Sunday PM Session Open Thread:I Stole This Subtitle From BCC, and I Don’t Feel Ashamed to Admit It

Thanks to Scott B. for the sub-title. I, of course, stole the whole idea of blogging during conference from BCC.  It is all about emulating Christ-like examples.

104 Replies to “Sunday PM Session Open Thread:I Stole This Subtitle From BCC, and I Don’t Feel Ashamed to Admit It”

  1. here is what I dont get. There is no other time in history that I would rather have my children, especially my daughter born into. I never get the pining for the good old days.

  2. I’ve become more and more confused about what the role of the priesthood is in the church other than administrative.

  3. Do kids still get their Eagle Scout awards nowadays? Really, should they?

    I got mine, but I can’t remember the last time I admitted it.

  4. I wonder if “gift of the Holy Ghost” originally referred to the gifts of the spirit–tongues, prophesying, etc–before it turned into this ambiguous thing that it is today.

  5. sanctifier and spirit of promise. It leads us too and keeps us on the straight and narrow. The holy ghost also validates all the ordinances.

  6. so the holy ghost will only be able to tell you something is wrong BEFORE you do it (required you haven’t done anything sinful and not repented for beforehand) as soon as you start doing it, the holy ghost will leave or avoid you and therefore no longer testify of the truth?

  7. #15 most likely. Any learned biblical scholars out there that can clarify this whole baptism by John / laying on of hands. I have always been a bit skeptical that those verses teach the story the church claims. Its all too convenient, yet never recognized as such by other christian sects.

  8. I interviewed President Bednar for the Ricks College Scroll. I also had FHE at his house. It was there that he made one of his “never” statements in relation to Ricks becoming a 4 years school. I wish he had been right.

  9. i think the pre and post is a matter of degree. Its all light (lights of christ, spirit, etc to me) Whether the confirmation actually gives more light or gives the individual faith to believe they have access to more I dont know.

  10. #19, I see it as the difference between having a girl/boyfriend and being married. Before you are married, your significant other comes over when you are being good and doing the right things. When you are married your spouse is there ALL the time unless you’ve done something wrong to make them go away.

  11. you can always use the bad analogy missionaries like to use. Pre/Post confirmation is equivalent to a pen having a no cap and then having a cap. Pre confirmation is like the cap being put over the pen, but it quickly is removed again. Post confir. is like having the cap put on the pen and staying there like a “companionship”

  12. @punjab,

    I too used the pen cap analogy as a missionary. Hearing you describe it, I now realize just how unenlightening it was.

  13. Oh no. nothing good happens late at night. this talk is a perfect description of how my parents raised me. It sucked.

  14. OK, really. Now if we are going to do this, we need to give youth some alternatives of what they CAN do. No sleepovers, video games, facebook, etc. Replace with scripture reading??

  15. so what happens when kids move out? They’ll no longer have those temptations? I know a family who never let their kids eat candy. As a result, those kids were the biggest candy munchers of all whenever they were out of the house.

  16. yet ANOTHER analogy that is going to be compared to the gospel. I don’t know about you, but I got sick of those when I was 11.

  17. For those of us who don’t embrace the idea of a literal, personified devil, I hate to say that GC talks sometimes feel a bit superstitious.

    I know that there’s evil out there. But when I’m dealing with a temptation, I tend to see it as a battle with my own weakness rather than with an actual, unseen devil.

  18. Chris–

    I don’t know, some of the talks get pretty concrete about the devil’s alleged powers and tactics. A nonliteral interpretation takes some effort.

    But as a general matter, I don’t think that speaking of a personified devil is inherently inconsistent with a figurative reading.

  19. I don’t like defining sin in terms of obedience to God, as if God’s concern is His own self interest.

    I far prefer Uchtdorf’s tendency to put it in terms of how we treat others.

  20. Was not the first miracle done in the restored church the literal casting out of the devil from someone possessed?

  21. 60 – No, it was surprising. There were a few scattered references when discussing sin, obedience, and righteousness, but no talk focused on it.

  22. And that is why the woman in his story should have used marijuana that over heroin. Prescription meds are often worse than weed.

  23. what about people that are addicted to the church (i know some) is “one drink” the difference between “alcoholism and sobriety”

  24. “What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.” – Walden

  25. In recent years, Ballard has been quite the proponent of technology (blogging, etc.). I would say he’s more comfortable with new media than some of his peers.

  26. might as well add thoreau’s even stronger statement. Not saying I agree with it all, but ouch

    Age is no better, hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so much as it has lost. One may almost doubt if the wisest man has learned anything of absolute value by living. Practically, the old have no very important advice to give the young, their own experience has been so partial, and their lives have been such miserable failures, for private reasons, as they must believe; and it may be that they have some faith left which belies that experience, and they are only less young than they were. I have lived some thirty years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors. They have told me nothing, and probably cannot tell me anything to the purpose. Here is life, an experiment to a great extent untried by me; but it does not avail me that they have tried it. If I have any experience which I think valuable, I am sure to reflect that this my Mentors said nothing about.

  27. Endure to the End. A great message to close with. A great conference. I am grateful for those who spoke and those who shared conference with me here this weekend.

    I love you all.

  28. More ‘video games are evil’ talks, I still can’t believe how loosely the term ‘addiction’ is used. Some of the most uninspired talks ever!

  29. I’m not a fan of Ballard’s pseudo-science. I mean, doesn’t cardiovascular exercise also trigger the brain’s “pleasure center”? Am I putting myself at risk of addiction when I go for a run each morning?

  30. Ah-Q, people do get “addicted” to exercise – lots of endorphins.

    Of course personally I dislike the expansion of the term “addiction” beyond all recognition. But Ballard in that is just reflecting the contemporary use of the word.

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