Talk of Christ

To my friend who worries whether you have repented enough to be forgiven: So, you know you have sinned, and you feel bad. You want to repent. (see 1 ) You have confessed to the Lord, but maybe you can't make restitution, or maybe you want to forsake your sins and keep the commandments, but you keep messing up. Perhaps you worry that people who sin after repenting must not have repented or cannot be forgiven. (see 2 ) You may wonder, will the Lord forgive me only after I finally stop sinning? How long must I be clean or sober? One year? Ten? Until death? What if I fell off the wagon after a record length? Would all my former sins return, sending me back to the beginning? Can I ever be forgiven? Or have I sinned too severely, too intensely, or too frequently? What do the scriptures say? The scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman taken in the very act of adultery. The law of Moses commanded that adulterers should be stoned, but Jesus (God himself) refused to condemn he...

To my friend who worries about not being good enough to get into heaven: God's Work What do you think: Will God fail at His work? Can God fail at anything? For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. —  Moses 1:39 God's work is to save you. God will do his work. Still, as we walk on the boisterous waters of our tumultuous lives, we regularly cry out, "Lord, save me!" And every time we ask him to save us, He always will, with a loving rebuke, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 1 Of Course, We will Fail. At the day of judgment, we will all be guilty and worthy of spiritual death. No one is without sin. (see 2 , 3 , 4 ) All our works, our words, and even our thoughts will condemn us, and that is when we would rather be crushed by the rocks and the mountains than look at God. (see 5 , 6 ) Since God cannot allow any sin (see 7 , 8 ) — and since we have all sinned — none of us will be wort...

My Spiritual Truths My faith is in Jesus Christ alone. I want to be built on the Rock of my Redeemer. Additionally, I have learned the following spiritual truths through personal revelation, experience, and study. I choose to believe them. They are the basis for "the story" I tell myself and my children about the universe and about God. They are the truths that guide my life decisions. They are the reason I choose to stay in the Church, regardless of changing policies or the mistakes of church members and leaders. They are the spiritual truths I will believe and defend when other doctrines, policies, and traditions fail. If a statement or idea is not on this list — however related it may be to a point on this list — then it is not a necessary cornerstone of my testimony. These are the only spiritual truths I claim to "know." I readily acknowledge that "I don't know" anything else. This list of spiritual truths sometimes uses a first person narrat...

Purpose and Mission We "talk of Christ" to persuade the children of God to turn to Jesus and to believe in Him and His gospel, as restored by the prophet Joseph Smith, and as found in revealed scripture and in the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Why I blog I share my personal ideas and experiences because they are important and instructive to me. I don't want them buried in my journal, where no one will read them or learn from them. I want to express my thoughts for the benefits I will personally obtain from recalling and reflecting upon what I have received, and also because I believe others may benefit from considering them. I want to invite others (especially my own children) to come unto Christ, and I want to help them strengthen their personal testimonies and faith in Him. I hope that my beliefs (although admittedly, sometimes non-traditional) might encourage people to stay connected to the restored gospel and to the keys of t...