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Posts Tagged ‘General Conference’

How the Bloggernacle Apparently Watches General Conference

Posted in Humor, Religion, tagged , , , , on April 15, 2013 |

Imagine a general conference that hypothetically includes a discussion between the general authorities delivering the addresses, and “the bloggernacle”  as an entity hearing them.

GA: Church members should be loyal to the church.
B: Absolutely. Church members should definitely focus on minor doubts that are only tangential to the major tenets of faith and discipleship, and use them to publicly undermine the church.

GA: What? No, that’s not at all what we said. Church members should be visibly loyal to the church, striving to be part of the mainstream body of belief and service.
B: Yes! Finally, someone came out and said it. Church members need to be encouraged in striking out on their own and forging their own path to salvation, whatever that means for them.

(more…)

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Lehi, King Benjamin, and President Monson On Why We Follow the Prophet

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , , , on April 7, 2013 |

It happened again last night, and not for the first time: I re-read a familiar section in the Book of Mormon and noticed something that had never arrested my attention before.

In King Benjamin’s classic speech, a major landmark in the Book of Mormon, he tells the people this about the the coming change of leadership from himself to his son:

…if ye shall keep the commandments of my son, or the commandments of God which shall be delivered unto you by him, ye shall prosper in the land…  (Mosiah 2:31, emphasis added)

Benjamin wasn’t the only Book of Mormon leader to teach about the reason for faithfully following the prophet; Lehi explained it twice:

And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord. (1 Nephi 3:5, emphasis added)

And it must needs be that the power of God must be with him, even unto his commanding you that ye must obey. But behold, it was not he, but it was the Spirit of the Lord which was in him, which opened his mouth to utterance that he could not shut it. (2 Nephi 1:27, emphasis added)

Nephi’s brothers, you may remember, resented being ordered around, against their natural inclinations, by a bunch of old white men in Salt Lake City…oops, I mean, by their younger brother.  (/sarcasm)

(more…)

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Helaman 13:26-27

Posted in Religion, tagged , , on March 25, 2012 |

It’s almost time for General Conference again, which means it’s almost time for another regular ritual among some Mormons: the Bloggernacle’s analysis of Conference.  This is where we get to hear from some self-appointed folk heroes which talks were good (because they liked them) and which were bad (because they didn’t like them).

Will President Packer’s upcoming address, for example, be met with a favor born of surprise and condescension, as sometimes happens, or with righteously angry criticism, as usual?  It probably depends on whether or not his remarks fit easily into currently popular worldviews.  So we’ll just have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, the majority of Conference viewers–those outside of the elite, electronic, intellectual enclave–will seek out both comfort and correction as they come, at face value.

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Upcoming 200th Anniversaries

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , on December 18, 2011 | 1 Comment »

In 2005, the LDS Church celebrated the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s birth.  As major an event as that was, the next big milestone is far, far more important, and as it’s only a little over eight years away, I wonder if plans are already being made to honor it adequately.

The 200th anniversary of the First Vision will be in the Spring of 2020.  General Conference that season will likely be on Saturday, April 4th and Sunday, April 5th.  I imagine celebrations could most conveniently coincide with that.  Certainly it’s what all the talks will be about!  But this will be a celebration that the whole world should know about, and be included in.  It should, conceivably, be the biggest event the Church has ever undertaken to organize and present, with the possible exceptions of the pioneer migration and the construction of the earliest temples.

Some other important 200th anniversaries that we might already start keeping in mind:

  • Thursday, September 21st, 2023:  Angel Moroni appears to Joseph Smith and mentions the Book of Mormon
  • Wednesday, September 22nd, 2027: Joseph Smith receives the Book of Mormon plates
  • Tuesday, May 15th, 2029: Restoration of the Aaronic priesthood
  • Tuesday, March 26th, 2030: Publication of the Book of Mormon

And, of course:

  • Saturday, April 6th, 2030: Organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

So at least one major event’s anniversary will actually fall on a weekend!

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“There is no middle ground.”

Posted in Religion, tagged on October 2, 2011 | 7 Comments »

Two of today’s speakers in General Conference–Elder Callister this morning and Elder Oaks this afternoon–used the phrase “there is no middle ground.”  Elder Callister was referring to the origin of the Book of Mormon, Elder Oaks to our duty to be loyal to Jesus Christ.  It was the exact same phrasing–”there is no middle ground.”  Interesting.

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Conference Theme?

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , on October 2, 2011 |

I’m looking for a big theme to this General Conference, and I’m wondering if it’s our duty to stand as visible, public representatives of Christ and His church.  That seemed to be the thrust of President Monson’s remarks in the priesthood session last night, President Eyring this morning, and Elder Ballard this morning (and, to a degree, President Monson again this morning). 

Full disclosure: I missed most of the first two Saturday sessions. 

It was interesting to see how the two talks by President Monson that I’ve seen this weekend were not only remarkably similar (resist the tide of declining moral standards in Western societies), but each was introduced with a reference to a newspaper article he’d read recently: in the priesthood session, it was from the New York Times; this morning, it was from the Wall Street Journal.  President Monson appears to do some seriously bipartisan news reading.

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Apt Irony

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , on October 2, 2011 |

President Monson’s address at the end of this morning’s session of General Conference was largely about the declining moral standards in our society.  Immediately after the closing prayer, the channel broadcasting it in Las Vegas showed an ad for Two and Half Men, featuring a woman in some slinky lingerie approaching Charlie Sheen as he lay in bed, and Jon Cryer wearing only a towel, with clothespins on his nipples.  Coincidence?

 

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Getting and Staying on the Church Train

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , on August 14, 2011 |

From a wonderful October 1992 General Conference talk by Elder Glenn L. Pace, an illustration of the point I’m trying to make in today’s posts above:

It is as if we are passengers on the train of the Church, which has been moving forward gradually and methodically. Sometimes we have looked out the window and thought, “That looks kind of fun out there. This train is so restrictive.” So we have jumped off and gone and played in the woods for a while. Sooner or later we find it isn’t as much fun as Lucifer makes it appear or we get critically injured, so we work our way back to the tracks and see the train ahead. With a determined sprint we catch up to it, breathlessly wipe the perspiration from our forehead, and thank the Lord for repentance.

While on the train we can see the world and some of our own members outside laughing and having a great time. They taunt us and coax us to get off. Some throw logs and rocks on the tracks to try and derail it. Other members run alongside the tracks, and while they may never go play in the woods, they just can’t seem to get on the train. Others try to run ahead and too often take the wrong turn.

I would propose that the luxury of getting on and off the train as we please is fading. The speed of the train is increasing. The woods are getting much too dangerous, and the fog and darkness are moving in.

Although our detractors might as well “stretch forth [their] puny arm[s] to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream” (D&C 121:33) as try to derail this train, they are occasionally successful in coaxing individuals off. With all the prophecies we have seen fulfilled, what great event are we awaiting prior to saying, “Count me in”? What more do we need to see or experience before we get on the train and stay on it until we reach our destination? It is time for a spiritual revival. It is time to dig down deep within ourselves and rekindle our own light.

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The Real Reason the LDS Marriage Rate Is Going Down (Obviously)

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , on July 11, 2011 | 6 Comments »

It would be impossible not to notice how much LDS Church leadership has stepped up the message that young people should be getting married*.  Apparently, the rates of temple marriage and marriage in general have dropped off quite a bit for the 18-30 year-old young single adult set.  As marriage is a bedrock of LDS belief and lifestyle—highly correlated with church activity and with a host of positive social and financial gains—reemphasizing marriage as a goal makes sense for the Church. 

Some articles on the new trend (such as here and here) suggest that the marriage rate is falling because of a shift in priorities to focus on education, travel, and economic worries. 

But there must be a much larger underlying problem here which is undeniably obvious, but which it would be harder for us to admit and discuss publicly.  (more…)

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Has President Monson Gotten More Serious?

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , on June 12, 2011 | 2 Comments »

When President Monson was in the First Presidency, I rarely took notes on his talks.  Other speakers at General Conference would get a paragraph or so in my notebook, where I’d jot down the scriptures, doctrinal points, inspirational quotes, and directives given by each. 

But President Monson would usually just smile and tell cute stories that illustrated a simple principle (usually service).  He might frame a talk around a few basic imperatives (kneel down to pray, go forth to serve, etc.), but the bulk of his talks were just charming narrative.  When he’d come up, I’d set my notebook aside and just listen and enjoy. 

I loved the way he worked.  His style had its own value—he seemed content to leave the heavy stuff to the other guys, and he’d come in and be the coach pumping us up, motivating us by building desire to follow the examples in his stirring stories. 

But I think there’s been a big change in him in the last three years since he became president of the church.  I first noticed it in his closing remarks to the April 2009 General Conference.  (more…)

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More General Conference Talks About Improving Parenting

Posted in Religion, tagged , , on April 4, 2010 |

Yesterday, I noted that five talks in this General Conference were about being more involved parents, and that I suspected today would be an extension of that.  There were another five talks today that were predominantly on this subject (though some others mentioned it briefly).  These were the talks by Cheryl Lant (three guidelines for spiritually raising children well), Robert D. Hales (ministering to youth), Bradley D. Foster (the importance and influence of mothers), Francisco J. Viñas (helping family and others to be spiritually born again), and Neil L. Andersen (parents must tell their children stories about Jesus).  Elder Andersen even joked at the beginning of his talk about how he’d been listening during Conference for how much of his talk had already been given by others!

While this Conference also continued the huge theme from last October’s Conference about developing stronger personal revelation by the Spirit (such as in the talk by Julie B. Beck), another impressive surprise this weekend was that Quentin L. Cook of the Twelve Apostles and James B. Martino of the Seventy gave very similar talks: each gave a list of characteristics to be emulated, exemplified by the Savior during the last few days of His mortal life. 

This certainly gives me some clear aspects of life to focus on for the next six months…

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Two Great Resources On The Atonement

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , , on April 4, 2010 |

During this morning’s session of General Conference, Elder Richard G. Scott of the Twelve Apostles spoke about applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives and improving our understanding of it; he said near the end of his talk that we should all “establish a personal study plan to better understand that Atonement.” 

Two things that I’ve read came quickly to mind.  The first is the chapter called “Atonement” from Jeffrey R. Holland’s book, Christ and the New Covenant, which is one of the best books on the Book of Mormon that I’ve ever read.  This one chapter is about 50 pages long, and is a supremely comprehensive yet readable analysis of what the Book of Mormon teaches about the Savior’s atoning sacrifice.  Sadly, this work isn’t available online, but it’s available fairly cheaply from Amazon. 

The other thing I’d recommend is the last chapter of Hugh Nibley’s book, Approaching Zion, called, “The Meaning of the Atonement.”  This is available online here, and explores the symbolism and spiritual significance of the Atonement, from multiple perspectives. 

I’ll read through both of these as soon as possible as a start, and see where my study can go from there.

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This General Conference = Be More Involved Parents

Posted in Religion, tagged , on April 3, 2010 |

Just after the first two sessions of this General Conference, one dominant theme is obvious: we all need to be better, more involved parents.  This was the overarching idea throughout fully five of the thirteen talks given today: those by President Packer (responsibility of fathers to be priesthood leaders in the home), Elder Ballard (counsel to and responsibilities of mothers and daughters), President Eyring (counsel for raising children with the Spirit), Elder Perry (importance of gospel teaching in the home), and Elder Bednar (teaching children to recognize and act on spiritual warnings). 

If this Conference is as consistent as the last one, we can expect to see this theme further developed tomorrow.

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October 2009 General Conference: 3 Month Review

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , on January 11, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Last June I posted some notes about the previous General Conference three months before, saying that I wanted to review them halfway between the last and the next General Conferences.  That would mean that my October review should have been posted about a week ago.  Better late than never, here are some thoughts about the most recent General Conference:

  • This was an unusually spiritual conference.  Yes, all conferences are spiritual, but this one was clearly meant to prepare us internally to be clean and sensitive to God. 
  • There were two powerful talks about the Book of Mormon: Elder Holland’s career-making landmark address (and this after his other career-making landmark address about the Atonement last Spring!), and Elder Gonzalez’s in the Priesthood Session.  Together, they have helped me have a more bold attitude about this miraculous book.
  • There were at least four talks that focused on being pure, worthy, and virtuous: H. David Burton’s, Quentin L. Cook’s (which also stands as a great motivator to charity), D. Todd Christofferson’s, and Thomas S. Monson’s closing remarks, all from the Sunday sessions.  Bishop Burton and President Monson both introduce their talks with statements about society’s increasing wickedness. 
  • And, of course, there were all the talks about cultivating a closer relationship to the Holy Ghost (more…)

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Family Conference

Posted in Living well, Religion, tagged , , , on July 9, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Thinking about General Conference last week gave me an idea: if we hold General Conferences for the whole church, stake conferences, and ward conferences–and the purpose of the church is to support the fundamental unit of society, the family–then why don’t we have family conferences?

What is the point of conferences?  To sustain officers, conduct business, and receive instruction from leaders.  All three of these could be enhanced by holding a Family Conference.  In addition, it could serve to reinforce the importance of the Church’s other conferences to family members.

Here are some possibilities:

  • General Conference has been held annually and semiannually every six months since its founding in 1830.  With that in mind, I might suggest holding two Family Conferences per year around the time of your anniversary and six months in between.  By this logic, your “first annual Family Conference” would be your wedding day.
  • Begin the conference by having the conducting authority recognize the presence of those who preside (Mom and Dad).  (more…)

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