I first want to start the post this week with a bit of a follow up on my first post ever back in January. In that post, I mentioned a talk given by Russell Ballard, a church leader who encouraged members of the church to engage in the on going discussion about God, religion and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through use of new media. Well, I found a talk given back in 1946 which contains the same invitation to church members by Elder John Widstoe, a former church leader who occupied, as does Russell Ballard, a position in the quorum of the 12 apostles. In this talk entitled "The Obligation of the Church," John Widstoe discusses the responsibility that he and other members of Christ's Church have to share the gospel with all the world because this gospel is the only one that offers true peace. I quote: "Missionary work must grow in foreign fields as never before; missionary work at home must increase as never before. We shall employ every modern device--the telephone, the telegraph, radio, printing press, the short wave systems..., and the other devices that are coming. We shall use them all in our attempt to win men and women from wickedness to righteousness, from untruth or near truth to full and complete truth, which is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ."
By this quote we see that the counsel and need to employ the means available to us is not unique to this generation of cyberspace and blogging. Rather, the Lord has always guided his servants to make the best use of the most modern processes and technologies to spread His gospel of peace throughout the earth.
I feel grateful for the chance to participate in this worldwide, ongoing discussion of faith and truth. I am so grateful for the modern technologies which are continually being improved upon. These technologies are capable of so much good if used correctly.