458: OFFENSIVE NAMES AND MAJOR VICTORIES FOR SATAN.

"If we allow nicknames to be used or adopt 

or even sponsor those nicknames ourselves, 

He is offended."

President Russell M Nelson

"To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is 

a major victory for Satan. 

President Russell M Nelson

________

So, apparently these are major victories for Satan and offensive to the Lord. 

How did we let this happen?

Good thing we are correcting things now. So unlike the rest of the world who are fine with their own shortened iconic names, we now want everyone to refer to us with a 12 word phrase.

Jewish

Lutheran

Catholic

Protestant

Hindu

Muslim

Buddist

A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

. or maybe they could call us now "anti-Mormons" for short. :)

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Whether or not, the Lord really is offended by nicknames, I find it interesting that all of the Lord's people have been referred to in scriptures by "nicknames".. like the Israelites, the Nephites, the Jaredites, the Ammonites,etc. and even the repentant Lamanites who kept their nickname even though it could be viewed as less than positive.

Personally I am just hoping that I am worthy of being called a  simple Christian.


Sidenote:

I took all the talks given by President Nelson at conference and did a "wordle" which gives greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the talks. Looking at this, I think maybe we focus too much on CHURCH than we do JESUS CHRIST.




and just for the record:

On April 6, 1830, when Joseph Smith and five other men formally established the Church it was called the Church of Christ. The church was known by this name, Church of Christ,  from 1830 to 1834. It was NOT originally called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A number of other churches also used the name "Church of Christ" which caused a some confusion. So instead of keeping that name, we acquiesced and in May 1834, the church adopted a resolution that the church would be known thereafter as "The Church of the Latter Day Saints". 

Eight years later after the Church had been established, a revelation to Joseph Smith changed the name of the Church again to include Christ's name yet Joseph Smith also used the term Mormonism.

A modern day prophet also didn't seem to mind the term Mormon either. President Hinckley said the following in his conference address:

"Mormon means “more good.”It also means more of tolerance and mutual respect and helpfulness. Said the Prophet Joseph Smith, speaking in Nauvoo in the year 1843:

“The Saints can testify whether I am willing to lay down my life for my brethren. If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a ‘Mormon.’ I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any other denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves.” (History of the Church, 5:498.)

I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that when people speak of us by the name of this book, they will compliment us, if we will live worthy of the name, remembering that in a very real sense Mormonism must mean that greater good which the Lord Jesus Christ exemplified. "