I Believe Podcast

As increasing numbers of Millennials abandon both their church membership and their faith, these 19 young adults speak about their faith in God and Jesus Christ. They represent ordinary Millennials, fortified by their faith in Jesus Christ as they face the same challenges and issues other Millennials face. Find us on:                                                                             Or call: 185KNOWGOD1 Twitter    Facebook    Google+    YouTube    Subscribe on Itunes    ibelievepodcast.com Additional Episodes: Does God Know Me? God, Why Did You Allow That Awful Stuff to Happen Today?

Will those people who die without a chance to know Jesus Christ be consigned to hell? Absolutely not! God is loving, and is no respecter of persons, and has provided a way for all of His children to hear and learn about Jesus Christ.   Additional Episodes: The Purpose of Life Is Satan Real   Find us on:                                                                             Or call: 185KNOWGOD1 Twitter    Facebook    Google+    YouTube    Subscribe on Itunes    ibelievepodcast.com

I hope you’ll stay as I unfold the Savior’s crystal clear answer to one of the most oft-asked questions on college campuses universally—and among professors of faiths: what happens to those who die without knowing Christ? Welcome to any of you who’ve ...

I, like you, feel I’ve spent quite a bit of time in God’s waiting room. I could write a book titled An Impatient Woman’s Guide to the Universe. I remember as a little girl, excited for one project to end, I went over to the clock above our piano and actually moved its hands--as if changing the hour and second hand would speed up time! Do you ever feel like things are taking sooo long in God’s plan for your life? Knocking on heaven’s gate has not yielded specific blessings or items on your spiritual hope list? But waiting on Him will never be in vain. In fact, I’ve learned that the picture often looks the exact opposite of what God has promised—like a film negative in a darkroom--before He reverses it and gives us the colorful, pixel-perfect product He is producing in us and for us. It’s when promises and inspired desires look most impossible that I’ve come to bank on the faith-fact their reality is likely nearest and most probable. So why the wait? I’ve three promises, three perspectives on waiting, and three hopeful thoughts for you to encourage you today. Promises First, three promises to soak up and hold onto: 1. “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of the heart through all generations” (Psalms 33:11). So, God knows what He’s doing and will bring it to pass. 2. “My times are in your hands” (Psalms 31:1). That is a spiritual stabilizer. 3. “He satisfieth the longing soul” (Psalms 107:9). What comfort—no right desire is in us that will not be ultimately satisfied. Perspectives--Why Does God Wait? First of all, He’s not wasting time. He’s too economical for that! He is: 1. Putting us in posture of dependence—the best one to grow to our potential. 2. Preparing us for what He’s preparing us for (I’ll explain!). 3. Paving the way for us to know Him. 1. Posture of Dependence Nick of Time God An everyday example: My daughter’s friends fasted and prayed for her that she’d have her voice back after losing it and practicing for a play for months. The day of the performance. No voice. It was as she walked onto the stage that her voice returned. This is why some have said, God is sometimes “a Nick o’ Time God” purposefully, to grow us. You can probably recall lots of instances when God’s answer came through at the last minute to test and stretch your faith and trust in Him. This pattern bears out in real, wonderful scriptural examples: Think of the widow of Zarepheth who was rescued when she had just a little bit of grain left in the barrel; enough for one meal. She thought her dreams, her life, and her son’s life were gone, but help was around the corner on what appeared to be the last day of life. (See 1 Kings 17:10-16). And what about Moses? It was when Moses put his toe in the water that the Red Sea waters actually divided. (See Exodus 14). Likewise, with Hagar: It was after she took Ishmael by the bush, and just when “the water was spent in Hagar’s bottle,” that God provided and called her by name—which means “God hears.” (See Genesis 21:12-21). God had forgotten none of these people and had pre-planned provisions, miracles for each of them, and knew exactly where they were and what they needed. Even miracles take time. It’s in that space between them—when our own resources end and when God is all we have--that we learn that He is all we need. We come to know we can trust Him in our extremity. We know He is our sufficiency. In other words, sometimes God will, for our benefit, allow for difficulty to come at such an unexpected speed or level that we are compelled to acknowledge that all human help is insufficient. In lesser trials, we had that recourse, maybe, of relying more on ourselves, or thinking we can manage or handle it alone, but we come to a point where we must cast ourselves on our all-powerful God and Savior. I’ve noticed more and more recently that God will always get me to a place of dependence on Him—whether in a new opportunity,

Does God Care About the Big & Little Events of My Life? Do you wonder if God really knows you? If He cares enough to be personally involved in the everyday events and details of your life? The big things, the little things? He does know you, and He does care immensely! God is as real as you are. And I promise He knows you and will interact with you as if you are the only being in the universe, if you will allow Him to. He is already that near to you and intimately involved with your life. He suffered for you personally, not just for everybody else. He longs for you to know Him as you long to be known. That desire to be known can never be satisfied apart from encountering God. Does God Love Me? And God loves you—perfectly. “I know the plans I have for you,” He says in His word, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). He knows the number of hairs on your head, the make of the mattress you sleep on, your hopes and fears, your thoughts as you first awoke this morning, your every site you’ve ever surfed and your every heartbeat and thought. He loves you. And I say this—that God knows you and loves you, whether you have felt known or loved by anyone else in your life or not. And if you’ve never felt fully loved, you may feel inclined to turn this message off. I invite you to stay for a few minutes, and try to open yourself to a new possibility. Being unloved in a fallen world is a horrible affliction to have suffered, but it does not mean you are unlovable. That’s just a lie that Satan adds on to keep you blinded from God’s love or any pure love of which he himself is jealous, of which he has rendered himself incapable on an interpersonal or divine level through his own will and hateful choices. Don’t throw out God and the possibility of real love because your own caretakers may have deprived you of the very love you craved. Three People God Loves Who Might Have Felt Forgotten, Abandoned, Insignificant I just want to share with you here three examples of God’s knowing others in the Word, who might have thought themselves forgotten, unloved, unknown, insignificant, or unimportant to God and others and in the world. I pray that the Spirit--the divine agent that sends truth to your mind and heart—will convey personally to you in a tangible way God’s awareness of and care for YOU—and that you then will continue your journey with us, nearer to Him. Nathaniel I love the story of Nathaniel in God’s word. Picture him sitting under a fig tree. Have you ever gone to sit outside to be alone with your most private thoughts, to dream, to wonder, to ask, to consider things you might never have shared with anyone in the whole world? Maybe not yet even voiced to your best friend, if you have one? I see Nathaniel there, and while I don’t know what he was thinking, I imagine it was one of those personal, under-the-tree experiences like I described. Had he already heard about the Savior and wondered about Him? Had He wondered if He really was the Son of God who would come and die for him? Did he have questions about his own predicament in life? Wonder about his purpose, his direction? Were there things personal and private in his heart and mind? We don’t have all the answers but we know he sat contemplating under the fig tree. And we know that whatever it was, Jesus knew it and no one else did. Listen to what the Bible says: “And when He [Jesus] saw Nathaniel, He said, “Before you were under the fig tree, I knew you” (John 1:48). Jesus met Nathaniel, where He will meet you-- where no one else can or could--in the realm of our hearts, minds, and most intimate thoughts. He joined the conversation with Nathaniel, and more, He let Nathaniel know He cared enough to know his thoughts and to respond to him. Jesus knew his whereabouts before, during and after he sat under the fig tree. He knew Nathaniel’s soul. He was privy to all of Nathaniel’s longings.

God, Please Just Tell Me What to Do: Agency & Inspiration Have you ever said to God, verbally or silently, “I don’t know where to move, or if I should go to school A, B, or C, or marry this guy or not; can you just tell me?” Have you ever just wanted the answer straight out of the sky with God’s signature on it, without any due diligence? God is a loving Father who wants to help us, but not dictate our lives in advance. He has an amazing template or pattern for discovering and receiving His will. Without this template, I think we can easily fall into extremes in anticipating prayer and answers to prayer. On one end of the spectrum, we could trust only in intellect and so feel little need to call upon God in the name of the Savior, and head on a wrong, completely self-determined path. On the other end of spectrum, we could pray but without much previous thought or analysis and catalog any thought that then comes to us, assuming it is from God. God’s Pattern for Making Decisions, Knowing His Will: Study It Out & Ask I absolutely love the fact that God has given us a pattern in His word on how to make decisions and discern His will for our lives, which accounts for and allows a balance between both agency and inspiration. And some decisions are left to us to make without having to be led every inch. If God made all our decisions for us, there would be no purpose to our lives, no growth. Here’s the pattern and a few reflections. You must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right …you shall feel that it is right. But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought. Modern Revelation: Book of Doctrine and Covenants 9:7–9. Recognizing God’s Answers Through His Spirit I love this pattern for us. Study it out--map it out on paper, pros and cons, costs, benefits, losses--think through the possible consequences of an idea or plan the best we can. Then, make a decision and ask God if that tentative one is right. He promises He will answer. He says if it's right, we'll feel it; His voice comes as a thought-feeling, entering both mind and heart. An idea expands or grows in our minds when it is right, and our sense of urgency or rightness about moving in a given direction also expands in our hearts. In other words, it occupies our mind and presses in on our feelings. It tastes delicious--you're able to proceed with what you were thinking and grow more satisfied and complete in your understanding of how that might be best When it's wrong, for me, it's like a thundercloud over me; there is confusion, disharmony, the inability to proceed with that thought. I'm distracted, or even forget the idea that seemed so marvelous. The next day it's just not as exciting or promising or right. That’s the stupor. You'll recognize it in your mind and heart. I'm describing it for me to help you. In that sense, and what I so love, is that there are always two inner witnesses of truth or the correct major course of action—one that comes to the intellect, and one that comes to the core of feeling, the heart. Neither alone is dependable enough alone. Sometimes, we may have a sense in our mind of one way to go about doing something, and be pursuing it when we find another way is edging into our hearts and minds in a way that seems to settle in, covering us in quiet conviction. Then we need to let go of our previous design, no matter how reasonably sound it appears, and make room for the Spirit’s restraint or re-direction, however different it looks from our original design. We can ask for confirmation of that second plan pressing in on our spirits. God will confirm it, if we’re willing to go that direction once He does. Enlightenment Enlightenment comes as voice or sentences or ideas in mind. My daughter, when young, after saying something that was clearly inspired to me, said, “But Mom, those were just my thoughts.

Christianity: What Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ? [Audio]

God, Why Did You Allow That Awful Stuff to Happen Today? [Audio]

Taught by Jesus Christ: Ralph Jensen Shares NDE (Near Death Experience) [Audio]

Ben Franklin once said: Our friend and we were invited abroad.... His chair was ready first, and he is gone before us. We could not conveniently start together; and why should you and I be grieved at this, since we are soon to follow, and know where to find him. When a loved one departs and leaves our view, they open to heaven's--their mortal ship sails out of the view of our horizon to  a more glorious world where others awaiting them at heaven's horizon greet them. What Is Death? I hope you'll listen to this I Believe Podcast, in which we address questions about the plan of happiness designed for us, the nature of death, and the life beyond. Death is the 'birthday of eternal life.'   In this video episode, What Is Death?, you'll hear what the Lord says about the nature of our spirits, our bodies, our future bodies, our future glory, and life immediately after we die.  This cast offers hope and answers to those wondering if they have death to fear, fret about, or faithfully look forward to as the doorway to life and a return to our heavenly home. Please find the video and full I Believe Podcast transcript here. Scripture Verse: "The spirits of all men...are taken home to that God who gave them life"  (Another Testament of Jesus Christ: Book of Alma 40:11-12). Faith Quote: "Is death the last sleep? No, it is but the last and final awakening" (Sir Walter Scott). Click here for additional audio episodes of I Believe Podcast. Find us on:                                                                               Or call: 185KNOWGOD1 Twitter    Facebook    Google+    YouTube    Subscribe on Itunes

What happens to little children who pass away without baptism? Is original sin really cast on little ones or on the rest of us, for that matter? When are children accountable before God? What does Jesus Christ say specifically about the salvation of little children? Why do some churches sprinkle little children around birth? I hope you'll join me for this short cast clarifying doctrines oft misunderstood, and answering questions about the salvation of little children. We'll dispel myths, distill out what was apostate or traditional practice from what the Lord's protocol for baptism really is, and offer hope to the families who've wondered about losing their children to some in-between existence because they were not baptized prior to their passing on. Please share this with someone who may be helped by it as well. I'd love to hear from you anytime. Please find the full transcript here. Scripture Verses: All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom; For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.” (Jesus' Words: Book of Doctrine and Covenants 137:7–9.) Faith Quote: "The Lord extends special protection to children and shares jurisdiction with earthly parents, even as we enjoy their presence. They cannot sin until they reach the age of accountability, which the Lord has declared to be eight years"  (M. Lybbert). Click here for additional audio episodes of I Believe Podcast. Find us on:                                                                   Or call: 185KNOWGOD1 Twitter    Facebook    Google+    YouTube    Subscribe on Itunes

In this I Believe podcast episode with Special Guest Brad Wilcox, Karen discusses the grace of Jesus Christ and how it can change us.

Quench Not the Spirit: Of Roses & Enchiladas Listening to the Holy Ghost, Sometimes It’s Just a Nudge 1 Thessalonians 5:19   “Quench Not the Spirit: Of Roses & Enchiladas” is one of Karen’s short video podcasts on key gospel themes. We invite you to respond, share, and engage on Facebook, Twitter, or on our website. You may be interested in some of our other podcasts, “Is Satan Real,” “Meaning of Life” and “Karen's Story Part 1, Coming to Know God” Quench Not the Spirit: Of Roses & Enchiladas - For full transcript, please click here. What is God asking you to do today?  Sometimes spiritual impressions from God are recognizable as simply a nudge.Sometimes they are a stirring within that give us sense of urgency about something or that constrain us from going the wrong way. Sometimes they are overwhelming witnesses of truth.

I Believe: Expressions of Faith Episode 1: Letter to Rising Generation: Out of the Desert of Disbelief Ever wonder if you could really know absolute truth, if God exists? The purpose of this episode is to discuss and affirm absolute truths, that God lives, and to help individuals uncover the promise that they can know these truths for themselves, independent of any other person. Karen's guest today is Jeff Wynn, a research geophysicist currently living in Washington state. He has a PhD in Geosciences, and was an atheist for about ten years before he became a Christian. And now, I Believe: Expressions of Faith, Episode entitled, Letter to Rising Generation: Out of the Desert of Disbelief. Hosted by Karen Trifiletti. Ever wonder if God really lives? If truth exists? How you can know? What if you learned you could take now 3 concrete steps towards learning for yourself if there is a God and if Jesus is really His Son? Would you be interested? If so, you’ll want to stay tuned in for this 5-minute video cast of I Believe: Expressions of Faith, hosted by Karen Trifiletti. Feel free to comment or send us a question on Twitter or Facebook. And now, for “How Can I Know Truth?” here’s Karen. Partial Transcript of “How Can I Know Truth? If God Lives?” God lives. And truth exists. And we are not just "drops in an ocean or dust in the wind." I don’t know precisely where you are in your spiritual journey so share that with me. Who knows but that the Lord is inviting you through this very short clip to "come and see"--to find Him and to find out for yourself that He lives. Before I share HOW you can find it for yourself, I offer my witness that God wants to be found, that as the Word says: God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11: 6). You can cash in on that promise which means when we are ready to take off layers of unbelief; belief is there for the asking and seeking. Think about that! God is assisting you not abandoning you. He never has, though our unbelief masks His care and love and makes it invisible to our spiritual sensitivities and receptors and so our spiritual eyes remained closed. But it is no less real. I think of it this way, as if you’re looking at a hologram. You've seen those. You pick it up for the first time and, if you're like me, you only see a 2-dimensional image, but when you pay a bit more of a price of focus and seeking, and exercise your faith a bit further, something more opens to your view and you engage more fully in what was there all along but that you now see. That's what happens on a spiritual level when you begin to exercise faith and see spiritually--a whole new world and view opens us, just as real, in fact, more real, as the temporal world. OKAY, so now HOW--how can you know truth, how can you know if God lives for yourself? Let’s say you have some hope, some desire to know it--and that that’s why you are listening today. So if you take and exercise THAT TINIEST DESIRE, mustard seed size or grape size, or quark size, don’t leave it idle! EXERCISE JUST THAT DESIRE TO KNOW, let that be your impetus for coming to know Him Think of what you’d do if you wanted to learn to PLAY AN INSTRUMENT or develop a new skill. You would search out knowledge about that instrument, act on it, try a few notes, keep going until your knowledge was more complete, RIGHT? So likewise you take that desire to the INSTRUMENT God designed for you to know Him--the COMPOSITION OF HIS WORD OR SCRIPTURES, the scripture-- aimed to share truth about life, and God, and His plan for you. This is WHERE HE OUTLINES HIS PLAN--where He tells you he knew you before you were born, tells of His goals for you, to have exceedingly abundantly more than you can ask or imagine, and where He talks of healing and hope through Jesus sacrifice for your sins and pains, and a glorious future through His resurrection and eternal life with Him and those you love.

“Meaning of Life” is one of Karen’s short video podcasts on key gospel themes. We invite you to respond, share, and engage on Facebook, Twitter, or on our website. You may be interested in some of our other podcasts, “Is Satan Real,” “How Can I Know Truth? If God Lives?” and “God Has the Bigger Picture.” The Meaning of Life I’ve heard someone say the 2 most important days in our lives are the day we were born and the day we discover why we were born. There is an answer to brokenness. There is meaning in life, and to life. If you're feeling lost and alone, hold on. You may be closer to the answers you are seeking than you know. I read something of Tolstoy that seems to speak to what I’m talking about. I’d like to share it with you.  He raises the questions of his soul in a desperate moment when he nearly took his life: He said that he felt that something had broken within him on which his life had always rested, that he had nothing left to hold on to. This took place when so far as his outer circumstances went, he thought he ought to have been completely happy. But, he asked: What will be the outcome of what I do today? Of what shall I do tomorrow? What will be the outcome of all my life? Why should I live? Why should I do anything? Is there in life any purpose which the inevitable death which awaits me does not undo and destroy? These questions, he said, “are the simplest in the world. From the child to the wisest old man, they are in the soul of every human being. Without an answer to them, it is impossible, as I experienced, for life to go on” (Tolstoy, L. 1882, My Confession, Quoted in W. James 1920, The Varieties of Religious Experiences, New York: Longmans Green, 153-55). Spirit Child of God Each of us is born with a spiritual compass and longing to seek truth, to acquire a personal knowledge of God and of what is real--and it is available. I’m here to say that you do have a purpose, and the purpose of life is more glorious than you have ever imagined.  What you see around you—life on this earth, that begins with birth and ends with death—is only a very small part of your existence.  You existed for eons of time before you were born. You are a spirit-child of God, and you lived with Him in a heavenly home and progressed to a certain point in His presence and among brothers and sisters. . You have a spirit, that looks like your body in form, but is made of more refined material which your eye can’t see. It’s who you are at your very core, your intelligence, your personality--and it will grow but never be taken or be replaced or morph into something else or just live in memory.  It is the eternal part of you. Your soul is your spirit and your body together--all of you. When the time came for an earth-experience, and further progress than you could make in your heavenly home, like a glove fits over a hand your spirit, or intelligence, entered a physical body and you were born on earth. This is a time through which you could temporarily live out of the presence of our Heavenly Parents, be tested--like when your parents leave the house on vacation-- experience a range of emotions, have circumstances to prove and test your character. A physical body was essential for your personal progress.  You and each of us forgot our heavenly existence and centered our attention on our current life. We, and you specifically, arrived with a personality, talents, and gifts meant to touch the people near you, help you learn compassion, overcome sin and evil, and bring you joy. You also arrived with a longing to find deeper meaning than what material life offers, and to discover your personal purpose for being here. That longing is a desire to re-connect with your Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and to accept His sacrifice for sin.  From that longing, faith is developed. From faith can come a personal communication and deep relationship with Father in Heaven, who knows you and loves you.