Fruits, Not Roots

I have been messaged by two people recently who either stopped believing God’s prophets, lost faith in the truth of His Church, or just stopped believing in God entirely based on the behavior of past prophets and the more transparent Church history we now know about. I’m not going to try to resolve any of their specific concerns here, but something came to mind as I spoke to both of these people; something that I have seen as a recurring theme with possibly everyone in their situation.

Each individual (more than just those two, of course) who has expressed their frustration, doubt, or disbelief in the restored gospel because of Church history has unintentionally brought the following phrase to my mind:

Don’t get so focused on the roots of the church that you forget the fruits of the church.

I pondered to myself what I would say if the Spirit directed me to offer my thoughts to these people, even just to help them understand why I believe, if not help them rekindle the fire of their faith. Each point really boils down to that phrase: focus on the fruits, not the roots.

Here are three points that I might use as a reminder why it’s not worth giving up faith in the Lord’s Church, let alone the existence of God, because the way a tree was planted seems off to us. God planted it; it’s not up to us to tell Him how He should have done it. It’s our job just to receive the fruits with gratitude, faith and worship.

Each point is based on a question I have actually been asked or a reason I have been given by such people explaining why they no longer believe.

“There’s some things early Church leaders did that are really bad. Why can’t I judge the personal conduct of a man who claims to speak with God?”

Because we are commanded not to judge anyone, period, by the Son of God Himself. Even Church leaders. Only Christ can judge whether the conduct of others renders them unable to receive revelation for the world. When the Holy Ghost witnesses in the hearts of the listeners that modern day prophets are indeed the mouthpiece of the Lord, that’s all we should need. Judging their supposed actions isn’t just focusing too much on the roots—it’s tantamount to looking at them through a microscope, which is drastically outside of our rights of stewardship.

I like to think of witnesses from the Holy Ghost as Tad R. Callister summarizes this situation in a court room.

“Some years ago my father, who was an attorney, was trying a lawsuit.  For his authority, he cited only one case – an old California Supreme Court case, issued many years before. His opponent cited a number of lower court decisions of much more recent vintage. The judge finally said to my father: “Mr. Callister, don’t have have a more recent case than this?” My father looked at the judge and replied: “Your honor, may I remind you that when the Supreme Court speaks on a matter, it only needs to speak once.” The judge nodded with approval. He was reminded that the Supreme Court trumps all lower court decisions, however numerous or recent they may be.  So it is with God our Father – He only needs to speak once on the issue of morality, and that one declaration trumps all the opinions of the “lower courts,” whether uttered by psychologists, counselors, politicians, friends, parents, or would-be moralists of the day” (Tad R. Callister, “The Lord’s Standard of Morality,” BYU-Idaho Devotional, January 2013).

Not only do we not have the right to judge them, we don’t even have enough information and context to make such judgments about them or anyone else. As some have said, “God has the numbers” to everything and we just don’t. That’s all there is to it.

As Elder Holland said, “Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we.” One read through Jacob 5 in the Book of Mormon illustrates this point further, especially verse 22. 

“But there are things we know now that prove that the Church withheld the whole truth about important details of Church history! What about the Article of Faith that says we believe in being honest?”

 

Did you know that there’s a higher principle than truth? Dr. John Lund said the following in his book, Without Offense: The Art of Giving and Receiving Criticism: “[T]here is a higher and nobler principle than truth: it is to edify.  The Lord has said, ‘and that which does not edify is not of God, and is darkness.’ (D&C: 50:23)” (pg. 35)

Note that the Lord did not put a qualifier on that last statement, which means that if the truth does not edify, it should be withheld. You wouldn’t fault the Lord for withholding the long list of ancient records that we still don’t have (i.e. the full Jaredite record, the names of the Three Nephites, the book of Lehi, etc.), including those of all the missing prophets mentioned in the Bible. That’s His prerogative, not ours. There are some truths the Lord deliberately withholds from us because it would fly so starkly in the face of everything we understand that it would only cause us spiritual damage and offense. As Joseph Smith said to a group of Saints, “Brethren, if I were to tell you all I know of the kingdom of God, I do know that you would rise up and kill me.” Regardless of Joseph’s actions and personal life, the truths the Holy Ghost taught through Him produced the most incredible and long-lasting change in the hearts of men that the world has ever known. It’s far more useful to focus on those fruits than on the semantics of personal sins (or rumors of such sins) of the mortals who God used to plant them.

The Lord even commanded Abraham to lie to Pharoah about who his wife really was. If you look at the Old Testament Institute Manual in the section about Genesis 12:10-20, you will see that in proper context, the situation was much different than it appears at face value.

Another thing to consider with this idea is what Brother Callister also said about what we might call the “razor’s edge” God walks.

“There are certain laws of the universe [justice and mercy] that are immutable, that are without beginning of days or end of years. They were not created by an intelligent being, nor are they the product of moral thought, rather they are eternal, co-existent realities with the intelligences of the universe. These laws are immutable in that they cannot be altered or modified in any form. They unchangeable from eternity to eternity. They are self-existing, self-perpetuating laws to which even God himself is subject.” (Tad R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement, 300)

This isn’t to say that God isn’t all-powerful, but that the reason He IS all-powerful is because He has mastered those laws. He knows what will and will not satisfy both of those laws. He knows when and how certain commandments should be applied, and when they will edify and when they will not. We simply do not know these things. You can read more about this idea here. Also, that concept becomes clearer the more you consider how many times the Lord surprises us with how effectively He can use weak, mortal efforts to accomplish greatness. (Remember how the Lord used the loaves and fishes in the New Testament?)

“I still find it hard to believe that this is God’s Church because if He is the same ‘yesterday, today and forever’ and doesn’t show a ‘shadow of changing’ why is the Church changing so much? It’s too hard to keep up with!”

 

You have to remember that the Church isn’t an end, it’s a means to an end. Referring back to the idea of balancing justice and mercy, God gives us commandments, yes, but those commandments are meant to serve certain edifying purposes at different times. That’s why He could command Nephi to kill Laban, and the Israelites to “utterly destroy” the people in their promised land so they could inherit it. In each case, all parties involved were more edified by a circumstantial command to take the life/lives of another. Yes, sometimes the Lord uses His more righteous children to end the life of others because it’s actually more merciful to release them from mortality so that they don’t heap up any more judgement on their own heads. 

Because the Church is simply a means to an end—namely, our exaltation—and because we are supposed to change more every day, it only makes sense that the church’s policies and programs continue to change to elevate our manner or worship and the way we live (which should be worshipful anyways). Once the ends are achieved, the means will become obsolete. When President Nelson said we’re running out of time, I felt quite strongly that it was a command from Heavenly Father to change faster than we think we can; to forgive and let go of anger, grudges and hurt more completely and quickly; to serve more willingly; to give more time than we think we have to the Lord and trust that He will magnify our efforts for the rest of it (again, fishes and loaves).

The world wants us to think that changing to become like God is contrary to our nature, but to quote Remy in the movie Ratatouille, “Change IS nature.” We are supposed to change so that we have “no more [desire] to do evil,” including, as we get closer to the Lord’s Second Coming, things that perhaps we don’t even know are evil yet.

In conclusion, believe me: I know those kinds of changes are more easily said than done. But like something I actually talked about in a recent podcast episode, the Lord has been trying to tell us for a long time now that exaltation and the changes required to attain that, even as monumental as they seem, are more possible than we can comprehend—and He would know. He planted the tree.

Just remember to look to the fruits of the Church more than the roots. The roots are there to make the growing of the fruit possible, but they are, like the Church itself, just a means to an end: our eternal happiness.

To Conform or Not to Conform

Anyone paying even a little attention to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it's members and it's leadership has likely seen the varied reactions to the many changes made to certain church policies, standards and practices. From the lowering of the age of missionaries when they are called, discarding the term "Mormon" to describe the church and it's members and the Ministering initiative to policies surrounding same-gender unions and Boy Scouts of America, most people are either all-in with every change, totally against it or just ignore it completely. And I get it. It takes a lot of faith to abandon old traditions, especially the ones we hold on to for decades.

But when it comes to following the prophet or the traditions of the world, I have always been one to be utterly nonconformist when it comes to what the world thinks is popular or "cool" and I give every effort I possibly can to be an absolute conformist when it comes to counsel and changes made by God's prophets.

Being in the nonconformist minority in temporal matters can be lonely sometimes, but it always gives me more peace than the other way around. I remember a lady I met one day here in Hamilton a number of years ago with whom I talked about a belief in Jesus Christ and with derision she replied something like "You know, know one really believes in that stuff anymore." From other people on social media around the world, I have heard things like, "that world is changing and if you don't change with it, you'll be left behind." Both of these arguments and all others like it are merely people who are afraid of believing in something bigger and more divine and holy than themselves because it means they have to swim against the current of popular opinion. Being a conformist can be a bad or a good thing depending the standard to which you conform.

I am reminded of a quote by Elder Neal A. Maxwell that he used to address the ever mocking and demeaning criticism of the humble followers of Christ by those who oppose holiness and godliness. He said, "The laughter of the world is merely loneliness pathetically trying to reassure itself."

For this reason among many others, I choose to conform to the revelations, counsel and encouragement (see what I did there?) of God's prophets. Part of the reason I love that quote from Elder Maxwell is because I know, first hand, what it's like to be wrapped up in sinful habits and addiction that the world celebrates or at least speaks of with an attitude of "live and let live." I know very well how lonely or depressing it feels to be around people who love and care about you and still feel lonely because of the kind of person you have become in your dark habits. It's horrific and leaves you feeling empty, numb, worthless, weak and fake and no amount of kindness will bring you out of it unless you change your behavior and become a better person yourself, which is where the power of Jesus Christ comes into play because of His atoning sacrifice. The laughter of the world really is loneliness pathetically trying to reassure itself.

Refusing to conform to the worlds standards and, instead, rigidly conforming to God's prophets is always the best road to take. I was so excited (and still am) about the Ministering initiative and its purpose to simply love people enough to serve each other out of desire instead of obligation. I have been looking for every opportunity possible to be a light in others lives since that time, whether they are on some kind of list or not. I always loved getting to know new people anyways. I also absolutely loved President Nelson's talk "Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives" where he said, "There is no amorphous entity called “the Atonement” upon which we may call for succor, healing, forgiveness, or power. Jesus Christ is the source. Sacred terms such as Atonement and Resurrection describe what the Savior did, according to the Father’s plan, so that we may live with hope in this life and gain eternal life in the world to come. The Savior’s atoning sacrifice—the central act of all human history—is best understood and appreciated when we expressly and clearly connect it to Him."

Ever since then I try as tactfully and kindly as possible suggest that people replace phrases like "I know the power of atonement is real" and "I found healing from my heartache through the atonement" to "I know that Jesus' power to heal us because of His atoning sacrifice is real" and "I found healing through my Savior."

I have to be honest. I have been really confused as I have observed people who have blatantly ignored or out-rightly refused to follow President Nelson's counsel to refer to ourselves as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints instead of "Mormons" simply because of the tradition. I absolutely could not care less how long a tradition was practiced or how much good it did. If the Lord sees fit to elevate our thinking to an even higher plane or correct some thing that may have been good for a time but is stopping us from becoming even better, than we need to, without question, be totally on board with that. Any opportunity to smash through the barriers of our comfort zone and exponentially elevate our habits, thoughts, motives and feelings to a higher plane should be welcomed, embraced, even clung to for dear life (temporally and spiritually). I will absolutely conform to any change God reveals through His prophets, whether it's in the form a policy change, a new revelation or a call to abandon or adopt new habits and reasons for doing things.

I'm not actually even where I want to be in this regard, but I am working as hard as I possibly can to live far, far more than just worthy of a temple recommend, but worthy for Zion and Celestial Glory, which standard of worthiness is going to unfathomably higher than things are right now.

The world is changing and we need to be conforming, but not to the world. Any conforming we do should be to Jesus Christ and the counsel He gives us through His prophets; unapologetically, enthusiastically, unhesitatingly, joyfully, exactly, constantly, humbly and lovingly.

5 Truths About The Book of Mormon That Most People Aren't Aware Of

In 2015 and 2016 I wrote two articles - here and here - about common misconceptions about Christianity. Each one was designed to help people better understand the life and teachings of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

For my third round of clearing up misconceptions I decided to make it about the one book I know is most likely to bring the reader closer to Christ and instill in them a desire to change to become more like Him, the Book of Mormon.

Misconception

The Book of Mormon is a replacement for the Bible.

Clarification

From the Introduction, the very first line: "The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible." Notice that it doesn't say "that replaces the Bible". The subtitle of the Book is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ", not "better testament of Jesus Christ." There are four volumes of scripture that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints use, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. I am currently going through a new years resolution I set for myself to read through all 2476 pages of these books before the end of 2018. Today I will likely be finishing Isaiah and I'll tell you what. With what I've been through so far, I have been reminded of - as well as found - some of the greatest and most wonderful evidences of the love of God and the benefits of keeping His commandments I could have imagined. I had in my mind a huge stigma through much of my life about how hard the Old Testament is to understand and good heavens! It's amazing! I've made more footnotes about lessons I've learned from the Book of Mormon that are solidified by the Bible and vice versa than I ever thought I would. From the story of Joshua "cleansing the inner vessel" if you will to Kings Saul, David and Solomon to Kings Hezekiah and Josiah and the stories of Mordecai and Nehemiah (who happens to be a lot like Captain Moroni from the Book of Mormon), I LOVE both books. Every four years in sunday school we rotate between studying each of book of scripture. All of them have eternally pivotal importance to us.

Misconception

Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon.

Clarification

Nope. As mentioned in the Introduction, it was "written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon." The reason why it's called the Book of Mormon is because the physical hand of the prophet named Mormon literally wrote every single word of it, quoting many ancient American prophets as well as abridging much of the history of his people in the process. Joseph Smith was called of God to translate Mormon's writings into the English language and did so by the power of God. The Book of Mormon is, similar to the Bible, a record of many sermons and stories of ancient prophets who taught the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Misconception

The Book of Mormon has no archaeological evidence to support it.

Clarification

I could go on for hours about this one, but I'm sure you don't have hours to read this so I'll just point out a few archaeological evidence of the Book of Mormon.

First, gold plates. Many have scoffed at the idea of gold in the ancient Americas, but if you recall in the early 1500's when the Spanish Conquistadors were after gold when they came to the temples of Cajamarca in the Incan nation, Atahualpa, the emperor, offered to fill a room with almost 85 cubic feet of gold in return for being liberated from Spanish captivity. It took him only a few days.

Second, horses. People thought for the longest time that the first horses were brought to the Americas by the Spaniards even before the ransom of Atahualpa, but if you look at the research papers on the La Brea tar pits in California, you will find evidence of ancient american horses.

Third, Lehi and the Jaredites leaving from the Middle East for the Americas at 600 BC and around the time of the tower of Babel, respectively. Again, many have scoffed at this idea, mainly because the Bible, they say, doesn't mentioned Lehi leaving at all. However, if you look at 1 Nephi 16, verse 34 mentions that they stopped (on their way to the ocean, where they built a boat to sail to the Americas) in a place called Nahom where Ishmael, who's family had come with Lehi, died. At this point they had traveled for "many days" in "nearly a south-south east" direction from Jerusalem. If you look many days journey in that direction (without modern transportation of course) you will see the modern day city of Marib. There you can find inscriptions at the temple of Bar'an where sat the Queen of Sheba that date back to the 6th century BC. Some of those ancient Semitic inscriptions talk about people from the ancient city of Nahom. As for the Jaredites, the writings of Josephus make it quite clear that just after the destruction of the Tower of Babel there were many who "passed over the sea" toward the ancient Americas. (Josephus Bk. 1 Chapter 5)

There are a TON more evidences than that but there are a few for starters.

Misconception

Joseph Smith was simply a well educated man who was intelligent enough to come up with a religious text, the Book of Mormon, that happened to sound a lot like the Bible.

Clarification

Of his own admission, Joseph Smith was not well educated even into his adulthood when he finally began translation of the Book of Mormon. He had a the equivalent of what today we would consider a mere 3rd grade education and had little understanding about the world outside of where he lived in New York. Now, in order for someone to even write a secular history book and remain both truthful and contextually accurate, a person would usually needs to travel the world and spend years in research first. Lloyd C. Douglass, the author of The Robe, spent ten years in research before he even started and that book didn't even have to be true. It just had to sound like it was true. In this case, the first draft had to stand. Yet, as a man named Douglass Brian once said, "yet, the language is quite perfect. You will find no discrepancy between names and dates and places. Famous attorney's have declared that in this respect the whole book if as perfect as the finest of legal documents. Any author will tell you that for even the greatest scholar to write such a thing in one draft would be absolutely and utterly impossible."

I can also tell you from my own efforts that this is true. I wrote a historical fiction (that I still need to publish) with a part of the Book of Mormon as historical background that's over 300 pages long and almost 125,000 words. It was purely imaginative and it was crazy difficult to get all the details contextually accurate without messing up the timeline or contradicting character traits, appearances, relationship and familial details, who had which conversation with whom and when, etc. It's really difficult and I've been to High School and College. Joseph Smith didn't have that. At one point he was translating a passage about Jerusalem where it mentioned the city walls and he said, in surprise, "Jerusalem has walls?"

Misconception

The Book of Mormon isn't Christian

Clarification

This is probably the biggest slap in the face to the Book of Mormon as well as a complete falsehood.

Jesus Christ is mentioned an average of every 1.7 verses, in connection with Mosaic law, Isaiah's prophecies, King Solomon and more and most importantly, for His unmatched life and atoning sacrifice on multiple occasions. Here is just a few verses from the Book of Mormon:

2 Nephi 25:26 "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

and another

Mosiah 15:7-9 "Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father. And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men - having ascended into heaven; having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice."

and there are TONS more. There's a reason why it's called Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

__________________________________

I can tell you from my own personal experience and thousands of hours of study of this book that it will bring you closer to Jesus Christ than you've ever been. I know that it is 100% truth because the Holy Ghost has witnessed it to my heart on multiple occasions.

Study this book. You've got absolutely nothing to loose and everything to gain by doing so.

5 More Truths About Christianity Most People Aren't Aware Of

This is a sequel to the first 5 truths about Christianity I wrote about back in October 2015.  The last one was written by pointing out misconceptions and then clarifying the truth about them, so I'll follow the same format here.  This time I hope to go over some issues that seem to be more prevalent in recent events.

Misconception

Christ and His apostles never said anything about same-sex attraction or same-sex "marriage".

Clarification

This was clarified in Mosaic law and in the New Testament.  The Lord declared to Moses: "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination...".  For those who actually clicked the link there and saw the "they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them", the law of Moses and was given to the Israelite nation because they couldn't handle the higher law (see Exodus 32-34).  It was much more strict and detailed in both particulars of daily living and penalties for disobedience because they were so unwilling to accept a higher way of living the Lord wanted for them.

Also, Paul declared to the Romans: "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet." (Romans 1:26-27).

God's modern prophets have also warned about the dangers of the deception of such practices.  However, they have also quite clearly declared that we are hate the sin, but love the sinner.  Said the modern apostle, Elder D. Todd Christofferson:

"There shouldn’t be a perception or an expectation that the Church’s doctrines or position have changed or are changing. It’s simply not true, and we want youth and all people to understand that. The doctrines that relate to human sexuality and gender are really central to our theology. And marriage between a man and a woman, and the families that come from those marriages – that’s all central to God’s plan and to the opportunities that He offers to us, here and hereafter. So homosexual behavior is contrary to those doctrines – has been, always will be – and can never be anything but transgression. It’s something that deprives people of those highest expectations and possibilities that God has for us. That being said, it’s important to remember a few things that people don’t always understand or remember. And that is that homosexual behavior is not the unforgivable sin. The atonement and repentance can bring full forgiveness there, and peace. And secondly, I’d say, though we don’t know everything, we know enough to be able to say that same-sex attraction in and of itself is not a sin. The feeling, the desire is not classified the same as homosexual behavior itself. And the third point I would mention is that when people have those desires and same-sex attractions, our attitude is “stay with us.” I think that’s what God is saying “Stay with me.” And that’s what we want to say in the Church: “Stay with us.” Let’s work together on this and find friendship and commonality and brotherhood and sisterhood, here more than anywhere. It’s important that there be love, and that there be hope. Love is not to say acceptance or endorsement, but it is to say inclusion and not ostracism. We want to be with you and work together."

Misconception

God is three different people in one physical form (trinity).

Clarification

Matt 3:13-17, John 17, John 5:22, John 7:26, Acts 7:55-56, and 1 Tim 2:5 among many others are evidence that God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Ghost are three separate, individual beings, one in every way except physical identity.  Any idea to the contrary was never a part of primitive Christianity.  As The Encyclopedia of Early Christianity tells us: "...at Nicea, the term [homoousios] had only a generic meaning, one affirming the full deity of the Son, not a numerical identity of essence.... During the fifth and sixth centuries, a numerical unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was understood as the meaning of homoousios"(pg. 541-42) The concept of all three being the same person was introduced several centuries after any creeds were introduced.  To be totally candid, the idea of the Three as one being mocks the sanctity of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  When He plead in the Garden of Gethsemane "If thou be willing, remove this cup from me" and "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done", if They were the same person it would mean He was pleading with Himself that He could do His own will.  If He was the same person as the Father, there would be no point in differentiating between His will and the Father's because they would have been one and the same with no possible concession of one person to another.  God is a God of logic (not always matching mortal logic) and such a thought is completely illogical.  The whole purpose of Jesus life was to submit to the will of another person, His Father, and offer Himself as payment for our sins and flaws.  That's the whole point of humility and self sacrifice, denying our will for the will of another, in this case, our Father's will.

Misconception

The Atonement of Christ took place solely on the cross at Calvary.

Clarification

I think it's safe for me to say that a large majority of the world's population doesn't even really know what the Atonement of Jesus Christ is actually for entirely.  I know that most, if not all, Christians are aware that He suffered and died for our sins, but for many, that's the end of their understanding what He really did.

When Adam and Even were in the Garden of Eden, the fall that took place because of their transgressions was not just one sided.  God's plan was to have us return to His presence (Alma 40:11) and become like Him (Matt 5:48).  Before the fall, Adam and Eve were like God because they were totally clean and innocent of any wrongdoing, but also unlike God because they didn't have an understanding of good vs evil.  After the fall, they were unlike God because of their sin, but a little more like Him because of their increased understanding of good and evil and their ability to procreate.  The goal of the Atonement was not just to save us from our sins, although that is an undeniable part of it.  As President Dieter F. Uchtdorf put it: "...the grace of God does not merely restore us to our previous innocent state. If salvation means only erasing our mistakes and sins, then salvation—as wonderful as it is—does not fulfill the Father’s aspirations for us. His aim is much higher: He wants His sons and daughters to become like Him."

The Atonement of Christ includes His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross and His death and resurrection.  He had to overcome not just our sins, but all other negative effects of the fall (i.e. natural disasters, unexpected and undeserved illness, unintentional hurt caused by others as merely a part of mortal weakness). As the Lord Himself said to the Father: "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

Misconception

Christians shouldn't tell others what to do/give advice on something they aren't doing themselves.

Clarification

There's not one place in all of Christian scripture where perfect adherence to a principle is required before suggesting that others follow it as well.  As President Russell M. Nelson said: "Scriptures have described Noah, Seth, and Job as perfect men. No doubt the same term might apply to a large number of faithful disciples in various dispensations. Alma said that 'there were many, exceedingly great many,' who were pure before the Lord.  This does not mean that these people never made mistakes or never had need of correction. The process of perfection includes challenges to overcome and steps to repentance that may be very painful. There is a proper place for chastisement in the molding of character, for we know that 'whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.'"

Of course there are limits.  Tact and kindness should be applied properly.  But an addict (of pornography, alcohol, gambling, etc.) has every right to encourage someone else to not get involved with those types of things provided they doing so with the intent to say "I'm telling you to not do this because I am currently suffering the horrible effects of it in my own life, so for the sake of your own happiness, don't do what I'm doing now."  If someone is living a principle flawlessly then, of course, they have every right to encourage others to follow it as well.  The message in that case might be, "I've found more happiness and joy following this commandment from God than I ever did when I wasn't, so, (again) for the sake of your own happiness, please follow suit."

In October 1973, Marvin J. Ashton said "a friend is a person who is willing to take me the way I am but who is willing and able to leave me better than he found me."

Misconception

The Bible is the limit of God's word to man.  It is the only definitive word of God we have.

Clarification

To begin, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland put it well when he said of the following of the argument people use about not adding to the word of God when they cite Revelation 22:18: "...the whole Bible as we know it—one collection of texts bound in a single volume—did not exist when that verse was written. For centuries after John produced his writing, the individual books of the New Testament were in circulation singly or perhaps in combinations with a few other texts but almost never as a complete collection. Of the entire corpus of 5,366 known Greek New Testament manuscripts, only 35 contain the whole New Testament as we now know it, and 34 of those were compiled after A.D. 1000.  The fact of the matter is that virtually every prophet of the Old and New Testament has added scripture to that received by his predecessors. If the Old Testament words of Moses were sufficient, as some could have mistakenly thought them to be, then why, for example, the subsequent prophecies of Isaiah or of Jeremiah, who follows him? To say nothing of Ezekiel and Daniel, of Joel, Amos, and all the rest. If one revelation to one prophet in one moment of time is sufficient for all time, what justifies these many others? What justifies them was made clear by Jehovah Himself when He said to Moses, “My works are without end, and … my words … never cease.”

God has not stopped speaking through prophets.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever, and if He spoke through prophets then, and He doesn't change, He still speaks through prophets now.  The Bible, is to be sure, the source of some of the core doctrines of our Messiah, but if it was truly sufficient to teach of all of God's word that we would ever need to know, we wouldn't have tens of thousands of Christian denominations all saying something different about how it should be interpreted.  There is a great need to people in the world today to listen to modern prophets because they are the means the Lord has chosen to help us understand the scriptures and not be "carried about by every wind of doctrine".  The Apostle Paul sent multiple letters to members of the primitive church correcting false doctrines and misunderstandings of the scriptures and modern prophets today provide clarification of them and give us continuous counsel from the Lord on a monthly basis.

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There will always be controversy about truth.  As Truman Madsen said about the prophet Joseph Smith: "he learned early that to testify of divine manifestations was to stir up darkness and to call down wrath."  This is not because it is wrong to speak of truth, angels and other divine things, but because anywhere we find righteousness, there will always be something evil close by trying to contradict it.  Such is the constant nature of our journey on this earth, our pursuit towards everything Godly.  But if this entry helps just one person understand the true nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ in all it's glory and flawless splendor, then my mission in writing it is accomplished.

How To Not Be A Chicken - About A Parable By A Modern Prophet

President Monson wrote an article in the September 2014 where he said the following:

"In the vicinity where I once lived and served, the Church operated a poultry project, staffed primarily by volunteers from the local wards. Most of the time it was an efficiently operated project, supplying to the bishops’ storehouse thousands of fresh eggs and hundreds of pounds of dressed poultry. On a few occasions, however, being volunteer city farmers meant not only blisters on the hands but also frustration of heart and mind.

For instance, I shall ever remember the time we gathered the Aaronic Priesthood young men to give the project a spring-cleaning. Our enthusiastic and energetic throng assembled at the project and in a speedy fashion uprooted, gathered, and burned large quantities of weeds and debris. By the light of the glowing bonfires, we ate hot dogs and congratulated ourselves on a job well done.

However, there was just one disastrous problem. The noise and the fires so disturbed the fragile population of 5,000 laying hens that most of them went into a sudden molt and ceased laying. Thereafter we tolerated a few weeds so that we might produce more eggs."

Our prophet, like the Savior whom he represents, teaches many times in parables.  The meaning few saw around this comment was that, as one blogger said, "he is caught between the need to warn us  about preparing for the future, and the sensitivity of the saints to be alarmed that something bad is on the horizon. He could use words of “destruction and fire,” but that would be counterproductive; the “fragile population” of members would stop living their lives in a productive, one-egg-a-day kind of way. Once some chickens get it into their minds that the sky is falling, their lives will become unbalanced and fearful."

Many people, when I share these kinds of thoughts, say I'm paranoid, but that's just a word used by those who are uninformed when they finally see something that has been sitting under their very noses for the first time as it truly is.  So, if you're one of those who hasn't clicked out of this article or dismissed me as just some "nutball conspiracy theorist", feel free to to read on for my perspective of how to not be a molting chicken when poo hits the fan in the next few years.

First, President Benson gave us a powerful reminder of why the Book of Mormon was written for our day: "Now undoubtedly Moroni could have pointed out many factors that led to the destruction of the people, but notice how he singled out the secret combinations, just as the Church today could point out many threats to peace, prosperity, and the spread of God’s work, but it has singled out the greatest threat as the godless conspiracy. There is no conspiracy theory in the Book of Mormon —it is a conspiracy fact."  There's no doubt about it, evil men have been conspiring for years to destroy the U.S. from within.  There's nothing else that would have or could have brought what I now call the "Divided States" of America to it's currently dismal and putrid state.  A house divided cannot stand on it's own and it's not a question of if  their government and economy completely collapses, but when.

Next, I repeat what prophets and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ have been saying for several millenia: "come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness...".  If you want to have peace and joy amid the horrors that are to come, they will be readily and easily available if you make the choice to turn full force to the Savior in everything you do.  No, this does not mean sell everything you have right now, go off grid and hide in a bunker until nuclear warfare destroys the rest of the population (that's not even going to happen).  It also does not mean I support getting overly obsessive and becoming the boy who cried wolf.

What I am saying is that there is a poisonous attitude many, even among the Latter-day Saints, of an apathetic "I have my religious life and my regular life and I need to keep balance between the two." Please don't misunderstand.  Balance is a good thing to be sure, but to mentally separate our commitment to Christ from every day activities is not only missing the whole point of Christ's invitation to follow Him, it is deadly to our spiritual progression.  As Elder Holland said, "Never check your religion at the door."  Discipleship is not something we go should be going about casually, thinking that, because perfection doesn't come overnight, we can just "do things at a comfortable pace" and avoid anything that makes us uncomfortable.  Do you think Christ was comfortable when He was in Gethsemane?  When He was on the cross?  When He was rejected and spit upon and betrayed while totally unwilling to do anything contrary to His Father's will?  Not a chance!

While this doesn't mean that we have to look for hard things or pray for trials (although I do know of at least one person who had the courage to try that), I'm just using that thought to emphasize that becoming Christ-like in an ever increasingly evil world means that staying in our comfort zone is never going to cut it.

The divide between true disciples of Christ and those who aren't is getting ever wider.  If we don't want our faith to break with changes like church's recent policy regarding the LGBT community, we had better make sure we are far enough over on Christ's side of that divide that when such a chasm makes a shift to grow wider we not are so close to the edge that we fall in.  Elder Bednar once suggested that we ask ourselves with each trial "Is the load I'm carrying creating sufficient spiritual traction so I can get safely home to my Heavenly Father?" Similarly I would suggest that we also ask ourselves regularly, "Am I far enough over on the Savior's side that changes toward perfection in the church will push me toward Christ?"

It's impossible to be too Christian, so don't worry about that, but please, believe me when I say following the prophet and aligning our hearts with that of the Savior which prophets convey to us is the safest way to stay on His side and have His peace with us always.

#LDSConf - Why You Should Watch: Part 2

About a year ago, I wrote about why General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is such a critical time of year.  I'm doing it again.  There are so many in the world today who let anger, hate, fear, immorality and more dictate their habits and beliefs.  Selfishness and spinelessness are like a cancer infecting the minds of too many, inside and outside of the Lord's church.  I am victim to some of this as well sometimes, but that's why I'm writing this for my sake to.  I need reminders as well.

General Conference is the perfect time for everyone - and I mean every single person on earth with internet connection or access to an LDS chapel - to listen to counsel straight from God through His prophets.  Remember what the Lord said, "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same [emphasis added]."  We are incredibly blessed to have this twice a year and it's a perfect time to have the Savior speak to and, if we let him, change our hearts, minds, beliefs and habits to align more with His so that we can be happier and have peace, no matter what else is going on around us.

But that's the key right there.  If we are not consistently making every effort to completely align ourselves and our lives with Him, our difficulties and heartache will only get worse instead of being healed by Him.  As President Eyring said (when he was Elder Eyring): "As the challenges around us increase, we must commit to do more to qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Casual prayer won’t be enough. Reading a few verses of the scripture won’t be enough. Doing the minimum of what the Lord asks of us won’t be enough. Hoping that we will have the Atonement work in our lives and that we will perhaps sometimes feel the influence of the Holy Ghost won’t be enough. And one great burst of effort won’t be enough.  Only a steady, ever-increasing effort will allow the Lord to take us to higher ground... You can set your expectations for yourself a little higher and then a little higher, with confidence that a loving Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son will send you the Holy Ghost and lift you higher and higher, toward Them."

Prophets give us counsel during General Conference that we cannot afford to miss.

I know a large number of people, including and in some cases especially Latter-day Saints, will say to themselves, "Oh I can just watch it later online" or "I'll read it when it comes out in the Ensign so I can mark it up."  People who entertain this are feeding a harmful attitude.  Of all weekends of the year where our church attendance and attention to God's prophets should be multiplied many times over, it should be Conference weekend!  Honestly, it's very little Heavenly Father asks of us in the first place to dedicate 3 hours a week to manditory meeting attendance.  Seriously!  That's not even 2% of our week!  So why should it be such a big deal to give not even 3/10ths of a percent of a year to listening to loving counsel from our Savior and our Father in Heaven that, without question, will make our lives better if we listen.  The Holy Ghost can speak to us more answers, give greater means to accomplish what appears impossible and we can have more divine joy in our lives when we take it all in audibly AND visually.

(For any interested, 3 hours / (24 hrs * 7 days a week) is 1.7% and 

20 hrs (8 hrs + Priesthood or Women's session) / 24 hrs * 365 days is 0.228%)

Don't get me wrong.  The Ensign is just as valuable as watching Conference live, but that does not mean it's more valuable.  Please don't just read it.  Watch it.  Watch it live.  And then, yes, read it, no - reading is shallow - prayerfully study it afterwards.  My parents taught me something about Conference and even just Sabbath Day observance in general that has helped to change the way I view Conference today.  Each time Conference came twice a year, we were all required to dress up in our Sunday best, even though we weren't going to the actual church building, sit around the TV as a family, tune in to BYUTV and sit as we would in church, quietly, reverently, with bathroom and drink breaks, if needed, only during the songs.  I will forever be grateful for this example and their persistence with that.  It has helped me to find better answers to prayers, more peace and healing in the Atonement of Christ and greater in faith in God's prophets and their loving pleas to mankind to show unyielding, uncompromising commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you do this already, more people need to be like you during Conference.  If you don't, I'm not here to criticize you or give any kind of message that that somehow means you are less committed to the Lord because of it, but I can tell you that you are missing out on innumerable blessings from God in your life by not watching.  I understand some people have jobs and responsibilities that are totally and completely unavoidable.  Some are kept from watching Conference because their individual circumstances are such that family responsibilities require them to be engaged in other things.  But - and I can't remember or find the source of this - I think it was in a recent General Conference where one of the twelve (I think?) said something like "It's okay to 'pull your ox out of the mire' on the Sabbath except if you spent all Saturday pushing it in!"

Please don't use excuses like "but we've been planning on this sports game all season" or "this is a family outing we've had in the works for a long time" or "I was too afraid to ask my boss for time off."  Missing out on a game, losing it, or even disappointing others on the team is a far better option than disappointing the Lord, family outings could have been planned so that they don't interfere with that weekend, and even as much as religious liberty in America is being attacked left, right and center, it still exists and no employer has the right to deny you that weekend off for jobs that don't involve emergency response to anything.  But heck, even then, you can listen to it on the radio if you are a firefighter or a policeman should you get a few minutes to tune in.

I know I may seem overbearing to some with my approach to this subject, but one of the deepest desires of my heart echoes what Ammon said: " Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."

I want so badly for you to have more of the amazing experiences of Conferences like I have had.  I want you to be so happy that you couldn't possibly be sad, angry, scared or annoyed - at least for some length of time.  That's what General Conference can do for you if you take it seriously enough.

Do you have questions about the church?  Are you struggling to keep your faith strong?  Having trouble overcoming addiction?  Is your marriage in trouble?  Has a loved one or a close friend passed away?  Does mental/emotional illness make life incredibly difficult for you?  Do you need help inviting that friend to learn about the gospel?  Are you struggling financially or fearful about the future?  Has a family member gone down a destructive path in their life?  I've been in all of those situations and I can tell you from first hand experience that you will find guidance that is essential, relieving, comforting and/or healing for your problem if you seek for the Spirit and put all your effort into being receptive to the answers you need.

Do you think you have all the answers?  Does General Conference seem like the 'same old same old' to you?  Do you no longer have interest in the church or even just in watching that weekend?  General Conference is still for you and I give my personal guarantee you will still find something that you would never have dreamed you needed to hear if you watch with an open heart.

So on April 2nd and 3rd this year put on your best dress or your slacks, white shirt and tie, go to church or your TV or computer if you can stream it live in your home, get out some paper and a pen/pencil, turn off your cell phone, close all the other tabs in your browser and "feast upon the words of Christ."

Jesus Christ = Perfect

"Like the polar star in the heavens, regardless of what the future holds, there stands the Redeemer of the world, the Son of God, certain and sure as the anchor of our immortal lives. He is the rock of our salvation, our strength, our comfort, the very focus of our faith."

This beautiful quote by the prophet Gordon B. Hinckley is one of the most complete and glorious statements I know of about the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.  It confirms the truth of His absolute and eternal love for all of us.  One of the most disputed concepts in the world today, if not the single most disputed one, is the idea of absoluteness in anything.  The rise and fall of nations, the history of mankind in all it's glory as well as corruption, the reign and fall of every leader, the start and end of every war, the beginning and end of every period of prosperity or poverty, all of it, every last one, was based, if you really think about it, on a difference in opinion regarding the existence of absolute truth, a single creed or code of living or standard by which any human being could successfully live their life.

Well the point of this one is to emphasize that there is most certainly a perfect "measuring stick", an ideal standard, a perfect, fool proof, unwavering truth and example to look to for ultimate happiness.  Every decision to believe whether absolute truth exists is either manifestation or rejection of faith in Jesus Christ, our immovable, unfailing, constant, everlasting Rock of Salvation.

I may do a 3rd (or 4th or 5th or whatever) set of 5 entries down the road dedicated entirely my feelings about my Savior, but for this, the last in my current series for that purpose:

#5 Jesus Christ = Perfect

He lived on this earth while subject to inclinations of the natural man but rejected every last one of them at every turn.  As a modern prophet has declared, "He suffered temptations but gave no heed unto them."  Every word out of His mouth was true, factual, eternally binding, 100% directed by the Father, flawlessly in agreement with the Holy Ghost. Every act in His mortal life was in complete obedience to our Father, out of perfect celestial love for Him and for us, complete and total selflessness and submission to the Father's plan, absolute respect for the Father's role as our Eternal Parent and His faultless plan.

The resurrected Christ appeared to the Nephites on the American continent and affirmed, "blessed are ye because of your faith.  And now behold my joy is full [underline added]".  His service to our Father and to us was based on Charity, pure Godly love, and pure, untainted joy.

Not only has He always been perfect by action and word, but by nature.  His desires are perfect.  The reason the elements of the universe obey Him is because He loves them perfectly.  He knows all of His creations, including us, by name.  His humble respect for His Father's plan and pure-hearted submission to it were key in His filling the role of Savior and Redeemer for mankind and our Advocate with the Father.  His humility enabled Him to live in perfect obedience, inwardly and outwardly, and in doing so became, by the power granted Him by the Father, our Lord and our God.

Jesus' also exercised perfect control over His mortal body and today, because of such, has a perfected body of flesh and bone.  He is perfect by action, word, intent, desire and condition (in all imaginable ways) as well.  This level of perfection came to Him by means of His absolute trust in His Father, demonstrated by the very person He was.

It's no wonder that Jack R. Christianson illustrates the following in "The Mortal Christ": "in section 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants when He comes to Joseph Smith as the postmortal Messiah, most of you returned missionaries hopefully know this one, it's in section 93 verse 24, what does it say?  “And truth is a knowledge of things are as they” what? “are,” as they “were” and? “as they are to come” or will be. So truth is a knowledge of things past, present, future.  Now, that's what truth is.  It's a knowledge of the plan, because past, present, future, doesn't deal with our life, only part of it. Truth is a knowledge of things as they are, mortal life, as they were, premortal life, as they will be, post mortal life, after we're dead.  Truth is a knowledge of the plan. That's what it is.  So now I ask you again, the second question that we've got to ask. Who is the Truth? It's Christ.  So when one comes to a knowledge of the truth, they come to a knowledge of the Son of God and His plan of happiness.  Does that make sense?  So now, what was Pilate really asking?  He's asking the same question that the lion asked Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and that the big cat asked Alice in Alice and Wonderland, “Who are you?” That's what he's asking. What is the truth? In other words, “What are you? What is your plan?"

He always was, is and always will be the very embodiment of truth, His Father's truth.  Why else would one of His names be Emmanuel, the Greek form of the Hebrew name Emmanu'el, meaning "God with us"?  The Lord Himself said, in response to Philips request "Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us", "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?"  This is not, of course to say the Jesus is the Father.  Rather it is to say that He was so unified with the Him, that He was so utterly flawless in His representation of the Father's nature and will, that They are so perfectly similar that, in effect, to know the Savior is to know the Father.

Neither I nor anyone else could ever imagine a more perfect example by which to measure our lifestyle and motives.  No one can conceive of a more trustworthy figure on which to base confidence.  To attempt to counter the absolute certainty of His love for us and divine engineering of our lives in accordance with our choices is futile at best.  He is, as mentioned via the words of President Hinckley at the beginning of this, "...the rock of our salvation, our strength, our comfort, the very focus of our faith."

He is the only sure way to happiness.  I love Him, I trust Him and want to become like Him in every way so I can partake of His eternal joys with my family forever.  I would invite you to do the same.

6 Ways to Just Keep Swimming

Latter-day Saints (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) are aware that we are living in the last days before the second coming of the Lord.  With the increased level of opposition in the lives of the faithful, it can be very easy to get bored with the gospel, feel social, mental, spiritual or physical fatigue from trying so hard or even find our perspectives severely at odds with God's counsel from His prophets.  I'm been in all three spots so I can relate to any of them, although to a different degree in each.  I'm sure there are more reasons why people have a hard time continuing to endure spiritually.

When I was serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I got into a pretty deep depression.  I called my Mission President's wife, Sister Ashton, and asked her for advice.  She reminded me of the part in Finding Nemo where Dori says "just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." and told me, "Elder Pulsipher, you gotta 'just keep swimming'."  She said much more than that but she was able to help quite a bit that day.  But with so many distractions in the world today and Satan working so hard to derail disciples of Christ, how do we get back up and go with enthusiasm and zeal for the Lord's work when we feel the most stagnant?  Bear with me, this is one of my longer entries.

Below I offer 6 ways to, as Sister Ashton and Dori remind us, "Just Keep Swimming."

1. Go out of your comfort zone.

And I don't just mean something that just feels a little different or takes you out of your normal routine.  I mean do something that takes you so far out of your comfort zone it scares you!  Well, make sure the Lord would condone it first.  Maybe get some ideas here?  Either way, the only way truly soul building change and strength takes place is when we go that far out of our comfort zones.  That's where the magic happens.  So go out and don't just sit around wondering how to feel the fire of the Spirit again, go out and act!  Do something about it!

2. Pray more earnestly.

I've referenced so many of my articles, at some point, to Jack R. Christianson's "The Mortal Christ" so many times that my frequent readers are probably getting bored of it, but there is so much in it worth repeating over and over that I'm doing it again.  From his talk "Let's go to Luke 22 while we're talking about prayer. May I ask you as you study the scriptures, that you include this? But what's the first thing when spiritual malnutrition is starts to take place that is lost? What do we stop doing, the very first thing? We quit praying, generally. Wouldn't you agree? Because you don't feel worthy to pray and besides that you're embarrassed sometimes if you're sinning especially. Now, let's learn from the Mortal Christ, shall we? He's in the Garden of Gethsemane – verse 44 – “and being in agony...” how did He pray? He prayed more earnestly... when you get discouraged and say dumb things like we all say like “it's not worth it”, “I'm so sick of trying to be so good. I'll just be like everybody else”, “everyone that wicked gets rich”. Ever hear that one? “What difference does it make?” Well you need to repent, you need the atonement for that []. Now, He prayed how when He was in agony? More earnestly.

He didn't shake His fist at His Father and He didn't quit praying. What did He do? He prayed harder! He prayed more sincerely! Somewhere along the line, brothers and sisters, we gotta quit saying prayers and pray! Does that make sense? We ought to be the safest people on the planet earth! Every meeting: “Please bless when the time comes we'll travel home in safety” and that's a good prayer. And you do need to keep praying because we all need to be safe. And here's another one, “Please bless the food that it will nourish and strengthen our bodies and do us the good that we need.” We ought to NEVER be poisoned! And that's a good prayer, but it's not going to help you if you're struggling with pornography, is it? And it's not going to help you if you're struggling with chastity and virtue or personal degrading habits. We've got to learn to pray!"

Well, after that quote... 'Nuff said, right? Wrong.  What is Jack trying to get at here?  What he's telling us is the same thing that President Eyring said in 2005: "As the challenges around us increase, we must commit to do more to qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Casual prayer won’t be enough. Reading a few verses of the scripture won’t be enough. Doing the minimum of what the Lord asks of us won’t be enough. Hoping that we will have the Atonement work in our lives and that we will perhaps sometimes feel the influence of the Holy Ghost won’t be enough. And one great burst of effort won’t be enough."

Our prayers have got to continually become more earnest, more focused on virtuous things, more humble, more faith filled, more in depth and more honest.  Because praying just to pray is never going to put you where you want to be eternally speaking.  Our prayers have to be something that permanently change us and irreversibly improve our relationship with God.

3. Look outside of yourself.

I asked God a while ago - I think it must be close to a year ago now (this was written back in July 2015) - to make me selfless, I mean totally selfless, to use my talents and gifts with no other thought in mind than blessing my family and anyone else I could on this planet.  Wow, did He ever respond.  He's been working with me and I've seen moreso than ever before the benefits of focusing on and being happy with simply making others happy and inspiring others for the glory of our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ and for no other reason.  I've learned in this process (though I still have a ways to go, of course), from my own experience that the more you seek to do good for others with not even a shadow of seeking for something from it, people LOVE you for it!  This may seem like a bit of an irony to some, but it's true and it's a beautiful irony.  If you want to become happier look outside of yourself more.  Go serve someone, pay those last few bucks on the grocery bill for the person in front of you in line, help that guy who claims he's alright but is limping a bit toward his car, go pick up trash along the side of the road for an hour, strategically place a $10 or $20 bill on a car that looks like it's owner could use a few extra bucks or anything else that gives something significant of yourself.  Make it something you never do.  Do it often.  You'll feel better, trust me.  After all, Jesus Christ spent His life doing what?  He went about doing good everywhere He went!

4. Go back to basics.

Likely one of the biggest reasons people get caught up in trivialities and other distractions that lead them away from the Lord's church is by going out too much of doctrinal "twigs".  Going out on limbs like this on the tree of the gospel isn't always a bad thing as long as it strengthens your testimony of Jesus Christ, His atonement and His role as our Savior and Redeemer.  If it doesn't directly do that you shouldn't be going there.  The gospel of Christ is simply beautiful and beautifully simple.  The most basic simple doctrines of the kingdom are the ones that will save us.  Knowing whether or not we will eat meat in the millennium will have absolutely no effect on whether or not we will recognize the Savior when He comes again.  Neither will knowing every last detail of the life of Joseph Smith or knowing more about the Book of Mormon than every scholar alive or seeing angels or memorizing the entirety of the Doctrine and Covenants or figuring out how the Savior travels through time or having a perfect record of every financial detail of the church.  None of that is ever going to be as paramount as having solid faith in the power of the atonement.  None of it will ever be as beneficial to your soul as the process of repentance.  None of it can possibly speak to and give peace to your heart the way the Holy Ghost will when you study the standard works and general conference talks.  None of it will result in having your needs met like paying your tithing and a generous fast offer willingly.  It just won't.

If you want to have your faith renewed over and over again, have it renewed in the most important things, the basics.

Vince Lombardi's football team, when he started coaching, went from a huge loosing streak to winning the first two superbowls by going right back to the basics of "This is a football", "This is a football field".

This video is also helpful as well in illustrating this concept.

5. Follow the prophet

Did you know that, when we raise our hands to the square during General Conference to sustain our church leaders, we are actually making a full fledged, eternally binding covenant?  Well, you are.  It is just as binding of a covenant as baptism, the sacrament, or temple covenants.  We a literally covenanting with God that we will sustain the church leaders, follow their counsel even when we disagree or don't understand why they ask us to do something, for as the Lord Himself said "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."

Experience of my own has taught me that the rewards of following the prophet, without seeing how close to the edge we can go before being unworthy of a temple recommend, is God's grace is upon us.  When we focus more on how good we can be instead of how good we have to be, the world around us changes, not because of anything surrounding us, but because our ability to see the world as God does has increased.  We do not see the world as it is, we see it as we are.  So following the counsel of God's prophets willingly, happily and deliberately will help us see ourselves as we really are, children of God with infinite potential.  We will see that we need not seek for the world's approval, but only our Eternal Father's approval.  Besides, the things worth doing the most in this world are often those things recognized by God alone.  Following His prophets and seeking to go above and beyond in an attitude of "how good can I be?" is something you'll never regret.

6. Use sacrament meeting effectively.

A full time missionary told me (don't quote me directly on this one) that his Mission President told him that when the First Presidency was meeting to declare a theme for general church membership this year (again, 2015), they decided to make it about keeping the Sabbath Day Holy and focusing more on making it Holy, especially the sacrament.  Why?  Well I can't give any reasons as a fact because I wasn't there when they made that decision, but I do know that, when I am completely focused on my Savior and where I stand with in my spiritual progression with Him, I get the answers I always need right at the time I need them.  To those who struggle with coming to sacrament meeting at all for reasons you can help (come on now, be brutally honest with yourself), I can promise you from my own experience that as soon as you make a commitment to never miss a sacrament meeting again (unless you are dying in the hospital or something like that), your life will start to get exponentially better.  It will get even better even faster when you go far beyond just attending sacrament meeting but coming with your hand off to the top of your proverbial spiritual cup (see Psalms 23:5) and just let the Lord fill it up with what He will, regardless of whether you think you need it or not, even greater things will happen; and they will not stop happening so long as you continue that habit.

So go to sacrament meeting, go into the chapel, go straight to a seat, sit down quietly, turn off that stinking phone, iPad or other mobile device off - I mean powered off completely - put it down and open a hard copy of the scriptures or a hymn book or meditate or pray (remember above?).  Keep your thoughts focused on gratitude for and faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and the gift He gave you to have a chance to choose, to change, to repent, to have divine strength assist you, to have immortality and eternal life.  It will be refreshing.  It will do something for your heart and soul.  It will make you a little better, or maybe even a lot better, of a person, a little more confident and peaceful about God's plan for you and what lies ahead.
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There are obviously so many other things that will help you "just keep swimming" in the gospel, but, from my experience, these are 6 of the most useful things I can think of that will help you stay zealous, happy, anxiously engaged in a good cause and peaceful about the gospel of Christ, God's plan for His children.

Sometimes it can be hard to deal with the pressures and persecution we get from the world for trying so hard.  True disciples of Christ are called every name in the book, taken advantage of, treated as deranged paranoids and more.  Elder Hales, in October 2008, recounted one member of the church asking "Why doesn’t the Church defend itself more actively when accusations are made against it?", part of his response to this question was

"More regrettable than the Church being accused of not being Christian is when Church members react to such accusations in an un-Christlike way! May our conversations with others always be marked by the fruits of the Spirit—“love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance” (Galatians 5:22–23) ... This is especially important in our interactions with members of other Christian denominations. Surely our Heavenly Father is saddened—and the devil laughs—when we contentiously debate doctrinal differences with our Christian neighbors. This is not to suggest that we compromise our principles or dilute our beliefs. We cannot change the doctrines of the restored gospel, even if teaching and obeying them makes us unpopular in the eyes of the world. Yet even as we feel to speak the word of God with boldness, we must pray to be filled with the Holy Ghost (see Acts 4:29, 31). We should never confuse boldness with Satan’s counterfeit: overbearance (see Alma 38:12). True disciples speak with quiet confidence, not boastful pride."

Christ is coming soon, very soon.  Whatever you do, whatever method you use to keep yourself not only afloat, but soaring towards celestial glory, don't stop, don't give up (except when it's appropriate to do so), don't allow yourself to get complacent.  Courageously and adamantly, but yet also meekly and kindly, act in faith and defend faith in Jesus Christ.  The rewards are there for the taking, we just have to live so that we are ready for them when they come.

Blessings of #LDSConf

This article has become my most viewed entry over conference weekend, which fits, considering it's Easter weekend as well.  Jesus is the single most influential, powerful, loving person who ever walked this earth.  I love that Easter was a heavily covered topic in LDS General Conference.  In light of that fact, the purpose of this article is to emphasize what I see as the central truths He has brought to our attention once more through His prophets this weekend.

1.  God's standard on marriage and family is still not changing.  President Packer, Sister Burton, Elder Perry and Elder Christofferson made that abundantly clear on Saturday.  As The Family: A Proclamation to the World states, "Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity... individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets."

As this blogger to eloquently noted (even if it was about a different subject matter), there are only two sides to the coin of truth, God's side and the world's side, truth and error, respectively.  No matter what the world says about the way they want marriage and family to be defined, it will never change how the Lord has defined them.  Both are gifts from Him with the sole purpose of bringing His children back to Him and making us more like Him.  Neither can happen effectively in any setting other than a Christ-centered home and family, united in their commitment to love each other, the Savior and Father in Heaven.  Please stay on the right side of the coin.  As Elder Bednar so clearly taught, "Jesus Christ the only source of enduring peace".

2.  Missionaries.  Not just full time missionaries.  Returned missionaries, member missionaries, future missionaries, basically, all members of the church.  The Lord has spoken through Elder Ballard.  He reminded us that 10+ years ago the bar was raised for missionary work.  Said President Hinckley in 2003 "The time has come when we must raise the standards of those who are called … as ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. … We simply cannot permit those who have not qualified themselves as to worthiness to go into the world to speak the glad tidings of the gospel".  Elder Ballard gave us unmistakable counsel to extend that raising the bar to the rest of us.  He did a sort of personal interview with all of us and asked us some important soul searching questions that we really should be taking more and more seriously as the second coming of our Lord grows closer.  To review them, are our habits with scripture study (different from reading, mind you), praying in the morning and evening, fast offerings, thoughts of our Savior and the Atonement, Sabbath observance, honesty, chastity and time management a reflection of a disciple of Christ?  If not we have some changing to do and we have to start now, for the sake of our own happiness and salvation, among other things.

4.  Responsibility of priesthood holders.  Elder Soares made some key points about defending truth.  He told a story of a deacon who opposed peer pressure.  This young man was invited to view pornography on his friend mobile devices.  He boldly told them of the dangers of pornography and encouraged them to stop, but was ridiculed for his decision.  He did not, however, let this ridicule effect his choices.  As sensitive a subject as pornography is, if a young deacon, subject to the burden that we all know changing hormones can be, as possibly inexperienced as he may be with the weight of the role of a priesthood holder, can fearlessly stand up to immature friends regardless of the consequences, no other priesthood holder on this planet has an excuse not to either.  If we expect to receive the divine help inherent with the calling of priesthood we need to be living and defending truth as worthy priesthood holders would.  I know the truth of this from my own experience, on both sides of it.

5. What you're distraction?  We all have weaknesses for different distractions in life.  We are all pulled in the wrong direction by one worldly influence or other from time to time.  But, the distraction I'm addressing here, which has been addressed probably hundreds of times by other bloggers around the world, is technology.  In fact, after reading this, I challenge you to go and spend at least an hour or two doing something that builds your spirit and strengthens your character away from an electronic screen.  Yes, there are many good uses of technology that strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  Elder Teixeira made specific mention of making use of resources on lds.org and subscribing to church accounts on social networks to aid in bringing the Spirit of the Lord into our homes.

With the internet being such a ubiquitous thing in the world today, we really have no excuse to not be using these precious resources to strengthen our relationship with our Savior, increase our testimony of and experience with Him and His Atonement, invite His Godly love into our lives, and continually increasing our spiritual stamina in a world constantly striving the drag us down.  But please, don't rely solely on technology for this.  Elder Pearson nailed it when he said "Heeding those who do not believe in Christ will not help you find Him.  Searching #spaciousbuilding for knowledge will not lead you to truth.  It's not posted there.  Only the Savior has the words of eternal life.  Everything else is just words."

Take a physical copy of your scriptures or other gospel literature and a pen or pencil, go to a quiet place to study, ponder and pray, indoors or out, and make use of the Atonement by seeking for the companionship of the Holy Ghost.  He will enlighten and transform you for Jesus sake, your own good and the good of others.  There is no risk of temptations on the internet like pornography, mindless distractions or contention to detract from our Savior if you are unplugged from it and focused on Him.

6. Choose sensitivity over apathy.  I absolutely LOVED the title of Bishop Causse's talk, "Is it still wonderful to you?"  In the Book of Mormon, one of the biggest mistakes Laman and Lemuel made was allowing the effect of the Holy Ghost wear off, to the point where they were "past feeling, that [they] could not feel [the Lord's word]" in their heart.  To keep the joys of the gospel with us, it takes constant, daily work, because of the pull of the world in the other direction.  Life is going up a down escalator.  If you're not running up faster than the world is pulling down you're either sinking or getting nowhere and just uselessly tiring yourself out.  We have to "stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers [us]", stay all amazed at it and become continually more amazed at it every day so obedience can become easier and our joy in it can become more untainted, pure and full.  I can't speak for her, Elder Brent H. Neilson's sister who left the church for a time, but I imagine she may have fallen victim to this mindset and years later, when she came back, was re-amazed at Jesus' love and His gospel.

Elder Holland gave us his powerful testimony of the Savior as well, showing His amazement at it as well, given with a parable of the two rock climbers.  When we are more aware of the healing, saving, changing, loving reality and effects of the victory of Christ that is His Atonement, we will have more capacity to take a leap of faith by obeying, repenting and changing and trust the Lord to not let our hands slip on loose gravel on the edge.  I know He won't.  My wife and I have taken that leap in our own lives in repentance and obedience and we have felt Him catch us and save us from falling many times by sending people into our lives to accomplish His purposes.  As long as we have stayed "all amazed" we have seen and experienced the saving and enabling power of His atonement first hand.

7. Stick to the plan.  Elder Raphael E. Pino said "Understanding the plan will help people keep the commandments, make better decisions and have the right motivation."  Lets face it, our perspective of life and the eternities shapes everything we think, say, believe and do.  Elder Pino made a brilliant analogy of looking at things close up vs. far away.  When we often times look at the gospel from a close up perspective, focusing on just one tiny detail of the God's plan, it can seem unpleasant or difficult to understand until we back up and see the whole thing as it really is.  The opposite is true of the standards of the world.  Up close they can look appealing, but when you really step back and see their effect on society as a whole, it's obvious what the better choice is.

Elder Hales comments about religious freedom being threatened is a great example of the obvious effects on society of obedience to our loving God's plan vs. selfish disregard to it.  As we follow Elder Anderson's council to look for and be grateful for the hand of God in our lives, backing up to see His plan of happiness as it really is, the magnitude of the rewards He has for us will become that much more obvious and the right choice will become unmistakable.

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I was practicing the guitar chords for the primary song "He Sent His Son" using the gospel library app today and was reminded of why I love it so much.  God did not just send us here and say "good luck! I'll check in with you when you're done and see if you've lived perfectly." What He did was send us here with a message of "I love you and I know you're going to mess up, but I'll make it obvious how to get back to Me.  I'll provide you with a Savior to rescue you from your sins and show you how to live and become like Me.  He will only live 33 years in mortality, so I'll communicate with prophets as well who are living in the same mortal perspective as you and share His life and example with them. That way it will be easier for you to recognize the help I send."

Prophets are one of the most merciful blessings we ever received from our Father in Heaven.  That's the way I see it.

#LDSConf - Why You Should Watch

Seriously, it's better than the superbowl.  It's better than the Emmy's, the Grammy's, Academy Awards, the Oscars, the YTMA's or anything else of that nature.  Yes, I'm talking about General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; and yes, it really does deserve way more attention than any of those other things ever did.

I'm going to start this one on a serious note because of the importance of the subject matter.  I'll also do a follow up entry based on the content of this years General Conference.

It happens every six months and there is, quite honestly, no better time of the year to have hear the word of the Lord as close to straight from the source as you're guaranteed to get.  Why do you think the world is so overly saturated with distractions like SNL, The Kardashians, "beliebers", the Harper Lee controversy, one way trips to mars, the latest gadgets from Apple, 50 Shades of Crap and more? *edit* This was written in March of 2015, so different problems are more prevalent today, of course.

(er... excuse me, 50 Shades of Gray - I know, I know it's no mystery how I feel about that)

The devil has been working hard for thousands of years and has more practice than most people have any idea at using mankind's biggest weaknesses to distract us from those things that are most important.  You see, as Jack R. Christianson said, the devil "doesn't have to worry about most of the world.  Most of the world doesn't care about coming to Christ, so he doesn't worry about them; because he's not worried if they do terribly sinful things.  What he's worried about is that they just don't do good things.  See, either way it doesn't matter.  You can go to hell by sinning, but you can also make it there by just not doing any good.  He doesn't care if you go out and commit all the grievous sins.  What he cares about is that you don't come to know the Master; because if you come to know the Master, you'll want to repent and you'll want to apply the Atoning blood of Christ and when you apply the Atoning blood of the Master, then you can be cleansed and you can overcome anything and the adversary knows that."

So he applies all his time to lying to us and distracting us the best he can to keep us away from true happiness, or, in other words, coming to know Jesus Christ, the real power of His love, His atonement and become like Him by studying and listening to words of God's prophets.  He doesn't care whether or not we are miserable as long as we just aren't seeking true happiness through the Messiah, the living Son of the living God.

That's at least one reason you should watch, to make sure you don't let distracting desires of the natural man within you be exploited by the adversary.

What's another reason?  I remember one line of the cartoon movie "The Sword in the Stone" where Merlin tells arthur "[D]on't you get any foolish ideas that magic will solve all your problems.  Because it won't!  [Authur] But, sir, I don't have any problems.  [Merlin] Oh, bah, everybody's got problems.  The world is full of problems."  I don't care who you are.  If you say your life is problem free, you're deceiving yourself.  No matter how happy we are, there is always a problem to face, several times a day, no matter how big or small, obvious or subtle, whether or acknowledged or ignored.  It just depends on how you deal with it.  I love, therefore, the beautiful truth that the solution to literally EVERY. SINGLE. PROBLEM. that ever was, is, or will be, can be found in the words of our Savior, Jesus Christ, as spoken through the Holy Ghost to His servants, the prophets and to us to confirm their words.

No matter how dark or bright your life appears to you right now, there is something you need to hear from General Conference, some bit of help you need, something you need to be reminded of, something you need to repent of, something about which you are too complacent, something you're over-thinking too much, something you are not thinking enough about, something you need help overcoming, someone you need help forgiving, a habit you need help breaking, or forming, or something else you are lacking in your life or your heart.  There is ALWAYS something everyone - EVERYONE - needs to hear at General Conference.

If you need a reminder of just how awesome conference is.  Watch any of these:

by Jeffrey R. Holland

by Dallin H. Oaks

by David A. Bednar

by Gordon B. Hinckley

by Boyd K. Packer

by Ronald E. Poelman

by Jörg Klebingat

This site posted an article called "The Worst talks ever". I'm not writing to talk badly about anyone and I don't know who is responsible for this article, but it looks like the adversary got a hold on someone's heart enough here so that they felt a need to label any prophets words as "worst".  Prophets are one of God's key ways of emphasizing the truth in Jacob 4:13 "Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls."  Thus, since we understand most easily when we are spoken to in ways we can relate to or understand, God speaks to us through the Holy Ghost and confirms the truth of the words spoken by prophets.

We are so stubborn and far to prideful for our own good most of the time.  From the mouth of Joseph Smith, who saw God and His Son in person, "There has been a great difficulty in getting anything into the heads of this generation. It has been like splitting hemlock nuts with a corn-dodger [a piece of corn bread] for a wedge, and a pumpkin for a beetle [a wooden mallet]. Even the Saints are slow to understand."  There is a reason God commands us to get a constant flow of the love of His Son in our lives, through study and application of the scriptures/words of prophets.  Our level of understanding is so far below His that that is what it takes for us to eventually become like Him.

The last reason, kind of a two in one, I will give to watch conference is summarized by what I read this morning in Alma 26, where Ammon spends an entire chapter glorying and rejoicing in God and the strength and ability we get from Him to be good, be happy, be healed, protected and changed.  There are many more reasons, of course, but I'll end with these.  In verses 15 and 16, Ammon says "15.  Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.  16.  Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."

One of the best ways to be reminded of how good we really have it, as illustrated in verse 15, is by presenting it in contrast to the opposite side of things.  It really is much easier to tell how white something is by placing it against dark colors, speaking both figuratively and literally;  and in verse 16 we are reminded of the completely independent, raw, all consuming and encompassing, rich love and power of God in and of itself.  We can never say or hear too much of the word of the Lord, within our ability to comprehend.

So to all who read this, I beg you, whether or not you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whether or not you are even Christian, whether or not you are even religious or spiritual or whatever else you are, I BEG you, for the sake of all that is good, for the sake of all that is holy, watch general conference.  Watch all the sessions.  Watch them and take notes.  Watch with a question.  Watch with a prayer in your heart.  Watch to rejoice.  Watch to be healed, to be happy, to be ready, to be protected, to receive guidance, or whatever other reason you want to use.  Don't make excuses. Just watch and see how it benefits your life.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/