I’m still working on the Nehor series and anticipate several more videos will be required to cover all the material. I will continue posting them as they are ready.
Meanwhile, I’ve been asked by the conference organizers to post information about the “Culture by Precept and Practice” conference coming up in April. It will be held in St. George, Utah April 11-12. Click the link below to view full information at the conference website.
Hey everyone,
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I don’t see anywhere on the conference website any contact information.
ReplyDeleteCould you pass this along…
The sessions look great. Could you add some socializing events?
Posted in "That We Be One" and thought I would try to post here:
ReplyDeleteA follow up to ___’s “What the heck is going on here lately?!” post, I guess I’m wondering the same [because of how quiet it has been]. But, to make the question more specific, I’ve been thinking about the Mousetrap talk. I plan to listen to it again today.
On Dec 20, Denver said this was his most important talk and it would look different in a few months. Well, it’s been a few months. That was more or less the Winter solstice. We’re coming up on the Spring equinox. I’d say that qualifies as a few months, but I’m not sure the talk looks different to me. That’s why I want to re-listen.
I’m just wondering if it looks different to anyone else?
I’d love to pose that question more generally to the whole Covenant Christian body, but there doesn’t seem to be a good way to do that. I don’t have much visibility into these other places, wherever they are.
I can look on Adrian’s blog, but there hasn’t been much activity there. I know there’s a Slack space, but I think that’s only for the women. I think there’s an email thing, but I think that’s only for the women. I guess I can reach out to people individually, but I’m not sure where I would start and what the point would be.
So, I can pose the question here and I’m certainly interested in responses here. But, this is a pretty small sample size. The Covenant Christians don’t seem to be much of a body. More like disembodied parts. A hand here, a leg there, maybe an ear or a nose. But, not really a body.
I can’t help but feel a bit sad about this.
Someone responded to me on https://joyfulwells.blogspot.com/ asking me "...what do you think he meant (both before and after you listened to the talk again) and what are you hoping the people take away from the talk?"
Delete[By the way, just so I don't spam Adrian's blog, here's an email address where people can reach me if they want to respond privately: mypreoccupations@gmail.com]
Here's my response:
Thanks for your response. And I have to apologize (I suppose to the blog author) for spamming this blog with something that doesn't directly relate to the post. I likewise spammed other blogs and also posted in a couple of places on Facebook.
Anyway, I have to say that listening to it again impacted me more or less the same way as back in December. I'm struggling to get a grasp on what has happened over the last 7 years, because while I've been following the movement since the 10 talks, I have kind of been doing my own thing in my own family for the last 7 years. But, I've felt like it's time for me to re-engage.
So, I only have rough ideas of things that have happened and the challenges we're facing. With that said, the following really stood out to me this time around:
"...We want to go to Zion, get to Zion, see Zion, and we wrongly think anything or anyone that delays our determination to get that accomplished is of the devil. We fall prey to the misconception that someone else is delaying our achievement, when the fault lies inside of us.... We lack the character to be led gently and gradually in character development, choosing instead to be trapped into thinking our fellow Covenant Christians are hindering us. If you can think of the person, or people you blame the most for preventing us from achieving Zion, then you have identified who you need most to learn to love. You won’t ever go to Zion without them. Unless you are of one heart and one mind with them, you are unfit for Zion. Let that idea remind you of just how unlikely it is for us to escape the devil’s perfect mousetrap designed for us...."
And then couple that with the following:
"...We engage in the process of persuasion, but may frequently fall short of persuading. When our efforts fall short of persuading, we have no authority structure that allows us to impose an outcome on others. Failing to persuade is to be expected. No artificial deadline that appeals to a vote can ever remedy the failure to persuade...."
This reminds me of the April 2018 letter posted on Recorder's Clearinghouse. One group (the authors) saw another group as hindering the process of being obedient to God. The language of the letter lays blame on the group that was seen as hindering the process. I think these two excerpts from the Mousetrap talk don't leave any excuse for such a course of action.
In our haste to do something that we believed constituted being obedient to the Lord, it seems to me that we broke the more important commandment. Perhaps the statement of principles was irrelevant and the real test went completely over our heads. I think there's a very real possibility that this is the case.