Gift of Repentance and the Bad Neighbor

        Some people are saying, "I am so thankful for the gift of repentance."  Many are seeking to be worthy through their good own works, but the law requires perfection.  When they cannot reach that perfection, some fall back on the "gift of repentance" idea.

        It is similar to having a bad neighbor.  Suppose your neighbor steals from you and a week later apologizes and returns your property.  The next week he steals from you again and again apologizes.  Every week you find him stealing and apologizing.  Soon you would start to believe that your neighbor is insincere and his apologies mean nothing.  If your neighbor declares, "I am so thankful for the gift of apologizing", you are not going to take him seriously.

        On the other hand, you would believe your neighbor was sincere if he apologized for stealing from you, never stole from you again and was a great neighbor for the next 30 years.  The need for daily repentance highlights a person's daily failure.  True repentance involves forsaking the sin.

        So where does real worthiness come from?  2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."  Why do many ignore this truth?  Romans 10:3 states, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."  

        Here is the question: Are we focused on ourselves or on Christ?  Are our eyes on our good works and many acts of repentance or are we focused on Christ and his work on our behalf.  We all must repent, but are we looking to Christ for salvation or are we looking to ourselves for salvation?  God saves in God's way which is through Christ Jesus.  We cannot save ourselves with even our best efforts. 

The Honored Dancer

           "And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod."(2 Samuel 6:14)  As King David celebrated the Ark of God, his wife Michal despised him.  She attacked his character and integrity.  She said, "...How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!"(2 Samuel 6:20)  David responded, "It was before the LORD...therefore will I play before the LORD.  And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour."(2 Samuel 6:22)

        David was all in.  His heart was 100% with God! His wife Michal was half-hearted.  She did not approve of the king's level of worship. Jesus described being whole-hearted in Matthew 13:44-45, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.  Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."

        Jesus described a woman whose heart was 100% with God in Mark 12:41-44, "And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

        Are we all in today?  Does God have all of our heart like King David or are we like the critical Michal, who was half-hearted and not wanting to go to far in worship?  Are we seeking the approval of man or the approval of God like King David, the honorable dancer!?

 

An Eastern Thought

 An Eastern Thought

    Do you know someone that waits for you to make a mistake and then brings up all of your past shortcomings?  It reminds me of this verse:  D&C 82:7 says, “…unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return.”

     Suppose you had a problem with lying.  Then, through geniune repentance, you stopped lying.  And your repentance was so sincere that you didn't tell another lie for 15 years!  However, after the 15 years of not lying, you tell another lie.  Would all of your former lies come back on you, according to D&C 82:7?  This is probably not what this verse is saying.  It just says, "former sins".  So this would include lies, stealing, coveting and anything else that is a sin.  That is what would be added back onto you after you speak the new lie.  Spencer W. Kimball called this a "heavy load" in his book, Miracles of Forgiveness.

    On the other hand, Micah 7:19 says, "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our inquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."

    Now consider Psalm 103:12.  “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”  If you go north, you can reach the north pole and then start going south.  If you go east, you can continue going east forever!  You never reach the end of east.  This is a great Eastern Thought about God's forgiveness!

Mental Health Awareness Month

     So we are wrapping up the month of May, Mental Health Awareness month.  It seems like a cruel joke.  It is like sticking a band aid on a cancer patient.  Why is Mental Health Awareness becoming more popular?  According to Pastor John MacArthur, transgender people are 19 times as likely to commit suicide.  Secular sources sources claim that LGBTQ students are 4 times as likely to commit suicide. What are students being told?  They are NOT being told that God can deliver them from sexual addictions.  The are being told that they were born that way.  So if they were born that way and it is not a matter of choice, then there is no way out of their unhappy "life style".  Rather than continue living in bondage with no cure in sight, some kids decide to end their life.

     Why are we afraid to tell people that God can heal their mind?  Christians are falsely blamed for the mental illness of others.  If we speak up, we are called homophobic, transphobic, intolerant, haters and the list goes on.  Sometimes we just want to be left alone and live our lives in peace.  Our culture wants to force us to accept their beliefs.  If we don't accept their beliefs, they threaten to "cancel" us, destroy our reputation and ruin our lives.  We say, "just leave the kids alone."  They say they are coming for the kids first!  We should give our children to God.  We should not give them to our culture's god of sex.  So we have quite a challenge.  Do we leave our faith at the front door of the church as we leave on Sunday morning and just go with the flow?  Or do we take our faith with us?  

     If there was ever a time when we needed the power of God, it is now.  God has the power to save anyone from the bondage of addiction!  Just as God empowered David to kill the lion, the bear and  giant Goliath, no enemy is too powerful for God.  It doesn't matter what we have done or how we have messed up our life, God is able to deliver.  Perhaps we are the only question.  Christ laid down his life for us.  Are we willing to lay down our life and reputation for Him? 

LDS Survey on Forgiveness

 

LDS Survey on Forgiveness

1.                 Do you believe 1 Nephi 3:7?  Are we without excuse when it comes to fulfilling the commandments of God?  Has He prepared the way for us to accomplish every one of them?

Yes            No

 

2.                 Do you believe 2 Nephi 25:23?  Are we saved by grace “after all we can do”?  How do you know when you have done all you can do?

Yes            No

 

3.                 Do you believe Moroni 10:32?  Is God’s grace only sufficient for us when we have denied ourselves of “all ungodliness” and we have loved God with all of our “mind, might and strength”?

Yes            No

 

4.                 Do you agree with D&C 1:31?  It says that God cannot look upon sin with the “least degree of allowance”.

Yes            No

 

5.                 Do you believe D&C 58:42-43? If a man truly repents of his sins, he will confess and FORSAKE them?

Yes            No

 

6.                 Do you believe that God does not “dwell in unholy temples”?

(Helaman 4:24)

Yes            No

 

7.                 Do you believe Alma 11:37 when it states that “no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven” and we “cannot be saved in our sins”?

Yes            No

 

8.                 Is it important to be sincere when we repent?  (If your neighbor steals from you and then apologizes on a weekly basis, we would say that he is insincere.  If your neighbor steals from you, apologizes and never steals from you again, we will think that his apology was sincere.)

Yes            No

 

9.                 Do you believe D&C 82:7?  “…unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God.”  If we tell a lie, do all our former sins return?

Yes            No

 

10.            Do you believe Romans 10:3?  Giving us some perspective, 2 Corinthians 5:21 states, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”  When we look to Jesus, He takes our sin on the cross and we receive the righteousness of Christ in return.  Romans 10:3 states, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”  Do you believe that some people fail to submit themselves to the righteousness of God and go about to establish their own righteousness? 

Yes            No

 

11.            Where do you stand today?

Separation of Church and State

 Can we teach school without God? It is impossible. First or all, God created time and space. Our school building takes up space that was created by God. We are using time which God created to occupy that space. We have not created our own space and time for educating students. During school we breathe air that was designed by God. We enjoy the sunshine that God created. We are teaching students that have been created by God. We have not created our own children. Furthermore, the students we teach have been made in the image of God. There is no scenario where we could teach even one second without divine intervention. Nature/science itself proclaims the majesty of God. "For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse." Romans 1:20

Eternal Insecurity?

 

Eternal Insecurity

          A man on Facebook proclaimed that the “once saved, always saved” doctrine of eternal security is “leading people to hell!”  He didn’t give any reasoning for his statement, but is there any truth in his words?  A man hears a sermon, says a sinners pray and the preacher states “once saved, always saved”.  Then for the next 30 years, he doesn’t return to church.  The fruit of the spirit are not seen in his life.  He does not reach out to God because he thinks his ticket has been punched for the pearly gates.  He takes the preachers word on it.  Is he trusting in God or trusting in a mere procedure?  Do procedures save?

          Does our friend fall into the Ezekiel 18:24?  “But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live?  All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.”  Is our salvation-confident friend hell-bound?

          Is he in the lukewarm category?  Revelation 3:16 says, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”  Is our friend going to be spat out and rejected?

          Is our friend in the “never knew you” category?  Matthew 7:21-23 states, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

          Romans 8:35-39 tells us that circumstances do not separate us from the love of God.  “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?.... neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Is it possible to be always loved by God and on the fast track to hell at the same time?  Can we have unconditional love for those who are going the wrong way?

          So what about the preacher’s words?  A man raised his hand, walked the aisle, repeated a sinner’s prayer and the preacher stated “once saved, always saved”.  Is this saying, inadvertently, leading our overly-confident, complacent friend to the gates of hell?