The Teal Notebook

It is far too complex and the wounds have not healed from all the storms of life that have been blowing around me, but I am left with questions.  I am also left with wounds that only the Lord can help me heal.  The wounds are only collateral damage.  But, I still need a time of quietness so I can heal.  Eventually I will find the Glory of God in the scars left behind.  For scars are the witness and reminder that God heals our wounds.  It is the scars on my Redeemer’s hands and feet that remind me of how much God loves me.  Those scars should be mine, but they are carried by my Savior.  I still need that time of quietness so I can hear and respond with obedience to my God.

The cold order of events.

1. New Teaching Pastor begins ministry.

2. My help was requested in a minor leadership role.

3. Teaching Pastor resigns.

4. Other Pastor requests my continued help in a minor leadership role.

5. Personal difficulties and family concerns led me to resign from my minor leadership role.

6. Those same concerns led me to begin a journey of discovery.  Where do I fit into the Kingdom of God?  Where does my King want me to be?

7.  What lessons do I take from this?

I have a one-inch teal notebook (well I have been told it is teal, I don’t really know what color it is) with my notes from my two month tour of minor leadership.  What do I do with those notes.

a) Burn them.

b) File them away to be forgotten.

c) Carefully examine them.

Well, I should carefully examine them and see what lesson I can take from them, and apply them for all future leadership in my life.  The best place to start applying these leadership lessons would be in my own home.  Even scripture teaches us this. 1 Timothy 3:4-5 “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” (English Standard Version)

Spiritual Disciplines

This may be my last post for a while.  I am going to begin using my web log time to write a book instead. So since it might be a while until I write again, I wanted to leave a post of more significance than petty politics or my views on some other single issue.  I chose to leave, even if only for a short season or sabbatical, with something that has transformed my life and challenge you to test its significance for your life.

I practice two daily spiritual disciplines.  These two disciplines have transformed my life.  So if your life is o.k., and you are not ready to change. Then ignore this advice. And if you all ready practice them stay with it.  But if you are weary and tired of trying your latest passing fad.  Why not give this one a try also? It may transform your life, also.

First. Daily Devotional Bible Reading

Several years ago, an elder, in my local church challenged the congregation to make bible reading a regular part of each of our lives.  Since that challenge, I have consistently and regularly read from the bible (almost daily).  That daily discipline has changed my life.  I am now a quarter of the way through my third reading of the bible (It has been 2 and a quarter years since that challenge).  The first year (2007) I read from the one year bible plan, last year (2008) I read from a plan I got from one of our pastors, this year (2009) I constructed my own reading plan.

It was not easy for me to get away from all the noise of life and to just sit and read from the bible.  So when I accepted this challenge I knew I had to exchange something.  I had to give up something I did to make room for this new discipline.  I gave up watching early morning news.  I used to start my day by turning on the television and watching the news for a few minutes to get ready for the day.  I imagine some of you probably do this out of routine.  I turned those news shows off in the morning and opened the pages of my bible and read from it.  After about three weeks, it became my new routine.

When I accepted this challenge, I had all ready been reading the bible regularly to make preparations for teaching Sunday school, but my focus was on reading the few verses related to that particular lesson and studying them carefully, and I still continue to do that.  My reading of the bible was task oriented, not relational.  But since I have added more time, devotional time, in the morning to read the bible and meditate upon the words, I have grown to see the intricate work that the Lord has done in giving us the bible and the beauty and completeness of it for everything related to the human experience.

It is not by chance.  Playing bible roulette as either a last effort or in jest will not change your life.  Cover to cover reading will.  As I read during my devotional time, my eyes are opened to insight and illumination in every area of daily living.  Trouble with work. Hard time with family relationships.  Daily reading of the bible helps.  I can not count how many times, that I come to a difficult circumstance in my life and then the Lord has illuminated the path from the lamplight of his words I read in the bible.  Example, this morning my daily devotion came from the final chapters of 1st Samuel.  All week I have been preparing a lesson on Micah chapter 3.  I was wrestling with how to describe divination to the class and from the pages of scripture comes the story of King Saul seeking out the witch in Endor to divine or call up a spiritual medium for Saul.  Illumination–my eyes were open to an example of divination, I could use.  You might be reading this and say, well that is really good for you, you are a Sunday school teacher, preparing for a class is not real world.  It is just more book learning not really helpful in the real world.  That is a nice story to tell in Sunday school to teach a point that is a what the bible is for, Sunday school.

Well try this example as it relates to personal relationships, about a month ago the relationship between my son and I was escalating into a raging wildfire.  We were having a lot of conflict, I was having a lot of trouble with my son.  My son was having a lot of trouble with me.  I did not know what what going on, then I read from Ephesians: Fathers do not provoke your children.  That message did what scripture does, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, NKJV) Solution to problem (Illumination): don’t provoke your son.  Well after a month, things are better between me and my son, I am still learning about all the ways I provoke not only him but also my other children, and am asking the Lord to help me stop (more on prayer, in a minute).  God is faithful to answer and give me the help I need. Another example came from in reading 1 Peter 3:7 “honor your wife”, a lesson I need to hear when coupled with advise from Ephesians “love your wife”, these two messages from the Lord have begun to help me maintain and strengthen my relationship with her, as she has begun ministering to others outside of our home through offering care and concern for other women who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy.

So in summary, I wanted to issue that same challenge to you; Daily Devotional (Relational–not task) Bible reading–not reading the bible to reinforce your theological positions, but reading the bible to hear the voice of the Shepherd.  To recognize His revelation, so you can guard your minds and hearts from other distractions and voices.  Be prepared for your life to change.

Second. Daily Personal Prayer

God speaks to me daily when I am reading from the Bible.  I am still learning what the voice of the Shepherd sounds like.  But communication is two way.  I speak to the Lord through prayer.  There are many different types of prayer.  But morning prayer, the giving of our first words and thoughts to the Lord set our hearts for the day.  In the past I have had a difficult time with what words to use when I pray.  But recently I have been taught a new method of prayer that works really well for me.  It is a beginning place and it is related to my deep hunger for reading the scriptures.  It is to begin my prayer time with praying scripture.  I begin in my private prayer closet from what I had just finished reading in scripture, I start with what stands out from the page like a flashing or blinking red light, a single word, a phrase, or an entire verse, and then move outward from that starting point.

This has helped me in transitioning from reading and listening to God talk to me through scripture, to me interacting with Him using the scriptures as the beginning point.  I understand and see why and how this works.  God is the author of all scripture, it is His voice or message to me.  It joins my two daily disciplines into really just one.  Communication from God to me, and then communication back from me to God.

So I want to increase the challenge I offered to any one that reads this: Not only do I challenge you to read the bible daily, but I also challenge you to prayer.  Now if you are the opposite of me and have an easier time praying and harder time reading the bible, then just reverse it.  Start with prayer and then open your bible to read from it second.  Do it both ways. and see which way works best for you.  I say do and not try.  Because I recently had my eyes open to an exercise I want you to all do.  Place a pen on table and try to pick it up. (Just try, don’t pick it up, but try to pick it up).  What happens to the pen if you only try? It is unchanged and still on the table.  One of my favorite movie quotes from all time comes from a little green Jedi master, “Do, or Do not; There is no try”

So from the words of a shoe company, “Just do it!”

So, If you see another web log entry soon, then you will know that my effort to write a real book died a tortured death, and I returned to web log writing which anyone can do, because it has no rules or standards.

Leadership??

It has been nearly 60 days since I last wrote anything.  My last words were an interruption of my review of my elements of faith.  The interruption was to briefly comment about the Presidential race.  I have been debating within my own mind what to use my web log (blog) for.

1. Should I continue to compare and contrast my new found faith in Biblical Christianity to my old faith of Mormonism?
2. Expound and concentrate on writing all my notes for teaching a bible Sunday school class, to teach the world through this blog the bible?
3. Just whatever?

Well I decided on number 3.  The first idea has been done.  It is very difficult to compare two faiths that both use a similar religious vocabulary but with very different definitions.  And I am now over ten years removed from my past beliefs that were taught to me as a child and teenager.  The second idea did not fly either.  I soon realized that my gift of teaching is to be used to build the up church (not the world).  In short, the Holy Spirit is not directing me to write my personal bible commentary to be unofficially published to the world.  That left only number 3, which brings me to today’s topic: Leadership??

There are several points of leadership within my life that have been the focus of much of my energy.

1. My nomination to become an elder for my local church body.
2. The continuing search for a teaching pastor at my local church body.
3. How best to lead my family.
4. Who to elect as President and other representatives.
5. My supervisors and bosses at work.

Elder Nomination

One of the reasons I was exploring my elements of faith was to see if What I believed matched with the congregation I have been attending.  There is no difference in my personal beliefs and that of the congregation I attend on the major issues of Christianity.  I do not know the positions on minor issues so I can not say if they differ from my own.  To be brief, one can do a quick internet search of baptist statement of faith or christian statement of faith.  And from that statement of faith, my personal beliefs can be found in the carefully chosen words of those statements.  In summary, I am an evangelical (Biblical) Christian in my beliefs.

When evaluating myself to continue in the nomination, I considered that given my personality of ordering priorities within my life that I was at place where I could not serve as an elder.  The main point being that for me the priorities should be God, Family, Self, other stuff.  That being said, I would consider my responsibilities as an elder as the highest priority because it would be my service to God which comes first.  Next would be my family,and last myself and then other stuff.  This of course, as God, as been teaching me is not the correct way to see it.  I need to see that my responsibility although it may sound selfish is to: (1) continue in letting God transform me into that new creation which is the image (likeness) of Christ–self. (2) respond to that transformation in becoming the Husband and Father that God wants to make me–Family. (3) respond to that transforming work in becoming the ambassador of Christ to the world whether it be in helping to shepherd a local body or whatever.

It has taken me nearly a month of struggle to reach that conclusion, which I would have never made that small step without the nomination.  But I have still decided against moving forward with the nomination.  I have been trying to use that energy and time to build up my relationships with my wife and children.  There as been more closeness and understanding, but still needs more work.  One side note: It is most interesting to note, that the people I spoke with before I made the decision seemed to mostly be counseling me to wait on becoming and elder.  And most of the people I have spoken with after I made the decision seem to have wanted me to continue down the path and become an elder.  Well maybe next time the nominating process comes around the transforming work that God is doing with me will have me in that place where God can use me according to His perfect will.

Pastor Search

Our local church body is going on 20 Months without a teaching pastor.  But the seeking process has moved to another stage.  The stage of inviting an actually candidate to come and meet the entire congregation.  I have reviewed all the materials available to me about the candidate and his family and am anticipating personally meeting them.  One gift that God has given me with my change in faith from the religion driven Mormon faith to my new relational faith with God is discernment–recognition of truth over fantasy, deception, and lies.  I have been praying that God would clearly speak to me if this candidate is the right fit for our congregation (I have little doubt about his God-gifted ability to serve as a pastor, but is he the right pastor for us?) Only God knows, and I am relying on Him in the end.  I don’t know if that is the correct way to judge what God is saying by using personal experience, but it seems to me that if what I have studied about the man and the “vibe” that he gives off are compatible then It is authentic.  The “vibe” may feel good but the rest of the story might not fit, or the other way around.  That to me would be evidence against him.  There has to be a component of personal experience, but it must be hedged in by the boundaries established from God’s words–of which I consider the Bible to be the authoritative source.

Family

This is the most rewarding and the most difficult leadership (shepherding) I do.  No matter how well the previous day may have gone.  Today is a new day.  I find myself once again falling into my old trappings of either being too authoritative or too passive.  I can never seem to find the right balance between the two.  Right now I am definitely leaning way over to the passive and am getting to the end of that pendulum swing and have started back the other way.  My hope is that when the pendulum stops swinging back and forth, that I am in the balance of being the Authoritative Father my children need but also having an affection (love) that is easily seem by my children.  Only by God’s grace and His continuing transformation of me will that be possible.  I can easily speak about my relationship toward my children.  The relationship I have with my lovely wife, is hard to talk about; it is great and wonderful, but really is one that I keep close to my heart and don’t want to share with the world.

President?

Having spent much more time than I should have listening and watching the various candidates spout their philosophies of government, I have yet to reach a conclusion other than–I am definitely not going to vote for Obama to be president.  The only thing that I have in common with him, is that we are both Human beings and that is about it.  As for other candidates, I was considering rebelling and voting for the Constitution party like I did in 2006, but have not completely decided upon it.  Primarily because McCain has thrown me for a loop by selecting Governor Palin as his running mate.  I don’t know enough about her to make a judgment yet.  And the truth maybe to hard to find–either she is a great champion for reforming corrupt systems or she is the greatest hypocrite of all time.  It just depends on who you listen to.  It is more likely that she falls somewhere in the middle, the real question is which way does she lean.  My personal reaction to her speech is to believe that she is more a champion for reform (assume the best in people, unless give clear and convincing evidence otherwise).  But I am reminded that she is not running for President and McCain is.  Could I support his maverick ways?  That is the real question.  The issues surrounding Governor Palin are secondary.  I have yet to answer it.

Work

I am still adjusting to my new position.  Some days, I think everything is going great and I am getting a lot of work finished and the projects I am working on are making great advancements toward completion.  Then other days, I have no clue where to begin.  So the learning continues.  Mostly, I think everything is going well (not perfect), but well.

Conclusion

These are just a few of my random thoughts (partially organized into a single topic) to give anyone that finds this a little more insight into my life.  I do struggle with the most fundamental question of leadership that anyone faces, that original decision-Who am I going to let be in charge of my life…Me or God.  The fallen angel of ages past and even my fallen nature have chosen to be in command, but that new life God has given me knows that God is the Sovereign of the Universe and He is in command (whether I admit it or not) and I need to let Him reign and rule over my life.  God that can do a much better job of leading my life, than I could ever do–I need to seek His will and submit to it, and from time to time, I need to stop myself [wrong thinking again, let God's strength flow through me to stop me] from being a backseat driver or reaching for the reigns that guide my life [again wrong thinking, admit I am powerless to stop myself and let God do it] That is a difficult thing to do [completely surrender to my need for Him in everything]–one that I still struggle with.

Dawn

I get really irritated with the endless distortions of the bible from different groups, but most of my irritation comes from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, who claim that the bible is the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. Two questions: Is the King James Version translated correctly? If not, then why use it? Two follow up questions: Do the supposed prophets of the Mormon faith still claim to be prophet, seers, and revealators? If so, then why not use their gifts to translate the Bible correctly?

I have spent the past months since the start of the year reading through the bible, I have had made it to 2 kings chapter 4, in the Old Testament, and the beginning of the book of Acts in the New Testament. Recent events have once again reminded me of my continuing irritation (possibly righteous anger) at the continued distortion of the bible by LDS apologetics particularly as it relates to their past practice of polygamy and their continued defense of it as an eternal principle of their gospel, even though they do not practice it anymore. Of course all of this comes from the recent raid, arrest, and rescue of abused children and their young mothers in Texas.

I understand the logic of why so many LDS need to defend a practice that they have not done for over 100 years, It is simply that their founding prophet Joseph Smith, jr. said it was an eternal law; So it must be so. Their belief in the law of plural marriage results from the false claim that the modern prophets of God are without error in their revelation from God. If Joseph Smith, jr. was wrong about plural marriage, then he might also be wrong about other things? That chink in the armor must be continually protected, in order to protect the rest of Joseph’s revelations.

It is the proofs that really get under my skin, the argument that Father Abraham was a polygamist, so other faithful men should also be polygamists. A carefully reading of the words in the Bible reveal that practice of plural wives was never in God’s plan. Starting with the first revealed practice of Lamech who had two wives and murdered a young man. (Genesis 4:23-24) Then Abraham whose union with Hagar is the continued source of turmoil in the Middle east even today. God told Abraham to put Hagar out his is camp (Genesis 21:12), and then God took care of her and her son. God later tells us that Isaac is Abraham’s only son. (Genesis 22:2) God accepted Abraham’s repentance from turning away from having more than one wife and remembered his sins no more.

Not to mention the favoritism of Jacob of Rachel over Leah (Genesis 29:30), and the family strife that it trickled down to the sons; the ten older ones were so jealous of the love that Jacob had for the son of his favorite wife, they conspired to first kill him and then sold him as a slave for twenty pieces of silver (Genesis 37).

Yet the pinnacle of the troubles caused is illustrated with King David and his son, Solomon. King David even with all his wives, still was ensnared by lust to covet another man’s wife, which lead to adultery and murder. ( 2 Samuel 11-12) And Solomon who married so many wives that they eventually introduces their idol worship into the Jewish Monarchy. ( 1 Kings 11:8 ) This is just a brief summary of all the trouble that came from plural marriage from the pages of the bible–It was all accounted as sinful, by God. But God is merciful and was able to forgive those who sought repentance for their sin. (Psalm 145:8-9, 14)

In the beginning God created Adam and Eve, that is God’s intended marriage–between one man and one woman.

I recently watched the movie, September Dawn, a movie based on the events of another September 11, were a wagon train of settlers were massacred by a group of Mormons. The movie depicted the events as an act of vengeance against the Missourians that had driven the Mormons out of their state. It is full of conspiracy and blind obedience to leaders. Regardless of who was involved, there has never been a genuine apology from the LDS church to the families of those killed. There is little doubt that the church had a role in it given the careful way the surviving children were distributed to various Mormon settlements near where the massacre happened.

The movie hinged around two brothers, one who was faithful in blindly following his leaders (his father) by taking more than wife, and actively participated in the massacre; and the other brother who was a rebel and did not blindly following his leaders (his father), who as the movie goes fell in love with of the young ladies in the wagon train. It was his love for the young lady, who was shot right in front of him (by his father) that lead him to save the baby, she was trying protect. A picture of how new beginnings or dawns are possible in the midst of calamity and tragedy.

But there is a new dawn. And there is still time for apologies. Might I recommend to the leaders of the church to not ignore another tragedy caused by their faith. I recommend that the Mormon church go down to Texas and work with the state to take care of all those “wards” of the state, they were created by their eternal law of plural marriage that some still practice. I know the church distances itself from polygamists as much as it can, but why miss an opportunity to restore some of the wayward followers of Joseph and return them to the “flock” of the faithful.

I would also recommend to the Christian leaders in Texas to reach out to the young mothers and their children and do as James told us “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows” (James 1: 27) and also as Jesus taught “for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ (Matthew 25:34-36, NJKV)

May the people of God not stand by and just watch the secular state gobble up more children and have them be raised as lifetime dependents of the state. It is a new dawn, Let us all stop living in the twilight of the past and embrace the bright morning sun (Maybe even for some the Morning Star–Jesus Christ).

March Madness

This post has nothing to do with NCAA basketball brackets, teams, or predictions. This has been a month of unpredictable things. Here are the top two. There are others.

1. Started working at my new job, an expected thing
2. My wife got really sick, a very unexpected thing

With the catchy title, the real truth is that throughout the entire ordeal of trying to figure out what was wrong with my wife’s health or in looking for a new job, I never let worry or anxiety get the best of me. Neither times were a time for me to become paralyzed with fear. There were days I did not want the circumstances to be what they were, but I offered my silent petitions to the LORD for strength and he provided the daily supply. I have to admit that without Jesus (and His Lordship over my life) either one of these trials would have been to much for anyone and both of them, probably impossible. But with God all things are possible, that includes job and health troubles.

There have been many lessons I have learned from both of these experiences. First, Always trust in the LORD. Second, Always really means always. Third, prayer is not only words, it can also be a groaning from the heart that only God understands. Sometimes our words can get in the way of our prayers to God. Listening in quietness and calm to God is just as important.

It has always been hard for me to understand how illness and disease can be God’s will. This episode of life has helped me to get a small grasp that they can be God’s will. Illness and disease can bring people to our aid that we would normally never have contact with. It shows both our true heart and those we call friends. If exposes to the world whether, we are servants of the LORD or selfish agents unto ourselves. My life was made richer because of this trial of my faith. The book of Job and the opening verses of the Epistle by James have more meaning than they did one month ago.

Dearest Wife, I am the luckiest man on earth to have you as my life long partner. I Love you. Here is to another 14 years and more…

Thanksgiving with Family

I have been working on my new project to include all my notes from my past and current bible studies on this web log under the teaching page. I am beginning a six month study of Genesis. I have decided I wanted to add all my past notes as well. It was easy for some of them because they were in nice and neat word documents. The rest are a little more scattered. It will be an ongoing project.

Now for my celebration of Thanksgiving this year. The holiday started with one of my sisters reluctantly deciding to host the dinner and my parents deciding to coordinate it. This beginning set the stage for the holiday. My part was to take an extra day off from work (Wednesday for traveling) which I have had to make up the lost eight hours by adding an extra hour for 8 other days. So in a way today will be the final payment for my holiday adventure.

Overall, dinner was delicious. It was a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and was very good. For the first time my wife actually liked and ate some of the yams. So much that we have the recipe and made some last night. They were good, not quite as sweet, but still good. It was a funny thing though. For some of my family dinner was over so all the food was spirited away and the meal was cleaned up really fast. Some of us were not quite ready to call dinner over. I was talking with my brother from California and when we were finished the entire meal was clean up just as we were getting ready to each get another plate full of turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing covered with gravy. But the food was neatly packed up and the family was starting to break up and leave.

I am sure the main reason was that my mother wanted to take the grandkids to the movies and the movie was going to be starting soon. Another reason was that the family was moving to my other sister’s house for pie and dessert later. So I spent the afternoon (kid free) watching the movie, the Guardian. It was a good movie, but not great. Later that night the pie was really good, but the conversation highlighted the difference I have with my family-they are all LDS, and I am not.

This trip to celebrate thanksgiving and visit my LDS family has really highlighted the different way, my family lives and the way that I live. I should have been more open to this after the Thanksgiving Dinner blessing was given using the proper formal LDS prayer language. They appear to live in a progression driven-nothing is every finished-have to keep making things better lifestyle. I don’t live that way. I am sure that this progression mentality is sparked by their faith and practices in the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints.

I try to live with an attitude of being content with the present. An attempt to maximize the present, I don’t spend very much time planning or worrying about the future. When I spend a lot of time thinking and trying to plan for the future-I get depressed. Because in the end any plans I make never really happen-I am a fatalist and believe that God’s will for my life will be done regardless of any plans or actions I take. It is a matter of my relation to God’s plans and whether I submit to them or fight them. Besides when my plans do not work out, I just get depressed and then don’t want to make any more.

However, when I just live in the present with a authentic desire to seek God’s will and am obedient to it, life works best. In other words, when I just leave the planning of my life to God and live for that day, things work out and the future takes care of itself. This is faith-living. I know that God will provide; Right now I just don’t know the details, but when the time is right-I will.

The day after Thanksgiving, I helped my father and mother with putting in more of their kitchen floor. It was an interesting dynamic working with my parents and brother to lay the wood lament flooring. I would only say that my mom and dad have two different ways of doing things. Both are right, but when they are combined and a compromise is reached, the new way becomes wrong. I do not know how this happens, but it does. Anyway, by the end of the day most of the floor was laid, and my wife and I were able to show them how to use their first dishwasher and garbage disposal. (out of curiosity which side of the sink is the disposal suppose to be on, the side near the dishwasher or the other?)

The most interesting part of the evening conversation was what was not said, rather than what was said. My mom is getting ready to “retire” from her occupation, and I asked her what she was going to do with her spare time. She answered that she was going to do community service and wanted to work at the soup kitchen and other things. What she did not say was that she is a genealogist and was going to spend a lot of time in the new temple in Twin Falls–redeeming her dead ancestors. It seems that my family is always either thinking about the future and progressing toward it, or proud of their heritage and in redeeming their lost dead family. There is little focus on living in the present.

Happy Hallow Eve’s (Halloween)

Last weekend My family and I traveled up to Twin Falls, Idaho to visit some family. We spent three days and two nights at my sister’s home. One of the highlights of the trip was when my wife and I cooked the world famous Maranatha Potato Soup for the family that we all ate Saturday night. One of the most interesting differences between most of my family and I is the amount of television they watch. Given that they are all devout followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints (Mormons) this is very surprising. I often wonder if as a child would my family have watched much of the prime time television, they brag about watching now. I often have the television on, but it is rarely the focus of my attention. Much of prime time television is either very “adult” in content (dialog) or borders on the occult (channeling, speaking with the dead, etc) .

Saturday night at my family’s Halloween party, I helped some of the kids including my own carve some pumpkins and scoop the seeds out. It was fun helping them. I was not really that happy with celebrating Halloween with my LDS family, but my attitude about it would change during the course of the trip. Many of them dressed up in costumes-my dad was ghost buster, except for one of my sisters and her husband along with my clan. I used the wimpy excuse we did not have room to pack any. The real truth is that as a tradition my clan-the Biblical Christians of my family-has not dressed up in costumes on Halloween.

Sunday morning came and we drove out northwest of Paul, Idaho to meet my wife’s dad and step mom. We followed them to their church-the First Christian Church of Rupert, Idaho. It was a large and beautiful worship center. We attended the second worship service (the contemporary one). Their church was a well “oiled” machine. I use the word oil because in the bible the Holy Spirit is often symbolized by oil (Zechariah 4) and it was smooth. I was most impressed with their young pastor, he was only 37. The only reason I know was because it was his birthday. I have to admit I was a little jealous because my home church is still growing to become the right congregation for the pastor God will send us and they did have a new and beautiful building.

I am still anxious about the idea of our congregation opening the deacon door, by reinstating formally called servants. Ten years ago our congregation split with many of the deacons leaving and forming a new church that is still vibrant today. I am more anxious about having women serve formally as deacons. Well I was impressed with the number of elders that the church in Rupert had. It had 8 elders. This was not even counting the pastor. Apparently, a large part of another congregation left and joined the church bringing many of their elders with them. Since the men were all Biblically qualified they all maintained their position of service in the Kingdom. Their church is elder ruled for those that may have been wondering about their church governance. More elders seems to be a great way to go for leading a church especially in this day when senior pastors often come and go rather quickly. A strong elder board can maintain a continuity within a church.

Now the sermon from pastor Dave. It was about being a light and salt in the world even on Hallow Eve’s night (Halloween). Rather than hiding away with a pious and self-righteous attitude go out into the world and participate in reclaiming the holiday for God. He was very animated with his preaching. It was a really refreshing worship time for me while I was there. It was nice to get away from the strain of our home church for one week and refresh our souls.

So tonight I will take my family over to our Baptist church and have a carnival night for the kids. It will be a lot of fun and energy. I have no idea what activities will be there, but the saints will be gathered. By the way, on Monday night our apartment complex held a trunk or treat where kids and their parents walk around a parking lot and get candy from the neighborhood instead of going to the house. I have never heard of this until I came to Utah. I am not sure why LDS seem to be in such a celebrating mood for Halloween. I am also not sure if much of the celebrating for Halloween may come from the fact that Logan is a college town rather than the prominence of the Mormon culture in the town.  Yet most of the students are from the Mormon church, so who knows? This town does get a different feeling or atmosphere around Halloween-at least I can perceive a difference. It is a feeling of spiritual oppression and darkness.

Family Reunion and Back to School

It has been an unbelievably busy two weeks.

Our family spent almost a full week up in Idaho visiting family. We had an amazing time. It was a lot fun.

The following week we have been spending getting the children ready for school.

The word of the day is: ANTI­TRANSUB­STAN­TIA­TION­ALIST

I found it while helping my 6th grader look up terms for basic economics.

Happy Anniversary

I am wishing my lovely wife a happy anniversary. This is a recent comment I made on Dan’s web log Letters and Papers it is about marriage in general, but also about my marriage.

First, Happy Anniversary T, thank you for the past 13 years, with all the ups and downs and bumps in the path we walk together. I Love you more today, than ever.

Second, I would argue that husbands should be the head of the house and wives should submit to his leadership in the home. That is a great ideal and wonderful notion in a perfect world with perfect people.

Now for the real world. I have gifts and talents that my wife does not have and she has ones that I do not. She is an organizer, I am disciplined to follow the system. I can not create it, but I can keep it running. Does that mean that she is the leader in the home, or just better at organizing things. I don’t know.

The hardest things I do relate to leading our family and being the final decision maker. Sometimes I get it right and sometimes I don’t.

I can only guess, but I would imagine that one of the hardest things in life for T is to follow me, when I make the wrong ones.

I am getting better at listening to her advice, and at accepting it when I know it is right and my first notion was wrong.

In the end, the husband and wife relationship is really about training for the most important relationship we have. Our relationship to God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. Every believer is the bride of Christ. He is our leader.

I guess that means for men to learn what it means to be a leader, because that is the most difficult for them to understand. And I guess for women to learn what it means to submit to another, for them the most difficult thing. Everyone needs the love of Jesus in the heart and the tact of the Holy Spirit to keep all relationships strong, none more important in this life than the one between husband and wife.

The Burden of Heritage

Celebrating the Past
On July 24th, the State of Utah erupts with celebration to commemorate the arrival of the first Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley, when Brigham Young made the famous, “This is the place” statement. The parades and celebrations remind the world of the high value Mormons place in honoring their rich heritage and connecting to their ancestors.

Many people of different faiths enjoy the hobby of searching out the origins of their families. They seek to find out as much as they can about the place and the time where their families came from. Some search for a connection to their forefathers and for any stories about their forefathers. Their hope is that discovery may give purpose or meaning for their presently empty lives. There is limited value in knowing who our forefathers were and about the triumphs and struggles, they faced. Their lives can show that we are are not alone in our experience of both difficult and joyful times. However, our dead fathers and mothers can not extend any help from the grave. Nor can aid be given by the living to those who are dead. We can not offer anything to give comfort or aid to those long passed.

Only the Everlasting God can reach beyond the grave to offer assistance through His Son the Resurrected Christ who defeated death. Jesus is the only source of hope from beyond the grave. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God alone can extended aid and offer help. Jesus teaches whether aid can be given to the dead in the gospel of Luke. Read Christ’s words found in the short narrative about the eternal destiny of two men and if they were able to render any aid beyond that barrier called death or if the living offered them any hope, found in Luke 16:19-30.

To the Mormon seeking family history and finding the names of past family members is more than a hobby. They believe it is a commission by God. The works of the Mormon faith are divided into three categories: Proclaiming the gospel, Perfecting the Saints, and Redeeming the Dead. This third category separate Mormons from Christians. The salvation of the dead becomes part of a mighty list of works that Mormons must do to guarantee salvation. Another hindrance that burdens Mormons with more tasks that must be done. It gives Mormons more busy work to distract them from experiencing the peace, rest, and security of completely trusting in the Lord. Jesus has completed the work to save mankind. Our task is believe in Christ and pursue our Messiah.

My childhood burden
I have memories as a youth of entering the magnificent Mormon temples and serving as proxy for the dead ancestors of the faithful to aid them in obtaining salvation and entrance into the third heaven (Celestial Kingdom). To ensure that families are together. I remember the misuse of the quotation of Elijah found in Malachi chapter 4, turning the heart of the fathers to the children and heart of the children to the fathers as the scriptural support to do all this work. In being baptized over and over again for dozens of Manuel’s or Paco’s and later having hands laid on my head dozens of times to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for those deceased spirits.

I can only imagine the time and effort that Mormons must do to redeem the dead. They must take each name through the entire endowment ceremonies as proxies. They also serve as proxies for “eternal” marriages for dead couples. All work that according to the Mormon faith must be done in this physical realm, on earth. Saving work that can only be done within the walls of modern Mormon temples no where else can the work of salvation be done for both the living and the dead. Some Mormons may claim that it is only faith that saves, but ask a Mormon friend or neighbor, why they work so tirelessly to do temple work for the dead, if works do not save or are not necessary? Then wait for the long pause. It is true that the work of God does take place in a temple, but the only perfect temple was the Body of Jesus. The work for salvation being His death on the Cross.

From the Bible
The Bible teaches that God’s free gift of salvation by faith in Jesus is a limited offer that expires at death. There are no second chances after death according to scripture “… it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” [Hebrews 9:27, NKJV (c) 1982] Mormons teach that there is a vast missionary effort in the afterlife to convert the lost to their Christ, and those dead spirits who accept the Mormon Christ in the afterlife eagerly await for their works to be accomplished by those who are still alive in sacred temple ceremonies. Upon completion the dead are able to cross out of spirit prison and enter into paradise. The living serving as proxies doing the work for the dead, acting in essence as a private messiah for the dead. The Bible teaches that Jesus alone is the Messiah for all. “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” [Hebrews 10:10, NKJV (c) 1982] There is no proxy or private messiah that can perform any sacred ceremony to save anyone, only Jesus Christ.

Any human effort to save the dead through endless temple work is nothing more than a needless burden of heritage.

But there are new pioneers in Utah, Christian Pioneers proclaiming the love of God. The love of God expressed in the coming of Jesus. [Romans 5:8] They have been commissioned to teach the blind, the deaf, and the sick about the hope, life, and salvation that comes from believing in Jesus Christ revealed to us by the inspired and complete message from God found in His Living Word- the Bible. Of all the words from Brigham Young, he at least spoke one truthful statement, “This is the place.” It is the place God desires for the lost to be redeemed.