What Is This Thing Called Love?

I love you, what does that actually mean? It is used so often

in so many ways that its true meaning seems to become foggy.

Some examples: I love this restaurant, Let's make love, I love 

my car, etc.

To me the most foggy to understand concerns relationships,

primarily those between men andwomen. I'm a guy and I'll be the

first to admit that guys use the line, prove your love to me, with no

thought or care about actual love. This is a line guys use to make

a girl feel guilty and submit to a sexual relationship simply to satisfy

their selfish desires. If the girl refuses the guy generally gets

mad and will most likely end the relationship and go looking for

someone who will give in to him. 

Having played sports and having spent many hours in the locker

room I can honestly say that what most guys talked about was girls

and who would have sex with them, then they would come back

and brag it up so that the next guy was eager to go and try his 

luck with the same girl. Girls that would not submit to this type of

date would often get the guys betting on who could be the one to

break her...as a cowboy would break a wild horse. Guys who had 

girlfriends were no less participating than the others, even as they

would tell in detail what they and their girlfriends would do.

As I have experienced life I have witnessed over and over that 

"sex" outside of marriage is simply the satisfying of selfish, lustful

desires. No guy, not even the worst of them, wants to end up

marrying a girl who has been around. Oh it is okay for them to go

around but when they marry they "want" a girl who has kept her

virtue. (They seldom get it but it is what they would prefer). 

Men and women that live together to "test" their relationship 

are in the same boat, they do not truly love each other, they may

think they do, but the physical is the dominant part of their relationship

the greatest percentage of them move on before too long.

When I married the greatest gift I could give to my wife was 

the gift of not having had sexual relations with anyone else. 

The greatest gift my wife gave me was the same. We had saved the

sweetest expressions of love for the person we married and as

we shared the experience of expressing our love to one another

it brought with it a bond to one another, a strong commitment.

I would never want to break that sacred trust we share between us.

In marriage it is the sweetest expression of our feelings for each 

other, by it we have brought children into this world who themselves

are symbols of our love for each other. We love our children they

are part of us. With these tender feelings how could we ever do

anything to bring pain into their lives? My children know the love

I have for my wife, they see it in the way I treat her, the way I

communicate with her (There is never the raising of voices in

our home, sure we don't agree on all things but we communicate

in tones that will not hurt or offend one another. This applies to

how we interact with our children also.)

In the Bible Jesus taught his disciples that..."by this shall all

men know that ye are my disciples indeed, that ye have love

for one another." Love need not be confusing. Love NEVER 

seeks its own, it is always more concerned with the other, 

whether it be a sibling, mother or father, boyfriend or girlfriend,

a friend or just an acquaintance. Love is not a weakness, 

it is the greatest power on earth. It can feed the nations, it can

tear down walls, it can heal hostilities, it can bring children into

the world.

Charity is the greatest form of love. Read in the Bible how 

Paul describes it. Charity is not giving money from your pocket,

it is having a heart filled with love and compassion for ALL people.

If we had greater charity in the world we would have no poor. 

We would have no fear.

Any time someone speaks to you about love and it is to benefit

themselves you can be certain that love is not their motivation.

We also need to love ourselves. When one submits to the sexual

advances of other it tears down the confidence and respect you

have for yourself. You become accustomed to being used. We

need to love ourselves and keep ourselves clean and pure that

when we find that person we want to spend our life with we can 

give them the greatest thing that lies within us that truly is ours to give.

Next time your feelings get hurt, someone gets upset at you 

or you at them, stop and think of love and then make a bad situation

good, see how you feel......see how it makes them feel.

Until next time.

What is the Purpose of This Life

Why are we here? If there is a God why is there so much pain and misery in the world? Why did God communicate with man anciently and not now?
Ever ask yourself any of these questions or something similar? Questions are good if we are willing to seek answers otherwise why even ask, one might as well get drunk or high on drugs and never face reality. Are there answers?....I give you my word that yes there are. The question is do you REALLY want to know?
Let's start with the basics; if there is a God and if he created this earth and us would he not have done it with some specific purpose in mind?
Some of this world's most brilliant men would have us believe that this is all an accident. They tell us it is foolish to believe in God but that we should put our trust in them and their knowledge...and then they tell us this life is an accident and that we evolved from sludge to primates to man. Wow! That is really asking a lot to believe in such nonsense. God's explaination is so much more simple; In the beginning God created man, man and woman, in the image of God created he them.
Adam and Eve were created by God and placed in the Garden of Eden, an etopia. When they were created they were innocent; not knowing good from bad. They were as little children. Nothing was required of them for their own survival; the earth watered its self and food was provided. They were in a state where if they so remained they would have lived forever without any change. They knew no happiness because there was no sadness. They were simply in a state of being. Satan came to tempt them. They had been told to multiply and replenish the earth but knew not how. They were given freedom to go about and eat what ever they desired other than the fruit of a tree called the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Satan came to tempt Adam to partake of this fruit but he refused. Satan tempted Eve. Adam and Eve being in a state of innocense could not comprehend sin they only knew that God told them that if they ate from the fruit of this tree they would die. Eve partook and was told to get Adam to partake. They must have spent considerable time talking about this and came to the decision that in order to obey all of God's commandments they needed knowledge and so they partook. Adam and Eve willingly fell that men might be or in other words that they might have the knowledge and ability to have children which they had been commanded to do but which they could not do in the state they were in in the Garden of Eden.
They were cast out of the Garden and a change took place in their bodies. They were made to be mortal. Why all of this Garden stuff?
Life is a probationary state. What are we to prove? The answer is simple...to see if we will do all that God has commanded us. To see if we will turn away from sin and serve God. In order to accomplish this there needed to be good and bad in life; right from wrong. There had to be an opposition in ALL things. Happiness is a condition that is fixed upon the choosing to obey God and keep his commandments. Misery is afixed to submitting to sin and the captivation of the devil, Satan, son of the morning stars, a very real person who was cast out of heaven for disobedience.
In this we are taught that we lived in a pre-existant life. We were literally the spirit offspring of God. We were spirits, without physical bodies. Our desire was to become as God...our father who had a glorified body of flesh and bone. God created a plan that would give us the opportunity to become like him. To do this we had to leave his presence and prove if we would love him and keep his commandments when not in his presence. In order to do this we went through a process called birth with put a veil over our minds keeping us from remembering our existance with him. However, at times that veil seems very thin as if we can sense or remember parts of that life.
Have you ever heard the term, "What a strange world we live in." Think about it. What are we comparing it to that it seem strange. There must be a memory somewhere, something that tells us we had a previous existence where there was an absence of the terrible things we experience here.
In my youth my parents taught me to have faith in God, to attend church, to be a good person. I went away to college and being on my own the choices were now mine; would I continue doing as I had been taught or would I be a little rebellious and not go to church, drink and do other things I had been taught not to do. I loved and respected my parents. I could see from looking at the lives of others that those who did the things I had been taught not to do were not happy. In fact people who partied tried to get others to do it to ease their own conscience. I choose to follow the life I had been taught. I have avoided many pits that dear friends of mine have fallen into. This is a very small example of what this life is about.
God has not given us commandments to hold us back or to keep us from having "fun" but he has given them to us to be free from misery and sin. True none of us can escape tragedy in life, it is part of life. But even when tragedy strikes we can have faith and peace and happiness. Could we ever love someone we knew would be taken from us? Would we build a home knowing that in two months a fire or an earthquake would destroy it? Walking by faith is mandatory to experiencing this life. By faith we go forward, we experience happiness in making good choices, our faith is tested by tragedy but as we continue to go forward, excercising faith we come to understand and peace fills our hearts.
Without opposition in life this life would have no purpose. There is a purpose and the answers are contained in the word of God. And, God has not left us on our own. Do you not realize we are all his children, that he loves us as he loves our ancestors and gives us guidance today as he did in ancient times just as he promised. God confirms his word and truths as he reveals them to all of his children. What he has revealed to one he will reveal to another because eternal truth does not change, it is constant as is God and that gives us confidence. He led us by prophets and apostles in ancient days and continues to do so now. That is the witness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Church sends out missionaries to invite all to come and see. Christh said by their fruits ye shall know them.
I share with you my witness that these are eternal truths and that you can know them to be absolute for yourself. Do you want to know? Do you really want to know? Put aside predjudices and you can know for yourself if these things are true. Don't take my word or anyone elses. God does hear and answer prayers. He is waiting for us to knock...when we do He will open.

To Know God

In the New Testament we read that this is life eternal, to know the one and only true God and His Son whom He has sent. 

A wise man once stated that it is impossible to excercise faith in something one cannot comprehend. Hence the religious world of today. There are so many who profess faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ but do no more to follow the teachings and commandments in the Bible than those who profess no faith at all. (I am speaking generally of course) But, how many so called Christians hold fast to the laws of chastitiy? How many people refrain from using the names and titles of Deity in vain. I think the most common phrase we hear is..."Oh my...(and the title or name of Deity)". Using the name of God in vain is to use His name or titles in ANY manner other than reverence and worship. To go on, how many Christians keep the Sabbath Day as a sacred day of worship? (Why are stores open on Sunday, why are sports stadiums filled to capacity on Sunday? To keep the Sabbath Day holy would a 24 hour period of time would it not? Obviously our loves and desires for "worldly" things are greater than our love for God.

God does not change. He is perfect. He is all knowing. No mattter how we advance as a civilization does not reflect on whether or not God changes. He told us in the Bible he is the same yesterday, today and forever. Today's morality is yesterday's immorality and is looked upon the same by God. He did not allow adultery or fornication or whoredoms in the past, He does not now nor will He ever. With that He declared that our bodies are Temples of God and are to be treated as such. Look at the clothing styles of today especially with women and the showing off of their bodies; does that make their  bodies appear to be something they hold to be sacred?

The truth is we, as Christians, are happy to profess faith in God but not to excercise faith in Him. We all want truth on our side but do not necessarily want to stand on the side of truth...eternal truths. We are living hypocrites. I'm not saying we have to be perfect. While Jesus commanded us to be perfect He knew that we could not attain that in this lifetime and without His atonement it would be impossible. We can however strive to live the best we can striving constantly to improve and overcome bad habits and weaknesses. We are commanded to repent of our sins. To repent means to do it no more not to go out, do it again and repent again and again.

If we truely are Christians let us show it by our good works. Jesus gave the story of the good Samaritan. Samaritans were enemies of the Jews. Jews thought they were better. They would take extra time and walk around the land of Samaria rather than go through it. Jesus taught, however, that we should be like the Samaritan who showed love and kindness to a stranger in need and even gave of his own wealth to help one who was regarded as an enemy. Here we are having trouble getting along with our own families and next door neighbors let's not even start with our enemies.

We can do better. We must do better. Jesus Christ will return as promised, will we be ready to receive Him? 

Drugs and Alcohol..Why?

When I was in High School our football team won the state championship. A couple of guys who had graduated two years earlier rented a couple hotel rooms at a ski resort to throw a big party. I had been dating a girl for three years and she and I did not "party". The evening of the party a couple we were doubling with asked if we would go with them. They knew we didn't want to go but if we did it would give them an excuse to just say hi and leave. We agreed. 

As my girlfriend and I entered the room it was full of our friends. Someone jumped up and offered me and my girlfriend a comfortable lazy boy type chair. Immediately the host came over and tossed me a beer. I tossed it back and told him that I don't drink. He tried every way to convince me to join in; you just won a state championship...celebrate, everyone else is drinking (and they were), I never won a championship and I'm drinking, etc. I told him no. So he figure champagne would be okay and offered me that. I declined. What I had noticed while this was going on was that the room became silent and everyone was watching me to see what I'd do. We had been there about 10 whole minutes and I told my girlfriend I had been there long enough...let's go. We left the room and found the other couple coming from the other room also disgusted and ready to leave (that room was sporting an orgy). As we crossed the snowy parking lot my girlfriend put her arm through mine and squeezed me saying, "I'm proud of you, Alan." I felt ten feet tall. It also hit me, what if I had taken that drink, what would she have done?

A few weeks later my family was driving to Grandma's for a Sunday visit when my father said he was proud of me. When asked why he told me that a friend of mine had told him about the party and how they looked up to me for keeping to my standards and that they had ruined their life that night. 

As an athlete I can not understand anyone who plays any type of sport to drink alcohol, it destroys your body. One who drinks can't run as fast or far as prior to drinking. As a missionary I met many people in Amsterdam that were heavy into drugs. One attractive young woman lived on the street and her mind was so far gone she couldn't remember her name or carry on a conversation, all she could do was sit and try to sing (although she couldn't sing words as she couldn't remember words). My uncle destroyed his life with drugs and alcohol. He lost his family, his home and his business. He died a lonely and miserable death. My father and I were the only people he had left that cared about him. A former employer went out drinking with her boss for his birthday. He became so drunk he ended up deficating all over himself, and this is suppose to be fun?

I compare drinking with putting a spoon full of sugar in the gas tank of your car everyday. It will not take too long before your car has problems. I see people who drink and most all of them have problems connected to their drinking. 

Why is it okay for adults to drink when it is not for children? At what age do we become stupid enough that it becomes okay? The same with other "adult" things; language, sex, etc,. If something is not suitable for children it should not be suitable for adults. I told my children as they were growing up that if mom and dad did it so could they, but that they would never see mom and dad; drink, use drugs, use bad language, watch inappropriate movies or other type things. My children never questioned what they could or could not do.

There are so many things we can do and enjoy life...let's not be stupid using things that destroy.

That's it for today.

Alan

Life's Questions

I think every person asks themselves at least once in their life; who am I, what is the purpose of this life, is there anything beyond this life.  I asked myself these questions when I was fourteen years old. A close friend, a very attractive young woman, who came from a well to do family, who was liked by everyone (very popular), etc, etc, took her own life. It seemed she had everything going for her, why end your life? I struggled with this for some time. I wondered if there was a purpose for life or did she do the smart thing? I began to look at my religion more seriously and at others. My best friend and I were not of the same faith and we discussed religion often. 

I found my answers to these questions which have brought peace and confidence to my life. No matter how crazy life gets I know there is a Heavenly Father who cares about me and has a purpose for my life. He has not promised that this life will be without pain and trials but He has promised to help me through them.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons). What I appreciate about the Church is that it does not tell one what they must believe but tells one that they can know for themselves and teach one how to do that. In the last chapter of the Book of Mormon there is this statement; "and when ye shall receive these things I would exhort you that ye would ask God in the name of Christ if these things are not true. And, if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, having faith in Christ he will manifest the truth of these things unto to you."

This is the same promise made in the Book of James in the New Testament; "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally."

  Many philosophy professors have tried to destroy peoples faith in God by telling them that religion, God cannot be proven to be true or have any substance. This is a false statement. By the previous quotes there is a way and one must experience it to understand it. I'm sure there have been those who have asked God and received nothing and therefore it is not true, but the reference in the Book of Mormon tells one that they must be sincere. That is they must want to know with all their heart, they must be willing to submit to living the life God wants them to live, when this approach is taken God will always answer. The answer I received is something I can never deny or turn away from. Yes, there have been times when I have questioned God, but I have that witness to let me know to carry on until the understanding comes. Faith is walking into the dark trusting that the light will come to illuminate the way. Faith is not having a sure knowledge but trusting in God. When we live as so directed by Jesus Christ throughout the Bible we come to know the goodness of that life and receive a witness that it is of God.

I believe that every person believes in God or a supreme being. So called atheists proclaim not to believe to justify their behavior. They feel as long as they claim no religious beliefs that frees them to behave however they desire. They try so hard to convince others to appease their own conscience. Belief in God is born with us. I like to compare it to a brand new computer. A new computer comes with a basic memory which allows the computer to be turned on, new programs to be added, internet lines to be connected, etc. As we are born in life there we are born with what is termed a conscience. We know basic rights and wrongs. This is a gift God sent us to this life with. This life is a time to prepare to return to God, a time to excercise faith. That being the case we were given a basic set of knowledge that will help us to recognize truths and learn to believe in an trust God.

I am a student of life, I watch people. People who believe in God and strive to live a good life as has been outlined in the Bible are the most happy and well adjusted people. Those who ignore God's commandments are among the most miserable. You know commandments is a word that bothers a lot of people. Many people don't want to be "commanded" to do anything. Think of the commandments as blessings. If we live our life by them they bring a happiness and  peace none other can experience. Jesus' answer about which is the greatest commandment is truely the secret of life. If we love God and we love one another as we love ourselves would we ever do anything to bring harm or pain to another? Would we ever allow another to go hungry or naked? Would we ever steal from another? Would we engage in immoral conduct?

The world wants peace...there is a way, are we willing to submit to it?

This is my introduction to my blog, so you may get to know me. I'm not looking to disprove others beliefs or be controversial, simply share my reasons for faith, my base of happiness. I am a happy person. I was once in a business meeting when a corporate manager wanting to learn about employees posed the question; "What do you want most in life?" I was astounded that about 85% of the people answered they wanted to be happy. 

I close with the words to this song which expresses answers to the title of my blog.

"I am a child of God

and He has sent me here,

has given me an earthly home

with parents kind and dear. 

(Chorus)

Lead me, guide me,

walk beside me,

help me find the way.

Teach me all that I

must do,

to live with Him someday.

I am a child of God 

and so my needs are great,

help me to understand His words

before it grows to late.

(Chorus)

I am a child of God

rich blessings are in store,

if I but learn to do His will

I'll live with Him once more.

(Chorus)

until next time,

Alan Anderson