What is The Feast of the Passover?

July 7, 2009 in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints | Tags: , , , , | by Joey | Leave a comment

The Feast of the Passover was a celebration held by the ancient Hebrews to commemorate that the angel of destruction had passed by their homes when the first-born children in Egypt were killed. The Feast of the Passover also celebrates the redemption of the children of Israel from Egypt.

The book of Leviticus in the Old Testament describes the Passover:

“In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.  In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.” (See Leviticus 23:5-8)

Passover is celebrated in springtime to celebrate a newness of life, the beginning of a new period of growth.

The feast of the Passover continued until the time of Christ.  After the death of Christ, the Passover became a time for spiritual reflection, as described by Paul: “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”  (See 1 Corinthians 5:7)

Jesus Christ is sometimes referred to as “Our Passover,” since his atoning sacrifice prevents death from having a permanent hold on us. In the Book of Mormon, Amulek describes this sacrifice: ““For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.” (See Alma 34:10)

Anointing and Blessing with Consecrated Oil

June 24, 2009 in Christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Experiences, Faith, God, Jesus Christ, LDS, Mormon, Religion, Thoughts | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | by Joey | Leave a comment

In the Epistle of James, we read: “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14). In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we use pure olive oil to anoint and bless the sick. This function is performed by males who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood.

The oil that is used in the anointing must have been consecrated at some point prior to the time of the blessing. To consecrate means “to declare sacred.”  The LDS Church website (www.lds.org) gives the following instructions for consecrating oil:

One or more Melchizedek Priesthood holders may consecrate pure olive oil and set it apart for the purpose of anointing the sick. No other oil may be used.

To consecrate oil, a priesthood bearer:

  1. Holds an open container of olive oil.
  2. Addresses our Heavenly Father.
  3. States that the ordinance is performed by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
  4. Consecrates the oil for the blessing and anointing of the sick.
  5. Closes in the name of Jesus Christ.

After oil is consecrated, it can be used at any point in the future for the anointing and blessing of the sick.  Administering to the sick is also performed by Melchizedek Priesthood holders. Usually two bearers of the Melchizedek priesthood perform the ordinance. One will anoint the head of the sick person with the consecrated oil. The other will then seal the anointing and give a blessing. Again, the LDS Church website contains instructions on how this is done.

Anointing:

  1. Puts a small amount of oil on the person’s head.
  2. Places his hands on the person’s head and calls the person by name.
  3. States that the ordinance is performed by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
  4. States that he is anointing with consecrated oil.
  5. Closes in the name of Jesus Christ.

Sealing the Anointing:

  1. Calls the sick person by name.
  2. States that the ordinance is performed by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
  3. Seals the anointing.
  4. Pronounces a priesthood blessing as the Spirit directs.
  5. Closes in the name of Jesus Christ.

Source: http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,13-1-1-7,00.html

Father’s Day Move

June 23, 2009 in Christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Experiences, Faith, God, Jesus Christ, LDS, Mormon, Religion | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | by Joey | Leave a comment

There is a woman in our ward whose husband died a few months ago, leaving behind his wife and two young daughters. The family had additional changes in circumstances after the death of the father that necessitated a move to another state. Unfortunately, the only day on which they could move was a Sunday and not just any Sunday, but Father’s Day.

I will always remember the first counselor in our bishopric standing up in priesthood meeting and saying that there was nothing better we could be doing on Father’s Day than helping a family who has just lost their father. These inspired words touched the hearts of the men in our ward. The evening of Father’s Day found 21 of us at the home of this dear family who were still grieving for their father. There were so many of us that we formed an assembly line and routed boxes and furniture out of the house and into the truck, filling the moving truck in less than a half hour.

Isaiah 1:17 -> “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”

I pray that the Lord will bless and comfort this family.

Why was Elijah translated?

June 20, 2009 in Christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, God, Jesus Christ, LDS, Mormon, Religion, Thoughts | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | by Joey | Leave a comment

Elijah was the last prophet to hold the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the power to bind in heaven ordinances performed on earth, before the time of Jesus Christ.  Elijah came to the Mount of Transfiguration to confer the sealing power upon Peter, James, and John.  In order to do so, he needed his physical body, since spirits cannot lay hands on mortal beings (See Doctrine and Covenants 129:8).

It’s interesting to note that Elijah also came to earth to confer this same sealing power to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on April 3, 1836 (See Doctrine and Covenants 110:13-16). At this time, however, he came as a resurrected being, since he was with Christ in his resurrection (See Doctrine and Covenants 133:55).

What is the difference between a sin and a transgression?

June 19, 2009 in Christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, God, Jesus Christ, LDS, Mormon, Religion, Thoughts | Tags: , , , , , , , , | by Joey | 2 comments

To sin is to do something contrary to the will of the Lord. It is to be willfully disobedient.  Transgression, on the other hand, is the violation of a law or rule that may or may not be against the will of the Lord. Thus, all sins are transgressions but not all transgressions are sins.

Sin is breaking a law with knowledge that a law is being broken. Adam didn’t have knowledge of good and evil before partaking of the forbidden fruit, so his act was a transgression of the law, not a sin against the law.

The Bible clearly notes a difference between sin and transgression

-          Psalms 25:7 -> “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.”

-          Joshua 24:19 -> “And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.”

The first mention of sin in the Bible is in regards to Cain.

Genesis 4:6-7 -> “And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”

Adam and Eve’s partaking of the forbidden fruit is referred to as transgression.

Romans 5:14 -> “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”

The New and Everlasting Covenant

June 17, 2009 in Book of Mormon, Christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Jesus Christ, LDS, Mormon, Religion | Tags: , , , , , , , , | by Joey | Leave a comment

What is the New and Everlasting Covenant?

The new and everlasting covenant is the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The covenant is everlasting because it is always the same. God’s plan does not change.

The covenant is new because it has been revealed many times following periods of apostasy on the earth. Each time it is revealed it is, in effect, newly on the earth again.

All covenants between God and man are part of the new and everlasting covenant.  Many people in the LDS church mistakenly think that marriage is the new and everlasting covenant when, in reality, it is a new and an everlasting covenant. (See Doctrine and Covenants 132:4.) Covenants made at baptism, when taking the sacrament, and in the temple are also examples of individual covenants.

In a revelation received by Joseph Smith in 1831, God declared that the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the new and everlasting covenant.

-          Doctrine and Covenants 66:2 -> “Verily I say unto you, blessed are you for receiving mine everlasting covenant, even the fulness of my gospel, sent forth unto the children of men, that they might have life and be made partakers of the glories which are to be revealed in the last days, as it was written by the prophets and apostles in days of old.”

The breaking of the everlasting covenant is apostasy.  In a revelation given to Joseph Smith in 1831, the Lord said that those who do not follow the prophet in the last days will be cut off from the Lord’s presence. “For they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant.” (See Doctrine and Covenants 1:15.) In an earlier time, Isaiah prophesied that the apostasy after the death of Christ and his apostles would be because the people on the earth had “transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.”

Elder D. Todd Christofferson commented on the new and everlasting covenant in the April 2009 General Conference: “The scriptures speak of the new and everlasting covenant. The new and everlasting covenant is the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, the doctrines and commandments of the gospel constitute the substance of an everlasting covenant between God and man that is newly restored in each dispensation. If we were to state the new and everlasting covenant in one sentence it would be this: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

LDS First and Second Resurrection

June 13, 2009 in Christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, LDS, Mormon, Religion | Tags: , , , | by Joey | Leave a comment

A few times each year my wife asks me: “When Christ died, was everyone who had died up to that point resurrected?” My answer always has been: “I don’t know, but we should find out.”  I finally did some research and discovered the following:

    • When Christ died, all the righteous dead who had lived and died up to that point were resurrected.
      • Matthew 27:52-53 -> “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose.  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
      • D & C 133:55 -> “And from Moses to Elijah, and from Elijah to John, who were with Christ in his resurrection, and the holy apostles, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, shall be in the presence of the Lamb.”
    • At the beginning of the millennium, all righteous people who have lived since Christ was resurrected will be resurrected. This is the morning of the first resurrection.
      • Revelation 20:6  -> “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”
      • Luke 14:14 -> “And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”
      • 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17 -> “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
      • D & C 88:97-98 -> “And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven—  They are Christ’s, the first fruits, they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God.”
    • The afternoon of the first resurrection is when all people who were good but not worthy enough to receive a full inheritance in the kingdom of God will be resurrected.
      • D & C 88:99 -> “And after this another angel shall sound, which is the second trump; and then cometh the redemption of those who are Christ’s at his coming; who have received their part in that prison which is prepared for them, that they might receive the gospel, and be judged according to men in the flesh.”
    • The second resurrection is when the wicked will be resurrected. This happens at the end of the millennium.
      • Revelation 20:5 -> “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. “
      • D & C 88:100-101 -> “And again, another trump shall sound, which is the third trump; and then come the spirits of men who are to be judged, and are found under condemnation;  And these are the rest of the dead; and they live not again until the thousound years are ended, neither again, until the end of the earth.”
    • The resurrection of damnation is the resurrection of those who gained a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost and then denied it, chose Satan, and came out in rebellion against Christ.
      • John 5:29 -> “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
      • D & C 100:102 -> “And another trump shall sound, which is the fourth trump, saying: There are found among those who are to remain until that great and last day, even the end, who shall remain filthy still.”

Father and Sons Campout – Priesthood Fireside

May 31, 2009 in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | by ldspad | Leave a comment

This weekend, our ward had a Father and Son’s Camp out. I drove myself and my three sons over 90 miles to our destination on a Friday afternoon. I had tried to get out of work early, but it didn’t work out that way and by the time we left my house it was already 6pm.

I was worried that there wouldn’t be any light left to set my tent up but didn’t worry too much, having faith that things would work out. It was dark and overcast at my house when we left and by the time we reach our destination, there was literally a column of sunlight gleaming down from between the clouds. Just as I had trusted would happen.  It had shed enough light to set up the tent without difficulty.

There was already a group playing kickball, but I decided to just sit by my tent and relax while my three sons would squeal and cry over the red kick ball that I had brought. Besides, if I had played kickball it would have been completely unfair to the opposite team!

The fireside seemed to be exactly what I needed. It was, of course, about the Priesthood and service.   There was a great lesson presented.  In a nutshell, those successful people around us that were known to give generously had done so before the fact that there were successful.

They were also great leaders, but not for the reasons why you would think. They were kind and generous, which in turn had people gravitate towards them. Their genuine willingness to help and give their time, money and talents had brought them blessings of true happiness. True happiness is being in the service of your fellow men. The Priesthood brings happiness by its sole purpose of serving others.

This has had me pondering the whole weekend about the things I can do to help those around me.

My Family
I can be a more loving husband and patient father.

My Friends
I can be more bold in bringing up the gospel in day to day situations.

My Ward Family
I can get over my habit to float to the side and stay unnoticed and make a better effort. I can find ways to serve them. I can try to take my callings to the next level.

The Blessings from service are evident as I had arranged to go visit a family today with my home teaching companion.  I had received good news upon my visit that the father had received a great job offer, ending a period of worry.  I was uplifted to hear about the blessings they had received through prayer, obedience and faith in Heavenly Fathers.

I am excited and filled with enthusiasm as this month, I am going to concentrate on service to my fellow men.

Remembering and Recommitting

April 30, 2009 in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | by ldspad | Leave a comment

April has been a month of recommitting and remembering.

Let’s all face it.  When we’re following the straight and narrow path, you are the most happy.

This is done by following the commandments, daily prayers throughout the day, following family home evening, putting effort into your callings, giving thanks and remembering Christ.

Heavenly Father knows our hearts and our needs and he listens to our prayers.   When we are weathered from the world and feel that we are not 100% and yearn to be, he will bless us and give us a way.

Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.  (Matthew 21:21-22)

Throughout the Book of Mormon we consistantly see the word “Remember.”   Searching on scriptures.lds.org for “Remember” shows us at least 88 results.

Recommitting is remembering.

Remember the baptismal covenant.

Remember the plan of salvation/happiness.

Remember to pray.

Remember the scriptures.

Remember Heavenly Father and his love.

Remember Jesus Christ and the atonement.

Remember and be blessed with peace and happiness.

Sand & Stone

March 30, 2009 in Book of Mormon, Christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Experiences, Faith, God, Home Teaching, Jesus Christ, LDS, Mormon, Religion, The Gospel According To St Matthew, Thoughts | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | by ldspad | 1 comment

Yesterday, my home teacher came by and shared an inspirational story with us.  I liked the message it delivered so much that I decided to share it with the family that I home teach and you as well.

The story goes that two friends were walking through the desert.

During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand:

Today my best friend slapped me in the face.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath.

The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:

Today my best friend saved my life.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him,

After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now you write on a stone. Why?

The other friend replied:

When someone hurts us we should write it down in the sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in a stone where no wind can ever erase it.

My Thoughts On This Story:

The Stone – Remember the good that people do to you.  It can perpetuate in your behavior and influence those around you.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

The Sand – Forgiveness is a divine attribute we can practice, as Jesus Christ does.  We draw closer to Heavenly Father as we learn to forgive those around us.   We cannot expect to receive forgiveness for our sins unless the same be freely given.  See Matthew 18:23-35 about the King, Servant and Fellowservant.  Forgive your debtors – those who trespass against you.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15)

 

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