Whom Dost Thou Seek?

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. . . And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother,and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." (Matt. 2:1-2, 11)

The story of the wise men is one of my favorite Christmas stories!  The story isn't very detailed, or long, but it carries a powerful message with it.  We don't know who these men were, exactly where they came from, or how they knew about Christ, but they were willing to leave and to set out on a journey to find just a small child.

Even as a child the true worshipers of God understood who Jesus was and who he was going to become, the Savior and Redeemer of the world.  There is a song by Kenny Chesney that helps me understand just how it was when that baby boy came into the world some 2000 years ago.

Just a Kid
Kenny Chesney

Well the news spread through Jerusalem,
tonight a child is born
There are shepherds fallin' to their knees,
and Angels blowin' horns
But in their golden halls the Pharisees
Scoffed and drank their wine
They said it's only Hebrew prophesy

We don't care and besides
He's just a kid
That's all He is
One more pebble in the gravel,
One more rumor in the rabble.
How can He be king?
He's just a kid.

Well in no time it seemed
the world was knockin' on His door
Performing miracles and wonders
they had never see before
Soon the Pharisees stopped laughing
The silver sum was paid
And near the end He knelt down
in the garden and He prayed:

I'm just a kid
That's all I am
I'll need Your strength to see me through it
If it is Your will I'll do it
But how can I be king
I'm just a kid?

Now I think about the Baby
and the Man at Christmas time
Of mothers, sons and fathers
and children just like mine
About the power in unselfishness,
love and sacrifice
The Gift that we were given and the price.

And how the news spread through Jerusalem,
tonight a child is born
There are shepherds falling to their knees,
and angels blowin' horns
I wonder how on Earth the Pharisees
could scoff and drink their wine
And say "He's only Hebrew prophesy
We don't care and besides He's just a kid
That's all He is
One more pebble in the gravel
One more rumor in the rabble
And how can He be king? He's just a kid"

Oh how can He be king?
He's just a kid.

 Let us remember who our true King is this Christmas season!  Merry Christmas everyone!

What is a "RESTORATION"?

 Restoration, a word used quite a bit among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that has the potential to confuse a lot of people.  Some hear the word and may think of old antique furniture, or an old colonial home, or if you're a gear head like me, you may think about a car.  All of these are good comparisons to the idea of The Restoration.  Since I have no idea how to restore furniture, and even less of an idea about colonial houses,  we'll roll with the idea of the car, how about a 1953 Diamond T?

In order for a Restoration to happen, you first have to have an original object.  This is an example of what my truck would have looked like back in the day of 1953.  We will compare this to the original church that Jesus Christ set up when he was on the Earth.  "He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;"  (Ephesians 4:11)  He set up an organization that would help bring everyone in unity, an organization "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets:"  (Ephesians 2:20)

But as we all know, over time things tend to get roughed up a lot.  Dents and dings form in the body, and if they are not taken care of then rust can come along and start to make a big mess of things.  Equipment breaks, and pieces go missing.  Sadly, the same happened to the Church of Jesus Christ.  "I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record.  And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world.  And after he was slain I saw the multitudes of the earth, that they were gathered together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb."  (1 Nephi 11:32-34)  The church was in disarray.  The apostles were killed off, and soon there was no priesthood authority on the earth to guide and lead the church by revelation.  Soon, when once there was one church, there were many churches teaching different doctrines.

The time and setting eventually came along and our loving Heavenly Father was able to reach out in love to his children.  In the early 1800's God the Father and his son Jesus Christ came to a boy named Joseph Smith in answer to his earnest prayer.  They called Joseph to be a prophet, and through him they would restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Soon you see that old clunker out in the driveway as more than a paperweight, but you see a potential for something amazing! 

Of course you can't just wake up one morning and know exactly how to restore a vehicle, let alone the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Three years after the visitation of God the Father and Jesus Christ, Joseph was visited by a heavenly being by the name of Moroni.  He was directed by Moroni to a hill where a record of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas was deposited.  Joseph received instruction from Moroni for four years before he could take the record and translate it into The Book of Mormon.  Other key events that made it possible for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be restored were;  restoration of the priesthood (both Aaronic and Melchizedek), the coming forth of The Book of Mormon, and the final organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1830.

Piece by piece the restoration happens.  The final product is the same as the original, but now it is alive and working!  The Gospel works.  I know the the original church that Christ established when he was here in the flesh is back on the earth.  If you have any questions or for more information visit http://www.mormon.org/.

 

Love, true Love

You may remember one of my personal favorite movies, "The Princess Bride"?  I will be talking about three of the main characters, Prince Humperdinck, Princess Buttercup, and Westley.  First off lets think about a classic scene from the movie, the one where the clergyman can't pronounce his "R"s and thus talks really funny.  Remember that one?  Well if you don't, then that is OK.  All that really matters is that he talks about true love.  And in the movie Prince Humperdinck is not Princess Buttercup's true love.  Her true love is the farm boy Westley, who can hardly make a living for himself.  So why is he her true love?

In 1 Nephi 11:22 we are taught that the love of God "is the most desirable above all things."  Love is a very strong emotion.  What we truly love is what we will work for.  Think for a moment about last week.  What are the prominent memories that come to mind?  What were your desires for that week?  The things that we truly love are things that we will desire the most.  Christ has said that the greatest commandment is to "love the lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." (Matt. 22:37)  And how do we show our God that we love him?  Again Christ said that "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  (John 14:15)

Alright, so back to the movie.  At the beginning of the movie we see Buttercup ordering Westley around, and all he would ever say is "As you wish."  Wow, that shows some love!  Are we always that submissive to the things that our Father in Heaven gives, or doesn't, give us?  Buttercup comes to realize exactly how much love Westley has for her, and she in turn falls in love with him.

So what is it that we truly love?  Are we showing our love to that person or that thing?  We all show our love in different ways, but Christ has said that "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love."  (John 15:10)  I would challenge each of us to abide in the love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by obeying them.  Then once we have that relationship established, show our love to the important things.  I know that you will see an increase of peace and joy in all of your lives if you follow this council.

BTW, this is my family,  I love them all dearly.  Some of them are no longer with us and there are some additions to the group, but I love them and miss being with them.  I also love my Heavenly Father, that is why I am spending 2 years away from my family to be his full time servant because he asked me to!!