions that imprison people in the spirit prison, according to Elder Bruce R. McConkie in Mormon Doctrine.
Although Church members tend to think of the final judgment as the big event in the judgment process, a huge partial judgment is evident in the spirit world. (Hence, far better to repent in mortality than think one can wait until they are in the spirit world.)
Those who may have pondered what it may be like to mingle in the spirit world with those who were famous in mortality (like movie stars, great athletes and politicians) may find that activity somewhat limited as some of those "famous" may be locked away in the spirit prison of the spirit world, being telestial level spirits and not even terrestrial worthy.
Notwithstanding, there are seemingly enough terrestrial residents in the spirit world who never heard the gospel in mortality to keep the righteous busy in the teaching process there well into the millennium.

Joy and gladness dominates the attitudes of the faithful in the spirit world, while the opposite engulfs the evil.
The righteous church members are very soon after arrival called to preach the gospel. They meet with immediate family briefly first.
Righteous inhabitants there are organized into families.

There could easily be many billions of inhabitants of the spirit world and that's a lot of people to teach. An increasing number of people are being added now as the world has more residents and thus more daily deaths.
Proportionally, church members who can teach the gospel there is likely very, very small compared to total residents.
Apparently, there are NO wards or stakes in the spirit world, Church members are organized by families instead ....

Now that teaching concept brings up the issue of one of the most common myths about the spirit world -- that our knowledge of life before birth is instantly restored after death.
That is simply not true. Think about this, if it were true, why would people in the spirit world need to be taught the basics of the gospel, for they knew all this in the pre-earth life and even chose to come to earth to be tested?
Elder Melvin J. Ballard, an apostle from 1919-1939 taught that the dead don't know any more when they die then they did alive, except that they have now passed through the process of death.
A popular church video production, "Man's Search for Happiness," contains the error that knowledge of life before birth will be restored after death. Yes, it will eventually be restored, but not immediately. Such restoration is probably based on worthiness.
He said there is no shortcut to hearing the gospel -- you hear it from the elders in this life or the next, or not at all.
If you refused to hear the message on earth, it is likely you will not want to hear it there either.
Elder McConkie also said that the same attitudes, knowledge, habits, etc. a person has are all carried to the spirit world.
Joseph Fielding Smith also taught that residents of the spirit world can exercise both faith and repentance. (Church News section of the Deseret News, Jan. 5, 1935, p. 7.)
Indeed, Elder Ballard said it is 10 times harder to repent in the spirit world, because we lack our body, a more moldable element.
That's the limiting atmosphere of the spirit world, the "bondage" and absence of not having a physical body (see D&C 45:15, 138:50). We came to earth to receive a body and without it, we are not a complete soul (D&C 88:15).
We likely speak the same language in the spirit world and so perhaps the same language skills we had in the pre-earth life are restored to us.
What about age in the spirit world?
All spirit world residents are adults (Joseph Fielding Smith, "Answers to Gospel Questions," 1:60). Even those who died as babes are adult in appearance, though visions of deceased persons may make them appear as about the age when a person last saw them on earth.

 I'm not certain if different races exist in the spirit world. I think "race" is a mortal condition and as such does not extend beyond that.

Can spirit world residents see us? Brigham Young said so, but I can't believe that's always true or they would be too distracted, concerned or entertained over what we do to do much else in the spirit world.

Certainly when a person's temple work is being done, or perhaps even during a person's funeral, they may tarry nearby and see our world, but a regular and anytime-I-want-to-see-the-earth option seems far too distracting for the work to continue there.
The patriarchal blessing of a few mentions some church members having a gift to see through the veil at times.
What does the spirit world look like? An account in "The Vision" of near death experience by a church member describes it as much more beautiful than our current earth.
It contains incredible looking gardens/flowers and very well-constructed buildings.
If it does cover the entire earth space, it would be huge in size.
-AND, since God the Father and Jesus Christ DO NOT dwell in, or likely visit the Spirit World, prayer is probably an important spiritual exercise in that realm too, as on the mortal Earth.

I certainly don't profess to know everything about the spirit world, I only know what has been revealed to church leaders and is in the scriptures.

-Regarding attire in the Spirit World, some accounts from people who have temporarily died and then returned to life have presented some startling ideas, true or not ...
One is that the more righteous a Spirit World resident is, the whiter his or her attire is. So, some have more gray colored clothing there and anyone in the "Spirit Prison" is dressed in black.
Could this be true? Perhaps, though it does seem a bit too obvious there to all residents there of, if true.
This isn't necessarily doctrine, but it does kind of make sense that there could be some sort of partial judgment -- visible or not --  like this in the Spirit world. 



NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

14th Article of Faith: Long Meetings?

Do you like long church meetings?
"We believe in meetings — especially long meetings. If there is a meeting, we seek after it."
Is this the 14th Article of Faith in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? It very well could be ...  unofficially.
I commonly envision that gatherings, like Stake General Priesthood meetings, should be approximately one hour (though some go 90-minutes or more).
The worst case of a long meeting I've even seen was in one of my Stake's Saturday stake conference sessions in the mid-1990s. It was a general authority there and he got me all excited about missionary work and inviting neighbors to the Sunday meetings the next day.
However, the problem was the meeting didn't end until 9:50 p.m., after a 7 p.m. start.
I had lost all my enthusiasm by 9:30 p.m. and will never forget how this leader just would not stop talking.
(I still think Saturday night Stake Conference meetings are the most over-rated of church meetings, as well as almost always the most poorly planned and executed of meetings.)
The root cause of long meetings is that too many leaders become overzealous -- don’t watch the clock (or ignore it) and feel a meeting has to be long to do any good.
Another cause is that leaders line up too many speakers for a meeting and these speakers have little clue how long their talk really is -- because they haven't timed them.
As a one-time stake executive secretary in my stake, a newly installed stake president first thought it a wise idea to have me stand up 5 minutes before each meeting we were in was supposed to end. I was to stay standing until the stake president acknowledged me.
That worked well for a few months and then I guess the reality of wanting to teach too much meant that practice went out the window and meetings simply got longer and not necessarily always better.
One stake also used to excel at half-day priesthood preparation seminars, if you were being ordained an elder or high priest. Although these 4 hour meetings had a half-time with some food and drink, they were simply too long. I maintain that 90 minutes of more concise, engaging meeting would do better than this 4 hour meeting ever would.
A recent stake relief society leadership meeting was advertised in an official flyer that it would last 90 minutes. Then, it ended up going more than 3 1/2 hours! (And, that was ALL lecture).
Another stake bishopric meeting went so long one Sunday morning that all 9 a.m. sacrament meetings in the stake started 5 minutes or more late, because of the too long leadership meeting.
Some stakes excel at having 90-100 minutes General Priesthood meetings -- that's far too long for a secondary meeting to be -- and having such at 7 a.m. on Sunday interferes with 9 a.m. block times, let alone it bores the Aaronic Priesthood holders severely.
It's not just long meetings either. Some meetings do not need to be held, or as often.
For example. one former bishop of mine didn’t always strictly follow the stake's advice to always hold priesthood executive meeting (PEC) every single week. On some holiday weekends, when many ward leaders were out of town, he'd say, it simply wasn't worth holding. "What are they going to do fire us?" he would say.
-The Relief Society is no better at times. A few years ago I saw a flyer for a Saturday morning relief society meeting in my stake. It stated lunch served after a 90 meeting meeting, that went from 10-11:30 a.m. -- or so the flyer stated.
In reality, my wife came home from the meeting at 2 p.m. and never even stayed for the lunch. Almost 4 hours was far too long of a meeting.

-A friend of mine, who hasn't been active for 40-plus years, believes ours is the church of meetings and he hates meetings. He's right to some degree, though would it not be better if we were more the church of service?
So, there you have it. Don't hold a side meeting (outside block time) unless there is a need and have a firm agenda.
And, keeping meetings short is always better than having longer ones.

The true mission should be better organized and more spiritual meetings, not just more or longer meetings.
Granted, you have to have some meetings, or chaos would rule. But too long of meetings can take away from family time and also lessen how much actual time is left to do service to others.
Less and shorter meetings and more service would be the worthy goal here.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

The Celestial Sport is ...

By Lynn Arave

WHAT is the celestial sport? If there is one, it would probably be basketball. Yes, hoops.
Why? Because almost every chapel in North America and even some outside contain basketball courts. There are some meetinghouse facilities with softball/baseball fields, but these are minimal, compared to basketball court numbers.
Go to any LDS Sacrament meeting where an overflow into the gymnasium area is being used, look up and you will likely see a retracted basketball hoop. They are standard and they are everywhere.
First-time visitors to ward chapels, who notice the hoops, might be somewhat bewildered.
According to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. Basketball was originally a women's sport. In 1900 at Brigham Young Academy, the Y's women's team had won a championship and there was no men's team.
Perhaps men of that era thought basketball wasn't rugged enough. (Too bad they couldn't forsee how rough church basketball would become by the late 20th Century!)
Basketball as a men's sport in Utah didn't begin until 1906, when the Salt Lake 20th Ward formed two teams of young men, according to a Deseret News article on Oct. 4, 2008.
A city basketball league in S.L. began in 1908 and that's when all the Ensign Stake also fielded boys basketball teams. A 1908 article in the Improvement Era emphasized basketball participation and having ward facilities to do so.
However, a 1911 Church conference for activity leaders focused on volleyball, wrestling, fencing, swimming. Gymnastics, running, jumping, vaulting and baseball, — but no basketball.
From 1929 to 1971 an all-church basketball competition brought the best church-wide to a tournament. Church growth world-wide made it impractical to continue the tourney any longer.
Some regional church events continued and virtually all young men have a chance to play basketball in wards today.
Fred A. Baker, who was in charge of LDS Church Physical Facilities from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, said his recollections of church basketball were that it really took off in the mid-1930s, at least in the Ogden area, though facilities were still limited.
Gymnasiums were often built then in stand-alone buildings, next to chapels.
He said by the 1970s, such separate buildings had become too expensive and chapels began including gymnasiums — complete with basketball courts — at the rear of their chapels.
A few stand-alone gymnasiums still exist. There's at in the Ogden East Stake and also the Hooper Utah Stake, still in use.
Why did the church so completely adopt basketball? It was a good, compact indoor sport for the Mountain West, where winter and cool weather can preclude the regularity of many sports.
Basketball also wasn't as rough as football or rugby and was also a good spectator sport.
The sport of basketball is popular, in and outside the church.
There are a few perennial problems with church basketball.
First problem involves a lack of proper sportsmanship by some players.
For example, some years ago, one of my brothers suffered a broken wrist while playing basketball in a Clinton, Ut. Ward. He said he was karate chopped on purpose while taking a shot in a church game. When I asked if he had told his stake sports direction about the incident, he said it was he who broke his wrist.
Another problem: Some players are simply not in proper physical condition to play it all out, without a high risk of injury. I can't count how many times I've seem a man limping to church and been right in guessing it came from a church basketball game.
Next, is a lack of physical conditioning. You can't play the game all-out if you only play it once or twice a week. Men age 30-plus are particularly prone to such hoop injuries.
I can't count how many times I've seen a man limp to church and been correct in guessing he got injured in a church basketball game. You have to be in shape to play the game.
-If you are not a church member, the carpeted floor on some Ward gymnasiums must seem like a pretty strange surface to play a basketball game on ....

Lastly, young men still sneak into the chapel at times to play basketball without any adults or leaders around to supervise them.

In conclusion: Mormons don't worship basketball, but it certainly is their sport of choice.

(Note: the accompanying photo shows a typical basketball hoop in a typical Utah ward chapel cultural hall, in the retracted to the ceiling position.)

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.