Heart like a lion

What a message. Click here if you want the lyrics.
The takeaway message that I can see in this is get up! Get up and change! Sometimes when we do something we know to be wrong we feel like there is no turning back. That we can't change and repent for knowingly "kicking against the pricks" and disobeying God. But we can! We can change where we're headed and have a change of heart. So i learned something pretty cool in this talk that I read. Because the Bible was originally written in Hebrew and then was translated into other languages, the word that was used for "repentance" was "shub". The Hebrew word "shub" translates to "to turn from". The message of the Old Testament is to "shub", or to turn from sin and back to our loving Father in Heaven- to leave unhappiness, sorrow, regret, and despair behind and turn back to our Father's family. There we can find true happiness, joy and acceptance among his other children.

Then, in the New Testament (which was written in Greek), the writers used the Greek word "metanoeo" to describe "repentance". And "metanoeo" means a change of mind, thought, or thinking so powerful that it changes one's very way of life. This is very interesting to me because I had always had this dreaded feeling about repentance. That it was so painful and it was just going to hurt more. I think I had that perception because of what happened when the Bible was translated into Latin. When they did this, the word "metanoeo" was translated into the Latin word "poenitere". And that word means "to punish, penance, penitent," and finally repentance! So the meaning of the word from turning away from, changed to a "Latin meaning that involved hurting, punishing, whipping, cutting, mutilating, disfiguring, starving, or even torturing!" Its no wonder that it seems so scary for us to repent!
So now that we know what repentance is not, lets get out and do what it is, and what this song is telling us to. Because our lives are not a practice run. We live once on this earth, so we need to act now. Because life is very precious. You never know when something is going to happen, or when you're gonna be leaving. To quote Rebelution "You better get up, You better get out, You better get up and turn your life around, You only live once, You better act now, cause you never know when It's gonna come back around".

What happens when we die?

In Fear and Faith

This a prob the biggest and most debated topic of any religion. And I hope to be able to help you see this clearly. When our spirits are separated from our bodies (physical death) where do our spirits go? Because we are made up of body and spirit right? So our bodies are laid to rest in the ground. Our spirits return to the "Spirit World" where we are to wait until our resurrection and judgment.

The Spirit World is made up of two sections, "Paradise" and "Prison". Paradise is a place where those who have been and done the things that they were supposed to while in this moral existance. Here they rest from, as the scriptures say, "from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow". Those in the other part of the Spirit World have a chance to repent. In prison is where those who have once rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or have not had the opportunity to hear it get that chance. Peter talks about this in his epistle. He says "Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."(1 Peter 4:5-6) 

The one who unlocked the door to let us in

These places are only a pit stop for us though. We wait here until we are Resurrected and Judged. Until all that God has for us is accomplished.

We have a loving Heavenly Father, and His plan is perfect. He knows our hearts and our intents. John 3:16, He wants us to live with Him forever in His kingdom. And we all have that opportunity if we will but yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and do what is required of us.

Here is a quote from a song from the band In Fear and Faith, "In this life there's only wrong and right,
So don't forget you have a choice!"

Father's Day Poem

Here we go,

 When I leave this earth, I want it to be known
About the man who raised me, & got me all grown
Who taught me how to be a man, to work hard and be good
The man who set an example, and did the things that I should
Who never gave up trying, through life's sore trials
A man who followed Christ, in what seemed like desolate miles
Miles of pain, of loss and death
He was by his daughter's side when she took her last breath

A man whose life, is illuminated by hope
His heart tied to my Mom's, with Love's unfrayable rope
Sealed for eternity, to not so perfect kids
I hope to be one day, the kind of man he is
And raise kids of my own, in truth and soberness
My Father is a great man, this is my witness

-Brock Butler-

Alright, I just wanted to post this because I love my Dad. I know that he loves me too. I've come to realize in just the past year and a half or so that I am slowly becoming my Dad. And I hope that this process continues. Just like I said before, I hope to become the kind of man he is. Love ya Dad

Scarlet Letters

Well its been a while, and I just had an idea, so i think I'll try running with it. But I have been talking about tattoos with my companion (both of us have older brothers with them). Anyways, I was just thinking that they are a lasting reminder of the choice they made at one point in their life. And no matter where they go in life, they will have that to show. My brother has a full sleeve plus some, and getting them removed would be way very painful and way too expensive. So he wears them around always. And others can look at them and (as much as they shouldn't) judge him. He wears his own "Scarlet Letter".
Everyone will make a mistake or two in their lives. And in my case, a couple three billion, but not all of my mistakes are going to be broadcast to the world. Have you ever thought about how there is a constant stream of people, one right after another, who are being caught for things that they've done years ago. I mean just look at the news. First its Jim Tressel getting busted for being dishonest. And furthering his dishonesty with more dishonesty, and now hes trying his hardest to get out of the spotlight by "resigning". Before anything gets any worse. Before anymore damage can be done to his dishonest reputation. So he can try his best to hide from his sins, but my brother can't. But I would rather be in my brothers situation where he doesn't try and hide from his sins like a 6 year old that has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. No, my brother has faced up to his mistakes and has repented, sought forgiveness and made a determination to not repeat those mistakes. On the other hand, we have another public figure who has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar the Governator Arnold. He committed adultery and had a child with another woman. But while he was in office when all this happened, did he try and take responsibility? No, he threw dirt on top of it and hoped it would just go away. And now that he has not been honest with those who trusted him with a government position, his wife, or himself, the rest of his life will be negatively affected. The stench of his mistake will last the rest of his life. And the same goes for Jim Tressel. Although Jim may have gotten away and off much easier than he would've, he will still have to face up to those at another time.

So I guess what I'm getting around to is that we all have made mistakes. Mistakes that create feelings of guilt and shame. But the good news is that we can have those burdens lightened (Matt 11:28-30) if we will turn to the Savior. And just because we don't have to wear around a giant sign that says we screwed up, doesn't mean that we don't need to repent. And when we repent, there are steps that we take. It isn't just a "oh I'm sorry" and then just keep going out to do it again. We follow the steps that are wonderfully laid out in this blog by Elder Davis.

"For ^aGod so ^bloved the ^cworld, that he ^dgave his ^eonly begotten ^fSon, that whosoever ^gbelieveth in him should not perish, but have ^heverlasting ⁱlife." John 3:16

Untitled

 

I think that as we remember and realize what God has done for us in our lives, we become more humble. And because we're more humble, we are better prepared to receive the blessings that He wishes to give us.When we recognize how God has worked in our lives, it will allow us to see the way He is willing to bless us. Then we can ask for the things that He is willing to give us. And thus our will can and will mesh with His, and we will become "one" with God (John 17) 

I think that is a real challenge for us in this life, to develop those God-like qualities and discover in ourselves the things that God has blessed us with. I think if we will take the time to do as Elder Eyring says and recognize God's hand in our lives we will be able to see where He wants us to go and what He wants us to do. And we will develop the qualities that He would have us. God has a very deliberate and specific hand in our lives. He will lead us to truth as we seek. And that is what I invite everyone who reads this to test. See if He is not here. He is here.

My favorite person from The Book of Mormon

Love this picture of Jesus

I think my favorite person from The Book of Mormon would have to be Jesus Christ. I mean he did come and visit the people in the Americas. So that is an obvious no brainer... But for the sake of going in depth into the Book of Mormon, I'll talk about someone else.



So after that being said I would have to say that my favorite person (like so many other people) is Captain Moroni. Captain Moroni was a boss. He was appointed the leader of the Nephite army when he was just 25. Think about that. Being responsible for the lives of an entire army when you are 25 years old. When I turn 25, I'm gonna be in school worried about what classes I need to pass to get a degree to start work.



Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty



So with this trust that was put on Captain Moroni also came great power. I mean think about it, he was the Commander of an entire army of men, who would lay down their lives with him. I think the greatest part about Moroni is that he was given this power and yet it didn't get to him. You know the saying "Power corrupts, and absolute power absolutely corrupts", well that was not the case for Moroni.

Joseph Smith's Vision

When Moroni was out with his army, they had been fighting the Lamenites for a long while and he needed supplies from the cities. But they were not getting the help they desperately needed. And in an epistle to Pahoran he says this "Behold, I am Moroni, your chief captain. I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country"(Alma 60:36). He is, in my opinion, the 2nd best example of what a man should be like. Even Moroni, while he was putting the plates together and reflecting on what Moroni was like said "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto ^aMoroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the ^bdevil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."(Alma 48:17). What bigger or better complement could a person give another than that? Especially coming from Mormon, the Prophet in charge of collecting and putting the plates together.

The Book of Mormon is full of great men. It is rich with the history, stories, and accounts of those who inhabited the Americas 600 BC to about 400 AD. This record was translated by the gift and power of God through the Prophet Joseph Smith. If you have read this and want to learn more and talk to me directly, click my facebook link and shoot me a message!

God is great! Come and investigate the claims that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints makes.

Grace, Faith, Works

There are many misconceptions about Mormons. One that I run into on a regular basis is that "Mormons believe that you work for your salvation". This is what I want to try and focus on for right now....
So, because those of the LDS faith choose to show their faith by their actions, they are looked down upon by the rest of the Christian world as denying the power that Christ has. Well lets discuss this more. We believe that the Bible is the word of God. We believe all the promises therein. And just like the rest of the Christian world we believe that, "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God"(Ephesians 2:8) We do not deny that it is solely by grace that we are saved. Grace is defined as an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation. Because Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), it is only in and through Him that we can receive eternal life and exaltation.

The Reason

And now, because of this, I want to live my life in a way that is pleasing in the sight of God. I want to go out and serve. I want to help others, both believers and non-believers. Why? Why would I want to do that? Because I love God. I love my Savior. This love that I have for them, how do i show it? I show it in how I live my life. Not like the hypocrites who profess to know Jesus, and as the scripture says They ^aprofess that they ^bknow God; but in ^cworks they ^ddeny him, being abominable, and ^edisobedient, and unto every good work ^freprobate(Titus 1:15) But I will show my faith by the way I live my life. And this is not just me and my opinion, this is how your everyday "Mormons" live (or at least try). A perfect example of this is shared by James in the 2nd chapter he says "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that ^afaith without ^bworks is dead?

Was not Abraham our father ^ajustified by works, when he had ^boffered Isaac his son upon the altar?

 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by ^aworks was faith made ^bperfect?" 

I know that it is because Christ is so forgiving that I can receive eternal life and exaltation. That I will show my love for Him by the way I treat others. And I will fail, I will fall short, but because he is full of grace and truth (John 1:14), I can and will be forgiven through my sincere repentance. And I could continue to blab on, but I will stop here. I know the Savior lives and loves. And because of that I am doing the things I'm doing.