And by their fruits... Fruit? I hope it's tasty.

Periodically over my life people tell me I'm a fruit, I'm sure they mean it as a complement. If I was a fruit I think I'd be a pineapple, rough and tough on the outside, lovely and luscious on the inside. But matter of fact, we are all fruits, well, we all bare fruit at least. Whether we do it intentionally or not, every action, every choice, every decision we make has an influence on who we become and, more generally than not, on who others become. If you want good fruit to take root, you plant it in good soil. If you want it to grow, you nourish it with vital nutrients and minerals. If you want it to bear fruit, you give it the light of the sun. Now we could easily go into a discussion on comparing people to plants and fruit; if we want our souls to take root we plant it in the soil of the gospel, if we want it to grow we nourish it with the vital nutrients of the scriptures and prayer, and if we want it to bear fruit we give it the light of the Son, the Son of God, our Living Waters. But we won't go into anymore detail on that for now. If you do want to hear an apostle go into that though, click here! 

That's what I do want to talk about though, the claim of prophets and apostles on the Earth today! Colossians 1:18 tells us that "[Christ] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead..." Ephesians 2:19-20 affirms the importance of Christ in the church AND of the men He called to establish the foundation of the church: "...ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone." Without the foundation of a building, the structure cannot stand and crumbles, likewise the church (household of God) crumbles without the foundation established by Jesus Christ. Now there are different interpretations within the Christian world as to whether that foundation was meant to be just the words of Jesus, the prophets, and the apostles until they were finished and revelation was ceased completely, or if that foundation was to be a continuing line of revelation through Jesus Christ as he calls new prophets and apostles. Well, what I think.... that doesn't matter. Let's see what Jesus has to say about it. 

Let's jump to Matthew 7, the concluding remarks of the greatest sermon ever given, the Sermon on the Mount. In verses 15-20 the Savior said:

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

By their fruits ye shall know them. Jesus is not teaching that there will be no more prophets.  If there were no more He would have said so, but if anything, He is teaching us the exact opposite. There will be more prophets, there will be more sent by Him, and He is giving us the Spiritual 'litmus-test' to distinguish a man called of God and a man called of men. So now about these fruits... 

What a splendid banana? Looks delicious right (assuming you like bananas)?





Let's open it up and see...

Holy guacamole Batman! I just saw my 'knife' flash before my eyes!... Ok, obviously it's staged, you probably won't ever find an actual knife inside of a real banana (if you do please let me and your lawyer know), but hey, we are using an analogy here, so anything goes. It came to me in banana's clothing, but inward was a ravening knife.

So how did the Savior warn us about that?
John 7:24 "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

He also warns us that "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils?  and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matt. 7:21-23
So there's our basis for judging the fruits of men. When judging their fruits, we cannot simply look at the appearance or maybe the stigma or reputation that surrounds something to judge it, for there will be many that appear to do "wonderful works", but the Lord has looked beyond the appearance and He knows what is truly inside them, they are even "workers of iniquity."

Which brings me to my final point, the fruits of God. We know the Holy Bible to be the word of God (as represented by this apple). It is the tangible "fruit" that we have to be able to read, ponder, pray about, and ultimately to be able to know about our Savior's divinity and truthfulness. God has given us addition fruit, as a testament that He has still called men to His work in these days as in days of old. The fruit that He has given us to examine is called The Book of Mormon (as represented by this banana). Just as the Bible is a testament of the prophets in Jerusalem and the dealing of Christ with the people there, the Book of Mormon is a testament of the prophets in the ancient Americas and the dealings of Christ with them there and His ministry among them after His resurrection.
God has brought forth another volume of scripture! It's beautiful. It's breathtaking. It teaches us the gospel of Jesus Christ so plainly that we cannot misunderstand. It testifies of His teachings in the Bible, and ultimately of His calling of prophets and apostles in these latter-days. All we have to do is examine this fruit. We can open it, we can look at it. Many will judge by the appearance though or what they have heard and "set it as a thing of naught." Oh what they are missing! In the end, the greatest way we can know is through this promise from God, 
"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." God as always invited us to 'seek and we shall find, ask and we shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto us'.
Listen to the words of an ancient American prophet, "For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" 

In other words, how knoweth a man the fruit that he has not opened? How knoweth a man a book by it's cover? How knoweth a man his brother by his appearance? (the Lord warned about this anciently in the Old Testament as well to the prophet Samuel.)

I testify to you that the Book of Mormon is good fruit. I have opened it. I have read it. I have pondered about it. I have prayed and asked God, and He has given me an answer. It is true! It has swelled my being, it has enlarged my soul, it has enlightened my understanding, and it is delicious to me. It has brought the fruits of the Spirit into my life, even "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness" and" temperance"(Galatians 5:22). Someday we will meet at the pleasing judgment bar of the Great Jehovah. I hope, that because of righteous choices, to us it will be pleasing. I also hope that you will have been able to partake of this fruit and know for yourself as I do. I testify of these things in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, amen.

What To Do When Your Relationship With Jesus Is 'In The Toilet'

Today I had an interesting experience. I discovered that my relationship with Jesus was in the toilet.

Literally.

Yes... yes. That is a picture of Jesus coming out of the tomb, and it fell into the commode. Now before you condemn me for allowing that to happen, hear me out, it was an accident, but I thought I shouldn't let this opportunity to learn pass me by and go down the drain. Get it.. down the drain? Bathroom humor...

Here's how it all began. My afternoon went along smoothly. Had a great meeting in Cookeville with other missionaries, a delicious lunch consisting of meat and barbecue sauce, and a pleasant drive back to Tompkinsville. When I got home I went into the bathroom and decided to admire our new addition to our apartment. See below.

Isn't it beautiful?  It's only 2 dollars at Wal-Mart. What a steal! A house isn't a home in Kentucky until you have a UK toilet seat cover. And you can quote me on that. Well, as I had leaned over to admire this bathroom decoration I foolishly lifted up the toilet seat to try to wipe off some debris that had fallen on the cover. Soon I discovered two very minor but very important details. 1- Gravity is present everywhere on Earth, especially in bathrooms. 2- The shirt I was wearing had a pocket in it, in which I was storing some pictures of Jesus and other items. 

Any guesses what happened? No, a spider did not crawl out and make me scream like a girl and make me slip on wet tile and the pictures flew everywhere and one landed in the toilet. That hasn't happened since I was 6, give me a break already! Well, ok, I'll tell you what happened... Are you ready? Gravity was applied to all the contents of my shirt pocket and a plopping noise was soon heard coming from within the toilet bowl. I grimaced as I knew what had just happened without having to look. I quickly grabbed all the items out of the toilet bowl, except for that one picture of Jesus, and decided to grab my camera and seize the moment. I ran and put everything in front of one of the heaters in our apartment and they are drying at this very moment.
So... what does Elder Huffaker being a cluts have to do with anything spiritual? Good question... I'm still working on that, but let's see if this works for now:

I would like to compare myself, and all of us, to a man in the Book of Mormon by the name of Amulek. When Amulek first appears on the seen he gives a brief background of himself to the wicked people of Ammonihah. Amulek says:  I am "a man of no small reputation among all those who know me; yea, and behold, I have many kindreds and friends, and I have also acquired much riches by the hand of my industry. Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people. Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart..." (Alma 10:4-6). He's sort of a big deal. People know him. (Anchorman anyone?)

My situation in the bathroom could be comparable to Amulek. I had become so distracted by the UK toilet seat cover, that I was ignorant of the things I was carrying in my pocket. Amulek had received and seen many things, even 'much mysteries and marvelous power' he tells us, and he was 'called many times' but would not hear. He was a man, like all of us, that was too distracted by the things of the world to give heed to the more important spiritual things in his life. The Lord reveals in modern-revelation to a prophet named Joseph Smith that "...there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men..." (Doctrine and Covenants 121:34-35).
What are the desires of our hearts? Do we desire to revel in our wealth, friendship, kinship, and the distractions of the world more than to serve God and to love Him and our fellow-man as we are commanded too? What if we are the Amuleks, or the card-into-toilet-dropping-Elder-Huffakers of this world and we want to change? Luckily for us, there is a happy ending for Amulek and there can be for us as well. As Amulek continues with his story he informs us how an angel appeared to him and told him to return to his home for he is to feed a prophet of God that has fasted many days because of the iniquity of the people. Amulek returns, meets Alma (the prophet the angel spoke of), his house is blessed, they study for many days together and then declare repentance unto the wicked people of Ammonihah. They contend with some lawyers, teach about Jesus Christ, are thrown into prison and beaten and starved for a while... you know, really minor day-to-day stuff that prophets and their companions do.... In the end though, the Lord delivers them from prison, the walls shake, collapse, and kill all the wicked men inside of them. Alma and Amulek come forth unharmed and continue to preach (see Alma chapters 10-15) . From what we hear of Amulek in the rest of the Book of Mormon he lives the rest of his life as one of the greatest missionaries in the Book of Mormon and a devoted follower of our Savior Jesus Christ.
How can we have such a change of heart and return to our Lord when we may feel we have dropped the ball and made our relationship with Jesus spiritually 'in the toilet'? Here's a few steps I would suggest:

1. Recognition- obviously you need to recognize there is a problem before you can change it. Recognition is the ignition that brings change to fruition. Catchy isn't it?  
2. Prayer - we need to in some way acknowledge to the Lord our desire to change and ask for His help and forgiveness.
3. Scripture Study - before Amulek went to preach to the people we read that he spent many days in preparation studying with Alma, this most likely included a lot of studying the scriptures.
4. Church Attendance - if we want to devote ourselves to the Lord one of the best places to begin is by showing our Savior our gratitude for the gift of His Atonement (His suffering for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, His death, and His glorious resurrection). We show this gratitude by preparing ourselves to worthily partake of the sacrament in remembrance of Him.
5. Give Thanks - When we have strayed and are distracted by the world the Lord gives us this warning:
"And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments" (Doctrine and Covenants 59:21). Amulek even confessed that the Lord had bless him much in his life and had given him many opportunities, but he had refused to hearken to the Lord. Luckily he changed though. We all have so many blessings in our lives that the Lord has given us, some we easily recognize, but others we will find as we look. As we thank the Lord for what we have we will be prepared for Him to bless us even more.

Our Heavenly Father loves us as does His Son Jesus Christ. They want to bless us so much and to develop a loving relationship with us. They have extended the invitation and provided the way, and it is up to us to choose to leave our relationship in the toilet or to heed the call and 'clean up our act' (pun intended). 

Will you begin by looking for the many little blessings you have been given in your life?