Don't Judge Why Someone is Coming To Christ

Sometimes it's very easy to think that people are trying to benefit themselves and aren't coming to Church or to Christ for the right reasons. Elder Uchtdorf mentioned that some members were unkind to people who joined the church in Germany after World War II when the church was giving food to the people. He said that some members did leave after a while, but many stayed in the church showing that they didn't come just for food.

I was reminded of this story when reading Mark 10. In this story, a blind man becomes very outspoken in calling to Jesus and asking for a healing. Many people wanted the man to be quiet, but Jesus called him forward and healed him. Particularly interesting is the last verse, in which Jesus tells him to go where he'd like, and the man chooses to follow Jesus.

52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath ^amadethee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

It seems that people expected the man to not follow Jesus or that he was being loud annoying people. However, once healed, he was a true disciple. It is wise for us to never judge someone's intentions when coming closer to the Lord.

Here's the entire story as recorded in Mark:

46 ¶And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind ^aBartimæus, the son of Timæus, sat by the highway side begging.

47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the ^ablind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.

50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.

51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.

52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath ^amadethee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Help thou mine unbelief

One of the great stories in the scriptures is of the man whose son has had a devil his whole life. His son is severely handicapped as a result and does crazy things such as jumping into fires. Through tears, the man begs Jesus to help his son. Here's the story from Mark 9:

20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit ^atare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.

22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have ^acompassionon us, and help us.

23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are^apossible to him that ^bbelieveth.

24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine ^aunbelief.

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he^arebuked the ^bfoul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and ^alifted him up; and he arose.

At times, all of us are like this man. We have great need for help. We believe God can help us, but considering how difficult the problem is, we have a bit of doubt as well. We think, "how could anything solve this issue? It is so hard." So, we beg for help, and perhaps even acknowledge our lack of faith in asking for it. Luckily for us, God is compassionate. This man did not have to have perfect faith, but instead, desire to have enough faith for his son to be healed, and that was enough.

I appreciate the honesty of this man and the compassion of the Savior. I have had so many experiences showing he cares about us, but occasionally I have my own doubts and questions. As I turn to him to ask for help in overcoming this doubts that come, he does not rebuke me but strengthens me. I love him for this.

Have a great week.

All things denote there is a God & I know the Church is True

Today was fast and testimony meeting, which means people in the congregation can get up and speak about life and their faith in Jesus Christ.

One man with 2 kids got up and gave a great example of faith and healing. His son recently was getting some strange blisters on his face. The doctor told them that it was okay, but that if they got closer to his eyes or nose, it could be dangerous as the virus he had was a leading cause of blindness in children. When the blisters got worse, they met with the doctor who set up a meeting with a specialist the next morning. That night this family was going to attend the temple, but they thought maybe it wasn't worth it since they wanted to be with their child who was sick. However, it was already planned (and it's probably about a 4 hr event from where we live). During a prayer a person gave at the temple, it was said, "please bless the families of those in attendance tonight that they may be healthy." In that moment, the brother said he tangibly felt everything would be all right. The next day, the doctor asked, "what did you guys do last night? Your son is perfectly fine." They talked about going to the temple.

Because I know these people are honest, good people, when I hear this story, all I can conclude is that it's reasonable there is a God who loves us and knows us. Also, when I consider this story, and the way I feel at testimony meetings is a common occurrence, I can only conclude that I'm a member of the true church. For instance, I have recently heard a man speak about his sick daughter and how he still trusts God and knows God is there. Also, a man recently read his wife's testimony. She has MS and has been in a wheelchair for 40 years and can barely speak. He loves her tremendously and is a very faithful member. These witnesses all build for me so that, just like Alma speaking to Korihor, I can say, "I have all things as witnesses that there is a God." These testimonies are some of the strong witnesses that I have.

Here's Alma's encounter with Korihor, a man who did not believe in Christ and worked to get other to sin - Alma 30:

39 Now Alma said unto him: Will ye deny again that there is a God, and also deny the Christ? For behold, I say unto you, I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come.

40 And now what evidence have ye that there is no ^aGod, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only.

41 But, behold, I have all things as a ^atestimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true; and will ye deny them? Believest thou that these things are true?

42 Behold, I know that thou ^abelievest, but thou art possessed with a ^blying spirit, and ye have put ^coff the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God.

43 And now Korihor said unto Alma: If thou wilt show me a ^asign, that I may be convinced that there is a God, yea, show unto me that he hath power, and then will I be convinced of the truth of thy words.

44 But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of ^aall these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the ^bearth, and ^call things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its ^dmotion, yea, and also all the^eplanets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

The kingdom of God will move forward - Mark 4

In Mark 4 we learn the kingdom of God will grow, sometimes imperceptibly, but constantly as people go about their lives, much like a plant grows:

26 ¶And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and ^agrow up, he knoweth not how.

28 For the earth bringeth forth ^afruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the ^aharvest is come.

Growing the church takes work and effort, but because the organization is Christ's, it will continue to grow and develop into a great "plant" or amazing organization for all to see. Two comments by the First Presidency remind me of this. One is from President Monson's Biography in which it states something like, "once all the work has been done to the best of our ability, we can have confidence that all will turn out right because God is at the helm."

Second, I heard President Eyring once say to a group of people at BYU that he's told his wife that when he dies she should move to BYU because God is involved in the university. He said that God's hand is a soft hand and he moves things almost imperceptibly, but his hand is there. I think this clearly relates to the church as well as BYU. God occasionally is very involved and makes specific things happen, but he often uses a soft hand to move the kingdom along across the entire world. Then when we look back we are amazed at how it has happened.

I love the church. I know it's God's kingdom on earth. It's growing. It'll grow larger.

Have a great weekend.

New organizations - new wine isn't put in old bottles

Jesus explained to the Jews who criticized his new organization and new doctrine that (Mark 2)

22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.

It should not be surprising that in our time, a period of confusion within Christianity about the correct ways to follow Jesus, that Jesus started a new organization and didn't try to adjust the organizations that had long established their beliefs and ways of doing things.

It's a good example for business as well. When trying to compete in the same industry under a different business model, it's important to separate the new business unit from the old business unit because otherwise the new business unit will be crushed. This has happened again and again in businesses. For example, in the computer industry, few computer giants have survived the shift from mainframe to mini to personal computers. The one that did (IBM) set up new divisions in different parts of the country and gave those divisions free license to compete however deemed wisest against the new competition in the lower ends of the market.

I am not surprised that Jesus started a new church organization in our time. He had already established a precedent of doing it.