"Be Not Deceived, but Continue in Steadfastness" Pre-Class Post

On Friday, July 10, Daniel Jimeno Romero, age 27, from Alcala de Henares Spain was gored and killed by a 1,130 pound bull named Capuchino. Daniel's death, the first in the event since 1995, took place as he was participating in the outrageously dangerous "running of the bulls" in Pamplona, Spain. For a detailed description of the tragedy visit: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31843227/from/ET/

Today as I was mowing the lawn I couldn't help pondering the exceptional case of Daniel Jimeno. Sorry! There are really only two places, outside of the temple, where I am given to much private thought and meditation, one of them is when I am mowing the lawn -- just so happens that I do that every Saturday, so watch out class, more lawn-mowing insight to come in the weeks ahead! The question that kept creeping back into my thoughts was: "Why did he do it? Why would a man do something so crazy that they made fun of it in the opening scene of "City Slickers" with Billy Cristal. I believe the answer (and BTW it was also the reason given in City Slickers) was "excitement, caused by danger." If "curiosity killed the cat," boredom is man's Achilles heel, and, as in this case too, is a real killer.

As we read through the reading assignment this week, ask yourself: "Do I do that with the doctrines of the Church?" Do we as homo sapiens crave danger? Is the thrill and excitement of the dangerous so deep in our DNA, that we reject safe doctrine and counsel from God?

Knowledge is power. By recognizing the above propensity in ourselves toward the "thrilling" and the "dangerous" we can more than ever link ourselves to the Lord and His trusted and chosen prophets -- The First Presidency and The Quorum of the Twelve.

The Apostle Paul warned of false teachers in the last days, men and women who "having a form of godliness" would lead away even the elect of God. To these eternal thrill-seekers he warned that they would never be "able to come to the knowledge of the truth" [2 Timothy 3:1-7].

Whether it is the simple nature of their teachings, or the humble and uncharismatic way that they are presented to us, let us not turn away from the modern prophets because they are not, perhaps, "thrilling" or "revolutionary" (associated with "danger"), and in that way are unattractive. The Lord through His most charismatic of prophets, Joseph Smith, revealed that the characteristics of godly teachers, His "true messengers," would not be as dangerous teachings spoken by charismatic politicians or preachers. Instead they were to be they "whose spirit is contrite," "whose language is meek and edifieth," and "shall bring forth fruits of praise and wisdom" [D&C 52: 14-19]. Makes me think of Jeffrey R. Holland giving another humble sermon on goodness at General Conference -- no shouting, nothing dangerous or indecorous about it. Still, we can recognize the Spirit and the Savior that Elder Holland now represents, and be attracted to language that is meek and edifying.

Have a great week brothers and sisters! Remember who you are!