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messymormonmission · 3 years ago

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the discussion routine

If someone let you in, and you had between 30 minutes and an hour, you could do a Discussion (this was 1995). A lesson. There were six, we were supposed to do them in order. I guess it's more flexible now.

There was all the introductions stuff, where are you from, where are we from (Building a Relationship of Trust) and then finding a place to sit. Almost everyone had their TV on, we were to have them turn it off to keep the vibe fresh, to Allow the Spirit. Sometimes they kept it on, sometimes to keep the kids occupied, and we were like, 'but surely this fascinating church lesson will capture their interest as much as the PowerPuff Girls' which again shows how much we knew. Screens were distracting for me, I loved them and missed them so much. I remember one night talking to a guy while his kid watched Space Ghost Coast to Coast, I didn’t get a lot out of that talk.

Elder Me: Can we start with a prayer?

Almost no one said no. At least among Latinx folks, prayer was a General Good, they were generally housebroken Christianity-wise. It didn’t always fit the situation, though. I had comps that would try to wedge it in even if it didn’t. My approach was to try to and make as smooth of transitions as possible, no fuss no muss. Some companions would stomp in and lay down the law of Mormonism wherever they went – do things right, in order, as we say to do them. There's probably merit to this approach – it could prepare them for what they would experience a lot in the church. I leaned towards a smoother ride if possible, to reduce the chances of being let out early, seeking out potential bumps in the road.

Principle 1 - Elder Me: Like most people, we believe in God.

My mission had us memorize the discussions. I was Spanish-speaking, so I did it in Spanish. It was doable. It took time, but was something I have to admit the mission taught me - I could memorize, with time and effort. We were supposed to deliver them word-for-word. They were designed as a logical argument, a spiritual sales presentation, to build people towards a series of commitments.

Elder Me: We’re God’s children. He’s our father in heaven and created us in his image.

Lots of nodding.

Elder Me: He wants us to be like him and has prepared a plan to bring us joy in this life and a way to make it possible to live with him forever. He wants us to be happy. [End of my first part. I turn to my companion.]

Each discussion has principles – about 6, and we would switch between companions. After each principle you testify to the truthfulness of that principle, your companion testifies of the same thing, then starts his. In the mouth of 2-3 witnesses.

Elder Companion: I also know God lives…

There were specific things we were supposed to get people to do along the way, commitments – reading, praying, getting baptized. Here’s the first discussion:

God’s plan [I just did this]

Jesus [Elder C. will do this]

Prophets

Joseph Smith

Book of Mormon Commitment – read the Intro, a chapter, and a few verses near the end

Holy Ghost Commitment - Pray to see if Joseph Smith was a prophet Commitment - Maybe someday get baptized Commitment - Listen to another discussion

In my Spanish copy of the discussions, there is a pasted-in piece of paper saying “WHY THE BAPTISMAL CHALLENGE? It’s the Lord’s Will!!!” This meant, ask them to get baptized in the first discussion. First discussion. Yup. This probably came from a mission conference where they talked about how anyone who didn’t ask people to be baptized during the first discussion was a weak missionary, needed to repent, didn’t have faith that God could perform miracles in these latter days. That our Savior Jesus, were he to be on a mission with us, would be asking people to get baptized in their first discussion, because he was always asking people to make huge commitments, without even using the commitment pattern, because that’s his commitment pattern was like a huge aura that covered blocks in every direction and if we could just be more like him we could get people to be Mormons the first time we met them. What is not figured into that argument is, we were not Jesus. What is figured back in is, yeah but we should and could be, duh.

A theme of my mission was anger about things mission leaders (both the president and kids my age) said were true, that weren't, that were likely youthful enthusiasms pushed onto others because they had power, because they'd been Called of God, that I fought with internally because laughing at them felt like heresy. I wanted them to be true, even if they weren't. I wanted to believe what they believed. I wasn't old enough to see it for what it was, whatever it was. Youthful enthusiasms. My brain didn't call shenanigans when it should've (*1).

TBM Me interjects: Ha! That’s a perfect example of how you actually had the Holy Ghost and they didn’t because you’d been baptized and they hadn’t! [Finds a book and slams it shut.] It’s all true, case closed!

Logic Me: I want to buy windows when someone is in the house selling me windows but when they leave I usually don’t want the windows any more. That’s why salespeople try as much as humanly possible to get the sale when they’re around. The chance of you calling them back later is very low. I don’t think it’s a spiritual thing. I think it’s a ‘people can make you feel things’ thing.

Back to the discussions. In the first discussion, which I did maybe 7-8 times a week on a good week, here was the mood from most investigators [the person we were teaching]:

God’s plan - sure

Jesus - ok

Prophets - hmmm

Joseph Smith – oh, yeah gimme some of this.

Book of Mormon – seriously doubt

Holy Ghost – and we’re back but what was that book thing?

The Spirit (*2) was strongest when we talked about Joseph Smith. What we share is that he was a confused kid about religion who went and prayed and God said, hey, how about you start a church because everyone else has it wrong.

Almost every time, it set the mood. We didn’t talk about his wives or dishonesty. But if we were going to commit people to stuff we should have done it there. We had people at that point.

Sometimes after sharing about Joseph Smith’s story we’d ask people who they thought he was seeing descend down from heaven in a pillar of light, and literally about half the time people would share visions they’d had themselves. I never quite knew what to do with this, and in retrospect wish I’d been kinder. Here we were, leading them into this spiritual crescendo, and they wanted to be a part of it, and I blocked it with a ‘that’s nice you also saw God, anyway, this guy...’ We needed to get through two more principles before the time was up, and how dare they have visions, it’s Joe Smith we’re talking about, he’s the one with the visions. I wish I’d given them a little more time at the mic and validated their experiences. They were thought we were talking spirituality, and we were really just talking Mormonism. I don’t know if they saw God. I don’t know if Joseph Smith did. He could have. They could have. I wasn’t there. I’ve had spiritual experiences and I’ll be damned if someone is going to tell me I didn’t have those (*3). I mean, I’m probably damned anyway. Except there is no hell. Except for the one mentioned over and over in the Book of Mormon (*4).

Anywho. I wish I had been more open about their experiences, is where I was headed.

After Joseph Smith we talked about the Book of Mormon and it was a letdown. Mormons love the Book of Mormon, but everyone else is somewhere on the spectrum of “oh that’s nice for you” to “reason #3 you’re a cult.” Which was frustrating as a missionary. Most people, if they read it, realized it was scripturesque and did, in fact, talk about Jesus. People thought it was a trick to get them to learn more about Joseph Smith. Back then I was like, no, it’s all about Jesus and people getting to know Jesus, because I was literal and it literally is (kind of), but we were using it as a way to get them to buy into the religion in general, and to believe in Joseph Smith, so in the end it *was* a trick. So, now I get the skepticism.

The Book of Mormon was the crux of the sale, though (*5). If they got hooked on The Book of Mormon, got good feelings while reading it on their own, they were much more likely to stick with us and be baptized, and they were more likely to stay in the church because they would have an independent source of spiritual feelings (*6).

Finally we’d talk about the Holy Ghost, as a way to help them understand how they would get answers to the question, “do these 50’s-dressed teenagers both named Elder know anything about anything.” Problematic. The trick with the Holy Ghost is/was answers are vague and amorphous, manifesting differently in different people. (*7) We wanted them to pray and feel fuzzy about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Nothing else. We would worry later about the stuff that might actually come up if they prayed (*8). We wanted them to be better people, eventually – right now we wanted to get them into the kingdom.

People generally understood the Holy Ghost. We were supposed to identify it if we felt it – “hey you feel that good feeling?” “yeah” “that’s the Spirit, man” so they knew what it was like. But that’s also hard to replicate.

TBM Me: How hokey are you going to get? Why do you talk around this stuff? At least be honest with yourself. It’s all true, and you’re trying to explain it away. [looks around for something to slam]

Logic Me: Most of the it isn’t true. Most of the Mormon-est parts of it, anyway, aren't. Sitting around talking about God with people who are by-and-large conditioned through religious upbringing to believe what you’re saying and having that feel good, that seems easy to explain sociologically.

We ended usually with whatever seemed like the right commitment – at the very least to meet again, and unless they totally balked at the Book of Mormon, to accept one from us and read a few parts of it. We try to close with a prayer, put down the next appointment in our little yellow planner, and leave. Usually feeling good, sometimes great if they were really into it, and sometimes bad if they really weren’t listening. But almost any discussion beat knocking doors or street contacting.

Also, as you can see, even out of the church for about 5 years, and 25 years later, I still have the TBM voice in my head yelling at me that I’m a heretic, that all these things are true and that if I would just have enough FAITH, just BELIEVE more because my lack of FAITH is a WEAKNESS and FAULT that keeps me from being HAPPY (*9). It's no fun. That early guilt sticks.

We did a lot more first discussions than anything else. Most people got spooked by one of the many problems they heard, or were just humoring us. But as one companion told me, discussions were the lifeblood of the mission. Without teaching people and connecting in that way I'd have been less motivated than I already was.

In retrospect, am I embarrassed or ashamed about teaching people this stuff? Kind of. Doesn't really matter. It's not a useful idea to sit with. I can't undo it, and if I went back in time and tried to get myself not to do it ("Hey, younger me, it's not true! Go home and go to college out of your hometown!") I'd have thought I was crazy. I had to have my own path out of believing it, and I wouldn't have been ready back then. But looking at it now, I'm more bothered by the idea that we all sin and need to repent. I think starting there is a good place to change direction.

----

(*1) I did ask people if they wanted to be baptized in the first discussion a few times, usually with people I knew weren’t interested. May as well push them away more quickly. It was a bet I was going to lose anyway. If there was someone who was actually interested, I would be scared to bring it up, but we had to eventually, it was the 5th principle of the second discussion. So at that point, if they still would have us, we’d ask them. The second or third time that we talked to them, ever, we’d ask them to change their life, with very little understanding or context about what it meant and what would be involved. We were asking them to do this based on basically the feeling they got when we were around. Like asking someone on a date after getting them to laugh, we were creating a spiritual mood in the room. That was the pattern. Create a mood, then when in the mood get them to commit, then when you leave and the mood is gone, hopefully they follow through. Most didn’t. When we left, usually the heat left.

(*2) which I then thought was a spiritual manifestation of God through a non-corporeal member of the Godhead which can be everywhere at once if needed and only could be manifest in Mormons who had received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and now think is something like a common manifestation of belief in each other’s belief about inspiring events

(*3) Even if Joseph Smith saw God, it doesn’t make up for the shit he did later.

TBM Me interjects: We don’t know he did terrible things, faith-promoting historical sources blah blah blah just trust your FEELINGS unless they tell you he did terrible things.

Logic Me: Really this is a marketing thing. The church could pull back on Joseph Smith and they'd get a lot less heat but they double and triple down on him and have to spend time and money in counter-programming.

(*4)56 times, more than old and new testament combined

(*5) except we gave books away, a major advantage over Jehovah’s Witnesses’ missionary work, who had to literally sell their materials I think, which is like adding insult to injury for those poor missionaries

(*6) I don’t want to get too much into it here, but why does the Book of Mormon generate spiritual feelings? Grant Palmer argues that it’s because it talks about Jesus and being a better person, and that anything that talks about Jesus and changing to be better is going to do that. Which was helpful for me. The book is really problematic in so, so many ways, but Mormons go back to it again and again because it can, in fact, generate spiritual feelings when reading it, if you approach it a certain way.

TBM Me: Aha! That’s just the sort of the baloney someone who has left the faith would tell themselves to get away from the truth. It’s all true! [Finds an open door and slams it shut.] Case closed!

Logic Me: I’m not getting into whether the Book of Mormon was actually written by a series of dudes on gold plates a couple of thousand years ago. I’m talking about effect. Another post another post another post. Lemme alone.

(*7) I'm realizing I put this in without commentary. I'm still fuzzy on the Spirit, Higher Power, all that stuff. Another post for another time I guess because I still believe in getting answers from somewhere, I just don't know if they come from me or somewhere else. They sound a lot like me.

(*8) If you want to replicate this, wake up before everyone else and sit at a clean kitchen table, eyes open, lights on, for 20 minutes with only a piece of paper and pen. No phone, no music. If you wait the whole time things will come up, from wherever, and they probably won't be "Be a Mormon" they'll probably be "get that one thing done and for hell's sake be nicer to your partner." At least that's how it works for me.

(*9) I can then go back and do a logic chain from where my shelf broke and say, look, this isn’t true, therefore that isn’t true, therefore this and that and so on. And then it falls apart again, and I can see that the guilt is not really based on logic but on an emotional reasoning that leans on outcomes that are specifically geared for success only in the direction of the church being true. It’s not even a real logic test. We did this to other people and we did it to ourselves. The "test" looks like this:

Read the Book of Mormon and pray about Joseph Smith.

If you get a Burning in the Bosom (a warm feeling in your chest) then you know it’s true. a - If not, keep praying. Look for things in your life you need to change to be more in line with God, then try again. And again, and again, until you get the yes answer. If you don’t get the yes answer, there is something wrong with you that you are unwilling to face. b - If, heaven forbid, you get the no answer that’s the devil trying to deceive you. No joke, that’s the answer. From an outside perspective that must look ridiculous. "Check your floor for pentagrams. God isn’t telling you to be a Mormon. He’s on Our Side."

#exmormon #mormon mission #mission trauma #book of mormon

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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 4 years ago

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Can the Mormons talk honestly about polygamy?

▲ The Unification Church bought this church in Washington, DC, from the Mormons.

Can the Mormons talk honestly about polygamy? A new book could help. The unknowns about eternal polygamy are ��answered with speculation and myths, creating undue fear and angst,’ says the author of a new book.

Religion News Service July 29, 2021 By Emily W. Jensen

https://religionnews.com/2021/07/29/can-the-lds-talk-honestly-about-polygamy-a-new-book-could-help/

Ten years ago, as I finished up teaching a Relief Society lesson, in which I discussed The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ history of polygamy, my local Relief Society president came up to me and whispered, “You know, the Holy Spirit left the room the moment you said the ‘p’ word.”

The idea that a word could cause the Holy Spirit to flee in terror still makes me stammer — which is just what I did that day in response to the Relief Society president.

Oh, how things have changed. Today most of us own that polygamy was practiced by church members before it was outlawed in Utah in 1890. We should also be able to admit that its theological framework is still found in the church in many places. Talking about it shouldn’t be discouraged.

The church seems to agree, at least so far as to publish through Deseret Book a new tome called “Let’s Talk About Polygamy” by LDS church historian Brittany Chapman Nash. At a slim 134 pages, this little book delves deeper into the practice than its size lets on, hitting the points that every church member should know.

But they generally don’t. Even with the church-sponsored Gospel Topics essays on the subject and various historic works, including those in the church-sponsored Joseph Smith Papers, far too many members still believe that polygamy is an unspeakable word or maintain that Smith never practiced it.

Nash’s little book fills that informational void nicely. At its very beginning, she defines the practice, explaining that what went on among early LDS leaders’ families was actually polygyny (the taking of multiple wives), not polygamy (the taking of multiple spouses), but that polygamy is the more common term.

The book relates the history of the practice in the early church and its messy untethering process at the dawn of the 20th century. Nash wonderfully includes many women’s voices of the time in describing their reasons for embracing polygamy or rejecting it, and she explains the polygamous sealing process, which today’s temple sealing ceremony obviously echoes, even though the sealings are now done monogamously.

She also makes plain why so many early members felt they had to ascribe to the practice: Brigham Young, among others, taught that those men who were to be elevated to the highest degree of heaven and become Gods were those who entered into polygamy. Later, Wilford Woodruff, the LDS president who ended it, tried to soften Young’s dictum by explaining that men only needed to marry one other woman, not many multiples of women like so many high church leaders were doing at the time.

The book busts the myth that not many Mormons practiced polygamy, explaining that although the numbers aren’t exact because existing records are incomplete, taking Manti, Utah, as an example, at its height, just over 40% of its population was in polygamous households.

I appreciate that Nash trusts me as a reader and gives the age of Joseph Smith’s youngest wife, Helen Mar Kimball, as 14, not, as the Gospel Topics essay does, “sealed to Joseph several months before her 15th birthday.”

In her final chapter, Nash asks, “What does polygamy mean to saints today?” She goes head-on at the idea that many members are uncomfortable with the idea of polygamy as it was practiced then and worry that it will be practiced in the hereafter. Clearly, we are still haunted by our polygamist past.

As perhaps we should be: Nash explains that the revelation has “never been denounced” by the church. This means that while men can be sealed to multiple women eternally — if their wife dies or they are divorced and granted a clearance, say — women are painfully and misogynistically not afforded the same sealing promise.

The unknowns about eternal polygamy, Nash notes, are unfortunately “answered with speculation and myths, creating undue fear and angst within some Saints.”

Nash cites President Dallin Oaks, who in 2019 began his general conference talk describing a letter from a woman who was afraid of having to live in the same eternal home with her husband and his first deceased wife. The remark was greeted with laughter from the audience and a smile from Oaks.

I noted on Twitter then that you should never make fun of women afraid of eternal polygamy. Or, as another writer has said: “We haven’t really engaged with the issues, either institutionally or culturally. And by refusing to engage with the problems, we’re essentially telling our sisters and brothers who face them that we don’t care about their situation, because all is well with us.”

After all, Doctrine & Covenants 132, Smith’s revelation on eternal and plural marriage, which we are studying in this year’s Sunday school curriculum, is still canonized.

Overall, I do think this book will shake some members’ faith. That’s because many members still see polygamy as a “p” word, not to be uttered. But I’m grateful for the deft historical hand Nash wields in constructing a small but powerful work on polygamy. Let’s do talk about it. Emily Jensen She is the web editor for Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought and co-editor of “A Book of Mormons: Latter-day Saints on a Modern-Day Zion.”

(The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

_______________________________________

Can the Moonies talk honestly about polygamy?

VIDEO: Hyung Jin Moon admits his father had sex with six Marys

#Mormons #LDS #polygamy #six wives of Sun Myung Moon

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ramrodd · 6 years ago

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A Protestant Talks With a Catholic Priest

COMMENTARY:

I'm writing as I watch this and I have paused at timestamp 4:48. So far, so good. I was raised in the communion of the Army Protestant Chapel and I was confirmed in the Chapel of the Centurion at Ft. Monroe sometime in my junior year of high school, 6 months before I heard Sergeant Pepper's, Ode to Billy Joe for the first time and that John McCain was having Christmas in the Hanoi Hilton, after a tour of the medical services of a city being bombed by guys just like him before he intercepted a SAM in his F-8. That can spoil your wholle day.

I'm not Catholic and an really don't trust their version of Jesus because of all the blatant pedophiles in the cloth. The orthodox understanding of St. Paul, the man, is that he is like Peter, a confirmed celebant long before he was crucified. He had effectively given up sex by the time he gave up fishing for a living, but it was just like Spencer Tracy in "The Old Man and the Sea". As a history major, you do understand that Hemingway wrote that as a fable of St. Peter fulfilling his commission to "Feed My Sheep". It is a very elegant Catholic parable. A lot of spanish sunlight, like the moment of truth in “7 Spanish Angels”. This is I'm writing as I write this and I have paused at timestamp 4:48. So far, so good. I was raised in the communion of the Army Protestant Chapel and I was confirmed in the Chapel of the Centurion at Ft. Monroe sometime in my junior year of high school, 6 months before I heard Sergeant Pepper's, Ode to Billy Joe for the first time and that John McCain was having Christmas in the Hanoi Hilton, after a tour of the medical services of a city being bombed by guys just like him before he intercepted a SAM in his F-8. That can spoil your wholale day.

I'm not Catholic and an really don't trust their version of Jesus because of all the blatant pedophiles in the cloth. The orthodox understanding of St. Paul, the man, is that he is like Peter, a confirmed celebant long before he was crucified. He had effectively given up sex by the time he gave up fishing for a living, but it was just like Spencer Tracy in "The Old Man and the Sea". As a history major, you do understand that Hemingway wrote that as a fable of St. Peter fulfilling his commission to "Feed My Sheep". It is a very elegant Catholic parable. A lot of spanish sunlight at the moment of truth in “7 Spanish Angels”, only it's just another day in paradise, doing the Lord's I'm writing as I write this and I have paused at timestamp 4:48. So far, so good. I was raised in the communion of the Army Protestant Chapel and I was confirmed in the Chapel of the Centurion at Ft. Monroe sometime in my junior year of high school, 6 months before I heard Sergeant Pepper's, Ode to Billy Joe for the first time and that John McCain was having Christmas in the Hanoi Hilton, after a tour of the medical services of a city being bombed by guys just like him before he intercepted a SAM in his F-8. That can spoil your wholale day.

That's who Peter is, That's who this priest is selling and it's a true portrait, but both Rome and Canterbury do a bit of bait and switch and hand off most of their intellectual grounding to Paul and Paul is as queer as a $3 bill, but everybody pretends he is just exactly like Peter OR if he's queer, then so is Jesus and it goes on and on. Peter was raised as a Jew in a very circumscribed sexual climate focused intently, and exclusively, on reproduction. Producing children as a divine obsession. The reason they rested on the 7th day was so they could fuck and if you only fucked on the Sabbath, the law of averages was working for you to that end. And women, who have had children and like the process, come to know exactly when they are ripe for baby making. I've had a lot of sex with a lot of women who had acquired that sense of their own bodies and I've had sex with a whole lot more women who didn't but knew that when they needed to fuck they could count on me.

Paul came from a Greek culture where naked wrestling was encouraged and there was (and may still be) a respected tradition of legal male union as a religious pre-Christian ritual, which is exactly what the circumcision of Timothy is all about, but everybody pretends is an expedient measure allowing Timothy to move in and out of Synagogues, legitimately. It's is an expedient measure, but it provided Paul the sexual outlet he required to soothe his “thorn in the flesh”: he was into twinks, like Roy Cohn. Pretty boys. He made a pass at John Mark, mistaking him for Jesus's “Pretty Boy” and John Mark wasn't that kind of guy and neither was Jesus. Neither was Socrates. It was universal, the Greek Love traditions, but it travels well and the Catholic Church would profit from making long term relationships in the Church the norm, like the Salvation Army. Most of their abuse would resolve more or less naturally and painlessly.

So,, anyway, there is no one in the Catholic Church I identify with except Cornelius. The one thing I identify about Jesus is that He had been through Ranger School, because He was absolutely mission oriented. The phrase “Give us this day our daily bread” translates into Ranger Speak as “MISSION” in a 5 Paragraph warning Order. Just like “Mission” Impossible”, only, just getting the order means you have accepted its premis, its assumptions, its legality and its imperative without qualification. “Instant Obedience:Self-Discipline”. Jesus is community organizer and the Squad Leader in a TO&E USMC Squad. 13 people. 1 leader,-player 12 players. The followers of Jesus showed up for the breaking of the bread, but, as your priest says, the Apostles are players under the authority of Jesus and His authority conveys directly in a chain of command kind of way.

So, I see Jesus as operating at the matrix between the economies of scale of the task environment, the battle space, and the economies of scale of the next higher command and the whole rest of the Army It is US Army doctrine that the squad is the basic unit of the military organization. Jesus is running an Army squad engaged in social engineering, just like the Green Berets in Vietnam before the commie cocksuckers in Hanoi decided to steal the Republic of Vietnam for Uncle Ho and Joseph Stalin.

So, here's the thing to understand about Cornelius that's pertinent to your experience: Cornelius is a republican soldier serving his nation in a foreign, and actively hostile, territory, Indian Country, and he, Cornelius, is doing his most important work outside the wire just like the Green Berets in Vietnam before the commie cocksuckers fired on Ft. Sumter, in effect. Cornelius is working outside the wire just the the 38th Indiana “Cyclone” Division in Afghanistan right at this moment. Out in IED land. That's where Cornelius is. Jim Kimsey, the venture capitalist that backed Steve Case and AOL, was a Green Beret in Vietnam back when it was cool to be in Counter-Insurgency in the Army, and he and his team built an orphanage for the same reasons Cornelius helped build the synagogue in Capernaum. The same imperative. Kimsey's orphange is still in operation. If you want to understand why Afghanistan is so important, it's because we are using the lessons learned from Vietnam to help Afghanistan, including the Taliban, bot adopt a superior form of national problem solving and organically spiritual health and economic equity as an expression of the economics of Jesus as explicated by Adam Smith as a moral science which I call process theology.

Before I go back to the video, I wanted to complete my thought about women knowing when their eggs drop is that the Samaritan woman in John 4 is at that moment and she wants to get pregnant, just like Tamar with Judah. The interpretation that she, the Samaritan woman in John 4 is a whore is as much bullshit as anything that comes out of Canterbury. I don't know Rome's version of the passage, but if you want to understand what bullshit the Pro-Life/Salvation Gospel is, ask your wife if it makes a difference whether the women in John 4 is a whore or just a woman with a mission and a window of opportunity.

St. Peter is asexual. St. Paul is a South Beach drag queen without the wardrobe. Both Rome and Canterbury are selling St. Peter, but you are getting St. Paul.

4:48: lift off.

Hover at 8:17 St. Paul is the dominant Apostle of American Evangelicals: Peter is your favorite from the perspective of Paul.

Evangelicals lean heavily upon Paul because of his emotional appeal relative to the “Just the Facts” testimony of Peter. Here's an example where God doesn't not consider our expectations as a critical factor in His design, Paul, in particular, appeals to women. According to the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Peter was actively hostile to everything Mary represented. Part of this is a problem Peter had with the whole idea of eating with gentiles and there is little question in my mind he at least agreed with the prayer of pharisees of the age “Thank you, Lord, that I was not born a slave, a dog/gentile or a woman”. I mean, Peter was fighting an up-hill battle all the way in regards to the implications of Mark 7:19 and Acts 10, while Paul was a pig in shit with the whole abrogation of all things kosher. And that whole drag queen aspect of his personality evident in his writing attracted women in ways very similar to the way Jesus did. I mean, Peter sent a woman to argue Romans in front of Theophilus and the covert Christian cell in the Praetorian Guard that represented the Church of Rome and why the Catholic Church remained in Rome. The Christian Church is a legacy of the Italian Cohort both Pilate and Cornelius were employed by: they got their paychecks via The Praetorian Guard, just like Julius Caesar. Except for the whole arising from the dead thing, the whole l'Affaire Crist was handled in a routine manner and His file happen to land on a desk in Rome and there it stayed until Constantine disbanded the Praetorian Guard after the Milvian Bridge, no hard feelings, we're just moving you to Iowa to be closer to real people sort of thing.

8:17 Resume:

9:52 pause: Everywhere the legions are, Christianity appears. The whole story of the experience of the Roman soldiers in Matthew 27:66 and Luke 23:26 – 47 goes throughout all the legions by that mysterious grapevine of the soldier's Rumor Control that relayed the murder of the negro soldiers at Ft. Pillow to the negro soldiers in the Army of the Potomac before Petersburg before the publication of Stars-and-Stripes, which wasn't created until the first world war.

Christianity is a creature of the Roman legions and a legacy of the Profession of Arms. The soldiers of Rome were in service to Rome but they offered their oaths to Yaweh, Queen of Battle and performed their Duty to Rome on that basis. That's a central tenet of Paul's legal argument in Romans.

Jesus placed a bet with The Satan that He could create a church without a bureaucracy. And He realized at the Transfiguration that He couldn't, which is why He was so brutal with Peter “Get thee behind me”. The Temptation is a continuation of the wagering between God and The Satan begun in the Book of Job and The Satan went long on the assumption that, to complete the process begun with Moses to create a universal consciousness of The One, Jesus was going to have to perform demonstrations of logistical competence, organizational efficacy and some death defying stunt and Jesus went short. Feeding the 5000 and the 4000 established His logistical competence, His scourging of the Temple merely emphasized the practical necessity of organizational efficacy in order to sustain His logistical competence but He believed He could finesse the death-defying stunt, personally, by avoiding fatal confrontation in the manner of wily Odysseus. And then, the Holy Spirit tossed Lazarus into the mix and, after four days, there is your death defying stunt. It is useful to remember that the Book of Job is a cosmic farce, with God, the Father, as the butt of the joke. The Satan tricks God, the Father, twice to beat up on Job for no other purpose than to exploit God, the Father,'s pride, And it works. And the Temptation of Jesus is a similar farce, a game of cosmic Three Card Monte, where Jesus believes He can always find the Queen of Spades until He discovers it was the Queen of Hearts, all along.

Jesus is absolutely correct that the Church He envisions is organic in nature, but even a jellyfish has structure and man has a spine to support the cathedral of the Spirit and it isn't even a paradox: the spine serves the spirit, The law was made for man, not man for the law. And the law propels mankind in a manner similar to how the spine propels the man and that's exactly what Jesus had in mind, but He didn't know it until The Satan made it apparent.

9:52 resumes.

14:52 full stop. The Canon Law, as ratified in 1918/1983, is what the Roman Empire lost when Constantine disbanded the Praetorian Guards, essentially, the Inspector General function that Baron von Stuebin brought to Valley Forge. A great strength of the Roman legions, as personified by the centurions, was uniform doctrine, training and the operational arts and that was maintained by the Praetorian Guard in pretty much the same function as the Pentagon, today (actually, all elements of the Executive of the constitutional government, i.e. The Republic).

In terms of Canon Law, I am a Protestant and the Presbyterian structures of Canterbury inform my own notion of the Body of Christ. It's why I say the Pro-Life doctrine is such heretical bullshit. It's a made-up doctrine established entirely for political fund raising.

From the description here, Canon Law became, in 1918, what John Knox presented with the Book of Discipline in 1560. Federalist 10 is basically a recapitulation of the Book of Discipline, which reflected the structures as processes of the Praetorian Guard, which was a practical application of the concepts presented in Plato's Republic, As Bruce Gore observes, the Romans were good students of philosophy but never professors of philosophy. And that's worked out pretty well.

14:52 restart:

15:25 “How does one go to heaven?”

One fucking dies, shit for brains.

There is no mystery, Going to heaven is why Jesus went to Hell, for Christ's sake! Review John 3:16, if you don't understand. As a paratrooper, you have a far better chance of going to heaven, in the final analysis, than your parachute opening and that's something like a 98% certainty. You are worried about the wrong fucking thing.

This is the problem with the Salvation Gospel of Campus Crusade for Christ (which is where I first encountered, and rejected, Salvation Gospel). I went to Vietnam on the basis of Liberation Gospel: that's what Jim Kimsey was doing as a Green Beret in Vietnam. Everybody at that time believed in the Liberation Gospel of the Marshall Plan. Salvation Gospel is an exercise in monetized navel gazing.

15:25 Begin again.

I'm listening to Kellyanne Conway on FOX News Sunday. She is as anchored in existential reality as the Pro-Life doctrine reflects anything Jesus represents except His repulsion of the den of thieves in Jerusalem.

22:11 this gets back to the Book of Job, In my experience, it is impossible to actually know The One, as I do and Job did, and, subsequently, not know The One and to know, know, know Him is to Love Love Love Him, The mind will not allow not knowing while remaining whole and healthy. That's the thing about having a relationship with The One that Job has that God in the Book of Job doesn't understand: you cannot run away from God. And to actively hate The One is, as your priest says, virtually impossible beyond the conceit of Satan in Paradise Lost.

The issue of a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, as a proxy for The One, is awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your consciousness in some manner. Most people begin with dreams. Making two parachute jumps is a good way to calibrate your Pucker Factor to distinguish between the Fear of the Lord and garden variety fear of fire, heights, the dark and death and dismemberment by tooth and claw. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever, while pure animal fear is not. You can get over pure animal fear, which brings us back to the Book of Job.

22:11 restart

22:46 Resurrection validates the God Hypothesis. It's the thing the Richard Carriers of the world cannot conveniently dismiss as myth: the entire Roman army understood the nature of crucifixion and the anomaly of resurrection was big medicine for people who had already been baptized by fire and baptized by blood and had a working, professional relationship with Yaweh, Queen of Battle.

In the final analysis, The One remains a mystery. The great gift of Jesus is that He represents the existential evidence that the mystery is the universe, itself, saying “Hi!”

22:46 restart

23:48 - 25:00 The reign of God in the Kingdom of Heaven here, on earth, brings us right back to Liberation Gospel. Because our salvation is a given, our obligation arising from John 3:16 is to go forth unto the world and bring on Earth as it is in Heaven which brings us right back to Ranger Jesus and the 5 Paragraph Field Order.

25:00 It's not about you going to heaven. Rome and Canterbury agree, at least as far as N.T. Wright is concerned. This is not the Campus Crusade for Campus position, which is like proposing to compete in the Tour de France on a bike with training wheels. I mean, the 4 spiritual laws are great, but then what? For the Charismatic, it's sexualized navel gazing rebranded as the Spirit of God moving on the waters.

25:35 Great video. As a Protestant, the idea that there was anything that needed to be pushed back against is just someone looking for a fight. I'm not going to become a Catholic for the same reasons I'm not going to become Jewish or Muslim: the essence is available to me from where I am,

Anyway, good show.

#transformingamericafirst eisenhowerrepublicansforAOC

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wutbju · 2 years ago

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Ina Kay Carson Pegram, 67, passed away on Friday, October 28, 2022. The daughter of the late John and Dorothy Carson, Ina was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 5, 1955. Ina trusted Jesus as her personal Savior when she was 9. She graduated from Woodward Academy in Atlanta, finishing as the Salutatorian of her class. She married the late Dennis Pegram on June 5, 1976, and received a B.S. in Music Education from Bob Jones University the following year.

Dennis and Ina ministered in Virginia Beach before returning to Greenville for graduate school. Ina earned a master’s degree in Sacred Music from BJU, following which she and Dennis faithfully served together at Hampton Park Baptist Church and Christian School until the Lord called Dennis Home suddenly on July 29, 2005. For years Ina was active in the HPBC adult choir and directed the ladies’ ensemble in addition to singing solos.

Ina loved investing in her piano and voice students. She taught at home, at school, and online through Majesty Music Academy and for her favorite students-her seven grandchildren who were taking lessons. She was a member of the National Association for Music Education, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Music Teachers National Association, and the National Federation of Music Clubs; she dearly loved the members of her local NFMC clubs-Crescent Music Club and Greenville Woman’s Music Club.

Ina dealt with a number of health challenges over the years but always persevered, diligently doing with tremendous energy whatever God asked of her. In addition to her beloved husband and parents, Ina was preceded in death by four infant grandchildren, brother Michael Carson, father-in-law Joseph Pegram, and mother-in-law Norma Smith.

Ina’s memory will be cherished by her children Joanie Pegram of Taylors, SC; Joshua (Liz) Pegram of Charleston, SC; Audrey Beth (Daniel) Roland of Fort Sill, OK; Bryce (Chelsea) Pegram of Allen Park, MI; Alana (Isaac) Arco of Summerville, SC; Clark-Everett (Bianca) Pegram of Lyman, SC; Ethan (Caroline) Pegram of Pelzer, SC; Lorin Pegram of Greenville, SC; and Ariana (Jacob) Parker of Jacksonville, FL; and her 18 grandchildren-Gracen, Clara Jane, Joseph, Rex, Atlas, Dottie, Liliana, Maya, and Isabella Pegram; Ezra, Noah, Micah, Thaddeus, Renee, Eleanor, Luke, and Justus Roland; and Deacon Arco-as well as siblings Mark (Susan) Carson of Normandy Beach, NJ; Suellen Carson of Brookhaven, GA; Scott (Jane) Carson of Rochester, WI; sister-in-law Susan Carson of Fayetteville, GA; mother-in-law Donna Pegram of Decatur, IA; brothers-in-law Ben (Karla) Pegram of Pleasant Hill, IA; Dan (Suzanne) Pegram of Des Moines, IA; and sister-in-law Helen (Ron) Burkhart also of Des Moines, in addition to many nephews, nieces, cousins, other relatives, and friends.

A visitation will be held Monday, November 7, 2022, from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., at Thomas McAfee Funeral Homes, Downtown Chapel, with a funeral service on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, at 12:00 p.m., in Hampton Park Baptist Church and interment to follow in Woodlawn Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be given to the mission work of Bill and Glenda Davis (Heidelberg, Germany) through www.gfamissions.org or to Mike and Madelaine Dodgens (Gipuzkoa, Spain) through www.faithchristianmissions.org.

#Bob Jones University #Archive #Obituary #BJU Hall of Fame #BJU Alumni Association #2022 #Ina Kay Carson Pegram #Class of 1977 #Hampton Park Baptist Church

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eldermillarmissionblog · 4 years ago

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“We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet”

Good afternoon!

This week has been great! One of our wards is still shut down because a lot of people are not feeling well and the community is largely older people, so we have been unable to go out there for almost 3 weeks. We are striving to call them over the phone and keep in-touch virtually, but many of them do not have phones or good cell service. If you could keep them in your prayers that would be greatly appreciated. We just want to help them and bring them closer to Christ, and right now our ability to do so is limited. However, nothing can stop the work of the Lord from progressing. We are still seeing miracles and are humbled by the mercy and grace of God every day.

We had a wonderful lesson with Scott this week. He is so prepared and has such strong desires to better himself and come closer to Christ. When we saw him the other night he triumphantly said: "I've passed all the tests this week!" He is valiantly working to do what God wants him to do, and he explained that even when it was hard, especially at work, he held his tongue, humbled himself before the Lord, and overcame the struggles thrown his way. He is so awesome. I want to be like Scott and "pass" all the challenges thrown my way. After discussing that, we taught him briefly about the Restoration (in the rain…haha) and committed him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. We bore testimony of the truthfulness of these things and the Spirit was powerfully present. He said he would accept our invitation. We are soooo excited for his progress :) Please keep him in your prayers.

In light of the new letter sent out by the First Presidency, our mission has returned to wearing masks, for the most part. At first I was a little discouraged, however, I know that following the counsel of our leaders ALWAYS brings blessings. I trust the prophet and my mission president. :)

On that note, I feel very impressed to say something, and I hope and pray the Spirit will guide my words:

My dear friends, I testify to you that President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet called of God to lead us at this exact time of the world. If you are struggling to accept or understand any of his counsel, I would invite you with all the feeling of my heart, to kneel down and ask Heavenly Father in the name of Christ if he is a prophet and if he has been inspired of God. I promise you that you will receive an answer if you are sincere, humble, and willing to follow what counsel you receive from the Lord.

As a representative of Christ, and as one called to assist the Apostles in proclaiming the truth as a full-time missionary, I stand alongside President Nelson. He is a prophet and he speaks the words God would have us hear.

I will leave you with the words of one of my favorite Primary Children’s songs:

"Follow the prophet, follow the prophet,

Follow the prophet; don’t go astray.

Follow the prophet, follow the prophet,

Follow the prophet; he knows the way."

I invite you to follow the Prophet and the Apostles. They know the way. I so testify with all my heart, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you all.

Elder Millar

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readbykena-blog · 8 years ago

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13 years - 305 books

I am an avid reader and friends frequently ask me what I am reading. Here I will try and post a brief review of each book I read. To begin with here is a list of books I have read over the last 13 years. Feel free to ask me any questions.

2017: (22)

-Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

-Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

-Corporate Communication, Theory & Practice by Joep Cornelissen

-Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen

-Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

-A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

-Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

-Theorizing Crisis Communication by Timothy Sallow and Matthew Seeger

-Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism by Eric Burns

-The Global Public Relations Handbook by Krishnamurthy Sriramesh and Dejan Vercic

-The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

-When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park

-The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks

- Introducing Communication Research by Donald Treadwell

- We are never meeting in real life by Samantha Irby

- Ethics in Public Relations by Kathy Fitzpatrick and Carolyn Bronstein

- The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee

- Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

- Origin by Dan Brown

- What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton

- Social Media Communication by Jeremy Harris Lipshultz

- A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

2016: (20)

-A Renegade History of the United States by Thaddeus Russell

-Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

-The Underground Abductor by Nathan Hale

-Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

-The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

-The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

-The Speechwriter by Barton Swaim

- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

-The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

-The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

-But What If We're Wrong by Chuck Klosterman

-Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

-Brewster by Mark Slouka

-Rosemary The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson

-The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

-The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith

-Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

-The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

-The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

-A Man Called Ove by Frederick Backman

2015: (29)

-All The Truth Is Out by Matt Bai

-Double Down by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann

-The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

-Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

-Yes Please by Amy Poehler

-A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

-All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

-The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

-The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

-To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway

-In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway

-A Country Doctor by Franz Kafka

-The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway

-Persuading Scientists by Hamid Ghanadan

-The Splendid Things We Planned by Blake Bailey

-Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

-A Heartbreaking Word of Staggering Genius by David Eggers

-Polio, An American Story by David Oshinsky

-The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer

-Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

-One Summer America, 1927 by Bill Bryson

-Brain on Fire by Susannah Catalan

-The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

-The Making of Modern Medicine by Michael Bliss

-People I Want to Punch in the Throat by Jen Mann

-Internal Medicine by Terrence Holt

-The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

-The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

-The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

2014: (10)

-David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

-Why Grizzly Bears Should Wear Underpants by The Oatmeal

-Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

-Wild by Sheryl Strayed

-Stiff by Mary Roach

-An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

-Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

-Dataclysm by Christian Rudder

-Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracey Kidder

-Columbine by Dave Cullen

2013: (13)

-The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner

-The Path Between The Seas by David McCullough

-Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris

-I Wear the Black Hat by Chuck Klosterman

-Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama

-A Hologram For The King by Dave Eggers

-Inferno by Dan Brown

-The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

-Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky

-Monkey Mind by Daniel Smith

-The Brief Wondrous Live of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

-Truth in Advertising by John Kenny

-The Cell Game by Alex Prud'Homme

2012: (16)

-Walden by Henry David Thoreau

-Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

-The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman

-Overtreated By Shannon Brownlee

-Listen To Your Heart by Fern Michaels (TERRIBLE BOOK!)

-The Ten, Make That Nine Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten, by Steve Martin

-The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin

-Baby Proof by Emily Giffen

-Natural Experiments of History by Jared Diamond

-The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

-The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

-Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

-Secrets of The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg

-A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

-The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

-Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

2011: (20)

-Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

-I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

-Tinkers by Paul Harding

-How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

-What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

-The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

-The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee

-An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

-Tea Time For the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith

-Bossypants by Tina Fey

-The Pearl by John Steinbeck

-Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

-Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillian and Al Switzler

-Beautiful Boy by David Sheff

-The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

-Of Thee I Zing by Laura Ingraham

-A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron

-Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

-The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

-Trust Me I'm Dr. Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne

2010: (26)

- History's Worst Decisions and the people who made them by Stephen Weir

- Junky by William S. Burroughs

- One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell

- Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman

- Food Rules by Michael Pollan

- Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler

- Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

- Drive by Daniel Pink

-The Help by Kathryn Stockett

-The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

-US Americans Talk About Love Edited by John Bowe

-For You Mom, Finally by Ruth Reichl

-The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter

-Cowboys Are My Weakness by Pam Houston

-The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

-Barrel Fever by David Sedaris

-You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett

-Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

-The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

-The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

-I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson

-The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

-Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris and Ian Falconer

-Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

-A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel

2009: (22)

• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

• Remember Me? By Sophie Kinsella

• A Long Way Gone, memoirs of a boy soldier by Ishmael Beah

• Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

• Slummy Mummy by Fiona Neill

• Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet

• Crawfish Mountain by Ken Wells

• My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler

• Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

• A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

• Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

• Mistakes Were Made, by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson

• Gertrude by Herman Hesse

• The Sportswriter by Richard Ford

- Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

- The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

- When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

- Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

- Bright-Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich

-The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

-Super Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner

2008: (21)

• The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

• Inside the Minds, The Art of Public Relations by CEOs

• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

• Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol

• The Pig Did It by Joseph Caldwell

• The Known World by Edward P. Jones

• Dark Roots by Cate Kennedy

• East of Eden by John Steinbeck

• Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susan

• Wired by Bob Woodward

• One Pill Makes You Smaller by Lisa Dierbeck

• A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

• Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg

• Pound for Pound by F.X. Toole

• All the Way Home by David Giffels

• Bonk by Mary Roach

• In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin

• Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris

• The Sea by John Banville

• Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman

• Female Chauvinist Pigs, Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy

2007: (28)

• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

• 1984 by George Orwell

• What Ifs? Of American History edited by Robert Cowley

• The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer

• Rabbit, run by John Updike

• Life of Pi by Yann Martel

• The Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer

• Pigtopia by Kitty Fitzgerald

• FiSH by Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen

• The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

• 1776 by David McCullough

• Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

• Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart

• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

• Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

• Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

• Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis

• The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards

• Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh

• A Dog Year by Jon Katz

• 1491 New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles Mann

• IV by Chuck Klosterman

• Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig

• The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

• The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

• Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

• No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

2006: (27)

• Collapse, How societies choose to fail or succeed by Jared Diamond

• The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

• Freakonomics by Levitt & Dubner

• Harry and Ike by Steve Neal

• State of Denial by Bob Woodward

• Crossroads in American History by James McPherson & Alan Brinkley

• The Lexus & The Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman

• The Lessons of History by Will & Ariel Durant

• Strategery by Bill Sammon

• Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

• Japanese Canadian Redress, The Toronto Story

• The Untold Story of the Yom Kippur War by Howard Blum

• The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles

• Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie

• Red Weather by Pauls Toutonghi

• Wifey by Judy Blume

• Frantic Transmissions to and from LA by Kate Braverman

• Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

• Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

• A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh

• The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

• The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time by Mark Hadden

• A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

• Marley & Me by John Grogan

• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

• Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell

• Boni y Tigre by Kathrin Sander

2005: (51)

• Guns, Germs, And Steel by Jared Diamond

• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

• Sex, Drugs, And Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman

• The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf

• A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

• Mary Magdalene by Lynn Picknett

• Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson

• The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

• Bob Dylan Chronicles Volumn 1 by Bob Dylan

• Smashed by Koren Zailckas

• Culture Shock Costa Rica by Claire Wallerstein

• The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs

• Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim by David Sedaris

• Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart

• All the President's Men by Bernstein & Woodward

• The Final Days by Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein

• The Secret Man by Bob Woodward

• Shadow (5 Pres. & the Legacy of Watergate by Bob Woodward

• All Politics is Local, by Tip O'Neill

• What's the Matter With Kansas? (How Conservatives Won the Heart of America) by Thomas Frank

• Don't think of an Elephant by George Lakoff

• Confessions of a Political Junkie by Hunter S. Thompson

• America The Book by Jon Stuart

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

• The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

• Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

• Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

• The Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London

• Animal Farm by Goerge Orwell

• Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnecut

• The Stranger by Albert Camus

• Empire Falls by Richard Russo

• The Great Fire by Shirly Hazzard

• A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler

• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

• Skirt and the Fiddle by Tristian Egolf

• Drive Like Hell by Dallas Hudgens

• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

• Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

• Deception Point by Dan Brown

• Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

• The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyers

• Angry Housewives by Lorna Landvik

• The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

• Loving Che by Ana Menendez

• Wolves in Chic Clothing by Carrie Karasyov & Jill Kargman

• Citizen Girl by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

• And Sister by Sophie Kinsella

• Trading Up by Candace Bushnell

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trberman · 4 months ago

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Doctrine and Covenants 3:1–22 | Trusting God’s Wisdom for Personal Revelation and Faith

When Joseph Smith lost the 116 pages of the Book of Mormon manuscript, it wasn’t just a personal failure—it was a turning point. Doctrine and Covenants 3:1–22 reveals how God responded with both rebuke and reassurance, teaching that His work cannot be stopped by human mistakes. These verses are a reminder that trusting God’s wisdom, even in moments of failure, brings unexpected strength and…

#Faith and trust in God LDS #Faith in God through trials LDS #Faith vs fear in LDS teachings #How can I trust God&039;s plan during trials?#How Latter-day Saints strengthen faith #How LDS members rely on God in hard times #How to build trust in God LDS #How to trust God more #How trusting God leads to peace in life #Joseph Smith and trusting God #Latter-day Saints trust in God #LDS perspective on trusting God’s timing #LDS scripture study on trusting God #Learning from Joseph Smith’s mistakes in faith #Learning from Martin Harris LDS #Lessons from Doctrine and Covenants 3 #Overcoming fear of man LDS #Overcoming fear through faith #Repentance and trusting God LDS #Strengthening faith in God LDS #Trusting God in difficult times #Trusting God in trials #Trusting God like Joseph Smith #Trusting God&039;s plan LDS #Trusting God’s will when facing uncertainty #Trusting modern prophets LDS #What does Doctrine and Covenants teach about faith?#What Latter-day Saints believe about faith #What the Book of Mormon teaches about trusting God #Why should I trust God more than man?

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vanhinkoch · 7 years ago

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Week 8: The Best Two Months

Hello Family and Friends!

It's unreal. The time has come where each passing day is the last of its kind here in the United States for the next couple years of my life. I was always really good at taking long breaks from America, I've flown over the Atlantic more times than I can remember (thanks dad!). But this time it's for the most special purpose. I've found it to be the greatest privilege to represent Jesus Christ and His restored gospel here in these latter-days. How easy it is to gloss over all that has been given. Being here at the MTC has been a truly humbling experience. I've come to the realization that some opportunities are only as great as I allow them to be. It can be really easy to go through the motions, be content with not understanding, and let the time slip like grains of sand in between my fingers. I'd like to share how glorious of a week it has been for me, and perhaps you too will come to see the patterns that enabled it to be.

It began with the Sabbath day. It dawned on me that this next week would be my last, that this exposition to my missionary story would be coming to a close. In this moment, I decided that I needed to rely completely on the Lord if I was to be sufficiently prepared to enter Finland. I dedicated this Sunday to praying and directing my thoughts towards Christ and His love and atonement for me. I refrained from studying flashcards, and instead spent every spare moment praying and pondering. It was difficult, to be honest. Sometimes it feels like anything other than studying or practicing Finnish is an inefficient use of time, but I tried extra hard today to keep the Sabbath day centered on Holy things. I asked for the God to show his hand in my life, on the basis that I would exercise faith and trust in Him. The following 4 days proved to be wonderful.

I'll use some quotes to give the in-the-moment perspective.

July 30th, Monday night at 22:00 I wrote:

"Wonderful Monday today!! Felt the blessings of the gift of tongues for sure...I am so excited to be fluent!! The joy of missionary work will be fully realized when I can confidently speak. Time to study!"

July 31st, Tuesday night at 22:15 I wrote:

"Wonderful day today, can really feel the blessings in my life since I prayed for this week last Sunday. Language study went very well, class, lessons; everything went well. The devotional was really inspiring today, particularly because of choir. We sang "Hurrah for Israel", and the conductor, Brother Eggett, gave some very inspiring and amazing lessons about the value of the message of this restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and the value of missionary work".

August 1st, Wednesday night at 22:00 I wrote:

"Happy August! Today was definitely a bipolar day. Started off really exciting because we got to host new missionaries!..But first class was a bit rough for me because I embarrassed myself during our lesson, but I was able to recover well later that day. The old Finnish Mission President, President Watson, talked to us, and it was so cool! Really enjoyed hearing all about Finland. Second class went very well, funny how the days always end well :)"

August 2nd, Thursday at 14:08 my thoughts and feelings are as follows:

Having been closed all of July, today was the first time in a month the Provo Temple has been open, and what a gift it was to be able to attend the temple one last time before leaving for the field. I felt a special peace today. I pondered questions and gave sincere and personal prayer to my Heavenly Father and felt the love and care of my God encircle me like a ring of fire. I was able to receive a special witness through the power of the Holy Ghost that my Father in Heaven knows me, knows what I've been through and what I need to do to be the best person he needs me to be. It seems so clear and simple to me, I can truly testify from my own personal experience that God answers the prayers of the meek and sincere. It is for this reason that I am filled with gratitude towards my opportunity to give up Stephen for but a little while, to fortify and strengthen my testimony through Vanhin Koch by the bearing of it to others, hoping to gather them into the fold of Christ, that they too may know that these things are true. Why can't everyone feel the same way I do? What holds people back from softening their hearts to come feel of God's love? Surely, there is nothing in the world that offers the same joy, comfort, and peace, that comes from submitting to the love of our Savior. What a privilege and honor it is to share these glad tidings with those who are both willing, and not willing to receive them.

Overall, I am doing very well. I am so beyond excited to go to Finland, I love it so much already and I'm not even there!! Haha, my MTC experience has been incredible. There is an analogy in preach my gospel that likens the glory of the restoration of the gospel from the period of unbelief beforehand known as the apostasy to a diamond on black velvet. I think this same analogy can be likened into my life, the glory I feel being here on my mission is comparable to the diamond, and the 9 arduous months prior to my arrival is as the black velvet. It goes to show how trials can be a great blessing in our lives, because sorrow is what enables the savor of joy. All of 2 Nephi explains this concept very well, but I will share verses 14 and 15:

14 And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon

15 And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.

What a gift it is to struggle, to feel sorrow, that we may learn and grow as Heavenly Father's plan for us desires us to do so.

I also want to share a video entitled "The Music of the Gospel" that is truly inspiring and heart-warming. It explains how we must "hear the music of the gospel if we are to feel the joy of dancing".

> https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2017-01-005-the-music-of-the-gospel?cid=HP_FR-27-7-2018_dPTH_fMLIB_xLIDyL1-A_&lang=eng

I made this email a bit longer and more spiritually focused because this is my last opportunity to send an email of this magnitude, because my allotted time to email will be much shorter when I arrive in the field this Tuesday. I hope that perhaps one of you will find inspiration in my testimony, and that this person will desire to act on any inspiration he or she received by giving sincere prayer to God our Eternal Father.

I would like to bear my testimony on the joy of missions, and of missionary work. I am not yet even in my mission field yet, however I already know for myself that missions are the greatest opportunity to grow closer to the God. The experiences I've had here within these first 8 weeks alone have already developed me better than anything else ever could have. I am eager to take on the challenges that lie ahead in the field, and excited to write all about them to share with all of you!! Now I may seem a bit overwhelmingly positive, and this isn't to say that disappointments and discouragements never come. The reason that I am so positive is because it is through the disappointment and discouragements that I have been built up. The beautiful thing about missions too, is that God has a special watch over all of us. Even through all of my struggles, embarrassments, and doubts, I am always saved in the Spirit prior to retiring to bed; as if it is reminding me that today was a good day, and that thine trials will be but for a season. I have learned that there are no coincidences, but God's merciful hand.

I bear my testimony to all of you that God is real, and he desires to have a personal relationship with all of us so that He may pour out blessing more abundantly into our lives. I know that a relationship with God is founded upon a sincere desire to seek out His truth. Testimonies are not given to us, unlike a vast majority of our blessings.Testimonies require a conscious effort to seek after spiritual experiences. Sincere prayer, exercising faith, following commandments, reading scriptures, and deciding for yourself what is true; for truth is not confirmed merely on the basis of the words of others, but in experiencing for yourself what truth is. I have been taught Joseph Smith was a prophet since I was a child, however it wasn't until recently when I began to study scriptures and find that the desire Joseph Smith had to know of God was the same as mine is now. There is great joy in having a perfect brightness of hope in the gospel and in the prophets. What joy comes from doubting? What joy comes from pride? Is there satisfaction in doubt? I think not. I believe, and have felt and experiences, that true happiness comes through successfully seeking out spiritual experiences with God. What a difficult thing this is to do in the modern world of requiring a constant demand to be entertained, distracted, or busy. Oh how great it is then, to be serving a mission during these times where I would likely be idle in the comfort of my previous mind/spiritual-numbing lifestyle.

Family and friends, there is great joy in the service of the Lord. I was fearful previous to my arrival here that these two years would drag on, that it would be a grind until I could get onto college and other things that I desired after; however this mission has proved to be no chore. Having completed my preparatory phase of my mission, I will soon be embarking in the true service to the people of Finland, and I cannot express how grateful and excited I am for this opportunity. What a personal blessing it is that I was called to Finland.

This is a portion of my testimony I leave with you all in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

- Vanhin Koch

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thinkmovement · 7 years ago

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Old Testament Lesson 27 – Gospel Doctrine – Transcript of Video

Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lesson 27

I was asked in a comment of one of my videos if I published the references. I’ve decided to start having the videos transcribed. As I do this, I’ll post the transcription here of the videos as they are done. Hopefully this will help you. What follows is the transcript of the LDS Sunday School Lesson 27 in the Gospel Doctrine Class.

Transcript of the video on Old Testament Lesson 27 – Gospel Doctrine

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Audio Title: Old Testament Lesson 27 – Gospel Doctrine

Duration Transcribed: 0:36:35

Transcript

Intro: Welcome to the Gospel Doctrine Helps Class where we provide you with insights, quotes, references, and help for your gospel doctrine class.

Welcome back to another episode of Gospel Doctrine Helps Class where we look to help you with your gospel doctrine class. Today, we are looking at Lesson #27 of the Old Testament. It’s officially titled The Influence of Wicked and Righteous Leaders.

The time that we’re looking at or at least the time period is right after Solomon’s death, King Solomon who was the son of David. So we are going to look at 1 Kings Chapter 12, 13, 14. And then there’s 2 Chronicles 17 and 20, a few verses out of there.

We’re going to not be able to cover all of this material. The last time I taught this lesson, I only was able to talk about 1 Kings Chapter 12 and that’s all I did. I didn’t even finish that chapter. And depending on how lively your class discussion is, you may not be able to talk about those things either. It really just depends on what type of questions you ask or what type of things people want to offer as you move forward in the material.

Now, one of the ways that I have taught this class in the past and I think it’s very effective, simply go very slowly through chapter 12. Start at the beginning and if you didn’t hit 1 Kings 11:41-43 where Solomon died, I would at least cover that material so they’re aware of it and then dig in with chapter 12, verse 1.

And the reason for this is because this type of information is somewhat archaic. It’s different. It’s hard to understand if you don’t go slow and you don’t talk about each verse. What happens is people, they disconnect or they don’t understand how Rehoboam took part of the kingdom and Jeroboam took another part of the kingdom and the 10 tribes separate and Judah stayed in Jerusalem. Those things are important to understand how the division of Israel occurred and then also the apostasy that ensued.

So I would start by just reading. If you got your scriptures, come with me. Chapter 12, 1 Kings, verse 1 says, “And Rehoboam went to Shechem and all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.”

So very clear important part, Rehoboam, all the people are going there to Shechem to make him king. Why is it important that they’re going to Shechem?

There are some verses you can look at, Genesis 12:6-7, Genesis 33:18-20, and Joshua 24:21-24. There is something important about Shechem and that’s why they were there.

A question that I would ask is, why are they going to Shechem instead of Jerusalem? And then look at those verses if you want to dig deeper.

I would then look at verses 2-3, and it came to pass when Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt heard of it for he was fled from the presence of King Solomon and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt that they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and speak under Rehoboam saying, verse 4, “Thy Father made our yoke grievous; now therefore make thou the grievous service of Thy Father and his heavy yoke which He put upon us lighter and we will serve thee.”

Verse 5, “And he said into them, ‘Depart yet for three days then come again to me,’ and the people departed.”

OK. So I would just stop there. And then I talk about these verses. Jeroboam is an important character. Why does Jeroboam returned? It’s question for your audience.

Obviously, it is because he wants to lay claim on the kingdom as well. He is entitled or has a right to claim the king.

And what do the people want Rehoboam to do in those verses? Why is it that he comes back? What do the people want him to do?

And if you of course read verses 4 and 5, it’s very clear that the people don’t want to be taxed, don’t want to be burdened in a way they’ve been burdened before. They said, “Our yoke grievous. Thy Father made our yoke grievous.”

Yoke, you can talk about yokes and oxen. The one scripture that pops into my mind is found in Matthew chapter 11. You’ve all read it before. It’s where Christ said in Matthew 11:28, “Come on to me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for a meek and lowly heart and you shall find rest into your souls.”

Some other verses you could jump off of that if you want to. Moroni 7:44 talking about comfort, going to John 14:15-23, and there are some other verses you can look at there.

And at this point, the moment you go to yoke and then you talk about Christ and Christ to having an easy burden and a light burden and an easy yoke because he is meek and lowly of heart. Remember the theme or the idea they want is that there’s a different between righteous and wicked leaders. So when you read that, sometimes you’ll say to yourself, “OK, I need to talk about leadership, leadership, leadership, leadership.” We have leaders in our church, in our ward, in our state. We have general authorities.

Leadership is not something Joseph Smith ever addressed. I actually spent some time looking. He never talked about leadership. In fact, Christ never talks about leadership. Instead, they appeared to exemplify what that means. And of course, Christ right here tells us it means being meek and lowly in heart. And being meek is something that we don’t really hear much of anymore.

In fact, if you think about it, our government, our schools, our public discourse, the education we receive, I don’t see much meekness in that and I don’t know if you do. But at least at this point in time as this is being made, the opposite of meekness I think is what is the driving force. Confidence, commanding, yelling, screaming, a demand in your way or the high way, those tend to be more for the way we see things in the world rather than being meek.

I just want to bring up the fact that Elder Hales, a found a talk that he gave in the 2008 General Conference. I’ll read a quote from him. He defines meekness as, “To be meek as defined in Webster’s Dictionary is manifesting patience and long suffering, enduring injury without resentment. Meekness is not weakness. It is a badge of Christian courage.”

And I really like that quote. I think you can use it. I think meekness is one of the characteristics. It’s obviously outlined that Moses has meekness. It is an important characteristic. It’s one of the hallmark characteristics that if we do not possess meekness, we will not be able to be saved by Lord. We will not be able to continue up to Him. That is one of the Christian qualities, the qualities of Christ that we absolutely must possess in order to be like Christ.

One of the best scriptures is found in Helaman 10:4-11. And this is talking about the sealing power but at the same time, it’s telling us what kind of a person is meek. OK? So it says, “Blessed art thou Nephi for those things which thou hast done for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee and to these people. And thou hast not fear them and hast not sought thy own life but hast sought my will and to keep my commandments.”

So right there, you see one of the hallmarks in my mind of meekness. It means to not fear others, not seek your own life, but seek the will of God and to keep his commandments.

I’ll keep going. “And now because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold I will bless thee forever and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed and in faith and it works; yea even that all things shall be done unto thee according thy word for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.”

Think about those words. Being meek means that you will not ask for anything that is contrary to the will of God. Think about that in all of its meaning. “Nephi,” God is saying, “you can be trusted because I know you’re not going to ask for anything that I would not do myself.”

This is why God can only trust the meek. Only the meek can be trusted because only the meek will not go out, rebel, and do whatever it is they want to do. They will follow Christ. That reminds of another verse. And it’s in doctrine – or not doctrine, it’s in Second Nephi, I think it’s in 28. It is, 28:14 where he is talking about – Nephi is talking about the hard days. It says, “They wear stiff necks and high heads, yea. And because of pride and wickedness and abomination and whoredoms, they have all gone astray. Save it be a few who are the humble followers of Christ.”

I’m just going to stop right there. Not even finishing the verse. It’s the phrase, “the humble followers of Christ,” this is what I want to focus on. We should be focusing on being humble followers of Christ. Humble followers of Christ are meek. They are lowly in heart.

All right. I’m going to jump back to Helaman here, chapter 10:4-11, “Behold are thou, Nephi, and I’m God. Behold I declare them thee in the presence of my angels that you shall have power over these people and shall smite the earth with famine, with pestilence destruction according to the wickedness of these people. Behold I give on to you power that whatsoever you shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” And it goes on towards the end here, verse 11, “And now behold I command you that you shall go and declare unto this people and thus saith the Lord God who is the almighty, except you repent, you shall be smite even to destruction.”

That is meekness. First, you have Nephi leaving a meek life. He did not fear others. He was not afraid to lose his standing before men or even lose his life. He kept God’s commandments and because he did so, he lived by every word that proceeded forth from the mouth of God. And then he was able to show God over a period of time, not instantly, not in 24 hours, not in 48 hours, over probably many years, possibly even decades of doing this that the Lord trusted Nephi and was able to give him this great power.

One of the other parts that we should read is found in teachings of the prophet, Joseph Smith, talks about this process that Nephi underwent, talks about – and this all does come to leadership because we are talking about meekness which is the hallmark of Christ-like leadership if there is such a thing. And I’m looking at page 150, Teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith, page 150, “After a person who has faith in Christ repents his sins is baptized for their omission of sins and receives the Holy Ghost by laying on of hands which is the first comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God hungering and thirsting after righteousness and living by every word of God.”

You see how Nephi has met all of these things. Then continue hungering and thirsting after righteousness, living by every word of God. The Lord will say into him, “Son, thou shall not be exulted.” When the Lord has thoroughly proved him and finds that the man is determined to serve him at all hazards then the man will find his calling and election sure.”

Meekness is required for obtaining great power. And you now man is meek when having great power, he uses it strictly in conformity with the Lord’s will, never varying from the Lord’s command. Never pursuing his own ambitions, his own desires, or his own agenda. This kind of meekness is a very rare thing but it is essential to acquire. It is essential for you and it is essential for me because we need to be like Christ.

So, we go back to our original text here. In chapter 12 of 1 Kings, you could of course spend your whole talk on meekness for the whole lesson.

To keep going, verse 6, “And King Rehoboam consulted with the old man that stood before Solomon his father, while he yet lived, how do ye advise that I may answer this people?” He said, “I need three days to figure this out.”

So he goes to these people who consulted with his dad. So these are his dad’s advisers, right? They were advisers to King Solomon.

Verse 7, “And they speak unto him saying, ‘If thy will be a servant unto these people to stay and will serve them and answer them and speak good words to them then they will be thy servants forever.”

So what does he say? Be a servant unto these people to stay. Think about those words. They are telling this king, “You, be a servant unto the people.” Do you know of any kings that were servants to the people? That’s a great question to ask. And of course, your audience will say, “Sure! Of course! We remember, King Benjamin in the book of Mormon. He was a king and he gave a great speech.” And if you turn to Mosiah, I’d write this verse down, it’s worth, absolutely worth looking at, verses 11 and 12 in Mosiah chapter 2. This is when King Benjamin did his final discourse. He is bringing the tower. He is going to teach everybody. It’s great stuff.

OK. Verse 11, ��But I am like as yourselves subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind.” Think about that for a minute. He is talking. This isn’t the very, very, very beginning but it’s pretty close. Verse 9 is the very beginning. But he is saying, “I am like you. I’m just as vulnerable like you. I suffer from infirmities in both my body and my mind. We’re the same. I’m not better than you. I’m not elevated than you. We’re the same.” Think about the humility for a king to tell his people, “We’re the same.”

Let’s keep going. “Yet I have been chosen by these people and consecrated by my father and was suffered by the hand of Lord that I should be a ruler and king over these people and have been kept and preserved by his matchless power to serve you.” Listen to those words. I’ve been preserved by God to serve you. My job as king, if I have any job, it’s to serve you. And how does he serve them? With all the might, mind and strength which the Lord have granted unto to me.

King Benjamin didn’t just preach this. He lived it. And of course, verse 12, “I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service, even up to this time and have not sat gold nor silver nor any manner of riches from you.” So he’s not taxing them for gold or silver. He served them.

And I’m jumping to verse 14 and even I myself have labored with my own hands that I might serve you and that you should not be laden with taxes and there should be nothing come upon you which was greatest to be born.” And they are witnesses.

So you read those verses and what you realized is King Benjamin is the example. Now of course, back in Kings, I mean this was way before King Benjamin was even alive. King Benjamin didn’t even exist yet but he personified the savior and that he came to serve. How did the savior live his life? He was not an earthly king. He was a heavenly king. And he came to merely serve.

And of course, this is – we’re talking about Rehoboam, talking about him getting the kingdom that he was going to be making any – they want – the people don’t want to be grievously born of taxes. They’re sick of it. They’re fed up.

So he counsels with these older men. And in our vernacular, we would call them our elders because the term elder means wise one, right? Someone who has lived longer and has more experience and they can advise us. And what do they say? They say this is wisdom. Do this.

It’s one thing to keep it in that context where it’s away from us. It’s a king. We’re not kings, right? We’re just – we’re not queens. We are just lowly people. But everyone of us is a leader in some capacity whether we’re leading a discussion in class, whether we are a teacher, whether we are trying to lead our families or even just ourselves. How are we to live our lives? Are we not be like King Benjamin and serve others? Are we not be like Nephi and Helaman that we read about earlier who was meek? Or like Christ who is also personified n meekness and lowliness of heart?

And if we follow the Lord then we acquire that meekness because we don’t need to show off. We don’t need to engage in any type of vanity. We simply need to serve and bless others. That is what it means to be a heavenly king and to be endowed with the power of God.

The reason Joseph Smith never talked about leadership is because true leadership is simply to be like Christ. That is the essence of leadership. It is to be meek. It is to be a servant. And that is what these old men were teaching to Rehoboam. And let’s keep reading in this great story about what’s going on.

So they told him that and verse 8, “But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they have given him and consulted with the young men that we’re growing up with him and which stood before him.”

Verse 9 of 1 Kings, chapter 12, “And he said into them, what counsel give ye that we may answer this people have spoken to me saying, “Make the yoke which thy Father put upon us lighter.” So he says, “What’s your opinion, guys?” The guys who grew up with him, who went to elementary school with him and high school and probably did some pranks.

Verse 10, “And the young men that were growing up with him speak on him saying, ‘Thus shall thou speak into this people.’ Thus speak into thee saying, ‘Thy Father made our yoke heavy but make it thy lighter unto us. Thus shall thou say into them, ‘My little fingers shall be thicker than my father’s loins.’”

Now, think about that. What does that mean? My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins. Well, in the old days, to be wealthy was to be hefty, to be fat, to have lots of meat on our bones. That’s what he is talking about. My little finger, it’s going to be as fat as my dad’s loins. It’s going to be huge because I’m going to sit on the throne and get heavy.” That’s the imagery he is conveying.

Verse 11, “Now whereas my father did lay with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke and my father has chastised you with whips, I will chastise you with scorpions.”

All right. So now, we have the advice of the young men. What is the advice asked the class. They would tell you if you read it nice and slow. Everyone will know that their advice is essentially the opposite of what the elders or the old men’s advice was. And he said that he would add to their yoke which is the opposite of being like Christ. And he says he will chastise them with whips or his dad did with whips. He is going to use scorpions. Great discussion about scorpions if you didn’t know this, a scorpion is a type of whip that has nails, rocks, and bones sewn into it so when you’re whipped with it, it actually – it’s multithreaded and it rips flesh out of you so it’s much more aggressive.

That’s one interpretation. Another interpretation of scorpion is that it actually is scorpions that they will put the actual scorpions. It could sting you. It could poison you and you could die. Those are the two different versions of that.

And of course, what did Rehoboam do? Keep reading. Read slowly through here.

Verses 12, 13, 14, 15 and then you get to 16. What happens in essence is that he tells the people that he follows the young men’s advice. There’s a division in the kingdom. I mean really go through and read it slow. I’m not going to have the time to do this and this that helps class. I would separate 12 – I would read 12 through 15 then I’d read 16 through 19. Read 20 by itself. And then you want to read 21 through 24 and then 25 through 33.

I do want to bring up some important parts. After this division because this division happens because Rehoboam always makes a bad choice here. But Jeroboam, he takes the ten tribes. They go up North. Rehoboam stays down in Jerusalem. That’s in verse 20.

All right. So what happens when Jeroboam gets up there is he built an altar. And if you read in verse 28 of Kings 12, he says, “Whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold and said unto them, ‘It is too much for you to go to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods oh Israel which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.’”

So we have Jeroboam doing something crazy. He knows that you can’t do idol worship so he makes two calves of gold and he tells them to worship, “These are the gods that got you out of Egypt. These two golden calves.” Crazy, right? But that’s what he did. So falls into apostasy and Rehoboam does this well. Both kingdoms fall into apostasy.

But reference this verse if you’re going to talk about this verse. If you haven’t already talked about idol worship, it’s a great time to talk about idol worship. Go back. Read Exodus 20:4. Actually read – there are more verses that are, “I the Lord thy God, but thou shall not made any idol, anything by thy hands is idol worship.” We want to stay away from idol worship.

There is also something important in idol worship that I want to bring up and that is that we have the tendency in our day and time to worship idols. And I think it’s a good discussion you can have. Ask that question to your audience. What are our modern day idols? I don’t see people with golden calves that they’re probably worshiping.

Well, are they worshiping cars? Are they worshiping their houses? Are they worshiping their job their profession? Are they worshiping their family? So families are wonderful.

I would look at another verse, a couple of verses to look up if you’re going to talk about idol worship. Doctrine and Covenants 76, I’d read 99 through 103 where it specifically says that if you worship anyone other than Christ, other than God, that you will be damned.

That’s section 76 is the revelation about the three degrees of glory, and it’s very clear that worship of God alone is correct. And how do you worship something? Where do you spend your time? Are you following the savior? Are you a humble follower of Christ or are you an arrogant follower of some current leadership principle? Christ is the one to follow. Follow no one else. Follow him.

Even be willing as Nephi to sacrifice your reputation among men. Christism, even your own life, follow the Lord. He alone is worthy to be saved. Don’t look for answers from me or from anybody else. Look to them from God. Use the scriptures as a tool, as a Urim and Thummin, you can come back to the presence of God. That’s really what it’s about. Don’t make anything.

Now remember, this idol worship where he is making calves, that commandment in Exodus 20:4-5 extends to the likeness of anything that is in heaven. That would include the Lord. This is why those who have seen the Lord, they don’t make pictures of the Lord because it’s improper. It’s wrong. It’s not something that we should be doing because those pictures are just guesses. They’re not him. We shouldn’t put a picture of Christ and kneel down before and worship that image. We shouldn’t do that. We should instead of look up to heaven or bow our heads in prayers and pray to him and not engage in idol worship.

Well, those are the things that I wanted to bring out in this lesson. You know what? There are a few more. We have time, right? You don’t want to get rid of me so quickly. Well, shoot. Let’s look at a couple other verses. Let’s look at, if you want to go back with me, let’s look at, I’m talking about idol worship, this is a quote you can use from the Journal Discourses, this is Journal Discourses volume 1. It might set somewhat old. I think it was produced in the ‘50s. But this is a talk that was given by President Brigham Young, February 28, 1853 that was delivered in the Tabernacle. This was not a General Conference but it was delivered in the Tabernacle.

So, the talk is entitled The Privileges and Blessings of the Gospel. And I am quoting from page 312 of volume 1 of Journal Discourses. It says, “Now those men or those women who know no more about the power of God and the influences of the Holy Spirit than to be led entirely by another person suspending their own understanding and pinning their faith upon another sleeve will never be capable of entering into celestial glory to be crowned as they anticipate.

They will never be capable of becoming gods. They cannot rule themselves to say nothing of ruling others but they must be dictated to in every trifle like a child. They cannot control themselves in least but James, Peter, or somebody else must control them. They never can become gods nor be crowned as rulers with glory, immortality, and eternal lives. They never can hold scepters of glory, majesty, and power in the celestial kingdom. Who will?

Those who are valiant and inspired with the true independence of heaven, who will go forth boldly in the service of their God leaving others to do as they please, determined to do right. Though all men kind of beside, she take up the opposite course.”

Think about what Brigham Young is teaching. He is teaching that you have to connect to heaven. You have to know what God wants you to do. You cannot rely on someone else. No man on earth can be trusted, myself included. You ought to not trust a thing that I say. You want to look up everything. You want to pray about it. You are to connect to heaven.

You can use that in your class. It’s a great quote. Think about how deep that goods that you when you become an adult, you need to acquire the virtues of Christ. Whatever virtue of Christ you’re missing or lacking, if you don’t know, ask God. I have heard, you probably have heard too, if you ask with real intent, having faith in Christ, he’ll tell you what you lack.

You can know these things. James 1:5 comes to mind, right? Ask God and he will help you and he will guide. If you already know that you lack, you don’t need to ask because you already know. So go work on that. If you know meekness is that attribute you need to acquire, go work on that. Go acquire meekness because if you can’t be like Christ, you can’t rule. You can’t have glory added upon you according to Brigham Young.

So, that’s a great quote. There is another one. It’s found in the Teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith. This is on page 231 and it goes to 232. This talk was given by Joseph Smith in the Relief Society. It was remarks that he gave to the Relief Society and it’s in 1842. So let’s – all right. Sorry. This is not remarks that were given to the Relief Society. That was somewhere else. This is also found in History of the Church volume 4, page 608 to 610, May 2, 1842.

He says, “The building up of Zion as a cause to these interested people of God in every age is a theme upon which prophets, priest, and kings have dealt with particular delight. They look forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live.”

Now, think about that. It’s 1842. We’re a lot farther down the road than that. So if they’ve looked forward to the light towards that time, maybe they’re even more happy now. I’m not sure.

They have looked for a joyful anticipation to the day in which we live and fire with heavenly and joyful anticipations. They have sung and written and prophesize of this, our day, but they died without the sight. We are the favorite people of God and has made choice to bring about latter day glory. Think about that. Who are the people? You, me, we must rise up. Your class, those you teach, we must rise up. We are the people God has chosen to receive latter day glory.

The dispensation of the fullness of times when God will gather together all things that are in heaven and all things that are on earth even and one, when the saints of God will be gathered in one from every nation and kindred and people and tongue, when the Jews will be gathered together into one.

The wicked will also be gathered together or to be destroyed as spoken up by the prophets. The spirit of God will also dwell with his people and be with and will – and be withdrawn from the rest of the nations. And all things whether in heaven or on earth will be in one even in Christ.

I’m going to stop right there for a second because this is so profound and so deep. If you think about it, when Zion will be created, there will be a gathering. People will gather together into Zion and the wicked will also be gathered.

That’s why if you read D and C 46, it talks about if you are righteous, if you will not kill another person, if you will not take arms to kill your neighbor, you must need – flee to Zion at that time because Zion will be the only place where you will be safe at some point. And it’s not today. It may not be tomorrow but some time.

When this happens, as things continue to evolve and the wickedness grows and the righteousness grows because as righteousness grows, there needs being equal and opposite, right? There’s an oppositional thing. So the amount of wickedness in the world will rise to the mount of righteousness. And as that happens, the righteous will need to be separated from the wicked because you can’t leave the sermon on the mount to the best of your ability when other people will take advantage of you and hurt and harm you.

I mean you can. Christ did it, right? But he was ultimately killed because of it. And we don’t really want you to die. We want you to gather to Zion, right? Those who are righteous will gather to Zion.

Let’s keep going. The blessings of the most high will rest upon our tabernacles and our name will be handed down to future ages. Our children will rise up and call us blessed. And generation of Jeroboam will dwell with particular delight upon the scenes that we have passed through, deprivations that have endured, the untiring zeal that we have manifested, the all but insurmountable difficulties that we have outcome and laying the foundation of a work that brought about the glory and blessing which they will realize a work that God and angels have contemplated with the light for generations past that fired the souls of the ancient patriarchs and prophets, a work that is destined to bring about the destruction of the power of darkness, the renovation of the earth, the glory of God and the salvation of the human family. Those words are profound and they are deep.

And the more you ponder them, the more you realize that Joseph knew in May of 1842 that he was just laying the foundation. We have overcome in laying the foundation of a work. We, you and I, stand on the foundation that Joseph built.

Our job is to become like Christ. We need to become pure vessels so that we can commune. It is not the amount of study that you and I do that truly matters. Unless that study changed who we are, it is the quality of our connection with heaven that matters. We need to have the spirit and we need to operate by it.

There’s one more passage that I’d like to read that I think is relevant and it talks about Joseph Smith and the lectured on faith. He explains that it’s important to be able to – it’s important and to be willing to sacrifice all things. If you’re not willing to sacrifice all things then you’re never going to have the faith necessary to the enjoyment of life and salvation.

This is what he says, this is found in Lectures on Faith, Lecture 6, verse 5, “For a man to lay down his all, his character and reputation, his honor and applause. He is good name among men, his houses, his lands, his brothers and sisters, his wife and children, and even his own life also. Counting all things but filth and draws for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ requires more than mere belief or supposition that he is doing the will of God but actual knowledge.

Realizing that when these sufferings are ended, he will enter into eternal rest and be a partaker of the glory of God. You see, it is necessary that we acquire the virtues of Christ. It is necessary that we put the things of Christ first in our lives and all other things will fall into their proper places or they’ll drop out of our lives.

This is a transcript of the video and was not proof read by me

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Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Here are links to other lessons:

Old Testament Lesson 28

Old Testament Lesson 26

Old Testament Lesson 27

source http://jeremyeveland.com/old-testament-lesson-27-gospel-doctrine-transcript-of-video/

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haleyiser · 7 years ago