Why the Emphasis on New Revelation in GC?

[Hagoth]

New member here. I think that this change in quorum has everything to do with the large number of elder age men leaving the church. This is an attempt to try to have the older men mentor or provide leadership to the younger men. I doubt it will have much affect as there is very little about these older High Priests to look up to.

Hey. I am hurt

I'm a disaffected old guy (62) and I don't attend much anymore, so I won't have much influence one way or the other.

Why is it never heralded as revelation from on high when they change a meeting schedule from 1pm to 9am? In all truth, that is a more significant change in the lives of the ward members than whether there are a few more guys in the meeting resting their head on the pew or reading Twitter.

[moksha]

Did Nelson actually come out and say he received a for sure revelation such as, "Hey this is God here, and I sayeth like ye verily shall combineth the High Priests and Elders Quorums into just the Elders Quorum. Okay, you guys haveth a good time at thy Conference."

If he added the part about God saying so as part of tidying the celestial org chart for a better PowerPoint presentation to the Heavenly Host, then it would be more than just a policy decision.

[slavereeno]

Did Nelson actually come out and say he received a for sure revelation such as, "Hey this is God here, and I sayeth like ye verily shall combineth the High Priests and Elders Quorums into just the Elders Quorum. Okay, you guys haveth a good time at thy Conference."

First of all , second of all good question?

[Bremguy]

I think the emphasis on revelation was partly to try to keep us old farts from rebelling after being demoted.

I am attending a Special Priesthood Meeting today, given by our SP. I wonder what the purpose of the meeting is today ?
I will wait to see how it works out. But, the Ward will have at least 4 callings that will need to be filled when the Quorums combine. The Leaders, and 2 assistants, and secretary. I am our HP Secretary. I will see where I end up. The calling of a secretary is ideal for a NOM. You attend, take rolls, attend the HP leadership meetings. Little else.

[1smartdodog]

I think it is going to be fun to watch these two groups thrown together. I am going to attend Sunday and take some popcorn.

[BlackMormon]

I believe that members and others take these men and what they say too seriously. Operational changes are now "Revelations" - To me, a revelation would be something related to North Korea's threat to us or an upcoming big earthquake in Utah or, more details on spirit beings and the afterlife.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, members of the church buy into anything that comes from the FP as revelation.

[Raylan Givens]

Didn't watch GC, but my friends said it was a good one. Felt more coordinated, as if there was an effort to get our specific messages.

As my mission president would say, "Information is the best type of inspiration." I would say the same thing for revelation.

[Not Buying It]

Because President Nelson wants to be seen as a prophet, but this is the best he can do. He doesn’t really talk to God, and he doesn’t have much of a knack for innovation or a vision for a bold new direction for the Church, and he’s stuck in a 1950s world and doesn’t have the first clue what the Church needs today, and he knows the members will be deliriously ecstatic about anything he claims is a revelation regardless of how mundane or unimpressive - so as a result we get nothingburger revelations like this. I get the sense he really wants to be a prophet, but he can’t bring the goods.

[no1saint]

I think it will ease the creation of new wards or the promotion of new wards from branches as you won’t need to have x amount of high priests for the quorum to function. It will enable hundreds of branches worldwide to be upgraded, meaning more districts will be promoted to stakes, thus promoting the growth narrative. The removal of detailed unit information from public access will smooth the way for a better PR message.

[Random]

I was listening to a podcast by Denver Snuffer this morning wherein he bore his witness of being in the presence of Christ and being shown in vision the morning of the resurrection in great detail. The difference between Nelson and Snuffer and what they claim is enormous. No wonder Nelson et al view Snuffer as a potent threat to their very legitimacy.

It is a huge difference. I wonder if they consider him more of a threat than they did before - Or, at the least, they view the idea that someone besides Nelson can tell people what God is doing and what God says as threatening to them.

[blazerb]

These "revelations" from President Nelson seem like the next step in creating an attitude of lowered expectations in the minds of faithful Mormons. However, LDS leadership wants to keep obedience to leadership held high while not holding prophets, seers, and revelators held to high standards of divine knowledge or inspiration.

Here's what hit me this afternoon. RMN attacked a young father for not giving a baby blessing correctly. However, according to our scriptures he holds the power to stop the rain, start and end wars, cause famine and plagues, tell where our country's enemies are hiding, etc. Prophets supposedly did all these things to bring people to repentance. Is he doing the prophet thing correctly?

The revelation, as many have already noted, is not that big a deal. We can run ward with 4 fewer MP holders. There is no bold prophecy. I'm supposed to put my reputation on the line in the public eye to defend the church, but RMN does not. Of course, he may believe the church is True, but he knows that he is not getting instructions to wreak havoc on the world like the prophets of old. I'll give him credit for sanity, but why can't he accept that we are sane also.

That young father also knew he was not getting told the future about his child, but he wanted the baby blessed. He probably asked in prayer for the blessings he felt were most needed. This is no different from our prophets using PR and conventional business techniques instead of the miracles we see in the scriptures. I take that back, the young father is showing more faith than our leaders do. He knows his limits and is trusting God to make up for them through his prayer. Our leaders show no signs of accepting their limits, but also do not appear to trust God. They use very mortal means to accomplish their goals and then claim them to be miracles.

[ap1054]

As a first stab at trying to answer this question, it seems church leaders today may be a bit on the defensive about accusations they don't receive revelation anymore.

I am interested in hearing your thoughts.

Consiglieri – I'm speculating that this may be in your RFM queue... If so, can't wait to hear what you've got to say.

[Not Buying It]

These "revelations" from President Nelson seem like the next step in creating an attitude of lowered expectations in the minds of faithful Mormons. However, LDS leadership wants to keep obedience to leadership held high while not holding prophets, seers, and revelators held to high standards of divine knowledge or inspiration.

Here's what hit me this afternoon. RMN attacked a young father for not giving a baby blessing correctly. However, according to our scriptures he holds the power to stop the rain, start and end wars, cause famine and plagues, tell where our country's enemies are hiding, etc. Prophets supposedly did all these things to bring people to repentance. Is he doing the prophet thing correctly?

The revelation, as many have already noted, is not that big a deal. We can run ward with 4 fewer MP holders. There is no bold prophecy. I'm supposed to put my reputation on the line in the public eye to defend the church, but RMN does not. Of course, he may believe the church is True, but he knows that he is not getting instructions to wreak havoc on the world like the prophets of old. I'll give him credit for sanity, but why can't he accept that we are sane also.

That young father also knew he was not getting told the future about his child, but he wanted the baby blessed. He probably asked in prayer for the blessings he felt were most needed. This is no different from our prophets using PR and conventional business techniques instead of the miracles we see in the scriptures. I take that back, the young father is showing more faith than our leaders do. He knows his limits and is trusting God to make up for them through his prayer. Our leaders show no signs of accepting their limits, but also do not appear to trust God. They use very mortal means to accomplish their goals and then claim them to be miracles.

This is outstanding. There is an enormous gulf between President Nelson and the prophets from the scriptures he is supposedly just like. It’s amazing how members never see it - but then I didn’t for 30 years either.

[RS Teacher]

I didn't watch any of GC, but in RS yesterday, I was amazed to hear everyone gushing about how incredible GC had been. A couple of women said that they hardly dared blink because they were so afraid of missing any of these new revelations. There was just so much, they said.

I'd heard about some of these little policy tweaks to priesthood meeting and the visiting teaching program, so I really wondering what on earth the amazing revelations were that everyone was so rapturous over. Another woman said that she'd heard an interview with RMN in which he said he gets so much revelation during the night that he keeps a notebook by his bed so he can jot down notes. Seriously? Why would he make a claim like that if he literally has nothing to show for it beside a couple of policy tweaks?

I don't get it, but it sure has the TBM base energized.

[moksha]

President Nelson's previous attempt at a revelation by saying that God wanted the children of same-sex couples booted from the Church, did not go over very well. I think that if you are going to put words in the mouth of God, what you have him say should be somehow ennobling to the human spirit.

[Rob4Hope]

I didn't watch any of GC, but in RS yesterday, I was amazed to hear everyone gushing about how incredible GC had been. A couple of women said that they hardly dared blink because they were so afraid of missing any of these new revelations. There was just so much, they said.

I'd heard about some of these little policy tweaks to priesthood meeting and the visiting teaching program, so I really wondering what on earth the amazing revelations were that everyone was so rapturous over. Another woman said that she'd heard an interview with RMN in which he said he gets so much revelation during the night that he keeps a notebook by his bed so he can jot down notes. Seriously?

Really!?....I did a double take when I read this.

WOW. I missed it. Them there is some serious resolutions,...I mean rebalations...I mean revelations...