Monday, December 26, 2016.
Zechariah was of the tribe of Levi. He was an old man. God began his work there. Despite the age, God was able to produce new growth in his son John.
Jesus was not of Levi. Matthew shows his adoptive father was of David/Judah. Luke shows that his mother was likewise from the same line.
God worked among the old ordinances, and he was establishing something new. John, a Levite prophet put the dead works of the Jewish priestly class and people on notice. While they claimed to speak for God an...
Sunday, December 25, 2016.
The three wise men who were Zoroastrians from Persia were led by the stars that they worshipped to the manger to worship the One who created the stars. God did not hold their paganism against them, he used it to enlighten them. They were men of good will, seekers after God, lovers of truth, and God blessed them with visions and dreams, a star, and the Christ child. Then they disappeared from view only to be heard of again in pious legend; but the Christ clarified their vision. What happened to ...
Tuesday, December 20, 2016.
This is how churches, schools, clubs, governments and everything else works. Group behavior is powerful. This is what most people mistake for the voice of conscience . We re all living someone else s dream, the dream of people long dead.
...
Wednesday, December 14, 2016.
What is the root cause of addiction?
We should stop talking about addiction altogether and instead see it as bonding.
Healthy bonding includes relationships, connections to family community and to self.
The path to healing for addiction lies in genuine connection.
If we can t connect in this way, we will connect with anything we can find.
Peter Cohen
...
Saturday, December 10, 2016.
Why was the effort made to change the custom such that we are baptized outside, out of structures made by man in natural living water but the historical, and probably future contemplated temple puts us into a box?
In Israel, a temple was only built because Israel refused to come up on the mount, and instead of God being written in their heart, God gave them the many ordinances that they asked for, had a temple built, and his presence could also be found there. (Maybe a temple is never neces...
Sunday, December 4, 2016.
And again it is written, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths; But verily, verily, I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair black or white; But let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever cometh of more than these is evil. (Matthew 5, 3 Nephi 12)
The common interpretation of this...
Saturday, December 3, 2016.
Having a biblical defense for anything is easy. You can have a solid biblical defense of slavery, genocide, war, polygamy, nationalism, sexism, and racism. What s important is to learn Christ and read this very human book in a Spirit-inspired way that reveals its trajectory through history towards the Son who reveals the Father. - Jacob Wright
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016.
I thought this was a statement worth pondering:
As a citizen of Sevier County, I m not the least bit worried about how my people will face this challenge. We will first treat our wounded and then we will help rebuild. We may fight amongst ourselves here in Sevier County, but when some fire comes in and threatens our Gatlinburg, we hold at the center. Link
See Also
Dollywood employee finds burned Bible page after wildfires. Link
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Sunday, November 20, 2016.
There is a command that prohibits evil speaking of the Lord s anointed.
Some have claimed this refers to church leadership. Others have said this refers to anyone who has been through the ceremony of anointing . Still others have said it refers to those upon whom the Lord himself has laid hands.
I however take a broader view and believe this refers to anyone or anything which has been anointed and sustained by the Light of Christ, which is everyone and everything.
We are commanded to...
Sunday, November 20, 2016.
Yes you do risk losing your faith if you dig deep. It has happened to lots of people. But that does not mean you should not dig. You don t want to feel that if you turned over every stone, somewhere there would be a snake. You have to be willing to look at everything or your faith will be shaky. My own belief is that if you run into a problem, you should plunge right into the center of it and learn all you can. Problems that are lit up with knowledge are often less scary than problems lurking i...
Thursday, November 17, 2016.
A friend put these scriptures together:
The glory of God is intelligence. (D&C 93:36)
For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1:39)
...
Thursday, November 17, 2016.
I believe the concept of God is very simple. Yet because those simple concepts are incomprehensible, scriptures writers, or those who know God, create a vast array of scripture and commandments to attempt to explain God. It makes religion look very complex. I believe a commonality can be found and a harmony reached and God revealed from this seeming complexity.
Likewise I believe God is a being of spirit, glory and power and is the source of all life. That God is at the center of all of us, t...
Friday, October 28, 2016.
No One understands the true nature of God and no mortal's understanding of God is exactly true. We know only our limited perspectives gained from the limited information we have on the limited ways He has revealed Himself to us. We don't even really know each other and yet each religion thinks they know or have the correct understanding of God? God calls prophets and has them organize religions to teach people about the nature of eternal beings, universal consciousness and reality; and to t...
Saturday, October 22, 2016.
I wonder if at Christ s birth there was a representative of all of Noah s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and if that s part of why the wise men were there, to show Christ was for all mankind and not just the Jews.
I also wonder if Abraham was a descendent of Ham, given that he had so many connections with Egypt. Abraham got his blessing from Shem, but perhaps he was Hammite.
...
Wednesday, October 19, 2016.
the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased. (D&C 1:30)
You cannot read that, divorced from this:
Behold, this is my doctrine—whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church. Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church. (D&C 10:66-68)
What is it that needed to be brought forth out of obscurity and out of darkness that perhap...
Wednesday, October 19, 2016.
And as they were speaking Jesus appeared in their midst and said, Truth, one and absolute, is in God alone, for no man, neither any body of men, knoweth that which God alone knoweth, who is the All in All. To men is Truth revealed, according to their capacity to understand and receive. The One Truth hath many sides, and one seeth one side only, another seeth another, and some see more than others, according as it is given to them. Behold this crystal: how the one light is manifest in twelve fac...
Sunday, October 16, 2016.
Democracy: late 16th century: from French démocratie, via late Latin from Greek demokratia, from demos 'the people' + -kratia 'power, rule.'
Fallen man ruling fallen man.
God wants to rule, but we prevent him. His rule is a measure. How do we measure our fellow man?
...
Sunday, October 16, 2016.
People participate in government like giant mob. If the majority thinks you should be ingesting fluoride, guess what? If the majority wants to indoctrinate your children with certain ideas, guess what? If the majority wants to inject you with a substance they think will make them safe, guess what? Democracy is nothing more than mob rule. Democracy by representatives is no different. It is a plague. It fulfills the insatiable, fallen need to control other people. Add fear into the mix and it tu...
Thursday, September 29, 2016.
It irked me, McCluskey acknowledged. Questions flooded my mind. How is it that you can be put on [church] probation for masturbation or reading a copy of Penthouse magazine, but not for supporting the slaughter of innocent people in order to secure access to their natural resources? Link
...
Wednesday, September 14, 2016.
How can this man, who we know is a sinner and an apostate open the eyes of the blind?
I know not, only that I was blind, and now, I can see.
We may not know from whence the wind cometh, or whither it goeth, but we can know when the words of eternal life are spoken to us and takes away our blindness.
...
Friday, September 9, 2016.
Yea, at the time that he shall yield up the ghost there shall be thunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours, and the earth shall shake and tremble; and the rocks which are upon the face of this earth, which are both above the earth and beneath, which ye know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is one solid mass, shall be broken up; Yea, they shall be rent in twain, and shall ever after be found in seams and in cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole ear...
Wednesday, August 31, 2016.
A 16 year old juvenile delinquent armed with a toilet seat attacks a corrections officer and roams the streets of a small town. Police armed with guns engage in a manhunt throughout the night. The boy is found dead the next morning by a resident in a public place; killed by a gunshot wound. The police say it was self inflicted, and they will investigate it.
Another police officer responds to a call when an assailant opens fire and kills the officer. The man is apprehended and in the wake of t...
Monday, August 29, 2016.
There is a parental saying that is sometimes heard when a child is about to do something risky or naughty. The parent, with one hand on his or her hip and a pointing finger wagging in the child's face, angrily declares, "If you get hurt, don't come crying to me!"
Another father said this: "Run barefoot if you feel you must, but if you cut your foot open, please come crying to me."
The saying actually came from the same father at different times. (Quoted from Joyce Kinmont)
...
Monday, August 29, 2016.
Do not murmur, my son, for it is wisdom in me that I have dealt with you after this manner. Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings,...
Monday, August 22, 2016.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
Consider the magnificence of a child being given unto us. Consider whether child should be capitalized as a title, rather than a celebration of a birth event. We are to become as little children in order to be saved. Jesus is the only one begotten of the Father. We...
Sunday, August 21, 2016.
The words and letters of the Hebrew language form a dependent symbiotic relationship. If this is true, then it means the Hebrew vocabulary and alphabet were formed together and not over a long period of time. For this reason, most scholars reject the symbiotic relationship between Hebrew words and letters. -Jeff Benner
...
Wednesday, August 17, 2016.
Why is it when people get old, they feel they know all the answers to any question, on any subject? Why is it that they feel their experience is the only right way, and instead of listening to the experience, cares and concerns of others, they proceed to teach their one true way? Lost is the child in the increasing stiffness and pride that comes with age. teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their l...
Sunday, August 14, 2016.
The scientist is like an explorer climbing a mountain: giddy from the heights and thin atmosphere, he feels a premature elation and thinks that he can reach out and grab the stars. And then he climbs to the top and sees that even higher peaks await him in the distance and that the stars are so far beyond his grasp that they will never become light under the nails of his Heavenscraping fingers.
In every century since its birth, science has proclaimed itself capable of explaining everything...
Sunday, August 14, 2016.
Sexual reproduction is death as opposed to parthenogenesis where an exact copy of DNA is handed down. In sex, half of the genetic material is thrown away, and the resulting offspring is unpredictable. Myths such as the midrash versions of Adam s creation, vs the angelic steady-state, Demeter and Persephone, or even Wonder Woman who initially preserve their species through parthenogenetic means speak to the introduction of sex, and thus death, as superior (or in some perspectives, inferior) in th...
Saturday, August 13, 2016.
Do we determine if we are in Zion by the measurements of Babylon?
And behold, we are strong, we shall not come into bondage, or be taken captive by our enemies; yea, and thou hast prospered in the land, and thou shalt also prosper.
...
Tuesday, August 9, 2016.
I dreamt I was listening to a prophet who came locally to speak, in my parents garage at our old small house. A few others were there besides me. He read the in the Bible about who could be saved and said If I was to translate this, I would say almost no one can be saved. Only those who do everything to try and keep all the commandments and save a little to contribute to the Lord; and then only a tiny amount of them, who put away everything they had and sold all in hopes of gaining access, a gl...
Sunday, August 7, 2016.
The world of the angelic hierarchy was an evolutionary stream of light in a steady-state, but the creation of Adam from matter disturbs that primordial steady-state; it generates the creative disequilibrium necessary for change, transformation, and evolution. Nothing is more awe-inspiring than an angel, nothing more seemingly unimpressive than a human being, and yet contained in that handful of dust is the signature for the entire universe of space-time. God is up to something, and not even the...
Sunday, August 7, 2016.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king s horses and all the king s men
Couldn t put Humpty together again.
Humpty Dumpty is an egg representing divine primordial unity. In Vedic as well as West African Dogan cosmology the universe is an egg that shatters as it expands to begin its career of unfoldment in time. Humpty sits on a wall that defines the edge between eternity and time. We fall into time and the King is working with the angels to bring us agai...
Saturday, August 6, 2016.
When movements begin to attract a large following, they have a way of losing aesthetic integrity. They develop from ripe to soft to rotten. -William Irwin Thompson
This is exactly why I believe the deeper meanings of scriptures are kept a mystery and what I ve tried to say before, but better and more well-informed.
...
Friday, July 29, 2016.
Went to a GnR concert with my brother and his wife in Orlando Friday, July 29th. It was his fantastic idea. I had considered buying ticket in a closer state. Stayed with my brother for a couple of days. Loved the music. Had a fantastic time with everyone. He cooked me a French breakfast and made home-made root beer which was all amazing. Thank you.
For better or worse, I have not connected with any music like I have with theirs (Glenn Gould s performances have come close). I had been hoping f...
Sunday, July 24, 2016.
I owe this gem to a friend LE.
One small phrase in the Book of Mormon has been used to say that the book justifies the practice polygamy.
As it stands in the printer s copy it says:
For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts. Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes. For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I...
Thursday, July 21, 2016.
God created man (mankind) in his own image, male and female. Male and female is the image of God.
These males and females divided two and two in the land, not one on three. While patriarchs have practiced plural wives for different reasons, Joseph taught that it was the pure, undefiled religion of Adam that we ought to seek to return.
...
Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
Name (Strong s #8034): In our modern western culture a name is nothing more than an identifier, really no different than being assigned a number. The Hebrew word for a name is ?? (shem) But, in the Ancient Hebrews culture the shem is much more than just a name it is the breath of the individual. To the Hebrews the breath is more than just the exchange of air in the lungs it is his character, the internal qualities of an individual that make him unique. This idea of the word shem meaning c...
Tuesday, July 19, 2016.
A fear to fail is as crippling as any other kind of fear. Failure gives us as much or more information than only succeeding. Failure should be redefined as not trying.
Video from Sara Blakely, Founder of Spanx
...
Thursday, July 7, 2016.
Those who are described as agreeable, conscientious personalities are more likely to follow orders and deliver electric shocks that they believe can harm innocent people, while more contrarian, less agreeable personalities are more likely to refuse to hurt others.
Article
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Monday, July 4, 2016.
My son has been reading and searching the scriptures for the past few days. He has read and sought for the welfare of people close to him. Tonight I spoke with him in the circumstances and trials he found himself. I tried to make the words of God, as I understood them, plain to his understanding and we agreed with each other and were edified and we were happy. The Lord then blessed my son. He believed the words of scripture and my words, and then I believed his.
...
Sunday, July 3, 2016.
And he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men. (Mosiah 3:10)
Christ came in the exact likeness of the Father and demonstrated what kind of judgements God passes upon mankind. While the religious leaders were putting burdens on men s backs, Christ was removing them. He came to show the Love of God, to forgive, to teach, to lift, to show patience, to...
Sunday, July 3, 2016.
The phrase you need need not respect the messenger but you must respect the message seems scripturally to apply to Christ as well because it says those who speak a word of blasphemy against the Son should be forgiven but not those who speak blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Also when Christ was in the earth, he said he was not that prophet, yet later an Moroni declared Christ was. Christ isn t honoring himself, he s honoring what is in him, And what is in you also. He doesn t want your prais...
Sunday, July 3, 2016.
Jeremiah 23
My thoughts on the last few verses: It is a burden (and a joy) to search out the Lord, to distinguish for oneself the submerged of truth and error, light and darkness. For those who say what burden? are placing the burden upon others who claim to know the Lord. When a person says this man can never lead me astray, they have removed their own burden of knowing the Lord, oblivious to the burden required.
...
Sunday, July 3, 2016.
From a friend:
I think that the scriptures (e.g. Ezekiel 14, 20, Jacob 4:14) point to a startling and disquieting concept: the Lord will lead you exactly one place—wherever it is you want to go.
We all know the idea of the prophet can t lead you astray is a bunch of hooey. But we are still looking for someone who can t lead us astray. And we pin that idea on God. God operates according to eternal law, and it seems that this idea of him not leading us astray violates the law of agency...
Saturday, July 2, 2016.
While the conference center podium is in height, lower than many of the seats, it is yet high and lifted up and though, there are many which use that podium, it still only admits one, in that all the speakers offer the selfsame prayer (devotion) defer to a man they call a prophet, while denying Christ as a foolish notion of a frenzied mind—and we are exceedingly astonished.
We think we have sure promises, safe places, an unerring path to heaven, but there is only One strong enough to make...
Saturday, July 2, 2016.
This is a video someone shared with me a while back. I thought it was a good view into the similarities between Jehovah s witnesses and the LDS church.
...
Saturday, July 2, 2016.
The last promise of D&C 93:1-2 is that those souls who would rise up would know that I am; And that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;
When Enoch spoke with God, he seemed a little confused as to why heaven would weep over his vision of the future flood seeing that God is just. God revealed something about himself that opened Enoch s heart to swell wide as eternity and understand this great and last promise.
I believe at that moment Enoch understood...
Saturday, July 2, 2016.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (1 Cor 15:6)
In the religious world sin is expected to be conquered during life. It is accomplished by the virtue of Christ. If this is true, then is death likewise something to be conquered in mortality, raising a telestial body to a terrestrial one?
If we do not conquer sin during our probation, it is said we will suffer eternal fire. Likewise, if we leave off conquering death in Christ until the next life in the resurrection, will we be...
Saturday, July 2, 2016.
If man is his own tormentor, and
If love is what fixes,
What person would not eventually end their suffering and accept love?
Is the promise of eventual eternal life not something earned, but something true about God s patience that is revealed?
...
Friday, July 1, 2016.
The religionists in Joseph s day were very legalistic, creed oriented, join my view or you re wrong. Visitations by God (not just Joseph s) were of the devil.
Whereas the God of heaven is interested in the individual, no matter where they are, no matter what religious errors they have. We all err in doctrine, we all offend, the best of us fall far short of the measure or rule of God, but God s love is universal.
Does this have anything to do with the mind of God when he said they were a...
Tuesday, June 28, 2016.
Korihor had a false angel appear to him, he gave him a commission to teach, the end result was putting God out of the reach of man and denying Christ. He didn t know what he was preaching, he didn t know God, but he went on pretending anyway.
But behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is no God; yea, and he taught me that w...
Sunday, June 26, 2016.
Ezekiel 14 and especially 20 contain some of the most interesting passages in scripture it can turn upside-down our understanding of the way God deals with mankind.
In these chapters the Lord asks Ezekiel whether he should be inquired of by a people who s hearts are on some substitute for God. He says that he will answer them according to what is in their heart, and it will be a deception and both the people and prophet will fall together.
In 20 he tells these same idolotrous Elders of Is...
Sunday, June 26, 2016.
There are many ways to interpret the scriptures, and because you ve settled on one interpretation, doesn t necessarily mean it s correct and includes all the nuances God had in mind when he gave it.
I would also add that Ezekiel 14 and 20 kind of destroys any ability to set in stone that God means and intends anything given to us by prophets, and it s only the individual s responsibility to rise and fall according to what is in their heart.
At the very least, I would refrain from using the...
Monday, June 13, 2016.
Everyone is in the orbit of Christ, he lives by virtue of his own right and provides all of us the power to live, move and breathe. He is in the sun and the power by which it was made, the moon and earth likewise. If He is meek enough to give us all the power to live according to our own wills, then everything we do is a test to see how much he really loves us, and the answer is: beyond comprehension. We will all eventually come around because as Joseph said, there is never a time when a spirit ...
Monday, June 13, 2016.
In a certain coast, there was a pass that was very trercherous to those who sailed that way. There were often many injuries and deaths, and many times due to the distance they would have to travel to get help, many died from having to wait for medical assistance. The townspeople in a nearby town were vaguely aware of the problem, but they were busy in their merchandise, and on their farms and with their families. There were a few however, who felt compassion and asked the mayor to organize the p...
Thursday, June 9, 2016.
I believe a new age is beginning. The world continues on as it always has, and in my estimation of my fellow beings, we are not much more wicked than at many other times in history. The world is full of violence, to be sure. Secret combinations are reveling in the great day of their power. Perhaps never in history before has the power of cunning men seemed to be so wide-spread and so complete. But it s going to come to an end. I believe the cries of the fatherless, the widows, the orphans, who a...
Thursday, May 12, 2016.
From Jacob Wright (5/11/2016):
In Ephesians 3, Paul the apostle writes about the mystery of the ages which has been withheld for generations past but has now been revealed, and Paul s responsibility is to make it known to the world. This is massive.
To shine a little light on the massiveness of this, let me put this in different words, Paul is saying that what all religions and philosophies have been trying to get at since the beginning of time, the revelation towards which the whole c...
Saturday, May 7, 2016.
As with all other facets of life, mankind approaches their religious beliefs without considering the implications of the Gestalt Principle of Closure and how we tend to finish something unknown with our preconceived ideas. The same is true of Bongard problems which children are able to solve, but baffle adults whose primary way of coping and making sense in the world is to fill in the missing pieces with their own beliefs.
Joseph Smith said there are angels in heaven, who desire to look into ...
Saturday, May 7, 2016.
I wonder if the terrestrial and celestial glory, with the moon and sun being representative have anything to do with the scripture that says:
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:45)
Note that it is the Father which causes the sun to shine on all equally, regardless of their current respect or knowledge of him. And consider the moon how it is var...
Sunday, May 1, 2016.
When you worship a man or men, they can never be wrong. Their intent will always be holy, noble and virtuous. You will always justify them and put them in the right. No one can ever bring the men you worship into question, because if they do, the questioner becomes the devil in your eyes. Because of this you will continually be in darkness.
Cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh.
When you worship God, all men can be wrong, your previous beliefs can be wrong, you can cont...
Monday, April 25, 2016.
Christ said I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
No one knows discomfort like someone who has lost all support from depending on men for truth. Sure men and even prophets give us important truths, but no one can rely on anyone else totally. Thus *everything* comes into question, and one is left to sort it out with only imploring heaven to guide them. Cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh, yet it feels like comfort, while trusting in God can feel like a cur...
Tuesday, April 19, 2016.
I ve often thought of forgiving as something you do so you re no longer upset or angry at someone. But I think true forgiveness, or perhaps a fulness of forgiveness is when your heart opens wide to the person that offended you. Not only is anger at them far from your mind, but love instead starts taking its place. Forgiveness is an act of union, even if it is not reciprocated. To love is to unite with the divine. This, I think, is the main reason Jesus taught that we must pray for our enemies....
Tuesday, April 19, 2016.
I woke early a couple days in a row while it was still dark, the stars were out. There were a multitude of birds singing beautiful songs, seeming to be anticipating the rising of the sun. Even the mighty and strong rooster crows and declares to man that it is time to rise, though it can feel harsh and grating to hear.
In scripture angels are often symbolized by birds. The stars represent the telestial kingdom where Satan rules. Those in his kingdom are sleeping. There is a spirit of deep slee...
Sunday, April 17, 2016.
The illusion of the whore is pretense that she really cares about you. I suspect whoredom applies to much more than just sexual or loving pretense, and that a great many men, women and primarily religionists are guilty of committing and participating in whoredoms.
Perhaps this had something to do with Joseph s statement: I love that man better who swears a stream as long as my arm yet deals justice to his neighbors and mercifully deals his substance to the poor, than the long, smooth-faced...
Wednesday, April 13, 2016.
When speaking about Lazarus, Christ used sleeping to symbolize death.
Each day our body tires, and we can no longer labor. Each night we review what happened that day and previous days and make inferences and connections. Each new day the sun rises like new life and new opportunity. We come out of a state of sleep and dreaming to rise and apply what we have learned and speculated about to reality.
All is as one day with God. What we do today is what matters.
...
Wednesday, April 13, 2016.
I was pondering a question about authority and keys a while ago, and the image that came to my mind was of a building that was whole, then the foundation cracked and a corner of it sank partially into the ground. The building cracked as well and dust rose. The building still stood, but it was broken and was no longer the same building.
...
Wednesday, April 13, 2016.
MB: Regarding the large Moab fellowship where Denver was invited, attended, and spoke, and regarding Brian Bowler s desire to have a quote general conference . I get that it s important to have fellowships to mourn with those that mourn to care for the needs of others, but you can do that in smaller groups. I m not sure what the purpose is of getting these large groups together. What does it accomplish? Does Christ come? I don t see it as being much different from what the LDS church does. The ...
Tuesday, April 12, 2016.
God chooses the weak things of this world, so that man should not put their trust in man and make flesh their arm, but put their trust in God only. It is just, in God s wisdom, that every one who is not living sufficiently spiritual to discern between truth and error, should be led into error. God called Saul and many others of old who afterward fell into error and lost the Spirit, knowing that they would fall, so as to let every one be led into error by them who had such little faith in God as...
Thursday, April 7, 2016.
It would seem all facets of life, truth depends on not trusting the arm of flesh, and not being afraid.
If I come to one conclusion, then I hold this conclusion s toes to the fire. I challenge it with every angle I can come up with. I am willing and eager to radically change my thoughts about something if I encounter information that gives me a more sophisticated viewpoint on the matter - or reveals variables that I had yet to take into consideration. I m seeking to find the truth, and expan...
Wednesday, April 6, 2016.
We take upon us the sins of the world, or the offenses others give us, and if we are true to what is in us, we forgive them, that they might not stand accused before God. We release them and let them go free. If, in us, is enthroned God himself, then the judge of sins is already here among all of us. If we forgive each other, and that coming from a holy place in us, then we could all live in peace, free from the fear. Where are thine accusers? If we would let perfection reign in us, then we woul...
Wednesday, April 6, 2016.
I was meditating for a short time and thought about Prasad s disapproval. The thought came to me that we fear other people s disapproval because we sense what they really are, and we do not want to be rejected by God, but what we don t realize is what is speaking or disapproving or giving offense is not God, but them taking something personally and becoming angry, which we then take personally because we wanted an intimate, trusted relationship with the divine. (A covenant or trust, perhaps) But...
Sunday, April 3, 2016.
And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the devil—for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency; And they were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels; And, behold, there is a place prepared for them from the beginning, which place is hell.
Wherefore, I, the Lord God, caused that he should be cast out from the G...
Friday, April 1, 2016.
Think for a moment of the Name of Christ. His name was Joshua , or more correctly Yehoshua . His title was Messiah , or the Greek Christós .
Yehoshua means to deliver/rescue/save .
Messiah comes from a root meaning to smear or to paint . The shepherd in Israel carried olive oil for its antiseptic properties and salved the wounds of their sheep or themselves with this oil. It also means annointed , as in the revelation given to Moses to annoint the head of Aaron with oil.
...
Wednesday, March 23, 2016.
I m reading a book by Annalee Skarin that was written in the 50 s. She was excommunicated for it after Mark E. Petersen read the book. Far from being the deterrent it was intended to be, this has now given her writing more credence in my mind.
I have a two small complaints. The first is that she can be wordy. A lot of what she s saying could have been said in many fewer words. Some of the way she writes and thinks seems somewhat dated and can seem somewhat uncharitable, and I believe a produc...
Wednesday, March 23, 2016.
Some of the simple truths about God cannot be spoken without being profaned by becoming common, and once they are profaned and common, then the truths are no longer really described because nothing mundane describes anything about God. We reduce a thought to a set of vocabulary and God cannot be reduced. Thus the problem, and why some things are unspeakable, or indescribable.
God created man in his own image, both male and female, so if God has both of these characteristics, then the masc...
Wednesday, March 23, 2016.
I think the gospel appears complex because there are so many ways to think about anything. I believe the gospel is very simple, it often says the same things in many different ways in symbolism, but it seems to really only comes down to one thing, such that all else passes away, and that is God is Love, and that every effort, trial, teaching is to first show us that we are loved, and second to give us opportunities to have that same mind be in us. If we have a hope for glory, it is because we ha...
Wednesday, March 23, 2016.
We are to love the least, because any time there is a least in our mind, there s something wrong with our thinking. All are equal before God, and those who are pitied may be our superiors in the eternal world; who s lives were hand-crafted to give us an opportunity to improve our perspective.
See Also
On a related not, it is also interesting that it is the least or least esteemed among men that He chooses to work through. As a result, his great works of salvation often go unnotice...
Wednesday, March 23, 2016.
I believe this is true.
Below are some comments from FB.
MSB: I heard a church leader once who who was relating a story about his interaction with his son who was leaving for a mission. He told him before he left that if he didn t come back worthy, don t come back at all. I assume by worthy, he meant he didn t commit some sexual transgression. I was flabbergasted. I couldn t believe anyone would say that to their child. I know I have said things in anger that I have seriously regrett...
Thursday, March 17, 2016.
God loves all and desires to lift all. He works with everyone wherever they are. The question is where on the path we ve decided to tarry. Where have we stopped to be entertained unawares? There are angels that stand as sentinels at waypoints that guard our way, and these sentinels test our knowledge to determine if we have learned enough from our experience to progress further along the path. The tests and the distractions are for our good.
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Our sins seem to be a result of disharmony. W...
Wednesday, March 16, 2016.
Today I think I've experienced my baptism of fire. I feel as though I have transcended the hell of this world, like I've reached a new level of life, everything has more depth and meaning. People are beautiful because God is with them and in them. I feel as though my life's purpose has been made known unto me by God. His patience his kindness, his willingness to go that extra mile, it no longer confounds me, because I am in him and he is in me, filling my soul completely, perfectly. I felt like...
Sunday, March 13, 2016.
From a FB convo:
MSB: It is really easy to say something has a dark sprit when it doesn t agree with our viewpoint. The darkness in most cases is the darkness in our own minds, the darkness of fear, accusation and misunderstanding. All you have to do to prove that point is look at how many things that the LDS disagree with are dark and apostate and that they speak in the spirit against it, yet in our understandings are full of light and truth. We ve brought out with us the same errors, an...
Sunday, March 13, 2016.
When we first started our journey, I was terrified and would pray. At the time, when I prayed and asked questions the visual I would often get was my feet with several different paths going in every direction. I was confused. There was no path. I didn t know. I could take any path.
This time, I got a visual without asking any questions, it just came to me. What I saw was that I was standing and watched in horror as my entire foundation washed away. Waves came and crashed where I was standing....
Tuesday, March 8, 2016.
Are our simple interactions with our fellow man akin to covenants? When someone interacts with us in the slightest way, a smile, a hello , do they place a trust upon us? Do they hope, even if they don t realize that they do, that they will not be spurned?
If Christ interacts with us, is he, by manifesting himself to us, placing in us a trust of life and truth, not because we raise our right arm or utter an incantation, but just by virtue of our interaction with him?
Likewise, if the least...
Thursday, March 3, 2016.
The following was written by Jacob Wright, who seems to epitomize the plea to search diligently in the light of Christ .
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The following is brilliant and shows us the significance and superiority of Christ to the law and the prophets.
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radi...
Wednesday, March 2, 2016.
Here is what I currently think of homosexuality. I believe God is All in all. That the earth is his footstool, that the power the birds have to sing is enabled by the power of God in each cell and atom. That any who hath seen the least of them has seen God moving in his majesty and power. I believe our sex drives are powered by Him also, after all, he spoke be fruitful and multiply but again I the Lord delight in the chastity of women. I believe the source of homosexuality can be from poor d...
Tuesday, March 1, 2016.
True Christianity is a dynamic living faith, which Paul said was not in word, but in power.
Mankind is worn out with listening to what the prophets of old said or did. And unless we can bring the power of God back to a lifeless religion, it will always be a thing of naught, and we will never see the day when we no more speak about the miracles Moses did when he brought some slaves out of Egypt.
The day will come, it just won t be us who rose to accomplish it. We seem to be content sittin...
Friday, February 26, 2016.
I feel like this is a country-club scenario all over again. I rejoiced coming out of the LDS Church, realizing that God s favor did not depend on recognition by men, and now this same privileged insider structure seems to be re-emerging.
If someone said Jesus ministered to them, I would be fine with that, we re still on equal ground, but to get special responses, lunches, audiences and mentions from someone who refuses to even answer an email is hurtful to some and feeds the ego of others.
...
Friday, February 26, 2016.
Wow, how sacrilegious is this? Beams of light emanating from a man, who is displayed as possessing the center point in a circle that belongs only to God?
Perhaps Lehi s vision should be re-written: "And being thus overcome with the Spirit, I was carried away in a vision, even that I saw the heavens open, and I thought I saw myself sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God."
See this mormon.org video.
...
Thursday, February 25, 2016.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
His yoke, by which he freely binds himself to us is love. His burden is light, in that he is light and truth and the burden to him is that we do not comprehend it. He asks us to take this same easy yoke and burden of light.
...
Wednesday, February 24, 2016.
See Also: Masculine/Feminine: the Nature of God
We have what can be considered the Male and Female in each of us. The Male represents Knowledge, or the thinking mind. The Female represents Wisdom or the emotional body. The masculine produces thoughts, but it is not until it is planted in the hidden emotional body (the soil in which seeds are planted is dark, mysterious, hidden, as is the womb), that it sprouts and produces fruit.
Consider this, what faith is, how God exercises it:
Th...
Friday, February 12, 2016.
Rob Smith has been excommunicated. Here is his account of the proceedings.
It makes me think of the scripture where Mormon tells his son that they are [putting] down all power and authority which cometh from God; and they are denying the Holy Ghost.
I think if we really consider our situation, we, in our day, are the same as those in that day and we, as P. Kimball said, are a very war-like people, idolizing gods of iron and steel. It seems to me that we have lifted ourselves up in our ar...
Wednesday, February 3, 2016.
LHB and I watched this documentary about an Amish family that is trying to come to grips with tradition and truth.
The leaders of this sect will have a heavy burden to bear, like all who preach using God s name in vain, having not authority as they deny God s spirit to the individual. But these circumstances seem necessary to make us like Him. Will we be true to the desire within to be free despite the leaders we have developed a deference for? If we were all innocence, never having to de...
Tuesday, February 2, 2016.
MSB:
I have broken so many agreements. I started in earnest in 2004 with political matters. I continued in 2011 with primarily spiritual matters. I broke a few agreements as a child and teen, but I was bound up by many more. I broke some more in 2015 and realized, that the picture that I had in my head of God still wasn t correct.
I have had such agreements, that I only styled my hair one way for twenty years. Doing anything else didn t feel right and I agreed with the voice that said th...
Tuesday, February 2, 2016.
In the promise given of Eternal Life, or God s Life or a quality of living and abiding with The Father , the recipient is given a promise. And with that promise, the recipient is freely forgiven for the sins they might commit.
Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Li...
Tuesday, February 2, 2016.
Haste is condemned because it is the very thing that separates us from ourselves, and from God. When we are in a hurry, we form all sorts of ideas and opinions and calculate what it will take for us to finally be accepted. This is such a problem that the scriptures say it brings pestilence. It is only in patience that we possess our souls. It is only in patience that we live in the moment as described in the sermon on the mount. Only in patience do we begin to accept the truth, and what is real ...
Monday, February 1, 2016.
What if the creation story is primarily meant to be an allegory of the drama that happens within each one of us in microcosm, with us at the center?
We eat the fruit, we fall, being buffeted by Satan. We die spiritually, being separated from the Father.
Joseph said Satan was the next heir, and he fell seeking to excel. Well, when a child is born, they could also be considered the next heir. We are authentic, pure, holy, free, full of love. Little children are godly and divine, and if they ...
Wednesday, January 27, 2016.
Elder Oaks has never and knows no one among the 12 or the First Presidency that has had angelic visitation.
Audio: Youth Fireside Talk. Archived here. (Starts at 30 minute mark)
...
Wednesday, January 20, 2016.
From a FB conversation that began January 16 at 5:13pm. I ve added what LHB and I thought were good parts of this conversation and may add more as it continues.
Tami: We already have a coat of skin...the temple to cover our soul or spirit. Think about it, it was Satan that told Adam and Eve that they were naked and that they should cover up, like it was a bad thing.
Camilla: I wonder why the endowment doesn t at some point have us rejecting the fig leaf appron that was a commandment from...
Tuesday, January 19, 2016.
From article: Concourses of Angles
The object of this mortal existence is to develop faith. We need adversity and a sense of isolation from God in order to develop the character necessary to be like God. There is a test underway. But it is conducted by a benign and friendly heavenly host, whose primary purpose is to develop in us a godly character and charity toward one another.
Men and women may see Christ in vision or in an appearance as a solitary personage. But no person has ever...
Sunday, January 17, 2016.
When Christ came, there were many things wrong with society. The Jewish nation was a serf to the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was committing atrocities against other people. The question of what was right or wrong with the outside world never came up until the Pharisees attempted to trap Jesus. His reply was dismissive. "Give the government what they want." His concern was not our external surroundings, but the individual. He was concerned about the individual and their relationshi...
Sunday, January 17, 2016.
There is a battle going on inside of us for the throne that rightfully belongs to God. His throne is in His temple. Satan sits in the temple of God, claiming he is God. He claims ownership because he is not resisted. The creeds of men, their interpretation of scripture, wherein they think they are resisting only serve to strengthen his authority. In the temple, his role is that of the accuser, accusing us day and night before God.
In the dream of the second attention, we begin to doubt: ...
Thursday, January 14, 2016.
LHB: I have a very hard time expressing myself in any coherent way over typing and social media. I want to apologize for that beforehand as I want to ask a question, or express an idea that I may not make adequately clear.
While reading Lectures on Faith I have come to understand that faith is a real substance (like maybe the plasma that holds together the universe). I feel like I am pretty comfortable with my current understanding of what faith is and is not, while also hoping that my unders...
Monday, January 11, 2016.
Previous articles in this set: The Plainness of God, Language of Condemnation, Hacking at Branches, Denying the Holy Ghost.
Most of what was revealed in D&C 19 was previously revealed by Nephi and others in the Book of Mormon.
"O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster the devil, and death, and hell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment." (2 Nephi 9:19)
In verse 16, Nep...
Monday, January 11, 2016.
Previous articles in this set: The Plainness of God, Language of Condemnation, Hacking at Branches.
Some instances of Eternal, Endless, Everlasting, Punishment, Torment and Damnation in the scriptures:
For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to obey that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for he receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment, having transgressed the law of God co...
Monday, January 11, 2016.
Previous articles: The Plainness of God, Language of Condemnation.
This is a continuation of two other articles, listed above, on the language of the scriptures, and this is yet another perspective on the subject. I don t write a series of articles. I don t plan them. I write stuff as I ponder them and feel like I gain light another, and hopefully a clearer perspective.
This article, like most, does not stand alone. I m coming from a perspective of understanding symbols in a way that s pro...
Sunday, January 10, 2016.
"Angels move from place to place by virtue of [faith]—it is by reason of it that they are enabled to descend from heaven to earth; and were it not for the power of faith they never could be ministering spirits to them who should be heirs of salvation, neither could they act as heavenly messengers; for they would be destitute of the power necessary to enable them to do the will of God." (Lectures on Faith, Lecture 7)
We all work by faith every day, whether we realize it or ...
Friday, January 8, 2016.
I think the Tree of Knowledge is a bit of a mystery, but we can examine what happened both before and after partaking of the fruit. Satan came to Adam tempting him; telling him there was something deficient about him. He refused to listen. To Eve, he said the same thing. Eve heard his saying and afterward the effect was "I am deficient, I am unloved, I am unworthy." Was partaking of the fruit believing that lie? The lie of deficiency is present both before and after partaking, but one ...
Wednesday, January 6, 2016.
I wrote this a few years ago in order to find all of the scriptures in the Qur an that justify non-defensive, religious based killing. The secondary purpose is to show that the Bible has verses which, viewed by a neutral observer, can be considered very brutal.
The conclusion I have come to, is that you can find reasons to demonize either Mulsims or Christians. Both Muslims and Christians can and do find enough poorly intrepreted verses in their own scriptures to justify brutality in the name...
Tuesday, January 5, 2016.
I am probably not going to list all the scriptural references that I'm thinking, like I have tried to in the past, because that takes extra time. But don't assume that because I don't list and explain the scriptures, that I'm not using the scriptures as a foundation and judgement for my thoughts. If you read and find what I say is unscriptural, good for you. If you see the scriptures in what I say, that's great. But be it known, that I try very hard not worry about anyone'...
Tuesday, January 5, 2016.
"This is what the Lord says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
"See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
"I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland."
—Isaiah 43:16, 18-19 NIV
...
Saturday, January 2, 2016.
I believe it is important to understand the fall better than we do, so that we can know how to rise.
In temple ceremonies of ancient times, was the Garden of Eden depicting a historical man named Adam? Is it depicting everyman? Or is depicting you?
As little children, we are born into heaven.
Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19:14)
...teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble th...