“BREAK UP WITH THE WORLD” and “MY SOUL HUNGERED AND MY STOMACH GROWLED,” talks on CD by Hank Smith, Covenant Communications, $11.99 each
***
New CD inspires youths to break up with the world
Inspired by his 5-year-old daughter's announcement that she had a boyfriend, Hank Smith realized the beauty of breaking up.
With break ups on his mind, Smith also recognized the importance of breaking up with the evils of the world in our own lives. He saw the need to escape our culture’s obsession with comparing, competing and never being enough. Those ideas formed the foundation for this piece.
In his new talk on CD “Break Up With the World,” this popular LDS speaker and father of three shares his inspiring and humorous take on how to “lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:10).
Whether it is an offensive TV show, immodest clothing or false media messages, Smith challenges youth to leave the world behind and choose the Savior instead.
“The Savior does not compare," he said. "He doesn’t look at two people and go, ‘Oh, what are the differences?’ He doesn’t ask us to compete against each other. And for him, you’re good enough."
With his hallmark humor and winning style, Smith takes audiences on a journey to escape the clutches of the world. He encourages listeners to break up with that thing that is holding them back, so they can have something better.
“The world offers loneliness,” he teaches. “The Savior offers peace.”
Basing his remarks on teachings from ancient and modern prophets, Smith shares experiences and insights that stir in souls the desire to change.
Smith’s style is perfect for families but especially for youth. He is witty and engaging. He understands the struggles and temptations of today and inspires teens and their parents to rise above the world.
This CD is a great piece to add to any gospel audio library.
***
Energetic talk on CD teaches how to feed soul
Although eating is definitely a favorite activity of many teenagers, it is not usually a principle used when teaching the gospel.
However, in his new talk on CD “My Soul Hungered and My Stomach Growled,” Hank Smith, father of three and popular LDS speaker, humorously explores the rumbling connection between feeding your body and feeding your spirit.
“Does your soul have hunger pains?” Smith asks. “Maybe it does and you just don’t know it. If your soul was with your Father in Heaven for however long before you came here and then you come to Earth to have this mortal experience and you stop feeding on this spiritual feast, what is your soul going to start to do? Hunger.”
Smith highlights in simple but poignant ways the similarities between nourishing a physical body and nourishing the spirit.
As a seminary and institute teacher in northern Utah for the past eight years, Smith excels at sharing his testimony and teaching the gospel. On this CD he uses scriptures and words of the prophets to edify his audience paralleling a hungry or polluted body with a hungry or polluted soul.
Smith’s profound love of the gospel shimmers even in the comic moments in his talk. It is easy for listeners to feel the depth of his beliefs.
This CD is entrancing. Youth and adults alike will love Smith’s hilarious antics and touching testimony. His thoughts and insights are inspiring, and his enthusiastic delivery is irresistible. Smith opens the scriptures and makes them easy to understand and easy to apply.
Released by Covenant Communications, this talk on CD is available for $11.99 and runs about 60 minutes. It is available at LDS bookstores like Deseret Book and Seagull Book. Whether listening on a car trip, as part of a family home evening or as an enlightening bedtime story, this CD is perfect for families.
Melissa DeMoux is a stay-at-home mother of six young children who lives in West Valley City, Utah. You can email her at mddemoux@gmail.com or follow her adventures in motherhood at demouxfamily.blogspot.com.
