The nature of God

I ran across a post today on a web forum I frequent. In it, the poster expressed his view that God created us, got bored, and moved on to more interesting things. I couldn't disagree more.

The God that I know is a God of miracles. Yes, even today. He is a God who answers prayers, who knows and loves each one of us individually and by name.

The God I know is the Creator, Preserver and Upholder of the universe, yet cares enough about my infinitesimal concerns to speak to me personally through His Holy Spirit, and I claim that this grand, sublime experience is available to all who will in faith call upon Him.

The God that I know is my heavenly Father, the epitome of fatherhood. Imagine the best possible Father ever - do you think such a Father would abandon His children? I don't, and I assert that He hasn't, and never will.

The God I know provides wise, loving guidance through my trials, if I only ask for it.

The God I know gives us wise commandments, not as fences or restrictions, but as guideposts and safety rails, to warn us away from things that will harm us.

The God I know possesses perfect love, all knowledge, and all power, and invites us to join Him and become like Him.

This is the God I know, and I invite everyone who reads this to come to know Him as I do.

Prophets in the land

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. (See 1 Kgs. 18:21.)

"President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life'. This is a hard doctrine, but it is a particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ!"
- Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "A More Determined Discipleship", Ensign, Feb. 1979

I see more and more members of the Church saying things like, "I think it's wrong that we are fighting against gay marriage. I think gay people should be allowed to marry. There's nothing wrong with that." Of those people, I ask, is President Monson the prophet of God, or isn't he? Are you going to follow the prophet or no? As for me, I will follow the man whom I sustained as the prophet and President of the Church, because I asked God if he is truly the man who should be the prophet here and now, and He answered me in the affirmative.

Proposition 8

With all the furor surrounding the passage of Proposition 8, I thought it would be apropos to give you all the view of one member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Many have said that the Church is anti-gay. We're not; we're pro-traditional marriage. There is a difference. We strive to love as Christ loved: unconditionally and universally.

Many have said that the Church promotes a double standard. We don't. The standard is the same for everyone, and it's called the law of chastity. Simply stated, the law of chastity prohibits any and all sexual activity outside of the bonds of marriage between one man and one woman. Those with homosexual inclinations can live the law of chastity thus defined.

With sufficient desire and the help of the Lord Jesus Christ, those with homosexual inclinations can change. To categorically deny this is to deny the efficacy of the Atonement and, more to the point for those who don't believe in God at all, the power of the indomitable human spirit.

I hope anyone who reads this will respect my views, even if they don't agree. Remember, prejudice against the religious is just as unjustifiable as any other kind.

Lifestyle

As I was kicking back in the recliner after a long hard day of school, homework and grading, relaxing with a Caffeine-Free Diet Coke and watching an episode of NUMB3RS, I reflected on how fundamentally different my lifestyle is from "the norm".

And I'm fine with that. :)

Manuscript paper

I want to give some free advertising to BlankSheetMusic.net. I needed some manuscript paper for this Wexford thing, so I googled up some sites for printing manuscript paper. BlankSheetMusic.net was the first result, so I clicked. It's highly customizable - you can decide how many staves in a set, add clefs, key signatures and time signatures, and even put measure bars on if you like. So if you randomly need some manuscript paper and you don't have any, check out BlankSheetMusic.net.

*goes back to arranging*