A Curious Instrument

Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is my favorite movie and reflects people who are trying to cope with less-than-inspiring lives, which is just about everyone.  https://archive.org/details/kohenmonkmormon/Walter+Mitty+is+Broken.ogg

I know everyone says they love Jesus and that Jesus loves them, but are they just demanding favors by doing that?  Do you "love" Jesus because you want stuff you expect for free?  Would you stop "loving" him if you might not get the rewards you feel that you deserve?  Would you still "love" him if you saw others being blessed and rewarded and you didn't get the same?  if things didn't seem fair enough to suit you?  https://archive.org/details/kohenmonkmormon/Leaving+Exaltation+to+Love.ogg

 In the second of two recordings on trust and God, I ruminate on trusting God on a real level.  When God doesn't act the way you expect, do you stay loyal to Him? https://archive.org/details/kohenmonkmormon/In+God+We+Trust.mp3

I broke the RSS feed to my main "on-the-road" podcast (without a backup), so I decided to drop the RSS feed and advertise the recordings (no longer a podcast) on the blog and on Facebook.  It is a bit duplicative, but I want to see which method is more "successful". Anyway, here is the first of two recordings on the importance of trust as far as God seems to be concerned.  This first recording has to be with our earning the trust of God and meriting exaltation at his hand.  https://archive.org/details/kohenmonkmormon/Engendering+Trust.mp3

There is much talk from Lisa and Jason about car problems, buying a property in Fritch Texas, and other things. I'm going to start advertising recordings from the Princess and/or the Priest page on Archive.org here on the blog.  I'll see if it gets some notice from the universe.  Enjoy! https://archive.org/details/princesspriest/Lots+of+Peas+at+Fritch+Flop.mp3

Here is another time when the Lord takes credit for doing something horrible.  I used to think God did nothing nasty, but he does punish those who turn against him. Mormon 8: 7 And behold, the Lamanites have hunted my people, the Nephites, down from city to city and from place to place, even until they are no more; and great has been their fall; yea, great and marvelous is the destruction of my people, the Nephites. 8 And behold, it is the hand of the Lord which hath done it. ... This and so many other posts have been a study of mine toward a more accurate picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. As I have done this, I find that many portrayals of Christ describe a largely extra-scriptural representation of him as extremely non-violent and loving to a fault, strongly aligned with modern attitudes of the superiority of unconditional love and behavioral anti-judgmentalism. That is a flawed vision of the Savior insofar as I have found. Moving slowly through the scriptural recor...

I have discovered that my wife really likes Dog the Bounty Hunter.   Duane Chapman and his family often convince the families of his bounties that they are better off in jail and drug rehabilitation, especially if that person's life is out-of-control.  Dog encourages some of the worst elements to get themselves clean, take responsibility for their actions and make their families a higher priority in their lives.  This is good advice for those who have used their freedom poorly. People usually end up in jail because they cannot control their own behavior. We find that once we put them into a situation where their behavior is under tight external control, it isn't surprising to find that inmates don't develop any more self-control, though they have great incentive to do so. Upon release from custody, they will likely be even less able to control themselves, after a period of not having to control themselves at all while incarcerated, and will quickly find themselves back ...