Moses 6:37 - "And it came to pass that Enoch went forth in the land, among the people, standing upon the hills and the high places, and cried with a loud voice, testifying against their works; and all men were offended because of him."
So, the fact that people take offense at the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has never been new; it's been like that since the time of the Ancient of Days.
Reminds me of these words as recorded by Nephi:
"And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold, they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear.
"And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lfited up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.
The Word of God has always been offensive to those who walk the path of sin. Therefore, repent of your sins and turn to the true and living God. Believe in the name of Christ and partake of the gift of His grace, mercy, and truth. Repent, and cease from offending God by keeping His holy commandments.
I am currently going through the book of Joshua, and as I was studying the scene with the harlot, Rahab (Joshua, second chapter), a thought occurred to my mind as I was pondering the significance of the "line of scarlet thread" (Joshua 2:18). The significance to me is that it paralleled to the situation of the Hebrews while they were held in bondage to the Egyptians.
The Israelites were commanded by the Lord, specifically, to take a young, male lamb "from the sheep, or from the goats" (Exodus 12:5), and then "take the blood, and strike it on the...door posts of the houses" (Exodus 12:7). Needless to say, all of these efforts made by the Hebrews, however, was so that the "destroying angel [would] pass by them...and not slay them." (Doctrine & Covenants, Section 89:21)
The two situations have a parallel item, which was the a sign or signal for those who righteous could be preserved from destruction or divine justice. The blood of the lamb of course represents the blood of Jesus Christ, as signified through His atoning blood, which is why my thoughts on the red or scarlet thread. They're the same color. And as a result of Rahab's faith, she was "justified by works" (James 2:25).
Earlier this summer, I had gone through the process to receive an ID badge in preparation of a class which I needed to take so I could learn how to become a school teacher. I had been going in circles towards, yielding with no results. I needed the permission code to add the class. So, I made the effort to contact the instructor of the class who would be teaching it this Fall; it was the only class and professor available for the coming semester. I needed his help in figuring out why I was unable to register for the class.
The instructor looked into it, with the assistance from another faculty member. I didn't think that there should have been any problems to be added to the class, but then I faced an unexpectedset-back. This faculty member made a recommendation to the instructor (who agreed), that I should repeat two per-requisites before taking the class that I needed. The instructor got back to me, and told me the results of the investigation.
When I read the news, I was angry. I felt flustered, wondering why I needed to re-take two classes that I had not only finished, but passed as well. I took a step away from my laptop to think about what I would say in response. I felt tempted to reply with a complaint, and for reconsideration. But, that's not how I responded. In fact, they have a higher grade requirement needed for this major! (C and C+ aren't good enough, it needs to be better.)
I replied to the instructor with something that went like this: This isn't what I was expecting at all, and that I understood the need for it, despite my disappointment with the results at that time.
After I reflected upon that set-back, I came to remember a story from Hugh B. Brown, who served as a Mormon Apostle for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His story was shared fairly recently by another Apostle of the Church.
As I took the time to reflect on Hugh B. Brown's experience, I was able to compare it to my own situation. I believe that the Lord did hurt me, so that I could grow.
As presented in the video, the bush was cut down by the gardener because it yielded no fruit, despite the fact that it had grown so tall. But that's not what the gardener wanted. If we compare ourselves to the bush that might be growing, yet yield no fruit, the Gardener will cut us down so that we can bear the fruit that He intends for us to yield.
In hindsight, when I look back upon my experiences in the classes that I'm required to repeat, I can see that I could and should have done better with my work in class. I needed to do better with my studies, writing essays and other assignments. School is fine. The classes and professors were good overall. The problem was myself. I needed to do better, and now I can and should do better this time around.
I am the bush who was cut down by the Gardener, so that I can bear the fruit He desires for me to yield. And now that I can see this, I can say to the Gardener: "I thank Thee, for cutting me down."
For several years I had been debating, weighing, and deciding what it was that I should Major in during my studies at Brigham Young University. I have finally gone into English Teaching. I have started a new term and I am taking classes on literature. They are on the Fundamentals of Interpreting Literature and British Literary History 1.
The class I am enjoying the most right now is British Lit. 1. We have gone over Anglo-Saxon stories like Beowulf, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. While going over the histories of the texts, there is a comparison of the Old English to our Modern English, and I have discovered another deep interest of learning Old English along with the German tongue.
However my excitement is in wanting to study these languages, I don't know how to seek it in my academics. I want to ask my English professors, and even the academic offices in the Humanities department, but I don't know how to pose the question. Perhaps a part of me is afraid of finding out that they don't have such a program, perhaps I'm afraid they won't understand the question that I'm asking.
At church today, there was a regional broadcast for stake conference. In one of talks, or sermons, there was counsel given concerning doing genealogy and family history work. For me personally I love doing genealogy, because that means I learn something from people who I am directly related to, even for hundreds of years ago, and there is a great love I have for them.
I think when we come to learn of people that we stem from we gain an appreciation of who we are, and even for the things that we have. For instance, I learned a year ago that I go all the way back to Scotland on my father's father's side, and in the middle of that there's Irish; on my father's maternal side we are descendents of French and German immigrants.
There's more of course, but that's just an example. I know on my maternal side I have Swedish ancestors, and ancestors who are from the Southern states, and (probably) fought in the American Civil War for the Confederate Army. I take that position because an ancestor was named after General Robert E. Lee.
When Joseph Smith 14 years old, he had serious trouble, wondering about the many churches, "If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?" He sought answers from local ministers and preachers of Palmyra, New York. He also sought passage in the Holy Bible. In his own words, he said: "While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." He then expressed the effect that this passage from the Bible had on him: "Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected upon it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible." Joseph Smith did venture to "ask of God", continuing from his account: "I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally. After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. Joseph Smith receive an answer to his prayer, and again, in his own words: "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me...When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other--This is My Beloved Son, Hear Him!" In answer to Joseph's prayer, he saw both God the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. This event did occur, and Jesus instructed Joseph to join none of the churches, and that a restoration of His Church would be brought back to the earth. I know that this account is true, because I have prayed to the Eternal Father about this, and I know it is true by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Thinking about what it is that I should do in my studies at Brigham Young University, I have struggled for a long time in deciding what it is I should do. For a long time, I thought about being a psychologist, maybe take some music lessons, learn a foreign language, and recently, it was brought up to me by my father-in-law about going into Political Science.
Of course, my wife wants me to do for a career what ever I choose to do. She reminded me of a time early in our courtship, that I had expressed a great interest and desire in learning (ancient) foreign languages, and that I would like to travel abroad.
The language that I want to study is German (Deutsch) Ich bin lernen Deutsch. My wife said that she would learn the language with me, and that we can put our children into a German language training program while they are in Elementary School. Recently, since school's been out and I have no job, I have been going through a German Bible (Die Bibel), and the Book of Mormon (Das Buch Mormon). I have started by reading two copies of the Book of Mormon side by side, one in German and one in English, so that I can more easily understand the words that are written in the texts. I have come to see new words in the German that I had difficulty with before; the challenge is being able to retain what I have read and what I am learning.
I was thinking about possibly taking German along with as either a psychology or political science major, but there is still some pondering and praying that I must do on this subject.
I have learned that in German, that Nouns, because all Nouns in German begin with capital letters. The challenges at the moment, as I mentioned before this is retaining what I have read, proper pronunciation, and genders.
