An interesting FYI:
An email exchange received and responded to.
On Tuesday, May 20, 2014, xxxxxxxxx <[email protected]> wrote:
Hey Denver,
I met with you in your office a few years ago after reading The Second Comforter. I was mostly impressed at that time by your recurring theme of obedience. Now you’ve been excommunicated for disobedience? Only possible through vainglory and a loss of the influence of the Holy Ghost. And perhaps other motives, which you yourself would only know about within your own heart.
The fact that you cannot see the glaring oxymoron of your message/actions– while anyone with the Spirit can– is no doubt just one example of what happens when one loses the gift of the Holy Ghost aka light and intelligence. The most amazing, intangible reality/truth about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who truly and sincerely are submitting their will to the Lord’s will with a pure heart is that they/we are unified in possessing the gift of the Holy Ghost (given when baptized, lost when excommunicated) and we are, as a body/church, able to discern who is among us that lacks that same Spirit. It was pretty obvious you lacked the influence of the Holy ghost when you wrote Passing the Heavenly Gift. Not knowing that, I bought it, started to read it, found nothing enlightening, skimmed and eventually discarded it as a book full of contradictions within itself. All this was months before any controversy about this book began. I did not need church leaders telling me your book was full of contradictions and even untruths. I was able to discern that by the influence of the Spirit.
Additionally, your blogs lack the Spirit. You have lost the Spirit and you can’t even tell that you have. I suppose that is typical. The scriptures call it “spiritual blindness.” I think you are an imminent spiritual train wreck and I am sorry for you and your family.
Sincerely,
Jan Riley
—–Original Message—–
From: Denver & Stephanie Snuffer <[email protected]>
To: xxxxxxxxx <[email protected]>
Sent: Tue, May 20, 2014 10:32 am
Subject: Re:
Thank you for caring enough to admonish me. I believe you to be sincere.
I try to be obedient and submissive. Sometimes that carries a price that is hard to pay. Nevertheless the same Spirit that brought me into the LDS church informs me now, and I continue to pay a price for remaining true and faithful to The Lord.
I do not expect anyone other than The Lord to understand me. But fortunately I also know only The Lord can judge me. I look forward to His kind treatment of all my errors, and believe He will likewise look with mercy upon yours.
Denver Snuffer
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Hmmm…..Sometimes obedience carries a price that is too hard to pay? Really? You actually just typed that? I don’t recall reading anything that even comes close to that in The Second Comforter. That is just one example of how you have now become inconsistent with your own writings, changing your writings/paradigm to support your behavior, which is as common among those who lose their way as weak faith and a lack of testimony is common. You have become common, Denver. Even predictable. If I decided to check in on your blog five years from now I can almost predict what I will read.
Abraham’s faith and obedience in the Lord is a perfect example that “Sometimes that carries a price that is hard to pay” is quite untrue. Obeying the request of the church and your priesthood leaders, which were as loving with you as they could have been, to cancel promoting Passing the Heavenly Gift (which completely lacked the Spirit) is hardly in the same league as the price Abraham was willing to pay in order to prove His desire to obey. I’m sure you would agree. Yet Abraham obeyed. Why didn’t you? That should actually give you a reality check/barometer on where you land in your desire to be obedient.
The same Spirit that brought you into the church actually does not and cannot inform you now, or every scripture in Old and New Testament, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants is not true. If it did, those who are obedient and also possess the Spirit, would know and recognize that you have the Spirit and there would be a oneness of belief among all. Or perhaps you think you are the only one on the planet who currently possesses the Spirit?
You are being deceived by the Adversary who loves what you are doing for him. Like CS Lewis said, murder or cards, or in your case, disaffection from the LDS Church. It doesn’t matter to him. It all works for his cause. You have been cast out and therefore you no longer have access to the constant gift of the Holy Ghost. Thinking that you do, thinking that your position is different, more honest, unique or enlightened than Sandra Tanner and Sonja Johnson, or Korihor for that matter, is the incredible power the Adversary has upon our paradigms, once we begin justifying/rationalizing our own very special reasons for disobedience. That is why it is called “spiritual blindness.” But in reality you are headed down the same path and you will land in the same lonely place. It’s a sad story but one that’s been lived in every dispensation, by many people who thought they were every bit as enlightened as you.
Discerning between truth and evil is not a judgment call, by the way. Thinking those who are informing you of the truth are therefore somehow judging you is a bogus accusation. Actual judging only happens when we go so far as to tell each other what degree of glory we are going to ultimately obtain. I would never do that. I only know that you are today on track for an inevitable spiritual train wreck, like all the spiritual train wrecks that have been on this same track before you, and hopefully you will wake up and recognize it before its too late for you and your loved ones. That would require an incredible admission of vainglory, which would indeed make you extremely unique.
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Therein lies the rub for you, Denver Snuffer, Jr. “If you’re not one, you’re not mine.” All the brilliant blogging you can crank out for the next decade cannot reconcile you to this profound doctrine taught by the Savior Himself. You may indeed be following a spirit that has brought you both into and out of the Lord’s only organized body of covenant people in these last days, but it is not the same Spirit that the faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are following. Admit it and do whatever it takes to return, is my prayer for you.
