The New Testament records seven things the Savior said while upon the cross, demonstrating the characteristics of Jesus Christ that are worth pondering. He first said “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), showing the characteristic of forgiveness. He said to the thief “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), showing the compassion he so often demonstrated during his mortal ministry. To Mary his mother toward the disciple ‘whom he loved,’ he said “Woman, behold thy son!”, and to the disciple “Behold thy mother!” (John 19:26-27), showing honor and loyalty to his mother and family. In perhaps one of His darkest moments Jesus uttered “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?, translated “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” showing the human characteristic of fear (Jesus knows fear and can relate to us in this feeling). Showing his physical character as being human, despite having an immortal father, Jesus told his persecutors “I thirst” (John 19:28). Reporting to His Father in complete obedience to giving of himself for the sins and infirmities of the world Jesus said “It is finished” (John 19:30). And finally demonstrating his total dedication and trust in His father in Heaven Jesus finally spoke “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). If all we had were these final words we could still get a solid understanding of who Jesus was and the unwavering characteristics he possessed that we would be well to emulate during our journey in mortality and beyond.

Over the last several weeks I have read stories about a judge banning prayer and religiously related words from a high school graduation (this was later reversed) and the ACLU pressuring another school to remove a Christian related backdrop to a high school graduation. Over the last several years we have seen numerous efforts to aggressively remove anything related to God and religion from public places. In nearly every instance it is removing Christian-related material. Never mind that over 78% of America identifies itself as being Christian (Pew Forum at http://religions.pewforum.org/affiliations), we apparently need to succumb to the 1% or less of America that claims they are offended or will be irreparably harmed by being exposed to such Christian material. For the vast minority of people in America we are being required to “ease God out” of our society and communicate to the next generation that we need to keep God in private places and out of the public eye. Funny thing - take the first letter of my last statement (ease God out), put them together and what do they spell? EGO. Yes, it is man’s ego (otherwise identified as selfishness, prideful, and arrogance) that is removing God from our public places in an attempt to turn us into a Godless nation. It is a pathetic and discouraging fact that many judges and organizations are helping this to come about, showing the Godless in heart have infiltrated our government and institutions of influence. We cannot depend on our secular leaders to lead us in faith, we must lead ourselves and others with our own faith – and that means strengthening our faith in Christ and His gospel regularly. Only in our own strength of faith, with God’s blessing and help, can we overcome this insidious trend of easing God out.

Quite a week with the news of Bin Laden’s death. I like many others are happy that he is finally laid to rest an unable to kill any more innocent people. But what is a Christian to think? Revenge belongs to the Lord so let’s not get carried away and consumed with that awful feeling. We are called to fight for justice as the people of God, so justice can be a good thing. However, death, especially violent death, is not something I expect the Savior would celebrate. I can envision Christ being at peace with the elimination of one who spreads so much hate and destruction, while forgiving Bin Laden of his misguided ways. Christ would pray for him and told us to do the same for all of our enemies. That is a tough concept that we must find a way to embrace – praying for our enemies that their hearts might be converted to the Lord and find forgiveness and joy in the atonement of Jesus Christ. When is the last time you did that, or heard of someone doing that on behalf of Osama Bin Laden? I certainly have not and must repent of not having done so. No matter how much we want to ignore this simple principle, it will not go away anytime too soon. So the next time you are asked to high five the violent death of individuals you despise and would like to see wiped off the face of the planet take a moment to ask yourself that incredibly cliché thing: “what would Jesus do?”

I thought a lot about new names over the last couple of weeks. The spiritual concept of obtaining a new name has great significance for Latter-day Saints who have attended the temple. Although this doctrine may appear to be somewhat strange to other Christians, the fact is obtaining a new name is something that has deep Biblical roots. Abraham’s name was changed from Abram as recorded in Genesis 17:5: “Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.” Ten verses later in the same chapter God changed Abraham’s wife’s name from Sarai to Sarah. The same happened to Jacob when God changed his name to Israel as recorded in Genesis 35:10: “And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name….” Isaiah wrote “And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name” (Isa. 62:2). John the Revelator connected the concept of a new name with the temple when he wrote “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name (Rev. 3:12). Remember that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and what appears to be strange may need to be simply understood further. The scriptures provide us answers, as does the Holy Ghost through prayer and divine inspiration.

I learned a valuable lesson over the last few weeks. A few weeks ago I wrote about a group of people who were criticizing the Foundation for Christian Studies (FCS) for being deceptive and not forthcoming about the fact that it focuses on only one sect of Christianity – that which is taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism). I was very defensive about it and felt the comments were unfounded and perhaps were driven by a different agenda of simply not agreeing with Mormonism as a form of Christianity. After careful consideration we made several changes to the FCS website to be even more clear – crystal clear – about the focus of the Christian orthodoxy ascribed to by the FCS. We painstakingly made these changes in multiple areas of the website. After further review I am pleased with the changes and agree that these changes make it even more clear and leave little to no doubt in the minds of online passer-bys as they stumble onto our website. Those who know me will attest to the fact that I am stubborn and persistent for sure, but I am also one to admit when I am in the wrong. I was wrong in how I took those comments a few weeks ago and ask for the forgiveness of those whom I offended. They did the FCS a service, especially Tim McMahan who patiently facilitated the dialogue and runs an excellent blog as an ongoing conversation between Evangelicals and Mormons (http://ldstalk.wordpress.com/). I have always been an advocate that it is OK for us to agree to disagree on matters of doctrine as it relates to the gospel of Jesus Christ and hope to continue that spirit into the foreseeable future. My prayer is that we can come together and unite to defend core Christian values in order to make this world a better place.

A woman wrote me an email the other day, railing on the LDS faith saying “there is no rest from Mormonism,” quoting the scripture from Matthew 11 about the yoke of Christ being easy and His burden light. Her interpretation of this verse was that having faith in Christ should make our lives easy and that we should not have to toil and work as a Christian. Is that true? Is life as a disciple of Christ one in which we are to rest easy and have light burdens? On the contrary, life as a disciple of Christ is spent in service and in building the kingdom of God on earth – not for brownie points, but because we love the Lord and his people and want His kingdom to reign on earth so all bask in His grace. Quoting my book The Biblical Roots of Mormonism: “Faith, works, and grace are the three legs of a spiritual platform that must be mounted to fully praise and experience God. The platform collapses if any of these legs is taken away. Faith is necessary for actions to have meaning, and grace is necessary for actions to have efficacy. There is a centuries-old debate about the matrix of faith, works, and grace. Some see an insurmountable contradiction, expressed here as a question: “If it is by undeserved grace that man is saved, how can faith or works also be a necessity of salvation?” Latter-day Saints disentangle from this either-or construct and embrace faith, works, and grace as a perfect unity. In this unity, a new life in Christ becomes possible, and fear of damnation is replaced with the joy of divine labor under the protection of grace.”

So, shall we rest as a disciple of Christ in mortality? As John wrote in the Book of Revelation: “…Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” (Rev. 14:13). Rest comes after we endure to the end… even then I wonder if we are to rest or serve with an even higher purpose. When we yoke our lives in Christ we will find service to be easy and our burdens light as a result, but that can only come through our acting on our faith, because as James wrote – “faith without works is dead.”

We had a small burst of activity this week around a set of individuals upset that the Foundation for Christian Studies (FCS) website is deceptive. Having been through this since the inception of the website it is nothing new. While some will not clarify what they mean by deceptive, they will often finally admit they are angry that we are proclaiming the doctrines of Mormonism to be Christianity, or at least those of a legitimate sect of Christianity. Although I can understand their concerns based upon the fact that the Christian doctrines they ascribe to may be different from the doctrines of Christianity ascribed to by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that does not make the FCS website deceptive. We make it very clear on the home page that we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and therefore one can expect that what is being taught on the website will be aligned with the Christian doctrines of Mormonism. It is really that simple. If one does not want to learn the Christian doctrines of Mormonism, then they are free to visit the thousands of other websites that teach other forms of Christianity. If one considers for a moment the overwhelming ratio of websites dedicated to cutting down the Mormon faith (negative-driven content) as compared to those that attempt to explain and teach the Mormon faith (positive-driven content), one might start to understand why we felt a website dedicated to a positive view of Mormonism as one of the many sects of Christianity was badly needed. We hope people who visit the FCS website will come with a bit more objectivity and therefore see the site for what is meant to be: one point of view of Christianity.

A new survey conducted by  Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed protestants and Roman Catholics in correctly answering questions about the world’s major religions - with many respondents unable to answer basic questions about their own religion. Roman Catholics in particular scored low, a dynamic I wrote extensively about in my first book Catholic Roots, Mormon Harvest. Not surprising to me, but it may be surprising to others, Mormons scored the highest in understanding the Christian faith, followed by Evangelicals. See the full AP article at:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/09/28/survey-americans-know-little-religion/?test=latestnews

Last Saturday Glenn Beck went to Washington DC to try and unite people together under a common theme: to “get behind the shield of God.” Beck did all he could to appeal to people of all faiths and create a powerful, yet common message, that unless we turn to God our country will ultimately fail.

Many were surprised at the message Beck delivered; others who know Beck were not. The liberals are crying foul that he used the platform as a means to try and blur the lines between Church and State. They hate the fact that Beck has political clout and is trying to rally together the faithful around a spiritual message—something that will go much deeper than a political one, but one that will reap political results in November and beyond. Nothing scares a liberal like a power spiritual message.

Pathetically however, it didn’t take long for the fundamentalist Christians to complain that Beck is not a Christian, but rather part of a religious cult that is not Christian. The ChristianInvestigator issued a press release on August 30^th titled “Glenn Beck Promotes a False Jesus,” saying “Mormonism is not a Christian denomination but a cult of Christianity.” The press release attempted to summarize Mormon doctrine and was unable to do so without error—a misunderstanding, or a deliberate attempt to mislead?

Reverend Alan Rudnick, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa in his August 30^th blog titled “Beck is No ‘Christian’ Leader” writes “If millions of people want to follow a man who claims to know “the path” to restoring American through Mormonism’s god, then count me out,” adding “Mormonism and Christianity are not the same thing. “

Isn’t that great! These narrow minded Christian elitists can’t for a moment put down their theological differences to stand together in a message of unity. Instead of joining the rallying cry for unity among God fearing individuals of all faiths around a common belief, they have to point out the doctrinal differences and attack Beck on his religion. Any half witted individual knows there are theological differences between mainstream Christianity and the Christian faith ascribed to by Latter-day Saints; however, why highlight that now? At a time when the forces of evil are attempting to divide all God fearing people, a guy in Beck steps up to try and unite the faithful and the exclusive Christian club board of directors comes forward to try and sabotage the effort.

Why?

It is simple. The Christianity of Mormonism is seen as a threat to many of the fundamentalist Christian sect leaders of today. I point out “leaders” here, as their members don’t see the threat nearly as much as the leaders they financially support. 53,000 full-time missionaries knocking on doors around the world, the incredible examples of Christianity shown by Latter-day Saints around the globe, and the almost continuous positive press demonstrating the Christian nature of Mormons is too much for guys like Rudnick and others like him. Perhaps it threatens their livelihood or bruises their ego. They would rather destroy the efforts of a guy like Beck to unite around the body of Christ than to validate the Mormon religion in even the smallest way.

Their motives are thinly veiled and I pray everyone can see these arrogant individuals for who they are to embrace the bigger effort that is going on here. Go get um’ Glenn, I am certain there are millions who will unite behind the message and understand we can all be of different Christian faiths and still stand together.

Today we launch the Foundation for Christian Studies (FCS). A lifetime in the making, the FCS represents the collective passion of many dedicated individuals for the Savior Jesus Christ; a love for His gospel; and a concern for countless individuals, families, and communities who struggle in mortality in need of a boost towards self-reliance. We pray that the work we do will be worthy to bear His name.

My personal journey to this day started decades ago as I tarried to church each Sunday in search of comfort, understanding; and the whimsical hope of winning pee wee football games that meant so much to me in my youth. I don’t remember winning many football games, but I’ll never forget the feeling of being watched over, as if the hand of my Heavenly Father was upon my shoulder pointing the way.

I can remember for many years watching my parents commit themselves to serving the community and the people around us. Both my mother and father took turns as PTA presidents; were quick to open our home to those in need; and selflessly reached out for many years to give of their time, talents, and substance. In witnessing loving charity my heart became stamped with the touch of the master’s hand—allowing myself to become the literal hands of Jesus Christ upon the shoulders of others in service.

I recall the scriptures opening up to me, being both new and familiar at the same time. It was like being filled at a feast, but still feeling the pangs of hunger for more of the magnificent banquet. The Holy Ghost illuminated the word of God to my mind, touching my soul and allowing me to liken those precious words unto myself.

Touched by the Father. Touched by the Son. Touched by the Holy Ghost… It is the touch of God.

My life has been far from perfect, full of experiences both wise and foolish. In times of wisdom I have felt the spirit of the Lord upon me, teaching and inspiring me along the narrow path. In times of foolishness I have felt the admonishing hand of the Lord across my back, reminding me of a better way and allowing me to feel the sting of guilt, the soberness of repentance, and the exhilaration of forgiveness.

If we pay attention, and look for the hand of God in our lives, we will recognize his touch and the mark it makes. His touch is quiet and fluid like the flow of a gentle breeze, but its impact in our lives is resounding and true as the wind beneath the wings of a bird in flight. His hand is always there—whether we choose to recognize it or not. When we respond to God’s loving nudges great things can happen for us and others.

I have seen how the doctrines of Christianity can change a life for good. Understanding and applying the doctrines of Christianity in our lives allows us to more fully identify God’s design and enjoy the blessings He is so eager to bestow upon us. Wisdom in the gospel of Jesus Christ amplifies the touch of God and compels us to share it with others. The touch of God is meant to be shared, even shouted to others, ensuring no distraction of the world gets in the way of inspired truth.

The Foundation for Christian Studies has been a miracle in the making because the hand of God never ceased to put it into place. I have tried to be a willing servant and allow the Holy Ghost to inspire and guide everything along the way. It’s not complete—not by a long shot. God is the great I AM and therefore His work is always a work in progress. We have a lot of work to do, but to this point I am certain we are starting off just as God intended.

God is the master potter who tries everyday to mold and shape us. We hope you’ll join us in this journey and allow the hand of God to mold and shape you into whatever He has in mind. We pray that we can be one of the amplifiers for God’s touch in your life.