About Jack and Diane

Here's a little ditty I wrote 2/11/18 with edits to the last couplet. Enjoy.


For the last few months I’ve had this thorn in my side,
People setting themselves up as a standard to guide,
But with their eyes so darkened they’re just blind leading the blind,
And I cry out in my heart every time
Someone decides to speak out of line
Adding to the cacophony and it’s blowing my mind that
We just keep talking about who’s wrong and who’s right
Is his idea better, or mine?
But we’re all just fools who should shut up and find
The will of the One who enlightens our eyes
And be patient in love ‘til we start to see Zion
And sing to Him praises for loosing that which doth bind
And satan is bound for that great length of time
And peace is had and confusion unwinds to
Show us the truth of all things throughout time
And when it’s just natural for us to be kind
But enough of that now, there’s this problem in sight
And no one around knows the answer
But they think they’re all right
So until there is someone who can shed some light
Everyone please shut up and let’s stop this fight
Things like this take experience and time

Just be still, and know He is God
And do some praying to Father above
And then we’ll agree on what to do next
This is, and was, and always will be the test
And that is the truth
From He that knows best
If we follow His will we’ll be blessed with the Blest

No doubt there will be cries that
“he’s stopping free speech!
please sir, you are not thought police!”
But remember the Christ when He could not even preach
To the hard-hearted Nephites
'Cause they needed to pray
And go to their homes
At the end of that day
When the Lord came to teach, but they’d only be heal’d
And had withheld from them great things unrevealed
Or the time He told Hyrum “do not go preach,
but first learn my word, then in Spirit you’ll teach”
I guess when we’re learned we think we are wise
And we want to be heard so we get this disguise
Of sheep’s clothing
And with good intentions speak forth the lies
That darken the souls and dim the eyes
And finally when we’re all so tired,
Nothing can be done except to be burned with fire

But...
There is hope still...

Let’s listen to God
And start walking that path he so painfully trod
To show us the way to eternal life
Where none will engage in this envy and strife
And we will have joy in that wondrous state
And all there have ceased long ago from all hate
Let’s go to that place
Everyone, PLEASE
And the Truth will then flow with the greatest of ease

Yerrrrr Out!

There's talk about whether or not we should cast off those pesky dissenters.

From Mark 5:

"And whoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, truly I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. And whoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hung about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

Therefore if your hand offends you, cut it off. Or if your brother offends you, and confess not and forsake not, he shall be cut off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell. For it is better for you to enter into life without your brother, than for you and your brother to be cast into hell; into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.

And again, if your foot offends you, cut it off. For he that is your standard, by whom you walk, if he become a transgressor, he shall be cut off. It is better for you to enter lame into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Therefore, let every man stand or fall by himself, and not for another, or not trusting another.

Seek unto my Father and it shall be done in that very moment what you shall ask, if you ask in faith, believing that you shall receive. And if your eye which sees for you, him who is appointed to watch over you to show you light, become a transgressor and offends you, pluck him out. It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire; for it is better that you should be saved, than to be cast into hell with your brother, where their worm dies not and where the fire is not quenched." (Mark 5)

Pairing that with an Alma scripture: 

"For it came to pass that they did deceive many with their flattering words which were in the church and did cause them to commit many sins. Therefore, it became expedient that those who committed sin that were in the church should be admonished by the church.

And it came to pass that they were brought before the priests and delivered up unto the priests by the teachers, and the priests brought them before Alma, who was the high priest — now king Mosiah had given Alma the authority over the church. And it came to pass that Alma did know concerning them, for there were many witnesses against them; yea, the people stood and testified of their iniquity in abundance. Now there had not any such thing happened before in the church.

Therefore, Alma was troubled in his spirit, and he caused that they should be brought before the king. And he said unto the king, Behold, here are many whom we have brought before thee who are accused of their brethren. Yea, and they have been taken in divers iniquities, and they do not repent of their iniquities. Therefore, we have brought them before thee, that thou mayest judge them according to their crimes. But king Mosiah said unto Alma, Behold, I judge them not, therefore I deliver them into thy hands to be judged. And now the spirit of Alma was again troubled. And he went and inquired of the Lord what he should do concerning this matter, for he feared that he should do wrong in the sight of God.

And it came to pass that after he had poured out his whole soul to God, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, Blessed art thou Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi. And blessed are they because of their exceeding faith in the words alone which thou hast spoken unto them. And Blessed art thou because thou hast established a church among this people. And they shall be established, and they shall be my people. Yea, blessed is this people, who are willing to bear my name; for in my name shall they be called, and they are mine. And because thou hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art Blessed. Thou art my servant, and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have Eternal life.

And thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name and shall gather together my sheep. And he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep, and him shall ye receive into the church, and him will I also receive. For behold, this is my church, whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance; and whosoever ye receive shall believe in my name, and him will I freely forgive. For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world, for it is I that hath created them. And it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand. For behold, in my name are they called, and if they know me, they shall come forth and shall have a place eternally at my right hand. And it shall come to pass that when the second trump shall sound, then shall they that never knew me come forth and shall stand before me. And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer, but they would not be redeemed. And then will I confess unto them that I never knew them, and they shall depart into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. Therefore, I say unto you that he that will not hear my voice, the same shall ye not receive into my church, for him will I not receive at the last day.

Therefore, I say unto you, Go, and whosoever transgresseth against me, him shall ye judge according to the sins which he has committed. And if he confesses his sins before thee and me and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, him shall ye forgive, and I will forgive him also. Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me. And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses. For verily I say unto you, He that forgiveth not his neighbor’s trespasses when he says that he repents, the same hath brought himself under condemnation. Now I say unto you, Go, and whosoever will not repent of his sins, the same shall not be numbered among my people. And this shall be observed from this time forward.

And it came to pass when Alma had heard these words, he wrote them down that he might have them and that he might judge the people of that church according to the commandments of God. And it came to pass that Alma went and judged those that had been taken in iniquity, according to the word of the Lord." (Mosiah 11)

Other thoughts: 

The Lord has given people sealing power because he knows they'll petition him to use it. He says, "Yeah if you want to make it rain, you can do that." and the only reason he says that is because he knows they will ask him first. They have the right. They have the power. They still ask him if it's ok.

Just Some Thoughts

When Christ came to deliver a message to the Nephites but they were too dark in their minds to receive the message He came to preach, He said to them,

"I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time, therefore go ye unto your homes and ponder upon the things which I have said and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand and prepare your minds for the morrow and I come unto you again." (3 Ne. 8:1)

He had a message. He was commanded of the Father to deliver the message and he did that. But recognized their inability to understand, so He told them to go home and mull it over in prayer and meditation.

Joseph said on one occasion,

"We have reason to believe that many things were introduced among the Saints before God had signified the times; and notwithstanding the principles and plans may have been good, yet aspiring men, or in other words, men who had not the substance of godliness about them, perhaps undertook to handle edged tools. Children, you know, are fond of tools, while they are not yet able to use them.

Time and experience, however, are the only safe remedies against such evils. There are many teachers, but, perhaps, not many fathers."

Many teachers indeed. Not many fathers indeed.

He also said,

"had I inspiartion [inspiration], Revelation & lungs to communicate what my soul has contemplated in times <past> there is not a soul in this congregation but would go to their hom[e]s & shut their mouths in everlasting silnece [silence] on religin, till. they had learnd somethi[n]g. why be so certain that you comprehend the things of God. when all things with you are so uncertain." (Discourse, 13 August 1843–A, as Reported by Willard Richards)

Things with us are uncertain. We do not understand the words that Christ delivered to us in the Answer. Like the Nephites and early Saints, we should shut our mouths and go back to our homes and spend time in prayer and meditation until we have learned something.

If you just thought "I already do that; I don't need to do that" you're the one that needs it the most.

We know even the original scribe, Enoch, was slow to speak. (Gen. 4:2) Are we better than Enoch?

It's said in the epistle of Jacob that we should, "let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay aside all filthiness and excess of wickedness, and receive with meekness the grafted word, which is able to save your souls. But, be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves, for if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror; for he beholds himself and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was. But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridles not his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the vices of the world."

Perhaps if we went about doing this, we'd know what to do after a couple years. Fact is, we don’t know what to do. This process could be much more organic than we want it to be. You can’t force a tree to grow. Just happens as you nourish it. Then about five years later, you enjoy some orange juice.

I know that there are people who are printing and distributing their preferred document. What if we just let that process play out? Perhaps in a year or two of time and experience and seeing how certain documents work we’d all end up agreeing on and using one. And in five years we could add it to the scriptures because everyone would already agree on it and be using it.

I know people are worried about some imaginary time constraint because the Lord said "[...]if you cannot [agree upon a statement of principles] you will be unable to accomplish other works that I will require at your hands."(A&C, p. 8). But nothing in that statement puts a limit on the amount of time we can take to accomplish this task. Imagination can be a tricky thing and we would do well to remember, "A fanciful and flowery and heated imagination beware of; because the things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out."(TPJS, p. 137)

Why not just be still?

Here are some relevant wisdom quotes from the book of Proverbs:

He that has knowledge spares his words; a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise; he that shuts his lips, a man of understanding.

A fool has no delight in understanding, but that his heart may reveal itself.

A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calls for strokes.

A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.

The words of a tale-bearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

He that answers a matter before he hears, it is folly and shame unto him.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

The poor uses entreaties, but the rich answers roughly.

The tongue of the wise uses knowledge aright, but the mouth of fools pours out foolishness.

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

He that keeps his mouth keeps his life, but he that opens wide his lips shall have destruction.

The heart of the righteous studies to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

Be Ye Doers of the Word, and Not Hearers Only

RE James 1:4 says,

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness, the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the vices of the world."

I love this passage. One part of it has always been a mystery to me though.

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."

What?

Natural face. Glass. Goes away. Forgets what manner...  

The scriptures, or God's words in any form, can act as a mirror (glass) to our souls. We see in them who we really are - the good and the bad. By showing us who we really are - fallen, broken, imperfect - we can then go do something about it. Unfortunately, we sometimes come to read or listen, say "sweet, got me my word of God for the day!" then go about doing absolutely nothing to improve. We spend time looking in the mirror, only to leave, forgetting about those things we ought to correct, being hearers, but not doers of the word. 

The fact is, until we are in the position of the Son of God, the one who attains to the resurrection of the dead by coming to this world and acting in complete conformity with the words of the Father, we all have things we need to improve on. 

Let's not hear then forget, thinking ourselves justified because we spent time hearing. Go and do. That is where we will find God.

What Polygamy?

What do you see here?


"A) This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon, his son. Behold, David, and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord.

B) Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph.

C) Wherefore, I, the Lord God, will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old.

C) Wherefore, my brethren, hear me and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife, and concubines he shall have none, for I, the Lord God, delighteth in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me, thus saith the Lord of hosts.

B) Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes. For if I will, saith the Lord of hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people.

A) Otherwise, they shall hearken unto these things. For behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land of Jerusalem, yea, and in all the lands of my people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands. And I will not suffer, saith the Lord of hosts, that the cries of the fair daughters of this people, which I have led out of the land of Jerusalem, shall come up unto me against the men of my people, saith the Lord of hosts." (Jacob 2:6, RE)


Can you see it too?

Email Response Concerning Contemporary Fathers

A friend asked me how Enoch and Noah could be contemporaries even though the Lectures on faith put the translation of Enoch before the birth of Noah. Here is my response:
___________________________________________________________

I'd correct a couple of things. First, it wasn't from the Apocrypha, but from the Dead Sea Scrolls: The Genesis Apochryphon.

Second, here's the actual passage:

"Behold, I thought then within my heartthat conception was due to the Watchers and the Holy Ones and to the Giants and my heart was troubled within me because of this child. Then I, Lamech, approached Bathenosh, my wife, in haste and said to her, "By the Most High, the Great Lord, the King of all the worlds and Ruler of the sons of Heaven, tell me This truthfully and not falsely. Is the seed within you mine?"

Then Bathenosh my wife spoke to me with much heat and said, "O my brother, O my lord, remember my pleasure, the lying together and my soul within its body. And I tell you all things truthful.

My heart was then greatly troubled within me, and when Bathenosh, my wife, saw that my countenance had changed, then she mastered her anger and spoke to me saying, "O my lord, O my brother, remember my pleasure! I swear to you by the Holy Great One, the King of the heavens, that this seed is yours and that this conception is from you. This fruit was planted by you and by no stranger or Watcher or son of Heaven. Why is your countenance thus changed and dismayed, and why is your spirit thus distressed? I speak to you truthfully.

Then I, Lamech, ran to Methuselah my father, and I told him all these things. And I asked him to go to Enoch, his father, for he would surely learn all things from him. For he was beloved, and he shared the lot of the angels, who taught him all things. And when Methuselah heard my words, he went to Enoch, his father, to learn all things truthfully from him." (Dead Sea Scrolls: The Genesis Apochryphon pp. 481-482)

[So while Enoch may have been translated by the time Noah was born, the fathers had ready access to him.]

The Lord wasn't kidding about benefiting from reading these things! Also, if you keep reading, this is Noah's recounting of how he came to be where he is.

From Moses 7 (LE):

"And Enoch beheld angels descending out of heaven, bearing testimony of the Father and Son; and the Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion."

There's no reason this couldn't have gone on up until the flood. Otherwise, why keep Methuselah around to bear Lamech, and he to then bear Noah and have them preach to all men everywhere? And when these Angels are descending from heaven, couldn't they be the very Fathers we are talking about? In what manner did the angels "descend out of heaven"?

So you have them descending anyways, and preaching to others who repent and are caught up. But this next Zion is not going to be caught up. The old will come down. Communication between those in Zion and those outside of Zion this time will probably be more practical.

Another relevant quote from Joseph:

"And now, I ask, how righteousness and truth are going to sweep the earth as with a flood? I will answer. Men and angels are to be co-workers in bringing to pass this great work, and Zion is to be prepared, even a new Jerusalem, for the elect that are to be gathered from the four quarters of the earth, and to be established an holy city, for the tabernacle of the Lord shall be with them." (TPJS)

So if you ever have to respond to "HEY! ONLY ANGELS WILL DO THE GATHERING!" then you can say "Well, yeah, sort of. They will work in conjunction with men to accomplish that. Joseph said as much."

It's all part of what Denver was talking about. In the days of Noah we see that it was easy enough, though a serious matter, for "men" on Earth to work in conjunction with the translated city.

So the point isn't who was touching the ground at the same time, but rather what was the work being done and who was involved.

___________________________________________________


I don't know for sure how much of this is true, but it's what I have been able to gather from my studies and prayer.

The Lord's Admonition pt. 3 - Short Version

Among the discoveries made at Qumran, there was one document called "The Community Rule". This document laid out how the body of believers was to be governed.

This document is not unlike the document we are struggling to create now. While I don't think we should take and use a document from a failed effort, it shows how God works the same way yesterday, today, and forever and is a testimony that IT IS Him directing the work underway.