Thy Grace Is Sufficient For Me: A Psalm of Gratitude

This is my amateur attempt at producing a psalm.  I posted this rather personal work in order that I might uplift and inspire others to grow closer to God.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!

Lord, thy grace is sufficient for me

In thy mercy thou givest me rest

Lord, as thou takest my burdens upon thee

Thou makest my burdens light.

Thou forgivest me my transgressions

My sins are blotted out through thee.

Thy lovingkindness and thy mercy are without end

And cannot be exhausted.

Lord God, thou art my master

I deliver myself to thee

I am thy servant

Thou settest me free

Thy yoke is easy, and thy burden is light

Gladly do I take up my cross

Happily do I follow thee

In following thee I find my life

In serving thee I gain dignity

Thou makest me thy particular treasure

No longer am I a slave to sin

Never again will I transgress

Thou makest me thy child

No longer am I a servant in thy house

I am thy son, give me thy spirit

I cry unto thee, Abba, Father.

Thou guidest me when I am lost

Thou art my light in obscurity

By thy word I set my steps

By thy teachings I build my life

In grief I seek thee Ebenezer

In my adversity thou hearest my cry

Thou art my support in sorrow

My balm and surcease in suffering

Thou art my companion in adversity

In thy footsteps I tread the path of woe

Thou hast descended unto hell

In thy suffering thou hast reclaimed my soul

Thou art the captain of my salvation

I will follow thee in all things

Thou leadest the way

Thine example is my guide

Thou teachest me to love mine enemies

To do good to those that despitefully use me.

In love I fulfill thy royal law,

Through love I approach thy throne.

Through thy grace I approach thee with boldness

Thy redemption sanctifieth me

By thy merits hast thou justified me

Thou hast brought me before the mercy seat

I stand before thee revealed

Thy word is quick and powerful

Thou hast discerned the thoughts and intents of my heart

Purify thou me Lord!

Cleanse thou my innermost soul

Give unto me clean hands and a pure heart.

I give unto thee my heart and my will

I surrender unto thee the weapons of my rebellion

Thou desirest not gold or silver

Thy treasure cannot be bought

Thy salvation is a pearl without price

I would give all to obtain it

Thy grace is sufficient for me

In thee I am made whole

The riches of thy blessings defy my capacity to receive them

My gratitude is not sufficient to the bounty of thy grace

7 Mistakes Even Good Members Make

On the whole, Latter-day Saints are good people.  Most of us do our best to try to live the gospel. Most of us try to be Christ-like and obedient to the Lord.  Unfortunately, even the best of us tend to fall into traps of bad thinking without even being aware of it.  This flawed thinking can interfere with our ability to fully live the gospel. These mistakes can keep us from experiencing the full blessings and joy that come with gospel discipleship.  More often than not making these mistakes can actively make us miserable.  On my blog I answer gospel questions, and in real life I talk to people of all walks of life about religion, and I have noticed a few common problems that even the best of us may have to overcome in order to progress in the gospel.

I.                 Riding the Line

When I was a young man, I was taught a parable in my Aaronic priesthood Sunday classes about truck drivers and staying away from the line:

“A man was interviewing new drivers for his transportation company. The route was very dangerous and went along several steep cliffs through a mountain pass. The interviewer asked each man how close he could safely drive near the edge of the cliff. The first man responded, “I could drive within six inches of the edge.” The second man responded, “I could drive within two inches of the edge.” The third man responded, “I would stay as far away from the edge of the cliff as I possibly could.” (Aaronic Priesthood Manual, lds.org).

The Dangers of the Checklist Church

Q: I am a convert of 9 years, and in that time, I have noticed something that bothers me. In particular, I've seen this happen to a couple friends, to two of my own cousins, and even my husband.

They grow up totally devout Mormons, learning to go to primary, young men/women's, serve a mission, get married, go to the temple, etc. But then sometimes people hit a snag. The church says "you must do A,B,C,D and then you get to go to heaven.”  But I've seen some people get to "C" and because of something beyond their control, they can't do that thing. (For example, not qualifying to go on a mission for medical reasons)

For example, one person had a hard time finding a wife. He's only 27 and he acts like his life is over because he's not married yet. My cousin didn't go on her mission and the guy she was with left her, and now she's lost like she has no purpose.

It's like they suddenly don't know what to do with themselves. Like their life just ended. Like they had a map of what to do and the map is messed up so they fall into this really sad and really pathetic depression.

Personally, I don't want my kids exposed to that!  I don't want my son to be depressed and feel like a failure because he didn't follow the A,B,C,D plan to a T.  Watching what this stuff is doing to my friends and family is so sad. My cousin literally just sits in her room crying and feeling sorry for herself because she didn't qualify for a mission. AND ITS NOT EVEN HER FAULT! She's even becoming apostate over it!

I'm so close to pulling my kids out of church and just teaching them at home. I don't want my kids mentally screwed up because of this church and the ridiculous pressure and expectations put on these kids.

Am I wrong? Does anyone else see this?

A:  You are not wrong to be concerned and repelled when you see your friends and family suffering from feelings of inadequacy, depression, and guilt at what they perceive to be their failure to adequately live up to gospel requirements.

Your friends are not alone.  Many Mormons who are doing their best to follow God’s commandments can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the sheer weight and number of things they have been asked to do as members of the church. Some, like your friends, may wrestle with feelings of inadequacy and failure when they don’t manage to measure up.

“Around the Church I hear many who struggle with this issue: “I am just not good enough.” “I fall so far short.” “I will never measure up.” I hear this from teenagers. I hear it from missionaries. I hear it from new converts. I hear it from lifelong members…. Satan has somehow managed to make covenants and commandments seem like curses and condemnations. For some he has turned the ideals and inspiration of the gospel into self-loathing and misery-making” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Be Ye Therefore Perfect—Eventually,” Ensign, Nov. 2017).

This is unfortunate, because your friends and many others like them don’t need to feel like failures who cannot hope to measure up.  They don’t have to feel like they are stuck, or like their life is over when something doesn’t happen the way they think it is supposed to happen.  Your friends are laboring under some misconceptions about how the gospel is meant to be lived, and this wrong thinking is making them miserable for nothing.

From where I’m standing, there are two problems: First, they (and you) seem to be proceeding from the assumption that there is a checklist (A, B, C…) that we have to follow to a tee if we are going to go to heaven.  Second, they also assume that getting into heaven is the whole point.  Also, as you may have noticed, the problem with this checklist mentality is that it almost immediately starts to fall apart when things in life don’t go according to plan.

Serving a mission, marrying in the temple, paying your tithing, and so forth are all important things, but none of these things is the ultimate goal of gospel discipleship.  Accordingly, the church does not teach that you have to follow a rote list of A, B, C, and D to get into heaven.  What the church does teach is simultaneously simpler and also more complex and elegant than that.

God's Truth Is The Truth, Even If You Disagree With It

I have noticed lately that there are many in and around the church who expect that everything that comes from God should be something with which they agree, and if they do not already agree with a teaching or doctrine of the church, then they assume that it must not come from God.  There are those who reject Christianity and/or a belief in God, because they cannot reconcile their own beliefs with those which are taught in the scriptures or by church leaders.  There are members that persist in disobedience to prophetic counsel because they cannot bring themselves to listen to counsel with which they do not agree.  Many insist that they would obey a given commandment if only they understood it, or they claim that they will live it just as soon as they gain a testimony confirming that such a commandment is true.

The Parable of the Talents and Predestination

“No one is predestined to receive less than all that the Father has for His children.” (D. Todd Christofferson, “Why Marriage, Why Family,” Ensign, May 2015, lds.org).

The Parable of the Talents which Jesus taught to His disciples in Matthew chapter 25 can be fairly instructive when considering the question of foreordination and election, and how it governs our placement in this world and our relationship to each other.

The Parable of the Talents teaches the importance of exercising righteous stewardship with those things that the Lord gives to us while we are in our second estate.  Even though each servant in the parable received differing amounts to start with, they were each expected to wisely manage the talents with which they had been entrusted, in order that the wealth could grow and increase in their care before they had to return what they had been given to the master.

We all start out with differing gifts in life, and some are seemingly given greater advantages and blessings in this life than others, such as being born into the covenant, or living in a country where freedom and prosperity reign instead of tyranny and strife.  We also come into life with certain abilities and talents which are innate, or which we developed during our life before we came here, and it may seem that some have received more natural talent or advantageous opportunity than others.

How Gospel Legalism is Holding Latter-day Saints Back

WARNING:  This post contains several mentions of a word and subject which is probably unsuitable for children.

I spend a great deal of time writing, speaking, and answering questions about religion, so I tend to encounter the whole spectrum of doubts and problems (as well as the best that we have to offer) as I get to know people across the world and the church.  As I have interacted with other Latter-day Saints on questions of religion, I have noticed a certain tendency that I find especially disturbing.  Specifically, I have noticed that some Latter-day Saints like to ask some variation of the “Is [blank] a sin?” question, which is usually accompanied by phrases like “It isn’t expressly forbidden by the general authorities,” or, “it isn’t spelled out in the scriptures (or the policy or manuals of the Church),” with the implication that unless it is spelled out explicitly as a sin, then it must be OK to do.  I have also noticed that the same people often also ask about what the minimum requirements are for any given commandment in order to get into heaven, or avoid hell. These individuals tend to be preoccupied with what exactly constitutes a sin in the eyes of God and the church. This attitude can only be called legalism, and it can be very dangerous.

“Legalism:  Noun.  usage: strict conformity to the letter of the law rather than its spirit.”  (http://thesaurus.infoplease.com/legalism, n. d.)

Case in point, the following question was posted in a Facebook discussion group for Latter-day Saints in order to solicit responses for a podcast:

“I got into a downright weird conversation with someone on whether or not the LDS Church teaches masturbation as breaking the Law of Chastity.

His defense was that there isn't a section in the Aaronic Priesthood Manual or some such work (you know - the Fifth Standard Work) about masturbation and so it isn't a sin” (Joe Rawlins, Facebook post, April 9, 2015).

In response, one person stated that she has never viewed a proscription against masturbation to be part of the law growing up, and that she still doesn’t, and then she posted a link to the Wikipedia definition of the Law of Chastity (as taught by the LDS church).

Another person posted a talk from President Spencer W. Kimball which specifically stated that the law of chastity forbids “all sexual relations outside marriage,” including masturbation, to which the first person replied that she did not see anything expressly forbidding the practice in the youth booklet.

Several individuals argued back and forth about whether or not pornography addiction is an actual or fictional condition, and others made statements criticizing the church’s stance on the subject as being a relic of Victorian era hang-ups about sex, and/or misconceptions about the sin of Onan (as it is often referred to) in the Bible, even going so far as to post a link to an article from Wiktionary defining onanism (see Genesis chapter 38 if you really care to know more).  There was also a protracted argument among several individuals concerning the severity of the sin, and its ranking in comparison to the severity of certain other sins.  Of course the crux of the entire argument had to do with the fact that teachings forbidding the practice of masturbation are not clearly spelled out in scripture.

This whole argument is an example of the irritating legalism that has crept into the attitude of many church members:  "If it isn't specifically spelled out, then I don't have to do it, and if it isn't expressly forbidden then I can do as I please."  Or, more subtly, ranking or defining sins so that some seem less severe than others, or finding ways to fulfill the bare letter of the law without concern for the spirit of the law.  Legalism is a problem for members of the church because it can cause us to miss the whole point of the gospel (and commandment keeping) and the atonement of Jesus Christ, and cause us to become lost in a maze of petty bickering over tiny points of the law. Worse, "by looking beyond the mark" (see Jacob 4:14) we may cause ourselves (and others) to "stumble" and "fall" because of confusion over what is and isn't sin.

The Truth About Faith

Ask any young person in the church to explain the principle of faith and odds are they will recite Alma 32:21 to you and leave it at that.

“And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.”

This is a wonderful scripture, and it is a good one to have memorized, but I feel that if you depend on this verse alone for your understanding of the principle of faith you will find that your ability to understand and apply it in your life will be somewhat lacking.

I find that the apostle Paul provides another description of faith which at first sounds similar to the one which Alma gave, but upon closer examination you will see that Paul is teaching us much more deeply about the nature and uses of faith.

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

When all you have is Alma’s definition of faith as rendered in Alma 32:21, you might think that faith is a rather passive principle in which one holds a vague hope in unseen forces which seem largely beyond your control.  Faith in this scenario seems to be an ill-defined hope, based on vague and even insubstantial evidence, in something that happens to be true.

If this is how you understand faith as a principle, it is no wonder that enemies of religion accuse Christians of blind faith, and enemies of the LDS church accuse its members of blindly following the prophet and their leaders.

Paul’s description of faith which he gave to the Hebrews shows us that faith does not need to be, nor should it be, blind or passive.  His teachings help us to understand that faith, rather than being a vague hope in an unseen truth, is in itself the concrete evidence and the substance upon which we can rely for the foundation of our belief in said truth.  With the assurance provided by such reliable evidence we can make decisions with confidence and take concrete action.

"If There Is No God Why Be Good?" Secular Morality Vs. Christian Morality and The Dangers of Moral Relativism

In this post I examine some of the faults and flaws inherent to atheism and moral relativism, and I also examine the real reasons why Christians elect to do what they do.  I wrote this post as a general response to many things that I have heard and seen concerning morality, moral relativism, and the respective immorality of atheism and Christianity as viewed by either side of the morality debate.  More particularly, I wrote my post in direct response to a selection from Richard Dawkin's book The God Delusion.  While I do attempt to refute some of his conclusions, I find that he raises several valid points which are worth considering by religious people, agnostics, and atheists alike.

I have deliberately avoided addressing the arguments of atheists in the past, as I do not consider it to be a productive use of my time, especially since I think that atheists and religious people should agree to disagree and get on with making the world a better place.  I chose to address this quote from Mr. Dawkins in this post in part because I think that he promotes some false assumptions that even some Christians may think that they believe, but I wrote it mainly because I believe his argument opens the door for the discussion of an important Christian principle.

"If there is no God why be good?  Posed like that, the question sounds positively ignoble.  When a religious person puts it to me this way (and many of them do), my immediate temptation is to issue the following challenge: "Do you really mean to tell me the only reason you try to be good is to gain God's approval and reward, or to avoid his disapproval and punishment?  that's not morality, that's just sucking up, apple-polishing, looking over your shoulder at the great surveillance camera in the sky, or the still small wiretap in your head, monitoring your every move, even your every base thought. As Einstein said, "if people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.'  Michael Shermer, in The Science of Good and Evil, calls it a debate stopper.  If you agree that, in the absence of God, you would 'commit robbery, rape, and murder', you reveal yourself as an immoral person, 'and we would be well advised to steer a wide course around you'.  If, on the other hand, you admit that you would continue to be a good person even when not under divine surveillance, you have fatally undermined your claim that God is necessary for us to be good.  I suspect that quite a lot of religious people do think religion is what motivates them to be good, especially if they belong to one of those faiths that systematically exploits personal guilt.

It seems to me to require quite a low self-regard to think that, should belief in God suddenly vanish from the world, we would all become callous and selfish hedonists, with no kindness, no charity, no generosity, nothing that would deserve the name of goodness."  (Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, 259)

Does God Always Have to Spell Things out For us?

I wrote this in response to a specific question, in which the person sought advice on how to know when (and whether it is appropriate) to make your own decisions out of your own knowledge without asking God for specific instructions or permission every single time.  They made the point that not only do we have the right to make our own decisions, but that God insists on it.  They also wanted to know what to do when the answer to your prayer is "I trust you. You decide."

I approached my response with these two seemingly contradictory passages of scripture in mind:

Psalms 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

D&C 58:26-28  For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.  Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;  For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves.  And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

Here is my response(with slight editing for clarity's sake):

A:  This is a principle that requires a degree of spiritual maturity to truly master. I think that the Lord expects each of us to "do many things of [our] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness" because he knows that it is important for our personal and spiritual growth that we learn to act as "agents unto ourselves". Indeed, in many cases God may leave each of us to follow our own natural inclination, but our natural inclination is not (at least initially) always to seek the right thing, or the things of God, and so this necessitates that we first experience a profound change of heart. It becomes our responsibility to change our nature (through Christ) in order to correctly apply this principle, because only as a true disciple of Christ can we gain enough knowledge through the practice of faithful and persistent obedience to recognize and act upon the right choice without needing to be told.  As we gain this knowledge we will be better equipped to recognize when our natural inclinations are in line with God's own will (and what is right) and when they are not.

Is it a sin if I don’t go to church? Am I a bad person if I do not attend church regularly?

We have been commanded to attend church and to worship God on the Lord’s day in many places throughout the scriptures. One of the Big Ten is to keep the Sabbath day holy. The author of Hebrews (v. Hebrews 10:23-25) enjoins us as Christians to:

...Hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Paul goes on to exhort us to: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)

A more specific set of instructions is contained in Doctrine and Covenants section 59:7-12 where the Lord commands:

Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things. Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High; Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times; But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.

Just because we have been commanded to attend church doesn’t mean that you should attend church just because you are afraid that you will be punished for skipping church. Compulsory church attendance defeats the purpose of going to church in the first place. I have found that there is a tendency among members of the LDS church to equate regular attendance with righteousness. This is often accompanied by the implicit conclusion that those who do not attend church regularly must therefore be wicked in some way. While it is assuredly true that those who are truly converted (and who therefore are striving to be as righteous as a flawed mortal can be) tend to attend church as regularly as is within their power (out of a sincere love and devotion to God), it does not necessarily follow that those who attend church regularly are, by default association, righteous by virtue of their regular attendance alone.

"Some have come to think of activity in the Church as the ultimate goal. Therein lies a danger. It is possible to be active in the Church and less active in the gospel. Let me stress: activity in the Church is a highly desirable goal; however, it is insufficient. Activity in the Church is an outward indication of our spiritual desire. If we attend our meetings, hold and fulfill Church responsibilities, and serve others, it is publicly observed. By contrast, the things of the gospel are usually less visible and more difficult to measure, but they are of greater eternal importance. For example, how much faith do we really have? How repentant are we? How meaningful are the ordinances in our lives? How focused are we on our covenants?" (Donald L. Hallstrom, "Converted to His Gospel through His Church", Ensign May 2012)

"If You're So Righteous Why Aren't You Rich?" and other dumb ideas about how God's blessings work.

This post is divided into three parts, each one dealing with a common misconception about how prayer and blessings work, and about our relationship with God.  The one dealing with riches and righteousness is number two, however I recommend that you read each part in order, as I intended each point to build off of each preceding principle.

1) God owes me blessings because I earned them through my own obedience.

This one is tricky because it arises out of a true statement made in D&C 130:20-21 which says:

There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

This scripture is a fairly straightforward statement that says that if you want to experience the blessings that come from living the law of tithing, or the Word of Wisdom, or Temple worship or any other law of God then you have to be willing to obey that particular principle before you can enjoy said blessing. What this statement DOES NOT say is that God owes us blessings for obedience, whether that be obedience in general or obedience to a particular principle.

The Hard Facts About Temple Marriage as a Requirement for Exaltation.

A friend of mine (who is fairly knowledgeable about the church, even though he is not a member) asked me a series of questions after his (member) girlfriend made him read my post on the importance of and necessity for eternal marriage in the temple. Most of his questions dealt with our views on life after death, and they resulted in my seven part series on that subject. After all was said and done, he pinned me down and made me give him this direct answer concerning the hard facts when it comes to the requirements for exaltation. I deliberately elected to employ language which I felt was appropriately vague in my previous post on temple marriage, however he needed a more definite answer. My first post on temple marriage is more eloquent and exhaustive, and so you might find it helpful to review my previous post on Temple Marriage.


Q: I feel like I am missing one thing to tie it all together. Where in scripture (besides D&C 76:50-54,69-70) does it say that you need the saving ordinances performed at the temple (namely marriage) to be allowed into the celestial kingdom?