NEWS ARTICLE: “A LDS church leader is apologizing for a controversial website that went up—and quickly came down—that critics alleged appeared designed to profit on his general conference talk. The website—ponderize.us—advertised t-shirts and wristbands that displayed a phrase used during conference by Devin Durrant, first counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The site disappeared Sunday night after online backlash and accusations of using a religious occasion for personal gain. In a Facebook post Monday afternoon, Durrant acknowledged the site—created by his son—was not a good idea. ‘I should have stopped the process,’ Durrant said. ‘I did not. That was poor judgment on my part.’” –Daniel Woodruff, KUTV News article, 5 October 2015. [source]
SCRIPTURE: “He commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts; for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion. But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish.” –2 Nephi 26:29,31. [source]
COMMENTARY: A quick note to those who wish to ply their church calling for personal profit: the officially sanctioned channel for such endeavors is through Deseret Book, the for-profit fully-owned merchandising subsidiary of the church. This way, the Lord gets his share of the profits off the top, in addition to 10% of your share. But what do I know? I’m just another apostate.
