Knowing.

No, this isn't a movie review post ;) Although I did like this movie, it was about Nick Cage finding this string of numbers and finding recognizable clusters that represented the days in which there were mass losses of life due to an incident. He was eventually able to decipher the numbers down to a point where he not only could match past events, but also predict future events! Not wanting to give the movie away I'll stop there.

So, it's been a while guys! Bryan's been gone for about 2.5 months... I've been getting along alright, it's been weird tho... lonely at times. But I was able to write him a giant letter and even got one back! He told me all about the training center and how much work it was :P The second half of his letter was devoted to his bearing his testimony to me :) I enjoyed the letter and his bearing his testimony to me.

He told me that he wasn't wasting two years of his life for something he "thought" was true, he said that he "knows" the church is true. So that brings me to the topic of today's post: Knowing.

What does it mean to know something? The Free Dictionary puts it this way: Possessing knowledge, information, or understanding. So according to this we can know that the Earth revolves around the Sun... But I guess we could also 'know' that the Sun revolves around the earth, right? I mean before Galileo Galilei, the knowledge of the time was undoubtedly that the Earth revolves around the Sun (The Sun also having a major role in the aforementioned movie). So I guess it's possible for people to know (to possess knowledge, information, or understanding) things that are not factually true.

What does it mean then, when Bryan tells me he's not just serving a mission because he "thinks" it's true, but rather that he "knows" it's true? I guess they mean the same thing, except by using the word "know" it's somehow supposed to mean more than thinks?

I know that 2 and 2 make 4, at least I think I know... I've been taught addition in math class, it makes sense to me, I try it out and it continues to yield the correct answers for me. As far as I can tell, that knowledge is true. Not that I am the authority on truth, but based on the reasoning skills I possess, I am fully convinced of the truthfulness of the science of addition.

I know Bryan believes Mormonism to be the one true religion, I'm sure he thinks it is, I'm also sure he 'knows' it is. But that doesn't make it true, does it? I'd say not at all, even myself, in my assessment of what Bryan knows, I could be wrong. :P Bryan can be wrong too.

For me, instead of using words like 'know' and 'believe' I'd much rather use words like "I am fully convinced". This way I can tell others that I am aware that the evidence itself doesn't make it's own conclusions, that I am the one drawing conclusions from the evidence... That I am fully convinced that Christianity is true, and that Mormonism is not. I could have been wasting the last 8 years on something I "thought" was true. I admit, it's possible for me to be wrong.

I miss Bryan, I know that no matter what, these two years for him will not be wasted. Either way, he's going to be learning a lot, me too! We've got tons of 'knowledge' that we can attain to help us better shape our conclusions right?

Haha, sorry if this is all over the place, but it's something I've been thinking about for a while.

The Initiate Speaketh?

To all the people in the house who regularly give serious thought to what they believe:

You are wonderful and refreshing, whether you're Christian, Mormon, Buddhist or Atheist. Unless you're Rasta. Thinking and Rastafarianism are mutually exclusive.

[This level of compounded stupidity is absolutely terrifying.]

This would actually be my first contribution to this blog, and I am ashamed (somewhat) to say that it's not going to be as technical or fancy as everyone else's, in all probability. I'm an abstract thinker and somewhat shaky when it comes to holding on to a train of thought. However. I may have some good thoughts for you. I hope. I'm just going to use my first post to briefly explain why I'm still a Christian.

Put simply, I believe it's the truth. But the most compelling reason for that, surprising as it may sound, has nothing to do with the numerous paths of logic which have so heavily influenced my weak and doubting faith. It's the people. Paul will probably want to kick my butt when I finish posting this. It was supposed to be full of scholarly research and similar nonsense. But it's true: I'm a Christian because there's something empowering and liberating about being with Christians. I have talked and eaten and laughed and enjoyed life with people of diverse faiths, but when I'm with people who profess Jesus Christ's redemption, and who have the stunning humility it takes to admit that without a loving God, we can never succeed, I feel truly free and truly cared for. The freedom that comes from submitting to a God so merciful that He'd save even someone as pitiful and disgusting as me is enough to make my whole life different. And it makes me want to inspire that kind of change in other people.

I've heard many people say the Christian faith is logically inconsistent because it's so full of paradoxes. I don't think that's true. The Christian faith IS one big, beautiful paradox—all of it—even the parts that make sense. Because at the root, it started with love, and it moves and breathes through love, and God Himself is love, but love is something nobody fully understands. The rest is just details. That's where I'm coming from, and that's the standpoint I'll be writing in my future posts—the ones where I'll specifically be writing about the “details”.

I've been told I'm not one-hundred percent sane. I've been told I'm incapable of forming a coherent argument. But then again, like the Bible says in First Corinthians 1:27,

“God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.”

Let us hope so. I look forward to digging into questions of faith with all of you, be you Mormon, Christian, or Druids.

[Any worshipers of Kernunnos in the house? No? ...I guess I'm not surprised.]

Be blessed. I'll be back next month.

When I grow up, I wanna be a gladiator!

Alrighty alrighty! Sorry that this post is kind of late... I am going to talk about Grace and what Mormons believe about Grace. This is a pretty deep subject, so I am just going to focus on the basics.

Grace is the divine help or strength given through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. (The Atonement is very central to Grace.) It is a gift given to us. It is not something we can earn because we would never be able to do anything sufficient enough to receive it as an entitlement. Because we have agency, we all experience the consequences and effects of sin, or spiritual death. None of us would be able to return to the presence of God without grace. Through the Atonement we can come unto Christ and be forgiven. To receive this enabling power, we must obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ which means to have faith in Him, repent of our sins, be baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and follow His teachings for the rest of our lives (Ephesisans 2:8-9; James 2:17-22; 2 Nephi 25:23; 31:20).

There is also a difference between mercy and grace. Mercy is God’s compassion or His patience. God extends His mercy by granting grace to His children.

We believe that through the Grace of God, everyone who has lived will be resurrected and will live forever. (1 Corinthians 15:20-22) But resurrection alone won’t allow us to enter into the presence of our Heavenly Father, and there is a difference between living forever (immortality) and having eternal life (living forever with our Heavenly Father). This is where our part comes in! To be exalted and have eternal life (to live with Heavenly Father and achieve the fullness of Godhood) we must do all that we can do to make ourselves worthy to dwell with our Heavenly Father. Our sins make us unclean and unfit to be in God’s presence, and we need grace to purify and perfect us. But effort is required on our part to receive the fullness of God’s grace. There is a story told by David O. Mckay that illustrates this concept very well. There was a group of boys who were learning to swim when one fell into a treacherous hole in the stream. The boy would have drowned but for the quick-thinking companion who extended a branch to him and helped pull him to shore. He says: "There are those who claim that no one will sink and be lost if he will look to Jesus on the shore and say, ‘I believe’. There are others who declare that every one must, by his own efforts, swim to the shore or be lost forever. The real truth is that both of these extreme values are incorrect. Christ redeemed all men from death which was brought upon them through no act of theirs, but He will not save men from their personal transgressions who will put forth no effort themselves, any more than the young rescuer on the river bank could have saved the drowning lad if the latter had not seized the means provided him. Neither can man save himself without accepting the means provided by Christ for man’s salvation” Works must be coupled with grace so we can be cleansed from our sins and be perfected.

Soooo That’s all folks! I would love questions or any input or insights!

Restoration of... A Car.

Okay okay. Not a car. Don't come to me for that. If you need a tire changed, oil level checked, liquids filled and an occasional battery fixed, I'm your girl. Otherwise, don't come near me.

I had a lesson in church this past Sunday which I thought would be good to use in a post. So I am. Yes, I know it’s thrilling, but please try to contain your excitement. Thank you.

The topic I present to you this week is The Restoration and all the things necessary in the Restoration. This post will tell you of the six basic features that the Latter-day Saint church is built on.

These different sections are:
-Revelation
-Authority from God
-Church Organization
-First Principles and Ordinances
-Ordinances Performed for the Dead
-Spiritual Gifts

Revelation:
Having direct contact to Heavenly Father is very important to the progress of our church. Through the revelation we receive, presidency callings are made for the religion, both in high offices presiding over the entire church as well as callings of smaller responsibility like a Bishop for a single ward. Commandments and teachings in our church come from revelation from God to President Monson. Revelation is used in making decisions for every “calling” in each ward. A calling is a duty in your ward/stake, such as a teacher in a class, a ward missionary, a pianist/chorister, etc. There are 19 year old boys and 21 year old girls who are sent all over the world on missions. Revelation is used in the President’s decision as to where the missionary will be sent and where he/she is needed. The church’s growth comes through missionary work so it is very important that we follow the revelation given and send the missionaries to the specific places that they can do the most good in. We receive personal revelation as well in answers to prayers. Revelation can keep your faith and testimony strong.

Authority from God:
Ordinances performed in the church can only be accomplished and accepted by God from members who have been given that authority by the laying on of hands as did Jesus Christ to Peter. “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt. 16:19) This is how the President of the church, President Thomas S. Monson, is able to govern the church over the whole world. This is also the power by which people are able to be baptized into the LDS church.

Church Organization:
This is a toughy. :P Nah. It’s pretty self-explanatory. When the apostasy occurred, there was confusion. Wrong teachings began being mixed in with true doctrine and what does that make? Confusion. And how effective is running a church on confusion? Well, it’s not. Besides the fact that it’s really hard. So, there MUST be good organization or the church has no structure and it cannot be strong for the members in it. There’s a primary song that goes, “The foolish man built his house upon the sand…” and the next verse says, “The wise man built his house upon a rock…” The church needs a strong, rock foundation. (Primary is for children ages 5-12. It’s their own set of classes that caters to their stage of life.)

First Principles and Ordinances:
These are just the basics of the teachings. There are a very great number of things that can be taught within the LDS religion but you start with the basics. You have to learn 2+2 before you can learn calculus. The first ordinances would be things like baptism and confirmation which is obviously essential to being a member of the church.

Ordinances Performed for the Dead:
Not everyone on earth will have the chance to be baptized. We can get names of family from generations ago and do what we call baptisms for the dead. It’s baptizing that person vicariously. Somebody else is baptized in their place here on earth. Of course, you cannot force baptism upon someone and the person on the other side can either accept or decline the baptism. This is also very important because it isn’t fair to the people who were not given the choice on earth to be baptized or not. Once in heaven they still have the ability to be baptized.

Spiritual Gifts:
Articles of Faith #7- “We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.” I don’t know what to say about these. They are useful and needed in some cases. They are a way for God to bring us closer to him and gives people the gifts when he needs things done on earth that he can’t do. I think missionaries are blessed with the gift of tongues for the duration or their mission. Can you imagine learning a whole language in just a couple of weeks and having to live and communicate with people in… Taiwan?

In our lesson, the teacher asked why these things are needed in the LDS faith. She got three answers. One girl commented that you can’t function as well as a church without just one of those. Something in the church will cave in. Another girl said that without authority from God, you wouldn’t even be able to have a church. If you had all of those things invested into your faith, but had no connection to God you wouldn’t have a church. I commented and stated that it’s through all of these things that our testimonies and faith is built up. They are the building blocks and it’s what we base ourselves as a whole and individually off of.

Because my mom told me.....

First let me take a minute to properly introduce myself. My name is Debbie. I am a Christian – a proud Christian who loves her Heavenly Father and is grateful to Jesus for making it possible for me to have direct access to God. I have decided to spend my life doing what I can to be a witness for God by following the examples of Jesus. I am not always perfect in that pursuit therefore is grateful for grace, but since quitting is not part of my vocabulary, no matter what situation I face….I win.

I was not raised as a Christian – in fact I wasn’t even raised with any religion at all. It wasn’t until I was living in Hawaii at the age of 21, stuck in a bad marriage, that I realized even though I was living in ‘paradise’ and had a beautiful daughter, my life was completely empty. Off in search of something real – I attended a local denominational church. What a disappointment. As I sat in this church looking at some of the same people I was sure I saw in the bar the night before, all dressed up, stiff necked portraying a God that was boring, impersonal and hard to understand, I realized, no, church wasn’t my answer.

Then, one day, a friend invited me out to a day of shopping, well, if I came to her church with her first. Sneaky, but it worked. I entered this church and noticed that some members were Asian, some were black, some Samoan, some white. Some were wearing suits, some had shorts and dread locks. Some families and some single parents. And each one of them seemed to love this Jesus, whom I didn’t know, and were even having fun worshipping God, who I may add, seemed very interested in their lives. THIS made sense to me. The same God who I later discovered created all the beauty and variety that I saw in nature, was the same God that created all the variety that I see in people. I quickly decided to give my life to this very interesting, loving, capable God and have never gone back on that decision.

God has truly blessed my life. He gave me a new life, a new marriage, and 4 more beautiful children that I have the joy of homeschooling. Now, my eldest daughter & son in law have even blessed me with 2 beautiful granddaughters. I am a blessed lady, indeed. Yes, I suppose I am the ‘seasoned’ one of this blog, for now, but since I plan to live to 120 – I am not even middle aged yet, so watch the ‘old’ jokes. LOL!

Now that you know just a little (and I do mean a little) about me – it brings me to my post ‘question’ for the month. As I stated earlier, I educate my 4 remaining children at home. I choose their curriculum carefully and, of course, include teachings about God and Jesus along with their other studies. Recently I was thinking, I have always tried to challenge my children in critical thinking and try to give them as much opportunity to make many life choices on their own, with my guidance and age appropriate, naturally. But here is my thought; do my children follow God solely because I have indoctrinated my beliefs into them or is it because they truly love the Lord and have come to that conclusion on their own? I mean, my plan is that they will choose to give their lives over to God and serve Him with everything that is in them, make no mistake on that, but my questions is do we, as a society, believe what we do because we had a life changing experience? Or is it possible that someone, even a relative, has indoctrinated us? How about you? Did your parents raise you to believe what they believe, or someone else? How do we know, that we know, that what we believe is from our own discoveries and not just something that was planted by someone else? Hmmmm??

"Just Michelle It"

Are Mormon's Christian? Yes. Are Christians Christian? uuuh huh. :) But what exactly does it mean to be Christian? Well, there are a lot of different facets to being a Christian. Let's cover different ways in which it means to be "Christian" one at a time.

In the traditional sense, being a Christian simply means to be Christ-like. Going by this meaning, anybody in the whole world can be a Christian. Actually, even someone who is an atheist can be Christ-like. Looking at it this way doesn't put much stock in the meaning of being a Christian. Does it now? In this sense, both Mormons and Christians can be equally Christ-like.

From a Christian's point of view, ahem Paul's, Christianity would be professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. But guess what, a Mormon, namely me, also has the same view. It would seem that this definition would be interchangable for both faiths. Does that mean that Mormonism and Christianity are the same religion? Well that's just ridiculous. What would be the point in having two separate faiths that are the same. I mean, seriously. So let's find out what's different.

Mormon's and Christian's are indeed two very different religions guys. In fact, it is a common claim that the two religions don't even serve the same Christ. You might ask, well how can there be two different Christs? Does it mean there are two separate people or just that we have different perceptions of the same man? Let's ask the man what he has to say. Hey President Hinckley, do you think Latter-day Saints believe in the “traditional Christ” of Orthodox Christianity? Hinckley replied: "No I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the dispensation of the fullness of times." Based on this quote by Pres. Hinckley, it would seem that only those following the "True Christ" could accurately call themselves Christian. Going by the second definition I gave of being Christian the ones following the false Christ would be anything but Christian. 

Soo... going back. Are Mormon's Christian? Well... Yes and no. Are Christians Christian? No and yes. Before you accuse me of being indecisive you just gotta realize that the answer hinges upon which definition you are referring to. Mormon's and Christian's can both be Christ-like while only one faith can serve the one true Christ. 

Going back yet again, but this time not quite so far, we have the definition, “professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.” Yes this is true. This can be defined as Christian, but being a Mormon, a Latter-day Saint, I believe it to be something much more involved than that. There are so many aspects and examples to follow. It’s not just having faith that Christ was real and our Savior that makes you Christian. It’s trying your best to follow in his very footsteps. Also, I believe Jesus Christ to be a son of God, in the same way as I am a daughter of God, who gave of himself and came to earth to be a Savior to all people and suffer for the sins of the world so that every person would be able to have a chance at returning to live with Him and our Heavenly Father. 

Questions??? + Questions!!! = Questions??!!?! I’m basically expecting questions. Questions of what the differences are, questions of what Pres. Hinckley meant (although I most definitely cannot speak for him), questions of lemonade, etc. Bring it! What I can’t answer, I’m sure Paul would be happy to oblige. :)

Local High School Dropouts Cut In Half

Language is a funny thing. For at least the past 50 years, people have used language as a primary means of communication. Uses of language range from the simplicity of a common greeting to the intrinsically complicated process of blogging. What makes language work isn't so much the words that are being used, but the meaning that those words carry. Even now, as you read this blog post, you are decoding a message by means of the English language... If you do not speak English then you wouldn't have even gotten this far! You wouldn't know how to "decode" the language.

Now the problem we run into, is that even though two people may possess the ability to understand a certain language, no one I know has completely mastered every word. For example, until recently I thought the word "lethargic" could be used as a synonym to "wistful". When going back to the dictionary, I find that Lethargy has nothing to do with reminiscing and longing for past events, but instead characterizes someone who is too lazy to even care about the past.

To further clarify my point I will say the following sentence: "The crowd became incensed at the thought of their rights being taken from them." The word in question is "incensed", now I don't know about you but the first thing that comes to my mind is that the crowd began burning candles... But that doesn't make much sense in the context does it? I come to find out that "Incense" isn't just an aromatic device released upon being burnt, but it can also mean "to be greatly angered" this new definition fits the aforementioned sentence rather nicely... (almost as if the sentence were constructed for only the sake of this one word)

Words. Definitions. Context.

And I thought communication was supposed to be simple.

Why write about communication in a Mormon/Christian Web Blog? The answer is yes.

We want to have dialog, Mormons, Christians, Atheists, and purple dragons with chocolate toes. In order to make the dialog successful, we need to understand that our words are only as good as the meaning they convey. Where one person may read a headline in the newspaper telling about the number of high-school dropouts being significantly reduced, as much as 50% of previous years, another may be horrified that a school would resort to sawing kids in bloody pieces for simply not being able to tough it out in High School!

Mormons and Christians use a lot of the same words: Salvation, Grace, Faith, Know, Atonement, Authority, Eternity, etc... But I'd like to point out that most of these words carry different meanings for each person. A Mormon might be perfectly OK with saying they are "saved by grace" when I Christian understands this to mean something completely contrary to Mormon Doctrine. It's not that the Mormon is lying, but what we have there is a failure to communicate.

No matter what world-view you are, it is crucial that you have a mutual understanding of what "meanings" are being conveyed to have an effective dialog with someone of another faith. Between Bryan and I, it's take a couple years and even still we're realizing there are words we're still getting hung up one :P If there is ever a moments hesitation of what a phrase, word, letter may mean, I would strongly recommend that you get to the heart of the meaning. Ask the person who said it for further clarification. We all could use a little clarification ;)

A few more examples of under-clarification:

• Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
• Miner Refuses to Work after Death
• Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
• Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
• New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
• Kids Make Nutritious Snacks