Learning to Dance in the Rain

Posts Tagged ‘LDS’

If you believe in and revere your God, do not watch the movie "The Golden Compass" and especially do not buy the books. 

You may already know about this, but I just learned about a kids movie coming out in December starring Nicole Kidman.  It’s called The Golden Compass, and while it will be a watered down version, it is based on a series of children’s books about killing God (It is the anti-Narnia).  The books are written by an atheist.

From what I understand, the hope is to get a lot of kids to see the movie – which won’t seem too bad – and then get the parents to buy the books for their kids for Christmas. 

Here is a quote from the second book:

’The knife,’ he went on after a minute. ‘They never knew what they were making, those old philosophers. They invented a device that could split open the very smallest particles of matter, and they used it to steal candy. They had no idea that they’d made the one weapon in all the universes that could defeat the tyrant. The Authority. God. The rebel angels fell because they didn’t have anything like the knife; but now…’

’There are two great powers,’ the man said, ‘and they’ve been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit.’

– The Subtle Knife, p. 283

Learn what is really going on here, and warn all your friends:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

I moved here from New Zealand when I was 17, I have recently completed my paper work and will soon have the privilege of taking the oath that comes with citizenship. The Statue of Liberty has traditionally been the greeter to immigrants. She has become an image of hope and freedom to many an immigrant who has passed by her. Her message is one of compassion:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

For centuries people have answered that call, and come seeking greater opportunity, a better job, a home of their own, land to grow crops, religious freedom and prosperity. For many of these wanderers, they have paid a great price for this promise of a better life, they have traveled great distances, overcome disease and rough seas, and have finally found shelter and respite on the shores of Ellis Island.

Even though I did not have to endure a stormy ocean voyage or the persecution that sparks immigration for some, I too know the joy of coming to this country from a foreign land and the exciting prospect of becoming a Citizen of the United States.

American society is made up of native born citizens and immigrants. In the Church some of us have been members of this Gospel all our lives, we were born into the Church. Others were found by the missionaries and have come into the fold in that way. All of us however have to become spiritually reborn if we are to truly be followers of Christ and be called “His people”. As I thought about what it means to become spiritually reborn, I recalled the process to becoming a citizen. Allow me to take it step by step and help you understand that each one of us is eligible and can attain this wonderful gift of belonging to the fold of Christ.

I want so much to be a part of the American People. My process of naturalization began and continues to be fueled by this great desire I have. Faith is a lot more than that, but it sure begins with a desire. If we allow “the desire to work within us” it becomes faith. Once we have faith, it continues to increase as we experiment upon the word and practice obedience. This is the first step and as the fourth article of faith states the first principle of the Gospel. It is important to realize that faith is not “something we get and then keep it is something to be strengthened and nurtured much like a testimony. President Faust said that “To be born again means that we must exercise a faith that does not waver and is not easily distracted.”

Just as my application for citizenship began with me detailing my past, and the kind of moral decisions and character I have had, repentance is an essential step in the process to being spiritually reborn. Just like faith, this principle is not just something we practice once, right before we are baptized. It requires constant attention and vigilance. Just because we are spiritually reborn does not mean we will not make mistakes, but it does mean we will want to continually be repenting and experiencing the blessing of the Atonement so that we can be always worthy of the spirit.

The citizenship oath includes the words: I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen. These should not be difficult words to promise if one truly desires to be a citizen of this country. How often do we pick and choose the things we will and will not give up in order to give our whole souls to God. In fact, HOW CAN WE profess to be a disciple of Christ when we still give place in our hearts to anything that detracts us from obedience to his commandments. There are so many distractions in this world, not all of them inherently evil either, but we all have things that we like just a little too much to get rid of. We are told that the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. This does not mean that we are expected to be perfect, but we should be doing all we can to be as close to it as possible.

I recently heard of a painting in which the artist painted an old man loaded up with packages and bags of every kind. He has maps and books under his arms and is barely able to move with this heavy load. Above his head is the iron rod…he sees it, and wants so badly to be able to reach it, but cannot seem to part with the things that are keeping him from being able to reach up and grasp hold of it. We can see how silly and seemingly easy his decision should be, however, we sometimes give priority to things in this life that cannot bring us peace and joy.

Alma 5 suggests that the things we should be giving up are pride, envy, mocking of one another, turning our backs from the poor and needy, setting our hearts on the vain things of this world among other things. We know, many of us from experience, that these things, are not only part of the natural man and therefore an “enemy to God” but are also an enemy to our happiness. As we become as a little child and submit to the will of our Father in Heaven, he looses the bands of our captivity and we become truly free. When we align our will with His we can realize all the blessings he has in store for us and we can be more open to bless others lives too.

In order to prepare for citizenship I have to study about 100 questions, present official documents, fill out paperwork and write a hefty check to cover…expenses…? The Lord requires something much different. Something we ALL can give no matter who we are, what we’ve done, or where we’ve been. He requires a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

Baptism is the ordinance that opens the gate for our entrance into the kingdom of God. It is a cleansing of our bodies and our spirits and is perhaps what we most often think about when we hear the term, spiritual rebirth. I remember going to a baptism of an elderly lady a few years ago. When she came up out of the water, she looked up at the witnesses of this ordinance and said “oh, THANKYOU!” it really struck me that here she was, near the end of her mortal journey, being in a real sense “re born” and how grateful she was for that. Do we take it for granted, this great blessing of baptism?

When I take my oath of citizenship I promise that I will:

• Support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies
• Bear true faith and allegiance to the same and that I will ;
• Bear arms on behalf of the United States and perform noncombatant service

When we are baptized we make promises to:

• Obey the commandments and keep any covenants we have made.
• Take upon ourselves the name of Christ and to always remember Him.
• Be always ready and willing to stand for and to defend the truth.

Elder Theodore M. Burton said of this taking of the name of Christ upon us as part of Spiritual rebirth:

If we truly understand the full stature of the name by which we then are called, we will live different lives. No longer will we do less than our best in our work or at school. No longer will we be dishonest in paying our bills or in the treatment of our family members, nor will we take unfair advantage of anyone in any way. Our word will be as binding on us as our bond. No longer will we be unkind to our associates or be immoral or selfish in any way, either secretly or openly. We will do nothing to bring dishonor or shame to that holy name we carry as children of Jesus Christ. We will respect and honor our covenant Father, Jesus Christ, and be righteously jealous and protective of the holy name we bear. We will judge everything we do on the basis of how it might reflect on Him whose name we carry, not only on our lips but in our very hearts.

A scripture in Mosiah describes this commitment:

Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.

When I become American others will look to me as an example of what “an American” does and says. When I travel abroad without meaning to I will be an ambassador. Are there things that we are doing that are not in line with what a disciple of Christ should be doing? We need to be good examples of what we believe or we make ourselves into hypocrites. Being spiritually reborn changes not just our outward expressions of a commitment we’ve made, but we ourselves feel different, we are changed.

Following our baptism we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost as a guide and companion to us. I testify that having the Holy Ghost with us is so valuable. I have felt the power of the Spirit in my own life when I have been in danger several times with regard to dating, without knowing it myself, I was approached by someone who would not value and respect me and the quiet yet firm prompting of the Holy Ghost were a shield and protection.

Having the Holy Ghost with us will also prompt us to lift and help others and steer us in the paths of others we can bless. It is through doing the work of the Savior that we truly come to know the love he has for each of us.

President Faust says:

Those who take upon themselves His work shall be twice born, renewed in heart and in spirit. It is the message that they who drink of the water that the Master gives them “shall never thirst,” but that this water may be in them “a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).  They who take upon themselves the burdens of others shall find unspeakable joy. This great transcending happiness is available to all, even the most humble and forlorn. It is within the grasp of all. We reach the Creator through His children. Whoso gives a cup of water to the thirsting gives it to the Savior, and whoso receives that water receives the infinite Father who sent Him.

So, if we have exercised faith, repented, been baptized, and received the Holy Ghost, how can we know whether we have been spiritually reborn – what does that feel like and how can we measure our progress? Elder Oaks answers this with examples from the scriptures:

After King Benjamin’s great sermon, many of his hearers cried out that the Spirit of the Lord “has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). If we are losing our desire to do evil, we are progressing toward our heavenly goal.

The Apostle Paul said that persons who have received the Spirit of God “have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16). I understand this to mean that persons who are proceeding toward the needed conversion are beginning to see things as our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, see them. They are hearing His voice instead of the voice of the world, and they are doing things in His way instead of by the ways of the world. End Quote.

As we work toward our salvation, trying harder each day to be better, we can get ever closer to Christ.

Because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters (Mosiah 5:7).

Elder Bednar comments saying:

The spiritual rebirth described in this verse typically does not occur quickly or all at once; it is an ongoing process—not a single event. Line upon line and precept upon precept, gradually and almost imperceptibly, our motives, our thoughts, our words, and our deeds become aligned with the will of God. This phase of the transformation process requires time, persistence, and patience.

Whether we are born into the Gospel, or have to join the Church as an adult, all of us need to become spiritually reborn and truly converted.

President Romney says of this:

Membership in the Church and conversion are not necessarily synonymous. Stated simply, true conversion is the fruit of faith, repentance, and consistent obedience. Faith comes by hearing the word of God and responding to it. You will receive from the Holy Ghost a confirming witness of things you accept on faith by willingly doing them. You will be led to repent of errors resulting from wrong things done or right things not done. As a consequence, your capacity to consistently obey will be strengthened. This cycle of faith, repentance, and consistent obedience will lead you to greater conversion with its attendant blessings. True conversion will strengthen your capacity to do what you know you should do, when you should do it, regardless of the circumstances.

All of us are familiar with the great freedoms available to citizens of this nation, they are included and protected by the Constitution. We have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press the list goes on.

Christ offers those who follow him a freedom far greater than any of these. Some of these blessings are described in Alma chapter 5. They include freedom from the bondage of sin which weighs us down with feelings of inadequacy and guilt. We experience that “mighty change” in our hearts, we have the companionship of the Holy Ghost which testifies of truth and brings all things to our remembrance. We have an assurance of our divine nature as sons and daughters of God and are promised eternal life and exaltation if we are “faithful until the end.” What greater gifts can we hope for? What is not worth giving up for all that? The benefits of spiritual rebirth are lasting and eternal and bring a happiness the world cannot duplicate.

When we reach the end of this life, it will not matter where we have lived, what our house looked like, what job we had or how popular we were. What WILL matter is what kind of father, mother, sister, brother and friend we were, how we treated our neighbors and how we remained faithful to our covenants. In essence, our goal is to become like Christ. That is the point of our journey here in mortality.

Christ is the head of this Church, our Good Shepherd and the keeper of the gate that leads to our Father in Heaven and eternal life in His presence. His message has always been one of compassion. He welcomes all people regardless of situation or past, who truly repent and come unto Him. Alma 5 instructs that the Gospel be taught to everyone that dwelleth in the land, the old and the young, both bond and free, yea I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation, [that all these] must repent and be born again.”

The Savior says to each one of us “come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”

I testify that true conversion comes as we are tested, and as we cross the rough seas of life, but as we keep our eyes fixed on the Savior he will guide us home and give us the rest and respite we are seeking. We will be His and through the atonement we will inherit all the Father hath.

I just added a "Sustain’d" button to this blog. If you read an LDS-oriented post that you like, please click the "Sustain This!" button to refer it to others.

While adding the button, I found out that the instructions on the sustaind.org web site for adding these buttons to blogs hosted by Blogger is out of date and has bugs in it. I fixed up the code before inserting it into my own blog.  In case you want to add it to your Blogger-hosted blog, here is the code I used in my blog template to add the button. I added it directly under the line that has the tag <data:post.body/>.  You may have to check the Expand Widget Templates checkbox to see this tag.

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<div id="meneame" style="width: 98px; height: 17px; border: none; padding: 0; margin: 0; background:transparent; margin-bottom:15px; margin-left:10px; ">
  <iframe id="sustaindiframe" width="98" height="17" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" vspace="0" hspace="0" allowtransparency="true" expr:src='"http://www.sustaind.org/api/check_url.php?url=" + data:post.url'></iframe>
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Modern scriptures for the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints keep the King James Version style of ancient Biblical scripture in their latter-day scripture.  This can make understanding passages difficult sometimes.  By understanding a few writing habits used by prophets, several oft-quoted scriptural passages can be better understood.  In this post I discuss one of these: the use of the word "only".

Let me first propose that often the word "only" can and should be substituted with the word "except".  Let me give you some examples of where this will seem obvious if you think about it a bit:

Alma 38

  9 And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only [except] in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.

D&C 89

  5 That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only [except] in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him.

D&C 104

  71 And there shall not any part of it be used, or taken out of the treasury, only [except] by the voice and common consent of the order.

D&C 121

  41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only [except] by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

I hope these few examples demonstrate that sometimes a point is made in the negative, and then followed by the word "only" and a provision for a single allowed scenario.  In modern English we use the word "except" in these instances.  In fact a keyword search for the phrases "only by" and "only in" in the scriptures shows that when the word is found in this pattern, it always uses the "except" meaning. (At least in all the scriptures I could check out).

There is one instance in scripture that is similar to the foregoing examples, but I recently met someone who interpreted the word "only" in the scripture to mean its usual literal meaning (which would end up meaning almost the opposite of what I believe was the intended interpretation).  It comes from the Word of Wisdom:

D&C 89

  12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;

  13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only [except] in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.

Consider the meaning of verse 13 if you interpret the word "only" the way we typically use it today: that we should not only eat the flesh of beasts in times of winter, cold and famine but in other times as well.  But since this followed the negative-only-allowance pattern if we replace "only" with "except", we see that we should not eat the flesh of beasts except in times of winter, cold or famine.

As further confirmation that this "except" word was the intended meaning of verse 13, consider the two verses that follow it:

  14 All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;

  15 And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.

This time the word "only" is not preceded by a negative phrase, and we keep the word "only" there. Since it is a grammatically simple sentence it is easy to see that God intends us to only eat the meat of beasts in famine or excess of hunger. 

As a side note, I think members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could live this commandment more faithfully than many of us do.  I enjoy my meat as well as the next Mormon, but I’m trying to be better.  I did have a friend who had done his research on the culture where people had the longest average lifespan.  The only unique thing in that culture that he could attribute the longer lifespan to was their dietary habit of eating a small portion of meat only once per year.

The following is a talk I gave in church on September 23, 2007.

The need for change

Because we are born the natural man, we must be born again. We must become childlike to return to live with our Heavenly Father. But we are naturally carnal, sensual and devilish. Christ’s atonement gives us the power to make the transition from the natural man to a Christ-like child of God over the course of our entire life.

A portion of the light of Christ is in every one of God’s children. Moroni 7:16 tells us “…the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil…” If you’re thinking about yourself or perhaps a friend not of our faith and thinking “I don’t think he/she is carnal and devilish”, then you recognize the light of Christ in that individual.

But it is not enough to have the light of Christ in our lives sufficient to judge between good and evil. We must pursue good and bring additional light into our lives. Moroni goes on to say:

  18 And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; …

  19 … search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.

It is not enough to stop sinning. Our hearts must be pure, we must keep all the commandments:

Mosiah 27
  25 And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;
  26 And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

D&C 3
  4 For although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him.

When we need to change

When are we planning to change? Are we subconsciously just hoping that in the resurrection we will look at ourselves and notice “Hey! I’m suddenly Christ-like!”? Amulek taught the people of Ammonihah when and how this change really needs to take place:

Alma 34
  31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.
  32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
  33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
  34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

The change must happen here, in our lives right now.

As Robert Louis Stevenson has said: “You cannot run away from a weakness; you must sometimes fight it out or perish. And if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?”

Who changes us

It is vitally important that we realize who will change us. We cannot change ourselves. Filth cannot clean filth. It takes someone who is pure to make someone else pure.

President Benson said:

The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.

Source: July 1989 Ensign – Born of God

It is our nature that must change. Repentance throughout our lives will only change our nature if we let Christ change us.

President McKay said:

“You do change human nature, your own human nature, if you surrender it to Christ. Human nature has been changed in the past. Human nature must be changed on an enormous scale in the future, unless the world is to be drowned in its own blood. And only Christ can change it.”

(Beverly Nichols, in David O. McKay, Stepping Stones to an Abundant Life, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1971, p. 23.) Source: July 1989 Ensign – Born of God

By acknowledging our dependence on God for this change of heart, we are on the path to the change in our human nature that we so desperately need.

Learning to accept the change

“When you choose to follow Christ, you choose to be changed.”

President Benson

Although Christ does the changing, effort is required on our part.

Corrie Ten Boom’s story

A true story from Corrie Ten Boom illustrates this:

It was in a church in Munich that I saw him, a balding heavy-set man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives. …

And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!

Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent. …

"You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk," he was saying. "I was a guard in there." No, he did not remember me.

"But since that time," he went on, "I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein, …" his hand came out, … "will you forgive me?"

And I stood there — I whose sins had every day to be forgiven — and could not. Betsie had died in that place — could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?

It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.

For I had to do it — I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. "If you do not forgive men their trespasses," Jesus says, "neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." …

And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion — I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand, I can do that much. You supply the feeling."

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

"I forgive you, brother!" I cried. "With all my heart!"

For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.

Copyright © 1972 by Guideposts, Carmel, New York 10512. Source: PBS

My first missionary companion

Toward the end of our time together, my missionary trainer and I got into some kind of argument. I closed myself up in the bedroom to fume over it. This comes from my journal:

I was so angry. I did not want to leave my bedroom. But at the same time, I knew that being angry was not what I was supposed to be. … But I was so angry I could not think straight. I prayed, “Father, I am so angry. I cannot understand what just happened. But though I know I should love my companion, I cannot let go of this anger by myself. Please help me.” I honestly would have taken the whole day to get over this incident. After my prayer, my anger just vanished in under 5 minutes. It truly was a miracle, because I know I could not have given up my anger that fast.

I had to ask for help to change, and when the change came, I had to accept it. Even after my anger was taken away, it was hard for me to accept it because it meant I had to swallow my pride and walk outside the bedroom and make amends with my companion. It took me two more hours to be willing to accept the gift God gave me that day and get back to the work I was supposed to be doing.

Letting the change happen

Letting the change happen, I believe, would be easy if we were not so prideful. President Benson said that “God can make a lot more out of our lives than we can,” so by accepting God’s help we become the best we can be.

When poisonous serpents bit the Israelites in the wilderness, Moses erected a brazen serpent that people merely had to look at to be healed. Nephi, the son of Lehi writes:

1 Nephi 17

  41 … the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.

Some of these Israelites would die before humbling themselves to believe that merely looking up could save them. The prophet Nephi (the one who was alive when Christ came) taught his neighbors about the symbolism of what Moses did:

Helaman 8

  14 Yea, did he not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come.

  15 And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal.

If we look to Christ through faith and obedience to his commandments, our hearts will change. If we welcome that change and continue on the path we will be ready to greet Him at that great and last day.

The results of change

There are many blessings from this change in our nature while we are still in this life. When we are truly born of God, we will be aware of and enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.

President David O. McKay said:

No man can sincerely resolve to apply to his daily life the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth without sensing a change in his own nature. The phrase ‘born again’ has a deeper significance than many people attach to it. This changed feeling may be indescribable, but it is real.

Source: July 1989 Ensign – Born of God

Desire for Service

One of the ways we are changed is in our desire for service. God’s work and glory is to serve others in the highest possible way: leading them to eternal life. Our desire for service must ultimately come to match His if we are to live with Him someday. As we continue in faith and obedience, God will change our nature; and we must be willing to accept and embrace that change when it comes.

President Faust:

This ministering to others must not always be to our own. I am reminded of a time when, as a young missionary, I was stricken with yellow jaundice, which was known to us as “missionaries’ disease.” I was so deathly sick, I was afraid I would not die. A good woman, not of our faith, nursed me back to health. I felt she literally saved my life. That surpassing service to me was unpurchased, for she accepted nothing in return. I am looking forward to seeing her in another world if I should be worthy to go where she is.

If performed in the right spirit, there is no higher worship than the unpurchased service to another soul of whatever faith, belief, or social stratum. The Savior of the world said it simply, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25:40).

Source: June 1998 Ensign – A Second Birth

Closing remarks

I’d like to quote to you one of my favorite scriptures.

D&C 50:24 That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

I love this because it captures the idea that there is light in me, and that light will seek out more light, and I become filled with joy and love as I progress through this life. I am reminded of my potential as a child of God.

Testimony

I leave you with my testimony that I know the Savior lives, that he loves us, and that he wants to be a part of our lives. I testify that he can and does change human nature as much as we’ll let him. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that Gordon B. Hinckley is a true prophet, and that this is the Lord’s Church.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Additional Resources

May 2007 Ensign, page 19 – Ye Must Be Born Again

Book of Mormon, Alma Chapter 5

May 1975 Ensign, page 4 – Birth

Nov. 2000 Ensign, page 32 – The Challenge to Become

May 2002 Ensign, page 24 – Full Conversion Brings Happiness

Nov 1984 Ensign – Why Do We Serve

Alma 5
28 Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life.
29 Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of envy? I say unto you that such an one is not prepared; and I would that he should prepare quickly, for the hour is close at hand, and he knoweth not when the time shall come; for such an one is not found guiltless.

President Benson:

Those who had been born of God after hearing King Benjamin’s address had a mighty change in their hearts. They had “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”

Source: July 1989 Ensign, page 2 – Born of God

More on the results of this change

President Marion G. Romney said:

Converted means to turn from one belief or course of action to another. Conversion is a spiritual and moral change. Converted implies not merely mental acceptance of Jesus and his teachings but also a motivating faith in him and his gospel. A faith which works a transformation, an actual change in one’s understanding of life’s meaning and in his allegiance to God in interest, in thought, and in conduct. In one who is really wholly converted, desire for things contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ has actually died. And substituted therefore is a love of God, with a fixed and controlling determination to keep his commandments.

Source: Full Conversion Brings Happiness

In response to several requests for feature enhancements that I do not have time to provide and several requests for the source code, I have created the Ward Photo Directory project on CodePlex. 

The source code will be uploaded shortly, but the setup program for version 1.1 is already there for download.

Now as a personal request: if you download the source code in order to make a change, please consider contributing back to the project in one of the following ways (in ascending order of preference):

1. Add a comment here or shoot me an email with what you’re doing so I know what’s going on and how people are using the software. 
2. Add an Issue to the Issue Tracker for the feature you want to see fixed or added.
3. If you fix the issue yourself in a generalized way, please either send a patch back to me or ask to be added as a developer on the project so you can check in your changes to help everyone else who is using the program.

So my previous post about how to generate a ward photo directory PDF in just a couple minutes has generated some great feedback.  I hadn’t realized the hard-coded values (like my ward name!) that was in the version I published.  I’ve just uploaded version 1.1 that allows some additional customization:

1. Change the ward name
2. Select which families get included

I also disabled the Upload to Ward Web Site button because it had code in it that is hard-coded for my old ward, and until I can get admin rights to at least one more ward I won’t be able to generalize it.

To download Ward Photo Directory v1.1, visit my previous post and make sure you follow the installation steps.  The link to download the app has already been updated to the new version.

All wards publish their membership directory in some form or another for their members.  Some wards (including student wards) very often publish a photo directory to help members get to know each other better, and to help a member recall the name with a face.  Creating ward photo directories has been a laborious task, but it doesn’t need to be any more.  I’ve written a program that can generate your directory for you!

Oh, and as a bonus feature, with just a click you can upload all your membership photos to your ward web site on lds.org.  Your photos are automatically resized as necessary.  What used to be a painful, tedious and slow process is now completely automated!  Yay!

All it takes is an MLS membership export and a directory full of member photos (sorry, you still have to round up each member family and get their photo).  It produces a nicely-formatted PDF with every family, listing phone numbers and address, and children’s names. 

This program is free.  Follow these steps to download, install, and use it:

1. Download and install the prerequisites: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, Microsoft Visual J# redistributable, Microsoft Windows Installer.  These total 28MB, and I’ve never seen an MLS computer connected to the Internet, so I suggest you download it all to a thumb drive at once.
2. Download the program: Ward Photo Directory installer
3. Install the program and start it.  You should see a screen like this:
   
4. On this first "MLS Import" tab, you can either open a file exported from MLS or you can paste the data directly from the clipboard that was prepared by MLS.  Follow the directions at the bottom of this step in the wizard to prepare the data.
5. Under the "Photos" tab, choose the directory to import photos from.  The photos must be named by family name or head of household.  The program has some limited intelligence to figure out which photo goes with which membership record. 
   
6. Under the "Hide Details" tab, include the geographic information that is common to most/all ward members.  You can reduce clutter in the directory by leaving out obvious parts of addresses like the state and area code your ward lives in.
7. When you get to the "Output" tab, you’re done.  Just generate your directory:
   
8. Choose a PDF quality and after a few moments a PDF pops up.  Don’t be too discouraged by the progress bar during generation.  It does all its movement at the end (poor progress bar).  Here is a sample of what it looks like (blurred deliberately to protect the innocent):
   
9. If you want to upload your photos to your ward web site on lds.org, you can!  Just click the appropriate button on the last screen of the program.  It will prompt you for your lds.org username and password (as it needs it to go and upload photos).  It will likely take several minutes to do it’s work, but I guarantee the time ratio had you done it manually is at about 15:1. 

Where do I get "two minutes" from?  Well, once you have the pictures and are familiar with the program, you can regenerate your PDF in about two minutes from start to finish.  Once you see how easy PDF generation is, you’ll probably want to update your photo directory more frequently than you used to.  My last student ward likes to print out an updated copy each week for 2-3 weeks allowing members to pass it around and mark corrections on it.  Then the final prints out and they make copies for everyone.  It helps keep MLS updated too!

I hope you find this program helpful.  If you do, please comment on this post and tell me what your old process was like.  And hey, I take feature requests. :)  If you’re a programmer too and want the source, comment on that, too.  If I get enough interest in collaborative development I’ll consider open-sourcing the program. 

Copyright and license info: this software includes NFOP, an open-source product licensed under the Apache Software License. 

And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people.

And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.

Doctrine and Covenants 119:3-4

Background

I grew up being taught to give 10% of everything I earned to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as tithing.  If I got a job and was paid $10, I paid $1 to the bishop the next Sunday in tithing.  Pure and simple.
Then I grew up, made a bit more money, and tracked it using Intuit Quicken, then Microsoft Money.  Living alone and making more money than I spent, I felt comfortable paying tithing in lump sums a few times a year rather than every time I made money.  This worked well for me when I was single.  Being married, making more money and having more expenses brought me back to paying tithing almost after every paycheck. 
I am a full tithe payer, and have been for all my life. I feel that God has blessed me with good jobs and low expenses (fewer broken down things) because I live the law of tithing.

Problem

The problem is that I have found paying tithing to be necessarily much more complicated in recent years.  “No!” you say?  “It’s just 10%.  It’s only complicated if you make it so (perhaps to find loopholes).”  I beg to differ.  Allow me to explain.

Scenario P: the one you learned in primary

I used to calculate the tithing I needed to pay with this formula:

That worked well when my only source of income came in the form of checks in the mail or direct deposit.  Adding up the sum of a direct increase like that is easy.  If you keep your money in an interest bearing bank account, then you include that as income.  Same for gifts we receive. 
But this simple scenario can get more complicated:

Scenario 1: deposits that “jump” above the tithing line

You receive a check in the mail, you deposit it to your bank account.  A day or two later, before the check clears the bank and is posted to your account, you are adding up your income using a computer accounting program (like Quicken or Money).  The uncleared deposit may not show up in your account register if you download all your statements online into your program.  You sum up what appears though and pay tithing on it.  You add a line to your computer register stating that you paid tithing on that date.
By the time you next pay tithing, that deposit of yours has cleared and is added to your register — with a date that predates the time you last paid tithing!  When you add up your income from the last tithing date in your register the next time, since that check is now above the “last paid tithing” line, your eyes miss it, and you don’t include it in your sum of money to pay tithing on.  As a result, that money never gets tithed.
Now, obviously there are ways to prevent this from happening, including writing your checks as deposits into your register when you first get them.  But this is a simplified example to a problem that was a little harder for me to solve.

Scenario 2: Reimbursable expenses and resold possessions

You spent $10 to prepare for a church activity and the church paid you back with a check.  Do you pay tithing on it?  I’ll stick my neck out and suggest that you don’t.  It wasn’t income, it was a reimbursement, and put you back to where you started.  And this deposit in your bank account should be excluded from the sum of tithable income you calculate. 
You sold your kitchen table and bought a better one.  You bought the original one for $100 and sold it for $20 at your garage sale.  Do you pay tithing on the $20?  Again, I’ll stick my neck out and say no.  You paid tithing on the $100 before you bought the table.  To pay tithing on the $20 would be tithing that money twice.  To make this a little more obvious, say you returned the new table you bought to the store and got all your money back.  Do you pay tithing on the credit to your charge card?  Of course not.  If you did, then buying and returning a $100 table ten times would cost you $100 just in tithing.  That’s absurd.  Assuming you’re with me on this, that’s another line to exclude from your tithable income sum.

Scenario 3: owning a home

Now you own your home.  You purchased it at price $X and now it’s worth $Y.  Maybe the current price is higher and maybe it’s lower than when you bought it.  That doesn’t matter too much because you haven’t sold it — yet.  When you do sell, presumably you’ll pay tithing on the profit that you’ll hopefully make from an increase in real estate value in your area, or improvements you’ve made to your home.  Ah, speaking of improvements you’ve made, does that take away from the profit?  What if you’ve spent $10,000 building up your home and sold it for $15,000 more than you bought it for?  Do you pay tithing on a $5,000 profit or $15,000?  You probably have an answer ready to give me.  And I’ll bet 50% of my readers agree with you.

Scenario 4: private contracting work

You may take on an extra job that you can do from home from time to time.  Maybe these types of jobs form a sort of side-business for you that you buy supplies for.  At what point do you stop paying tithing directly on the income generated from your side job and only pay tithing on what you “take home” after paying your side-business expenses for your equipment/supplies? 
If you don’t believe that point should ever come, ask yourself whether FedEx would stay in business long if they paid 10% on tithing for all their income before expenses.  You’re not FedEx?  I know that.  But there must be a line between your side-business and FedEx which defines where you stop paying tithing until after your expenses.  Where is it?  I’m not here to draw it for you.  (sorry!)  But if your decision includes any expenses paid prior to tithing income at all, that complicates the math in your computer accounting program.

Scenario 5: stock market — gains, losses, and dividends, oh my!

Add to the last scenario a stock portfolio with several stocks and mutual funds in it.  Maybe you are only investing into your retirement and won’t sell until you retire or maybe you are shooting for short-term capital gains and plan to buy and sell stocks throughout each and every year up to retirement.  Now add a VUL life insurance policy.  Don’t forget the traditional and Roth IRAs and 401k.  You may have stocks that pay dividends. 
When do you pay tithing, and on what?  Do you pay tithing on the money you make before you invest it in your retirement?  When do you pay tithing on the increase you earn (each day, each year, whenever you sell)?  What if you lose money when you sell?  If you are successful in your investments, you may sell your investments 40 years from now at a 800% profit — which earnings you didn’t pay tithing until for 40 years.  Is that a problem? (rhetorical question)
The stock market is the most complicating element to the story, and the one that forced me to rethink how I calculated tithing.  Not everyone is in the stock market.  Those who aren’t probably don’t get salaries or (good) benefits at their jobs or else they’d at least have a 401k plan.  Some feel the stock market is no better than gambling in Las Vegas.  That argument is beyond the scope of this article. 

Finding the solution

These scenarios, all of which were true for me, made it difficult for me to feel comfortable that I was paying a full and honest tithe.  I wanted to find a new formula for calculating tithing that would fulfill these goals:

1. Provide the sense of a full and honest tithe.
2. Protect against paying tithing twice on the same money.
3. Ensure that all money that should be tithed would be tithed when it should be.
4. Flexibility in determining what is tithable income and what is not.  (thus making the solution applicable whether you pay on gross or net income, or whether you claim other “exemptions” such as reimbursable expenses and other such items I discussed earlier.)
5. Simple enough that you can explain it to your spouse (if you have one) and have him/her be comfortable that he/she is a full tithe payer with you.
6. One you’d feel comfortably justified in explaining to the bishop should he ask you about it.

As tithing settlement was coming up in a couple of months, I said a prayer on my way to a recent Stake Conference that the Lord would inspire me with a solution that would suit Him and me (and my wife). 
What I ultimately came up with I believe was simple and inspired, although to you it is by definition nothing more than heresay because I do not have authority to receive revelation for you.  You may agree or disagree with the solution I share with you here.  That’s ok.  I’m hoping that you will either feel good about this solution and apply it to yourself, or that you will be inspired with one that is correct for you. 

The solution

Here is the new formula to calculate tithing anually:

So simple.  Why this formula?  Well doctrinally it seems to be the most literal and correct interpretation of the scriptures: “pay one-tenth of all their interest annually.”  Let’s break the equation into bits to see how it works with the scriptural law of tithing. 

• “pay one-tenth of…” gives you the “0.10 *” part.  In math-speak, of is translated as multiplication.  I doubt we have any problems understanding this.
• “…all their interest…” where interest has been interpreted to mean increase by modern-day prophets.  It’s fair and accepted to define increase as the amount you have now that is more than what you had before.  No criteria of “money” is expressed or implied here.  It includes money and everything else you possess.  As examples:

  Before	Now	Increase
  Broke and homeless	Broke and homeless	None
  Broke without a car	Broke with a car	Car
  $10	$100	$90
  $10	$90 and a new book	$80 and a new book

  We don’t pay tithing in kind (oh wait, maybe we do!) typically, so this table needs to be updated to replace the things with money values.

  Before	Now	Increase
  $0	$0	$0
  $0	$0 + $500 (assuming car is worth $500)	$500
  $10	$100	$90
  $10	$90 + $10 (assuming book is worth $10)	$90

  See how this reveals increases both in kind and in money?  In words, this means that I owe tithing on money I made and saved, and on money I made and spent.  Fair enough, right?  Every dollar you made, you either saved or spent, right?  Simple. 

• “…annually” means you are accountable to the Lord for your increase exactly once per year.  Not once per paycheck, not once a month, but yearly. 

So why is this solution so elegant?  Well, hopefully you can reason with me that it’s fair.  It’s a full and honest tithe based on simple and apparent scriptural interpretation.  And as you’ll see next, actually implementing this formula is much easier in the complex scenarios described above than just trying to pay 10% on dollars as you earn them.

Implementation strategy 

With the old formula of 10% of everything you earn that you learned in Primary, you could calculate exactly how much tithing you owed every time you made money.  With the new formula you can calculate exactly how much tithing you owe exactly once per year.  I discuss how to pay tithing more frequently below, if you’re interested.  There are several questions that came to my mind as I began implementing this method of tithing calculation that I have found answers to, and I include them in this section below. 

How to calculate your net worth

Mathematically speaking, net worth = assets – liabilities.  In concept, net worth represents all that you own, minus what you owe.  If you had a bike yesterday and today you have a bike and a scooter, your net worth increased by the value of your scooter, and your total net worth is your bike and scooter together.  Taking in all the complexities of the above scenarios, net worth is the sum of your bank accounts, your house’s market value, your car, your investment portfolio, the cash value of your life insurance policy, and subtracted from that would be your credit card balance, whatever you may owe on your home, student loans, etc.  If you’re in a lot of debt, you may have a negative net worth.  If you own a $100,000 home and have 5% equity in it, you would have a net worth of $100,000 – $95,000 = $5,000 considering only your home. 
The easiest way to calculate your net worth is to let your computer accounting program figure it for you.  Microsoft Money does this in the Account List view if you look at the bottom line “Total Account Balance”.  Another way of course would be to go through each of your assets and liabilities and add them up by hand.

How to calculate your annual spending

Annual spending is how much money you’ve spent that is no longer reflected by your net worth. 
Key to calculating spending correctly is to exclude money transfers within your own accounts.  So if you write a check to move money from one account to another, that’s a transfer and not “spending” by this definition.  Likewise, if you are paying a mortgage, the amount of what you pay that actually reduces the loan’s principle is a transfer of money from your bank account into the liability account that represents your loan.  The loan interest that you pay is “spending”.  The reason we don’t include mortgage principle portion of mortgage payments is that “transferring” money to your liability account is moving your net worth from your checking account to your house, but your net worth is actually the same.  If I have $100,000 in cash and a $100,000 house in which I have 0% equity, then I really have a net worth of $0.  If I put $50,000 of my cash into my house to give myself 50% equity, then my net worth should not have changed as a result of just that money transfer.  But if you considered that “spending”, then that’s $50,000 of spent money, plus you “magically” got $50,000 of bonus equity in your house, resulting in a net worth increase of $50,000 when you didn’t actually earn anything. Considering mortgage principle payments “transfers” in your computer accounting program makes this all work out for you.
A very easy way to get an accurate spending sum is to categorize each expenditure you make, and reserve a few categories for non-spending purposes.  Some examples include “Reimbursable expenses” and any categories you use for transfers between accounts.  When you generate your spending report using your accounting program, you should include all expense categories except for these special categories that aren’t “spending”.  Also, be sure that any returns for prior purchases show up as a credit to your account under the same category as the expense did.  That will reverse the “spending” amount calculated for that purchase and you won’t be paying tithing twice on the same money.

What about when you buy/sell a car?

I suggest that you include your car when calculating your net worth.  Create a “car” account. 
If you paid for your car all upfront, create a money “transfer” from your bank account to your car account so that the balance in your car account equals the price you paid. 
If you bought your car with a loan, create a car loan liability account as well as your car account and transfer the purchase price from your loan account to your car account to create the necessary deficit in the liability account and the value in your car.  This will keep your net worth from changing at all, which is good, since you haven’t earned anything, and you don’t really own the car yet as the bank really does.  For each car payment you make, split the payment into two categories (in Money one transaction can be associated to multiple categories through the Split feature), using one Transfer category for the principle payment into your loan account, and a Bank Charge category (or some other non-transfer, spending category) for the part of your payment that is for interest.
While you own the car, leave the value of the car as recorded in your car account alone.  It’s needless work to calculate reducing value with time until you sell it. 
When you sell your car, whatever reduction in value you suffered in your car should be recorded in your car account as some spending category that reflects car usage.  For example, suppose you bought your car for $10,000 and sold it a few years later for $4,000.  You essentially spent $6,000 of your car’s value by driving it.  The other $4,000 you recovered by selling it while it still had value.  Your car account should reflect this.  Once you enter your “spending” of the car’s value so that the account shows $4,000, record a Transfer of funds of $4,000 from your car account to your bank account (where you’ll deposit the check the buyer wrote to you) to reflect the transfer of money. 
By doing it this way, throughout the whole process of buying, owning and selling your car your net worth and your expenditure records accurately reflect the real world, and your tithing formula will accurately tell you how much tithing you owe. 
What is really happening to your tithing when you buy a car using this method?  Well if you buy the car outright, then you paid or will pay tithing on the money you purchased the car with in the same year you earned the money.  If you used a car loan, then you pay tithing on the money as you earn it and pay the loan off.  So you end up paying tithing the same time and amounts that you would by calculating tithing your old way.  But this way it’s implicit in the process and you don’t have to do extra work.

What about a garage sale or other small sale of things you own?

For each item that you sell, if you were including its value in your net worth, then you need to transfer that value back into some other bank account in the form of cash.  Read about the process for buying and selling cars elsewhere in this post.
For each item that you sell that was originally purchased just under a “spending” category in your accounting program and that was not included in your net worth after it was purchased, selling it and putting the money back into your bank account looks like a gain and the tithing formula will tithe you on that gain unless you either 1) spend the cash you earn without ever telling the computer about it, or 2) mark the deposit of that cash in some spending category instead of an income category.  Recording a deposit as an expense rather than an income category effectively creates a “tithing exemption” for the deposit, similar to a deposit for a purchased item that was returned to the store. 

What if you want to pay tithing more frequently?

Simple.  Estimate your tithing by multiplying your regular paycheck amount by 10% and pay that each time you are paid.  At the end of your yearly tithing cycle, you can use the tithing formula that is based on your net worth to calculate exactly how much tithing you owe for the whole year, subtract from that how much you’ve paid periodically, and know what your outstanding balance is.
The risk you run when paying tithing to the bishop more frequently than annually is that if you anticipate a large gain in your net worth and end up with a small gain or even a loss (if most of your money is in the stock market and it took a downturn) you may end up paying tithing that you don’t owe.  You can’t get the bishop to write you a “tithing refund” check like you can get the government to write you a tax refund. 
A safe way to avoid over-paying your tithing while ensuring that you have enough money to pay tithing with at the end of your yearly cycle is to set up a dedicated bank account (read: safe investment — not stock) and deposit your periodic tithing into that throughout the year.  When the time comes to pay your once-a-year tithing, you use the money in this bank account to pay it.  Since this bank account is part of your net worth, interest you earn on that account should be automatically included as an increase and will be factored into your calculations for tithing owed without any extra effort.

Picking your annual tithing reckoning date

Although the law of tithing doesn’t explicitly state December as the time for the annual reckoning, since tithing settlement with your bishop happens in December that may be the most natural choice.  Does it have to be the day of tithing settlement or the end of the year?  No.  You could pick July 1 if you wanted.  Every July 1 you would reckon your increase and would pay tithing on that increase based on your net worth on July 1 of this year as compared to your net worth from July 1 of last year, plus any money you spent during that same period. 
I will add that some arbitrary date picked to fall before a tithing settlement could possibly be scheduled may make it easier for you to declare yourself a full tithe payer.  (Imagine yourself declaring yourself a full tithe payer when you haven’t paid tithing that year at all yet, since you were waiting until Dec 31 at 11:59 AM to calculate your worth). It should technically work, but I think it would be awkward.

Net or gross?

I’ve actually heard “answers” given to “do I pay tithing on my net or gross income” more frequently than I’ve heard the question itself asked.  From what I am aware of, I believe the correct answer to this question is to merely quote the doctrinal law of tithing to the questioning party and leave it to him/her to interpret. 

Summary

I hope this has helped you.  If you think of other scenarios, or if you have questions or comments, please add those comments at the end of this post.  I look forward to hearing how helpful or not this article has been.

Other Resources

Here are some articles I have found with interesting tips on tithe paying:

• Paying tithing in-kind (using stocks)

Faith Promoting Lie (FPL): a religious story posing as fact, but with little or no bearing on an actual event; written with the intent to teach a doctrinal principle, often drawing a strong emotional response.

Before I get into the detail of FPLs and how I came to realize their potential (for good and not-so-good), a little background in how I came to know of their existence…

As missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we shared the gospel by teaching the doctrine of Christ out of the scriptures and from the teachings of modern, living prophets.  The Holy Ghost would testify to our investigators of the atonement of our Savior and of the truthfulness of what we taught about His gospel.  We would also share our own experiences living the gospel and the effect it had on our lives and testimonies.

In my particular mission, many missionaries (including myself) would collect and share posters and stories that related to the gospel.  I ended my mission with two 3″ binders full of sheet protectors with stories, articles, illustrations and teaching aids.  Most of these were for my own enjoyment.  They either came from tear-jerker emails that my family and friends would print off and mail to me or other missionaries, who probably obtained them the same way.

Some of these stories were very touching stories.  One of the most well-known of which is entitled Seminary Donuts.  I cried when I first read the story.  Since then I have heard it read by several different people to mostly tearful audiences.  It is one of those email forwards that members of the Church love to forward to all their friends — not for seven years of good luck (like those really annoying forwards), but because they believe it’s the most touching and good story they’ve heard in a long time. 

Toward the end of my mission, after I had collected probably a whole binder’s worth of these stories, I realized that these stories are lies.  Please don’t misunderstand: the gospel doctrine they teach is often (at least mostly) correct, but their claim to be a true story is simply false. 

This claim of being a true story comes in a variety of forms.  Sometimes the story itself gives the state (usually not more specific than that), names, and season that the event supposedly took place in.  Other times it just starts the story without disclaimer that it is made up, and when the story is read over the pulpit (even by a high council speaker) people mistake it as a true story when no one (even the speaker) doesn’t know the source of the story.

Inevitably, and largely due to the anonymous nature of email forwards, these FPLs have no traceable author.  The name, if given, is just a first name, or even a full name that leaves no way to look the person up (since even a full name doesn’t help look up a person if you have no idea where they live).

“But wait!” I hear you cry.  “[your favorite FPL here] is true!  I cried when I read/heard it.  Surely no one would make up a story like that.  It happened!  The story even says where it happened…”  Surely we cannot be as gullible as to believe everything we read or hear.  Crying in reaction to a story does not mean the Spirit was testifying of the story’s truthfulness.  The story itself can be emotional enough to bring tears.  Perhaps (maybe!) the Spirit itself was even there to testify of the truthfulness of the principles taught in the story, but not the story itself.

FPLs, which I now group with “Mormon folklore”, I see as a bane to our religion.  Mormons seek after and hold to truth.  FPLs pose as truth and can mislead us if we do not discern them.  “What damage does it do to believe in an FPL if it teaches good principles?”  Teaching good principles is good.  Using a story to help get a point across is fine.  Even Christ used parables (stories that never occurred) to teach the gospel.  But when the teller claims that the story actually happened when in fact it did not in order to help make the story more powerful — that’s further than Christ went and I believe is damaging to the Spirit and the delicate faith of the Saints.  Also, as long as the story is made up there is no guarantee of the purity of the principles taught.  Scriptures make a much more sure source of truth.

Let us be watchful.  I am not suggesting that we become constant skeptics in our sacrament meetings or of missionaries.  But I am suggesting that people can innocently convey falsehoods that have nevertheless touched their lives and that they want to share with others.  If you hear a story that touches you that you want to remember and perhaps even share with someone else, please take a moment and ask the source for their source of the story.  If it is a personal story of their own, ask for permission to share it with others if you would like to.  If they got it from somewhere else, see how much documented evidence of the original source you can track down.  If it’s an FPL, you won’t get far.  And you’re better off teaching verifiable truth from the official Church materials.