Who Are The Chosen People?

In our readings this year, we have recently finished the book of Isaiah. It's hard to believe this year is almost over, and I'm surprised to still be learning new things from the Old Testament.

For some reason, while reading Isaiah, I seemed to pick up on this whole concept of the Chosen People. It starts with Abraham, where God promises blessings upon his descendants -- that they should be as numerous as the stars in the sky. God also promises a choice land for His people.

Going down a couple of generations, it comes to Israel and his twelve sons, who then head the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Then the rest of the Old Testament follows what happens to this Chosen People.

Every time I hear the term "Chosen," the first thing that comes to mind is: why is there even a Choice People to begin with? Doesn't this contradict the doctrine of "God is not a respecter of persons"? (Acts 10:34)

I'm also surprised to see how rotten this group of people are throughout the Old Testament. God works miracles with them, but they always apostatize -- not even waiting a full generation. Sometimes they are "good" with good kings or judges, but most of the time, they're the ones following idols and sometimes being worse than their neighbors.

But yet in Isaiah, even with the anger against Israel, he states that God's hand is still outstretched. And this is important ...

... They are still the Chosen People. When they turn to good, God is ready to support them.

Now that we're in the Jeremiah books, we'll get to see what happens next: the scattering of Israel, where ten tribes will become lost, and two will remain. Eventually, the descendants of Judah will reject and have their own Messiah crucified.

So, why them? What about most of all the other people in the world, like me (Gentiles)? I can't help that I was born outside of their group. Why am I not Chosen?

In some cases, it seems that God really is being a respecter of persons. For example, in the New Testament, Jesus made it a point to administer only to the Jews (including the Samaritans). It was only at His death that the Gospel was opened up to the Gentiles. At one point during his ministry, a Gentile says "yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." (Matthew 15:27) So, are the rest of us just sloppy seconds?

But then I notice that a Chosen People needed to be established near the beginning so that the true Gospel could eventually be revealed and established more permanently in the world. Because of apostasy throughout the world after the Flood, this was a strategy to shore up Truth for generations to come. It would take a couple of millennia to come to full fruition into what we have today.

Some wonder if these people were chosen as some kind of necessary setup for the ultimate sacrifice to come. Only the Chosen People could reject their own, paradoxically helping to save us from our sins through the Atonement. According to as-of-yet unfilled prophecies, the Chosen will ultimately accept Christ in the last days. The First will be Last, and the Last will be First. Or in other words, the Chosen will be the Last to accept Him.

Some also point out that the promise to Abraham has been fulfilled. Throughout the Old Testament, the Chosen People have intermingled with their neighbors. Simple math would show that chances are very high that we are all descendants of Abraham -- and also Israel. In this sense, we are literally one of the Chosen. We may be "watered down," yet we may have full access to all of the blessings promised to Abraham and his descendants.

I'm not sure if I've figured all of this out, but I figure God knows what He's doing.

Finally, I would like to close with thoughts about the Jewish people today. Some seem to forget that they are still the Chosen People. The Bible reminds us that those who fight against Israel will be punished, and will ultimately not prevail.

We should also be reminded that from a Christian standpoint, the Jewish belief system isn't necessarily wrong. They are just missing the additional information the rest of us have accepted. Their current existence as a people reminds us of our own heritage. In a strict sense, as Christians, we are also Jews -- that is, we believe in the same God of Abraham and Israel. We are held to many of the same commandments. The main difference is that we believe many of the parts of the Law of Moses have been fulfilled and replaced with a Higher Law.

Today's Jewish people have preserved much of their own traditions, of which we can learn plenty. So, in the coming days, we must remember to be friends, help them out, encourage them, work together, and learn. Because in the end, we will all be one again.

So, what are your thoughts? What do you believe about the Chosen People?

Proverbs: Knowledge and Wisdom

This past week, our Old Testament reading included Solomon's Proverbs. So, today, I'd like to talk about Wisdom and Knowledge.

The Bible tells us that Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, or who will ever live:

And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

The first time I read that, I rolled my eyes -- yeah right. But that was his reputation. Super wise, such that he attracted kings and queens to come visit.

The book of Proverbs talks about Wisdom. But it also talks about Understanding, which is sometimes used interchangeably with Knowledge. Solomon seems to place Wisdom first over everything else.

To me, Knowledge is facts. Like knowing 1 + 1 = 2. As a "scientist," actuary, programmer, mathematician, etc., I have a LOT of knowledge. I could explain a myriad of topics on statistics, probability, science, and math, where I see people struggling every day. But I find most of the time, others don't want to hear it.

This is where Wisdom comes in. You don't need to have Knowledge to be wise. You just have to simply learn to rely on the experience of others. You must realize that you are most likely wrong somewhere in your own belief system, and you should be willing to maintain an open mind so that you can happily receive correction.

Solomon goes through all this in his Proverbs. Check out these verses:

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7)

Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. (Proverbs 9:8-9)

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. (Proverbs 3:13-15)

In other words, a wise person is not only willing, but actively seeks out Knowledge. And this Wisdom has much more value than silver, gold, and rubies.

I invite you to check out my post (or video) on Belief Systems in my "Always Be Better" series, where I go into more details about our belief systems. Near the end of the post -- I touch on how to constantly improve our own Knowledge.

But while Wisdom can give us great power of understanding, and lead to much success, there is one important thing to point out...

If Solomon was indeed the wisest person who ever lived and will ever live, it didn't seem to do him much good at the end. He allowed his wives to turn him toward idols. He then ended up losing most of Israel, and had many enemies. But the Bible is silent about his final state -- did he repent as his father did from his mistakes?

Either way, it seems that Wisdom, alone, is not enough. We must also remember Faith, Charity, Love, and all other good traits. From my own experience, the smarter and wiser I get, the more I come to realize what I don't know. No one person can know everything, so that's why we must rely on other tools in our own quests for salvation.

Visiting the Psalms

This month our Old Testament reading is covering the Psalms. So -- yes, we're in the "poetry" section of the Bible these couple of months.

In some respect, the Psalms represent one of my favorite aspects of the Gospel -- music. I know, I'm biased, being such a musical guy, but the Bible seems to be clear on this topic. We are encouraged to sing -- and not just nice and pretty soft music, but also praiseful music as well. It is all considered to be sacred, connecting us with God and the angels. And if you sing well enough, the angels will even join in -- something I've experienced at least once in my life.

David's strength was music. In his humble beginnings, Saul, the King, took David into his court (somehow oblivious to the fact that David had already been anointed to be king, himself). Whenever Saul was troubled, David would play his harp and sooth Saul's soul.

Music can be very powerful!

I often wonder how David's singing sounded. I'm certain the scales are different from what we use today -- but would it sooth our souls? Or would one have to be already accustomed to that kind of music. As a musician -- I would love to hear a live recording, but alas -- all we have are the lyrics.

As far we know, it could have sounded something like this ...

So, what do the Psalms teach us about music?

I will ... sing praise to the Lord most high. (Ps. 7:17)

Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. (Ps. 33:2-3)

Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. (Ps. 81:1-3)

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King. (Ps. 98:4-6)

Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. (Ps. 148:2)

... and so on. Music is very important in our quest to converse with God.

So, don't be afraid. Sing, praise, and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

The Old Testament and Apostasy

For our Old Testament reading, we have been flying through Judges, Samuel, and Kings. And one theme rises above everything else: apostasy.

In the very beginning, Adam and Eve are taught truth, and then many of their children and grandchildren fall away, going after other gods.

In the time of Noah, the Lord wipes out all of humanity except for one extended family in the flood, and again, it doesn't take very long for the surviving children to fall away.

Abraham is given truth, and all of his children are blessed. But after a couple of generations, again these children fall away.

And then comes Moses. The Lord appears to him and provides an actual Law. Perhaps this time the truth will stick? But in their journeys, the people of Moses complain and are essentially wiped out (the older ones) before they reach the Promised Land.

After Moses, Joshua leads the younger generation into the Promised Land. This whole time, they're slaying heathens and idolaters left and right. The People of the Lord prevail. Surely the people would remember their struggles and accomplishments? The pillars of fire? All the different miracles?

But then again, it doesn't take long. Even armed with the Law, the people fall away. So much for the Law!

The descendants of Moses' people go through several judges. Some righteous, and some wicked. When they are more wicked, the enemies of Israel prevail, and when they are more righteous, Israel gets their lands back, etc.

Then when Israel desires a king, they are warned: you don't want a king, because some of them will give you heavy burdens. But the people say: give us a king anyway.

Saul is the first king -- chosen by the Lord. He starts out well, but then apostatizes -- so much so that the Lord says Saul needs to be replaced.

Then the Lord chooses David. When Saul dies, David takes over, and he does well. Every now and then he makes some mistakes, but he always comes back to the Lord. He helps bring peace to the land.

Then, David's son Solomon becomes king. He's given ultimate wisdom -- such as nobody had or will ever match (so says the Bible). He reigns in righteousness -- so perhaps the people will stick with the Lord? Unfortunately, Solomon's wives turn him against the Lord, and apostasy comes back.

Up next comes a whole series of kings: Rehoboam -- who was so bad that Israel split into two kingdoms in rebellion, and Jeroboam, and many other kings that were righteous or wicked.

Hezekiah tears down all the groves of Baal and gets the people to covenant not to stray again. But as soon as Hezekiah dies, the groves come back. Seriously?

My favorite instance is Josiah, who turns to the Lord, and then one of his priests finds this scroll called the Law of Moses (pictured above). "What is this?" Josiah asks. He then tears down those Baal groves again, and tries to codify this Law. But again -- not enough. As soon as he dies, it's back to apostasy.

This keeps going on until Babylon steps in and says: "I'm just gonna capture all of you, destroy your city and your temple, and y'all gonna be sad."

And this is where we are now. We're about to see what happens to the Israelites while they're in captivity.

Part of me wonders: are we really this rotten? Is this cycle of righteousness and wickedness inevitable? Is there really any value in teaching us truth and righteousness when we're just going to throw it all away at our earliest convenience?

I know -- we all have potential. It gives me hope that if we choose to do so, we can be righteous, and help other people. However, it gives me doubt that the people as a whole can keep this up indefinitely.

But then I realize -- yes we're imperfect, but God knows what he's doing. He wouldn't keep trying to teach us truth if he didn't have a reason. I think it's because he successfully reaches the few who are listening -- and I mean -- really listening -- because it is worth it. The worth of souls is great, and if even just one person is saved, it would be worth it. And that's why despite our tendency to apostatize, God keeps reminding us.

The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin: The Cake and Gidgiddoni

The Cake and Gidgiddoni

March 14, 1990

It was our turn to bring refreshments to the district meeting, and our new sister, the greenie Sister Young, was in for a surprise: Elder Benjamin’s infamous Kool-Aid cake.

It’s exactly what you may imagine — a simple white cake with Kool-Aid mixed in — nothing much for most to be excited about, but you have to understand. In Korea, at the beginning of the 90’s, American food was scarce. Don’t get me wrong. I loved Korean food, but over there it was just “food.” We got to eat it all the time. Kimchi everyday. 

So, it was easy to miss good old-fashioned American food. Pizza, hamburgers, tacos, and so on. There were indeed a couple of McDonald’s here and there, but it was very expensive, and also not quite the same. Some places sold pizza, but it was only imitation — often topped with seafood. Once in Pusan, we found an actual Dairy Queen, and we splurged. Man — that was fun!

And believe it or not — SPAM tasted good, especially mixed with eggs.

Anyway, you get the picture. Kool-Aid cake was one of those delicacies, and this time, Elder Benjamin was going to apply a secret ingredient, and he didn’t want to tell me what it was.

“Come on, Elder Benjamin. I won’t tell anyone. What are you going to use this time?”

“You’ll see. It goes in last — in the icing. But you can’t see until after our meeting.”

I helped him with the rest of the cake: eggs, flour, baking powder, baking soda, water, oil, butter, sugar, and the most important ingredient: 7/8^ths packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid mix. Once I asked him: why not poor in the whole packet and he had answered that it would ruin the whole cake. “What do you do with the rest?” I had asked, and he answered, “Whatever you want.”

We did all of this during our morning preparation time, which was usually set aside for scripture study, Korean practice, doctrine studies, etc. The weekly district meeting was scheduled first thing at the church — at 11AM.

When time came to add in the secret ingredient, Elder Benjamin kicked me out of the kitchen area, which was a small nook in our big living area. So, being kicked out pretty much meant going back into our room.

Elders Johnston and Riley were minding their business, studying in their own room, totally oblivious to the cake preparations and the secret ingredient — whatever it was.

And then Elder Benjamin said, “You can come back out now.” He had placed the cake in a largish plastic bag and had tied it up so no one could see it, except for the green color through the translucent plastic.

And I heard a noise. Click — pop — click — click.

“Um?” I said. “Do you hear something?”

Elder Benjamin maintained a straight face. “I hear a lot of sounds. The egg vendor outside. The garbage ice-cream truck. Elder Johnston talking to Elder Riley. Which sound do you mean?”

And there it was again. Click … click … … pop. Little tiny random sounds — kind of slow. It was coming from the cake? I stared at it and got closer.

“Elder Benjamin?”

He barely suppressed a laugh.

“Did you put pop rocks in the icing?”

And then he lost it — kind of. A high-pitched giggle that he was clearly trying to hold in. I couldn’t help it, so I joined in, too. Only I wasn’t so diligent in hiding my laughter.

“Shh,” he whispered. “You can’t tell anyone. … HA! … It’s a surprise.”

It was hard to talk while laughing. “But … won’t they hear … the cake?” That only made him laugh louder.

“Not … if we … distract them.”

Behind us, Elder Johnston said, “What are you two up to this time?”

Dang — we were busted. I couldn’t stop laughing, but Elder Benjamin said, “Elder Elder just told the funniest joke!”

Elder Johnston looked at me, and then at Elder Benjamin. 

Elder Riley shrugged his shoulders. “What else is new?” he said.

“Well,” said Elder Johnston, “are you ready to go to the district meeting?”

“You could say that,” Elder Benjamin said, and I laughed.

“All right. Let’s go.”

Elder Benjamin picked up the cake on the way out. Every now and then, it would go click … pop, but the other two elders remained oblivious.

The church was in walking distance — perhaps three-fourths of a mile. We could ride the bus if we wanted to, but the walk to the bus stop was a little out of the way and didn’t really save much time. The one thing we didn’t do in Taegu was riding bikes. We didn’t even own any. The bus system was just that good in Korea (as long as you didn’t go too far out into the boonies).

Today, as often happened, a group of kids — around 8 years old — surrounded us, saying “Mee-gook Sa-lam!” This meant “Americans.” They loved us because we were different — something novel, and we always played it up. Sometimes we spoke in Korean, which they loved, and sometimes in English, which they loved even more.

Elder Johnston liked to tell them jokes — sometimes the same ones over and over.

One of the kids saw the cake, and asked, “What’s in the bag?”

“Oh, you don’t want that,” said Elder Riley. “It’s filled with salt. Yuck!”

Part of me wondered what they would think of kool-aid cake covered in pop rocks. Would they appreciate it, or would they spit it out? Either way, the kids paid it no more mind, and started running off — it was school time.

The good part was that it was too loud outside to hear any of the pop rocks snapping.

The sister missionaries were inside the church when we got there, so the doors were already unlocked. We went to the designated room, and Elder Benjamin placed the cake in the back, leaving it in its bag. It would be unveiled in about 45 minutes after the meeting.

“Hello, Elders,” said Sister King. “I’d like for you to meet my new companion, Sister Young. Fresh from the states.”

“Hey,” we all said.

Sister King continued, “This is Elder Johnston, Elder Riley (who’s also new), Elder Benjamin, and Elder Elder.”

“Elder Elder?” asked Sister Young.

I said, “Yeah — you know. Like in, Elder Elder Elder Elder Elder …”

She just stared at me while Elder Benjamin laughed.

“All right,” said Elder Johnston. “Let’s get this meeting started. We have an appointment at 1PM, and I want to catch lunch before we go.”

We all sat down around the table, small enough to seat only the six of us. Elder Benjamin took the one seat closest to the cake.

“Okay,” said Elder Johnston. “Let’s sing ‘Called to Serve.’ And then Sister Young, would you mind saying the opening prayer?”

We then sang with gusto, without piano, as always. I could play, of course, but pianos were scarce in the building — only one in the gym, which also served as the chapel.

Called to serve Him, heavenly King of glory …

My personal favorite. We sang it in Korean — always by memory.

When the hymn ended, Sister Young waited for the room to get quiet for the prayer, and then came a couple of snaps. After a long pause, Sister Young said, “I’m sorry. Do you hear something? I could have sworn I heard something.”

Elder Benjamin choked a laugh, and so did I. Then complete silence as everyone tried to listen.

“I don’t think so,” said Elder Johnston.

“Okay,” said Sister Young. “I guess I’ll say the prayer now.”

As she said the prayer, I heard another snap followed by an almost silent giggle from Elder Benjamin, and then another snap started me giggling as well.

After the prayer, Sister King said, “Elder Benjamin, are you up to something again?”

He tried to look serious, but it was a lost cause. “Would I be doing something? Elder Elder told me a joke today, and I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Snap!

Everyone turned toward the cake, and before we knew it, we were all giggling.

But then the meeting had to go on. The cake had to wait, so everyone did their best to ignore it.

We reviewed upcoming activities, including a big move for the Elders in the coming weeks. We went over all the baptisms scheduled for the upcoming weekend — five were planned, though one was iffy. We read snippets from the Missionary Handbook, and Elder Riley gave the spiritual thought. Then after a closing prayer, the time had come to eat the cake.

Elder Benjamin grabbed the bag, took out the cake, and placed it in the middle of our table. There it sat in its full glory. One layer — a red-dyed yellow cake with green icing on top with lots of loud sprinkles. Snap — click — click — snap!

It was definitely louder out of its bag.

Sister Young asked, “Is that pop rocks?”

“It’s kool-aid cake with pop rocks!” said Elder Benjamin, as proud as ever.

Elder Riley said, “You’re in for a treat.”

And Sister Young said, “I think I’m going to like it here.”

***

Later that evening, we four elders ended up back at the church building. It started with a new member discussion, and then turned into games of ping pong down in the basement. Kong Soong taught us moves.

He showed me a serve — you hold the paddle nearly horizontal, throw the ball up and when it comes back down, you flick the paddle severely to the left or to the right, which puts a crazy spin on the ball. In that one night, I had mastered it to a degree. My serve would lob high in the air, and as my opponent got ready to return it, the ball would shoot off way to the left or right, leading to confusion and a point.

Later, I would learn that any professional ping pong player would have no trouble anticipating which way the ball would go and would school me with my high lobs. But Kong Soong was the biggest expert in the room. We American missionaries were mere novices. So, my spinning lobs worked fine against them.

At 8:30PM, Kong Soong left us, as he had hakgyo the next morning. But we elders kept going. Knowing that curfew was at 9:30PM, and we had already enjoyed a successful week, we decided to blow off some steam.

And we were getting into it. At one point, I served and the ball hit right inside the line. Or at least I was sure it was inside, but Elder Riley said, “That was out.”

“No it wasn’t,” I said.

Elder Johnston said, “It was out. Our point.”

“Hey. It was in, and you know it!”

Elder Benjamin, my teammate put his hand on my shoulder and said, “It looked out to me.”

“What?” I said. “All three of you think it was out?”

Elder Johnston said, “We were closer to the ball, and it was clearly out. Our point.”

“I can’t believe this! I know what I saw!” I slammed my paddle down and exited up the stairs.

Elder Benjamin followed closely behind, as we had a rule that no missionary could be left alone at any time. I knew this, so I knew Elder Benjamin had no choice but to follow.

In the hallway, he wasted no time trying to talk me down. “Hey, Elder Elder. Why are you so angry?”

“They’re cheating! How can we beat them like this?”

“It’s just a game,” he said. “We’re having fun. That’s all. Does it really matter?”

“Aren’t we supposed to be honest?”

“How about we go back down and finish the game? We can redo the point.”

But it was too late. Elders Johnston and Riley had emerged from the stairs. “Well,” said Elder Johnston. “It’s already 9PM. We better head back home.”

“Yeah. It was fun,” said Elder Riley. I noticed a hint of sarcasm, so I decided it was best for me not to answer.

The two elders walked to the front doors, and on their way out, Elder Johnston said, “Last ones out get to lock up the church.”

Dang! They did it again! We made a quick dash to the front door, but it was too late. They were already through the door, and that made it our turn to lock up.

“That’s how they’re getting back at me,” I said. “They planned this. You saw how fast they left?”

“Doesn’t matter, because we’re going to show them.”

“What are you thinking?”

Elder Benjamin smiled as big as the Grinch. “You’re thinking it, too. Right?”

“We’re going pull a prank on them? What — tonight?”

As Elder Benjamin locked the back door, he said, “You know the story of Gidgiddoni, right?”

“Gidgi - who?”

We started walking back to the front door. “You know — in the Book of Mormon? When Zemnarihah, the Gadianton Robber, was attacking the Nephites?”

I laughed. “How do you remember all these names?”

“Well, Zemnarihah tried to sneak away and attack the northern lands. So, Gidgiddoni made his armies march in the middle of the night so they could get in front of Zemnarihah and destroy his armies.”

“Wait. You think we can beat the elders home? They already have a headstart. There’s no way to get past them without them seeing us.”

“Oh, there’s a way.” Again, his Grinch smile grew. “We could … run through the market.”

“In the evening? That’s crazy.”

“And that’s exactly why we’re going to do it. We’ll come up to our apartment from the east, while they approach from the west. As long as they don’t suspect anything, they’ll go slow. Elder Riley will slow them down with his Southern talking. So, what do you think? Should we do this?”

As a missionary, I knew there was only one correct answer. “You betcha!”

We quickly locked the front door and started running, laughing all the way.

Even a little after 9PM, the markets were still a little crowded. Some had already closed up shop, which worked in our favor. As we dodged people left and right, we had several tell us: “Chae-shim-he-o!” and “Ha-ji-ma!” Warning us not to run so fast.

But we were young and very capable of weaving in and out. Well — almost. I just barely clipped a gum display and sent it crashing over. I yelled back: “Mi-an-hae-yo!” We were on a mission and couldn’t delay, so we ran faster.

Once we got to the cut-through street, we went south and left the market. That’s when we really booked it — still laughing the whole way.

“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this!” I yelled. 

Elder Benjamin, in front of me, yelled back, “We’re doing it! We’re Gidgiddoni!! Look — I see them!”

We were on the higher ground, so we could look down and see Elders Johnston and Riley taking the usual way home, and sure enough Elder Riley was talking his head off, and they were walking slowly. We were still behind them, but quickly catching up.

“Hey, Elder Benjamin. If they look up here, won’t they see us?” I tried to yell quietly.

“Nah! They’d have to look up at us, and we’re in the dark. And too many trees. I think we’re going to make it. We gotta hurry!!”

As we passed them, knowing we still hadn’t been seen, I couldn’t help but laugh even harder. “Dude! This is going to be so close. We can’t let them see us until they open the apartment door.” We pushed even harder.

We made it to the eastern stairwell and went up as fast as we could, making a terrible racket. If the others were anywhere near, they’d most definitely hear us. As we exited to the third floor, we saw nobody at all. It was going to work!!

“Hurry!” said Elder Benjamin.

As he fiddled with the keys, it was my turn to whisper, “Hurry! I hear someone coming up the other stairs!”

The door opened and we went in quickly, trying not to slam the door behind us.

“Quick!” said Elder Benjamin. “Lock it! Leave the lights off! We’re going to destroy them when they open the door.”

I locked it, and then we stood in the dark … waiting not for long. Sure enough, Elder Riley was telling some story to Elder Johnston. They had no idea what was about to happen.

The door opened, and we jumped and yelled.

“SURPRISE!” That was me.

“RAWRRR!” Yeah, that was Elder Benjamin.

“What the heck!” Elder Riley.

“Crap!” And the last — Elder Johnston.

They dropped their kabangs and backed up suddenly, but then they seemed to recognize our voices. “Elders?” said Elder Johnston. “How in the world did you get here?”

Elder Benjamin and I couldn’t help but laugh, buckling over until it hurt.

Elder Riley said, “Jerks,” as they picked up their kabangs, and came inside. They walked past us. “I can’t believe you guys.”

As we gathered in the living area, Elder Johnston smiled at us. “Okay. You have to tell us how you did it.”

Elder Benjamin smiled largely. “We ran.” And then we both laughed hard. We could tell they didn’t believe us, but we were telling the truth!

“Stop lying,” said Elder Riley, shaking his head. “We would have seen you. And we’re not that slow.”

“I think they took a taxi — we saw one drive past,” said Elder Johnston. “I think there were two people in the back seat.”

We laughed again.

“Fine. Don’t tell us.”

But we did tell them! To this day, they still don’t know how we did it — unless of course they read this story. Perhaps you shouldn’t let them read this. It’ll be our secret.

That night as Elder Benjamin and I tried to sleep in our yo’s, we kept on laughing softly, though not so soft that Elder Johnston once yelled at us to go to sleep from their own room.

A popping cake and Gidgiddoni destroying the Robbers? How in the world could we get any sleep that night?

Next adventure: The Ugly Ties

Modern-day Laws of Moses

Last week, I wrote about the Law of Moses and how it relates to the Higher Law that was later introduced by Jesus. As a follow-up, this week I'd like to analyze a modern-day "Law of Moses," which lends itself to great discussion.

As I mentioned before, sometimes "lower" laws are necessary when the people are not yet ready to accept higher ones. So, you may notice several of these today. What I share is specific to my church, but you are likely to see examples of it in your own church. And why is that? Because we people are imperfect. The religious leaders of Jesus' time felt the need to add to what was in the Law of Moses and make it more strict. Likewise today, you're likely to notice certain rules in your church that are not mentioned in the Bible -- such as no dancing, no drinking, celibacy, and so on. Some of these rules may be warranted, and others -- maybe not so much. In some cases, the causes for these rules may have long passed, and by tradition the strict rules remain in place.

In my church -- for as long as I could remember, trumpets were not allowed in our sacrament meetings (our normal Sunday worship services). As a trumpet player, myself, it was a source of sadness. I was unable to share my music through trumpet playing. The rule back then encompassed all brass and percussion, though I hear that occasionally French horns were allowed.

I believe the story is that a prominent leader was listening to music in sacrament meeting and the brass instruments were out of hand, so he had all brass banned throughout the entire Church. The idea -- as with all Laws of Moses -- was to protect us. It is definitely true that a poorly-played trumpet can chase away the Spirit much faster than a poorly-played piano.

But similar to what I described before, this decision disallowed a LOT of good music. It took away a portion of the Spirit that can only be brought by praiseful instruments such as trumpets and trombones.

What's ironic is that the very strict Law of Moses, itself, demanded the use of trumpets. Two silver trumpets were to be constructed (as pictured above), and were to have very solemn and sacred use.

And here is a Church-sponsored rendition of "He is Risen" for Easter in Temple Square a couple of years ago. I always found it ironic that the Church could have their own Spirit-filled concert, but we couldn't have the same in our own Sunday worship. (And believe me -- I know some wards that could pull off a smaller but just-as-effective rendition.)

I understand the desire of protecting us in our sacrament meetings: so we don't chase the Spirit away. But chasing away a large amount of good music has a big drawback as well. Several people I know have stopped going to my church in lieu of attending other denominations, simply because they felt MORE of the Spirit in the music of those other churches. In one of these cases, a lady was forbidden to perform in our church by a prominent leader, and a week later when she heard the Spirit in another church, she switched.

But then this past November -- I think it was November -- our church updated the music rules, and they removed ALL the instrument restrictions. It no longer mentions brass, percussion, etc. It only says that the instruments must play in a manner that invites the Spirit. By December, I was seeing several reports and even some pictures of brass instruments performing in sacrament meetings.

I can't even begin to describe the joy I felt. The Lower Law was replaced by a Higher Law, opening the floodgates to a whole segment of good music able to bring in higher levels of the Spirit.

I do know from one of the committee participants that "Law of Moses" and "Higher Law" were themes highly discussed. Also, the quote by Joseph Smith: "teach them correct principles and [let them] govern themselves." I like to think that I (and others) helped encourage and inspire some of these committee members in social media interactions. (Hee hee.)

There still remain what I believe to be needlessly strict rules governing our music, but this is one BIG step in the right direction. I'll take whatever joy I can. I must remember to start practicing and find a good piece to play with the Spirit for our sacrament meeting (it still remains a challenge).

I invite you to look at your own church and see if you can identify similar Laws of Moses. Is there a good reason for continuing to following those laws? Or is it time to bring in the Higher Law? You might just be able to help bring it to pass.

The Law Of Moses vs. the Higher Law

Today's spiritual thought is an important one. Currently, our Old Testament reading is concentrating on the Law of Moses itself, and my church teaches an interesting concept.

When Moses went up to Mount Sinai the first time, he brought down inscriptions on tablets. However, when he saw the people were worshipping the Golden Calf, he threw down the tablets, and they broke. Then Moses went up a second time and received more inscriptions. However, as my church teaches, the second set was a Lower Law, as the people proved they were not ready for a Higher Law. It wasn't until Jesus would come a couple of millennia later that we'd receive the Higher Law.

If you compare the two, the Law of Moses is long and VERY specific. It also has severe punishments. For example, Exodus 35:2 reports: "... the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death."

The Higher Law spelled out by Jesus has none of the death penalties, nor a list of punishments. But rather, a set of guidelines to follow, and the rewards and punishments are more spiritual in nature, rather than physical.

In this way, my church suggests that the Lord first attempted to provide Higher Law to the people of Moses, but then when they proved themselves to be unworthy, he then provided the Lower Law, which would then prepare their descendants to one day accept the Higher Law.

If you've raised children, or entrusted something to a friend, only to see them mess up miserably, then you'd probably understand why the Lower Law was necessary. When your child or friend messed up, you probably experienced disappointment, but then you also probably didn't give up on them. You probably saw a wise way to save the situation -- thinking that the original instructions were too vague, you would probably provide much more SPECIFIC instructions going forward, perhaps not even explaining WHY, but "just do it." Then everyone learns and grows.

And what of our current environment? Perhaps we can do a little analysis, borrowing a little from math and statistics.

Every day we perform several actions. We can consider each action to fall somewhere on a spectrum between Holiness and Sin. Holiness denotes the intention to do Good and help others. And Sin denotes mal-intent, or desiring to harm others.

We can also consider each action to fall on another spectrum going from Safe to Risky. Safe acts are either benign or end up helping others. Risky acts are more likely to harm others. 

We can set up a graph with these two axes:

Suppose that we can plot each action somewhere in this framework. Holier actions appear toward the left. Sinning acts are more toward the right. Safe acts are near the bottom, and Risky acts are toward the top. It should make sense that the Safer an act is, the more likely it is to be a Good Act. And on the flip side, Risky acts are more likely to result in Bad Acts. As we study where these land in this graph, we start to see a pattern -- something like this:

A "Line of Sin" appears. Everything to the right and above this line is a Bad Act, and everything to the left and below this line is a Good Act. Ultimately, we want to help everyone stay in the Good Act zone.

Here's an example ... killing someone is clearly a Risky act. It would show up near the top. If our intent is to kill someone because we're angry, it going to be in the upper-right corner -- deep in the Bad Acts zone.

Let's say instead, our friend asks us to kill his neighbor so he can take the land and increase his own benefit. We may not harbor any ill will toward that neighbor, but we may have good intentions -- we want to help our friend. Such a killing might fall more to the upper right, but still in the Bad Acts zone.

And finally, let's say we desire to protect ourselves and our friends and family from a dangerous person. It would be better to end the one person's life in self-defense. This falls in the upper right, now in the Good Acts area (which is pretty small for the act of killing).

On the flip-side, if we're helping someone move their stuff (a pretty Safe act), we could have the worst intentions and land in the lower-right side, but still be in the Good Acts zone. Though, I've had some movers break some of our stuff -- so there's a small area to the right where these good intentions can become Bad Acts.

(Note: I realize this is grossly simplified, but stay with me) ...

Then comes the Law of Moses, which is very specific -- not much room for thinking. You do exactly what you're told. This ends up being a very Safe law. The intent is to get rid of Risky acts entirely, because ... well ... the people are just rotten, and have to be told everything down to the letter, because they just can't take care of themselves.

So, it looks like this:

The Law of Moses allows all acts below the dotted line. Thou shalt be Safe! If you go above the line, you'll be punished.

Pros: Most of the allowed acts will end up being Good (below both the Law of Moses line and the Line of Sin). And look to the right above the Law of Moses and the Line of Sin. There are a large number of Bad Acts that are AVOIDED. This is the goal of most punitive laws. Protecting people from themselves.

Cons: There is also a section to the lower right, above the Line of Sin but under the Law of Moses line. These are acts that because of bad intentions, may actually cause harm, but are still allowed under the restrictions of the Law of Moses. But this area is very small, because the Law of Moses is so Safe. Some people may call this area a Type I error -- a term used in science and statistics. 

But -- sadness -- check out all of the Good Acts above the Law of Moses and under the Line of Sin. These are wasted Good Acts, lost opportunities to help others. Life isn't as great as it could be, because no one is ALLOWED to do these acts. Some people may call this a Type II error. (Or this might be Type I and the other one is Type II, depending on how you define each type.)

The Law of Moses implies that is worth giving up these wasted Good Acts to keep the Type I error low (at the expense of Type II errors).

Around the time of Jesus, leaders of the Sadducees and Pharisees added more interpretations and punishments, which effectively lowered the line even further, making the Law Safer, while increasing Type II error.

Jesus demonstrated the drawbacks of this when he healed the sick on the Sabbath. In the new Law, healing was considered to be working, and so these acts of Jesus were forbidden. He was signaling intentionally that there existed some Type II Good Acts that were forbidden that should be allowed.

So, what would happen if we were to draw the horizontal line higher? Could that help us out? It would give us a Higher Law, like this ...

Note that this isn't THE Higher Law given by Jesus, but rather some other hypothetical law that's more permissive and fewer punishments. The line is just drawn higher.

Pros: It gives us access to most of the formerly wasted Good Acts. This means higher potential for us to do well and benefit our society. Look at how much larger the lower-left section is. Also, in the upper-right section, we are still somewhat protected from some of the riskier sins.

Cons: There is still a small section of wasted Good Acts in the upper-left corner. And -- wow -- that opportunity to sin in the lower-right is pretty large -- and with no punishments?

This Higher Law provides more AGENCY, which allows for more sin. It implies that it's better to allow us to have more opportunities to do Good -- reducing Type II error (at the expense of Type I).

Now -- try this experiment. Can you find a better place to draw the horizontal line? Perhaps in the very middle? Then Type I and Type II errors would be the same. Is Type I or Type II better to allow than the other?

If only there were some way to eliminate Type I and Type II errors entirely. Turns out, there's a simple solution:

Don't draw ANY horizontal lines. Instead, draw that line diagonally -- right on top of the Line of Sin. And this is the Higher Law given to us by Jesus. No more punishments. Maximum free will. We are in charge of our own actions and consequences. And no more Type I and Type II errors.

The only drawback ... it's a much more difficult concept to explain. We must all individually learn where that diagonal line is. We must learn the correct principles so we can discern for ourselves whether a particular act is Good or Bad.

This was too difficult a concept for the people of Moses. So, they got the Lower Law. Hundreds of pages of cans and cannots -- everything spelled out.

So what do you think? Is it better for us to have a Law of Moses? Or the Higher Law? Do we need to be protected from our sins? Or is it better to have full free will? What have I messed up in this analysis? Comments are welcome.

Would You Be Found Guilty of Being a Christian?

As I vacationed across the states, I attended a ward in St. George, Utah, and enjoyed a very interesting priesthood meeting session. The main gist of their message stemmed from this popular quote:

If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

The comments that ensued were definitely enlightening -- a lively discussion. Some good ideas were floated around, but in my own opinion, they had failed to hone in to the one evidence of Christianity that trumps everything else.

Though, I think the teacher had started the discussion well and came closest to the answer -- talking about our life stories. In fact, at first, I had thought the lesson was on writing in our journals or writing our own "story" for family history purposes. But then halfway through the lesson came the grab-me-gotcha.

The teacher said: if it were our funeral, and the people were examining us, would they find evidence that we had been Christian? He then asked: what are some of these evidences they would find?

The discussion then seemed to center around some kind of forensic evidence -- as if there were a chalk drawing on the floor of the deceased's house, and investigators were combing through all the belongings. What would they find?

One person answered: There's got to be a Bible (or Standard Works, which includes the Book of Mormon). That got some praise.

Another person answered: Yeah, but does that Bible look brand new? Or does it look like a well-used book? Even more oohs and aahs.

I must admit, my set of Standard Works, gifted to me when I was a child, is falling apart. It's all marked up, and I must turn the pages carefully. It's survived my mission, and many study sessions after that. A few years ago I had lost the set at church, which caused sadness for the space of a month, until we found it in the Lost and Found. After that, I decided to use the phone scripture app and leave my fragile set at home.

So, is a like-new Bible really evidence of not being a Christian? What if a person prefers reading online?

But then again ... is Bible knowledge evidence enough? The priests and religious leaders at the time of Jesus had outstanding knowledge of scripture, but they still misunderstood Jesus' message. They had become hardened by their own knowledge, unable to accept the very Messiah they had been seeking.

Also, certain evil spirits who had possessed a person had perfect knowledge of who Jesus was, but that knowledge by itself didn't save them from their fallen state.

Another person in class spoke up: what about an active temple recommend? Lots of oohs and aahs on that one! In order to receive such a recommend, one must be able to answer a set of worthiness questions -- typical evidence of living a Christian life. But, having a recommend doesn't mean someone is actually using it. And how easy it is to answer: Yes, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes -- and possibly even one or two "I'm working really hard on that"s.

One may even bring up the existence of a cross. But it's still the same issue. One can have a cross, but not believe in it.

So what's the answer? What is the ultimate evidence of being a Christian? The Bible tells us clearly what the answer is ...

OUR ACTIONS.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12) 

See -- it comes back to our stories. How did we treat other people? Did we actually follow the teachings of Jesus? Or did we simply believe and do nothing? (Faith without works is dead.)

And yeah -- it seems like I went a roundabout way of coming to this answer in this post. But I think it's important to point out all these items because ... (here comes my own grab-me-gotcha) ...

In my own recent observations, I have witnessed the well-intentioned propagation of Christianity and its principles fall flat on the general public. I, like most other Christians, would be delighted if everyone were to join us and help make this world a better place. But more often than not, I see my fellow Christians relying too much on EXPLAINING what it means to be Christian and what the evidences would be, rather than SHOWING what it means through our own ACTIONS.

The reaction from the general public seems to be more and more negative. To them, we are PUSHING our religion. We're trying to install a Christian Law upon the land (at least here in the states). Some see this as an attempt to establish a state religion -- an affront to religious freedoms, the First Amendment, and even my church's eleventh article of faith.

And the worst part, they see many of us who profess to be Christian who then perform ACTIONS not in harmony of basic Christian principles. In other words, others see us as hypocrites. They see our exclusion of certain people and other religions, even though Christ invites us to welcome ALL. They see how we treat our children who don't agree with us, even though Christ teaches that what we do unto one, we do unto Christ. They see our zero tolerance of opposing viewpoints, when Christ invites us to eschew conflict. And as a result, others ironically find us GUILTY of being CHRISTIAN -- as if it were some evil scourge among the land that needs eradication.

I get it. Satan is stirring up the hearts of men to fight Christ's Church on earth. It's prophesied that this will happen in the last days. But many of us are unfortunately giving Satan the evidence he needs to turn the hearts of the people against us.

The solution? Simple -- start ACTING the religion instead of PUSHING it. Most people convert when they see good examples to emulate.

Do we TELL our friends how the world should be; or do we SHOW them? Do we have civil discussions with those whom we disagree; or do we instead tell them they're going to hell? Do we unite with others to help the vulnerable during times of crisis; or do we resist under the guise of "freedom"? Do we welcome others who are different from us; or do we expect them to change in order to be our friends and associates?

Or in other words: are we "GUILTY of being CHRISTIAN" in the way that we're torturing others? Or are we rather showing enough evidence in our ACTIONS to show that we're LIVING Christian lives and enticing others to join through our EXAMPLES?

I invite to consider these things and decide for yourself. Are we going down the right path? Are we LIVING the religion? Will our ACTIONS lead to a desirable judgement? Are we helping others WANT to join the Church?

It's ultimately up to each of us to decide how to proceed, and I wish you all well.

Saints: Volume 1

Last year, I started reading Saints: The Standard of Truth (Volume 1), as it went along with our assignment for 2021 to read the Doctrine and Covenants.

I suppose it was exactly what I expected to be -- a narrative easy to read that would nicely complement our reading of scripture and Church history. (As a reminder, this is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

This book provides early Church history, and explains the backdrop for all the modern day revelations. I believe every section of D&C is covered. 

One funny thing to mention, though, is that if you do read this along with the D&C, the coverage, time wise, is somewhat lopsided. This is no fault of the book itself, but just the way it is. A lot of the earlier sections of the D&C happen over a short amount of time. One chapter in Saints can cover several sections of the D&C. After about 1835, it flip-flops. The D&C sections become much more sparse, while several chapters pass in Saints. As it was, I ended up finishing this book around February though we were done with D&C on Dec. 31.

The book covers events up through 1846, starting with Joseph Smith's early life, establishing the Church, gathering more Saints (members of the Church), moving to Ohio, then Missouri, and lastly Illinois, covering all the persecutions from enemies and even disgruntled prior members -- leading up to the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, and extending a couple of months after that as Brigham Young evacuates Nauvoo.

I probably already knew 80% of what's in the book -- or at least the main stories. But there was a lot of new material I had never heard before, in particular the true stories of individuals living within the main story line. It includes some of the mistakes the Saints made along the way -- even explaining how some of their actions may have exacerbated their own persecutions. I also learned some more detail surrounding the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, including how Governor Boggs' baseless claims landed him in jail, how Joseph and company came to be armed, how the first murder attempt was thwarted (yeah -- I didn't know there was a first attempt), and other interesting details.

At the same time, the narrative remains light. I don't know if you read the New York Times newsletters, but it's like that, giving light details, and then providing links (footnotes) for anyone to go and get much more detail. Sometimes I found myself frustrated, because I wanted more -- and sometimes I got confused with some pronoun usage -- where I wasn't sure who was doing what. I would have been perfectly happy with a slightly higher level of detail.

The writers did their best to keep events in chronological order. Though sometimes the story warranted going back a little to maintain flow. Then again -- some stories were split into several sections spread out over several chapters. Often when an earlier story line picked up again, I would have some trouble remembering what had happened before -- and I ended up wishing that that particular person's story was told in one chunk instead of being spread out in five chunks. It does effectively give the sense of how many developments were happening at the same time -- how some events were independent while everything was still tied to their overall successes and struggles.

I recommend this book to people not of my church, as it provides an excellent light-reading introduction. It tries its best to present multiple sides of the story, though you should know going in that it's clearly biased. This is because it's ultimately produced by the Church, itself. As such, it's available for free download from several different outlets. (I believe I downloaded my copy from Amazon for free.)

And the biggest plus for this book -- an amazing amount of research. It's worth reading just for the introductory information it provides. There's also a Volume 2 that carries through 1893. I'll start reading that sometime in the next couple of years. Volume 3 will come out shortly, taking us to 1955. And the final Volume 4 will take us to the present. Eventually I'll read the whole series.

If you'd like to learn more -- just pick up a copy, and start reading.

The Families of Abraham

Our Old Testament reading continues. Following the schedule, we are nearing the end of Genesis. This last chunk covers Abraham, his family, Isaac, Jacob, and we've even started learning about Joseph and the other sons.

So let's see. Quick summary ... it starts with Abram (descended from Noah), who marries Sariah. God promises to bless his seed, and changes Abram's name to Abraham. And Sariah becomes Sarah. (Just drop some letters?)

Sarah can't have children, so she gives her handmaiden Hagar to Abraham to wife. Then Hagar gives birth to Ishmael. As Ishmael grows older, Sarah starts to do despise him and Hagar, so she ends up kicking them out.

Then Sarah gives birth in her old age to Isaac -- a miracle. Isaac receives the promised blessing from his father. Ishmael also grows to be a large nation, many of which are Muslim today (Muhammad is believed to be descended from Ishmael).

Isaac marries Rebekah, and they have two twin sons: Esau (redhead) and Jacob. Esau comes out only a few minutes before Jacob, so he gets the birthright. But later, Jacob, with some help from his mother, take the birthright, and Jacob ends up with the Abrahamic blessings.

After wrestling with God, Jacob's name changes to Israel. And then he has 12 sons through four different wives -- making up the future 12 tribes of Israel.

Some random thoughts (in somewhat chronological order):

• The Old Testament can be surprisingly R-rated. People sleeping with each other, killing, cheating, and the like.
• The Bible says: "thou ... shalt call his name Ishmael." (Genesis 16:11) So, where's Ahab?
• At least twice, Abram and Sariah plan to say that she's his sister so that the people don't kill Abram and take her away. Both times, some kind of king takes Sariah, and then in a vision they learn that she is married and God threatens to curse them. And they return Sariah and ask, "Why did you say that she's your sister?" In the second story, there's a plot twist -- turns out Sariah really *IS* his sister -- from another mother. So, cool.
• Evidently -- after Sarah dies, Abraham marries again and has more children.
• Isaac ends up marrying his cousin, Rebekah. In a few generations, the idea of Levitical degrees will be introduced. But it seems that at this point in time, this type of thing is permitted.
• Laban, the father of Rachel, is a jerk. He probably would have kept Jacob as a "slave" forever. At least Jacob got two wives out of it.
• After twenty years, Jacob feared when he heard that Esau, his brother, was on the way to meet him. Turns out that he just wanted to say hi, and there were no more hard feelings.
• Judah is such an interesting person.

Trying to get a spiritual thought out of this ... sometimes it takes most of my energy just to get the stories straight. Sometimes I get distracted by all the human imperfections. But still -- these sections are filled with some good parts -- covenants, promises, miracles, blessings for those who follow God, and not so much for those who don't. With God, nothing is impossible. If we do our parts, God will keep up his end of the covenants we make.

Up next -- we're about to get to Moses and his story. Should be fun!!