Flooding My Life with the Book of Mormon 2.0

2 Nephi 1:10 But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them. This land of the Western Hemisphere was precious to the Nephites because it was a place to start over, free from the wickedness of apostate Israel, and build a society dedicated to God and looking forward to the coming of the Messiah.  This land is precious to us today because it is where the gospel could be restored, a...

1 Nephi 20:5 And I have even from the beginning declared to thee; before it came to pass I showed them thee; and I showed them for fear lest thou shouldst say—Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them. People must sometimes work hard to create their idols. Images of stone require expert carving with hammers and chisels. They can take a long time to take a recognizable shape, and the carving process makes quite a mess. Statues of metal require intense heat and a great deal of hammering to form them.  Idols do not just pop into existence and grab people by the collar and haul them in. They must be carefully and painstakingly fashioned. Idols do not come about by accident, but only through careful planning, persistence, and practiced workmanship. No wonder they are so hard to cast away when the true God invites people to worship Him. My idols have been years in the making. Some I inherited, others have been transmitted to me through my cult...

1 Nephi 16:3 And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us. Murmur shows up many times in the Book of Mormon. It means to express one's discontent about (someone or something) in a subdued manner. It is a form of passive aggression. It is a tactic of the devil to spread contention among people and destroy faith by gradually wearing it away. If I meet a solid challenge to my faith, I can meet it with power. But when indistinct doubt rubs the polish off gradually, I hardly notice the tarnish until it is too late.

1 Nephi 14:3 And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children , that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell—yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the Lamb of God; not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end. The great and abominable church is not atheism or materialism or some variation of Christianity; it's paganism.  Only two fundamental belief systems exist in the world. Since Adam and Eve, people have either believed in the one true God or they have not. God initiated each dispensation to restore the truth about Himself and His Son. Each dispensation kindles a light in a world of darkness. We call that darkness paganism.  Paganism is a belief in anything other than the true God. It strips people of dignity and what Chris...