In my last post, I referred to a sacred experience I had in the priesthood session of general conference on Saturday evening: "The Holy Spirit quietly but powerfully bore witness to my soul that Thomas S. Monson was indeed the Lord's anointed prophet, seer, and revelator for the season in which we now live. I am grateful for that revealed knowledge. Now my heart knows what my head already accepted."
I appreciated, therefore, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's comment the next day as he began his masterful talk in the closing session on Sunday afternoon: "Of the many privileges we have had in this historic conference, including participation in a solemn assembly in which we were able to stand and sustain you [President Monson] as prophet, seer, and revelator, I cannot help but feel that the most important privilege we have all had has been to witness personally the settling of the sacred, prophetic mantle upon your shoulders, almost as it were by the very hands of angels themselves. Those in attendance at last night’s general priesthood meeting and all who were present in the worldwide broadcast of this morning’s session have been eyewitness to this event. For all the participants, I express our gratitude for such a moment. I say that with love to President Monson and especially love to our Father in Heaven for the wonderful opportunity it has been to be “eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16), as the Apostle Peter once said."
The notion of a previous prophet's mantle falling upon a new prophet stems from Old Testament times. After Elijah was dramatically taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire (see 2 Kings 2:9-12), his mantle fell from him, and Elisha took it and performed his first prophetic miracle (see 2 Kings 2:13-14). The sacred text then records: "And when the sons of the prophets . . . saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha" (2 Kings 2:15).
And so it has happened once again in our time. The mantle of the prophet so ably worn by Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008) during the past thirteen years has now fallen on Thomas S. Monson, and the Lord's Holy Spirit rests upon him.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
A prophet of God
Thomas Spencer Monson became the 16th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints two months ago on Sunday, February 3, 2008. His appointment came a week following the death of President Gordon B. Hinckley, who had presided over the Church since 1995.
Yesterday morning in a solemn assembly at the beginning of the Church's annual general conference, President Monson was officially sustained as President of the Church.
Last night in the priesthood session of general conference, near the end of President Monson's talk to the assembled brethren, the Holy Spirit quietly but powerfully bore witness to my soul that Thomas S. Monson was indeed the Lord's anointed prophet, seer, and revelator for the season in which we now live. I am grateful for that revealed knowledge. Now my heart knows what my head already accepted.
Yesterday morning in a solemn assembly at the beginning of the Church's annual general conference, President Monson was officially sustained as President of the Church.
Last night in the priesthood session of general conference, near the end of President Monson's talk to the assembled brethren, the Holy Spirit quietly but powerfully bore witness to my soul that Thomas S. Monson was indeed the Lord's anointed prophet, seer, and revelator for the season in which we now live. I am grateful for that revealed knowledge. Now my heart knows what my head already accepted.
Friday, April 4, 2008
"My friend, my Savior, my Lord, my God"
One of the heroes of my young adult life, as I was beginning a family and a career, 
was Spencer W. Kimball, who served as the twelfth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1973 to 1985. As a humble servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, as a sweetly bold prophet of the living God, he fired my mind and heart and soul with faith and love and a resolute desire to keep the commandments of God and to bless and lift the lives of those about me.
This evening I came across this stirring witness he once bore of the Savior he knew and loved so well:
I add my own witness, given me by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father, my Savior, my Redeemer, the Light and Life of the world. His divine work is alive and well in this sick old world that needs His gospel and His love so very much. And, borrowing President Kimball's simple, straightforward words, I also declare, "He is my friend, my Savior, my Lord, my God."
was Spencer W. Kimball, who served as the twelfth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1973 to 1985. As a humble servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, as a sweetly bold prophet of the living God, he fired my mind and heart and soul with faith and love and a resolute desire to keep the commandments of God and to bless and lift the lives of those about me.This evening I came across this stirring witness he once bore of the Savior he knew and loved so well:
We place [Jesus Christ] on a pedestal as no other group I know of. To us he is not only the Son of God, he is also a God and we are subject to him. . . .
No matter how much we say of him, it is still too little.He is not only the Carpenter, the Nazarene, the Galilean, but Jesus Christ, the God of this earth, the Son of God, but most importantly, our Savior, our Redeemer. . . .
I add my own testimony. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.
He is my friend, my Savior, my Lord, my God.
I add my own witness, given me by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father, my Savior, my Redeemer, the Light and Life of the world. His divine work is alive and well in this sick old world that needs His gospel and His love so very much. And, borrowing President Kimball's simple, straightforward words, I also declare, "He is my friend, my Savior, my Lord, my God."
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
My love affair with the word of God
I love the Book of Mormon. I love the doctrine of Christ it teaches. I love the witness of Christ it bears. I love the spirit that accompanies it.
There is no book I have read more thoroughly or consistently throughout my life. I first read it as a twelve-year-old boy, influenced largely by my Grandma Batt, and it formed an important foundation for my faith and understanding and testimony. I do not know how many times I may have read it through in the years since then, but it has been more than once a year ever since President Ezra Taft Benson in the mid-1980s put renewed emphasis upon its centrality to our faith and testimony. So perhaps fifty times.
My love affair with the Book of Mormon in no way diminishes the regard and esteem and appreciation I have for the companion volumes of sacred writings compiled in the Holy Bible, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
A simple insight from tonight's reading in 3 Nephi, that portion of the Book of Mormon that contains some of the resurrected Savior's teachings to the Nephites, echoing His similar teachings to the people in the Holy Land:
Jesus said, "Beware of false prophets" (3 Nephi 14:15). Much of the rest of the Christian world would esteem Joseph Smith and his duly appointed successors down to our day to be false prophets, but without regard it seems to me to the verse that follows: "Ye shall know them by their fruits" (3 Nephi 14:16).
The abundant fruits of Joseph's mission are public record, beginning first with the Book of Mormon itself. It is a remarkable achievement by any standard. John Taylor mentions some of the other fruits in what is now section 135 of the Doctrine and Covenants (see, for example, D&C 135:3). I think I could list a dozen more positive fruits that are evident from the life and ministry and teachings of the Prophet Joseph. Perhaps on another occasion.
There is no book I have read more thoroughly or consistently throughout my life. I first read it as a twelve-year-old boy, influenced largely by my Grandma Batt, and it formed an important foundation for my faith and understanding and testimony. I do not know how many times I may have read it through in the years since then, but it has been more than once a year ever since President Ezra Taft Benson in the mid-1980s put renewed emphasis upon its centrality to our faith and testimony. So perhaps fifty times.
My love affair with the Book of Mormon in no way diminishes the regard and esteem and appreciation I have for the companion volumes of sacred writings compiled in the Holy Bible, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
A simple insight from tonight's reading in 3 Nephi, that portion of the Book of Mormon that contains some of the resurrected Savior's teachings to the Nephites, echoing His similar teachings to the people in the Holy Land:
Jesus said, "Beware of false prophets" (3 Nephi 14:15). Much of the rest of the Christian world would esteem Joseph Smith and his duly appointed successors down to our day to be false prophets, but without regard it seems to me to the verse that follows: "Ye shall know them by their fruits" (3 Nephi 14:16).
The abundant fruits of Joseph's mission are public record, beginning first with the Book of Mormon itself. It is a remarkable achievement by any standard. John Taylor mentions some of the other fruits in what is now section 135 of the Doctrine and Covenants (see, for example, D&C 135:3). I think I could list a dozen more positive fruits that are evident from the life and ministry and teachings of the Prophet Joseph. Perhaps on another occasion.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
The morning breaks
I have many favorite hymns. And through the various times and seasons of my life, different hymns speak to my soul in ways that strengthen my faith, fill me with love and thanksgiving, draw me closer to my Savior, and bring me peace. Some hymns remind me of important truths about life and God's tender mercies toward me and my family. And others celebrate His dealings with His children, centering often and appropriately in His redemptive sacrifice as Savior and Redeemer, but ranging also from the glorious restoration of His gospel in these latter days to His interventions in our daily lives to His anticipated and approaching Second Coming.
In this maiden post I reflect on one of my favorite hymns, a hymn text that celebrates the dawning of a brighter day, the breaking of a glorious new morning, the literal opening of the heavens as a part of the latter-day restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A phrase from the hymn serves as the theme and title of my blog.
"The Morning Breaks" comes from a poem written by Parley P. Pratt (1807-1857):
The morning breaks, the shadows flee;
Lo, Zion's standard is unfurled!
The dawning of a brighter day
Majestic rises on the world.
The clouds of error disappear
Before the rays of truth divine;
The glory bursting from afar
Wide o'er the nations soon shall shine.
The Gentile fulness now comes in,
And Israel's blessings are at hand.
Lo, Judah's remnant, cleansed from sin,
Shall in their promised Canaan stand.
Jehovah speaks! Let earth give ear,
And Gentile nations turn and live.
His mighty arm is making bare
His cov'nant people to receive.
Angels from heaven and truth from earth
Have met, and both have record borne;
Thus Zion's light is bursting forth
To bring her ransomed children home.
This hymn celebrates the opening of the latter-day dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, beginning in the spring of 1820 when the Father and the Son appeared to the boy prophet Joseph Smith. I think it appropriate, therefore, that it also appear as the opening hymn in the current Latter-day Saint hymnal (published in 1985) as hymn number 1.
In this maiden post I reflect on one of my favorite hymns, a hymn text that celebrates the dawning of a brighter day, the breaking of a glorious new morning, the literal opening of the heavens as a part of the latter-day restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A phrase from the hymn serves as the theme and title of my blog.
"The Morning Breaks" comes from a poem written by Parley P. Pratt (1807-1857):
The morning breaks, the shadows flee;
Lo, Zion's standard is unfurled!
The dawning of a brighter day
Majestic rises on the world.
The clouds of error disappear
Before the rays of truth divine;
The glory bursting from afar
Wide o'er the nations soon shall shine.
The Gentile fulness now comes in,
And Israel's blessings are at hand.
Lo, Judah's remnant, cleansed from sin,
Shall in their promised Canaan stand.
Jehovah speaks! Let earth give ear,
And Gentile nations turn and live.
His mighty arm is making bare
His cov'nant people to receive.
Angels from heaven and truth from earth
Have met, and both have record borne;
Thus Zion's light is bursting forth
To bring her ransomed children home.
This hymn celebrates the opening of the latter-day dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, beginning in the spring of 1820 when the Father and the Son appeared to the boy prophet Joseph Smith. I think it appropriate, therefore, that it also appear as the opening hymn in the current Latter-day Saint hymnal (published in 1985) as hymn number 1.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)