CHRIST, THE GREATEST WARRIOR, WILL HELP US WIN EVERY BATTLE Today marked the unveiling of our quorum’s official theme for 2015. After screening an excerpt from the Church video “Firm in the Faith of Christ,” in which the heroic Captain Moroni raises the Title of Liberty, our quorum’s own Brother Mike Bateman burst through the door of the chapel holding aloft our own standard — which we have dubbed The Lord’s Banner — and planted it in the ground before the elders. The present author then unveiled the rent fabric, which bore (in ancient lettering exquisitely rendered by the First Lady of our Quorum, Sister Davies-Nantais) the text of our 2015 motto and theme, as posted above. The motto was chiselled together from the marble of three passages in one of the finest speeches that President Ezra Taft Benson ever gave, a rousing defiant, BYU address titled “In His Steps” (linked here): speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=89 The first passage reads: “Great battles can make great heroes, but heroes will make great battle. You will never have a better opportunity to be a greater hero in a more crucial battle than in the battle you will face today and in the immediate future. Be warned that some of the greatest battles you will face will be fought within the silent chambers of your own soul.” The second passage gave our quorum the idea of creating a Title of Liberty of our own (bearing the EQ 2015 motto), and also gave our standard its official name — The Lord’s Banner: “Fortunately for us, we have the privilege of fighting under the Lord’s banner.” The third passage from President Bensons speech configures Christ in a way that the heroic founders of our Church, from Joseph Smith to “The Lion of the Lord” Brigham Young (along with their fearless foot soldiers, such as Porter Rockwell), would have recognized and applauded: “Christ lived on the earth and was subject to all manner of temptation, but He won every battle. He is the most successful warrior that ever walked the earth, and He wants to help us win every battle, be it personal or public.” Consider well those words: The most successful warrior that ever walked the earth. Truly…the greatest warrior. Following this presentation, Brother Dave Gravis taught an informative lesson on the importance of the sacrament. Especially notable was his BYU anecdote of meeting none other than the son of President Ezra Taft Benson, whose penchant for addressing his students as “troops” confirms the old adage that the militant apple falls not far from the tree. In other news, in sacrament meeting, (after a lovely musical interlude,) our ward presidency gave a talk on living a Christlike life. Each speaker shared fascinating insights, but Brother Davies’s clever three-way configuration of the Church acronym “CTR” bears recording: Choose the Right Remember the Covenants Carry the Recommend And in Sunday School, the present author taught a lesson on leadership, analyzing in particular the contrasting leadership styles of Helaman (a more inclusive approach to decision making) and Ammon (a more authoritarian approach), and how each style was necessitated by the circumstances and manpower that these great Book of Mormon heroes confronted. May we all rally to the Lord’s Banner in 2015 and prove to be loyal warriors in the service of Christ.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 23:12:19 +0000
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