Tithing

-Or-

Sex and Money

THAT ought to get people’s attention…

One of my favorite scriptures of all is D&C 130: 20-21:

“There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

“And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.”

And the reason why I love it is that it explains so much about why we have commandments. Match this one up with this one from King Benjamin, in Mosiah Chapter 2, starting in v21:

“I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

“And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

“And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

“And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?”

OK, here’s where I’m going with this.

There are two laws that I’ve had experience with that have demonstrated this principle to me. One is the law of Tithing, the other is the law of Chastity. The interesting thing is that they show the principle in different ways, and at different times.

First, tithing, since that’s what I was setting myself up to talk about first anyway. There was a time in my life when I was doing music full-time. Each week, the survival of our family relied on my ability to find recording and live sound projects. And each week, I relied on paying my tithing to help me. I could see it as a direct correlation. The weeks I paid my tithing, I had gigs. The weeks where I forgot, it was slow. It was that obvious.

I didn’t get rich. But I was able to take care of my family. I have a powerful, first hand testimony of the value of paying tithing. By that, I mean, the value of me paying my tithing. The Lord doesn’t need my money. The church doesn’t need my money. I need to share what I have so that the Lord can open the windows of heaven and bless me.

Now, contrast that with the Law of Chastity. The only woman I have ever touched or made love to is my wife, and we didn’t do that until after the pronouncement of the blessings (a temple wedding ceremony lasts about 2 minutes and is one of the most powerful blessings ever conferred on humans). I grew up (in my teens and early 20’s) around a lot of people who were sexually active. They often wondered why I didn’t want to get involved in that. I often wondered myself. I just knew that I had been told that it’s right not to (yet), and that at some point it would be right, and that I needed to wait until then.

Unlike the immediate experience I had with the blessings of tithing, I didn’t understand the full impact of the law of chastity until years into my own marriage. That was when I saw many of my friends and my acquaintances lose their marriages, their stability, and their happiness to a lack of fidelity and jealousy. I saw that living the law had preserved me from all that.

So, my point here is: Sometimes we see immediate results. Sometimes we take life on faith. In the end, we reap what we sow.

MRKH
Mark Hansen
http://markhansenmusic.com

Fasting

My biggest problem with fasting is simply that I don’t do it enough.

I mean, I know that we’re supposed to do it once a month. I also know that it’s generally discouraged to do it more than that. I know that some get fanatical about it, and fast weekly.

I’m just not that good at it. I get ornery and cranky. I forget and grab a drink or a cracker and then, “Doh!” I tend to lose sight of what I’m fasting for. I think that I end up more like the Pharisees who “put on a sad countenance to appear to fast”. I’m not so sure that I do it to appear unto men like I’m fasting, so much as I do it because going without food genuinely makes me irritable.

More so, anyway, than normal…

There was a time in my life when I fasted, and I did it for the right reasons, and in the right ways. My life wasn’t necessarily better or worse back then, but I did feel more in tune more often than I do now. I did a lot of things better back then.

I think that’s why I tackled this blog topic. I need the most help with these five things.

This last time that I fasted, we were praying to have a situation worked out where Jacob didn’t get removed from this funding program that was paying for his medicines and his nightly formula. This would make a difference of literally thousands of dollars a month, out of pocket. Since that time, the Lord has brought to us many contacts and information that has helped us in the pursuit of the issue. I’ve learned a lot about bureaucracies. No, the situation isn’t resolved, yet. Still, I have felt guided as we’ve been working on it.

I really need to fast more steadily and more often. I’m just out of practice!

MRKH
Mark Hansen
http://markhansenmusic.com

Scriptures and Testimony

My mission president said one thing to us that has left a profound effect on me. He said, “We talk to God through prayer, and he answers us through the scriptures.”

In my life, there’ve been a few exceptions to this general rule, but by and large, I found it to be true. This is why prayer is number one on my list, and scripture study is number two. I’ve found that if I’m praying about something, I’d better be crackin’ open the books, because

1. I might come across a scripture that I’ve read a thousand times before, and suddenly have the answer I need. It has happened that a verse will suddenly show me a slightly different application that I’ve always thought of it before, and that will be what I needed to know.
2. Even when I don’t have a specific verse answer my questions, sometimes a story that I’m reading, or a chapter will lead my thoughts to the answer.
3. Sometimes, my answer isn’t connected to the scriptures at all, but the fact that I’ve been reading regularly means that I’ve been opened up (spiritually) to receive the answer.

At times I wonder about those that leave the church. I’ve know some who’ve spent a significant amount of time reading the anti-mormon theories and refutations. I often wonder if they’d set that much time and effort into reading the scriptures, if their testimonies would have strengthened instead of weakened.

I know that I went through a time of wondering about Joseph Smith. My response was to reread the Doctrine and Covenants. That was a powerful thing for me and my testimony. I do understand that he was a normal, flawed human being. I also strongly believe that the Lord uses people like that, like me, to accomplish his tasks here on earth. I don’t believe that Joseph Smith was inherently more or less divine than any of us. He did, however have a much more direct calling than I do.

And it’s up to me to understand his calling, and his work. Because it was the work God called him to do. And anyone who doubts should study the D&C. Read the words of his detractors, or read his own words. It will clear it up.

MRKH

Mark Hansen
http://markhansenmusic.com