ALMA 61

-There is so much to be said of Pahoran and how he handles this situation. How would I react? How have I responded in the past to false accusations?
-It would have been so easy for him to take offense and say "How dare you!?" This is too often our response--How dare you!? Rather, Pahoran is understanding; he knows the heart of Moroni and while his words may have been harsh, that is not what is important right now.
-We need to step back and say I understand where you are coming from or I can understand why you feel that way. Too often we want to be the martyr and say how could you say that to me or I can't believe you would say that.
-Brigham young stated that "he who takes offense when no offense was intended is a fool. And he who takes offense when offense was intended is usually a fool. It was then explained that there are two courses of action to follow when one is bitten by a rattlesnake. One may in anger, fear, or vengefulness pursue the creature and kill it. Or he may make full haste to get the venom out of his system. If we pursue the latter course we will likely survive, but if we attempt to follow the former, we may not be around long enough to finish it.
***WOW! This is a fantastic analogy! What a waste of time and energy to be hurt or offended.

Alma 60

What I find interesting about this chapter is that although Moroni is mistaken in wrongly accusing Pahoran of slothfulness and neglecting his people, he does it with all the right intentions. He is committed to the freedoms and prosperity of his people.

-we see here what internal conflicts amongst one another can lead to--they open us up to potentially devastating outside influences; they leave us vulnerable. This applies to the home, our personal life, church, etc.

ALMA 55

-Moroni's wisdom continues to lead him to gain strength over his wicked rival Ammon
-he has an easy opportunity to wipe out the drunken Lamanite men, but he does not desire to shed blood

ALMA 54

-Nephites took no women or child as prisoner; Lamanites took many
-Moroni takes very interesting tone w/ Ammoron in his epistle. He reminds him of his wicked and murderous ways and the wrath of God that awaits him, but this time he does not ask for him to stop or change his ways cause he knows that he is dealing w/ someone who is set in his ways.
-Almost terrorist-like negotiations. He tells him that he knows he is not going to stop the killing and the wars and so he will be prepared to meet him, but if he wants some of his men back he is going to have to give a whole lot more in exchange or he will uterly destroy him and his people
-What a prime example this is of those who are raised in darkness and false teachings. What a powerful impact one man or one family can have on generations to come either for good or bad (in this instance--very bad!).
-Maybe the dumbest statement made by anyone in the BoM is when Ammoron states near the end of his response to Moroni that "these things matter not" when referring to heaven, hell, and the existence of God. Obviously they do matter if they have gotten him so riled up enough to debate them.

ALMA 53

-Moroni is always preparing, making sure their cities are fortified and protected and that everyone has the provisions that they need. What a great lesson this is to make the preparations of your home and family a top priority.
-Intrigue and dissensions among the Nephites-->dangerous circumstances
-Interesting situation that the people of Ammon are put in--they have made an oath to never fight again, but nearly break that oath because their great friends and protectors, the Nephites, are in danger.
-We can find ourselves in similar situations--moments when compromising the promises and covenants we have made may seem like the 'smarter' or 'easier' thing to do, but we must remember the blessings that come from keeping true to those covenants
-Also interesting to note that their sons took up an oath almost exactly opposite of the oath they had made just so that they could protect their Fathers
-Very neat that it states that these people, though they did not fight w/ Nephite armies, "they never had hitherto been a disadvantage to the Nephites..."
-Could you receive a better compliment than this?: " They were men who were true at all times, in whatsoever thing they were entrusted."

ALMA 52

-The proud and greedy are easily deceived. Moroni and Teancum easily trick the Lamanites because they are so confident that they are easily distracted by a small group of Teancum and his men, thus leaving their city vulnerable to attack.
-I am never too strong or too righteous to not be vulnerable. Allowing the slightest thing to distract me for a moment opens the door for the adversary to strike.
-Another point here is that the Lamanites were left confused and in disarray by the tactics of Moroni and his men.
-Expending energy on light-mindedness and things of the world will only bring confusion and disorder into life.

Baptism

Tomorrow night my niece Maddie will be baptized. She asked me to speak about that very subject at her baptism. I came across some words by Elder Hales on baptism that I found very profound. To paraphrase him, he said that by being baptized we are changed forever. I love that perspective. We are on a new path; part of his kingdom. We come out of those waters committed to that change; committed to following Christ and His teachings.
I am so excited for Maddie and everyone who has the opportunity to be baptized by the proper authority into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Confidence

let virtue garnish thy thoughts, then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God . . ."
Today was a little rough. For some reason I just found myself in a bit of a rut. I was very irritable and feeling overwhelmed. The worst part about these feelings is that I recognize that they are wrong immediately, but yet it is still difficult to free myself of them. A combination of my cheery, wonderful wife and some long hours of dedicated studying pulled me out of my hole, but at the end of the day I am still disappointed; upset w/ myself for not making the most of the day I was given. Why waste time, effort, and energy on such trivial things? If only I could have today back. I can only make sure not to repeat it tomorrow. As I conclude my day I read the above verse in D&C. These are words that I have thought a lot about over the years, particularly on my mission. I want to know these words better! I have had my fair share of moments where I could say my "confidence waxed strong", however, I want to sustain those moments. How can I maintain virtuous thoughts at all times (especially when 80% of my thoughts are consumed by membrane potential and all the latest heaps of material medical school is piling on me)?

I think the key word here is "garnish." When you garnish a meal or a food item, you place some frilly foliage of some sort on top--you know, give it some presentation--put the cherry on top. I can't believe that the Lord expects to be singing Hymns in our head 24/7. He knows we are busy; we may not be of the world, but we sure live in the world and the world is a busy place! Thoughts of all varieties consume our minds, but what I believe really counts is the garnish. It shows Him we are trying. I may have smooth endoplasmic reticulum on the brain, but I throw on a little man-I-love-my-wife-garnish every once in a while. My brain may be consumed w/ a whole lot of other mumbo jumbo, but every so often my soul chimes in his 2 cents.

Light

The scriptures frequently refer to light. They state that Christ is the Light of the world. They speak of the light of the gospel. I am conditioned to think light=good, darkness=bad. Is there nothing good about darkness? I love darkness when it comes to sleep, a good movie, or saving on my energy bill. What is really so bad about darkness? And what is so great about light?

The answers are likely obvious to many, but I think I rarely give this the thought that it deserves. Light is a source of power. Darkness lacks any power source. Light enables vision. Darkness disables vision. Light promotes safety and security. Darkness promotes fear and insecurity. Light conquers darkness, but darkness cannot conquer light. Light is discernible. Darkness is indiscernible.

In the physical world light and darkness have their place, but in the gospel we should only look for light. Greater light equals greater power, greater vision, more safety and security, and the ability to discern.

A perfect knowledge

When we exercise faith in something and receive that "swelling" in our breasts, as Alma speaks of it, we are receiving a witness or a testimony of that thing. Faith is no longer necessary in this thing; it is now a perfect knowledge made manifest to you by the Holy Ghost. Throughout most of my youth there were many parts of the gospel that I simply had faith that they were true. It was not until I received an actual witness from the Spirit that they were indeed true that I then 'knew' them to be true.

Alma 32

A couple of things I came away with tonight from just a few verses in this chapter. . .

The first is the simplicity of discerning between good and bad. Alma compares the word of God to a seed. If you give room for that seed to grow within you, you will quickly know whether it comes from God or some other source. If it is good it will grow and enlarge the soul and enlighten the mind. If it is bad it wont grow at all and will be of no worth.
This is where faith is really starting to take form; you recognize the good and are willing to do whatever it takes to hold on to that and build on it.

The second thing is how a seed only brings forth "unto its own likeness." Good, wholesome music, good books, good, kind language, and so forth . . . these things only lead to . . . well, good! The lead to things of their own "likeness." When we surround ourselves with good things, we can only expect good things to happen.

Next comes desire . . .

I thought I would continue with Alma 32 since it has to be one of the best lessons on faith in the BoM. Last night I drew from my studies that to find faith, one must begin with humility. So what comes next? From what I read in Alma 32 it seems that the next ingredient is 'desire'. But, now that I really think about it, these two are more one-in-the-same than they are individual steps.

"Yea if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until you believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."

Humility is desire. It can be a desire to change; a desire to do good; a desire to serve; a desire to believe. Too often humility is associated with being quiet and maybe even a little lowly, but humility is really a great power. You are in complete control because you have given away the controls. You recognize that you don't have the power to do it all, but that someone else does. He does. These are the beginnings of faith--the seedlings of which Alma speaks. It isn't so much humility then desire then . . . Humility is desire. Soon we will have faith. . .

Faith begins with humility

When Alma taught came across the poor Zoramites who had been thrown out of their places of worship he was excited and saw it as a great opportunity to teach the gospel. People who have been humbled are much more receptive to the teachings of the gospel. They are looking for answers; they realize that their is something so much bigger and that they just can't do it on their own. Alma saw this as fertile ground--a perfect environment for the seeds of faith to be planted. Before someone can trust in the Lord with all their mind, might, and heart, they have to be humble and realize that their way will never work and that the only way to win is by giving in to the Lord's way. Alma saw that these people had come to that realization; they wanted someone to show them a better way. They were willing and ready.
Am I willing and ready? Am I trying to build faith without the sufficient amount of humility? Just like any recipe, if you don't include all the important ingredients, you will not get the desired product. Faith begins with humility.

"Let not any man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." I have read verses 5 and 6 of James 1 over 1000 times, however, I don't know if I ever paid any attention to the next two verses? It is so easy to get caught up in the misconception that true faith is being able to ask anything of the Lord and receiving it. If this is your desire and your thought process you are the unstable, double minded man that James speaks of. It is total irony or, better yet, hypocrisy. You claim to want only what the Lord wants, but at the same time expect what YOU want; how does that work?? If that isn't unstable, I don't know what is. There is a much bigger picture. This is probably the one case in life where you want to be a loser. Losing w/ the Lord is the only option. You lose yourself to Him and He will make you the greatest Winner!

What greater gift can one receive than that of knowing that the path which they are on is pleasing to the Lord? This is one of the blessings of faith in Jesus Christ. If faith is weakened and we chose our own path then His spirit will be withdrawn and we will be left to "kick against the pricks", until we can recognize our mistakes and seek His forgiveness. However, when we seek His counsel and receive confirmation of the path we have chosen via the Holy Spirit, our faith is strengthened. This is true power!

My mission president once spoke of his love for power. He went on to say that most men thrive on the power that the world provides with position, fame, and fortune. The power he thrived on, however, was that which comes from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In this sense, I can say that, personally, I have never known someone more 'powerful' than him. He knew exactly where he stood with the Lord and his faith was unshakable.

We can all attain great power through consistent faithfulness in the Lord and His commands!

A child has faith in his loving parents because they have always sought out what is best for him, to protect him, and to provide for him. A dog can trust its owner because they have always taken care of it and shown it love and affection. A patient can trust their physician because they have spent many years studying and practicing medicine and they have always put their best interest first.
So how does one trust or have faith in Jesus Christ?
It is hard to trust in someone you do not know; the first step to developing faith in Christ must be learning of him through his words and the words of those who testify of him. The Bible dictionary says that "the Lord has revealed himself and his perfect character, possessing in their fulness all their attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power, and every other needful thing, so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in him without reservation."
When you understand who Jesus Christ is it becomes easy to place all your trust in him because as a perfect being, he will not let you down.
We can have faith in Christ because He is the Son of God. He is perfect. He died for us. He lives!

"Faith is to hope for things . . . which are true." "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

The Bible dictionary states that "All true faith must be based upon correct knowledge or it cannot produce the desired results."

Is this to say that people of other 'faiths' do not demonstrate true faith because they participate in religions that do not possess the fullness of the gospel? Can they not be blessed for their faith? These are questions that I don't believe I have all the answers to, however, I think it is easy to acknowledge that people outside of this church can demonstrate faith and be blessed for doing so. The first principle of the gospel is faith in Jesus Christ. Anyone who displays faith in Christ is demonstrating true faith, for he is the Son of God--this is correct knowledge.

This is why our faith must be centered around Jesus Christ; because He is the Truth. If we begin with Him, we can be led to everything else that is true and good. Each sunday, temple session, meeting, gospel discussion, missionary moment, whatever it may be, let it be done with faith in Jesus Christ and then truth will follow and that faith will become greater.

FAITH

As I begin my studies of podiatric medicine it is becoming clear to me that I want to do something that sets me apart, something that makes me unique. I've even joked about being a 'turf toe' specialist!? Who knows . . . it could happen??
On a more serious note, I have been thinking a lot about the topic of faith as of late. We discussed it this past Wednesday at school during institute and the faith that Father Abraham demonstrated through all his trials. At one point, it appeared as though he had lost everything important in his life even though he had been 100% faithful to the Lord. My mind turned to the words in Mosiah that promise us that when we are obedient to the Lord he blesses us immediately. But where was Abraham's blessing?? How about Abinadi as he was burned to death for his faithfulness and so many others who suffer when you would expect great blessings from the Lord. My mission president taught us that there is a great blessing that comes every time we are obedient and demonstrate faith in the Lord. That blessing is the change that we experience. Every time we decide to follow Christ, no matter the consequence, we are changing. We are becoming incrementally more and more like him. What greater blessing could we expect? And it is immediate!
I have decided that just as I feel it important to focus in on a specific area of podiatric medicine, the same goes for the gospel of Jesus Christ. If my focus is on faith in Him, how can I fail?! Specializing in a specific discipline of medicine will not make me less knowledgeable about my field, it will only help me understand everything else that much better. As I set this goal to make FAITH the center of my studies, I believe the same will happen; all other teachings, doctrines, and principles will only make more sense.
I know that it is through faith on the Lord Jesus Christ that all mankind can be saved.