Repentance
Canceling the Debt
I think it would be safe to say that we have all had the experience of lying awake wondering how we are going to cover next month’s bills. Few things are more unsettling and worrisome than pondering about our debts.
Read MoreAlma
Alma the younger is one of the more interesting personalities in all of scripture.
Alma was born the son of a prophet–the son of a very spiritual, energetic, and dedicated prophet. Yet, somehow in his youth, his father’s teachings, training, and example failed to sink in or to impress him.
The Most Important Words
It occurs to me that some of the most important words all seem to begin with “Re.”
The Redeemer made Redemption from sin possible.
The Restoration taught us how to Repent.
The Plan of Redemption
I noticed something rather astonishing.
In the Church we do a lot of talking about t he plan of salvation. This is because of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon mentions the plan 30 times, and gives it six different names. It is “the great plan of salvation” (Alma 42:5), “the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death” (2 Nephi 11:5), “the plan of restoration” (Alma 41:2), “the great plan of happiness” (Alma 42:8), “the plan of redemption” (Alma 42:13), and “the great plan of mercy” (Alma 42:31).
Repentance—The Key
Samuel the Lamanite astutely observed that “all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead.”
From God’s perspective, we are dead. Did you know it? Because of sin, and because no unclean thing can be in His presence, we are dead.
Naught But Knots or Untying our Knots
Nephi and James
“They set him at naught, and hearken not,”
And end up tying their lives in knots. (1 Nephi 19:7 with my addition)
Don’t Miss the Train
My father grew up on a remote ranch in Wyoming. Selling the cattle that they raised sometimes involved loading them onto railway cars and shipping them to Chicago, three states away. My grandfather and his boys had to accompany the cattle.
Read MorePace’s Baptism
Pace, you are light years ahead of where I was when I was eight years old. I only have one memory from that age, and it is very vivid in my mind. I was out walking in a field by my house, and was having some very deep thoughts for an 8-year-old. My mother had told me about God and Jesus and about prophets and about the Bible. I was pondering upon those things, and I had lots of questions.
Read MoreCleverly Catching the Crooks
In the 1920s the father of my friend, Bud Beeson, lived at Farewell Bend between Baker and Ontario. He was a farmer with a small herd of dark red shorthorn cattle. In the fall he would be missing numerous calves. while many of his neighbor’s cows would have two calves apiece.
Read MoreWhat Has Jesus Done For Me?
I was asked in general conference to write a one-page summary of what the Savior has done for me.
He brought me from darkness into light. I hadn’t even known that I was in darkness. The contrast is extreme. Because of my rescue, the possibility exists that none of my posterity will ever experience that darkness. I fervently pray that may be so.
What Would I Tell 12-Year-Old Me?
The title of this article is a question asked in the April 2021 general conference.
Twelve-year-old me was timid, shy, afraid, unsure, ignorant, full of self doubt, weighed down by sin, and unable to break free of habits; but desirous of being good, doing good, and of becoming better.
Speak to Me
Nephi asked his brothers, “Have ye inquired of the Lord?”
And they answered, “We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.” (1 Nephi 15:8-9). Which demonstrates that if you know that the Lord won’t speak to you, you’re right The opposite is also true. If you purposely don’t speak to someone, what’s the chance that they’ll speak to you?
Was Lehi the Only One?
As I began another reading of the Book of Mormon last night, I only got six verses read before I got bogged down in thought. Lehi was obviously touched by the warnings of the many prophets who came into the land “prophesying unto the people that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed.” (1 Nephi 1:4).
Read MoreThe Gift of Repentance
Of all the gifts that our Redeemer gave us through His Atonement, surely the gift of repentance is one of the greatest.
Before I learned of this freely-offered gift, I didn’t like myself very much. I was dirty. I was miserable. I was always going to feel that way because there was nothing that I could do about it. I was always going to feel dirty and miserable because of my sins, and I was powerless to stop sinning or to change anything.
The Fulness of Mine Intent
Nephi wrote that “the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto (God).” (1 Nephi 6:4).
What is the fulness of mine intent? What is yours?
Gifts
As I knelt to have my evening prayer I was interested to note the words that I used. I thanked my heavenly Father for “the gift of my marvelous wife,” and “the gift of the scriptures” that I was about to read. I then got into bed, opened the Book of Mormon, and the second verse that I read was Mormon telling the people that he was permitted to speak unto them “because of the gift of (God’s) calling unto (him).” (Moroni 7:2).
Read MoreThe Gift of Repentance
Over and over in the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord says to “say nothing but repentance to this generation.” (D&C 6:9, 11:9, 14:8, 19:21). That has troubled me in the past. If every church talk was about repentance I think that I might become bored and disinterested. But the older I get, the more I become aware of the magnitude of the huge gift that Christ has given us in making our repentance possible.
Read MoreStiffnecked, Gainsaying, and Handicapped
Yesterday at the temple I noticed a man hobbling slowly along with a wheeled walker. Another elderly brother with whom I gently shook hands had huge, painful-looking, arthritic joints in his fingers and knuckles. A sister rode her motorized wheel chair through the foyer. I looked for, but didn’t see, the Down’s syndrome young man who is usually there doing one endowment after another.
Read MoreThe Atonement
Last night I went to bed thinking about the Atonement. I had just prayed for my wife and my daughter, both of whom are to speak on that topic in church tomorrow. Marjorie had only received the assignment that very day, and was feeling resentful toward the procrastinating bishop’s counselor who had given her no more time than that to prepare a meaningful talk on such a profound topic.
Read MoreDon’t Sell Yourself for Naught
We live in a unique period of the world’s history. In nearly all former times and cultures people were bought and sold. Slavery and servitude were common practices among nearly all people. I believe that it has only been in recent times that slavery and human trafficking has largely been abolished.
Read MoreCarefree, Complacent and Comfortable
We received a Christmas letter from a woman who reported on the doings of her family. One son and his wife had only one child. There would be no more because “one is all the children they can handle.” The other son is “not married and will never have children but does have girlfriends, lives rather a rogue life in that he prefers living out of his van, but is happy that way.” Her former husband has left his wife of 20 years.
Read MoreWhat Lack I Yet?
In rereading the New Testament two questions asked therein have given me pause for a good deal of thought.
Read MoreLost and Fallen
Marjorie and I served our mission in the South Seas island nation of Vanuatu. The island on which we served had formerly been
Read MoreUnited Efforts
As I sat and listened to the April 2019 general conference President Nelson was quoted several times as saying that the gathering of Israel is the greatest work taking place in the world today,
Read MorePerspectives on Forgiveness
We all come from different walks of life. Our perspectives are as varied as our experiences.
Read MoreThe Plan of Redemption
Before we ever came to earth, and before the world was even created, a plan was put into place by which every one of God’s children could be brought back into His presence.
Read MoreSupernal Gifts
As I was teaching my Primary class of 11-year-olds a boy raised his hand. “I have a question,” he said.
Read MoreRepentance
I am nearly 69 years old. I thank God for this long life, and for the opportunity it has given me to repent and to put my life in order.
Read MoreEndangered Species
Lately as I’ve perused the World Book Encyclopedia, several articles have intrigued me.
Read MoreTurkeys
I have the opportunity of studying wild turkeys from my living room window. Two family groups combined last fall …
Read MoreMuscle Memory – or – Hitting the Wrong Key
This morning I sat, watched, and marveled as my wife practiced at the piano. She was getting ready for a Christmas sing-along.
Read MoreThere is a Way Out
One evening as we arrived home from seminary graduation we noticed a calf standing on the other side of the pond. It had obviously come from the herd above our house.
Read MoreTo This End Was I Born
In answer to a question posed by Pilate, Jesus said, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.”
Read MoreBecause They Cast Them Out
There are few places in the world where the Saints are not currently welcome or at least tolerated. It hasn’t always been so, and it won’t always be.
Read MoreCastaways
There are so many islands in the island nation of Vanuatu that I don’t think they can be counted. Many are small, unnamed, and uninhabited.
Read MoreThe Door Is Closing
I am beset with temptations just as all men are. My greatest desire is to be good, and to do good, and to follow Jesus faithfully. But I’m weak.
Read MoreThe Apprentice and the Master Craftsman – James’ Parables
There was once a man who apprenticed himself to a master craftsman. The master craftsman was able to work with every material, in every medium, and to create beautiful things.
Read MoreRepentance and Covenants
Life has two purposes. There are two things that every soul must accomplish. One is repentance. The other is covenants. Both are supreme gifts made possible by the Lord’s Atonement.
Read MoreRedemption
In America you can’t open a magazine or a newspaper or a cereal box without finding coupons. A coupon is nothing more than an otherwise worthless scrap of paper that can be redeemed for something of value.
Read MoreParallel or Perpendicular?
One morning as I sat on my couch in Vanuatu looking out at the bay, I noticed that the door frame made a perfectly parallel line with a line of tile on our veranda. If I tilted my head a little to either the right or to the left, the lines were no longer parallel. The line formed by the door frame, and the line formed by the tiles were about one inch apart. If I held my head just so, the two lines would stay just one inch apart even if they were to be extended clear across the bay.
Read MoreDownwind of the Spirit
“Keep yourself downwind of the Spirit.” That was my waking message this morning. Where did it come from? What does it mean?
Read MoreThe Lord Doth Immediately Bless You
In my reading this morning, a word has arrested my attention. The word is “immediate.” The verse I read said, “And again, when they thought of the immediate goodness of God, and his power in delivering Alma and his brethren out of the hands of the Lamanites and of bondage, they did raise their voices and give thanks to God.” (Mosiah 25:10).
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