LeGrand L. Baker

Blog

  • The Greatest Human Achievement (According to CCR)

    Monthly Message, March 2021

    I believe the greatest thing any human being can accomplish is to attain “clean hands and a pure heart, not lifting one’s soul up to vanity nor swearing deceitfully.” (Paraphrase on Psalms 24:4)

    Noteworthy: No human can do this on their own. Attaining this is possible for any mortal only through Jesus Christ. That is why the laws and covenants of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are given to us.

    Clean Hands: I believe this means to have our sins all forgiven. For we who are accountable have all sinned, and if it were not for the atoning forgiveness possible through Christ, we would be shut out of the celestial kingdom forever. But through real faith in Christ unto real repentance, each of us can come to have clean hands.

    Pure heart: I believe this means to have plead with the Savior unto actually gaining a new heart, desires that only include the blessing of others, never wanting to take advantage of others unto breaking the commandments of God. Then every temptation of our satanic adversary would be forcefully rejected, even as our Savior does. Then our hearts could fully yearn for and our actions help to bring about the full opportunity for happiness and righteous achievement for everyone whose lives we touch.

    Not lifting our souls to vanity: Vanity is pride, that great slayer of righteousness. Pride is supposing that we are better than we really are and that what we want is what we deserve. Pride is selfishness, which is the antithesis of faith in Christ. Christ is the sole fountain of righteousness, and those smitten with vanity, pride, cannot come unto Christ and be saved from themselves until they come down into the depths of humility and strip themselves of pride in becoming as little children before our Savior.

    Nor sworn deceitfully: I believe this means to take our promises to the Lord very seriously, especially the promises of the covenant of baptism, the covenant of the holy priesthood, and the covenant of the endowment. To receive baptism, the priesthood and the endowment and not to keep the promises we make is to swear deceitfully. Only a return to genuine repentance of this deceit through great faith in Christ makes it possible for a human being to be forgiven and then to assume their God-given opportunity to bless the lives of others in the works of righteousness.

    Becoming the world’s greatest technician, scientist, artist, athlete or other does not hold a candle to gaining clean hands, a pure heart, being truly humble and keeping our promises. May each of us be wise in the days of our probation and gain that which is of utmost worth before the night comes.

  • Action

    Monthly Message, February 2021

    We human beings normally are able to choose our actions. This is called “agency.” None of us has total agency. But we are each responsible for how we use what we have.

    Our Father in Heaven has asked us to use our agency in a special way, and he sent his Son to show us how it can be done. That special way is to return good for evil. One mark of every true servant of Jesus Christ is the many ways in which they return good for evil. Such as:

    When someone smites us, turning the other cheek to be smitten again.

    When someone speaks ill of us, saying something good about them.

    When someone takes what is ours, giving them more of what is ours.

    When we find a mess, cleaning it up.

    When our neighbor is in prison, visiting them and encouraging them.

    When our neighbor is ill, visiting them and ministering to their needs.

    When our neighbor has an overwhelming good task, helping them to complete that task.

    There is no way to count all the ways we may bless our neighbor, but trying to do so always is one special mark of the true children of Jesus Christ. Doing this sometimes results in pain. But it always brings happiness. We do not do it because it brings happiness. We do it because it is right. This is the way of righteousness.

  • What it Means to be a Latter-day Saint

    Monthly Messages, January 2021

    1. The word “saint” means a holy person.
    2. A person is made holy by the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
    3. To have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost one must:
    4. Hear and accept the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
    5. Repent of his or her sins (turn from one’s old ways to the way of Christ).
    6. Receive the covenant of baptism from an authorized servant of Christ.
    7. Actually receive the gift of the Holy Ghost after being confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
    8. Remember the Savior always.
    9. How a Saint lives:
    10. A saint lives by prayer. All matters are taken to the Lord for consultation: plans, decisions, hopes, fears, thanks, etc. The answers received from the Lord as to how to proceed are then the basis for all action. No human authority supersedes this consultation, but the saint recognizes that he or she must also be fully acceptable to his or her bishop and stake president, for they are his or her witnesses.
    11. The saint is pure. Desires are cleansed of all selfishness and are filled with a love of God and neighbor. The mind is cleansed of all untruth and unbelief, and is filled with the revelations of God, and with ever other good thing that is virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy. The body is cleansed physically and morally, and is used by the saint to wear out life and strength in blessing one’s fellowmen.
    12. The saint is a doer. Time and substance are not wasted. Hard work is a way of life. Pleasure is not sought for its own sake, but is received only in the process of accomplishing the Lord’s work. Money and property of the saint are honorably obtained, ordered and maintained.
    13. A saint supports the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He or she prays for those in authority, for the missionaries, and for the success of the programs of the church. Missionary work, genealogy and temple work, and the perfecting of the saints are his or her constant study and concern.

    Sum: A saint is one who loves the Lord with all of his or her heart, might, mind and strength, and serves Him in the name of Jesus Christ.

    Note: These ideas are ideals. They are the personal conclusions of CC Riddle. Do you share them?

  • I Give Thanks

    Monthly Message, December 2020

    This is in response to the request by President Russell M. Nelson’s recent plea on November 20, 2020 to #GiveThanks with a daily post to social media for 7 days.

    I give thanks #1 (Nov. 24, 2020)

    I am thankful for my Heavenly Father. “Man of Holiness” is his name because he only does that which blesses others. In him there is no selfishness of any kind. His actions are one eternal round of creating and blessing. Because he does no evil and is dependable in doing all the good that can be done, he is trusted by everyone and everything in the universe that is not satanic. All the elements of the universe obey and worship him because of his goodness. This gives him great power to bless. He became a God by choosing righteousness over evil. And he blesses all of his children with that same opportunity.

    I give thanks #2 (Nov. 25, 2020)

    Because Father so loved his children, he sent his unfaithful son to cause his human children to fall in dying both spiritually and temporally to create a mortal situation. But this fallen condition made each child an agent, the perfect context for each of Father’s children to choose for himself or herself what each would be happiest doing in eternity. The context and agency were made complete when Father also sent his faithful son, the Son of Man (of Holiness), to atone for the sins of all mankind and to bring about the resurrection of each person. And messengers were sent to Adam and Eve and all of their children so that they could know how to be saved from the power of the unfaithful son by committing to and following the faithful son, Jesus Christ. Thus it is that all who love blessing others like the faithful son can become free from the power of the unfaithful son by binding themselves to the faithful son to become like him and by rejecting the messages from the unfaithful son.

    That is why I am so grateful for the faithful son, Jesus Christ, and his precious gospel.

    I give thanks #3 (Nov. 26, 2020)

    Father has given his human children two great gifts to guide them away from the grasp of his unfaithful son to be able to follow his faithful son. The first is conscience, the light of Christ which lightens every human being, and which brings to each of us feeling of what is right to do and what is wrong to do. The second is the Holy Ghost which brings to those who accept the light of Christ and try to do what is right a witness that Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind. If any human accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and makes the covenant to remember and to serve Christ always, then the Holy Ghost will bring to each accepting soul a knowledge of the truth in any matter where the person needs it.

    Thus accepting a feeling for righteousness is the first step to salvation from eternal servitude to the unfaithful son. The second step is to accept the witness that Jesus is the appointed Savior of mankind, then to accept Christ through the covenant of baptism, then to follow the Holy Ghost until we gain a new being in the image of Christ himself, full of righteousness and truth.

    Oh the graciousness of our Father in giving us these two great gifts to guide our mortality!

    I give thanks #4 (Nov. 27, 2020)

    One of the greatest blessings of being a human is to have physical body. We are not that body. The real “us” is our eternal intelligence (person) clothed in a spirit body given to us by our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. Our physical body is a temporary “loaner” from our Heavenly Parents to see what we will do with it while it lasts. How we use it determines what kind of physical body we will be rewarded with for the rest of eternity: celestial, terrestrial, telestial, or perdition.

    The basic options for use of our mortal human tabernacle are to use it to bless others or to use it strictly for our own imagined pleasures. The first option is called righteousness and the second is called selfishness. Almost all humans try both to see how they feel about each, then settle into a pattern favoring one or the other.

    The greatest power our Heavenly parents have given us is to use this physical tabernacle to beget children, to bless other spirits with physical bodies. Satan hates this power because he will never have a physical body and tries to destroy as many human bodies as he can through wars, murders, drug use, celibacy, etc. But his favorite tactic is to entice humans to murder their own children. Anciently he did this by getting his followers to pass their children through fire as a sacrifice to some fictitious god. Today he prevails upon humans to kill their children in the womb, preferably at conception.

    Blessed are those humans who choose righteousness and bless others, especially their own children.

    I give thanks #5 (Nov. 28, 2020)

    Because of the Fall of Adam all accountable humans are in the power of Satan and sin, breaking the commandments of God. Having sinned, we become unclean, and no unclean thing can come back to the presence of our Father in Heaven. Some sin much, some sin little. But we all sin and would be lost forever were it not for our Savior.

    But Christ is of sin the double cure: He saves from wrath and makes us pure. He saves those who accept his atonement from the punishment justice demands for their having sinned. And he makes us pure by teaching us to repent, to replace each of our ways of disobedience with coming into the strait and narrow way of righteousness.” Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1: 18)

    Could there be a blessing greater than having a Savior? Could there be a human action wiser than giving ourselves to follow our Savior, to become his humble imitators? There is hope for all of us, but only in true faith in Jesus Christ.

    I give thanks #6 (Nov. 29, 2020)

    Consider the marvel of the planet on which we reside, earth. So delicately balanced for heat and cold, light and darkness, air and water, plants and animals, minerals and soil to provide a wonderful habitat for human probation. All bespeaks the hand of a careful creator, though some prefer to give the credit to blind chance. But thanks be to the gods who put all things in order for our wonderful habitat. Those persons of a spiritual inclination see that appreciation for nature is one form of worshiping that generous God who gave us all this.

    What a miracle it is to drop a seed in the ground and have it reliably turn into a tomato plant or a melon vine. What a blessing that sun and rain bless the ground so plentifully in most places. What a blessing that this earth can sustain billions of God’s children and could support many times more people than there are now were it not for selfishness and greed.

    Part of our human probation and training for godhood is the opportunity to deal with the delightful earthly environment with which we have been blessed. May we each prove appreciative of this great blessing and strive to leave our physical surroundings better, cleaner, more productive than we found them.

    How grateful we should be!

    I give thanks #7 (Nov. 30, 2020)

    Last but not least, I am grateful for you. These thanksgiving messages have been sent to you because you have had a special place in my life. The people we travel with in this mortal sphere add joy, richness and color to our passage. As we struggle together to overcome the problems of mortality and rise to the challenges of our environment, to do this in the company of and with the assistance of good people makes the journey much more rich and rewarding.

    And I am mindful and grateful for those dear ones who have already departed this vale of joys and tears. Leaving this mortal sphere to join them will be one of the great joys of our eternal path.

    So thank you for the precious addition you have been to my mortal journey. May every good thing come to you through the grace and goodness of our kind Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

  • I Give Thanks

    This is in response to the request by President Russell M. Nelson’s recent plea on November 20, 2020 to #GiveThanks with a daily post to social media for 7 days.

    I give thanks #6 – November 29, 2020

    Consider the marvel of the planet on which we reside, earth. So delicately balanced for heat and cold, light and darkness, air and water, plants and animals, minerals and soil to provide a wonderful habitat for human probation. All bespeaks the hand of a careful creator, though some prefer to give the credit to blind chance. But thanks be to the gods who put all things in order for our wonderful habitat. Those persons of a spiritual inclination see that appreciation for nature is one form of worshiping that generous God who gave us all this.

    What a miracle it is to drop a seed in the ground and have it reliably turn into a tomato plant or a melon vine. What a blessing that sun and rain bless the ground so plentifully in most places. What a blessing that this earth can sustain billions of God’s children and could support many times more people than there are now were it not for selfishness and greed.

    Part of our human probation and training for godhood is the opportunity to deal with the delightful earthly environment with which we have been blessed. May we each prove appreciative of this great blessing and strive to leave our physical surroundings better, cleaner, more productive than we found them.

    How grateful we should be!

    I give thanks #5 – November 28, 2020

    Because of the Fall of Adam all accountable humans are in the power of Satan and sin, breaking the commandments of God. Having sinned, we become unclean, and no unclean thing can come back to the presence of our Father in Heaven. Some sin much, some sin little. But we all sin and would be lost forever were it not for our Savior.

    But Christ is of sin the double cure: He saves from wrath and makes us pure. He saves those who accept his atonement from the punishment justice demands for their having sinned. And he makes us pure by teaching us to repent, to replace each of our ways of disobedience with coming into the strait and narrow way of righteousness.”Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1: 18)

    Could there be a blessing greater than having a Savior? Could there be a human action wiser than giving ourselves to follow our Savior, to become his humble imitators? There is hope for all of us, but only in true faith in Jesus Christ.

    I give thanks #4 – November 27, 2020

    One of the greatest blessings of being a human is to have a physical body. We are not that body. The real “us” is our eternal intelligence (person) clothed in a spirit body given to us by our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. Our physical body is a temporary “loaner” from our Heavenly Parents to see what we will do with it while it lasts. How we use it determines what kind of physical body we will be rewarded with for the rest of eternity: celestial, terrestrial, telestial, or perdition.

    The basic options for use of our mortal human tabernacle are to use it to bless others or to use it strictly for our own imagined pleasures. The first option is called righteousness and the second is called selfishness. Almost all humans try both to see how they feel about each, then settle into a pattern favoring one or the other.

    The greatest power our Heavenly parents have given us is to use this physical tabernacle to beget children, to bless other spirits with physical bodies. Satan hates this power because he will never have a physical body and tries to destroy as many human bodies as he can through wars, murders, drug use, celibacy, etc. But his favorite tactic is to entice humans to murder their own children. Anciently he did this by getting his followers to pass their children through fire as a sacrifice to some fictitious god. Today he prevails upon humans to kill their children in the womb, preferably at conception.

    Blessed are those humans who choose righteousness and bless others, especially their own children.

    I give thanks #3 – November 26, 2020

    Father has given his human children two great gifts to guide them away from the grasp of his unfaithful son to be able to follow his faithful son. The first is conscience, the light of Christ which lightens every human being, and which brings to each of us feeling of what is right to do and what is wrong to do. The second is the Holy Ghost which brings to those who accept the light of Christ and try to do what is right a witness that Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind. If any human accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and makes the covenant to remember and to serve Christ always, then the Holy Ghost will bring to each accepting soul a knowledge of the truth in any matter where the person needs it.

    Thus accepting a feeling for righteousness is the first step to salvation from eternal servitude to the unfaithful son. The second step is to accept the witness that Jesus is the appointed Savior of mankind, then to accept Christ through the covenant of baptism, then to follow the Holy Ghost until we gain a new being in the image of Christ himself, full of righteousness and truth.

    Oh the graciousness of our Father in giving us these two great gifts to guide our mortality!

    I give thanks #2 – November 25, 2020

    Because Father so loved his children, he sent his unfaithful son to cause his human children to fall in dying both spiritually and temporally to create a mortal situation. But this fallen condition made each child an agent, the perfect context for each of Father’s children to choose for himself or herself what each would be happiest doing in eternity. The context and agency were made complete when Father also sent his faithful son, the Son of Man (of Holiness), to atone for the sins of all mankind and to bring about the resurrection of each person. And messengers were sent to Adam and Eve and all of their children so that they could know how to be saved from the power of the unfaithful son by committing to and following the faithful son, Jesus Christ. Thus it is that all who love blessing others like the faithful son can become free from the power of the unfaithful son by binding themselves to the faithful son to become like him and by rejecting the messages from the unfaithful son.

    That is why I am so grateful for the faithful son, Jesus Christ, and his precious gospel.

    I give thanks #1 – November 24, 2020

    I am thankful for my Heavenly Father. “Man of Holiness” is his name because he only does that which blesses others. In him there is no selfishness of any kind. His actions are one eternal round of creating and blessing. Because he does no evil and is dependable in doing all the good that can be done, he is trusted by everyone and everything in the universe that is not satanic. All the elements of the universe obey and worship him because of his goodness. This gives him great power to bless. He became a God by choosing righteousness over evil. And he blesses all of his children with that same opportunity.

  • The Role of Canonized Scripture in our Lives – NEW

    Message for November 2020 – Nov 8, 2020
    by Chauncey C Riddle

    Keeping in mind the fact that every human being gives canonized scripture a personal role of their own choosing, I speak here of one possible role it could play for any individual who desires to let it play such a role. So here goes my opinion:

    Canonized scripture is writing declared by living prophets to be the word of the Lord as voted upon and accepted by a constituent body of disciples of Christ. In more specific terms, it is a piece of writing which is proposed by the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be accepted by the members of that church as the word of the Lord Jesus Christ in a vote taken in general conference. An example of such canonizing in the life-time of many of us was the proposal that the revelation on the work of the Savior during the time between his death and his resurrection received in October 1918 by President Joseph F. Smith be accepted as scripture and be added to the Doctrine and Covenants. Those attending the conference where this proposal was made were considered a constituent body, and after their acceptance, that writing was added to the Doctrine and Covenants as Section 138.

    The primary role of canonized scripture, I believe, is to provide training materials for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help them receive the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. When persons are accepted as members of this church by baptism and confirmation, it is said to them in the confirmation: “Receive the Holy Ghost.” That phrase is not stating a fact. It is rather a command, telling the person that they are now charged with receiving the presence and guidance of the Holy Ghost in their lives. The ultimate fulfillment of that command is to gain the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Whenever one has the presence of the Holy Ghost with them, they are forgiven of their sins.

    How does canonized scripture fulfill this role? It can do its job best only if the person is reading that scripture for the right reason. The best reason is to be hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Righteousness is blessing others. So if a person reads or hears the scriptures to learn how to treat their neighbor better, their reading will be maximally profitable. They will have the best opportunity to feel the Holy Spirit as it moves upon them to do some specific act in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, and doing good to all men. “Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled with the Holy Ghost.” (3 Nephi 12:6)

    The person who is thus reading scripture for the right reason and is feeling the presence, promptings and guidance of the Holy Ghost, they need now to take a most important and essential additional step: They need to learn carefully, memorize, exactly how it feels to be prompted by the Holy Ghost. They need to fix that power to identify in their hearts and minds so that ever after they will never be confused as to which influence they are listening to. There are four potential sources for any idea or prompting. First, promptings generated by the self, the person. Second, promptings generated by communication with other human beings, be it conversation, writing, art, or just observing their actions. Third are promptings generated by Satan, through our human flesh. Third, promptings from the Holy Spirit, from God, to either or both our spiritual tabernacle or our physical tabernacle. One of the major tasks of the life of any human being is to learn, if possible, to be unerring in differentiating among these four source of ideas and impulses.

    Satan tries to make sure that we never become clear as to which is which. But our Heavenly Father wants us to be accurate and expert in that differentiation. One cannot develop full faith in Jesus Christ without mastering that ability. But if we do not care about faith in Jesus Christ, then having that ability does not matter. The default position is to lapse into the power of Satan.

    How does one learn to make those distinctions without error? By careful observation and practice. If a person pays close attention to his or her promptings and especially if one keeps a written record of impressions and urges and their consequential experiences in applying the promptings that come to them, one can begin to see patterns emerge. We are each given a conscience, which is the light of Christ within us. And that conscience is our guide to good thinking and choosing. And it is our best help in learning to distinguish between those four sources of ideas and impulses in our lives.

    And this is where canonized scripture comes in. Reading or hearing canonized scripture is the best opportunity we humans have to feel what it is like to have revelation from God. With careful practice and memory, we can learn what if feels like to be receiving revelation as we read scripture with the right motive. And as we pay attention to those experiences, sometimes receiving help in interpreting scripture and sometimes not receiving such help, then comparing what happens when we act on the promptings we receive, we can begin to know and understand which of the four sources we are taking our promptings from. This process is little different from the challenge we face to learn to distinguish who different people are, or which kind of leaf is generic to which kind of plant, or which kind of mineral we are observing in the rocks we find, or which kind of cloud we are seeing in the sky.

    Learning to make good classifications and then good identifications is one of the great keys to success in this world.

    But back to spiritual identifications. As we begin to know the difference between revelation from God and revelation from Satan by studying the Holy Scriptures, that ability when gained then enables us to tell the differences in ideas in other writings as to whether they are true or not, lend themselves to godliness or not. By this ability we can read and profit from the Apocrypha of the Bible:

    “Verily, I say unto you, that it is not needful that the Apocrypha should be translated. Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth; And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom; And whoso receiveth not by the Spirit cannot be benefited. Therefore it is not needful that it [the Apocrypha] should be translated.” (D&C 91:3-6)

    This key to understanding applies not only the Apocrypha, but to all other writings and expressions by human beings. Those who have the Holy Ghost as their companion will weigh and evaluate all ideas and impulses that come to them, from any source, and will prove all things by the Holy Spirit and then hold fast to that which is good and true. “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:5)

  • The Law of the Fast – NEW

    Message for August 2020
    by Chauncey C Riddle

    This message is designed to be read in connection with the 58th Chapter of Isaiah. Would you please turn to it? Your purpose in reading should be to answer the question: What is the law of the fast?

    V 1-2: Note the reproach to Israel: They think they are trying to be righteous, yet they transgress.

    V 3-5: Israel is puzzled: Why does their fasting produce no good results? The Lord answers that they fast to try to give themselves more pleasure, more success in this world, more power over their enemies. Those who fast for such reasons, even in sackcloth and ashes, fast in vain.

    V 6-7: The Lord’s fast is to serve others. It is to relieve suffering, to liberate the captive, to rescue the oppressed. It is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to be with one’s own kindred in the service of God.

    V 8-9: To those who follow the Lord’s true fast comes the light and knowledge of God. Being filled with the spirit of God they enjoy physical and spiritual health according to their needs. The path of righteousness opens before them and the glory of the Lord accompanies their walk down that path.

    V 10-11: For those who fast in the Lord’s way there are no unanswered prayers, because among the righteous there are no yokes or social or economic inequalities, there is no finger of scorn or vanity. As the servant of God ministers to the needy, the light of God floods in, driving away all sorrow, all darkness. Such an one who fasts in the Lord’s law shall redeem Zion, restore the ancient cities, heal the family bonds, make strait the way of righteousness to bless all who follow.

    V 13-14: Our human problem is that we want what we want. The solution is to acknowledge that God is wiser than we are, and to seek his will in all things: not our pleasure, but his pleasure. Those who can muster that much intelligence will reap the blessings of God in their fulness, and this is the heritage of Israel.

    What is the law of the fast? Is it not the Law of the Gospel applied to fasting?

    To fast from food and water and physical pleasures is the beginning of true fasting, to learn self-control, selflessness and righteousness. To fast from every evil doing and to substitute the Lord’s way of righteousness for our own will and desires is the ultimate goal of the true fast. To go hungry is not true fasting. True fasting is to immerse oneself in prayer, uplifting our soul to God with all the being we can muster, then to go forth and minister to the needs of those who are less blessed than we are. We fast to show the Lord that we love Him and His ways more than we love our own satisfactions.

    Just to eat nothing is not true fasting. True fasting is to abstain from our own pleasures and to work with all of our heart, might, mind and strength through prayer to relieve suffering and misery in those around us and to establish the Kingdom of God and his righteousness forever.

    Practical aspects of fasting:

    1. We prepare our hearts and minds for fasting by mighty prayer, endeavoring to become fully subject to the Spirit of the Lord.
    2. We prepare our minds for fasting by turning our thoughts to the things of the Spirit, trying to see all things in eternal perspective.
    3. We prepare our bodies for fasting by drinking appropriate amounts of water.
    4. We prepare our might for fasting by having our affairs in order so that they will not intrude into our prayer and meditation.
    5. When we break our fast, the goal should be to eat and drink just enough that we are able to maintain the level of spirituality gained during the fast.
    6. We should show gratitude for the blessings Father gives us by paying a generous fast offering. (President Kimball said that if we could, we should pay in fast offerings ten times the amount we save by fasting. Some persons pay more than that.) Fast offerings should be paid monthly, for the needs of those who are assisted do not occur on an annual basis.
    7. We should fast every regular Fast Sunday (unless we are among those who should not fast) and at other times as prompted by the Lord through his Holy Spirit. Blessed is he or she who knows and walks in the way of the Lord. Fasting is part of that way.

  • The Fall of Adam, Part Two: Some Consequences

    May 1 2020, Orem, Utah
    by Chauncey C Riddle
    Click for Part 1

    Spiritual Death: Adam and Eve and their posterity were greatly reduced in their capacity to perceive the spiritual world around them because of the Fall. The narrow window of spiritual perception left to mankind after the Fall was to be able to receive the light of Christ, which is our conscience, and to have a contrary influence from Satan enticing us to do our own will instead of following Christ. Adam and Eve saw and talked with Satan before their Fall, but after their fall they and we could not see and talk with him. But he can still talk to us, to tempt us. And this makes us agents to choose for ourselves.

    But we no longer see that every living thing has a spirit counterpart. We no longer see the hand of God governing all things. We do not see that Satan is the destroyer, having been given the power of death (which he may use only by explicit permission from God). We cannot see that God controls the weather, the placement and rotation of the earth, the crops of the earth, the wildlife on land and sea, and the history of nations. We cannot see that it is God who has allowed Covid-19 to sweep the earth to help mankind be more humble and God-fearing (God-respecting). We cannot see the truth of the past and future, but must fabricate accounts to jolly ourselves into thinking we understand history and can guess the future accurately. The loss of spiritual information occasioned by the Fall of Adam is as spectacular and devastating as it would be if suddenly all mankind became physically blind and had to do everything by touch, smell and feel.

    The beauty of being spiritually dead is that we are reduced to the status of children who do not understand the universe. In our ignorance we do not see what really causes what, what has happened or what will happen. We only really know the physical now, and we are forced to focus on the now and make decisions based on our desires rather than on our knowledge. Through trial and error we learn enough to do what we need to do to live and perpetuate the race of mankind. But most of what we humans think we know is but belief (faith) in something we cannot prove.

    And that is precisely why God engineered the Fall of Adam: that every human would have to live by faith, not knowledge. Faith is to trust something we believe but cannot prove. Every human lives by faith in something he or she cannot prove but believes. The principal sources of ideas in which to put our faith are our conscience, the light of Christ, and our contrary temptations, the darkness and misinformation of Satan. Thus human beings are forced to believe either Satan or Christ, or some mixture that pleases them. And thus the stage is set for a perfect probation for each human being that comes to accountability. We each show what we really want to do and be, preparing ourselves for the rest of eternity that we have chosen.

    Carnal, sensual and devilish: Because of our becoming spiritually dead in the Fall of Adam we humans are carnal: we pay more attention to the things of the physical body than the things of our spirit body. We are sensual: we pay more attention to our physical senses and the information they give us than we do to our spiritual sensations, especially our conscience. We are devilish: our default reaction is to listen to Satan and our own will rather than obeying Christ through our conscience. But obviously some humans are more carnal, more sensual and more devilish than others. Most people simply float, doing “what comes naturally.” Others swim upstream trying to be less carnal, sensual and devilish to some degree that suits them. Thus we humans are free to some degree.

    We Lie: In a past issue of National Geographic (July 1987​?) there is a long article about why human beings lie, written from the perspective of modern science, which science denies the existence of Satan and the spiritual realm. The author points out that almost every human being lies. But the author is at a loss to explain why. Categories of possible causes are given, such as: customary sayings being repeated, the desire for advantage over others, the desire to appear to be different than one is, etc. But no answer is given, even hypothetically (scientists delight in hypotheses). The gospel answer is that humans lie because Satan tells them they will be pleased at telling some lie they desire to tell. And thus humans lie even when it is to their advantage not to do so, just because they want to. That gospel answer is not science. But science has no monopoly on truth.

    False scientific hypotheses: Science was invented long ago because of obviously bad answers to questions provided by the apostate religions which abound among mankind. To be scientific originally meant to pay attention only to ideas which could be proven using the human physical senses and not pretending to any spiritual influences. But modern science has also been corrupted by Satanic influence. A prime example of that corruption is the very popular theory that all life forms on this earth evolved from some original spontaneous generation of life, and that all present life forms have been produced by spontaneous changes of genetic makeup of that original living being. But this is bad science because no one has ever observed either the spontaneous generation of life or the spontaneous creation of new species of living forms. Some minor variations of the physical appearance of living species have been observed: that is called microevolution. But origin of life and change of species has never been observed: that would be macroevolution. At the anniversary of the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, Time Magazine ran a feature article giving supposed proofs of organic evolution. But every item they cited was an example of microevolution. There were no examples of macroevolution. But many people would rather believe in evolution without God than to believe that God created all life because they don’t want a God. They don’t want a God because if there is a God they will be held accountable for their sins. And they don’t want to be held accountable. So they believe in evolution.

    False historical accounts: Because the father of lies, Satan, does his work so well, many lies masquerade as truth. One example close to home is the truth about what took down the twin towers in New York City on 9/11. The “official” explanation is that the two airplanes that crashed into the buildings and the resulting fires caused the buildings to collapse. But no other steel and concrete building elsewhere has ever been taken down by a fire. Add to that the fact that a third nearby building that had neither airplane impact nor fire was also taken down in exactly the same way and the same time as were the twin towers, collapsing from the bottom. No one has ever explained how the third building came down. Every thinking person will realize that we have not been give the truth as to how the twin towers came down.

    False cause and effect: Some of us will remember that for many years it was maintained that there was no scientific evidence that smoking tobacco causes cancer. That has now been reversed. We now know that the evidence for the truth was long suppressed. Another example of science gone astray was the pretense that margarine is better for human health than is dairy butter. That pretense has now been admitted to be false. But there are still many person who choose margarine over butter because of that falsehood.

    False Social Science: For many years it was the official position of the U. S. Government that American Indians were a genetically inferior race and therefore their cultural heritage should be ignored and destroyed at will. This idea was the stance of John Wesley Powell of Lake Powell fame, who was a curator at the Smithsonian and approved of the destruction of American Indian artifacts. Thanks to that sentiment, many of the archeological remains of the Hopewell and Adena cultures have been wantonly destroyed in the eastern United States.

    But enough examples of the power of Satan over mankind, not to mention war and genocide. The real question is: What can you and I do to turn the power of Satan over us to our advantage?

    1. We can be humble, not pretend to be a law unto ourselves. As little children we can faithfully listen to our conscience. Doing that consistently will eventually lead us to Christ and to the truth and to his righteousness.
    2. We can be honest in heart, even as Christ is the Truth and tells nothing but the truth.
    3. We can work at overcoming every shred of selfishness by sharing all the good we have.
    4. We can accept the witness of the Holy Ghost as we read the Book of Mormon and Bible.
    5. We can be baptized and gain the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.
    6. We can minister good things in Christ to everyone and everything around us.
    7. We can uphold and follow those who preside in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
    8. We can follow the covenant path unto becoming like our Savior.

    We can come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. But only if we really want to do so.

    Click for Part 1

  • Heart and Mind

    Message for March 2020
    by Chauncey C Riddle

    Each of us human beings has two hearts and to minds. The physical heart pumps blood to our physical tabernacle. The spiritual heart pumps spirit matter to our spiritual body. The physical mind is the brain of our physical body. The spiritual mind is the brain of our spiritual body.

    Which heart or which mind is most important to our eternal existence? I believe the answer is that our spiritual heart is the most important of the four. Why?

    My understanding is that it is the spiritual heart which makes our choices. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7) And our choices determine what we will do, how faithful or unfaithful we will be to God.

    Why would anyone want to be faithful to God? They would because faith in God makes it possible to become more and more like God. What is God like? He does nothing but bless others. All of the so-called cursings of God are actually blessings, helping the being affected by God to be as happy and fulfilled as they or it can stand to become. All the children of God who wish to be like him in doing nothing but blessing others are given the privilege of being taught by God how to gain the self-mastery that makes that benevolence and beneficence possible, which teaching is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    The alternative to learning to bless others in everything we do is to follow the path of selfishness. Every adult human being (age 8 or more) has the constant companionship of Satan. Satan’s work is to encourage each adult human to prefer his or her own selfish desires over the possibility of sacrificing for the welfare of some other creature. When human beings ignore Satan and do the Father’s will as manifest by the Light of Christ or the Holy Ghost, Satan has no power over them. But Satan is ever vigilant to encourage agent humans to substitute their own personal preferences for the sacrifices encouraged by the Holy Spirit to work righteousness in blessing others.

    So it is the spiritual heart in mankind which is the independent variable, the decision factor. What is function of mind? The minds, both of the spiritual and the physical body, are facilitators. They enable the spiritual heart to plan out the execution of the spiritual heart’s choices. The spiritual and physical bodies of each person are his or her strength, that which enables the choices of the heart and the plans of the mind to be put into physical and/or spiritual action.

    The power engendered by the physical and spiritual actions of a person is their might. Thus it is that we are invited by God to love and serve our Father in Heaven and our Savior with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. (This order of these four is the order of importance, beginning with the most important, the heart. The temple order is mind, heart, strength and might, which is the order of implementation. The mind conceives of alternatives, the heart chooses one alternative, the body or strength enacts that chosen alternative, which results in some change in the universe, our might.)

    Thus it is that human beings are fitted and prepared to enjoy the Celestial Kingdom primarily by the action of their hearts, not their minds. It does not matter how bright the mind or how much the knowledge a person has. The best mind will not save them. What saves each person who can be saved is a broken heart and a contrite spirit, a spiritual heart that yearns for the blessing of others over satisfying self. There is no greater example of godly righteousness among humans than the sacrifices of mothers for their little ones.

    So it is not the wise and the learned, the “mind” people,” who are dear to the Savior. Rather it is those who are humble before him and are bold to bless others. Those who are endowed with bright minds need to be wary. Satan will tempt them to think that because they are smarter than others that they are better than others. “ And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.” (2 Nephi 9:42)

    Let us all then be wise in the days of our probation and become as little children before Christ. Let us have a broken heart and a contrite spirit and use all the smarts we have to bless others in Christ instead of just feathering our own nests.

  • The Two Ways

    Message for Jan 2020
    by Chauncey C Riddle

    Isaiah gives us a plain message: “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.”(Isaiah 38:8)

    Could it be that simple? It must be. It seems that there are only two alternatives for any human action: One is to do the will of the Lord. The other is to do our own will. What this boils down to is in every human choice for a person who is accountable, there are two ways to act. One is to do what is right, the will of God, and the other is to do what we ourselves want to do.

    What makes this simple choice possible is the Fall of Adam. Because Adam disobeyed and fell from the innocence of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve and all of their descendants were given two voices to counsel them in all things. One is the light of Christ, which comes as the conscience of each person. The other is the darkness of Satan, which always opposes the light of Christ and tells us humans to do what we ourselves would rather do. Sometimes our own desires are the same thing as what Christ would have us do, and we do the work of righteousness. But other times we do not want to do what our conscience tells us to do, and we accept the counsel of Satan to pursue what we ourselves would rather do.

    Anything which we want to do which is not the will of God is not good, but is evil. Evil is something which is less than the good we could do. So the choice is plain and simple. We either do what is right, counseled by God, or we do what is selfish, counseled by Satan. There are no other alternatives for human action. And everyone eventually chooses either the way of holiness or the way of selfishness. Meanwhile, most of us waver back and forth between the two ways. Sometimes we choose to do good following conscience, other times we choose to do evil following selfishness.

    “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” (John 5:30)