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When Life Gets Turbulent, Fly the Fundamentals: Simple Gospel Basics That Steady Your Faith · ToddTalks--Spirit By Design: Your Weekly Survival Guide

• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: We have a tendency to take something Jesus made remarkably clear and surround it with layers of opinions, traditions, arguments, comparison, and unnecessary complexity.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel is profound, but profound does not mean complicated.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: The challenge isn't always learning more.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's returning to what we already know and actually living it.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is Todd Talk, Spirit by Design, where I help you design your spiritual life in preparation for the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And today, as you probably can tell, we're going to talk about keeping the gospel simple.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: I've always lived by the keep it simple, stupid rule.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Kiss, K-I-S-S.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Keep it simple, stupid.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I know I shouldn't use the word simple, but I did.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel was never meant to be complicated.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: We as humans like to complicate things.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Surprise, surprise.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Elder Gary E.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Stevenson specifically taught that the gospel is plain, precious, and simple and encouraged us to keep it simple in our lives, families, classes, and church responsibilities.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: So what if the biggest problem with our spiritual lives isn't that we don't know enough?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: What if it's that we've complicated that which we already know?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds like something that we do.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds like something you do.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds like something I do.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Cause why?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because we're human.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Humans like complexity.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: We like to make things difficult.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Even when they're pretty simple.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Let me ask you this.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever overthunk something?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Overthought something?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever compared yourself to others?
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: I know, I know.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever created unnecessary rules just to have rules?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: How about?
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever gotten into an argument about things that aren't necessary or aren't central to your salvation?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, have you ever turned discipleship into a checklist?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about what the Jews did before Christ's time.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: They had turned the entire law of Moses into a 900 daily things that you had to accomplish to check off to show that you were a good disciple.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, oh, how about?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever become so focused on talking about the gospel that you forgot to live it?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I use checklists a lot, all the time.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: I use checklists in the airplane.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: I check, I use checklists when I fly.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: But you know what I don't want?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to make everything super complex.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: There are some approaches and arrivals that are very complex.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: They're a pain in the tail.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want more complexity when the airplane is in trouble.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, when we have an emergency, guess what we do?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: We simplify.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Rather than flying a crazy complicated approach, we get vectors to a straight in.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Simple.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Keep it simple.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Aviate, navigate, communicate.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Fly the airplane, maintain aircraft control, handle the problem, land safely.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe discipleship works the same way.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: When life gets turbulent, we don't need five hundred spiritual theories.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: We need the fundamentals.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: I like to say we need the primary answers.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So often we come up with all these difficult or grandiose theories or grandiose ideas.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: We try to think and find all the mysteries of the gospel.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: When really to strengthen our testimony and our faith in Christ, we just need the primary answers.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: So what are the primary answers?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus made the gospel simple.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: In Matthew 22, 37 to 40, it reduces down to love God and love your neighbor.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's the law.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: In John 14 15, he said, if you love me, keep my commandments.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he gave us ten of them, right?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel isn't merely intellectual knowledge, it's love expressed through obedience.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Nephi 31, 17 to 21, Nephi explains the doctrine of Christ as faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's your primary answers right there.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel is simple enough for a child to understand, but deep enough that we can spend a lifetime becoming better at living it.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: A recent church article emphasized that the doctrine of Christ is simple while recognizing that faithful living faithfully living it requires continual effort and change.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Simple doesn't mean easy.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's simple.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: The rule love thy neighbor as thyself.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: But have you ever been upset at somebody?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: You ever been angry at somebody?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: You ever had a hard time loving somebody?
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's not so simple to live, is it?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Running the marathon is simple.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's just 26.2 miles, right?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: You just put one foot in front of the other for the entire distance.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Would you say it's easy?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't run that far, but I just ran five miles today, and I'm sore.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: 26.2, that's a little more than five.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: But we build, we grow, we improve.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Get to a point where you can run that.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Pray, repent, forgive, serve, keep command covenants, keep commandments, follow Christ, repeat.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Simple, right?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Pray, repent, forgive, serve, keep covenants, keep the commandments, follow Christ, repeat.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Simple.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Not easy.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Not easy.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Second Nephi thirty one twenty states, press forward with a steadfastness in Christ.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel doesn't need to become more complicated just because living it is difficult.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: When you add complexity, sometimes it can lead to spiritual distraction.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Information, too much information, can lead to too much overthinking.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: You can we substitute sometimes information for transformation.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: What is the gospel looking for?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's looking for a transformation of our lives.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: That from a sinner to a saint.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times we look for lots of information, information, get information overload.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: But it doesn't necessarily make you better.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't transform you.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's an internal thing.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: We like to debate different fundamentals.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: We can become experts at arguing about the gospel without becoming better followers of Christ.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: You see that all the time in Bible bashing.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: People that Bible bash, they know a lot, but they're not living it.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we could substitute perfectionism for repentance.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: We convince ourselves that unless we're doing everything perfectly, we're failing.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: But who's going to be perfect in this life?
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Perfectionism is a path towards unhappiness.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you think that you have to be perfect.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: We strive for perfection.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: But if we replace perfectionism or we replace repentance with perfectionism, we're gonna be unhappy.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: We replace busyness for spirituality.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: This happens a lot.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: We fill our calendars with good things, but forget the actual underlying spiritual need, the spiritual requirements for them.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Present Dalna jokes, good, better, best principle that I talked about a few episodes back.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Not everything that is good deserves equal priority, right?
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: We need to find the underlying spirituality, the reason for doing the good things.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: In first Nephi 13, 28 and 29, Nephi talks to us about plain and precious truths.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: He talks about how many plain and precious truths were lost.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Not only that, but they were removed because they were plain, simple, and easy to understand.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: They were deeply valuable and eternally significant, and they were lost.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel, the restored gospel, brought many of those plain and precious truths back.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: We sometimes assume that complicated means sophisticated and simple means shallow.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel teaches the opposite.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the deepest truths in eternity are remarkably simple, and they're simple to understand.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: So Jesus said, love God, love people, follow me, repent, forgive, serve, pray, keep his commandments, endure faithfully.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: What would happen if we spent less time worrying about everything we can't control and more time consistently doing those things?
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the scriptures that I base those on are Matthew 22 37, Matthew 22 39, Matthew 16 24, Luke 13 and 3, Matthew 6, 14 and 15, Mosiah 2 17, and 3rd Nephi 18 18, John 14 15, and 2 Nephi 31 20.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Again, love God, love people, follow me, repent, forgive, serve, pray, keep his commandments, and endure faithfully.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Consistently doing these things will help us to endure to the end.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel is a daily practice.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: Spiritual simplicity could look like in the morning asking the Father, please help me know what you want me to do today.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: During the day, asking yourself, Am I following Christ at this moment?
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: When you screw up, then you will, repent, fix it, keep moving forward.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: When someone hurts you, forgive.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: When someone needs help, serve.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: At night, where did I see, ask yourself, where did I see God's hand today?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Not because discipleship is insignificant, it's because the fundamentals are powerful.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: Experienced pilots don't abandon fundamentals just because they're experienced.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, when they abandon the fundamentals, that's when experienced pilots crash.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: No, the longer that you fly, the more you rely on the fundamentals.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: When things get complicated, we slow down.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Maintain control, know where you are, know where you're going, communicate.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Aviate, navigate, communicate.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Follow the checklist, don't create unnecessary problems.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Slow down.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: We say slow is smooth, smooth is fast, right?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: You've heard that before.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's been in movies, it's been all over the place.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it's true.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: When life becomes turbulent, pray.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Slow down.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Remember Christ.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Follow the commandments.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Repent.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Forgive, serve, and stay on the covenant path.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: When the cockpit gets chaotic, you don't invent new flying principles, you return to the fundamentals.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: We slow down.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the smart thing to do.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Other people will try to complicate your discipleship.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: They will try to complicate everything.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, I know you this would never happen to you.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Social media influences you.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Church culture might influence you, wants to complicate things.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Other people's expectations complicate your life.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Political arguments, religious arguments.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: I just saw a thing where some people were upset because the church took a stance on abortion and wanted to it read in church on Sunday.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: They weren't making a political argument against political figures.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: They were making an argument about a belief, a standard that the church has always held.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: Church has always been against abortion.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a political argument, it's just a moral argument.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: And the church stands for morality.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes perfectionism, comparison, fear, endless speculation can cause distractions or complications in your discipleship if you let them.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: But according to Moroni 1032, we're told, come unto Christ and be perfected in him, not figure everything out before you come unto him.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's not the way it works.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus says in Matthew 11, 28 30, come unto me.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: My yoke is easy and my burden is light.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Christ's expectations are that we strive for improvement.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the expectations we place on ourselves are like trying to push a boulder uphill like Sisyphus.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: You're never going to win.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Christ, He wants you to improve daily.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Ask yourself, is this something Christ actually asked me to carry, or something I picked up because I thought I was supposed to?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Reflect on that.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: So before allowing something to consume your spiritual energy, ask, does this bring me closer to Christ?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: Is this actually taught in Scripture or Revelation, or is this a cultural thing?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Is this helping me become more loving, obedient, humble, and useful?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Am I focusing on something essential or something merely interesting?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: What is the simple thing God is asking me to do today?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Stop trying to fix your entire spiritual lives overnight.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: You're not perfect, you're a sinner, I'm a sinner, we're all sinners, you're not gonna fix yourself overnight, but you can move a step forward.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: A little bit.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: A little bit today, a little bit tomorrow.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Pray, forgive someone, read your scriptures, start.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Go to church, keep a covenant, call your child, apologize, serve somebody.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Stop doing something you know is wrong.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Baby steps.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: Trust God, baby steps.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: Make a small change daily.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: DNC 123.17 that says, cheerfully do all things that lie in our power and then stand still.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: I was listening to a talk earlier today, and he said, you know, so many times Jesus tells us to be of good cheer.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost like a commandment.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: He tells us to be of good cheer.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Don't complicate things.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: When you overthink, you lose that cheerfulness.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the gospel doesn't need to be reinvented.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it just needs to be remembered.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't ask us to become experts at religion.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: He asked us to become his disciples.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: He asked us to love God, love people, repent, forgive, keep covenants, keep commandments, serve, pray, and follow Christ, and then repeat.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Do it again.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Final bit the gospel is simple.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: Life is complicated.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Don't complicate the gospel.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Come back to Christ.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: When life gets complicated, slow down.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Stick to the basics.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because the basics, that's the thing that's going to keep you moving forward.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: How do I know this?
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, for two months now, I've not missed a day of scriptures, a day of prayer, a day of gratitude.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: My life's pretty cool.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: My life's pretty happy.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it's pretty amazing the changes that have been coming into my life because I've been keeping it simple.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: K-I-S-S.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Keep it simple.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Silly, stupid, whatever what you want to use on the end there.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: Keep it simple.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Stick with the basics.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Have a blessed day.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if you feel so inclined, feel free to donate to the show.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: Support the show.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you can even give us five stars and a like so that we can get to more people.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: Share the gospel with others.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: As always, have a blessed day.