It is not uncommon in life to find ourselves invoking the “ox is in the mire” reasoning to justify a certain action or inaction. But, is it possible that some of these situations arise in our lives specifically so that we have the opportunity to show the Lord that we are not just fair weather friends? In Matthew 5:46 the Lord says, “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same?”
I am not implying that the ox is never in the mire. But I do know that our only real opportunity to show the Lord that we are committed to paying tithing, keeping the Sabbath day holy or even abstaining from “R” rated movies is when it is hard.
Mark 12:41-44
…and many that were rich cast in much. 42. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43. And [Jesus] called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44. For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
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Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Clean House
Why can’t we just confess Jesus and be saved?
There is a T.V. show called Clean House. It is a relatively interesting show about a talented crew of designers who are in search of the messiest homes in America. They remove the messy people from the home and then they clean and remodel the house. When they have finished, the messy people are returned to a clean home. It is inevitable that those homes will become messy again in short order because the nature of the problem was not addressed: messy people. If this was my show I would forget about cleaning the house. I would take the people and teach them how to be clean, then I would put them back in the messy house and it would become clean as a matter of course because clean people would live there.
A few years ago I was teaching a discussion alongside the missionaries. When I got to the Word of Wisdom the woman defensively declared that, “God will not send [her] to hell for smoking!” Her statement illustrates an all too common and backward understanding of the commandments. God is not standing at the judgment bar looking for a reason to hit the trap door switch. He loves us. He created this Earth for us to learn how to master ourselves. If we fail to do so, how can he endow us with even greater freedom and power that comes in the next life? It would be a disaster. So, it is not that he will send us to hell for smoking, it is that we will not have learned the nessessary self control that we need to handle even greater things.
This Earth is the clean people show. He sent us here armed with the commandments to learn how to master ourselves and become clean people; so that we can return to live with him in his clean house. You must view the commandments of God as a gift; a tool to teach us how to become a clean people. Not a reason to condemn us.
I love and respect our Christian brothers and sisters, but to say that we need only confess Jesus to be saved is like taking messy people, cleaning their house and then returning them as if it was the house’s fault. In such a scenario it is the house that was cleansed not the person.
3 Nephi 27:19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.
There is a T.V. show called Clean House. It is a relatively interesting show about a talented crew of designers who are in search of the messiest homes in America. They remove the messy people from the home and then they clean and remodel the house. When they have finished, the messy people are returned to a clean home. It is inevitable that those homes will become messy again in short order because the nature of the problem was not addressed: messy people. If this was my show I would forget about cleaning the house. I would take the people and teach them how to be clean, then I would put them back in the messy house and it would become clean as a matter of course because clean people would live there.
A few years ago I was teaching a discussion alongside the missionaries. When I got to the Word of Wisdom the woman defensively declared that, “God will not send [her] to hell for smoking!” Her statement illustrates an all too common and backward understanding of the commandments. God is not standing at the judgment bar looking for a reason to hit the trap door switch. He loves us. He created this Earth for us to learn how to master ourselves. If we fail to do so, how can he endow us with even greater freedom and power that comes in the next life? It would be a disaster. So, it is not that he will send us to hell for smoking, it is that we will not have learned the nessessary self control that we need to handle even greater things.
This Earth is the clean people show. He sent us here armed with the commandments to learn how to master ourselves and become clean people; so that we can return to live with him in his clean house. You must view the commandments of God as a gift; a tool to teach us how to become a clean people. Not a reason to condemn us.
I love and respect our Christian brothers and sisters, but to say that we need only confess Jesus to be saved is like taking messy people, cleaning their house and then returning them as if it was the house’s fault. In such a scenario it is the house that was cleansed not the person.
3 Nephi 27:19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Pornography
A few months ago, I was lying in an uncomfortable chair staring at the needle lying on a table next to my podiatrist. Before injecting my foot, he sprayed the area with a very cold solution. Out of a pure need to talk, I mentioned to him how interesting I thought it was that the solution was so cold that in numbs the skin. “Actually” he said, “it is nothing like that.” As he pushed the tiny needle painlessly into my skin he explained that you can only feel one thing at a time. That is why, if you overwhelm a small area of skin with a cold sensation, you don’t feel the needle go in; you just feel the cold.
I believe this is how our spirits work as well. You can only feel one thing at a time.
It may seem harmless to engage in a little pornography. But, it is hard to notice what you’re not feeling. The whisperings of the spirit are tiny, like the needle on a syringe. Pornography overwhelms your spirit to the point that you cannot feel anything else. Those tiny pricks of the spirit grow less and less noticeable as you develop an appetite for the cold and without realizing it, your whole spirit settles into a deep freeze.
Alma 5:57 And now I say unto you, all you that are desirous to follow the voice of the good shepherd, come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things…
Moroni 9:20 …Behold, thou knowest the wickedness of this people; thou knowest that they are without principle, and past feeling; and their wickedness doth exceed that of the Lamanites.
I believe this is how our spirits work as well. You can only feel one thing at a time.
It may seem harmless to engage in a little pornography. But, it is hard to notice what you’re not feeling. The whisperings of the spirit are tiny, like the needle on a syringe. Pornography overwhelms your spirit to the point that you cannot feel anything else. Those tiny pricks of the spirit grow less and less noticeable as you develop an appetite for the cold and without realizing it, your whole spirit settles into a deep freeze.
Alma 5:57 And now I say unto you, all you that are desirous to follow the voice of the good shepherd, come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things…
Moroni 9:20 …Behold, thou knowest the wickedness of this people; thou knowest that they are without principle, and past feeling; and their wickedness doth exceed that of the Lamanites.
Friday, August 20, 2010
A true testimony is an island
I often hear uplifting stories in Sacrament Meeting about a child who was healed or a person that got a good job. I am grateful for these stories. However, these testimonies often end with, “…and so I know the church is true.”
This statement always makes me uncomfortable. Because if you follow that logic through, it means that if you didn’t get the job or your child wasn’t healed, then the church is not true.
I believe that a true testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be an island. It must stand on its own foundation, independent of the individual circumstances of your life. I have visited many less active members who, when asked why they stopped coming to church, also list an event as the reason for their lack of testimony.
Individual events in your life should be a source of gratitude, not knowledge that the Gospel is true. Otherwise, your testimony will blow in whichever direction the circumstances of your life dictate.
Two months ago a woman, whose son had died the night before in a car accident, stood in church and bore her testimony that the Gospel is true and that her son is in a better place. As I listened, I knew that her testimony was not built on an event. Her testimony is an island, independent of individual circumstances.
Matthew 5:45 …for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
This statement always makes me uncomfortable. Because if you follow that logic through, it means that if you didn’t get the job or your child wasn’t healed, then the church is not true.
I believe that a true testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be an island. It must stand on its own foundation, independent of the individual circumstances of your life. I have visited many less active members who, when asked why they stopped coming to church, also list an event as the reason for their lack of testimony.
Individual events in your life should be a source of gratitude, not knowledge that the Gospel is true. Otherwise, your testimony will blow in whichever direction the circumstances of your life dictate.
Two months ago a woman, whose son had died the night before in a car accident, stood in church and bore her testimony that the Gospel is true and that her son is in a better place. As I listened, I knew that her testimony was not built on an event. Her testimony is an island, independent of individual circumstances.
Matthew 5:45 …for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Leaning against the church
When I go to the gym, there are always a couple of people leaning against the machines talking to their friends. They are in that same position when I leave an hour later. It doesn’t bother me and I have never thought much of it. But a few days ago I got off my machine (exhausted) and I walked past one of them just in time to hear him say that he doesn’t understand why he is not losing any weight when he comes to the gym every day. I almost tripped on myself when I heard him say that. Apparently he felt that just being in the gym counted whether he exercised or not.
As I drove home, I couldn’t help thinking about the danger in coming here to Earth and spending our time "leaning" against the Church. Not really doing much of anything unless we are asked to; but, assuming that since we show up to church each week that we are secured a place in heaven.
Matthew 3:9 says, “And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” Jesus said this because Abraham was promised by the Lord that he would have children who would inherit eternity. Because of that promise, some of the literal descendants of Abraham, alive at that time, assumed they were assured eternal salvation for nothing more than their lineage. Jesus' point was that just being a descendant of Abraham will not secure your place in heaven.
Just like the socializers at the gym and the literal descendants of Abraham; showing up to church each week alone is not enough to get you into heaven. You must actively participate in your own salvation.
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
As I drove home, I couldn’t help thinking about the danger in coming here to Earth and spending our time "leaning" against the Church. Not really doing much of anything unless we are asked to; but, assuming that since we show up to church each week that we are secured a place in heaven.
Matthew 3:9 says, “And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” Jesus said this because Abraham was promised by the Lord that he would have children who would inherit eternity. Because of that promise, some of the literal descendants of Abraham, alive at that time, assumed they were assured eternal salvation for nothing more than their lineage. Jesus' point was that just being a descendant of Abraham will not secure your place in heaven.
Just like the socializers at the gym and the literal descendants of Abraham; showing up to church each week alone is not enough to get you into heaven. You must actively participate in your own salvation.
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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