Thinking Celestial - A ”Follow The Prophet” Series Podcast · SLCC Institute of Religion

Ep 172 S7 Matt Merrill ‘Taking on the Name of Jesus Christ’ Dale G. Renlund

·32 min·2 clips

Taking Christ’s name means “willingly, intentionally, and enthusiastically” aligning goals with his.

Dr. Kirk Burbage welcomes listeners from the Salt Lake Community College Institute at the Taylorsville Redwood campus. He invites students who use the class through Canvas to join the discussion board. Kirk says reviewing General Conference talks teaches him what he needs to improve and what he appreciates in his own life. Matthew Merrill joins him in studio for a conversation about Elder Dale G. Renlund's "Taking on the Name of Jesus Christ." Matt responds warmly to the talk's premise. The hosts frame the talk as a practical invitation, not just a title to admire. They talk through the idea that a name can shape conduct. A surgeon story helps them make that point concrete. The man receives a professorship linked to Russell M. Nelson. He decides he ought to act like the person whose name is now attached to his own. Kirk and Matt use that example to talk about becoming better through association with the Savior. They apply the same logic to prophets, apostles, and everyday discipleship. The people who know the Savior best try hardest to act like Him. The hosts say the best way to gauge closeness to Christ is by watching how someone treats other people, especially the people they do not have to treat well. That matters most when the people in front of you are hard to treat well. The discussion also contrasts grateful humility with celebrity entitlement. Elder Renlund is described as a normal guy rather than a distant figure. The episode notes that he had a weight issue and that no one body shamed him. President Nelson's counsel to unclutter life becomes a useful turning point. The hosts treat that counsel as a concrete invitation to live more like the Savior. They connect it to making better choices about the body and the temple. The conversation keeps returning to application rather than abstraction. It sounds like teachers thinking aloud together about what change actually looks like. The episode closes with testimony and with the reminder that Heavenly Father's plan is real, the Savior lives, and His atonement makes that plan possible.

As heard by us

A sincere look at discipleship as a daily imitation of Christ.

The episode treats Taking on the Name of Jesus Christ as a discussion about discipleship in ordinary life: how people treat others, what they choose to change, and whether conduct begins to match the Savior's name.

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You want a conversational review of Elder Dale G. Renlund's "Taking on the Name of Jesus Christ."

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