Brandon's Bits

Godly Gifts

2013-01-20T08:04:00.003-05:00

There were few that were hoping for the Mayan apocalypse to take place than me, unfortunately, I survived and now I stand before you today.

"As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ over two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon this earth."

As we approach the Christmas holiday this week, we are often reminded of the corporate definition of our Lord Jesus Christ's birthday celebration: a temporally driven gift-a-thon promising the newest, fastest, and brightest technologies and toys, whose limits are dictated only by the depths of one's pocketbook, the maximum line of credit allowable, or the closing up of shops on Christmas Eve signaling the end of the holiday spending season. We must ask ourselves however, of the nearly $36 billion dollars that will be spent this holiday season, how much of this truly reminds us of our Savior, and how much of this do we acknowledge to be given by Him? Were we to be brought to stand at His feet, would we be able to recognize the gifts that He has already given to us?

The prophet Isaiah gives us the Lord's counsel which we read first in Isaiah 55:2:

"Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness."

And again from the Prophet Nephi in 2nd Nephi 9:51

"Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness."

Though it is certainly not a problem to share gifts with others and to enjoy the spirit that the holiday season brings into our homes, we must first consider the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts, recognize the blessings with which we are blessed, and then consider the depth at which we participate in the gift giving to others. My message today focuses on the many gifts that we have already been given by the Savior, both as a result of His coming and as a result of His bounteous blessings in our daily lives. I invite you to allow the spirit to teach us as we explore the many areas in which we are blessed.

The Gift of the Gospel

Throughout the holiday season, we often turn to the scriptures and read various parts of the Christmas story, from the announcement of his birth to Joseph, to the tribulations of the wearied Mary as she sought respite from the long travels of the day, to the pronouncement of the Savior's First Coming to the many peoples of the world.

Of the many significant accounts and stories that are shared of the Lord's coming in the scriptures, among the most significant is that of the account in Luke 2:9-11 where we read:

"9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

This is an account with which most of us familiar with, but we are offered additional insight into this as we consider the definition for the word "gospel" provided to us in the Bible Dictionary which tells us that word gospel means "good news." As we consider the Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew translations for this, we realize that the two are interchangeable. Thus, while the shepherds in the fields marveled the heavenly messengers announcing the birth of the Son of God, it is likely that they did not fully recognize the true meaning of the angel's announcement to them, for it was not just that the Christ child was born but that he had brought with Him to the earth the fullness of the gospel!

This is also alluded to in the Doctrine and Covenants in the 128th section, in the 19th verse where we read:

19 Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth! As the dews of Carmel, so shall the knowledge of God descend upon them!

Further, the true significance of the Savior's birth and his gift to man is somewhat lost to many modern scholars because of the English language translation of the bible. In both Matthew 1:21 and Luke 2:21 we read that the name of the Savior was to be Jesus, however, the original Greek indicates that the true name of the Savior is Yeshua, or in other words, Joshua mean "salvation of man" in the Greek form. Thus either of the scriptures is to be read "And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name 'salvation of man' for he shall save his people from their sins."

These two examples show us the great importance of the birth of the Savior. What greater gift has he bestowed upon us than the gift of the gospel? What greater gift can we share with our friends and family than the Savior's most precious to the world? Let us first consider this the most important gift of this Christmas season!

Spiritual Gifts

As we further explore the topic of godly gifts, we must turn our search to the many revealed to us through modern revelation to the Prophet Joseph. In the 46th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, we are given the following counsel:

"8 Wherefore, beware lest ye are deceived; and that ye may not be deceived seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given;

9 For verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me, that ask and not for a sign that they may consume it upon their lusts.

10 And again, verily I say unto you, I would that ye should always remember, and always retain in your minds what those gifts are, that are given unto the church.

11 For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.

12 To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby."

Starting in the 13th verse, the Lord provides a list of some of the many gifts bestowed upon individuals of the Church such as:

"To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.

to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful.

to know the differences of administration,

to know the diversities of operations,

the word of wisdom.

word of knowledge

to have faith to be healed;

to have faith to heal.

the working of miracles;

to prophesy;

the discerning of spirits.

to speak with tongues;

the interpretation of tongues.

And unto the bishop of the church, and unto such as God shall appoint and ordain to watch over the church and to be elders unto the church, are to have it given unto them to discern all those gifts lest there shall be any among you professing and yet be not of God."

While it is not necessarily apparent what gifts each individual bestows, it is up to each one of us to discover the talents and gifts that lie deep within each of us. How blessed we are with this holiday season to be reminded of the many spiritual gifts available to us from our Savior and for the moments we have each Sabbath Day that we have to commune with our Savior and further strengthen our Spirits!

The Gift of Music

Perhaps the most favorite gift of mine is the gift of music and the part that it plays in both the Church and in my life personally.

My wife Alexa told me a story sometime after we began dating that is summarized as follows:

Growing up, Alexa and her family were in charge of the audio/visual duties for their stake in Washington, which included all broadcasts of General Conference. As a part of this, this included Priesthood Session, which Alexa often had the chance to view. In April 2009, prior to her transfer to BYU-Idaho the following fall, Alexa and her mother were viewing the Priesthood Session in the High Council room of her Stake Center, when it was announced that the music would be provided by a combined Priesthood Choir from BYU-Idaho. Her mother jokingly commented that she should find one of the young men in the choir to date and possibly marry someday. Little did Alexa's mother realize that the joke was on her: there standing in the front row of that choir near the Conference Center organ stood the man that would become future husband!

Music has been such a wonderful gift in my life, and it is the very reason that I treat music the way that I do. I sat down and figured out one day that I have played, led, or sung (in some special form) the music in over 2000 Church meetings or events. Now, this may come as a surprise to many of you, but I now present an even bigger surprise that very few people know: 1) I have never had professional training on the piano, organ, or in leading the music. 2) I am nearly 70% deaf in my right ear, and 40% deaf in my left ear.

When I was just past 11 years old, I decided that I was tired of playing the piano by ear and memorization. To that point, I had only ever had musical training in beginning band while learning how to play the saxophone. I determined at that time that the best way to learn was to pull out a hymn book, write the note names along the left of the staff, and begin memorizing what notes went to which places on the keyboard, much like one would learn typing. Through several painful renditions of The Spirit of God and How Great Thou Art, I eventually apparently learned enough that I was called as a Priesthood Pianist at the tender age of 12 and a half. I continued to learn and train and observe my father during the many times that he played the piano and the organ. As I approached 16 years of age, my father's job with the military put him on the road a lot, and an absence of available organists in the Beavercreek ward forced me to make a few baptism by fire appearances as the organist, which led me to being called as their Ward Organist at only 16 and a half.

I had always been taught the basics of leading the music from my father, but often found myself watching intently during General Conferences, as Brother Craig Jessop, then the conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir led them, and as I discreetly imitated his movements. (To this day, he would be the number one person that I would love to meet!) When in High School I sought to become the drum major of my marching band two years running. After the second year, my band director pulled me aside and told me that he didn't think that I had the talent or skill to ever become the director of any musical group, much less a large one. Let's just say that being the Ward Chorister and serving as BYU-Idaho's longest tenured director of Stadium Singing for over four years in two different languages probably proves him just a little wrong.

In all of this, many have asked why I never pursued a music major in college and / or have not put out any kind of albums or done concerts, and I always give them this reason: because what I have is a gift, and I've always been afraid that if I did that it would be something that the Lord would withdraw from me. I am not suggesting that anyone with the gift and talent for music shouldn't share it, but for me personally, I've found it to be such a special and sacred gift that I should share it only in a certain way. Additionally, because of my hearing difficulties, music for me has become somewhat of a journal because it is the only way that I can normally interact with the hearing world.

It is especially around the Christmas season though that I am reminded of this wonderful gift and how grateful I am to have it as a part of my life! I cannot imagine where my life would be without it!

I am truly grateful for the Christmas holiday, because it not only allows me to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and the gospel and Atonement that he has brought to the world, but for the reminder of the many gifts that he has already given each of us. With the number of gifts that we already have, it makes it easier to appreciate the small temporal things that we find under the tree each year that much more. May we find it all in our hearts to seek out the many gifts bestowed upon each of us, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Examples of Righteousness

2013-01-20T08:03:00.002-05:00

Some years ago in the Priesthood Session of General Conference, President Monson recounted a story where he was being watched by a young boy during a Stake Conference that he was attending. He explained that every action he took was imitated by that young boy in the first row, up to the point where he wiggled his ears at which point the young boy acknowledged defeat. Though I do not propose to stand here and wiggle my own ears, I do wish to examine some the same principles presented in that talk by President Monson. My message today focuses on our need to be "Examples of Righteousness." As we examine this topic, I invite you to consider three key principles that will allow us to become better living examples to our fellow men: 1) The commandment to be a righteous example 2) our examples as a teaching tool and 3) Being identified through our examples

The Commandment to be a Righteous Example

As Latter-Day Saints, we are taught from a young age the importance of being an example and living righteously. Each week the Young Women of the Church stand and recite their theme which is a constant reminder of the need to "stand as witnesses of God in all times and in all things and in all places." Similarly, Young Men of the Church are frequently reminded of their need to be worthy holders (and bearers) of the Priesthood every time they assist in officiating a Priesthood ordinance, perform a Priesthood duty, or even put on their Scout shirts on mutual nights. The design of the Young Women’s Theme and the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood are not merely to serve as rote recitation or recall but to remind us of commandments that already exist and were taken upon us when we joined the Church.

While I was at BYU-Idaho, I had the opportunity to take classes in Biblical Hebrew. One day, while studying Deuteronomy, we came across a passage that reads:

לֹא תִשָּׂא אֶת־שֵׁם־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לַשָּׁוְא כִּי לֹא יְנַקֶּה יְהוָה אֵת אֲשֶׁר־יִשָּׂא אֶת־שְׁמֹו לַשָּׁוְא׃ ס ( "lo tis-sa 'et sem Yah-weh e-lo-he-ka las-saw ki lo ye-naq-qeh Yah-weh 'et 'a-ser yis-sa et se-mow las-saw." To the untrained ear, this sounds like a lot of gibberish and has little to do with a sacrament talk, but it is actually the 11th verse of chapter 5 which we read in our King James Translation as "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain" The interesting thing about this verse however is that the original Hebrew manuscript does not use the verb form for the word "to take" but more appropriately the word תִשָּׂ֛א "tis-sa" stems from the Hebrew verb נָשָׂא "nah-sah" meaning "to bear." When we look at the verse in this light, we realize that we are commanded not to "bear the name of the Lord vain..." which instills in us a greater since of duty and privilege. When we consider this commandment along with the first two commandments that instruct us to have no other gods before the face of the Lord and to never serve or idolize those things which falsely represent the Lord, we come to a greater understanding of our responsibilities as members of the Church.

Our understanding of this principle is further expanded when we examine the words of the prophet Alma in the 18^th Chapter of Mosiah, specifically verses 8, 9 and 22 where we read:

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

22 And thus he commanded them to preach. And thus they became the children of God.

When we examine these scriptures together, along with the commandment to bear the Lord’s name righteously, we receive a powerful witness concerning our duties as living examples in the Lord’s Church. It is not enough for us to simply assist others with their burdens, but rather, according to those covenants we made at baptism we take upon ourselves that duty to assist others in making those burdens light. We may take this understanding to a more celestial level when we consider that the reference to light throughout the scriptures often refers to the Light of Christ that is given to every man, which is also what we radiate when we become righteous examples of the Savior.

Additionally, in the Lord’s counsel directed to Joseph Smith and all members of the Priesthood in the 121^st Section of the Doctrine and Covenants provides us with a stern and clear reminder that it only through our righteous examples that the work of the Lord may be accomplished. We read:

34 Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?

35 Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the donors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—

36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.

37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.

41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

This scriptural account reminds us that our ability to lead and govern our families and those organizations which we lead shall be everlasting if we enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost and lead by example, rather than through the compulsion of other means.

Our Examples as a Teaching Tool

As we embrace the commandment to be living examples of the Savior, we become more fully aware of our capabilities as teachers through our righteous examples. The Irish author Edmund Burke once sad that “Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other.”

The most effective teachers and by extension, examples, in the Church are not necessarily the ones that receive the most credit nor the ones that are sustained in front of their congregation, but are the ones that sit at the head of every home within the Stakes of Zion. They are the mothers and fathers that guide each family and provide the examples that will pass on to the next generation.

Our cannon of scriptures are replete with instances of various individuals and their examples teaching their fellow men, most notably those of our Savior Jesus Christ. Few however, are plainer in thanking their parents then the example provided in Alma of the Strippling Warriors.

As you may recall, the Stripling Warriors were a group of very young men that entered into battle under the command of Helaman. We read from the account in Chapters 56 and 57:

47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

21 Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.

The examples shown to each of these young men by their mothers and fathers is evident in these verses. It was clearly in their homes where they were taught the principles of faith, obedience, liberty, and instilled with a firm testimony of their God. Their recognition of their duties and allegiance to God were paramount to their success as warriors and future leaders of their own families.

More recently, the need to be effective teachers through our examples has been reaffirmed through the issuance of the Family Proclamation issued by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency. It states:

“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.”

Our most effective means of teaching children are through how we treat our spouses and each other. The responsibility that each of us bear as current and future fathers and mothers to be righteous examples is vital to the success of the Lord’s kingdom among future generations.

President Monson has also taught about the great value of Sunday School teachers in being effective examples as teachers to children. He has spoken on many occasions in General Conference of his fondness for a particular Sunday School teacher while in his youth, Sister Lucy Gertsch. He recounts: “The years have flown. The old chapel is gone, a victim of industrialization. The boys and girls who learned, who laughed, who grew under the direction of that inspired teacher of truth have never forgotten her love or her lessons. Her personal influence for good was contagious.”

Whether we have our own children or have the opportunity to teach others’, we must fully recognize our great privilege and duty to be effective teachers through our examples

Being Identified Through Our Examples

Over the last several months I have had the opportunity to study and receive a certification that is both required for my job and is very useful to have in my line of work. Of the many topics I covered, one major component of this exam was to fully understand the principle of multi-factor authentication. This principle states that when authenticating to a security system, one’s identity may be established by a combination of three factors which are: who you are, what you have, and what you know.

As I initially pondered the topic of being a living example, my mind was brought to the recollection of this principle. Likewise, our ability to be recognized as examples of the Savior is also dependent on who we are, what we have, and what we know. Our successes as examples to others, as teachers, as missionaries, and as heirs of eternal life are defined by our ability to present the authenticity of our testimonies of Christ and as representatives of His Church.

Few of us, if any, would participate in any action that would bring shame to our own family names. Many of us bear our surnames as a banner that should not be tarnished nor ridiculed, and would willingly defend that name to the end if so required. Yet, how many of us regularly consider the actions of our daily lives and how they relate to the name of Christ which we bear as members and representatives of the Church? Do we protect our title as Children of God from tarnish and ridicule? Are we willing to defend this name at all costs?

There are many within the world today that will propose to be men of God or examples of righteousness that we should follow. There are fewer however, that are able to show that witness unto others, to share testimony, or to impart the Spirit into someone’s lives. The Savior warned us of such individuals when he taught the Nephites following his crucifixion and subsequent visit to the Americas after his resurrection. In 3^rd Nephi the Savior declares:

15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.

It is only by the fruits of any individual that one may truly come to know them. Thus, there will be many that will invite us to follow in their footsteps, but outwardly show forth evil fruit that warns us that they are not living examples to follow. All around us are the examples of pride, fame, glory, riches, and other worldly pursuits that are not only poor examples by which to pattern our lives after, but are examples which if followed present a danger to each individual from claiming their full eternal inheritance.

While each of us strive to be living examples, we cannot reach our full potential until we first come to a knowledge of our Savior, his teachings, and the doctrines of the Church. In speaking through the Prophet Joseph, to his brother Hyrum, the Lord counseled:

20 Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind and strength.

21 Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men.

The effectiveness of our daily scripture study and prayers, our weekly Family Home Evenings and Church attendance, and our monthly fasts and donations, will have little impact upon our lives if we are not first striving to obtain the word of the Lord, and keep his commandments with full purpose of heart.

As we strive to become better living examples, let us remember the name whom each of us bear in our hearts, that of our Savior Jesus Christ. Let us seek to be stalwart parents, teachers, and members of the Church in showing a righteous example to our children and those around us. May we continue to ever seek the word and will of the Lord, and to pattern our lives according to His counsel through our anointed Church leaders, called at His hand, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Government Agency

2010-09-25T22:16:00.000-04:00

For those that expect to read a post about a politically extreme viewpoint I don't apologize, I rather suggest that you look elsewhere. Those of you familiar with my words know that you can expect some kind of interesting twist to the topic which may be perceived by the title I have placed at the top of this post. Even my best friend in the whole world doesn't even know what is coming with this post.

As I was recently studying a favorite Scripture Mastery scripture I was recently brought to the awareness of my own lack of understanding or comprehension of this entire verse. It is one that I know is oft repeated throughout much of the Church, but one that I feel that perhaps lacks the full recognizance necessary to properly promote the doctrines contained with in. If you open your sticks to 2 Nephi, Chapter 2, verse 27 you read:

Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

Now, I bring your attention not to the heart of the verse that we most frequently focus on, but to the first two phrases of the verse which state that "men are free according to the flesh" and "all things are given them which are expedient unto men." How many of us have focused on the importance of these two phrases before, much less the footnotes attached to a couple of the words in these phrases? I'm guessing...probably very few of us.

When we cross-reference the footnote from the word "free" we are directed to Helaman 14:29-30:

29. And this to the intent that whosoever will believe might be saved and that whosoever will not believe, a righteous judgment might come upon them; and also if they are condemned they bring upon themselves their own condemnation.
30. And now remember, remember my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselfs; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.

Completely clear right? Okay...so maybe not exactly. When it suggests in this verse that we are free according to the flesh, maybe we can lengthen this and suggest that we are free according to the knowledge that we are given and according to the agency that we exercise amongst ourselves. This scripture also tells us that in essence - we have no one else to blame but ourselves for what we do. Yes, there are punishments affixed from God for what we do, but they are just that - affixed. This is to say that he doesn't mette out punishment subjectively or upon whom he wishes. Rather, he simply assigns that punishment to the crime and allows the great intercession of the Atonement to take place and apply mercy accordingly.

Now, what kind of a teacher would I be if I went through all of the footnotes provided and explained the interpretation for each and every one of them? I'll give you a hint - not a good one. Suffice it to say though, I will provide my summarization following:

When our Father tells us that something is expedient unto men - he is suggesting that it is good, sufficient, and for their well-being. Thus, for all things to be given to us - it suggests that he has given us the resources necessary for us to act for ourselves according to the sphere in which we reside. These resources include talents, leaders, scriptures, the Spirit, prophets, and a plethora of other beneficial aspects of life that are designed to allow us the most agency possible.

I believe that too often we become the figuratively lazy teenagers that make a half-hearted attempted at overcoming our problems and trials and then call for help in some way. While there is nothing wrong with asking for a little assistance here and there, we do have to recognize that we are literally agents unto ourselves and that we need to act accordingly, rather than react or be acted upon. When we place our burdens upon the Lord so often that we feel to be compelled in all things, we not only surrender that agency to ourselves, but we make light of and negate the talents and dominions which the Lord has bestowed upon us.

What exactly does it mean to be an agent? It means that we are held accountable to ourselves for all things that we do according to our knowledge. Thus you might say that the punishment fits the crime and the blessings are according to our faith and works. We can't expect to escape punishment for our shortfalls if we have had reason to act accordingly and chose not to. Thus, this fulfills the mandate that men are free according to the flesh.

Now, this is all well and good to be agents unto ourselves, but there is a twist. Should we use the agency given us in a self-destructive manner which allows the presence of Satan to become a dominant force in our lives, we lose our ability to be agents unto ourselves - either because the flesh has given itself slave to a more powerful and controlling force, or because we simply cannot obtain the guidance of the Spirit because it has been wronged. As such, our failure to do things the way that the Lord has provided leaves us on our own and as many scriptures suggest "left unto ourselves."

As we turn our lives more fully to the Savior we will find that our knowledge will continually increase and that we will have more dominion over ourselves and our choices. Let us all find ways that we can reapply ourselves to the Lord's plan and find the agency within ourselves that has been promised to us and guaranteed through the atoning blood of our Savior Jesus Christ.

The Chastisement of our Peace

2010-09-21T23:09:00.000-04:00

First, thanks to all that read my blog. If some of you wouldn't mind commenting on it though - I'd appreciate it though. I know that there's a lot that follow it that I don't know - so if you are or read it frequently, please let me know! Thanks to all of you though for allowing me to share my testimony with all of you through this.

As I was in discussion with my favorite person in the whole world today, the words of a scriptural passage in Isaiah came to mind throughout. As such, I have decided to offer my insights on this passage.

Those of you scriptorians out there that read this know from the title the exact passage of scripture I plan to focus on here. This scripture is found in Isaiah 53:3-5 and reads:

3. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquained with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yes we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

This is a scripture that we've all heard before, and those of that have taken Seminary probably still have it memorized to some extent. The question that you have to ask yourself though is whether you truly realize the awesome extent of Isaiah's prophetic tribute. Yes, we most commonly recognize this scripture as referring to the atoning sacrifice paid by our Savior prior to his crucifixion at the meridian of time, but the problem is just that - its our common recognition and understanding of this scripture that causes us to fall well short of understanding the wealth of knowledge and spiritual reminder that this passage has to offer us.

I submit that many of us treat this scripture as we treat our understanding of the Atonement - which is to simply acknowledge its cleansing power insofar as it becomes necessary for our penitence towards salvation, but in reality acknowledging its power little further. The problem is that if this is our sole view of the Atonement, we have neither an adequate understanding of the life of our Elder Brother, nor do we comprehend the magnitude of His sacrifice during His final hours in mortality.

The interesting aspect of this scripture is not to just dissect its many parts, but in the way that Isaiah speaks Messianically we are somewhat permitted to allow our imaginations to place us almost in those final moments among the crowd that witnessed the illegal trial before the Sanhedrin which condemned our Savior to death. With that in mind though - let's move on to the dissection of the scripture a little bit that will hopefully open our minds to things.

We note in the 4th verse that He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows - which is nothing uncommon to us, but if we roll back to the 3rd verse it notes that he had his own griefs and sorrows to carry also. Too often I think we look at Christ as our Savior and put aside that he was a normal human being just like all of us - having feelings, which included sorrow, grief, pain, joy, sadness, etc. We know from scriptural accounts that he was sorrowful at the news of the passing of Lazarus, and we can easily assert that his foreknowledge of the betrayal by Judas had to have at least stricken him to some extent with sorrow for Judas' choice.

Now, the crux of this scriptural passage rests in the summation of its parts - meaning that we need not focus on just the sorrows and grief, but it also mentions, stricken, smitten of God, afflicted, iniquities, chastisement of peace (pain of peace), despising, and rejection. Why do I address all of these? I do it because I recognize that the true cleansing power of the Atonement covers all of those and rests not solely on the forgiveness of sin.

What does this mean to us individually though? It means that it covers those that have been victims of abuse, those that have had serious transgressions committed against them, those that struggle with finding their own identity, those that struggle to communicate, those that have weaknesses that they are unsure of how to address, those that simply are having a rough day, and the list goes on! What's worse is that our failure to acknowledge the Atonement as a keystone to our lives rather than a tool or a first-aid kit results in a great disservice to both our Heavenly Father who gave us His Beloved Son to work through those things.

It is our duty and privilege in this life to find ways that we can integrate the Savior's atonement into our lives more fully so that we can pattern our lives more fully towards receiving all that the Father has to give us. In order to do this though we have to have to be fully regcognizant of the fact that time is indeed of the essence. What I mean by this is that our delay in addressing those things which burden us and allow the Atonement to have full sway in our lives only causes additional pain and sorrow upon Him who cast his life before sinners and overcame all such that we might cast aside those very things.

We would never accept a gift from our best friend and then put it away in a closet and fail to use it or rather reject that gift and choose to not accept it - but yet when we choose not to invoke the Atonement into the most spiritually arid parts of our lives, we do that very thing. When we choose to delay ridding ourselves of those burdens which hinder our progression towards eternity, we concurrently choose to rid ourselves of any potential blessings we might receive through the cleansing and lightening power of that eternal Atonement.

May we find ways in our lives continually to invoke the power and blessing which the Father has to offer us in the name of His Son is my prayer.

On These Two Commandments

2010-09-20T01:59:00.001-04:00

I know - its been the equivalent of eternity since I've written in my blog, but I've decided to try and repent and make this more of a frequent occurrence. I know, I've said similar before, but then again, I was in school before. Now that I've graduated with my B.S. and don't have a job yet, there's a lot more time to do other things...such as this! :-)

I have, admittedly, done a post on the topic which I am about to cover before - however, I plan to take this in a way different direction that I had previously done. In fact, you might say that this is the follow-up post to the previous blog that I had written on the subject.

It has been speculated in many an LDS religion class that I have attended that the response given by the Savior in Matthew 22 referencing to the greatest commandment and the Ten Commandments go hand-in-hand - though few seem to understand the connection, much less the magnitude of our Lord's response.

For those that are unfamiliar with this scripture that I refer to, you will find it in Matthew 22:34-40:

34. But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

35. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question,, tempting him, and saying,

36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38. This is the first and great commandment.

39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

[Emphasis added]

Now, lets keep these verses in our back pockets as we address the Ten Commandments. In short they are:

- No other Gods before God
- No graven images
- No bearing the name of God in vain
- Keep the Sabbath Day holy
- Honor parents
- Do not kill
- Do not commit adultery
- Do not steal
- No false witnesses
- No coveting neighbors house, family, possessions, etc.

Those that want to view my original post on the subject can go here:

Now, for those that want a tiny Hebrew lesson here it is: The first commandment does not truly say "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," but rather it states that "You shall not have any other Gods before my face" - which in the Hebrew culture was taken to mean that if anything stood before God - be it any practices, objects, etc. - then it was said to stand before God's face and get in the way of things.

In any case - how do we break down the Ten to become the two greatest commandments? This is simple because the Lord has essential done that for us already as such:

- No other Gods before God
- No graven images
- No bearing the name of God in vain
- Keep the Sabbath Day holy

-------------------------------------

- Honor parents
- Do not kill
- Do not commit adultery
- Do not steal
- No false witnesses
- No coveting neighbors house, family, possessions, etc.

What's interesting is that when we divide the commandments as such - we gain a greater understanding of our Father as a Heavenly being having been mortal before us, His vast plan, and the power of the Savior's response to the Pharisees.

As parents (which I am not yet, but hope to be someday with an amazing girl - she knows who she is) we have to understand that any children that we do have the opportunity to raise are on loan from our Heavenly Parents under whose charge we serve to love and rear in righteousness. With that plain fact in mind - we see that the two divisions of commandments are actually "headed" by two groups - Heavenly Parents and Earthly Parents.

The first section of these commandments we can refer to as "the Law" - which the Lord prescribed as "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

The second, being equal in likeness and weight is "the prophets" - which is to love [our] neighbors our ourselves. Note that in the second section of these commandments they are those commandments which involve injury or involvement of a second individual.

Now we must tie this all together to our modern-day and its applicability to us as individuals. The prophets of modern times have boldly declared and continually emphasize that the family is the most essential and fundamental unit to any society and it is only through the means of the family unit that the highest blessings of eternity are obtained. Notice who is at the heads of each and every one of these families? Fathers and mothers - whose honoring is required by commandment.

Conversely, the parents are not without spot or blame and bear a heavy responsibility in fulfillment and observance of this commandment. In the 68th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants we are reminded that "Inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents." (D&C 68:23)

Those that pay attention closely in the semi-Annual General Conferences held by the Church will note that many of the counsels given by the Prophet's are in reference to the governance of the family and towards those things that will allow for the observance of the "prophetic" section of the commandments to become almost natural and without much difficulty.

Why do I suggest this? I say this because I have found that it is almost near impossible to violate any of the "prophets" set of commandments if one is strictly adhering to those counsels contained in the Law. The problem is though - that many of us struggle with scripture study, prayer, Church attendance, idolatry, pride, etc. - which causes failure of many of the latter Ten Commandments.

I submit that as we recommit ourselves to a more careful adherence of the Law, we will find that our lives will naturally place themselves in the correct order and that we will encounter less problems with the latter portion of the Ten Commandments, and further we will be able to more fully honor our parents whose sacred responsibility it is to unite families for eternity.

Usurping Our Own Virtue

2010-02-08T00:27:00.000-05:00

I have had several topics on my mind throughout the day today, but there was one that has seemingly stuck out in my mind constantly. The interesting thing is that the way I had been mulling over the topic was completely different than what occurred to me on the way home tonight from Stadium Singing. As I walked home following an hour of leading music, my mind was impressed to rehearse one of my most favorite sections of scripture in the Standard Works. As I rehearsed the verses in my mind, I was inspired to consider them a different way, which is what I will share here.

Those that know me fairly well know that by and large, my 2nd most favorite section of scripture is that which is found in the 121st Section of the Doctrine and Covenants - from verses 34 to 46. I will quote these verses for the sake of having contextual reference to the topic which I plan to discuss:

Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?
Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world and aspire to the honors of men that they do not learn this one lesson --
That the rights of the Priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
That they may be conferred upon us it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambitions, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold the heavens withdraw themselves, the Spirit of the Lord is grieved: and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks , to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.
We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.
Hence many are called, but few are chosen.
No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only be persuation, by long-suffering, by gentlenss and meekness, and by love unfeigned.
By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy and without guile --
Reproving betimes with sharpness when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth an increase of love toward him whom thou hast repoved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;
The he may know that they faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death
Let they bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence og God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven
The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

So we've got all that right? We've heard it before, nothing new. I now submit a whole new perspective to view this scripture from with the use of one word: chastity.

I had not previously been impressed to consider it from this perspective previously until walking home tonight, but as I was inspired to consider this perspective it instantly became not only clear, but it enhanced my understanding of many things.

As we consider this block of scripture again, we can now consider the following points:

There are many called, but few are chosen - because we give up our "chosen" status by violating the law of chastity and disrespecting our own virtue and those that we are with. When we set our hearts upon the things of this world and to the honors of men, we find that as we violate the law of chastity we are doing just that. The world would teach us that it is okay to give into our carnal desires and submit to our natural will - and at times the world seems to "reward" this sort of an attitude, which is not only wrong, but it is dangerous.

Though the scriptures specifically suggest that the rights of the Priesthood are connected with the powers of heaven, and its accompanying explanation on how that Priesthood is governed, we ought to consider this reference to the Priesthood as referencing to one of the fruits of the Priesthood - the Holy Ghost. When we enter this into the discussion, we find that we not only offend the Spirit by gratifying our pride, our vain ambitions with each other, and unrighteously rob ourselves and another virtue, we also lose within ourselves the governing measure of the light of Christ given to us. At that point, we have NO authority to call upon the Holy Ghost to guide us.

We are then warned that once we are aware that we have caused a withdrawal of the Spirit from our lives, we are left to fight against the further desires that the adversary has to impose upon us, to persecute the saints - specifically those that call us to repentance or Church leaders that speak hardness to the hearts of those doing what they know to be wrong and to fight against the light of Christ within us and against the commandments which he has delivered to us.

We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get into a relationship and feel that they have complete control over it without the assistance and obedience to the law of Chastity, that they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion over themselves and their dating companion. I believe that this is self-explanatory here!

We are then given a long list of conditions that dictate our ability to govern the priesthood - which in this case we are considering that governance as the authority to call upon the Holy Ghost at will. We can only call upon the Holy Ghost when we are long-suffering, gentle, meek, and have genuine love in our hearts for ourselves and for those that we are in that relationship with - NOT that "feigned love" mentioned in the scripture there which can be defined in one word as "lust."

Those that notice that those around them are in violation of the law of Chastity are given specific prescription for how to deal with this situation - we are to "reprove betimes with sharpness when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;" - or in other words - we are censure those that we see in violation of the Law with EXACTNESS and CLARITY when we are moved upon by the Spirit to do so, and to do so in a loving way as to not cause offense, or become the bearer of hypocrisy mentioned in the prior scripture."

The most significant parallel we must consider in this scripture is in the 45th verse where we are commanded to "let virtue garnish [our] thoughts unceasingly." I submit to you: how can we allow virtue to garnish our thoughts unceasingly if we willingly put ourselves in a position where we have to monitor our own obedience to specific laws to the point where we question how close to "the line" we are or if we are splitting hairs to justify our actions? My explanation to this is that we CANNOT! If we have willingly placed ourselves into a position where our actions may appear evil to some, or make others uncomfortable, or we must constantly consider our own actions in relation to a watered-down obedience to certain laws, then it is wholly impossible to allow virtue to garnish our thoughts constantly. As such we lose the promise of the final verse of that chapter - in that we cannot have the Holy Ghost to be our constant companion or as a compulsory means of dominion over the Priesthood in righteousness. At that point, there IS an end to our flow of the spirit and it does not go on forever and ever.

How grateful I am for the inspiration of this scripture in a whole new light! This has helped me to understand the situation that I am currently facing within my life. No, I am not personally entrapped by a violation of the law of Chastity, but I do have those close to me that are perilously close to violating this and choose to rationalize their own salvation to the ground. As I've worried about this in my mind, my heart has been comforted knowing that the Lord will direct me through the Spirit to know how to address this situation. My testimony is strengthened because of this and my faith in the Lord has increased!

Anxiously Engaged in Glory

2010-02-06T21:21:00.001-05:00

For today's post I was led to consider the words of the 58th Section of the Doctrine And Covenants. (As a side note, I should mention that I spell out the full name - and say it - of the work because I have been taught from a very young age that we do not abbreviate the Book of Mormon as the B.O.M or the Old Testament and New Testament as the O.T. and N.T. - and likewise we should not do the same for the Doctrine and Covenants). As I considered the words in this section, I have been brought to a greater understanding of the things that I need to do in my life in order to reach my fullest potential.

One of my favorite scriptures to quote is an old Scripture Mastery scripture - in verses 26-28 where we read the following:

For behold it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

(Emphasis added)

Though I've quoted this many times, I don't think I've come to a very clear understanding of this scripture until I read it in context with the entire section tonight and really researched it a little.

The Princeton dictionary defines the word "anxious" as "dying (eagerly desirous)." While this may seem like a definition that we shrug our shoulders and follow up with a "yeah, and?", we must realize the context that this particular word was used in.

If we go back several verses, we read in the 2nd through the 7th verse, the following text:

For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.

Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.

For after much tribulation come the lessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand.

Remember this, which I tell you before that you may lay it to heart, and receive that which is to follow.

Behold, verily I say unto you, for this cause I have sent you - that you might be obedient, and that your hearts might be prepared to bear testimony of the things which are to come;

And also that you might be honored in laying the foudnation, and in bearing record of the land upon which the Zion of God shall stand;

(Emphasis added)

This is yet another testament to us that we will be blessed for our faithfulness in tribulation, but notice the connection between this block of verse and the section of verse that I opened up with. If this evidence is not easily synthesized, allow me to cite an account from the lives of one of our Prophet's, Joseph F. Smith's, mother's that perhaps better illustrates my new understanding of this section:

“I recollect most vividly a circumstance that occurred in the days of my childhood. My mother was a widow, with a large family to provide for. One spring when we opened our potato pits, she had her boys get a load of the best potatoes and she took them to the tithing office; potatoes were scarce that season. I was a little boy at the time, and drove the team. When we drove up to the steps of the tithing office, ready to unload the potatoes, one of the clerks came out and said to my mother, ‘Widow Smith, it’s a shame that you should have to pay tithing.’ … He chided my mother for paying her tithing, called her anything but wise or prudent; and said there were others who were strong and able to work that were supported from the tithing office. My mother turned upon him and said: ‘… You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Would you deny me a blessing? If I did not pay my tithing, I should expect the Lord to withhold his blessings from me. I pay my tithing, not only because it is a law of God, but because I expect a blessing by doing it. By keeping this and other laws, I expect to prosper, and to be able to provide for my family.’ … She prospered because she obeyed the laws of God. She had abundance to sustain her family. We never lacked as much as many others did. … That widow was entitled to the privileges of the house of God. No ordinance of the gospel could be denied her, for she was obedient to the laws of God” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 228–29).

The principle that I have obtained from this section of scripture is that we should be expectant of the blessings which the Lord has cause to bless us with through our tribulations. We need not fear tribulation as a means of hard work and no reward, but rather, we must embrace it with the expectation that we will be blessed accordingly by the Lord - be it in this life or the next! This is literally the commandment given to us in that scripture mastery verse, which we better understand by reading the beginning of the section - that we should be eagerly desirous as we are engaged in a good cause - or in other words - expect the Lord to bless us for our good deeds.

Why is it that in times of tribulation that we often find ourselves wondering if the Atonement is sufficient enough to cover those trials? Why is it that at the first sign of trouble we expect the Lord to simply bail us out of the trial without regard to anything else but escape from that trial? I submit that this is an adversarial trick of the Fallen Son - that he has it in our minds to take our eyes off of the eternal blessings we gain from our trails. We must strive to further recognize and expect the Lord's hand to bless us when our specific tribulations have passed before our eyes. This is a claim that we are able to make upon eternal law based on our righteousness and obedience to the commandments, and more importantly, our exercise of agency in choosing not only to follow the boundaries that the Lord has prescribed, but also in choosing to claim those rewards that we have for us.

May we all strive to further recognize those blessings which the Lord has in store for us and be mindful of the claim that we have upon those is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Lord's Will Made Manifest Through Faithfulness

2010-02-05T15:46:00.000-05:00

As I went about my morning today, I was frequently prompted to open up to the 63rd Section of the Doctrine and Covenants and read its contents. Brothers and Sisters, let me tell you, divine inspiration works! As many of you are aware, I've been struggling with a lot of personal things as of late and have just felt overwhelmed with many things in my life. As I read this and listened to some Church music in the background, I was brought to an overwhelming sense of peace and gratitude in knowing that my Father understands my needs and through the tender mercies of His Son's Atonement, that I can be touched in a way that let's me know that He is there.

Of the many verses that stuck out to me during my study today was the 22nd verse of this section which reads:

And now verily I say unto you, that as I said that I would make known my will unto you, behold I will make it known unto you, not by the way of commandment, for there are many who observe not to keep my commandments.

Now this isn't anything new to any of us, or is it? For me, this was particularly touching. How often do each one of us simply "strive to follow" the commandments and then expect that the Lord's will will be manifest to us in clear explanation? More specifically, do we just go through the motions of doing the things that we are supposed to do thinking that by doing so we will do just enough to illustrate our personal salvation and pathway to eternity? I submit to you that yeah, a lot of us probably do - including myself.

In the very next verse we are told:

But unto him that keepeth my commandments I will give the mysteries of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life.

As of late, I personally have struggled with just knowing what the Lord wants me to do and knowing how my eternal salvation was to play out in the eyes of the Lord. As I now examine myself, I realize that maybe I haven't been as diligent as I ought to have been in praying, reading the scriptures, and actually seeking to have the guidance of the Spirit in my life. Rather, I have simply come to expect that I would be blessed accordingly and that some of my deficiencies are the result of my natural spirit within and are forgivable.

The Lord clearly illustrates in verses prior and following the aforementioned verses that faith must be the mechanism for those signs to be delivered to us. Verse 9 clearly states that "faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe." Perhaps the most condemning verses are in verses 11 and 12:

Yea, signs come by faith, unto might works, for without faith, no man pleaseth God; and with whom God is angry he is not well pleased; wherefore unto such he showeth no signs, only in wrath unto their condemnation.

Wherefore, I, the Lord, am not pleased with those among you who have sought after signs and wonders for faith, and not for the good of men unto my glory.

As I came across these verses, the strains of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir filled my ears where I was reminded of the following verse:

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
Tis not so, all is right!
Why should we think to earn a great reward,
If we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins, fresh courage take
Our God will never us forsake,
And soon we'll have this tale to tell!
All is Well! All is Well!

(Hymns #30 - Come Come Ye Saints - Verse 2)

As I contemplated these words in the back of my mind, I was brought to the 20th verse of this scripture again where we are told:

Nevertheless, he that endureth in faith and doeth my will, the same shall overcome, and shall recieve an inheritance upon the earth when the day of transfiguration shall come.

This is a great promise to each and every one of us that struggle with trials in our lives. Not only will we overcome, but we stand to receive an incomprehensible inheritance from the Father following this life. This is, however, conditional upon our exercise of faith and the work described in the 37th verse of this section:

And that every man should take righteousness in his hands and faithfulness upon his loins, and lift a warning voice unto the inhabitants of the earth; and declare both by word and by flight that desolation shall come upon the wicked.

Note the two operative actions in the very beginning of this verse - to take righteousness and faithfulness upon us. We cannot simply stand by and expect that our living of the commandments is sufficient for salvation, nor can we expect that a tiny modicum of faith is going to protect us in the battle against the world, more specifically the adversary. As follow up to this, we are told in the 47th verse:

He that is faithful and endureth shall overcome the world

As a fitting closure to this section we read in the 66th verse:

These things remain to overcome through patience, that such may receive a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, otherwise, a greater condemnation. Amen

How grateful we should be to have the agency placed in us by the Father to exercise faith and grow in our adversities. Those of us that stand idly by and expect the Lord to remove all tribulation in our lives not only bring upon ourselves condemnation, but we deny ourselves eternal blessings while at the same time place our own agency in jeopardy. We must choose on our own to overcome those trials placed before us, we cannot simply stand by and expect that they will pass us by or that we can complacently plow through them. As we are reminded in the Bible - "faith without works is dead, being alone."

If we wish to have the companionship if the Spirit in our lives, the knowledge of the will of the Father, and the joy of family and friends in our lives we must exhibit faith towards the understanding of the will of God, and then choose for ourselves to overcome those things which he in turn chooses to place into our lives for our benefit.

Refocusing Towards True Godliness

2010-01-31T10:44:00.000-05:00

Between some of the stuff that we have been discussing in my Hebrew class as of late, some of the programming I caught on the BYU channel after returning home for a very early-morning maintenance call this morning, and other thoughts that have been on my mind as of late, I have inclination to address this topic.

As we have discussed the ancient Israelites in our class, we have often found ourselves discussing the circumstances that led to the Israelites entering into the wilderness in the first place. Too oft we begin our examinations of this story with the escape of the Israelites from the Egyptians through the Red Sea and onto dry ground, even though the parts of the story just before this are likely more signification to our salvation today than the story of the Egyptian pursuit through a divided body of water.

I refer of course to the prominence of the plagues of Egypt prior to the Israelite release from bondage. Though this series of events is seemingly random to the unlearned scripture scholar, and irrelevant to the non-Christian world, their significance is akin to the parabled words of the Savior in the New Testament. The resistance of the Egyptian Pharaoh in granting the release of the Israelites was not as entirely tyrannical as some might like to label it, but rather was pertinent to the growth and salvation of the Israelite people. Though this is a notion that is rejected by most Biblical scholars, they fail to note the reasoning behind the plagues in the first place.

It was necessary for the Israelites and Egyptians to be plagued for a time as an entire nation, and then for the Egyptians to be further plagued as the Israelites were spared in order for a proper refocusing to occur. We must note that the Israelites had been in bondage under the Egyptian empire for quite some time prior to their release. Over time, they had inevitably adopted many Egyptian customs and traditions that were not necessarily in harmony with the teachings of God, or even in direct recognition of His power and majesty. Thus, a "fall" of sorts had to be created such that the Israelites could again recognize their true God and learn about whom they should follow and worship during their journey into the wilderness and throughout all mortality. When recognizing this, then one can understand the reasoning behind the plagues sent by God to the entire people. It wasn't to wear down the Pharaoh, nor was it to inflict a form of vengeance upon the Egyptians, but rather to get the Israelites to fear God, and to debunk the mythical perceived abilities and powers of the Egyptian pantheon of Gods. In each plague, the Egyptians were shown the error of their religious or rather social beliefs, and the Israelites were reminded that only the God of the Old Testament - Jehovah - could triumph over any superstition or power of men.

Fast forward now approximately 1300 years just past the meridian of time to the life of an individual who would stem from the Israelites, become the greatest prophet in all dispensations of time, and would provide an Atonement that would allow for the return to the presence of heavenly parents - to Jesus Christ. Though innocent he approached John the Baptist seeking the saving ordinance that had already been performed on so many others before him. Failing to understand his divinity, nor his mission in mortality, the man questioned the necessity of performing such an ordinance on someone so pure. With a response so simple, but holding such magnitude as to become somewhat of a mission statement that would encompass all that He would accomplish during his sojourn in mortality, Jesus responded to John the Baptists question saying "for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." (Matt 3:15)

In more modern terms we might say that Jesus' response was that he needed to be baptized in order to fulfill the ends of the Law. The Law that is referred to is the Mosaic law that was prescribed by the premortal Jehovah to Moses merely 1300 years earlier. Christ obviously realized his own divinity and understood that he was fulfilling that Law which He, Himself gave to His mouthpiece year before, according to the will of the Father, but few others had that recognition, and even more still lack that recognition in our present day.

Though the law had been clearly stated, and was given as a result of prior apostasy by the Israelites because of their fear in ascending to the feet of Jehovah at Mount Sinai, the great temper, even Lucifer the fallen son of the morning had planted into the hearts of men the "philosophies of men mingled with scripture." What was once a pure and unblemished law intent on reminding the forbearers of Christ of the atoning sacrifice that he would one day accomplish that would fulfill the ends of that Law given them, had become a law that had been corrupted with a level of strictness and ritualism. No longer existed that original reminder that their actions were in similitude of a greater event, but instead the constant reminder of insignificant tasks that would drive them further from salvation than it would bring them closer, and concurrently bring with it a level of contention that would affect generations to the present time.

While Christ understood his purpose in life and sought to fulfill the Law given, more specifically to do the will of His father who had sent him to mortality to provide a means for the salvation of His children, his opponents during that sojourn in mortality were many. Even in this the dispensation of the fullness of times, ushered in by the Prophet Joseph, the variance in the teachings of Christ by many religions based on their interpretations of the new law given at the meridian of time is nearly as destructive and contentious as those prescribed by those during the time of Christ. Devoting his entire life to the servitude of others and the teaching of His father's will, Jesus sought to re-clarify the ends of the laws that He himself revealed and bring purity and godly order to the gospel once again.

One of the most effective tools that Christ was able to use in accomplish this end was to show the power of God, the true giver of all commandments through the use of miracles. In examining the miracles manifest by the Savior, one can realize that many of these were similar in purpose to the plagues cast upon the Egyptians and Israelites. Though these were often seen as marvelous works by others and miraculous life-changing events to the recipients personally affected, they were also seen as outward violations of the rabbinical laws that were enforced by the Pharisees and Sadducees of the day. While many received strength to walk, sight to see, and ability to hear, the religious lawgivers of the day chose only to focus on the fact that Christ had violated their prescription of law and had done such things as kneaded material on the Sabbath, instructed the healed to walk with their beds on the Sabbath, bathe on the Sabbath, and a plethora of other things.

Rather than recognizing that Christ had been following the law correctly and had only violated a set of unrighteous standards that were wholly inadequate to teach the gospel, much less protect the sacred nature of the law in the first place, these lawgivers constantly attacked the Christ, questioning his authority, his purpose, his knowledge and his obedience. Ultimately an illegal tribunal that likely violated many of their own standards was held that would condemn Christ to death and continue to fuel a spirit of contention and animosity between the peoples dwelling in Jerusalem. Such confusion and hatred would lead to the destruction of the Church that Christ had established, the rejection of the Apostolic word that His disciples carried, and ultimately would deny immediate salvation and peace to many then and to countless numbers now.

Though we don't have the privilege of Christ walking amongst us today, nor do we find ourselves subjected to the bondage of a more powerful nation, we do have a living Prophet of God and we find ourselves subjected to the bondage of a spiritual nation of tempters and those that will openly decry the words of God and His appointed leaders. Even amongst ourselves in large concentrations of Zion, we find many amongst us that have sought to become Pharisaic in nature and focus on many of the outward elements of the laws given rather than the intent of those laws.

Chiefly amongst those opponents and misdirected individuals are those that bring the family unit under attack and seek to socialize and make mortal interpretation and practice of the eternal laws of marriage and home building. I do not reference to those that openly oppose the Church's support of the original commandment given to Adam and Eve in the garden and affirm the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman, but rather I refer more to those that would attack this institution internally.

What do I mean by this? As of now I am a student at the Church's 2nd largest school - Brigham Young University - Idaho. On this campus we are surrounded by a spirit of intended progression and establishment of core gospel principles and values, including those related to the establishment of eternal families. Conversely, this spirit of progression and salvation is nullified by increasingly many who choose to focus on the outward qualities, situations, conditions, and possessions that the world suggests is necessary for "happiness."

Society has taught us, especially through modern media, that in order to build a successful marriage that we must contain a certain subset of qualities that are portrayed in their perceptions. Never mind the fact that it is all but impossible for an individual to contain an exact set of qualities and traits that fit that mold, many have chosen to try to seek for that claim instead of focusing on the elements of individuals that will lead them to Christ. We often find ourselves shaking our heads at the increase in the rise of divorces throughout the world, and the lack of commitment by individuals in seeking to build up marital unions and make them successful, yet oft times we have ourselves to blame for perpetuating those circumstances in the first place.

In a world where computer technology has become the normative form of communication and the means to do more with less, it has also led to a change in the paradigm of communication as it relates to building relationships. The terms "friendship" and "know" are tossed about casually to reference to anyone that someone has been introduced to and may communicate with a couple of times through electronic means. Along with that is introduced the world's term of "chemistry" which is to mean the cohesion of a relationship or the perceived success and concurrent interest of that relationship - all of which is seemingly derived in a few minutes with little regard to legwork and research that it often takes in order to allow those relationships to successfully progress.

Instead of focusing on one's ability to progress, knowledge and wisdom, Priesthood observance, charitable nature, goals in life, and views of family values and objectives - even Church members have become caught up in focusing on material goods, monetary potential and background, physical perfection, eloquence of speech, carnal desires (such as touching, kissing, physical contact, etc.), and a plethora of other qualities that the world has taught is essential for success in marital relationships. Where we have become a society with fast-paced technology that delivers us information quicker than the comprehension of the human mind at times, we have also become a society that has mirrored that fast-paced nature in our determining the potential aptitude of relationships and their subsequent success in the future.

Young women in the Church seeking a potential suitor judge their potential based on the data found on social networking sites, their calling in the Church, their limited interactions in group settings or at Church, or potential economic reward vs the risk they take with one individual over another. After merely a few minutes a young man is judged to be fit for eternity or unsuitable for progression and tossed to the side with the rest of all other potential suitors despite having obtained little more than a name and a momentary introduction to that individual.

Young men in the Church are not without fault either. Also relying on the prevalence of access to social networking information, many young men rely on the quality of photos shown to them, the ability of a young woman to talk sweetly to them, or their perception of their ability to quickly build a relationship of some kind - most often physical without seeking first to establish those solid friendships that will allow these relationships to stand the test of time. They often find that by smooth-talking themselves and extravagantly spending to impress another end up producing moments of temporary happiness and success, and if lucky will generate a long-term relationship that the individual can enjoy.

Though clear communication and study of individuals - much like diligent prayer and scripture study work in the gospel - will produce far greater and more successful results to the desiring individual, many in this day and age choose simply to make potential life-altering decisions and rid themselves of countless opportunities with others, with careers and education, and with joy and happiness in this life and the next - all in pursuit of temporary pleasure or the worldly prescribed model that few can hope to ever become.

Later on in our lives we find that communication often affects relationships beyond our own families. Instead we choose to get offended with others based on a mistake that they made that was not intended for offense; choose to allow our emotions be governed by the natural man that is influenced by the adversary, and turn our backs on potential successes in family, social, and economical relationships that could benefit us should we choose to be more open, humble, and less prideful.

Is there a problem with seeking for physical compatibility? No, but we also have to recognize that we cannot seek for perfection in a companion without being perfect ourselves. Is there a problem with wanting certain qualities in an individual? No, but do we consider which ones we are seeking for? Are those qualities going to bring us happiness and joy in life because we will have someone with whom we can relate to, or are these qualities going to bring us only mortal happiness and leave us desolate in the life to come? Why is it that we focus so much on first impressions and the outward perceptions of individuals when that is likely the last thing that will bring us happiness for eternity?

In a society that has taught us that it is okay to discard marriages as quickly as we do leftover food, we have equally become as casual with our communication and our ability to truly seek for those things that will bring us happiness. Laid aside are those individuals that either choose not to play dramatic games or simply don't feel like wearing all of themselves on their sleeves or leaving themselves exposed. Instead brought to the forefront of society are fears of communicating because of lack of respect or because of the perpetuation of all to downplay the sacredness of some communications between individuals. In many instances where Christ healed a person, that person was charged to tell no one of the miracle that had previously occurred? It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the miracle or that is was bad in any way, but that it was sacred and the pearls of the power of God manifested to others need not be cast before the swine that the adversary and his followers had figuratively created.

It is my prayer that we choose to reevaluate our lives, our relationships, and our perceptions of things. May we be so inclined to focus on those things that will bring us the happiness of eternity and the joy of others and of God rather than focus on those outward things that we feel are important now but will bring us no progression in the life to come. May we consider that we are each children of a loving Heavenly Father who has bestowed upon each of us weaknesses and strengths that are not readily apparent, and sometimes need assistance and research in order to bring to the surface of relationships that we may have in home, family, school, work, Church or otherwise. If we are truly to become like God is and go where He is, then we must do as mentioned in 1st Samuel 16 and look not upon the outward appearances of others and of events in our lives, but look upon the hearts of individuals and the true intent and purpose of the situations that we are placed in.

Recognizing Where We Stand

2010-01-28T17:08:00.001-05:00

I've taken a fairly good hiatus from this, and I apologize. There are a number of my followers that have asked me to put up a new blog soon though - so I will oblige and do my best to fill their needs.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to converse with a number of individuals about various turmoils, worries, fears, and the like in their lives. Over the duration of my conversations with them, I have come to not only the conclusion that there is a great deal that I've learned from each of them, but that the things that they are / were experiencing are more closely tied to each other than they realize. The common link that I have found between each of these situations is the topic that I wish to address in this post.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf summarized the eventual continuation of my post in his talk from General Conference October 2008's Priesthood Session titled "Lift Where You Stand." That in mind however, I wish to address the underlying point before his - and that is to discuss the understanding of where exactly an individual stands, or rather, the recognition of such. In doing so, this will allow us to lift where we stand, but in ignorance of such, we allow our lives to be governed by chaos, confusion, and utter lack of trust in anything or anyone that could potentially bring us to joy and allow us to move forward and progress in our lives.

Let us consider the scripture from Matthew 16:15-19 in the New Testament which reads:

15. He saith unto them, But whom say yet that I am?
16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Note here the identification of not only the status of Simon Peter, but also of Christ himself. We must remember that despite Christ's innocence, he was mortal as we all were. Inevitably he had stresses upon him, he had doubts, and a plethora of other emotions that he dealt with. I'm sure Simon Peter's statement in the Bible was just as much of a recognition of Christ's status as the Christ as it was to the Savior himself - in reminding him that he was the Christ and he had a much greater mission to perform yet in his mortality, and though things were tough, that he had a grander purpose than they all understood. Though Christ understood that he would have to perform the miraculous sacrifice in the Garden later on in His ministry, we know that through modern revelation and observation that even He could not anticipate the pain that he would endure at that time.

Nevertheless, despite the risk of pain and the depravity of a world that would reject His teachings and ultimately sacrifice him inhumanely, Christ was not only willing to accept the pain and risk that he would endure, but he did it with charity in his heart and prepared his chief disciple for the continuation of His word following his sojourn in mortality. Concurrently, with his recognition of the divinity of the Savior and His mission, Simon Peter was also not only recognized as a successor to the kingdom of heaven on earth, but was also reminded of where he stood at that time and where he had the potential to stand in the future.

Though we may at times lament the trials that come upon us and suffer from the carnal lusts of the flesh or the natural-man emotions of pride, fear, and rejection, we will find that oft times these situations are placed into our lives - not as the result of an inhumane, vengeful God, but rather through the wisdom of a loving Father in Heaven who recognizes that there are times in this life when we need to be reminded just where we stand in the grand scheme of things and the potential that we have within each of us to attain to the highest blessings which He can offer us.

Consider if you will the situation of a young woman that has encountered much pain and turmoil in her life. She has recently left home and with that hopefully a past that she has struggled to overcome for some time. In arriving at her new location she has found a young man that she is interested in and appears to be equally interested in her as well. As the relationship develops, she finds herself worrying about things from her past, and the revelation of such to this young men that she fears may drive him away for good and with it invite more heartache and pain that she had hoped to avoid.

Consider another separate situation of a young man and a young woman who have recently met and have realized an attraction to each other. Together they feel a sense of belonging and commonality, but apart the young woman feels fear in not knowing if she's good enough for the young man. The young man worries about potential other missed opportunities with other young women, or if the young woman is attractive enough for him - mainly based on what others think of her. Each of them have fears about moving too fast - not because of the physical nature of the relationship - but the willingness to commit to another individual so quickly despite the fact that they feel right about doing so.

Finally - consider the situation of a mother whose kids have moved out of the home. She feels a sense of disparity because she doesn't have the closeness of a family in her home anymore. Her husband is out of the home at work all the time; she has ailments that don't allow her to do all of the stuff that she would like to do, and a family that is less than cordial to her at times, leaving her to seek solace in other places. She gains acceptance in online games, and other social networking venues as a means of sharing her feelings and reaching out to others. She struggles daily in her own mind to discern ways to reconnect with her family and deal with the ever-mounting stresses of life.

In each of these situations, seemingly unique circumstances govern the forefronts of these scenarios, but there is much common ground to be found with all of them. To each of these individuals I would exhort them to spend a little time getting to know themselves. Further, I would remind each individual of the uniqueness and overlying power of the Lord's Atonement for each of them. Too often we think of the Atonement as simply a remedy for sin and wrongdoing while failing to recognize its healing power in relation to those, as well as its equalizing balance on our minds, and the penetrable effect that it can have on our hearts in softening them and allowing the Spirit to come forth and dwell within each of us.

We all sin and make mistakes, but it is a measure of our maturity and understanding of the Lord's Atonement which allows us to fully put it behind us and move forward in our lives. Such things such as past dealings that have been repented of, cognizant poor decisions, willful rebellion, and pride all effect us in ways similar to junk foods on the human body, but in more of an internal sense. The empty spiritual calories that each of these generate pile into the body and build up in areas that over time become ugly to us and others. In a sense we become spiritually obese to the point where it becomes difficult for us to carry out the most spiritual tasks of breathing and enjoying the spirit around us. Additionally we become so burdened with the weight of such that we often live in the past with regret for picking up that extra weight and our inability to cope as we should.

Rather, it is a spiritual exercise for each of us to invoke the Atonement in our lives and spiritually tone our bodies to the point where we are spiritually fit. Oft times this may mean putting off some things that we currently enjoy in our lives. Do we spend too much time playing games, watching television, or participating in empty activities that leave us not only unfulfilled but with regret for not having been more productive with our time? Do we shy away from others because we are afraid of being hurt or worn down by their actions or opinions? Do we date the prettiest or most handsome opposites because it is what is most convenient? Do we give up on relationships or commitments because we don't think they look right or we don't have the knowledge to know how to build them properly?

We may each do some or all of this, but if we properly invoke the Atonement in our lives, we will be able to find the balance necessary to do things we enjoy, to have fun, and to find the greatest potential in our lives. As with the modern-day food pyramid, and the word of wisdom - we need to let the bread of Christ's gospel be the base of our lives, with His manna from heaven and the herbs of wisdom that we have to obtain each day be the main parts of our spiritual diets. There is nothing wrong with taking time for one's self, or having doubts at times, or enjoying games or other activities, so long as we understand that those things are to be used sparingly, and that we must work to equalize out those spiritual impurities that we might sometimes ingest.

The Disney character Pumbaa in the movie The Lion King said it wrong when he said "you gotta stick your behind in your past." Timon immediately corrected him, and said that we need to put our past behind us, but I sometimes wonder if we all do a little bit more of the former instead of the latter. Have we each become spiritually obese to a point where we are unable to pull our behinds out of our past? Further, if we are concerned with our past, are we truly able to embrace our futures? I say to that - no!

We must recognize that the past is in the past, and leave it there. If there are things that we need to take care of from our past, then we need to do so quickly and with the penitence of young child, but after it has been placed in the past by the necessary authority it needs to be left there. If we are still holding on to those things, it is impossible to discern where we currently stand because we are obviously not where we should be in the present. We travel as spiritual herds, but sometimes we have to stand alone because of what we know to be right. No matter the case, we must recognize where we stand if we are to eventually lift others and if we are to attain all that God has promised to us.

Upon this recognition, we must realize that we have to keep trying. We are going to encounter those instances in life where our past may sneak up on us and try to invade, but through the recognition of the Lord's Atonement, we can overcome those things. Should we encounter those individuals that we fear may be unable to overlook that, we must either move on our place our faith in the Lord that His Charity will prevail in their hearts. Charity is not a passive thing or something we attain to - but something that we are and that we hold. We may reach a point of charity at some time in our lives, but it is only momentary because the natural man causes us to lose that rather quickly. With that, we cannot claim to have it just because we have had it once, but rather must strive to continually keep it. The Lord's Atonement is such that we can enjoy those tender mercies that will allow us to partake of levels of faith, hope, and charity in our lives so that we can grow and progress towards our ultimate goal of complete charity towards others. In doing so, we are able to fully claim the blessings which the Atonement has to offer us. Our falling short of this does not mean that we are a failure, but rather means that we must continually press forward and frequently rededicate ourselves to doing the will of the Lord.

Spiritually, we cannot be in two places at once, for this defies the law of Spiritual physics. Thus, I encourage everyone to evaluate where you stand right now so that you can know where you want to go in the future!

In Reference to the Book of Ruth

2010-01-15T03:14:00.000-05:00

Holy cow! Its been a while since I've sat down and written one of these. Admittedly I've been a bit lazy with it, while at the same time being insanely busy with a lot of things. I figured that I'm not doing anything else at 0115 in the morning though so I should write some thoughts down.

A friend of mine recently asked about my thoughts on the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament, so I thought I'd give it a shot:

The book of Ruth is a very short book - comprising of only five pages in the scriptures. The problem is of course that there is very little genealogical tie to anything other than knowing that the seed of Ruth would produce David - which subsequently would lead to Jesus Christ further on down the line.

I believe to some extent that this is somewhat allegorical in nature. The story begins with the story of Naomi, her husband and her two sons - all of which ended up dying, leaving Naomi to care for her two daughters-in-law. Naomi decides that she will return to her home of Bethlehem and commands her two daughters-in-law to return to their homes. The one decides to return immediately and the other, Ruth, decides to pledge her devotion to Naomi and stay by her for the rest of her life.

Naomi already carries with her a virtuous reputation which is also mirrored by Ruth also. She (Ruth) decides to go out into the fields of Boaz, the kinsmen of Naomi's late husband, to glean some of the grain left from the harvest. Boaz is impressed with her integrity, beauty, and other characteristics that he allows her to enter in with his maidens and commands his servants to protect her, all while being oblivious to his familial and concurrent social ties to her. Over time she grows closer to Boaz and eventually seeks to marry him. Boaz consents because he knows that she is a woman of integrity and he is also. As a gesture of goodwill, Ruth gives her firstborn to Naomi to raise.

Now for the allegorical part to this. This is similar to the process of repentance and conversion. Each of us go about our lives at some point mired in the repetition of our daily lives and weighed down by the worries and cares of the world. When we choose to embrace the spirituality that the gospel has to offer, we find ourselves allowing the previous ties we had to die off. Only the truly honorable and praiseworthy will stick by our sides as Ruth did. Though we will find it difficult to maintain who we are, we know that by our devotion to the path that we have chosen, we will one day be blessed beyond measure for our devotion to it. Once we have committed to that path we begin to recognize our own kinsmen (Jesus Christ) we will eventually bow at his feet and seek to become a member of His family. He will - as he did with Ruth and Naomi - buy us into his family with a price where we will have protection and we will have an inheritance and dwelling place far greater than we could previously imagine.

Obviously, the key to all of this is contingent upon our devotion to the paths that we have chosen, more importantly our exercise of faith in those things which we cannot see or discern immediately in front of us. There are going to be those times in life when we feel that we cannot go forward another day, or that we have not the means to provide for ourselves or our families - but we know that through our devotion that we will receive "blessings beyond measure."

That's my take on things. Take it or leave it.

Sacrament Talk - 20 Dec 2009

2009-12-20T13:56:00.000-05:00

This is the talk that I gave in Sacrament Meeting today - I RARELY write my talks out, but was inspired to do so this time, and got a TON of compliments for it - including from the Stake President, Stake Relief Society President, and High Council. Feel free to read it everyone:

Shortly after leading them from bondage, the Lord commanded the Israelite men to ascend Mount Sinai and receive those blessings which the Lord had to bestow upon them for a blessing of their righteousness. Though these same men had seen the power of the Lord in the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the feeding of their families, and the deliverance of their people from Egypt, these men held not the faith in their hearts that would allow them to speak face to face with the Lord to receive those additional blessings that He had for them. The Lord’s response to their unwillingness to climb to meet him was to give to Moses what was known as the Ten Commandments.

While we are all familiar with this set of commandments, and many of us can still recite them in order from our days as young Seminary students, most of us probably have not looked in depth as to the meaning and symbolism of these commandments. I had the opportunity to do this during the previous semester as a student in Biblical Hebrew class. During the last half of the semester we translated Deuteronomy 5 at approximately a rate of 2 verses per class period. As we translated these verses, we came to understand the differences of wording between what we have in English as opposed to what was written in the Hebrew manuscript, but we also came to more fully understand this set of commandments and how they are applicable as guidance to our lives today.

Keeping that in mind, we look forward from the time of the Israelites to the mortal ministry of Christ. Hoping to catch him in a lie and cause him to contradict himself, or rather, hoping to cause him to alienate an individual or group of people, a group of Pharisees approached the Living Christ and inquired of him as to what the greatest commandment was. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus reminds them that the two greatest commandments are to “love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”; and to love our neighbors as ourselves. During his Sermon on the Mount, Christ reminded us that he had not come to “destroy the law, or the prophets; but to fulfill.”

The law and the prophets of course refer back to the Ten Commandments. Why then are they referenced to so frequently? It is because these commandments are of the most importance to an individual’s life, the following of which will not only bring upon one great blessings, but rather will help an individual to prepare to receive further light and knowledge, strengthen their knowledge of Heavenly parents, and continue to build their faith in Jesus Christ, the Beloved Son of our Heavenly Father and one who came to fulfill the ends of that law.

When examining the first four commandments that were delivered to Moses on the stone tablets, one will read that they are to have no other Gods before God, that they are to not idly bear the name of God (note, that the true terminology of the commandment is to “bear”, not “to take” as is perhaps not accurately rendered in the King James Version of the Bible), that they are to have no other false images of “God” in their lives, and that they are to remember the day of God and to treat it with its proper respect. Each of these four commandments relate to the central ideal of placing God in His proper light, and honoring him accordingly.

In order to effectively worship God, one must understand His nature, and concurrently exercise their belief, or in other words faith, to show that proper respect to His name and His will. The application of faith allows men to more fully understand the attributes of our Heavenly Parents, and to supplicate ourselves to a loving God who seeks to pour out His blessings upon our heads when we honor Him righteously and carry out His will.

In fact, it is of no coincidence that the very first question in the temple recommend interview questions our testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we cannot faithfully and accurately say “yes” to this first question, then we cannot honestly, and faithfully answer any other question in that interview, as all other questions are dependent on our faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith is not simply just a principle of the gospel, but rather is eternal law itself. When applied with other doctrines of the gospel, faith is transactional medium for blessings and knowledge which come through its exercise. It is a law that must be actively administered in order to reap the full effect of its potential. It is the basis for the first set of commandments given to the Israelites and to each and every people upon the earth that have had cause to worship God.

The adversary would have many believe that faith is not only miniscule in value, but instead a show of weakness and wholly unnecessary to have in order to obtain one’s greatest desires. Additionally, he has lead many astray and has encouraged them to mock and torture those that exercise faith in those things that are prophesied to come.

As we approach this Christmas holiday, we are reminded of the various scriptural accounts of the birth of the Savior to this mortal realm. In each account, there was some test of faith that took place in order to come to a knowledge that the Son of God truly had begun his mortal ministry. In many cases this was simply just the recognition of the new star in the evening sky, but there were also the accounts of the shepherds watching over their flocks that were reminded to “fear not, for I bring you good tidings (or in other words the gospel) of great joy, which shall be unto all nations”; to the wise men that followed the star across the countryside to visit the young baby Jesus; to the supplication of the Nephites and Nephites to God to protect them and their families as the non-believers around them threatened them with their lives.

I believe that it is no coincidence that Christ’s birthplace was in a manager in the small town of Bethlehem. The name “Bethlehem” is from the Hebrew derivative of the conjunctive words “Bet” and “Lehem” which is to mean “the house of bread.” Not only is Christ known throughout the standard works as being the “bread of life” but we also partake of bread emblems each week as a reminder to us of not only the sacrifice of our Savior on our behalf, but of His entire mortal ministry which provided us a template for living our own lives and returning back to our Father in Heaven.

The environment in which Jesus Christ came into this world and the manger upon which his head was placed are both symbolic of the humility that is represented in the life of Christ, and also the humility that we must have in our exercise of belief and allegiance to Him. We are reminded of this as we prepare for the sacrament each week with the musical prayer that we deliver from our hearts and mouths as we prepare for this sacred ordinance. We sing hymns that are slow-paced and meaningful in order to invite a spirit of humility into our hearts, so that we can partake of the emblems of the sacrament in full faith that we will be blessed with those promises that the Lord has covenanted to exercise on our behalf. If we are partaking of the sacrament without faith in our hearts, then we cannot expect to be fully blessed according to the promises that are made.

In our modern day, we do not have the privilege of witnessing the birth of Christ to the world, nor do we have many that will hold our lives in the balance as we exercise our faith in the Lord, or in those prophecies that are given. We do not participate in crusades, nor do we find ourselves having to rent our garments in allegiance to a commander and cause to protect our freedom, lives, and families. Rather, we face a much more dangerous challenge to our faith in Christ and allegiance to the gospel in an ongoing battle with the adversary, his followers, and the world that he has taken upon himself to lead to destruction.

In deference to the trials that we face in our lives in the world today, in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the prophet is quoted as saying “A man can bear a heavy burden by practice and continuing to increase it. The inhabitants of this continent anciently were so constituted, and were so determined and preserving, either in righteousness or wickedness, that God visited them immediately either with great judgments or blessings. But the present generation, if they were going to battle, if they got any assistance from God, they would have to obtain it by faith.” (Pg 308)

In his April 2007 General Conference address, Elder Richard G. Scott addresses the delay we sometimes feel when we have exercised our faith in God and have prayed for an answer that we hoped to receive, but feel that have not yet. He said:

“Some misunderstandings about prayer can be clarified by realizing that the scriptures define principles for effective prayer, but they do not assure when a response will be given. Actually, He will reply in one of three ways. First, you can feel the peace, comfort, and assurance that confirm that your decision is right. Or second, you can sense that unsettled feeling, the stupor of thought, indicating that your choice is wrong. Or third—and this is the difficult one—you can feel no response.

What do you do when you have prepared carefully, have prayed fervently, waited a reasonable time for a response, and still do not feel an answer? You may want to express thanks when that occurs, for it is an evidence of His trust. When you are living worthily and your choice is consistent with the Savior’s teachings and you need to act, proceed with trust. As you are sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit, one of two things will certainly occur at the appropriate time: either the stupor of thought will come, indicating an improper choice, or the peace or the burning in the bosom will be felt, confirming that your choice was correct. When you are living righteously and are acting with trust, God will not let you proceed too far without a warning impression if you have made the wrong decision.” (Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer, April 2007)

Prayer is one of the most effective ways that we can communicate our faith to the Lord. Like Adam, Abraham, Samuel, Nephi, Joseph Smith, and a host of other prophets and saints alike, we will be called upon to exercise our faith in ways that may not require us to go to war against our brethren, but rather go to war with ourselves and with Satan as we seek to understand the Lord’s will for us. Sometimes our exercise of faith alone will bring us the blessings that we seek, and other times, it will be the catalyst for our discovery of other answers that we are seeking. In all instances, humility is the accompanying emotion that must be applied with faith in order to enjoy the Lord’s highest blessings. Put it other terms to the prophet Joseph, the Lord reminded him that “many are called but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world and aspire to the honors of men that they do not learn this one lesson. That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven…” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:34-36)

Elder Neal A. Maxwell put this to the Church in another way when he reminded us to “establish our residence in Zion, and give up the summer cottage in Babylon” (Elder D. Todd Christofferson, October 2008 General Conference, Come to Zion.) In either case, if we have our hearts and minds set upon the things of the world, and upon the honors of men, we cannot fully exercise our faith in Jesus Christ that will allow us those blessings that we seek, nor can we become a fully converted disciple that will be willing to do His will.

We have all faced perilous times in our lives. According the apostle Paul, we are living in perilous times right now. The symptoms that he describes are that “Men will be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.” (2 Tim. 3: 1-5)

These are all traits that we see prevalent in the world around us. Much of the economic crisis’s that the world faces today are the result of these pitfalls prophesied by Paul in his address to Timothy. Much greater the crisis however is the economic turmoil that we bring upon ourselves in the spiritual sense. As previously mentioned, faith is the spiritual medium of monetary exchange and it is the refiner’s fire that will change ordinary things into much more valuable things. We are promised that we one day will receive our own Urim and Thumum in the form of a glorified earth, which again, derived from Hebrew, teaches us that we will one day have our own Lights and Perfections. (Bible Dictionary). Our exercise of faith will allow this progression to take place, otherwise, we become as Paul states – and have a form of godliness within, but we deny that power.

We are all inherently blessed with the light of Christ in our lives. That is given to every man upon their birth in this world. As a gift we are also given the ability to have faith, especially that faith which is in Jesus Christ to refine us into better people. Though the definition of faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things, our exercise thereof will lead to a perfect knowledge of many things over the course of our lives.

Economically though, many of us struggle with the understanding of the proper exercise of faith. Too many times we view faith as a medium that can be stored up and used for later, or we view it as a form of spiritual bailout offered by another that will “help us get through the trial that faces us.” Too often, we rely solely on the faith of another much as we would a loan would be granted for purchases of temporal nature. Ever grateful should we be for the Lord’s requirement of an honest tithe, and for sacrifices made in our lives that continually tax our faith and keep that account active. Though the economic plans of men may promise immediate relief, or stimulation, or a means of escaping the obligations that one has agreed to, the Lord’s spiritual economic plan will never leave us with a deficit, nor will it require the borrowing of goods and services that we have not yet produced to carry us through the trials we presently face. In fact, the Lord promises that if we buy into his economic plan for us, that we will equally share the burden with others, we will learn greater knowledge, and we will be able to find rest in the Lord’s haven.

As we approach the Christmas holiday, and carry forward into the new year, may we find ourselves more willing to trust in the Lord, more recognizant of His hand in our lives, and more aware of the need to exercise faith towards our progression to return back to our Father in Heaven. [Testimony]

A Better Understanding of The Ten Commandments

2009-12-11T02:01:00.000-05:00

I promise these will become more frequent once I'm out of classes for the semester and have a ton more time to work with on things!

As I've mentioned previously, during our last half of class in Hebrew this semester, we've been studying the 5th Chapter of the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament. Those of you that are unfamiliar with this Chapter, it is essentially a reiteration of the 20th Chapter of Exodus by Moses to the children of Israel. We're studying this because there are slight variations with it, enough that our understanding (and some of us - memorization) of Exodus 20 does not corrupt or influence our translations too much.

In any case, as we've been translating only two verses a class period, we've come to a much greater understanding of the true meanings of some of these scriptures. There are some key points that I'd like to bring up from what I've learned that I think others may find insightful.

1. Credit the King James translators for their accuracy in translation. They are pretty dang good with most of their translations...but at the same time there are a few spots that they gave themselves a much greater latitude than perhaps they should have. One of these spots is in Deuteronomy 5:11 - which is the commandment that "thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain..."

...The only problem is that in the original Hebrew manuscript, the term "take" is not used...or even really implied. In fact, the Hebrew word that is used in the manuscript at that spot is "תִשּׂא" which is actually the Hebrew verb form of the word "to bear" or even "to hold" but the Hebrew term for the word "to take" is completely different. When you consider this, you gain a new insight into this scripture - because it then reads "Thou shalt not bear the name of the Lord, they God, in vain..."

What does this mean to us? It means that for those that go on their missions and mess around - they are breaking this commandment. Those that go out drinking on a Saturday night and carousing and then show up to bless the Sacrament - they are breaking the commandment. Basically every time we do something in the name of the Lord and we represent it inappropriately, we are in violation of this commandment.

2. If you take the Ten Commandments and put them in terms of "God" then you will come to a greater understanding of not only the commandments themselves, but the progression of the commandments themselves.

In summary, the Ten Commandments are as follows:

- No other Gods before God
- No graven images
- No bearing the name of God in vain
- Keep the Sabbath Day holy
- Honor parents
- Do not kill
- Do not commit adultery
- Do not steal
- No false witnesses
- No coveting neighbors house, family, possessions, etc.

Now - place this in terms of God and you come to an even greater understanding of this:

- God above everything
- Nothing coming before God or misrepresenting HIS image
- Take not upon yourself the image of God inappropriately
- Keep the day of God in proper perspective and do not desecrate His day
- Honor those that are put in proxy of God on earth
- Do not destroy the living creations of God
- Do not destroy the family unit of God
- Do not take for yourself the blessings of God which are not yours
- Do not cause another creature of God to be portrayed in a false / bad light
- Do not even THINK about harming another creature of God or inappropriately acquiring their blessings.

When you look at it that way, I think it offers a great deal more insight into these commandments. I'll explain how this fits into Latter-Day theology in my next post!

Hearts of Haven and Inheritance

2009-11-28T02:51:00.000-05:00

As I was thumbing through some old notes that I took at a meeting a few weeks ago, I found myself pondering a concept that I have often thought about, but have not taken the time to articulate on here.

When we consider many of the gospel topics for discussion, we can find in many instances that the use of the heart is often associated with action being taken by one's self. This may refer to having a broken heart and a contrite spirit which will lead us to repentance, or the turning of the hearts of the children to the father and the fathers to the children, or even the hearts of a people being knit together as one.

While we use these and many other aortic-related terms in gospel discussion, do we fully understand the implications of some of these terms? I contend that we do not, and even I discover more each day that deepens my understanding of the reason for using this specific organ so much in our gospel understanding.

There are four Scripture Mastery scriptures that really help to address my point this evening. For those that are keeping track, I will discuss Abraham 3:22-23; Doctrine and Covenants 8:2-3; Doctrine and Covenants 121:34-36, and Moses 7:18 in no particular order.

We understand the need for a broken heart and a contrite spirit as it relates to repentance and the need to have a changed heart to become like Christ, but these are not the angles I want to address at this time. Rather, I want to focus on a different angle - that being of maintenance and recognition, rather than the preparation and tempering that the other topics focus on.

Perhaps a good lead-in to my discussion is the rebuke of the Lord to Oliver Cowdery following his failed attempt to translate the plates. In the 9th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, in verses 7-9 we read the following passage:

7. Behold you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. 8. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. 9. But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me.

Note in the previous passage the pattern which must take place in order to obtain revelation and blessing from the Lord - first, one must study it out in their minds and then ask God, and if that thing is right, one's bosom (or heart) will burn confirming that action is correct. (Note, this is not the commonly-known heart-burn that one encounters when eating spicy food prior to retiring to their beds).

If we turn backwards to Section 8 of the Doctrine and Covenants we go to our first SM stop of the night where we read: "Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation;..." (emphasis added)

Note the repetition of the aforementioned pattern - that we would first be told in our minds (studying out in our minds) and then the Holy Ghost would confirm that in our hearts. Note a very important key in this passage however, that is that we are told in our hearts and our minds, but the Holy Ghost is made to dwell in our hearts.

Does anyone wonder ever why the Brethren of the Church speak so frequently about controlling the thoughts of our minds during their Conference addresses? Does anyone wonder why modesty, morality, pornography, mind-altering drugs, stress, anger, etc. are such big topics over the pulpit? I don't, because I believe that this scripture gives us the explanation for that.

If we compare our bodies to a car for a minute, perhaps we will better understand the meaning behind this. As many are familiar with, a car battery stores charged electricity inside of it for future use. This allows certain components of the car to run without the aid of the vehicle being turned all the way on. Should the battery become drained however, the ability of the car's many systems to function properly gradually gets dimmer and dimmer (this is what causes a battery to die when one leaves their lights on). The astute driver however, will make sure and get to their car and shut off the lights before they kill the battery, and then during the course of their travels, the alternator inside the car will recharge the battery from the residual power generation of the normal car functions.

Our hearts and minds are much like that, especially as it relates to this scripture. Our minds control our entire lives in all aspects. That said however, the presence of the Spirit dwelling in our hearts will provide the power for the critical components of our lives. The Spirit must be continually powered however, or as the scriptures state, it must dwell in a clean temple (the Spirit doth not dwell in unholy places). This is where the mastery over our minds must take place if we are to continually enjoy the accompanying power of the Spirit in our lives. If our minds are being altered by mind-numbing drugs, pornographic material, vulgar media, or those thoughts which would take our minds away from our purpose on earth and of the Lord's influence in our lives, then we are essentially leaving our hearts running with the Spirit with no power to it. It is at this time that there is little more time for the Spirit to power the essentials of our lives and eventually causes our hearts to die at which point the Spirit departs completely. Note that it is not our heart that has died of the effects of aging or due to some abnormality, but that our minds have become distracted to the point where the heart cannot get power from it.

The Lord's goal however is to establish a Zion-like people, which as the verse in chapter 7 of the book of Moses states, involves being of "one heart, and one mind." This state of utopia can only occur when the minds of the people are continually aligned towards righteousness, such that the Spirit is present within all and the community is working towards the greater good and the glorification of Christ.

Additionally, the governance of our minds is what allows us to do that work of the Lord. It is one thing to control one's own mind to the point that they are not partaking of the evil sins of the world, but it is another to fulfill our God-given responsibilities, especially those given us before we came to this life. The Lord spoke to Abraham in the 3rd Chapter and said: "Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these were many of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rules; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born."

The concept of being "chosen" may seem somewhat of a completely off-topic discussion, but we gain more understanding of its applicability to this subject when we enter into the fourth verse from the SM list in Doctrine and Covenants Section 121. These verses read: "Behold, there are many called, but few are chose. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson -- That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness." (emphasis added)

For many, it is their divine calling to do great things in this life, but as noted by this scripture here, they lose that calling and chosen status because they allow their hearts to be set towards the things of this world and the praises of their fellow men. Is this something that we see in the Church in our day? Is this something that we see in ourselves? I'm going to guess that most of us can answer "yes" to both of these unfortunately. Do we see the Relief Society President of a ward help a financially-struggling family because its her job and it will add "glory" to the position of Relief Society President? What about the home-teachers that begrudgingly do their home teaching on the last day of the month, simply to say that they got it done and to turn in the numbers for it? What about the struggling member that decides that they need only go to sacrament meeting because that's the "important meeting" and people will see them there, and then rushes home to catch the sports match on the television?

I submit that if we are to strive to become a Zion-like people that we must be more cognizant of the thoughts of our minds and their effects on our hearts, and concurrently govern ourselves accordingly. Some individuals may find that they struggle with some things more than others, and will need to do extra work in some areas that another individual needs only to recognize passively. If we govern the thoughts of our minds more fully, and encourage others to do the same and to keep the word of God written in our hearts, then we know that we will have the full measure of the Spirit that we all desperately need to have in our troubling times these days!

About the Birthplace of Christ

2009-11-26T11:54:00.000-05:00

I'm terrible at consistency these days, I know, I'm sorry. Life has been VERY busy as of late, and continues to get busier...at least for the next couple of weeks until I go off-track again.

As I was studying the 132nd Section of the Doctrine and Covenants the other day, I was actually studying some material for one topic, and found myself learning a few things about an entirely different topic. I had actually been researching more about the verses referencing Abraham and Isaac (verses 34-36) and continued reading the next several verses to get more of a contextual understanding of the entire section. Verse 39 in this same section was the verse that inspired me to go on somewhat of a "scripture chase" which led me to find the information about the topic I'm discussing today.
It reads:

David's wives and concubines were given unto him of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and therefore he had fallen from his exaltation and received his portion; and he shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord

(Doctrine and Covenants 132:39; emphasis added).

In any case, as I read this I found myself trying to acquire more knowledge about David and just exactly what he did and didn't do. During my examinations of the different verses, I came across the one in 2 Samuel 5:7 which reads "Nevertheless, David took the strong hold of Zion; the same is the city of David. (emphasis added).

There are a couple of connections that we have to that verse - through modern and ancient scripture alike. The first and most obvious one is the one we think of when reading the Christmas story - Luke 2:11 which reads "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (emphasis added)

The second is the beginning the of the 10th Article of Faith which reads "We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes, that Zion, the newJerusalem will be built upon the American continent..."(emphasis added)

Those that know the geography of the Israeli territory know that the town of Bethlehem is just 10 miles south of the city of Jerusalem - or essentially a suburb of the city. (As additional information about Bethlehem - consider the following: The name "Bethlehem" originates from the Hebrew phrase "בֵּית לֶחֶם‎ " (Beit Lehem) which LITERALLY means "house of bread." I believe it is no small coincidence that the Savior himself was referred to as the "bread of life" - which could be directly traced back to his birthplace.)

What is interesting about all of this of course is the events that have and will surround this specific area of the globe:

1. After Christ was born, he was taken to Nazareth and was raised there, Nazareth being north of Jerusalem and concurrently Bethlehem.
2. The Garden of Gethsemane is located at the foot of the Mount of Olives - which is symbolic because it was at the lowest point of the mountain, or in other words symbolic of the atonement of sin before ascending up the mountain where God resides.
3. The Mount of Olives is located East of Jerusalem and the mountain just to the west of this range? Mount Sion or alternatively Mount Zion. Note the symbolism now when discussing the Garden of Gethsemane and its relation to Mount Sion.
4. The battle of Armageddon is believed to be taking place to the northeast of Jerusalem prior to the coming of Christ. Christ will then return upon the earth - at which point he will first appear on Mount Sion (Zion).

What does this all boil down to? The city of Bethlehem is a very sacred place. It was the place where the Bread of Life would originate and would be the same area where our Lord and Savior was crucified for the sins of the wold and additionally the same place where He will again return to sanctify and cleanse the world for all eternity.

I just thought that was a cool thing to think about, especially given the current holiday season and our celebration of the Birth of Christ during the upcoming Christmas holiday.

Was Isaac Really Spared?

2009-11-13T00:44:00.000-05:00

Two blogs in one night - I know! Shocking!

As we concluded our study of Genesis 22 the other day, Bro. Baron raised a VERY interesting theory and after explaining it to us, I can say that I can accept his viewpoint and agree with it because of the evidence presented.

When studying a chapter of Scripture in the depth that we studied it, smaller nuances of the individual verses pop out more clearly. This was the case in our class studies - as it took us over 7 weeks to translate 9 verses...not that we translated every class nor did we spend our entire lives doing it, but it was stretched out over time for a reason. Bro. Baron in his infinite wisdom decided to hold his theory until we got to the end of the chapter as to not corrupt our outlook of the chapter.

We all know the "popular" story of Abraham and Issac - Abraham is commanded to take his son Issac to the mountains and place him on an altar and sacrifice him. Just as he's getting ready to do so, a messenger of the Lord speaks to Abraham and tells him not to sacrifice Issac, and because of his faithfulness he gets all these blessings and lives happily ever after. Is that really what happened though? Bro. Baron's theory (which has been supported by multiple people and sources - so its not just a Bro. Baron thing) suggests that it not only is not what happened, but that there is a "second" story within the verses that we overlook even though its so plain.

To understand this theory we must examine several scriptures. First, we start with Genesis 22:5 which reads: "And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and [we will]] come again to you"

Now, quickly jump down to verse 19 of the same chapter that reads: "So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba." WHAT?!?! Where's Isaac? Let's just say that this theory here suggests that Issac didn't exactly "make it"...at least not initially.

Our first supporting scripture comes from this same chapter, which is the 16th verse which reads "And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and has not withheld thine only son;"

Okay, not convinced yet? Yes, its a fairly weak argument. But the next three scriptures will support this progressively more. Go over the Book of Mormon and turn the book of Jacob - Chapter 4, verse 5 which reads "Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. and for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son" (Emphasis added).

Still not buying it? Fine, try this block of scripture here. Doctrine and Covenants 132: 34-36:

God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people. this therefore was fulfilling, among other things, the promises.

Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily I say unto you, Nay; for I, the Lord, commanded it.

Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac: nevertheless, it was written: Thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.

Warming up to the idea perhaps? Well, the next block of scripture should be the clincher here. Hebrews 11: 17-19:

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered p Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

I don't know about anyone else, but that last one seems pretty black and white to me!

There is it though, straight from the scriptures - I'll leave you guys to say yea or nay on it!

Commentaries on "The Spirit of God"

2009-11-13T00:02:00.000-05:00

Yes, I've been on an extended hiatus. I'm sorry to my readers - I've been hideously swamped as of late. Rest assured though, I've had many things running through my mind on which I will make comments on in the upcoming future.

For this post though, I wish to address something that's been running through my mind periodically for the last several months and has recently come to the forefront of my thought processes because of our study of Genesis 22, Genesis 28, and Deuteronomy 5 in my Hebrew class. We just finished translating Genesis 22, The first four verses of Genesis 28 were our midterm and we've just begun translating Deuteronomy 5.

As we studied these scriptures, there were particular discussions in class and phrases throughout these passages that brought my mind up to the remembrance of these lyrics. These lyrics are ones that I have previously thought in depth about, but had pushed aside for some time because of the relative incompleteness of my knowledge of certain things. As my knowledge has grown, so has my understanding of the lyrics of this sacred hymn. For those that are not familiar with the text, the lyrics are as follows:

1. The Spirit of God like a fire is burning;
The latter day glory begins to come forth;
The visions and blessings of old are returning;
The angels are coming to visit the earth.

2. The Lord is extending the saints' understanding—
Restoring their judges and all as at first;
The knowledge and power of God are expanding
The veil o'er the earth is beginning to burst.

3. We'll call in our solemn assemblies, in spirit,
To spread forth the kingdom of heaven abroad,
That we through our faith may begin to inherit
The visions, and blessings, and glories of God.

4. How blessed the day when the lamb and the lion
Shall lie down together without any ire;
And Ephraim be crown'd with his blessing in Zion,
As Jesus descends with his chariots of fire!

Chorus:
We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven:
Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!
Let glory to them in the highest be given,
Henceforth and forever: amen and amen!
LDS Hymns #2

Now, as I've considered the text of this hymn, I have often wondered if this is somewhat a "journey-like" hymn or at least one that is "progressive." Allow me to explain here.

As we are aware, the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints did not come about all at once, nor did it occur with great aplomb, but rather its seeds sprouted forth through the faith of a young fourteen year-old boy who saw God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ in answer to a prayer of supplication to the two Heavenly Beings. Over time, specific truths were revealed and the power of God was gradually returned to the inhabitants of the earth until a fullness of the Gospel existed once again in the mortal realm.

With this gradualness in mind, it offers a somewhat deeper understanding of the lyrics of this song. In the first verse we read that the latter-day glory is beginning to come forth and that angels are coming to visit the earth. This has been fulfilled through the conference of the Priesthood keys upon Joseph Smith - through the hands of John the Baptist and the disciples of Christ - Peter, James and John. The Prophet also received visitations from the angel Moroni in his own bedroom as well as the prophet Elijah - who restored the sealing powers to the earth. Additionally, there are documented visitations of several other angelic beings in the 128th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants - these beings including but not limited to Michael the archangel (Adam), Gabriel (Noah?), Raphael and "of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time" (Doctrine and Covenants 128:21)

Continue on to the second verse where it clearly notes that the knowledge-base of the Latter-Day Saints is expanding and that the veil over the earth is beginning to burst - which young Joseph demonstrated with his opposition in the Sacred Grove to the power of the adversary and continuing to the spreading of the knowledge of an Eternal Father and a living Christ who performed the action of the Atonement on the behalf of mankind, and the understanding of our divine relationships to both beings.

In verse three is where it gets most interesting. Note the presence of the first line of the verse that states that "we'll call in our solemn assemblies in spirit." This is in direct reference likely to the scripture in Genesis 28:3 which reads "And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and mulitply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people. If one were to translate this verse from is original Hebraic form, they would find that the scripture does not prescribe a "multitude of people" but rather refers to a "large, solemn assembly." Further this with the recognition that in the modern-day - at the passing of the current prophet, the new one is presented to the body of the Church through a solemn assembly - one where the Prophet is sustained by groups, first as a Priesthood body, and eventually embodying the entire Church.

What are the promises of the third first following the first line? That we through our faith may begin to inherit -- or in other words through our support of the Brethren of the Church, including the Lord's Prophet himself, the visions, blessings, and glories of God. In a previous blog I've discussed that the "glory of God" is intelligence or in other words light and truth. (Doctrine and Covenants 93:36)

As Bro. Baron pointed out the other day in class, when we sustain a Prophet of the Lord, we sustain him as not only a Prophet, but also as a Seer, and a Revelator. He then explained that a Prophet speaks of existing truths, a seer sees things not visibile to the natural eye, and a revealator speaks of truths to come. That sure sounds like the "visions, blessings, and glories of God" to me!

Now, the forth verse is one that I find most intriguing. The phrase "How blessed the day when the lamb and the lion shall lie down together without any ire" is the focal point of my thoughts on this verse. This verse is based on the scripture in Isaiah, verse 6 which reads "the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lied down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them."

My thoughts on this are purely speculative, but I believe that the verse should perhaps read: "How blessed the day when the Lamb and the Lion shall lie down together without any ire." The untrained eye may claim that I have made no change in the phrase, but I have - the capitalization of two letters which I believe further annunciates the perhaps intended meaning of this verse.

We don't know much of the Tribes of Israel in their detail - their specific inheritances as they relate the modern-day, their symbols, or really anything. We do know some though. Of the many things that we do know, we know that the tribe of Judah is represented by the symbol of a lion. Jews from birth are of the tribe of Judah - which is where the term Jew came from. Interestingly though, they are still awaiting the coming of Christ - no, not the second one, the FIRST one. We know that one of the many symbols of Christ is the Lamb.

Several modern prophecies and commentaries by the Brethren state that in the Last Days there will be a time of the Genitle and a time of the Jew (the last shall be the first and the first shall be the last; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.) At the time of the jews, the missionary work of the Church will shift its focus on to the Jews across the sea and their eventual acceptance of Christ. When this happens, this will be very soon before the Second Coming and will also perhaps be in fulfillment of the prophetic hymn text that says that the "Lamb and the Lion will lie down together without any ire" or in other words the Jewish nation finally accepting Christ (who is one of their own, but they don't realize that).

In any case, whether my speculations are correct, I gain a great strengthening of my testimony when I hear this song, and wish that more members of the Church would treat this song with the sacredness that it deserves, rather than passively singing this song and nearly every Church occasion that arises.

Those are my thoughts, take them or the leave them!

It Is Better That One Man Should Perish...

2009-10-18T20:42:00.000-04:00

My apologies to my loyal readers for the infrequency of my posts. This last week has been quite busy with catching up on makeup work from previously missed class.

Most of you are familiar with the fact that I'm taking a Biblical Hebrew class this semester. Despite the fact that my grades are not necessarily reflecting it, it has been one of my favorite classes this semester. I have gained a greater depth of testimony by just studying the small amount of scripture that we have been translating for our class.

Though, to this point we have only translated a handful of verses from the 22nd Chapter of Genesis, the depth of these verses has offered a great deal of insight into gospel principles and especially strengthened my testimony and understanding of the Atonement.

Recently, when translating a set of verses this last week, I was brought to the recollection of the phrase "it is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief." The interesting thing is that this phrase doesn't appear in Genesis 22 in any form. In fact, those that are familiar with the chapter (the one where Isaac is prepared and offered for sacrifice) will know that in the first 10 verses, that Isaac has just barely been placed upon the altar, much less any lessons learned from it by Abraham at this point.

What an in depth analysis of this chapter will reveal however is the great similarities between the preparations and subsequent sacrifice by Jesus Christ himself in preparing the Atonement of the world and the elements of the test that Abraham was asked to endure in the 22nd chapter.

As I pondered these commonalities, I was inspired to understand the Atonement even further, and began to wonder if perhaps that the Lord was giving Nephi additional counsel through the Spirit when offering this phrase in 1 Nephi 4:13. Note that in the 14th verse, Nephi "remembered the words of the Lord which he spake unto me in the wilderness." Thus, this indicates that even though Nephi correlates this to additional counsel in the rest of the verse, he has heard these words before. This is perhaps because it is one of the fundamental principles of the Atonement - that one man (Jesus Christ) should perish so that an entire nation (the rest of God's children) should not dwindle and perish in unbelief.

As we consider this notion, we come to the realization that there are many symbolisms of the Ultimate Sacrifice throughout the scriptures, and perhaps the reason that I was brought to this inspiration as I translated only a few of the verses in Genesis 22. Though Isaac was never sacrificed in physical nature, the emotional willingness and mental anguish that Abraham endured in full willingness was enough to reward him with the covenant of a loving Father and the promise of becoming the father of many nations and over an innumerable seed later on in that chapter. Could not the Lord have offered similar counsel in teaching Abraham after this strenuous plight? Perhaps, but we can discern this counsel by studying it and applying the similarities between the rest of the standard works.

There are yet other instances in which "one man should / does / would perish" so that a "nation would not dwindle and perish in unbelief." Consider for a moment the account of Abinadi in Mosiah 11-17. Abinadi preached the word of God to a very wicked leadership of the people, harsh enough that it would result in his death by burning at the stake. Present in that audience was Alma, the future prophet, and one of the greatest missionaries of all dispensations. We don't know what might have happened had circumstances been different, but we do know that in some way, the murder of the prophet sealed with that blood a testimony that struck Alma's heart which resulted in his conversion and the conversion of an entire nation of people to the gospel of Jesus Christ which would bring them great light and life.

Moroni in his censuring of Pahorn, the Cheif Judge of the Nephites, offers additional counsel on this subject when he said: "For the Lord suffereth the righteous to be slain that his justice and judgment may come upon the wicked; therefore ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God." (Alma 60:13).

Consider also the account from Alma 14:

8 And they brought their wives and children together, and whosoever believed or had been taught to believe in the word of God they caused that they should be cast into the fire; and they also brought forth their records which contained the holy scriptures, and cast them into the fire also, that they might be burned and destroyed by fire.
9 And it came to pass that they took Alma and Amulek, and carried them forth to the place of martyrdom, that they might witness the destruction of those who were consumed by fire.
10 And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.
11 But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.

There are several other examples of one man perishing to save a nation in the Book of Mormon, but perhaps one that hits our hearts most in this modern era is the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the Prophet: " Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3)

The great musical orator W.W. Phelps, stated in his work "Praise to the Man":

Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus annointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.

Chorus
Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.

Praise to his mem'ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest be his ever great name!
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assasins,
Plead unto heav'n while the earth lauds his fame.

Chorus

Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.

Chorus

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice.
Millions shall know 'Brother Joseph' again.

Chorus

(Hymns #27, Praise to the Man)

The testimony of many of these great men, sacrificing themselves such that many nations, kindreds, tongues and people would come to a further knowledge of the gospel and greater understanding of the nature of God have had a profound impact on the lives of many, but so also can we have an impact on others also. No, we will likely not be called upon to sacrifice our own lives physically such that it may one day lead to the salvation of an entire nation, but we are called upon to do so in other means.

If I could offer the following tweak to the aforementioned phrase, it will perhaps help us to understand this better: "It is better that the natural man should perish, than an entire posterity perish and dwindle in unbelief." We may not consider ourselves hugely responsible for the governance of an entire nation, but in the long run, we will each be accountable to such. Our failure to convert our own hearts fully to the gospel is to potentially curse a nation of people with a dwindling of unbelief and unrighteousness. Do we strive to live according to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God - be it through the translated works that sit dusty on many an end table only to be casually thrown into a bag on Sunday; through the mouths of modern day prophets - which are oft ignored in the pursuit of "more exciting" activities; or even through the promptings of the Spirit which may touch our hearts and minds on a daily basis, but are shrugged off and quickly cast from our minds? I invite all of you, including myself, to recommit yourselves to your personal conversion, such that you may gain the same promise Abraham was offered when he was willing to offer his only son Isaac to the Father, and so that we may look our Savior in the eyes at our final judgment and say that we did our best to bring salvation and life to many nations and posterities because of our willingness to sacrifice the natural man within and be obedient to His command.

Overcoming the Trials of Our Faith

2009-10-07T15:15:00.000-04:00

This is a "talk" that I wrote last year for my Teachings of the Living Prophets class that was taught by the University President. I actually wrote this in a General Conference format - just as you would see it appear in the Conference Edition of the Ensign twice a year. (Anyone that wants to see it in its original formatting - with references that unfortunately not copy over properly into the Word Processor, let me know and leave me your email address):

(If there are formatting problems or mistakes, I apologize - I had to import this from a PDF printout because my original copy of this document was corrupted)

BRANDON G, WILCOX
Student

If we are to be true disciples of Jesus Christ, we must overcome the trials that challenge our faith to follow Him.

Several years ago prior to my missionary service I was awaiting a call from the ward chorister to report the songs I would be playing the following Sunday as Ward Organist. After several minutes, the phone rang and the expected number appeared. It was not her, but rather her mother. She was calling to see if my father was home, but he was unfortunately at work. This sister was calling to find another Melchizedek Priesthood holder to assist in a blessing. A member of the ward had been involved in a serious car accident earlier that day. I reminded her that I had recently been ordained an Elder. She requested my assistance, to which I agreed. The catch: I had just had my wisdom teeth removed the day prior and my jaw was swollen shut!

Upon arrival at the hospital, we went into the room where I placed my hands upon the injured sister’s head. As I began to speak, my jaw loosened - such that I could pronounce the anointing. Immediately after finishing my jaw swelled shut again barring me from further speech. This became a powerful testimony of faith to me.

Over the years, I have pondered the experience and have reflected on the many things that I have learned as a result. Of the many things that I have reflected on, I have concluded this experience was at that time a trial of my faith. Further, I have come to ask myself “how does this trial help me to become a disciple of Christ?"

Ether tells us in the Book of Mormon that “[we] receive no witness until after the trial of [our] faith.”’ What witness is it that we are seeking though? In a family experience that tested his wife, Elder Bednar recounts that the witness that received from his spouse’s exercise of faith included “inspiration about a number of issues that were pressing upon our minds...”

While we surely cannot expect answers to all of our questions simply by pulling ourselves in faith-stretching situations on a continuous basis, we can learn about our Father’s love for us and gradually convert our faith to perfect knowledge. Said Jesus to the woman who touched his robes: “Daughter, be of good comfort: they faith hath made thee whole.”

Too often, we are inclined to see only the physical result of this trial of faith, but we need not overlook the knowledge gained by this woman. She became recognizant of the Savior’s power and gained great knowledge and testimony that could later be borne to friends and acquaintances.

Nephi teaches us of a powerful companion to faith in the Book of Mormon: “I was led by the Spirit, not knowing. . . nevertheless, I went forth” Many times in our trials we will find that we do not know the path which we must take in that trial - but if we are living worthy of it, we will have the guidance of the Spirit to help us through.

The key to our growth and progression as disciples of Jesus Christ is action. Nephi was led the Spirit in his quest to gain knowledge and guidance. He did not simply stand around and wait for guidance to strike him in the same fashion that his brethren already had, but rather made the necessary preparations in order to most effectively exercise his faith. President Eyring states this same thing in other words: “know that we are not the helpless victims of our circumstances.”

As we come to exercise our faith more fully, we also come to realize that prayer must be coupled with it. While the answers and directions to our trials may not be any more immediately apparent through prayer, Elder Richard G. Scott states “sometimes God lets you struggle for a long time before the answer comes,” but that our faith will increase because of it.

In his latest Conference address, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf illustrates the exercise of faith h his mother in overcoming a particularly taxing trial during his childhood. In this counsel, he reminds us that faith. alone with hope and charity “stabilize our lives regardless of’ the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter”

As we continually exercise faith, that faith begins to grow and become the other two elements hope and charity that will ultimately lead to our progression as disciples of Christ. We must have all three of these elements present within us in order to be effective ministers of the l.ord. In counseling Joseph Smith, the Lord said “And if you have not faith, hope, and charity, you can do nothing.” Stated another way: “And faith, hope. charity, and love, qualify him for the work.”

The Lord’s rebuke to his Apostles upon the water serves as a rebuke to each one of us individually for our lack of faith. to their pleas of ‘aster master, we perish”’ the Lord responds. “Why are you so fearful. how is it that ye have no faith””’ Are we likewise also sailors on that same boat at various times in our lives? Do we not cry out in agony during the trials in our lives for the Master to mete out some measure of salvation or calm the storms of adversity in a show of mercy when in reality we simply need only to exercise a particle of faith?

It would seem that during our “trials of faith” that is the one thing that we need to exercise most Just as a recovering patient needs to rehabilitate and exercise a limb, which has just been injured or operated upon, we need to exercise faith in the Savior when we find ourselves confronted with an “unbearable” situation. If our faith is not strong enough to support ourselves, then how can we be expected to be a representative of Him who has perfect knowledge of all things? Another stern rebuke was given to a potential follower of the Savior in the book of Luke. This follower was essentially disqualified from being a disciple of Christ because he wanted to “[put] his hand to the plow, and [look back].”

We cannot, during our trials. simply wallow around in self-pity and “wish things were the way they used to be.” Neither, can we be as the five unprepared virgins at the feast of the bridegroom President Eyring calls the unwise virgins “faithless servants who delayed their preparation."

Our late beloved prophet. President Gordon H Hinckley struggled himself with faith during his missionary service. In response to his lack of faith and trust in the work, President Hinckley’s father told him to “forget [himself] and go to work.”

Our living prophet today is a great example of this. His show of faith on numerous occasions, especially those where he is rending service to other individuals help to illustrate the need to have a more perfect faith in our own lives [his more perfect faith will not only allow us to overcome our own trials and tribulations, hut will also allow us to assist others in overcoming theirs.

I testify that faith is an essential component to our salvation as well as the salvation of our fellow brothers and sisters around us. If we will more fully exercise faith in our lives, we will find incalculable growth within ourselves and progress towards inheriting all that the Father has for us when we are invited into the marriage feast. This is the Savior’s invitation to us when he exhorts us to “come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Understanding the Plight of Abraham

2009-09-26T13:00:00.000-04:00

In my Hebrew class recently, we have begun translating Genesis 22 and discussing some of the meanings behind the vocabulary in it. One of the phrases in there translates out to in the KJV of the Bible "that God did tempt Abraham" whereas in the Hebrew manuscript - it reads "וְהָאֱלֹהִים נִסּה אֶת־אַבְרָהָם" which is translated out to mean "and God tested Abraham"...

...only it doesn't REALLY translate out to the latter. The problem is that the verb form that is used in this instance isn't something we can relate to in English. Its what's known as an "intensive verb" meaning that it takes on the basic form of a verb, but it means so much more. For instance - we sometimes say fight, but we want a way to say "a really intense fight where both both competitors are putting their all into it" - but we don't have a one word verb for it. Thus, in Hebrew its the same way.

The reason I bring this up is because of what Bro. Baron began teaching us - which in turn inspired me to search the scriptures even further and come to a better understanding of what this means to me personally.

We begin our study of greater understanding with the 132nd Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, verse 29 (the one Bro. Baron directed us to read) which reads:

"Abraham received all things whatsoever he received, by relvealtion and commandment, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne." (Emphasis added)

Note that the key phrase in here is the words "all things." This inspired me to consider another scripture that I think more of us are familiar with - Abraham 3: 25 which reads:

"and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;"(Emphasis added.

Again, notice the presence of the phrase "all things" - specifically all things that the Lord commands. As we consider this even more, we turn to the two scriptures in the footnotes - Doctrine and Covenants 98:14 and Doctrine and Covenants 124:55:

14: therefore, be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy." (Emphasis added)

55: "And again, verily I say unto you, I command you again to build a house to my name, even in this place, that you may prove yourselves unto me that ye are faithful in all things whatsoever I command you, that I may bless you and crown you with honor, immortality and eternal life. (Emphasis added).

Notice again and again the presence and specification of the term "all things" - but more importantly - the promise we gain from the 55th verse there which are those same blessings awarded to Abraham according to the first verse we studied.

Why was the term "test" even questioned in the first place? Its because the beginning of the verse in Genesis 22 reads "And it came to pass, that after these things..." The term "these things" is believed to refer to Genesis 11-22 which chronicles the life of Abraham. When studying these chapters, one will note that Abraham had been through many trials and tests already. Thus, for Abraham to be "tested" yet again in this instance - was either redundant, improperly cited, or as the Hebrew manuscript dictates - the term "test" is an intensive verb - meaning that it was much more than a test.

My interpretation is that the Lord wanted Abraham to "prove that he was faithful to Him in all things This is wholly applicable to our lives because of what the Lord asks of us. Each of us were sent to mortality to be tested, but not merely to pass, nor to endure all of the simple tests given to us, but rather for each and every one us to prove our faithfulness to the Father in all things that we are commanded to do - or worded in other ways to endure it well.

We must ask ourselves after knowing this - "am I doing what I can to prove in all things that I am being faithful to the Lord?" "Do I have faith enough to act upon anything I have been called to do at His hand?" "What can I do to show greater devotion to God and His commandments?"

I'm not perfect, nor will I ever be, but this did awaken me to a new train of thought - to see if I am proving myself worthy of inheriting those same blessings as Father Abraham!

Our Final Judgment?

2009-09-21T22:41:00.000-04:00

This is a post that I eluded to making the other night, but one that I'm not entirely sure how to enumerate on really. This is because it is somewhat speculative in nature and really doesn't have a lot of firm backing for it. Yes, there are things that can be pieced together, but for the most part, its just wondering.

We talk of the nature of God a lot, especially the demeanor of Christ, but do we really consider the infinity of that nature / demeanor? What I mean by this, is we understand Jesus Christ to be a very loving Elder Brother, but yet when considering His role in the final judgment, I believe that there's a good many of us that tend to alter our perceptions of Him and how things will be. The biggest problem is that we don't know - on any of it, because no one has ever gone through it before. We do know several things about its potential though, and we know of things both in heaven and on earth that may give us greater insight into the subject.

My first considerations of this topic actually occurred not with the post from the other night, but as I was working in the temple one day over the seven week break. As I considered the work that was being done for the dead - and the phrase "the hearts of the fathers turned to the children and the hearts of the children turned to the fathers," I began to wonder what things would be like in the hereafter when we meet those that we have done the work for.

While pondering this issue, I began to wonder if perhaps the dead have a bigger role in our lives than we can possibly imagine. My personal belief is that they do, and I'll explain why:

Fact: We know that the government of the Church is in similitude to the government of heaven. Thus, for occurrences, words, and blessings to be bound on earth and accordingly in heaven - the Church must function according to the established patterns of the heretofore and hereafter. Keeping that in mind, one must consider the workings of the Church and how that might be similar to those scenarios which we might encounter after this life.

Fact: We know that the Savior himself will be our judge, with Joseph Smith at his side advising / judging also: Parley P. Pratt says: "He [Joseph Smith] will continue holding those keys through all eternity, and will stand—yes, again in the flesh upon this Earth, as the head of the Latter-day Saints, under Jesus Christ, and under Peter, James and John. He will hold the keys to judge the generation to whom he was sent, and will judge my brethren that preside over me; and will judge me, together with the Apostles ordained by the word of the Lord through him and under his administration. When this is done, those Apostles will judge this generation and the Latter-day Saints; and they will judge them with that judgment which Jesus Christ will give unto them; and they will have the same spirit and the same mind as Jesus Christ, and their judgment will be His judgment, for they will be one * * * Brother Brigham, who now presides over us, will hold the keys under Brother Joseph; and he and his brethren, who hold the keys with him, or under his direction, will judge the people; for they will hold those keys to all eternity, worlds without end. By those keys they will have to judge this generation; and Peter, James, and John will hold the keys to preside over, and judge, and direct Brother Joseph to all eternity; and Jesus Christ will hold the keys over them and over us, under His Father, to whom be all the glory" (Journal of Dis., Vol. V., p. 196).

Fact: We know that the Bishops and Presidents of the Stakes and Wards of Zion stand in the place of Christ and judge according to the manner in which He Himself may render judgment.

Thus - based on all of this, if the Bishops and Stake Presidents judge according to the pattern of Christ, then the way in which that judgment is pronounced must be similar in nature! Now, that having been said, it opens up a school of thought as to how the rest of this occurs.

I say this most humbly and regretfully - but I've been a part of a disciplinary council, so I have first-hand knowledge of how they work. That aside, there is also additional information found in the Scriptures that may offer us additional insight. I invite you to read at this time the 102nd Section of the Doctrine and Covenants - there's far more in there than should be needfully posted here, as to keep the length from exceeding its already expansive size.

When studying this section, one will observe the proceedings of the High Council and how they must "pick sides" in assisting the Stake President with rendering judgment to accused members of the Church. This is a similar pattern to what is conducted in a Bishop's Court - with the Bishop serving as judge, and each counselor taking opposing sides in the case.

That said, we can understand that Jesus Christ will be the judge up in Heaven, and we can assume that Joseph and all the other prophets of our dispensation will draw sides accordingly and argue our individual cases on our behalf. With the sides chosen however, there are those instances in which the accused may stand before the court and present evidences in their behalf (vs. 17-19). Now, having been through a disciplinary council myself, I know from experience, that some of the evidences that can and ought to be presented are not only the hard evidences (those that will be presented out of the "books that are written") but also character evidences presented by others. When I went through this, my good friend and Elder's Quorum President at the time was presented before the Court to offer up a character witness in my behalf.

Now, this will be true I'm sure in the hereafter also - with those close to us being able to present references of our character to the Lord, but I believe that there are yet others that will be able to present a much greater character witness to Him than we have previously considered: the dead!

They will possibly be our most reliable and most detrimental witnesses for and against us. Those that have gone before us will have knowledge of our actions on earth and be able to testify of them accordingly, but they will also be able to stand before the Lord and unequivocally recognize their salvation as being a result of our performance of temple ordinances in their behalf. While not everyone will be grateful for our parts in their salvation, we can be certain that there will be a fair number of individuals that will recognize the charity bestowed upon them, and will seek to repay that in some form.

Additionally, in recognizing this - it is a literal fulfillment of the prophecies that we cannot be saved without our dead. In this instance, I believe this is how our salvation is to occur! We will need to rely on the dead and hope that our charity in performing ordinances in their behalf will be reciprocated - as would be the case in a Christ-like environment.

Those are my thoughts - I could be TOTALLY wrong, but I don't know. Just something that's been on my mind though.

Stuff Gleaned From Hebrew Class

2009-09-19T00:33:00.001-04:00

I'm way excited here! There's a ton of WAY AWESOME things that I've learned in my Hebrew class the last several days that I just HAVE to tell everyone! Let's see if I can explain it here:

1. Today's class started with a discussion of the day in Jewish culture -
ראש חשנח
Which we know to be as "Rosh Hashana"

Now, the Jewish culture celebrates this as the "new year" - even though it falls on the 1st day of the 7th month. Now, keep in mind also, that the Jewish culture abides by a lunar calendar, not a civil calendar. This is significant for what I'm about to tell you in several ways.

As it was explained by Bro. Baron, my professor, the adversary has largely corrupted this day - there is nothing in the Levitical writings of the Old Testament to state that the new year is to be celebrated on this day as the other holidays described in there. What is written is that this day should be a celebration of the blowing of the trumpets to signify the final harvest of the season and the beginning of the second part of the year.

Now - keep all that in mind and go to Joseph Smith History 1:59 where we read:

At length the time arrived for obtaining the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate. On the twenty-second day of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, having gone as usual at the end of another year to the place where they were deposited, the same heavenly messenger delivered them up to me with this charge: that I should be responsible for them; that if I should let them go carelessly, or through any neglect of mine, I should be cut off; but that if I would use all my endeavors to preserve them, until he, the messenger, should call for them, they should be protected.

This is a VERY significant day when you boil it down to it! Consult here:

Chabad.org

The conversion of the date to the Jewish equivalent is Tisheri 1 - which is the first day of the 7th month...i.e. the New Year! Great! Now what?

Well, turn to the 4th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants - verse 4: For behold, the field is white, all ready to harvest and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul.

Remember that the true nature of the celebrations of Rosh Hashana are to be the celebration of the harvest - NOT the New Year! Yet, the adversary has managed to focus on the non-doctrinal celebration of a non-existent New Year, in an effort to hide the fact that the plates were given to young Joseph on that very day - which ushered in a new DISPENSATION - not just a year. What are the field and the sickle in the 4th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants? It is to mean the world being harvested with the gospel and the Book of Mormon.

The awesomeness doesn't stop there though! Who gave young Joseph the plates? None other than the Angel Moroni. What is he always portrayed carrying? A TRUMPET!!!! Coincidence? We think not!!!!!

2) The Hebrew depiction of the words for man (איש) and for the word woman(אשה) are much closer in correlation than many of us realize!

Note that the two words in their Hebraic format share four common characters, with only the י and the ה being unique to each of them. Where the man contains the yod and the woman contains the hey, they in and of themselves are insignificant - but when combined with the other: יה they become the Hebrew abbreviation for Jehovah!!!! Pretty cool huh???? Thus - the man by himself, and the woman by herself cannot attain to anything god-like, but when given in marriage under God's rule, they obtain the ability to unite and become as God himself! Also - yet ANOTHER argument AGAINST same-sex marriage!

3) The term Hosanna is translated from Hebrew to mean "Save us, please" - thus when we offer our Hosanna shout in the temple dedication ceremony - it is literally a plea to God to offer salvation to ALL - both the living and the dead! More coolness huh?

Chew on those for tonight! :-)

What is the Work and Glory of God?

2009-09-17T02:18:00.000-04:00

Okay, I've gotten enough hints that I need to put a new blog up here, so I'm going to do my best here to see what I can do. The problem is that I'm not quite sure how I want to say this all because of the many insights that I've had on the topic.

There are I believe two scriptures that will effectively set the basis for my discussion right now. You might pull your own scriptures out to mark them with any thoughts that you might have. The first is in Moses 1:39:

For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man

Basic Seminary scripture there - my Seminary teacher would be proud of me that I did that from memory. Okay not really - everyone and their nursery kids know that scripture from memory. The second scripture that I will present however, I believe adds a great deal of depth into our potential understanding of the first - Doctrine and Covenants 93:36:

The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.

We put the two together and we see that the work and intelligence / light / truth of God is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Okay? Clear as mud right? Now, here's where it gets interesting...

1) Prior to our existence as spiritual beings, we were intelligences. Abraham 3: 22 clearly states this, reading: Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was... In other words, we were beings of a lesser form of pure light and/or truth.

This notion is further cemented with the words "here is matter unorganized" and its following story for those that are familiar with the phrase. Where else do we read about this? The 131st Section of the Doctrine and Covenants!:

There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes. (Verse 7)

Modern-day scientists actually have this concept right when they state that matter cannot be created or destroyed - only organized or put into chaos. Concurrently - we were the organized creation of God the Father, and are beings of intelligence in His likeness. Now, hold onto that thought for a few minutes as you read more...

2) As we turn back one section from the last, to the 130th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, we read in the 18th and 19th verses:

18. Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. 19. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.

The words "unto" and "and" in the previous passage are KEY words that help us to understand the meaning of these scriptures. We will perhaps understand the first part - about the attaining of intelligence by cross-referencing to 2 Nephi 9:13:

O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect.

Thus - intelligence becomes translated to mean perfection in this case. In other words - whatever principle of perfection we reach in this life, we carry with us to the next. This is backed up in the later phrase referring to knowledge and intelligence. Thus - knowledge is our faith, the imperfect knowledge which we gain in this life which eventually evolves into a charitable celestial knowledge and eventually into intelligence.

3. As if we need further backing for this insight - consider the phrase the "light of Christ" We know from above that the glory of God is intelligence...or in other words light and truth Hmmm - so if intelligence is to mean perfection and intelligence is also light and truth - then perfection is to be light and truth also. (Hence the dwelling place of God is in Exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom).

Further: For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil...wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. (Moroni 7:16)

There we have the term "perfect knowledge" again - which is to say intelligence. Thus, what we glean from all this, especially after cross-referencing other scriptures (which I will not attempt to do here) is that every mortal soul upon this earth has a measure of perfection within them at birth and throughout their lives. The Fall of Adam and Eve was such that imperfection - the partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - was brought into a temple of perfection and therefore one could not behold the other in their presence, and the imperfections were cast out - in this case Adam and Eve out of the Garden.

While we cannot hope to obtain complete perfection or intelligence in this life, we can build upon the intelligence inherently within ourselves as Spirit children of Divine beings and Spirit brothers and sisters of a perfect Brother.

Our attaining of immortality and eternal life will not be Hurculean and nature like Disney's film was, but it will largely be determined in this life by the choices we make. As we push ourselves to grow and we seek for further light and knowledge from Father - just as Adam did when he was cast out of the Garden, we will one day return to the presence of our God and present to him the elements of our perfected countenances and accept our judgment accordingly (that'll be a future blog btw!) There's some stuff for you to think about there!

Identity Theft of Another Form

2009-09-09T02:27:00.000-04:00

Recently, I was asked to do the security for my complex on a permanent basis. As I've contemplated what must be done to secure the public areas, and thought about the different measures taken to safeguard various locations in our lives, I began thinking about in a more in-depth stance.

Throughout a typical day we perform many safeguarding routines, often subconsciously or even passively. We lock our car doors when exiting our vehicles, secure our houses and apartments, pat our back pockets periodically to make sure that we have our wallets or keys or whatever, and continuously think about creative ways to create difficult passwords while still being able to remember them. We even make sure that we have all the necessary phone numbers in our cell phones just in case we need to call someone in an emergency.

As a whole though, we are wildly irresponsible when it comes to our spiritual security.

Let us consider the typical day of many a member of the Church (including myself at times): We roll out of bed after hitting the snooze button on our alarm multiple times. We realize that we are now later than we had planned on being and must now rush to make up for lost time. We quickly grab something to eat on the way out the door and head off to our intended destination. Along the way we realize that we've forgotten something or a delay has arisen and we silently "pray" that we'll get through the new struggle and curse ourselves for being so irresponsible. Following that day's labors we come home and are engrossed in the latest sitcom and then retire to our beds only when we nearly fall asleep in our chairs, barely placing our heads on the pillow before exhaustion consumes our physical bodies.

While this may seem a little too condensed for a day and somewhat cliche, the fact of the matter is that its true...for a lot of people.

We go about our lives claiming to be children of God, and members of the Church, or whatever title you want to place in there, but do we really consider what it takes to be that? As a student at BYU-Idaho we carry student identification cards, and we have signed our names on a contract indicating that we will follow the rules that we have agreed to at all times, and in all things, and in all places. Thus, the cards in our wallets not only identify us to the school, but they become a symbolic identity of what we stand for.

What identity do we present to the world, or even to our roommates and families? Each week when partaking of the sacrament, we covenant to "always remember Him, and keep His commandments which he has given [us]" in an exchange for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. The question is though - how much do we REALLY remember Him? Further, what kind of an identity do we really carry out into the world, much less secure for ourselves?

Do we safeguard our lives at every chance we get, or do we hastily move about our daily activities failing to remember who we are and what we stand for? Just because we associate with those that do not hold our same standards, do we even make it known to them what we DO stand for, or instead, do we simply ignore the guilt pangs in our conscience or just go along with the crowd?

What about the judgments we pass on a daily basis? Do we judge according to the will and way of the Lord, or are we quick to be acted upon by the influences of the adversary and fail to act for ourselves in a rational way? Do we allow unrighteous dominion to enter the doors of our spiritual havens or rationale to be bent in the pursuit of something less than godlike?

What about our Spiritual Computers....our brains? Do we have those "password protected" - or in other words, do we control the thoughts of our minds such that the adversary cannot penetrate them and get into the hearts of our systems? The adversary knows the thoughts of our minds just as the Lord does, and to even rationalize in theory only is to unsafely reveal those things which may make our Spirits vulnerable to the wiles of the devil.

Let us not forget our Spiritual cell phones! Why is it that we fail to call home and talk to our Heavenly Father more frequently than not, and yet we are so willing to call our mortal parents and annoy them multiple times a day? Why is it that when we get the sniffles or have trouble functioning physically that we rush to the nearest physician for the latest in medicine, but yet even when we have massive Spiritual heart attacks we don't even seek the advice and healing power of the Master?

In fact, why is that we only turn to God in our lives in the most desperate times of need? How is it that we can go about our lives treating God like a Spiritual Paramedic that's called by the dialing of three digits, and fail to address him at any other time?

We call ourselves Children of God, and we claim to belong to His Church, but what identity have we sought to secure for ourselves? Have our identities been stolen by the adversary and shaped by him to become what HE wants them to be - weak, brittle, and rather crowd-like in nature, or have we taken the initiative in our lives to mold our identities to become similar to that of the Savior himself and emulate his footsteps always?

Just more to think about!

The Infinity of Choice

2009-09-07T00:40:00.000-04:00

Over the last two weeks while in Church, I have tried to pay close attention to the promptings that I've felt and try to discern different bits of knowledge from what has been taught in classes. As I've pondered the many things that have been taught and brought up, there was an ideal that came to mind that I wish to address at this time.

Mankind has control over an infinite element - choice!

This may be somewhat of an abstract statement to comprehend, but perhaps with my explanation here it will be more clear.

Let us first examine a set of scriptures from 2nd Nephi 9:

For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord. Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement - save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. -- 2 Nephi 9: 6-7

The key to this passage is that the Atonement is infinite. Why? It must be infinite to cover the infinity of agency! Additionally this infinity of agency is what allowed the Plan to be presented, the war to take place in heaven, and thereafter the Fall to take place on earth! There were not just two sides in the war in heaven - there were many, just as there were not just two choices in the Garden - there were an infinite amount of possibilities.

This idea seems to be further backed up when after partaking of the fruit, Adam and Eve are brought to the realization that they have become as the Gods - knowing good from evil and everything in between. There is an even simpler way of explaining this though!

In Moses 1:39 - we learn that the work and glory of the Lord is bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. The eternal life of man is to be understood to be eternal life with God the Father, and inheriting all that he has. In two places in the 20th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants we are told about the infinite power of God. Thus if God is infinite in His power, and we are to inherit all that He hath, then the element of choice must be infinite also in order to allow for that potential!

What does this mean to us though? What good is it to know that we have infinite choice? To know that we have infinite choice is to come to the knowledge of many things: 1) That God trusts us enough that he does not necessitate commanding in all things (D&C 58:26-28). For God to command in all things is to deny us of agency.

The second element that we gain from this understanding though is probably the most important: By understanding the infinity of choice, we gain a much greater understanding of the workings of the Holy Ghost in our lives! What?!?!? Examine the following scripture:

And he said, Go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord. and, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after after the fire a still small voice.

The Lord could easily command us to do many things or speak in heavy voices or with great power - but at that point he removes our agency from listening. The other advantage of speaking through the still small voice is that it causes men to seek for the answers and for the words that it speaks to them. In other words, in order to enjoy the guidance of the Spirit - one must choose to do so!

How blessed we are to learn from the promptings of the still small voice and to have an infinite control over our ability to choose. While our choices do not always guarantee action or success, we are still given that ability - predicated upon our exercise of righteous judgment. As long as we stay righteous though - the rest is up to us...literally!