Admonish

It seems that every lesson held on Sunday follows a patter of instruction, then admonishment, then testimony. The instruction section is the lesson and story in the scriptures, the admonishment section is drawing the principle out of the lesson and asking for a commitment from the class and the teacher to internalize this principle. The end with testimony is for strengthening those so they can accomplish the change just proposed to them.

In the scriptures it talks about the saints of God admonishing each other when it comes to sin. I've heard stories of people going up to others and telling them as lovingly as they can that they need to shape up. I know it is done with the best of intensions, but it seems that seven out of ten people respond negatively.

The interesting thing about this list of scriptures is that even though sin is mentioned the focus is really on different ways to lift each other. In Colossians 3:16 it talks about singing with and to each other. In Mosiah 26:39 it talks about giving thanks to God. Maybe if things are really bad we could say something to each other about being good Saints, but we are not to become judgmental in the process. We're all sinners and we can only lift up our neighbor when the challenge to change is admonished to our own hearts as much as theirs.

Administrations to the Sick

In my church, when you are sick you can receive a priesthood blessing. Two priesthood holders who at least hold the office of "Elder" come to your house, anoint your head with oil that is specifically used for administering to the sick, and then place their hands on your head and give you a blessing of health. What they say in the blessing, if they are in tune to the Spirit, will come to pass.

Our method is the same used in the original church that Christ established. In James 5:14 it reads:

14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

If you follow the link by clicking on the post title, you will find other scriptural references supporting this method.

This method is important because Christ said to use it, but there are other ways that people have been healed by faith. I think why this method is important is because of what the priesthood holder is suppose to symbolize. Christ did a lot of healing both in the New Testament as well as in the Book of Mormon and in almost all the cases when he healed someone he touched them. I believe this is because whatever Christ touches lives. In Alma 15:8 it tells the key to being healed:

8 And Alma said: If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed.

When the Elders come to your house, they are representatives of Christ. When they anoint your head with oil, they are committing you to God. When they place their hands on your head, it is as if Christ was touching you just as he did long ago.

I don't understand why some people are healed and others have to live a life of physical pain. I know that everything that happens is to help us draw closer to Christ if we open our hearts to him.

There have been some nights with my illness that the pain was so intense I would cry, and then I would call some priesthood holders in my congregation to come and give me a blessing. Afterwards the pain would become less and I would be able to function again. I have not been completely healed of my condition and though I've known people who have been healed, my faith in the healing power of the priesthood has not been shaken.

Adjure

Sometimes I wonder why these words were chosen to be included in this Guide. There are so many words in the scriptures and not all of them are included. I'm not asking the question to question whether or not this word or that word should have been added, but instead to figure out what I can learn and come away with.

According to the dictionary, Adjure means:

"urge or request (someone) solemnly or earnestly to do something."

It's origins literately mean "to swear" or to make an oath.

In today's day and age the concept of a promise or an oath does not have that much weight. We are focused a lot more on the physical world and its constraints. When I was in high school I was telling a guy friend of mine about these playing cards my brother had left behind when he went to college. He asked if he could have them and I rather jokingly said he could. Then he made me promise and I didn't think much of it. Later he showed up at my house to collect my brother's cards and I told him that I couldn't, they weren't actually mine to give. He became very angry and left feeling betrayed since I had promised them to him and did not deliver. The experience taught me that making a promise and giving my word to someone actually does hold weight and I should be careful in how I go about giving my word.

In Christ's day, the concept of giving your word and upholding your honor already was instilled in the culture. In Matthew 26:63 Christ is put on trial and is asked if he is the Son of God. It reads:

63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

Christ answer is in verse 64:

64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

The word "adjure" is used here and I'm guessing it was to emphasis Christ repose. When Christ declared himself this time it was absolute and could not be taken back. Maybe if Christ denied himself before this point they would have left him alone as merely a misguided soul, but after this response I believe his death became sure.

Christ knew what they were asking of him, and he told them the truth. He had his life and the pain he knew was coming on the line and he did the right thing. Sometimes our ability to choose keeps us from doing as he did. The thought "we always have a choice" clouds our vision until we can't see the reality that for an honest person there isn't a choice.

Add

Topics without scriptures: Adam-ondi-Ahman, Adamic Language.

I am blessed to have a family with an income. My husband and I receive money from his work, and then we can spend that money on whatever we want. The bills get paid, we buy food, we put some away for savings, and then we buy things to help make our apartment feel more like a home. During the past few months while we've been moving in, we've been adding to the decor of our apartment. One week we'll buy a few curtains, the next week some bookcases. Though we may have made some large shopping trips to Target in the beginning, we're now just slowly yet steadily adding to our home.

I like to think that God does the same thing to us in our lives. In Matthew 6:33 it reads:

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We are in constant development. Maybe in the beginning when we first turned towards God we made some pretty big changes and improvements on ourselves, but God is still always looking to improve and add to what we are.

Just as a side note because it came up in this section. In Revelations 22:18 it says not to add to what was written in that book. Mormons get a lot of flack from this because people read it as saying that the heavens are closed and there are no more scriptures yet to come. We interpret it as "don't add to or change the book of Revelations" as there are plenty of scriptures that were lost by the other Apostles, the book of Revelations was put at the end of the Bible for arbitrary reasons, because God said himself that his words were without end, and because if this verse is taken literally then according to Deuteronomy 4:2 we need to throw out pretty much the entire Bible.

Adam

When it comes to the story of Adam and Eve, the majority of the Christian world has one interpretation of the story. That Adam and Eve (especially Eve) messed up and we are all pretty much damned because of it. While Latter-Day Saints believe in the same story, we have a different interpretation that isn't quite so doom and gloom.

Though we believe that they did in fact disobey God's law, we also believe that it was not a "sin" but rather it was a "transgression" and though we feel the effects of it just as a child growing up feels the effects of the decisions of their parents, we do not believe that it is something we need to be forgiven of. Hence we do not practice infant baptism for "original sin."

The second more positive interpretation of the Adam and Eve story has to do more with Agency. Agency is the name given to our ability to choose right and wrong. We use our agency to be righteous or wicked. One of my most favorite chapters of scripture is 2 Nephi 2, where it talks about the importances of this agency:

11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

It later explains in that same chapter how this plays into Adam and Eve's story:

22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.

24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

Though Adam and Eve disobeyed God's law to them, they only had a partial understanding of what it meant to sin, as they did not have a knowledge of good and of evil until after they had partaken of the fruit. Their actions had consequences (the introduction of both physical and spiritual death into the world) but it was not something that condemned them. They committed the act in their state of innocence and hence were covered by the Atonement just as the wrongs of little children before they know better are covered by the Atonement.

As their children, we honor Adam and Eve for making the decision of beginning the human family and of beginning our Earthy experience. Maybe it was a combination of being tricked by Satan and choosing for themselves this necessary path to jump start the world, but in the end I am grateful for them and what happened in the garden of eden.

When LDS children are taught about Adam, they learn a song about the Old Testament Prophets called "Follow the Prophet". The first verse goes:

Adam was a prophet,

First one that we know.

In a place called Eden,

He helped things to grow.

Adam served the Lord

by following his ways.

We are his descendants

in the Latter-Days.

Though trying to understand the intricacies of The Fall is something that I have been working on for years, I'm comforted by these scriptures insisting that it was not only a fall downward from where we could live with God, but also a fall forwards towards us returning to him again someday.

Actions

It says in the verse for this topic that the "LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed." Sometimes we can think that God has no right to tell us how to live our lives, what we are capable of or even how we should be feeling. After all, sometimes we don't even know ourselves what is going on inside of us so how could someone else. If this was any other person, we could feel somewhat justified in our feelings and assumptions, but doing so misses the point of having a Savior.

One of the main points of Christianity is that Christ, through the Atonement, has a knowledge of us that exceeds even the knowledge we have of ourselves. This knowledge He uses to comfort us when we need comfort and to help us heal when our hearts are broken, but it also means that He knows what is best. This includes every aspect of our lives from what standards we need to live by to His commandment to forgive everyone. As the one offering His love and mercy, we also choose Him as our Lord. Going back to the middle age's definition of Lord, He's the one who chooses how our lives will be. Everyone has to choose a Lord to control their life, even if in their own minds that Lord is themselves. I chose to become a Christian because I came to a knowledge that Christ is my Savior, that He knows everything, and I wanted someone like that to be the one telling me how to live my life.

That may sound like I've given up my ability to think for myself, but unlike other Lords who would force their will on those they are over, it is always a choice every single time to follow Him.

Act

How important is an act? A clear-cut response is that our actions reflect what is in our hearts and since we can't see into the heart it is the only way to tell the good from the bad. But we all know of someone, maybe even ourselves, when an act was committed that wasn't meant or was forced upon us by someone else. I believe that insight into this concept of acting is more complicated than my first explanation but is simple enough to show some beauty. Once again, this is just me sharing my ideas on details that are always in development.

Where this all begins is in the definition of the soul - that it is composed of the spirit and the body. Before and after this life we only had a spirit, but while we are here we have a body housing our spirit. I believe that it isn't just our spirits living inside of our bodies like we were incased in a shell, but that our bodies and spirits really do become connected to the point of being one entity. This connection makes it possible for us to commit actions. Our freewill is a part of our spirit, but there is something important about being able to express ourselves physically. If it wasn't so, then why are there commandments giving us guidelines for living in the physical world? Why would there be mandatory ceremonies like baptism? And most importantly, if bodies weren't important than why did Christ not reach his point of greatest glory until after he was resurrected?