Come Follow Me with Sam

Its the end of the world as we know it and the first apocalytic section in Doctrine and Covenants! P.S. I ran out of time.. again, but I'll post this now for your pondering. Hopefully I can add some more this coming Sunday Section 29 A note on dealing with apocalyptic prophecies a key to understanding future prophecy is given in 29:34 - 'Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal. In the early church there appeared to be a sense of childlike wonder for early saints that a prophet of God lived among them. They were eager, possibly too eager, to tell their friends signs and wonders of what happened. Some of this seems to have been tempered once the Prophet was martyred, although there was continued wonders, such as when Brigham Young burnt a podium with his cane, or when Joseph F Smith received a vision of the afterlife. Towards the last half of the twentieth century, a wave of scholar...

Here we go again. We've got topic of the sacrament, the armor of god, and the role of revelation Section 27 The Sacrament as a preparation of the fulfillment of all things This revelation starts as a simple warning of a temporal danger, but as with many (all?) things, God expands this out to help us catch a glimpse of the bigger picture. How He shows this in vs 5-14, as an emphasis of both the supernal sacredness of the ordinance and the long line of faithful saints who are tied together in this ordinance, and will be in God's second coming. In the Jewish tradition, they look forward to next year in Jerusalem at Passover time. Every Sunday, we can be reminded that one day we will take the sacrament with Him whose blood was shed which we remember. Latter-day Saints, and Christians in general, sometimes struggle with the sacred nature of the sacrament. We try to imbue it with a special meaning that it doesn't need, while completely obviating the sacred meeting it actually has...

 Welcome! The newly budding church was being established with a core group of leaders slowly coming together that would then lead the saints through some extremely difficult trials. They would also preach the gospel throughout the world. These are the revelations from God guiding the stories behind those men and women. Section 23 Section 23 is a compiled revelation to Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, Samuel H Smith, Joseph Smith Sr., and Joseph Knight Sr. Oliver Cowdery Oliver Cowdery is admonished to beware of pride, but that he is under no condemnation, and that he should let all know that he was to stand with the church forever. H&J mention that at the printing of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith said 'Blessed of the Lord is Brother Oliver; nevertheless, there are two evils in him that he must needs forsake'. Oliver Cowdery, from my understanding, was financially crushed by the failure of the Kirtland Bank, and became embittered at his diminishing role in the leadership of t...

Welcome to the sections where the show hits the road and the church is formally established!  Section 20 A brief primer on the history of the name of the church. Because of the added emphasis on the name of the church and some past confusions with many parties, I'd like to explain the history of the name of the church. You can also get it from A Comprehensive history of the Church or this wikipedia article .  In 1830, here in section 20, the Church was called 'The Church of Christ' and that was used up to 1834. Since there was some confusion when referring to just the Church of Christ, some members and non members would refer to it with other names, such as the Mormon Church, the Church of the Latter-day Saints, etc. In 1838 (in Section 115) Joseph received revelation for the name of the church as we have it today, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In times past, we as members have gotten lax with the name of Christ, and I even struggle with it today. in 2018...

 I feel like the Doctrine and Covenants subtly changes and enriches as Joseph and his companions enrich in understanding. D&C 18 is one of those turning points. It is the longest section up to this point and covers a myriad of loosely woven ideas. Section 18 Quick fire thoughts Vs 2 'Behold, I have manifested unto you, by Spirit in many instances...wherefore you know that they are true.' We discussed last time that certain of Joseph's companions, even after they fell away from the church, never doubted their testimony of things that happened 'because the evidence was overwhelming'. Here is a reminder in  revelation of this to Oliver Cowdery. Vs. 5 'If you build up my church... the gates of hell shall not prevail against you'. What does it mean by 'the gates of hell'? This is reflective of Nephi's sentiment in 2 Nephi 4:32. In the Egyptian endowment, the gates to heaven and the gates of Hell were the same gates, but they led to different place...

Welcome to Come Follow Me with Sam! These Sections were each given to witnesses of the Book of Mormon and led up to the actual event of them seeing and handling the plates, whether from an angel as it was with the three witnesses, or from Joseph as it was from the Eight Witnesses. the commentary I'm reading from Hyrum & Janne (H&J) has added some relevant stories that I have included here. Section 14: teaching the great things to someone entirely new to the experience. A lesson goal-setting? Section 14 is an interesting case study in teaching the greater things with simplicity. The first six verses, as noted in my previous post, are an invocation common among multiple sections. Then God commands David Whitmer 'to bring forth and establish my Zion' and 'keep my commandments in all things.' I'm sure that David has no idea what 'my Zion' will turn out to be, yet, he is pointed in this direction from the beginning. The second part, 'keep my comma...

 Welcome to Come Follow Me with Sam!! This week's readings are super short and so my encouragement to you is to read them in the first day (Monday) and then use the rest of the week's study time to ponder, pray, meditate, and write about its meaning. I believe that this is the first place where keys were given so the organization of the church, or at least part of the organization really comes back to this moment, and later the formal establishment of a church body. Section 12:  q ualities of the work the first six verses of section 12 are repeated in sections 6, 11, and 14. I see them as an introduction and repetition to understanding missionary work. Here are some highlights 4. Yea, whosoever will thrust in his sickle and reap, the same is called of God.     God knows to shape the tool for his work and He knows the end from the beginning. He is looking for those who are really willing, and whomever is prepared is that person which is called. The ramifications of th...