Am I My Brother's Keeper?

Toward the beginning of earthly time, there were two brothers: Cain and Abel. Cain hearkened not unto the Lord but Abel was faithful. Cain entered into a secret contract with Satan. Satan would deliver Abel to Cain. Cain would kill Abel. And thus it came to pass. When the Lord came, he questioned Cain as to the whereabouts of Abel. Cain's response was "...am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9)

Today this question might seem a bit of a challenge to answer. Caught up are we in all the hubbub and chaos of today's world. We are taught not to intrude upon another's right to choose what they want for themselves. Thus, rarely do we look outside of or beyond the tunnel through which we look at our own lives. In other words, we have tunnel vision. Our perspective is small and generally centered upon our own personal affairs. If something is happening with our neighbor (brother/sister as we are all children of God) we either don't know that they need help, don't know them well enough to extend help, are too busy to help, or assume someone else is going to help.

Then there is this whole other issue of agency. One of the main reasons we are here on earth is to exercise our agency and choose for ourselves what we want. So if someone makes a choice to do something good or really really bad, who are we to say yeah or nay to their choice?

So the ultimate question is then: How do we be our brother's keeper without overriding their agency to choose?

Believe it or not but the answers are really pretty simple.

#1 Be an example to your brother. (Show through your actions how to make good and righteous choices. Be careful not to be self-righteous as we are ALL still trying to improve and become perfect even as Christ is).

#2 Pray for your brother. (Through earnest and sincere prayer we can ask for the Lord's help in softening hearts, humbling those with pride, and giving life-changing experiences to those whose path has deviated from that of the Lord's).

#3 Love your brother. (Show them compassion, support, quick forgiveness, and a willingness to love them no matter what).

Christ teaches us that he would have us care for and worry about our "brother" as we are all trying to get back to our Heavenly Father someday. We must use our own agency along with the counsel of the Lord to help us be our brother's keeper by example, prayer, and lots of love. Being your brother's keeper doesn't mean you smother them or keep them from making their own choices. It means showing them the way without saying a word. It means speaking to the Lord on their behalf and it means loving them no matter the choices they make.

Yes, I am my brother's keeper!

Being "Born Again"

For many years, I have heard the phrase "Born Again Christian" from people that believe they have found Jesus Christ. All this time, I've never really been clear what it means to be "born again." It isn't a phrase that was used in my home while growing up or even now. So why do people say it? What does it mean? Well, I found that the reason many people say it is quite different from what it actually means.

Why do people say that they have been "born again?"

As mentioned above, people generally say that they have been "born again" when they have "found" Jesus Christ. What they are really saying is that they have gained a testimony of Jesus Christ. They can now testify, as a witness, that they believe in Jesus Christ and his role as the Savior of all mankind. We could even go so far as to say that they can testify that they comprehend Christ's role in their own personal salvation. So for the general populous, being born again means gaining a testimony of Jesus Christ as the Savior.

What does being "born again" actually mean?

We know that we were first physically born into this world as a living soul made up of water, blood, and spirit. We can then become born again, but this time spiritually, into the Kingdom of God by the very same elements of water, spirit, and blood. While the elements of water, spirit, and blood are literal when speaking of our physical birth, they are figurative when speaking of our spiritual birth. To be spiritually born we must be baptized (water), receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (spirit), and we must be cleansed by the blood of the Only Begotten who is Jesus Christ (blood). In other words, we must sincerely repent. Once we've been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Spirit (both a one time event), we must continuously repent for our wrongdoings (an ongoing event). So technically we are "born again" spiritually every time we repent. (Moses 6:59)

We can each gain a testimony of Jesus Christ by living like him and recognizing His great role in our lives as our Savior but this does not mean that we have been "born again." To be "born again," simply 1.) get baptized by the proper authority 2.) receive the Holy Spirit through the proper authority and 3.) cleanse yourself by the blood of Christ or, i.e., sincerely repent and then we can claim that we have been "born again." And we must repent over and over and over again until this life is over and we once again stand face-to-face with our Maker to be judged according to our works here on Earth.

Foreordination vs. Predestination

People like to sometimes use the terms "foreordination" and "predestination" interchangeably. However, these terms are quite different. We could spend hours arguing over what they mean but it really all comes down to agency. Agency...meaning our ability to choose for ourselves what we want. With foreordination there is a choice. With predestination there is not. It is that simple. Since I love outlines and bullets, let's use them to illustrate the point.

Foreordination means...

- one is chosen to do a certain work on Earth
- one is chosen in the Premortal World (i.e. the place our spirits resided before coming to Earth) to do that certain work
- one is given lessons regarding that certain work before going to Earth
- one is prepared for that certain work before going to Earth
- one must be worthy and willing to accept the responsibility of this certain work once on Earth (i.e. they have a choice at the time the calling is extended to take it or walk away)

Predestination means...

- one is going to live a certain life or do a certain work no matter what they truly want (i.e. there is no agency, no way to choose anything other than the path that the individual is on)

Foreordination provides hope and a great gift of being able to choose for ourselves what we want. Predestination is a hopeless theory leaving one to feel completely unfree to live the life they choose for themselves. We are all foreordained to establish the Kingdom of God here on earth and while we've been called to take upon ourselves this great responsibility, we still have the option of walking away. Of course, we all know that it is in our best interests to fulfill our calling, our responsibility because when we do the Lord blesses us, always.

We Are Children of God

I am a child of God. Really. I am a literal spirit child of my Heavenly Father. I am His creation, and thus, He knows me like no one else. Just as He knows you. We are all His. Just like any parent He is protective of us. He desires the best for us. He wants to educate and counsel us. He wants us to make our own choices after looking at all the facts and then to counsel with Him as we make our final decisions. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to return to Him someday. Being both a daughter and parent of earthly parents and children respectively I am coming to understand little by little, lesson by lesson, what we mean to our Heavenly Father. I see the great love that my mother has for me when I am successful and even when I totally mess things up. I feel that great love myself for my little ones when they are successful and even when they don't make the best choices. As Heavenly Father is constant and never changes, His love for me, both its intensity and frequency, never changes. He loves me fiercely and always. He also knows that I will strive to do my best for Him because as He knows me like no other, throughout my life I have tried and tried to get to know Him, to become like Him. In the times that I've messed up I've been able to get back on the straight and narrow path through the process of repentance. So grateful am I for a loving and loyal and all-knowing Heavenly Father and Savior. So grateful that He never gives up on me but always remembers that I am His child and my earthly success is His focus. It is His focus when it comes to ALL of us. How wonderful to know that I have a divine Father who loves me, desires my success as well as my happiness. How blessed are we all.

Celebrating Jesus Christ's Birth

This past week I gave a lesson in Gospel Doctrine about Jesus Christ. I asked what I believe to be two very important questions.

#1 Why do we celebrate Christmas?

The answer: To celebrate Christ's birth.

#2 Who is Jesus Christ that we should celebrate His birth?

That question received a couple of surprised looks ...perhaps "aghast" looks fits better. I think they couldn't believe that I would dare ask such a thing. But I asked because so many of us just run through Christmas at Mach 10 without stopping to comprehend--and I mean truly comprehend--why we are celebrating Christmas in the first place.

So who is Jesus Christ that we should celebrate His birth?

I have a four part answer for this question.

#1 Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Jesus Christ is the only person who has ever walked, or will ever walk, the earth that has a divine and immortal father and a fair and mortal mother. We are, of course, all spirit children of our Father in Heaven but Jesus is the only one that is the literal Son of God. We celebrate the birth of our brother who is literally divine.

#2 Jesus Christ has a perfect character.

Jesus Christ's character as related by prophets in both the Middle East (Bible) and the Americas (Book of Mormon) is beyond reproach. He is loving, kind, merciful, unchanging, all powerful, creator of all, all knowing, truth, and patience. The list, of course, goes on and on. If anyone had reason to boast of His abilities it was He but that brings me to one of the most fantastic traits of all: humility. He was the most humble of men and tolerated abuse, criticism, loathing, and unfair judgement though He walked perfectly in every way. We celebrate the birth of our brother because He was perfect.

#3 Jesus Christ saved us all.

Church going people often say that they have been "saved" through Jesus Christ. But what exactly does that mean? How did Christ save us? Well there are two ways that we have need of being saved. #1 Spiritual death. #2 Physical death.

Spiritual death comes whenever we sin. When we sin we are doing things against God's will, and thus, we cannot stay close to Him. So every time we sin we move farther away from where God is. Every time we create distance between God and ourselves through sin we are dying spiritually. Christ overcame this death through the Atonement. The Atonement is when Christ paid the price for our sins. This occurred during the time Christ spent in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary. He suffered great physical and emotional pain that is so far beyond our comprehension that it is hard to wrap our minds around just how painful that could have really been. This was all on our behalf. Christ knew that the price of our sins was simply too great for us to pay ourselves. He knew we needed someone to intervene and pay the price for us. So He did. Of course, there is a stipulation. He didn't just pay the price for us and we can go on our merry way. No...The Atonement only works and He only paid the price for our sins if we are willing to repent. (For more on repentance, there is another blog I wrote specifying the exact steps needed to truly repent of our sins).

Physical death comes when we die. It means that our spirit and our body separate. (In another blog, I discussed this in depth indicating that the spirit goes to the Spirit World and the body goes into the grave). Christ overcame physical death through the resurrection. He rose after the third day of His death with a new and immortal flesh and bone body and lead the way for many others to also gain an immortal soul (spirit and immortal body). If Christ had not resurrected our spirit and body would stay separated after this life forever. We would never know the joys of having a body again like being able to taste, touch, smell, etc... But Christ did overcome death through the resurrection and we will have the opportunity to do the same.

We celebrate the birth of our brother because He saved us from spiritual and physical death.

#4 Jesus Christ is our example.

Not only did Christ save us but He also showed us the way to get back to our Heavenly Father. He was our example. He was baptized by John the Baptist though He had no need of baptism. He always followed the will of our Heavenly Father even though He had his agency to choose another way. He came to this earth and received a body, exercised faith, and chose the right...always. He loved everyone...the sinners and righteous alike. He taught us what kind of men and women we should be. We should be even as He is. He showed us the way in all things. We celebrate the birth of our brother because He is our exemplar.

We celebrate Christmas because we are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. We celebrate Jesus Christ because He is the literal Son of God, He is flawless in character, He saved us from ourselves, and He showed us what we needed to do to get back to our Heavenly Father. The "good news" and "great tidings" that the angel proclaimed was that HOPE was born that day in Bethlehem. Hope for a better world, hope that we can change our ways, hope that we can become even as Christ is, hope that we can return to our Heavenly Father someday. Jesus Christ is our hope...our only hope. We celebrate the bright and wonderful and amazing day that He came into the world! That is why we celebrate Christmas!! Always remember...never forget.

No Ordinary Birthday

Today is my birthday. Though I don't consider myself to be very old, birthdays have started to feel more and more like any other day in the year. Wait! I know what you are thinking but don't get me wrong! My family always remembers to call and send gifts. There's usually a nice supper and great cake. I am absolutely appreciative of it all! I remember a time, though, when I would start counting down to my birthday a month or two before my own celebrated date. I would think about whether I'd be having a party, what kinds of gifts I'd get, etc... But life just seems to have become so busy that often my birthday is upon me before I even realize it. People start asking me what I want for my birthday and I have no idea what to tell them because I haven't even thought about it. This one almost caught me by surprise again but just recently I realized that the impact of this birthday will be quite different for me than those that have gone before.

Recently, my family received a little scripture reading guide from some of the leaders at church. The assigned scripture passages are all about Christ from birth to death. The guide itself is set up like an advent calendar where you have to read the passage for that day and then mark it with a star sticker once its been read. So we've been reading about Christ for several nights. Tonight, after our reading, I realized that this was not going to be an ordinary birthday for me.

Today, I turn 33. This is the same age that our Savior was when He prayed and suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and was crucified on the cross. My mind struggles with the idea that I am the same age that He was when He was at the pinnacle of His time here on earth. He was so very wise, all-knowing, mature, dedicated, compassionate, loving, forgiving, just, and the list goes on. I try to think about whether I know of any others my age that might have these characteristics. Without meaning to disrespect anyone, I don't couldn't think of anyone that I know that looks like they are 33 but speaks and acts with the wisdom and experience of someone age 99. What an amazing man!

The one thought that keeps going through my head is "He was the same age as me. He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and the on the cross." I couldn't have done that. His only "reward" for His sacrifice was the remote possibility that we might want to change for the better by repenting and thus coming closer to Him and then finally returning to Him.

I stand all amazed....

It All Comes From Above

When we make any increase monetarily, the Lord expects us to give 10% of it to Him. Many churches practice this law which is known as "tithing." There are three pertinent questions that are relevant to this law.

#1 What is the purpose of the law of tithing?

#2 Where does this money go after a member of the church pays it?

#3 What blessings can we receive if this law is followed?

The purpose of paying tithing is not because God needs money. He clearly does not. No, the law of tithing is a law of obedience. The Lord wants to know that we are going to obey His commandment to pay tithing even when it is very hard to do so. Money does make the world go 'round. Many people set their hearts on gaining more and more money. However, their love of money can be to their detriment and demise. They will want more and more but they will never fill satisfied. This law helps all of us never get to this point. It helps teach us how to part with some of our money (and really 10% is so little in comparison to what we keep for ourselves) and give it to the Lord. Especially in these hard economic times, tithing is a hard law to follow. Are we willing to pay our 10% to God before we pay anything else? The law of tithing requires a lot of faith in our Heavenly Father but if we love Him we will obey the law.

Every church differs in what they do with the tithing. However, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tithing is not used to pay people but to provide people with the things they need to continue to worship God. In other words, the money is not used to pay clergy. The money IS used to pay for such things as teaching manuals and the building and maintenance of church buildings.

The blessings we receive from obeying the law of tithing or innumerable. Most notably, if we pay our tithing we never want for anything. All our needs will be met. It is a large leap of faith to pay our tithing before buying groceries or paying a pressing bill or even buying that shiny new object in the store. However, if tithing is paid first then the Lord blesses us with all that we need and more. In Malachi 3:10 it states "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." If we simply demonstrate our obedience to the Lord and pay our tithing (10% of our gross income and any other monetary increases we may receive) then the blessings will go above and beyond that 10% in ways that we can't imagine. So much so in fact that there "...shall not be room enough to receive it."

A quick story here. An religious instructor of mine one time related his own story of the blessings of paying tithing. He said that he and his wife had committed to pay their tithing diligently and "prove" the Lord as to whether they truly would receive that 10% back and more. He said that not long after that someone was getting rid of their couches and so they took them into his home. Then someone else gave them a lawnmower that was broken which he was able to easily fix. Things went on like that and then around about one year after they made their commitment, he was in his garage and was trying to maneuver around all the stuff they had stored there and he indicated that they had so much stuff in their garage that he could barely move. I'm paraphrasing, of course, but the point is that in a very literal sense that scripture of not having room enough to store their blessings was very real and had come to pass for them.

Paying our tithing pays dividends spiritually and temporally in amounts that we cannot possibly comprehend until we live the law. We simply have to obey the law of tithing to receive them.