Continuing my copybook.
And whether Alderaan was morally justifiable. Some distance into the podcast, but the whole thing is worth listening to anyway.
Free for a day or so at Amazon, Walking in the Footsteps of David Wilkerson, in Kindle format, by one of his employees/disciples. (Tip o’ the hat to Bookbub.com.)
Kindle reading apps are available free for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices. You don’t need an actual Kindle device. (more…)
My copybook notes for this week.
I thought his name was Noel.
His Majesty: “And Hitler got into office legally after failing to get into office by revolution.”
Not exactly. Hitler was appointed Chancellor by presidential decree, at the instigation of politicians on the German Right who foolishly believed they could use him as a means to an end.
1 Nephi 13:38-40. The key passage is verse 40. The antecedents of “last records” and “first” are described in verses 38 and 39. Emphasis mine.
38 And it came to pass that I beheld the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the book of the Lamb of God, which had proceeded forth from the mouth of the Jew, that it came forth from the Gentiles unto the remnant of the seed of my brethren.
39 And after it had come forth unto them I beheld other books, which came forth by the power of the Lamb, from the Gentiles unto them, unto the convincing of the Gentiles and the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the Jews who were scattered upon all the face of the earth, that the records of the prophets and of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are true.
40 And the angel spake unto me, saying: These last records, which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first, which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved.
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People are hard to live with, but even harder to live without. Beginning with the printing press, we have found more and more ways to communicate with others (and be entertained by others) without having to share the same space with all the messy compromises that requires. We were always eager to adopt these innovations: books, letters, periodicals, phones, movies, radio, TV, emails, text messages, Facebook, Twitter, in great part, because they all promised human stimulation or interaction without giving up control. And telecommunications even promised more, instant response times as if they were in the room with us.
But we discovered all this new media and telecommunications just distracted us from our loneliness instead of curing it. Maybe even worse, they just exposed us to more and more difficult people who rarely agree with us or like us. And since none of these people are our neighbors or in the same room with us we don’t have to remember our manners and act like we like them or respect them. What we seem to have forgotten is being rude doesn’t lessen our anger or make us feel better about our place in the world.
And here we are.
— “West Texan”, commenting on this article.
[Emphasis mine. My comments in brackets.]
Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon
By President Ezra Taft Benson
Saturday Morning session, General Conference, October 1, 1988.
My beloved brethren and sisters, I rejoice to be with you in another glorious general conference of the Church. I am always filled with great anxiety as I approach these conferences. But I humbly pray that the Holy Spirit will be with us in rich abundance as we listen to the inspired counsel and messages of the Lord.
This has been a landmark year in the history of the Church in the use of the keystone of our religion—the Book of Mormon. This sacred volume of scripture has brought more souls to Christ, both within and without the Church, than ever before.
There are so many who could be commended for this progress, but time will permit mention of only a few.
We commend all those who had a part in producing and distributing the Church video on the Book of Mormon entitled How Rare a Possession. That video has had a powerful impact in the lives of its viewers, and tens of thousands of copies were distributed in the first weeks after its initial showing.
We commend you leaders and teachers of the various Church organizations for your inspired use of the Book of Mormon in helping to rear a generation that can redeem Zion. In many cases a little child has led a parent to the Lord through the Book of Mormon reading program in the Primary.
We commend the members of the Church who have participated in the family-to-family Book of Mormon program, placing their pictures and testimonies inside copies of the Book of Mormon. These testimonies have been translated into many languages, and the books have been given away by our missionaries around the world. This is helping to bring in tens of thousands of converts each year.
We commend those responsible for the excellent articles on the Book of Mormon which have appeared in our Church publications.
We commend the personnel of radio stations who broadcast excerpts from the Book of Mormon.
We commend those who have sponsored and supported faith-building Book of Mormon lectures and symposiums.
We commend many of you who in an edifying manner have taught classes, given talks, authored articles, and written books on the Book of Mormon.
And finally and most important, we commend that vast number of faithful Saints who individually and as families are changing their lives, cleansing the inner vessel, through the daily reading of the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God designed to “sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out [His] elect.” (Moses 7:62.) This sacred volume of scripture needs to become more central in our preaching, our teaching, and our missionary work.
Wage-leveling has a destructive impact not only on the economy but also on people’s morality, and their entire way of thinking and acting. It diminishes the prestige of conscientious, creative labor, weakens discipline, destroys interest in improving skills, and is detrimental to the competitive spirit in work.
One of my traditions for the first day of the new year is what I jocularly call the Feast of the Holy Reset.