GRACE

I have been studying different explanations of ‘Grace’ as given by varying religious denominations.  This seems to be one of the defining doctrines causing some religions to take offense with my chosen faith.  If you look here, and here, and here, you will see several different descriptions of what ‘Grace’ means to some other sects.

The truth is that most have common threads with one another.  For instance:

1.    Grace is God’s unmerited favor.  It is a gift we get simply because He wants to help us be better.

2.    Grace is our ability to live righteous lives.  Without the Grace of God, we would not be able to overcome our desire to commit sin.

3.    Whether we have Grace or not will define how our actions on earth are interpreted.  If we do good without the Grace of God within us, it is for naught.

For the most part, I have no quibble with the definitions given by these believers. 

I believe that the Grace of Christ is a gift of astounding worth.  Without it we would not be able to enter the presence of God or be judged clean through repentance.

It is also the means by which we are able to grow in strength and overcome Satan and his host as they attempt to lead us astray.

And the gift of Grace is truly the defining attribute that will differentiate a true Christian from one who is living a life of worldliness.

BUT!!!

There are some parts of Grace that I believe Christianity has eliminated or ignored that make this gift, even more astoundingly, the ultimate blessing from God and Christ.

From the LDS Bible Dictionary:

Grace. A word that occurs frequently in the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul. The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ.

It is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, made possible by his atoning sacrifice, that mankind will be raised in immortality, every person receiving his body from the grave in a condition of everlasting life. It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts.

Divine grace is needed by every soul in consequence of the fall of Adam and also because of man’s weaknesses and shortcomings. However, grace cannot suffice without total effort on the part of the recipient. Hence the explanation, “It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Ne. 25:23). It is truly the grace of Jesus Christ that makes salvation possible. This principle is expressed in Jesus’ parable of the vine and the branches (John 15:1–11). See also John 1:12–17; Eph. 2:8–9; Philip. 4:13; D&C 93:11–14.

The gift of Grace comes because of the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  It is a basic tenet of doctrine and should be emphasized in every discussion of Grace.  Without Jesus’ suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross, there would be no Grace to escape the conditions of the Fall.

Because Christ was raised from the dead and overcame the effects of death, every man, woman, and child who ever lives on this earth will have the blessing of resurrection and a restoration of the physical body.  No one is exempt!  No one will be ignored!  If you live on earth in physical form, you will be restored to your physical body sometime after your mortal death. (1 Cor. 15:23; Alma 11:42-44). This is one of the gifts of the Grace of Christ and His Father.

Finally, true Grace must also include effort on the part of the recipient.  There is no such thing as “Spiritual Welfare” – meaning letting someone else do all the work necessary to provide for our eternal life in the Kingdom of God.  It is not enough to just believe or have faith.  There has to be action, or the proper use of agency, as a testimony of our acceptance of Christ,   All must do their part to receive the blessings of God in the next life.  Heavenly Father sent us here to learn and grow and without effort we cannot improve.

 

So, while we differ on some of the fine points, there are many parts of Grace where we can agree with our ‘Christian Friends.’  My hope is that one day there will be a banding together of all those who believe in Jesus and His majestic work for mankind.  We are, after all, children of the same God and He has given us all the same gifts.  Let’s use them to bless one another and not beat on these tabernacles of clay.

The Bus Paradox

Read and interesting blog today here (scroll down to the part about graduation speakers).  Got me thinking about how I look at the world.


Most of my life I have been pretty oblivious to things going on around me.  If the world was bad, I just kept plugging along.  When things were great, I was mostly the same.  Can't say I've been extremely depressed and there aren't many recollections of super exciting times (except when I got married).


But I have noticed that my work has had a big influence on how I feel about life in general.  


When I worked in the communications business I was fairly successful and moved up to higher positions of responsibility.  Yet, no matter how much money I made or how many people worked for me there was something missing.  


There were lots of job changes and sometimes I even tried different careers (my family remembers the "year without a Dad") but nothing really felt satisfying.


Now I'm making lots less money and working harder than I ever did at any other job but I love going to work.  And I feel like there is something beneficial in what I do.  


Setting out to be a businessman was nice.  Ending up being a seminary teacher is even nicer.  I think I can look at my life and say....


...if a bus hit me today and I was called to go Home, I'm OK with that.  I would miss my family and friends but they will be around again.  My time here has been good and ..... I'm OK.


Thanks for listening.  

Fun Times

 Josh and Heather have been off on a wonderful vacation for the past couple of weeks.  The MBA program Josh is finishing has a tour they take students on as part of their business training and if they want, they can take their spouse.  Their trip was to Dubai, Turkey and Spain to visit some of the business and financial institutions in each country.  Here are a couple of the sites they were able to visit.

Dubai -- Worlds tallest building

Cool Mosque

The Lobby of their hotel in Dubai

Wouldn't it be nice to have rules in our malls!!

Again in Turkey

Looking up at the tallest building

Josh and Heather in Turkey

With two little ones (Matt and Emma), there was some worry about what to do --  but between Heather’s folks coming out from Virginia for a week and the kids staying with us the rest of the time, we were able to put them at ease

We really love having Matt and Emma with us (as we do all the other grandchildren).  They are so sweet and good natured most of the time and even when they aren’t, we just love them anyway. And who wouldn't love to have  Emma's cute gravely, little girl voice calling them all the time!! J

Grandma Whitmer likes to keep them busy so we had a couple of swimming days where they could practice their water skills.  Matt is a little more timid but Emma loves to play hard in the water.  (Thought I had some pictures but they are on the other camera.  Maybe later.) Before we were done, both had experienced some things that they really came to like.  Being grandparents is much more fun than being parents – except for the old, creaky body thingey. 

Thanks to Josh and Heather for trusting us enough to have their sweet little tykes for all this time.  Hope we didn’t teach them too many bad habits.

EPIPHANY

We all have those moments when something becomes very clear and we wonder why it never occurred before.  Once in a while, I have those as I read the scriptures.

The other night I was reading the Book of Mormon and pondering some of the things Moroni taught in chapter 7 of his book.  I love these verses because there are so many practical applications that keep me out of trouble.

In the middle of considering faith and some of its ramifications I noticed an idea that had passed by me all the times I had read these verses before.  It was in the middle of a discussion on another topic, sort of hidden amongst the trees and more like an aside put in by Moroni.  As many times as I have read the Book of Mormon, I never noticed this delicious tidbit found in Moroni 7:27-28:

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and has sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his right of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?  For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.

I know that some of you will say, “Duh, Mike, how come you don’t know that?”  A part of me DOES know that but I have never seen it or felt is so clearly stated in the scriptures.

This profound little statement gives me a better view of the Atonement and the power it has to save the souls of mankind.

Christ suffered for all our trials, sins, weaknesses, etc. (Alma 7:11-13) , not because He wanted to look cool or have some big blessing, but so that He could claim us as His when the time for choosing arrived.  Without His mercy and love, we would be left to the powers of the adversary and would become subject to his will.  Jesus will ‘advocate’ with the Father, against Lucifer, for the souls of God’s children.  All who will allow Him, will find relief from the torments of the evil one.  Those who deny His redeeming power will find themselves outside the power of His mercy.

If ever there was a miracle (the subject Moroni was considering when this came out), this is the greatest of all.  A God who cares enough about His people to come and prepare a way for their redemption.  What a message we have as Christians and members of the Kingdom of God on Earth.

I know that my Redeemer Lives!!

Buzz, Buzz Confessions

This is one of those confession blogs that I seem to feel a need to give from time-to-time.  There are lots of things in life that are hidden away inside us and eventually they have to come out. J

The other day I received a call from my lovely wife, asking me to go to Brian’s house cause Paula was having a problem.  I couldn’t get there for a while so when I arrived, Brian had things well in hand.

Earlier that day Paula noticed some strange activity in her backyard and spent some time watching out the back window.  This is similar to what she saw—

Swarming Bees

A small swarm of bees

Eventually there were 40,000+ bees hanging out on Brian & Paula's little tomato garden. They called a beekeeper guy and he hurried over and gathered all the little folk into a hive and saved that branch of the Whitmer family from annihilation (or at least Freak-out-ation).  

Here's Brian's Swarm -- cool eh!!

All my life I have loved watching colonizing insects as they did their work.  When I was a boy I would sneak out into the desert and watch the anthills and imagine what it must be like down inside.  Sometimes I would give in to temptation and dig into the colony and try to find the queen.  It was all very fascinating to me!!

Nice Hole for Ants

More like what we had in AZ.

I had the same attraction to bees --- except, they were even more fun.  I think part of it was the challenge of not getting stung while I watched their work. 

Cute little fellas

But another part was a deep love for something that could be so organized and complete as a community.  Everything this little group of individuals did was for the benefit of the group.  No selfishness, no personal gratification, and no seeking for higher position.  Everyone did their job and if it meant that you were doomed to die because the queen needed your life, you willingly gave all you had. 

Maybe my heart knew this was the way the world should/could be if everyone followed the ways of Christ.  The parallel is not exact but if we are to ever live in a Zion society, we will have to learn to live like other people mean more to us than what we want for ourselves. 

Without bees there would be no fruits

To be honest, this is the first time I have really made this connection and I think this idea might be why I have been so fascinated by these wonderful creatures. Somewhere, Down in my soul, I knew that our apian friends were showing us the way and if we would learn from them, we would also learn what God wants us to become. 

So, while this started as a confession about my love for bees and ants, it appears to be ending as a confession that there is still much to do before I can be comfortable with who I am becoming.  The Savior said:

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt 10:39)

Drones and workers are the strength of every colony.  The queen rules but the others DO.  And as long as there is someone DOING, there will always be things growing.

I have a long way to go before my time in life is ended so I guess I better make some changes so I can be part of the right ‘colony’ when HE comes again. 

And Teresa, I still want to have my own beehive… but I can wait ‘til you say OK.  

Old Friends

Teresa and I have had some wonderful friends over the years.  Many are still part of our circle but some have moved on and we have not seen them as much as we would like.  We think of them but… well, you know!!!  Life is busy and we don’t connect like we should.

Leave it up to my sweetheart fix that condition.  

At least in a small way.

A few weeks ago she warned me that she was planning something to bring a few of our old friends to the house.  As usual, I sort of put it in the back of my mind and then mostly forgot about it.

Early last week she reminded me again and said people were coming over on Friday night.  To be truthful, I was pretty excited.  She had invited some of my favorite people to come be with us for a few hours.

While not everyone came (lives are like that) those who did were greeted warmly and remembered with fondness.  Sadly, we didn’t take any pictures but we will always have the memories of our visit.  Thanks to all of you who came and made our day/week/life a little brighter.

Maybe we will do it again!!!

Here’s a list of those who came and visited with us:

Chris Fox

Christine Carlicci

Bertram and Victoria Merrill

Shane Smith + children Porter and Sabrina

Becky Smith

Gene and Lucy Smith

Orlan and Karen Thatcher

Suzanne Campbell

Paul MacFarlane

Hope I got them all.  If not, please forgive my forgetfulness. 

Conference April 2012

I know, everyone is excited about General Conference so there will be lots of blogs about what the Prophets have said, but I'm not going to let that curb my enthusiasm for the messages.  It only happens every six months so it's easy to get worked up about the cool things that are said.  Here are some of my favorites, with a link so you can listen and watch if you like.


Elder Ronald Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy spoke about those who care for children with special needs.  That is a tender subject because Brian and Paula have a little Becca whom we have grown to love so much.  Elder Rasband's words were a great comfort for us as we watch her parents bless her life with so much love.  And Becca has such capacity to love each of us with no strings attached.  Here's the link to Elder Rasband's talk.

Ronald A. Rasband

Teresa and I had the opportunity to go to the Saturday afternoon session with Melissa and her three oldest.  We all rode TRAX up to the Conference Center and enjoyed the privilege of watching things live from the balcony seats.

We were in the upper balcony, three sections from the end.  Everyone on the stand was very tiny.

I particularly enjoyed Elder Jeffrey Holland's message about the parable of the laborers.  He has such a way of breaking down the truths in the stories of Jesus and helping us understand what the Savior was teaching.  His message is found here.

Jeffrey R. Holland

Saturday night all my boys came to our building and we watched the Priesthood Session together.  As we walked into the building, I was duly impressed with the fine young men that my sons have become.  It was inspiring to see that they have lived lives that are exemplary and clean and they are worthy fathers and husbands (except Joel and he's working on that).  I suppose this is what Father in Heaven sees as He looks down on His worthy sons.  




Anyway, there were some excellent messages in Priesthood Session.  Elder David Bednar gave a very personal message that touched my heart and helped me want to be a better father and priesthood holder.  You can view his message here.

David A. Bednar

We are so blessed to have living prophets who can give us counsel from the Lord.  As Pres. Benson said (paraphrasing), "each conference the Lord offers us our marching orders for the next six months".  I try to take that thought with me as I work through the things we have been counseled to do.  And I wait for the next series of instructions that will come in our October gathering.  Thanks be to God that we have living Prophets who can guide us through the morass of this mortal life.


If you haven't already done so, take some time and visit the General Conference site and listen to a few of the men who have been called by God to lead this world to righteousness. They really are pretty good guys.

Dreams -- not mine

A while back I was teaching Exodus to my classes in seminary and we decided to have some fun.  We were looking at the story of Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, the butler and the baker. 

It seemed like a good idea to let the kids try to draw some of their impressions of the story.  Never underestimate the minds of 9^th graders!!

Here are a few of their gems.

I think this is the butler returning to his job??  He looks more like a witch... and Pharaoh looks like a skeleton.

The baker loses his head after this dream.

Corn can look good and EVIL.  Guess who wins?

Fat and lean cows have much to say.

A different baker who still loses his head

I think this is another corn field

Successful butler.

More wicked, nasty corn.

Cows that are harder to see.

These youngsters are pretty creative and had a lot of fun with the project.  Now if they could just stop talking so much!!!

Let's Talk

Last night my regular reading of the Book of Mormon took me to the 12^th chapter of the book of Helaman.  In some ways it is a dismal and depressing message because Nephi (3) is chastising his people for their lack of consistency when it came to following the Lord.

It is also sad because so much of what he says relates to the days in which we live.  See if this doesn’t ring a bell or two.

And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.

Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them ; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One – yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.

Helaman 12:1-2)

I’m not a doom and gloom kind of guy but I do wonder what it will take to get us to come back to Christ as a nation.  We have a candidate for the Republican nomination that seems to be trying to get people to think about this possibility but I don’t know if he is sincere or just pandering to a particular group.

On the other hand, another candidate in the Republican group has said little about his beliefs because he is trying to avoid conflict.  Is he really committed to seeking to make our country better?  I think so and I have faith that his credentials show he will do his best.  Is he perfect?  No, but neither am I.

But what if we retain the same fellow that is in charge?  Will we continue down this road that leads to some pretty unsavory experiences?  It is my opinion that the vast majority of those who lead our country right now are inclined to continue the course we are following and if they remain in charge we will increase the rate of decline.

My personal hope is that there will be changes, not only in government, but in the way we live and relate to one another.  Unless that happens, the days of leisure, pleasure and good times are about to end and life will become much more difficult.

I’m not a prophet and do not offer this as a prophetic utterance except as it has been spoken by those who truly are prophets.  We have them, you know?  Maybe if we listen we can avoid some difficult days.  If not – well, I guess we get what we asked for don’t we?

Family Dinner/Birthday

Every month we get together with all the kids and their families for dinner and a project.

We try to rotate whose house hosts the happenings so we can do something at their place.

Sometimes the project is tilling a garden or maybe trimming roses.  We have even painted sheds and dug 'crypts' on occasion.

Other times, when no one has a project, we just do something fun..  

 March was one of those months.  Josh and Heather were hosting but they had no big project  (Thankfully, they have gotten rid of most of their roses).

 There's a nice park near where they live (Brian and Paula too) so we all gathered there and let the kids have fun.  

 After an hour or so of feeding ducks, throwing rocks in the lake and other "childish" things we let the little ones have some fun on the playground equipment.

We are really glad everyone lives so close -- and hope they keep it that way.

In case you didn't get the hint!!!

NO MOVING