Isaiah 1 - Meaningless Perfomances?

I can't approach Isaiah in the same ways that I worked through the Book of Mormon.  There are not a few scripture snippets that can be expanded upon, but it seems like, at least in this particular chapter (Isaiah chapter 1), it is almost circular reinforcements of a theme.

Although the people were doing the performances required of the Lord in Isaiah's time, the remembrances and symbolism were not effecting the personal devotion and changes the Lord desired in them.  They are becoming hypocrites with a public face of piety and harboring evil in their hearts.

Isaiah 1:4

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

Isaiah 1:10-15

10 ¶ Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

Although we can make a good performance o righteousness in the eyes of others, the Lord sees into our hearts and knows if we are truly devoted to him and his purposes.  

Prosperity Blessings of Putting Marriage then Family ahead of Economic and Professional Concerns

It is a matter of prioritizing obedience to the oldest commandments and associated blessings over short term fears of not having a full cornicopia of society's "essential" marriage ingredients, such as a great job, high pay, or deep maturity. In some ways, many cultures actively discourage marriage with pushing these expected "requirements" that can rarely be met.

I found this view of attitudes going into marriage to be interesting and helpful to re-enshrining "holy" marriage: 

Beyond Hollywood Type Love: Choosing Commitment Over Chemistry

In addition to viewing marriage as a devoted commitment, rather than a impossibly life-long romantic infatuation as so many demand, we often forget God's take on marriage and making it a priority in our lives.

Genesis 2:18 

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Genesis 2:24 

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 

Adam was a very unaccomplished man at this point and yet he is married and commanded to populate the world (eventually and generationally)!  I wonder how Eve viewed the prospects of her husband in the Garden? 

 Matthew 19:3-6

The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 

And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 

And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 

Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21

There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

In my life, I discovered that obedience to God's command to marry and cleave is tied strongly to my blessings of financial prosperity. I am quiet hard to push on many things and I never pursued career or money particularly, but they came anyway, as if God was obligated to bless me this way.

In a practical application of the principles discussed here and in The Shape of Prosperity, any of us can push forward though the reservations, cultural hurdles and social fears that tell young people to put off or avoid productive marriage then family-building. It is my assurance to all that God blesses those that pursue and obey this "first commandment" of marrying and "cleaving". Those who do this will be prospered just as I have been in often miraculous ways.

Get married, the younger and less experienced, the better, Put your trust in the fact that God will prosper your obedience in cleaving and building a family.  Then, the miracles will come.

 

Honoring the First Choices at the Last

It's important to remember that accepting the trials of mortality has, until very recently, been just a fact of life (no obvious pun).  My parents did it, my grandparents and my further ancestors all married and had children (obviously), never giving it much more thought than these institutions are what everyone was expected to do and it was the basic sign of being a respectable adult.

We live in a "modern" time that the age-old expectations or marriage and family have been pushed aside by a growing group of DINKs, singles, NEETs, and so on. Sloughing established standards seem to have become something of a flaunted recreational sport, usually by showing young single women traveling the world's tourist spots or pulling dogs into their liberated and well-heeled "van lives".

Some six-thousand years ago, Adam and Eve set the standard, eschewed the easy man-child Eden, and took the choice to stay together as a married couple and face mortality together and naturally having children. God had a (now mostly forgotten) commandment about marriage to help them along:

Genesis 2:24

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Being "one flesh" would, by nature, produce children and lead to parenting inherited from previous generations. 

Young couples today must face a similar "first parent" choice under peer pressure conditions that test their faith in God and their courage to stand against growing social standards to forgo marriage and childbearing. God's first law of "cleaving" gets thrown under the cultural bus as a matter of course.

None of this is improved by leftist feminism - generating fleets of ugly and undesirable women who joyously reject mother Eve's higher choice. Satanic feminism destroyed the perpetuation of humanity in only about fifty years. 

Isaiah 3:24-26

 24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.

26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

 The solution is to ignore modern influences and embrace the morals of productive marriage and family-building.  It is a hard thing to put aside the constant clamor that marrying is patriarchal slavery and childbearing and child-rearing in our world is tantamount to a prison sentence and throwing children into pauperism. A generous God will bless our obedience to his "cleaving" commandment and the worst predictions of the future hell for families will be largely overcome with compensatory blessings.

Another View of "Talents"

Lisa came up with a wonderful new view of the Parable of the Talents.

You can look at the Talents of how much annual salary they buy. Lisa estimated that each talent was equivalent to five years of labor. That would make five talents worth 25 years of living and two talents worth 10 years, therefore converting these talents into TIME or a lifetime.

I look at this parable as a tale of life, judgment, and reward.

We all have varying lengths of lifespan. For instance, Jesus lived a short 33 years, Joseph Smith was on earth for only 38.5 years, I'm told. If you were to translate that to a cost of living as above and figure life begins at say 20 years of age, Jesus would be a bit more than a 2 talent person and Joseph was a bit less than a 4 talent person.

God give us our livespans to spend as we wish, which can be translated as above. Given the lifespan we have, what did we do with our time?

In the parable, the servants get their talents, and the Lord goes off to let the servants do what they will. This is just like coming to mortality, where we have our time to spend as we wish. In the story, two servants double their talents (make productive use of their time) and one servant buries his talent (is that like spending your life watching television and little else?).

The Lord returns and demands an accounting of talents from his servants. It is an analogy of death that ends our lifetime and looking at what we spent the years of our lives doing - productive or not. This is the final judgment that I speak so much about.

The Lord looks at the product of the time (measured in talents) that each servant produced in their lifespan. Both the servants that doubled their talents (they had different lifespans so their productivity is resultantly different) are given the same reward - lordship over many things (just like the Lord).

The remaining servant spent his talent (time) unproductively, burying his talents, and the Lord cast him off, a resolution that we should all ponder. If we waste the time that the Lord has bequeathed to us (long or short), the Lord punishes this waste of lifetime that he gifted to the servant.

Our greatest gift from God is the mortal lifespan that we have (or perhaps should have had if we don't shorten it through misuse of our bodies). As we spend our years of mortal life (talents) in service to the Lord, whether we have many years or relatively few, we will be rewarded for our "investment" in pleasing the Lord.

you shall walk in darkness

I am trying to help those "unconditional love" folks. So they don't get into trouble, wandering in the dark and thinking God will ignore disobedience.

Doctrine and Covenants 95:12

12 If you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness.

 This is the Lord speaking. If one doesn't keep commandments (this is referring to building a temple in Kirtland Ohio), then God doesn't love you. A small order and ignoring it gets a big response. Imagine how God feels about breaking one of the ten commandments that are not so situational!

Do we really want to "walk in darkness"? 

at the bar of God

Plenty of people ignore the words of prophets and apostles. They don't talk nicely. They say difficult things in the name of Christ, often in opposition to how many proclaim that Jesus love them. 

Moroni 10:27 

27 And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust?

I like the picture painted here.  Moroni is at your turn at judgment. If you choose to act like you didn't know what the prophet said or warned about, God himself will indict you. As you think of all the prophets that have issued warnings, that might make the idea of judgment less than appealing to many. 

Don't be that person! Listen and heed to the prophets. 

Moroni 10:30 

30 And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.

"If ye have faith..."

I know that I give some pretty tough words from the prophets in the Book of Mormon, so let me offer a little ray of goodness.

Moroni 10:23 

And Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me.

 But, like Moroni, there are warnings further warnings and prophecies:

Moroni 10:24-25 

24 And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth—that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief.

25 And wo be unto the children of men if this be the case; for there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one. For if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God.

We too often just skip over the injunction "if ye have faith" and read on, figuring that we will have joys and wonders and I wonder about the practical "selective blindness" of some folks that can only see the good in the world and in everyone. Everything is a movie where just loving someone magically transforms them from bad people into good people, conveniently forgetting that Jesus himself was nailed to a cross by people who he couldn't change. If Christ's love couldn't redeem, how can any of us manage to do better?

There are bad situations and bad people in this world and no amount of "positive mental attitude" or loving-kindness may not make a difference in those cases. I am not preaching not to make an effort, but don't be too discouraged if it fails.  It certainly failed in the circumstances in which Moroni lived.

We all need to exercise faith that God and Christ will do what can be done in relation to every person. Everyone has choices to make and pay for, like the choice to disbelieve. We can certainly be a part of potential redemption, but not to think that we can somehow do better than the Divine can do.

Repentance may solve your despair

I have never been a fan of the Psychology/Therapy industry that everyone is meant to participate in. Just as much as we are supposed to visit our physicians more often than our religious shepherds. Of course, therapy is basically a secular religion and a therapist is the profiteering contra-spirit-guide/priest to a client's ascent to the navel-staring godhood of channeled mock-serenity.

Obviously, I'm not a fan of the whole idea.

AI tells me that despair is a symptom of depression, the most prevalent condition of humanity. Psychology could be redefined as "depression management" quite easily. Can I save you some time and money in saying that you can often solve most of your depression episodes with one activity: repentance.

Moroni 10:22 

And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in despair; and despair cometh because of iniquity.

So the combination of a lack of hope and iniquity, according to Moroni, leads to despair. My thought is that iniquity is at the root of hopelessness as well. 

How to solve iniquity?  Repentance. 

As we repent, we re-establish hope in the proper source - Jesus Christ and his atonement for our sins. This will lead to the overcoming of despair, the basic "emotion" of our times. 

Confess and Repent to be in the Books

Much of the Book of Moroni within the larger Book of Mormon deals with how ordinances and meetings and church governance were conducted in the time of Moroni around the end of 2nd century America.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is largely patterned in the way Moroni describes therein.

Here is an interesting snippet from the described section:

Moroni 6

7 And they were strict to observe that there should be no iniquity among them; and whoso was found to commit iniquity, and three witnesses of the church did condemn them before the elders, and if they repented not, and confessed not, their names were blotted out, and they were not numbered among the people of Christ.

8 But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven.

So, you need to repent so that your name is not blotted out of church records. Every time we seek forgiveness and repentance, we get it. 

Revisiting "the Mariner's Log"

 About twenty years ago, I was traveling through Las Vegas, New Mexico for my job at the time and was going through the drive-thru at the local Wendy's restaurant. I don't know what I was really thinking about at the time (it is somewhere in the audio recordings that I have done for many, many years), but what became "God's Plan of Happiness in Ten Simple Symbols" or 03IXI8E0OC was born as a drawing on a Wendy's bag.

Over the years, 03IXI8E0OC was woven into the Navigiary Allegory (better a rumination) and was re-named "the Mariner's Log" to fit into the narrative I was creating in the books I was writing.

Just recently, somebody broke out one of the windows on my truck shell and I quickly slapped some chip-board across the space that used to be the window and sealed it all with some spare white roof coating I had.  It was a big white space that looked like an art canvas, so I thought what I might do to fill the big blank spot on my vehicle.

I am looking to do something vaguely artful on that chip-board based on the Mariner's Log. I have been updating everything (slowly) and it might be interesting to share.

 The webpage at http://quix.us/03IXI8E0OC.html is the "old-school" rendering about the Log that even the oldest web browsers can use. 

Love is License

The modern definition of "love" is letting children get away with every aberrant behavior and never applying any discipline in their lives. "Love" is coddling and protecting others from proper consequences as if this is some virtue. No lack of action is more deceptive to the meaning of mortal life than behavioral indulgence by parents or society than allowing childish selfish actions to go unpunished. Such "covering of sins" has become the universal attitude of supposedly enlightened "authority figures" to the detriment of all.

It begins with something like stealing cookies in the middle of the night. Children should not do this, but every parent in Western culture is expected to indulge such behavior and even feed it with a quiet resupply. "Children are our greatest treasure and we should never do anything but spoil them and provide them a life free of consequences." As a result, our children become "fat" adults, not only in calories, but in a lack of needed self-discipline. Letting a child take as many cookies as they like without REGULATION is the complete opposite of good parenting.

Parental "love" has become a license to misbehave and when parents attempt to eventually correct such misbehavior, the childish can use "love" as a bludgeon to extort: "if you really love me, you wouldn't punish me".  That is the promise of "unconditional love", a life free of punishment and responsibility. It is also a lie.

When punishment and discipline are defined as "abuse" by an indulgent society, we fail to prepare our children for the sorts of behavior and attitudes that they need to face life in a mature and successful way. We need to slap hands and warm bottoms in correcting every bad and destructive behavior. Parents will be held accountable before God for their failure to teach "right" living to their children.

Few attitudes are more deceptive than painting God himself as a modernly indulgent parent. Scripture is filled with God's anger at the disobedient children of Israel and the resultant punishments they earned. Yet, many "christians" portray Deity as a "merciful" and "loving" coddler who will shield everyone from the evils of "justice", not remembering that the authentic mercy and love offered by God in this case is a delayed judgment to give us time to change ourselves for the better and repent our sins before the reality of justice must be applied. Mercy never eliminates justice, it only delays for a time.

There is no decadent God or Christ who ignores our actions. "Sin no more" is still God's attitude and no amount of attempted "loving" shielding of this fact by indulgent parents or society will stop the coming of just punishment for disobedience. We must discipline and straighten ourselves and our children today "while the sun shines", for the "night" of punishment for our sins will surely come. 

The One-hundred Fifty Year Lens

If something didn't exist or was not very important one hundred and fifty years ago, it very likely isn't very important now.

My MediMania blog posts are about new fresh medical hysteria that swears common ailments with us for thousands of years are going to kill us all. Strangely, humanity survived in the past and we will likely survive now, in spite of expert medical opinion that nature has somehow changed.

Don't be fooled by hysterics who ignore the past. Humans can be quite resilient even if modern narcissists see society and people as incredibly frail.

Obesity is a Manifestation of Evil Efficiency

Viewed through the One Hundred Fifty Year Lens, a large problem over the centuries was the lack of enough food for any given population. Often enough, people "experiencing a lack of nobility" were both half-starved, if not more so, and emaciated (yes, those are different things).

Remove the lens, and one gets the obvious change:  (over)abundance of food. There is so much food produced today that much of the "imperfect" fruits, vegetables, and meats are simply thrown out, choking our sewage and refuse systems.  You may have contributed by sending a steak (noble grub) back for being overcooked, a truly royal act in the past, which goes straight to the garbage. Blame modern food regulations for that fact that most imperfect steaks don't make it down a soup line person's gullet, which any past royal would have figured how to do.

Now, in many developed countries, there is an obesity epidemic. Even I, who don't readily register as fat, am statistically obese by modern standards. While many people attribute this to eating too much or the wrong sorts of food (that rich, royal diet), I will add another aspect which better explains why people who eat about the same as I do fall into such different camps in the body shaming racket:  efficiency.

To my mind, some people are very efficient (fat) and others are not efficient (not fat).  My boss is constantly on about increasing our efficiency by planning ahead, which I don't put much effort into.  I walk between a set of buildings and don't give much thought to making sure I handle one building's work before I move onto another and send up walking randomly all over the place in a very inefficient way.  Is that why I don't look all that fat?

I once worked with a man who was likely far more efficient than I am. I say this because I wouldn't be surprised if he was over 600 pounds and had specialized equipment and assistants to get him through his workday. I couldn't afford such things and I doubt I would justify the company putting out like that for me, so I figure he had some amazing skill and efficiencies that made it all worthwhile in a business way.  He rarely moved from his desk, unlike me, so his measure of productivity must have been comparatively through the roof.  I was always going to and fro, talking with people that I needed something from or that needed something from me.  I could have made calls instead, but was usually too lazy to look up numbers. Thus my theory, efficiency breeds lack of unnecessary exercise.

I also have to say that there are any number of people, specifically employed by the government, that I wish were somewhat less efficient.  To my mind, a lot for Liberty in personal life is lost to busy government workers, whom I would just as soon stayed home and didn't attend so "efficiency" to separating people from their liberties in their things. 

Study BYU-TV’s “Come Follow Up” and Become Ben Lomu

I had a recent chance to watch the “Come Follow Up” program on the BYU-TV channel (find it here: https://www.byutv.org/come-follow-up ) and I saw in several episodes a good model of how our second hour discussions could be better conducted.  Every week or so, the discussion leader (Ben Lomu - handsome polynesian host) brings a gospel scholar and a one or two “Random AnySaints” in front of a group of “spectators” and they chat about the week’s “Come, Follow Me” study. Although informative to just watch the episode, I urge you to take a step back from what is being discussed and see how this weekly presentation flows and who fills what role in their “class”.

The discussion leader kicks things off with a very short summary of what the reading was about. I am not kidding, I timed a few of these summaries and they lasted less than two minutes. This is a good lead-in to help people recall their home scripture study and be ready to discuss what they learned and what touched them.

Then, there is the introduction of the gospel scholar and other guests. These are the people to whom Ben poses the occasional question. The bulk of the discussion is between the gospel scholar and the guests and maybe an audience member, with the discussion leader listening intently to what the speaker is saying and smiling and nodding in an encouraging way.

 

The gospel scholar often seems to be making a bit of a presentation, working off preparation for teaching an institute or old-time gospel doctrine class. “Look what it says here and what it means…”

The guest participant usually tells personal experiences that relate to what is being said, almost interrupting the scholar but still getting Ben’s listening smile and encouragement.

As I sit in on second-hour time, I get the impression that the “Come Follow Up” gospel scholar has taken over the stage, dismissed Ben, and is giving their prepared institute topic presentation, just like the gospel doctrine teachers of old. If I am not too obnoxiously repetitive, the brethren in leadership want our second hour time to look more like a “Come Follow Up” episode rather than an institute class. To put it another way, those who lead in the second hour should look and behave more like Ben Lomu and much less like the show’s visiting gospel scholar.  

Check out a few episodes and see the way the discussion leader behaves. Ben doesn’t have a chalkboard or give out hand-outs. For all we know, the scholar wrote the show’s summary and Ben just reads it off the prompter.  Maybe, like so many of our second-hour friends, Ben might not remember what he read during the week or maybe even didn’t read the assignment at all.  Not to say that discussion leaders should ignore the content, but your role is to initiate and forward a gospel discussion from instruction that happens elsewhere.

I have never been in a church gathering of any type that didn’t have a very willing gospel scholar in the group, quite able to take over the time and never give it back. So, in the second hour discussions that you lead, you already have your “Come Follow Up” gospel scholar (you know who they are) who needs no encouragement to fulfill their duties in that role. The discussion leader just needs to help the scholar give others a chance to contribute.

Harder to see during second hour is the “Random AnySaint” that might share their experiences from their own home gospel doctrine instruction during the week.  As the discussion leader, you may have to coax one or two (or more) group members into talking about what insights were discovered in their home study.  Ask questions that help bring out the “Random AnySaint” and their experience.

Each “Come Follow Up” episode also includes a “studio audience”, often painfully quiet, much like most of your second hour participants. The television episode wouldn’t work without the quiet majority in the room and you, as the second-hour discussion leader, should accept that silent group’s role as almost passive listeners. You won’t see Ben spending much effort in getting the crowd to respond, though, when the occasional audience member raises a hand and comments, he is just as attentive and smiling and nodding appreciatively for their contribution as he is to the scholar and featured guest.  Give place and acknowledgement for the irregular contribution without strong-arming to get it.

In any given episode, between Ben, the ever-present gospel scholar, and the guests at the front of the stage, the episode time is taken up with discussion and the entire assembled group gets their promised uplift in their own way. 

Watch Ben Lomu a few times and see how he leads these discussions. Your role is to be a discussion leader like he is. Let others in the group be the gospel scholar. Work out any ”gospel doctrine teacher” urges in your own home, where the real instruction needs to happen according to the brethren.  In second hour, listen to contributors attentively, smile that “Ben smile”, and nod in acknowledgement. The more we lead the group discussions as Ben Lomu does, the closer we come to honoring the Brethren’s charge to us.

Forbidden Marriage and Vegans of False Gods

I haven't met a vegan who didn't think they were more pure than others around them.  Veganism is a religion where practitioners are the gods and get pretty testy when they are not worshiped by others for their superior culinary practices. It is the ultimate worship of the self and they tolerate no other gods meddling in their self-love.

The same sort of self-love informs the modern idea that remaining unmarried is the best state of being.

1 Timothy 4:3

Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

This may be the most basic attitude against God in the Western world right now - rejecting what the Lord has given for our use. We are meant to marry and bear children in marriage, which brings us closer to the state of God and our relationship to him.

Eating fruits and vegetables more than meats is actually a good thing, but "religiously" avoiding meat is setting up a false god that demands an abstinence from meat in the place of the true God of the Bible that never commanded such abstinence.

Later revelations from the Lord confirm his attitude about veganism:

18 And whoso forbiddeth to abstain from meats, that man should not eat the same, is not ordained of God;

19 For, behold, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth, is for the use of man for food and for raiment, and that he might have in abundance.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/49?lang=eng&id=p18-p19#p18

Make sure that you actually obey God and don't set up bizarre counterfeits.  

Apostles rather than Influencers

It's disconcerting when I hear the wisdom of Youtube, Tiktok, and other "outside" sources used in Sacrament talks and lessons in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. With the sacrifice and effort put out to safeguard and translate the Bible and Book of Mormon records for our use, coupled with the inspiration and wisdom of Christ-appointed prophets and apostles, the use of such lesser sources as references in Church meetings smacks of ingratitude for the authorities that Christ has already established to give us spiritual guidance.

Modern social media provides compelling voices and personalities the opportunity to reach broad audiences that only accomplished and recognized leaders and theologians could muster in the past. Although more people have the chance to be seen and heard more widely via the internet, the messages presented have a greater tendency to be tailored toward "itching ears" rather than inspired truth. 

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/2-tim/4?lang=eng

When bringing knowledge into church settings such sacrament talks and second hour lessons, it is important to use the Lord's appointed authorities rather than popular personalities or favorite teachers.

Peaceable Christians on a Peaceable Walk

I have been spending time in very foreign places lately and the difference in culture are stark. Although I feel this way in most situations every day, the contrast to the stranger feeling is far more stark some four thousand miles away from my wife!

Santiago in Chile has no particular enemies as far as I can see, unlike the United States. Border control is a simple matter in this part of South America compared to the grilling I will get when I re-enter the USA. I suppose more terrorists are interested in attacking "the land of the free and home of the brave" as they say, rather than the longest and skinniest country around.

It is interesting to see the people on the streets of Santiago, stopping often, shaking hands, pairing off and often kissing each other. if you can get past the frustrated drivers that regularly toot their horns, it is all very (in a word) peaceful. It isn't very noisy for a congested city center and I don't see a lot of anxiety in anyone's faces.

Perhaps such a situation was what the prophet Mormon was talking about:

3 Wherefore, I would speak unto you that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven.

4 And now my brethren, I judge these things of you because of your peaceable walk with the children of men.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/moro/7?lang=eng&id=p3-p4#p3

This is an interesting situation for Mormon to speak this way.  His people and especially his fellow Christians are being annihilated, fighting a running retreat to nowhere. The record kept now by his son Moroni is written for people many centuries in the future, including those who will shortly slaughter his father and himself. Yet, here is this word "peaceable".

What does it mean to be peaceable? Walking the streets of Santiago, I think it might mean to wish and do no ill to others. No one here is getting in my face or in my way, and the language barriers here are handled with mutual shrugs and gestures, enough to get money, food and services exchanged.

More broadly, It could mean to "live and let live". To hold one's standards yet not force them on others. To promulgate the doctrine of Christ among Latter-day Saints and to invite others to do likewise without compulsion if they want to join in.

Christ is surrounded by the idea of peace. It is proclaimed at his birth and he displays it as he is escorted to his death. The resurrected Jesus leaves his peace with his disciples as he ascends to heaven, rarely to return. Outside of cleaning up the temple and clashes with those who attack him, the Savior walks city streets and country paths in relative peace with others. He is civil and even likable, which makes the actions of leaders who have him put to death most bizarre. They certainly were not very peaceable toward him.

Though we cannot pay for the sins of others or initiate the universal resurrection as Christ did, we can manage to walk more peaceably among others as Jesus did. That is powerful way to show that we are followers of Christ in our daily "walks". 

A Few New Lessons from Single Parenting

Women become the most vaunted victim/heroes when they are anointed single mothers. And it is a bequeath, complete with a judge that raps a gavel to make it happen. 

I was just watching a video where a single mom was talking about how hard it was to parent alone. They are beautiful and endurant and sacrificing, which means the cast-away husband/father must have been blind, abusive, and self-centered, right? That was why this most wonderous and beatified mother could ever divorce or so it seems
.  It is an accepted sociological fact that men are monsters and if a woman hasn't divorced random man yet, it is only a matter of time before the monster reveals itself and a new saintly single mother is born.

If single parenting is such a hard task and requires so much above and beyond mere human ability, that should speak volumes about the absolute benefit of keeping husbands around. Women shine up both mother and father badges when they say they wear them both with crushing heaviness, it begs the question of why a reasonable woman would put herself in the situation of raising children largely alone. Perhaps it has more to do with many women enjoy bathing in victim/hero status that society bestows on the single mom after her late (might as well call it what it is - the killing of a man) husband/bedmate/monster is legally crucified.  Society is perfectly happy to have men practically murdered to mint a new single mom/goddess who can never do wrong again.

Wouldn't it be better to keep marriages and families intact? Society might do family a favor by spending even a fraction of the resources applied to broken families to setting more realistic expectations with women and men, appreciating (even just a little) the contribution of fathers to families, eliminating silly no-fault divorces that often tear a family to shreds for no justifiable reason beyond selfishness. Women could put aside the cultural hatred and distrust of all men and be the main driver in building model men as protectors and providers.

Homeschooling Gospel Learning

The essence of home-based church-supported gospel learning is what I call homeschooling. Parents guiding the discussion and teaching Christ and his gospel to their children.

The Sunday church second hour is content review - sharing with your peers what you learned in your home study.

The quarterly Teacher councils is a style review, for parent and teachers,  sharing How we teach. Again, home is for study and gospel doctrine style teaching, the What we teach.

"...the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them,..."

I have heard many authorities say something like - It is never too late to repent. True, but...

This is one of those scriptures that let you know that a person can divorce themselves so completely from the Lord that:

But behold, the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people; for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed; wherefore they went again to battle. 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/ether/15?lang=eng&id=p19#p19

We can go so far away from the Lord that the Spirit will stop working to save us.  I tie this to my axiom of "don't count on it", that someone tests Christ's ability to overcome a pretty slimy and unrepentant personal nature.  We all need to do our best to come to Jesus humbly and fully repentant, not to challenge him like some sumo wrestler for how hard we can make it for him to redeem us. What an idiotic concept.

Any of us can go beyond the Lord's willingness to save you, irrelevant of his ability to do it. We would all do better to work to make our redemption worth Christ's while.

Accepting Suffering and Sacrifice in Service to a Better Future

I looked back at my working life and I saw that for the most part, I have always worked for either a government entity or a government contractor.  I am currently yet again a government contractor so the Donald Trump-pushed DOGE efforts have every chance of affecting me and my income directly. I am going to suffer a bit if efforts at "government efficiency" eliminate my employment.

Regardless, the work of DOGE is absolutely essential to the government downsizing that needs to happen and that politicians have never brought themselves to do.  As long as government is ruled by the puerile desires of those who want to profit of the labors of others, it will continue to lead in the destruction of societies, families, and individuals. 

Everyone accuses the adults of today for continuing the ruination which children will have to live with as they grow older.  Young social justice warriors love to scream this at their elders. I say this is the way to silence such obnoxious voices. Trump and DOGE is working to fix the worst of the systemic problems that make life miserable, practically untenable, and offer little hope for more widespread personal success, all especially for those with lower capacity. Of course, this angers SJWs, for they do not authentically want a fix for these things, nor do they want the hated Trump to be a part of any fixes - it seems that their ten seconds of fame and their "righteous" hatred is all such people seek. It is a mark of corruption at the personal level, if you are marching in the streets and demanding that governments remain large and grasping so that you may profit off of this situation. I was once a professional "do-gooder" and I saw quickly that this wasn't a good thing, both for me as a government worker and for those I was supposed to be helping.

I, for one, am trying to prepare for the economic fallout of lower taxes and the provision of fewer government services upon which I have relied for a living most of my life. There are other jobs to do and service to others should be done outside of structures of force and inescapable government manipulation.

Standards vs. Exemptions

Standards: a level of quality or attainment.

Exemption: the process of freeing or state of being free from an obligation or liability imposed on others.

There are two basic sorts of people, those who measure themselves against standards and those who work to exempt themselves from standards, usually by eliminating measurement. These sorts tend to gravitate to the brightest light or the grossest darkness.

James 4

17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

It is far better to find the best standard by which you can live your life, especially one patterned after the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, rather than the fruitless search for exemptions from responsibility for those around you.

Prisons of Mediocrity for the Unconditionally Loved

I once worked in a prison, keeping equipment running so that prisoners could call those outside of prison, among other things. The vast majority of the prisoners had people that would accept their phone calls, even though such calls were collect calls and very expensive. People paid hundreds of dollars to talk regularly with one inmate or another, helping them feel less lonely and more loved.

Doesn't that sound nice?

I also worked with other prison employees who monitored these phone calls.  Many of them were called "grooming" calls, where an inmate praises the callers and then would ask for favors, often illegal activities, from those called. There were regular prosecutions of prison guards as inmates "groomed" them into doing something illegal to prove love or loyalty to that inmate. Sometimes, it was just a game that bored inmates would play with gullible guards just to see if they could turn them into criminals. I saw it happen time and time again, watching guards turn into prosecuted inmates.

Whenever I hear the phrase "unconditional love", I recall that inmates would often use such phrases to "groom" a future victim - "If you really love me unconditionally, you would do this thing for me."  The favors would start with innocent requests and then move up to something unethical, then illegal; the game being how far you could get a victim to go. I don't hear just the voice of a pleading inmate, playing a "let's get them in trouble" game, I hear manipulative children extorting their parents. "You won't punish me for something horrible I have done.  You will shield me from the authorities because if you don't, you must not really love me and that makes you a terrible parent/friend."  And the victim usually does what is requested, just to avoid appearing or being accused of being unloving or not "proving" their love.

This is why the use of "unconditional love" in glowing terms just turns my stomach, especially from religious leaders who should know better. I know people who are doing prison time for being baited by "love" into compromising moral requirements by looking the other way or doing an illegal act.  People who act on such appeals are either being groomed by evil forces or inviting evil to play around them with impunity and excuses until they are destroyed and helping others to also be destroyed.

We don't become better people by hanging around those preaching unconditional love. You don't have to be a better person if those around you fail to hold you to a higher standard. God wants better out of you and your "loving" parents and mentors should want better from you as well.  There is no room for excused behavior and attitudes that want no more than a mediocre lack of effort - excused people don't improve and don't grow into better people. Let it and them slide and people will go as low as people's "unconditional love" will tolerate.

I hope you are as suspicious of such talk as I have become.

The Fallacy of Retroactive Repentance

Some eager Latter-day Saints have an idea that everyone can seek repentance, even Lucifer and his followers. All they would have to do is to be contrite.  Although this sounds good and "loving", these rebellious souls sealed their fate by flatly rejecting Heavenly Father's plan.

Lucifer and his followers cannot repent.  Repentance was a facet of Heavenly Father's plan which the Satanic rejected before it was even put into place.  Repentance is for those who received Jehovah as the Savior and participated in the plan.  The Satanic walked away from the plan before repentance existed.

It is like buying a car with a $100,000 price-tag.  In a few months, that car model goes on sale for $50,000.  You get grumpy because now you feel like you paid $50,000 too much.  You can't retroactively go back to the car place and demand the return of $50,000 and actually get it.  You paid the price as set at the time. 

Perhaps Lucifer's decision to oppose God was a gross act of impatience, wanting God's "honor" earlier than it was available to him through righteous living and the stipulations of Heavenly Father's plan. Perhaps he thought it could just be demanded and God, out of love, would give it outside of the plan in the offer to force all his children into complete devotion. It seems Lucifer didn't understand the criteria for exaltation and he became ungrateful and indignant when God's "honor" didn't come to him.  Nevertheless, Lucifer rebelled against the Father and his plan and was thrust out before repentance was instituted and gave us a deep example of really bad timing among other insults to God and his ways.
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Are your leaders committed to "overthrow the freedom of all lands"?

There is all sorts of talk about wicked people in high places. Depending on who you talk to, the American President is either one of the wicked people or someone who is trying to dethrone the wicked people. It has become quite the issue in the United States of American to either tear down the established bureaucracy or defend the "sweet" deal friends enjoy in service to the establishment.

It really is a difference between government "reform" (not really) and tearing down the established evil.

In the scriptures below, "it" refers to a group called the "Gadiantion Robbers" who work wickedness so that they can enjoy power (control) and gain (money) without interference.  See if you see the powerful and rich in the verses below.

Ether 8:25

25 For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.

These people who seek power are doing the work of Satan, which rewards those who serve him lavishly but only for enough time to destroy them and take thousands to hell as well. 

Ether 8:26

26 Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved.

It is our responsibility to "do good continually". It will be our individual and collective righteousness that will render Satan powerless in our lives.  We will do away with evil as we choose to follow Christ and elect people to positions of power over us who also follow Christ.  This binds Satan and gives us Liberty from the consequences of sinful natures that we abandon.  This is the only "freedom" that will bring us lasting joy.

Forgive Others and the Lord will Forgive You

We live in a time and world that will pick apart everything that a person says or writes, often in the interest of destroying people. In a world where the greatest ability is to tear down you competitors in order to raise one's personal status. As identified later, this indicates a lack of charity. You make mistakes, I make mistakes, we would do well to be kind to each other.

The Nephites, especially Moroni himself, says he has no great gift for writing. He was shown that there would be many detractors that would dismiss his words out-of-hand given the use of a wrong word or another.

Ether 12

35 Wherefore, I know by this thing which thou hast said, that if the Gentiles have not charity, because of our weakness, that thou wilt prove them, and take away their talent, yea, even that which they have received, and give unto them who shall have more abundantly.

36 And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity.

37 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.

There are several situations in which the Lord highlighted in New Testament the idea that if one doesn't "dig a pit" for your neighbor or give them the same consideration you would hope for from others, the Lord will forgive one of their shortcomings as well.

Moroni was talking about those who reject the Book of Mormon over poor writing. Those how are looking for offense can certainly find such in the work of men who are trying to convey spiritual concepts for which they sometimes lacked words to describe to satisfaction. Grace is plead for and grace would forgive something akin to bad grammar and not taking the opportunity to vilify, which our times are most apt to do.  Moroni saw us and our doings, so he knew that his writing weakness would be used against the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture.

Note that the Lord doesn't fault Moroni for his weakness and promises him a fine reward for his efforts. The general lack of charity these days (I think the use of charity in this situation can be applied broadly as it is used in other scriptures) will not be visited on the writer, but on those who reject the writing. God works through men and giving those men given "a break" in doing their service to the Lord will be rewarded with not only a break from Christ, but rewards that any of us should expect from a God that sees into our hearts and doesn't damn us for our stylistic weaknesses.

God is kind, and we all should be to each other.  Everyone deserves a break. 

Don't Let Evil Get Above You - You Actually Might be to Blame for America.

I wrote a small booklet some time ago titled "You are Not to Blame for America" which highlighted the corruptions of GUS (Government of the United States) and how any individual voter had no power to stop its demise. One vote won't change the direction of the world, but your one vote speaks to God of your loyalty to righteousness and its enthronement in your life.

Much of the world is now led by elected officials. This means that your obligation to vote and empower righteous people as leaders does not let you ignore the culpability of your choices. If your leaders cause your community and nation to turn from God, the fault lies as much in those who voted for such as those ruining things in the voter's name.  No one can claim that they were powerless to prevent the enshrinement of wickedness and evil - if you vote for wickedness, you wanted it to rule.

I know it is hard for those who think themselves insignificant little victims, but the unchecked spread of wickedness in this world that God gave us as a stewardship is caused by those who give them power, either through their utter ignorance, desire to have others pay the price of their living, or foolishly vote for people who promise some "free" ride or socialistic utopia of enslavement.  If you choose to abdicate your power through not voting or "just following the crowd", you will be punished alongside the evil leaders that you empowered.

Ether 8:23

23 Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.

"...and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you,..."

It should be obvious that this situation already exists in much of the world. The seeds of our destruction at the hands of God are already sown, though it is still possible to eradicate the evil who have been allowed to rise to positions of great power. The rise of figures that "drain the swamp" are very promising and may rescue us from "the work of destruction". 

"...the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you,...if you suffer these things to be."

Yet again from the Book of Mormon, we see that God himself will execute judgment on us if we allow ourselves to be ruled by "these murderous combinations".  The Lord doesn't pity your poor use of citizenship, he will punish us for allowing our personal vote (or deciding not to cast it) to put evil into power.

Being complicit in the rule of evil will get you the same judgment as those you have empowered, so take your ability to vote very seriously.  Letting yourself vote uninformed or choosing not to vote is absolutely no excuse in judgment!

Honoring God as your best Father and Benefactor

Pursuing what we know of God's purpose and commandments and furthering the understanding and compliance with them.

Bringing honor to your "earthly" father and mother (even if they don't merit much respect) becomes an indication that you place the concept of fatherhood highly and that a chief purpose is to present God this fatherly honor, knowing him to be an exemplary father, honored best by obedience and gratitude and making God's purposes your own. When you were sent to earth, which is distant from God, you could cultivate whatever relationship you wanted with your Heavenly Father, including none at all. There would be very little overt reaction from the Father either way during life. A worthy God is not raised through compulsion.

This all presupposes that what one desires is within a father's gift to provide. A knowledge and understanding of more feudal forms such as fealty (from faithfulness) and tenure (being a tenant), as humans are living on the Lord's (very proper title) world. Several parables from Christ indicate these relationships very strongly, and that our tenure in this life is pretty much the only thing we can honestly "own". Everything else belongs to the Lord and your acknowledgement of this will be required.

 Your larger future is God the Father's to bequeath, which term I choose specifically. It is nothing that one such as ourselves can either take or earn. If you are to seek a lofty status, such as exaltation, it is most likely to be gifted to you from a father who has seen your ability to hold it in accordance with his wishes and as something lose to his worthy successor.

Of course, God doesn't die and doesn't leave you "his things". He lives on and is actively engaged in his present pursuits, but the expanding nature of the universe lets him gift you "godhood" and a realm to "lord over" without any diminishment to what is his own.  I can see in his expansive holding, his granting you a galaxy or some such, which also expands as much for the one getting the gift as the one giving.

Our ultimate example of a person who has received the Father's bequeath is Jesus Christ. He accomplished a very heavy assignment, which "pleased" the Father, that can be translated into the gifting of exaltation. I don't think others are meant to do what Christ did specifically, but they are certainly given mortal assignments to perform and opportunity to "please" God.

We reference the parable of the talents where the servants are given stewardship over much. This comes from pleasing the Lord in early, small stewardships. The Lord controls these stewardships and grants them as he wills and as we prove our loyalty to him.

This is where the idea of openness and democracy are revealed as telestial props with God far away. The church and celestial places are the Lord's and not democratic institutions. Stewardship are given via the Spirit which is the telestial conduit to the Lord. 

Temples are not open in democratic ways and cannot be accessed democratically. Bishops authorize priesthood advancement as a standard to meet as opposed to a reward for good behavior or training. This is added responsibility not an honor. The Lord sets standards of responsibility in offices of priesthood and callings, not for convenience or capacity. Think of the talents again. Women in Priesthood would be given as a stewardship from the Lord, not a status or honor or leadership like so many think.