Sunday, September 23, 2012

Upcoming General Conference

I've heard from several sources that Elder Russell M. Nelson has announced to a number of Stake Presidents that President Thomas S. Monson has received a revelation that will affect every man, woman, and child in the church. This revelation is supposed to be announced in the upcoming general conference.

The last great revelatory program introduced in general conference was the Perpetual Education Fund announced by President Gordon B. Hinckley. That program is profoundly Christ-like.

During His ministry, Christ blessed lives in practical ways. He cured lepers; allowing them to return to society. He cured blindness; rescuing the blessed from darkness. He cured the lame; liberating them from physical captivity. His goodness conferred life-changing blessings, making practical changes to the lives of those he blessed.

Similarly, the Perpetual Education Fund has conferred practical, life-changing blessings. It mirrors the way Christ blessed people.

Not all beneficiaries of the Perpetual Education Fund have repaid their interest-free loans. Not all have remained active in the church. That is of no consequence. The goodness of the program is in the giving of the blessing. It does not matter whether those who are blessed are grateful. The church's (our) acts of Christ-like generosity is unchanged whether the beneficiary ever returns to thank us. Nine of the ten lepers never thanked the Lord. There is little evidence in the scriptures of the many who were healed by the Lord then becoming faithful disciples. The program is Christ-like. Its greatness consists in conferring a blessing. The Lord gives the sunshine and rain to all, the good and the bad. Very few are grateful to Him for that. It does not stop Him from being good and continuing in sustaining us all from moment to moment.

I encourage all to listen to upcoming general conference.


1 comment:

  1. Some of you were confused when I put up a reader's comments yesterday. What appears below was not written by Denver Snuffer. These words are written by a reader and unedited in any respect. It is offered only to show the kinds of comments the above post has provoked. This is a small sample and not all of the comments received:

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    The PEF is a fantastic idea but poorly administered in practice. The money is donated freely by members, then invested by Ensign Peak, whilst very little of it is spent on those for whom it was intended at all. Those who do get it are strapped with ridiculous requirements then made to pay exorbitant interest on the loan. I expect that one reason they removed it from the tithing slips is that they already have far more money than they know what to do with, and don't want to be on the hook to give it to the PEF program. ps - the increase in earnings and subsequent tithing should be interest enough for the church from PEF participants, as from what the church says the loans usually triple the earnings received by the grads.

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