Because of Him

For many Christian denominations we are entering the Holy Week. Today is Palm Sunday, when Christ triumphantly enters Jerusalem; Friday is Good Friday, when Christ was crucified; and Sunday is Easter Sunday, when Christ was resurrected. We celebrate all of these because of the events that happened a single week in the life of one man – Jesus Christ. His life, and especially the events of that last week, has affected the life of every person that has ever lived or will ever live on this and many other worlds. Because of him the world was created and we are here (John 1:3). Because of him, we will all live again after we die.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey. Kings would show power by riding a horse into a conquering city; whereas a King would ride a donkey as a token of peace. Jesus Christ was the Prince of Peace and as such riding a donkey into Jerusalem would represent peace. The people of Jerusalem cut down palm branches and spread them before him and shouted:

“Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” (Matthew 21:8-9)

What happened to the people between Palm Sunday and Friday when they cried: “crucify him”? (Luke 23:21) Why would many of the same people who would worship him as their messiah turn against him and want him put to death? I would guess it is that most of both crowds had no idea who Jesus was and were just following along with those a few believers and then a few Jewish rulers that hated Jesus. We have all seen the affect a crowd can have on others as they work them into a frenzy everyone just joins in not really knowing what is going on.

Which group would we have been part of? Are we among the believers, those who cried “crucify him”, or are we another group that had no idea what was going on and did not even pay attention to all the fuss? If you have the day off work because of Good Friday or Easter, is it another day off work or do you go to your house of worship and give thanks because of life we celebrate this holy week?

Because of him all sickness and pain will be done away. Because of him, death has no victory and we will live again. Because of him, we can find happiness in this life and in the life to come. Because of him, we can be forgiven and cleansed of our sins. Everything that I am is because of him.

I invite you to come worship with us, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You can find the nearest church by clicking here and putting in your address. Even if you don’t want to worship with us, please go to your church and give thanks of all you have because of him.

Please watch this 1-minute video titled “Because of Him”. Your questions and comments are always welcome. 

Finding Peace in March Madness

Once again we are coming to the end of the great NCAA tournament season known as March Madness. We are down to the top two teams Virginia and Texas Tech. Along the way there were several Cinderella teams that upset the teams that were supposed to make it all the way to the end of the “big dance”. Seven of the games were decided by one or two points. Four games went into over time before a winner was decided.

I did not see all of the games during the tournament, but I did watch my share. Some games were extremely exciting, and others were well boring. Much of the madness comes from the broken brackets (the odds of picking a perfect bracket are 9.2 quintillion), lost time at work watching games (l love the “boss button” on the NCAA web site), watching players do stupid things - they are only 18-20+ year old kids what do you expect?, mistakes by referees, stupid fans, and annoying announcers and analysts.

One of the best examples of the effects of March Madness was found two years ago when 12 year old John Phillips was caught on camera having a melt down as Northwester lost their game to Gonzaga.

John Phillips, the Northwestern Crying Kid

One of the things I noticed this time was I never heard coaches or players make excuses or blame others for their loss. Maybe I just did not see the right interviews, but I did not see any. I was especially impressed by Bruce Pearl, the coach of Auburn, after their 1-point loss to Texas Tech in their semi-final game. During a post-game interview, the interviewer seemed to be trying to get the coach to blame the referee for their loss and he would not do it, taking full responsibility for Auburn’s loss. I also never hear any of the players during the tournament take credit for their victories but instead included the entire team in the win. I like the class the players and coaches showed this year.

This weekend was not only the semi finals for the NCAA Men’s Division I Tournament, but it was also the 189^th annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These two events seem to come at the same time every year. I would have like to have been a fly on the wall in the room where the presiding authorities were discussing which conference they would have the priesthood meetings and which one would have the general women’s meetings. It seems the sisters won the discussion because they get to stay home and watch the semi final games while the brethren of the church attend the general priesthood session. If you want to see my solution to this problem check out one of my past blogs from April 1, 2017 “Historic Agreement between the LDS Church and the NCAA” (yes, it was an April Fools Post).

Sessions from general conference had some great advice on how to find peace in the madness of the world around us. Here are a few thoughts that impressed me:

Becky Craven, 2^nd Counselor in the General Young Women’s Presidency said there is a casual way to live the gospel of Jesus Christ and there is a careful way to live it. We should not live it casually. There is no right way to not live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Brook P. Hales, of the Seventy, reminded us that sometimes our prayers are answered quickly and in the way we want. Sometimes they are not answered immediately or in the way we expect and sometimes they are not answered at all in this life. We must have faith to know the answers will eventually come.

President Eyring, 2^nd Counselor in the First Presidency, warned us of the pattern of decline of the people after the Savior visited the people in America and they then experienced almost 200 years of peace and prosperity. The signs of decline are:

1.     Pride

2.     Classes – no longer having their goods in common

3.     Increased sin

He said that increasing our faith in Jesus Christ and his servants is the best way to counter act a society that is in decline.

Sharon L. Eubank, 2^nd Counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency, said that Satan is trying hard to isolate us and cut us off from the source of light and wants us to think that we are the only ones that are experiencing difficulties. If we feel our flame of testimony fluttering, have faith that Christ’s light will sustain us. He is the source of truth and light.

D. Todd Christofferson, of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, said that we must do all we can to end suffering and prepare for the time when suffering will be done away when the Savior, Jesus Christ comes again.

Elder Rasband, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said that our testimony in Jesus Christ is our greatest defense again evil.

President Russell M. Nelson, president of the church, spoke in the priesthood session about the importance of repentance, that it is not a one thing and done situation. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. We need to prayerfully seek to know what is stopping us from repenting and fix it. In his Sunday address he said that salvation is an individual matter, but exaltation is a family matter. If we want to have the opportunity to be with our family fall all eternity; pay the price now!

Anyone that knows me, will agree that I love everything about March Madness, at least the NCAA tournament, but I do not like that madness in the world around us. It seems that this madness is growing at an ever-increasing rate. Watching the sessions of general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints helps me find peace in March (and other times of the year) Madness around us. The peace that the Savior Jesus Christ can give is the only answer for the wickedness in today’s world. We can have peace now and hope that when the Savior does return the madness will end forever. Until then at least we can enjoy the madness found in March and the NCAA Tournament.

Your questions and comments are welcome.

Is God Really Incomprehensible?

My wife and I have been called to serve as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we have been assigned to serve in the Indiana, Indianapolis Mission for 23 months. I have been thinking of why we want to serve this mission. My wife and I both served as missionaries before we were married and we have always planned on serving together when the time was right. We just celebrated our 43^rd wedding anniversary and I am now retired, so the time is right. Another reason for serving is we want to be an example to our grandchildren (and future generations as well) that missions are a priority for us and it should be for them as well. I believe the most important reason we want to serve our mission is we are both firm believers in the message that The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth again and we have living prophets and the priesthood authority to administer the saving ordinances that will allow us to return to live with our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ as families after this mortal life.

In six weeks my wife and I will begin our mission when we enter the Missionary Training Center in Provo. The first week of training will be for our individual responsibilities (Sue as the mission nurse and me as an office assistant) and the second week we will receive the same training as the younger missionaries receive before they go out to their individual missions.

Beginning today and for the next five weeks I would like to attempt to explain some of the differences between the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and those of other churches. I have wondered why traditional Christians have such a hard time understanding what we believe because to me our understanding of God and our purpose is so simple it is easy to understand and makes much more sense than traditional Christian beliefs.

The topics that I will be discussing include: the nature of God and Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the apostacy and restoration, is the bible all there is?, do we need a prophet today?, is there only one true church of Jesus Christ?, and what should Christ’s Church look like today?

I want to start this discussion with the topic of the nature of God. I do this because what members of the LDS Church believe about God is fundamental to all the other doctrines we have in the church and is one of the biggest disagreements we have with other Christian churches.

As a teenager my family attended the Methodist Church and though I tried to understand the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, it never made much sense to me? Let’s start with what traditional Christian churches teach about the nature of God.

“The Christian doctrine of the Trinity holds that God is not one but three coeternal consubstantial persons^[3] or hypostases^[4]—the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit—as "one God in three Divine Persons". The three Persons are distinct, yet are one "substance, essence or nature" (homoousios).^[5] In this context, a "nature" is what one is, whereas a "person" is who one is.^[6][7][8] Sometimes differing views are referred to as nontrinitarian.

“According to this central mystery of most Christian faiths, there is only one God in three Persons: while distinct in their relations with each other ("it is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds"),^[9] they are stated to be one in all else, co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial, and each is God, whole and entire.^[10] Accordingly, the whole work of creation and grace in Christianity is seen as a single operation common to all three divine persons, in which each shows forth what is proper to him in the Trinity, so that all things are "from the Father", "through the Son" and "in the Holy Spirit" (Wikipedia-Trinity)

And from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

“The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the "mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God". To be sure, God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his Revelation throughout the Old Testament. But his inmost Being as Holy Trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel's faith before the Incarnation of God's Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit. . .
“The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the "consubstantial Trinity". The divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire: "The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e. by nature one God." In the words of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), "Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance, essence or nature."

“The divine persons are really distinct from one another. "God is one but not solitary." "Father", "Son", "Holy Spirit" are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they are really distinct from one another: "He is not the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son." They are distinct from one another in their relations of origin: "It is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds. The divine Unity is Triune.

“The divine persons are relative to one another. Because it does not divide the divine unity, the real distinction of the persons from one another resides solely in the relationships which relate them to one another: "In the relational names of the persons the Father is related to the Son, the Son to the Father, and the Holy Spirit to both. While they are called three persons in view of their relations, we believe in one nature or substance." Indeed "everything (in them) is one where there is no opposition of relationship." "Because of that unity the Father is wholly in the Son and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Son is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Son.” (The Revelation of God as Trinity)

Now compare those descriptions of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost to what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint (or the Mormons) teaches about what we believe:

“The Trinity is a common Christian belief that the Godhead is one being represented by three persons. Mormons do believe in God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit. But Mormons do not believe in the traditional concept of the Trinity. Here’s why.

“Mormons do not believe in the Trinity concept because it is not supported by scripture. It was not until the councils of Nicaea (AD 325) and Chalcedon (AD 451) that the doctrine of the Trinity was defined. The formal doctrine of the Trinity is not found in the New Testament because the idea was only introduced hundreds of years later. Mormons center their faith instead on the Godhead as three distinct personages as supported by scripture.

“Mormons believe that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three distinct personages. They are separate beings united in the purpose of bringing all of God’s children back to His presence, but They are not one singular being. Together They comprise the Godhead.

“Remember the story in Matthew when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist? It’s a perfect example of three distinct beings acting together—as a Godhead—to accomplish the will of Heavenly Father.

“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16–17).

“In that moment, all three members of the Godhead were present. Christ, being baptized; the Holy Ghost, as indicated by the sign of the dove; and Heavenly Father’s voice emanating from the heavens.” (Do Mormons Believe in the Trinity?)

This teaching explains that we are literally children of God, Our Heavenly Father:

“The vast family of humankind was created with divine potential and in the image of our Father, who wants His children to thrive, to become like Him, and to return to live with Him. We instinctively desire this same thing; we long for a reunion with a home and family we can’t quite remember.

“The idea of God as our Father is not allegorical; it is literal. Our mortal bodies are remarkable scientific wonders and works of art—they are widely diverse, mortal bodies patterned after God’s own glorified, immortal body, as indicated in Genesis 1:26, where God says, “Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness.” And Moses also wrote of having seen God and talking to Him “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend” (Exodus 33:11). The New Testament likewise reveals Jesus Christ to have been begotten by God and created in His image. During His life on earth, Christ’s earthly body—which looked like ours—reflected this parentage. We are like our Father and His Son, whose combined work is to help us achieve eternal, exalted life with Them in heaven.” (What is the nature of God?)

And finally from the teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith:

“The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.” (Doctrine & Covenants 130:22)

I would ask anyone to read these two definitions of God tell me that the traditional Christian teaching makes more sense than the LDS’s teaching of the nature of God. How can something that is incomprehensible and a mystery of faith and teaches that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are literally one in the same person be understood? That really is a mystery!

The LDS’s teaching is simple, beautiful, and true. Everyone who lives here on this earth lived prior to birth as spirit children of God, our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ was the Father’s firstborn and is our older brother. Under the direction of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ created this earth for us so we would be able to come here and prove that we can keep God’s commandments and receive the necessary ordinances that will allow us to return to live in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ after this mortal life is over. Jesus Christ is the Jehovah of the Old Testament and is the “I AM” that appeared to Moses and the other prophets. (John 8:58) In his mortal ministry, Christ was born of Mary and worked out the Atonement which allows us to overcome spiritual death on condition of repentance and acceptance of him as our Savior and obedience to his commandments. Christ was crucified and rose the 3^rd day and was the first fruit of the resurrection which is a free gift to all.

We are all sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters, and we are commanded to love everyone as Christ loved us. To God and Christ there is no distinction between bond and free, male and female, wealth or stature, living or dead; they love all of us. Heavenly Father has even provided a way for those that did not know about Jesus Christ or his church and did not have the opportunity to accept his Gospel and receive the saving ordinances. All of Heavenly Father’s children will have the opportunity to hear and accept the gospel in this life or in the spirit world before the resurrection and the necessary ordinances will be performed for them in the temples of the Lord by those of us that are still here in mortality.

Everyone’s, living and dead, responsibility is to come unto Christ through baptism by those holding the proper authority, to receive the blessings of the house of the Lord to be sealed as families, and to do our best to keep the commandments and endure to the end. None of us live sinless lives and through the grace of Jesus Christ we overcome those sins and can be cleansed through his atoning blood and finally we can be found worthy to enter into the presence of God and live as eternal families.

To me this is beautiful and makes perfect sense. I would ask anyone to explain how the traditional Christian teaching of the trinity, the purpose of this life, and what the afterlife will be like makes more sense.

If you like this, I invite you to share it with your social media friends. Your comments and questions are welcome.

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

I was watching three different football games yesterday, one youth football game that my grandson was playing in and two college games. My eleven-year-old grandson plays wide receiver. He caught one pass and dropped another one that should have been an easy catch. I can say that as a grandparent on the sideline not having ever played football. The catch he made was with fairly good coverage for eleven-year-olds so it showed he had the skills to make catches under pressure. The catch he dropped he was open and had beaten his defender. Had he caught that pass he would have run for a touchdown.

The two college games I watched were USU against the Air Force and BYU against West Virginia. Both games were close and exciting. There were many plays that resulted in spectacular plays from all the teams and there were plays that had players on the stands and those watching on TV screaming, how could you miss that catch? Why is it that receivers seem to be able to make the catches while defenders are hanging all over them but drop the passes when they are open and there is nothing between them and the goal? I think the answer is that they took their eyes off the ball and were already thinking of heading for the easy touchdown.

When they catch the difficult passes while covered it is because they are focused on the ball and not the defenders, they don’t lose focus on the goal to catch the ball. When coverage is not there or the pass is easy and they lose focus and are thinking of where they are going next, to score a touchdown or get a first down, they forget to catch the ball. I heard one of the coaches during a pregame interview say that every offensive play they have, except for one or two, is designed to end in scoring points. If you think about it that is true. There are a few exceptions like spiking the ball to stop the clock, punting on 4^th down, taking the knee to run out the clock. Why would a play be designed to do anything else but score? So why don’t plays always end up scoring? Things don’t always go the way they plan; someone fails to do their part in executing the play or the defense may have done a better job in doing what they were supposed to do, keep the offense from scoring.

Football teams have many short and long term goals. Some short term goals focus on getting a first down, scoring a touchdown or field goal. Defenders have goals to stop the next run, sacking the quarterback, Intercepting a pass. There are also other goals to win this game, the next game to have a winning season, to win the conference championship, or go to and win a bowl game. But their focus is on the next play or this game. Whenever the media ask a coach about a game that is one or two games away the coach always responds that they are focusing on the next game, not one later.

Life is like this in many ways. Our lives are busy and we have many goals that we are trying to achieve. The members of my LDS ward are all students at Utah State University and all of them hope to graduate and get their dream job. Because our ward is for married students, all of them have achieved the goal to find someone they love and that love them and get married.  Now they are focused on the classes they are taking this semester with the end goal in mind to graduate.

For many students the goal of graduating and getting that full-time job is the end goal. It is hard to think past that. Those of us that are looking back realize that graduating is just the beginning, there are many more exciting things to look forward to. But for now it is important for these students to focus on the short term goals and not just the end of the game.

No matter where we are in our lives, students, parents, empty nesters, retirees we all need short and long term goals. We focus on the short term knowing the long term ones will be achieved if the short term goals are taking us in the direction we need to go to achieve our long term goals.

Keeping our eyes on the ball, our short term goals, will ensure we don’t drop the easy passes. There will be times that even when it seems that it is an easy pass we will drop the ball. What do we do? We get up admit we made a mistake and try harder to catch the next one.

During one of the pregame interviews they were interviewing a senior and he was talking about during football season it never seems to end but it quickly does and then all of a sudden four years has gone and they are playing in their final season and they don’t want it to end. But it eventually does and they graduate and move on.

So it is with our lives. We focus on daily goals, yearly goals, career goals, etc. and then all too soon you are looking back and wondering what happened? Where will you be in 40-50 years? Are the goals you have set and are focusing on going to take you to where you want to be at that time of your life?

Remember to keep your eye on the ball, don’t lose focus of those things that are important right now in your life. But also make sure that the goals you are working for will eventually help you achieve the ultimate goal we all should have, that is to have eternal families, keep God’s commandments, be cleansed of all our sins, and be worthy to return to live as families with our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

Your comments and questions are welcome.