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Places of Safety and the Holy Ghost

March 9, 2010 in Holy Ghost by Greg | No comments

In January 2005, shortly after the Indian Ocean earthquake, Henry B. Eyring taught the Lord has prepared places of safety to guide people to if they develop the capacity to receive revelation through the ministrations of the Holy Ghost. Here is an excerpt of his talk:

Our Refuge and our Strength The Lord told us in the time of the Prophet Joseph that war would be poured out upon all nations. We see tragic fulfillment of that prophecy, bringing with it increased suffering to the innocent.

The giant earthquake, and the tsunamis it sent crashing into the coasts around the Indian Ocean, is just the beginning and a part of what is to come, terrible as it was. You remember the words from the Doctrine and Covenants which now seems so accurate:

And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.

For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.

And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.

And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people (D&C 88: 88-91).

Fear shall come upon all people. But you and I know that the Lord has prepared places of safety to which He is eager to guide us. I think of that often. . . .

Now my purpose today is to share with you what I have learned over the years about getting and keeping the companionship of the Holy Ghost. It isn’t easy, but it is possible.

The foundation is a burning desire to qualify for that gift. Most of us who are members of the restored Church have enough faith to want the Holy Ghost at times. That desire may be weak and intermittent, but it comes, usually when we are in trouble. For us to be led upward to safety in the times ahead, it must become steady and intense.

The problem for most human beings is that when things go well, we feel self-sufficient. You remember the warning:

Places of Safety and the Holy Ghost »»

World Vision in Haiti and Chile

March 4, 2010 in Christianity by Greg | No comments

Earlier this week, an op-ed caught my attention about the mission of World Vision. According to their web site, World Vision is a “Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.”

Chile Earthquake A day after the Chilean quake, the organization assembled tarps, blankets, water and other aide for survivors of the quake. Steve Matthews of World Vision’s global rapid response team,

. . . was quick to allay fears that Chile would turn out to be another Haiti, where a massive earthquake on January 12 killed more than 200,000 people.

“This quake will not be like the one in Haiti,” he said. “Haiti was concentrated, and that led to the challenge of tons of aid and hundreds of aid workers being sent into a small zone.”

He added, however, that it would be extremely difficult to assess the number of deaths and extent of the damage caused by the Chilean quake because of its potential to reach remote areas.1

World Vision is uniquely qualified to provide disaster relief efforts in both Haiti and Chile. They have a presence in over 100 countries worldwide and distribute over 86% of total revenue to programs which benefit people. Here’s a brief excerpt on how one columnist views their mission in political terms:

For most of the last century, save-the-worlders were primarily Democrats and liberals. In contrast, many Republicans and religious conservatives denounced government aid programs, with Senator Jesse Helms calling them “money down a rat hole.”

Over the last decade, however, that divide has dissolved, in ways that many Americans haven’t noticed or appreciated. Evangelicals have become the new internationalists, pushing successfully for new American programs against AIDS and malaria, and doing superb work on issues from human trafficking in India to mass rape in Congo.

A pop quiz: What’s the largest U.S.-based international relief and development organization?

World Vision in Haiti and Chile »»

  1. Hutt, Brian. “World Vision readies emergency response to Chile earthquake”. 289 Feb 2010. Christian Today. 1 Mar 2010.↩

Why Jaredites Fell

February 28, 2010 in Book of Mormon by Greg | 11 comments

In the Book of Mormon, the Jaredites were a group of people named after their leader Jared. Their history is almost exclusively found in the book of Ether.

According to this record, they were led from the “great tower” – presumably the tower of Babel, mentioned in Genesis 11:1-9 – to a “land of promise”, somewhere in the Americas. Like the Nephites who came after them, they grew to a large population but were eventually destroyed by internecine warfare.

Without making direct reference to the Gadianton Robbers, in 1940 J. Reuben Clark, Jr. summarized the fall of the Jaredite nation in this manner:

Journey of the Jaredites Across Asia by Minerva TeichertWe are not given the step-by-step backsliding of this Jareditic civilization till it reached the social and governmental chaos the record sets out, but those steps seem wholly clear from the results. Put into modern terms, we can understand them. First there was a forsaking of the righteous life, and the working of wickedness; then must have come the extortion and oppression of the poor by the rich; then retaliation and reprisal by the poor against the rich; then would come a cry to share the wealth which should belong to all; then the easy belief that society owed every man a living whether he worked or not; then the keeping of a great body of idlers; then when community revenues failed to do this, as they always have failed and always will fail, a self-helping by one to the goods of his neighbor; and finally when the neighbor resisted, as resist he must, or starve with his family, then death to the neighbor and all that belonged to him. This was the decreed “fulness of iniquity.”

Then came the end; the Jaredites were wiped out in accordance with “the everlasting decree of God.” A nation had been born; it had grown to maturity; then to a powerful manhood; had then gone on to sin, decay, and destruction, and all because its people had refused to heed the promises and commandments of Him who is their Creator and Father, all because the people who possessed the land had failed “to serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ.” (Ether 2:12.)1

Sources:

  1. “The American Republic”. Prophets, Principles and National Survival. The Inspired Constitution. 28 Feb 2010.↩

Kirtland Temple Pentecost

February 18, 2010 in Temple by Greg | 3 comments

The following is the beginning of a series of articles about the Kirtland Temple. This was the first temple built by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many reported that the events which accompanied its dedication on March 27, 1836 were similar in nature to the events which transpired on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2.

Kirtland Temple Angels Pentecost means “the fiftieth day” and is directly related to the Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot which commemorates the Lord’s appearance on Mount Sinai fifty days after the exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt.1 Pentecost is also celebrated by many Christian religions since it commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, fifty days after the Savior’s resurrection.2

Those who compiled Joseph Smith’s history recorded the significance of similar events at the Kirtland Temple dedication:

Brother George A. Smith arose and began to prophesy, when a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and I beheld the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared to the congregation. The people of the neighborhood came running together (hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple), and were astonished at what was taking place.3

Writing just a few years after the temple dedication, one participant wrote:

At the same time the saints in Kirtland, Ohio, were actively engaged in building a Temple to the Lord. The branches of the Church in the east were doing all they could to assist them to build and prepare for the day of Pentecost. The news from the west caused sorrow and lamentation, it was a day never to be forgotten. In the spring following, Elders Joseph and Hyrum Smith, in company with two hundred male members of the Church, went up to Missouri, for the purpose of rendering all the assistance they could to the afflicted saints. The dark clouds seemed to break away, the spirit of mobocracy was checked for a short time, and the beams of light once more dawned on the afflicted. After they had done all in their power to do at that time, Elders J. and H. Smith and many others, returned to Kirtland, Ohio. The same fall and winter a large school convened for instruction, composed of Elders, and members of the Church. Elders Smith, Rigdon, and others, acted as teachers. In the course of the winter the Quorum of the Twelve was chosen and ordained, also one Quorum of the Seventies. The next spring many of the Elders went forth to preach the word, to prove themselves worthy of the blessings expected at the day of Pentecost. In the spring of 1836, the lower room of the Temple being finished, some three hundred or over of the official members of the Church, assembled for the purpose of attending to the ordinances of washing and anointing, and the sacraments, that they might be sanctified before the Lord, and prepared for the reception of the Holy Spirit from on High. Prayer and fasting were attended to, the ordinations and anointings were sealed with great solemnity. The Holy Spirit descended in power as in bye-gone days, when it rested on the disciples at Jerusalem, some spoke with tongues and others prophesied—the visions of Heaven were also opened to some, intelligence burst upon their understanding, enabling them to comprehend things past, present and future.4

Another participant in the dedicatory events recorded that the gift of tongues and other Spiritual Gifts were given to many:

Kirtland Temple Pentecost »»

  1. See Exodus 19 – 24; cf. D&C 84:19 – 27.↩
  2. For an explanation of these events, see Gift of the Holy Ghost a Higher Endowment.↩
  3. Roberts, Brigham Henry, ed. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1912. 2:428.↩
  4. Grant, Jedediah M. Collection of Facts, Relative to the Course Taken by Elder Sidney Rigdon in the States of Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Brown, Bicking, & Guilbert, 1844. 8-9.↩

Esau and Jacob

January 23, 2010 in Priesthood by Greg | 10 comments

Recently, a friend pointed me to an interesting account of how the birthright blessings of the patriarchal priesthood were given to Jacob, and not Esau. According to the biblical account,

Esau and Jacob by Matthias Stom And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. (Genesis 25:21-26).

Commenting, Bruce H. Porter wrote:

The mother of the twins learned that “two nations” were within her, and that “the elder shall serve the younger.” It must be noted that the revelation concerning the birthright came to Rebekah, and not to Isaac the father of the children. Rebekah, knowing that Jacob was the chosen one of the Lord and the one who should receive the birthright blessing from Isaac, began the preparations.

Twice Rebekah commanded Jacob; “. . . obey my voice . . .” (Gen. 27:8, 13). Holding a position of authority, the matriarch directed her son in the arrangements that were to be made and the information that would be given to Isaac during the ritual blessing. She appeared not only to be fully acquainted with the liturgy, but also played a key role in the blessing itself. Jacob’s fears are manifested in his concern that he might appear to be the “deceiver” (vs. 12) and that there would be “a curse…and not a blessing.” This foreboding of Jacob was quickly silenced when “his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice . . .” Only in a position of authority may one be responsible for the actions of another, as Rebekah promised she would be. Had this been a deception, Rebekah as well as her son Jacob would be held accountable. Yet neither are reprimanded in the scriptural text by Isaac or the Lord. Jacob’s mother accepted full responsibility for the correct or incorrect (as it seemed) performance and acceptability of this priesthood ordinance as executed by the patriarch.

Esau and Jacob »»

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