Not enough Church members partake of the ‘meat’ of the Gospel?

                           One of W. Cleon Skousen's doctrinal books (and still for sale on Amazon).

NOT enough members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints partake of the meat of the gospel, W. Cleon Skousen, Church author/scholar, said.

He spoke on April 3, 2003 to the B'nai Shalom group of Jewish converts at their semiannual meeting on "Lessons I've Learned from Life" at the Capitol Hill First Ward Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Skousen, then age 90, was energetic and focused. (He died less than 3 years later in 2006.)

"I plead with you," he said. "Take the time to get into the meat."

Skousen has written 42 books on Church doctrine and teachings, and he said they all touch on meaty aspects of the gospel. It was Elder John A. Widtsoe, a Church apostle from 1921 to '52, who taught him to study. Skousen believes Elder Widtsoe understood the gospel of Jesus Christ better than any other apostle of his time.

He said a key difference is that milk eaters of the gospel only ask "what" to do next, while meat eaters also ask "why."

"A few Saints get to the meat level," Skousen said. "The why and the how people are the ones that are really progressing in the gospel."

Why don't more get into the meat?

"Because most people aren't interested in meat," he said.

"There are some boring speakers. That's 'cause they get on milk and can't get off it. . . . It's the duty of everyone to be a good sacrament meeting speaker."

He said the big test in life is to endure to the end, but many are too busy with sporting events — even on Sunday — to do that.

"Don't let the holy day become a holiday."

Exercise, or just doing what the Lord has told you to do, is also essential.

"Church service is so important, and we should be active in the community, too."

Skousen also said he's a firm constitutionalist and initially believed it was wrong to be pre-emptive with Iraq and go to war over there.

"But I feel good about it now. . . . Serve your country."

Regarding keeping a year's supply of food, he advises those with old and outdated storage to just throw it away and start over.

"The wonderful thing is that you didn't have to use it," he said.

Skousen also advises church members to keep journals and said he has 150 journals outlining many details of his own life.

"We have a lot of things we have to sharpen up."

He's keen on both the leadership and progress of the church today.

"What a magnificent (church) leadership we have today. I see nothing but progress happening in the kingdom."

Skousen also touched briefly on his service as Salt Lake City's police chief in the mid-1950s by saying it wasn't his idea — Church President David O. McKay asked him to do it.

He also was a longtime professor in the department of religion at Brigham Young University.

-Witten by Lynn Arave and published in the Deseret News, April 12, 2003.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.