We
do not call him a criminal. He is a patient. He may be ill, but a
failure of society; and since society cannot be tried for its crime,
why should he take the blame?” [Joke: So the prophet quoted Reagan!
Why didn't any prophet quote California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger?-v] To be continued. GBY- BLTPJS-VJ
*3*4*5*6*7*8*9*10*11etc*** @We seem to shrink away from
punishing of criminals or the disciplining even of children. Crime in
the United States is said to be increasing nearly nine times as fast
as the population. One-third of our firstborn children in the United
States in two tabulated years were said to be conceived out of
wedlock. ('74) @In one year there were an estimated 400,000
illegitimate births in the United States; and many other countries
have like records. About half of the female dropouts from high school
were pregnant. The ugly estimates continue: More than a million
American women each year resort to illegitimate abortions. This is
one of the most despicable of all sins—to destroy an unborn child
to save one from embarrassment or to save one’s face or comfort. An
estimated 8,000 women die every year from such consequences. It is
reported that suicide is said to be the number one cause of death
among the U.S. college students. @ One popular writer said: “Jesus
Christ is not making a universal appeal today because of His moral
austerity. Right down the line Christ gives offense by His moral
austerity.” He rebukes our acquisitive society. He rebukes our
comfort-loving, take-it-easy philosophy. He rebukes our moral laxity.
He rebukes our reliance on force and our rejection of love and of the
royal way of life. Ours is a comfort-loving society. We equate
comfort with civilization. Thanks to our Heavenly Father and his Son
that the program is austere. @Paul identified it: “Unto
the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and
unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is
defiled. “They profess that they know God; but in works they
deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work
reprobate.” (Titus 1:15–16.) @
The
home is the teaching situation. Every father should talk to his son,
every mother to her daughter. Then it would leave them totally
without excuse should they ignore the counsel they have
received. @The number of parents who go astray astounds us. The
numbers of divorces that were the result, in whole or part, of the
infidelity bring us back to our basic theme as quoted in the Doctrine
and Covenants: “Thou shalt not … commit adultery, … nor do
anything like unto it.” (D&C 59:6.) @We say to all: Stay
clean in mind and body, and let nothing lead you into the bypaths
which will bring ruin and great distress to you. As the Lord
said: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,
Thou shalt not commit adultery: “But I say unto you, That
whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matt. 5:27–28.) @Now
the lust of the heart and the lust of the eyes and the lust of the
body bring us to the major sin. Let every man remain at home with his
affections. Let every woman sustain her husband and keep her heart
where it belongs—at home with her family. Let every youth keep
himself from the compromising approaches and then with great control
save himself from the degrading and life-damaging experience of
sexual impurity. There must be an early and total and continuing
repentance. @Every form of homosexuality is sin. Pornography is
one of the approaches to that transgression. There is no
halfway. @Some people are ignorant or vicious and apparently
attempting to destroy the concept of masculinity and femininity. More
and more girls dress, groom, and act like men. More and more men
dress, groom, and act like women. The high purposes of life are
damaged and destroyed by the growing unisex theory. God made man in
his own image, male and female made he them. With relatively few
accidents of nature, we are born male or female. The Lord knew best.
Certainly, men and women who would change their sex status will
answer to their Maker. @We hope this is another trumpet call.
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., said: “Our very civilization itself
is based upon chastity, the sanctity of marriage, and the holiness of
the home. Destroy these and Christian man becomes a brute.”
(Conference Report, Oct. 1938, p. 137.) Beloved brothers and sisters,
you are facing a trial of your faith. Will you listen to your
leaders? @Not all sins of this permissive world are with the
youth. I was shocked recently when I read a movie magazine. The man
spoke of marriage as a legalistic, paper-signing institution, and
said: “It should be abolished. Without the social pressures in the
state, it could be utopia.” He asked the woman. She said: “Marriage
should be done away with. I already know people who are living
quietly together without marriage, but I haven’t yet seen the
effect of this on children as they grow up in such a society.” @These
are not the only ones who are advocating living together without
marriage. We call this to the attention of our people with all the
strength we possess. @We say again: We members of the Church
marry. All normal people should marry. (There could be a few
exceptions.) All normal married couples should become parents. We
remember the scripture which says: “Whoso forbiddeth to marry
is not ordained of God, for marriage is ordained of God unto
man. “Wherefore, it is lawful that he should have one wife,
and they twain shall be one flesh, and all this that the earth might
answer the end of its creation.” (D&C 49:15–16.) @The
earth cannot justify nor continue its life without marriage and the
family. Sex without marriage, for all people, young or older, is an
abomination to the Lord, and it is most unfortunate that many people
have blinded their eyes to these great truths. @We have
discoursed many times about these worldly and pernicious things. May
we quickly and firmly mention other things which we must avoid if we
hope for the Lord to bless us. @Husbands and wives should love
and cherish their spouses. They must not break up their homes with
divorce, and especially through infidelity and immorality. @A
higher and higher percentage of children grow up with only one
parent. This is certainly not the way of the Lord. He expected for a
father and a mother to rear their children. Certainly any who deprive
their children of a parent will have some very stiff questions to
answer. The Lord used parents in the plural and said if children were
not properly trained “the sin be upon the heads of the parents.”
(D&C 68:25.) That makes it a bit hard to justify broken homes.
Numerous of the divorces are the result of selfishness. The day of
judgment is approaching, and parents who abandon their families will
find that excuses and rationalizations will hardly satisfy the Great
Judge. @May we repeat: Sex perversions of men and women can
never replenish the earth and are definitely sin without excuse, and
rationalizations are very weak; God will not tolerate it. @As to
abortions, we deplore the reported million unborn children who will
lose their lives in this country this year. Certainly the women who
yield to this ugly sin and the sin which often generated it, and
those who assist them, should remember that retribution is sure. It
is sure. @We marry for eternity. We are serious about this. We
become parents and bring wanted children into the world and rear and
train them to righteousness. @
We
are aghast at the reports of young people going to surgery to limit
their families and the reputed number of parents who encourage this
vasectomy. [vasectomy, Vasectomy, VASECTOMY, V A S E C T O M Y !
The apostles were aghast! How dare our men get a vasectomy? This is
wrong. This is against the plan of salvation, the plan of happiness,
the plan of redemption! Who do they think they are removing a gift
from God?Don't kick a gift horse in the mouth. D&C 88:33 For what
doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive
not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto
him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift. // There
are so many gifts of the spirit I have longed for, envied, been
jealous of, desired. Here is a gift of the body, given to every man.
Yes it is a gift that is sort of like giving a corvette to a 6 year
old. How in the world do we learn to drive it properly? How do we
make it work? And what are the rules of the road so we don't crash
into someone else? And there are men, persuaded by Satan and his
deceptions that the world is overpopulated and it is wrong to have
children. Besides that if you are sterile you can have promiscuous
sex without consequences. You will never have to pay for the support
of a child being born because of you! @ There are many wonderful
gifts Brandon but in my opinion sex was the greatest. Now compare
that to sight and taste and touch and hearing, (pause) love, family,
speech and thought, (pause) freedom, sharing, loyalty, sacrifice, (p)
color, light, texture, smell, (p) words, books, language, emotions,
(p) plants, animals, mountains, clouds, (p) music, voices, singing,
playing, (p) lakes, rivers, oceans, glaciers, (p) aren't all of these
gifts as well? Adrian believes religion, government and money are the
three greatest human constructs. And Vern believes sex is the
greatest gift? Answer: Children, offspring are brought to this earth
by sex. They are the source of greatest joy. This is my work and my
glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Even
HF in his omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence gets his joy
from his children, offspring progressing. That is his joyful work and
joyful glory. So yes, I am convinced that is the greatest and most
sacred gift/ sharing we have been given. So at first it might seem
out of place and absurd for SWK and apostles to feel so strongly
about vasectomies. But it is like cutting off your spiritual right
hand!-v ]Remember that the coming of the Lord approaches, and some
difficult-to-answer questions will be asked by a divine Judge who
will be hard to satisfy with silly explanations and
rationalizations. [[Did you like that sentence? I asked you to
star 10-20 parts that impress you. As you can see there are tons of
things that blow me away! How could he dare to say these things? Is
this really what the Savior would say? Can we just pass them off and
not pay attention? V-Sure! Would we be politically correct if we
endorsed them? No! We would be pariahs, rejects, mocked and ridiculed
if we repeated these teachings! Just be quiet. Don't pay too close
attention. They will be forgotten and go away. . . ]] He will
judge justly, you may be sure. @Why do we take our destiny in
our own hands? From the building of the first colonial cabin, the
home and family have been the center of true civilization. Any
distortion of the God-given program will bring dire consequences. The
families worked together, played together, and worshiped God
together. @Could it be possible that many of us, like a cork in
a stream, have been swept off our destiny line by false concepts,
perilous ways, and doctrines of devils? By whom are we enticed? Have
we accepted the easy way and veered off from the “strait and
narrow” way to the easy and comfortable way and the broad way which
leads to sorrowful ends? (See Matt. 7:13–14.) We know better than
we do. Will you listen? Will you follow the advice and counsel of
your leaders, local and general? Or will you choose your own paths
though they lead you into the dark wilderness? @God bless you,
our beloved people. Listen to the words of heaven. God is true. He is
just. He is a righteous judge, but justice must come before sympathy
and forgiveness and mercy. @Remember, God is in his heavens. He
knew what he was doing when he organized the earth. He knows what he
is doing now. Those of us who break his commandments will regret and
suffer in remorse and pain. God will not be mocked. Man has his free
agency, it is sure, but remember, GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED. (See D&C
63:58.) @Our counsel then to you is to live strictly the laws of
your Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ~@~
This is SWK's opening address in October'74. He had been the prophet
since January'74. He desperately felt the responsibility of cleansing
his garments of the blood of this generation! He did not want to
leave any stone unturned of his responsibility to teach and warn. He
was a little man and had an inferiority complex. 5 years into his
apostleship he had his first 2 heart attacks~! He had been trying so
hard to make up for his inexperience and inabilities as the newest
youngest apostle that he wore himself out! But he was a wonderful
gifted man. There was no reason he should have felt insufficient! He
was gregarious and a social adept. The saints loved him. He was the
student body president of his High School every year! His last year
his campaign slogan was: Why change horses now? I have been your
class president all the other years, why change? He seldom
rested Brandon. He was driven. And his community and service
organization loved him. He had one business failure after another
because of the depression but he worked just as hard as if he hadn't.
What a sweet, great, little dynamo of a man! Can you tell I love and
admire him? One of the weirdest requests he made in this talk was not
to use playing cards! Have you ever heard of that? Not to only leave
gambling alone but don't touch the gambling cards. Merrill Palmer
uses Rook cards instead. But you know how cheaply you can get a dozen
sets of playing cards? If I remember right you can get a new set of
cards for a dollar if you buy them in batches. One set of Rook cards
is $8! @ If you were to make a list of all he told us to do, how many
items would you have on your list? __ @ Next.
Since you were interested in Selena I ordered a book about movie
stars for you. I may be mistaken. You may not be interested. I don't
keep track of actors and actresses, singers and dancers. I could
probably tell you all my movie stars on two hands. But I ordered you
another book about Corey Feldman called “Coreyography”. Our
world requires some weird things of its child actors. I think parents
that encourage their kid to be in movies are retarded! They are
probably trying to live the life they missed through their child.
Same is often the case with mothers of cheerleaders. Those mothers
want their daughters to be popular and admired. Oh well. But what if
there were no children in movies. Wouldn't that be boring! I think
the greatest stories of all time are about coming of age. A child
overcoming massive obstacle to succeed and discover talents within
themselves. I love the innocence of those stories. The adventure, the
seeing things through new eyes. You know my saying: Every time a
child is born the world is renewed in innocence. @ Anyway, in
anticipation of the book you have coming here are 10 items published
in 2013 about the book. @October
28, 2013 2:05 p.m.10 Tidbits From Corey Feldman’s Memoir,By Jen
Chaney Corey Feldman in April, 1987 @Corey
Feldman's
new memoir, Coreyography, comes out tomorrow, and while the very idea
of a Feldman memoir might fill many with earnest, campy memories of
Tiger Beat subscriptions and hopes and dreams for kooky Lost Boys
trivia, you're only half right. While some of the book will indeed
sate people's need for eighties childhood nostalgia, the book veers
into heavy stories of Feldman's years of drug addiction and the
sexual abuse he says he and the late Corey Haim suffered through at a
very young age in Hollywood. To give a sample of the light-to-dark
range of tales in Coreyography's 288 pages, here are ten anecdotes,
arranged on an intensifying scale that goes from Fun Trivia to
Fascinating Hollywood Tidbit to Yikes, This Got Real. Note: This list
stops shy of the lowest lows and does not include some of the really
depressing stuff. @1.
In an effort to seem cool, Feldman brought a piece of Mogwai fur to
school while shooting Gremlins. It would have been better to have
waited until after the 1984 movie came out. “What the hell is
mogwai fur?” a kid yelled at Feldman, then threw a spitball at him.
@2.
Feldman, Corey Haim, and Dream a Little Dream director Mark Rocco
threw an epic party at The Four Seasons in L.A. and Rick (then Ricky)
Schroeder joined the fun. The studio told its stars and director to
relax for a final night in the suites that had been booked for the
Dream a Little Dream press junket in 1989. Instead Feldman, Haim, and
Rocco called some friends and threw an impromptu bash that quickly
careened out of control. Nearly 1,000 people showed up. A minibar
fridge wound up in a bathtub. In the morning, angry studio execs were
faced with a $10,000 bill. Feldman recalls the press reports that
followed: “If they’re to be believed, televisions were tossed out
of windows, Haim and Ricky Schroeder hosed down a stripper with
Champagne, and kids went streaking down the halls of the penthouse,
pandemonium into all hours of the night. I have no idea how much of
that may have been true — maybe it’s all true. All I know for
sure is that I don’t remember much.” @3.
When Feldman yells “Reverse pressure!” in The Goonies, he’s
actually thinking about Michael Jackson. Feldman, a major MJ fan,
spent weeks pestering Steven Spielberg, executive producer of 1985's
The Goonies, to bring his friend Jackson to the set. On the day the
cast shot the scene in which the Goonies mess with the plumbing at
the Astoria Country Club, Spielberg — who, according to Feldman,
directed 25 to 30 percent of The Goonies along with credited director
Richard Donner — used the moment to his advantage. Just before
shouting “Action” to capture Feldman’s “Reverse pressure!”
line, he said, “Today’s the day, Corey. Michael Jackson is coming
to set.” That got Feldman amped up enough to scream the line with
the proper Goonie-caliber oomph. @4.
Feldman came somewhat close to being cast as Danny Torrance in The
Shining. Feldman made it through several callbacks in his bid for the
role of Jack Nicholson’s son. But ultimately, young Danny Lloyd won
the right to say “Redrum.” @5.
Feldman smoked pot for the first time with Stand by Me co-star River
Phoenix. They persuaded some guy in the film’s sound department to
let them each take a hit off his bong. After giggling for a few
minutes, they both admitted they didn’t feel anything. @6.
Corey Feldman and Michael Jackson once went to Disneyland in
disguise. To avoid being spotted during their trip to the amusement
park, Feldman wore aviator sunglasses and a faux mustache, while
Jackson donned a fake nose (!), sunglasses, and “a giant afro.”
The close friends stayed for the entire evening without being
recognized. They got a last-minute room to stay overnight, and when
Jackson realized the room contained only one bed, he ordered a cot
for himself and insisted Feldman take the bed. Throughout the book,
as he has previously, Feldman maintains that Jackson never acted
inappropriately toward him nor, to his knowledge, other children. “He
was adamantly against drugs and alcohol, he was extremely
straight-laced; I couldn’t even swear around him,” he writes.
“Being with Michael brought me back to my innocence.” @7.
Regarding lost innocence, Feldman’s issues with his cocaine-abusing
mother were apparent to everyone on The Lost Boys set, including
Kiefer Sutherland. Feldman recalls that he recently ran into
Sutherland at an L.A. restaurant where the 24 star told him for the
first time that, during the filming of 1987's The Lost Boys,
Sutherland saw Feldman sitting outside of his hotel room in tears
because of his mother’s drug problems. Writes Feldman: “‘We all
knew what a mess she was,’ Kiefer went on. ‘There were so many
times I wanted to go down there, to shake some sense into her.’
Instead, he spent the evening with Jason Patric and Dianne Wiest,
sharing a bottle of wine and surfing channels on the television. But
every half hour or so, he’d pull back the curtains and peer out the
window, checking on me, checking to see if I was still there.” @8.
Feldman almost got fired from Lost Boys. After doing cocaine himself
for the first time, Feldman was so out of it on set that director
Joel Schumacher fired him. Fortunately, Schumacher changed his mind
the next day. @9.
While in rehab, Feldman shot up heroin for the first time with Dave
Navarro and Perry Farrell. At Exodus, a private rehab center, Feldman
— who previously had been cooking and snorting heroin — says he
finally did it with a syringe with one of his roommates (Navarro) and
Jane’s Addiction front man Farrell, who was visiting his rehabbing
girlfriend. @10.
Carrie Fisher encouraged Feldman to get off drugs. By the time
Feldman, then 17, shot the 1989 Tom Hanks comedy The 'Burbs, his drug
problems had become so apparent that director Joe Dante and co-star
Carrie Fisher were taking him aside on set and encouraging him to
seek help. “Please, listen to me,” Fisher implored him, according
to Feldman. “You are such a talented actor, but if you keep going
down this road, you’re going to throw it all away. You’ve got to
stop before it’s too late.” Feldman wouldn’t listen. @~@
So there was a little preview Brandon. Sounds like a strange life!
There are so many who slip on the drug path, aren't there! Any wonder
HF feels about it the way he does? It takes our free agency away. @
Next. What do you think of the statement: As ye sow, So shall ye
reap? // If it is true, and I believe it is, then serving and caring
for our spiritual siblings will be rewarding. I know you care for
your mother. And I know she cares for you. She loves how good a
reader you have become! She has high hopes for you. Personally I am
excited at the talents and skills you have developed. Now if you
could just feel wonderful/ significant in and of yourself! If you
could have all the confidence you need so the mockers didn't matter
anymore. If
you could only feel HF's love for you as an individual! Of course, if
all of us could it sure would make a difference. @
This talk is from the poet:NAM he is now an assistant to the 12! @
When the audience laughed and found his comparisons extreme, he
wasn't ready and sounded flustered as he was interrupted. New to the
calling! @My brothers and sisters,
I should like to speak of and to a particular group of important
individuals. These are they who fully intend, someday, to begin to
believe and/or to be active in the Church. But not yet! These are not
bad individuals, but good individuals who simply do not know how much
better they could be. Such individuals often stay proximate to—but
do not participate fully in—the Church. They will not come inside
the chapel, but neither do they leave its porch. These are they who
need and are needed by the Church, but who, in part, “live without
God in the world.” @To such individuals, in the brief, imploring
invitation which follows, be assured there is a real craving for your
companionship and a genuine need for your unique strengths. @There
are reasons for your commitment to be made now, for as the rush of
hours, days, and months grows stronger, the will to commit grows
weaker. Events to transpire soon on this planet will dry up the
options for the lukewarm, for the issues raised by Jesus are
irrepressible issues! @If, however, you really do not wish to commit
now, then let me warn of the following: Do not look too deeply into
the eyes of the pleasure-seekers about you, for if you do, you will
see a certain sadness in sensuality, and you will hear artificiality
in the laughter of licentiousness. @Do not look too deeply, either,
into the motives of those who deny God, for you may notice their
doubts of doubt. @Do not risk thinking the unthinkable, lest you find
yourself drawn with a deep and powerful pull toward the reality that
God does exist, that he loves you, and that finally there is no
escaping him or his love!
@Do
not think too much about what you are teaching your family, for what
in you is merely casualness about Christianity may, in your children,
become hostility; for what you have not defended, your children may
reject angrily. @Do not reflect on the practicality of gospel
standards such as abstaining from alcohol; for if you do, a surf of
statistics will wash over you, confirming that abstinence is
ultimately the only cure for alcoholism that is both preventive and
redemptive. You will also see that the living of one protective
principle of the gospel is better than a thousand compensatory
governmental programs—which programs are, so often, like
“straightening deck chairs on the Titanic.” @Do not think too
much, either, about other doctrines, such as the importance of love
at home; because if you think about them very long—in a world full
of orphans with parents—you will be grasped by a reality that will
make your teeth chatter. @Do not think, either, about the doctrine
that you are a child of God, for if you do, it will be the beginning
of belonging. @Do not dare to read the Book of Mormon seriously, or
you may suddenly realize that it is inlaid with incredibly important
insights from a millennium of sacred history. @Do not overpack the
luggage you plan to take with you when you leave this world, for we
simply cannot get most mortal things by celestial customs; only the
eternal things are portable. @Do not pray, for you will get answers
from a listening and loving Father. @Do not think too much, either,
about the possibility that there are living prophets in the world
today. Think instead about how those who are so sustained seem quite
ordinary in many ways. Forget that other prophets were fishermen and
tentmakers—ordinary enough to scarcely be noticed—except for what
they said and what they did! For the winds of tribulation, which blow
out some men’s candles of commitment, only fan the fires of faith
of these special men. @Do not let yourself reflect too much on the
social, political, and economic indicators that suggest the gathering
storm, lest you realize that there is an inseparable connection
between the keeping of the commandments and the well-being of
society. @Do not read what the holiest inhabitant ever to live on
this planet said about the necessity of certain ordinances, or you
will see that he allowed for no exceptions, including himself. @Do
not search the scriptures to see if good people still need the
Church, for the best being who ever lived organized the
Church—because random, individual goodness is not enough in the
fight against evil. @Do not, if you have been offended, recall that
while you may have been bumped by an ecclesiastical elbow, the chip
was on your shoulder long before the elbow appeared. @Do not be fully
honest about the hypocrisy of those in the Church who may pretend to
be better than they are, or you will soon realize that there is also
another form of hypocrisy—appearing to be less committed than one
really is! @Yes, brothers and sisters, it is best to avoid all such
things as these if you wish to continue
to
delay deciding about Christ and his church. @However, Joshua didn’t
say choose you next year whom you will serve; he spoke of “this
day,” while there is still daylight and before the darkness becomes
more and more normal. (See Josh. 24:15.) @When Jesus called his first
disciples, the scriptures record that they left their ships and nets
“straightway.” They didn’t ask to join Jesus after the fishing
season; they didn’t even delay their response in order to make just
one more catch. They left “straightway”! (See Matt. 4:20.) @Act,
my brothers and sisters, for once the soul is tilted toward belief,
and once there is even a desire to believe, then marvelous things
begin to happen! Once one leaves the porch and comes inside the
Church, then one not only hears the music more clearly—he becomes a
part of it. @Act now, so that a thousand years from now, when you
look back at this moment, you can say this was a moment that
mattered—this was a day of determination. @Never mind, therefore,
that you have made an investment of self and time in inactivity.
Never mind that there is an accumulation of pride that will make it
difficult to acknowledge that you have been wrong, for it will never
be easier to do than it is now. @All must know that feeling which is
associated with a broken heart and a contrite spirit—by which we
are cleansed by the hot, holy fire of a special shame, so that we
might, thereafter, have a more pure love and a greater capacity to
serve both God and man. Hearts “set so much upon the things of this
world” are hearts so set they must first be broken. @Indeed, one of
the most cruel games anyone can play with self is the “not yet”
game—hoping to sin just a bit more before ceasing; to enjoy the
praise of the world a little longer before turning away from the
applause; to win just once more in the wearying sweepstakes of
materialism; to be chaste, but not yet; to be good neighbors, but not
now. One can play upon the harpstrings of hesitations and
reservations just so long, and then one faces that special moment—a
moment when what has been sensed, mutely, suddenly finds voice and
cries out with tears, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
(Mark 9:24.) @The truth is that “not yet” usually means “never.”
Trying to run away from the responsibility to decide about Christ is
childish. Pilate sought to refuse responsibility for deciding about
Christ, but Pilate’s hands were never dirtier than just after he
had washed them. @The past of each of us is now inflexible. We need
to concentrate on what has been called “the holy present,” for
now is sacred; we never really live in the future. The holy gift of
life always takes the form of now. Besides, God asks us now to give
up only those things which, if clung to, will destroy us!
Gby-bltpjs-vj This talk is so potent that it is perfect for
splitting in half! Half is enough!
To
be continued:
@And
when we tear ourselves free from the entanglements of the world, are
we promised a religion of repose or an Eden of ease? No! We are
promised tears and trials and toil! But we are also promised final
triumph, the mere contemplation of which tingles one’s soul. @
My
friends, there are footprints to follow where we must go—made not
by a leader who said, safely from the sidelines, “Go thither,”
but by a leader who said, “Come, follow me.” And our mortal
leader is a prophet who is showing us how to lengthen our stride.
@Yes, for those in the Church’s courtyard or on its porch, ask not
“for whom the [Church] bell tolls; It tolls for thee.” (John
Donne, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation XVII.)
And,
if you sense that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall
confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, why not do so now? For in the
coming of that collective confession, it will mean much less to kneel
down when it is no longer possible to stand up!
Meanwhile,
may we be different in order to make a difference in the world. And
may God hasten that time for all our sakes, I pray in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.
