Of some things the Lord says, "It mattereth not unto me." Other things with Him are as "the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not" (Daniel 6:8, 12).
With Him, some things are of little moment; some other things are strict and vital. It is good to know which things are which with Him.
On one occasion He said to some early missionaries, "Let there be a craft [boat] made, or bought, as seemeth you good, it mattereth not unto me," just "take your journey speedily . . . " for there are souls to be taught and saved (see D&C 60:5; also 61:22 and 62:5 and 63:40). Also, "go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss" (D&C 80:3). This we might term the Law of Common Sense or Initiative, the Law of Natural Inspiration or Inclination.
Some other things He has directed must be done with strict propriety. The ordinances of salvation come to mind. Think of the temple. Think of the sacrament. If the priest makes even a small error in the blessing of the sacrament, he is invited to do it again, so it can be just right.
If a toe sticks up above the water or a female's hair floats at baptism, the ordinance is repeated, for "baptism by immersion for the remission of sins" means just that: total immersion. In the same vein, "the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance."
This is the Law of Strict Propriety and it "altereth not."
How is it with teaching the gospel? The Lord has revealed, "And I give unto you a commandment [it is not optional] that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom" (D&C 88:77). In fulfilling this commandment we are under strict obligation to teach the Lord's doctrine, not our own ideas. This presupposes and depends entirely upon our knowing the doctrine and knowing it well. Otherwise we are prone to err. Nephi taught that even "the humble followers of Christ . . . are led, that in many instances they do err because they" allow "the precepts of men" to creep into their beliefs and their teaching (see 2 Nephi 28:14).
President Gordon B. Hinckley in a General Authority Training Meeting on October 1, 1996, said: "I have spoken before about the importance of keeping the doctrine of the Church pure, and seeing that it is taught in all of our meetings. I worry about this. Small aberrations in doctrinal teaching can lead to large and evil falsehoods" (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [1997], p.620).
Note how easy it is to "err," to make an error, an "aberration." Are we justified in excusing ourselves in these things, by saying, "My heart was right"? No, we need to know the doctrine.
President Hinckley's urgent words echo the story he gave many years ago of "The Switchpoint", where a goods train ended up in New Orleans instead of New Jersey---a 2000-mile "aberration"--- because a four-inch switchpoint in Kansas had been set wrong.
We find on the front cover of the Gospel Principles manual for 2010--11 the theme as well as the objective, the purpose of the lessons: "They shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved."
Is it possible to come unto Him without "the very points of his doctrine"? Will approximate doctrine do? Here is an invitation to "Learn of me, and listen to my words; [to] walk in the meekness of my Spirit" (D&C 19:23). This is a strict law; any other way will not do.
The word "doctrine" in the scriptures means "law" (see Proverbs 4:2), and, yes, it "altereth not." It is set. It is firm. It lasts and endures. Principles, values, notions, and ideas all spring from the bedrock of doctrine, solid doctrine, the "doctrine of Christ," who is the rock of our salvation. It could not be otherwise.
There is much more to be said on this solemn and sobering subject. We feel impelled to pursue it, to plumb the depths of it, because from the scriptures, from the statements we have cited here, and from the Holy Spirit, we get the firm and sure idea that it is of more than passing interest and import. It approaches the mind of God. And we fear to offend our God.
Would an engineer be safe in assuming he could design a bridge on the erratic assumption that pi is 3.00000, ---because his heart was right? There are untold dangers in assuming that approximate doctrine---as opposed to "the very points of his doctrine"---will be enough, that "it mattereth not." The views of prophets on this are crucial: " . . . the importance of keeping the doctrine . . . pure, and seeing that it is taught in all of our meetings." How important is it in the mind of a prophet, and in the mind of God? "I worry about this," said President Hinckley.
The thing about a law is that it is fixed. It is set. It is conditional. And if we have convinced ourselves---by the precepts of men---that many things with God are unconditional, that the detail found in vital doctrine mattereth not---we do damage and injury to ourselves and to those we teach, whether in a formal classroom, in home teaching, in visiting teaching, or in our homes.
The Prophet said, "Nothing is a greater injury to the children of men than to be under the influence of a false spirit when they think they have the Spirit of God. . . . little evils ['small aberrations'] do the most injury to the Church" (Teachings, pages 205, 258).
Is this issue important? Does the Lord think it is? Does the devil? We are in a battle for the souls of men. Our chief weapon is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, as Paul teaches us. Surely we can see the vital nature of this clear issue. It presses upon our mind, and captures the attention of the soul. It is good to speak of it, to remind, to urge, to edify. Silence is golden, but sometimes it is yellow.
God bless.
Let me see your comments on this. Thank you.
Steve
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Sabbathought: The three greatest truths
Along with Elder McConkie we judge that three truths stand out as the greatest truths in all eternity.
The greatest truth in all eternity is that there is a God. And this God is also a Father. It follows that He must therefore have children and that those children can become like their Heavenly Parents. This truth is self evident in all aspects of Creation, of which He is the Author, and qualifies as the greatest truth in all eternity.
The second greatest truth in all eternity is that this Father-God has an Only Begotten Son whose birth, life, death, and atoning sacrifice put into operation all the terms and conditions of the plan for the Father's other children to become like Himself. This is the central message of the Christian faith and qualifies as the second greatest truth in all eternity.
The third greatest truth in all eternity is that the Father and Son have a Holy Personage of Spirit by whom They are able to communicate with, reveal, teach, comfort, sanctify, and purify the children while they are away from home for their mortal schooling in how to become like their Heavenly Parents. This Personage is known as the Holy Ghost, and this truth rightly qualifies as the third greatest truth in all eternity.
These three great truths---simple, clear, lucid, and powerful---are summarized in the first article of faith: "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." This makes the first article of faith the greatest of all the thirteen articles of faith.
Latter-day Saints should specialize, as it were, in the theology contained in this first article of faith. There is God, and there are the things of God, His creations. Revealed religion has to do with the personhood of God, His character and attributes. Science and research deal with the things of God, His creations.
President Brigham Young said, "Every elder should be a profound theologian," meaning that each and every man and woman in the kingdom of God should know God and know much about Him, and His purposes and plans for His family. Such a pursuit is the quest of a mortal lifetime and should be a magnificent obsession among the Saints of the Most High. It can only be achieved through the holy scriptures, which bring the Holy Ghost into the matter.
How blessed we are to have these things made known to us!
God bless us all in this adventure.
Steve
The greatest truth in all eternity is that there is a God. And this God is also a Father. It follows that He must therefore have children and that those children can become like their Heavenly Parents. This truth is self evident in all aspects of Creation, of which He is the Author, and qualifies as the greatest truth in all eternity.
The second greatest truth in all eternity is that this Father-God has an Only Begotten Son whose birth, life, death, and atoning sacrifice put into operation all the terms and conditions of the plan for the Father's other children to become like Himself. This is the central message of the Christian faith and qualifies as the second greatest truth in all eternity.
The third greatest truth in all eternity is that the Father and Son have a Holy Personage of Spirit by whom They are able to communicate with, reveal, teach, comfort, sanctify, and purify the children while they are away from home for their mortal schooling in how to become like their Heavenly Parents. This Personage is known as the Holy Ghost, and this truth rightly qualifies as the third greatest truth in all eternity.
These three great truths---simple, clear, lucid, and powerful---are summarized in the first article of faith: "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." This makes the first article of faith the greatest of all the thirteen articles of faith.
Latter-day Saints should specialize, as it were, in the theology contained in this first article of faith. There is God, and there are the things of God, His creations. Revealed religion has to do with the personhood of God, His character and attributes. Science and research deal with the things of God, His creations.
President Brigham Young said, "Every elder should be a profound theologian," meaning that each and every man and woman in the kingdom of God should know God and know much about Him, and His purposes and plans for His family. Such a pursuit is the quest of a mortal lifetime and should be a magnificent obsession among the Saints of the Most High. It can only be achieved through the holy scriptures, which bring the Holy Ghost into the matter.
How blessed we are to have these things made known to us!
God bless us all in this adventure.
Steve
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Plans for 2011
Dear family and friends, I hope this finds you well.
You have all been very patient and amiable about these Sabbathoughts intruding into your inbox most weekends throughout 2010. The idea began in response to a few people initially asking for a little regular gospel discussion and I ended up imposing it on everyone in my address book! As I say, thanks for your passive acceptance, or at least your absence of complaint.
The comments and feedback have all been positive so it seems to be something worth doing, so we'll continue throughout this year with a weekly (that's "w - e - e - k - l - y" . . . !) Sabbathought. And in response to suggestions from some of you we plan to supplement the 'Sabb' with occasional articles on gospel topics, under the sobriquet GIFTS: Gospel Insights From The Scriptures.
Why would we venture to do any of this?
It seems a logical use of a great tool --- e-mail through the internet --- and perhaps it adds to the Church's gospel study programs (sorry again for the American spellings, you dear and patient folk in Britain . . . . When in Rome . . . !) in Sunday School and generally.
Besides, you can never know too much about the gospel. In addition, as we heard David the Bethlehem shepherd boy saying to his older brothers in 1 Samuel last year, "Is there not a cause?" (17:29), and he promptly went out and took it upon himself to slay Goliath in the name of the God of Israel.
When we catch the vision of all that the restored gospel is teaching, it is exciting and compelling. So that perhaps the only thing worse than imposing it on family and friends is not taking the time and trouble to share it.
Also, we have noted along with Bob Matthews, that "this is not a doctrinal era in the Church. But it must become one, so that we are prepared to meet Him and converse with Him when He comes." So much hangs upon knowing the doctrine of Christ that we would consider ourselves remiss if we neglected to share and rejoice in it.
In this perhaps we should "waste and wear out our lives", in the words of the Prophet, "in bringing to light all the hidden things". Joseph added, under inspiration, that "these things should be attended to with great earnestness" (D&C 123:13--14). We resonate with such a compelling injunction and hope you do too.
As many of you are aware, it has become a cherished custom in Britain and the Commonwealth for the reigning monarch to broadcast a brief speech on Christmas Day. In the Christmas of 1939, a country and family of nations at war with a brutal tyrant heard King George VI, father of our present Queen Elizabeth II, cite these words written during the First World War by Minnie Louise Harkins (1875--1957):
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied, "Go into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God,
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!"
A new film released recently entitled King's Speech is a dramatic and moving insight into the background of this broadcast event.
What is not so well known is how the poem concluded:
So I went forth and, finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone east.
So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth His intention.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Echoes here of the poignant anthem, Be Still My Soul.
And so we ask, is God aware of even the least struggling creature?
He is.
Of you and me? Yes, He is.
Join me in 2011. There is so much to know about Him, His purposes and plans, His intention. And you and I are in that intention. We must needs know where . . . and how . . . and why.
God bless. Please pray for us that we might strike the right note in our searching and our exchange. Things are going to be more than interesting in this world of 2011. As Boyd K. Packer said, "There is no geographical safety for what is coming. The only safety is in the scriptures and their message of the living Christ" (1977).
Please feel free to share this and subsequent e-mails within your own circle of family and friends.
Steve
You have all been very patient and amiable about these Sabbathoughts intruding into your inbox most weekends throughout 2010. The idea began in response to a few people initially asking for a little regular gospel discussion and I ended up imposing it on everyone in my address book! As I say, thanks for your passive acceptance, or at least your absence of complaint.
The comments and feedback have all been positive so it seems to be something worth doing, so we'll continue throughout this year with a weekly (that's "w - e - e - k - l - y" . . . !) Sabbathought. And in response to suggestions from some of you we plan to supplement the 'Sabb' with occasional articles on gospel topics, under the sobriquet GIFTS: Gospel Insights From The Scriptures.
Why would we venture to do any of this?
It seems a logical use of a great tool --- e-mail through the internet --- and perhaps it adds to the Church's gospel study programs (sorry again for the American spellings, you dear and patient folk in Britain . . . . When in Rome . . . !) in Sunday School and generally.
Besides, you can never know too much about the gospel. In addition, as we heard David the Bethlehem shepherd boy saying to his older brothers in 1 Samuel last year, "Is there not a cause?" (17:29), and he promptly went out and took it upon himself to slay Goliath in the name of the God of Israel.
When we catch the vision of all that the restored gospel is teaching, it is exciting and compelling. So that perhaps the only thing worse than imposing it on family and friends is not taking the time and trouble to share it.
Also, we have noted along with Bob Matthews, that "this is not a doctrinal era in the Church. But it must become one, so that we are prepared to meet Him and converse with Him when He comes." So much hangs upon knowing the doctrine of Christ that we would consider ourselves remiss if we neglected to share and rejoice in it.
In this perhaps we should "waste and wear out our lives", in the words of the Prophet, "in bringing to light all the hidden things". Joseph added, under inspiration, that "these things should be attended to with great earnestness" (D&C 123:13--14). We resonate with such a compelling injunction and hope you do too.
As many of you are aware, it has become a cherished custom in Britain and the Commonwealth for the reigning monarch to broadcast a brief speech on Christmas Day. In the Christmas of 1939, a country and family of nations at war with a brutal tyrant heard King George VI, father of our present Queen Elizabeth II, cite these words written during the First World War by Minnie Louise Harkins (1875--1957):
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied, "Go into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God,
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!"
A new film released recently entitled King's Speech is a dramatic and moving insight into the background of this broadcast event.
What is not so well known is how the poem concluded:
So I went forth and, finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone east.
So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth His intention.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Echoes here of the poignant anthem, Be Still My Soul.
And so we ask, is God aware of even the least struggling creature?
He is.
Of you and me? Yes, He is.
Join me in 2011. There is so much to know about Him, His purposes and plans, His intention. And you and I are in that intention. We must needs know where . . . and how . . . and why.
God bless. Please pray for us that we might strike the right note in our searching and our exchange. Things are going to be more than interesting in this world of 2011. As Boyd K. Packer said, "There is no geographical safety for what is coming. The only safety is in the scriptures and their message of the living Christ" (1977).
Please feel free to share this and subsequent e-mails within your own circle of family and friends.
Steve
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Sabbathought: "Behold, I make all things new"
Some of you have wondered about New Year's resolutions and goal-setting. Here are a few thoughts:
In a talk at the University of Utah institute of religion a generation ago, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said:
"We worship Christ, not success.
Our object is to strengthen faith, not to reinforce self-esteem.
We should speak of the godly life, not goal-setting."
Three common ideas the world fostered---success . . . self-esteem . . . and goal-setting---, which have found an unwarranted popularity and eminence among Latter-day Saints, and that not by revelation, but in the philosophies of men.
Arthur Henry King, a very literate and informed convert who was raised a Quaker in England, observed, "The word 'goal'. . . . I don't have any objection to the something hidden behind the word, but I don't like its psychological background and the mechanistic implication that our lives are to be directed by what we think up and fix in our heads. If setting goals does nothing else, it will tend to occlude the Holy Ghost."
I have heard of "occluded arteries" which are closed off or blocked so that the life-sustaining blood cannot get through. An insightful word as used here by Brother King. Imagine blocking off the life-carrying influence of the Holy Ghost for some preconceived goal or plan. Brother King continued:
"If we hold on to one goal in life---to act righteously at every moment---then all the other goals will fall in place. But if we set up for ourselves tactical goals, they may very well get in the way of our strategic goal. The great goal is so difficult that every other goal should submit to it. Every time we make a decision to do something, it should be made in the light of eternity, not in the light of tomorrow or the next day."
This is self-evident sound counsel for Latter-day Saints in our daily lives. At the same time, a prudent plan to attend the temple more often, or to read the New Testament in 2011, or to lose ten pounds by Easter are viable ideas. But they are limited in that they tend to constitute a Law of Moses approach of "Thou shalt do this and that". Even when such goals are met there is likely to be an essential spontaneous spiritual ingredient missing. As President Ezra Taft Benson taught, the Lord works from the inside out, the spiritual first. The world works from the outside in, the outward performance.
On January 1, 1897, President George Q. Cannon said:
"No New Year's resolutions. Among Latter-day Saints there ought to be no occasion for what is called 'swearing off' or for the general making of resolutions of improvement on New Year's day. Every day should witness with them a determination to lay aside weaknesses and take on more of the graces of godliness. Each day furnishes opportunity to look closely into one's habits, to examine and discard the worthless and cleave unto that which is elevating and holy.
"The partaking of the sacrament . . . , when done worthily, of itself implies an earnest endeavor towards improvement. . . . Not alone on New Year's, therefore, but on every day, should people seek to effect an improvement in their habits of life."
This is consistent with Brother King's views, and Elder Oaks's statement about "the godly life."
Starting this Sunday (January 2nd), Sunday School lessons throughout the English-speaking Church (and elsewhere for all I know) are centered in the New Testament.
I recall a talk to a general Relief Society gathering over thirty years ago by Elder Bruce R. McConkie, who knew something about the subject of the New Testament. His talk was entitled, "Drink from the Fountain." He said that the Four Gospels---Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John---are the place we go to, above all others, to fall in love with the Lord. He added that those who thus love the Lord demonstrate it by keeping His commandments (see John 14:15). And those who keep the commandments are then assured of eternal life in the kingdom of God.
It is a simple formula.
Perhaps if we pursue one goal---for "one thing is needful"---it might be to search the Four Gospels with the Spirit of the Lord, meaning the Holy Ghost. One thing I have found over the past few months as I have studied closely the Four Gospels is that I sense the Holy Ghost guiding and prompting my understanding when I am in no hurry to get to the end of the chapter . . . . I often spend thirty minutes or more on a few verses. Until they begin to speak to me.
We recall that Elder David Bednar of the Twelve urged the English Saints in September 2009 to study the Five Gospels (he included Third Nephi) in this kind of a way. And he promised that if we undertook such a careful study we should find a different Lord and Savior from the one we think we know.
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God . . . ."
Surely this is the one thing that is needful.
Happy New Year, beloved family and friends. . . . These things are true and faithful, you can hang your hat on them.
Best wishes for 2011,
Steve
In a talk at the University of Utah institute of religion a generation ago, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said:
"We worship Christ, not success.
Our object is to strengthen faith, not to reinforce self-esteem.
We should speak of the godly life, not goal-setting."
Three common ideas the world fostered---success . . . self-esteem . . . and goal-setting---, which have found an unwarranted popularity and eminence among Latter-day Saints, and that not by revelation, but in the philosophies of men.
Arthur Henry King, a very literate and informed convert who was raised a Quaker in England, observed, "The word 'goal'. . . . I don't have any objection to the something hidden behind the word, but I don't like its psychological background and the mechanistic implication that our lives are to be directed by what we think up and fix in our heads. If setting goals does nothing else, it will tend to occlude the Holy Ghost."
I have heard of "occluded arteries" which are closed off or blocked so that the life-sustaining blood cannot get through. An insightful word as used here by Brother King. Imagine blocking off the life-carrying influence of the Holy Ghost for some preconceived goal or plan. Brother King continued:
"If we hold on to one goal in life---to act righteously at every moment---then all the other goals will fall in place. But if we set up for ourselves tactical goals, they may very well get in the way of our strategic goal. The great goal is so difficult that every other goal should submit to it. Every time we make a decision to do something, it should be made in the light of eternity, not in the light of tomorrow or the next day."
This is self-evident sound counsel for Latter-day Saints in our daily lives. At the same time, a prudent plan to attend the temple more often, or to read the New Testament in 2011, or to lose ten pounds by Easter are viable ideas. But they are limited in that they tend to constitute a Law of Moses approach of "Thou shalt do this and that". Even when such goals are met there is likely to be an essential spontaneous spiritual ingredient missing. As President Ezra Taft Benson taught, the Lord works from the inside out, the spiritual first. The world works from the outside in, the outward performance.
On January 1, 1897, President George Q. Cannon said:
"No New Year's resolutions. Among Latter-day Saints there ought to be no occasion for what is called 'swearing off' or for the general making of resolutions of improvement on New Year's day. Every day should witness with them a determination to lay aside weaknesses and take on more of the graces of godliness. Each day furnishes opportunity to look closely into one's habits, to examine and discard the worthless and cleave unto that which is elevating and holy.
"The partaking of the sacrament . . . , when done worthily, of itself implies an earnest endeavor towards improvement. . . . Not alone on New Year's, therefore, but on every day, should people seek to effect an improvement in their habits of life."
This is consistent with Brother King's views, and Elder Oaks's statement about "the godly life."
Starting this Sunday (January 2nd), Sunday School lessons throughout the English-speaking Church (and elsewhere for all I know) are centered in the New Testament.
I recall a talk to a general Relief Society gathering over thirty years ago by Elder Bruce R. McConkie, who knew something about the subject of the New Testament. His talk was entitled, "Drink from the Fountain." He said that the Four Gospels---Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John---are the place we go to, above all others, to fall in love with the Lord. He added that those who thus love the Lord demonstrate it by keeping His commandments (see John 14:15). And those who keep the commandments are then assured of eternal life in the kingdom of God.
It is a simple formula.
Perhaps if we pursue one goal---for "one thing is needful"---it might be to search the Four Gospels with the Spirit of the Lord, meaning the Holy Ghost. One thing I have found over the past few months as I have studied closely the Four Gospels is that I sense the Holy Ghost guiding and prompting my understanding when I am in no hurry to get to the end of the chapter . . . . I often spend thirty minutes or more on a few verses. Until they begin to speak to me.
We recall that Elder David Bednar of the Twelve urged the English Saints in September 2009 to study the Five Gospels (he included Third Nephi) in this kind of a way. And he promised that if we undertook such a careful study we should find a different Lord and Savior from the one we think we know.
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God . . . ."
Surely this is the one thing that is needful.
Happy New Year, beloved family and friends. . . . These things are true and faithful, you can hang your hat on them.
Best wishes for 2011,
Steve
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