My Smart Phone Is Making Me Stupid

Help! My smart phone is making me stupid!

I recently was upgraded at work to the Samsung Galaxy S5.  It’s a sweet phone.  I can access nearly everything.  I have both my work and personal email accounts accesable on there.  I have some great fitness apps to track my calories, workouts, mileage…it even takes my pulse!  I can get up to date, local weather forecasts and even animated weather maps for anywhere in the world.  I have instant access to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter…you name it!  Don’t even get me started on the camera!  I have a photo and video suite in my pocket.  I have the entire Gospel Library in there and have access to decdes of conference talks and church videos.

It’s truly the Tricorder from Star Trek come to life!

It’s a great device…and I hate it.

People vs. Programs

Lately I’ve had time to consider the various programs of the church and to, quite honestly, evaluate their worth and value to the members.   The conclusions that I’ve come to have surprised me.

It all started with a meeting that I had regarding the status of our YM. To be brutally honest, our ward has not had a good track record of cranking out worthy, temple bound young men who are ready to serve in the Melchizedek Priesthood, go on missions and marry in the temple.  I’d quote you the statistics, but they are too depressing.

So we held this discussion as to what to do about it.  After discussing all the programs we have available to the YM and what we might be able to do…we didn’t come up with any good ideas.  One comment that was made really struck me to the core though…it was made by our Bishop when he stated “When I’m sitting in the front of the chapel and I look over the congregation, I don’t see happy people. Living the gospel should make us happy, shouldn’t it?”

Of course the reply to that is YES! We should be the happiest people on the earth.  We have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ…we should be ecstatic!

So what’s the deal?

Crushing It...and Paying for It

I always feel like the HULK when I lift hard.

I crushed my workout this morning.

I’ve been sidelined by a knee injury. And I’ve been slowly working my way back to full strength.

How did I hurt my knee?  I’m not 100% sure.  I probably just overdid my summer.  Running, mountain climbing, backpacking, canyoneering, mountain biking, more hiking, more backpacking…somewhere in that mix it started to hurt and swell, and for a long time I couldn’t kneel or go down stairs very easily.  The condition I have is most commonly referred to as “runner’s knee”.  It isn’t painful as much as it is frustrating. 

So I’ve been icing it, working it carefully to get it back to where I can really work it again.

Where Are The Men?

I’ve heard a few statistics of late that have left me scratching my head and asking “What’s up with men in the Church?” or better yet “Where are the men?”.

Consider these numbers:

• Nearly 80% of the population of the Church is either female or under age 18.
• In the recent missionary surge from roughly 55,000 missionaries to nearly 90,000 missionaries the majority of that additional 40,000 missionaries are women.
• In any given ward there is nearly a 70/30 ratio of women to men (active).

As I thought about these statistics I asked myself: Why are men not coming to church? Why are men not being active at church and often falling away from the church in such large numbers?  As I considered this, it occurred to me that we have (as a Church) actively and subconsciously driven men away.  Our actions, words and activities methodically chase men away from Church in droves.

High Five

This story comes to me from a close friend who for the sake of telling the story I’ll call ‘Jack’, and I share this story with his permission. I share it because I think every man needs to hear it.  Especially the guy who ‘high-fived’ Jack…don’t worry…that will make sense in the end.

You see, Jack  (like all of us) has some struggles in life. Most of the time, he’s feeling good and doing great.  Sometimes he gets down on himself and feels the power of the adversary tugging away at his mind and soul.  Sound familiar?  Yeah, I thought so.  Like I said, we all have struggles.

Life is Tough...And That is AWESOME!

The following is in response to a conversation I had with my son about how life is hard, and sometimes it seems like when you are working really hard at accomplishing something and it doesn’t go your way, you feel like giving up.

Enjoy.

Dear Son,

I can understand and feel your pain.  I’ve been there many, many, many times myself.  You struggle and work to achieve something of worth and value and for some reason, you fail.  It’s even worse when it seems that everything in your life is failing at the same time and it becomes very easy to say “why try anymore?”.  You want to throw in the towel and give up.

Believe me when I say that I’ve experienced this a lot throughout my life.

But let me tell you this…and if you don’t remember anything else I’ve told you…remember this quote: “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

It’s important to remember that because life is tough, life is going to knock you down, life is going to hurt, I can guarantee that life will hurt you a LOT…and that is awesome!

Determined Discipline

We all do it.


Every single one of us is guilty.

We all know what is good for us…spiritually, physically, etc…we know the right things to do, but we just can’t bring ourselves to do them most of the time.

For instance.  I know that if I get out of bed when my alarm goes off and go exercise I’m going to have more energy, feel healthier, be stronger and just have a way better day.  I know that if I do get up on time that I’m 100% more likely to make it to the bus on time to get to work.  I just know that will happen.  Yet EVERY SINGLE DAY when that alarm goes off, I have to make myself get up.  I don’t want to get up.  I grumble and groan about it and often I’ll talk myself out of it and lay back down and sleep some more.  What’s wrong with a little more sleep?  Nothing really, but I know that my day will not go as well if I don’t discipline myself and exercise.

The same can be said for lots of things in our lives.  We know what is good for us and what is not…yet somehow it is always way easier to choose that which is not good for us and doing the thing that IS good for us is always more difficult.

Why is that?

It’s because the Natural Man lacks what I’ll call “Determined Discipline” and in fact he really hates it.  The Natural Man seeks the easy, lazy path of least resistance. The path that appears to have low levels of difficulty and the one that will bring pleasure NOW…not defer it for later.  This short sightedness leads to problems later, but the Natural Man doesn’t care, he wants pleasure NOW.

Taking Risks

I noticed something interesting at an activity that I attended recently…and it was that today's boys are really afraid to take risks, whereas the girls seem to have more courage to try things and potentially fail.

The reason that this struck me as odd is because that the traditional stereotype is that men tend to be the risk takers.  Men are the ones who are always doing something that requires the courage and willingness to possibly fail.

At least in the instance of the activity that I attended this was not the case.

Often when asking Young Men about this kind of thing, you will get a long list of reasons why they should not take the risk.  Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of looking foolish…etc…the common denominator being FEAR.

I tell you what…I hate that word.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

There is only one good use for fear and it is the kind of fear that protects life.  The fear of an actual, real, dangerous, bad thing happening.  Fear that causes adrenaline to race though our bodies and gives us power to protect loved ones.  Fear that makes us prepare for the worst, but live for the best.

Irrational, paralyzing fear though, seems to be a dominant force in the lives of our men today.  Irrational fears that become debilitating and create physical, mental and emotional barriers to being the best we can be.  What are we really so afraid of? Why are we cowering before phantoms that aren’t there? Why do we let these fears dictate unmanly behavior? Most importantly…when did this become acceptable?

Fear is the antithesis of faith.

We are men. 

Men do not hide from a challenge.  Men do not let circumstance dictate behavior. We act with honor ALWAYS. We move forward with courage and fortitude.  We relish danger and we ‘grin when we fight’ (Winston Churchill). We take risks.  We learn from mistakes. 

WE ARE PRIESTHOOD MEN.

We protect the weak and defenseless.  We sacrifice to provide for others.  We give up our own comfort that others may be comfortable. We use our priesthood not for our own vain purposes nor to satisfy personal desires for glory.  We exercise this priesthood on behalf of those whom we serve…especially women and children.  It is our God given gift to bless their lives far beyond our own.

Of course sometimes we are scared and can be fearful…but it is those moments that true character shines through.  Are we cowards…or are we men of valor?  Is our Virtue one of honor or are we slaves to weakness and FEAR.

Don’t be afraid.  Be faithful. 

Feed the dog of courage.

NO FEAR – NO WHINING – NO REGRETS

Living a Higher Standard

Nearly every organization in the world has standards, creed’s or codes of conduct for their members.  Those who belong to those organizations make a commitment to act, behave or comply in the way those codes outline.  In fact, most people who join any organization, do so BECAUSE of the standards set forth by those organizations.  They join because they want to be a part of what that organization represents and stands for.

This is especially true in warrior cultures. From the ancient Spartans, to the modern day SEAL’s…all of them have had rigorous standards that defined who and what they were.  They were great because they set high and undeviating standards.  If someone could not live up to the standard, then they simply could not be a part of the organization.

For example…to even be considered a candidate to become a Navy SEAL requires that you:
a)    Must be Male
b)    Must be in the US Navy
c)    Must be able to pass a minimum physical fitness requirements
d)    Must complete the BUD/s school training


There is also some additional testing that occurs to determine mental and psychological compatibility to serve.

The Battle

(The following article is Part 1 in a series on the spiritual battles we fight and how to win them.  There is a presentation that goes with it, and when I finish the series I'll make the presentation available)

THE BATTLE - Why We Fight!

LDS-SOF - Becoming Warriors 

Every day, we are faced with personal battles. Struggles, difficulties, choices and consequences.  We have options to control our destiny, or to be blown about by 'circumstance'.

Putting on the Armor of God

Among my favorite topics to discuss with my fellow warriors are the scriptures teaching us the all important principle of putting on the ‘Armor of God’ (Ephesians 6:11-18 and D&C 27:15-18).  This is no small topic and one that can fill volumes with gospel discussions.  There are some key elements for Latter Day Warriors that I’d like to point out, then I’d encourage you to prayerfully study these passages to find the personal meanings for yourself.

Of course the real world metaphor is that any warrior going to battle would never do so without his armor. A good warrior knows the value of defensive/offensive armor. Failure to properly fit, maintain, and utilize armor would result in severe injury or loss of life.  Putting on armor is not just a one-time action.  It requires constant training, conditioning, practice and skill.  I can’t just hand you a sword, helmet, breastplate, shield, etc… and say “Go to battle!”  You must first practice with this armor, and practice a lot! (Alma 46:21 think about how the Nephites come RUNNING with their armor ON...what that means in terms of preparation...)  You have to keep your armor in good condition and be comfortable with its use. In a similar fashion, you can’t wait until a crisis strikes before you start to practice with your armor.  It must be a habit well before you actually need it. It is often said that the best warriors are the best trained warriors.  SEAL’s, RECON Marines, Green Berets…you name them, they all train constantly so that when the call to action comes they are truly ready. (I’ve read where SEAL’s train with real bullets because of the slight difference in weight, recoil and smell than blanks.  They go through more ammo in training than other units combined.  All to practice so that when they have to use it for real, they know what they are doing.)

One lesson to be taken from this scripture is that we should be preparing as warriors in a very spiritual sense on a daily basis, just like real world warriors do.  We can’t expect to win battles with our adversary without this knowledge and the daily practice of it.  As we strive to become warriors, a key element in this progression is to put on our armor and use it. How do we do this? Simply put, it’s living those basic gospel principles on a daily, weekly, monthly basis.  Daily personal and family prayer, regular scripture study, going to our Church services, being a Latter-Day Saint in all that we do, but this isn’t all…these things have to be done in earnest.  We can’t put in a half-hearted effort here, just like Navy SEALS in training, it’s all or nothing. It isn’t enough to just pray etc…but we must Search, Ponder and Pray.  We must ask questions and seek honest and sincere answers.  We must exercise our priesthood in a manful way and we must “walk uprightly before God” (Alma 1:1). In our daily actions.  In short…we need to be sheepdogs, actively looking for weakness and fortifying it with diligence, faith and conviction, putting down evil and wickedness wherever we go. Like true warriors, we must always be “ON” and ready for action.

Feminization

Today I’d like to address a topic that has been rolling around in my head for years.  This is not intended to belittle any gender or principle taught at Church…simply an observation that we might be slightly off in some of our beliefs (not doctrine…just the traditional way in which it is presented).

What I’d like to talk about is the feminization of the gospel and the subsequent effect on men.

To help illustrate my thoughts, let me tell you a story.

A few months back we took all our YM (12-18) up in the canyon to have a Duty to God activity.  As I’ve stated before in my posts, I’m conducting an experiment where every six months, we have an activity and issue a challenge to work on the Duty to God, with a reward to follow in the next six months.   This was such an activity.  As part of that activity I told a story about the race to the south pole from a post that I read here (art of manliness) We had some fun with it and to be honest, by the appearance of the boys, I thought it went in one ear and out the other.  They were fidgety, they were not looking at me…I figured it was gone.

Well, last Sunday, the guy who was supposed to teach the Deacon’s Quorum couldn’t be there so the Deacon’s Quorum President (who happens to be my son) asked if I could come and visit the quorum, tell that ‘South Pole’ story again and teach about the Duty to God program.  The Deacon’s Quorum has recently had an influx of about 6 boys and they have no idea what the Duty to God program is, or how to do it, so I thought he had a good idea.

Since half of the quorum had heard the story, I picked on them to help me tell it (also to see what they retained).  I was truly shocked at the details they could recall, and the lessons learned that night six months ago.  They rattled off to me details of the story that I had forgotten.  It was amazing.  The lesson was a rousing success because the boys taught each other…I did very little.

Duty to God Booklet/Journal

I few months back I promised to show you how to make your Duty to God booklet into a journal.  It took me some time mostly because I've been away a lot and I needed to take some photographs.  I’ve finally put this together, and I hope it’s helpful...

Items you will need.

Here are some of the items you'll need to modify your booklet.  I didn't put the pencil or the straightedge in this photo.

The Duty to God Social Experiment

My ward, like many others, is having very limited success with the current Duty to God program.  It just doesn’t seem to be catching on. We hand out very few certificates…with most boys ignoring the program completely.  Our stake does an annual “Stake Duty to God” activity once a year (just had it in April) and as a ward we bring it up occasionally, which usually consists of asking the young men in priesthood meeting if they have any experiences to ‘SHARE’ with the group.  This is always met with awkward silence, and we move on. Most boys don’t even know where their booklets are, and parents don’t know what is going on.  It simply does not seem to be working.  It’s a shame really because there are valuable experiences to be gained by following the lessons in this booklet.