And wasn’t it all just hilarious? Speeches > Jeffrey R. Holland > “Remember Lot’s Wife”: Faith Is for the Future. In these cases of marriage and family and wards and apartments and neighborhoods, we can end up destroying so many, many others. Jeffrey R. Holland recalls the story of the prodigal son, which testifies that no matter how mild or how severe our sins, there is always a way back to light, peace, and eternal life. In his 1982 BYU address “The Inconvenient Messiah,” Jeffrey R. Holland, then president of the university, warned against the dangers of subscribing to “convenient Christianity.”… Continue reading. Titled "Living after the Manner of Happiness". We’re thrilled to be with you on it, and we love you personally with all our hearts. It is worse than Miniver Cheevy, and in some ways worse than Lot’s wife, because at least there he and she were only destroying themselves. Live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, of trust and divine love that will transform your life today, tomorrow, and forever. When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open up some ancient wound that the Son of God Himself died trying to heal. 5 - Fri., 8 am - 5 pm Speeches. My young brothers and sisters, I pray you will have a wonderful semester, a wonderful new year, and a wonderful life all filled with faith and hope and charity. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 23, 1994. ... BYU–Idaho. In more than a decade of visiting the site I have never seen a day where at least two speeches from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and at least one from Elder Neal A. Maxwell aren’t in the most viewed of all time. That is a New Year’s resolution I ask you to keep, and I leave a blessing on you—every one of you—to be able to do so and to be happy, in the name of Him who makes it all possible, even the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. I am not even going to talk about obedience and disobedience. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives. University Communications BYU Speeches Jeffrey R. Holland devotional and commencement speeches, 1980-1987. Stuck in a spiritual rut? Let people repent. As a boy he enjoyed sports (especially baseball) and played on every kind of team he could. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. It would appear that even before they were past the city limits, she was already missing what Sodom and Gomorrah had offered her. __________________________ BYU’s podcast ... A Robe, a Ring, and a Fatted Calf | Jeffrey R. Holland, Jan 1984. Our love for each other and our commitment to the gospel were strong, but most of all the other temporal things around us seemed particularly ominous. We can be so hard on ourselves, often much more so than with others! communications@byuh.edu Others noticed that he had the ability to influence his friends and always set the example of balancing fun and gospel living. He obtained master and doctor of philosophy degrees in American Studies from Yale University. So it isn’t just that she looked back; she looked back longingly. If something is buried in the past, leave it buried. Elder Holland was born December 3, 1940, to Frank D. and Alice Bentley Holland. Jeffrey R. Holland is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.. Elder Holland was born on December 3, 1940, and grew up in St. George, Utah. Yes! The past is to be learned from but not lived in. Is that faith? Devotional by Jeffrey R. Holland on December 1st 1998, titled: "Christmas Comfort" Tags. Later in his life he moved away from his community. Jeffrey R. Holland was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this devotional address was given on 13 January 2009. To find out, I suppose we need to do as He suggested. We actually know something about their jobs and what they entail. Apparently what was wrong with Lot’s wife was that she wasn’t just looking back; in her heart she wanted to go back. April 23, 2005. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland - BYU Speeches - 1988 Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments 12 January 1988 If some few of you are feeling the “scars . BYU Women’s Conference announced Wednesday that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will be the concluding speaker at the 2020 Women’s Conference. Convocations. Is it charity? Looking for books by Jeffrey R. Holland? It is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is probably going to result in some ugly morsel being dug up out of your landfill with the reply, “Yeah, I remember it. He wanted to increase significantly BYU's academic vitality and accomplishments, while strengthening and emphasizing its unique religious nature. ... Sign up for the BYU Speeches newsletter to receive monthly inspiration. So, as a new year starts and we try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. Sister Holland and I were married about the time both of us were reading poems like that in BYU classrooms. Can I trust in the Lord and in the future? We were as starstruck—and as fearful—as most of you are at these ages and stages of life. They dated for t… That is not good. The start of a new year is the traditional time to take stock of our lives and see where we are going, measured against the backdrop of where we have been. The following is the video and text from the address Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave during the 2016 BYU Campus Education Week devotional on August 16, 2016, in Provo, Utah. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. University Communications records, UA 5395 Series 2 Sub-Series 1. And soon enough everyone comes out of that exchange dirty and muddy and unhappy and hurt, when what God, our Father in Heaven, pleads for is cleanliness and kindness and happiness and healing. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Holland is accepted by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Jeffrey R. Holland was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this devotional address was given on 13 January 2009. This is an important matter to consider at the start of a new year—and every day ought to be the start of a new year and a new life. (I give that remaining one just another week.) ; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed” (Genesis 19:17; emphasis added). With any luck, she might have read, as I did, this verse from Edwin Arlington Robinson: When swords were bright and steeds were prancing; [Miniver Cheevy (1910), stanzas 1–3, 6, 8], To yearn to go back to a world that cannot be lived in now; to be perennially dissatisfied with present circumstances and have only dismal views of the future; to miss the here-and-now-and-tomorrow because we are so trapped in the there-and-then-and-yesterday—these are some of the sins, if we may call them that, of both Lot’s wife and old Mr. Cheevy. He has served on the governing boards of a number of civic and business related corporations and has received the “Distinguished Eagle Scout” award from the Boy Scouts of America. Elder Holland was active in professional educational activity prior to his call to full-time Church service. Jeffrey R. Holland recalls the story of the prodigal son, which testifies that no matter how mild or how severe our sins, there is always a way back to light, peace, and eternal life. To all such of every generation, I call out, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Faith is for the future. 218 University Press Building Elder Jeffrey R. Holland implores us to “Remember Lot’s Wife,” to avoid looking back, and to instead look toward the future with faith in the Lord. Classic BYU Speeches BYU Speeches Espiritualidades Ouvir em Apple Podcasts. What did He mean by such an enigmatic little phrase? It is not Christian. Too bad, too sad, that he was again to be surrounded by a whole batch of Lot’s wives, those who thought his past was more interesting than his future. Perhaps at this beginning of a new year there is no greater requirement for us than to do as the Lord Himself said He does: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42). And he died even more sadly than Miniver Cheevy, though as far as I know the story, through absolutely no fault of his own. No looking back at Sodom and Gomorrah here. General conference. overrideButtonText= Closed: Devotionals and Holidays, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [Philippians 3:13–14], No Lot’s wife here. Send comments on this article to magazine@byu.edu. Classic BYU Speeches BYU Speeches Spirituality 4.9 • 12 Ratings; Listen on Apple Podcasts. Future Students Current Students Employees Parents and Family Alumni One of my favorite books of the New Testament is Paul’s too-seldom-read letter to the Philippians. It is possible that Lot’s wife looked back with resentment toward the Lord for what He was asking her to leave behind. That is the thing Lot’s wife didn’t get—and neither did Laman and Lemuel and a host of others in the scriptures. We love this campus. In effect, this has been Israel’s history down through the ages. Let’s recall who Lot’s wife was. To the people in his hometown he was still just old “so and so”—you remember the guy who had the problem, that idiosyncrasy, this quirky nature, and did such and such and such and such. Commencements. Do As You Have Been Commanded—Even the Easy Things . © Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. I loved every word of their counsel to you last week, and I pray that my remarks to you today are consistent with their messages about light, about trust, and about the privilege it is to have the gospel of Jesus Christ enhance our study at BYU. BYU’s podcast ... a Ring, and a Fatted Calf | Jeffrey R. Holland, Jan 1984. If you're aware of any talks available online that aren't listed here, please let me know. We certainly know that Laman and Lemuel were resentful when Lehi and his family were commanded to leave Jerusalem. Do you remember this?” Splat. overrideCardHideSection= Yes! In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future. Search. Such is the wonder of faith and repentance and the miracle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. At the time of this call, Elder Holland was serving as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, to which he had been called on April 1, 1989. You can remember just enough to avoid repeating the mistake, but then put the rest of it all on the dung heap Paul spoke of to those Philippians. I’ll be okay without a degree. Well, guess what? We are grateful to President and Sister Samuelson for their kindness and their leadership at this university. . Jeffrey R. Holland was born in St. George, Utah. . Then our theme today comes in the next verse. Through his participation in high school sports, he got to know a cheerleader named Patricia Terry. At this point, let me pause and add a lesson that applies both in your own life and also in the lives of others. Jeffrey R. Holland. Speech: The Language and Love of Leadership: Author: Speech: What Shall I Do Then With Jesus? BYU Speeches 218 University Press Building The story of the prodigal son testifies that no matter how mild or how severe our sins, there is always a way back to light, peace, and eternal life. Most of his generation had moved on, but not all. Yes! Zero. The original story, of course, comes to us out of the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, when the Lord, having had as much as He could stand of the worst that men and women could do, told Lot and his family to flee because those cities were about to be destroyed. It is here at this moment in this little story that we wish Lot’s wife had been a student at BYU enrolled in a freshman English class. He is the author of eight books, one of which he co-authored with his wife, Patricia. He served a mission to England from 1960 to 1962 before returning to St. George where he married his wife, Patricia … I can do some things. See all books authored by Jeffrey R. 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