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“You have a misconception of the purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints … ‘First of all, we are asking all you fine people over here to keep all the glorious truths that you have acquired in your churches, that you have absorbed from your scriptures, keep all that, keep all the fine training that you have received in your educational institutions, all the knowledge and truth that you have gained from every source, keep … everything that is good in your character that has come to you as a result of your lovely home; keep all the love and the beauty that is in your heart from having lived in so beautiful and wonderful a land. … That is all a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then let us sit down and share with you some of the things that have not yet come into your lives that have enriched our lives and made us happy. We offer it to you without money and without price. All we ask you to do is hear what we have to say, and if it appeals to you, accept it freely. …’ (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith, Chapter 14)
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Olivia cried and fussed nearly whole way from Vegas all the way home, with very few moments of content. That was an experience I would prefer not to experience again for a while.
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Paradigm Shift: Prayer

This week I began to listen to Steven R. Covey’s Six Events. It’s a great book and I highly recommend it.

As seems his standard he doesn’t get too far into writing a book without mentioning shifting your paradigm, and rightly so. Without elevating the way you think, any meaningful changes you hope to make in your life will be stunted. As I have thought about my paradigm, I realized that in some of the basic elements of my  commitment-to-gospel-living paradigm need to be adjusted.

For example, I often remind myself, “James, you need to be better at praying.” The addresses the behavior, which is only a symptom of a deeper issue. Shifting the paradigm, I find myself saying to myself, “James, you can benefit from a closer relationship with your Father in Heaven.”

That’s really simple, but it completely changed how I approached my prayers and the entire spirit of my effort.  For example,

  • I need to read my scriptures becomes, What can I learn about Jesus Christ today? 
  • Going to church becomes an opportunity to renew my covenants and fellowship others.

Day One

I have always enjoyed studying the scriptures, but I have found lately that my efforts have gotten a little shallow. I think a big part of that is because I spent so much time on my mission as well as before my mission, studying very deeply, asking questions and excitedly sharing what I would learn.

As time has progressed, I’m no longer in school, and I find myself with a family to provide for and a profession that takes quite a bit of focus. As a result, my scripture study has devolved into scripture reading and isn’t the joy and interest that it used to be.

So here’s study.valentinejames.net, my personal scripture study repository. The goal is to create a place that is easy to contribute to, easy to reference and helps me to dive deeper into the scriptures again.

 

 

Zeniff’s Zeal

In my reading in the Book of Mormon, I came across the interesting retelling of Zeniff’s story by his grandson, Limhi, in Mosiah chapter 7.

As a quick review. After Mosiah I took the righteous Nephites and found the people of Zarahemla and set up camp. A few years later, a group of Nephites, including Zeniff, go back to their original lands to see if they could reinhabit the land. No one from back in Zarahemla hears from them for years, so they send out a delegation led by a man named Ammon, they find Limhi (Zeniff’s grandson) and the people under bondage to the Lamanites. This is what Limhi said of how they came into bondage:

[Zeniff] being over-zealous to inherit the land of his fathers, therefore being deceived by the cunning and craftiness of king Laman, who having entered into a treaty with king Zeniff, and having yielded up into his hands the possessions of a part of the land, or even the city of Lehi-Nephi, and the city of Shilom; and the land round about—

And all this he did, for the sole purpose of bringing this people into subjection or into bondage. And behold, we at this time do pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites, to the amount of one half of our corn, and our barley, and even all our grain of every kind, and one half of the increase of our flocks and our herds; and even one half of all we have or possess the king of the Lamanites doth exact of us, or our lives. (Book of Mormon, Mosiah, Chapter 7)

I was struck by how the zeal of Zeniff led to bondage. I don’t think zeal itself is a bad thing, but are there ways we get over-zealous to the point that it becomes a fault?

It seems to be that Zeniff took his desire to an extreme and it landed them in bondage.

Questions to Consider

  • What does it mean to me to be over-zealous?
  • What are ways I might be over-zealous?
  • How can I guard myself against being over-zealous?

The Two Deaths [PREZI]

Today, I’v put together something a little different as an experiment, you’ll have to let me know what you think. Using the presentation platform, Prezi, I give you “The Two Deaths”, an interactive slideshow discussing how Christ’s atonement helps us overcome both physical and spiritual death.

Use the play button below to get started or click more and then “Full Screen” for the full effect. Enjoy!