On the sweetness of Mormon life.

After church a brother is playing Easter hymns outside on his bagpipes.  He is wearing the full regalia and sunglasses–it is brighter and warmer here than in Scotland.  Your family is dressed for Easter also, hats and pearls, another friend takes your picture.

You drove separately because you had come early to practice for a quartet.  Your youngest, dressed to the nines, begs to ride home in the bed of your beat up old pickup.

Christ won.  The crown is his.  His victory spreads.  First in Jerusalem and then out and on.  From his palms a drop has come to you in your soul, and there it continues to grow.

the Jewish sabbath, the sealed tomb–Christ descends into hell, organizes the liberation of the dead (D&C 138)–in the Nephite lands, there is no daylight, a voice from the darkness announces that he has destroyed many cities and people, proclaims himself Christ Alpha and Omega, and begs the people to come unto him by repentance (3 Nephi 9-10)

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Woefully arrayed,
My blood, man,
For thee ran,
It may not be nay’d:
My body blue and wan,
Woefully arrayed:

Time spent at the foot of the cross is better than time spent thinking about theories of the atonement. I admit that. Yet thinking about the atonement can sometimes get you to the cross.

In conference Brother Didn’tCatchHisName talked about trying to explain why Christ needed to suffer for our sins even though God loves us to a woman from Asia who grew up away from the background assumptions of Christendom. He challenged our children to ask us why.

Let me tell you what I am going to tell my kids when they ask. I have three theories. There are lots of worthwhile other theories out there, , but these are the two theories you and I have come up with that as far as I can tell are original, at least in this way of looking at them, plus a way of explaining the ransom theory of the atonement.

Understanding these theories will enhance your understanding of the atonement, but in no way does your salvation depend on it.

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The second coming – signs of the times – parables of judgment – the marvelous teaching about the sheep and the goats – inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, my brethren , ye have done it unto me (more…)

Matthew 21-23:  Presently the fig tree withered away — Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness — upon you come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar — For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

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There was talk this General Conference about working in more Holy Week and Easter activities to our liturgical calendars.  I will have more to say on that later.

General Conference has always been part of my personal liturgical calendar.   (more…)

Testify!

Some wonder how to reconcile God’s total power with the fact that we ourselves have power and abilities and are often trying for more.

Some wonder how to reconcile God’s fatherhood with our own parenthood. Whose children are they anyway?

Stewardship is only partially an answer.  It is only a halfway house.

The real answer is similitude.

This has been on my mind for a while, but with recent events, I decided to not wait until we reached that verse in Isaiah. And I doubt any of us need to hear this, but I thought I would write this regardless.

When Assyria was approaching Judah and Jerusalem, the Jews were counseled to take a defensive approach and retreat to Jerusalem. But many refused. They wanted to fight. It was their right and they wanted to defend their rights to their families and property. They were slaughtered. Isaiah warned them, “For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.” Isa. 30:15

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https://www.givesendgo.com/G9TTA

Is is a fact  (more…)

Your body can be broken but it does not lie to you.

The truth is in the body, the mind tells lies.

This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post on testimony.

Testimony helps us survive trials, a point that was probably made in a million homes last week reading the parable of the sowers about the plants on stony ground that withered in the heat of the day, and very right too.

Less well known is that the relationship between trials and testimony flows both ways.  Trials often create testimony.

Yes, we turn to God more in times of difficulty.  Yes, the help God gives us in trials can often help us believe in him more.  None of those are what I mean.

It is just the way people are made that suffering and sacrificing for a belief is what allows that belief to become truly part of our identity.  You can’t mentally will yourself to value something.  You  have to put in the time and effort.   Holding fast to your beliefs in trouble and trial is a shortcut to making them part of your core.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.

We often confuse testimony as a statement of our confidence level that certain propositions are correct.  It is not.

Even the devils believe, and tremble.

Testimony is a statement of convictions.  Facts are just facts, but testimony is facts that have soaked with meaning into our core and come to define who we are and where we are going.  A testimony belief is something has that become part of your identity and your direction.

That is why no one bears testimony  that their refrigerator cools food to keep it fresh longer, though probably most of us share that belief.

Testimony is beliefs that have got inside you. (more…)