Christ Set the Terms

Jesus Christ.  When we think of him what runs through our minds?  Words that run through my mind are advocate (1 John 2:1), savior (1 Nephi 13:40), mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), and redeemer (Alma 5:15).  Wow, what a list!  This is not all, the list of the attributes and importance of Jesus Christ is endless.

We are commanded to have these perfect attributes, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48)  How is this possible?  How can we go back to Father?  Thomas had this same question.  Lets see what his answer was.  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)  So by the perfect life that Christ led, his suffering in the Garden and on the Cross, and then by his resurrection (all of this constitutes the Atonement) then we can be made clean!

So what's the catch?  Well, because Christ has now become our mediator with the Father, he sets the terms of the Deal.  Christ asks each of us to believe in him, or have faith (John 10:36-38), to give up our sins and to follow him, or repent (Alma 39:9), to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, (3 Nephi 11:33-35; 19:9-13), and finally to endure to the end, (Matt. 10:22).  These are the terms that we must fill.  The concept of a mediator is explained very well by the video this link goes to.

http://lds.org/media-library/video/book-of-mormon-presentations?lang=eng&query=video+mediator#2010-06-05-the-mediator


This is the doctrine of Christ.  He is our Savior, and I know that we can have eternal happiness with our Father in Heaven and our families if we live what Christ has taught us!!

"Left Their Nets and Followed HIm."

It is always interesting to see people's reactions when we tell them about the guidelines that we as missionaries are to follow.  They feel that we are extremely restricted in our activities and in our daily lives.  Having to be home by 9:00 pm, getting up at 6:30 am, having study time, no television, and various other things.  But if you ask a missionary how much they wish they could do something else, most of them would say that they have never been happier!!  I know I can say that.  So why is it that we find joy when we are so restricted?

Thinking about this makes me think of Christ when he called the 12 Apostles.  He said to "Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother . . Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.  And they straightway left their nets, and followed him."  (Matthew 4:18-20)  It always amazes me how quickly Peter and Andrew obeyed the voice of Jesus as he asked them to sacrifice.  Well, he asks the same of us.  "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)   Those who "putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord" (Mosiah 3:19) will find that leaving their nets is the best thing that they will do.

So, does this mean that you have to serve a full time mission to qualify as someone who has "Left their nets"?  No.  "Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day." (3 Nephi 27:19)  And when we are baptized we say that we are willing "to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in."  (Mosiah 18:9)  So by following the commandments, being baptized and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and fulfilling our baptismal covenant, then we show that we have put off our nets.

Well now your all set!!  But oops, you made a mistake.  You said as Peter said, "I go a fishing." (John 21:3)  You went back to your nets for a time.  You are no longer spotless.  But, there is still hope.  With a lot of faith and repentance, you can "Leave your Nets" once again and become perfected through the atonement of Christ.  "There is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God."  (2 Nephi 31:21)

It may be difficult to do all that God has asked of us.  But I promise that as we faithfully endure "and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon" (Mosiah 3:19) us, then we can be as "those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end." (3 Nephi 27:19)

Jeremy Kunz

There is a man by the name of Jeremy Kunz.  He is a great guy!  Everyone that comes in contact with him knows right away that he is one of a kind.  His smile, his sense of humor, and especially his love for his family makes him grand!!  He loves the outdoors; running, hiking, rock climbing, you name it, he enjoys it.  But out of everything he has, his family is number one.  Anyone who comes in contact with him knows that his wife and three kids are his top priority.  There are many other things that make Jeremy the amazing role model that he is, but there is not enough room on the internet to fit it all in!!

Jeremy loves to do that which pushes him to new limits.  Things that make him stretch and that he has to give his all for.  Because of that, he became a long distance runner.  Jeremy was never one to do things alone.  He loves to do things with other people that he is close to, so thus he doesn't particularly enjoy the usual marathons, he would rather run in a relay team made up of close friends and family.  There was one relay in particular that he really enjoys, and spends much of his running time preparing for, the Wasatch Back.  This is one of many relay races that the Ragnar Relay Series has available.  It is a grueling race of 189 miles through the Wasatch Mountain Range located in northern Utah.

In 2009, Jeremy and his team decided that they would try another one of these magnificent races.  The Las Vegas relay.  Another rough race through the hot desert of Nevada.  The race was going well.  All the teammates were making good time, and it was a joyous time!  He was even able to enjoy the race with his wife, Melinda.  Even though she was in the team's other van, they kept in contact with one another through phone calls.

Early in the morning, during the race, on Saturday, October 10, 2009, Jeremy was hit by a drunk driver and killed.

Wow, that's pretty crazy.  Some of you may be wondering why I would put such a depressing story on my blog?  Well, let me tell you a not so secret.  Melinda Kunz, Jeremy's wife, is my sister.  Jeremy has been a part of my family for most of my life.  I don't really remember a time when he wasn't in it.  And even now, though his physical body is no longer present, he is still a big part of my family.

If you'll notice, I didn't use past tense verbs when I wrote the description of Jeremy.  That is because the most important part of Jeremy, the part that makes him who he is, is not gone.  "The spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed form this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life." (Alma 40:11)  But that isn't the end, "The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body."(Alma 40:23)  So this life isn't all there is.  There will be a time when I can once again see not only Jeremy but all of my family!!  How grateful I am for that knowledge!

Now what is my purpose in all of this?  I just want you, not everyone else who is reading this, but you who at this time, right now, is reading these words.  I want you to know that trials are hard.  There is pain in life but there is also overwhelming joy.  Joy in the plain truth that Jesus Christ lives.  That he loves us.  That we can become clean through his atoning sacrifice if we but follow his commands.

If you want to know more of the Plan that our loving Father in Heaven created for us, please visit mormon.org.

Insights From the Seat of a Tractor

Growing up on a farm is interesting.  For the most part, there is a lot of time to ponder on the creations and works of our loving Heavenly Father.  Hours upon hours spent going back and forth through the field as the machinery does it's magic.

I remember when I was a young teenager that I was challenged by my bishop to take the time that I have while I am in the tractor, to concentrate on Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father, and the many creations that they have given to us.  I gladly accepted the challenge.

There was a lot that I learned while I did that.  The most important thing that I learned, however, was the love that our Heavenly Father has for each one of us.  My thoughts were led to 3 Nephi 13:28-34.  One of my favorite phrases from this scripture is "Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (v. 28-29)  If our Heavenly Father cares so much for the grass, then why would he not care for His children?  Thus let us look to Him, let us seek Him and His omnipotent hand.  I know that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father live.  I know that they are there for each of us and that they want us to grow and to succeed.

Here is the Hard Part

Wow, that is all I can say about the amazing General Conference that we just had!  I love listening to the voices of Heavenly Father's servants as they speak to us for our day!  But after that comes the hard part.  We can listen to the prophets all day long, but do we really hear what they say? 

I had a calculus class in High School that was right after lunch.  What a bad combination!  There were many times when I would enjoy a nap instead of hearing what the teacher had to say.  That was really fun in the moment, then came time to apply what the teacher had just talked about.  As you can guess I had a hard time doing the homework because I was asleep when the teacher was explaining how to best do it.  So I would then have to spend a lot of time learning by trial and error when it would be a lot easier to just listen closely to what the teacher had to say in the first place.

Then again, that is only half of the puzzle.  We can listen closely to the counsel that Heavenly Father has for us but it isn't worth a lick if we don't apply what we learn.  Jacob explains this very eloquently in 2 Nephi 9:28-29.  In verse 29 he says that "to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God."  We have just received a weekend full of the counsels of God.  Now we just need to "hearken."

My dear brothers and sisters, God loves us all so much!!  He wants true and everlasting happiness for us!  We may think that at times we are constrained and our freedom is limited by following the commandments, but I promise that as we do follow the commands of God, and as we hearken to the counsels of his authorized servants in these days, that we will find "liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men,"  and be able to escape "captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." (2 Nephi 2:27)

www.lds.org

Prophets, What Good Are They?

There is a great thing that is happening this weekend.  The whole world will be able to sit down and listen to a Prophet of God give us guidance, direction, and support for all of us!  But, there is just one problem, not everyone in the world will be listening with open ears and open hearts.  Many will be going about their lives as usual.  This is sad, because there is a story in the old testament of people who didn't listen to a Prophets voice.

Anybody remember anything about Noah?  Yes, that is right.  He was the one with the big boat.  Well, lets get the whole story.  Prophets told the people that they needed to follow God's commandments and live like they should or they would get punished.  Well, they didn't listen so well, so God decided to punish them.  And what did they win?  Destruction by a giant flood.

Ok, so that one didn't pan out very well.  Lets look at another story to see how it turned out.  In The Book of Mormon a man by the name of Samuel was told by God to tell a wicked people that "nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ," and that "four hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten: yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence." (Helaman 13:6, 9)  Wow, doesn't sound too pretty does it?  Samuel also prophesied of many other signs and wonders, all of which came to pass.

Now fast forward 400 years.  We now look at the account written by Mormon, who was the chief captain over the armies of the people that Samuel visited.  And wouldn't you know it, the people were not following what God wanted them to do.  Mormon says that "the Nephites repented not of the evil they had done, but persisted in their wickedness continually." (Mormon 4:10)  What a shame.  They also gained a reward.  A giant battle where their whole nation was destroyed.  "And when they had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni) and we having survived the dead of our people." (Mormon 6:11)

In conclusion, the people in both accounts did not follow the heeding of the prophets and did not follow the commandments of God.  "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15)  Let us all keep the commandments of God and listen to what counsel His prophets have to give us.

Visit www.lds.org for more information on times and where you can watch.

I Would Exhort You

When one first picks up the Book of Mormon, one of the first things that you read is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ," and it is truly so.  Nephi explains that "we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."  (see 2 Nephi 25:26)  As we search and as we ponder the words of the prophets, both prophets of old and our latter-day prophets, we are led and directed to our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Easy for me to say though right?  I was raised in the faith and have had almost 19 years of study and guidance to the truth, but I had to come  know for myself that what I'm saying now is true.  He has laid a plan for us, and he has given us to tools whereby we can find the truth.  Ask Him who is the source of all truth!  Take the challenge that Moroni gave all of us in Moroni 10:3-5 and "ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true."  Even if you have already asked, try it again!!  It will only strengthen your testimony and your knowledge.  I know that the Book of Mormon is a true testament of Jesus Christ.  If you have any questions at all, PLEASE, visit http://www.mormon.org/ invite the missionaries into your home, and feel of the witness that comes only through the Holy Ghost!