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Welcome to Meridian Magazine’s podcast which focuses on the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Come Follow Me curriculum.
Join our study group and let’s delve into the scriptures in a way that is inspiring, expanding and joyful.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #27: Section 76– The Great Vision
Though Joseph Smith received many visions and revelations, one of these was so sweeping, so mind-expanding, so glorious that the early Saints simply called it “the Vision.” It demonstrated yet again what a powerful and loving Father we have in God.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #26: “No Weapon That Is Formed Against You Shall Prosper”, Doctrine & Covenants 71-75
The Lord commanded Joseph Smith to carefully go through the Bible to begin to restore many of those plain and precious things that had been lost. The results would be astounding. We’ll talk about this in detail today.
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Come, Follow Me Podcast #25: “Scriptures are Worth…the Riches of the Whole Earth”, Doctrine and Covenants 67-70
By November 1831, Joseph had received 65 revelations, and it was time to publish them. He told the brethren at the conference he convened that the contents of this book should be “prized by this Conference to be worth to the Church the riches of the whole Earth.” In a world where men’s best ideas can never be more than puny and inadequate compared to the knowledge of God, these modern revelations were beyond a treasure.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #24: “The Lord Requireth the Heart and a Willing Mind”, Doctrine & Covenants 64-66
Many years ago, I read Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo: the unabridged version which is 1,463 pages long. Next to the scriptures, it was the greatest reading experience of any book I have ever had. Do you want to know my very favorite moment from the entire 1,463 pages? It has to do with our lesson today.
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Come Follow Me Podcast: “I Am with the Faithful Always” Doctrine and Covenants 60-63
After walking 2,000 wilderness miles to Missouri to dedicate Zion and then return all the way back to Kirtland, early elders learned lessons from the Lord we’re still unpacking today.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #22: “Anxiously Engaged in a Good Cause”, Doctrine and Covenants 58-59
Can you imagine living in a world where people did not hurt each other or become angry or divided? Can you imagine families with total harmony and marriages with no contention? It may sound too good to imagine, but that is the Zion that the Lord envisions for us and that’s what we hope to build.
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Come, Follow Me Podcast #21: “A Faithful, a Just, and a Wise Servant”, Doctrine and Covenants 51-57
I grew up on a beautiful spread of woods and meadows near Rolla, Missouri. We had about 230 acres with our house up on the south hill overlooking a beautiful valley. One late afternoon I stood outside with my Dad in our front yard looking over all of this beauty. I’ll never forget this moment together, because I asked Dad a question and the answer he gave me would change my life…
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Come Follow Me Podcast: “That Which is of God is Light”, Doctrine and Covenants 49-50
When you read Doctrine and Covenants Sections 49 and 50, it helps to have the rest of the story. Why should you care about Leman Copley or the Shakers and what’s this talk about false spirits? We will have some fun and give you the context today.
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Come, Follow Me Podcast #19: “Seek Ye Earnestly the Best Gifts”, Doctrine and Covenants 46-48
Each of us has at least one spiritual gift. Some people have many, but the Prophet Joseph Smith had them all. We will learn about them today.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #18: “The Promises…Shall Be Fulfilled”, Doctrine and Covenants 45
The Second Coming is a topic of endless speculation for us, especially in light of the social unrest and wars and rumors of wars that mark our time. President Russell M. Nelson has spoken often of the Savior’s Second Coming in words like these from the October 2024 General Conference. “The best is yet to come, my dear brothers and sisters, because the Savior is coming again!"
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Come, Follow Me Podcast: Eyewitness Accounts when Joseph Smith Received Revelation, Doctrine and Covenants 41-44
We live in a time when the Church of Jesus Christ has been well established and we are used to talking in terms of large numbers, general conferences translated into scores of languages simultaneously, missionaries serving in diverse countries all over the world and the Kingdom of God on the earth organized unlike any worldly entity. We are used to thinking in terms of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Church Headquarters, the Conference Center, Temple Square—but in the era we are talking about today, the early part of 1831, none of these things were yet a reality.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #16: “If Ye are not One Ye are Not Mine”, Doctrine and Covenants 37-40
Robert Matthews said, “Many have supposed that the translation of the Bible [what we call the JST] was only a sideline, a matter of personal, but passing interest to the Prophet Joseph.” We agree that too many misunderstand the importance of this work. How many in the Church understand what the JST is or use it regularly? But, as Matthews said, to neglect or ignore that is mistaken.
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Come Follow Me: A Special Easter Podcast
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, “That first Easter sequence of Atonement and Resurrection constitutes the most consequential moment, the most generous gift, the most excruciating pain, and the most majestic manifestation of pure love ever to be demonstrated in the history of this world."
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Come Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants Podcast #14: “Lift Up Your Voices … to Declare My Gospel,” Doctrine and Covenants 30-36
Parley joined the Church in 1830 and in the 27 years he was in the Church before his martyrdom, he served about 25 1/2 years in some sort of mission or missionary capacity. He was constantly preaching the gospel either without purse or scrip in the United States, Canada, England or South America. He was indefatigable. He was full of energy and full of light. And when he first heard anything about this new religion he was immediately interested.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #13: “Jesus Christ Will Gather His People” — Doctrine and Covenants 29
By the time Section 29 of the Doctrine and Covenants was given, the fledgling Church was just over five months old. Rumors and false claims were circulating faster than convert numbers. What a strategic time for the adversary of all righteousness to attack the young flock and scatter them as fast as he could—to try to stop this little flock from growing.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #12: “All Things Must be Done in Order”, Doctrine and Covenants 27-28
In August of 1830, Newel Knight and his wife Sally visited Joseph and Emma in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Since neither woman had yet been confirmed, they agreed to perform the ordinance and have the sacrament together. Joseph set out to buy some wine for the occasion, when after he had traveled only a short distance, he was met by a heavenly messenger with a new instruction. The Church was rolling forth with understanding coming line upon line.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #11: “Strengthen the Church”, Doctrine and Covenants 23-26
After the sacred gathering of nearly four dozen Saints in the Whitmer Home in Fayette, New York on Tuesday, April 6, 1830, this tiny band was given the commission to take the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world. What an overwhelming task! How could so few bless so many? And yet, the Lord knew who He was calling and what various converts would do.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #10: “The Rise of the Church of Christ”, Doctrine and Covenants 20-22
When that group of 40 or more gathered in the 20 by 30-foot Whitmer cabin that April 6, 1830 to organize the “only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:30), they could not have entirely foreseen what lay ahead for this church that would, as the prophet Daniel said, “roll forth to fill the whole earth” (See Daniel 2: 31-45), but they did know they were about a great work inspired by God Himself. Let’s take you to that scene today.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #9: “Learn of Me”, Doctrine and Covenants 19
Martin Harris found himself in a tight spot when he agreed to put up the money to pay for the printing of the Book of Mormon. E.B. Grandin agreed to publish 5,000 copies, but because of the unusual size of the order, and its risky nature, Grandin “told Joseph and Martin that he would not even buy the type or start the printing until one of them agreed to ‘promise to insure the payment for the printing.’ To begin the printing, Martin would have to put up nearly all of the property he owned.”
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Come Follow Me Podcast #8: “The Worth of Souls is Great”, Doctrine and Covenants 18
The Doctrine and Covenants is a book full of affirmations that individuals count—that each of us is important in the sight of God. Message after message is to individuals. Some we have heard of like Oliver Cowdery or Hyrum Smith, and some to less familiar people like Leman Copley or Northrop Sweet, but then the Lord often adds this note: What I say unto one, I say unto all. But if that is not enough to let us know WE count; He gives us these 12 words in our lesson this week—and I memorized this scripture 45 years ago: “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.”
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Come Follow Me Podcast #7: “Upon You My Fellow Servants”, Doctrine and Covenants 12-17; JSH 1: 66-75
I love the natural unfolding of the restoration. Much of what happens is a result of questions that come to the minds of Joseph and Oliver in the course of the translation of the record. The more carefully you study the translation and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the more you are amazed at the gift and power of God that was given to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery as they translated the record. These are two very young men: Joseph is 23 and Oliver is 22 years old!
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Come Follow Me #6: “That You May Come off Conqueror”, Doctrine and Covenants 10-11
As you read the Doctrine and Covenants, section 10 seems out of place chronologically. Since it talks about Martin Harris and the translation of the 116 pages, shouldn’t it come after Section 3? What happened? We’ll tell you today.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #5: “This Is the Spirit of Revelation,” Doctrine and Covenants 6-9
Just a few months after the 116 manuscript pages of the Book of Lehi were lost, a young man arrived in Manchester, New York. He was hired to be a teacher in New York’s Joint District 11. The small frame schoolhouse was located just about a mile south of the Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith Farm on Stafford Road. His name…was Oliver Cowdery.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #4: Doctrine and Covenants 3-5 “My Work Shall Go Forth”
Joseph does not shy away from humbly including Section 3 in the Doctrine and Covenants, where he is severely chastened by the Lord for a failing. He could have hid it or polished it up to preserve his image, but because he is so honest, we not only get to see firsthand, the spiritual development of a prophet, but he also gives us all a deep teaching: “You should not have feared man more than God” (Doctrine and Covenants 3:7).
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Come Follow Me, Podcast #3: “The Hearts of Their Children Shall Turn to Their Fathers”, Doctrine and Covenants 2, Joseph Smith History 1: 27-65
Do we know every scripture that Moroni told Joseph Smith on his September 21 visit in 1823? Our first answer is, “They are listed right here in Joseph Smith’s history.” Yet Oliver Cowdery told us there are many more. And here’s another surprise—all but two are from the Old Testament.
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Come Follow Me Podcast #2: “I Saw a Pillar of Light”, Joseph Smith History 1: 1-26
In every dispensation of the world a witness is called to testify to the people of that day and age that he has seen God and has talked with Him and has received instructions and guidance from Him. That witness is called to testify in his day that God lives, that He is real, that He cares about His children, that He hears and answers our prayers and that He has a work for us to do. Faith comes and is increased by listening to and heeding the testimony of that witness. In our day, in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times, that witness is Joseph Smith.
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Come, Follow Me Podcast #1: “Hearken, O Ye People”, Doctrine and Covenants 1
It’s hard to leave our intense Book of Mormon studies behind, but we are now given the immense privilege of studying the Doctrine and Covenants and the early history of the Church and the Restoration of God’s Kingdom here upon the earth in our day. What could be more exciting?
