Thinking in Your Heart Verses Life Changing Moments

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...” Proverbs 23:7

So I have been living in the Netherlands for the last three months for work. While over hear I have been with out my family and home. I am looking forward to going home next week to see my family again. However, three months ago when looking towards my time over here, I was thinking great. Look at all I can accomplish by myself, I can lose 20 lbs., finish reading “Isaiah Decoded” and “In Sacred Loneliness” spend some time learning sleight of hand, in order to make a routine for a magic show.

Well now is my time to return and report, so to say. As far as losing weight, I think I have gained 10 lbs instead. I didn’t even open the books mentioned. (I did read “Mormon Scientist,” about half of “Rough Stone Rolling” and a few fiction books.) I I have only briefly worked on the sleight of hand.

So is it true that as a man thinketh so is he? Why when I desired so much change in my life, did I become fat and lazy instead?

One reason I will state up front is I never wrote down these desires on my own. I goal is if it not written down and studied is nothing more than hope. So the first thing I needed to do was be serious about change and write down goals for it.

But I want to broaden this topic to more than just the frivolous things that I listed above. It applies to any change that we want in our lives. Change to become better, what else can people do to change for the better?

A sign of the times?

I thought I’d post a few thoughts I had as I studied 3 Nephi 16.

The Lord seems to be talking about two modern day groups of people; the Gentiles, which are those people of European decent, and His people, which are those that are descendents of the Nephites and Lamanites. These would be the modern day Native Americans, as well as those indigenous people of Central and South America. I will now refer to them as Lamanites.

7 Behold, because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fullness of these things shall be made known unto them.

In the last days the gospel will be restored to the Gentiles.

9 And because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and also the judgments of the Father upon my people who are of the house of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that after all this, and I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among them, and to become hated by them, and to become a hiss and a byword among them—

The Lamanites will be persecuted by the Gentiles. There is definitely evidence of this as the Americas were settled and colonized.

10 And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fullness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fullness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fullness of my gospel from among them.

This verse is a little puzzling. I’m not sure if he is including Latter-Day Saints in with the Gentiles in general, or if he is exclusively talking about Latter-Day Saints that have the gospel, or if he is talking about those Gentiles that do not have the gospel. I tend to lean toward the idea that he is talking about Latter-Day Saints. The phrase sin against my gospel implies to me that they have the gospel and can therefore sin against it. They have turned from the fullness of the Gospel. I believe this has already started. We are right in the middle of verse 10. Oh, members of the church aren’t vocally denouncing the prophet. But remember what the Lord said in Matthew. In the last days “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” If this is true, then at the end of verse 10 it says that the Lord will bring the fullness of his gospel from among us.

Is the Lord bringing the fullness of his gospel from among us?
One example that comes to mind is the Time Magazine article. When President Hinckley was asked if the church still teaches that God the Father was once a man like we are he replied, “I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it. I haven't heard it discussed for a long time in public discourse. I don't know. I don't know all the circumstances under which that statement was made. I understand the philosophical background behind it. But I don't know a lot about it and I don't know that others know a lot about it."

Could this be evidence that the Lord is bringing the fullness of his gospel from among us? Could this be evidence that we are right in the middle of verse 10.

13 But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.
14 And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.

The Lord says in these verses that if the Gentiles will repent then he will not let the Lamanites “tread them down”.

15 But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel.

Here the Lord says that if the Gentiles don’t turn to Him (and I’m sure he means with their “hearts”, not just their “lips”) then he will let the Lamanites “go through among them” and “tread them down”. Are we in the middle of verse 15 also? I can’t help but think of the immigration issues facing the United States (Gentiles).

According to statistics released by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal immigrants. Thirteen Americans are killed by drunk illegal immigrant drivers every day. Eight American children are victims of sexual abuse by illegal immigrants every day.

Illegal immigrants cost Americans an estimated $2.5 billion in Medicaid costs; $2.2 billion in treatment for the uninsured; $1.9 billion for food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches; $1.6 billion in the federal prison and court systems, and $1.4 billion in federal aid to schools.

The vast majority of illegal immigrants are from Central and South America. Could the previous statistics be examples of the gentiles being “tread on”

Now the point of this post is not a political debate on illegal immigration. The point is that I think there is good evidence that we can no longer talk about verse 10 and 15 in the future tense. I believe they are happening now. We have sinned against his gospel. We have rejected the fullness of his gospel. He has begun to bring the fullness of his gospel from among us. (verse 10) The Lamanites have began to go through among the gentiles, and tread them down. (verse 15)

I guess we had better pay attention to verse 13 and 14.

13 But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.
14 And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.

Time for a little R&R...repent and return.

Truly united and the work for Zion.

During the past few week as the election has dominated the headlines, both in the United States and abroad, this scripture has often come to my mind, “And the Lord called his people Zion, because they where of one heart and one mind...” Moses 7:18.

Yes, the Democrats have won the presidential election, the Senate, and the House. Republicans are now weeping, but are we truly the United States of America. Offhand, I can think of two times in the last 50 years when, in my opinion we were “United.” One being a great time the other a horrific time. The first being in the race to put a man on the moon. Americans truly wanted to see this great achievement and see an American on the moon. The second time I think we were united was shortly after the attacks on Sept. 11 2001. For a short time after that Americans were humbled, people were nicer to others on the street, I believe it was a kinder gentler nation, for a brief short time we pulled together as a Nation and came up with the slogan, “United We Stand.”

But what about now, Democrats are going to blame Republicans, Republicans are going to blame Democrats. Independents, Greens, Libertarians are all going to blame a two party system. Now, it doesn’t matter who you voted for. Even if, like me, nothing we voted for passed or our candidates were not elected. Even if we disagree with how certain aspects are handled. We can not continue to do the blame game. We must pull together as a nation. What do we really need to do to unite as a people? As a country? As a world?

I really don’t want to turn this blog political, however these same things that apply in government, apply in church and believes. How many different churches are out there claiming they are correct? The readers of this blog certainly believe theirs is the correct church, but which aspect of it? Even among the church there are so many different believes and ways of thought, all rationalized and practiced. Mainstream Mormons verses the bloggernacle. Back row Mormons verses the Molly Mormon and Peter Priesthood. No caffeine verses caffeinated Mormons.

How far and what do each of us need to accomplish to establish a people of one heart and one mind? What are we to do to establish Zion?

Why do good things happen to bad people?

Does the Lord bless the wicked? We’ve all seen it. It’s the converse of bad things happen to good people. Sometimes good things happen to bad people.
In church we are taught that everything we have comes from God, both spiritual and temporal blessings. We are nothing by ourselves and that anything we attain or accomplish is only because of God. We are taught that we should give praise and thanks to God and that it is wrong to take credit ourselves. We are also taught that we are blessed because of obedience and sacrifice. So what are we to make of when we see the wicked blessed? When we see good things happen to bad people. Did it come from God? Did it come from the Satan? Or can the person just take the credit themselves as it is a product of their own means?

Withstanding Temptations

So I got looking at some scriptures on withstanding temptations. So this post is just a compilation of what I found. Sorry no additional commentary to go with them. If we really want to be blessed it looks like withstanding temptation is they way to go about it. Most of them are common knowledge, but when we truly read these scriptures, not just turn off our mind because we know them they do talk to us.

James 1:12 “ Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

D&C 23:1 “ ...But beware of pride, lest thou shouldst enter into temptation.”

2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations”

1 Nephi 15:24 “And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.”

D & C 10: 5 “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.”

Ether 12:27 “ 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

Alma 13:28 “But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;”

D & C 62:1 “Jesus Christ, your advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted”

D & C 93:1 “Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you”

Also this is how temptation is defined on the official church web site, “Temptation is a test of a person's ability to choose good instead of evil. It is an enticement to sin and follow Satan instead of God. Part of the experience of this life is to learn to overcome temptation and to choose right over wrong.”

It really looks like humility is key to overcoming temptations.

They don't understand

They Don't Understand by Sawyer Brown

The lesson the song above teaches finally sunk in recently. I’ve liked that song for a long time. Recently I had an experience that re-affirmed the lesson taught in the song. I teach math. I have a student in one of my Algebra II classes that is also in my math lab class. In math lab on the day we had reviewed for an upcoming test, he asked me for help on a problem that I had done for his class earlier that day. In my mind I’m thinking, “Gosh, why didn’t you just listen in class today,” but with a smile, said “sure.” As I started to help him, he halfway apologized, saying that he had a hard time paying attention in class today because he had just prior to class received some stressful news about his brother. I helped him with the problem and didn’t think too much more about it. The next day (test day) I saw him standing outside my door as I was teaching the period before his class. I went out to see what he wanted. In his tough high school football player voice he said, “I’m not going to be in class today, can I take the test another time.” Then with tears filling his eyes and his voice cracking, he said, “They don’t think my brother is going to make it.” I won’t go into the details of our exchange after that. But I will say that I went back into the classroom wondering to myself how many times I had judged a student’s behavior without really knowing what was going on? I gained a greater appreciation for people that day. How often do we judge others on what we see them do when what we couldn’t see was “their brother wasn’t going to make it”? We don’t understand.

Justice, mercy, forgiveness, the atonement, and Alma 42

I'm going to start by first quoting some verses from Alma 42

15 And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.

24 For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved.

In Alma 42, as well as in other scripture and literature, justice is personified, meaning it is given attributes or characteristics of a human. For example in verse 24, "justice exerciseth all HIS demands". In verse 15, "the demands of justice". While this makes for interesting writing, I don't think it helps in understanding the concept. Justice is not a person, justice can't demand anything. People demand justice. So in the context of Alma 42, WHO is demanding justice?

Another question is that of the relationship between justice and forgiveness. If God forgives us, then why does he still demand justice (payment of the debt = atonement). If someone owes me money, but I forgive the debt, I can't expect payment. Forgiving the debt means that the payment doesn't need to be paid anymore. This has been discussed a bit here.

As I've discussed this with several different people, I've run across several different theories about God, justice and forgiveness. I'm going to try to summarize them here.

Theory 1 God freely forgives. It is not God that demands justice (payment) but an outside "organization" (council of gods, society of gods, etc.). This may be viewed much like our earthly system of law and society. Perhaps you steal my wallet. When the police finally catch up with you, they find that you have spent all my money, as well as used my credit card. If I demanded justice, you would need to pay me back, but let's say that I forgive you and don't require that the debt be paid. That's not the end of it. There is an outside organization (police, courts, society) that may require a punishment anyway, perhaps paying a fine or jail time. In this theory Christ’s atonement would be paying the debt to the "organization"

Theory 2 God freely forgives. It is not God that demand justice but the people who are wronged and don't forgive. For example, you punch me in the nose. You have obviously offended (sinned against) me because you punched me in the nose, but you have also offended (sinned against) God because he asked you not to punch people in the nose. With this theory, God forgives you for sinning against him and does not require any payment. I now have the choice to forgive or demand justice. If I forgive you then it is over. No justice or payment is required. I don't get to hit you back, the debt is forgiven. Because all is forgiven, there is not a debt to be paid and Christ’s atonement is not involved in this situation. If I don't forgive you and demand justice, then a payment is required. This is where the atonement comes in. In this theory Christ’s atonement would be paying the debt to all those who don't forgive, but demand justice.

Theory 3 God freely forgives. At this point justice is no longer demanded. But although God forgives the debt, it is still there, unpaid. He just isn't demanding payment. It would be analogous to the following situation. You rack up a huge debt on your credit card. Then the credit card company says, hey, you know what, don't worry about paying it. They aren't going to wipe the debt away, it will still show up on credit reports and things like that. You just don't every have to pay it. In this theory Christ's atonement pays the debt to God so you can have a clean "record"

Theory 4 God doesn't forgive. It is he that demands justice. Christ pays the debt and then it is Christ that has the right to demand justice. Christ freely forgives, meaning he forgives and doesn't require that the debt still be paid. In this theory Christ’s atonement would be paying the debt to God.

Theory 5 God doesn't forgive the debt, but forgives the debtor. This is kind of like a status thing. Justice is demanded. God doesn't forgive the debt, meaning it still needs to be paid, but when he forgives the debtor, the debtor is brought back up to the same relationship status they were in prior to incurring the debt. In this theory Christ’s atonement would be paying the debt to God.

Each of them seem to have their own problems. What do you think? What do you see as problems with each theory? What is good about them? Do you have any modifications or other theories that will help explain justice, forgiveness, and the atonement?