contention

The prevalence of a spirit of contention amongst a people is a certain sign of deadness with respect to the things of religion. When men's spirits are hot with contention, they are cold to religion. - Jonathan Edwards “The Book of Mormon does not supplant the Bible. It expands, extends, clarifies, and amplifies our knowledge of the Savior. Surely, this second witness should be cause for great rejoicing by all Christians.” - Joseph B. Wirthlin

Monday, November 18, 2024

Every land is Zion

"And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations...."

(Title Page, 2)

The blessings of the Gospel are available to every nation and people on earth, provided they abide by the covenants set out in the Book of Mormon.

IOW, every nation can be "this land."

“Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.” - 2 Nephi 1:7

there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth.

(1 Nephi 13:41)

28 But, behold, all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people shall dwell safely in the Holy One of Israel if it so be that they will repent.

(1 Nephi 22:28)

I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it.

(2 Nephi 29:12)

8 And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall commence his work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the restoration of his people upon the earth.
9 And with righteousness shall the Lord God judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

(2 Nephi 30:8–9)

8 For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.

(Alma 29:8)

28 Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance.
29 And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward.

(3 Nephi 21:28–29)

29 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord seeth fit in his wisdom that they shall minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and shall bring out of them unto Jesus many souls, that their desire may be fulfilled, and also because of the convincing power of God which is in them.
30 And they are as the angels of God, and if they shall pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus they can show themselves unto whatsoever man it seemeth them good.

(3 Nephi 28:29–30)

15 And inasmuch as my people shall assemble themselves at the Ohio, I have kept in store a blessing such as is not known among the children of men, and it shall be poured forth upon their heads. And from thence men shall go forth into all nations.

(Doctrine and Covenants 39:15)

6 Behold, verily I say unto you, for this cause I have sent you—that you might be obedient, and that your hearts might be prepared to bear testimony of the things which are to come;
7 And also that you might be honored in laying the foundation, and in bearing record of the land upon which the Zion of God shall stand;
8 And also that a feast of fat things might be prepared for the poor; yea, a feast of fat things, of wine on the lees well refined, that the earth may know that the mouths of the prophets shall not fail;
9 Yea, a supper of the house of the Lord, well prepared, unto which all nations shall be invited.
 10 First, the rich and the learned, the wise and the noble;
11 And after that cometh the day of my power; then shall the poor, the lame, and the blind, and the deaf, come in unto the marriage of the Lamb, and partake of the supper of the Lord, prepared for the great day to come.

(Doctrine and Covenants 58:6–11)






Thursday, November 14, 2024

How open source helps everyone

Instead of protecting its intellectual property, Tesla made it open source, thereby creating an industry standard.

Truth-seekers vs consensus-seekers

 

Truth-seekers take feedback from nature (planes have to fly), free markets (customers have to buy), or competition (militaries have to win). Consensus-seekers take feedback from people (actors want fans, academics want honors, politicians want votes, journalists want status).

Monday, November 11, 2024

Job of a leader

 

Steve Jobs on the most important job of a CEO “The greatest people are self-managing. They don’t need to be managed. Once they know what to do, they’ll go figure out how to do it… What they need is a common vision, and that’s what leadership is. Leadership is having a vision, being able to articulate that so the people around you can understand it, and getting consensus on a common vision.” Steve continues: “We wanted people who were insanely great at what they did… and the neatest thing that happens when you get a core group ten great people is that it becomes self-policing as to who they let into that group. So I consider the most important job of someone like myself is recruiting.”


Friday, November 8, 2024

Constantly reevaluate assumptions

 Good rule to follow:


One of the most important skills I see in successful (and good) people is to constantly reevaluate assumptions. They make predictions based on various inputs, some of them unknown, and reevaluate based on what they got right and wrong. They trust people not because they're always right--no one is--but because if you're constantly seeking the truth it's easy to identify those who are doing the same. If you were confident that Donald J. Trump was going to lose, maybe you should question what else you "know" about him. Maybe the people who misled you about his electoral chances have misled you about other things. In the words of Cormac McCarthy, "If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?"

Any excuse that you make for failure is a subconscious way of saying "I don't need to change." If you failed, you do need to change.






Wednesday, October 30, 2024

If you want to be authentic

 


If you want to be rewarded, you have to be irreplaceable. If you want to be irreplaceable, you have to be unique. If you want to be unique, you have to be authentic. If you want to be authentic, stop listening to everyone and everything else. It’s drowning “you” out.