an inspirational conference: part 4 (last one)

So - the final speaker was President Boyd K. Packer. He kind of jumped around a lot, but here are a few things that stood out...

in questioning when he had done "enough" and could give up on a particularly disruptive boy in his seminary class, "What if that boy was YOUR son?"

The Lord's voting for you, Satan's voting against you, you have the deciding vote...

The devil can't make you do anything. can only entice, he has his limits and can only do what we let him do - only has the power we let him have.

We should pattern our lives in a way that Satan can't be in it. develop self-control and eliminate negative influences.

"Are you so touchy that you don't like to be corrected?"

"The easy times are in the past" - he mentioned this several times, recalled the pioneer stories already shared and said that it was harder now. that we must be strong and faithful.

I think it is interesting when we compare the pioneer hardships with our current challenges. they are both hard. but very different. I think the biggest difference is that they battled constantly with PHYSICAL things. Today we are battling more against spiritual and moral issues. (I always thing of the scripture about putting on the armor of God, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.")

In those days it was a daily battle to stay alive. Now it is a daily battle to keep your head straight about what is right and wrong. To somehow see through all of Satan's lies and deceptions. We are bombarded on all sides with "political correctness," and "tolerance" (which turns rapidly into failure to stand up for anything on any sort of moral basis). I watched how torn apart many people (in the church) became over the prop 8 thing in California. People, GOOD people, seriously didn't know which way was "right" -
* defending the moral position that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that Procreation (sexual relations) is sacred and must only take place between a married man and woman. (the family:a proclamation to the world)
or
* defending people's right to exercise their "agency" to live in a manner that is in opposition to this moral position.

Talk about the lines between black and white, right and wrong, becoming so blurred that it is difficult to know which side to be on. I was on the debate team in High school (love it!) and I actually really enjoyed the challenge of defending a point of view that I (personally) didn't actually agree with. I can honestly understand how good, faithful, temple recommend holding members, could be on BOTH sides of this issue and feel that they were "right" and the other side is "Wrong."

In Isaiah chapter 5 we read:
20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

22Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

23Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

I believe that THIS is why we are living in more difficult times... back then, right and wrong were more defined. Roles were more defined. moral boundaries (even among the varied religions) were defined and expected. In our day, are absolutely fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah - that people call good evil and evil good.

I believe President's Packer's message of warning is that we MUST know the difference between right and wrong and we MUST chose the right. This is not something can be done sporadically or haphazardly. It requires faith, diligence, Study and prayer, obedience, and perseverance. We can't give up on one another either.

Wow - I'm really going after this tonight... Just for the record, the one liners up at the top are the notes - everything else is just kinda what came rolling out of my brain tonight. I think perhaps I should calm down and go to bed.

G'nite!