“Healing My Wayward Son!” GET TO THE POINT™ Come Follow Me: Alma 39-42

Get a copy of my book: https://www.amazon.com/Consider-Servant-Kendal-Brian-Hunter/dp/1555177522

Opening Hymn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlMSza7FZeM

I. Intro
i. You're looking good today and it feels good to be with you.
ii. Patter
II. News
i. At the bus stop, I met a missionary from Monterey, CA going to Monterrey, MX
ii. New Pres Church Manual for Pres Nelson. I have questions. read this-set aside--I have questions.
iii. Paris Olympics apologized.
1. D&C 64, forgive or we are greater sinners
2. Didn't just happen. Planned choreography, costumes, and rehearsals.
3. Why think okay? Preventative thinking.
iv. Church vandalized, Magna $60K: black churches get vandalized, our churches, too
v. BYU-I Now sells caffeinated drinks: how does drinking caffeinated sugar-water help lead you to Christ? Foster academic excellence? What are they doing to your pancreas?
vi. BYU is getting a medical school
1. One thing missing from BYU
2. Adds on to the nursing program.
3. Probably Provo High Campus
4. Close to UVH
5. Prophets is a physician, but they did have all this land, and it is consistent with University and Uniersity's unique mission
vii. Still no comment on the assassination attempt
1. Not endorsing any candidate, but relevant to BOM
2. Note
a. Lincoln
b. Garfield
c. McKinley
d. TR
e. Ford
f. Reagan
g. Bush-41
h. Trump
i. Being a Republican puts you at a greater risk for being assassinated than being a Democrat. Why??
viii. Lose Rights:
1. As what rights are in jeopardy?
2. What rights had under Obama, lost under Trump, Got back Under Biden and will loose if Trump gets a second term?
3. Can you provide links to legal documents where this happened?
4. No, just a scare tactics. Dislike him, but brain scrambles to find a reason to justify emotion. People respond to emotion, not sanity.
5. That may be the key division: reason and sanity, or fear and insanity?
III. Theme: Healing My Wayard Son!
i. Issues:
1. Youngest missionary son
2. Behavior with Isabel the harlot
3. Boasting
4. Doctrine issues
a. Resurrection
b. Spirit world
c. Punishment
ii. Approach
1. Personalized, customized, parental response
2. Behavior
3. Doctrine
IV. Alma 39: The Controversy
i. Problem framed
1. Behavior: Isabel
2. Boasting
ii. Doctrinal misunderstanding
1. 3 Worst sins:
a. Perdition, Unpardonable sin
b. Murder
c. Adultery/fornication
i. Gravity of what was doing
2. Atonement and afterlife questions
iii. Didn't over-complicate the fornication issue, just went at it.
V. Alma 40: Resurrection
i. Deals with first two doctrinal questions: resurrection and afterlife
1. Joseph Fielding Smith,AGQ 1:29
2. "The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ form the very foundation of the plan of salvation. They are the most fundamental doctrines of all the teachings in the scriptures. It is essential that every member of the Church have a perfect understanding of the reason why Jesus came into the world and the nature of his mission."
ii. Talks about life, death, a space and then a resurrection.
iii. In afterlife, two places, paradise and outer darkness (cover later )
iv. Some people thought this afterlife was a resurrection, Alma grudgingly concedes could be termed a resurrection
v. But real resurrection is from Adam to Christ
vi. Many resurrections, and a sequence to them
vii. My opinion
viii. Body restored (repeating what was taught in Alma 12), segue-way
VI. Alma 41: Restoration
i. Talks about restoration.
1. Not restoration of Gospel, but principle of restoration as part of the atonement.
2. Resurrection, Redemption, but also restoration.
3. Need to include this in our teaching about Christ's atonement
4. When we resurrect, there will be a restoration of things to their proper order.
ii. You (and reality itself) have a certain nature, and what you desire, and how you behave (your works) reveals and shapes your nature
1. Fallen nature
2. Good desires
3. Bad desires
iii. Coeternal external reality independent of opinions (D&C 93)
iv. Restoration restores you to your proper nature, for good or evil.
v. D&C 88:17-31; DHO Oct 2023 Degrees of Glory and Laws.
vi. Wickedness never was happiness. If desired evil, will get it restored to you. accept responsibility for desires.
vii. If desired and did good, you will get it back to you.
viii. Not karma, that involves reincarnation.
VII. Alma 42: The Redemption
i. unjust punishment in afterlife.
1. Nowadays, we say unmerciful, merciless to punish.
a. USA "cruel and unusual punishment" not a scriptural term, or category.
2. if judged by desires and works, no one to blame. Not in denial, not scapegoating, but accepting responsibility.
ii. Adam and Eve
1. Temple text, clarifies the Endowment
2. Issue of Darwin Dilemma: if no Adam and no Eve, just monkeys, what does this mean?
a. Two statement against evolution.
b. Individual GAs have advocated evolution, but people are good at compartmentalizing, and being in denial about the dichotomy.
c. Force a square peg into a round hole
3. Fall
a. probationary state, time to repent
b. Problem of Temporal death covered by Resurrection
c. Spiritual death by Redemption, and personal righteousness
iii. Cherubim (angels)
1. Sword to keep AE from Tree of Life
2. Counterfactuals, if AE had eaten, become immortal
3. No space for repentance
4. God's word void.
iv. Fallen nature, spiritual death corrected by Atonement
v. Principles
1. Law
a. Rewards and Punishment
b. If not law, system collapses
i. No sin, no justice, no mercy (2 Nephi 2 and opposition in all things)
ii. No law, no way for mercy to function
2. Mercy comes by Christ's atonement
a. This allows for repentance
b. Keeps law in tact : Mercy cannot rob justice, satisfy and overpower justice, but not rob it.
c. Expression: God cease to be God, Later
vi. Section with "quotable quotables" Danger of these to be buzzword, slogans, bromides, not perfect medicine  from the Great Physician
VIII. Odd points: Secon has some things that may seem confusing
i. If Corianton fornicated, why not sent home?
1. ERM, early return missionary issues health, etc.
2. This one not ambiguous.
3. I cannot say
ii. Crossing oneself: Take up cross.
1. JST Matt 16:25-26
2. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. And now for a man to take up his cross, is to deny himself of all ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my commandments.
iii. Terminology: Outer Darkness
1. Used for perdition
2. Really dark side of afterlife. D&C 138, BY Manual 38
iv. Degrees of Glory
1. Paul mentions them 1 Cor 15
2. No mention here. May have had it
3. Possible not revealed to them, Discuss this D&C 76
v. "My opinion"
1. Recreational Speculation
2. JFS, "Our methods in speculation and reasoning about the things of God may often be harmless; but if we depart from the simplicity of God's word into a spirit of rationalism, we become the victims of vanity, which endangers the true spirit of worship in the human heart ... The dangers of religious speculations are [great] ...  It is no discredit to our intelligence or to our integrity to say frankly in the face of a hundred speculative questions, "I do not know." "
vi. God cease to be God
1. W Cleon Skousen, traceable back to John A Widtsoe
2. Rhetorical device, like hyperbole
3. Reductio as absurdem, if this line of reasoning were true, then we have this absurd result.
IX. Christ  Quotient
i. Doctrine and Behavior:
1. Elder Boyd K. Packer November 1986:
a. True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.
2. Are we just focusing on socializing, or acculturating  behaviors, or even just gaining a testimony, rather than conversion?
ii. Focus on Christ
1. Resurrection, versus socializing: HBL "The business of the Church is not just to set up a social organization, or to have for its purpose--any other thing--than the saving of souls"
2. Atonement
a. "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will" Phill. 1:15
b. Christ has Law
c. Christ has Mercy
d. Integrating both
e. Tendency for the Left to  focus on mercy, and the Right justice, both are wrong approaches.
f. War in heaven wasn't about political parties,but about Christ ans Lucifer.
iii. Personalizing Christ
1. Internalizing, vital and vibrant in your life.
2. "if you believe all these things see that ye do them"  Mosiah 4:10
3. think about the "do it" gap--implementation, execution, do it gap
4. Get past the gap gets you to Christ--that's the point.

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