April 22, 2007

April 22, 2007
Sunday April 22nd 2007. Good luck on your talk Jon
Filed under: Uncategorized — Jimmy Hostility @ 10:26 am
Well I guess Michael had alot of flexing in the mirror to do yesterday, and didn’t have time to go rent Call of Duty. He missed out on some sweet action. Cameron still needs to break into the 21st century and buy an Xbox 360.

6 Comments »
Alright he is some comments for the Sabbath, i’m pasting my talk below. Thanks to the inspiration i got from some of you peeps. We should make an archive of files so we always have talks! : )

it was pretty much just a guideline so it wasn’t verbatim

Free Agency and its responsibility

The war in heaven was fought over agency, Agency won and we are here on this earth to “see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” Abraham 3:25

1. Responsibility to Learn (gain knowledge)
a. A Lady in Madison County, Ill. was a passenger in a car that got into a wreck in Dec 2004. After the accident she decided to sue “in excess of $150,000″ the automaker, claiming it “failed to provide instructions regarding the safe and proper use of a seatbelt
b. Moroni 7: 15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to ajudge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
16 For behold, the aSpirit of Christ is given to every bman, that he may cknow 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.
17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do aevil, 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.
c. We must be able to distinguish between good and evil
d. In the grand scheme of things, the response “I didn’t know” isn’t going to work? We have been taught by the scriptures and the leaders of the church to know the knowledge between good and evil, and more importanty, we have been given the “light of Christ so that we my have a “perfect knowledge”….. we need to learn for ourselves

2. Laws and accountablility.
a. Said he: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21.)
b. Commandments exist to give us purpose and direction; to keep us safe.
c. When I was 14 years old, my family went on a mini-summer vacation to Eureka Springs Arkansas, a few hours away from Tulsa. My best friend Spencer came along for the ride. We were having a good time visiting the shops and buying little troll dolls and slap bracelets which were the fad for young kids in the early 90’s. I can vividly recall Spencer and I waiting for my mom to run an errand outside of a motel parking lot. Being young boys and having nothing else to do, we noticed small rocks lying around so we did what any boy would do, we began throwing them. Throwing rocks is fun for a while but it is even better when you have a target to throw them at or by having a contest to see who can throw it the farthest. I picked up a medium-sized stone and said you think I can hit that light pole over there. Spencer said, “No Way!” …. So I hurled it as far and as high as I could. The parking lot light pole had 5 lights on it will glass globes covering the bulbs. The moment the rock left my hand, I thought to myself, “its never going to make it” Then all of a sudden, the glass globe surrounding one of the bulbs erupted in a small explosion. ……. No what is the first thing that you do when you do something stupid? …….. You look around to see if anyone was watching? : ) … Sure enough.. a cleaning lady making her rounds on the second floor had seen the whole thing. She came racing down the stairs and over to quicker than I could ever imagine, we just froze like deer in headlights. Right at that moment my mom and sister came back from their errands and I was marched into the manager’s office with my head down. We were told that I would have to pay for the damage, the cost 20 dollars.
d. According to the legend, Gyges of Lydia was a shepherd in the service of King Candaules of Lydia. After an earthquake, a cave was revealed in a mountainside where Gyges was feeding his flock. Entering the cave, Gyges discovered that it was in fact the tomb of an enthroned corpse who wore a golden ring, which Gyges pocketed. Gyges then arranged to be chosen one of the messengers who reported to the king as to the status of the flocks. Arriving at the palace, Gyges used his new power of invisibility to seduce the queen, and with her help he murdered the king, and became king of Lydia himself. King Croesus, famous for his wealth, was Gyges’ descendant.
e. We will be held accountable for all the how we have received and obeyed the commandments.

3. Responsibility to Embrace (not be compelled)

a. Generalzation about men compelled to take their wives out. (brethren, has your wife ever said, we should go out more often? Has she ever said something along the lines of “how come you don’t ever talk to me the same way you used to, where are my compliments, how come you don’t bring me flowers?” and then I say “look, I told you I loved you when we got married, if anything changes, I’ll let you know” : ) …. Then you say “I love you” or you bring them flowers. ….. It doesn’t have the same affect does it?
b. Does the Lord want us to behave, absolutely, but he wants us to do it willingly. Lets look at an example in the scriptures
c. The poor taught by Alma on his mission to the zoramites on hill Onidah 13: 13 And now, because ye are compelled to be humble blessed are ye; for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh arepentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy; and he that findeth mercy and bendureth to the end the same shall be saved.
14 And now, as I said unto you, that because ye were compelled to be ahumble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word?
15 Yea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed—yea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humble because of their exceeding poverty.
16 Therefore, blessed are they who ahumble themselves without being bcompelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without cstubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe.
D. Sometimes we are compelled to do things by others, maybe our parents make us go to church, maybe we pay our tithing because we are commanded to and maybe we treat our spouses better because they compel us to. Wouldn’t it be better if we were “willing” to do the things the lord has asked us to do? Even as the scriptures say, “MUCH MORE BLESSED”
E. One of my favorite scriptures Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
F. It has been said that “Our Agency” is truly the only thing we can give back to the Lord since everything is already his. By willfully keeping the commandments of God, we are giving him our agency.
G. (if lots of time – how Laman and Lemuel were compelled to go back to Jerusalem and the complaining; except when they go to Ishmael for brides)

4. Responsibility to Act (Action Required)
a. Agency requires action.
b. Moroni continuing worked to preserve the lives of the nephites against the laminites. When Mornoni saw that everything was not right within the Nephites himself, He wrote in a letter to Pahoran stating “the inward vessel shall be cleansed first” Alma 60:23.
c. Moroni understood perfectly the concept of purification, he was continually preparing and teaching the people for life’s struggles as well as fight for their souls.
d. I can remember a conference session I went to a few years back when we lived in Utah. You know the conference center has the nice big soft chairs just like the movies, it can be quite the feat to try and stay awake. Half-way through one Saturday afternoon session I noticed that there were a few people around me dozing off in their comfortable positions. I thought to myself, “these people are missing out on the words of the prophets” “they are right here in front of them!” “This is a once in-a-lifetime opportunity for some people and they are snoozing” All kinds of thoughts went in my head about why they were sleeping, was it because they stayed up to late last night, did they always sleep through church meetings, things of that nature,…….. when all of a sudden, Gordon B. Hinckley stands up, says a few words, and the closing song begins……….. I had missed the entire last-half of conference just like those sleeping people because I was sitting there thinking about them.
e. Was I in a position to help others? Was I in a position to Act? In high school I was a life-guard during the summer, one of the first things they teach you is that “YOU CAN’T SAVE THE LIFE OF SOMEONE ELSE IF YOU ARE NOT SAVE FIRST”
f. Once we have saved ourselves, we can help to save others. We can help others come to the gospel.

5. Millions of lives have been lost in wars fought for freedom. The righteous still fight today to maintain their spiritual freedom; given to them before their life on Earth. The atonement of Christ allows us to be redeemed from bad choices we have made through the blessings of forgiveness. The Savior has given us a choice; Josuah said “choose you this day whom ye will serve…. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” Everyone has a choice, in every situation; even if you can’t say “my house” or “my spouse” or “my friends” you can say “BUT AS FOR ME”

Comment by jtuffy — April 22, 2007 @ 4:38 pm

Very nice, tuff. I like the part that agency requires action. I believe that what we choose is truly manifested by how we act. Sure i might say that reading the scriptures is good, but unless i actually read them, i haven’t actually chosen have i? very good point, tuffy.

i also liked the point that you have to be safe before you can save other people. as far as agency goes, i think we need to remember that we only have power over our decisions, so we need to make sure that we are making the best and most correct decisions. otherwise, we might get taken down with the rest of them.

stupid frivolous lawsuits. any word on whether that chick won? she probably didn’t. most of those outrageous lawsuit stories are false.

i haven’t been around the internet so i haven’t posted much. i also have to say that my finals start next week so i will probably not be around as much then either. doesn’t mean i won’t come back. i really enjoy this.

Comment by The Scam — April 22, 2007 @ 7:58 pm

i have seriously been contemplating an xbox 360. if i have some flow after the summer’s over, maybe i can treat myself.

soon, boys… very soon.

Comment by The Scam — April 22, 2007 @ 8:15 pm

All right cam, you pick up a 360 and spence and i will foot the bill for Halo 3! “Oh snap!” LOL

Comment by jtuffy — April 22, 2007 @ 10:53 pm

yep we’ll get you halo 3 and call of duty 3. both alot of fun. Haven’t you every heard of buy now, pay later. don’t you have a credit card? Just charge it up. lol

Also very nice talk Jon. Did you get a standing ovation with the big finnally.

Comment by Oh Brother Bear — April 23, 2007 @ 12:31 am

Spencer’s ever changing names are so entertaining. “Oh snap!”

Great talk! I might have to “barow” it sometime

And Cameron, Finals are the time you need to post the most. You see, balance is the key. If you are spending more time studying you gotta’ take a little time for yourself to keep fresh. My Stake President was in our Elder’s Quorum about a month ago and talked to us about the importance of his golfing! He doesn’t let it out weigh his responsabilities, he uses it to aproach his responsibilities with balance and vigor. Taught me alot.

Sorry I haven’t been on alot this weekend everyone. We enjoyed a wonderful weekend with the Henrys. After this weekend I feel like I need to get a 360 also, though I was not impressed with 360 live. Spence spent more time fidle’n with it than playing. We had a great time though, thanks Brother Bear! (got a funny pic of him to post tomarow!)

Comment by Seth — April 23, 2007 @ 2:05 am