Gethsemane - Forgiveness - Repentance

This morning, I read the Gethsemane chapter in Come, Let Us Adore Him in preparation for my personal celebration of Easter (the Resurrection) tomorrow. I don't know how anyone can read it and not be sobbing by the fourth page in.

For this post, I just wanted to share a few quotes from this chapter, which is an apostolic eyewitness of Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection as seen by Denver Snuffer. All emphases are mine.

To enter into the kingdom of heaven, all [people] must lay down their sins. But this they cannot do when they claim the right to restitution for any offense from their brother [meaning all other humans]. All claims must be set aside, the greater and more difficult being the righteous claim against another for their deliberate offense. Yet in asking for justice for yourself, you always require justice be answered in turn for all of your offenses. A [person] will not be given mercy if he is not merciful. (pp 228-9)

Denver talks about paired waves of torment our Lord suffered, the first being the suffering for those who harmed others (the perpetrators) and the second being the suffering for those who have been harmed by others (the victims), then he writes the following:

The greater difficulty in these paired waves of torment was always overcoming the suffering of the victim. With these waves, the Lord learned to overcome the victims' resentments, to forgive, and to heal both body and spirit. This was more difficult than overcoming the struggles arising from the one who committed the evil . . . The victim . . . always feels it is their right to hold resentment, to judge their persecutor and to withhold peace and love for their fellowmen. (pp 220-1)

In the final wave, the most brutal, most evil, most heinous sins men inflict upon one another were felt by Him as a victim of the worst men can do. He knew how it felt to wrongly suffer death. He knew what it was like to be a mother holding a child in her arms as they are both killed by those who delight in their suffering. He knew how it was for ambitious men to rid themselves of a rival by conspiracy and murder. He knew what it was to have virtue robbed from the innocent [this would include the rape of toddlers and children]. He knew betrayal, treachery, and abuse in all its worst degrading horror. There was no cruelty, no offense, no evil that mankind has suffered or will suffer that was not put upon Him.

He knew what is it like for men to satisfy their ambition by clothing their hypocrisy in religious garb. He also felt what it was like to be the victim of religious oppression by those who pretend to practice virtue while oppressing others. He knew the hearts of those who would kill Him. Before confronting their condemnation of Him in the flesh, He suffered their torment of mind when they recognized He was the Lord, and then found peace for what they would do by rejecting Him. In this extremity there was madness itself as He mirrored the evil which would destroy Him, and learned how to come to peace with the Father after killing the Son of God, and to love all those involved without restraint and without pretense, even before they did these terrible deeds. . . .

As a result of what the Lord suffered, there is no condition - physical, spiritual or mental that he does not fully understand. He knows how to teach, comfort, succor and direct any who come to Him seeking forgiveness and peace. (pp 222-3)

I share the above in the hopes that it gives comfort to some, and that it helps someone who is struggling to forgive a person or people who have caused them harm, no matter how terrible that harm.

P.S. You can forgive without putting yourself in danger, and without ever having to contact or talk to a person who is dangerous to you.

Independent Fellowships

 Before the Lord’s appearance to the Nephites, society broke down into tribes consisting of family and friends. Immediately before the Lord’s return we should expect something similar. Therefore, part of the preparation by God’s house for coming social chaos is likely to include some preliminary preparations by families and friends to fellowship with one another in local gatherings, perhaps completely apart from control by the LDS hierarchy. Only by independently functioning can they hope to prepare for social chaos prophesied to accompany Zion and precede the Lord’s return.

page 314 40 Years in Mormonism PDF

If I were to “lead” and standardize things it would be a return to correlation. Why return to what has damaged Mormonism? It is the system that has done the damage. You cannot improve that flaw by choosing to make me your new correlator. I will not do it. It will darken your minds and would corrupt me. I am no better than you, and I believe some of you to be better than I. We need hundreds of independently functioning believers adapting the Gospel to their needs. Doctrine does not change, and the scriptures are constant. Your needs will vary. Therefore you apply what is changeless to your peculiar circumstances. You can do it better than any distant authority could possibly do it for you.

When you submit to the rule of God, you then place yourself in a position where you must be dependent upon Him. Then every one of you will immediately realize your own weakness. You will be tempted to have others tell you how to please God. You must resist that temptation. You must arise and seek Him directly. Every one of you has to grapple with the uncertainty of, “is this right or is this wrong?” Every one of you has to grapple with the fact, that in answer to some questions, there is silence. You all must be forced to choose. If you choose right, you do not know you chose what was right, because He refused to answer you. Then you act in reliance on your own decision, going forward to do what is right, only later to be told, "If you had have made the mistake, I would have corrected you. But you needed that experience.” God answers prayers. Sometimes He forces you to make choices, and very often, I can't tell you how often, but very often I make the wrong choice. It is almost like I got a compass pointing south. I often choose wrong and then I get an answer correcting me. But I got an answer because I made a mistake.

page 339-40 40 Years in Mormonism PDF

 Those who are familiar with the ten lectures in this PDF will recognize that those are words Denver Snuffer said at the beginning of what we have now. (The bold in all quotes in this post are mine.)

More and more, this movement has been heading toward one religious entity that has rules all fellowships must obey. Conferences are called, votes are taken, and all fellowships are expected to abide by the majority vote, even though we were supposed to be separate so that if one was corrupted the whole would not be corrupted.

Most recently, one fellowship (or is it just a couple of women from different fellowships? I honestly don't know) are meddling with a decision made by another (with great drama posted online so the world can see how evil and contentious some of us are) - and a vote is being called (with a lot of contention from what I hear, a lot of shutting down of opposing voices during zoom calls by one particular woman, according to a ChatGPT synopsis (I have not been involved in the arguing going on, and I trust that ChatGPT reported accurately)) that all fellowships will be expected to abide by.

 I see us heading more and more into a big group with rules all must obey. It reminds me of this quote from Denver Snuffer's blog (yes, he's talking about power, but I think it applies anyway):

If you never consolidate power into a single place but every person must stand on their own—and every person has their own volume of Scriptures, and everyone has the ability to get access to the heavens through prayer—then it doesn’t matter who you corrupt, you cannot corrupt the whole.

 https://denversnuffer.com/2024/12/corruption/

When the Covenant of Christ book came out, we were told that we had permission to keep using the Book of Mormon if we wanted to. What nonsense is this? Are we children, hidden away in dark depths from God that we cannot choose what we consider scripture?

What is all this nonsense that we have created for ourselves? Truly, as it now stands, if "one" is corrupted, the whole will also be corrupted because "the one" creates great drama and does their best to force their views on the whole. And, of course, there is Denver's role in receiving revelation for the movement, when we were supposed to come to Christ ourselves and have a personal relationship with Him so that "none need say, Know ye the Lord, for they will all know him."

Do I blame Denver for any of this? Do I blame Denver for being the go-between between us and God? I do not. He does his best to stay out of the fray, but God answers people according to their idols. He answers them according to what they insist on having.

 Let's say that I'm in a fellowship that chose to use the 1840 Book of Mormon as their Nephite scripture, never took the 2017 Boise covenant because they had a previous covenant with God, peacefully never accepted the Guide and Standard (because it was a strong man model pushed through, quoting only Joseph Smith and Denver Snuffer, or maybe for other reasons), and generally mind their own business, ignoring the drama and trauma that gets shouted from the rooftops.

Let's say I'm in one like that (I'm not). I think that fellowship is doing what fellowships were originally intended to do (be independent from rules imposed by people in other fellowships, and never having Denver as a go-between between them and God. In fact, never elevating Denver nor Stephanie to any special importance other than that Denver gave us a call to repentance that we sorely needed in the 10-lecture circuit. Respecting him as a teacher, but believing he was being honest when he said, "To the extent that anyone is trying to displace your faith in God, and attract attention to themselves, myself included, that is a perversion and it will not save you. It is a distraction, it is evil, and it is wrong. It is damnable. Anyone who tries to attract your worship, myself included, ought to be sent to hell. It's why I continually remind you, talking about me is a waste of time. Talking about the things that I'm saying, talking about the content of the scriptures, talking about the doctrines that will save you, that is very important. But you can leave me out of that. You don't ever need to mention my name again in your life." (40 Years in Mormonism PDF, page 34)

 If I'm in a fellowship and we remove a man's certificate, he is perfectly free to move to a different fellowship and seek a brand new one. Now, if his wife is unwilling to endorse him, he can't do that according to the instructions given in Lecture 10. But the bottom line in all of this is that he is not going to be able to perform ordinances in our fellowship. What we do is not the business of another fellowship.

That's all. 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts on the allegory of Adam and Eve and the Fall

Disclaimer: I don't know anything and I already know that.


When God said, "Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," what he really said was, "Don't choose fear.".

The fallen one tried to get Adam to fear, but Adam wouldn't listen, so the fallen one tried to get Eve to fear. He found a way in, and Eve shared that fear with Adam. Perhaps she started a fight with him.

Then God returned and they couldn't bear to be in his presence because they had partaken of fear and anger. That made the Light and Love impossible to bear, so they had to leave to continue to exist.

And their children were born to parents who had learned to fear, and who had learned to be angry. And the fallen ones capitalized on that to create as much pain and mayhem and fear as they could get away with in all of the generations since Eva and Adam.

As far as the first clothing goes, I've heard the theory that Eve and Adam were clothed in Light until they "ate the fruit" - then that Light left and they had no covering to protect them, so God made clothing that would work in a pinch, but wasn't as good as what they had before.

Why, then, do the scriptures say the man and the woman were naked but not ashamed? Maybe because they didn't wear clothing like we do, but were clothed in Light.

What about Eve/the scriptures saying Adam and Eve would have had no children? It's possible they were in training and, at some point, the Gods would have taught them how to combat fear with love, then they would have gone prepared to the dark spot in the garden (see below).

Why were fallen ones allowed to roam the garden? I'm sure I do not know . . . but what if they were only confined to one area? What if they were confined to the spooky old house and yard in a certain part of the garden that was majorly creepy to anyone who knew what fear was? What if the Gods said to stay away from that creepy place? (After all, the fallen ones were kicked out onto the same planet. Maybe they demanded a place next to Adam and Eve's house. Far enough away to not overpower them unawares, but close enough to entice them because . . . well, I guess life is about choices. And, besides that, this planet was their turf.)

Adam wasn't interested in the spooky old house, but EVe wondered what it was, so crossed over the boundaries to explore it. In that case, the fallen ones had a chance to put fear and anger into her heart and mind.

And, since it's an allegory, what if the Gods were Eve and Adam's parents (two couples) who had survived a global disaster, and had reached a spiritual level so high that they were, in reality, Gods?

Just wondering. It makes for an interesting story, to be sure.

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

Freedom to Search for Truth

I totally love this quote. Surely, Russell Nelson was inspired by God when he said this, no matter what his heart's intent. I am looking at his words, only. I am taking them at face value. I printed two copies and am going to put them up where I see them every day.

"While searching for the truth, we must be free to change our mind—even to change our religion—in response to new information and inspiration… One’s religion is not imposed by others. It is not predetermined. It is a very personal and sacred choice, nestled at the very core of human dignity.”

https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2004-05-27/elder-russell-m-nelson-freedom-to-do-and-to-be-96622



Credit for finding this quote goes to http://barerecord.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-very-personal-and-sacred-choice.html renamed A Seeker for Truth (can't change the url, but you can change the title of your blog).

Our Compassionate God

Recently, I was staying in a hotel in Boise, Idaho with a friend. Our room was directly across from the guests' laundry room. On one side of our room were the stairs. On the other was the room of the ladies who had given me a ride to Boise. Sunday morning, my friend left to go home (had pressing business that prevented her from staying the full weekend). That afternoon, the ladies and I were going to meet some people for lunch.

I was in my room, pretty much killing time, when I heard what seemed like a year old baby throwing a fit. I didn't hear adults and supposed they were ignoring the child. A few minutes later, I opened my door to go out and right next to the door, pressed into it, was a two year old toddler, screaming and crying hysterically. I glanced into the laundry room as I picked her up. It was empty. I had felt incredible compassion for the child the moment I'd opened the door, and I told her, "We'll find your mom." She stopped being hysterical, but was still upset. I knocked on the ladies' door, and when I did, the toddler calmed down even more. When the door was opened, I explained what had happened and that I was going to take the child to the office (front desk) to see if they could find her mom. The ladies went with me downstairs and, on the elevator ride, one of them coaxed out of the child that she was two years old (she never spoke the whole time she was with us).

When we got to the front desk, I explained what had happened, and told them it was on the second floor. One of the ladies behind the desk came around and held her arms out to the child. The child hesitated for a nano-second. You could see her deciding if she could trust this person. Then she leaned over and reached out to the lady.

After we got back from lunch, we inquired at the front desk. Was the mom found? The man there had just begun his shift not long before. He said he had not seen the child, but had heard others talking about the incident, and, yes, the mom had been found.

Later that evening, I was talking to God, and he told me, "The child is a sign to you." He told me that the compassion I'd felt for the child was the same compassion he felt for me when I was hysterically scream-crying out to him because of being homeless (or threatened with it), not having enough food to eat, worried about other problems, or just plain having a freak-out attack for no reason that I knew of. He also let me know that just as I had taken immediate steps to solve the toddler's problem when I realized what was happening, so he, also, took steps to alleviate my suffering when I was freaking out.

I am sharing this experience because he told me to. He told me that this compassion he feels toward me is the same compassion he feels toward everyone. Our sincere prayers are always heard, even if we don't see immediate results.

Celebrating the 500th year of the Christian Reformation

http://www.christianreformation500years.info/venues--dates.html


For all Christians everywhere. This is not a series of lectures for Mormons; it is directed toward those belonging to historic Christianity. There is no charge, no plate will be passed, and no offering will be requested. No one will try to trap you into joining some sect or other. See the link above for the places in which these talks will be held.


Los Angeles, California
Thursday
​September 21, 2017
7:00-8:30pm

Dallas, Texas
Thursday
​October 19, 2017
6:00-7:30pm

Atlanta, Georgia
​Thursday
November 16, 2017
5:30-7:00pm

Being a Missionary for the Lord

I have just finished reading a blog post. It is very, very long but the light and knowledge I received from it was very strong, and I feel-very strongly-that I should post a link to it. Please feel free to pass the link along; I'm sure the young man writing the blog would be very willing to edify any and all who can be edified by his post. I would post a synopsis, but the synopsis would be quite long and I could not do justice to what the young man says in his own words.

http://keepit100withchapterandverse.blogspot.com/2017/07/life-off-old-ship-year-sojourn-through.html

Son doesn't want to serve a mission? Leave him in the desert

In my opinion, this story is evidence that God really has abandoned the church that professes His name, because they have abandoned Him. Charity (the pure love of Christ) is not the ruling factor. Neither is freedom to choose. There is no freedom to choose in the LDS Church anymore, it seems. The ruling factor is, what? What do you get out of this article? I get, "Force you to go on a mission, even if it means you can die." I mean, there was no guarantee that the kid would find someone to give him a safe place to spend the night. No guarantee that he would be able to get in touch with his grandparents.

I would recommend reading the comments. I doubt more comments can be added, as this is a cached version. It appears the original was taken down. Embarrassed the Corp? Scared the parents? I don't know, but I do know that the corporate Church relies heavily on public opinion polls. And they really hate negative publicity.

Note: I am not posting this to bash the Church, but to hopefully wake people up to the fact that this type of behavior is not okay. And that it is not good to "follow the prophet" at the expense of your child's sanity or mortal life. (Neither is it good to pay tithing if it means your family goes hungry, your electricity gets turned off, or you get kicked out of your house because your rent is not paid.  All but one scripture about tithing says tithing is for the poor, not to be paid by the poor - and especially not by the poor to a wealthy corporation that can afford to buy and build a city in Florida, build a billion-dollar mall with million-dollar condos on top, and so forth.)

Edit: I didn't realize the article was initially published on LDS Living. Here is a good post about the article, and its subsequent retraction/alteration on LDS Living. 
heres-why-a-mormon-website-published-the-least-inspirational-story-ever/

Rejoice!

For the purposes of this discussion "belief in Christ"=following the doctrine of Christ as explained in the Book of Mormon.

Have you received "church discipline" for your belief in Christ? Have you been excommunicated or pressured to resign for your belief in Christ? Has your spouse reported you to a bishop or stake president because of your belief in Christ? Has your spouse divorced you (spurred on by the advice of a bishop to do so, or on their own) because of your belief in Christ? Do neighbors shun you? Do former friends ignore you, avoid you, bear testimony of men to you, or talk about your "apostasy" to each other - because of your belief in Christ? Has your family essentially disowned you because of your belief in Christ?

Rejoice!

As written in both the Book of Mormon and the New Testament:

And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake; For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.
3 Nephi 12:11-12

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Matthew 5:11-12

Also notice this in verse 8 of both chapters:

And blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Note that there is no caveat declaring that this experience has to happen in some other life, after death, at judgment day.

. . . every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am. [emphasis added]
Doctrine and Covenants (LDS version) 93:1

 And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.
Doctrine and Covenants (LDS version) 88:68

And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am—not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual. For no man has seen God at any time in the flesh, except quickened by the Spirit of God. Neither can any natural man abide the presence of God, neither after the carnal mind.
Doctrine and Covenants (LDS version) 67:10-12

Question: Is this promise only to those men "ordained to the ministry"? Is it only for those men Joseph was preaching the word of the Lord to? Or is this promise to everyone?


Was Nephi speaking only to those "ordained to the ministry" when he said these things:

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.

Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter.  For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ.  Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh.  And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do. And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.

You. You plural? You singular? Nephi wasn't talking to us, right? Only to his descendants, referring to Jesus' future visit to some tiny portion of Nephi's descendants. That's why he saw us, right? So that he would not keep a record addressing us, right? Nephi's not plain. No way does he speak in plainness - because, then, he just might be saying something like this:

Follow Christ with full purpose of heart. Repent. Be baptized. Then you'll have a remission of sins, and baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost (in other words, they are two different things). Then Christ will tell you what to do. These words of Christ come by the power of the Holy Ghost. To you. Not through some man, some priest, some bishop, someone "in authority." Then, at some point after you have received this doctrine, Christ will manifest himself in the flesh - to you. Flesh. You (singular).

If only those "ordained to the ministry" can see Christ in this life, then I submit that only those "ordained to the ministry" are allowed to repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and receive the baptism of fire. Sounds silly to me.

Blessed are you when you are persecuted for Christ's sake, when you are disbelieved, mocked, cast out, lose your marriage and/or your family, lose your job, are shunned, and/or treated as though you had leprosy because you recognized the Lord's voice through a true messenger, recognized a true prophet of God, and were baptized as a result of your belief in Christ, your faith in Christ. Not faith in the messenger, but in the Son of God.

Rejoice! For so persecuted they those who believed in Christ and his doctrine for centuries upon centuries. For so persecuted they who were cast out from formally organized churches. For so persecuted they who chose to follow the Lord instead of some man or some woman or some "sighted" person.

This earth is waxing old. Destructions are happening and I suspect they will continue to happen. Praise God and stand firm in faith in HIM and only him. He is more important than your job, than your family*, than your ecclesiastical leaders. More important than anything else in this life.

Rejoice!

*This is not a license to cast away your spouse, children, or other relatives. Be an example of a true follower of Christ. Make it difficult for them to cast you off because of your love and patience and genuine long-suffering toward them. Seek not only Christ, but also seek the pure love of Christ.

Second Coming is Real

Okay, lame title. I couldn't think of a better one.

I think the words below from a true messenger of God bears repeating. This stuff is real. Jesus is real. He is really going to come. From here on out, in the world, it will be less and less fun.

The Lord's return is always a subject He wants us to keep in mind. All the latter-day events that will mark the time for His return will happen in a single generation. (D&C 45:30; JS-M 1:34.) Therefore, when that generation begins to witness the signs of His coming, they should prepare so the return of the Master does not find them abusing others. (Matt. 24:44-51; JS-Matt. 1:49-55.)
. . . 
I am sent as another witness to testify He will return. Signs have been, and are being given both in the heavens and on earth.
. . . 
He has authorized baptism as His own covenant to preserve all who receive it. I have seen His return and I know this newly offered baptism will be respected at His return by those who will return with Him. Baptism is offered as a covenant between you and the Lord. There are no institutional demands made upon you as a result of receiving the ordinance. It is an invitation to renew your relationship with Christ and take an act of faith to show Him you keep Him in your heart.
. . . 
Every nation, kindred, tongue and people, black and white, male and female, young and old, are invited to be baptized. There is no charge, and you make no commitment to men. You only covenant to follow Christ.

He is aligning events to complete His work, and the signs of His return are being given to this generation. The time will soon come when it will not be possible to receive this invitation any longer. Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance.
denversnuffer.com/2015/12/come-unto-christ/

How long is a generation? I don't know that God counts it in years. Speaking of only one genealogical line, I had two generations in Nauvoo: Shadrach and Lorenzo Wesley Roundy. Then, there was Joel Jesse, Sarah Elizabeth, then my mother. Counting from Nauvoo, I am the 4th and 5th generation. (LW-JJ=1 JJ-SE=2 SE-Mom=3 Mom-me=4) 

How to translate that into now, I don't know, but if we take the year the "saints" were kicked out of Nauvoo and subtract it from 2015, then divide it by 4 (generations), we may come up with a general ball park number. However, the time when "it will not be possible to receive this invitation any longer" will probably be sooner than that. If the Book of Mormon is any indication, there comes a time when people cannot repent (because of their mindsets).  They are "past feeling."

I don't know about you, but the possible fact that Jesus could return as early as 40 years from now gives me cause for concern. Who will be ready? Will I? But my concern is more for my loved ones. My children, my siblings and their families, my cousins and other relatives, my friends and acquaintances, even those who seem to be enemies of some sort. 

Would to God that all people might repent, turn to Christ, and follow Him. 
Why must we suffer? 
Why must we harden our hearts? 
Why must we hurt each other? 
Why must we live in fear, anger, vengeance, and contention? 

Let us lift up our hearts together. 
Let us unite in love! 
Let us cease contending. 
Let us cease lifting up ourselves or others on pedestals as one(s) to be heeded above others. 
Let us humbly turn to our Lord, Jesus Christ. 
Let us see ourselves for the fools we really are. 

Holy, holy, holy is the most High - for it is by His grace and His grace alone that we are saved, not by any act of ourselves. 

We may repent, we may accept His awesome grace and incredible mercy, but it is He who has trodden the winepress alone. It is He who has opened the door to our salvation and peace. With all my heart and mind, I throw out into the "ethers" the invitation to come unto Christ, and to be one with Him. Amen.

Helaman 3:27-30

Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name. Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked— And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.

Anyone can lay hold on the word of God, not just members of a certain sect (LDS, FLDS, RLDS, JW, SDA, etc.).

The word of God is quick and powerful.

The word of God cuts to bits all the tricks, lies, deceits, traps, and so forth that the devil throws out.

The word of God leads the (hu)man who follows Christ in a strait and narrow course. Rather like a guide who leads people through a forest, because he knows the right trails to follow.

Across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked. This shows my bias towards mortality, but I look at this and see that this mortality touches everlasting on the one side and everlasting on the other. It, being in time, is in the middle.

And is it not a place where the most wicked dwell? Does it not engulf the wicked? Are we not swallowed up in the cares of the world, in perversions, greed, fear, lust for power and money, lust for bodies to play with, the need to survive, and so forth? Are we not all wicked to some degree or other?

To land with the Gods (why does this remind me of fishing? He landed the fish).

To go no more out. What? So, if God makes lots of eternal rounds in an effort to save his children, does this mean that if we follow Christ and don't veer off the path, we don't have to come back to another round? We can be with the Gods? We can be on that upper rung of Jacob's ladder? We don't have to come down into a mortal hell ever again? Sounds enticing to me.

Let's do it. Let's follow Christ and let him lead us safely out of this vale of tears and pain. Let us not allow the cares of this world, the fears of this world, the lusts of this world to distract us from our task of escaping this stuff.

The End

In March, 1974, a teacher's ministry began. In April 2014, that ministry continued, but changed drastically as far as outward appearances.

40 years from baptism to casting out - Sept 2013
40 years from beginning of ministry to end of either it or of the first phase of it - March 2024

This, below, was brought to my attention by "briznian" so I am quoting it. I find it key to the quotes below.

I've thought about that chapter [the chapter of scripture quoted below] for many months. Those three are the last of the quorum who deposed Eldred Smith and the office of Patriarch to the Church. While they live, they have the power to rectify the situation. After they are gone it will require a restoration for the office to return.

As much as I love those three, it pains me to watch as all this unfolds. I have figured for some time that it was Perry who would go first, then Packer ... and finally Monson. That way there will only one changing of the Presidency. Because both Packer [and] Monson have looked so feeble nobody will connect Zechariah 11 saying it was just coincidence. Then Elder Nelson will ascend to the Presidency. Elder Hales hasn't looked well for some time and supposedly Elder Scott is ill too. It's conceivable that five of the fifteen could be replaced in the next year. I figure that they will be replaced with churchmen like Elder Clayton (Google his involvement in high profile excommunications) and Elder Rasband who supposedly lives in DS' stake and was involved in getting DS exxed.

All this will come during the announcement by the SCOTUS that gay marriage will be the law of the land. We will then shortly see it in the church.

I hope I'm wrong.

 Combine that with this:

[L. Tom Perry's] passing will mark another milestone in the loss of leaders who were there when I first joined the LDS Church. The only ones remaining now in leadership who were there at the beginning are Thomas S. Monson, Boyd K. Packer and L. Tom Perry.

I wish him and his family well. It saddens me to see him depart.
from here

And this. I am quoting the chapter in its entirety, but highlighting a few spots for tl;dr people (too long, didn't read).

Zechariah, Chapter 11

1  OPEN thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.

2  Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.

3  ¶ There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.

4  Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;

5  Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.

6  For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.

7  And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock.  And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.

8  Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.

9  Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

10  ¶ And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it assunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

11  And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.

12  And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear.  So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.

13  And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them.  And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

14  Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15  ¶ And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

16  For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.

17  Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock!  the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

Babylon
Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The God of Heaven tells me all the world should pray that Baghdad does not fall.

Lamentation for Baghdad
May 28, 2015

Days of distress are upon Baghdad and the days of their troubles are begun. Distress shall overtake them, for those who come shall have no pity.

During the next nine years, we will see things happen in the LDS Church (and probably in all of the factions that claim to be the "true" doctrinal and authoritative descendants of Joseph Smith Jr). A cry for repentance, coming from the Lord as He tears things apart, as He preaches His own sermons.

After those nine years (March 2024), what will happen then?

If the Gentiles (called Gentiles even if there happen to be drops of rebellious Ephraimite blood in them) have taken advantage of the calamities and destructions and have repented, it will be well with them. They will be numbered among the house of Israel.

If not, they will be destroyed and trodden under foot.

How long after March 2024 will that take? I don't know.

Am I a true "prophet" or a false one?

I don't know.

All I know is that we are in great spiritual and physical danger. As goes the world, so goes the Church.

 We cry, "All is well," and bury our heads in the sand to our detriment and to our future horror and agony.

Repent and come unto Christ. Lean upon Him and no other. Be baptized by one having authority (rather than by one merely commissioned in a dead Church). Join no formal organization.

Keep your current religion if you wish (LDS, FLDS, Community of Christ, Buddhist, Islamic, Catholic, Episcopalian, Baptist, Pagan, New Age, and so on and so forth).

The Lord's church consists of those who repent, come unto Him, and are baptized. That is His doctrine. There is no doctrine but this, which is encapsulated in the words, "Come unto me."

The Book of Mormon is extremely helpful in this journey, but a belief in the literalness of it as a history doesn't seem to be a requirement.

Parable of the Talents

God's course is one eternal round. He does not vary.

 For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.
Doctrine and Covenants 3:2
----------------
LISTEN to the voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday, and forever.
Doctrine and Covenants 35:1

His focus is on us - to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life . . . eventually. (How long that takes depends upon us and what we choose to do or be.)

For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:39

Before the foundation of this earth, there was another round, a previous chance for us to rise up. Some did and some didn't.

And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come, and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.
Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:38

And thus they have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and blindness of their minds, while, if it had not been for this they might have had as great privilege as their brethren.
Book of Mormon, Alma 13:4

Like Moses, we only know about this round.

But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you.  For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power.  And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them
Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:35

(I would like to know more about the earths "that now stand.")

We bring with us the level we raised to previously, even though we don't remember what that level was.

And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith, are called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.

And thus they have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith . . .

Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, there were many who were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish;
Book of Mormon, Alma 13:3-4, 10

Some of us went one step higher, some five, and some ten - and that is what we brought with us from "heaven".

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability;
Matthew 25:14-15

In this round, in this existence, we get to choose again. We can refuse to rise up. We can refuse to heed God. We can refuse to hear His messengers (and how unlikely a messenger they seem to be). We can refuse to follow Christ. We can refuse to seek His face.

In that case, we lose even the level we had risen up to before, in the last round, be it one, five, or ten. (I doubt that, in this case, the personal levels can be given to another - but what do I know? This present post is reflecting understanding I was recently given. It is a ladder that spirals round and round. If I continue, I will understand more and more about this stuff, about this parable's meanings.)

Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
Matthew 25:14

But, if we do rise up, if we do seek the face of Christ -
If we do seek to remove all
jarring
contention
envying
lust for power and wealth

and

replace them with
compassion
loving kindness
willingnes to share what we can with the poor and needy
sacrifice all things to God (not to an institution)

then we will increase our talents.

To the degree that we rise up to do God's will (not some man's will, no matter what authority he professes to hold - and men like this are not confined to legal institutions), to that degree our talents increase.

And the more we increase here, the more we will have in the afterlife, so that in the next round instead of being the man with one talent, we may be the one with five or ten (and the one with five or ten could just as easily forfeit his talents in this round as the one with one. There is no guarantee of success. It depends upon us and the choices we make).

Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.

And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.
Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-19

And about that word talent? Even though we know it meant "money" in the old days, we seem to teach each other that it conveys the modern meaning, thus we think it is telling us to enlarge our talents to sing, draw, build cars, collect money, and so forth.

What if the Lord used the word "talent" because it connoted something valuable in that society (as it [money] also does in ours), something many people set their heart on. What if the transfer of meaning was supposed to be "something valuable" - something that gives life? (In the United States, not having money means no food, no shelter, few (if any) friends, being shunned, etc.)

In any case, those are the thoughts given to me on this subject. No doubt, the parable of the talents has varied and deeper meanings. No doubt, if I rise up to a higher level of intelligence, I will look back on this post and consider it on a toddler level at best.


The two version of the parable of the talents:

Luke 19:12-27
He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.

And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.

And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.

Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.

And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.

And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.

And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.

And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:

For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.

And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant.  Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?

And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.

(And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)

For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.

But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

Matthew 25:14-30
 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

New Hymn - Oh Lord, My God

I wrote this song this morning. The tune is a Swedish folk melody, the same one we use when we sing, "How Great Thou Art." Obviously, one can see parts of that leaking through.



How this song came about: For the last few weeks, I would spontaneously sing, "Oh, Lord, my God," then stop - because what was in my heart was a plea for forgiveness, a desire to come into the Lord's presence, to stop all the sins "that so easily beset me." This morning, I decided to sit down with pencil and paper and write the song that was trying to burst through. The following is the result.



Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the pains thy soul has seen.
I see the wounds, I hear the Lord's great sobbing
And shrink to watch the scene before my eyes.

Chorus:
Then cries my soul, "Oh, Lord, forgive my sins!
I will forgive! I will forgive."
Then bids my Lord, "My young one, come to me.
As you have loved, you will be loved."*

And through the night when I in fearful tremor
Consider the great sacrifice divine,
My soul does shrink. I see my sins in glory**
And wish to God I could erase them all.

Chorus:
Then cries my soul, "Oh, Lord, forgive my sins!
I will forgive! I will forgive."
Then bids my Lord, "My young one, come to me.
As you have loved, you will be loved."*

And then I see His deepest love divine
As he removes the guilt from off my heart.
I hear His words. I know His deepest pain.
His words to me, "My son, please come to me."  *** 

Chorus:
Then cries my soul, "Oh, Lord, forgive my sins!
I will forgive! I will forgive."
Then bids my Lord, "My young one, come to me.
As you have loved, you will be loved."*

(Written by Toni Bate, March 22, 2015)





*This is a reference to charity as written by Moroni:
[quote]43  And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.

44  If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

45  And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth.  Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
47  But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.  Amen.

Moroni 7[/quote]

**Seeing ourselves in God's glory shows us how imperfect and filthy we really are.

***(Daughter didn't fit. Child seemed awkward.)

Note: Anyone can sing this song, copying it for that purpose is permitted. This is the Lord's song, not mine.

Take Care

This is semi-related to my previous post. A couple of days ago, I was able to meet with some friends to partake of the sacrament. We got there a few hours early and spent time conversing on spiritual things. They brought up something I think is important.

Those of us in this movement are mostly a friendly bunch. We greet each other with hugs. We help each other freely. We are glad to converse and share. We love to see each other. In fact, a big bonus of the ten-lecture sermon for most of us was that we got to meet each other in person. We spent hours talking to each other, ate at restaurants and in parks together, partook of the sacrament, and even performed baptisms on occasion.

The friends I conversed with a couple of days ago brought up something important. That is that our friendliness could be our undoing if we are not careful. They have made a rule about the husband not hugging other women and the wife not hugging other men. It could be very easy for wrong thoughts and wrong desires to enter one's mind and heart (if not immediately, then over the course of time).

They pointed out that some of the people who meet do not have companions who are "on board" with the ideas we are espousing. The friendliness can lead to sins or weird ideas, borne of the loneliness of being on the path without one's spouse. Ideas like being "spiritually" sealed to a man or a woman who is not one's husband or wife. A great deal of mischief can ensue, limited only by the imagination of men and women.

Truly Benjamin spoke rightly when he said, "And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them."
Book of Mormon | Mosiah 4:29

I sincerely hope and sincerely pray that we can do this, that we can connect with our Lord, that He will bring us to Zion, that darkness may leave and have no power over us anymore, at all. I pray that we will all be sensitive to the many ways in which we can err and sin so that we may be clean vessels of the Lord. I pray that we will all be sensitive to the many ways in which we can do good and serve our Lord, that we may be clean vessels of the Lord.

Jesus' Bread Recipe

Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35, 50-51). Wheat, when it dies, brings forth life (John 12:24). Jesus gave us the bread recipe, though not the measurements.

Take some wheat (Matt 3:12). Throw out any tares (Matt 13:25). Add oil (Matt 25:3; Mark 6:13). Add water (John 3:5). Add salt that is pure (3 Nephi 12:13; Luke 14:34). Add leavening (Luke 13:21; 1 Cor 5:6).

There are hidden meanings here, pieces of a puzzle. Separately, they don't mean as much, but put them together and bake them in the fiery furnace of affliction or in the refiner's fire and you come out with a finished product, if you will. One worth saving. One worth partaking of in the household of God just as food becomes one with us when we partake of it, thus becoming one with the Gods - thus we can all share the Mind of God and be one.

When God Asks for the Ultimate Sacrifice

Job. Abraham. Others. God either put into their lives something they greatly feared, or asked them to do something that - I believe - they greatly feared.

One of the parts on the path to God is that He will ask you to do something you do not want. It appears that it is something that is fearful to you. Abraham was going to be offered up as a human sacrifice. It is only natural that he should fear not only having such a thing done to him, but having it done to his beloved son. He had apparently already lost one son when Sarah kicked out the boy and his mother. He may have been fearful of losing his other son. Job plainly says that the thing he greatly feared had come upon him.

A friend and I were talking about Abraham's sacrifice. She pointed out that God wants us to face our fears and overcome them. That is the point of asking us to do the one thing we most don't want to do.

It is not so we can take a stand against God and say, "No. I'm going to be an adult here, and I will not do what you ask." (There is a thought process going around that Abraham lost his exaltation because he obeyed the command to offer up Isaac. Such a notion contradicts scripture.)

Neither is it to feed God's pride, or to show us and Him that we will bend to Him at all costs (though bending to Him at all costs is part of the process).

It is God helping us to over come all fear, all hesitation: Fear of what others will think about us or do to us. Fear of losing everything. Fear that your only son will not only be killed, but will be killed as a sacrifice.

Do we trust God? Do we trust that what He asks us to do is for our own benefit? Truly? Deep inside? Does God love us? Is He selfless in that love? Can He be trusted with all that we are, have, and believe?

It is a process of learning to trust God completely. When He asks for that one thing that we fear most, that one thing that we are most reluctant to put upon the altar, we are learning several things:

God always comes first. Not us. Not our families. Not our religion. Not our money nor our job. Not our reputation.
We learn to overcome all fear. After that experience, we fear nothing.
We learn to be selfless. Those who become eligible to be as God, must be as selfless as He is.

I'm sure there are many other things to be learned from this, however, this is all I have right now. Isn't scripture study incredibly interesting? Isn't there so much to learn and gain from looking deeply into what is there, and asking God to open up to us what we do not know?

Home Teachers

Home teachers are people who are assigned to pretend they care. Some keep up the pretense rather well. Most do not. Some never bother to show up. (Most of mine have shown up.) Some say they will show up, but never do. (I've had my share of these.) Some offer to help, but never get around to it. Some become genuine friends. (I had one of those right after I got back from my mission, years ago.) Most (that I have had) are polite, putting in their time for whatever reason.

Numbers.

I think this is the major reason. Pushing for that 100%. You can usually tell these. They are the ones who call (or show up) within the last few days of the month on a consistent basis.

Tradition.

This is what is done in the church, therefor we do it. We think we know why. We honor Brigham Young for beginning this inspired program. (But, then, we have no idea what it was that Brigham Young actually expected the men to do, nor do we know that it was not popular, because the people did not like the idea of such invasive questions.)

Pride.

These are the ones who feel compelled to have 100% home teaching. The visits are superficial (most home teaching visits are, anyway, in my experience – no matter what category most of them fit into). They may be at the end of the month, at the beginning, or any points in between. The impetus is to put on a face to the world (church) that theydo 100% home teaching, that they are righteous and holy. Perhaps they are striving to go up the ecclesiastical ladder.

Guilt.

I think men are less prone to this factor than women, but this is definitely one. Gonna be punished. Gonna look bad. Who knows when these home teachersshow up. They may get home teaching done quickly just to say it's done.

I have had home teachers who:

were genuine friends before they were assigned -

became friends because of the home teaching position -

set up a time and date, but never showed up (they followed this pattern on a regular basis) -

came, and we had stilted conversation before they got to the crux of the meeting – a lesson in a magazine that I could read for myself (and probably already had) -

helped us with things we genuinely needed -

helped us grudgingly -

helped us, apparently willingly.

My favorite home teachers.

The one after my mission came because he was assigned. In other words, he didn't know my roommate and myself before this time. But he seemed to genuinely care. We had “real” conversations.

Then there was the one who would set appointments, but only showed up for the first one. I don't know how much he genuinely cared, but when we needed him, he was there. This includes the formidable task of moving us from southeastern Arizona to southwestern Utah – freely and without complaint or hesitation.

In northern Arizona, we rented from a man and his wife. Very low rent ($300 a month). When we moved in, the kids and I helped finish a room that was being added onto the trailer we were renting. For that, we got free rent for at least a month (maybe two).

And, he made me a deal: I could work for him to pay for $100 of the rent each month. He was writing a book, but he was mostly blind. He could not type because of lack of feeling in his fingertips. I worked for him 12 ½ hours a monthas his eyes and as his typist. (He was not physically well enough to do more than a couple of hours of work at a time.) When my niece died, he lent me money to get up to the funeral (another couple lent me a car, because mine was not good enough to go that far, in my opinion. They were neither home nor visiting teachers). I paid him back through work.

Soon after I moved in, he told me that they had assigned him as my home teacher. He asked if I'd accept him as my home teacher. When I told him yes, he asked if I wanted a monthly visit. I told him, “No.” If he was there when we needed him, that was enough. And he wasthere when we needed him, both he and his wife. The amount of help they gave us was incredible, considering that he kept calling himself, “useless,” because of his poor health.

We called them Grandpa and Grandma. They had had a toddler killed in a car accident years before (a drunk driver hit them). She had been born a year afterI had been born. They “adopted” me, and told me I was the replacement for that child. Not exactly, because one cannot replace someone who was lost, but this was their view of myself and my children. They even took me to her grave and showed it to me. They had many children, by the way. All of the childrenwere grown by the time I met this couple.

I wish I still lived in that area. I would love to be going over there, helping Grandpa type his latest story. (He had been typing a history when I moved into the trailer, but by the time I moved out of that area, long after moving out of his place, he wasworking on historical stories.)

Their hearts were “as big as all outdoors”.

I don't like “lessons” from either home teachers or visiting teachers. I don't think God ever set up a program of people mechanically teaching or of being assigned to care. I believe He can and has used the program to help those who need help, but that's only because we are not living Zion.

If we were living Zion we would not need to be assigned to care. We would naturally care. We would notice those who needed what we can give, because we would be open to the Spirit pointing those people out to us. I have had such people come into my radar when I was in a position to help. I have also been on the receiving end of such help. Even now, some people who were truly inspired to help us have been pulling me out of the pit of despair with their very real help. I don't even know these people in real life. They are internet friends.

I suppose my point in all of this is that we should be living in a way where “assigned friends” are not necessary, where we are living in such a way that God brings to us those we can help in whatever way their souls ache. We should not have to teach someone a monthly lesson. Instead, we should be loving them and praying for them. They can (and should) study the scriptures for themselves, forgoing the middle-men to God. We should help because of the love of God that resides in our hearts.

Thoughts on Storing Food

First - Where is the revelation where God commands us to store food?

I wonder if it would have been better to learn how to trust God for my supply, instead of putting away food.

What if food storage subverts the work of God as He tries to teach us to rely on Himinstead of the arm of flesh (even if it is our own arm)?

We (my family and I) are living off our food storage. The oil is nearly gone. Depending on how many sweets we make, the sugar could last several months to a year (we don't usually use it very quickly). The salt will last forever (we don't use much of that, either). Our oils are olive oil and grapeseed oil. Our sugar is sucanat (brown) and dried cane juice (white, but not as white as refined cane sugar). To replace any of those items with similar items is more than we can afford right now. We'd have to “downsize” to the lowest quality available (or go without).

But this post isn't to draw attention to us, nor to make anyone feel sorry for us. God is taking care of us. We aren't starving. I'm just wondering if we would have, perhaps, been better off learning to trust God for our food supply instead of our own ability to hoard, even if collecting the food entailed sacrifice (which it did at times).

Second - The fruits of storing food.

What are they? You know the most prolific fruit I see? Fear and violence.

So many people (not all - and I know many because of my interaction with the internet) are stockpiling weapons to defend their food storage. They speak of how they plan to kill anyone who tries to take their food by force. They speak of how they will make someone who asks for food labor in the most menial, demeaning ways to earn the right to survive. You know, s/he didn't prepare when the time was right. Now the time of preparation is past. Even though I didn't agree with the violent tendencies, it seem “normal” to me. But, now . . .

What about King Benjamin's sermon? What about not judging the beggar? What about freely giving to him/her? What about the fact that his/her death is upon your head if they perish because you withheld food?

“Which of my children should die that you might live?” Catchy comeback for those who assume they can just come to your house and get some food when times get bad, because they didn't store away food. (I liked the comeback when I first heard it. I thought I could use it if I ever came across that particular situation.)

But this doesn't sound like the fruits of the Spirit on either side - Not on the side of the one assuming they have a right to take, nor on the side of the one who assumes that sharing means automatic death for a family member.

I see food storage preventing faith that God will provide.

I see food storage causing otherwise good people to desire to kill their fellowmen.

I see food storage causing selfishness, pride, and greed.

I see food storage causing envy, covetousness, and anger.

This is a new view for me. A new paradigm. An unexpected turn of thought.

What if we are supposed to rely on God and God only, for our support?

The rich man who hoarded his grain was only being a good steward. He was making sure he had his long term supply of food - And God called him a fool.

Jesus said (in the Bible) that we shouldn't worry about how or if we are fed and clothed. He seemed to be talking to everyone, the 12 apostles as well as the general congregation. Jesus said the same thing to another group (in the Book of Mormon), but it was to 12 disciples and didn't seem to be directed to the multitude in general. I don't know if that means something or not.

A group of people in the Book of Mormon got together a 7 year supply -

But -

1) They did it together

2) There was an immediate threat they were responding to.

The Pharaoh in the Old Testament had a warning dream. God's seer interpreted it. Again, there was a specific threat. God gave a specific revelation in relation to it.

What if the people in Pharaoh's time had been righteous? What if they were in the habit of trusting God for their supply? Would there have been a need for them to eventually sell their souls to the Pharaoh? Would the dream have been necessary? Joseph certainly would not have been in prison because a wanton woman would not have been among the people (neither would slavery had been among them). Did God provide the dream because the people, like us, lacked the faith for God to provide for them day by day and minute by minute? Like the ravens. Like manna. Like clothes never wearing out (and that was among a rebellious people).

And the Israelites the dream was intended to save? How righteous were they? Many of them wanted to kill their brother. Instead, they threw him in a pit and sold him as a slave, putting blood on his clothes so the lie they told their father would seem more realistic. Two of them massacred a great many young men in a certain town. One slept with his father's wife. This doesn't sound like people who would be able to draw down the power of heaven when a famine showed up (and perhaps the famine was to humble them).

For us today, what happens when the food runs out? When there are no stores to go to? No money even if there were stores? No gardens because there is no safety, no unpoisoned land, no good water? Will we be fed by ravens? Will manna come from heaven? What if we have killed to protect our food supply? Is God bound to save our lives after we have done that? Will He still send ravens or manna or water from a rock to a murderous people?

I have not seen even one revelation from God for our time, commanding us to have a food supply (yet we think there was one). I have not seen such a revelation telling us to rely on it for our lives.

A dream by an unknown person (attributed to John Taylor, I believe, but the truth is that there is no name attached though there is a space for the name once the journal writer found out who had it). What credence should we give to that? The same as we give to the myriad of other rumors of thus and so general authority had a dream or a prophecy, but never bothered to deliver the message over the pulpit, pointing out that God had given it to him to warn the people?

“Thus saith the Lord, it is meet that my people gather together food and other supplies to sustain them for xxxx years, And this is a standing law unto them forever (or at least until I come). Amen.”

Where is it? If God said it and it is scripture for our day, it should be in the Doctrine and Covenants. I cannot find it there.

And if it isa commandment from God (but someone forgot to canonize it), why are the fruits

fear

greed

anger

envy

violence

murder

slavery?

If it was from God, wouldn't the fruits be

faith

charity

peace

generosity

freedom?

As one who has been to the spirit world, I can tell you that to kill for fear of dying from hunger makes no sense. If you do that, your death when it comes will not be pleasant for you. As one who has experienced serious hunger, I assure you that one does adjust to hunger. For myself, the pain became my friend. I didn't want it to leave. Scary thought, huh?