The Good Don't Speak, And the Speakers Aren't Good.

From the Epistle of James:

"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."

Language

JST Genesis says,

"And the Lord came down, beholding the city and the tower which the children of men were building; And the Lord said, Behold, the people are the same, and they all have the same language; and this tower they begin to build, and now, nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined, except I, the Lord, confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So I, the Lord, will scatter them abroad from thence, upon all the face of the land, and unto every quarter of the earth."                

"And they were confounded, and left off to build the city, and they hearkened not unto the Lord, therefore, is the name of it called Babel, because the Lord was displeased with their works, and did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face thereof."      

Ether 1:34 says,

"And the brother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and a man highly favored of the Lord, Jared, his brother, said unto him: Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words."      

He says that if they were confounded, then they couldn't understand the language anymore. This sounds a lot like the politically correct culture we live in now. No one listens to the spirit of what a person is saying, they just require others to get all their words right. This is the day when a man is made and offender for a word. (2 Nephi 27:32) It is what Moroni was worried about in Ether 12:23-25(How is this applied today? Moroni was able to be confident in the words he spoke, but not the words he wrote. How do online discussions usually turn out in today's society if the reader and writer don't both have the Holy Ghost?)

If the speaking and listening parties both had the Spirit, then the language they both speak would be understood. This is also what is required to understand scripture. If scripture happens when a person speaks the words of God by the power of the Holy Ghost (D&C 68:4; Acts 4:31), then by what means are we to understand scripture? How did Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery begin to understand scripture in a way that they never before could?(Joseph Smith History, verses 73-74) 

D&C 50 says,

"Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the comforter, the spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the spirit of truth, or some other way? And if by some other way, it be not of God. And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the spirit of truth, or some other way? If it be some other way, it be not of God; therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know that he that receiveth the word by the spirit of truth, receiveth it as it is preached by the spirit of truth? Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understandeth one another, and both are edified and rejoice together; and that which doth not edify, is not of God, and is darkness..."

Why is it easier to understand someone if you both have the Spirit? What does it mean to be of one Mind? Think about when you have "heard" God's voice in your life. How did you "hear" it? Why is it that when dreaming you can understand those who speak to you when there is no sound?

The Lord tells Oliver Cowdery that when he asks a question in faith, believing, He "will tell [him] in [his] mind and in [his] heart" the answer. (D&C 8:2)

What if everyone had this gift from God? Then would everyone be of one mind? Would we all understand one another regardless of what our vocabulary was or the way in which our words were arranged? What does the Fifth lecture on Faith say about these things?

Interesting things to consider.

Religious Freeedom Debate

I was watching this.

What I came up with is that a person may believe and act in any manner they wish if no one is physically imposing anything upon anyone else. There is no force. Only persuasion on everyone's part.

If force is used, then force may be required. What I mean is that if there is a rogue person killing others, then others may do what is needed to stop that.

Whatsoever Thing is Expedient in Me

1830 Book of Mormon p. 579:

“If you shall have faith in me, you shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me”

I remember a conversation I was having with a friend’s dad about faith. We talked of experiences we had where we were able to do extraordinary things by faith, but were unable to duplicate the experience. My friend’s dad seemed to struggle with the definition of faith because of that. I think a lot of people have no idea what faith is. It seems like faith is something that you should always have, but if you always had it, then wouldn’t you be able to duplicate experiences you had as a result of your faith? And if I can’t duplicate, then why don’t I have faith now?

It is a good question. I have wondered about it in times past.

If you look at Genesis 14 in the New Translation it shows the type of faith Melchizedek had and makes clear that the power of that kind of faith is only to be used when it is the will of the Lord. No freelancing. You can always have the faith within you, in Christ. You can’t always do whatever you think needs to happen. “If you shall have faith in me, you shall have power to do whatsoever thing IS EXPEDIENT IN ME.” You may have all the faith in the world. But if your actions are not according to that which is expedient in the Lord you may as well have no faith at all.

Now, I know this isn’t a perfect explanation. Moses still messed up by not following the exact commands of the Lord. When told to speak to the rock and it would bring forth water, he smote it with his staff instead. Because of this Moses was cursed and was not permitted by the Lord to enter the promised land.  Though he disobeyed, the rock still brought forth water. Perhaps it was close enough to the will of the Lord that the result was similar to what would have happened if he obeyed. Who knows what the result would have been if he obeyed perfectly though. Perhaps it would have strengthened the faith of someone who had faith that by speaking the word of God great things could happen. Who knows what we missed out on by Moses not entering into the promised land? Who knows? Nevertheless, if you have faith in Christ, you will have power to do anything that he wants you to do – but maybe only that which he wants you to do.

Something I have learned regarding these ideas is that you CAN NOT understand them fully without experience. Experience brings both success and failure, but it has to happen. So go get experience. Serve people, pray often, read the scriptures, and these things will guide you into other actions you can take, and experiences you can get.

Dispute Not, Because Ye See Not

It is disappointing to watch online discussions. My wife always tells me when I am tempted to participate that it never will turn out well. She is right. It never has. 

Everyone contends about what they think is right, and everyone ends up concluding that "we are all wrong". There is a lack of revelation to clarify what is right, and therefore faith is also lacking (Ether 12:6). People end up feeling hurt, others are puffed up in pride, and no one is enlightened. It reminds me of Moroni's plead to "dispute not, because ye see not" and then tells us that a "witness comes after the trial of our faith"(Ib.).

Did you catch that? "Dispute not, because ye see not." You haven't seen anything, you haven't witnessed anything, therefore, do not dispute, do not contend. You don't "know". Go be faithful to the Lord and after your trial of faith, you will get the witness you need to teach others truth, but you will not be contending at that point, only presenting truth and leaving it to others to decide. 

On 13 August 1843 Joseph Smith said:

"[...]had I 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 homes & shut their mouths in everlasting silence on religion, till they had learned something. Why be so certain that you comprehend the things of God.—when all things with you are so uncertain."

It seems the better option - "shutting your mouth"- when presented with speaking in contention or otherwise being quiet until you had "learned something".

Online, people seem to wander off in strange roads(1 Nephi 8:32) and leave the word of God behind, presenting only conjecture mixed with scripture as a basis for their argument. 

Well, maybe Zion is further off that I had hoped.

A Dream

I posted this on facebook a couple of days ago:

Alright, well I had a three part dream in the summer of 2012.

I found myself high up in a massive, dead tree. It was bleak outside, and the tree stood in the middle of a large field. In the tree with me were a few people, meek in countenance, and humble followers of Christ. We determined that we needed to get out of the tree, but upon our attempt to climb down, we were met by a raging whore at the bottom, dressed in scarlet, who would scare us back up into the "safety" of the branches. We attempted escape a couple of times when we thought it was safe, and were unsuccessful each time.

At one point, when I couldn't see the whore at the bottom, I climbed down and stood at the base. I stood there for a second, then turned. As I turned, I found the whore standing behind me, raging and furious. I ran as fast as I could to the west, away from the tree, and as I ran, the massive, dead tree fell at my heels, close to the border of the large field.

This was the end of the first part of the dream.

I asked for the interpretation the next day and it was given to me, but I don't feel like I need to share that here.

Please study your scriptures. Study them prayerfully. Think on them day and night. There will come a time when every organization and institution will disappoint you. Some of the institutions that fail and are made low will cause a major crisis of faith. We can't attach our faith in the Lord to any man, woman, building, or organization because it will certainly disappoint us. It doesn't mean we can't serve our brothers and sisters within those institutions. It doesn't matter that they (the organizations) will fall. It is actually ok that the things which are high and lifted up will brought low(1 Nephi 22:23; 2 Nephi 12:12). This is a good thing. But your faith in Christ must not fail. No matter what happens. No matter if your best friend dies, your parents abandon you, you make so many mistakes that you think you're worthless, or your favorite institution is built on nothing but air - wait upon the Lord. Watch as His work unfolds. Wait longer than you think you can. You can wait longer than you think.

It is interesting to me how closely falsehood can look to be truth. It is a fine line we walk while down here. A narrow path. It is hard to know who to listen to when both Warren Jeffs and Enoch are known as wild men(Moses 6:38), but one is righteous forever and the other is in prison for life. It's hard when you are standing in front of a man who was supposed to be the savior of the world, but won't even save himself from the bondage of a cross. When the guy who you thought was a prophet, and would bring Zion was just murdered and no one was left to pick up the pieces. I get that. I have spent over 2,500 hours the last seven years studying history and scripture to sort these things out in my mind(and I know that's small potatoes compared to a lot of other people). I have often been confronted with difficult questions and had to wait a long time for an answer. If Adam can wait 900 years for an answer, you can wait your whole life(although I doubt you'd have to). Stop being a baby. God knows what He is doing and you can have faith in that.

Here are some things you can believe no matter what goes on around you:

- The book of Mormon was brought to us by God through Joseph Smith

- Joseph was who he said he was

- Joseph was not involved in polygamy (I don't care what "history" you have read. Go read contemporary, first-hand history, not someone else's commentary on history. The Joseph Smith Papers Project is awesome. Use it. I think the essays can safely be ignored, though.)

- God is working a great work right now. Find out what He wants you to do. If you don't hear Him, wait and do good to those around you.

- We live in a day where people deny the Holy Ghost and rely on the arm of flesh (2 Nephi 28: 4, 14, 31). Don't be one of those people.

- We are the Gentiles (Book of Mormon, Title Page; D&C 109:60)

- God will speak directly to you. Don't make any person your idol.

I hate the fact that I felt the need to share this on facebook. I think it is embarrassing. I think facebook is a terrible venue for thoughts and discussion. I think that of the maybe twenty people who will read this, two will be people who I actually want to read it. And probably neither will think anything of it. I don't enjoy sharing personal things with the world. Those things, I feel, are reserved for loved ones who I know I can trust. Nevertheless, there it is.

K. Cool.

Temple and Cosmos pt. 2 b

In an old text called "The Ascension of Isaiah" Isaiah is taken from earth and led by a heavenly guide from heaven to heaven, through the seven heavens, to the throne of God. (You can read that here)

In the book of Abraham in Abraham ch. 3 you get this:

"And I, Abraham, had the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had given unto me, in Ur of the Chaldees; and I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it; and the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest. 

And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest. This is the reckoning of the Lord’s time, according to the reckoning of Kolob.

And the Lord said unto me: The planet which is the lesser light, lesser than that which is to rule the day, even the night, is above or greater than that upon which thou standest in point of reckoning, for it moveth in order more slow; this is in order because it standeth above the earth upon which thou standest, therefore the reckoning of its time is not so many as to its number of days, and of months, and of years.

And the Lord said unto me: Now, Abraham, these two facts exist, behold thine eyes see it; it is given unto thee to know the times of reckoning, and the set time, yea, the set time of the earth upon which thou standest, and the set time of the greater light which is set to rule the day, and the set time of the lesser light which is set to rule the night. Now the set time of the lesser light is a longer time as to its reckoning than the reckoning of the time of the earth upon which thou standest. And where these two facts exist, there shall be another fact above them, that is, there shall be another planet whose reckoning of time shall be longer still; and thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord’s time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest. And it is given unto thee to know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God.

Thus I, Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made; and he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof. And he said unto me: This is Shinehah, which is the sun. And he said unto me: Kokob, which is star. And he said unto me: Olea, which is the moon. And he said unto me: Kokaubeam, which signifies stars, or all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven.

And it was in the night time when the Lord spake these words unto me: I will multiply thee, and thy seed after thee, like unto these; and if thou canst count the number of sands, so shall be the number of thy seeds.

And the Lord said unto me: Abraham, I show these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt, that ye may declare all these words. If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them; therefore Kolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam that thou hast seen, because it is nearest unto me."

Of this instance, Denver says:

"We have infantile “mysteries” we banter about. I’ve heard speculation about the typography of Kolob, for example. By the way, that whole thing about Kolob is mangled! Kolob was the name of a star Abraham could identify. Kolob was a star within sight from the vantage point of the earth. The entire astronomy revealed to father Abraham was geocentric. It was entirely earth based, looking upward. From the vantage point of the earth, looking upward in Abraham’s day, the astronomy oriented Abraham. In our day, because the precession of the equinoxes, the alignments of stars have changed. Abraham already knew the name of the star. God said to Abraham, You see that star? From where you sit, looking there, the Throne of God is in that direction. It was like saying, Okay, from where my thumb is, looking that way, Shay is sitting by my thumb. That doesn't mean Shay is on my thumb! He's some considerable distance from my thumb! Tim is in the direction of my index finger. He's not on my index finger! He's some considerable distance away from it, but that's the direction. Because it was “nigh” to God, it is located among what is called “unchanging” stars, because they never set. They are continually in view from the earth. Therefore they “govern” those below them. They move “more slowly” because their revolutions and movements take thousands of years from our vantage point. 

Even if you know the typography of Kolob, you still don't know where God resides. Where He resides is in a place hidden in the North. If I were identifying where the throne of God is located today, I would refer to a different star. In our day it has a different name. In our day it has a slightly different alignment because of the precession of equinoxes. The Throne of God is out there, but is in a place that is hidden in the North. It will require the heavens to be rolled like a scroll 36 before you finally see past the veils now in place. But by that time, if you are unprepared, it's too late. Because the glory will be such that you cannot abide it. 

When the Lord appears, preliminary to rolling together the heavenly scrolls, He will first appear in an unveiled opening. The glory of God will be visible around and behind Him, along with concourses of angels. 

Now if you can discover what that alignment is then you can figure out where the Throne of God is presently located. But that is up to you. I've been given no such obligation or permission. But I can tell you there is a specific location. God exists. Abraham was walked through the geography of heaven, reckoned from the vantage point or viewpoint of the earth. When you leave here, one of the obligations you have is to find your way back. In finding your way back, you need to be able to avoid those spirits who seek to bring you back into captivity.39 If you're brought back into captivity, you may find yourself again in a Telestial kingdom, or, as the temple narrative puts it: “the world in which you presently reside.” That's a rather unpleasant thing to think about. You may find yourself a casino in Las Vegas, talking about things that really matter, in a place in which such things are not at all treasured." (40 Years in Mormonism,  Talk 8,  Denver Snuffer)

Cooool!