jimniels

"If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary..."

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:26:06 -0500

“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

- Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Faith: The Assurance of Things Hoped For

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:18:37 -0500

In Hebrews, there is an oft-quoted scripture defining faith as the “assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.” But what does this mean? How do you have assurance without knowing the end result? How do you have conviction without any evidence?

Margaret Manning, in an insightful article over at A Slice of Infinity proposes an answer:

The “assurance of things hoped for” is not merely wishful thinking about a yet to be determined future. It is not the reticence of “I hope it happens, but I doubt it will.” Rather, it is a description of what faith already has: the possession in the present of what is promised for the future.

Faith in the midst of present circumstance grows as it is remembers God’s saving work done in the past … hopeful assurance rests on the promise that as God acted in the past, God will act in the future … The content of faith is in remembering God’s faithfulness in the past, building trust in the future that is yet to come.

Ultimately, Christians affirm that the “assurance of things hoped for” is not simply found in rational content, but in a person—Jesus Christ. For in Jesus, we see the promise fulfilled and the very substance of faith … We look to Jesus, who endured in faith on our behalf, so that we might not grow fainthearted in times of hardship and struggle

Mistakes

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 07:55:00 -0600

Sometimes it can be hard to reconcile these two principles: we’re here to make mistakes, but we shouldn’t make mistakes. Yet another polarity of the gospel.

I have learned that we feel like a failure when we make mistakes even when we profess a belief that the purpose of this existence is to make and learn from them.

From Confession of a Mormon Bishop

Going to church

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:58:02 -0600

The mentality I should have when I go to church each week:

As we gather physically or otherwise with believers in our time and across history … we come as people in need, people with problems, wounds, issues, and concerns. And we are joined with other believers as people in process. We are all souls on a journey. The salvation and full redemption of our bodies is yet to come, and yet until then, we press on in these bodies in faith, hope, and love—by God’s grace, mercy, ongoing-forgiveness, and Spirit.

The Character of God

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 08:39:46 -0600

We are given minds and imaginations that can freely tread into heavenly matters. The desire to see God seems to be set upon our hearts no matter the culture or creed we are raised with. “Show me your glory,” Moses implored of God. “Show us the Father,” the disciples pled with Jesus. But we cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end anymore than we can fathom God, and for this God seems to remind us of our limitations. We will be shown the Father; we are shown God’s glory; we are continually given glimpses of a self-revealing God. And yet we are warned not to make any of it into an idol lest we miss God in the midst of it. In a letter to a younger colleague, poet and professor Stanley Wiersma advised, “When you are too sure about God and faith, you are sure of something other than God: of dogma, of the church, of a particular interpretation of the Bible. But God cannot be pigeonholed. We must press toward certainty, but be suspicious when it comes too glibly.” “Show us the Father” is a hope our hearts were meant to utter (Moses cried out for it, so did the apostles) and it is also a longing God has promised will be answered—from cultures and ages past to our own today: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. - Thoughtful Idols

It’s so easy for us to “pigeonhole” God, but it’s important to remember that “we believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe he will yet reveal many great and important things”. We need to be open to change when he does.

"the gospel … causes men and women to reveal that which would have slept in their dispositions..."

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:54:00 -0600

““the gospel … causes men and women to reveal that which would have slept in their dispositions until they dropped into their graves. The plan by which the Lord leads his people … brings out every trait of disposition lurking in their [beings] … Every fault that a person has will be made manifest, that it may be corrected.””

- Brigham Young

"Grace misunderstood will always lead to jealousy. And the marvelous thing about the Christian..."

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:58:45 -0600

“Grace misunderstood will always lead to jealousy. And the marvelous thing about the Christian worldview is that you can never earn the right to really be embraced by God, it is his gift to you.”

- Ravi Zacharias, speaking of the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son

It's Not Just What You Believe, It's What You Do

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 21:52:38 -0600

I believe LDS doctrine places emphasis on what we become as children of God and not just what we believe or which church we belong to. Our actions, in combination with God’s grace, may prove more important than what doctrines or creeds we’ve assented to intellectually:

You believe there is a God? You do well. Even the demons believe, and tremble. - James 2:19

The second of the two great commands, “love thy neighbor as thyself”, was a reflection back on the first. As Christ said “inasmuch as he have done it unto the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me”. Loving your neighbor as yourself, is in turn loving God. This fact would argue that those who remain separate from particular creeds or churches, yet love their neighbor (and in turn God) may have a Godly surprise coming. The way each of us fulfills these two great commandments will have an important impact on our eternal salvation, be we Mormon, Episcopalian, Muslim, Agnostic, Buddhist, or otherwise.

That’s not to say, of course, that one need not subscribe to gospel principles intellectually. But as Christ said to the Pharisees concerning their strict adherence to the intellectual law but forgotten adherence to its application, “these things ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

Fate of the Virtuous Unbelievers

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 21:19:28 -0600

What happens to those who are faithful yet not of the “true church”? What of those who are virtuous unbelievers?

It’s easy to cite scripture about how “straight is the gate and narrow the way that leads to eternal life, and few there are that find it”. But does that mean that only a select few of the children of a loving God will ever find exaltation while the rest stand condemned for eternity?

Our Lord’s replies [concerning those who will be saved] are never straight answers and never gratify curiosity, and whatever [they mean their] purpose is certainly not statistical. - CS Lewis

So, that leaves us where we started. What in the world happens to the virtuous unbelievers? What about the believers who don’t receive the ordinances of salvation from those holding the authority of God?

our anxiety about unbelievers is most usefully employed when it leads us not to speculation but to earnest prayer for them and the attempt to be in our own lives such good advertisements for Christianity as will make it attractive

It’s certainly not up to us to decide or judge what happens to them. But if you do feel anxious about their fate, it should spur you to missionary work, not idle speculation about things we really have no say in.

The Workings of the Spirit

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 00:10:50 -0600

How does the spirit work? What does it feel like? Try explaining that to new converts who have never heard of a ghost that is supposedly holy.

I often feel rather reluctant to define the workings of the spirit. Defining is rather peculiar word choice, in fact, because it denotes describing the scope of something in exact terms. Describing the works of the spirit might be a better word choice because defining the workings of the spirit narrowly overlooks the fact that God is involved in the process; he plays a fundamental role in drawing his children to Him without coercion. As CS Lewis said, regarding conversion, mapping out an “indispensable norm (or sylla- bus!) for all Christians” is a mistake:

I think the ways in which God saves us are probably infinitely various … anything which sets [the patient] saying ‘Now … Stage II ought to be coming along … is this it?’ I think bad and likely to lead some to presumption and others to despair.

You may find the way the spirit is defined to “work” (as outlined in church classes, manuals, or the experiences of others) doesn’t seem to fit with your life. Does that indicate the absence of the spirit in your own life? Of course not. The personal religious experiences of others do not invalidate your own experiences. You may be taught to understand that the spirit is defined by feelings of love, joy, peace, and kindness. But if you’ve never felt the spirit in that manner, don’t fret. The ways God speaks to each of us are “infinitely various”, and so are the workings of the spirit. It’s not just joy, peace, and warm fuzzies, there are other ways the spirit speaks to each of us, for “against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23)

Coming Home

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:14:55 -0600

As C.S. Lewis undertook his conversion to Christianity, he began to realize the existence of a vast collection of written works by individuals detailing their experiences with the divine.

He beautifully describes this experience of merging onto the road of Christianity in these words:

One finds oneself on the main road with all humanity, and can compare notes with an endless succession of travelers. It is emphatically coming home, as Chaucer says ‘Returneth home from worldly vanitee’

When you’re lost and seeking to find your way, what a wonderful, comforting feeling it is to find the empathetic words of fellow travelers - travelers who have taken the road you’re now on and can attest to its ultimate destination.

Mosiah 7:30, 32-33

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:26:00 -0600

Think of our modern world. We constantly hear of its rapid environmental decay. Disappearance of rain forests, poisoning of the food and water supply, emergence of vaccine-resistant super viruses, the list goes on and on. We are subject to these side effects as a clear result of our own actions which are spurred by the desire for wealth:

[Thus saith The Lord]: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison.

Do we not see this exact promise in effect today?

And now, behold, the promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye are smitten and afflicted.

So must we continue to live with the poisonous results of our own wrong doing? Of course not. There is always forgiveness and redemption available:

But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.

"I long for a day or righteousness when ‘He whose right it is to reign shall judge the poor and..."

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 11:08:00 -0600

“I long for a day or righteousness when ‘He whose right it is to reign shall judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth’; and I pray God, who hath given our fathers a promise of a perfect government in the last days, to purify the hearts of the people and hasten the welcome day.”

- Joseph Smith, in a letter to Henry Clay

"In periods of paralysis, we are forced to depend on others, perhaps even relying on the faith,..."

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 11:05:46 -0600

“

In periods of paralysis, we are forced to depend on others, perhaps even relying on the faith, courage, and strength of those who see our abilities even through our disability. Something very beautiful and healing occurs when we allow others to offer us assistance. In my own paralysis, friends gathered around me to help me. They now did the things I could not do any longer. They said the prayers on my behalf; they believed on my behalf. When I slowly began to move again, they held my arms and steadied my legs. I came to experience a kind of healing because of the assistance and help of my friends. Their faith inspired movement in me towards the God who heals. Indeed, those who are willing to carry the cots of their paralyzed friends embody God’s healing love and care.

There will always be times in life that inhibit forward movement—or any movement at all. In those times, we can be thankful for those who help carry us and care for us. And when we are moving along, perhaps with such momentum that we could miss those lying in cots along our path, might that thankfulness bring us to demonstrate the same kind of care and determination as those who carried their friend into the presence of Jesus.

”

- The Faith of Friendshttp://www.rzim.org/a-slice-of-infinity/the-faith-of-friends/

“The story I have to tell is the history of the next two centuries….For a long time now our whole...

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 09:52:06 -0500

“The story I have to tell is the history of the next two centuries….For a long time now our whole civilization has been driving, with a tortured intensity growing from decade to decade, as if towards a catastrophe: restlessly, violently, tempestuously, like a mighty river desiring the end of its journey, without pausing to reflect, indeed fearful of reflection….Where we live, soon nobody will be able to exist.”

- Friedrich Nietzsche penned these words as he looked out onto a world devoid of God.

http://www.rzim.org/a-slice-of-infinity/the-heritage-of-atheism/

Humility

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 20:25:46 -0500

The story is told of a man who got up to give a talk in church. He started by saying, “I was supposed to give a talk on humility and I prepared a good one, but I decided to save it for a larger audience”

"The very zeal [of science] that seeks to explain a world without purpose is a purpose in and of..."

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 15:16:25 -0500

“The very zeal [of science] that seeks to explain a world without purpose is a purpose in and of itself.”

- http://www.rzim.org/resources/read/asliceofinfinity/todaysslice.aspx?aid=11211

Worrying about worrying

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 10:34:17 -0500

Worrying about worrying:

Lifting weights is beneficial to our physical health. But lifting implies not only that we lift up the weight, but that we let it down as well. So it is with our burdens. They can only make us stronger when we stop worrying about them and let them down.

“What if it’s possible to use life’s resistances to build character, hope, and even faith? I believe it’s quite possible. Yet even so, as it is in weight lifting, a weight is only beneficial to the body when it is lifted and released. Muscles grow during times of rest; to never release a weight would forfeit the benefits of weight lifting and only make way for serious injury. When it comes to worrying, it might resemble a person lugging around a barbell, stubbornly refusing to set it down for whatever reason or benefit they think they hold by perpetually carrying it.”

Christ’s sermon on the mount taught us that committing evil was bad, but so too was thinking about it.

For those of us who worry a lot, now we have to worry even more. Not only are we accountable for what we do, but also what we think!

But the author here reminds us that Christ also said do not worry, your father in heaven knoweth all things. Christ’s promise to each of us is “I shall give you rest.”

Rest? That’s quite the opposite of worry. In fact, it’s the one thing every worrier seeks.

Thus humble let me live and die, Nor long for Midas’ golden touch; If Heaven more generous gifts...

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 10:12:23 -0500

Thus humble let me live and die,
Nor long for Midas’ golden touch;
If Heaven more generous gifts deny,
I shall not miss them much,
Too grateful for the blessings lent
of simple tastes and mind content!

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"The loneliest moment in life is when you have just experienced that which you thought would be the..."

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 09:34:08 -0500

“The loneliest moment in life is when you have just experienced that which you thought would be the ultimate and it has let you down.”

- Ravi Zacharias