Suffering Poor vs 100B Dollars Sitting Around Collecting Interest

I honestly believe "the poor of the Lord's people" are all the poor on the planet, especially those who die from malnutrition or bad water.

The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

    Isaiah 3:14-15
    2 Ne 13:14-15

And then, O ye Gentiles, how can ye stand before the power of God, except ye shall repent and turn from your evil ways?

Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll?

Therefore, repent ye, and humble yourselves before him, lest he shall come out in justice against you—lest a remnant of the seed of Jacob shall go forth among you as a lion, and tear you in pieces, and there is none to deliver.

    Mormon 5:22 - 24

And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood.

    1 Nephi 22:13

They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall.

    Doctrine and Covenants Section 1:16

AND the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves!  should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
    
And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
    
My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
    
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
    
Old Testament | Ezekiel 34:1 - 11

All Shall Know the Lord

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 11:9

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Jeremiah 31:31-34


A friend of mine makes a valid point in his latest blog post. He said, in part:

Are we deferring too much to Dave and in so [doing] being darkened in our minds?  A comment from Denver holds a lot of weight in deciding relatively inconsequential matters

Know ye the Lord. Become a prophet in your own right, whether you are male or female. Rely on God, and on God alone.

they shall teach no more every man his neighbour . . . for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them

Payson Utah Temple Cultural Celebration

God's approval or disapproval?

The scriptures tell us ways God approves. This quote shows, scripturally speaking, God's disapproval:

Suddenly a typhoon style rainstorm hit the area along with hail, thunder, lightning and 35 mile-per-hour winds. Thousands of participants and spectators moved from the stands and huddled under the stadium for shelter listening to clasps of thunder and a loud warning over the PA system - “Program is temporarily suspended. Take shelter under the stadium or return to your vehicle.” Others hunkered down with umbrellas not wanting to give up their good seats until the intensity of the wind, rain and lightning finally created a mass exit from the stands.
As the minutes ticked by, thousands of rain soaked participants and their disappointed audience wondered if the show would ever go on. Some kept checking the time and the skies while others silently prayed. Young men and women were seen leading large groups of people in prayer as lightening flashed and instant waterfalls cascaded down the bleachers.

The cultural celebration starting time, came and went. Then an hour after the scheduled time to begin the program, the storm unexpectedly stopped.

But the people's stubbornness prevailed.



But what about this reported event?

After the rock stars ascended the stand and the lead rock star in attendance walked to the podium and said a few words . . .

[Eyring:] "So let's fill this stadium with love and light. Let the celebration begin!"

Unexpectedly a large impressive flock of white doves flew high in the air above the stadium taking several graceful circling swoops.

Problem is, I've never seen nor heard where the Spirit of God is manifested as a large flock of white doves. It is only one dove, as far as I know.

But what approval would they be showing? The dove attending Jesus was because He had been baptized even though He didn't have to, technically speaking, because He was perfect.

Why would God send a whole flock of white doves to show approval for a celebration saying how awesome we all are, and honoring men? It couldn't be because God had accepted the temple. It wasn't a temple dedication. And history (and scriptures) show us that when God approves of a temple, people see Jesus and angels. Gifts of the Spirit are obvious. (This was not a dedication, by the way, but a huge party apparently commanded by and put on for a whole lot of rock stars. I mean general authorities.)




You can read about the whole celebration here.

It seems like it was quite impressive.

On These Latter Days. What is Really Happening Here?

A few years ago, a woman wrote to an apostle and said the following things:

"Everyday I ask the Lord how I can repent and please him. It's the driving force in my life."

"I desire to get out of the church of the devil and become a member of the church of the Lamb of God." [Note: she was not referring to the corporate church in which her membership resides.]

"Right now I'm repenting of my sins so I can get on the straight and narrow path. I ask the Lord daily to reveal my sins to me so I can repent. When I am sufficiently pure, the Lord will come and give me further instructions."

"It has been my understanding that . . . all of you [First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve] have been sanctified, have had the experience of seeing the Savior face to face, and have become apostolic witnesses of His birth, death, atonement, and resurrection. As part of that experience you've also seen the history and future of the world. Is this true?"

"I too was surprised to find out that Apostles don't need to have a unique and special witness of Christ."

[After quoting Elder Haight's vision] - "Have all the apostles received an apostolic witness of Christ unique and different from the faith and belief that most of us have? I like many others believe He lives because we can feel it in our hearts, but we are not yet special witnesses of Him. Have you seen him and witnessed His baptism, His teaching, His healing the sick and lame, the mock trial, His Crucifixion, His Resurrection, and His ascension?"

"I need to know why we call the current First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Prophets, Seers, and Revelators."

He replied and said the following things:

"I have . . . prayerfully pondered how I should answer you. What follows is what I feel prompted to say."

"The questions you have asked suggest that you may be out of harmony with the leaders the Lord has called to lead His Church. You reject the teachings of some of them by name, and you ask me and others (by implication) to answer questions you have set up to judge whether we are qualified to hold the positions to which we have been called . . . ."

"You also speak of 'the special apostolic witness of Christ.' Where do you find that kind of 'witness' defined or even mentioned in the scriptures?"

"From what you have written I feel to ask whether you are receiving and fulfilling the callings and hearing the counsel from your own local leaders, such as your bishop? Are you making and keeping the covenants we make when we partake of the sacrament each week?"

The bottom line as I see it:

Her: "The scriptures tell me I ought to be seeking the Lord's face. I really want to continually repent until I receive the promises God has made in our scriptures.

"I also understand that you [fifteen men at the top of the hierarchy] have seen Him and have had marvelous experiences. Is this true?

"This apostle chastises people for seeking such things. This other apostle shared his marvelous experiences. Have you and the other living apostles had this experience? Are you qualified to genuinely be prophets, seers, and revelators?"

Him: "I perceive that you are in need of repentance. How dare you question us! How dare you put yourself on equal footing with us by asking if we have seen the Lord? Are you following your local leaders? Are you performing your callings?"

Unspoken: "Of course we have not seen the Lord. I haven't, and I am threatened by your letter. It creates a super-icky feeling to think that you might actually see the Lord, thus surpassing me and my fellows in holiness. Better to squash you now and put the fear of an apostolic reprimand into your soul than that you should actually see and experience what my fellows and I have not and, indeed, do not believe is possible. We have the power of eternal life and eternal death. Do not think to rise up to our level nor to surpass us."


In light of that, here is an interesting prophecy:

The restoration is about to be completely compromised by the institutional LDS organization. If we do not establish another way to avoid the coming catastrophe, the restoration will utterly fail. The movement begun now will seem very prescient in a few years. In coming days many people will want a place to land as the LDS Church undergoes changes to retain their standing, favorable tax status, popularity and wealth. People need a place to fellowship where they can function and learn how to preserve the restoration in a place that will be a refuge for those fleeing an increasingly corrupt organization.

What has begun may seem small, unnecessary and even rebellious at present. It will not be long before it is viewed very differently.

 Accepting and performing *same sex marriages in temples. (The groundwork has already been laid with the "follow the prophet above past prophets, above the scriptures, and above the Lord Himself.")

A split among the Brethren as some go one way and some go another.

Finances finally being disclosed and faithful members being shocked at the naked truths about how their money was spent ("pay your tithing even if it means you don't have money to pay your bills, even if it means your children go hungry").

What is your breaking point, if you are a faithful believer in all things LDS? A believer in the Book of Mormon, in Joseph Smith as a prophet, in Jesus our Lord? That breaking point is sure to come.



*I want to be very plain about my views on same sex marriage. I believe the gov't has no right to dictate marriage laws. Marriage is between God and a couple, or between the couple, themselves. I also see homosexuality as a weakness of the flesh, but not nearly as heinous as cheating, loving a lie, stealing from the poor, grinding the face of the poor, building fine sanctuaries and setting oneself up as a Light, speaking as though one had authority from the Lord when one does not even know Him, lusting after power and wealth, anger, jarrings, contentions, and jealousies.

In other words, I see a difference between a weakness one cannot help and a sin one actively pursues.

The Blind Spot

I believe there are messages hidden in nature that reflect truths. For example, birds singing in the dawn while it is still dark remind us that Christ rose from the tomb "while it was yet dark."

This morning I have been thinking about the blind spot. Our eyes have a blind spot.

How to find it with your thumb.

More info:
Experiments with the blind spot

Wikipedia on the blind spot

Seeing your blind spot in action

And one last one.

We don't usually know we have a blind spot unless we are taught about it, except for those exceptionally curious folk who search to know everything about everything.

Apply this to our spiritual lives. Apply it to how we live, how we view God, how we view ourselves: We don't usually know we have a blind spot unless we are taught about it, except for those exceptionally curious folk who search to know everything about everything.

A lesson on pride fits in here somewhere, but I think there is more to it than that. Ignorance. We often think we know so much, that our own perception is accurate and that we are seeing the whole picture. The lesson of the blind spot is that we don't see it all. We don't know all that we think we know. We have a flaw that is invisible to us.

It would do us good to be exceptionally curious, to leave no stone unturned, to bravely face what we think we know and find out what the truth is.