Like many authors ranging from Victor Hugo and Shakespeare to James Redfield and James Ferrell, Dan Brown understands the power of a good fictional story. In reading his books, you realize that like the mentioned authors, he teaches ideas and concepts through a made up story instead of a true one. The advantages to this are twofold: 1. You don’t have to write a bibliography (or otherwise back up or defend what you say), and 2. More people will read it if the story’s engaging, regardless of the ideas being taught.
I remember laying in bed reading the DaVinci Code several years ago excited by the story, intrigued by the symbols and codes, and impressed by what seemed to be some restored-gospel truths about Christ and his possible marriage to Mary Magdalene. Originally I rejected the idea of the marriage, but after talking to some of my mentors of the time, decided that “we don’t know” is probably the only for-sure answer we are going to get for the time being.
Elder David A Bednar of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles
I think it’s a shame that sometimes the CES firesides, which are addressed to young single adults, often go unnoticed by the rest of the Church. When given by an Apostle, they are frequently among the most direct and instructional talks that our modern Prophets give to a large audience. Luckily, they’re available on the Church website, for the rest of us.
Last Sunday Elder David A. Bednar was at BYU-Idaho and gave the CES YSA fireside. I’ve sat there in the Hart building and listened to him speak many times when he was the President of BYU-I. As awesome and powerful as those devotionals were, ever since he became an Apostle, there is definitely something different, more powerful in his teachings of the gospel and witness of Christ.
Elder Bednar spoke on the importance of our physical bodies in God’s great plan of salvation. In my opinion, he taught these doctrines with great clarity. After doing so, he warned of Satan’s methods of trying to get us to misuse or minimize (or both) our bodies. He touched upon the age-old warnings against the misuse of our bodies, but then issued warnings that might be new to many, related to minimizing the importance of our bodies by spending too much time online, watching TV, playing video games, etc., where we forget our physical body and life is lived completely through the computer or some medium other than our God-give senses.
Characteristic of just how in-touch these great men are, he even specifically named some of today’s most popular virtual worlds and online social networks such as Second Life. Its interesting too that he speaks to both ends of the spectrum: those who spend too much time at a computer, as well as those who are overly conscious of their body and/or are adicted to their own body’s drug of adrenaline.
You can listen to or watch his entire talk here:
Category : Ancient, Book of Mormon, Ceremony/Ordinances, Divine Potential, Doctrine & Covenants, Latter-Day, New Testament, Old Testament, Scriptures, Temple
Tags: Book of Mormon, Christ, Divine Potential, endowment, god, heirs, keys, Malachi, orders, ordinances, priestesses, priests, queens, sacrificial offerings, temple
If you haven’t already, I strongly recommend you read Part 1 and Part 2 of this article before reading this.
The title of this series of articles suggests that there might be scriptures that are “most important.” I don’t pretend to be capable of knowing what, of all God’s revealed scripture is the most important. However, Malachi 3 must be of great importance because, like many chapters of Isaiah it is given to us twice, and was given to the ancient Nephites by Christ himself. Malachi 4, in turn, must also be hugely important to us, because we have it many different times in the Latter-Day cannon of scripture. Of all things that Moroni could have told Joseph that night in his bedroom, he repeated Malachi 4, something Joseph already had in his Old Testament, and Moroni knew he would translate those verses from the plates that Moroni was there to announce to Joseph. Yet he gave them again. Why?
The Return of the Prophet Elijah
Elijah rebukes Ahab for turning from worshiping Jehovah to Baal.
We ended the last article with the indication that there were further ordinances that allow us to experience the things of Godliness. Clearly these ordinances are very important, perhaps most important. I personally believe that this is the reason we are given Malachi 4, several different times. Moroni even gives us different wording in the latter-day reciting. There are probably many reasons for this but I think two are very important: first, to help us better understand a scripture we may have become too familiar with, and therefore have stopped trying to extract deeper meaning from; and second, to help us take notice of it and ask the questions that will help us delve beyond the surface meaning.
Lets go to the scriptures. In. 3 Nephi 25 we read:
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord;
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Category : Ceremony/Ordinances, Divine Potential, Latter-Day, Literature, Pop-culture, Scriptures, Temple
Tags: birthright, Christ, Divine Potential, downloading music, god, heirs, kings, narnia, orders, ordinances, priestesses, priests, queens, temple, the world
I’ve been working on a couple different posts for this blog for the past week. The third article in the “Most Important Chapters in Scripture?” series needs special attention due to the power and sacredness of the subject. Because of the time required to give that attention, I haven’t been able to get it completed. The following is a talk I gave several years ago in as a student in a student ward. Its one of the few talks that I ever wrote completely before giving. It is also a great preparation for the third article in the “Most Important Chapters in Scripture” series.
I have chosen to speak on Our Divine Potential. I pray that the Spirit will permit me to deliver this message in accordance with God’s will, and that everyone here will be able to feel of that Spirit and receive the message by the Spirit who is the ultimate teacher. I also hope you understand that this message is taken from the scriptures and the words of our church leaders. It is not my message, and I need to hear and understand it as much as any of you.
Kings and Queens
I hope everyone here has seen the new movie The Chronicles of Narnia. If you haven’t, I highly recommend it, and here’s why: This movie (and the book it is based on) is a great Christian allegory of our divine potential. Throughout the movie various characters keep telling the three children–who are the protagonists of the story–that they were meant to be Kings and Queens, leaders in the fight against evil. Every time someone tells them this, they say essentially “no, you must be mistaken, there is nothing special about us, we’re from some place in England, we’re not important or great.” They can’t see their potential. They don’t know that they really were meant to become Kings and Queens.
I love this theme of Kings and Queens because it is the same one Heavenly Father uses to teach and remind us of our potential. Psalms 82:6 reads: “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.” And D&C 76:56, 58, 62 says: “They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fullness and his glory…. Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God…. These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.”
Too often I think we take the same attitude as the children in the Chronicles of Narnia. We say “who am I to shine, to lead out, to be righteous and deserve blessings?” “What makes me so special that I should discover the mysteries of God, or perform great acts of service, or become pure and spotless before God?” We doubt ourselves, we doubt our God. This is what Satan wants us to do. If he can get us to forget who we are, and what our purpose is, then we will never achieve it. We can’t work toward what we don’t know. The Prophet John Taylor said it this way:
“Have you forgotten who you are, and what your object is? Have you forgotten that you profess to be Saints of the Most High God, clothed upon with the holy priesthood? Have you forgotten that you are aiming to become kings and priests to the Lord, and queens and priestesses to him? Have you forgotten that you are associated with the Saints of God in Zion, where the oracles of truth are revealed, and the truths of God are made manifest, and clearly developed; where you and your posterity after you can learn the ways of life and salvation; where you are placed in a position that you can obtain blessings from the great Elohim, that will rest upon you and your posterity worlds without end?” (The Gospel Kingdom, p.229-230)
Like many authors ranging from Victor Hugo and Shakespeare to James Redfield and James Ferrell, Dan Brown understands the power of a good fictional story. In reading his books, you realize that like the mentioned authors, he teaches ideas and concepts through a made up story instead of a true one. The advantages to this are twofold: 1. You don’t have to write a bibliography (or otherwise back up or defend what you say), and 2. More people will read it if the story’s engaging, regardless of the ideas being taught.
