Eternal Marriage is a Blessing

Here is something to chew on:
What does " love the sinner, hate the sin" mean? As much as I know that holy marriage is between a worthy man and woman, I am continually reminded that a man cannot force someone to be obedient to the laws of God.

Prophets teach that they are blessed for being compelled to be humble and teachable(Alma 32:13). But when the anti-Christ was brought before the king, though his teachings encouraged people to sin, the law of the land had no hold against him(Alma 30:12). I admire the people of Ammon who did not harm Korihor. They just picked him up and carried him out of the land. But it was strictly against the law to put men on unequal ground, "legally" speaking(Alma 30:7).

No one can enter the temple without thorough soul searching and being worthy before God to participate in the sacred ordinances there. Eternal Marriage is the highest ordinance preformed in the Temple and that cannot be achieved while participating in behaviors contrary to the laws of Him who's house it is. There are spiritual consequences for disobeying His laws and there are natural consequences(Darwin would agree that any species acting like that wouldn't survive).

It is God's Law that matters. He set down all laws natural, physical, and spiritual. When His laws are broken there are consequences that we cannot avoid. We lose privileges and blessings through disobedience. Isn't that punishment enough? Shouldn't we look to those who have lost these blessings with the greatest of compassion and longing to love them into the path of righteousness? To make them "legally" less or to discriminate them would bring them and us to a misunderstanding of each other.

When a person truly understands the gospel they will choose to be obedient on their own. As President Boyd K. Packer said in his April 1997 General Conference Talk,"
I have long believed that the study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than talking about behavior will improve behavior."
The law of the land can protect us but should it be used to lower the rights of others?

Please leave G-rated comments if you'd like to respond.

Jake-Truth is a Whole.

drop it like a bad habit

Failing to find time for the important things in life has been one of my short comings. I can manage money as well as any other person but time slips through my fingers. I have a great ability to live on practically nothing at all and therefore stop the flow of money. But time is unstoppable. I haven't yet figured out how to slow it down or save it for later.

In a recent class the book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" was a required read. As is my habit I did actually read one chapter in the book(well most of a chapter). The chapter that I read had to do with maintaining a healthy lifestyle, meaning physical, mental, social, and spiritual aspects of a person's life. Apparently keeping yourself fit in body and soul can keep you sharper and more productive. I guess I knew that but I didn't really think about it.

I can see that getting regular exercise will improve your productivity but I was surprised to see just how important regular mental stimulus can help. As the financial guru Dave Ramsey always points out: "millionaires read at least one nonfiction book a month. Can you imagine all the things you can learn if you read about something new every month?

This also got me thinking about other habits that millionaires might have. I'm not saying that each habit is the "cause" to "effectuate" millionaire status. It did make me think though. What if some of my current habits are costing me lots and lots of money? I don't think I can afford that.

Jake, I wanna be a millionaire so (something) bad

Changes: home sweet home Part 2

We both knew it would happen some day. I just didn't think it would feel so life changing to move across town. Thanks to everyone that helped us get our stuff to our new apartment. It is great being so close to work now(though I am sure I will regret this move when it takes me 40 min. to walk to school in the snow). The first thing to sink in besides how much more room we have is how much we miss the Logan 19th ward. Church is great where ever you attend but a home ward is special.
Of course the move would not have been possible with out the new addition to our list of toys... our new car! tragically the Rodeo met an untimely end right as we went to look for a new car. We(and the bank) are now the proud owners of a 2002 ford explorer! funny how despite our desire to have two cars we are still down to one.
Last but definitely not least is losing the best next door neighbors ever. For the last two years Kylee and I have shared walls with two awesome couples that would hang out at the drop of a hat or have a spur of the moment potluck Sunday dinner just because we could. At our new place we really have few options when it comes to neighbors. Here's to hoping the old neighbors will want to travel the mile and a half to see us now and then.

Jake, I can't change time.

I Would Walk Five Hundred Miles

It's been an interesting couple of weeks due to automotive malfunctions. I never realized just how much Kylee and I depend on the car until we have to go an entire week without it.

The lack of transportation didn't seem like such a dilema to me at first. After all when in it comes to driving priority I'm not the highest on the list. Walking the one and a half miles to work everyday is not such an ordeal and I can even rationalize that it is good for me. I have even turned it into a morning run. But finding a way to get Kylee to work has been a little more problematic. Thankfully our friends have really blessed us with help in that area.

It's not all bad news though. we have gleaned a few blessings from our period of pedestrian-ism  we actually live close enough to church to walk there and walk back. because we are planning ahead for a long walk we are starting to make it there early enough to hear the prelude music. On weekdays that Kylee works right after school we've taken the long walk together and had almost 40 whole minutes to just talk. As tiring as these walks can be, they are a blessing when we sometimes go a whole day without seeing each other.

Jake, the proclaimer

Writing for the sake of writing

Starting this semester I find myself once again in English 2010 "Writing and Presenting". I honestly had fun the last time I took this class which may have been the reason I didn't get a satisfactory grade for the school of Business.

The really fun part of this class for me is choosing a topic for "THE PAPER". The first time around I wrote about dating issues(from a guy's point of view), why dogs are superior pets, and about sleep and the lack thereof. I know these aren't exactly the most cutting edge topics but I refuse to write about what everyone else has already written, re-written, rebuttal, and beaten to death. It is the equivalent of posting your dread of finals on Facebook during finals week. Your thoughts are lost in a sea of other students all dreading finals right along with you.

So I find myself with two choices. Either I can find a topic of interest that has real world value such as the big scary genetically modified plants, or I can once again try to make some menial topic sound more intelligent than it really is. I have been favoring the idea of writing about goldfish. that is always entertaining to learn something about everyone's first pet.

Jake, take my word for it