FAITH VERSUS WORKS

Got this from a friend of a blog friend.  Excellent stuff.  I like Brigham - he was a little crass and just said it the way it was.  J. Golden Kimball is a little too much of both of those things, but Brother Brigham was a good mix and very decisive.  I am constantly faulted for being way too decisive. There is nothing wrong with that when things are raw in the world and there is little time to hem and haw over stuff.  Brigham was the man for the day.  Things will get worse in the next few years than it was in the days of Brigham, so this quality will be sought after - maybe by virtue of the fact that we have to have it in order to pass through what is coming.  Hesitating (looking back after putting your shoulder to the wheel) is likely to get you and yours killed when there is little time between life and death situations.

One of my favorite scriptures - and it applies to those loved ones who have strayed from the path - there is little room for tender mercies here: 

     "No man having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God".
                       Luke 9:62

God loves those who are fiercely loyal - who are not lukewarm and wishy-washy.  As the parable of the Prodigal Son also points out, God would rather have a lost one wander back than to not have them at all, but we may not feel as comfortable at that feast in our honor as we otherwise might - unless we throw our full weight behind the return as we otherwise would have.

I have a fellow missionary that worked me under the table back in the day - to the point that he committed to the goal (with the Lord's assistance) of bringing 100 people into the fold the last 3 months of his mission - and did so.  He kept every command with exactness and reaped miracles in his consecrated effort to the Lord.  I was always in awe of his energy and still am today.  He was a bishop by 35 and has done much with his talents.  Before his mission, he had severely departed the way and then came back into full fellowship - and did so with a vengeance.  He, I know, will fully qualify for the kingdom of God.  There was no fiddle-farting around on the sidelines waiting for a convenient time to mosey on back.  He recognized that he was in the wrong, and made a might course change and had a mighty change of heart.  No deathbed repentance there.

Here is Brigham's quote:

Brother Brigham Young was hung up on a sandbar crossing a river on the plains. His companion, troubled, said, "Let's pray."

Brigham replied, "Pray? I prayed this morning. Let's get out and push." There is a time for total concentration in prayer and a time for answering prayer with your own muscles—helping.

But this is the same man who was specific enough to bring to the Lord concrete and urgent feelings, even hostile ones. His prize saddle was misplaced or did not hang properly, and the horse trampled it into shreds. He sharply rebuked the neglectful man and then made a beeline for the bedroom where he said (someone overheard him), "Down Brigham." Then he knelt and prayed, "Lord, I'm sorry. I was angry. Take my anger away and help me to do better next time."

"When I am angry," he said to a friend, "the first thing I do is pray." -from a BYU devotional address, "Souls Aflame" by Truman Madsen.