"That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him." Ephesians 1:10
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Elder Ballard urges LDS-based blogs
In a recent address to students at BYU Hawaii, Elder M. Russell Ballard urged students to make a positive difference in the national discussion of our faith. Read this to learn more.
I did not listen to this talk, but still I am doing what I can about it. Try googling 'mormon blog'. It is sad to say, but many of them do not exhibit the faith, standards, and Christ-centered discussion that one would expect. I started my own blog at www.understandinglight.blogspot.com . It's not much, but it is my attempt to show how the scriptures and my faith in Christ have made me better and happier.
While I wasn’t able to listen to this talk, I have read it in its entirety, and gone over several parts many times. It has been fascinating to see the new inspiration regarding the Church’s missionary program through the involvement of Elder Ballard. I served my mission in Italy nearly 10 years ago, and while I wasn’t able to use Preach My Gospel at that time (because it didn’t exist), I study from it everyday now in my efforts to help other people understand what makes me happy (1 Peter 3:15).
Elder Ballard really made a poignant statement when he said that we have a responsibility to define ourselves, and not let it be done for us. I think that can be applied in every identity we have – as individuals, parents, children, … and Mormons.
While some of the brain-scratching misconceptions we hear about are from upset and angry people who know that what they say isn’t true, I don’t think that is the majority; I don’t think it’s that big of a number at all, actually. Sometimes crazy rumors get spread around – that’s the nature of rumors. Exciting, strange stuff is what makes some people tick. But largely, I think some things we hear about are the way people actually perceive us because of experiences they’ve had with members. Maybe even us. Whenever Joseph Smith would hear that somebody was upset with him for something he hadn’t done or said, he would rack his brain and try to think if there was anything he had done that might have given that impression. Often times – there was. And it’s something that he changed to make sure the same thing didn’t happen the next time.
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe in Christ. I think more than anything, that means that we believe in trying to be like Him. Everywhere. All the time. The Young Women get up every Sunday and repeat those words from Mosiah 18, that they will stand as witnesses of God “at ALL times, and in ALL things, and in ALL places” (Mosiah 18:9). That can be intimidating; hard to do. But I can’t think of many greater challenges or noble calls than that.
The Church has a website setup where they officially make comments when things get a bit twisted in the news. It’s a great place to look to examine ourselves and see if anything we are doing might be giving the wrong idea to people who aren’t very familiar with us. The website is: http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary.
Now, I know “JG” who left a comment previously. He’s got a blog setup where he tries to challenge those misconceptions. I’ve got one as well, called “Mormon Conversation.” It’s at http://mormonconversation.blogspot.com/. I try to show people how a regular Mormon views his relationship with Christ, and how he recognizes the hand of God in everyday life; to show that Mormons are familiar with all the scriptures, not just our “Book of Mormon.”
Brother Christensen looks like he has a good blog setup here. That’s one down for him. Hopefully one for me. And one for JG. A person at a time, a conversation at a time. That’s how most things are done. Moments, conversations, people – one by one.
2 comments:
I did not listen to this talk, but still I am doing what I can about it. Try googling 'mormon blog'. It is sad to say, but many of them do not exhibit the faith, standards, and Christ-centered discussion that one would expect. I started my own blog at www.understandinglight.blogspot.com . It's not much, but it is my attempt to show how the scriptures and my faith in Christ have made me better and happier.
While I wasn’t able to listen to this talk, I have read it in its entirety, and gone over several parts many times. It has been fascinating to see the new inspiration regarding the Church’s missionary program through the involvement of Elder Ballard. I served my mission in Italy nearly 10 years ago, and while I wasn’t able to use Preach My Gospel at that time (because it didn’t exist), I study from it everyday now in my efforts to help other people understand what makes me happy (1 Peter 3:15).
Elder Ballard really made a poignant statement when he said that we have a responsibility to define ourselves, and not let it be done for us. I think that can be applied in every identity we have – as individuals, parents, children, … and Mormons.
While some of the brain-scratching misconceptions we hear about are from upset and angry people who know that what they say isn’t true, I don’t think that is the majority; I don’t think it’s that big of a number at all, actually. Sometimes crazy rumors get spread around – that’s the nature of rumors. Exciting, strange stuff is what makes some people tick. But largely, I think some things we hear about are the way people actually perceive us because of experiences they’ve had with members. Maybe even us. Whenever Joseph Smith would hear that somebody was upset with him for something he hadn’t done or said, he would rack his brain and try to think if there was anything he had done that might have given that impression. Often times – there was. And it’s something that he changed to make sure the same thing didn’t happen the next time.
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe in Christ. I think more than anything, that means that we believe in trying to be like Him. Everywhere. All the time. The Young Women get up every Sunday and repeat those words from Mosiah 18, that they will stand as witnesses of God “at ALL times, and in ALL things, and in ALL places” (Mosiah 18:9). That can be intimidating; hard to do. But I can’t think of many greater challenges or noble calls than that.
The Church has a website setup where they officially make comments when things get a bit twisted in the news. It’s a great place to look to examine ourselves and see if anything we are doing might be giving the wrong idea to people who aren’t very familiar with us. The website is: http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary.
Now, I know “JG” who left a comment previously. He’s got a blog setup where he tries to challenge those misconceptions. I’ve got one as well, called “Mormon Conversation.” It’s at http://mormonconversation.blogspot.com/. I try to show people how a regular Mormon views his relationship with Christ, and how he recognizes the hand of God in everyday life; to show that Mormons are familiar with all the scriptures, not just our “Book of Mormon.”
Brother Christensen looks like he has a good blog setup here. That’s one down for him. Hopefully one for me. And one for JG. A person at a time, a conversation at a time. That’s how most things are done. Moments, conversations, people – one by one.
~ Kurt Manwaring ~
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