The title of this blog comes from a good man who is an old Baptist preacher and motivational speaker, Mr. Zig Zigler. He also said, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. Things that don’t change stay the same and things that stay the same become obsolete.” That reminds me of this scripture.
2 Nephi 2:11
For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad…
Opposition is great for by it we learn from our choices in life.
“In the last days perilous times shall come”, 2 Tim. 3:1–7 . From yesterday’s blog I asked you many questions about what is going on in the world today. Do you see these perilous times? What can we do about them? Should we just ignore these evils, or use the talents we have been blessed with and help overcome these evil things? I would love some feedback to see if you learned anything new about the evil in our world that you may propose a solution to help the world. Can we help to save the children, or can we warn our neighbor, or can we donate money to a specific cause, or can we send an email to a friend, or can we study our Constitution more? In other words how can we be in this world but not be of it? We can all help.
Parallels Good and Bad
All things God has created are good. Since this is a true statement, the Adversary will always attempt to make God’s creations seem bad or use them as evil. For example, the internet. Good or Bad? Movies Good or Bad? Priesthood, Gods true version or a false Priesthood? Tolerance Good or Bad? Basic tolerance of others is needed, Tolerance of ALL things everyone does is wrong. The Book of Mormon is good, many other books speak of evil motives. The Lord says, “read the Book of Mormon”, Satan says, “The Book of Mormon is true, but you can put off reading it as it won’t help you that much.” How about if we focus too much on Santa as we worship the Savior’s birth, or emphasizing “bunnies” during Easter, rather than the Resurrection of the Lord?
Moroni 7:16-17
“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.”
The saying of bad things happen to good people is so true. When we have trials in our life we can do one of two things: Blame God, or thank Him for the opportunity to learn and grow from the challenge.
The focus shouldn’t be, oh poor me, or why did this happen to me? Rather it should be, help me understand, or I appreciate the opportunity to become better. When a tragedy happens don’t say, Why did this happen, try saying what am I supposed to learn from this experience. I admit focusing toward the good is often difficult, but that’s why we live on this earth to be tested in all that we do. What a sad and futile world if nothing ever bad happened in life. There must be “opposition in all things.”
2 Timothy 2:13 “But evil men and shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”
Alma 42:16
Now, repentance could not come unto men except there were a punishment, which also was eternal as the life of the soul should be, affixed opposite to the plan of happiness, which was as eternal also as the life of the soul.
Alma 41:12
And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?
When Evil Appears Good and Good Appears Evil
By Elder Quentin L. Cook Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
“A Banquet of Consequences: The Cumulative Result of All Choices,” given at Brigham Young University on February 7, 2017. For the full address, visit speeches.byu.edu.
“How the adversary tries to mischaracterize and undermine the blessings of living according to the Father’s plan.
One of the most cunning aspects of the adversary’s efforts to thwart our Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness is his deceitful teaching that there is no evil influence or devil (see 2 Nephi 28:22) and his attempt to redefine evil as good and good as evil, darkness as light and light as darkness, and bitter as sweet and sweet as bitter! (see 2 Nephi 15:20).
This is sometimes called a paradigm shift—“when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way,” thus portraying things to be exactly the opposite of what they really are. In his classic novel The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis wrote from a senior devil’s point of view. Lewis inverted traditional values using irony and satire to make evil appear good and good appear evil.
In this vein, I had a provocative meeting with an internationally recognized advertising expert a few months ago. We were discussing the influence of evil and the consequences of bad choices.
He envisioned an interesting hypothetical account of Lucifer meeting with an advertising agency. The adversary described his dilemma: he and his followers had rebelled and rejected the Father’s plan and had come to understand that they could not prevail against God. Lucifer understood that while the Father’s plan was about joy and happiness, his own plan resulted in grief and misery. The problem, Lucifer explained to the ad executive, was how to attract followers.
It was determined that Lucifer’s only hope of success was to achieve a paradigm shift or values inversion—in other words, to characterize the Father’s plan as resulting in grief and misery and Lucifer’s plan as resulting in joy and happiness.
This hypothetical meeting serves a useful purpose. The truth is, not only do the enemies of the Father’s plan attempt to undermine the doctrine and principles of the plan, but they also attempt to mischaracterize the blessings that flow from the plan. Their basic effort is to make that which is good, righteous, and joyful seem miserable…
Let me share one other reality that is of great concern to me. I had a sobering experience in Jerusalem in 2016 at the Children’s Memorial, which is part of the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and I, together with two American Jewish leaders, laid a remembrance wreath. It is believed that more than one million Jewish children were killed during the Holocaust.
As I experienced the museum, I was overcome with emotion. Standing outside to regain my composure, I reflected on the horror of the experience and suddenly realized that in the United States alone, there are as many abortions every two years as the number of Jewish children killed in the Holocaust during the Second World War.
The Jewish children were killed because they were Jews, and there is no analogue to this in all history, but the intensity of my feeling was about the loss of children. Bringing children into the world is a sacred part of our Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness. We are so numbed and intimidated by the immensity of the practice of abortion that many of us have pushed it to the back of our minds and try to keep it out of our consciousness. Clearly the adversary is attacking the value of children on many levels.
Abortion needs to be approached carefully. This is a problem that will probably not be solved by personal condemnation or judgmental accusations. Some have cautioned not to judge a ship—or men or women—without understanding the length of the voyage and the storms encountered. I might add, many who engage in this deplorable conduct do not have a testimony of the Savior or knowledge of the Father’s plan.
However, for those who believe we are accountable to God—and even for many of those not of our faith—this has become a tragedy of monumental proportions. When you combine it with the demographic winter we just explored, it is a serious moral blot on our society.
President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught: “Supreme happiness in marriage is governed considerably by a primary factor—that of the bearing and rearing of children. … The Church cannot approve nor condone … measures which … greatly limit the family….
In addition, sacred teachings of the Church establish having sufficient for our needs as the best measure of temporal prosperity. Lucifer’s paradigm shift here is to elevate the seeking of great wealth and the acquisition of highly visible luxury products. Some seem absolutely driven to achieve the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Excess wealth is not promised to faithful members, nor does it usually bring happiness….
In addition to portraying blessings as misery, Lucifer seeks to undermine the Father’s plan and destroy faith in Jesus Christ and His doctrine. The assault on the Bible and the divinity of Jesus Christ has never been more pronounced in my lifetime than it is today. As the scriptures predicted, Lucifer is using many devices to accomplish this objective.
It is one thing to be misled by the adversary. It is another to be one of his mercenaries. Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said it beautifully: “How tragic it is that so many mortals are mercenaries for the adversary … and are … bought off at such low prices. A little status, a little money, a little praise, a little fleeting fame, and they are willing to do the bidding of him who can offer all sorts of transitory ‘rewards,’ but who has no celestial currency…” When Evil Appears Good and Good Appears Evil By Elder Quentin L. Cook Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Mormon Should Mean “More Good” By President Gordon B. Hinckley Oct 1990
“…Many of our people are disturbed by the practice of the media, and of many others, to disregard totally the true name of the Church and to use the nickname “the Mormon Church.”
Six months ago in our conference Elder Russell M. Nelson delivered an excellent address on the correct name of the Church. He quoted the words of the Lord Himself:
“Thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (D&C 115:4.)
He then went on to discourse on the various elements of that name. I commend to you a rereading of his talk.
The Mormon church, of course, is a nickname. And nicknames have a way of becoming fixed. I think of the verse concerning a boy and his name:
Father calls me William,
Sister calls me Will,
Mother calls me Willie,
But the fellers call me Bill.
I suppose that regardless of our efforts, we may never convert the world to general use of the full and correct name of the Church. Because of the shortness of the word Mormon and the ease with which it is spoken and written, they will continue to call us the Mormons, the Mormon church, and so forth…
“Look,” he went on to say, “if there is any name that is totally honorable in its derivation, it is the name Mormon. And so, when someone asks me about it and what it means, I quietly say—‘Mormon means more good.’” (The Prophet Joseph Smith first said this in 1843; see Times and Seasons, 4:194; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 299–300.)
His statement intrigued me—Mormon means “more good.” I knew, of course, that “more good” was not a derivative of the word Mormon. I had studied both Latin and Greek, and I knew that English is derived in some measure from those two languages and that the words more good are not a cognate of the word Mormon. But his was a positive attitude based on an interesting perception. And, as we all know, our lives are guided in large measure by our perceptions. Ever since, when I have seen the word Mormon used in the media to describe us—in a newspaper or a magazine or book or whatever—there flashes into my mind his statement, which has become my motto: Mormon means “more good.”
We may not be able to change the nickname, but we can make it shine with added luster.
After all, it is the name of a man who was a great prophet who struggled to save his nation, and also the name of a book which is a mighty testament of eternal truth, a veritable witness of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Mormon Should Mean “More Good” By President Gordon B. Hinckley Oct 1990
What’s in a Name?
“Today I feel compelled to discuss with you a matter of great importance. Some weeks ago, I released a statement regarding a course correction for the name of the Church.1 I did this because the Lord impressed upon my mind the importance of the name He decreed for His Church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.2
As you would expect, responses to this statement and to the revised style guide3 have been mixed. Many members immediately corrected the name of the Church on their blogs and social media pages. Others wondered why, with all that’s going on in the world, it was necessary to emphasize something so “inconsequential.” And some said it couldn’t be done, so why even try? Let me explain why we care so deeply about this issue. But first let me state what this effort is not:
It is not a name change.
It is not rebranding.
It is not cosmetic.
It is not a whim.
And it is not inconsequential.
Instead, it is a correction. It is the command of the Lord. Joseph Smith did not name the Church restored through him; neither did Mormon. It was the Savior Himself who said, “For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
The Correct Name of the ChurchBy President Russell M. Nelson Oct 2018
Make bad things good; good things better; best things the best!
