Every one of us needs to be challenged. None of us should be complacent about how we live, the words we speak or write, and the thoughts we entertain. If this blog does not stir you up and make you reconsider what you are doing and how you are living your life everyday, then it is a waste of time. If I am not personally challenging you, then I am not worth taking the time to read.
It is a doctrine of the devil to tell you that “all is well.” (2 Ne. 28: 20-21.) The obligation of any true messenger is to continually cry repentance. Satan employs ministers to satisfy itching ears with a smooth message. (2 Tim. 4: 3.) They lead people carefully down to hell. The Lord commissions His messengers to deliver the opposite message. If I am really engaged in working for Him, then the words should challenge, even offend you.
Only fools think there are institutional prerogatives that entitle people to God’s favor. There is no magic ordinance. There is no certificate that can be issued to you or your group, by any person or institution, that entitles you to enter heaven. It does not exist. Those who believe there is some institutional voodoo that will guarantee you entrance into heaven are sadly mistaken.
Assume for a moment that you have indeed been given by the Father the promise of eternal life, what then? Are you entitled to rest while all around you the world is filled with unsaved souls? (Alma 13: 12.) Does such a promise remain yours if you do not labor all your remaining days to cry repentance and bring others to the tree of life so they may partake? Having entered into the Lord’s “rest,” does not the heir then owe it to everyone else they meet for the remainder of their lives to bring them with them? (D&C 18: 15.)
There is no hour here when we are not in jeopardy. (1 Cor. 15: 30.)
So when you read something on this blog or in a book I have written which challenges you, brings you up short, or makes you think that I may be speaking about you, then I have succeeded. On the other hand, if you believe you are justified by what you read here, then you miss entirely the obligation incumbent on both of us.
We all need to repent. If the Lord has extended to you the promise of eternal life, then you have moved to another plane of growth and challenge. That great promise opens the door for you to struggle and grow in your comprehension of what He has done. You still must learn how to exercise the new prerogatives given to you in the proper way. The challenges will not relent. We are designed for growth. It will not come to an end in this life. It is to prepare us for something far greater. (D&C 132: 20.) We must become as He is to be like Him. (1 John 3: 1-3.)
Many of the posts/books for me have succeeded then.
The smooth messages you mentioned taste bad and dull, and taste even worse after experiencing what really tastes good.
Institutional voodoo. haha. You can both cry repentance and have humor at the same time.
I read your writings specifically because it invites and challenges me to ponder more, to dig deeper, to be better. It is the same type of feeling you get when you read Alma 5. We aren’t here to sit complacently by and enjoy a comfortable ride. Thank you for the daily dose of introspection and the invitation to go on the journey you’ve been on. I really appreciate what you do.
Thank you for crying repentance, and thank you for helping bring about understanding of doctrines and their application to us. I have been reading your books for months now, and your blog for weeks. Explanations and insights the Lord has granted me through your work have brought some measure of peace and resolution to issues I’ve struggled with my whole life. I have never felt so motivated and dedicated to pursuing righteousness and a relationship with the Lord as I do now, and I am grateful for that. Indeed the Lord has used you to help inspire me to change.
Sometimes I get a little bogged down…the need for continual striving because we are imperfect, unworthy creatures makes me struggle with finding a balance with that and “man is that he might have joy.” My mind easily flips into perfectionism and then when my family isn’t perfect and my children aren’t perfectly obedient and doing what I feel they should (young adult children at home), I become very discouraged and down hearted about my life. Any comments?
See the humor in it. We are all quite amusing. To say Latter-day Saints are a “peculiar people” is an understatement. I have a difficult time not finding too much humor in how we act.
Everything is more tolerable when you see humor in the predicaments we get into.
This life is serious stuff. But we all have a much more difficult time getting through it without a sense of humor.
Children require patience. Despite how much we parent them, they still turn out. I’ve discovered that children thrive with benign neglect. The softer the guidance, the more responsive the child becomes. It also helps if you can figure out a way to have the child believe “it is always their own idea,” when you’re trying to get them to do something.
Finally, everyone needs a break from time to time. No matter what it is that you’re responsible for, you need to lay it down and take a break sometimes. Don’t forget that your own rest is needed, on occasion, to let you face the burdens of life.
I guess I feel better now about the fact that your blog puts me through the wringer every day! :)