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Waking Up Zion — The Book

Waking Up Zion --- The Book

INTRODUCTION Not a Faith Crisis — A Truth Awakening This isn’t a book about walking away. It’s a book about walking deeper. Deeper into Jesus. Deeper into His voice, His light, and His truth. For years, I loved my faith. I still do. The Church gave me structure. It gave me good people. It taught me to honor prophets and scriptures. To seek the Holy Ghost. To follow Christ. But somewhere along the way, I started asking quiet questions— Not to tear down, but to understand more. Where is the power of the Book of Mormon? Where is the fire of the early Saints? Where is the Jesus who speaks face to face? This book isn’t here to fight the Church. It’s here to reach the hearts of those in it — Especially those who feel something is missing, but don’t yet have words for it. I believe God is still working. But I also believe He is calling many of His children out of comfort and into courage. Out of tradition and into truth. Out of a system and into a personal walk with His Son. If you love the C...

Video 48 🌿 WAKING UP IS GOOD — BUT WALKING WITH JESUS IS BETTER

  🌿 WAKING UP IS GOOD — BUT WALKING WITH JESUS IS BETTER I’ve been watching more people wake up lately. They’re asking real questions. They’re noticing cracks. They’re realizing there’s more than what they were handed in Sunday School. That’s a good thing. But I want to say something gently, from someone who’s been awake for a while now: Waking up isn’t the destination. It’s just the moment you sit up in bed. What matters next… is whether you actually   get up and walk . πŸ”₯ THE BOOK OF MORMON NEVER STOPPED AT “SEEING THE PROBLEM” One thing I love about the Book of Mormon is this: It doesn’t just expose corruption. It always points you somewhere   else . Moroni didn’t write so we could argue institutions. Mormon didn’t abridge records so we could win debates. Nephi didn’t warn us about false security so we could feel clever. They all point to   Christ Himself . “Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.” —   Moroni 10:32 Not   come unto systems . Not ...

πŸ’Ž Leaving the Cave Without Dragging Anyone Out Why Christ Never Forces Awakening

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  πŸ’Ž Leaving the Cave Without Dragging Anyone Out Why Christ Never Forces Awakening There is a reason certain stories return again and again across history. Plato’s cave. C. S. Lewis’s   The Great Divorce . The hero who sees the light, returns, and is rejected. They resonate because they touch something deeply human: the tension between   truth and readiness . But there is something important we often miss. Christ does   not   follow the classic hero pattern. πŸŒ‘ The Cave: When Shadows Feel Like Reality Plato’s allegory of the cave describes people chained in darkness, facing a wall, watching shadows cast by a fire behind them. Those shadows become their world—their meaning, their truth. When one person is freed and brought into the light, it is painful. Disorienting. Even frightening. And when that person returns to the cave to explain what they’ve seen? They are rejected. Not because the others are stupid. Not because they are evil. But because   what they...

πŸ•Š️ Are We Afraid of Honest Questions in Zion?

  When My Son Walked Away From the Church πŸ•Š️ A Father’s Reflection on Faith, Questions, and Zion A few years ago something happened in my life that shook me. One of my sons walked away from the Church. Not because he hated God. Not because he wanted to rebel. He had questions. Real questions. Questions about church history. Questions about things he had read. Questions that didn’t seem to have clear answers. And somewhere along the way the answers he received sounded like this: “Just trust the leaders.” “Just read the talk.” “Don’t worry about it.” For a thoughtful young man… that wasn’t enough. So he stepped away. As a father, that hurts more than I can explain. I Still Love the Church ❤️ This Isn’t Bitterness Let me say something very clearly. I love the Church. I love the members. I love the missionaries. I love the leaders. President Oaks is a good man. Years ago I even played pickup basketball with him at BYU. My father used to walk to school with his sister. These are real p...

πŸ’Ž Seeing From Above — Why Truth Isn’t Found by Arguing in the Room

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  πŸ’Ž Seeing From Above — Why Truth Isn’t Found by Arguing in the Room There is a pattern the Lord uses when He wants to teach something deep. He does not argue with us   inside   our certainty. He lifts us   above it . This pattern showed up in a vision my daughter once shared with me — and I’ve come to see that it is the   same pattern Christ used   after His resurrection . Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. 🌿 The Vision — A Room Full of Sincere People She saw a   large, white, circular room . All nations were present. All cultures. All religions. Everyone was sincere. Everyone was passionate. And everyone was arguing. Not because they were evil — but because they were   certain . Each person stood in a different place along the wall, looking toward the center, saying: “This is what I see.” And each was convinced they were right. πŸ’Ž The Diamond in the Center In the very center of the room was a   clear, brilliant diamond . But no one insi...

Video 47 πŸ•Š️ THE QUESTIONS THAT OPEN THE WAY

  πŸ•Š️   THE QUESTIONS THAT OPEN THE WAY What the Scriptures Teach Us About Asking the Lord There’s something subtle I’ve learned over time — something the scriptures quietly teach, over and over again: The Lord does not respond to   every question the same way . Some questions bring silence. Some bring correction. Some bring miracles. And some — the right ones — open the way to walk with Him. 🌿   The Lord Has Always Taught Through Questions From the beginning, God has not just answered questions. He has   trained His people how to ask . Think about how often revelation in scripture begins   not   with a demand… but with humility. πŸ”₯   “What Wilt Thou Have Me Do?” — The Turning Question When Saul is struck down on the road to Damascus, he doesn’t ask: Why did You do this? Am I right or wrong? What’s going to happen to me now? He asks a single, quiet question: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” —   Bible , Acts 9:6 That question changed eve...

🌿 First Things First — What the Bible Actually Says

  🌿 First Things First — What the Bible Actually Says The Bible never calls Mary Magdalene a prostitute. Not once. What it   does   say is this: She stood at the cross when others fled She was the   first witness of the resurrected Christ   (John 20) Jesus personally commissioned   her   to go and tell the others That makes her—functionally— an apostle to the apostles . Already, the later caricature doesn’t hold up. πŸ“œ The Book of Mormon Test — Who Does Jesus Trust? Here’s where things get really clear for me. The Book of Mormon shows us   how Jesus chooses people . Not by: Office Gender Title Institutional rank But by: Purity of heart Spiritual readiness Willingness to hear and obey His voice “And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” — 3 Nephi 9:20 If Christ trusted Mary Magdalene to carry the   first resurrection message , the Book of Mormon gives us   no reason   to doubt that. In fact, i...

Video 46 🌿 Walking With Jesus — There Is More Than One Way to Walk

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4 🌿 Walking With Jesus — There Is More Than One Way to Walk For a long time, I thought there was only one way to walk with Jesus. One right sequence. One correct vocabulary. One approved path. If you didn’t walk   that   way, you were either behind… or wrong… or not serious enough. But life has a way of teaching you gently — if you let it. πŸ•Š️ My Way Didn’t Start With a Map I didn’t begin with a system. I didn’t study a wheel or follow a chart. My walk unfolded something like this: Light → Love → Peace → Oneness Not because I planned it that way — but because that’s how my heart survived. I learned there was light in all. Then I learned to   love   deeply. Then I learned to   stop fighting . And only then did I discover what oneness even meant. At the time, I didn’t know what to call it. I just knew Jesus was there. πŸ”₯ Then I Saw the Circle Later, I was introduced to the idea of the Medicine Wheel — a way some people describe the spiritual journey using directi...