I am not ashamed

Today's scripture mastery verse is from the letter of Paul written to the Romans.  It is found in Romans 1:16

 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

This is what we feel when we are truly converted.  I struggle with this at times.  It is not easy to "open your mouth"(Doctrine and Covenants 33:8-10) and share the gospel when we fear what others will think and say about us, or what they may do.  We must learn to overcome that fear (FYI, this blog is my attempt to do just that in my own life. . .)

I like this promise found in 1 John 4:18

 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

This is something I believe that even the apostle Peter struggled with.  Jesus taught him personally to overcome that fear by telling him this: (John 21: 15-17)

 15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

 16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

 If we have a perfect love for God, and for our fellow man, we will have a desire to feed Christ's sheep (i.e. share the gospel, and lift and help each other)

Steven sees Christ standing on the right hand of God the Father

Today's scripture mastery I actually referenced in yesterday's post.  It is Acts 7:55-56.  This is the story of Steven seeing Christ standing on the right hand of God, just before he was stoned to death.

 55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

I mentioned yesterday that there have been many people who have seen God.  The scriptures have listed many people who have seen God face to face.

Here are just a few:
Moses (Exodus 33:11).  Moses saw the Lord while he was in the tabernacle.
Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5).  Isaiah saw the Lord when he was first called to be a prophet.
Nephi and Jacob (2 Nephi 11:3).  Nephi teaches that both he and his brother Jacom have seen God.
King Lamoni (Alma 19:13).  He was taught the gospel by a missionary named Ammon.  He had a wonderful vision where he saw Christ.
The brother of Jared (Ether 3:15).  I like this one.  The brother of Jared first saw the finger of the Lord, and was very surprised, as he didn't know that God had a body.  He was then shown Christ's whole body.  It was explained that we are, indeed created after the image of God--not in a figurative sense, but literally.
I mentioned Joseph Smith yesterday.  Here is another time that he saw him: (Doctrine and Covenants 110:2-4).  This sighting happened during the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, and is a very detailed description.

For more references of people who have seen God, see this list of scripture references: (Topical Guide- God, Privilege of Seeing)

I particularly like this reference, as it could apply to each of us.  This one comes from Christ's "Be attitudes" sermon (Matt 5:8):

 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

If we become pure in heart, we have been promised that we too can see God!

Eternal Life

John 17:3 is today's scripture mastery:

3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

This scripture is part of the prayer that Christ said just before He suffered for the sins of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane, and afterwards was crucified on the cross in the garden of Gethsemane.

In this verse, Christ teaches some very important things.  First, we have another example of Christ and the Father being separate persons (otherwise why would Christ be praying to Himself, and referring to Himself in both first and second person. . .)  A few (of the many) other examples of the fact that they are separate are when Stephen saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God (Acts 7:55), and Joseph Smith seeing God the Father, and the Son, Jesus Christ (Joseph Smith-History 1:17)

Second we learn that to gain Eternal Life, we must know God the Father, as well as Christ, his Son.

How can we do that?  Well, as we learned in yesterday's post, the more we keep the commandments of God, the more we will be blessed, and, as another bonus, we will come to know Him more and more.

John teaches us a little more on how in (John 14:8-12)

 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

 9 Jesus saith unto him, 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?

 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

 12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

 Basically, it boils down to following the example of Christ.  Christ always did what the Father wanted him to do.  We should do what Christ wants us to do.  The more we do that, the more we come to know Christ, and the more we know Christ, the more we come to know the Father.

The more Christlike we become, the closer we come to gaining Eternal Life.  If we gain Eternal Life, we will actually come to know Christ and the Father in a very real way.  We will be welcomed back in to their presence with a hug, and will hear directly from them "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:23)  That will make all the trials and troubles in life be well worth it!  Can you imagine the joy and peace that will bring?

If ye love me, keep my commandments

Today's scripture mastery is a short one.  It is John 14:15.  I actually already quoted the entire verse in the title of this post, but here it is again:

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Though the verse is very short, it is very profound.  We show our love for Jesus by keeping His commandments. 

What are the commandments that we should keep?

To answer that question, let me answer by repeating the verses found in Matthew 22, where a lawyer asked Jesus what the "great commandment" (meaning the most important commandment) is.  He responded with these verses:

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

 38 This is the first and great commandment.

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

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

If we love the Lord with all our heart, mind, and soul, we are willing to give to Him the only thing that is truly ours to give--our free will.  God has given to us everything that we have.  The air we breathe, our lives, and  all the beautiful things in the world are ours only temporarily.  If we give to him our heart, mind, and soul by obeying him, we are giving to the Lord the only thing that He will never take from us by force.

I can't explain this concept as well as king Mosiah did.  He was a righteous king who taught his people about this concept.  He explained it this way (Mosiah 2:21-26):

 21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

 22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

 23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

 24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

 25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.

 26 And I, even I, whom ye call your king, am no better than ye yourselves are; for I am also of the dust. And ye behold that I am old, and am about to yield up this mortal frame to its mother earth.

It is amazing to me how much love Christ constantly shows to me! When I keep his commandments to show my love for Him, He turns the table on me!  He blesses me much more than I deserve... 

I would like to finish today's post by quoting one of my favorite Hymns.  It is called "I Stand All Amazed"(click the link to hear the music of the hymn as well)

1. I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

[Chorus]
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

2. I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

3. I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.

Christ's Other Sheep

Today's scripture mastery is John 10:16.  It reads:

16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Christ often referred to Himself as a shepherd, and the people who hear his voice and obey Him, as his sheep.   So, what did Christ mean when he said to his apostles that he had "other sheep"?  The answer to that was given to the Nephites in the Book of Mormon when Christ was visiting and teaching them (3 Nephi 15:21-24)

 21 And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

 22 And they understood me not, for they supposed it had been the Gentiles; for they understood not that the Gentiles should be converted through their preaching.

 23 And they understood me not that I said they shall hear my voice; and they understood me not that the Gentiles should not at any time hear my voice—that I should not manifest myself unto them save it were by the Holy Ghost.

 24 But behold, ye have both heard my voice, and seen me; and ye are my sheep, and ye are numbered among those whom the Father hath given me.

One of the reasons I like these verses, is that it shows that Christ wants all to come to Him.  He wants his gospel preached to all the world.  It is for everyone.  He does not reserve any blessings for any special group, but rather for all those that "hear his voice."  Whether we hear the voice through missionary work, or because we are "of the house of Israel" (meaning his covenant people), and hear his voice, it is the same.

Christ wants all to come to Him.  It is only through Him that any can be saved.  Let's open our (spiritual) ears, and hear!  Let us follow Him and be saved!

How to know if the doctrine is really from God

We have some unique doctrines that we teach in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  How can you know if what we teach is really from God?  Simple!  Follow the advice from Jesus as found in today's scripture mastery: John 7:17:

17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

Is it really that simple to know?  Yes, it really is that simple!  When we live the commandments, we gain the spiritual blessings associated with those commandments.  We also have the Holy Ghost testifying to us that the commandment is indeed from God.

I think that this scripture found in Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21 explains this concept very well:

 20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

 21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

 So. . .Do you want to know if the law of tithing is really from God?  And should you obey it?  Try it for a while, and see if you are blessed so much that you don't have room to receive the blessings (That promise is found in Malachi 3:10)

What about the "law of health," which we call the Word of Wisdom?  (That strange commandment that we have in our church to abstain from tea, coffee, alcohol, and illegal drugs).  If we keep that commandment (found in Doctrine and Covenants 89), we are promised this:

 18 And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;

 19 And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;

 20 And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.

 21 And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.

What about the commandments that most Christians know about?  How about the 10 commandments given to Moses for example?  The same test works for those commandments as well.  Live the commandments.  For every one you keep, you will know if it came from God, or if it was given by someone else.

Every commandment of God has blessings associated with them.  If we obey them, we will be blessed.  God always keeps his promises.  (Plus we will know for ourselves that the commandment that we have been testing out is really a commandment from God!)

Here is another promise found in the scriptures about keeping the commandments (Doctrine and Covenants 93:28):

28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.

For those of you who think that religion and science don't mix--put the scientific method to the test on this concept.  Pick a commandment, and really live it for a while.  You will come to know that that commandment does come from God.

I know that this is a true concept.  I have received many blessings from God when I obey the commandments.  I have had the Holy Ghost witness to me that these commandments (and many others that I haven't mentioned here) are really from God.

The Importance of Baptism

It is vital that we be baptized!  Christ himself stated that fact in today's scripture mastery--John 3:5:

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Christ was very blunt there.  We cannot enter into the kingdom of God without baptism!

Not just any baptism will will do however.  We must be baptized in the way that Christ himself was.  That is, by immersion.  And not just anybody can perform the baptism.  It must be done by someone who has the Priesthood.  (See my previous post that discusses the priesthood, and another where I discuss baptism)

Here are a few other scriptures that teach us about what we need to do to be baptized

First, here is a revelation on what we need to do to qualify for baptism, as found in Doctrine and Covenants 20:37:

37 And again, by way of commandment to the church concerning the manner of baptism—All those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church.

Joseph Smith received this revelation on how to perform baptisms as well.  It is very specific, and is found in Doctrine and Covenants 20:72-74

 72 Baptism is to be administered in the following manner unto all those who repent—

 73 The person who is called of God and has authority from Jesus Christ to baptize, shall go down into the water with the person who has presented himself or herself for baptism, and shall say, calling him or her by name: Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 74 Then shall he immerse him or her in the water, and come forth again out of the water.

But what of the people who have not had the opportunity to be baptized with the proper authority, or in the proper manner?  What of those millions of people who may not even have heard of Jesus Christ, and have passed away?  Are they doomed?  God loves all his children, and has provided a way for all his children to receive baptism in the proper way.

Joseph Smith taught the church about baptism for the dead in Section 128 of the Doctrine and Covenants.  I won't quote the entire section here, but if you are interested, you can read it in it's entirety here.  Here is the summary of what is in that section:

1–5, Local and general recorders must certify to the fact of baptisms for the dead; 6–9, Their records are binding and recorded on earth and in heaven; 10–14, The baptismal font is a similitude of the grave; 15–17, Elijah restored power relative to baptism for the dead; 18–21, All of the keys, powers, and authorities of past dispensations have been restored; 22–25, Glad and glorious tidings are acclaimed for the living and the dead.

 What I think I like most about baptism for the dead is that it shows us that God does indeed love all of his children.  As Peter stated in Acts 10:34, God truly is not a respecter of persons. 

Now, one final note.  Many do get offended by the idea that we do baptisms of people who have passed away.  After all, how do we know that they would want to become a member of our church???  Well, the short answer is that we don't know.  But the beauty of it is this:  God will never take away from any person his or her ability to choose for him/her self.  We do perform the baptisms for those who have passed away, though it is up to the person to accept or reject that baptism.  We can not, nor do we want to force anybody to be a member of our church.  It is a gift freely given, in the same way that Christ has freely given the gift of the Atonement to the world--it is up to each of us to accept or reject his wonderful gift, and likewise it is up to each individual accept or reject the baptism performed for them if they have passed away without a valid baptism while they were living here on earth.

The reality of the Resurrection

Christ was suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane, and on the cross.  After he died on the cross, he was resurrected.  This is not only hard to believe for us, but it was also hard for Christ's deciples.  We read in Luke 24:36-39 what happened:

 36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

 38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?

 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

These apostles, and others recorded in the scriptures have actually seen, and touched Jesus after he was resurrected.  They testify that He did indeed live again.  They testify that He does still live.

There are special witnesses of Christ today as well.  They also have seen Him.  They testify of His reality, and of the Atonement which He performed for all mankind.

Now, not all of us have had that same opportunity to witness Christ's resurrected body with our own eyes.  So, what do we do if we want to know for ourselves if what we read in the scriptures, is true?  Well, first of all, God uses the law of witnesses.  That is, that for all his truths, he has witnesses, who tell us of these truths (2 Corinthians 13:1):

... In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

But, God does not leave it at that.  He wants us to be able to know for ourselves on important things like this.  How can we know for ourselves?  Jesus gave the answer to a man named Oliver Cowdery, and it is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 9:8

8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.

This same promise is valid for all of us as well.  If we want to know what we are hearing is true, we must

1. Study it
2. Ask God, in prayer, if what you have studied is true

If we do those things, God will answer us through the Holy Ghost.  We will have Him witness to us, and we will know for ourselves.  And that witness is just as powerful as if we had been there to witness it with our own eyes.

Christ lives!  I know it, and you can know it as well!

How we treat the Lord

Today's scripture mastery verse is Matthew 25:40

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Here we read what Christ said to his disciples just after giving the parable of the sheep and the goats.  In this parable, the sheep are those who are on His right hand, and who will inherit the kingdom from the Father.  The goats, on the other hand, are those who are on His left hand, and will be cast out of His presence. 

We learn that to be considered his sheep, we must treat others with charity.  We must serve those who are in need.  We must feed the hungry. We must visit the lonely.  We must help the oppressed.  In short, we must be kind to others.  One thing that I noticed when I studied this parable, is that Christ doesn't take in to account if the person who is suffering "deserves it" or not.  After all, most who are in prison probably made bad choices, yet when we visit and comfort them, we are "doing it unto Christ."  I believe that this also applies to those who may have offended us, and then later come on hard times.  We should do, as Christ taught in Luke 6:28:

 27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

 28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

 29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.

 30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.

 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

If we don't show kindness or give a helping hand to those who are suffering and in need, we will be considered as the goats.  If we don't help those around us, it is as if we refused to help Christ himself. . .The consequences of that seem much worse to me than to hold out, and not offer our help to those who may have wronged us, or who it may be inconvenient to help or comfort.

The key here is to develop Charity, which is the pure love of Christ.  There are many scriptures that teach us about charity.  If you are interested, here is a reference to many of them: Charity

2 Important things for Christ's church: Revelation, and the Priesthood

Today's scripture mastery is Matthew 16:15-19

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

In these verses, Jesus had asked his disciples who people were saying that he was.  After they answered that question he asked them who they thought he was.  This is Peter's answer, and Jesus' response to him.

In His response, Christ tells us first about the importance of revelation.  Some answers we can receive come from our Father in Heaven, through the Holy Ghost.  Our testimony of the divinity and role of the Savior is one of those things that comes from revelation.  They can not be learned by other means.  Each man or woman must gain his own testimony.  They must learn the truthfulness of and the importance of Christ for themselves.  They can not "borrow" that knowledge from others.  They must exercise faith, and ask the Lord if what they have learned is true.  If it is, they will gain from Heavenly Father their own knowledge, just as Peter did.  (See my previous post on the importance of revelation)

The second important thing that Christ taught to Peter was the importance of the priesthood.  (See my previous post on the priesthood) The Priesthood is the power of God, given to men on the earth.  With this power, things can be "bound on earth and in heaven."  This is the power by which we can be sealed together with our families forever.  Marriage can be so much more than just "until death do us part."  That means that we don't have to grieve as much when we lose one of our loved ones do death, because we have the hope and promise that we will be reunited with them when we too have passed away.  We will still miss them greatly while they are gone, and we are still here, but having that promise brings comfort and joy to those that grieve.

Matthew 6:24

Today's scripture mastery verse is Matthew 6:24:

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

 This is another verse from Christ's masterful Sermon on the Mount.  Here Christ teaches us that we must make a choice on who to serve.  We can't be fence sitters.  We must either serve Him, or someone or something else.  We must focus on the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of the devil.  I have heard it said that we can't try to keep a summer home in Babylon (the scriptures often refer to the world or worldliness as Babylon).

Have you ever heard this verse, and wondered what mammon is?  I looked up the definition of mammon, and it is defined like this:

Wealth regarded as an evil influence or false object of worship and devotion.

So, that means that if we put more thought in to riches and worldly gain more than we do in Christ and His teachings, we are in effect choosing that wealth as our master--meaning we either hate or despise God.  Those are very straight forward words from the Master. . .

Now, is wealth in and of itself evil?  No.  The riches of the world have been given to bless the lives of God's children, and can (and should be) be used for very good causes.  There is a prophet in the book of Mormon, named Jacob, who teaches his people (who are starting to fall in to the trap of desiring riches more than they should).  He says this about riches (Jacob, 2:19):

And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

 What is the differentiating factor here?  It is what our thoughts and desires are focused on.  Do we put all our thoughts and feelings in to gaining riches?  Or do we put our thoughts and desires in to other things that Christ wants us to do?  If we do the latter, the Lord may bless us with riches, but we will not be greedy with them--instead, we will use them to bless the lives of those around us who are less fortunate than we are.

Scripture Mastery

Now that I have completed discussing the 13 Articles of Faith, I thought I would continue my blog talking about the 100 different scriptures that the youth of the church are encouraged to study and memorize.  There are 25 scriptures in each of the "Standard Works" (i.e. The Old and New Testaments in the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants)

These scriptures cover many different aspects of the Gospel.

Let's start with Matthew 5:14-16:

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

These verses are taken from Christ's Sermon on the Mount.  These verses teach us that we need to be mindful of our actions.  We hope that from our actions, people can see the light of Christ.  We hope to be good examples to others.

However, we also know that our example can go the other way--if we are not living the gospel, that shows as well, and has a very negative impact on those who watch us.

We can not hide our example from others--they see it, whether we want them to or not.  If we are obedient to God's commandments, our happiness shows, and is a light to others around us.

We also understand from these verses, that Christ wants us to actively share his Gospel with others.  We are not to hide from others the goodness that we have received.  The Gospel is meant to be shared.  The word gospel literally means "good news."  Good news is something that begs to be shared.  There are many in the world who are in need of the good news of the Gospel.  The Gospel of Christ brings joy and peace and happiness to those who hear and obey it.

I like the last part of these verses as well--that the people who see our good works can glorify God.  We don't share the gospel for our own benefit, but rather because we love those we are sharing it with.  The Gospel is not shared for our personal gain, or to make ourselves seem better than others.

What we aim to be: Article of Faith #13

Article of Faith 13 tells what we aim to be:

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

While none of us are perfect, this is the ideal we strive for.  All of these virtues that are listed here are characteristics of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We aim to be people that others can trust.  We aim to lend a helping hand to those in need.  We aim to be an "example of the believer."

We know from experience that life is not easy.  There are trials and troubles that affect each of us.  We strive to stay on the straight and narrow path that will lead us back to Christ.

Christ is our Hope.  We look to Him in all things as our perfect example, and our Savior.

He has given us many wonderful things in life that we should seek after.  We are encouraged to get a good education, and to learn as much as we can.  Indeed, everything that is good comes from Christ.  As the prophet Moroni in the Book of Mormon states (Moroni 7:19):

Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.

More on Article of Faith #8

I read a very interesting article in the Huffington Post yesterday.  It ties in very well with Article of Faith #8.

The link to the article is here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-joel-hoffman/five-ways-your-bible-tran_b_1007058.html

Dr Hoffman shows many problems with the translation of the Bible.  His article shows us why it is critical to have modern scripture, such as the Book of Mormon, which supports the teachings in the Bible, and which continues to teach us of Christ. 

Many of the comments to his article show the confusion that can happen when people interpret the bible, based on it's many translations.

That just shows us why we "believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly"

The law of the land: Article of Faith #12

Article of Faith #12 reads:

We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

I don't know for sure, but I think that this Article of Faith may be unique among the official stated beliefs of most religions. 

We do believe that it is important to obey the law, and be subject to the law of the land--even if we don't agree with it.  If we don't like a particular law, we should work through the official channels to get the law repealed or changed.  If we live in a country where the leaders are elected by the citizens, we should participate in those elections, and vote for those who we feel will best lead the country.  The church does not endorse any political party or person.  You will find that there are many members of our church in all political parties.

In the countries that our church has a presence where there are not the freedoms that we have here in the United States, we teach the members there to follow the laws of their countries as well.  That is sometimes a difficult thing to do, as some laws may conflict with some of the aims and teachings of the church.  For example, in some countries, it is illegal to publicly proselytize.  We don't have missionaries in those countries who share the gospel with others.  We hope that those laws will change sometime in the future, but until they do, we do obey those laws.

Now, I don't claim to be perfect in obeying every law 100% (My wife can attest to the fact that I sometimes drive faster than the posted speed limit for example)  You will find that none of the members of our church are perfect, nor do we claim to be.  Though we do try to be more Christlike in all our doings.

Article of Faith #11

This Article of Faith is the only one that doesn't begin with "We believe"

Article of Faith #11 states:

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

This one states simply that we claim the right and privilege of worshiping Christ.  The thought that I would like to leave here on this one is simple.  While we would love to have everybody know what it is that we believe--we don't force anybody to accept our beliefs.  In fact, we believe that everybody has the choice to believe and act how they want.  God has given us what we call agency.  He will never force anybody to believe in Him, or follow Him.  He does give commandments, and there are set consequences for disobeying them.  He teaches us what we should do, and what the consequences of our choices will be, but he leaves the choice up to us if we will follow Him or not.

You probably know that we have a very active missionary program in our church.  We want everybody to know of the wonderful things that Christ has revealed through his prophets.  I have heard it stated in this way:  The gospel can be compared to a delicious glass of orange juice.  We really enjoy it, and have lots of it available to share.  We should not be afraid to offer it to our friends and neighbors, because we might think that they might not like orange juice. . .We should share it with everybody--if they choose not to have some orange juice, at least we have offered it to them.

The second part of this Article of Faith is similar to the first part, in that we allow others to believe and worship God however they want to. 

We believe that the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States is divinely inspired.  It reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The 11th Article of Faith ties in very well with this first amendment of the Constitution--specifically the part that states that there should be no laws that put one religion above another, or prohibiting people from worshiping God how they want.

Article of Fath #10

We believe that there have been revealed some things that will happen in the future.  We can read about them in Article of Faith #10.

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

There are a lot of things that are listed here that will happen in the future (and one that we can see has already begun).

Lets start with the literal gathering of Israel.  When this Article of Faith was written, there was no country of Israel.  The Jews had been scattered all over the world.  Now they have their own country.  That is another example of revelation being fulfilled.

The other things mentioned here are still in the future, but I believe that they will all happen.  First, what is this New Jerusalem?  There are many scriptures that refer to it.  See a list of many of them here: (Topical Guide: New Jerusalem).  Sometime in the future, there will be a new city built, which will be called Zion.  And that along with the holy city of Jerusalem, there will be many important things that will happen there.  Micah in the Old testament says that the law will come from Zion, and the word of the Lord will come from Jerusalem.

We believe that Christ will come again to the earth (this is known as the Second Coming)  When he does, he will reign as King over the earth.  When he does come again, the earth will be cleansed from wickedness, and the righteous will live on the earth for 1000 years in peace and righteousness.  Since there will be no wicked people on the earth (Satan will be bound, and will not be able to tempt anybody during that period), the earth will be a very nice place to be!

Now, we don't know when that will happen.  We only know that it is "soon."  One last point--soon in God's terms doesn't necessarily mean soon in ours. . .When Nephi (the first prophet who recorded in the Book of Mormon) left Jerusalem with his family, in about 600BC, he was told that Christ would be born soon.  600 years may not seem soon to us, but in God's time frame, it probably is.  Since we don't know how soon Christ will come, we are told to be ready.  We should live righteously, and repent when needed.  If we do that, we will be in good shape, whether he comes tomorrow, or whether he comes 600 years from now.

Article of Faith #9

Have we been given all the truths that God wants to give us?  Here is what we believe as stated in Article of Faith #9

We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

God does not change.  Malachi teaches us that in the Old Testament (Malachi 3:6.) If that is true, he will continue to teach us and guide us in the same way he has since the beginning.  In other words, he will continue to teach us things that are important for us to know.  God didn't reveal all his truths to Adam and Eve, but rather he gave to them those things that they needed, when they needed it.  The same has been true through all the recorded history.  Prophets have been revealed many truths over the years, which they have taught their people.

It is the same today!  God continues to reveal to us the truths of the gospel.  Many of those revealed truths that are much more recent than the Old and New Testaments can be found in a book we call the Doctrine and Covenants.  In there, we learn many important things.  Most of the revelations there teach us more about our Savior, Jesus Christ, but there are many other things that have been given to bless and help us.  For example, many think that we are strange because we do not drink alcoholic beverages, nor smoke, nor drink tea and coffee.  The reason for that, is the revelation that was given to Joseph Smith, and recorded in section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. 

There are many other examples of modern day revelation.  I know that God will continue to give us important truths.

One other point that I would like to make about revelation is that revelation can be personal.  In other words, not every revelation from God comes through the current prophet.  We can each know for ourselves what is true, and what is not.  That is an example of revelation as well.  God does not want us to "blindly follow" what our leaders tell us.  He wants us to know for ourselves what is true.  There is a scripture found at the end of the Book of Mormon that teaches us how we can get that personal revelation.  It is found in Moroni 10:3-5.  There we learn that after we learn of something new, we need to ask God, in prayer if it is true, and he will give us the answer (if we really desire to know).  Matthew in the New Testament teaches us the same thing.  In Matthew 7:8, he says: "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."

Article of Faith #8

In this Article of Faith, #8, we talk about the truthfulness of both the Holy Bible, as well as the Book of Mormon:

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

There are many, who are not a member of our church that seem to take offense to this one for some reason. . .It is almost seems as if they think that we are trying to push down the importance of the Holy Bible.  But that is not the case.  As this article of faith states, we believe it to be the word of God.  We study the Holy Bible, and believe it to contain many of the truths of the gospel.  It teaches us of Christ, and how important (how essential) He is for our salvation.  The same goes for the Book of Mormon.  It also contains the teachings of and about Christ.

Both books of holy scripture support and strengthen each other, and teach us those things that we need to know and do to return to live with our Heavenly Father after this life.

For those who don't know about the Book of Mormon--it is another testament of Jesus Christ.  It was written by prophets who lived anciently in the American continents.  They lived here for many hundreds of years before Christ was born in Bethlehem.  We learn from the Book of Mormon what they taught about Christ from that time, until about 400 years after Christ was crucified, and was resurrected.   Here is one of my favorite scriptures found in the Book of Mormon.  It is found in 2 Nephi 25:26

I am very grateful to have both books of scripture.  I love to read from the pages of both.  I love to learn about my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I feel His love when I read from both the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  (I feel His love even more though when I try and actually DO what I learn that Christ wants us to do, and is found within the pages of both).

Article of Faith #7

Are there still spiritual gifts?  I am giving my thoughts about Article of Faith #7 today:

We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

There are a lot of scriptures that talk about the gifts of the spirit.  I like the following ones: 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, and D&C 46:11-26, and Moroni 10:8-18.

I think that the key to these scriptures is that they do in fact exist.  And beyond that, they are there for the benefit of mankind.  God loves us, and wants us to be happy.

I have seen many of these gifts myself.  For example, what is the gift of tounges?  It is most often found with the missionaries when they are learning a new language.  It is not easy to learn a new language, but those difficult languages are learned very well, and the missionaries are able to teach others about the gospel with it.  The interpretation of tounges is similar, in that sometimes there may be a person in the congregation, who may be visiting, who does not speak the same language of the rest of the congregation.  The gift of interpretation of tounges is so that the person who has that gift, can translate the message that is given by the foreign speaking person, so that all in the congregation can understand.

As for prophesy, that is also a true gift of God.  I remember that long before the scandal of the Catholic priests' sexual assult of minors was in the news, a new rule came out for the missionaries.  They were told that they were not to pick up any child, or to hold them on their lap.  At the time that the rule was given, it didn't make any sense to me.  However, when the scandal started to be in the news, it made sense.  That new rule was given for the protection of the missionaries.  It was given so that there would not even be the appearance of evil--that is an example of revelation.

I have a testimony that the other gifts of the spirit are true as well.  Prophecy, Healing, Visions, and the gifts listed in the scriptures I referenced above are all available for our benefit.  Let me rephrase that a little.  The gifts of God are not given so that the person who has received them can gain praise or money for the use of them.  The vast majority of the gifts are for the benefit of others.  We are to use the gifts of God to help our fellow man.  We are to use them to help the needy, and bless the lives of those around us.  Just as Jesus freely blessed and healed those around him, we should also use the gifts he has given to us to do the same.

Prophets and Apostles: Article of Faith #6

We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

The leadership in our church is the same as it was when Christ set up His church anciently.  The church is led by Apostles and Prophets, who receive revelation for the church and the world from Jesus Christ.  Locally, we are led in the same was as the church was anciently as well.  A pastor is one who leads a local group--we call him a bishop.  Teachers are an office within the Aaronic priesthood.  We also have in our church a Patriarch (an evangelist)  He is able to give us special blessings that tell us much about what we can accomplish in our life.

I am grateful to have leaders who receive revelation from God.  I am also grateful to be able to listen to what they teach us.

Today I talk about the priesthood, and the Authority of God--as stated in Article of Faith #5

We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

Not just anybody can baptize others in the name of Christ, nor perform the other ordinaces of the gospel.  That is something that must be given by others who have that authority.  For example, in the book of Acts in the New Testament, there is a story of a man named Simon.  He saw the apostles giving the gift of the Holy Ghost to others.  He also wanted to be able to do this--so he attempted to purchase the priesthood from Peter.  Peter taught that it the priesthood can not be bought.

We believe that the priesthood was restored in our day to the prophet Joseph Smith, and has been passed down in an un-broken chain to members of the church from that time.  John the Baptist (the same person who baptized Jesus Christ) came and restored the power to baptize to Joseph Smith, and then Peter, James, and John came and Restored the additional authority to Give the Gift of the Holy ghost--Remember that Christ himself gave that authority to those men.  You can read about John the Baptist restoring the Aaronic Priesthood here, and Peter, James, and John, restoring the Melchizedek Priesthood here.

God is a God of Order--and so He doesn't do things "willy nilly."  For that reason, even though I currently hold both the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, I can't go out, on my own, and baptize or give the Holy Ghost to anybody I want.  I must be authorized by those who are "in authority" to be able to perform those saving ordinances.  For example each local unit of the church has a bishop, who can give that authorization for me to baptize a person (after that person has been interviewed to make sure he/she is ready for baptism, and ready to take upon himself/herself the name of Christ, has repented/etc.)  That way the person who is receiving the ordinance is correctly added to the records of the church.  Along with the ordinance performed, it is recorded who performed the ordinance, the date the ordinance was performed, and what priesthood that person had who performed it.

Today I will give my thoughts on Article of Faith #4:

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

This Article of Faith tells us what the first 4 things are that we need to have and do in order to be saved.

The first 2 things are principles: Things we need to believe and do.

First is that we need to have faith.  And not just faith--It must be faith in Jesus Christ.  For without Him, and his sacrifice on the cross and in the Garden of Gethsemane, we would all be completely lost.  As none of us is perfect, we all sin, and are far from being able to return to God on our own.

That brings us to the second principle: Repentance.  Christ has overcome sin, through a process we call the atonement, and has promised to take away the "second death" caused by sin from each of us--but we must repent to take advantage of His atonement.  To repent, we must take the following steps:

1. Recognize that we have sinned
2. Feel remorse for what we have done
3. Ask those we have harmed for forgiveness
4. Make amends (i.e. do our best to repair the problem, or return what has been taken)
5. Don't sin in that way again

We must continue to have faith, and repent throughout our lives.

After we have faith and repent, we are then able to have the first ordinance that is required for us all to return to God's presence: Baptism

We must be ready to be baptized, because when we are, we are making important promises to the Lord.  For that reason, we must understand what we are doing.  That is why in our church we do not baptize infants.  We wait until they are old enough to know what they are promising, and are able to make their own choices.  In our church the minimum age for baptism is 8 years old.

We must also be baptized in the way that Jesus was baptized, i.e. by immersion (completely being covered in water.)  It must also be performed by someone who has the authority to baptize others (that authority is called the priesthood.)  Everybody who has ever lived, or who will live on the earth will need to be baptized--even Jesus Christ himself was baptized (though He didn't need it to be forgiven of his sins--He was perfect.  He did it to "fulfill all righteousness," or in other words to obey the commandment, and to show us the perfect example)

Following our baptism, we can have the next required ordinance performed--that of "Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."  This is a wonderful gift that is given to those who have been baptized.  With this gift of the Holy Ghost, we have the promise that the Holy Ghost will be with us always to help us and guide us--if we don't drive him away by making bad choices against his promptings.  He also comforts us in times of distress and trouble.

Again, even though we have been baptized, and have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, we are not perfect.  We must continue to have faith in Jesus Christ.  We must continue to repent when we make mistakes.  This is what is known as "enduring to the end"

Article of Faith #3 today:

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

I really like this Article of Faith. . .to me it shows the love that God has for us.  It also points us all to "the way, the life, and the light," which is Jesus Christ.  It doesn't matter who we are, or when we were born, or where in the world we live.  He has given to everybody the same chance to be saved.  If we were unfortunate to live in a part of the world where we never even heard of Christ, doesn't mean that we will go to hell.  God loves all of his children, and wants everybody to return to him.

The second key to that is "by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel."  We must obey the commandments that God has given us.  We must be baptized.

Now you may think that both of those are contradictory-how can you be baptized, and live the laws of the gospel, if you have never even heard of Christ??

Our Heavenly Father has made it so that we can all hear and accept (or reject - it is up to us) his gospel.  We can all live perform the ordinances necessary to return to his presence. 

How?  Well, for those of us still living, that is why missionary work is so important.  That is why our church has the missionary program that it does.  That is to bring the gospel to those throughout the world who may not have it (or have it in it's fullness-meaning those who currently believe in Christ, but don't have all the truths that have been revealed)

What about those who have died without ever even hearing about Christ or the gospel?  How can they be baptized?  That is why family history (genealogy) is so important.  If we do our family history, we can find out who has lived before us, and who may not have had the opportunity while living to receive baptism.  Then, within the temples of the church, we can be baptized for them (in proxy.)  Our ancestors who have died long ago have been taught the gospel after their death, but without a physical body cannot be baptized.  If they accept the teachings, and strive to obey the commandments after this life, they can choose (or again, choose not to) accept the proxy baptism performed by us here on earth.

God truly loves us all!

Articles of Faith #2

Today is Article of Faith #2

It states:

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

This tells us that we are accountable for what we do.  We can't blame our sins and mistakes on others.  It has always been easy to blame our troubles on others.  While it is true that sometimes others do things that have associated repercussions that affect us--we are still responsible for how we react.  "The Devil made me do it" is a lie.  He definitely tempts us, but we have our agency.  In other words, we make the decision to sin. 

We are not held accountable for "the sins of our parents" (or our friends, or even our enemies.)  We are however, held accountable for how we react, and what we think and do.

Lets start with the basics. . .I have decided to take our Articles of Faith (published by Joseph Smith when the church was still brand new, as a way to explain our beliefs), one at a time.

Let's start with the 1st of the 13 articles of faith:
It reads:

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

I do believe in God.  His Son, Jesus Christ, is my savior and my redeemer.  I am very grateful to him!  Without him, I would not be able to be forgiven of my sins.  I would not be able to have happiness.  I am grateful for the guidance of the Holy Ghost, who teaches me, and helps me to get pack on the correct path (i.e. he prompts me to repent when I make a mistake)

I have seen a lot of info out there about my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Some of it is misleading, some of it is accurate.  This blog is my attempt to share what I believe to be true.  I do not speak for the church, so what is found here is my own opinion.  I have decided that the best way for me to share what I believe is to just share here the basic beliefs of our church.  I will be sharing simple teachings of our church, and some commentary on what it means to me.