Happy to be damned?

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Some have asked themselves (inside and outside the church),'why should I care about what faith I belong to'? To those that have this question in mind I would ask about your favorite place to take your car, why care? Aren't they all the same? Of course you would tell me about the product and service that they provide and the extension on the life of your vehicle, maybe even talk up a technician or two. The same principal applies to religion. The fact that we are called to dig deep into our souls for the purpose of life and meaning there of means that we have an innate desire to know the unknown, to see beyond ourselves and discover what is out there and what is next. Such stretches have allowed us to create science, math and other things but has also rooted us in whom or what is god and what does he have for us next.

Now the Mormons (LDS faith) are unique in that they dare say that there is a place for everyone and that this place is a place of happiness. To some this is hard to believe, a Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu (or any other religion other than Christian) would find happiness, but it’s true. Why not? God who is the creator of all things wants all his creation to be happy as he his. To some, they want to be as he is, a God; reasonable request from a child of God. Doesn't every parent want their child to have it all? Just look around you children are given more and more than what their parents had as children all the time. These children grow up to be as their parents, mature full grown adults with all the privileges and powers of being an adult. Mom and Pop look at their offspring and show pride that they got the child to where they were and allowed them to progress from there on their own.

Now comes the part where this title comes from. There are those that want to play house, pretend to be adults and frankly rely on the merits, money and abilities of their parents. Some ask themselves, 'why would God want that kid around; all they do is mooch of their parents?' God wants happy children, period. Many a parent has watched as their child plays the play-boy (girl) all their growing up and when they are pushed out of the nest, let’s faces it they almost kill themselves. God knows that some of his children will want to worship an attribute/ideal of God or even God himself but they do not want the responsibility of being a God because they feel either inadequate or unworthy or better yet satisfied where they got in life. All of that is fine (sad but...). The God of Israel has a place for someone of that caliber, HELL!! Just kidding. It would not seem right for God to damn that kid to be with Satin and his angels who are murderers and deny the Holy Ghost. No God would have to find (create) a place where those kids can be in their own little piece of heaven. Why you ask? Why not be with God and those that want to be Gods. I believe that its best described like this. Imagine you were a silver winner of a race. Now there had been several contests though out the day and many metals given out. Those that had won a gold metal gravitated together, those that had won the silver gravitated together and so on. Not necessarily because of their achievement but because of comfort. If you were to be rewarded to hang out with the Gold winners for all eternity knowing that you were only Silver you would begin to feel uncomfortable, whether or not you were treated differently. To know your place in life would be discouraging.

That is why Mormons believe what they do. We know that God wants to put us in our own winning circle where there is pleasure in what we have accomplished and where we feel great. God does love us. Sometimes looking around yourself you may not realize it but he put you here for a reason. Be happy and when you are not be comforted in knowing your creator.

I have been slacking

Sorry to those that read this (and I get the feeling that that's no one). Lately I have been caught up in reading some great Mormon blogs that talk about such odd topics as Celestial sex to Mormon mysticism. I have loved the subjects because it brings up questions that those that want to question their faith a chance to read what they have thought all along. At any rate I apologize.

Today's topic is...

Is it a crime to add to the scriptures. I have seen all too much stories of Mormons that tightened the rules on their own families (sometimes to the point of madness). For example, those that take the word of wisdom to the next level by saying that if moderate meat is good then no meat, is better or this one, if dating at 16 is good then dating at 21 is better. Its a madness that getting out of hand.

I love the saints but the at the same note I am worried that if we don't cut back and loosen up that we are going to crack from the tension that this is creating. It goes back to my post about missionaries; if we cut out human error and repentance out of the equation then we will be creating the greater sin that we cannot turn back from.

At any rate, God bless us all because we will need it. By the way I have taken a liking to a website called sinfest.com that depicts the eternal struggle of good and evil and makes quite a bit of fun of it. Enjoy the clip.

I am writing a story

Normally I would be writing on my other blog but I felt that this place was the place for it.

I am writing the story of Abinadi. I know its a simple story of a prophet but the more I write the harder it becomes. The characters take on a life of their own and attempting to keep it in the context of the history that it was based on is tough. Its like wrestling horses with little or no experience.

I originally want it to be a piece of fiction but the more I worked on it the more the inspiration told me to make it as close to the real story as possible. So I am reading the story of the prophet almost every night to look for hint of details that some might pass over to get through the scriptures.

At any rate, wish me luck.

I am a member of blogged

The Lord wants me in the Temple

I have been all throughout this country from New York to California and I have seen the following temples:

Nauvoo, IL
Washington DC
Los Angeles CA
Oakland CA
Salt Lake City UT
Portland OR
Atlanta GA
Raleigh NC
Seattle WA
Denver CO
Boise ID
Kirkland OH
Rexburg ID

And that's to name a few. Coincidence? I don't think so. Got to renew my temple recommend, not to mention take my wife to the temple (haven't taken her there for, well, since we were married, man I am in trouble).

The point I am trying to make is I love my faith but excuse myself from getting involved. Man I suck. At any rate as soon as I get back to Utah (that's right I am out of town) I am going to get an interview (and my luck leave for another two weeks before seeing the President; man I am busy).

I am sure that I will see Seattle's temple as I am here. That will be one more sign to get moving.

I love being a Mormon.

Image is from www.ldschurchtemples.com and is a picture of the Rexburg ID temple.

On Blogged.com

Back in the "Holy Land"

I just moved back to Utah Monday and man do I love it. I do have a rant however about what has become of the once Mormon dominate state. When my friends said that the state had changed they were not kidding. Apparently the state has become a haven for gentiles to roost and it has affected the locals. Now they slip because it is more acceptable or overlooked. It would seem that being the peculiar people has slipped and Satan has got his grip like water and ice in the cracks of the cement of the our culture and foundation. Strange.


I am not sure if I should get involved in the politics (religious or otherwise) as Utah may be too far gone. Most of my fiends and family know that I am Libertarian and strongly believe that if Utah is to survive this degeneration we must go back to what we did 100 years ago. But that's a different story. Again I love Utah and its citizens. I hope that I am a good example of being a saint here.

God bless.

A mormons story

I thought that I would break away from my rant and give a joke to those that understand the no-mos (a Jack Kerby term) and lighten your day. My grandmother gave me this in the form of an email.

Quote....

This is a true story.

I work part-time as a teacher of family doctors. The program provides training on psychiatric disorders and emphasizes the importance of emotional support. The new doctors are given plenty of time in clinic to visit with their patients and learn about their challenges.

One of our interns who has never lived in Utah and knew nothing about Mormons is still struggling to understand the cultural climate here. Last week he was interviewing a new patient and stumbled on what he thought was a raging psychosis.

Doctor: "Well, Mrs. Olsen, we've talked about your high blood pressure and your medications. Are you experiencing any particular stress in your life?"

Patient: "Oh, yes! It's the Sunbeams. They're driving me crazy."

Doctor: (very surprised) "The Sunbeams?"

Patient: "Yes, I've never had trouble with them before, but this group of Sunbeams won't settle down. They bounce all over the room, and run out the door and up and down the hallway.

Doctor: (reaching for a pen) "Have you told anyone about this?

Patient: "Of course, I told the president."

Doctor: Really! And, what did the president tell you?"

Patient: "The president said Sunbeams are like that. I'm just going to have to learn to deal with them."

Doctor: (concerned that he may be missing something) "I know people who are sensitive to sunbeams. Do they cause you a rash or anything?"

Patient: (confused) "A rash? No."

Doctor: "What's the problem they're creating?"

Patient: "It's the noise. They just won't quit talking."

Doctor: (astonished) "The sunbeams are talking to you?"

Patient: "Well, yes. But mostly they talk to each other."

Doctor: (scribbling furiously in the chart) "I see. Can anyone else hear them talking?"

Patient: (after a moment of stunned silence) "You're not LDS, are you

Missionaries with Tattoos

Recently there has been a decree that every eligible male and female righteous and worthy, serve a mission, with conditions... First they must be among the unrepentant, pure unadulterated humans without sin. Ok, you can see where I am going with this.

I have had a problem with the atonement damning the youth who wish to serve, while unrepentant and unworthy to serve the Lord because they hide their transgressions from a younger and more inexperienced age. I served before that rule was in effect and served with many righteous men and women who, although never told me of their past, shined in their imperfection and taught with the spirit of the Holy Ghost. I also served with those that were 'perfect' who carried no scars of mortal or moral transgression and were so dark-hearten that they truly were wolves in sheep's' clothing.

I then thought what was the reason why the Lord called for his chosen to make the rules as they are currently today and how does it apply to the newly converted to the Lord.

First, the reason for the change of the Lords rules is to make the path narrower and straighter then its ever been before. While before men and women could waltz into their Bishop and Stake President and repent, (don't get me wrong repentance is vitally important and forgive me for using 'waltz'), it failed to emphasis that the Lord wanted pure vessels to begin with. That cut down the number of candidates eligible for the call. This left the more pure in heart and the grossly unrepentant as candidates. So how does the Lords anointed sift out the righteous from the wicked like the wheat from the tares? I can only say that the Lords servants are inspired and can see through the wicked like a silk cloth. Nothing is hidden from the Lord or his anointed.

We must remember the sons of Mosiah were quite a wicked group and in their repentance converted thousands and they lead away those that would be great members of the church. So the question remains again let the wicked with out outward scar preach the gospel or teach repentance to our young and send those that repent out into the white field?

Second, what of those that learn of the gospel late and embrace it with all their outward scars of moral depravity and sin? I have not heard any new rules for those that have embraced the Father and wanted to serve a mission. I would hope that the example of Amulek's conversion would stand in ones mind when they realize that this man lived with the sinners and new of the gospel of Jesus Christ and by inspiration of the spirit joined the church and became the missionary that he was as told by the scriptures. His conversion story and example brought hundreds to the gospel as Alma did who was a ruffian brought to God through the spirit.

I would encourage each of you to listen to the prophets closely in this matter as it will have to be addressed and the Lord will inspire his servants to speak with the power of the Priesthood and Holy Ghost in this matter. To say the least it should be interesting.

Book Clubs

Its odd that there is a growing number of book clubs among the Mormon faith. It is unusual however that there has been a glowing decline in extracurricular activities among the saints. Thus the development of book clubs.

Now it would not bother me that there has been an increase growth in social circles except that now the church has grown to a global scale and has (it would seem) a continual disconnection with the individual to keep up with the whole. This has lead to the saints creating new outlets that now even the church leaders are attempting to control what the members read and discuss in their little groups.

I appreciate a good book but let the spirit guide what material the saints read. Most of the saints have kept it to LDS authors but some have followed the prophets (and I would agree that this is important) but I also think that following the scriptures and spirit are a bit more important. After all the scriptures say that that if we rely on the "arm of the flesh" to make our decision we are good as dross.

I was encouraged in my Patriarchal Blessing to see good things out of every good book, but there is nothing there that says that the prophets will make a call on those books. Many Gentiles have written great books and have even been quoted in Conference but I wonder if those books are on their list? No book clubs are a social activity and it supposed to be fun and build friendships that will last a life time no matter the book. The saints in the early 19th century used social activities to build friendship (brotherhood), charity and give the saints a means of keeping in touch.

It is my opinion that we have become so separated from one another that in some cases we only have religion and nothing else. That's sad real sad. I have watched social networks in other faiths attempt to build on things as watching each others children, social car washes, to simple coffee after service. I know that we too have our own programs but it has been duly noted that we fail to do home teaching and visiting teaching. Disturbing. We don't want to get to know the inactive, less active or assume that the active are doing great that we do nothing to see truly how they are doing. I have been around this great country and in one such ward that I visited the Elders Quorum President got up and when announcing the visiting noted that no one had visited anyone. How sad.

Now the saints are attempting to rectify the situation by creating clubs that invite the inactive, less active, active and even non-members to group together and talk about books that uplift, edify and sometimes entertain us. I hope that the saints will not loose this great avenue that could temporarily if not permanently build brotherhood and friendships that will last a lifetime and build the church as it was intended to grow.

Check this out... Mormon Bloggers!

I just wish that I knew HTML better to embed it into my website.

There is tons of great stuff. Enjoy!

The Common Denominator

I was recently (ok it was a long time ago) looking at Mythica and got curious as to how many religions had 'THE' common ancestor (a.k.a. our first parents) and the tree of life. That of course lead to the legend of the boat of Noah and other such stories as I am an avid admire of legends and folklore.
The big kick I get is watching Discovery Channel or the Travel Channel and watch as they attempt to decipher ancient pictographs or hieroglyphics only to notice symbols that are common to our religion.
The Hebrew religion (or life style, as I think of it) is more common and in plain view then I originally believed. There are hidden remnants through all theology. I know that implies that there is really only one religion but I think that there is one true religion and the copies that have similar true points or a theological point that is pointed out that previously was not thought of.

(You like the bumper stickers?)
So now I am attempting to find out the meaning of the symbols of religion and their ties to my faith (cool huh!).

Daniel's king and the dream

I recently was listening to a Protestant radio show and they made an analogy of the statue that was in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. In the discussion they compared the statue to the progression of government built on a foundation of clay (people). In it they showed that initially government is built with a gold ideal and a golden viewpoint. Given time that golden viewpoint turns to a stronger and denser government that abandons its gold and settles with a stronger government that controls the clay but is still valuable and desirable (silver). Time passes again and the silver is now not strong enough or the clay surrenders their freedom for a stronger government and then something as strong as bronze comes along. The golden viewpoint is now distant and the less then imposing government of silver is shrouded by the skirt that is bronze. Given the weight of the golden ideal, the strength of silver and the overpowering power of bronze the clay eventually shatters bringing down the government that was once very desirable.

As I contemplated that, it occurred to me that we have been through that change. At first we were a golden government envied by everyone around us and even some wanted to destroy our golden government. Then along came our silver age where the country began to splinter and war with itself. We the clay called for a stronger government to control the pieces that were splintering. That did well for us but special interest groups and minority groups wanted more than the general public and demanded that the government take away freedoms that capitalism offered us all in the name of segregation and racism. The powers that were the government become hungry and greedy for power and money and watered down the control that the states shared equally and voluntarily surrendered.

And now, the question is are we are destined to collapse under the weight that was once a golden government because of our departure from our golden origin? Will it stop? As soon as the clay steps out from under the weight and reorganizes again or war again breaks out in this country. I just pray to God that we will survive this change.