Lance's First Post-General Conference eNews

I was awaiting it's arrival with anxious anticipation, in order to read Lance's account of and his take on what happened at General Conference.  I didn't get that.  Lance has promised that that material will come in the future but not in this edition.

What Lance gave us was the text of his written report that was included in the delegate's docket.

Here are a few of my first impressions of it:

My take is that Lance's tone suggests that he accepts as reality that he is addressing a body that is in decline.  He doesn't say that in some many words but he seems to say it with each of his words.  He argues that we can not be consumed with a concern for self-preservation.

Also, and startlingly, Lance actually refers to the CGGC as an institution. This may have been inadvertent but it is stunning to me coming from Lance.

Then, the main body of Lance's report contains three words Lance states he believes capture the essence of Jesus' mission.  Interestingly, especially to me, each word begins with the letter R.  The words are:

Reach,
Restore, and
Reproduce.

My friends, what a lost opportunity!

I don't know how many times translations of the Gospels record Jesus speaking those words.   I'm certain, though,  that there are dozens of times Jesus spoke the R word, REPENT.  Jesus calls all people to repent!

The CGGC is in decline.   The Lord is not blessing us. And, in times like this, the message of Jesus has always and will always begin with the command, "Repent."

We have no hope to be restored before the Lord ourselves unless and until we repent. Everything else comes later.

Let us repent.

We must repent.