My blog post on Come Follow Me: Moroni 7-9

Excerpt: What we get first are more of the words of Mormon, who sent letters, teaching and giving advice to his son in the last few years before the final destruction. Moroni is quoting his father decades after the final destruction. Perhaps these are Mormon’s final words to his son, and Moroni wishes to share them with us.At some point in Mormon’s life, there were synagogues and true believers in Christ for him to address. It may be that these few believers were among the few true believers that would later be hunted down by the Lamanites for not denying the Christ.

“…by their works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also. For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing” (vv 5-6)).

There are two key points to being a good person…

http://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2020/12/come-follow-me-moroni-7-9.html

Peggy Fletcher, religion author at the SLC Tribune, shared a new Manifesto with her readers today. It is the Radical Orthodoxy Manifesto. The Manifesto was written by Nathaniel Givens, J. Max Wilson, and Jeffrey Thayne (many of you will recognize those three names, especially J. Max).

In this new Manifesto, it establishes a middle ground between the harsh progressiveness of the left and the extreme fundamentalism of the right. The former encourages worldliness and pushes the beliefs of the voices on the far left. The latter pushes a dangerous form of fundamentalism, such as what we find with Denver Snuffer’s apostate group. Both sides harshly question the teachings of the prophet and scripture, attempting to replace the teachings of the Restored Church with their own views. Often these forms are also displayed in the contentious politics of our day.

What the Radical Orthodoxy Manifesto encourages is a new path down the middle. We accept key concepts: God Lives, Jesus is the Christ, the gospel is Restored, modern prophets, scripture. We embrace the new Proclamations from the Church on Family, Jesus and the Restoration. At the same time, we are open to considering new ways to look at old traditions and beliefs: such as moving past the old canard of the curse of Cain.

“To be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.” (2 Ne 9:29)

There is a middle ground that is radical and orthodox. Orthodox in that it keeps us safely standing in holy places with the living prophets, sustaining them and carefully considering their counsel. Radical in that we believe in continuing revelation and the ability to learn new things.

Perhaps an example of the radical is Pres Nelson’s sharing his story of learning a different translation of the name Israel: Let God Prevail. From this new information, many Latter-day Saints have transformed their gospel view, just since the beginning of October. In fact, Pres Nelson has encouraged us to “take our vitamins” because of modern revelation that allows us to move forward, quickly, from one new concept to the next. Yet, each of these new programs and teachings (from ministering to Come Follow Me to #GiveThanks) is founded upon the orthodox principles that never change.

With this Manifesto, we encourage and invite those on the extreme left and right to return to Christ in the sane center. I am a signer of the Manifesto. I embrace new ideas and possibilities, while standing with the prophets in holy places. I hope you will too.

Peggy Fletcher’s article

The Radical Orthodox Manifesto

My blog post for Come Follow Me: Moroni 1-6

Excerpt:”Having wandered for almost 40 years, Moroni now comes to his third and final farewell.  In his first farewell, he shared the writings of his father, Mormon. In the second, he shared his abridgement of the Book of Ether. Now, he really has come to the end of his writings, and provides teachings in two major sections, with the first being dealt with in this lesson.  In this lesson, Moroni deals with important teachings regarding ordinances of the gospel.He notes in chapter one that the Lamanites are killing those Nephites, who will not deny the Christ.  This is 40 years after the destruction of the Nephites as a people. Obviously, Moroni is not exactly alone among the survivors. However, they are a continually dwindling group, and it seems that at this point, they are being actively searched for and destroyed.  Moroni must now be constantly on the move to preserve his life.”

http://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2020/11/come-follow-me-moroni-1-6.html

My blog post on Come Follow Me: Ether 12-15.

Excerpt:

Moroni begins his discourse on faith by telling us about Ether. Here, we see some important points regarding faith in Christ.  In reviewing them, we find:

First, he “could not be restrained because of the Spirit.” Other prophets have experienced such a power, such as Nephi and Abinadi. However, what seemed to be an occasional power for others seems to have been a continual and daily event for Ether. It may be due to the greater danger Ether found himself in, still it shows that God’s power can give great and constant power when the need arises.

Second, Ether “did cry from the morning, even until the going down of the sun,” showing his diligence in doing the Lord’s command. God could give Ether great power, because Ether didn’t waiver in his faith nor in his efforts. Ether knew that great destruction would come upon the people, and there was only one thing that could save them temporally and spiritually.  Declaring repentance and faith in Christ was the only solution to the pandemic of sin.

What does it mean that by “faith all things are fulfilled?” God has a plan….

https://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2020/11/come-follow-me-ether-12-15.html

My blog post on Come Follow Me: Ether 6-11.

Excerpt:The Creation Anew

“And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness” (Ether 6:2)

With the beginning of this chapter, we see a new creation occurring. It is reminiscent of the Creation in Genesis chapter one. Everything that occurred in the Book of Ether thus far is similar to the preparations of God to create the world and the skies above. Now we have a repeat. Similarly, we find the same event occur with Noah and the ark, where ancient traditions suggest he may have had shining stone in the ark to give light.In the barges, we find all things necessary for a new Creation: light, food (plants), animals, and everything needful for the journey. As the darkness and waters in the original Creation and in Noah’s flood were chaotic, the shining stones brought order out of dark chaos, and the barges represented safety on dry ground from the chaos of the great waters.

Exactly four centuries ago this month (November 11, 1620), 102 Pilgrims and others landed on Plymouth Rock. For them, the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a tiny and cramped ship, was akin to a new Creation.

https://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2020/11/come-follow-me-ether-6-11.html