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Angry is the wrong word. I should of said Passionate. Something with conviction.
They said:
Quote:“We urge all to reject violence and instead build understanding. Recognizing that we are all children of God, we must treat one another with more dignity, compassion and respect. As we mourn with those who have experienced loss and care for those living in fear or conflict, we call upon people everywhere to build communities of greater kindness and love.”
Quote:Build understanding
doesn’t do it for me. Solutions to an epidemic is what is needed & required. I don’t see anyone encouraging
solutions.
I will stop now.
This statement came out from the first Presidency today: It was good. It’s better than nothing.
It wasn’t anything like Jesus at the temple during passover. Matt 21:12-13.
What would it take for the 1st Presidency to get angry?
Of all the terrible things happening in the world & the total lack of leadership or even the attempt to solve problems.
I want Leaders to Lead. Not campaign or be sustained in General Conference. Leadership is hard. If they can’t lead, then do something else.
Saying the words: Our thoughts & prayers go out to the family is good.
Real leadership is better. Real leadership requires solving real problems.
Or, at least trying to solve real problems.
I remember when my sons were baptized & confirmed, I baptized them & my Father in Law confirmed them. We did it that way because I looked up to him & he was a very spiritual person. I have no one on my immediate
tree that are in the church. My FIL was also in-active for a period of his life. He eventually came back & became
a branch president.
When it comes to Priesthood Line of Authority, I have always thought in terms person doing the ordinance & not
a family member necessarily. Anyone who is ordained can trace their Line of Authority back to Jesus Christ.
Amy J, I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again. I like the way you think & believe. I wish you were a teacher in my ward.
I wonder sometimes if this is the reason that some people choose to not go on a FT mission. I remember too when I was called to serve at the Family History Library at our Stake Center, I
wondered if this was being used a reason to support the Missionary program instead of helping
people with FH. I was happy to find out that we were not to bring up missionary topics.
I don’t think I would of accepted if they did.
I have a hard time understanding why religion (LDS Church specifically) & the designs of a Heavenly Father wouldn’t make the plan of salvation as clear & understandable as possible. Instead, we have from time to time, discussions, topics & speculation about issues like this. And then introduced and presented by a GA (and others) once again. I thought that the focus was Jesus Christ. His role, His mission, His teachings & His sacrifice on the cross. This life is very short. I am still having difficulty FULLY understanding Jesus.
As I’ve mentioned before, we have recently moved into a new ward. This is a new experience for us. We were members of our old ward for almost 50 years. This week a member of our new ward took me
out for lunch. It was a very good experience. We asked questions about each of our lives, our families
and experiences inside & outside of church. The conclusion for both of us was, that even though we haven’t
lived a perfect life (problems & challenges) we can still apply the basic principles of the gospel as best
we can. We don’t have to be perfect. It was an interesting experience.
I wish I could have more experiences like that in the church & outside.
One of the conclusions I’m coming up with in this life is: living a superficial life is a waste of time. I believe
that God wants us to be close, emotionally & spiritually within the limits of the time we have on this earth.
And within the limits that we are comfortable with.
Everything I read in the scriptures about Jesus Christ is that’s what he tried to do in the personal relationships
he had in his short life. Or, am I reading too much into the scriptures?
As I review the 10 questions & responses everyone has posted, I realize that at the time I joined the LDS church, I spent more time & effort buying a used car then I did about the
joining the church. That doesn’t mean joining the church was a bad decision. My decision
was based on a “good” feeling that were interpreted by me as spiritual or a “personal
revelation”.
I have often thought about the decisions I’ve made in life & how different my life would
have been if my decisions would have taken a different path. For example:
. the major chosen in college.
. the company that offered me a job.
. my wife saying yes when I proposed.
. the list is endless along life’s path.
This is my opinion and conclusion: it isn’t wrong to question the spiritual experiences of other people. From my experience what is wrong is to jump up, pile on & emotionally accept what was testified to (or taught).
A testimony is not automatic acceptance of what was said or expressed.
The downside is it can be tremendous waste of time. It can lead members down a road that is contrary to
path God wants us to take. Then the church makes a declaration as follows:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2011/08/the-only-true-and-living-church?lang=eng My church experience can seem like a big puzzle for me sometimes. The only choices seem to be:
. Participate in the message & be inspired or risk being ostracized.
. Listen & become discouraged.
. Do something else that makes you happy or inspired.
I have to ask myself: What would Jesus do?
It can be frustrating sometime. At least it makes you think & evaluate what you believe.
When I was in another church, I just listened & quickly forgot what was taught or said.
I understand what you’re say nibbler. Here’s another situation. I do know what the response would be from the leadership. This is the situation: I get up at F&T meeting and proclaim that God revealed that I should live the
law of polygamy and testify to its teachings & truthfulness.
I know that’s an extreme example. But I think there would be at least one leader that would stand & talk about
it. Either in public or the Bishop’s office.
I ran into another spiritual challenge today during F&T meeting. One person got up & told about (2) teenagers from our ward that were in a car accident this weekend.
There were coming back from a temple outing. They were driving on a country road. The driver was
speeding, lost control & hit a tree. Both were injured & the car totaled. The message that was conveyed was:
“God was with them & protected them from serious injury”. This led to more members getting up & adding their
testimonies to the first. (With tears flowing.)
It is not my place to pass judgement, but I can’t help myself. This happens every once in a while.
What message is being delivered? This same weekend 20+ children were killed in a flood in Texas. So, God wasn’t with them?
They didn’t deserve protection?
You can drive fast on a country road & don’t worry, God will protect you?
Why doesn’t the leadership of the ward or stake stand & correct the message being “taught”? (The SP was in attendance.)
I am beginning to know some of the leadership & they are good people. They are well intentioned & know better.
IMO, messages like this are very dangerous.
Thanks everyone for your information. DJ thanks especially for the training link. It wasn’t the link I thought it was.
I used a very generic approach. My definition of the covenant path was to use it as an adventure of self-discovery. Starting first with trying to find God’s voice or influence in a world of noise & sometimes chaos. That’s where
Elder Uchtdorf’s talk came in and the story of “The Man at the Subway Station”.
I would like to go into more detail but, having just moved into a new ward, the last thing I want is to have someone
from the ward say, “I read a post on StayLDS & it sounds like you”. If someone really wants to see it, I can send you
a private message (PM) with attachments.
The talk is history. No standing O. I got a number of good comments. I was going to attach a copy but, decided against it.
There were too many references to the new ward & city. I want to remain anonymous.
I used a talk by Elder Uchtdorf titled: Can you Hear the Music?
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/dieter-f-uchtdorf/can-you-hear-the-music/ I’ve used it before in another talk, in another ward.
It was a good “dance” around the topic given.
Thank you everyone for your advice.
I think this carries over to other programs of the church as well. For example, the addiction recovery program. As I understand it, all addictions meet together & are treated the same. Alcoholics & shopping addiction are not
the same thing. Plus, there is the gossip factor.
Appearing to be helping, understanding, inclusive and being a positive influence for good, is not the same thing as actually
doing it.
a side note: I don’t know much about the addiction recovery program. Can someone fill me in?
. Has it helped?
. Do many people attend?
. I don’t hear anything about it anymore.
