Every person will wonder now and then why we have to go through such painful experiences. Why do good people get sick, injured, and victimized? If there really is a loving god, and he's watching out for us, then why is there so much theft, rape, murder, war, and death? Why do some people have access to education and wealth whereas others don't?
Mormons have a common saying to sum up the explanation, that there must be "opposition in all things." Mormons believe that we all chose to follow God's plan to come here to earth, a place where we would be exposed to lots of good and evil, so that we could learn about everything and work toward becoming better people. Some of the things that happen to us are consequences of our choices, and other things are completely out of our control. But God has told us that all things will work together for our good, as long as we keep trying to be good people and obey God. (See The Purpose of Life post.)
Now, some people live in countries or other situations where they will never learn about God. Does that mean that their lives are wasted? No. They have still gained experience and knowledge and have touched other people's lives, and they will get to learn about God after they die. (See What happens after we die? post.)
Some babies are born without living longer than a few minutes. Are their lives and the efforts of their mothers wasted? No. Birth and death are integral parts of the journey we are all on. They are doors through which we begin a new phase of existence. As painful as the death of a child may be for loved ones left behind, the experience is still of great value to the child and can be a learning experience to his loved ones.
Someday Jesus Christ will come again, this time to be our king. The earth will be cleansed, and righteousness will prevail. There will be peace, happiness, brotherly love, and justice everywhere you look. We will live with him, and we will be not only happier, but wiser because of the experiences we had throughout our lives.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Are Mormons required to donate money?
To understand the answer to this question, we need to take a look at some Mormon beliefs.
Mormons believe that God is our loving father and king over all the earth. As such, everything and everyone are subject to him, whether we're aware of it or not. Because we are God's children, and he has all power over every detail in our lives, everything that we have is a gift from him.
To be specific, money, houses, cars, and other possessions are gifts from God. We have them because God blessed us with the qualities, hard work, family history, or whatever it took to acquire them. Mormons believe that we should be willing to give God anything he asks for because ultimately it's his stuff, not ours. We're just his stewards. God lets us enjoy our possessions and gives us the freedom and responsibility to use them as we will, but he also commands that we use them well. We need to be good stewards for him.
When it comes to money, Mormons believe that God has commanded us to support our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here is why:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church) claims to be the only church on earth that has the correct and complete teachings of God. Jesus Christ himself governs its affairs because it's his church. Therefore, Mormons believe that they have the most wonderful of all the gifts of God - the truth. And what do Mormons want to do with it? We want to share it! The fullness of the Gospel is such a beautiful thing, and we want our brethren to be as happy as we are. So we share it, or try to anyway. God has also commanded us to share it. It's his truth, and it's his work to teach everyone how to be happy and successful by knowing and living the Gospel.
So we've established that sharing the Gospel is an important goal for the Church. But sharing the Gospel takes money. The Church produces millions of copies of the Book of Mormon, the Bible, church videos, pamphlets, pass-along cards, and other items given to investigators for free. The Church also helps pay for members to serve missions, subsidizes educational institutions, provides natural disaster relief, runs various humanitarian efforts such as the Wheelchair Program, provides reasonable support and transportation for some church leaders, and publicizes videos and other advertisements about Jesus Christ and his Gospel. The Church also builds many temples, meetinghouses, and other buildings throughout the world and has budgets for church activities on all levels of the various branches of the Church. There is so much that the Church has to pay for!
Mormons believe that we need to help build up the Church, take care of the poor, and share the Gospel by obeying the Law of Tithing. The Law of Tithing says that we are to give God "one tenth of [our] interest annually," which is understood to mean 10% of our income. Church members are also supposed to give a generous fast offering, if they are able, when they observe the Law of the Fast once a month (going without food for two meals and then giving the money that would have paid for the two meals to the Church). The tithing is then used for the aforementioned purposes while the fast offering is used to help the poor. Church members may also donate money to specific causes (like building temples) if they wish.
So God only asks for 10% back and has promised that he will bless us if we do it. He has said in ancient times, "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, 'Wherein have we robbed you?' In tithes and offerings...Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in my house and prove me now herewith, says 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 enough room to receive it." (found in Malachi) This commandment and promise in the Bible is a good one for Mormons to look to when it gets hard to pay tithing. Sometimes we need to be reminded that it really isn't our money; it's God's. We might have earned it, but God gave us the ability to earn it. God says that if we pay our tithing, he will bless us.
Yes, God requires us to pay our tithing, but we may choose not to. We can still participate in church activities if we don't pay tithing, and most people won't know it, but we don't get to go to the temple, and we won't enjoy the blessings that come in consequence of paying our tithing. We also will be keeping money that is not our own, but is God's. Many Mormons (including me!) have a testimony of paying tithing and can tell you that it has been a strength rather than a burden. To hear their stories and learn more about tithing and what it's used for, click on this link to visit Mormon.org. http://mormon.org/faq/topic/tithing
To be specific, money, houses, cars, and other possessions are gifts from God. We have them because God blessed us with the qualities, hard work, family history, or whatever it took to acquire them. Mormons believe that we should be willing to give God anything he asks for because ultimately it's his stuff, not ours. We're just his stewards. God lets us enjoy our possessions and gives us the freedom and responsibility to use them as we will, but he also commands that we use them well. We need to be good stewards for him.
When it comes to money, Mormons believe that God has commanded us to support our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here is why:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church) claims to be the only church on earth that has the correct and complete teachings of God. Jesus Christ himself governs its affairs because it's his church. Therefore, Mormons believe that they have the most wonderful of all the gifts of God - the truth. And what do Mormons want to do with it? We want to share it! The fullness of the Gospel is such a beautiful thing, and we want our brethren to be as happy as we are. So we share it, or try to anyway. God has also commanded us to share it. It's his truth, and it's his work to teach everyone how to be happy and successful by knowing and living the Gospel.
So we've established that sharing the Gospel is an important goal for the Church. But sharing the Gospel takes money. The Church produces millions of copies of the Book of Mormon, the Bible, church videos, pamphlets, pass-along cards, and other items given to investigators for free. The Church also helps pay for members to serve missions, subsidizes educational institutions, provides natural disaster relief, runs various humanitarian efforts such as the Wheelchair Program, provides reasonable support and transportation for some church leaders, and publicizes videos and other advertisements about Jesus Christ and his Gospel. The Church also builds many temples, meetinghouses, and other buildings throughout the world and has budgets for church activities on all levels of the various branches of the Church. There is so much that the Church has to pay for!
Mormons believe that we need to help build up the Church, take care of the poor, and share the Gospel by obeying the Law of Tithing. The Law of Tithing says that we are to give God "one tenth of [our] interest annually," which is understood to mean 10% of our income. Church members are also supposed to give a generous fast offering, if they are able, when they observe the Law of the Fast once a month (going without food for two meals and then giving the money that would have paid for the two meals to the Church). The tithing is then used for the aforementioned purposes while the fast offering is used to help the poor. Church members may also donate money to specific causes (like building temples) if they wish.
So God only asks for 10% back and has promised that he will bless us if we do it. He has said in ancient times, "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, 'Wherein have we robbed you?' In tithes and offerings...Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in my house and prove me now herewith, says 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 enough room to receive it." (found in Malachi) This commandment and promise in the Bible is a good one for Mormons to look to when it gets hard to pay tithing. Sometimes we need to be reminded that it really isn't our money; it's God's. We might have earned it, but God gave us the ability to earn it. God says that if we pay our tithing, he will bless us.
Yes, God requires us to pay our tithing, but we may choose not to. We can still participate in church activities if we don't pay tithing, and most people won't know it, but we don't get to go to the temple, and we won't enjoy the blessings that come in consequence of paying our tithing. We also will be keeping money that is not our own, but is God's. Many Mormons (including me!) have a testimony of paying tithing and can tell you that it has been a strength rather than a burden. To hear their stories and learn more about tithing and what it's used for, click on this link to visit Mormon.org. http://mormon.org/faq/topic/tithing
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Not just the Bible
Mormons believe that God not only dealt with the middle-eastern people in ancient days, but also with the people of the Americas. Just as the Jews had prophets whose prophecies were recorded and passed down through the ages, so did the people in the Americas. The prophets and political leaders of those people kept records that were buried in the ground and preserved by God to come forth to the world at a later date. Today those records are available to us, known as the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is an abridgment of the records kept concerning two nations, the Nephites (knee'-fights) and the Lamanites (lay'-meh-nights), made by the prophet-historian named Mormon. He was one of the last of the Nephites who were eventually wiped out by the Lamanites, who are ancestors to the American Indians.
Nephites and Lamanites are the descendants of the family of Lehi (lee'-high), a prophet who was led from Jerusalem to live in the Americas. They are also mixed with the Mulekites (myew'-leh-kites), descendants of Mulek who is the son of King Zedekiah from the Bible. The Mulekites were also led to the Americas, but were already living there when Lehi's family arrived.
The highlight of the Book of Mormon is when Jesus Christ comes to visit the Nephites after his death and resurrection. The main purpose of the Book of Mormon is to persuade the reader to believe in Christ, but it also serves to support the Bible and teach the word of God.
The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is an abridgment of the records kept concerning two nations, the Nephites (knee'-fights) and the Lamanites (lay'-meh-nights), made by the prophet-historian named Mormon. He was one of the last of the Nephites who were eventually wiped out by the Lamanites, who are ancestors to the American Indians.
Nephites and Lamanites are the descendants of the family of Lehi (lee'-high), a prophet who was led from Jerusalem to live in the Americas. They are also mixed with the Mulekites (myew'-leh-kites), descendants of Mulek who is the son of King Zedekiah from the Bible. The Mulekites were also led to the Americas, but were already living there when Lehi's family arrived.
The highlight of the Book of Mormon is when Jesus Christ comes to visit the Nephites after his death and resurrection. The main purpose of the Book of Mormon is to persuade the reader to believe in Christ, but it also serves to support the Bible and teach the word of God.
- Learn more at the official website: http://mormon.org/book-of-mormon/
- Get a FREE Book of Mormon here: http://mormon.org/free-book-of-mormon
- Get a FREE Bible here: http://mormon.org/free-bible/
- Read online versions now: http://www.lds.org/scriptures?lang=eng&cid=rdscriptures
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Mormon Terminology, Pt. 1
Some commonly-used words relating to Mormon culture:
- bishop - n. The chief spiritual leader of a ward. "Our bishop challenged us to read our scriptures daily."
- bishopric - n. The bishop and his two counselors, the leaders of the ward.
- calling - n. An assignment in the church. "She's the building scheduler. That's her calling."
- fireside - n. A meeting in the evening that sometimes features a satellite broadcast. "I really liked Neil L. Anderson's talk from the CES fireside last night."
- genealogy - n. The practice of discovering and keeping records of who your dead family members are by searching through records and interviewing older family members. "I've been working on doing my genealogy, and I found out that my great-great-great-grandfather's brother was convicted of murdering his wife!"
- home teaching - n, v. A program where two men are assigned to visit several families in their homes each month and see how they're doing. "Where's Dad? He left to go do his home teaching with Brother Jenkins."
- Priesthood - n. The authority to act in God's name. Also refers to the Sunday meeting for men. "What was the lesson in Priesthood today? It was about being diligent."
- Relief Society - n. The adult women's organization. Also refers to the Sunday meeting for the organization. "Sister Hansen gave a really insightful comment in Relief Society today."
- Sacrament - n. The ordinance in which Priesthood holders bless and distribute pieces of bread and cups of water to the congregation. It symbolizes how Christ died for each of us. "The bread and water of the Sacrament represent Christ's body and blood."
- Sacrament Meeting - n. The most important Sunday meeting, where the Sacrament is passed. The meeting also includes announcements and ward business, several talks and songs, and opening and closing prayers. "Sacrament Meeting in our ward starts at 9:00am this year."
- stake - n. A group of wards who are occasionally assigned to meet with each other for a conference on a Saturday and Sunday. They also participate in other activities with each other. "Is your sister coming to the stake dance this Thursday?"
- stake center - n. A church building that is often the location for stake meetings and activities and typically includes these extra features: offices for stake leaders, a cultural hall and stage, and a kitchen. "The ward Christmas party will be held at the stake center on December 8th."
- stake president - n. The spiritual leader of a stake. "I got permission from the stake president to have the event at the stake center."
- talk - n. A speech or sermon given during a meeting. "Brother Foster's talk on humility seemed well prepared and inspired."
- tithing - n. Ten percent of a member's income given to the Church. Considered the Lord's money. "We were having financial difficulty, but when we started paying our tithing our situation actually improved!"
- to go on a mission/serve a mission - v. To leave home and teach the Gospel to the people in the assigned area using the assigned language, unpaid. Typically lasts 2 years for males, 18 months for females. "I can't work for you this summer because I'm going on a mission. I'll be teaching the people of Santiago, Chile!"
- visiting teaching - n, v. A program where two women are assigned to visit two other women once a month in their homes and see how they're doing. "When we do our visiting teaching, we bless the lives of those we visit teach."
- ward - n. A group of church members living in the same geographic area assigned to meet together on Sundays at a designated time and place. The members also participate in other activities and meetings with each other. "My ward is having a barbecue this Saturday. Want to come?"
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Can I really become a better person?
Every once in a while you'll hear someone say that people never change. While it may be true that some people will be cheap their whole lives through, and others greedy, that doesn't have to be the case for everyone. People's attributes can change. Just look at relationships. People drift apart all the time. Or how about the guy who goes from single to a boyfriend, a fiance, a husband, a father, and then a grandfather? With each of those new roles comes new responsibilities that, if accepted, will give him experience and new understanding. Even if he walks away from those responsibilities, he will be changed. How we choose to handle life's situations affects who we are today and who we are most likely to be tomorrow.
Mormon doctrine is centered around the belief that people can change, not just by being acted upon by what life throws at us, but also by changing themselves. Mormons believe that if we set goals and work toward them, we can change. We also believe that we must, because God has commanded us to repent (to change for the better). When Jesus says "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect," he means that you need to work toward someday (far, far off, not in this life) becoming perfect like God.
Change takes time, commitment, patience, and God's help. It doesn't matter what it is that you are trying to change. If you're wanting to overcome an addiction or lose weight, including God in the process will help you significantly. For some people, it may be the only way they will ever succeed. God doesn't just care about our spiritual needs. He knows what we want and need in other areas of our lives, and he is more than willing to help us if we will ask him to and then do our part to reach our goal.
Mormons believe that another goal we should always be working on is to be like Jesus Christ. When we come to believe that God is real, we need to find out what he wants us to do and then do it as best as we can by setting goals and then working toward them. God has given us many goals to work toward. He has told us to love one another. He has given us the Ten Commandments. God also gave us the life of Jesus Christ as an example to follow. When we keep trying to obey God and live like Jesus Christ, he will bless our lives, and we will find ourselves happier and more successful than we would have been without his help. Not just spiritually, but in all areas of our lives.
As we try to obey God or overcome a specific challenge, we will inevitably fail from time to time. Sometimes we get discouraged, thinking that it is hopeless, we'll never be good enough. That is your perfectionism talking. Don't listen! Trying to obey God or to improve yourself in other areas of your life is NOT pointless. Every good choice, no matter how small, matters! Every time we succeed at a worthy goal, heaven rejoices. God knows each of us perfectly. He knows that we are imperfect and rebellious at times, so he isn't discouraged or surprised when we do terrible, ugly things, knowing full well that we shouldn't, or when we just give up losing weight and decide to be obese the rest of our lives. God is our father, and he loves us so deeply that he will always love us, forgive us, and help us with what matters to us, no matter what we do to him, to ourselves, or to his other children. Murderers and rapists can have their sinful labels washed away in God's love and mercy if they will do what it takes to change. So can everyone else. There is hope for each one of us. We can change, if we ask God for help. God is eager to help us become better people in whatever aspect of our lives we want to work on, so he is eager to forgive us of our sins and help us rekindle our will to try again. God will also bless us with the things we need to change, such as supportive friends, more wholesome alternate activities, or whatever things we need.
It's important to remember that life gets harder as we go. God has designed it that way on purpose so that we will learn to face a variety of challenges and overcome them, or learn how not to deal with them. Don't get discouraged because you can't see your progress, or because you look at your grandpa and he's as cranky and selfish as ever. Give him back the mental and physical capacity that old age has taken from him and put him through the same stuff he went through at age 20, and with all those extra years of knowledge and experience, he should be capable of handling those age 20 challenges much better.
To summarize, when we draw closer to God by wanting to change and asking for his help, he will draw closer to us because we invite him to. This change may be felt throughout the day. It may be characterized by a more positive attitude, or by a greater desire to do good and to avoid less worthy activities. Whatever the change may be in your life, it will be for the better. The more you choose to obey God and repent when you make a mistake, the more you will let God into your life. And he will bless you, and you will find that with time, commitment, and God's help, you can become a better person.
Monday, March 4, 2013
What did Jesus Christ do for us, and what do we need to do about it?
Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, in spite of temptation. No one else ever has or ever will. We are all sinners (except the mentally disabled and young children, whom the devil doesn't have power to tempt), having done things that have broken God's laws. Because God has given us laws, and we have broken them, Justice demands that we be punished. There is no way for us to avoid that punishment through any effort of our own. But because Jesus Christ has never sinned, there is nothing to punish him for. He is free to do whatever he chooses, but what he has chosen to do is to satisfy the demands of Justice by taking our punishment for us.
The punishment for sin involved terrible suffering. In the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Golgotha, Jesus performed the Atonement for all mankind by suffering, dying, and being resurrected (getting his body back in its perfect and glorified form) on the third day after his death. He paid the price for the sins of every person. Now, instead of being indebted to Justice, all mankind are indebted to Jesus Christ. We will never ever be able to repay him for what he did for us, but all that he asks is that we believe in him and try to obey his every word. If we do this, we will be "saved" from punishment.
Question: "What's the point of being saved? Why do I want to be saved?" Answer: It's not just about avoiding punishment. It's about living happily now and after we die. Mormons believe that the purpose of life is to become like God and live with him again. He is literally our father, and so we have the potential to become like him. If we believe in Jesus Christ, God's son, and follow his teachings given through the scriptures and inspired leaders, then we will eventually accomplish our goals through God's grace. When we live our lives the way God wants us to, we will be happy, and God will give us valuable knowledge and experience.
To sum it all up, Jesus Christ is our Savior. All of our efforts and desire to serve and obey God would be for nothing if it wasn't for that free gift that Jesus Christ gave us. He took our punishment for us and made us able to live with God again. Now what we need to do is to live as God wants us to. He commands us to refrain from sinning and keep doing better each day. He wants us to keep learning about his commandments and to do our best to obey them all. Here is a great place to look for more information: http://mormon.org
If we don't accept Jesus as our Savior, then we remain subject to Justice, and a terrible punishment awaits us (known as hell, which is suffering and the lack of God's presence). We wouldn't return to live with God and be like him, so we would be miserable. Only those who truly love being evil would choose such a fate, so most of us don't have to worry too much about going to hell. Everyone, dead or alive, will eventually learn about God's plan for us and will be able to choose to accept Christ and be saved or to reject him and be evil.
God loves us dearly, and he is constantly reaching out to us. He wants to give us everything he has, and he wants us to come unto him. One of the best ways to come unto God is to talk to him through prayer. To pray to our Heavenly Father, all we ever have to do is direct our thoughts to him and then say whatever is in our heart. He always listens because he loves us. He will give us comfort and peace and let us know he is there (in his own time) if we believe that he will and seek to understand his ways better.
If we want to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are real, the first thing we should do is try praying. We should also read the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Going to church helps significantly too. We should also act on our inclinations to do good things, like treating other people kindly. We should also investigate and follow God's basic commandments: 1) Have faith in Jesus Christ. 2) Repent, or replace our less worthy behaviors and habits with righteous ones. 3) Get baptized properly. 4) Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. 5) Keep up the good work, no matter what life throws at us. Learn more at http://mormon.org/jesus-christ.
The punishment for sin involved terrible suffering. In the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Golgotha, Jesus performed the Atonement for all mankind by suffering, dying, and being resurrected (getting his body back in its perfect and glorified form) on the third day after his death. He paid the price for the sins of every person. Now, instead of being indebted to Justice, all mankind are indebted to Jesus Christ. We will never ever be able to repay him for what he did for us, but all that he asks is that we believe in him and try to obey his every word. If we do this, we will be "saved" from punishment.
Question: "What's the point of being saved? Why do I want to be saved?" Answer: It's not just about avoiding punishment. It's about living happily now and after we die. Mormons believe that the purpose of life is to become like God and live with him again. He is literally our father, and so we have the potential to become like him. If we believe in Jesus Christ, God's son, and follow his teachings given through the scriptures and inspired leaders, then we will eventually accomplish our goals through God's grace. When we live our lives the way God wants us to, we will be happy, and God will give us valuable knowledge and experience.
To sum it all up, Jesus Christ is our Savior. All of our efforts and desire to serve and obey God would be for nothing if it wasn't for that free gift that Jesus Christ gave us. He took our punishment for us and made us able to live with God again. Now what we need to do is to live as God wants us to. He commands us to refrain from sinning and keep doing better each day. He wants us to keep learning about his commandments and to do our best to obey them all. Here is a great place to look for more information: http://mormon.org
If we don't accept Jesus as our Savior, then we remain subject to Justice, and a terrible punishment awaits us (known as hell, which is suffering and the lack of God's presence). We wouldn't return to live with God and be like him, so we would be miserable. Only those who truly love being evil would choose such a fate, so most of us don't have to worry too much about going to hell. Everyone, dead or alive, will eventually learn about God's plan for us and will be able to choose to accept Christ and be saved or to reject him and be evil.
God loves us dearly, and he is constantly reaching out to us. He wants to give us everything he has, and he wants us to come unto him. One of the best ways to come unto God is to talk to him through prayer. To pray to our Heavenly Father, all we ever have to do is direct our thoughts to him and then say whatever is in our heart. He always listens because he loves us. He will give us comfort and peace and let us know he is there (in his own time) if we believe that he will and seek to understand his ways better.
If we want to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are real, the first thing we should do is try praying. We should also read the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Going to church helps significantly too. We should also act on our inclinations to do good things, like treating other people kindly. We should also investigate and follow God's basic commandments: 1) Have faith in Jesus Christ. 2) Repent, or replace our less worthy behaviors and habits with righteous ones. 3) Get baptized properly. 4) Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. 5) Keep up the good work, no matter what life throws at us. Learn more at http://mormon.org/jesus-christ.
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