Men's Night - Nov 13 - Prosperity and Consecration

[Clinton Blackmore]

Greetings, Good Men.

It is time to meet again.  Will Wednesday, November 13th work, at my house*, at 8pm, work?

Due to recent events, I'd like to discuss Prosperity and Consecration.

How do we become like the righteous people spoken of in Alma 1:26-31?  (What other examples of righteous people can we find, consider, and emulate?)

Here are some questions for our discussion:

• What is prosperity?  What is it not?
  
• Should we seek after prosperity? Where does it fall in our priorities?
  
• Can the same actions be good or evil depending upon the intent behind them?
  
• Why does this world have riches?  Why does it have poverty?
  
• Does God want us to be rich?  Does He want us to prosper?  Does He want us to grow?
  
• How can we consecrate ourselves?  Why does it matter?
  
• The discussion also begs for the question: what is the purpose of (my) life? What, if anything, am I supposed to do in my mortal state?
  

In addition to Alma 1, I'd love to discuss this talk from Elder Maxwell, “Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father”.  [text] [video]  Also, if you look up "Prosperity" on LDS.org, there are a lot of hits.  Take a look at this answer to someone's question about it.

My, there is much to this topic.  Take a look at Jacob 2:18-19, and this quote by Brigham Young:

The worst fear that I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches, for they will become the richest people on this earth. (Brigham Young: The Man and His Work, 4th ed., p.126-129) 

I really look forward to seeing you there!

Clinton

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* The Blackmores are living in Bill and Mary Simon's house.  It is 3 km out of Cardston, towards Waterton.  The street address, if you will, is 250025A Hwy 5.  If you get on Highway 5, and drive towards Leavitt, the highway goes straight for about three kilometers and then turns left.  You don't -- instead, turn off to the right, and drive down the lane to the house with a big green-roofed red barn, and you are there.  [Here is a map, where I've placed the marker as close as I could.]

[Bill Peavoy]

I don't have a problem with wives attending.  Two things to consider...

1.  We all have such amazing wives, it is possible the conversation could be dominated by them. Not saying this is a bad thing, but I would predict that such a conversation will be very different than if it were just the men.

2.  Wives tend to have a different take on this topic that might fundamentally shift the direction of the conversation.  Again, not saying that is a bad thing, in fact it may help us see the larger picture of prosperity rather than to focus more on our roles as providers.  Unless it is your intention that we discuss this topic in light of our provider roles.   

Certainly Prosperity and Consecration are principles that greatly involve both husbands and wives.  If your desire is to focus more on our roles as providers, I would encourage everyone to read the following short question on the subject answered yesterday by Oliver DeMille...

Why Are We Lying to the Kids?

In it, he suggests that the reason our society may not be as prosperous as we could or should be is that our education is too focused on Employee rather than Entrepreneur thinking.  Is it true that a society of employees can never potentially prosper like a society of entrepreneurs can?  That may be something to add to the discussion.  Is a consecrated Zion made up of more employees or more entrepreneurs?

Bill

 

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[Steve Pedersen]

I love the Elder Maxwell talk - it is one of my personal favorites. It came out while I was on my mission and was a source of thoughtful reflection, humility, and inspiration then and has continued to be. I think we could spend a month of Sundays on it!

On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 8:19 PM, Clinton Blackmore <clinton....@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Clinton Blackmore]

What say ye, good men?  Shall we invite our wives for Wednesday night?

Shall we garnish our talk of Prosperity and Consecration with Entrepreneurship?

Cheers,

Clinton

[Clinton Blackmore]

All right, I'm making the call.

Men, invite your wives to come with you to Men's Night on Wednesday.

Also, while the thrust of the conversation will be on prosperity and consecration, a little bit of time can be spent discussing entrepreneurship.

Tomorrow is a great time to study the scriptures and Elder Maxwell's words.  (It may not hurt to look at the consecration and prosperity in connection with remembrance day, too).

Hope to see you Wednesday.

Clinton

[Clinton Blackmore]

Men's night is tonight, at my house, at 8 pm.

Don't forget to invite your wives.

Cheers,

Clinton

On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 8:19 PM, Clinton Blackmore <clinton....@gmail.com> wrote: