Charity NEVER Faileth . . .

Let me repeat. Charity NEVER Faileth . . .

In our quest for Zion, Charity may be our number one weapon both personally and collectively. Here’s what Paul said about it (essentially mirrored by Moroni) in 1 Corinthians 13:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Charity is everything in forming Zion. Charity is the key to knowledge (along with meekness) to discerning truth from error.

Faith is the first part of the exercise for individual salvation. Faith IN and through Jesus Christ, understanding His character, motives, and intentions is the first step . . . but for some people, they are smitten with unbelief and faith fails them. For others, they have the next step, hope. Hope comes after faith has been tested and the Power of God has been made manifest to at least some extent in a person’s life. Hope then becomes the wellspring that can be counted on for the person to continue following the Words of Christ unto Eternal Life. Yet even with hope the vicissitudes of life can overwhelm our patience and set us back.

charityCharity can overcome the setbacks that a person may encounter with either faith or hope. When you practice charity, it may not even matter if you believe–there are agnostics that can exhibit many of the principles of charity which literally calls down the Grace of God to overcome any obstacle from which you may be suffering. Stumbling blocks are removed, forgiveness is granted, unbelief is destroyed, hope is made perfect, and ultimately, if one has not had the Baptism of Fire and the Second Comforter, those things are promised through charity.

Since I like to write about practical things, and these topics are often very abstract, let me drill this one down for you.

Charity can be practiced in a few ways.

  • Denying not the beggar – I’ve discussed this before, but it is the starting point for any discussion about charity because our Western minds gravitate towards charity as the term for “helping the poor and disadvantaged.” But let me take it a step further. One may give a dollar to a man, but to give a dollar with love, with kindness, with care, and with taking a few minutes to show love, that is a thing a beauty. There is a clip on youtube that I saw a few month ago that showcases this perfectly. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0gA2mxbjSY]Notice the look on the beggar’s face after the surprise that he gets from these three helpers. He is puzzled and bewildered, but touched as well. His heart changed a little from the kindness showed him by three strangers. I know of a ministry of remnant Mormons, anonymously, who visit some very shady places where the homeless hang out. They go down not just to feed them soup, give them a meal, or a handout. This isn’t a “shelter program.” Instead, they meet with them on their terms, in their “homes” on the sidewalk and spend time talking to them, getting to know them, loving them. Yes money is exchanged, but that’s almost beside the point. Several of them have been healed by the laying on of hands. Sicknesses and injuries where there is no money to fix have been healed by the Power of God. The next time you think about what kind of charity needs to be practiced by those aspiring to Zion, I want to call attention to their unsung example.
  • Loving Thy Neighbor as Thyself – And who is your neighbor? Jesus gave a parable on this, and it certainly isn’t the person who lives next door. To put it in today’s context, it is a Christian who has the opportunity to serve a gay couple (think less wedding cakes and more fixing a blown tire on the side of the road), or as what happened to us last weekend, helping a Mexican family find their drunk husband and father who had wandered off in the city park–even though we didn’t speak Spanish. We ought to show genuine care and kindness for anybody that comes in our path, whether they have tattoos and piercings, or wear garments with stiff necks.The Boy Scout virtues apply here.
  • Forgiveness, Praying for our Enemies – We answered who our neighbor is, but who is our enemy? While it may be a distant political leader that doesn’t share your persuasions, I suggest that it’s more likely a mother, a father, a spouse, a fellowship member, or anyone with whom you have had a falling out over one thing or another, justified or not. Injustice is never an excuse not to forgive. Neither is pain. If you are struggling with answers to prayers or with an endowment from the Lord, may I suggest you check your heart for an “enemy” that needs your mercy, forgiveness, and prayers. From the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, we find these gems:
    • Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

    • 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

    • 25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

    • 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

    • 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

    • 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

    • 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

    • 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

  • Praying for Zion – The last example of charity I wish to discuss is one I have learned recently as I have sought blessings from the Lord. I often feel compelled in my instruction from the Spirit to pray for my fellowship groups, for long periods of time, extending my heart until it will break for a brother or sister. The prayers are intense and personal. Usually they are accompanied by an outpouring of love from the Spirit. What this does is prepare me to accept their needs and wants in my life to be above my own. If we are ever to achieve Zion, it must be so. I believe the reason I feel compelled to pray and love my group more intensely than any other group I associate with, including my extended family, is that we are all willing, our hearts are broken and ready . . . to receive the Lord. I believe charity to this group is where the Power of Zion can be found.

If Anything will Doom us . . .

As I’ve talked about charity, and meekness, I have cased other forums, Facebook, etc. where I have seen anti-charity and hard hearts, particularly over the discussions of gay rights and plural marriage. We can all agree the Church doesn’t have Priesthood keys, we can break bread over that, but we will break off fellowships, destroy the peace of others, and otherwise create contention over a hard-fought position on a thing. We may even have some revelation to back up our position–whether it’s of the right source or not. Some of us are well-learned and we lean upon the understanding of the world–science and historical consensus–to inform our opinions and it lifts us up past the fog of the simpletons to declare our position as sound. We need to stop all such nonsense and re-establish our positions as one that knows NOTHING. Only then can the Lord teach us His ways.

There are even some who wish to co-opt this movement from the beginning. We ought to flesh that out as unsound and wrong. The statements Denver Snuffer has made on plural marriage ought to suffice for the attention given to that thing IF you are a Zion seeker. No . . . it’s not because he’s impervious to error as a servant of the Lord . . . it’s because he’s right . . . we need to focus on our own personal attention to the principles of repentance, finding a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and coming unto Christ in a way that can soothe our feelings and iron our errors so we CAN come into a unity of the faith. The Grand Key of Discernment will teach us that this is right.

I declare this as truth at least to me–anyone who sets up stakes BEFORE they are redeemed will a) never be redeemed and b) most likely turn out to be an agent of the adversary before it’s all over. There is a group of folks out there who have had an idea about what would happen when the Lord would begin rising up servants to cleanse the Church. This has been informed over decades as a core doctrine. I imagine the Zealots in the time of Christ when they began seeing the signs. They expected one things, and got another. When that promised political delivery didn’t happen, many ceased walking with the Lord at that time. When Denver Snuffer began his testimony and lectures, there was much hope imbued upon him to be the guy who was going to “set the Church in order.” He has perhaps tacked to a different path on this issue than many have hoped. Some have ceased to walk with the remnant at that time. I cannot help but notice the shift in some of the forums that declared Denver to be a false prophet right after the polygamy talk. At least they were honest to their own stakes, but many haven’t been as transparent about their change of heart. They ought to be.

711299Others have read deep into his talks to find the silver lining of the future reality of polygamy. I wish we would not do this. I reminds me of when Joseph Smith publicly declared that he was against polygamy, but then was teaching it in private (as the historical record describes), or when Wilford Woodruff declared that polygamy was suspended, gave his infamous statement about the prophet not being able to lead the Church astray, and then STILL authorized polygamous marriages in secret. When one “seeks deep,” I an reminded of this scripture in Isaiah:

“Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?”

If anything has brought great mischief upon the Church, it is HOW polygamy came into the Church, and HOW it left the Church. If anything has caused people to be lead astray, led to strong-man fundamentalism, set up prophet worship in the Church, led away into secular paths, destroyed the tender feelings of the daughters of God, it is HOW this principle was handled (note: I’m talking about it’s application here–the reality of such a doctrine is a discussion for a different time). I am not keen on trying to scope out a “wink, wink” from Denver Snuffer over the eventual return of polygamy doctrine to the Church of the Lamb of God. Instead I say let it lie, and let a man’s words be “yea, yea, and nay nay.”

Finally, others are so pained by the damages done in the name of plural marriage, sexual abuses, iniquity of the marital yoke, that while they laud the monogomist language of Denver, their stakes are even putting them at risk for future guidance from heaven that may challenge those stakes. I don’t believe this will happen, but I loath to never allow for something to happen. It is enough to know a thing is not true today. Let the future take care of itself and be humble. There may be other sacrifices that are possibly harder to accept than plural marriage. We must be willing to accept such sacrifices.

I am reminded of 1 Nephi 14:1:

“And it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks.”

That verse is talking about us, about Mormons, right here, right now. There IS a stumbling block. I would state that ultimately it’s how Mormonism set a man between a person and God through the misapplication of Priesthood keys–but the best example of how Priesthood keys have been misapplied has been the entrance and exit of polygamy. Almost all of the break-offs are related to these two issues. It is the stumbling block prophesied, and I for one, would like it removed, no matter which direction the removal takes us. I want to be part of the Church of Lamb of God who the Lord will gather in along with the remnant of the House of Israel.

Back to Charity . . . 

And that requires us to use charity on this issue. We ought to throw a cloak of charity over our brothers and sisters who have a different view on things. We ought to pray for them. In doing so, we may find our own stakes to soften, to moderate, to be more pliable to the workings of the Spirit, insomuch that we CAN come to a unity of the faith. I challenge all of us to apply charity to the stumbling blocks of our day–be it plural marriage, gay marriage, or Church authority. Pray for our enemies, love our fellowships, our wards, and I believe we can work all of this out. I hope that we do, and the Lord has PROMISED me that it will work out if we do!

13 thoughts on “Charity NEVER Faileth . . .”

  1. Charity is a gift. It is given by God after much prayer.

    Moroni 7:48
    48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

    It is not something you do as much as it is something you become after God makes the change in you.

    You mentioned “priesthood keys.” This phrase only exists in the D&C. It does not exist in other scripture. Because God is unchanging his saving doctrine and truths taught by his true prophets are always the same. When concepts are introduced that don’t conform to the words of all the holy prophets in scripture we should be wary of them.

    Priesthood keys in the Mormon church have been used as a badge of authority to exercise control and compulsion upon the hearts of men. When Jesus called his disciples in the Book of Mormon he told the people the disciples were called to be their servants. 3 Nephi 12:1. God calls servants to do his work, not “authorities.”

    The Mormon church ties authority to “priesthood keys,” but where does true authority come from? What gives man the authority to act? It is his holy spirit. If there is a “key” to authority this is it.

    1 Nephi 10:22
    22 And the Holy Ghost giveth authority that I should speak these things, and deny them not.

    Man or woman, when the Holy Ghost tells you to do something, you have authority from God to do that thing and are acting in his name. You do NOT need priesthood.

    Did Jesus ever mention using priesthood to heal? You’ll find in almost every instance it is faith in Christ that heals.

    Luke 17:19
    19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

    Mark 5:34
    34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

    Matthew 9:29
    29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

    Do you have to have keys of priesthood to heal? No. All miracles occur because of faith in Christ.

    Ether 12:12
    12 For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith.

    Ether 12
    29 And I, Moroni, having heard these words, was comforted, and said: O Lord, thy righteous will be done, for I know that thou workest unto the children of men according to their faith;

    The phrase “priesthood keys” has been used a means for man to exercise control over their fellow men. All authority comes from the spirit. All miracles come by faith in Christ.

    1. Amen and ditto to Adams comment. You can “act” charitably, and it profits nothing as 1st Corinthians 13 says.

  2. My experience agrees with those scriptures and comments, specifically that charity, or the pure love of God/Christ, comes by the decision and act of faith/hope to seek/ask/knock from God with all the energy of one’s heart, and it has always come by the power of the Spirit of God. Having experienced it before, it becomes much easier to experience it again, but it has not been a one-time event for me (i.e. receive it once and then I’m permanently done) – I believe true disciples of Christ seek and receive it every day. Charity, like the Spirit, produces good fruit. In fact, I believe Charity and the Spirit of God are practically the same thing: some kind of super-uplifting, pure, good energy/power/vibration/resonance. When I feel the Spirit, I always feel the love, peace, and joy of God, not just for me, but through me and for all beings (even little creatures). The Spirit and Love of God almost always prompts me to be harmless and helpful (what we might call being a Lamb) – and on rare occasions (for me at least) to sort of stand up and roar or cry repentance (like a Lion). I don’t feel comfortable crying repentance without the Spirit because I’ve tried it before and it seems to just be received as contention and anger, whereas with the Spirit often times I’ve seen its effects on the hearers and it has a powerful effect. In other words, God knows best how to help all of us.

  3. Adam, thanks for your input. I agree with you both on charity and Priesthood keys. Charity is a gift of God. I think we can encourage that gift by our behavior, however, towards others. When I have been prompted to pray for Zion, this has come over me suddenly and intensely. It feels like a Gift from God, but then so do other elements thereof.

  4. Lynne McKinley

    This post on “Charity” by Toward Zion is probably one of the most uncharitable of all the posts I have ever encountered on Tim’s blog. Except for my own.

    When I first read it the other day it really bugged me. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I stewed about it all day at work and then later at night while trying to sleep.

    It appears that this anonymous writer is evidently used to having authority, as he may suppose. Old habits die hard even when you’re trying really, really hard to get clear of the traditions of men. He’s probably got his own blog and a considerable following. He’d probably bristle if anyone dare question again whether or not blogging, (presenting yourself as a light and gathering followers) may be considered priestcraft.

    The author of this post on charity steps up to the print microphone confidently and lays out his own opinions, then tells us exactly what responses to his opinions will and will not be acceptable in the comments section of the post. He’s schooling us on charity and we better listen up, and shut up if we disagree or digress. I see only a couple of comments on this post so far – nobody really wants to jump in. It’s not a discussion, it’s a diatribe.

    Yes, yes, his points are valid and the scriptures are all right on point. But there’s just something about it that made my neck hairs go up and made me want to fight about something when I first read it. What?

    Oh, I see. It’s the underlying tone. Condescending. Angry. Argumentative. It’s my way or the highway: “I am the authority here, so listen up, you idiots. Let me drill it down for you…”

    Uh oh. The thing that REALLY burns me up about this post is that it sounds so much like me. I’m looking in a mirror here!

    An old anonymous poem came to mind so I looked it up.

    It’s not so much just what you say
    As the manner in which you say it;
    It’s not so much the language you use
    As the tone in which you convey it;
    “COME HERE!” I ever so sharply said,
    And my child cowered and wept.
    “Come here,” I said –
    He looked, and smiled
    And straight into my lap he crept.

    Words can often be mild and fair
    But the tone may pierce like a dart;
    Words can be soft as the warm summer air
    But the tone can and will break a heart;
    For all of our words may come forth from our minds
    Polished by study and art –
    But tone leaps out from the inner self
    Revealing the state of the heart.

    Whether you know it or not,
    Whether you mean to or care –
    Gentleness, kindness, love, and hate,
    Envy and anger and rage are there.
    Oh would you all earthly contentions avoid
    And in charity all come rejoice?
    Then keep anger not only out of your words –
    But keep it out of your voice.

    I’m going to have to be very careful about what I write in my comments here, because I’m looking at myself, and writing to myself, although directed to the author of this post on charity. Nietzsche, my friend, here’s to another layer of the examined life, and Lord, please strengthen me while we look into my own mirror together:

    Dear Toward Zion:

    I know you love the people you’re writing to here, but they don’t know it. Your tone in this piece is a smack down. Wow. You’re sure angry about something. It shows. Maybe it’s that things in the so-called restoration movement are becoming a big sloppy mess. They’re all sloshing around, experimenting, making mistakes, going off the rails and really getting it all wrong. It’s a big crap shoot. They’re dissing each other. They’re forming alliances and cliques and excluding each other. They won’t share stuff. They don’t get it. They’re missing the mark so YOU need to steady the ark of the future covenant before it sinks into the river, and YOU need to get the word out on charity, to save their eternal butts.

    So few of Ephraim are actually going to make it – you know that. It causes you heartache to even think about it. So many of these incredibly intelligent, striving, hopeful, good people won’t make the cut! These are your friends! These are some of the best of the best! You love these people!

    You’ve paid a big price to get where you are and learn what you have, it’s cost you everything. Several times. You want to spare them the grief and the pain: if they will just listen to you then maybe they won’t have to go through all the horrors of the coming tribulation. If they will only heed your words of wisdom about charity it might actually get them through the coming storm so that they can make it safely into the cities of refuge, and begin to build Zion.

    Unfortunately, my dear, dear friend in Christ, this is the exact way of thinking, and precisely the same message at this pivot point in the last round that caused Lucifer to fall from Heaven. It hedges up the way of experiential learning, and sets up the ultimate eternal stakes and bounds – in the very process of railing against them for setting up stakes and bounds!

    You may think that your setting them straight and keeping them straight about charity prevents them (if they will only listen to you!) from eternal disaster. But as we can learn from Log’s post on April 22, 2015 “Hedging The Law: Two Variations on a Theme” – THIS is this very thing that will destroy them.

    If they (we) can’t slosh around and get it wrong and fail mightily and hurt each other deeply, and then cry out to Christ from the dust of the consequences of their own actions; if they can’t experience remorse for lack of charity and truly repent, then they will not voluntarily choose charity, and will be lost in the mists of darkness. We are all, each of us, the Prodigal son, and in fact, can learn no other way. To in any way forbid them this process of failure option based learning is to become, yourself, a Satan.
    So you (and I) need to back way off on the condescending tone, the talking down: that imperial “I” angry (at your stupidity) voice. Speak softly.

    Weep for them, pray for them, advocate for them, forgive them: just plain love and serve them. But please stop preaching to them and telling them what they’re doing wrong, and how you think it needs to be done. Please don’t set yourself up as their teacher. We’ve been there, we’ve done that, and it nearly destroyed us all.

    Carry a message from Christ, if He asks you to, and then only speak His words, not your own. Oh, and this is the hardest part – please, please have more charity whenever you’re talking to them about charity. You can start with the tone of your voice…

    1. Lynne,

      I try very hard to speak plainly so that I don’t come across as preachy. But alas, I probably failed. This was a hard post for me. I started off going in a certain direction, and then I felt compelled by the Spirit to address some issues. I tried very hard to listen to the Lord as I wrote this. I knew it would not come off as “kind” as my last posts. The irony of it doesn’t escape me. In places it does come across as uncharitable. But I felt that needed to be sharp on some points. Some people will be offended or hopefully, convicted. In that I can only say I felt compelled to do so. Perhaps I was misled by a bad spirit. I don’t think so, but I’m not perfect, and it is possible. Upon reflection I don’t think so. I think it was what the Lord wanted me to say. Could I have said it better. That’s always possible. I thought I was pretty fair to all parties, even though I do have a bit of stake in the discussion myself.

      I do admit that the recommendation on comments was probably a bad idea. Perhaps I can go in and edit and revoke that. I was simply weary of the polygamy debate and wanted it not to co-opt what I was trying to get across using the debate as a case study.

      I CAN say that I certainly did not present this post in the spirit of anger, nor was I in the mode of conducting a “diatribe” as you put it. Nor was I trying to be condescending. It’s really not in my nature. Writing is a tough medium, because tone is hard to convey in the medium. That’s why they say communication is 10% what you say and 90% of how you say it. Tone in writing says as much about where the reader is at as it does where the writer is. It’s one reason I try to be as plain as possible and not use sarcasm or heady language very much. How often have we seen miscommunication on Facebook because people are naturally defensive in online arguments. I have seen people post 300 entries only to find out in the end that they agree. Perhaps now that you understand some of where I’m coming from, it may be seen with new eyes?

      Finally, let me assure you. I have no blog. I have no authority. I never have had any authority. I’m one of the highways and byways folks. I have had a fairly ignominious church career. I recently resigned from the LDS Church so I have no need to hide from my bishop. I write under a pen name because I try to write what I think the Savior would want me to write, thus making it about the message and not about me. I don’t begrudge others who want to take responsibility for their writings. That takes it’s own bit of courage, especially if you offend people.

      I appreciate the check on my post. We can always use constructive feedback. In fact, I’m going to remove the recommendation on comments because of it.

  5. I concur, BenB. I’ll quote another commenter here (but with a slight modification):

    “This post on “Charity” by Toward Zion is without a doubt one of the most important, pertinent, timely and well-written of all the posts I have ever encountered on Tim’s blog.”

  6. Since there hasn’t been any conversation I thought I would ask some questions realizing that perhaps no one will answer. What is it that charity will not fail in? Or “Charity never faileth” in what specifically? I know the answer “anything” is one people say but if there is any clarification or explanation I would love to hear people’s thoughts. Also what was meant “prophecies may fail?” If one receives revelation from the Holy Ghost about the future, can it fail to come to pass, and why was this important to put into this sermon? I believe 1 Corinthians 13 is explaining some very deep things that are beneath the surface.

    Lynne, thank you for sharing that poem I loved it.

    By the way I spent some time with some fellowship members (from the Denver snuffer persuasion if you will) and had an awesome time. Very edifying and great people there. It is very evident to me that we can disagree and still be extremely edified and that these people were tapping into the same spirit as me and my wife, because it was flowing like crazy during the evening We were with them, so I don’t know how we all come to such different conclusions.

  7. Lynne. I had to go back and re-read the post several times trying to understand your upset and need for such harsh correction.

    Oh my goodness!

    I have to say that I have to agree with BenB and Good Will.

  8. Is Lynn’s objection to this post and Toward Zion any different than many of the commenters objections to, say, conference talks and the GA’s?

    Isn’t the issue in both cases the idea that men are speaking as if from authority without evidence or even claims that the words and ideas come from a directly-seen and spoken to God?

    If Toward Zion is called up today to become a new apostle, does that change the reality? Does he (I assume he) have power to make himself a “living oracle” (and, yes, I read Rock’s blog) just because somebody said he is “supposed to be”?

    Doesn’t it make more sense that we should be dissatisfied with the words of men mingled with scripture–including Toward Zion’s, including President Monson’s, including whoever would say, “let me drill this one down for you?”

    Clearly, I read blogs. I have no interest in attacking another’s personal learning or desire to share the “good news.” But also, isn’t the point that we should not accept another’s words and only believe their personal witness after we have gone on and found the truth the only way that it can be found–through our own personal and in-person relationship with Christ?

  9. Dear Lynn,
    Thank you for these cutting words. I have struggled with my siblings to see that their hatred toward people in other lands, which the US military is bombing back into the stone age, is totally wrong. I have been preaching charity to them in order to save their eternal souls, which I highly value. Now I understand how very wrong my preaching is. I will stop it immediately. Thanks to your words of wisdom.
    I very much appreciate your comment. It struck deeply into my heart, which I did not know I needed to have pierced.
    Grateful for your words,
    Linda

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