This is My Gospel

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This is My Gospel

• www.kevinhinckley.com

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Crime Update

• 1- One night many years ago I was on
  patrol and observed a vehicle blow
  through a red light at a major intersection.
  There had been plenty of time to stop, yet the
  vehicle had not even slowed down. I stopped the
  car and asked the young female driver why she had
  done that. The girl told me she had just had her
  brakes repaired, it had been very expensive, and
  she DIDN'T WANT TO WEAR THEM DOWN! Usually I give
  people a pass if I haven't heard their excuse
  before, but in this case she got the ticket
• 2- I stopped a car in a rural area of our county
  for going 80 MPH in a 55 MPH zone. The driver
  explained that he had a bee flying around his
  head so he sped up to 80, hoping that the bee
  couldn't fly that fast and would not be able to
  fly out of the back seat area to get at him.....
• 3- Fifth-grade teacher Susan Romanyszyn, 45, was
  arrested in Bucks County, Pa., in January and
  charged with 17 counts of threatening bombings
  and gun violence
• after she was assigned to teach fourth grade
  instead.

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The Genie Question

• If you had just one magic wish, what would it
  be?

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The Savior Question

• And it came to passJesusspake unto his
  disciples, one by one, saying unto them What is
  it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to
  the Father?
• And they all spake, save it were three, saying
  We desire that after we have lived unto the age
  of man, that our ministry, wherein thou hast
  called us, may have an end, that we may speedily
  come unto thee in thy kingdom.
• And he said unto them Blessed are ye because ye
  desired this thing of me therefore, after that
  ye are seventy and two years old ye shall come
  unto me in my kingdom and with me ye shall find
  rest.
• And when he had spoken unto them, he turned
  himself unto the three, and said unto them What
  will ye that I should do unto you, when I am gone
  unto the Father?
• And they sorrowed in their hearts, for they durst
  not speak unto him the thing which they desired.
• And he said unto them Behold, I know your
  thoughts, and ye have desired the thing which
  John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry,
  before that I was lifted up by the Jews, desired
  of me.
• Therefore, more blessed are ye,

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Doctrine and Covenants 7

• I will make the Apostle John as flaming
  fire and a ministering angel he shall minister
  for those who shall be heirs of salvation who
  dwell on the earth
• What is the difference between ministering to
  and ministering for?

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The Result?

• And it came to pass in the thirty and
  sixth year, the people were all converted unto
  the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both
  Nephites and Lamanites, and there were
  1)no contentions and disputations among them,
  and 2) every man did deal justly one with
  another.
• And they had 3) all things common among them
  therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and
  free, but they were all made free, and partakers
  of the heavenly gift.

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Question

• What is there about contention that is so
  destructive?

Where is the dividing line between
disagreements and contention?
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And- Where is The dividing line between
contention and tolerance?

• Elder Maxwell
• An otherwise permissive society, which tolerates
  almost everything, usually will not tolerate
  speech that challenges its iniquity.
• Evil is always intolerantly preoccupied with its
  own perpetuation.
• That Ye May Believe, 1992, 74

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Elder Ballard

• In the Church, we often state the
  couplet Be in the world but not of the
  world.
• Perhaps we should state the coupletas
  two separate admonitions. First, Be in the
  world. Be involved be informed
• Second, be not of the world. Do not follow
  wrong paths or bend to accommodate or accept what
  is not right.
• We should strive to change the corrupt and
  immoral tendenciesin society by keeping things
  that offend and debase out of our homes. Yetin
  spite of all the opposition to good that we find
  on every hand, we should not try to take
  ourselves or our children out of the world
• We are to lift world and help all to rise above
  the wickedness that surrounds us.
• Conference Report, 1989

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President Packer

• Some ask if we know how many we hurt when
  we speak plainly. Do we know of marriages in
  trouble, of the many who remain single, of
  single- parent families, of couples unable to
  have children, of parents with wayward
  children? Do we know? Do we care?
• Those who ask have no idea how much we care you
  know little of the sleepless nights, of the
  endless hours of work, of prayer,all for the
  happiness and redemption of mankind.
• Because we do know and because we do care, we
  must teach the rules of happiness without
  dilution, apology, or avoidance. That is our
  calling.
• Conference Report, April 1994

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Saint C.S. Lewis

• Those who say that children must not be
  frightened may mean two things. They may
  mean (1) that we must not do anything
  likely to give the child those haunting,
  disabling, pathological fears against which
  ordinary courage is helpless in fact,
  phobias.
• His mind must, if possible, be kept clear of
  things he cant bear to think of.
• Or they may mean (2) that we must try to keep
  out of his mind the knowledge that he is born
  into a world of death, violence, wounds,
  adventure, heroism and cowardice, good and evil.
• If they mean the first I agree with them but not
  if they mean the second. The second would indeed
  be to give children a false impression and feed
  them on escapism in the bad sense.
• There is something ludicrous in the idea of so
  educating a generation which is born to theatom
  bomb.
• Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel
  enemies, let them at least have heard of brave
  knights and heroic courage. Otherwise, you are
  making their destiny no brighter but darker.
• On Three Ways of Writing for Children On
  Stories, and Other Essays on Literature, p. 39