Saturday, November 15, 2014

Pleasing God.

This is a portion of a letter I will be giving to my bishop.


What I Used to Think
I used to think that my meeting attendance pleased God. I was wrong. I gain nothing from God if I suffer through a vain and insipid meeting. There is no inherent value in meeting attendance. The only value is the light and truth that is imparted and received in the meeting. If there is none of that, it has been a waste. Period. It is a true sign of how far we have fallen when this is our measuring stick for righteousness.

I used to think that my fine dress pleased God. I was wrong. Our fine dress effectively casts out the poor. I believe this offends the Lord, who identifies Himself as the poor. To whom do we think Mormon was referring when he takes aim at “fine and costly apparel”? Well, who reads the book? Surely Mormon saw who would be reading his words. When we dictate to young men that they have to wear black socks to pass the Sacrament, we truly have become as the Jews of old. When we rely on outward appearances, it truly is a sign that we have lost inner holiness. Surely, the Lord looketh upon the heart. If my heart is right with Him, I do not need to show it with fine dress and if it isn't, surely no amount of outward splendor would compensate for my inner ugliness.

I used to think that my busyness pleased God. I was wrong. I can gain more from God with sixty minutes of intense prayer, crying to the Lord, than I can gain from years of going from meeting to meeting from activity to activity. It is largely fruitless. I have spent about 1000 hours in Bishopric, PEC and Ward Council meetings. What a waste it largely was. Is some of this my fault, sure it was. I can think of any of the times I have cried out to Lord with my whole soul and each one of these is of more value than ALL of my busyness. God wants my heart. He has spoken to me in my mind and has asked for my heart. “I want your heart”. This is the sacrifice He wants. Surely, earning merit badges and participating in ward Hollywood squares is fruitless. It is all vain. Our cultural smog is so thick we can't see how immersed we are in the deception that it is. I gain so much more by slowing down, cutting out the activities, pondering, praying, meditating and pausing. I'll let the world pass by in its hyper rush to the end.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

The cutting off of the head and the tail

Isaiah 9 
 14 Therefore will the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush in one day.
 15 The ancient, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

The political leaders are the head and the ecclesiastical leaders are the tail. Isaiah equates the two.

Cutting off of the nation.

I have been fascinated with the work of Jonathan Cahn in "The Harbinger".

Isaiah 9
 10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.

When the towers fell a Sycamore tree fell and was replaced two years later by a donated cedar tree. It would have been natural to replace it with another Sycamore tree. It seems like such an odd thing. Well, Isaiah saw this and wrote it in his prophesy.

This tree lasted for 10 years before it withered and died and was removed in the spring of 2014. The keepers of the tree did everything to save it, even replacing the dirt. They could not save it. Only turning to God can we be saved. Our own efforts will fail. 

I have a friend who traveled to ground zero over spring break. I asked him to look at his photos to see if the tree was there. By fortuitous chance we have a picture of the tree on March 27, 2014. I have done searches to see if there are any more details indicating the exact day that the tree was removed. Please send me evidence of the exact day it was removed, if you have any. I would greatly appreciate it and I'll add it to this post.

UPDATE (1/19/2015): I talked to someone last night who was on the ground zero site on April 30th, 2014. The tree was still there.

UPDATE (5/9/2015): Jonathan Cahn mentioned on the Jim Bakker Show that the tree was ground into dust on April 15th, 2014(the day of the first blood red moon), which renders the date on the previous update incorrect.

I have to include this photo at a large size so you can see the detail. If you look over at the lower right corner just above the little building, you can see the faint outline of an anemic cedar tree. It was close to death. It was close to being removed. Jonathan Cahn explains that a withered tree represents the loss of a nation's powers.

Jonathan Cahn delivered the message on August 9th that the tree of hope had died and had been quietly removed.


"Tree of Hope" Jan 2013, Google Images



Photo taken March 27, 2014



Cutting off of the Church

On September 9th 2014, in Mesa Arizona, a servant of the Lord announced that the Lord had cut off the priesthood of the stake presidency and high council that unjustifiably excommunicated him and subsequently the whole leadership of the church lost their priesthood during the April 2014 general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.


My excommunication was an abuse of authority. Therefore, as soon as the decision was made, the Lord terminated the priesthood authority of the stake presidency and every member of the High Council who sustained this decision, which was unanimous. Thereafter, I appealed to the First Presidency, outlining the involvement of the 12 and the 70. The appeal gave notice to them all.
 The appeal was summarily denied.  


Last general conference, the entire First Presidency, the 12, the 70, and all other general authorities and auxiliaries, voted to sustain those who abused their authority in casting me out of the church. At that moment, the Lord ended all claims of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to claim it is led by the priesthood.
 They have not  practiced what He requires. The Lord has brought about His purposes. This has been in  His heart all along. He has chosen to use small means to accomplish it, but He always uses the smallest of means to fulfill His purposes.  None of this was my doing. The Lord's strange act, was not, could not, be planned by me. Was not, could not, have been controlled by me. It was not anticipated by me, or even understood by me, until after the Lord had accomplished His will, and made it apparent to me on the evening of May 1, 2014. He alone has done this. He is the author of all of this.
Phoenix talk: Preserving the restoration. pages 6-7.

I have studied, pondered, prayed about, contemplated, meditated upon the words of this servant for hundreds of hours. I feel and taste the light in them. I know that he is a true messenger and that this message is indeed from Jesus Christ.

The Lord cut off the Church after general conference.

This is very interesting timing.

1. The Lord cuts off the country. (Since the timing is not known by me, this could be switched with the second item.)(After March 27th).
2. The Lord cuts off the church.(April 5th, 2014)
3. The "secular messenger", Jonathan Cahn announces that the country has been cut off through a story on World Net Daily. (August 9th, 2014)
4. The Lord announces through His servant, Denver Snuffer, that He has cut off the Church. (September 9th, 2014)

I find it interesting that the events marking the cutting off, were very close together. Also, the announcements of the acts occurred close together and they were about five months later.

What does this mean? Good question. I would expect an increasing death spiral of both entities.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

The blood of the prophets and the saints

This will be a working post. I will update it over time. As I read 3 Nephi 9 today talking about what qualified the Nephites for destruction and what qualified them to be saved, I encountered a remarkable thing. See if you can spot it.

One of the hallmarks of the Lord's teaching is repetition. He uses it far more than anyone else. Here he repeats this thing SIX times! I think there is quite a message in this. It is used one time in chapter 10 to perhaps form a complete seven times.

Is it obvious who the true prophets are? Was it obvious that John the Baptist was? Was it obvious that Christ was?

 1 And it came to pass that there was a voice heard among all the inhabitants of the earth, upon all the face of this land, crying:

 2 Wo, wo, wo unto this people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall repent; for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen!

 3 Behold, that great city Zarahemla have I burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof.

 4 And behold, that great city Moroni have I caused to be sunk in the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof to be drowned.

 5 And behold, that great city Moronihah have I covered with earth, and the inhabitants thereof, to hide their iniquities and their abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come any more unto me against them.

 6 And behold, the city of Gilgal have I caused to be sunk, and the inhabitants thereof to be buried up in the depths of the earth;

 7 Yea, and the city of Onihah and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Mocum and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Jerusalem and the inhabitants thereof; and waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come up any more unto me against them.

 8 And behold, the city of Gadiandi, and the city of Gadiomnah, and the city of Jacob, and the city of Gimgimno, all these have I caused to be sunk, and made hills and valleys in the places thereof; and the inhabitants thereof have I buried up in the depths of the earth, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up any more unto me against them.

 9 And behold, that great city Jacobugath, which was inhabited by the people of king Jacob, have I caused to be burned with fire because of their sins and their wickedness, which was above all the wickedness of the whole earth, because of their secret murders and combinations; for it was they that did destroy the peace of my people and the government of the land; therefore I did cause them to be burned, to destroy them from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up unto me any more against them.

 10 And behold, the city of Laman, and the city of Josh, and the city of Gad, and the city of Kishkumen, have I caused to be burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof, because of their wickedness in casting out the prophets, and stoning those whom I did send to declare unto them concerning their wickedness and their abominations.

 11 And because they did cast them all out, that there were none righteous among them, I did send down fire and destroy them, that their wickedness and abominations might be hid from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints whom I sent among them might not cry unto me from the ground against them.

 12 And many great destructions have I caused to come upon this land, and upon this people, because of their wickedness and their abominations.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

All Is Well

Come on Nephi?!? Did you really have to be so literal?

2 Nephi 28:21,25

21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.


 25 Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!


Helaman 13:28

 28 Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him.




https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/all-is-well?lang=eng&HPWE071614334


There are all sorts of beautiful gems in this one. Enjoy.

It is no wonder that 160 years later we still commemorate their achievement with songs, speeches, parades, fireworks, commemorative treks, pins, balloons, banners, and T-shirts.

If they were here with us today there is no doubt in my mind that they would tell us we can be gloriously happy even if our favorite TV show is cancelled, traffic comes to a crawl, the rain spoils our picnic, or the fast food worker forgot to include straws or packets of ketchup at the drive-through window.

When we cover our face with our hands and complain that someone else got the promotion, someone else got the part, someone else got the biggest slice of pizza, it might be helpful to remind ourselves that there is a difference between the profound and trivial. 

Monday, April 28, 2014

Fast and Testimony Meeting

A fast and testimony meeting you may recognize.


 2 Nephi 28:21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

 1 Nephi 17:22 And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them, and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his words; yea, and our brother is like unto him. And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us. 

 Alma 31:17 But thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever; and thou hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us, that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our brethren, which doth bind them down to a belief of Christ, which doth lead their hearts to wander far from thee, our God.
 Alma 31:18 And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen. 
 Alma 31:22 Now, from this stand they did offer up, every man, the self same prayer unto God, thanking their God that they were chosen of him, and that he did not lead them away after the tradition of their brethren, and that their hearts were not stolen away to believe in things to come, which they knew nothing about.
26 And he lifted up his voice to heaven, and cried, saying: O, how long, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that thy servants shall dwell here below in the flesh, to behold such gross wickedness among the children of men?
 27 Behold, O God, they cry unto thee, and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride. Behold, O God, they cry unto thee with their mouths, while they are puffed up, even to greatness, with the vain things of the world.
 28 Behold, O my God, their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are ornamented with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them, and yet they cry unto thee and say—We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee, while others shall perish

A fast and testimony meeting I would like to see.


Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
 Luke 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
 Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
 Luke 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
 Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
 Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Mosiah 4:1 And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.
 Mosiah 4:2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men. 

 2 Nephi 25:26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.
 2 Nephi 25:27 Wherefore, we speak concerning the law that our children may know the deadness of the law; and they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life which is in Christ, and know for what end the law was given. And after the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their hearts against him when the law ought to be done away.
 2 Nephi 25:28 And now behold, my people, ye are a stiffnecked people; wherefore, I have spoken plainly unto you, that ye cannot misunderstand. And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony against you; for they are sufficient to teach any man the right way; for the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also deny the prophets and the law.
 2 Nephi 25:29 And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out. 




Saturday, March 22, 2014

Unbelief

I have often thought about writing a blog(I started this in August 2013), but then I realized that these are just my words and that is not what we should want. What worth is my opinion? Not much. Nevertheless, in this one case that I will detail below, I believe I was asked to write about it on this blog. I don’t know if there is more in the future, but I imagine there will be.

I had read Daniel Roger’s testimony on his Second Comforter experience in December and it had a lasting impact on me. There are several lightning rods in it. I detail one below.


Here is the line that struck me

I have also learned that if Angels have not come to you, then it is because of some unbelief that you are holding onto. Unbelief is more than not believing, it also includes belief in errors or incorrect belief.  You may not even be aware of what it is.  You may think it is truth when it is not.

Wow. Powerful.
The concept of unbelief is very powerful. It is believing in things that are false. We can be profoundly dedicated to a belief, but if it is false, it will not produce desired results. Our unbelief is like blind spots. We don’t know that we have them. They have to be shown to us. The first step is to realize that we have them. I have not seen angels, yet, so I must conclude I have unbelief. I desire this fervently.
Daniel gives us some good advice.

“Ask the Lord to show you what unbelief you have.  If you ask with a sincere heart, He will answer you.”

I decided to do this. When I asked the Lord to show me my unbelief in December, He gave me a simple, but unexpected answer. I expected a big show. The answer I received was to search the scriptures. He would reveal my unbelief via the scriptures. The fervency faded after a short while. I was rereading Daniel’s testimony on Monday night with my wife and the same things impacted me. As I drove to work on Tuesday morning I offered a fervent prayer to the Lord to show me my unbelief and again the same answer. I don’t know why I expected a different one. I believe this was added to the answer.

                “That is the purpose unto which they were given.”

I have been praying for angels to come to me, knowing that this was the most probable path to receive the Second Comforter. All of this is probably an answer to that prayer.
Just as I reached my car after work, the following thought came to me. This is the spirit of the message as I remember it. “You know Gary, if the Lord told you that the answer to your unbelief was searching the scriptures, you might try asking Him where in the scriptures that unbelief might be revealed.” Wow. Lightning bolt.

I pondered on this as I drove home. I intended to lay out my scriptures in front of me and ask. The answer came very differently. My son had an orchestra concert at his future junior high school. The gym was absolutely packed with over 100 orchestra students from several schools and their parents and siblings. Lots of noise was present. Somewhere in the process of returning to the gym after keeping an eye on my restless seven and four year old boys, I received clearly in my mind Moroni 7. I was taken aback. I quickly asked if that was the chapter. It was confirmed. Then something unusual happened that I didn’t put together until later that evening. I was leaning against the stage and I suddenly received this feeling of charity for everyone in the gym. It didn’t knock me off my feet, but it was substantial. I looked at the whole crowd and then several individuals one by one as I felt this moment of charity for them.

Later that evening as I read the chapter, I saw 100 times more in it than I ever previously had seen. Some of it I will detail below.

I had received my answer in the most marvelous ways. We tend to think that God answers prayers in one way. This is not true. He can and does answer prayers in an unlimited myriad of ways. Ponder the many forms of plant life on this planet. His answers are as perfect and diverse. When He organizes events to form an answer, it leaves an unmistakable knowledge that indeed He has answered. He is the Master. I don’t know how he can organize events, but he does. I worship Him. Glory to Him and only to Him.

I had had an indication of my lack of charity, but now it is solidly crystalized in my mind.  The Lord in His mercy has shown me this and that obviously He desires me to seek from Him an increase in it.

In the description of charity there are 13 items listed. There is lots of positive symbolism with the number 13. We have 12 apostles plus Christ. The devil has twisted it as he does everything that he can.

           1. Suffereth long
  2. Is kind  
  3. Envieth not   
  4. Not puffed up
  5. Seeketh not her own
  6. Is not easily provoked
  7. Thinketh no evil
  8. Rejoiceth not in iniquity
  9. Rejoiceth in the truth
10. Beareth all things
11. Believeth all things
12. Hopeth all things
13. Endureth all things


Many things to ponder here. What is the meaning in the order? Where do I break each one of these and how do I fix it?


Anyway, the importance of this message is the process I went through to have my unbelief revealed to me, not my particular unbelief.