God Bless Me!

I think the trick to happiness and prosperity does not lay in whether God will bless someone or not based on his constant prayers. I think that God grows TIRED and WEARY of our pleas simply because it's usually the same tune being sung over and over again.

"Please God, bless me... or give me... or this or that."

I think the key to having the Lord bless YOU individually is in the helping of 10 or more of his children to have a more blessed and pleasant time while on this earth! Service. Serving others! Because in THEIR prayers, they may be saying, "God, please bless my friend with the things that he needs!" while thinking upon your goodly nature and your willingness to serve them. God seems to answer those prayers more fully when we extend our own arms of service to others VS have our prayers being answered for our own needs! Be the miracle in the lives of others and GOD will REPAY!

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." - Mosiah 2:17 - in other words, if we find ourselves in the service of God, we find that God is in our service.

A&E VS Phil Robertson

Okay so I'm getting bombarded by emails about this dude on the Duck Dynasty show and how I've gotta sign a petition if I consider myself a REAL CHRISTIAN then I should back this 100% blah blah blah. I hate to play the devil's advocate here and I won't really because it's not necessary...

Let me at least exploit something that these people aren't addressing... because it's really really simple as to where the blame SQUARELY belongs or ought to. It belongs to on the head of the show producer whose JOB it is to review hours of recorded tape to then air or not air something. It is at HIS discretion. This isn't rocket science folks... NOT a live show that gets edited to squeeze in 22 minutes or so worth of broadcasting or 43 minutes on an hour long program, or whatever. It wasn't by accident that this comment remained unless the producer fell asleep at the controls. I've never watched it myself but I applaud their family and Christian values.

My question:

Was there a breach of contract on Mr Phil Robertson that enabled himself to be suspended? Any fine print that says you can or can not say certain things, etc...? (Something in the contract that says "don't say derogatory comments about gays and bestiality") Your thoughts and comments?

As a person or a fellow Christian, am I going to support Phil? Absolutely! On principle I will because I agree with him and the family values he has been helping to restore as this nation's legacy and inheritance. I think their show is popular for good reason... I am just not a knee jerk reactionary sort. I'm not going to lead the troops against A&E simply because I feel he was wronged by their decision because if they didn't know what sort of man he was after episode 1, then why would they have bothered to allow the show to continue? Ratings, baby! Money maker here. I think the producer let those comments slide to BOOST ratings.

My thoughts are: 100% of the blame goes to the Show's Producer. #A&E , #DuckDynasty , #PhilRobertson Follow Up So I hear it was an interview for a magazine, etc. Whatever. Again, edited content decides what goes onto a show, magazine, or aired broadcast, etc. Once again, not rocket science.

Who Would Go To Heaven?

Who would go to heaven if nobody was capable of dying?

There's the question of the ages. When folks die early or are cut down in their prime, it leaves many of us on earth to wonder what is to become of them, why didn't God save them? Didn't I pray enough? There must be no God since he did not save my brother, etc... I think we all struggle through certain thoughts but the simple fact remains. Be you and Atheist, an Agnostic or a devout Christian, I find it's true across the board in the sense that...

"Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die!" - Bob Proctor If death is the natural progression that spirit creatures must travel, having first traversed a brief sojourn on earth occupying tabernacles of flesh and blood respectively, then one should celebrate death vs fear it. Celebrate it if one looks forward with an eye single to the glory of God, naturally. If a man is a good man or a woman equally as faithful to the laws and covenants that he or she were capable of doing while on earth, then it will be well with that man or woman. We are also explained well to the truths that for he or she that is found with charity, it will be well with him or her. That charity can cover a multitude of sins, but I digress... so who would go to heaven? The only people who can go to heaven are those that can die.

This might sound strange rolling off of the tongue but it is 100% true. Now it is not that death is the magic. The body that we now live in is designed to pass on. Blood, blood borne pathogens, free radicals, radiation, and many other factors contribute to our very short lifetime but it was to happen for a reason. If we could not die, our bodies could not then be changed from mortal to immortal. We could then not be raised from corruption and then slip into an incorruptible tabernacle; one that could never die, one like that of Jesus the first fruits of those who have lived after death. Part of God's plan of happiness for us is that we should die... but most specifically, that 2 aspects of us should die. Our life, our sinful ways or our imperfections should eventually die off, and our current bodies should die off so that the latter could also be true. Our bodies and spirits could then be renewed.

In the words of Yoda, almost prophetic, we hear this... “Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.” - “Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealously. The shadow of greed, that is.”

Much good or much evil has been done with the loss of a loved one. I have seen an entire new generation of kids grow up without the knowledge of God and his plan of happiness for his children simply because he thought God to be unfair for letting someone die before he was currently willing to let him go. Hence, yoda made sense on this one. We must be prepared to let people go much like others must do the same for us. Where we are going from here will have been worth it. It will have seemed silly to attempt to hold people back all things considered. Let's not go out look for quicker ways to die but just know that our days may be long upon the land and the Lord won't take us before he feels it's time. He is both fair and just. Rejoice!

Passages of Scripture to reference:

"And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:29

"...I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." John 11:25

De-valued by men?

De-valued In The Eyes Of Men but not in the eyes of God. One example of a man who was willing to 'take up the cross' for the cause of Christ is Tim Tebow! Tim is a class act. A man with Religious convictions, morals and principles. Commodities that are sorely lacking today,in any sports venue. I’m glad to see him maintain his values." - The Inquisitr -

And as shown in the photo/image below, we see that his book, his story was found at my kids' book fair but reduced down to a "Special Value" book, at $1.00.

This seemed to me a bit of a 'slap in the face' and the FINAL INSULT, in my opinion.

It seems now that this is the fate of those that proclaim to follow the man who was called, "The Christ." - One may expect to be devalued in the world just as well as was our Christian brother, Mr. Tim Tebow. Hats off to you, my friend.

If I were faced with such pressures or such demands upon my character or upon my own integrity, I may not have nor have I actually answered properly to others in the world. May we ALL one day be worthy to stand along side such courageous men who have stepped up to support the cause of CHRIST!

Who is the man, Tim Tebow? For one, he is a GOOD MAN. He was the one who was unfairly cut or left off his team based on his religious convictions. When we live in a world or in our day and age when just following such speeches given by Martin Luther King Jr, it begs a response from we US, Americans, as to how we are going to judge any man regardless of his skin color, religion, etc... Will we judge a man based on the color of his skin or via the content of his character?

Without trying to make an apples to oranges comparison, let me substitute this word and declare, "Are we going to judge a football player on the religious convictions of the man or on the playing ability (ability to lead teams onto victory) of the player?" - I thought football was in the entertainment business and not the discrimination business.

Tebow still has many fans and supporters around the world.

Jason Collins had plenty of support from people around the nation, including plenty of kudos from Mr Obama but the praises of the world and putting ones trust in the arm of flesh or making 'flesh his arm' may not support that man or woman at all times and in all things. Whether you follow the LDS faith or not, one must certainly read and understand this passage of scripture.

"But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return." - 3 Nephi 27:11 - agree with the Mormons on this or not, there shall be those who will have glory in their works for a season but it certainly MUST come to an end and the devil will not support his children at the last day! So I stand with men such as Tim because he was COURAGEOUS!

Even if Tim Tebow doesn't play one more game as an NFL quarter back, the world may have lost a good QB but the Lord has just gained a witness to help further the causes of the Lord. His testimony will be remembered and shouted from the rooftop and I applaud the man.

Let me close this by reading the scripture found on Mr Tebow's face (as seen in the picture shown) which is this: Hebrews Ch 12:1-2 - which reads.

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." - Like Coach Christ, Tim Tebow is always a hero to us all!

Tim buddy, I hope to see you there if I too prove worthy! May we have the courage to step out and fight for the cause of Christ in this manner and be NOT ashamed of that gospel which gives men a hope for obtaining everlasting life through Christ and his atonement!

This, I close this in the name of Jesus Christ, whose name I am unworthy to use but even so, Amen!

#TimTebow #FocusOnTheFamily , #CelebrateFamily, #CelebrateLife, #SuperBowlFail, #DenverBroncosFail

(Quote above found at http://www.inquisitr.com/1019520/why-the-cult-of-tim-tebow-isnt-going-away-any-time-soon/#YeUfjaSFEjfxjASU.99

Help Us Please To "Come Out Of Mormonism!"

But come out of Mormonism and into WHAT?

They always say to 'come out of Mormonism" but into what? not ONE of my Christian brothers could agree on anything except for, "Just Not Mormon." (BY THE WAY, All credits to this piece goes to: D Lawrence Barksdale of the "Fair Mormon Apologetics Page" on Facebook)

This is an open invitation to our non-LDS friends, who are so eager to help us "come out of" Mormonism.

Here it is: "Witness to us." Really. We'd love to hear your witness, as long as it centers on what you DO believe, and not what you DON'T.

Speaking for myself, I'm ready to accept the Jesus of the Bible as my personal Savior and walk away from Mormonism forever..

But here's my deal...

1) Since you've told us (repeatedly) that we worship the "wrong" Jesus, you need to show us from the Bible where the 'homoousios' ("One-in-actual-substance-or-being") Jesus of the consubstantial Trinity is taught in the Bible. I'll need at least one passage that includes that all-important word, "homoousios," to be be acceptable. After all, it is the ONLY word in Koine Greek that means "one-in-actual-substance-or-being." I need the assurance that the Jesus YOU want me to believe in is the "right" Jesus.

2) Since you've told us that the "Bible Alone" is the ONLY source of spiritual truth, I need you to show me with irrefutable, incontrovertible evidence WHICH Bible I should accept... the one WITH the apocrypha, or the one WITHOUT. Which translation? They all differ. Which Codex? None of them agree. Then I need you to explain to me how a collection of books with over 350,000 textual variants is "infallible" and/or "inerrant."

3) Since the doctrine of salvation is so important, I need to be assured that you're not inviting me to believe in "another gospel" than what Paul taught. Therefore, you need to show me a) where Jesus taught Sola Fidianism, b) Where the NT teaches that obedience is not necessary, c) Why the Early Church Fathers never taught Sola Fidianism, and d) why NO ONE in Christianity taught Sola Fidianism until Martin Luther.

4) Since Jesus Himself established a very specific church organizational structure, complete with offices and authority, I need you to show me who your proposed church's prophets and apostles are. They are, after all, the very foundation of the church Christ established.

I have more, but these will suffice for now. I'm an open book. I'm ready to be "saved." The requests I have above are more than reasonable. The Bible teaches, if I'm not mistaken, to "give a good answer" to those who ask. Thanks in advance.

The Visitors Center @ The Portland, Oregon Temple Is Now Open

Like Us On Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/portlandvc

Physical Address

13600 SW Kruse Oaks Boulevard Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035-8602 United States

Mailing Address

13600 SW Kruse Oaks Blvd Lake Oswego, OR 97035-8602 Telephone: 503-639-7066 Fax: 503-620-8093 Distribution Services: 503-639-6359

Announcement: 7 April 1984

Groundbreaking and Site Dedication: 20 September 1986 by Gordon B. Hinckley

Public Open House: 15 June–8 July 1989, Dedication: 19–21 August 1989 by Gordon B. Hinckley

Site: 7.3 acres.

Exterior Finish: White marble walls and slate roof.

Ordinance Rooms: Four ordinance rooms (stationary) and fourteen sealing. Total Floor Area: 80,500 square feet.

Temple Locale

Rising elegantly among towering Douglas-fir trees, the six spires of the marble-clad Portland Oregon Temple create a beautiful sight for motorists traveling Oregon's I-5, situated about 8 miles south of downtown Portland in Lake Oswego. On the east side of the temple is a serene reflection pool sitting at the base of the main spire. Visitors are welcome to walk among the gorgeous gardens that decorate the temple grounds and to obtain additional information at the public visitors' center that features films, displays, multimedia presentations, and a stunning reproduction of Thorvaldsen's Christus statue.

Temple Facts

The Portland Oregon Temple was the first temple built in Oregon. The Portland Oregon Temple sits on land originally purchased in the 1960s for a Church junior college. Later when that decision was reversed, 7.3 acres were retained for the temple. The two-story Celestial Room of the Portland Oregon Temple features three chandeliers, long wall tapestries, and a grand staircase.

On the top floor of the Portland Oregon Temple are a collection of sealing rooms with white marble altars and a large assembly hall. The floor plan created for the Portland Oregon Temple was adapted and used for the Las Vegas Nevada Temple.

On May 11, 1988, the gold-leafed statue of the angel Moroni was set into place atop the 170-foot eastern spire to an audience of television cameras, newspaper photographers, and beaming Church members. A whopping 314,232 visitors toured the Portland Oregon Temple during its public open house. At the time, it was the fifth highest number of temple open house visitors in Church history.

President Ezra Taft Benson presided and offered remarks at the first three dedicatory sessions of the Portland Oregon Temple, though he extended the responsibility of offering the dedicatory prayer to his first counselor, Gordon B. Hinckley. In 1994, the Portland Oregon Temple was awarded first place by the Royal Rosarians of Portland, Oregon, in the category of commercial rose plantings. Portland is known as the "City of Roses."

On February 25, 2012, the Portland Oregon Temple Visitors' Center opened its doors to the public in the building adjacent to the temple that formerly housed Distribution Services—relocated a short distance away next to an operating Deseret Book store.

First Give Me The Heat, then I'll Add The Wood

Evidence before faith... sounds much like something I learned from Earl Nightingale when he would say about the man at the fire place, "First you give me heat and then I'll add the wood." Part of the process is faith. Faith is like putting the kindling, the fuel, and bringing the fire to the fire place.

We wouldn't begin to start building a fire if we did not have faith that it would warm us up once lit. All too often, critics of the church are asking us for the heat when if they intend to build their own fire, they must follow the steps that we did; so if we're warming up by what you think is a non existent fire, then I suppose you just don't know.

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche Suggested Reading: Alma Chapters 22, 32

Become As A Little Child!

Something to ponder today. Become As A Little Child Not As A Historian, as a Scribe, as a Master Scriptorien Alone!

The Lord said this, about his gospel.

Matthew 18:3 "...Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

Notice that in no place in his scriptures did he say, "Except ye be converted, and become as a scribe... or Except ye be converted and get all of the facts straight." Facts are in the eye of the beholder. We could argue until we were blue in the fact over what facts are right. How does the Lord want us? Meek, submissive, full of love... willing to submit as a child doth submit to his father... faithful, trusting, penitent..."

Observe in your conversations this day whether you think you are defending Christ by helping a Mormon to free himself from bondage or you be a faithful latter-day Saint; and ask, "Am I approaching this man or woman with an eye single to the glory of God by being... the above mentioned attributes?" Am I sufficiently encouraging them to pray, seek wisdom from on high so that the blessings can come upon us all as the dews of heaven?

(Additional scriptures to read and enjoy today; D&C 121:33, (the passage right before the oath and covenant of the priesthood gets overlooked all too often) and the Lord's warning in D&C 38:30... perhaps the reason why some of us are in the precarious position we have found ourselves in by allowing men to shout into our ears and scare us with a voice louder than we proved able to bear. This I leave with all of you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I'm Staying Put In The Church Firm To The End

An open letter to ex-mormons, critics of the church, or otherwise to those who have had no desire to unite with the LDS church but would like to sway me to think after their manner of thinking but for one reason or another, then this letter is for you.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the laws or commandments given to us by the Lord are time tested and have been proved over the centuries. This is why I believe what I do and why I live the gospel. I have put Malachi 3: 8-10 to the test. I have seen the windows of heaven open themselves up to me hence this and many other things I have participated in as a member of this church has brought me peace, in my life. I have witnessed too much of the hand of the Lord in my life by obedience to the Laws and Ordinances of the gospel to now return and doubt. I have been 'born again' and snatched from an awful hell.

For any man or any one to come to me to then suggest I depart from or turn away from this and do so based on a 'quote I heard somewhere' or 'aren't Mormons just a bit too weird because of this or that' just isn't going to phase me. One have better luck prying a Jewish man from a quarter he found on the ground than one would have at successfully luring me outside the church to then find, as they suggest, the correct Jesus.

(Finding Jesus would then mean to get me to agree with their assessment of what Mormons really believe and then transition over to some form of Christianity or over to their church because it's "Jesus should be enough. Mormons teach you that his atonement isn't powerful enough to save you! Here, read this verse! "...then his grace is sufficient for you." but we know that in Ephesians, it says... etc" - SEE, the BIBLE disagrees with the Book of Mormon. Only a real idiot couldn't tell you the difference. Down with the impossible gospel of the Mormons!" or whatever they happen to say, using their own words of course... (sigh) - I testify to you and all who read this, that they make quitting sound so easy and so worth your time.

Call me a 'go against the current' kind of guy but that still, inviting water may not always be that still and safe, for long. Something turbulent may be awaiting. You may think you're trying to do me a favor by ensuring me that the water was supposed to be fine and that I should hop in, but I've made my choice. If it so be that there is safety zones ahead, then so be it. I'll stay on the shore where at all possible.

I trust and know myself only so much. So no, you'll find me on the shore over there. If you want, I'll wave at you all as I see you pass by. I have a life preserver tied to a rope in case you want one...for this is my charge, my privilege, my sacred duty. I am FAR from perfect at what the Lord would have me do. I have already missed many opportunities and in my weakness, I have failed to help several others along on the path.

I can only hope that in God's great plan of happiness, that there is enough mercy that can be applied to me, his unworthy and slothful servant. I can only pray for mercy at this great, last day, and hope that the little that I have done may multiply into great blessings and that the great things I have done may have been accounted for righteousness' sake and to glorify he who sent them.

Do not think or suppose that a mis-quoted thought or word from a prior leader in my church is going to dictate how I feel about them based on someone else's assessment of that event or statement.

Do not suppose for a second that even if someone's decades of scripture study will trump what I have discovered through humble prayer and personal study.

It will have all been worth it if I can some day be responsible for helping MANY find that source to where they can receive peace so that THEY and myself may ALL receive that exaltation in the Lord's kingdom. This is my prayer, in his name, Amen.

Did Joseph Smith Lie About Polygamy?

Didn’t Joseph Deceive Church Members?

Some are quick to point out that Joseph Smith didn’t just lie to the government or to non-members, but also deceived members of the Church. This objection ignores, of course, the point that to make the announcement publicly to the Church is the same as telling everyone.

The accusation also omits some vital information. Joseph was not trying to simply act as he pleased and keep everyone else in the dark. He was anxious to teach the principle of plural marriage to any who would accept it; Church leaders such as Hyrum Smith and the Twelve were introduced to it. This is strange behavior for a deceiver, since each of these high Church leaders was in a position to denounce and ruin him. (Joseph had ample experience with such scenarios given the earlier departure of such key figures as the Three Witnesses, and many of the original Twelve Apostles during the Kirtland-era apostasy.) One source reports that over one hundred adults were taught the doctrine in Nauvoo before Joseph’s murder.44

Wouldn’t it be better to simply keep quiet about polygamy if Joseph was just a libidinous leader? Joseph persisted, however, in trying to introduce others to “the Principle.” He did make some efforts to teach plural marriage publicly–he seemed willing to accept the risk from non-members if the Church would support him. Heber C. Kimball wrote, in 1882:

On a certain Sabbath morning, previous to the return of the Apostles from Europe, in 1841, [Joseph] astonished his hearers by preaching on the restoration of all things, and said that as it was anciently with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so it would be again, etc.45

A contemporary journal describes the reaction:

When the prophet “went to his dinner,” [Joseph Lee] Robinson wrote, “as it might be expected several of the first women of the church collected at the Prophet’s house with his wife [and] said thus to the prophet Joseph O mister Smith you have done it now it will never do it is all but Blassphemy you must take back what you have said to day is it is outrageous it would ruin us as a people.” So in the afternoon session Smith again took the stand, according to Robinson, and said “Brethren and Sisters I take back what we said this morning and leave it as though there had been nothing said.”46

Robinson feels that this reaction was not unexpected; yet, Joseph tried anyway. Note that Joseph does not come back in the afternoon and deny the doctrine; he merely withdraws it from public consideration. Upon the return of the Twelve, he would begin teaching it to them. Heber also recounted the negative reaction of Emma and others:

He spoke so plainly that his wife, Emma, as well as others were quite excited over it. Seeing the effect his sermon had upon them, he consoled them in the afternoon by saying that the time of which he had spoken might be further off than he anticipated.47

George A. Smith alluded to the same or a similar episode based upon records of those present:

The Prophet goes up on the stand, and, after preaching about everything else he could think of in the world, at last hints at the idea of the law of redemption, makes a bare hint at the law of sealing, and it produced such a tremendous excitement that, as soon as he had got his dinner half eaten, he had to go back to the stand, and unpreach all that he had preached, and left the people to guess at the matter. While he was thus preaching he turned to the men sitting in the stand, and who were the men who should have backed him up, for instance, to our good old President Marks, William and Wilson Law, and father Cowles, and a number of other individuals about Nauvoo, for this occurred when the Twelve were in the Eastern portions of the United States, and said, “If I were to reveal the things that God has revealed to me, if I were to reveal to this people the doctrines that I know are for their exaltation, these men would spill my blood.”48

Joseph considered the doctrine essential for the Church,49 and it would seem that he offered the Church members at least one public opportunity to hear about plural marriage, but they refused it. So, Joseph continued to teach the doctrine, but in private. Are other more faithful members to be forbidden knowledge which some refused to receive?

In the last years of his life, Joseph repeatedly bemoaned the fact that all the members would not accept that which he wanted to teach. He warned, from Liberty Jail in 1839, “where is the man who is authorized to put his finger on the spot and say, thus far thou shalt go and no farther: there is no man. Therefore let us receive the whole, or none.”50 Wilford Woodruff quoted Joseph in 1841:

“Some say Joseph is a fallen Prophet because he does not bring forth more of the word of the Lord,” he acknowledged in a December 1841 meeting with the Twelve. “Why does he not?” he then asked. “Are we able to receive it? No (says he) not one in this room.”51

Joseph noted in 1843 that “many seal up the door of heaven by saying so far God may reveal and I will believe but no further.”52

These factors add a new moral wrinkle to the issue: what is a prophet to do if the majority of people are not yet ready to accept a teaching? Should he announce it publicly anyway, risking the wrath of violent opponents who will seek to prevent him from teaching anything at all? Should he teach nothing, and allow the less-faithful to decide that the more-faithful may not enjoy revelation from God? Or, should he opt for Joseph’s approach–keep the doctrine private, and introduce it as people will accept it?

Critics who refuse to believe in modern prophets will find such a question pointless. But, if we give Joseph the benefit of the doubt before condemning him, this is an issue which we must confront.

As George A. Smith indicated, it is a problem with no neat, pat solution. Of the Kirtland Temple period, which he then applied by analogy to apostate William Law and polygamy, Smith said:

If the Lord had on that occasion revealed one single sentiment more, or went one step further to reveal more fully the law of redemption, I believe He would have upset the whole of us. The fact was, He dare not, on that very account, reveal to us a single principle further than He had done, for He had tried, over and over again, to do it… He was determined this time to be so careful, and advance the idea so slowly, to communicate them to the children of men with such great caution that, at all hazards, a few of them might be able to understand and obey.53

44 George D. Smith, “Nauvoo Roots of Mormon Polygamy, 1841-46: A Preliminary Demographic Report,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 27:1 (Spring 1994): 12, 15-16.

45 Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy, 48; citing Whitney, Plural Marriage, 11.

46 Ibid., citing Robinson, Journal, 23-24.

47 Ibid.

48 George A. Smith, “Gathering and Sanctification of the People of God,” Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt 18 March 1855, Vol. 2 (London: Latter-day Saint’s Book Depot, 1855), 217.

49 Joseph reportedly told John Taylor that “the church could not go on until that principal [sic] was established.” – Smith, “Nauvoo Roots of Mormon Polygamy,” 13; citing Joseph Smith to John Taylor in Nauvoo, between March 1842 and February 1846, Mary Isabella Hales Horne, Autobiography, 10-11, Utah State Historical Society.

50 Joseph Smith, Letter from Liberty Jail to Isaac Galland, 22 March 1839, Times and Seasons 1 (February 1840); cited in Ronald K. Esplin, “Joseph Smith’s Mission and Timetable: ‘God Will Protect Me until My Work Is Done’” Prophet Joseph: Essays on the Life and Mission of Joseph Smith, edited by Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company 1988), 303.

51 Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 19 December 1841, 2:142; cited in Esplin, 302-303.

52 Joseph Smith Diary, 11 June 1843; cited in Esplin, 303.

53 George A. Smith, “Gathering and Sanctification,” Journal of Discourses, 2:215.

For Additional Reading, see: http://www.fairlds.org/authors/smith-gregory/polygamy-prophets-and-prevarication#head08

Polygamy and Lying

Critics charge that Joseph Smith and his successors made repeated public statements in which they hid or frankly denied the practice of polygamy, despite knowledge to the contrary. It is argued that this dishonesty is morally dubious and inconsistent with the Church’s purported principles.

The concept of “civil disobedience” is essential to understanding those occasions in which Joseph Smith or other Church members were not forthright about the practice of polygamy.

Like obedience to civil law, honesty and integrity are foundational values to the Church of Jesus Christ. Indeed, the success which critics have in troubling members of the Church with tales of polygamy and its deceptive circumstances is, in a way, a compliment to the Church. If the Church as an institution typically taught its members to have a casual disregard for the truth, a discovery that Joseph Smith had deceived others about polygamy would not be troubling to most. But, because the Church (contrary to the suggestions of some critics) really does teach its members to aspire to live elevated lives of moral rectitude, the discovery that deception was involved with polygamy can come as something of a shock. Disillusionment can ensue if we follow the critics in assuming that because Joseph occasionally misled others in this specific context, he must therefore have lied about everything else, and been absolutely unworthy of trust.

But, as we have seen, the practice of polygamy must be viewed in its moral context as an act of religious devotion which the Saints were unwilling to forego simply because the state or society disapproved.

Lying About Polygamy During the Nauvoo Era

The “lying” about polygamy that occurred in the Nauvoo period is partly related to this same civil disobedience. A real-life example is helpful. Suppose a Church member is living in Holland in the 1940s. Established laws command the deportation of all Jews to a grisly fate. A Church member might (as many brave Dutch did) decide that such a law has no moral force–indeed, it would be immoral to obey it. The Church member might further decide that he is morally bound to hide a family of Jews in his attic. One day, an SS team arrives, knocks at the door, and demands to know if the Church member knows of the whereabouts of any Jews.

The member has several choices:

he can decide that “honesty” is the highest moral value, and reveal the location of his Jewish guests

he can refuse to answer the question, by remaining silent

he can declare that he is not willing to comply with the request, and will not answer the question

he can lie to the German SS, and may also have to lie to his friends and neighbors to keep them from revealing the secret

Which is the correct moral choice? It is difficult to see how honesty can trump the lives of the Jews–so, option (1) is out. The SS officer is unlikely to go meekly on his way should one remain silent or verbally refuse to answer, so choosing either (2) or (3) will simply result in the Jews being found and the Church member and his family suffering the consequences of their disobedience to civil law. It seems to me that the most moral option–fulfilling the member’s duty to his Jewish guests, his conscience, and his family–requires that the member lie to the SS.

Remember, someone who opts for civil disobedience must accept the risk of punishment. The Dutch who were caught harboring Jews suffered greatly for their integrity–but, they apparently considered the risk of that suffering to be worth retaining that integrity. One cannot complain if one’s deception of the civil authorities is found out and punished–that is the price of civil disobedience on moral grounds. But, one is not morally obligated to participate in the prosecution of oneself or others for breaking laws one considers immoral.

An analogy to modern Church practice may illustrate some of the difficulties. Let us presume that current members of the Church have made covenants in the temple–but, not only do they covenant not to disclose certain concepts, but they promise not to disclose even the existence of the temple endowment itself. What would a Church member do if confronted publicly by an apostate with questions about matters they have promised to keep secret? Silence or a decision to “plead the Fifth” will simply play into their enemies’ hands by effectively confirming the story that the member will not deny. They cannot remain true to their covenants if they answer in the affirmative; to deny what the apostate is saying is to be deceptive.

It was in exactly this position that some Nauvoo-era members of the Church were placed. They had no ideal choices, and so did their best to follow God despite circumstances beyond their control.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Celestial Kingdom...

Life has it's ways to create distractions and deter us in the way. It has been over 1 year since I have acted out in such a way that proved serious enough to talk with my ecclesiastical authority. This day passes for sure as of the 1st of September. I had a sore repentance and it caused my body and soul much anxiety and depression. I'd like to bear a brief testimony to you all before fast and testimony meeting is to come. I may be doing there as well. Here it goes.

In 2013 My testimony has grown; 1) The Lord answers my prayers and that of my wife. Back in September/October, we decided to have another baby and it had been 8 years since. Our prayer was that she should have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. We asked for a girl and the Lord blessed us with one of his children. I am grateful to be a steward for one of his children and to have her in our family now. Summer is going on 2 months old. I now have a calling in my meeting house as a membership clerk in charge of keeping track of the church membership. (Assistant to the Clerk) and I love serving in the Lord's kingdom with this calling and that of being a father to 4 beautiful children.

2) I have a testimony of Tithing and earnest prayer; that the Lord indeed has and will continue to prosper me in my efforts to take care of my family. Without fail, every month, we are able to qualify for an extra bonus with my company and I attribute paying tithing as part of this benefit. One time, I qualified for that bonus on the first day of the month; out of the blue, as if right out of the Ether, I get a call from one of my cousins who asked me if I could sell him a sleep system. I said SURE! The Lord continues to show me how the windows of heaven may be opened up unto me but until this time, he takes care of me and my family day to day and with patience, I follow. He has never let me go hungry and my bills have all been paid. We always have what we need or want. I have been self employed since June of 2009 and I remain independent on self running on my own steam and this is how one works. Work as if it depended on myself alone but pray as if it depended on God for his help and guidance...

So it ended up being a 1,500 dollar order of which my cut was 20%. It came right before tax season. With that sale, we had our 200-300 extra in profit to then pay for our tax debt which wouldn't be much but it was there and we didn't have to borrow. In this manner has my testimony grown. This and that God helps or helped me to understand the anxiety and depression I was going through and for me to understand that he is ALWAYS there by my side even if my own body was or is incapable. It has been over 1 year since I made a covenant with the Lord to behave more like one of his disciples and more like the Christian man in Israel that I ought to be and the priesthood holder that he would more like me to be. I have a long way to go. I know the power of the atonement is a very real thing; and that God who is our heavenly father is earnestly interested in every single one of us and our lives, based on his ability to snatch me out from the awful hell I had created for myself.

This is my testimony to you of which I leave to you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

God's Patience, Timing and Understanding is King!

I heard a quote recently and have to agree with it 100% because it's true, of which I testify! For God answers prayers and his answers are always YES to me but he says YES in many ways. Yes, as in "not right now but soon." or "I have something better planned for you." but for every good thing we desire of him, his answer is NEVER NO... but always yes. Just best if done within the parameters he has set for us and that we too should be patient. "Do not confuse God's patience by their absence. His timing is perfect, and his presence is constant. He is always with you!" A companion verse of scripture could also be this... "Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be afraid of them, for the LORD your God goes with you, not leave you nor forsake you." Deut 31:6 What else needs saying?

My Children's Book is now an eBook - RTYEP in "The Last Eagle To Fly." $3.99

http://tinyurl.com/oadpggx - Thank you, #Authorhouse! http://tinyurl.com/oadpggx

Ralph, The Young Eagle Prince in The Last Eagle to Fly, By J.R. Nelson / Illustrated by Jared Johnson

BOOK REVIEWS:

"What a phenominal book to teach our children and grandchildren the laws of life. The story of Ralph is inspiring and we should all want to have our families read this series of books in our homes.We believe that these books will be read to children around the world for years to come. This is an absolute home run!"

Reid and Yvonne Nelson

"As parents to 11 children, we have read many books to young people. One of the joys of a parent is being able to read a book to a child. The "Ralph" series may just be the next book that America falls in love with. J.R. Nelson might be the next Dr. Seuse."

Dave and Valerie Johnson "Business owners"

"Kids love the idea of flying. They have this inner universe, exploring all possibilities in their mind. To them flying is as much reality as is swimming, just that you do that in the air."

Lydia Proschinger, Success Coach www.myspace.com/JaneInSerendipity

"It is about time that a childrens book with subject matter as important as this is presented to children and their parents. It is an easy read that also teaches children some very profound vocabulary words and their deep meanings. A highly recommended book for young developing minds." GerryRobert.com http://theldslife.blogspot.com/2013/07/my-childrens-book-is-now-ebook-rtyep-in.html

Open debate Between "AreZee Isme" vs "TheLdsLife"

YouTuber "AreZee Isme" writes:

Date:07/19/13 Message:

I understand your position. What you fail to realize is that Christians have made a covenant with Christ to make disciples of all men. To fail to spread the true gospel means failing to keep their covenant. LDS are fine people. Exemplary citizens. What Christians want is for LDS to realize their beliefs are heretical. We want to see you in Heaven. Would you have us stand idly while believing you are headed to perdition? That would be more than merely "rude". Eternity is at stake. Your missionaries try to lead others into accepting the false teachings of Joseph Smith. Christians cannot stand by and let that happen without at least trying to lead you back into the fold of orthodox belief. It is out of great love and concern for you that Christians must and will continue witnessing to LDS of the true faith in Crust.

Rebuttal:

Above all, know this: that, Truth is truth even if nobody believes it. Just ask Noah and his family... but I digress.

While appreciate your concern which seems so plausible especially when one listens to the way their pastors makes us sound or perhaps what another YouTube'r has had to say about us, it should always and more directly be about to which source are we getting our information. All must walk the path of discovery however it is usually the path least traveled that makes all of the difference.

When Joseph Smith went to a grove, he asked God about which church he should join and not "how can I help you establish the true one." I know by the power of the Holy Spirit that this did happen and so can you.

Just as Samuel the boy prophet did become so, so did our modern hero just as in the days we read about from the Bible. And as the Apostle Stephen surely saw God the Father and his son, Jesus Christ in a vision so did Joseph Smith. I know this apart from any man's opinion, apart from my father's words or the words of his father before him.

While you may have been given carefully crafted sermons on "how to reach out to your Mormon brethren" be the more you spend time with actual members of the church, the more the Ed Decker's or the Shawn McCraney's of the world appear to be 1 card short of a deck of cards.

You're welcome to listen to their witness alone, which is your choice, or the witness that we LDS give to all men but between you and I, I think John's words on the matter help to illuminate any mis-understood concept that may exist between how we interpret the scriptures and how others in the remaining 20,000 different sects of Christianity choose to interpret them. (1 John 5:9)

One must not need suppose that because we LDS differ in how we interpret or understand the scriptures that ours is much less permissible than the rest of main stream Christianity.

Questions for All:<i>What think y'all of the words in 1 John?

Can we men truly become objective thinkers enough to seek a witness from God above that of all other men?

It could be the opinions of men that a man who was born blind must have sinned before coming to the earth or perhaps his parents had sinned.

Wouldn't we need a great clarifier to know the truth behind this and any other matter?

Are Mormons damned to hell, in your minds, simply because this is something you are told about us?

If you use scriptures to support yours or their ideas about us, how much greater are you than they who used the "law" or the scriptures that were available to them in their day to condemn Jesus and crucify him?

A lot of damage can be and was done anciently in the name of God, using his scriptures as a weapon. Can we agree at least on this? They TOO thought that their behavior was justified in the scripture.

God desires that we should be prudent and to thoroughly seek him out APART from the opinions and ideas of other men, I should think. Question for AreZee Isme:

How much of what others tell you has helped you form your opinion about the Mormons?

I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive...

"I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." Doctrine and Covenants 64:10

I've long been pondering this passage of scripture. I have at times heard when men have spoken at the pulpit. br />
Some have said, "I can only hope that when I leave this life, that I will do so free from any offense towards God and towards men." Some have possibly been able to already suppose they are worthy of this distinction. I on the other hand am very far from being able to say this or to elude that my life hasn't gone in the direction that it should or that perhaps I may have led others astray. I may have been guilty of leading entire generations of peoples to their destruction for not saying hello to them once at church, perhaps? How does God help to sort this out? Which part is mine and which part is God's, one may ask, correct?

Is it really that simple? Are we really that close to God and eternal blessings?

It saddens me, at times, that I myself and also others around me are so easily offended. I have been on both ends of the stick as far as being the offender and the offended happens to go.

But in the New Testament we learn this. "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:" Matt 6:14 Can we TRULY take this verse literally? And the subsequent verse about the reverse consequence would then also have to be true? Is it REALLY our job to simply learn how to forgive others?

I have spent many hours and days worrying about all of these things and wondering if life is even worth it to live when we consider that it's possible that others will not choose eternal life based on mine or the bad behavior of those I am stewards over.

We all know that it is an impossible and arduous and daunting task to even consider perfection in so many aspects of our lives. We are reminded every Sunday what it is that we are or we are not doing. We may be working on indexing (for genealogy) and have fallen very short of our goals and we then wonder about how much more we could have done if we had been more diligent. Case in point, I was working at my calling as the new assistant ward clerk in my ward and for the final 10 minutes of the 2nd hour, I decided to visit the church Genealogy library and see what I could do in that short time. I had about 6 minutes and felt I could arbitrate at least 1, maybe 2 census records. (For those who don't know what this is, an arbitrator can look over 1 record that has already been indexed by 2 or more others and then apply corrections or veto certain things to then make the record accurate and submission ready.)

So I was there and then all of the sudden, I got a slap on the shoulder by someone else in the ward saying, "Hey, there's our leader right here!" or something of the sort, and I replied somewhat confused to then say, "Uh, I guess I am?" - I didn't think I had nearly the numbers sufficient to receive praise. After all, I played a Zombie video game with my 13 year old earlier in the week and if truth be told, this game didn't have as clean of a rating as "T" for teen. There were many other times throughout this first half of the year when I would prefer to do my own will vs spend my hours doing key strokes for something that would not pay me something in a monetary form.

Could forgiveness be attained by something as simple as that? Will God come up to us, despite our many short comings, and say, "No, no need to fear little one. You are mine. You did well! Better than I had even hoped for you!" and would this not still leave me puzzled and befuddled at the mercy and goodness of our savior Jesus Christ for applying his faith to each of us as we have exercised ours in him? I would prefer that the answer to my own question is a resounding YES.

Could we really outshine our own misdeeds by a few simple improvements to our life? Can we truly become leaders of many things by being obedient and faithful in just a few while in life?

In my new calling, I was reminded of my own boorish behavior when just 2 years later a family had left the ward boundaries and moved upstate Washington someplace. That dreaded day had come. What became of them? 'They certainly had not found their new ward or had gone to church again since,' I thought to myself. They were a part member family before I came along and ruined it, to be sure.

Back in the summer of 2010, I invited their eldest son to join me in the local Clark County Fair and help me with my booth some 3 weeks before the event. We were trying to adequately decide compensation. I put out fliers and so did he. I was just getting my own feet wet and failing at the same time with this youth. To make a long story short, it ended up bad and feelings were trampled on. I came over and removed the demonstration equipment that I had loaned him for trail and learning and decided not to go with the boy. I returned days later, before the 10 day event, and tried to reconcile. When I tried to pay the eldest son, his father nearly refused me and disallowed me to even pay his son for the work that I did actually see him do. The feelings of bitterness continued on and I felt powerless to make amends. His younger son was disallowed to participate in various scouting programs that I was involved with. If I understand correctly the reason why his son never went camping with us it was because Dad said he would camp in the backyard with him, instead."

So they move out of the ward 2 summers ago and never alerted the new meeting house which would be the father's responsibility to do but none of that matters anymore does it? I have consigned a family to Hell. Why then should me and my family get to live in the good place? How would that be fair? A just God would and should reward me for my boorish behavior unto the ends of the law. If I'm lucky, I may live long enough to see my boys get married in the temple. MAYBE they will be more wise than I have been. Perhaps they may escape this live having offended NONE but not me! I have offended people in business and ostracized others who did not meet my expectations. Can this stay in the past? For months, I felt that it could not. I began to spiral out of control spiritually allowing any and all anxieties of mind occupy my thinking.

I struggled for many months with these feelings of regrets. I have offended more than just one. I have lied to more than just one. I felt like an outcast already and neither of these experiences in life was helping matters any. My body has suffered illness and pains in the chest, I have felt depression and anxiety over my many mis-deeds. For HOW could it be fair that me and my family get to enjoy eternity and a wealth of blessings KNOWING that it is possible now that others will be kept away from those blessings based on my stupidity?

I think I can forgive myself for my own sins or for the things I have committed against myself but what of the other sins committed against mankind? All of these do I lay before the foot of the Lord and hope. That hope is that somehow someway there is mercy in the cards, for me and my family. I pray that as I forgive others of their trespasses against me that I may obtain forgiveness. Else why are we here? Surely God is no respecter of persons. Surely God is both fair and just. Even if I have to spend the rest of my life trying to repair the wrongs that I have done against humanity, I should hope that I too may say but with meaning, "May I now go unto my God being rid of the blood and sins of this generation" having done all that I can to stand and having defended the name of Christ even until Death!" Regardless of when that should happen, it is my hope that I may return to that heavenly place with honor!

Mormons Did Not Plagiarize Freemasonry *Revisited*

I have heard so much static and noise about "Joseph Smith" stealing the temple stuff from Freemasons. Their arguments just do not trump what has been established in the written records of the church, observations of the early saints, and the timeline of events which put the Lord's revelations ahead of Joseph Smith even joining his local lodge / joining this fraternity. (I am not a Freemason and don't really have a dog in the fight...)

But for me, saying that Joseph Smith plagiarized the Masons makes about as much sense as saying that the Trekkers west to Utah plagiarized the Pioneers on the Oregon Trail for using covered wagons which we all should clearly see were used by non-Mormons heading to the NorthWest Territories. Mormons copied their methods in order to travel. Each trek west had a different purpose altogether. Likewise, each ceremony in the LDS temples and supposedly in freemasonry have entirely different purposes and meanings.

Some critics of Mormonism see similarities between the rites of Freemasonry and LDS temple ceremonies and assume that since Joseph Smith was initiated as a Freemason shortly before he introduced the Nauvoo-style endowment he must have plagiarized elements of the Masonic rituals. This viewpoint leads them, in turn, to conclude that the LDS endowment is nothing but a variant form of Masonic initiation and therefore not from a divine source.

Joseph Smith was initiated as a Freemason on the 15th and 16th of March 1842. But previously, on the 19th of Janaury 1841, the Lord issued a revelation wherein He stated that He was going to "restore again," through Joseph Smith, the "lost" ordinances which had once been practiced in the Tabernacle built by Moses and the house built in the land of promise. (So 18 months later, he joins the fraternity) This then meaning he would restore the organization and the blessings that God gave to Ancient Israel from the days of the temple of Solomon (D&C 124:28, 38).

The Lord also provided a list within this revelation of many ritual elements that would eventually be practiced inside of the Nauvoo Temple. Some of the elements mentioned in this revelation are the same ones that Joseph Smith is accused of plagiarizing from the Freemasons.

A detailed look at LDS Church history before the 15th and 16th of March 1842 reveals that Joseph Smith and some of his colleagues were well aware of a number of Nauvoo-style temple ritual items early on - including ideology, vestments, actions, forms, language, and architecture. Knowledge of many of these things even predated the revelation given on 19 January 1841 (D&C 124). A careful look at the pre-1842 scriptural texts produced through Joseph Smith's instrumentality is also very instructive because they include a wealth of information connected with the rites that would be introduced among the Saints during the Nauvoo period.

Joseph Smith and other nineteenth century Mormons had a definite stance on why there were similarities between the initiation rituals of the respective groups. They taught that there was an original "Priesthood" source of divinely-determined ceremonies: the Masons derived their system from degenerated branches of this source while pristine material was restored to the Latter-day Saints.

One of the strongest evidences that Joseph Smith did not plagiarize Masonic sources in order to 'create' the LDS temple endowment is that 20th and 21st century scholarship has greatly clarified the picture of initiation rites in the biblical and early Christian periods. A comparison of this picture with Joseph Smith's model and the Masonic model shows that what the Prophet gave to the Saints is indeed a restoration, while the Freemasons only possess fragments of the God-given scheme.

(Text came courteous of TheLdsLife Channel; which posed as a rebuttal to a Utah News Channel Exclusive Story in the differences or similarities between Mormons and Masons.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TMar7X9YzM Whether you are a Christian or a Mormon or an atheist, nothing but the Temple Endowment, for me, has helped me to best answer my questions as to what Revelation 1:5-6 means and how men on earth are prepared for their "Kingly Reign" as mentioned by John the Revelator. For they TOO were made clean through the blood of the lamb and they too were made into Kings and Priests unto the Most High God. Is this NOT the inheritance of man? If your church is not teaching this, then I suggest that you examine closer as to what rich blessings GOD has in store for you!

I share this information with you because to me, I don't think it is FAIR that I have these wonderful blessings and others do not, while on this earth. Doesn't mean that I will convert everyone or find everyone while in this life. I have been richly blessed and whatever grace has been afforded to me, I want to do ALL that I can and ALL within my power to PREACH the gospel of Jesus Christ unto ALL THE WORLD! This I do, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ who is mighty to save; whose bowels are filled with mercy, AMEN!

O Wretched Man That I Am!

Nephi said it best... and they might as well be my words. 2 Nephi 4: 16-35 16 Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard. 17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. 18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. 19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. 20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. 21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh. 22 He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me. 23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time. 24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me. 25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them. 26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions? 27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy? 28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul. 29 Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions. 30 Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation. 31 O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin? 32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road! 33 O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy. 34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm. 35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.

Scott Thormaehlen, Author of "Day of Defense."

Stand for What You Believe The book Day of Defense: Positive Talking Points for the Latter Days. As the Church comes out of obscurity, members find themselves and their beliefs under a microscope. Day of Defense walks you through many of the stumbling blocks and confusing topics today’s saints encounter when discussing their religion. Answer difficult questions with confidence and address complicated doctrine without missing a beat as you reaffirm and refresh your beliefs upon reading this book. For orders visit "Amazon.com" and search by author (other titles with similar names... Scott Thormaehlen

Destructive Precepts of Men

Courtesy of Mormon Cronicle: http://www.mormonchronicle.com/three-dangers-that-threaten-the-church-within/ - Three Dangers That Threaten The Church Within

Destructive Precepts of Men Some years ago President Joseph F. Smith, a prophet of the Lord, warned that “there are at least three dangers that threaten the Church within.” (Gospel Doctrine, p. 312.) He also counseled the authorities of the Church to warn the people unceasingly against them. These dangers are:

Flattery of prominent men in the world, False educational ideas, & Sexual impurity.

I should like to comment briefly on these three dangers.

First, the flattery of prominent men in the world: The Master warned, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26) As Latter-day Saints we have been driven, mobbed, misunderstood, and maligned. We have been a peculiar people. Now we are faced with world applause. It has been a welcome change but can we stand acceptance? Can we meet the danger of applause? In the hour of a man’s success, applause can be his greatest danger.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with being honored by men if one is being honored for a good thing, if one comes to these honors through righteous living, and if, while holding these honors, one lives honorably. One should strive to have wide influence for good. However, virtue is not the only basis for being singled out and promoted. As the world gets more wicked, a possible way to attain worldly success may be to join the wicked. The time is fast approaching when it will require great courage for Latter-day Saints to stand up for their peculiar standards and doctrine—all of their doctrine, including the more weighty principles such as the principle of freedom. Opposition to this weighty principle of freedom caused many of our brothers and sisters in the preexistence to lose their first estate in the war in heaven. We are far removed from the days of our forefathers who were persecuted for their peculiar beliefs. Some of us seem to want to share their reward but are ofttimes afraid to stand up for principles that are controversial in our generation. We need not solicit persecution, but neither should we remain silent in the presence of overwhelming evil, for this makes cowards of men. We should not go out of the path of duty to pick up a cross there is no need to bear, but neither should we sidestep a cross that clearly lies within the path of duty. We are in the world, and I fear some of us are getting too much like the world. Rather than continue as a peculiar people, some are priding themselves on how much they are like everybody else, when the world is getting more wicked. The Lord, as he prayed for his apostles, said, “. . . the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” (John 17:14) As Latter-day Saints, we too have been called out of the world.

Some things are changeless—priceless. We must anchor ourselves to the eternal verities of life, for life is eternal. The honors of men more often than not are fleeting. Anxious to run after the honors of office or succumb to the pressures of public glamour and worldly acclaim, some of us are no longer willing to stand up for all the principles of the gospel. We seek to justify our unrighteousness by claiming that if only we can get title or position, then think of the good we can do. Hence we lose our salvation en route to those honors. We sometimes look among our numbers to find one to whom we can point who agrees with us, so we can have company to justify our apostasy. We rationalize by saying that some day the Church doctrine will catch up with our way of thinking. Seeking the applause of the world, we like to be honored by the men whom the world honors. But therein lies real danger, for ofttimes, in order to receive those honors, we must join forces with and follow those same devilish influences and policies that brought some of those men to positions of prominence.

More and more the honors of this world are being promoted by the wicked for the wicked. We see this in publicity and awards that are given to movies, literature, art, journalism, etc. We find in our own newspapers widely read columnists who advocate one-world socialism, who have been consistently caught in falsehoods, and who continually parrot the communist line. Less and less we see the virtuous rewarded by the world, and when they are, ofttimes it almost seems to be done insidiously in order to get us to swallow the many evils for which the wicked are even more profusely honored. Yes, President Joseph F. Smith was right. Today we are being plagued within by the flattery of prominent men in the world.

Second, false educational ideas: During the past several years many of our institutions of learning have been turning out an increasing number of students schooled in amorality, relativity, and atheism—students divested of a belief in God, without fixed moral principles or an understanding of our constitutional republic and our capitalistic, free enterprise economic system. This follows a pattern that was established years ago at some of our key colleges that produced many of the teachers and leaders in the educational field across the country today. The fruits of this kind of teaching have been tragic, not only to the souls of the individuals involved, but also to the parents and even to our country. When a survey was recently made among students asking which they would prefer, nuclear war or surrender to the communists, those campuses scored highest for surrender who had been most permeated by these cowardly teachings of false economic principles, atheism, and amorality. On one very liberal college campus 90 percent favored surrender. Other surveys on moral standards are equally alarming. More disturbing is the fact that the more college courses the students take on these campuses, the worse their thinking seems to become. Freshmen who have just left home or work do not seem as fully permeated with the brainwashing as do the seniors. Some alumni of various schools have expressed concern. One alumnus from Yale wrote a book a few years ago entitled God and Man at Yale. Another group from Harvard established the Veritas Foundation and wrote a book, Keynes at Harvard, explaining the degree to which the destructive Fabian economic philosophy has permeated educational institutions and government. Concerned educators have begun to write books. Professor E. Merrill Root authored Collectivism on the Campus and Brainwashing in the High Schools. Dr. Max Rafferty wrote Suffer Little Children and What They Are Doing to Your Children. In school history textbooks of recent years, some of the greatest phrases in American history have been dropped. This Week magazine surveyed history books issued before 1920 and since 1920. Patrick Henry’s famous words, “Give me liberty or give me death,” appeared in twelve out of the fourteen earlier texts, but in only two out of forty-five recent texts. Perhaps this might help explain the percentage of students who are willing to surrender to communism.

The whole process can be quite insidious. Young people know that the best jobs are available to college graduates. They want to do well at school. When exam time comes, they must give back to the teacher what the teacher wants. Now, under the guise of academic freedom—which some apparently feel is freedom to destroy freedom—some teachers reserve to themselves the privilege of teaching error, destroying faith in God, debunking morality, and depreciating our free economic system. If questions reflecting the teacher’s false teachings appear on the exam, how will the student answer who believes in God and morality and our Constitution? One student put on his exam paper what he knew the professor wanted to see, but then the student added a little P.S., which said, “Dear Professor So-and-so: I just want you to know I don’t believe one word of what I just wrote above.” These kinds of professors are not concerned about the truth or even giving both sides of a question that only has one right answer. They weigh the scales on the side of falsehood. If they can see there is another side, it usually gets but passing and belittling reference. To give the impression that they are objective, these professors often invite someone to present a different point of view in one lecture, while the professor spends the whole semester pointing out the other side.

Now truth, if given as much time and emphasis as error, will invariably prove itself. And if our young students could have as much time studying the truth as they and some of their professors have had time to study error, then there would be no question of the outcome. The problem arises when under the pressure of a heavy course of study and the necessity of parroting back what certain professors have said, the student does not have the time or take the time to learn the truth. If he does not learn the truth, some day he will suffer the consequences. Many an honest student, after graduation, has had to do some unlearning and then fresh learning of basic principles that never change and that he should have been taught initially.

These false educational ideas are prevalent in the world, and we have not entirely escaped them among teachers in our own system. There are a few teachers within the Church who, while courting apostasy, still want to remain members of the Church, for being members makes them more effective in misleading the Saints. But their day of judgment is coming, and when it does come, for some of them it would have been better, as the Savior said, that a millstone had been put around their necks and they had drowned in the depths of the sea, than to have led away any of the youth of the Church.

The Lord has stated that his church will never again be taken from the earth because of apostasy. But he has also stated that some members of his church will fall away. There has been individual apostasy in the past, it is going on now, and there will be an even increasing amount in the future. While we cannot save all the flock from being deceived, we should, without compromising our doctrine, strive to save as many as we can. For as President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., said, “We are in the midst of the greatest exhibition of propaganda that the world has ever seen.” (Conference Report, October 1941, p. 16.) Parents, stay close to your children; you cannot delegate your responsibility to the educators no matter how competent they may be. Parents have a duty to train their children, to talk over their problems with them, to discuss what they are learning at school. And it is neither wise nor safe to leave the determination of our educational system and policies exclusively to the professional educators. Students, study the writings of the prophets. Fortunately, a consistent position has been taken over the years by the prophets of the Church on vital issues facing this nation. Pray for inspiration and knowledge. Counsel with your parents. Let Sunday be the day to fill up your spiritual batteries for the week by reading good Church books, particularly the Book of Mormon. Take time to meditate. Don’t let the philosophies and falsehoods of men throw you. Hold on to the iron rod. Learn to sift. Learn to discern error through the promptings of the Spirit and your study of the truth. Yes, false educational ideas are a serious threat today.

Third, sexual immorality: Sexual immorality is a viper that is striking not only in the world, but in the Church today. Not to admit it is to be dangerously complacent or is like putting one’s head in the sand. In the category of crimes, only murder and denying the Holy Ghost come ahead of illicit sexual relations, which we call fornication when it involves an unmarried person, or the graver sin of adultery when it involves one who is married. I know the laws of the land do not consider unchastity as serious as God does, nor punish as severely as God does, but that does not change its abominableness. In the eyes of God, there is but one moral standard for men and women. In the eyes of God, chastity will never be out of date. The natural desire for men and women to be together is from God. But such association is bounded by his laws. Those things properly reserved for marriage, when taken within the bonds of marriage, are right and pleasing before God and fulfill the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth. But those same things when taken outside the bonds of marriage are a curse. No sin is causing the loss of the Spirit of the Lord among our people more today than sexual promiscuity. It is causing our people to stumble, damning their growth, darkening their spiritual powers, and making them subject to other sins.

Recently a young man commented that if he quit reading books, watching TV, seeing movies, reading newspapers and magazines, and going to school, there was a chance he might live a clean life. And this explains, in large part, the extent to which this insidious evil has spread, for the world treats this sin flippantly. These evil forces build up your lust and then fail to tell of the tragic consequences. In so many movies the hero is permitted to get away with crime so long as he can joke about it, or explain he was powerless to do anything, or else the close of the movie shows forth one minimal virtue that is supposed to cover over the grossest of sin. Many of our prominent national magazines pander to the baser side, then try to cover for themselves by including other articles too. So garbled in values have our morals become that some youth would not dare touch a cigarette, but freely engage in petting. Both are wrong, but one is infinitely more serious than the other. Parents should give their children specific instructions on chastity at an early age, for both their physical and their moral protection.

May I suggest some steps to avoid the pitfalls of immorality:

1. Avoid late hours and weariness. The Lord said to retire to your bed early (D&C 88:124), and there are good reasons for that. Some of the worst sins are committed after midnight by tired heads. Officers in the wards and stakes, branches and missions, should not keep our people, especially our youth, up late at night even for wholesome recreation.

2. Keep your dress modest. Short skirts are not pleasing to the Lord, but modesty is. Girls, do not be an enticement for your downfall because of your immodest and tight-fitting clothes.

3. Have good associates or don’t associate at all. Be careful in the selection of your friends. If in the presence of certain persons you are lifted to nobler heights, you are in good company. But if your friends or associates encourage base thoughts, then you had best leave them.

4. Avoid necking and petting like a plague, for necking and petting are the concession that precedes the complete loss of virtue.

5. Have a good physical outlet of some sport or exercise. Overcome evil with good. You can overcome many evil inclinations through good physical exertion and healthful activities. A healthy soul, free of the body- and spirit-dulling influences of alcohol and tobacco, is in better condition to overthrow the devil.

6. Think clean thoughts. Those who think clean thoughts do not do dirty deeds. You are responsible before God not only for your acts but also for controlling your thoughts. So live that you would not blush with shame if your thoughts and acts should be flashed on a screen in your church. The old adage is still true that you sow thoughts and you reap acts, you sow acts and you reap habits, you sow habits and you reap a character, and your character determines your eternal destiny. “As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Prov 23:7)

7. Pray. There is no temptation placed before you that you cannot shun. Do not allow yourself to get in positions where it is easy to fall. Listen to the promptings of the Spirit. If you are engaged in things where you do not feel you can pray and ask the Lord’s blessings on what you are doing, then you are engaged in the wrong kind of activity.

Yes, avoid late hours; dress modestly; seek good associates; avoid necking and petting; have a good physical outlet; think good thoughts; pray. May the Lord bless us as a people. We have taken upon us sacred covenants. We must be faithful. We are in the world, it is true, but we must not partake of the evils of the world. Let us ever be on guard against the flattery of prominent men in the world, false educational ideas, and sexual impurity. Source: General Conference, October 3, 1964

He Has Already Paid The Price

By BY ELDER DALLIN H. OAKS

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Adapted from an address given at a June 2001 mission presidents’ seminar in Provo, Utah. "Christ’s atoning sacrifice was for “all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” (original article found at http://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/04/the-atonement-and-faith?lang=eng)

The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Without this faith, the prophet Mormon said we are not fit to be numbered among the people of His Church (see Moroni 7:39). The first commandment Jehovah gave to the children of Israel was “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). We should always put the Savior first. This powerful idea—that we must have faith and put the Lord first in our lives—seems simple, but in practice many find it difficult.

The scriptures teach us that faith comes by hearing the word of God. The word of God, which comes to us by scripture, by prophetic teaching, and by personal revelation, teaches us that we are children of God the Eternal Father. It teaches us about the identity and mission of Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son, our Savior and Redeemer. Founded on our knowledge of those things, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is a conviction and trust that God knows us and loves us and will hear our prayers and answer them with what is best for us.

Faith in the Lord is trust in the Lord. We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing. As a result, no matter how strong our faith is, it cannot produce a result contrary to the will of Him in whom we have faith. Remember that when your prayers do not seem to be answered in the way or at the time you desire. The exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is always subject to the order of heaven, to the goodness and will and wisdom and timing of the Lord. When we have that kind of faith and trust in the Lord, we have true security and serenity in our lives.

We look first to our Savior Jesus Christ. He is our model. Our model is not the latest popular hero of sports or entertainment. Similarly, our most precious possessions are not the expensive toys and diversions that encourage us to concentrate on what is temporary and to forget what is eternal. Our model—our first priority—is Jesus Christ. We must testify of Him and teach one another how we can apply His teachings and His example in our lives.

The Savior Builds Us Up President Brigham Young (1801–1877) gave us some practical advice on how to recognize Him whom we follow. “The difference between God and the Devil,” he said, “is that God creates and organizes, while the whole study of the Devil is to destroy.” 1 In that contrast we have an important example of the reality of “opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11). Remember that our Savior Jesus Christ always builds us up and never tears us down. We should apply the power of that example in the ways we use our time, including our recreation and our diversions. Consider the themes of the books, magazines, movies, television shows, and music we in the world have made popular by our patronage. Do the things portrayed in our chosen entertainment build up or tear down the children of God? During my lifetime I have seen a strong trend to set aside entertainment that builds up and dignifies the children of God and to replace it with portrayals and performances that are depressing, demeaning, and destructive. The powerful idea in this contrast is that whatever builds people up serves the cause of the Master, and whatever tears people down serves the cause of the adversary. We support one cause or the other every day by our patronage and by our thoughts and desires. This should remind us of our responsibility to support what is good and motivate us toward doing this in a way that will be pleasing to Him whose suffering offers us hope and whose example gives us direction.

Suffering Is Part of Repentance The central idea in the gospel of Jesus Christ—its most powerful idea, along with the universal Resurrection—is the Atonement of our Savior. We are His servants, and it is critical that we understand the role of the Atonement in our own lives and in the lives of those we teach. Essential to that understanding is an understanding of the relationship between justice and mercy and the Atonement, and the role of suffering and repentance in this divine process. The awful demands of justice upon those who have violated the laws of God—the state of misery and torment described in the scriptures—can be intercepted and swept away by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This relationship between justice on the one hand and mercy and the Atonement on the other is the core idea of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon teaches that the Savior does not redeem men in their sins: “The wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death” (Alma 11:41). The Savior came to redeem men from their sins upon the conditions of repentance (see Helaman 5:11).

One of those conditions of repentance is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, including faith in and reliance upon His atoning sacrifice. As Amulek taught, “He that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption” (Alma 34:16). This obviously means that the unrepentant transgressor must suffer for his own sins. Does it also mean that a person who repents does not need to suffer at all because the entire punishment is borne by the Savior? That cannot be the meaning because it would be inconsistent with the Savior’s other teachings.

What is meant by Alma 34:16 is that the person who repents does not need to suffer even as the Savior suffered for that sin. Sinners who are repenting will experience some suffering, but because of their repentance and the Atonement they will not experience the full, exquisite extent of eternal torment the Savior suffered for those sins. President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985), who gave such comprehensive teachings on repentance and forgiveness, said that personal suffering is a very important part of repentance. “One has not begun to repent until he has suffered intensely for his sins. … If a person hasn’t suffered,” he said, “he hasn’t repented.”

Lehi taught this principle when He said the Savior’s atoning sacrifice was for “all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered” (2 Nephi 2:7). The truly repentant sinner who comes to Christ with a broken heart and a contrite spirit has been through a process of personal pain and suffering for sin. He or she understands the meaning of Alma’s statement that none but the truly penitent are saved. Alma the Younger certainly understood this. Read his accounts in Mosiah 27 and in Alma 36. President Kimball said, “Very frequently people think they have repented and are worthy of forgiveness when all they have done is to express sorrow or regret at the unfortunate happening.” There is a big difference between the godly sorrow that worketh repentance (see 2 Corinthians 7:10), which involves personal suffering, and the easy and relatively painless sorrow for being caught, or the misplaced sorrow Mormon described as “the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin” (Mormon 2:13).

We Must Make a Mighty Change Why is it necessary for us to suffer on the way to repentance for serious transgressions? We tend to think of the results of repentance as simply cleansing us from sin, but that is an incomplete view of the matter. A person who sins is like a tree that bends easily in the wind. On a windy and rainy day, the tree bends so deeply against the ground that the leaves become soiled with mud, like sin. If we focus only on cleaning the leaves, the weakness in the tree that allowed it to bend and soil its leaves may remain. Similarly, a person who is merely sorry to be soiled by sin will sin again in the next high wind. The susceptibility to repetition continues until the tree has been strengthened. When a person has gone through the process that results in what the scriptures call “a broken heart and a contrite spirit,” the Savior does more than cleanse that person from sin. He gives him or her new strength. That strengthening is essential for us to realize the purpose of the cleansing, which is to return to our Heavenly Father. To be admitted to His presence, we must be more than clean. We must also be changed from a morally weak person who has sinned into a strong person with the spiritual stature to dwell in the presence of God. We must, as the scripture says, become “a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord” (Mosiah 3:19). This is what the scripture means in its explanation that a person who has repented of his sins will forsake them. Forsaking sins is more than resolving not to repeat them. Forsaking involves a fundamental change in the individual. King Benjamin’s congregation described that mighty change by saying that they had “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). Persons who have had that kind of change in their hearts have attained the strength and stature to dwell with God. That is one definition of what we call being saved. Repentance has been the message in every dispensation. The risen Lord emphasized this to the Nephites in explaining what He called “the gospel which I have given unto you” (3 Nephi 27:13): “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day” (3 Nephi 27:20). In modern revelation, the Lord explained, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, they who believe not on your words, and are not baptized in water in my name, for the remission of their sins, that they may receive the Holy Ghost, are damned, and shall not come into my Father’s kingdom where my Father and I am” (D&C 84:74).

Forgiveness Is Certain I conclude with a message of hope that is true for all but especially needed by those who think that repentance is too hard. Repentance is a continuing process needed by all because “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Repentance is possible, and then forgiveness is certain. President Kimball said: “Sometimes … when a repentant one looks back and sees the ugliness, the loathsomeness of the transgression, he is almost overwhelmed and wonders, ‘Can the Lord ever forgive me? Can I ever forgive myself?’ But when one reaches the depths of despondency and feels the hopelessness of his position, and when he cries out to God for mercy in helplessness but in faith, there comes a still, small, but penetrating voice whispering to his soul, ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee.’” When this happens, we have the fulfillment of the precious promise that God will take away the guilt from our hearts through the merits of His Son (see Alma 24:10). How comforting the promise in Isaiah 1:18 that “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” How glorious God’s own promise that “he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42). I testify that these words are true, that this message is the doctrine of Jesus Christ, the plan of God our Eternal Father, of which our Savior Jesus Christ is the author and finisher. I testify of Jesus Christ and of His prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, and of the Restoration of the gospel in these latter days through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith.

We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing. The truly repentant sinner who comes to Christ with a broken heart and a contrite spirit has been through a process of personal pain and suffering for sin. The state of misery and torment described in the scriptures can be intercepted and swept away by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When a person has “a broken heart and a contrite spirit,” the Savior does more than cleanse that person from sin. He gives him or her new strength.

Thy Faith, © by Judith A. Mehr Above: Detail from Godly Sorrow, by Douglas M. Fryer. Right: Detail from Christ in Gethsemane, by Heinrich Hoffman, courtesy C. Harrison Conroy Co. Inc.Christ in a Red Robe, by Minerva Tiechert, courtesy Church History Museum

You can ask Heavenly Father in prayer to increase your faith. You can help your faith grow by reading the scriptures (see Romans 10:17; Helaman 15:7-8). Your faith will increase as you strive to live the teachings of Jesus Christ (see Alma 32:28-29).

An Epiphany About The Atonement

I had an epiphany, over the weekend, that helped me to better understand the atonement vs being judged by the Lord for my own many mis-deeds in my life. I think many people's opinions about heaven are such; That it's a glorious place that one is trying not to get kicked out of... His fear comes by reading the story of Adam and Eve in the garden... and that when they sin, they obsess about getting kicked out. One obsesses about the judgment and he never truly lives or serves for he can not. He is on a self doom fulfilling cycle and can not allow the savior to bring him peace in his life. As in sports, these are they that don't continue trying to win the game (being infinite points ahead) but are trying not to lose with an infinite point lead. One of Satan's lies are: You can't be cleaned...you've gone too far... you will be judged. Never never never never EVER let him do that! If he ever reminds you of your past, remind him of his (the Devil) future!