Last night I was reading in Denver Snuffer’s book The Second Comforter: Conversing with the Lord through the Veil, for the second time. This time I am taking notes. You may have heard of the book. If not, Google it. I heard all about this book on Facebook, mostly from detractors who never read the book, much less picked it up. A brief explanation from me would not even begin to persuade you to read the book, but if you have ever been curious about the Second Comforter, go find the book on Amazon, and download a preview.
I was first curious because I have heard about the Second Comforter all my life, and I now suspect that the people that I heard talk about it had probably already received it, and this inspired me to want to receive something that we are entitled to, promised, and even commanded in the Book of Mormon to receive. And, the good part about it is, this is part of the Lord’s personal ministry to you to give it to you, as soon as you are prepared.
In this life, we are so used to dealing with treacherous or untrustworthy people. Even the best-meaning people will occasionally disappoint us. How refreshing would it be to deal with somebody you could trust absolutely? The Lord is not going to play games with you or move the football on you. He’s somebody you can trust and somebody who will go out of his way, in very surprising ways, to help you. I learned that this is called “grace”. Yes, surprising, as well as amazing.
I had a bishop in my college ward who often quoted the following passage. Once we had a Q&A fireside, and I asked him to bear his testimony of Christ. He spoke extemporaneously for 1 1/2 hours. He held a room of restless college students spellbound while they sat on a hard floor, listening to him. I have the impression that he knew whereof he spoke.
O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name. 2 Nephi 9:41
The bishop also used to say “the scriptures are a here’s how, by who’s who”. The Book of Mormon is a guidebook. But sometimes we need a guidebook to the guidebook.
This post is directed to those people who know about the book, have read it, or in the process of reading it. Every page inspires me and makes me want to stop reading and practice what I just read. Denver says in one place: “You may have the faith, but lack the knowledge and confidence.”
On the Internet I found the testimony of a man who had the faith, but lacked the knowledge he needed to receive the Second Comforter until he read Denver’s book. He considers himself “a real LDS guy”. He is relateble. He could have been your college roommate, or your next door neighbor. I listened to his testimony on a podcast of the Boise Doctrine of Christ Conference, held in 2016.
From the minute he opened his mouth, I sensed that his testimony, which he was about to bear would be extraordinary. His speech was simple, non-assuming, and admittedly not all that well organized, but there was a Spirit about it that compelled me to listen. His purpose was to not draw attention to himself, but to simply bear testimony of Christ. At the end of his talk, he briefly and modestly mentioned having received the Second Comforter. He said that his testimony had been posted on the Internet.
After listening to his talk, I went searching the Internet to find his testimony, a testimony which eventually cost him his membership.
The rest of his testimony had been taken down. I couldn’t find it anywhere. He referred to it in his speech, but that was back in 2016. I had nowhere to go, but I had not given up hope.
In Denver’s book, he compares our preparation to receive our audience with the Lord to perfecting your swing in baseball:
The process can’t be rushed. There may be many things you lack, but address them one at a time. There is always “only one thing to do”. The most important thing to work on the thing that is the most wrong at the moment. This is the one thing to do. The Lord will always answer when you ask him: “What lack I yet?”
I took all this down and wrote it up in my notes.
At this point, I laid down the book and prayed again: “What lack I yet?”
The Lord always responds if you ask in faith, listen in faith, believe the answer you are given and act on it. This is called having your heart drawn out in prayer. This is constant contact.
I got the shock of my lifetime, when I was praying to God, once. I was kind of lost and wondering what I should be doing. The answer I got back was simply. “Talk to me.”
There is a Hebrew word: “chesed“. It is usually translated “mercy” in the Bible, but it means so much more. One dictionary renders chesed as “unfailing love, loyal love, devotion, kindness, often based on a prior relationship, especially a covenant relationship.” Since the word is often used in the context of a covenant, it has been suggested that chesed also can be translated as “covenant love”—meaning the faithfulness required by the covenant.
You might say that chesed “lives” on a two-way street, as something which God certainly shows to His people, but also desires for us to give back to Him, as well as to one another. It’s like calling or texting your spouse several times a day, just to stay in touch. According to the prophet, Hosea. This is all God wants from us. He wants to be in contact with us. Try it. It will change your life.
OK, back to receiving answers. God doesn’t play games with you. He will always answer your prayer. If you are not ready for the answer, he will arrange things in your life so that eventually, you will be ready for the answer. When you are ready, the answer will come. Sometimes, it’s a new thought or idea. Sometimes, it’s something you have to do. But, everything you receive is your next step. In this particular case, I received the answer that I should try again to find the complete testimony, having failed before. I was even told the words to use in my online search. So, the Lord knows Google, too.
This time I found the testimony! Somebody preserved it on his own blog. Nine pages. I read his testimony. It was EXACTLY the counsel I needed at that moment i time. He spent one short paragraph describing the exact experience — in enough detail so that the Spirit could witness to you that what he experienced was true. The rest of the nine pages were instructions on how you could receive your own interview with the Lord. What I needed to know was not the “juicy details” of his encounter, but more advice on how to proceed along the path to an encounter of my own. Why did everybody else leave out this vital information when they posted his testimony?
Only wanting to find out the sensational parts of a spiritual experience draws attention. It’s sensational. But, it is what Denver calls “spiritual veuyerism”. It might satisfy your curiosity, but it doesn’t fill your soul. What you need to know are the governing principles behind the experience, the laws upon which the blessing is predicated. Nobody else’s spirituality can save you.
Was this a lucky coincidence? I choose not to think so. It was just one in a string of little faith-building incidents along the way, but when you start getting a lot of these, they really begin to pile up.
In the hopes that this information might help somebody else, too, I am posting the link, and including this testimony also in this blog.
This is the link to Daniel’s testimony: http://lincolnnotes.blogspot.com/2014/
John144 