Month: June 2010

Be still and know that I am God

It is apparent from emails sent to the blog that some readers refuse to study carefully either the scriptures or what I have written.  I will make yet another attempt to explain some important distinctions.
There is a difference between testifying that some principle is true and teaching others how to follow the principle, and discussing details of personal experiences which are not going to be meaningful and are not appropriate. 
There are reasons why intimate details of temple ordinances are guarded by covenants they will not be revealed. It is true those covenants have been violated by many people. Some people have decided to reject what was offered, make themselves liars, and treat with contempt what should have been treated with care. All of that is between them and the Lord, with whom they made the covenant.  Their violation of a trust does not detract one bit from the power of covenants kept by others.
We are not responsible for how others behave when they receive something that ought to be treated as sacred.  We are all only accountable for how we individually treat such things.
It is appropriate for anyone to testify to the truth, that the Lord lives, and that He has and still does minister to men in the flesh. It is appropriate to explain that those blessings are predicated upon the same conditions for any person who will follow the law upon which such blessings are predicated. It is appropriate to explain what those conditions or laws are. It is appropriate to gather together in one continuous discussion the diverse elements scattered throughout the scriptures and put them into one convenient discussion of the whole. I have done that.
What is not important for anyone to know is the details of what goes on in a meeting between God and one with whom He deigns to appear. Joseph Smith for example remarked, concerning the First Vision, “many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time.”  JS-H 1: 20.
Repeatedly the Book of Mormon draws a line and says that things were “not lawful” for man to write.  See, e.g., 1 Ne. 14: 28; 3 Ne. 26: 16; 3 Ne. 27: 23; Ether 4: 1, Ether 13: 13.  A person who does not understand the difference between the line that must be drawn and why it exists simply is not prepared to receive with gratitude what the Lord is offering.
The riches of eternity are offered by the Lord to you and each of you directly. It does not come from learning “secrets” from someone else. It comes by following the path. You do not need anything more than a description of the path. Follow it. Until you follow it, the heavens will remain shut against you. As soon as you follow it, you will have the results you would like to have. 
Curiosity about sacred details that the scriptures repeatedly warn are not lawful to put into writing here in this fallen world, reveals an immaturity that should be overcome. If you want the details, learn them from the Lord. Directly. Without an intermediary. Teachers are commissioned by the Lord to reiterate the path by which they are to be obtained.  He does not send someone to do the work for you. Indeed, you either do the work for yourself or it remains undone – forever. 
It is clear that some who want the most revealed to them are the ones who have not yet read what I’ve written. You simply continue to ask and ask again. Study what I’ve written carefully and anyone will find it is all there. Several people have done so, and have received the promised results. But they took care and devoted careful, solemn and ponderous thought to the matters set out in what I have written. That is what the writings were intended to produce, and why they were commissioned to be written by the Lord. I know that the process is true, because I have lived it. I know that the descriptions provided in my writings are sufficient, because they have produced results akin to my own. You do not need more details from me. You need to take seriously what I’ve already written.  Actually, you don’t even need that. What I have written is taken from the scriptures, primarily the Book of Mormon. If you understood the scriptures you wouldn’t even need what I’ve written.  I have only been instructed in how to bring the process together in a convenient single narrative, building line upon line to a whole.
Careful, solemn and ponderous thought is what is needed. Not frantic, exasperated and impatient demanding that someone tell you something right now that will fix what is amiss in your life. Such frantic conduct is likely to yield nothing. 
I hope this aids in understanding what is appropriate and what is over the line. If you want to know all the mysteries of God, He is willing to reveal them. Not to the impatient, demanding and immature. But to those who develop a firm mind in every form of godliness, including patience, persistence, faith and sacrifice.  (Moroni 7: 30.)  These things are not won cheaply.  But they are won. 
I think the words “be still and know that I am God” are more than just an admonition to ‘shut-up.’  (D&C 101: 16.)  I think it is a formula. Let your anxieties pass over you. Leave them. Be calm. In the great calm of pondering over what He has given to you, you will “know” Him.  Therefore, if you would like to know God, then ponder deeply and meditate on the things He has already given to you.  (See e.g., D&C 138: 11; JS-H 1: 12; 1 Ne. 11: 1 and Helaman 10: 2-4.)  This is how Joseph Smith received the First Vision, Joseph F. Smith saw the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead, Nephi saw in vision the Lord, and Nephi son of Helaman would receive his calling and election.  I can’t give you a formula, I can’t recite any additional vision and I can’t tell you about any visitation I have had that will absolve you of following the process by which God has become known to all those who have come to know Him since the time of Adam.  All I can do is testify that the same path is open to everyone. But only on the same condition as it is available to all. 

Gifts come from God

Question:

“In these days there are many holistic healing arts that area coming forward. EFT (tapping), angel therapy and readings, chakra work, Reiki, aura work, energy work, etc., etc. Are these gifts of the spirit? Are they gifts of the “right” spirit:) When someone is working with you on correcting old belief systems from childhood and they say they had a dream that might be relevant, should you trust that.? What do you feel about people who do angel readings? How can you discern so as not to be deceived or lead down an incorrect path. Many people who do this kind of work are not LDS…are they entitled to gifts of the spirit? Sometimes I have seen LDS people get involved with these modalities and leave the church or become inactive….others remain very faithful. I sometimes feel that people should be able to go to the source of all healing directly… Christ…. and bypass these types of healings. But then again, sometimes I think perhaps people need these modalities to help remove blocks of low self-worth and self condemnation that block them from going directly to Christ for feelings of unworthiness and believing that Christ can heal them. I remember Jeffery Holland in a conference of the last couple of years say, “Christ can heal you and he can do it now!” (not his exact words). Anyway, I have wondered about this for a long long time. I hope you give me your opinion.“

First, as to gifts:
I believe there are “gifts” given (or acquired) by people which are based on real sensitivities or talents. I believe they exist as part of the talents brought into this life. Some people have talent to sing, compose music, or create art. There are those who have developed spiritual gifts.  There are many kinds of gifts, but they all come from God.  (Moroni 10: 8.)

Possession of a gift, however, does not mean a person will use that gift in conformity with God’s will or plan. If a person does not seek to follow the Lord’s will, they can be misled and use gifts for improper ends. People who fail to remain obedient, who begin to use their gifts to gratify their pride or to achieve their ambitions can drift away from the light and take others with them. Just because a person possesses a gift does not mean they live their lives in conformity to truth.  Nor does it mean they will not mislead you.  Proper use of a gift should show gratitude to and promote faith in God.  (D&C 20: 27.)

Second, as to modalities:
I do think that there are aids to faith that can help someone who is weak to still act in faith.  Modalities that focus thought, bolster confidence and assist in believing the Lord can heal can aid in the process. In the end it is the authority of God and faith in Him that allows good things to follow. It comes from Him. If an act helps focus thought and confidence in Him, then the act is worthwhile.

The problems creep in when the modality is regarded as an independent authority apart from God. As soon as a person begins to view God as uninvolved, or that they can control the outcome independent of God’s will, there is an opening for evil or deception.  Gifts were not intended to produce a monetary profit and should not be practiced for money.  (Acts 8: 20.)

Gifts belong to the body of believers and should be used to promote faith in God.  (D&C 46: 10, 26.)

Keys and assignments

….For the benefit of a worthy inquirer, who has the right to know:
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Keys are related to assignments given. When the church gives someone an assignment, they receive the keys associated with performing the assignment. For example, when an Elder’s Quorum President is called, he receives the keys to preside over the Quorum. With those keys the President has the large assignment (making the Quorum function) and is entitled to the smaller or more detailed assistance from the Lord to serve each quorum member’s needs.
If the President neglects his duties, despite the fact that the authority is conferred upon him, he lacks the power associated with the assignment. His keys become thereby wasted or lost.
Keys, however, are not limited to the church giving an assignment. When the Lord gives an assignment, commission or commandment to a person by His own voice, then the Lord similarly gives to the person the keys to accomplish the assignment, commission or commandment. By acting consistent with the duty devolving upon him, the man receives not only the larger assignment, but also the inspiration to accomplish the smaller or more detailed activities related to the assignment given to him.
An example from Nephi illustrates the point. Nephi was commanded to build a ship. (1 Ne. 17: 8.) Nephi needed direction and instruction to accomplish the task given to him. Since he possessed the keys to accomplish the work, the direction was forthcoming from the Lord as it was needed and as Nephi inquired to obtain it.  (1 Ne. 17: 9-10.)  In the process of asking and receiving direction as he fulfilled the assignment, Nephi learned other, greater things as well.  (1 Ne. 18: 2-3.)
Nephi saw in the assignment (keys) he had been given a direct relationship between fulfilling the assignment to build a ship and Moses’ commission (keys) to deliver Israel from bondage. He used Moses as an example to his brothers to justify how the Lord could assign someone as untrained as Nephi to build a ship. (1 Ne. 17: 23-43.)  It was an appropriate example. It illustrates how once the Lord gives an assignment to a man, the Lord entrusts the keys and provides the inspiration to accomplish the assignment.
Similarly, all the prophets who have been sent to warn Israel in any generation have been given the keys from God to accomplish their assignment. Even among people who no longer held such authority, the Lord would directly ordain those He commissioned during the Old Testament times.  (TPJS p. 181.)

When the church builds a temple and calls a temple president the one called to preside over the temple is the only one who can organize and run the temple. He has the keys and should be respected. Anyone who has an assignment or keys conferred upon them, by the church or by the Lord, has an assignment that should be respected.  

Nephi’s brothers and the royal court of King Noah all learned that it simply wasn’t possible to terminate the mission of someone holding keys before they finished their assignment.  (For Nephi, see 1 Ne. 17: 48-55.  For Abinadi see Mosiah 13: 2-5.)  Of course, once the assignment given the man has been completed, they are as vulnerable to destruction at the hands of enemies as anyone else.  (Mosiah 17: 20; D&C 135: 4.)
When someone receives an assignment, and fulfills it with honor, they hold the keys of that assignment to all eternity.  (D&C 128: 21.)  They are expected to come to the great meeting when keys are returned to Adam and then, in turn, to Christ, preliminary to His return as the One whose right it is to preside over all things.  (TPJS p. 157.)
I suppose the best way to be invited to that meeting would be to obtain a key from the Lord, perform in strict conformity to the assignment He gives you, and become thereby entitled to return that key in the great assembly.
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….For the rest, I’m not sure if this post will have any meaning. 

Destroyer rideth upon the waters

A study by the Harvard Business School has concluded that government spending does not stimulate an economy.  It stifles.  You can read the study here:
 
This was not the conclusion the study was expected to produce.  It is not a welcomed study during a time when the whole commitment of the federal policy is predicated upon the opposite conclusion.  Simply put, we’re pursuing a course that won’t/can’t work.
 
It shows again, how foolish it is to trust in the opinions of men.  I’m utterly convinced that opinions are misleading.  I believe the scriptures counsel against using opinions as a basis for determining truth.
 
The Great Whore, which deceives the world, sits upon “many waters.”  (Rev. 17: 1.)  The definition of “waters” is given in verse 15.  (Rev. 17: 15.)  These unstable waters are the “peoples, and multitudes, and nations.”  It is again a reminder of the original blessing given to Reuben, in which instability is compared to “water.”  (Gen. 49: 4.)  Great wars, overflowing armies and unstable political movements have all been compared to a flood of water.  (See, e.g., Isa. 28: 2; Jer. 46: 8.)
 
Opinions of peoples, multitudes and nations are as “unstable as water.”  They flow, and ebb and move about in dangerous currents.  Finding an opinion and adopting it as the basis for a church decision or policy is a study in learning which cannot bring you to the truth.  (2 Tim. 3: 7.)
 
Before this latest study, it was common wisdom that government spending was NEEDED in order to combat the recession.  Now, it appears the solution will only mire the country in a more prolonged downward economic cycle.  Opinions were gathered carefully before the commitment was made.  Now, we have accepted only foolishness as our wisdom.
I have always thought the tools of industry have no place in a church which claims to be guided by inspiration.  To the extent the church elects to employ opinion polling and focus group gathering to inform its decision, it will reach the wrong conclusions, make the wrong decisions, and go backward.
Inspiration does not lie within the opinions of the great and unstable waters.  Indeed, the Destroyer rides upon the waters.  (D&C 61: 19.)