I've been contemplating a lot about church history lately, being prompted by people on all sides to look more in depth at my own personal beliefs. My friend did our Sunday School lesson this week and began with this quote:
"The most important prophet, so far as we are concerned, is the one who is living in our day and age. This is the prophet who has today's instructions from God to us today. God's revelation to Adam did not instruct Noah how to build the ark. Every generation has need of the ancient scripture plus the current scripture from the living prophet. Therefore, the most crucial reading and pondering which you should do is of the latest inspired words from the Lord's mouthpiece." Ezra Taft Bensen
It struck me quickly and close to home because a lot of the arguments it seems people have come from getting caught up in the little inconsistencies presented throughout the history of the church. Because God is unchangeable, people think this should not be happening in his one true church.
However, the church is being run by imperfect people on this earth. Mistakes are made. Even by apostles and prophets. They are good men, but they are still men, and imperfect. They act as God's mouthpiece and lead the church to the best of their abilities. But as Elder Holland recently said:
"Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work. As one gifted writer has suggested, when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all.10 Those finite vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving."
Recently, I began reading a manual I've had since college institute classes on eternal marriage. I was reading in the preface and didn't expect to be taught about this subject by a manual on marriage, but here's the quote that pertains to the subject:
"One of the keys to recognizing council to warn us from sin and sorrow is that they are repeated. For instance, more than once in these general conferences, you have heard our prophet say that he would quote a preceding prophet and would therefore be a second witness and sometimes even a third...The Apostle Paul wrote that 'in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established' 2 Cor. 13:1. One of the ways we know that the warning is from the Lord is that the law of witnesses, authorized witnesses, has been invoked. When the words of the prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention and fill our hearts with gratitude to live in such a blessed time." Eternal Marriage Student Manual, preface, viii
I couldn't count how many times I've heard complaints about hearing the same old thing over and over at church, and this includes myself. Some people may feel their eyes glaze as they think, "Well, I've heard this before. I already know what this guy is talking about." But according to this, repetition should get our attention even more and fill us with more urgency about whatever the subject is being repeated. Especially if it's coming from a general authority during conference weekend again.
Anyone else notice a repetition in this past conference? I'm sure there were many more, but the one that stuck out most to me was a quote I'd heard before many times and it first (as far as I can see) appeared in this talk in 2000 entitled The Joy of Womanhood, and then again quoted in this past 2013 conference talk entitled The Moral Force of Women:
"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."
I think this is becoming more and more needed in our world, as social culture moves more and more into this worldly definition of a woman. The world tells us to be tough, coarse, rude, famous, greedy, vain, and popular. I see it more and more, and it often makes women in Hollywood do desperate things to gain that image. But this image in no way give happiness to that woman seeking it. A happy woman seeks to be tender, kind, refined, faithful, good, virtuous, and pure. This is the way to true happiness.
"The most important prophet, so far as we are concerned, is the one who is living in our day and age. This is the prophet who has today's instructions from God to us today. God's revelation to Adam did not instruct Noah how to build the ark. Every generation has need of the ancient scripture plus the current scripture from the living prophet. Therefore, the most crucial reading and pondering which you should do is of the latest inspired words from the Lord's mouthpiece." Ezra Taft Bensen
It struck me quickly and close to home because a lot of the arguments it seems people have come from getting caught up in the little inconsistencies presented throughout the history of the church. Because God is unchangeable, people think this should not be happening in his one true church.
However, the church is being run by imperfect people on this earth. Mistakes are made. Even by apostles and prophets. They are good men, but they are still men, and imperfect. They act as God's mouthpiece and lead the church to the best of their abilities. But as Elder Holland recently said:
"Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work. As one gifted writer has suggested, when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all.10 Those finite vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving."
Recently, I began reading a manual I've had since college institute classes on eternal marriage. I was reading in the preface and didn't expect to be taught about this subject by a manual on marriage, but here's the quote that pertains to the subject:
"One of the keys to recognizing council to warn us from sin and sorrow is that they are repeated. For instance, more than once in these general conferences, you have heard our prophet say that he would quote a preceding prophet and would therefore be a second witness and sometimes even a third...The Apostle Paul wrote that 'in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established' 2 Cor. 13:1. One of the ways we know that the warning is from the Lord is that the law of witnesses, authorized witnesses, has been invoked. When the words of the prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention and fill our hearts with gratitude to live in such a blessed time." Eternal Marriage Student Manual, preface, viii
I couldn't count how many times I've heard complaints about hearing the same old thing over and over at church, and this includes myself. Some people may feel their eyes glaze as they think, "Well, I've heard this before. I already know what this guy is talking about." But according to this, repetition should get our attention even more and fill us with more urgency about whatever the subject is being repeated. Especially if it's coming from a general authority during conference weekend again.
Anyone else notice a repetition in this past conference? I'm sure there were many more, but the one that stuck out most to me was a quote I'd heard before many times and it first (as far as I can see) appeared in this talk in 2000 entitled The Joy of Womanhood, and then again quoted in this past 2013 conference talk entitled The Moral Force of Women:
"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."
I think this is becoming more and more needed in our world, as social culture moves more and more into this worldly definition of a woman. The world tells us to be tough, coarse, rude, famous, greedy, vain, and popular. I see it more and more, and it often makes women in Hollywood do desperate things to gain that image. But this image in no way give happiness to that woman seeking it. A happy woman seeks to be tender, kind, refined, faithful, good, virtuous, and pure. This is the way to true happiness.
