Autoritatea Credintei

Citat din Prelegeri despre Credinta care am folosit in lectia duminica trecuta. Tema: ce trebuie sa cunoastem despre Dumnezeu ca sa credinta noastra sa aiba putere pentru salvare.

Dar, de asemenea, este necesar sa stie ca El nu este partinitor, sa aiba o idee despre toate celelalte lucruri minunate din caracterul Lui, iar daca acest lucru ar lipsi atunci nu si-ar putea exercita credinta in El. Pentru ca daca El ar fi partinitor, ei nu ar stie care sunt privilegiile lor, nici nu ar avea de unde sa stie pana unde au autoritate de a-si exercita credinta in El, sau daca chiar au vreo autoritate. Totul ar fi o mare confuzie. In momentul in care mintiile oamenilor ar intelege adevarul cu privire la acest lucru, ca El nu este partinitor, ei ar intelege ca au autoritate prin credinta de a obtine viata eterna, comorile cerului, deoarece Dumnezeu nu este partinitor si ca toti oameni din fiecare natiune au privilegii egale.

Prelegeri Despre Credinta 3:23


Vezi, de asemenea:

• 2 Nefi 26:33
• Alma 32:23
• Faptele 10:34-35

Daca stii engleza, iti recomand articolul acesta, care scrie foarte clar despre drepturile oamenilor inaintea Domnului: http://www.whatsoeverisgood.com/what-ordain-women-and-men-dont-understand-about-the-priesthood/

Predice lui Alma #1: "Aceasta mareata schimbare in inima" (Zarahemla)

Citeste blogul anterior despre Alma cel tanar.

Alma cel tanar a inceput misiunea lui in Zarahemla, orasul lui, capitolul nefitiilor. Chiar in cel mai mare oras, orasul in care traia liderul lor spiritual, unde a fost fondata biserica lor, oamenii aveau nevoie mare de "cuvantul lui Dumnezeu" (Alma 4:19).

In acordare cu cele trei motive al lui (vezi blogul anterior), Alma incepe cu un pic de istorie, si le aduce aminte de intamplari din ultima generatie: Alma cel varstnic, Regele Noe, Abinadi, scapare de la Noe, scapare de la Amulon, etc. Le aduce aminte pe poporul ca ei au scapat numai prin puterea lui Dumnezeu. Tot asta este usor de reamintit. Dar, in versetul 6: "Si mai mult, ati pastrat suficient in amintire ca El a eliberat sufletele lor din iad?" Sa nu uitam ca miracolul, sau "scapare" cea mai mare a fost ca ei au fost mantuiti.

In continuare: "Iata, El a schimbat inimile lor; da, El i-a trezit dintr-un somn adanc, iar ei s-au trezit la Dumnezeu. Iata, erau in mijlocul intunericului; cu toate acestea, sufletele lor erau iluminate de lumina cuvantului nepieritor; da, ei erau incercuiti de legaturile mortii si de lanturile iadului si distrugerea nepieritoare ii astepta" (v. 7). Salvarea spirituala a fost mai valoroasa decat salvarea fizica, si robie actuala a fost nimic fata de intunericul spiritual.

Versetul 9: "Si va spun voua ca ei sunt salvati." De ce sunt, si nu erau? Nu erau o alta generatie, si probabil toti decedati deja? De ce nu vorbim de ei in trecut? Pentru ca "a fi salvat" nu este un eveniment, ci o stare de a fi. Ei au fost, si acuma sunt in starea salvarii--este ceva vesnica, indiferent daca mai traieste omul pe pamant sau nu.

Predice lui Alma cel Tanar

Alma, fiul lui Alma, a fost un profet mare si invatator foarte bun. El a fost votat ca judecator sef in tara Zarahemla, dar dupa opt ani, a aflat ca nu poate fi un mare preot bun, daca simultan trebuie sa se ocupe de politica. S-a dat demisie si a plecat sa predice dintre poporul lui, ca "el insusi sa poata merge printre oamenii lui sau la poporul lui Nefi, pentru ca el sa poata sa le predice cuvantul lui Dumnezeu" (Alma 4:19). Avea trei motive:

1. Sa le aduca aminte la datoriei lor (vezi Eclesiastul 12:13)
2. Sa poata dobori toate mandria si tot viclesugul lor
3. Sa opreasca toate conflictele care erau printre oamenii lui

Why I Write, De Ce Scriu

(In limba romana mai jos)

I have recently been feeling a bit down because I feel so inadequate. I have this whole list of things that I feel need to be written about--like my current series in English on the Lectures on Faith, or one that I'm planning in Romanian about the discourses of Alma the Younger, but I'm not a spiritual genius, and I don't feel particularly insightful as I study or write. Mostly I just feel like somebody needs to write about these things, for two reasons.

First, as people who aspire to be members of the Lord's church, as He defined it in D&C 10:67-68, we sure preach a lot of stuff that violates the standard He gave us in those same verses, and we teach for doctrines the commandments of men (Matt 15:9). I cannot stress enough how important it is to realize that any teaching that is not faith in Christ, repentance, and coming unto Christ, is not His doctrine. Our talks, our lessons, our manuals and publications and handbooks are all full of commandments that are not doctrine, and it's not healthy for us. We need to invest a lot more effort in understanding what Christ's doctrine is, so that we can actually be His church, and not just another worldly imitation. (Hence my series on the Lectures on Faith.)

Second, in September of 1832, only two and a half years after the LDS Church was established, the Lord gave Joseph Smith a revelation that is quite shocking if you think about it: He declared that the "whole church," "the children of Zion, even all," was "under condemnation" (D&C 84:55-56). If you read the whole passage of D&C 84:54-58, you will find that we are condemned because we do not believe the Book of Mormon and have treated its teachings lightly. And unless we manage somehow "not only to say, but to do according to that which [the Lord has] written," a scourge and judgment will be poured out upon us.

And lest you doubt that this condemnation still rests upon us today, consider the fact that Ezra Taft Benson, whose teachings we study this year in Relief Society and priesthood quorums, taught this same principle when he was president of the Church. You can read a bit of it in our lesson manual.

We need to spend a lot more time with the Book of Mormon: reading it, studying it, applying it to our lives today, and praying for understanding. I worry that we pass through it superficially only once every four years in our Church curriculum. I can't do anything about the worldwide curriculum, but maybe by writing about the Book of Mormon and my own efforts to learn from it, I can help myself and a few others. That's all I want, even if I'm not very good at it.

What Ordain Women (And Men) Don't Understand About The Priesthood

This post was published on whatsoeverisgood.com, which is no longer available. Sometime in 2016 I realized the link was broken, and decided to track down the original post on archive.org. Below is the original article.

What Ordain Women (And Men) Don't Understand About The Priesthood

Tanner Gilliland, February 9, 2015

Think about a neighborhood. It’s an association of neighbors. You can’t hold the neighborhood, but you can hold a position in it; you can have responsibilities in it. Such responsibilities, like being a neighborhood watchman, do not make one more a member of the neighborhood than anyone else in the area. Neighborhoods are defined by proximity.

Botezul Focului si al Duhului Sfant

Cateodata gasesc probleme cu editia noua scripturilor in limba romana. Saptamana trecuta am aflat ca Ghidul pentru Scripturi nu are nimic de Botezul Focului si al Duhului Sfant. Ar trebui sa fie ceva sub "Foc, botezul lui" sau "Duhul Sfant, botezul lui," dar nu este nimic. Cum poate lipsi asa ceva, cand este o doctrina fundamentala ale evangheliei (3 Ne 11:35)?

Am adunat niste referinte si doua citate interesante, sa impart cu clasa noastra de scoala de duminica in Cluj saptamana trecuta.