Come Follow Me with Sam

  Section 71 Some Wisdom I found these verses to be worth pondering. I'm sure there's many times where we Latter-day saints of the church of Jesus Christ have been clobbered in arguments, and other times where we have been overly contentious. So we know this isn't a guarantee that anyone who decides to defend the church or Jesus Christ will automatically win. But its clear that these promises are to those who 'understand and receive also' 5  Now, behold this is wisdom; whoso readeth, let him  a understand  and  b receive  also; 6  For unto him that receiveth it  shall be given more  a abundantly , even power. 7  Wherefore,  a confound  your  b enemies ; call upon them to  c meet  you both in public and in private; and inasmuch as ye are faithful their  d shame  shall be made manifest. 8  Wherefore, let them bring forth their  a strong reasons  against the Lord. 9  Verily, thus saith ...

 Section 67 The Challenge God actually gives a challenge to the brethren in this section. There was some dissent about the wording of the revelations that Joseph Smith received and God basically told them 'see if you can do better'. William McLellin tried. It didn't work.  Everyone accepted the wording after that. This raises some questions about how the Doctrine and Covenants was created, and the process by which the revelation was asked for, received, recorded, distributed, and accepted. Some of this is simple historical fact. Some of this is spiritual journey. Some of this is likely personally attuned. I unfortunately don't know enough or have enough time to ponder this on the blog but if you have resources to share, I'd be interested to hear. Continue in patience until ye are perfected Section 67 speaks of seeing God and a reminder that 'ye are not able to abide the presence of God now, neither the ministering of angels; wherefore, continue in patience until...

 Here we go again!!! Section 64 Of forgiveness and of the mysteries vs 5-11 are an interesting insight into how god sees our faults and calls leaders to still lead. here is a quick breakdown 5 - Joseph has the keys so get all the way off his back on that thing 6 - Yes, I'm talking to you 7 - Yes, I know he stumbles all the time. That's the whole plan 8- You guys are just like my disciples. serious squabbling and lack of forgiveness. 9- They turned out all right and you can too :D 10-11- remember that I (God) am the judge (and understand what that means) S&S (yep, switching my abbreviation again to the last names) take a comment from George A. Smith that there were some who apostatized at this time and they became  a pretty nasty job. Its a good reminder to us that no matter who you are in the church, if you don't clean to God, you may find yourself a pretty nasty person in side. Better to give yourself to God and wash that dirty down the drain. The strange and mysteriou...

D&C 63 is pretty long and it seems to cover a lot of subjects. Hopefully you can glean some of these insights. Section 63 Arbitrary actions? Take a look at vs 3-5 3  Who willeth to take even them whom he will  a take , and  b preserveth  in life them whom he will preserve; 4  Who buildeth up at his own will and  a pleasure ; and destroyeth when he pleases, and is able to  b cast  the soul down to hell. 5  Behold, I, the Lord, utter my voice, and it shall be  a obeyed . This sounds pretty arbitrary on first blush, and something with an old testament flare. What is God saying here?  When I look at these verses, I think ' what is God helping the people understand?' Its not like God sits all the early saints in a room and gives them long lectures about the universe. In all these revelations, even the long ones, there is a very little space to communicate many great things. This is how I interpret them: ' Saints, realize that my thou...

 Welcome! Section 60 The missionary guilt scripture :D Section 60 starts with a tough scripture. God says He is not well pleased with people who will not open their mouths, because of fear of man, and if they are not more faithful, what they have shall be taken away. As primarily and introvert, I struggled to open my mouth every day of the mission :D. Some days I felt like I did a great job. Some days... yeah, I had talks at night with the man upstairs. Opening our mouths can be really difficult, and for some people it comes easier and for others it can be harder. God knows our challenges and our capabilities so I wouldn't worry too much about comparing yourself to others, but instead I would focus on asking what God wants you to do. I would also focus on having great faith so you can speak from the conviction of your personal experience, and I would encourage great love, because perfect love allows you to talk straight-forwardly with people even in hostile circumstances. In fact, ...

 Welcome to another fabulous week of Come Follow me D and C! These next two sections are awesome! D&C 58 The Way laid out in 3 verses. I see God hinting continually in these verses toward an order that the saints (and undoubtedly us today) cannot yet see but which exists and which is the plan and purpose and fulfillment of our own existence. Check out Vs 2, 3, 4 in Section 58. Remember you cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of God. There is a game we might best describe as incredibly shrewd that is being played out on earth, and for all we know, many earths, worlds without end, and even our most aggressive postulations on it falls short of what is actually happening. That is why it is so important that once we understand the nature of God and our relationship to him, that we might exercise absolute faith and trust and obedience to His order of things. This includes wading through much tribulation. Every now and then we get glimpses of what th...

 Here we go again! I'm not going to speak to it here, but the circumstances behind a lot of these sections are crazy!! check out the Follow Him podcast or H&S commentary for a taste of the details. Section 51 Back to equality in the last blog post , I made quick reference to the trying verse in 49:20, that it is not given that one man should possess above another. I wrote a couple notes to guide the discussion. here it comes up again so we can talk to it more. Notice that God does not mention equality in Section 49. In 51, He uses this phrase - wherefore let my servant... appoint unto this people their portions, every man equal according to his family, according to his circumstances and his wants and needs.' Notice that God's idea of equality is not equal things.  What does He mean exactly? H&S propose that if one has a large family, or runs a large business, they will need more resources. they suppose that a perfect society is what man needs and no more. There is ...

 Welcome again. These Sections are very important because they have to do with finding the truth Section 49 Stop desiring to know the truth in part vs 2 mentions that there are people who desire to know in part but not all. The truth is more beautiful and terrible than anyone I know cares to bear, but that is part of the burden of being a Christ-follower. He didn't die for your sins so that you could live in apathetic twilight. He died so that you would become like Him and the truth will make you free, even if it hurts for a bit. equality, poverty, and politics the next few verses are going to make a stir in sunday school. Lets not get distracted by the basics -socialism is evil. Communism is evil. Stop fornicating on Satan's kingdom and using God's scripture to justify it. -The united order/law of consecration are God's kingdom. While this has been successfully created in times past, there is no usable pattern we have today that makes this work. I believe this is a mix...

 Here we go again! Super Simple. Super Good Section 46 Rules for meetings. meetings are a big deal in the Book of Mormon. Many times, wicked groups exclude people from assemblies. God gives some important understanding on the purpose of meetings and who should be there. Spoiler alert, anyone seeking God earnestly should be there. check out vs 7 for next level understanding on these verses. Stop Consuming signs on your lusts In vs 8 and 9, God reminds us for what purpose gifts are given. God isn't trying to prove His existence, don't worry, He already knows He exists. He isn't here to entertain us or to service us or other things like that. He is here to change us. So if you ask, be ready to change. Heavenly gifts Heavenly gifts have come up in the past. They are a big deal and we don't talk about them enough in the gospel. The most interesting thing in this part is that God says that you can have all the gifts. Ask according to the spirit. Section 47 keep your records. ...

 Hey Everyone and welcome to a full blown apocalyptic section in the good old D&C! We struggle to deal with apocalyptic prophecy. There just isn't enough material, or it isn't written in the right way for us to pidgeon hole it in the way we want. This has led me to believe that God wants us to treat prophecy differently than we normally do. The last time we ran into this in Section 29, I wrote a few guidelines to help get more out of these sections. now, if you really do want the best view of future events (you should), the two books I would recommend are Cleon Skousen - prophecy and modern times (written BEFORE the physical reestablishment of the state of Israel, by the way)  Duane Crowther - Prophecy, Key to the Future (written later and more comprehensive) These can help us to get a rough map of the events upon which we can hang the spiritual meaning, the more sure word of prophecey. Section 45 Here are some themes of Section 45 vs 2 do not let death overtake you in...

 Welcome! D&C 41 is a comparatively MASSIVE trove to go over, and if you are following me regularly, you know that this posting is already a week late :D I'm going to put down some highlights of the sections below. See if you also saw these. Section 41 vs 1 - God delights to bless us! (oh that we could unlock the mysteries of this promise) vs 3 - by the prayer of faith you receive the law (if you receive a law outside of the prayer of faith, consider questioning if you can truly understand or follow it) vs 5 - you can't just say what you believe, you also need to do it or guess what - you aren't actually a disciple Section 42 heading - the prophet specifies this revelation as embracing the law of the church (buckle in ;)) note from H&S - reference to improvement era 11/1933 where Pres. Clark mentioned, in reference to the Word of Wisdom 'it is not for me to attempt to suggest the reasons why the Lord gave this great law...' I think we can always ask question...

 Welcome! This is an exciting week because the tone of D&C seems to change starting with section 38. H&S consider Section 38 the beginning of the second period of these revelations, starting in 1831. this period ends with Section 72, just before some of the very well known sections are written. Section 37 Skipping comments on this one. If you have a good note for any of the 4 verses that comprise this section, let me know in the comments :) Section 38 A glorious introduction The first 5 verses are fast and furious, a little too fast for me to completely unravel. What I find most important about these verses is their reflection on the nature. Sometimes All the time, it feels impossible to comprehend the nature of God, and these can give us glimpses of glimpses of glimpses into God's being. Here's some fast fire. Vs 1-God is the great Alpha and Omega, who sees all eternity with hosts of angels before Him. Vs 2-He says things 'all things are present before mine eyes...

Section 30 Section 30 has so far been the most impactful section for me this year. I have never heard great attention put to it but I find it most apropos for today. Thats it. :D You will need to read the rest yourself and put what you find in the comments. Section 31 In Section 31, my only note was for vs 4. Most of the time the wheat is white already to harvest. Now it is white already to be burned. In the Book of Mormon earlier, there were multiple times where the command was to get out fast, and to labor in diligence until that moment. This passage reminds me of that. H&S make a note that Thomas Marsh was promised that his tongue would be loosed in vs 3. In Clay County, he spoke so impressively as to move General Atchison to tears and to pass a favorable resolution for the saints, which as I understand it, was the creation of a new county for their refuge. Section 32 H&S have some interesting commentary on Parley P. Pratt. Parley P Pratt was a campbellite preacher before co...