What kind of men does God want?

[MikeWaters]

I was talking to my father about this Danzig affair, and he brought up that there have long been rumors that in the last days there will be a sifting in the church, and many will leave.

Whether this is true or not, I have no idea. But I reflected on the kinds of things that might lead to people leaving. And I wondered if it might be question of moral conscience.

I thought about the most difficult things that God has asked men to do. The two that came to mind were Nephi's murder of Laban, and Abraham's almost-murder of his son. And then I reflected on some recent jokes around here about only wanting "made-men" here on Cougarguard. Prove your self. Does God only want made men? I believe one of the general authorities once said that we will ALL have our Abraham-Issac moment, that it is not possible to receive exaltation without this.

I understand that God allowed Christ to die. But that's a lot different than God himself putting a knife to his carotid. God didn't kill Jesus.

Will heaven be devoid of men that walked away when God asked them to murder their children?

We read news accounts, too frequently, of mothers and fathers who kill their children and then say that God told them to do it. We blame mental illness. Or evil. But do we not consider that perhaps what they say is true, and they are now holy before God, having made the greatest sacrifice?

I don't like this vision of God. I don't like it at all. If there is a place for men who walk away when asked to do evil, then I hope to be in that place.

Do good and evil transcend God and Satan? If they do, that's a frightening thought, that ought to give one pause. I prefer to believe in a universe where they always coincide--God and the good. But if forced to choose between God and the good, where is your allegiance?

Thus, perhaps, the great sifting.