The Goates Notes

The Iron Lady and the Future Course of America

2012-01-28T10:36:00.015-07:00

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) was interviewed yesterday on a radio show. He was asked if "he had a horse" in the Republican field for the nomination. His response was classic:

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT)

At this point…I haven’t endorsed anyone, but if there were such a thing as an anti-endorsement I’d be tempted to bring out an anti-endorsement against Newt Gingrich. I’ve been appalled with the fact that he has, in effect, attacked other candidates, particularly Mitt Romney, based on the fact that he’s a capitalist, based on the fact that he’s been successful. He tried to pit one group of Americans against another and become a divider, much like our President is doing. It almost has a class warfare feel to it. And that doesn’t sit well with conservatives, or Republicans in general, and I don’t think it is going to work.

When I read that this morning, it caused several responses within me.

First, it resonated with the way I've been feeling lately as I have watched the circular firing squad these candidates seem to face every time they get together. We have a strange and elongated process to select a new president in this country, don't we? In this last debate Rick Santorum wisely tried to put an end to it and asked for a concession from both sides that Newt is a lifer politician and Romney has been very successful financially in the private sector (confirmed for all to see by the release of his 2010 tax returns - all 550 pages worth). "Let's move on," he intoned. At one point Newt even asked for a "truce," after Romney exposed him yet again for his outrageous attack on Romney as "anti-immigration."

The attacks between the candidates against each other have been withering. Some say it's good to prolong the debates, extend the nominating process, fully vet the candidates. And ironically, who is it that's calling for support for Newt the most loudly? None other than perhaps the least vetted Vice-Presidential candidate in modern history, Sarah Palin.

When I hear her whiney voice as a Fox News "analyst," I honestly have to ask, "Is anyone listening to her anymore?" Really? Who cares what she thinks? The world today has an ample supply of cable news network "contributors" in the punditocracy without Sarah Palin. I never knew there were so many "strategists" for both sides. The only voices I'm listening to are the people who have the guts to climb into the arena and get bloodied. Palin is certainly NOT one of those people, who is now living comfortably on her John McCain-bestowed celebrity. Gingrich has her and John King to thank for his hollow victory in South Carolina, pure and simple. He capitalized on one shining debate moment and knocked it out of the park.

Second, I went to see "The Iron Lady" last night because I wanted to be reminded once again about how ironic and unfortunate it seems to me that America has repeated the same mistakes Great Britain made during the last century in going down the path of socialism.

Margaret Thatcher

I was not disappointed. Meryl Streep did a phenomenal turn as Margaret Thatcher, who is still living in her 87th year. The film for me was like reliving history. When she began her political career, she had visited America and drew inspiration from what she learned here. "They are unafraid, they look to the future, they take bold and decisive action," was the essence of her take-away revelation, and it propelled her into leadership of the Conservative Party, and eventually into an 11 1/2-year residency at Number 10 Downing Street as the longest-tenured 20th century Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Thatcher had to overturn decades of Labor Party rule in England that had stifled economic growth through the implementation of all the socialist ideals, including national health care. She countered by privatizing everything, deregulated industries, restored confidence by taking back the Falkland Islands from the naked aggression of terrorist elements in Argentina, when England could least afford it, then presided over a sustained return to capitalism that inspired a nation. Thatcher stood on principle, politics be damned. I'd vote for her steely resolve in a New York minute if she were running today.

The themes of the movie last night were an eerie echo of the debates and stump speeches we are hearing daily in America from both sides. We would do well to pay attention to those who would propose turning our backs once and for all on socialism. It is the only way we will survive, as Thatcher's England once learned by their sad experiment with socialism in the last century. Socialism was not the road to prosperity then, and it certainly is not the right road today.

Third, this election in 2012 is going to easily become the most intense and hotly contested in our nation's history. There are a number of good reasons why this will be so, not the least of which is a polarized cable news community, to say nothing of what used to be a believable journalistic profession that is filled now with little more than political prostitutes from both sides. Never forget they are entertainers first and foremost, and the more they can keep the boiling pot stirred and bubbling the higher their ratings. The voices are shrill and piercing every day. "Fair and balanced" news reporting in this country is a populist myth. It seems everyone has picked a position and is defending it vociferously. No one seems to listen to anyone else.

It may not be overstating it to say this election will be the most important we have ever seen in our lifetimes. Why? Because the outcome will determine many things, not the least of which will be to settle the argument about whether socialism can be put behind us and trampled under the feet of freedom now on the march. Obama, instead of being interested in engaging in constructive dialogue with his opponents on the other side, is more entrenched and isolated than ever before, more hardened, more repetitive, tone deaf and more certain he is right than ever before. His SOTU address the other night was pathetic if you measure it by his unwillingness to acknowledge the hard realities of his debt and deficit proliferation in the name of social re-engineering. No mention of the first-ever downgrade to the U.S. bond rating in history, nor a viable plan to reverse course against the profligate spending and deficit binge. Unthinkable.

Again, I am amazed we have even flirted with the idea of socialism as long as we have. There has been a steady erosion of freedom and self-determination for decades in this country. Gradually yet persistently, since the Great Depression, the social safety net has been built. Both parties have contributed to its creation. Now both sides must admit their errors of the past and begin quickly to dismantle their Frankenstein, if it takes repetitive election cycles to ensure it.

I was perusing some pamphlets my father gave me recently to read when Medicare was first introduced in the sixties. He was in hospital administration back in the day, and gave speeches in which he frankly admitted no one knew where it was headed. With the advantage of hindsight in 2012 we may now know for ourselves where it was headed back then - into oblivion and bankruptcy if we don't arrest the escalating cost trends. It may have been LBJ's inspiration as part of his "Great Society" initiatives, but the Republicans back then went along because their constituents demanded it. So, please stop the finger pointing.

Surprising to me, an overwhelming majority of Utahns (2/3) favored national health insurance, when asked whether they supported it in some polling data contained in the reports I reviewed. The only holdouts were the residents of Utah County, home to Church-owned BYU, who opposed a national plan. It seems the more things change, the more they remain the same.

You can make the argument our politicians from either side today cannot seem to draw a bright line between themselves on these issues, and perhaps you would be right in almost every particular. I have said repeatedly I do not believe much distinction can be found anymore between traditional Republicans and Democrats.

But this year the contrasts must be made with bold strokes and clear bright yellow lines. We are in danger of collapse financially as nation, and the perils of continuing down this path toward self-destruction are real. Our military leaders are confirming our biggest security threat as a nation today has nothing to do with our enemies abroad. They say it is the size of our national debt and deficits.

You can point to politicians on both side and find ample justification for your angst. The point is we put them into the positions where they are, including Barack Obama. We have self-inflicted wounds that will take years to heal, and we must begin applying the "hard medicine" prescribed by Margaret Thatcher to make a beginning or we are doomed to failure. And that must not happen in the world if freedom is to survive.

Fourth, there is no evidence yet to suggest we can identify one single "white knight candidate" who will cure all our ills. Once America awakens from its long sleepy drift down the road toward socialism, and I think the awakening began in the elections of 2010, we may have a chance to make the course corrections needed to turn things around again, but we must act now.

While no one person can do it - it would be fool-hearty to suggest that the "only one person" might be Mitt Romney, the turn-around specialist of Bain Capital and the 2002 Winter Olympics - nevertheless we must pick a leader who can and must bring together the disparate stakeholders and begin again to restore America's founding principles of self-reliance, capitalism and self-determination under the banner of freedom, not more taxation, class distinction, class envy and burdensome regulation. Study Margaret Thatcher for the role model we must seek in leadership.

At this point in the election cycle I am convinced beyond any doubt that "only one person" is NOT Barack Obama.

We must turn our attention first and foremost to the make-up of the next Senate. There is a chance that enough conservative thinkers like Mike Lee and Rand Paul can be elected to give new hope to legislation that would arrest our profligate tendencies for fiscal recklessness.

The House is where spending bills originate, and there are enough there from the gains of the 2010 election to at least halt the speeding train since then, but now the job must be to put like-minded people in the Senate in 2012. That's why I say "only one person" cannot do it alone. I'd like to think Mitt Romney could be the leader to help put all the pieces together, but it may still be too early to make the determination whether the nation has the will to line up behind his leadership. With 33 new conservative senators in this election whose seats are up for grabs, we might have a fighting chance together to reverse course.

President Ezra Taft Benson

Fifth, and finally, there are ample lessons about our present condition in The Book of Mormon. Let me cite but a few, beginning with President Ezra Taft Benson:

The record of the Nephite history just prior to the Savior’s visit reveals many parallels to our own day as we anticipate the Savior’s second coming. The Nephite civilization had reached great heights. They were prosperous and industrious. They had built many cities with great highways connecting them. They engaged in shipping and trade. They built temples and palaces.

But, as so often happens, the people rejected the Lord. Pride became commonplace. Dishonesty and immorality were widespread. Secret combinations flourished because, as Helaman tells us, the Gadianton robbers “had seduced the more part of the righteous until they had come down to believe in their works and partake of their spoils” (Helaman 6:38). “The people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning” (3 Nephi 6:12). And “Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world,” even as today (3 Nephi 6:15).

Mormon noted that the Nephites “did not sin ignorantly, for they knew the will of God concerning them” (3 Nephi 6:18).

There were but few righteous among them (see 3 Nephi 6:14). Nephi led the Church with great power and performed many miracles, yet “there were but few who were converted unto the Lord” (3 Nephi 6:21). The people as a whole rejected the Lord. They stoned the prophets and persecuted those who sought to follow Christ. (Ensign, May 1987, 4).

There are three familiar "break-ups" that occur in the historical record. First, "there became a great inequality in all the land, insomuch that the church began to be broken up." (3 Nephi 6:14). Second, "the people were divided one against another; and they did separate one from another into tribes, every man according to his family and his kindred and friends; and thus they did destroy the government of the land." (3 Nephi 7:2). And finally, just before Christ comes among the Nephites, "the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth." (See 3 Nephi 8:4-20).

You can make your own judgments about where we might be on the timeline as we move toward the Second Coming, but certainly the earmarks described in the Nephite record are hauntingly familiar, aren't they? It may well be the case that we have reached a point of no return as the "America in decline" buzz continues unabated in some circles, but I'd like to think there is still hope. The hope lies in repentance, as summarized by Mormon's final appeal to those who would receive the record of The Book of Mormon in these latter days:

And then, O ye Gentiles, how can ye stand before the power of God, except ye shall repent and turn from your evil ways?

Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll?

Therefore, repent ye, and humble yourselves before him, lest he shall come out in justice against you — lest a remnant of the seed of Jacob shall go forth among you as a lion, and tear you in pieces, and there is none to deliver. (Mormon 5:22-24).

Mormon writes to his son near the end of the record:

My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.
And may the grace of God the Father, whose throne is high in the heavens, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of his power, until all things shall become subject unto him, be, and abide with you forever. Amen. (Moroni 9:25-26).

When we repent, mercy is immediately extended. Let us claim mercy, and may we never be past the need to feel after it.

Greatest President of the Twentieth Century?

2012-01-27T21:58:00.002-07:00

If you were to assume Newt Gingrich's choice as the best president of the twentieth century was Ronald Reagan, maybe even his favorite president of all-time, you would make a logical conclusion based upon all the mentions he's been giving in this campaign cycle to curry favor with Reagan conservatives.

But, you would be wrong. Newt Gingrich's very favorite president "maybe of all time" was (wait for it, drum roll please). . .

So I guess everybody gets to play the flip flop game these days with impunity.

Same Old Same Old SOTU Rhetoric

2012-01-24T22:13:00.002-07:00

Talk about a broken record in an empty suit with seemingly no awareness that he's said the same thing over and over again without effect! This short video from the RNC (boy, they were fast getting this up) capsulizes what happened in this year's SOTU, compared with the same old stuff he's said before.

It's stunning how consistent Obama is in thinking Americans are totally mesmerized (they're not) by his stunning delivery of a speech. He demonstrates again how repetition from him seems to the polar opposite of inspiring conviction. Nobody's listening anymore. And no wonder why:

The failure of this presidency to address reality boggles the mind. We don't need a cheerleader in chief. What we need is a fixer with a Congress at his side who can get the nation moving again. As long as Obama is involved in his perpetual campaign mode instead of being focused on governing and bringing the disparate parties together, he will never become a successful leader. If we can only survive the summer and fall until an acceptable replacement can be found.

By the way, thanks for concluding with the reminder of your love for Seal Team 6 and your blood lust for killing bin Laden. Whoda thunk an appeaser and a pacifist could be such a lethal killer at heart, especially all that tough talk aimed at Iran and backing up Israel the way you did tonight, conveniently forgetting how you threw Netanyahu under the bus last year with your royal snub by demanding a return to 1967 borders.

Mr. President, with respect, you are a real piece of work!

If only. . .

"I'd Vote for Obama No Matter What"

2012-01-23T18:17:00.004-07:00

I am normally an optimist. I try to infuse positive thinking into these pages, and not to be the purveyor of doom and gloom. There are enough of those folks out there in politics and the "blogosphere" without adding fuel to a raging bonfire.

But, no kidding, I heard a voter in New York interviewed on the street last week, and that's exactly what she said. For every intelligent person out there, I wonder if there isn't someone else who totally cancels out their vote. Very disheartening. Why? Because there are some cold hard facts associated with this president that are just difficult to ignore, even if you aren't the brightest bulb in the closet.

Joseph Curl

This article appeared yesterday in the Washington Times. This is Joseph Curl's list. I heard about it on the radio earlier today, and looked it up when I returned home tonight. I read this, and then I asked myself, "Who are those people out there who would actually cast a vote for Obama, no matter what?" They are likely the people who would kill the messenger, rather than question Obama's message.

I know the state of the Union is currently "dismal," as Curl suggests in today's article, and I know it's complicated, and I get really tired of people who blame the president for everything that's wrong under the sun; but seriously folks, what president in his right mind would proudly boast of this record and ask Americans for a second four-year term? This president has NOT submitted a budget to Congress, nor has Congress passed a budget for over 1,000 days now. Such dereliction of duty would have once been considered an impeachable offense. For heaven's sake, Congress impeached Bill Clinton for a semen-stained blue dress!!

It used to be "the economy, stupid," and it's what unseated the first Bush presidency and put Clinton in the White House. Now I wonder if even that stratagem resonates anymore with people. Here's the deal - the entitlement nanny state is where we now reside.

Capitalism and free markets are virtually dead. The government has been enthroned as the solution to everything, it seems. And there are people out there who actually believe our socialist economy is more fair, provides a more level playing field, and that redistribution of income from the wealthy to the poor is desirable. They will tell interviewers it solves all our ills, which are routinely touted as the "nasty side-effects" of capitalism. So when Obama says he's going to "win the future" for all Americans in this campaign cycle, beware of how he applies words. What he means and what you think and hope he means are two very different ideas.

But I digress. Here's the record, and some would say Obama has been more successful in accomplishing his agenda than any other U.S. president in history. The real question remains - is that what we all wanted? If it is, vote for the man again. If you believe as I do the country is in need of a swift surgical correction in direction, then vote for someone else.

When Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) exited the presidential sweepstakes last week, he asked rhetorically, "Are you better off today than you were $4 Trillion ago?" I hope his question resonates, but I fear nobody really understands it. Some will say national debt and deficits really don't matter, while military leaders will tell you our staggering national debt is the biggest security threat we face today.

And notice, please, I make no mention here of the largest entitlement program in the history of the world, Obamacare, since the way it's being paid for resides in the borrowed public debt listed below:

The unemployment rate when Mr. Obama was elected was 6.8 percent; today it is 8.5 percent — at least that’s the official number. In reality, the Financial Times writes, “if the same number of people were seeking work today as in 2007, the jobless rate would be 11 percent.”

There are now fewer payroll jobs in America than there were in 2000 — 12 years ago — and now, 40 percent of those jobs are considered “low paying,” up 10 percent from when President Reagan took office. The number of self-employed has dropped 2 million to 14.5 million in just six years.

Regular gasoline per gallon cost $1.68 in January 2009. Today, it’s $3.39 — that’s a 102 percent increase in just three years. (By the way, if you’re keeping score at home, gas was $1.40 a gallon when George W. Bush took office in 2001, $1.68 when he left office — a 20 percent increase.)

Electricity bills have also skyrocketed, with households now paying a record $1,420 annually on average, up some $300.

Some 48 percent of all Americans — 146.4 million — are considered by the Census Bureau either as “low-income” or living in poverty, up 4 million from when Mr. Obama took office; 57 percent of all children in America now live in such homes.

Since December 2008, a month before Mr. Obama took office, food-stamp use has increased 46 percent. Total spending has more than doubled in just four years to a record high of $75 billion. In 2011, more than 46 million people — about one in seven Americans — got food stamps. That’s 14 million more than when Mr. Obama took office.

Median household income has dropped nearly 7 percent in the last six years, taking inflation into account. What’s more, nearly 20 percent of males age 25 to 34 now live with their parents.

Low- and middle-income Americans 65 and older now hold more than $10,000 in credit card debt, up 26 percent since 2005.

The average age of the American car is 10 years; in 1990, it was 6.5 years old (by the way, in 1985, Americans bought 11 million cars; in 2009, less than half that, 5.4 million).

On the macro side, America’s annual budget has jumped to $3.8 trillion — and yet the United States brings in only about $2.1 trillion in revenue.

The U.S. trade deficit for 2011 was $558 billion.

America’s total public debt stands at $15.23 trillion.

In January 2009, the debt was $10.62 trillion. Mr. Obama is on pace to borrow $6.2 trillion in just one term — more debt than was amassed by all presidents from Washington through Bill Clinton combined. The debt is rising by $4.2 billion every day — $175 million per hour, nearly $3 million per minute. (See the attached debt clock at the top of this page).

That's an abysmal record. We'll see, beginning with tonight's debate in Tampa, and forward to the election in the fall, who can best draw the distinctions between socialism and capitalism. Whoever that ends up being will have my vote.

False Prophets Among Us

2012-01-21T08:39:00.006-07:00

There is more evidence this morning of false prophets in the last days. Yesterday the following ad ran in several newspapers around the country. This is a familiar pattern in the discernment required by all true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon contains accounts of anti-Christs, and the earmarks of false religion always include those who would presume to speak for God. The attempts to create "revelations" can easily be discerned if one has the spirit of prophecy, or the "testimony of Jesus." (See Revelation 19:10).

Warren Jeffs, 56, remains behind bars in a Texas prison after he was convicted last August of assaulting two girls, ages 12 and 15. His defense was he took them as celestial wives. The charges came after a massive 2008 raid on the sect’s remote Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas. Jeffs' defense these children were his brides, given to him by God, wasn't particularly useful to him. That defense was reminiscent of David Brian Mitchell, aka "Emmanuel," another false prophet who claimed the same thing when he snatched 14 year-old Elizabeth Smart for nine months and repeatedly raped and abused her. Smart, of course, became the poster child for kidnapped and abused children, and she became the ultimate survivor when she announced yesterday she is engaged to be married this summer. Good for Elizabeth.

Joseph Smith

When discerning between who might qualify as a true prophet, and who might be a false one, the words they speak and write are a fair test to apply. On this topic, Joseph Smith gives an unerring guide:

"My enemies say that I have been a true prophet. Why, I had rather be a fallen true prophet than a false prophet. When a man goes about prophesying, and commands men to obey his teachings, he must either be a true or false prophet. False prophets always arise to oppose the true prophets and they will prophesy so very near the truth that they will deceive almost the very chosen ones.

"The doctrine of eternal judgments belongs to the first principles of the Gospel, in the last days. In relation to the kingdom of God, the devil always sets up his kingdom at the very same time in opposition to God. Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose I was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council. It is the testimony that I want that I am God's servant, and this people His people. The ancient prophets declared that in the last days the God of heaven should set up a kingdom which should never be destroyed, nor left to other people; and the very time that was calculated on, this people were struggling to bring it out. He that arms himself with gun, sword, or pistol, except in the defense of truth, will sometime be sorry for it. I never carry any weapon with me bigger than my penknife. When I was dragged before the cannon and muskets in Missouri, I was unarmed. God will always protect me until my mission is fulfilled.

"I calculate to be one of the instruments of setting up the kingdom of Daniel by the word of the Lord, and I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world. I once offered my life to the Missouri mob as a sacrifice for my people, and here I am. It will not be by sword or gun that this kingdom will roll on: the power of truth is such that all nations will be under the necessity of obeying the Gospel. The prediction is that army will be against army: it may be that the Saints will have to beat their ploughs into swords, for it will not do for men to sit down patiently and see their children destroyed." (TPJS, 365-366).

Such are the words of a true prophet. One of the acid tests is that they are not cowards who hide in shadows. Rather, they boldly declare the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ whom they serve, and offer themselves gladly for the truth when required. They do not fear death. They are not deceived, nor do they seek to compel others in any way to do anything by force or dictum. Years ago, I wrote extensively about the role of true prophets, including Jeremiah.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in a General Conference gave a stirring defense of the Prophet Joseph Smith and offered into evidence the fact that he and his brother Hyrum willingly sacrificed themselves for their testimonies of the truth as they left home and family to give themselves up to certain death by their enemies in Carthage Jail.

Hugh Nibley offers these thoughts about recognizing the voice of a true prophet:

Hugh Nibley

"It was a test that few have ever passed: the humiliating test of recognizing a true prophet and taking instruction from the weak and humble things of the earth. Was the wondrous modern age of applied science that began in the nineteenth century to be excused from taking the same test of authority? Remember that the prophets of old came to generations that were very modern in their thinking, smart and sophisticated, advanced, liberated, intellectual; the Hellenistic world, if anything, surpassed our own in those qualities of social advancement." (Nibley, The World and The Prophets, [Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1974], 7).

In the ancient and modern scriptures Babylon is referred to as a "whore." A whore is one who rejects her sacred opportunity to co-create life. She cannot obtain eternal lives except she repents and seeks it through righteous union with one God's sons. A "whore" in the scriptural equivalent uses her most sacred and eternal gifts to get worldly gain, to destroy others, and to create cults for personal, selfish power. She is the antithesis of Zion, the beautiful and pure bride of Christ. The examples abound, but one need look no further than Brian David Mitchell and Warren Jeffs for the example of a "whoring" misinterpretation of Zion.

Babylon is the moral equivalent of evil whoring for gain after other gods. In the scriptures we see references to false churches, the result of whoring originating with the "mother of abominations." (D&C 88:94).

When these abominations redefine the nature of Deity and the covenants, they often seek a redefinition of the divine role of motherhood. Joseph Smith referred to the teachings of a false prophet, a woman named Ann Lee, who taught, "You must forsake the marriage of the flesh or you cannot be married to the lamb, or have any share in the resurrection of Christ." She abominably concluded, "Those who are counted worthy to have any part in the resurrection of Christ neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like unto the angels."

Ann Lee was born in 1736, the daughter of a blacksmith. She married a blacksmith by whom she bore four children, who all died in infancy. At age twenty-two, Ann was converted by Jane Wardley and began to preach. Ann came to America in 1774, and from then until her death in 1784, she was able to found three Shaker communities. Joseph encountered the Shakers (see preface to D&C 49). She also taught the Second Coming had already occurred and Christ had come back as a woman named Ann Lee.

Conversely, there are those who have strayed beyond the authorized priesthood keys and still advocate plural wives. "More or less" is still abominable without priesthood authorization.

All false religions, false churches and false prophets will one day be revealed and we will exult, "She is fallen, is fallen!" (see D&C 88:105) when Babylon, the great whore of all the earth, finally expires. There are, of course, repetitive claims that Mormonism is a "cult," nothing more than resounding echoes from the "great and spacious building." (See 1 Nephi 11:18). Only truth can tamp it all down, and only those with "ears to hear" the truth can successfully discern the difference.

Sorry to get sidetracked on whores, but the contrast makes pure womanhood, as seen in the faces of my daughters, all the more delightful. The whore today comes in many guises and disguises. She can be alluring on the surface, but certainly there can be no lasting depth in believing a false premise upon which they are all founded. There is an Eternal Father in Heaven who has given revelation and pointed the way back home.

The test of this mortal life is to find Him and Christ crucified in spite of the demons of hell who abound to deceive us and point us in the opposite direction.

Sign on a gas pump in South Carolina

Nowhere can false prophets be more easily discerned than in the political arena. Without naming names, okay, I will -- Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich -- there is a clear cut choice on moral issues. Beware of all the siren voices in election season who are not anchored in moral and ethical principles. An admitted serial adulterer who excoriates the national media in a stirring bombastic display of righteous indignation to open a presidential debate, while interesting (and I admit I loved it too), should still rightfully have to answer the character question of moral turpitude befitting a potential presidential nominee. Can you say "presidential temperament?" Ironically, when you watch the primary results stream in, betcha the evangelical Christians back Gingrich big time instead of the three moral marriage candidates, Romney, Santorum and Paul. The world as we know it is upside down in South Carolina.

Despite what others may say about it, character still matters in national politics. At least it always has historically. One smack down of the national media in a presidential debate does not a lifetime of disciplined moral turpitude make. In discerning truth from error do not dismiss the making and keeping of marital covenants, even if the world dismisses the making and keeping of covenants out of hand. If a man will lie to his wife to cover his own secret gratification, particularly when he is publicly excoriating Bill Clinton who was accused at the very same time of an affair with Monica Lewinsky, he will undoubtedly lie to everyone else.

But, you would argue, there is such a thing as repentance. Of course there is, but can you discern sincerity?

Presidential Approval Index - Obama at -20

2012-01-16T07:56:00.003-07:00

Today, Scott Rasmussen breaks it all down in the race for the White House, Monday, January 16, 2012:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 21% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -20 (see trends).

Thirty-eight percent (38%) believe America’s best days are still in the future, while 44% believe they have come and gone.

In the race for the Republican presidential nomination, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney leads by eight in South Carolinaand by a wide margin in Florida. President Obama currently leads Congressman Ron Paul by six and Romney by three in hypothetical 2012 matchups.

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook.

Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's job performance. Fifty-four percent (54%) at least somewhat disapprove.

Thirty-two percent (32%) of Likely U.S. Voters will get most of their political news in 2012 from cable television, while 24% will primarily rely on the Internet and 22% on traditional TV network news. Additionally, 25% now routinely get news and political updates on their phone or some other portable device. That’s up from 19% in 2010.

Rasmussen's poll results are interesting, because they are very consistent with the analysis of Larry Sabato and others who maintain that about 20% of the electorate can be counted on to vote for Obama, "no matter what." They are solid liberal voters who have historically voted the same way and will never change. About 40% of conservative Republicans will always vote the same way, and cannot be appealed to. That leaves the other 40% in the moderate category, neither strongly Democrat or Republican. It's that 40% in the middle who constantly make or break presidential campaigns.

There is little doubt remaining that Mitt Romney will be the presumptive Republican nominee coming out of South Carolina and Florida, where he now holds commanding leads in both states. Rasmussen says he's up in South Carolina by 8% over Gingrich, but the Weekly Standard says the margin is 11% and Reuters has him up by as much as 21%. Take your pick, he's up across the boards. If he pulls off those victories in succession, on the heels of his narrow margin in Iowa and a wide margin in New Hampshire, there will be no stopping the express train after that as he rolls on across the country to the presumptive nomination.

Jon Huntsman will announce today that he is dropping out and will support Mitt Romney. No one is sure at this point whether that endorsement will help or hurt Romney, but it winnows the field. The three remaining "social conservatives" if that's what they are - Santorum, Perry and Gingrich - will continue to split the votes among themselves, and Ron Paul has a growing and loyal constituency representing what the future may portend. As the oldest candidate in the race (78), it's amazing that he attracting the youth protest vote in record numbers. They seem to like his anti-establishment message a lot. Why? I watched some of them being interviewed last night, and they know he won't send them to war for one thing and he'll do everything he can to arrest the profligate spending that is threatening the value of our currency. Paul won't win the nomination, but solid support for his libertarian message will represent a meaningful voice at the nominating convention and beyond. I believe that is a healthy trend in the right direction.

The only foreseeable threat on the horizon for Romney may be the possibility of a third-party candidacy. Such a threat may be muted, however, by the need of most in the electorate to overthrow the Obama "regime."

All the pundits in the world notwithstanding, Mitt Romney is increasingly seen by the electorate (watch the Rasmussen video on his website) as the only candidate in the field who can stop Barack Obama, and that seems to be far and away the most important factor in breaking down the electorate, many of whom feel as though they were hoodwinked by Obama in 2008. That question about electability seems paramount, and yields 43% of voters in South Carolina who think Romney is the guy to beat Obama. The level of dismay with Obama is seen reflected in the latest Rasmussen poll.

That said, "stuff" happens that no one can predict and there are still ten months to go before the general election, and it's always tough to beat a sitting president.

Romney's up by 22% in the latest Florida polling.

Our Agency, God's Foreknowledge and Omniscience

2012-01-14T13:01:00.009-07:00

Beginning January 1st, I undertook another reading of The Book of Mormon from cover to cover. This morning I finished Helaman. I am reading from a worn copy of the original edition. The old Reorganized Church publishes it, and it can be obtained at Deseret Book if you're inclined to follow my lead.

The reason I love reading from the original text is that it reads like a long novel. There are very few chapter breaks, no verses, no footnotes and the typesetter at Grandin Press in Palmyra was the one who provided what punctuation there is. Many, many misspelled words can be observed in the original, grammatical errors and long run-on sentences abound. The familiar words flow freely, however, tumbling off the pages into one's brain with ease. The long narration flows as it fell originally from the lips of the Prophet Joseph Smith onto the transcript pages written primarily by Oliver Cowdery. You can almost sense those two at work in the room with you as you read. Here's but one example:

"And the angel of the Lord said unto me, Thou hast beheld that the Book proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; and when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew, it contained the plainness of the Gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record; and they bear record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God; wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in purity, unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God; and after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles; behold, after this, thou seest the foundation of a great and abominable church, which is the most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the Gospel of the Lamb, many parts which are plain and most precious; and also, many Covenants of the Lord have they taken away; and all this have they done, that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord; that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, thou seest that after the Book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the Book, which is the Book of the Lamb of God; and after that these plain and precious things were taken away, it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity; and thou seest because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the Book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God; and because of these things which are taken away out of the Gospel of the Lamb, an exceeding great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them; nevertheless, thou beholdest that the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity, and have been lifted up by the power of God above all other nations upon the face of the land, which is choice above all other lands, which is the land which the Lord God hath covenanted with thy father, that his seed should have, for the land of their inheritance; wherefore, thou seest that the Lord God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed, which is among thy brethren; neither will he suffer that the Gentiles shall destroy the seed of thy brethren; neither will the Lord God suffer that the Gentiles shall forever remain in that state of awful woundedness which thou beholdest that they are in, because of the plain and most precious parts of the Gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, whose formation thou hast seen; wherefore, saith the Lamb of God, I will be merciful unto the Gentiles, unto the visiting of the remnant of the House of Israel in great judgment."

One long paragraph, and all one long sentence. That's the way 1 Nephi 13:24-33 was rendered in the original edition. The careful student when comparing today's version with the original will see a host of changes in capitalization, grammar, punctuation, even in the wording. So the next time you are tempted to tell a non-member investigator there are very few changes from the original text into today's version, be careful and hold your tongue. I wish I had a dime for every time I'd said that as a young missionary before I actually made the side-by-side comparison.

I may have come to a point in my life now where I prefer reading the original version more, for all the reasons stated above and more. Critics of the book will tell you they are skeptical because surely God could render a perfect translation in perfect prose and punctuation with grammatically sound language construction. However, I counter the original text gives authenticity to the story of its origins.

It came through an unlearned boy, and the imperfections in syntax, grammar and the total lack of punctuation is precise and compelling evidence that God used weak men to translate the dictated record and write it all down with a quill pen on scraps of paper. The flaws are those of men (including the type setter and the printer) as well as the translator and the scribe. That we have the record at all is a miracle because of the painstaking ancient engraving on plates of gold, the careful custody, and the generations of preservation. That we have it as nearly perfected today as it can be despite the errors of men is practically unthinkable. To say Joseph Smith produced it on his own, given the accounts of how it came forth, is impossible.

Reading the original text is a thrilling periodic interlude to other readings of the book in the modern edition. The "voices" of the various authors compiled and abridged by Mormon are distinct and easily discerned. There is little to impede a rapid read through the contents. Even Isaiah flows easily and fluidly in the original, rather than being so "difficult" in editions where it is highlighted and stands segregated from the rest of the text, giving rise to the normal sighs of agony for readers who encounter the usual barriers in their minds about how hard he is to understand.

I've had reinforced again how many times the words "eternal life" pop out at me, and how consistently the phrase is synonomous with "saved" and "salvation."

This additional observation: Not all the pages of The Book of Mormon are "doctrinally drenched," as Elder Neal A. Maxwell used to say. In truth, my least favorite part in the book is the war chapters at the end of Alma. Not much doctrine there.

One of the pleasant remembrances this time through is the recurring reality of the existence of God and His Son, Jesus Christ. It is Jacob, younger brother of Nephi, who first introduces us to the title "Christ" in the book. (See Jacob 1:4). Prior to that reference, other titles like Redeemer, Messiah, and Savior are used by Nephi. There is nothing more basic in their writings than this: God is omniscient. "O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it." (2 Nephi 9:20).

We often accept this simple truth on its face without thinking through the implications, however. It is fundamental to our understanding of God and how He intersects in our lives through His foreknowledge and our foreordination to certain gifts and mortal missions. Because His love for us individually and collectively is ever-present and never-ending, our growth, purification and sanctification would not be possible absent His omniscience about the atoning sacrifice of His Son. How could He succor us without knowing the eventual outcome in our struggles, and how could we petition for His help and sustaining influence if we did not believe He would understand, lead and guide us to the finish line?

Joseph Smith

The Prophet Joseph Smith in his Lectures on Faith stated God is perfect in the attributes of divinity. A primal attribute He possesses in absolute perfection is knowledge. We learn, ". . . seeing that without the knowledge of all things, God would not be able to save any portion of his creatures; for it is by reason of the knowledge which he has of all things, from the beginning to the end, that enables him to give that understanding to his creatures by which they are made partakers of eternal life; and if it were not for the idea existing in the minds of men that God had all knowledge it would be impossible for them to exercise faith in him." (Lecture 4:11).

In another Lecture, Joseph Smith revealed, "God is the only supreme governor and independent being in whom all fullness and perfection dwell; who is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient." (Lecture 2:2).

Elder Marion D. Hanks

If the scriptures are true (and they are true), when we refer to the Son of God as "Alpha and Omega," a God who knows the end from the beginning, does that fact not presuppose He knows everything about the "in between" details too? I loved the phrase Elder Marion D. Hanks used, when he referred to our "muddling through the middle." That's where we are today, as individuals, as a nation that has lost its way momentarily, and as a world blinded by the abundant satanic influences surrounding and permeating mankind.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

I loved this observation by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, because nobody can say it quite as well as he: "Below the scripture that declares that God knows 'all things' there is no footnote reading 'except that God is a little weak in geophysics!' We do not worship a God who simply forecasts a generally greater frequency of earthquakes in the last days before the second coming of His Son; He knows precisely when and where all these will occur. God has even prophesied that the Mount of Olives will cleave in twain at a precise latter-day time as Israel is besieged. (Zechariah 14:4.)" (Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, 7).

Look at these samples from the scriptures, illustrating our Heavenly Father's omniscience (this is Elder Maxwell's list among many that could be compiled):

"The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all." (1 Chronicles 28:9).

The Lord's "understanding is infinite." (Psalm 147:5).

"Now we are sure that thou knowest all things." (John 16:30).

"The Lord knoweth all things which are to come." (Words of Mormon 1:7).

Job asked, "Shall any teach God knowledge?" (Job 21:22).

Alma described God's "foreknowledge" of all things and said also that God "comprehendeth all things." (Alma 13:3; 26:35).

Helaman wrote, "Except he was a God he could not know of all things." (Helaman 9:41).

The Lord said He "knoweth all things, for all things are present" before Him. (D&C 38:2).

We read, too, that "all things are present with me, for I know them all." (Moses 1:6).

So in the momentary agony of our moments of doubt and fear, isn't it just possible we can each bend our will a little more to conform more fully with His? He will always bow beneath the rod of the moral agency we have been granted, but when we bow beneath the rod of our afflictions and our trials, sore as they may be, can we not believe He will be there to meet us, guide us and give us the inspiration needed in the moment to help us overcome.? Of course we can.

His knowing does not dictate nor undercut our doing. But in His knowing there can be revelation to inspire our doing.

There is a very real veil of forgetfulness between us and God. Elder Maxwell offers these insights about what may happen without that insulating veil:

"Without the veil, for instance, we would lose that precious insulation which keeps us from a profound and disabling homesickness that would interfere with our mortal probation and maturation. Without the veil, our brief, mortal walk in a darkening world would lose its meaning, for one would scarcely carry the flashlight of faith at noonday and in the presence of the Light of the world!

"Without the veil, we could not experience the gospel of work and the sweat of our brow. If we had the security of having already entered into God's rest, certain things would be unneeded; Adam and Eve did not carry social security cards in the Garden of Eden!

"And how could we learn about obedience if we were shielded from the consequences of our disobedience?

"Nor could we choose for ourselves in His holy presence among alternatives that do not there exist, for God's court is filled with those who have both chosen and overcome — whose company we do not yet deserve.

"Fortunately, the veil keeps the first, second, and third estates separate, hence our sense of separateness. The veil insures the avoidance of having things 'compound in one' — to our everlasting detriment. (2 Nephi 2:11.) We are cocooned, as it were, in order that we might truly choose. Once, long ago, we chose to come to this very setting where we could choose. It was an irrevocable choice! And the veil is the guarantor that that choice will be honored." (Ibid., 10-11).

Consider these facts in light of today's political situation in America and elsewhere. God, knowing the agency of His children would be abused, made provision for wrong choices. It's called repentance. When we err in selecting leaders to lead us who trample on the God-given principles of the Constitution, He makes ample provision for changing those leaders every two years in free and open elections. We are governed by our Creed that the gifts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness come from the Divine Providence of an all-wise Heavenly Father.

Elder Orson Hyde

God in His omniscience foresaw and prophesied the establishment of America as a nation, then the state of Israel. There can be little doubt in both cases, these bastions of freedom, one on this side of the world and the other in a different hemisphere, that their founding was at the very least "remarkable," at most "improbable." In the United Nations Security Council vote, both the United States and the former Soviet Union joined together to make the outcome of Israel's birth a reality. Soon thereafter a wave of immigration to the new nation-state followed and the Jews literally returned to the Holy Land and have made it blossom as a rose, all in fulfillment of ancient Biblical and modern prophecy, including Orson Hyde's inspired dedicatory prayer given on the Mount of Olives in the early days of this dispensation.

Daily we are bombarded with the predictions of wars and rumors of wars. There are only two possible choices historically for rebirthing a nation as drenched in debt as the United States: War or depression, and neither is pleasant nor desirable. Before the Second Coming we will undoubtedly experience both. But all of it is foretold by the omniscience of God through the inspired prophet-authors who have preserved His words. There are chilling prophecies about events yet ahead in the Middle East. (See Zechariah 14:2; Revelation 11).

Only a God who knows all things could make provisions for His children so His plan is not thwarted. He knew His Son would not buckle under the weight He bore in Gethsemane. The operative atoning sacrifice was accomplished. Because He knew, sin and death are conquered in accordance with His plan.

He needed to know the 116 pages of translation would be lost through the carelessness of Martin Harris and his wife. He made provisions for "these plates" (Nephi's small plates) to be preserved as an alternative. The charge given by fathers to sons who inherited the record is repeated again and again, "Take good care of these plates and see that they are preserved for a wise purpose known only to God."

Because He knows "all things," God can plan and make ample provisions so all His purposes are fulfilled. In July, 1828, He told Joseph Smith, "The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught." (D&C 3:1). However, in His knowing He does not compromise our individual moral agency. We cause the decisions of our lives, not Him. We can access His knowledge in varying degrees as we humble ourselves and take counsel from His hands (see Jacob 4:10), but we must decide and act, not Him. He merely knows the outcomes of our choices before we do. In that way He makes provision for all His children, and more particularly for His obedient and faithful children who eventually inherit eternal life. How many will eventually inherit the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom? He already knows, but permits us to choose our own outcomes.

Whenever I raise this topic, some friends and family are troubled by the implications of the omniscience and foreknowledge of God. They assert incorrectly His knowing constricts our invididual choices and moral agency. How is it, they wonder, that God knows perfectly, but we don't. They, in effect, are telling me their view of this doctrine is better than God's.

I wonder how some can conclude that having spent billions of years (2.555 billion, according to Joseph Smith) in His presence in premortal worlds, where He has observed us, our personality traits, patterns of behavior, habits, tendencies, strengths and weaknesses wouldn't give God a perfect understanding of what we would do under a given set of circumstances - those very circumstances He already knows in advance. Our finite pea-sized brains can't possibly work out the calculus needed to compute all those outcomes, but His can. And once again, His knowing it all in advance has nothing to do with our doing it!

Ever to be emphasized, however, is the reality that God's "seeing" is not the same thing as His "causing" something to happen.

In this presidential election year, imagine the depth and breadth of His knowledge. He absolutely knows every voter in America. He knows right now, today, which candidate will win the Republican nomimation and He knows who will win the White House, every seat in Congress, and who the next dogcatcher in Timbuktu County will be.

But you still have to go to the polling booth and make your choice.

Political Quote of the Day

2012-01-12T17:22:00.002-07:00

John R. Bolton

Anyone who is a careful observer of President Obama knows of his proclivity for verbosity and hyperbole. (He likes to give speeches, and lots of them). That's why this quote struck me when I read it today.

John Bolton, career diplomat in several Republican administrations (and a Newt Gingrich favorite) was interviewed yesterday about his endorsement of Mitt Romney. Jennifer Rubin, writing in her blog post at the Washington Post today, provides us with today's quote from John Bolton:

Bolton also told me about what voters should look for in a presidential candidate, basing his opinions on his years in government. “For judges, we talk about judicial temperament. For this, [Romney] has executive branch temperament and what you need in a crisis.” It is that lack of executive experience and temperament, Bolton said, that is so troubling in Obama. “Obama thinks being president consists of giving speeches.” But, Bolton said, what is critical is some broader executive experience as a governor, senior federal official or in the private sector. “It means starting at ‘A’ and getting to ‘B,’ ” he told me. He joked that that doesn’t mean “saying I want to get from A to B. That’s a speech.”

Dan Liljenquist Announces Candidacy Against Senator Orrin Hatch

2012-01-07T10:10:00.023-07:00

Dan Liljenquist, Republican challenger to Orrin Hatch

This past week brought a long-anticipated announcement that former Republican Senator in the Utah Senate, Dan Liljenquist, would run for the U.S. Senate in Utah, challenging the aged one, six-term Senator Orrin Hatch, who will be 78 years old on election day 2012.

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

For 36 years, almost half his life, Hatch has represented Utah. I am personally grateful for his service (more on that later), but enough is enough.

It's just the kind of David vs. Goliath political match-up needed to tantalize the voters and should assure a large turnout for the Utah caucuses coming up on March 15, 2012. Liljenquist, 37, similarly youthful as Senator Mike Lee, has won the hearts and minds of tea party groups who are disenchanted with Hatch. The reason they are excited about Dan's candidacy is they notched a victory in knocking off Bob Bennett two years ago, and now hope an encore performance may be in the wings for retiring Hatch. I have said before I do not believe all the hype that the tea party was solely responsible for Bennett's defeat, because I believe other moderates like me had a hand in it, but a victory is a victory no matter who takes credit for it.

Liljenquist stated, when he announced he was resigning his local senate seat to challenge Hatch, he would focus his campaign on reducing the nation's debt. He said Washington is broken and that some GOP lawmakers share in the blame. Hatch, of course, would counter he wants to do the same. His record says otherwise, however, despite his efforts to sponsor a balanced budget amendment on several occasions in the past. Hatch's long voting record includes support for TARP, which he later admitted he regretted when he sensed he had angered conservatives.

Dan Liljenquist is a name most Utahns have never heard before, but he has received national recognition for his work to overhaul Medicaid and the state's pension system for public employees, two critical and demanding issues begging for solutions. "Even counting for inflation, 36 years is enough," Liljenquist said Wednesday in announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senate. "Service in Congress was never meant to be a lifetime appointment. In the the military there's an adage that says, 'Be brief, be brilliant and be gone.'"

Hatch will say he is "not Bob Bennett." He's been quietly offering cash to potential state delegates to work for his campaign, up to $2500 per month. It's perfectly legal, just unsavory because it smacks of buying delegate votes. A good question to ask those who support Hatch at the caucuses would be, "How much is his campaign paying you to run as a delegate to the state convention?" He's done an unprecedented outreach to conservative groups like the tea party activists to assure them of his conservative credentials. Knowing how to organize is the main strength of his long-time friend and campaign manager, former state Republican party chairman, Dave Hansen. But all of it will not be enough this time around.

I have no argument with Hatch's conservative creds. My problem is his age. It's simply time for him to turn the page and retire. If he can't seem to make that decision on his own, it is my wish to get re-elected as a state delegate from my precinct and help him find the exit door.

Hatch's campaign war chest is even larger than Bennett's. He has more than $4 million in the bank based upon his latest filings. Other potential challengers, Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz and Democratic Representative Jim Matheson, both avoided a head-to-head battle with Hatch and decided to keep their powder dry in Congress, rather than to challenge him.

Liljenquist will have to embrace the help of conservative groups with strong ties to the tea party. FreedomWorks hinted last month it will support the Liljenquist bid, when it named him the organization's "legislative entrepreneur of the year."

In my estimation Hatch is making the same calculated error in judgment that Bennett did last year. Historically, I have not had issues with either of their conservative stripes. They are both "conservative enough" for my taste. I voted three times in the past for Bennett, then backed Mike Lee. This cycle I've voted six times in the past for Hatch, and this time I will back Dan Liljenquist, with the possible proviso that I will reserve an "endorsement" if someone else I like better enters the race.

Chris Herrod

Utah State Representative Chris Herrod announced yesterday he would run also, but he's not going to get as much traction as Liljenquist in my opinion. The danger at convention is they might split the vote in preventing Hatch from getting 60% of the vote out of convention and avoiding a primary. On the other hand, they could combine against Hatch, eliminate him as happened last time with Bennett and set up a primary between the two of them. The politics of our two former Utah senators are not the problem with me as much as their audacity to think they are irreplaceable. In Hatch's case, his certainty approaches infinity.

I have personal affection for Senator Hatch, because he advocated for me and my colleagues through a legislative fight on Capitol Hill he believed in and helped us win. I'll spare you all the details, but in an act of defiance against a piece of ill-conceived legislation requiring a 100% excise tax on charity-owned life insurance, he took on Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), then chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and personally walked a "colloquy" I had written in support of our position onto the Senate floor at 1:30 a.m. in the morning and had it entered into the Congressional record. But for his heroics on our behalf, a bad proposal by Grassley's chief of staff would undoubtedly have been passed into law.

So my problem, once again, is not about Hatch personally or politically. It is simply his age and longevity. In my presence on one of many trips to Washington, I heard him say he was going after Strom Thurmond's record for longevity in the U.S. Senate, a dubious reason to stand for re-election in my heart and mind (and that was the last time he ran, not this cycle). Actually, Byrd and Inouye served longer than Thurmond, but at the time he was the longest-tenured. By re-electing Hatch for a seventh term, Utahns would place Hatch high up in the rankings of longest serving senators, making him 84 years old at the end of his next term. For me that's just a bridge too far.

Like the aging prize fighter who thinks he can get keep getting back into the ring for one more big pay day, Bennett and now Hatch seem to lack the grace and good judgment to read the tea leaves (pun intentional), stand aside and make way for the younger generation. They both believed in their hearts they were indispensable to the citizens of Utah, the nation and the world. You can add the universe too if you like.

Between now and the March 15th caucus night in Utah you will hear that Hatch's experience and his pending (assuming Republican control of the Senate can be achieved) chairmanship in the Senate Finance Committee will be needed to get America back on track and that no one else is as well-equipped to get the job done as Orrin Hatch. The same argument was made for Bennett, who had only served half as long (three terms and eighteen years) as Hatch. The irony is that Hatch unseated Frank Moss to win his seat originally, saying no one should become a career politician. Setting the agenda in even a powerful committee is not as "powerful" as one might suppose. Each senator, after all is said and done, has only one vote to cast on every single measure that comes before him/her. And the argument that this is no time for "rookies" flies in the face of not understanding the upheaval that will almost certainly carry over from the 2010 uprising across America. In my judgment this is the perfect time for rookies, as many of the old guard in both houses of Congress voluntarily made a decision to bow out, take their campaign war chests with them and return home before they lost. But not Hatch. Damn the torpedoes, he would say, and full steam ahead to victory!

In this presidential election year nationwide the ballots cast for POTUS will not be as important as the ones cast for the 33 Senate seats in play. If the majority of those seats can be won by conservative Republicans who can gain control of the Senate and remove the old guard this time around, a Senate majority of new faces sent BY THE PEOPLE to stop the Marxist Obama dictatorship agenda once and for all will go a long way to restoring Constitutional principles.

We made a mistake in 2008 as a country. We elected a smooth talker with a personality. We hoped for change. He promised "hope and change." He passed the largest socialist program in the history of entitlements, Obamacare, and he borrowed more money than ALL the former U.S. Presidents COMBINED! Our national debt now stands north of $15,200,000,000,000 and rising fast. The interest on the debt now stands at $1,500,000,000 per day (yes, billion)! Then-Senator Barack Obama once accused George W. Bush of being "irresponsible" for raising the debt ceiling, calling that request a "failure of leadership," and now has demanded and passed record stimulus spending bills that have done little to stimulate the economy. He continues to cry for more debt and more spending when we're bleeding at every fiscal pore. And that's "responsible" leadership?

He sent Navy Seal Team 6 to Pakistan and killed Osama bin Laden. This last week he proposed slashing the Defense Department spending to the bone, and ended the war in Iraq to bring home the troops. He takes credit for it, but the proposed withdrawal timetable was already set by the Bush administration before he took office, and the intel on the whereabouts of bin Laden was gleaned through enhanced interrogation techniques advocated by the Bush administration. Boldest of all, he now is "working around" Congress while it's out of session (or is it really "in" session - only Obama can tell us apparently) to appoint even more "czars" to head up regulatory commissions as far as the eye can see, emboldening his followers for a government-run economy that purports to be the solution to every societal ill we face. He is trashing the Constitution daily.

But I digress, this post is about our future and my sincere wish is that the future does not include another four-year term for Barack Obama. Elections are about the future, we must remember, not about the past. Obama is positioning himself to "win the future," but his idea about what that looks like is very different than mine and yours. I was told the other day that an in-law "hated" me because of my conservative positions, so I should not speak for everyone I know. As I have said before, I am not as much concerned about who wins the presidency as I am about putting an end to Congressional gridlock. Without a victory in the Senate that gives a majority to conservatives, not the old guard RINOs who have gone along to get along for too long in this country, we are doomed to continue down this path of fiscal insanity.

I'm not certain at all that we can reverse course in America at this late date, but I am certain we must try by retiring the old guard and beginning afresh. That begins with electing new conservative senators who are more responsive to the people like Dan Liljenquist. My hope is he will join Mike Lee and others in taking control of the U.S. Senate and partnering with the House in passing a balanced budget amendment, repealing Obamacare and never again flirting with the European socialist agenda for an entitlement society.

In my considered judgment Dan Liljenquist is better equipped to do that than Orrin Hatch.

Is the Thought of a Mormon in the White House Radical?

2012-01-01T16:31:00.009-07:00

Six months ago around a bonfire near our homestead in Woodland, a thoughtful nephew asked me, "So, do you think Mitt Romney will be our next president?" Not wanting to damper his obvious enthusiasm for the idea, and perhaps betraying my own handicapping of the race at that point, my response was, "There isn't a snowball's chance in hell."

Mitt Romney

On the brink of the Iowa caucuses with a slim lead, and topping the polls in New Hampshire right now, Romney's become the sort of "inevitable" establishment Republican candidate I never thought was possible six months ago.

As I have pointed out before, predicting political outcomes, particularly today, is not easy. Even a few weeks ago, outspoken conservative pundit Ann Coulter was defiant in her assertion about a Romney/Cain presidency. No sooner were the words out of her mouth than Herman Cain was forced out by public opinion.

Do I now believe Romney is the de facto choice? Not by a long shot.

Primary voting will start next week in Iowa, and will over the next few months cascade across the nation. The nominating process is different for each party in each state (as witnessed by Gingrich not being able get his name on the ballot in Virginia last week), because 50 states hold presidential primaries first, culminating in the general election in November. Right now Romney has emerged through ten debates as the front-runner by most everyone's calculations. I saw a Rasmussen poll last week that indicated Romney has a six-percentage-point lead over President Obama in a hypothetical election matchup. (By the way, those polls change daily, and it's way too early to put any meaning on them other than just being interesting to look at).

So here's my bold prediction for the political year of 2012: Americans are going to be confronted with a choice for president as polarizing as the parties themselves.

In my rational mind (the best part of me), I wonder and ask myself, "Isn't it obvious that the majority of Americans would rather have a Mormon than a Marxist in the White House?" That is such a loaded question, because we're contrasting a religion with a political philosophy, but in today's world the distinctions are blurry at best. There are many who still contend Obama is not really a Christian, but a closet Muslim. I'll leave that question alone and take the president at his word on it that he is Christian. He isn't the first U. S. President to fail to affiliate with a local congregation in Washington. (Wonder where Mitt and his family would go to church). Romney got clobbered in the last election cycle for engaging in the theological nuances. This time, he's bridled his tongue on religious topics. But still, I have to ask, given the choice between someone who believes in the self-determination of the old American ideals, and someone who advocates a government solution (tied to a tax) for everything that moves, isn't the choice obvious that religion must take a back seat?

Not that he ever asked me about my opinion on the matter, but I offered it to Mitt months ago.

Either by following my advice, unwittingly, or by design, this election cycle Romney has steered away from theological hypotheticals. He's stayed with policy debates, right where he should be. We're in the "Mormon moment" not in small part because of the candidacies of Romney and Huntsman, but brace yourselves, the withering attacks against Mormonism will not abate if Romney becomes the nominee.

I'd like to think we're past all that, and there's a useful website designed to put it all into perspective, but bigots will abound, and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about them and their hate speech. The contrast between Obama and Romney will only become more and more obvious as the months go by this year.

I'd love to hear Romney talk about how the Church has helped him define and identify his compassion for every individual. Stick to the universal truths. What about how the Church informs him about the love of liberty in this country? I've heard him touch briefly on those topics, and the public needs to hear a lot more about that in broad brush strokes, rather getting lost in the weeds with theology. Agency is the under-girding and overarching principle associated with the plan of happiness. The blessing to choose our freedom, define our liberty, exercise our passion for self-determination and self-actualization is at the core. Society can prosper if those principles are re-enthroned, having nothing to do with the divisive question, "Which Church?"

As Mormons (speaking only for myself), we should be welcoming the scrutiny of those who sincerely want to examine Romney's faith. Trust me on this one, no one is interested in scrutinizing Obama's religious beliefs very carefully. Why? Because Romney has built his whole life on the foundation of "Mormonism," and those who would attempt to crumble the foundation of that will never tire, and will have little interest in trying to figure out what makes Obama tick. Many see the results in Romney's life, the long-standing and successful marriage, the five stalwart sons, the wealth, the prestige that goes with it, and they want to dismiss the picture as "too perfect." Most of the attacks against Romney (he's the first to admit there are chinks in his mortar) will be ad hominem, having little to do with anything of substance, just as they have been since the moment Joseph Smith stepped out of that grove of trees in upper-state New York near Palmyra, where he offered a simple testimony of the reality of God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

By contrast, I saw a writer the other day who suggests President Obama has a theological worldview that essentially takes the economic and “class struggle” teachings of Karl Marx, then superimposes Bible verses over it. His observation was helpful to me to try and understand the direction Obama has taken us. His beliefs preach that successful people are oppressors who need to be conquered, and that the “oppressed” should live off other people’s largesse. This notion of temporal "collective salvation" is at its base. It is a political philosophy, simply economic by its definition, not spiritual or religious. "Liberation theology" is what it's all about, it's political, having little to do with individual salvation embodied in the atonement of Jesus Christ. Instead, the Marxist view is that we must be liberated from those who succeed who must pay their "fair share" to liberate the poor by compulsion. Marxism declares God as dead, then uses words like "theology" and "salvation" to define an anti-God agenda. When they take the view government, surely, can do that better than depending upon capitalists, they take a turn in the road 180 degrees opposite from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And some would say, there you go again, Dave, mixing politics with religion (a toxic elixir), but remember, I'm not the one stirring the witch's brew here. The Marxists will be first to yell about separation of church and state, but they are ones who have intentionally blurred the distinctions. I'm hoping in this election cycle, if nothing else, Romney will be savvy enough to point out the differences clearly, concisely, and understandably.

I say, forget the minuscule nuances that separate Mormonism from Evangelicalism and Catholicism. Surely we have not lost our way so badly that we cannot see the adverse effects of Marxism and socialism that have been allowed to strangle us as Americans, have we? Are we so blind we cannot discern the destructive path ahead taken by Europe?

As I've said before, I am stunned that in two short years we forsook the Reagan/Thatcher/Pope John Paul II triumvirate who delivered us from Communism, and called it out for the evil it was. Even now in Russia, we see the people standing up against the rigged election process that made it possible for Putin to stay enthroned.

So I would ask which came first, American ideals or Christianity? Which is the reflection and which is the true flame? I contend Christianity embraces every religion, including Islam, because we are all of Abraham. The religion of "the fathers" - and by that term I refer to the ancient patriarchs - IS Christianity. From the beginning in the war in heaven, freedom, agency, and choice were sacred and were to be protected vigorously.

I've added Connor Boyack's new book, Latter-day Liberty, to my list of recommended reading on this page. I'd recommend from time to time you check out his blog, by clicking on the links to his articles. It's time to stop drifting in our lazy beliefs about the price for freedom that will be extracted and demanded before this Titanic struggle for freedom has its final winding up scenes. (By the way, this time the "Titanic" survives).

So bring on the scrutiny of Mormonism. Let the political "colonoscopy" begin. Compared to Marxism, or any other "ism" like Communism, socialism, fascism or anything else out there, it's a winner. As I've stated before, I'm actually quite indifferent as to who wins the White House this year, because anyone who displaces its current occupant will be a huge upgrade, and despite all the political machinations Zion will emerge triumphant even if she continues to be "chastened for a season." (D&C 101:18-42).

The only question is will Americans give both Mormonism and Marxism a thorough and exhaustive examination? If you can accept Marxism in the White House, tell me again why having a Mormon there is so radical.

Out with the Old, and In with the New

2011-12-30T09:45:00.011-07:00

As one of our Christmas traditions, we design and print a new tee-shirt that has some family significance for The Goates Kids. This year, as always, the tee-shirts were opened on
Christmas Eve and are usually put to use that first night as pajama tops.

This year was typical, and in the design process with everyone's name printed on the back, I counted the grandchildren (it's a task in our family). With the recent birth this week of Clara Grace, we now have 38 grandchildren with two more expected in the next three months.

There is something wonderfully energizing and exciting about the birth of grandchildren. Maybe it's because Patsy and I no longer have to do the "heavy lifting." She's up in Washington state this week tending grandchildren. It's her thing to be a Grandma. She's almost as good at it as she has been being a mother. Nothing gives me greater joy than watching her in that role.

It was Carl Sandburg who famously said: "A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on."

A baby, like a new year, is a fresh beginning. We are reminded in scripture:

Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.
All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.
Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light.
And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation.
For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;
And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.
The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.
The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.
Light and truth forsake that evil one.
Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God. (D&C 93:29-38).

Melanie, the mother of our newest grand-daughter, reminded me last night that everyone walking around on planet Earth today was birthed in the same way as her new infant. Everyone, think of it!, everyone has a mother, and we owe them our lives. I revere my mother, and my memories of her are as real and fresh as if she were still living here among us. Strange that such a common experience doesn't bond us all together as a human family, isn't it? So universal, this matter of birth and death, yet we take it so much for granted that we discount the miraculous nature of it.

We are commanded to "bring up your children in light and truth." (D&C 93:40). These precious innocent children are given to us as a gift, but also as an inheritance. The same blessings promised to Abraham in God's covenant with him are universal to all Abraham's posterity, if we will live for them:

My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations;
And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father;
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal. (Abraham 2:8-11).

All the families of the earth today are being blessed by the seed of Abraham, as the fulness of the gospel spreads forth across the world. Whatever sins of the past have been committed in violation of the agency that has been ours since the foundations of this world were first laid, even since we were first organized as "intelligences," can be swept away in repentance. All that is required of God's children, then, now and always, is the recognition of Christ's atoning redemption for each of us.

The beginning of a new year is a renewal of life, a chance to begin again, to forsake past sins and bad habits, and to cast out the old way we've done things, and to bring in the new. Indeed, the meaning of repentance in Greek translations is literally "to think differently after." Are you capable of doing things differently next year after witnessing the disastrous results of this past year that have brought sorrow to yourselves and others? Can you think differently? Can you act differently? Robert Louis Stevenson said, "You cannot run away from weakness. You must sometime fight it out or perish. And if that be so, why not now and where you stand?" According to King Benjamin, your salvation depends upon your ability to be consciously aware of your need to change:

And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them.
But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not. (Mosiah 4:29-30).

The birth of a child symbolizes perfectly our individual and collective preparations for one day living in a Zion society. Indeed, the birth of Zion is prefaced and likened to a woman bringing forth a baby and enduring the travail of her labor pains to produce the birth. Becoming Zion-like begins with each of us and following the example of Abraham. To inherit what Abraham has inherited is the quest of a lifetime of righteous living and doing.

There are some who subscribe to the satanic notion that the world is such a wicked place it is irresponsible to bring more children in to it. Could it be possibly as wicked a place as it was in Abraham's day when children were being routinely sacrificed on a pagan altar? Satan came into this world in the garden with the sole purpose of destroying the family. His inroads are deep and he has had great success since then. He will always have an opponent among the Latter-day Saints, however, who believe the family is at the center of the universe because God designed the plan of happiness in such a way we could all participate in the joy of creation.

So on the eve of another new year, let us all put away the old and begin afresh.

Let us make a pact that we will resist believing all the political punditry coming from the prophets of doom and gloom who are predicting the end of America. We will hear it in a cascading cacophony of escalating decibels all next year in the run-up to the November presidential election. The Iowa caucuses kick things off next week. At this writing, no one has a clue how Iowa will conclude until all the votes are counted, and so it will be state by state until the final election on the second Tuesday in November.

Let us agree to do all we can and dial down the false predictions, since no one really knows until all the votes are in. No matter what you think is going to happen this next year, God's promises and His plan for the establishment of Zion in the last days extend far beyond the here and now. These promises resound in my ears:

I have sworn, and the decree hath gone forth by a former commandment which I have given unto you, that I would let fall the sword of mine indignation in behalf of my people; and even as I have said, it shall come to pass.
Mine indignation is soon to be poured out without measure upon all nations; and this will I do when the cup of their iniquity is full.
And in that day all who are found upon the watch-tower, or in other words, all mine Israel, shall be saved.
And they that have been scattered shall be gathered.
And all they who have mourned shall be comforted.
And all they who have given their lives for my name shall be crowned.
Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God.
Zion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are scattered.
They that remain, and are pure in heart, shall return, and come to their inheritances, they and their children, with songs of everlasting joy, to build up the waste places of Zion —
And all these things that the prophets might be fulfilled. (D&C 101:10-19).

The Jar, by Dianne Bayles, Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T22:27:00.002-07:00

I have always been a sponge for a sweet, sappy, touching Christmas story. Whether they are true or fiction, I love Christmas stories, books, and movies. Often they seem a bit far-fetched, but I still revel in them and the spirit of Christmas that they convey. Snuggling on the couch or in my bed to read and share is among my favorite traditions I take pleasure in during the Christmas season. We have enjoyed Christmas miracles in the past and along our journey. Another Christmas miracle at least three years in the making has come to pass this year.

The Christmas of 2008 found our family depleted of all financial resources. My husband had been without a job in his chosen field in which he holds a Masters Degree, for nearly two years. Together we worked five different jobs and could barely pay our house payment. Carrying our own health insurance premiums and just keeping current on our utilities had eaten our savings. Our food storage had sustained us with the help from my in-laws’ garden and many neighbors, friends, and brother, who, just as the freezer was empty would miraculously bring a box or several coolers full of meat that they couldn’t use and wondered if we could. One time, it was a loaf of white bread (a huge treat for the kids who were tired of whole wheat) and two cans of tuna fish. Countless times, we found in the mailbox, taped to the door, under the front mat and tied to the doorknob envelopes of money.

Sometimes notes were attached of encouragement, but always anonymous. One time it was a twenty-dollar bill with a note written in a shaky hand (obviously from one of our very elderly friends). Another time it was a back-to-school kit with gift cards from a sister’s family that lived far away, or a check from a sister that said, “I love you”. At first our hearts were filled with pride, not wanting to accept the loving offerings, or believing that they were needed, but our hearts were softened, humbled, and filled with hope. There were so many gifts left that we gave up trying to figure out who our secret friends were and simply offered prayers of gratitude.

On Christmas Eve we returned home from my family's Ranch and having been with my extended family, we were filled with the spirit of the Savior after acting out the nativity and singing around the piano, concluding with family prayer. My heart was filled with love and tenderness. We had been able to buy a present for each child with the Christmas dollars from my in-laws. To our amazement, on the front porch we found three large garbage bags (obviously from three different secret Santas). We felt the love of those around us even though we had no idea who had left the gifts. We felt the hand of the Lord in our lives as others blessed us.

Thankfully, six months later, my husband was once again employed in his field of expertise, making a steady income. Money was and has continued to be tight as we raise our six children and try to pay off accumulated debt and rebuild our savings. As a family we decided that more than anything we wanted to save our money and visit Nauvoo. We started a Nauvoo fund in a large pickle jar. We taped it shut to prevent the temptation to dip into it. Each time the kids received Christmas or birthday dollars, they went into the Nauvoo jar. Grandparents and great-grandparents made donations occasionally. The children were amazed at how long it took to accumulate. After a year we had saved about $150. We knew we needed a lot more to be able to visit Nauvoo. As a family we talked about our anticipation and excitement. We predicted when we would have enough money to go on our dream trip. We dropped our change in and added a few bills slowly but steadily.

The Christmas season of 2010 was approaching quickly. Our Nauvoo jar had continued to fill, but we still had a long way to go before reaching our goal. As I went to church the first week of December, I heard a devastating story of our home teacher’s daughter. She was a young mother of three small children. She was battling cancer for the third time. The doctors had very little hope for her recovery and her response to further treatment. I was told that this sweet mother was very weak, but her desire was to take her children and husband to Disneyland.

I went home and told my family the story. We talked about what we could do to help them. The father of this young mother was the first home teacher we ever had that came regularly. At the time of my husband’s unemployment, he and his saintly wife served our family selflessly, brought us hope, love and kindness in their quiet, humble way. It was suggested by our 12-year-old daughter that we give them our Nauvoo jar. All but one of our children thought that was the perfect idea. I knew we all had to agree if we were to give our precious Nauvoo fund. I prayed in my heart that I would know what to say to my reluctant child. I promised our children that if we did this with pure hearts and the desire to bless this family that we didn’t really know, that it would multiply and come back to us in ways that we couldn’t comprehend at that moment. Tears were shed, hearts were softened and it was agreed that we would give our jar to our home teacher and his wife for their daughter.

We invited them to dinner that night. Following dinner, unprompted, our five-year old daughter went to the cupboard, retrieved the jar and gave it to our home teacher. They were overcome with emotion and tears as we gave them our offering. They didn’t know what it was, other than a jar of change. At first they didn’t want to accept it. As each of our children, one by one, told them to take it to their daughter, they were gracious and grateful. In the scheme of overwhelming medical bills and a terminal disease, our little jar of change wasn’t significant in financial support or solution but we hoped they would feel our love, support and more importantly that Heavenly Father was aware of them. We were grateful for the opportunity to share what little we could to lighten their burden.

The next day we started another Nauvoo Pickle jar, penny by penny. It seemed that rather than multiplying as I had promised my children it would, it was taking longer to accumulate. October came and the kids asked if they could dump it out and count the money. I was a bit hesitant. I knew there wasn’t much in it. They did and there was just over $200. They were so excited that we had collected that much.

Just after that, my oldest nephew received his mission call. He is a young man who had overcome great difficulty and challenges in his life. His parents have as well and were in the middle of the greatest financial crisis of their lives. We decided we would contribute $100 of our fund to his mission. There was not even a question in any of our minds if that was what we wanted to do.

Weeks after that, around Thanksgiving, we realized another family member was in need. They had generously helped us when we needed it during our unemployment and we wanted to help them. We sent them our last $100 from our Nauvoo jar. It wasn’t much, not near enough to really help them, but we wanted them to know how much we loved them and they lived so far away that we couldn’t even visit them, hug them, play, or lift their spirits.

It was now two weeks before Christmas of 2011. I had done most of the shopping and purchased “knock offs” at a much lower price of the items on my children’s wish lists. I still had the Nauvoo trip in mind for a gift for Christmas. I stayed strictly within my budget and spent the least amount that I ever had. I started my research and realized even with the frugal gifts I had purchased, we wouldn’t be able to make up the funds from the emptied jars. We’d just have to wait. I had forgotten about the promise I had made my children that if we gave what we could with pure hearts that it would be multiplied and come back to us. That remembrance came as my three oldest children bounded in the door from mutual with a green gift bag that had been left on the front porch. The rest of the family had been home all evening, and even answered the door several times to receive popcorn and homemade treats from the neighbors with no notice of the green bag.

We opened the green bag and found inside a jar filled with silver coins and the book Christmas Jars, by Jason Wright. I was overcome with emotion; my family is used to that. As we read the book out loud, I realized that the promise that I had made to my children was beginning to come to fruition. As we read the book together my heart was touched as each of our children made connections of our experiences of giving, spreading the light of the Savior with good deeds, secret acts, and sharing our jar in different ways.

The night after we finished reading the book, I found a black garbage bag as from Santa himself, in our garage filled with the gifts that my children had asked Santa about. It had been left inside the side door. No note or explanation, simply there filling Christmas wishes. Each gift was exactly what children were wishing for. Santa was the only person who knew, they had not told anyone else their wishes. If I took back the gifts that I had purchased and received the money back and added the Christmas dollars from Grammy and Grandad, it would bring our Nauvoo jar more than double of what we had given away from our collection of coins. The promise that I made to our children of receiving back what we had given had indeed multiplied in miraculous ways through others. Our dream of visiting Nauvoo is a reality.

I have been reminded again of Heavenly Father’s plan. He is in charge and, oh, so mindful of each of us. As we strive to bless and lift others, He never stops blessing each of us. We can never truly pay Him back for the most precious gift of His Son, His Plan; we will never be caught up or ahead of the blessings. My greatest desire is to serve Him and be His instrument in blessing His children. I have certainly been blessed by many of His. How grateful I am for the miracle of our jar, through the hands and hearts of many.

Mike Lee - Balanced Budget Amendment Dies in Senate Today

2011-12-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

Senator Mike Lee

Senator Mike Lee's (R-UT) statement on the BBA vote in the Senate today qualifies as the Political Quote of the Day:

“Though it was no surprise that getting the requisite two-thirds vote on either amendment was a tough hill to climb, I am shocked that more than sixty percent of the Democrat caucus could not support either version. It sends a strong signal that the majority of Democrats in the Senate do not view Congress’s out-of-control spending to be a problem, and the American public should be appalled. Despite all the warnings from economists and experts on both sides that we are headed for a fiscal meltdown if we don’t control spending, the majority of Democrats in Congress are content to do nothing about it and choose instead to fight political battles aimed at the next election.

“The silver lining is that with 47 Republican votes for SJRes 10 and 20 Democratic votes for SJRes 24, we have a total of 67 Senators who are officially on record supporting a constitutional amendment to require the federal government to balance its budget. Americans should find some relief in the fact that Congress has the votes to pass a balanced budget amendment so long as we can find consensus on a bill. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on this issue.”

Mitt Romney, Gambling, Politicians and Forgiveness

2011-12-11T11:40:00.004-07:00

The bet not taken (Perry was wrong, and it's a bet Mitt would win, but never should have offered)

Last night, Mitt Romney made a $10,000 bet he was right in what he'd said in his book about the individual mandate not being intended for nationwide distribution. It was all done in good humor, but Perry wisely declined to take the bait. For starters, Perry was wrong and Romney was right, and not everybody thought it was such a boneheaded play by Romney.

It was a stupid statement for Romney to make. First, because I'll betcha Mitt Romney is not by nature a gambling man. If he's ever dropped so much as a nickel in a slot machine, the internal "betting police" of the Church would have exposed him long ago. So why offer a bet for $10,000 that you're right, when you already know you're right? He was probably trying to put down Rick Perry's nonsensical repetition of an obviously flawed debate point. Perry really has worn this one out, but he succeeded in frustrating Romney with it this time.

In Mitt's case, it was just one of those stupid things people say. Ever heard somebody say, "I'll betcha a million bucks that's not's true?" That would have been laughable, but $10,000 sounded like a real bet. It underscored Romney's wealth. How many people in that hall at Drake University last night could make a similar wager? Not many.

Mitt would have been better off if he'd just said, "Betcha a milkshake." It would have been funny, and more in keeping with his scrubbed persona. But just like that, today there are 10,000 tweets out there giving 10,000 lashes with a Twitterwhip over a stupid gesture.

Mitt could just step up quickly and acknowledge it. Say something like, "That was stupid of me. I was just over-reacting to an obviously inaccurate representation on my position."

But don't hold your breath -- it won't happen. Politicians are notoriously slow to ask the public for forgiveness. Even Rick Perry went against type (to his credit) and lampooned his memory lapse in a previous debate the very next night on the Letterman show. That was refreshing, but his thirty-second pause was enough to sink him forever as the anti-Romney.

Here's the funny thing about political calculus when it comes to forgiveness. Take three recent examples. Mitt Romney has been bludgeoned for his "flip-flops" over decades. He's managed to get more conservative along the way. How's that any different than Ronald Reagan, who actually changed parties from Democrat to Republican and went on to win two presidential terms in record fashion and was beloved by all sides? On marital fidelity, it doesn't get any better than Mitt Romney, but for some reason he's still not "good enough."

Herman Cain was forced to withdraw from the presidential sweepstakes recently when the allegations about his sexual harassment and "possible" extramarital affair became unbearable. Had he merely acknowledged quickly and decisively his part in those incidents, and had he said, "My wife knows all about it, we have no secrets, and she has forgiven me, and I'm hoping the voters will too," then we may be looking at Cain as the front-runner today instead of Gingrich. Instead, he fumbled his chance for repentance, and we all learned something about how America really feels - there's just not much forgiveness for a black conservative, apparently. Cain, of course, vehemently denied it all, then withdrew, suggesting there might have actually been some substance to the "unsubstantiated and unproven accusations."

That brings us to Newt Gingrich. This is a man working on his third marriage, having committed (and admitted) adultery in both cases. He said last night he had sought forgiveness from God, is now a 68-year-old grandfather (presumably "reformed"), and he has moved into front-runner status without so much as a hiccup from the people who once thought he'd gone off the rails and were seeking to have him dumped as Speaker because he wasn't "conservative enough." Rick Santorum praised him last night as his role model, then admitted this morning on the Sunday talk shows that he and Lindsey Graham wanted him gone, along with others in the party. He is also guilty and was driven from office as the Speaker of the House for lapses in ethical conduct, and nevertheless continued to feed at the public trough, most recently giving advice to Freddie Mac to the tune of $1.6 million in consulting fees. But, avers Gingrich, consulting is different than lobbying. Well, okay, if you say so, Newt. Somehow, his past misconduct has boosted him in the polls to front-runner status. Go figure.

Apparently, Newt's repentance has been accepted by the voters for the moment. They are, after all, in search of a mythical David who can slay the untouchable giant Obama on the field of battle in a series of nationally-televised debates. Here is their champion who can go toe-to-toe with Obama and slay the armor-clad dragon of their political theater. They fantasize over a picture Gingrich has painted for them, and they've gone for it in a big way. The picture includes three "Lincoln-Douglas-style debates" - each three hours long - to debate the critical issues of the day. Gingrich's constituents are tantalized with the imagery he has slapped onto the canvas for them. They will forgive him everything just for a ring-side seat to that heavyweight bout.

But the problem is simply this: It is a myth. Obama isn't going to agree.

The high point in the debate for Gingrich (in my opinion) was when he channeled my thoughts to Reagan going against all the conventional wisdom and branding the Soviet Union as the Evil Empire and demanding that Gorbachev "tear down this wall" in Berlin. That was in response to Gingrich's recent statement about the Palestinians being nothing more than an "invented people." He said, "They're terrorists." Here's Gingrich saying to everyone, "I tell the truth." Others are compelled to agree with Gingrich from an historical perspective. Whether or not he becomes the nominee, his defense of his statement scored some debate points.

If Bill Clinton taught us anything, it should be that despite your flaws you can still ride off into the sunset flawed but beautifully human if you eventually ask forgiveness of your constituents. How soon we forget - Clinton was impeached for lying under oath while he was president. The rule of thumb on seeking forgiveness is sooner is better than later. Nixon was another who comes to mind. The cover-up was worse than the original break-in at the Watergate. Then there was Reagan and Iran-Contra. Better to fess up and take your lumps quickly. But politicians are, above all people, slow learners.

Mitt's best moment last night, despite his worst moment with the $10,000 wager offer, was when he began describing his role as "pastor" as a bishop and a stake president in Boston. For whatever reason, Romney has been branded as "stiff, aloof, out of touch and distant" from the real people. Talking about his pastoral role humanizes him, tenderizes and softens him, and the mainstream media is beginning to pick up on it. Romney has a life story worth telling. He isn't perfect, but he's the real deal. He isn't the perfect conservative, but he's clearly been moving in that direction for a long time.

He IS the Romney who all the would-be anti-Romneys would like to be.

Now, he needs to repent - and quickly - for gambling.

Shepherds in Israel at the Gates of Christmas

2011-12-04T18:05:00.006-07:00

Christmas always reminds me of the years I served as a bishop. I was an eyewitness then to the lovingkindness of my ward members for one another. As a steward of the sacred fast offering funds donated to the Church, a bishop is often the one who stands in the breech when all other help flees from those most in need.

To announce His birth as the Shepherd of Israel, the angel appeared first to shepherds in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. Today's modern under-shepherds are the bishops of Israel who succor and nurture the sheep in the wide expanse of this world.

Fast offerings are donated monthly on the first Sunday of each month. We observe the fast for a twenty-four hour period beginning on Saturday. The cost of the two meals skipped is suggested as an offering to assist the poor and the needy who live among us. The bishops of the Church are encouraged to "seek out" the poor and needy, and not to wait until they land on his doorstep. It is a sobering and humbling assignment, as any bishop will attest.

It seems the Christmas season brings more stories as the years unfold. Of course, the best stories never are told. They remain the sacred and secret domain of bishops and their flocks. But this past week another story is added to my personal lexicon. I share it here, preserving the anonymity of those involved.

I had a phone call from a former co-worker with whom I hadn't spoken in months. He said, "I was speaking with someone the other day who suggested I call you. I need some of your wisdom. I've gotten myself into a situation, and I need your help. Could we meet for breakfast tomorrow?"

At breakfast my friend poured out a story I had not anticipated. He and his wife had encountered some health issues since we had last spoken. They had gotten behind on their bills, and he had taken out some payday loans to meet their obligations. He had not told his wife, not wanting to alarm her. The exorbitant interest payments were now consuming all their income, and the rent was due the following day. They had just moved from one distant city to another nearer his work, and had done some painting to enable themselves to get into a new rental home. Now the first month's rent was due and they had no way to pay it.

We discussed possible sources of help. He had consulted a bankruptcy attorney last year, but they hadn't taken any steps in that direction. His sister, a CPA, was the executor of his mother's estate, but he feared she would treat him harshly when she heard the predicament he was in. There seemed to be no options. He had requested a consolidation loan from his bank, but they had declined his request because his credit had been impaired.

I suggested three alternatives to explore. 1) Re-connect with the bankruptcy attorney to see if she could help stop the freight train of the escalating interest payments due to the payday lenders; 2) call his sister to see if there might be any way she could think of to help him, and 3) call your new bishop. I also recommended that he not hide their situation any longer from his wife.

My friend reminded me he was not a member of the Church, but my response was, "Everyone in this world has a bishop, most of them just haven't met each other yet. Your wife was a member of the Church at one time, wasn't she?" He confirmed she had been. But he hastened to add he had been a lay minister in another church before he had moved to Utah and met his wife. He had to give up his ministry to accept a job here, and he wouldn't even know how or who he should contact.

I took a moment to explain how to find his bishop through the Church's website. He wrote down my instructions carefully. I had a chance to explain that like him, bishops in the Church are lay ministers, called for a period of time by their leaders from among their congregations, then released to go back into the ranks from which they had been called. I explained a little about fast offerings, and the purposes for which bishops may use those member donations as they feel inspired to do so. I told him without even knowing who he was, I was certain his bishop would stand ready and able with resources to assist him.

As we parted, I was gripped with a moment of fear. What had I just done? I didn't even know who his bishop was! How could I make such an audacious promise and assume it would play out smoothly the way I hoped it would?

Then the Spirit whispered to me, chiding me a little and speaking peace to my heart, "You were a bishop once, David. You know how I work, don't you? Have a little faith."

Later in the day, I finally had a chance to check my voicemail. There was a message from my friend. He said he had done as I had suggested, found his new ward and his bishop. He had called the bishop, who heard his story with an empathetic ear, and suggested that they meet that morning at his office at the ward building. In part, he said to me in the message, "I went over my scenario with him, and he's going to help me with the rent. I'm so glad I came to you. Thank you for listening to me and for your wisdom and your advice."

Honestly, the Lord makes us all smarter than we are if we listen to His spirit directing us and we act on those impressions. He said at the end of his message, "I should know God is in charge. He's proven it again to me this morning. Thank you." Our part is to humble ourselves. He manifests His love for each of His children without judgment or reservation.

I thought of pennies, nickels and dollars that comprise the monthly fast offerings of the faithful saints, and I felt to give thanks once again for those who give in the same spirit our Father in Heaven gives. It is all about His love for His children.

President Gordon B. Hinckley

I echo with heartfelt gratitude the words of President Gordon B. Hinckley, who offered these insights about bishops in a General Conference address:

"I stand in humble gratitude and respect and admiration for the bishops of this Church. In the most dire of circumstances, I watched them in La Lima, Honduras. I spoke with them, shook their hands, loved them. How thankful I am for these men who, without regard for their own comfort, give of their time, of their wisdom, of their inspiration in presiding over our wards throughout the world. They receive no compensation other than the love of their people. There is no rest for them on the Sabbath, nor very much at other times. They are the ones closest to the people, best acquainted with their needs and circumstances.

The requirements of their office are today as they were in the days of Paul, who wrote to Timothy:

"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
"Not given to wine, no striker [that is, not a bully or a violent person], … not a brawler, not covetous" (1 Timothy 3:2–3).

In his letter to Titus, Paul adds that "a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; … Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers" (Titus 1:7, 9).

I suspect there will be a "sequel" to this formative introduction. How marvelous that a bishop stands ready to help the constituency of his flock, even those who have not as yet been "branded" as one of his own. . .

For, in fact, we are all His.

Sometimes we are the recipients, other times we are the givers, but He always ministers to our needs through His under-shepherds, the bishops of Israel.

Today, somewhere in Sunnyvale, California, one of our sons-in-law was ordained as a new bishop, the first to serve in our family's next generation. I know he will be blessed as the mantle rests upon his shoulders and he takes up his new role as a shepherd in Israel to the flock where he is assigned.

The gates of Christmas are flung open wide for all who will come to enter therein. . .

Why Barney Frank is the Poster Child for Congressional Malfeasance

2011-12-03T08:12:00.011-07:00

Today's blog post comes from OpenSecrets.org, summarizing the reason Barney Frank in any other business setting would be sitting on a cot in isolation at the Graybar Hotel somewhere. As a Congressman, however, he gets a pass. If Frank wasn't one of the architects and promoters of the mortgage securities crisis bubble, then he was certainly at least one of its ardent enablers.

At least I have the satisfaction of having seen him early for what he is, corroborated by this well-documented trail of malfeasance. If there is some doubt in your mind about the meaning of the word "malfeasance," try looking it up in a dictionary in some future day. You will likely see a picture of Barney Frank as the defining visual aid for the word.

If you need a target for loathing someone who had a principal role in the current financial debacle this country has inherited, look no further than Mr. Barney Frank. There is nothing "Honorable" about him.

One can only hope the American electorate at large in 2012, and the constituents in his district specifically, will have the collective wisdom to make a better choice than to send people like this to Washington ever again.

Take a deep breath and read some of the excerpts below. Taken in the context of the quotes cited from various Wall Street Journal articles below, Frank's fingerprints are all over the debacle. If it is upsetting to you, it should be.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.): “Through nearly a dozen hearings, where frankly we are trying to fix something that wasn’t broke, Mr. Chairman, we do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac and in particular at Fannie Mae under the outstanding leadership of Mr. Frank Raines.”

Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.): “Mr. Chairman, we do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac, and in particular at Fannie Mae, under the outstanding leadership of Mr. Frank Raines. Everything in the 1992 act has worked just fine. In fact, the GSEs have exceeded their housing goals.”

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY): In a hearing several years ago about a report on the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from their regulator, Armando Falcon, Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Director, Falcon came under fire. Meeks said; “The GSEs have done a tremendous job. There has been nothing that was indicated that’s wrong with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac has come up on its own,” adding the regulator was trying to give the two a “heart surgeon [sic] when they really don’t need it.”

Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.): “The more people, in my judgment, exaggerate a threat of safety and soundness, the more people conjure up the possibility of serious financial losses to the Treasury, which I do not see. I think we see entities [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] that are fundamentally sound financially and withstand some of the disaster scenarios.”

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.): In the same hearing several years ago about a report on the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from their regulator, Falcon, Frank attacked Falcon: “I don’t see anything in your report that raises safety and soundness problems.”

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.): “I, just briefly will say, Mr. Chairman, obviously, like most of us here, this is one of the great success stories of all time.” (Senator Bob Bennett [R-UT] was Dodd's wingman on the Senate Banking Committee, one more reason he was unseated by his Republican nominating convention in 2010).

When these elected officials are tasked with regulating the banking industry, but take political donations from their lobbyists, you end up with corruption.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.): “And my worry is that we’re using the recent safety and soundness concerns, particularly with Freddie, and with a poor regulator, as a straw man to curtail Fannie and Freddie’s mission.”

Franklin Raines, former head of Fannie Mae: “These assets are so riskless that their capital for holding them should be under 2%.

Richard Syron, former head of Freddie Mac: “If I had better foresight, maybe I could have improved things a little bit. But frankly, if I had perfect foresight, I would never have taken this job in the first place.”

Note: Raines was forced out of Fannie Mae in December 2004 after the Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into alleged accounting problems at Fannie Mae involving an estimated $6 billion in accounting problems. The Office of Federal Housing Oversight sued Raines in 2006, accusing him of aiding accounting shenanigans at Fannie, which allegedly involved the delay of reporting losses so top executives could earn large bonuses.

The suit attempted to recover the $50 million Raines in pay got based on billions of dollars in overstated earnings. In total, OFHEO demanded $110 million in fines and a clawback of $115 million in bonuses for three executives accused, including Raines.

Raines, Fannie’s former chief financial officer and its former controller settled the case in April 2008, agreeing to pay fines totaling about $3 million, paid for by Fannie’s insurance policies.

Raines also agreed to donate the proceeds from the sale of $1.8 million of his Fannie stock and to give up stock options, though the options were worthless. Raines also gave up an estimated $5.3 million of “other benefits” said to be related to his pension and forgone bonuses. In the end, Raines kept most of his largesse – in 2003 alone, his compensation was estimated at over $20 million.

And what of Mr. Barney Frank? Another member of Congress who escapes into retirement without a scratch.

On Monday, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) announced that he would not seek re-election.

Frank, who is in his 16th term in the U.S. House of Representatives, is the highest ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee. In recent years especially, he's been a prolific fund-raiser, often raising huge sums from the industries that the Financial Services Committee regulates.

Since 1989, Frank has raised more than $13 million for his campaigns, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics. About $1 of every $3 he has raised as come from interests within the finance, insurance and real estate sector, according to the Center's research, or a total of $4.3 million since 1989.

The securities and investment industry alone has given Frank more than $920,800 -- or about 7.5 percent of his total war chest, according to the Center's research. In every election cycle since 2004, the securities and investment industry has ranked as Frank's top industry backer.

Commercial banks, too, have shared their riches with Frank. Since 1989, the people and political action committees associated with the commercial banking industry have donated $623,400 to Frank's campaigns -- or about 4.8 percent of his total haul over the years, according to the Center's research. That's enough to rank the industry as his No. 5 top all-time backer.

During the 2008 election cycle, Frank was the top beneficiary among all members of the U.S. House of Representatives from the mortgage banking interests -- an industry that includes Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association. (During the 2010 election cycle, he ranked as the third highest beneficiary of the industry.)

As the chair of the House Financial Services Committee during the 111th Congress, Frank helped shepherd the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 to President Barack Obama's desk last year.

That law is commonly referred to as the Dodd-Frank Act, after Frank and the legislation's chief sponsor in the U.S. Senate, Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who chaired the Senate Banking Committee. (Notably, Dodd opted not to stand for re-election last year, and instead, he spun through the revolving door and now serves as the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, a pivotal player in the film industry lobby in Washington.)

Frank, who, in 1987, was the first member of Congress to come out as openly gay has also reaped financial rewards from gay rights advocates. The PAC of the pro-gay rights group Human Rights Campaign has donated $76,000 to Frank over the years -- enough to rank the group as his No. 5 top organizational backer.

Additionally, about 22 percent of the money that Frank has raised over the years has come from residents of the Boston metro area, according to the Center's research.

He ended the third quarter with $389,600 cash on hand.

His retirement will set off a race among Democrats to both fill his seat and find a new leader on the House Financial Services Committee next Congress.

A God Who Doesn't Know Everything

2011-12-02T13:30:00.003-07:00

This morning I was remembering a comment of an Apostle, who said to me in the middle of a conversation about the future, "I cannot believe in a God who doesn't know everything."

This morning en route to something else, I stumbled over a letter I wrote some years ago to two sons serving as missionaries, one in Canada, the other in Brazil. It's worth repeating here:

January 28, 2001

I have been studying in depth this week – the lesson I did not give today – about the foreknowledge of God. This is a concept that blows the minds of most members of the Church, but it is absolutely essential we understand its importance and day-to-day significance in our lives.

It seems we can accept without reservation the proposition the Lord knew in advance wicked men in the last days would seek to thwart Joseph’s translation of The Book of Mormon. Because of His foreknowledge of those events, and how those men would exercise their moral agency unrighteously, provision was made by an all-knowing God to have Nephi prepare a second set of records. He also knew enough about Nephi and Joseph to know in the exercise of their agency truth would triumph. God’s desire to bring His words through living prophets to their descendants in the last days would be successful.

“The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught. . .” (D&C 3: 1).

God knew in advance about the Flood, and Noah was obedient to the revelations to build an ark on dry ground. God knows where the world is headed today – that people in the Church and the world at large are filled with darkened minds because of unbelief and vanity. (See D&C 84:54-56). “Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments. . .” (D&C 1:17).

All this is true, and we accept it because it is true. When it comes to our own lives, however, it seems we have trouble connecting the dots. He knows you, Rich. He knows you, Joe. There isn’t anything about your missions and their outcomes that He does not know before you even think about what comes next. Because He knows.

Ask yourself: If I am God and I have created spirit children, how many should I create if I don’t know how big to make the world on which they will dwell? Extending that reasoning forward, if I do not know in advance how many of my children will be heirs of the celestial kingdom, then how shall I make provision for the place in time and space that they will someday occupy? Shall I arrange their lives, pull each and every string, or does my knowing their future choices impede them in any way? These are but a few of the questions that this line of reasoning will take you down, but it is an underlying and integral piece of the truth of our existence.

Let me take you on a short scriptural journey to underscore His knowing, then we’ll discuss the implications and how His knowing intersects with our doing. Relax, this isn’t fatalism, and it’s certainly not predestination, as the conventional wisdom of Calvin and Luther would have it.

We must each exercise our moral agency in this life. God is not on trial in our lives – we are. There isn’t anything you can do to prove yourself “worthy” to God (remember, remember – always and forever – “worthy” equates to repenting).

We had a lesson this morning on “qualifying” for the gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives. And the instructor (who shall remain nameless) never, not once, in the course of the lesson even mentioned repentance as the one and only qualifier for obtaining and keeping the Spirit in our lives to guide us. Last time I checked (and I do that frequently these days) the scriptures are replete (meaning they are full to overflowing) with references about the only thing we must do to be “worthy” of the Spirit in our lives is to repent and come unto Christ. We are promised He will fill us up with His Spirit if we repent. But that’s a story for another day.

God already knows you and all your choices, because He created you. There should be great comfort in this idea, but it seems to cause more angst than joy. It should not be so. Come with me, and we shall learn together:

But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. (2 Nephi 2:24).

O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it. (2 Nephi 9:20).

And this I do [meaning, Mormon is including the small plates of Nephi in the record he is abridging] for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, [notice, only the whisperings of the Spirit at work here – no open visions of the future] according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will. (Words of Mormon 1:7).

And when the time cometh when all shall rise, then shall they know that God knoweth all the times which are appointed unto man [meaning that God even knows the exact moment in time that we will each depart this mortal probation, since this chapter is all about Alma’s teachings on the resurrection]. (Alma 40:10).

And if there be faults [in the writings contained in The Book of Mormon] they are the faults of a man. But behold, we know no fault; nevertheless God knoweth all things; therefore, he that condemneth, let him be aware lest he shall be in danger of hell fire. (Mormon 8:17).

By these things [the preceding verses in section 20] we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them;
And that he created man, male and female, after his own image and in his own likeness, created he them. . . (D&C 20:17-18).

Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made;
The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes. (D&C 38:2).

He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever. (D&C 88:41 – also read vs. 5-13).

And I have a work for thee, Moses [or you could say, Joe or Rich], my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is an shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them [antecedent of “them” is “all things”]. (Moses 1:6).

But they [angels] do not reside on a planet like this earth;
But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord. (D&C 130:7). [Meaning that time simply collapses for God – there is no past, present, future – it is all the same for him – everything is in the present tense, and that’s how he is enabled to know all things. And it’s just that simple.]

So what are the implications of these things on our lives here and now? Simply, that God knows the end from the beginning. He knows what will happen, what choices we will make, who we will marry, how many children we will have, where we will live, whether or not we will be faithful, how we will rebel, how we will repent, when, where, who, what – everything. None of it is shrouded in mystery for Him. He knows.

But here is the key element - His knowing does not alter our doing, except to give us perspective. Knowing what we know about His knowing should give us a beacon. If we know He knows, if we know that nothing is hidden, that He even knows the thoughts and the intents of our hearts before we act in any manner, would not our knowing help us want to please Him and to do what He would have us do?

The key is to willingly submit to His good pleasure – to offer ourselves as an offering, all that we are or ever hope to be – to simply say, “Lord, what would thou have me do?” It is the willful surrender of ourselves. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, it is sacrificing the beast within each of us each day on the altar of consecration. He will neither pull our chain, yank on our strings, coerce us in any way to choose. He offers a choice. The choice is what Christ vouched safe to us in His atonement.

We must choose, then He will bless our choices if they are righteous desires. When we ask Him about the things He is interested in – how we can bless others, where He would have us look for lost souls, how we can serve, whom shall we serve – and similar questions, we are led and directed. He does and will intercede in our lives and the lives of those we serve. But it is all based upon our doing, and never altered by His knowing.

Is that so hard? When we ask to consume our asking upon our lusts, or when we ask for signs first before we will believe and exercise our faith, the heavens are as brass over our heads. Those are the active principles of sacrifice and consecration – the very essence of the covenants we make in the temple.

And, oh by the way, I learned yet again in sacrament meeting today that we are not yet to live the law of consecration, that we are to live the lesser law of tithing until some as yet unidentified event or circumstance in the future will once again usher in the law of consecration.

Well, phooey. The vast majority of the members of the Church have not yet learned this one lesson - that the law of consecration is different than the practice or the policy to implement it through the united order. It is not the current practice or policy of the Church in these last days to live the united order, but will someone please tell me how and when and where the law of consecration was rescinded?

Salt Lake Temple

It was not. In fact, each time we go to sacred places, we covenant before God, angels and witnesses that we will observe and keep the law of consecration in connection with the law of sacrifice. It is explained in simple terms - that we covenant to consecrate ourselves, and everything else for the cause of the establishment of Zion.

That sounds pretty precise to me, and there are no qualifiers in the words of the covenant that put the covenant in suspension until the practice of the Church returns to some new iteration of the united order. Do not be deceived. After all that Joseph learned about the united order, and all that Brigham Young attempted to implement concerning it, I doubt we are going to suddenly start living it again. It is here and now as an everlasting law, and it is the law of the celestial kingdom.

Those who would have a place in that kingdom must abide the same. It is for each of us to learn for ourselves what God would have us know in how to implement the law into our own individual lives. Indeed, we are promised that “the Father teacheth him of the covenant. . .” (D&C 84:48), speaking of the oath and the covenant of the priesthood, which is only another example of widely misunderstood doctrines in these last days.

It was the Savior who taught this principle best. I love the comparative differences and similarities in the JST accounts:

Break not my commandments for to save your lives; for whosoever will save his life in this world, shall lose it in the world to come.
And whosoever will lose his life in this world, for my sake, shall find it in the world to come.
Therefore, forsake the world, and save your souls; for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (JST Matthew 16:27-29).
For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; or whosoever will save his life, shall be willing to lay it down for my sake; and if he is not willing to lay it down for my sake, he shall lose it.
But whosoever shall be willing to lose his life for my sake, and the gospel, the same shall save it. (JST Mark 8:37-38).
For whosoever will save his life, must be willing to lose it for my sake; and whosoever will be willing to lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
For what doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and yet he receive him not whom God hath ordained [that would be Christ], and he lose his own soul, and he himself be a castaway? (JST Luke 9:24-25).

Each rendition of those verses, while slightly different, contains the same enigmatic and seemingly impossible saying – to gain your eternal life, you must be willing sacrifice for my sake while in your mortal probation. Father really does know best. The message for missionaries is simple – give it all up for my kingdom in this world, invest in faith and I will sustain you in whatever righteous desires you may have. There is never going to be a time when life will be as simple, as concentrated, as consecrated, and as Spirit-directed as your time in the mission field, and you have both seen the witness of that truth again and again.

Along those lines, I thought about Steve and the thoughts he shared with me recently about how he has only now had time to write about his experiences of the last year. I remember him sobbing in my arms only hours after his return from his mission in Mexico. He longed to be free from the contradictions, the challenges and the world into which he had been thrust upon his release from his mission. He was so immediately caught up in the need for a car, for employment, for school, and wonderment about his future prospects in marriage, that whatever respite from the cares of the world he had enjoyed while serving a mission quickly vanished. It took him a year to even get his journal caught up! And so it is – treasure each moment, for they are fleeting. How I wish I could impress that truth upon each missionary when I hear your stories about wasted time and energies spent on trivial pursuits in the mission field among some of your acquaintances.

Now, Rich, I said most of this for your benefit. There will never be a time of greater temptation for you. I know you find that hard to believe, but Satan would like nothing more than to discredit all that you have done up to this point in your mission. We have seen this in the cases of some of your friends who have returned. Your position in the mission does little to insulate you from danger. You must be ever watchful. You still have much to do before you hit the finish line. Hit the tape running full stride. Don’t let up. Give it renewed determination, renewed Spirit, renewed enthusiasm for the work, and rededicate yourself to the goals and the programs of the President.

Do all you can in these remaining months to lift and to inspire those around you. Help them to catch the vision, to serve with an eye single to His glory, and to never look back. Just as you were once the young one in the field, now others will look to you as never before for an example of how to do it the right way. Once again, you are in a position of rare trust and accountability. Cherish these remaining days. Too soon, they will all be gone, and you will be homeward bound.

The goal is to sit in that plane seat contented and satisfied that you did all, that you sacrificed your all, that you withheld nothing in the service that still awaits you. And that, good son, is peace and joy unlike anything there is.

Today's Political Quote

2011-11-29T18:15:00.002-07:00

Today's quote comes from Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post, who concluded her column assessing the chances of each Republican candidate with this:

"Which brings us finally to Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney, one of whom will be the nominee and very possibly the next president. Although both candidates have perfect hair, the nominee will not be a woman."

The air of inevitability continues to swirl around Mitt Romney. . .

America, The "Good Spot of Ground" (Jacob 5:43)

2011-11-24T08:59:00.010-07:00

On the eve of July 4th, eighteen months ago, I wrote a post entitled "Pilgrims, Patriots and Prophets." It went on to become one of the most popular posts on this page. The back story of the celebration of Thanksgiving is outlined here in another recent post, and both are linked to the freedoms we enjoy in this great country of America.

I am routinely assailed from all sides with predictions of the demise of America, or America in decline, or the end of America as we know it. To the critics and the naysayers I say, "Phooey." Become an optimist. Choose to believe that America was, still is, and will yet prove to be unstoppable. America is an idea whose time has come once again to renew and rise from the dire predictions. She may be chastened for a season, but if she will remember her underpinnings and keep God enthroned as the Sovereign, she will never fail.

We are divided now as a nation, much as we were when Abraham Lincoln in the midst of the Civil War in 1863, issued his proclamation with these pleading words, ". . . to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him that, for such singular deliverances and blessings; they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union."

George Washington, in 1789, offered his own Thanksgiving Day proclamation. When you read his and Lincoln's words, they leave no doubt these men were devout in their belief in Almighty God.

So today on Thanksgiving 2011, how are things with us, America? I say they are never better, and most certainly better than they were in 1863 by contrast. We just need to be reminded that the lessons learned from the failed collectivist experiment in Jamestown still have merit and are worth remembering when our federal government threatens to become the tyrannical oppressor like the English throne once was in the seventeenth century. We learned lessons early in our history about the need for individual enterprise, self-reliance and personal exertion. Those skills were once honed and enthroned as the means for survival as the colonists carved an existence out of the forests of a continent with nothing but promise and unlimited opportunity as far as the eyes could see. Increased productivity after the near collapse of Jamestown was the result of giving every man a plot of ground (individual property ownership) coupled with the freedom to grow his own crops and work the land his way.

The Plymouth Plantation, once individuals were enthroned rather the collective, became the model for the future destiny of America.

However successful that model was for two hundred years, during the past hundred years or so of American history we have seen the very vocal minority of Americans rise up. They have railed against the American tradition of individual enterprise. The reason? Free enterprise, they say, has not provided an equally successful outcome for everyone. It is as if the statement in our founding documents that "all men are created equal" must also guarantee or ensure an equal outcome for all. This vocal minority has defied the American tradition. They will tell you wealth inequality is not the desired outcome from a free society. They would have us return to a communal experiment like Jamestown.

When we cross the threshold of a belief that wealth belongs to the government to be distributed by benevolent dictators to ensure an equal outcome, we have then reversed course. That is not the American experiment at all. It is a return to the failed policies of the past. We can never assume that anyone in government, even a benevolent dictator, has the requisite wisdom to redistribute wealth. No one is that wise, especially when they are dealing with the wealth others have earned through their own diligence and persistence.

When we cede our American heritage to that vocal minority, we have ceased to live in the American way. The argument was framed long ago, even before the foundation of this earth was laid in the pre-mortal world. Christ acknowledged there would be risk if moral agency were granted to all. Some would abuse their agency. Some would fail. Success could not be assured for everyone. Satan's appeal was attractive -- an equal outcome for all was on the table for a vote. All in favor? One-third put up their hands for Satan, and were cast out. The rest of us put up our hands to sustain the Father and the Son. Jesus Christ would become the Redeemer for all who would voluntarily come unto Him. There was to be no compulsion, no assurances of exaltation. It would be risky and it would require individual exertion and faithful obedience to the covenants of the gospel.

In America we believe in the sovereignty of the individual and private property rights under the Sovereign the founders consistently referred to as "Divine Providence." Though we are perilously close to it in 2011, we as a people, free Americans, have never yet adopted an idea that crowns the sovereignty of the collective. Since the dawn of Earth's organization we have upheld the individual. We have accepted the risk of failure. Until recent years in a desperate attempt to preserve the status quo, as a country we have never said, "They are too big to fail." We traditionally have never embraced the notion that people needed to be bailed out when they failed. Failure was and always has been part of the plan of salvation because moral agency is in play. The idea of government-mandated social safety nets has quietly but persistently lulled us to sleep in the last hundred years.

So on this Thanksgiving Day 2011, I give thanks to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for the bounties of this "good spot of ground. . . even that which was choice above all other parts of the land of my vineyard." (See Jacob 5:43). There was intentional design involved to provide bounties in natural resources. There would be a place on Earth where the blessings of freedom could take root and flourish, and those blessings are mentioned in the preamble of the greatest document ever penned by the hand of man, the Constitution of the United States of America.

My thanks this year flow to God for enabling us to continue preserving our liberty. This is still a unique and exceptional country of ours. It was designed to be so if we could apply the choices of our agency to prevent those who would undermine and erode the stated goals of enthroning individual sovereignty here. When we permit the vocal minority who threaten to destroy the foundation upon which America was built, our free-enterprise, private-property system, and displace it with the collective redistribution of resources to equalize wealth, we have forsaken our heritage and squandered our agency.

Freedom has never been free, after all. The warriors on the battlefields of this world have been forever the watchful and protective guardians of freedom's flame. I despise war. As Benjamin Franklin said, "There is no such thing as a good war, and no such thing as a bad peace." But peace has been taken from the earth because of the abuse of agency. That said, we must forever remain grateful to Americans who voluntarily serve us in all branches of the Armed Forces. Many have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. They have valiantly defended this Republic and all our freedoms. They've done it for 235 years and counting.

When we brashly launched the American experiment in 1776 with an audacious accusation against King George III, the British tyrant, our founders penned a "self-evident truth" in the Declaration of Independence. The document states boldly their belief that all men are created equal. Every man is born with the same opportunity to make of his life what he chooses.

That inspired declaration is consistent with every revealed jot and tittle of the plan of happiness we have received from our Father in Heaven. It was never intended either in heaven or here on earth that every man would take the opportunity equally. The inequality of results was always assured. Once you pick agency, outcomes cannot be guaranteed, nor should they be. Guaranteeing outcomes is stripping freedoms. May we never tire of permitting opportunity for success in this country and allowing everyone to keep the fruits of his labor without fear of redistribution by a federal government grown too big, too cumbersome, and too invasive.

Let us give thanks for the colonists who originally discovered the secret to productivity, wealth, and happiness. Let us be vigilant in preserving that exceptional American tradition. Lest we forget, let us all remember these truths today especially. Let us remember that socialism was never, is not now, and never will be the law of consecration.

I am grateful for many things on this Thanksgiving Day in 2011. Most of all I am grateful for the God who continues to bless this "good spot of ground," the America I love, despite the growing evidence we are less and less deserving.

Let us realign our thinking and preserve these precious blessings for future generations.

Signs of the Times and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

2011-11-19T13:54:00.012-07:00

by Harry Anderson

Every year the course curriculum in the Church calls for these two lessons. I've taught both numerous times in my life in the Church. What never seems to disappoint whenever these topics come up is the number of Latter-day Saints who are clueless in their comments. Words like, "The Second Coming could happen any day." Or another favorite: "If we are more righteous, we will hasten the day." Or, "All the signs have been fulfilled, it's just a matter of how much longer the Lord waits."

These days I normally sit back and take it all in. I've all but given up trying to re-position the conversations back to the scriptures. It's just not helpful to the teacher.

Last week I sat in another high priest group discussion about the signs of the times. Because we've been travelling around to various wards for events involving grandchildren, no one will guess the ward of which I speak here. The instructor opened the Gospel Principles manual, cited the lesson title, then closed that book and opened Bruce R. McConkie's Mormon Doctrine, and proceeded to read the 51 signs of the times cited therein by the author. He got to number 19 before the time expired.

The pattern continues in far too many high priest groups, much to my dismay. A few weeks ago, same experience. Topic: The Postmortal Spirit World. Approach: Cite the lesson topic, then turn to Duane Crowther and someone (a non-member of the Church), who claimed to have been to the spirit world and back. Amazing.

Only one single scripture was cited in last week's lesson on the Signs of the Second Coming, so let us begin there: "And unto you it shall be given to know the signs of the times, and the signs of the coming of the Son of Man;" (D&C 68:11).

It would have been nice just to get the context of that one isolated verse, but it wasn't to be. The context is that the verse of scripture cited was a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith while the Church was still in its infancy (November 1831) -- only eighteen months after it was organized. It was a call for "all the faithful elders of my church" to be involved in missionary work. It was a clarion call to "Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, acting in the authority which I have given you, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. And he that believeth shall be blest with signs following, even as it is written." (D&C 68:8-10).

The "signs following" spoken of here include the signs that follow all believers in Jesus Christ -- they emulate the teachings and works of the Savior in their daily walk in discipleship. Those are perhaps the most compelling signs of the times: The miracle of the change of one heart at a time in the midst of all the wickedness is routinely undervalued.

Despite all the wickedness in the world today there are people who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and they not only talk the talk, but they walk the walk. Make no mistake, it is a daily struggle to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. It is a daily walk in faith that He was who He said He was -- the Redeemer of Israel who is mighty to save because He alone atoned for our sins. Believing that, His disciples today mirror His image in their countenance. The evidence of the existence of His disciples is everywhere. That's a sign of the times you can take to the bank.

The sequel lesson tomorrow, "The Second Coming of Christ," is the one I get to teach. From the moment Christ was taken up into heaven in the company of many witnesses on the Mount of Olives forty days after He was resurrected, speculation about the timing of His return has abounded. The expectation was chiseled into granite by two angels standing beside the Apostles who queried, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go." (Acts 1:11). All through sacred writings since that moment the anticipation has been that at any moment He could return.

Many years ago I spotted a bumper sticker: "Jesus is coming and he's pissed." It was a six-word memoir before they were even in vogue. The righteous will welcome Him, the wicked will tremble in fear. A Great and a Dreadful Day. Another six-word anomaly.

The lesson tomorrow suggests He will do five specific things when He comes again:

by Del Parson

1. He will cleanse the earth. Whenever something bad happens, people immediately jump to the conclusion that the Savior's return is imminent. I've written before about the reaction to 9/11. Many in our community thought it was the trigger for the much-anticipated Battle of Armageddon. He will come in great power and great glory. There will be no mistaking His identity this time. He will be clothed in garments of red, suggesting He trod the wine press alone, drenched in His own blood for the sins of mankind. (D&C 101:24-25; 133:42-62, also given in November, 1831): "And the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat. And so great shall be the glory of his presence that the sun shall hide his face in shame, and the moon shall withhold its light, and the stars shall be hurled from their places. And his voice shall be heard: I have trodden the wine-press alone, and have brought judgment upon all people; and none were with me; And I have trampled them in my fury, and I did tread upon them in mine anger, and their blood have I sprinkled upon my garments, and stained all my raiment; for this was the day of vengeance which was in my heart." While artists continue to represent the Savior in white (see above), the scriptures are clear. When He comes again His garments will be stained with the blood of the wicked instead of His own as they were in Gethsemane. (See D&C 19:16-19). "The end of the world," is interpreted to be the "destruction of the wicked." (See JS-M 1:4).

2. He will judge His people. The separation of the sheep from the goats, as foretold in Matthew 25:31-46 and D&C 63:54 will occur. The time for dithering and fence sitting will come to an end in an instant. The separation between the righteous and the wicked will be complete, judgment will be rendered. The same thing happens when we die and go through the veil -- a partial judgment between light and dark, good and evil, and righteousness and wickedness. (See Alma 40:11-14). I suspect the anticipation for the Second Coming on this side of the veil might be akin to the anticipation of the resurrection on the other side. (D&C 138:50). In the destruction, some of the righteous will perish right along with the wicked, suggesting that how we live our lives determines our eternal inheritance, not the timing or whether or not we survive destruction that is coming. (See TPJS, 162).

3. He will usher in the Millennium. For 1,000 years after His Second Coming, Jesus Christ will come to reign upon planet Earth. Those who are alive on the Earth at the time of His coming will be "caught up" (meaning resurrected) to meet Him at His coming. This event is what is described as the "morning of the first resurrection" in sacred places. (See D&C 88:96, a revelation given the day after Christmas, 1832, known as the "olive leaf. . . plucked from the Tree of Paradise, the Lord's message of peace to us"). It is really a continuation of the general resurrection that happened when He became the "first fruits" of the resurrection during his meridian ministry. Then those who have died and been faithful during their mortal probation between the time of His resurrection and the Second Coming, those who have become heirs of the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom, will also be "caught up" to meet Him at His coming. In other words, the morning of the first resurrection will be here.

President Brigham Young

President Brigham Young captured the essence of what will be happening during the Millennium in these words:

In the Millennium, when the Kingdom of God is established on the earth in power, glory and perfection, and the reign of wickedness that has so long prevailed is subdued, the Saints of God will have the privilege of building their temples, and of entering into them, becoming, as it were, pillars in the temples of God [see Revelation 3:12], and they will officiate for their dead. Then we will see our friends come up, and perhaps some that we have been acquainted with here. If we ask who will stand at the head of the resurrection in this last dispensation, the answer is — Joseph Smith, Junior, the Prophet of God. He is the man who will be resurrected and receive the keys of the resurrection, and he will seal this authority upon others, and they will hunt up their friends and resurrect them when they shall have been officiated for, and bring them up. And we will have revelations to know our forefathers clear back to Father Adam and Mother Eve, and we will enter into the temples of God and officiate for them. Then man will be sealed to man until the chain is made perfect back to Adam, so that there will be a perfect chain of Priesthood from Adam to the winding-up scene. (Discourses of Brigham Young, 116).

4. He will complete the First Resurrection. As we mentioned above, there is a specific order to resurrection. The faithful come forth from the graves first. (See D&C 88:97-98). The wicked who are destroyed at His coming remain in their graves until the end of the Millennium. Why? So they may have every possible opportunity to accept and embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ and to repent fully of their sins. It is the merciful part of "the great plan of happiness." The keys of resurrection will be in the hands of faithful patriarchal heads to each family. Who more than they would want to allow for every chance for their posterity to accept and embrace the gospel? All of our Heavenly Father's children will be given ample chances to see things as they really are, and to pierce the fogs of deception that have held them bound. This quote from Gospel Principles (p. 260) sums up:

"After Jesus Christ rose from the dead, other righteous people who had died were also resurrected. They appeared in Jerusalem and also on the American continent. (See Matthew 27:52–53; 3 Nephi 23:9–10).This was the beginning of the First Resurrection. Some people have been resurrected since then. Those who already have been resurrected and those who will be resurrected at the time of His coming will all inherit the glory of the celestial kingdom (see D&C 76:50–70).

"After the resurrection of those who will inherit celestial glory, another group will be resurrected: those who will receive a terrestrial glory. [I suggest the word "after" is when they are "ready" and not before, perhaps also as long as at the end of the Millennium, having settled their eternal station in their own minds and their righteous fathers before them having done all they could to affect the outcome in love, persuasion and long-suffering]. When all these people have been resurrected, the First Resurrection will be completed.

"The wicked who are living at the time of the Second Coming of the Lord will be destroyed in the flesh. They, along with the wicked who are already dead, will have to wait until the last resurrection. All of the remaining dead will rise to meet God. They will either inherit the telestial kingdom or be cast into outer darkness with Satan (see D&C 76:32–33, 81–112, emphasis mine)."

5. He will take His rightful place as King of heaven and earth. The "intrigues between the nations," all the "wars and rumors of wars" were all foreseen in a revelation on Christmas Day, 1832, known as D&C 87. We learn "with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations." (Emphasis mine). It is a worthy goal to pray for "peace on earth," but there will be no peace on earth until He comes again. Peace has been taken from the earth because of the unrighteous exercise of moral agency among the inhabitants. When Christ comes again He will come in triumphant glory to rule and reign, a complete reversal of His first birth in an obscure manger in Bethlehem. He will come this time as "Lord of lords, and King of kings." The epic words of Handel's Messiah, taken from Revelation 17:14, will finally be fulfilled: "Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6).

It is almost a "rite of passage" for members of the Church to speculate on the timing of the Second Coming. I know it was a passion of mine at one point in my life. When one is immersed in the study of the Word, it seems events could be accelerated and timing could be imminent. However, age, experience and hopefully some acquired wisdom along the way tempers such pursuits about timetables. I know I have been tempered in my life.

President Boyd K. Packer

We need look no further than the most recent General Conference to the words of the chief Apostle today, President Boyd K. Packer, for a clue about the timing of the Second Coming. Said he,

Sometimes you might be tempted to think as I did from time to time in my youth: “The way things are going, the world’s going to be over with. The end of the world is going to come before I get to where I should be.” Not so! You can look forward to doing it right — getting married, having a family, seeing your children and grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren. ("Counsel to Youth," Boyd K. Packer).

I would add one more valuable perspective for your consideration from President Lorenzo Snow, who stood in the Tabernacle over 100 years ago to open the 70th Annual General Conference. It was the first conference after the turn of the century in 1900, and it culminated a period of great trial and tribulation for the Church. Total Church membership then was approaching 300,000, with the majority of those members living in Utah.

President Lorenzo Snow

On Friday, April 6, 1900, President Snow said: “The Lord has prospered us amazingly, and we are doing large things at the present time. . . Now that we are approaching our seventy-first year, the Lord expects that we will do something — something that will cause the nations to marvel, as what we have done has caused them already to wonder.”

Then this thought-provoking statement: “Now, Latter-day Saints, how is it with us? We have received the Gospel. We have received the kingdom of God, established on the earth. We have had trouble; we have been persecuted. We were driven from Ohio; we were driven from Missouri; we were driven from Nauvoo; and once we were driven for a time from this beautiful city. Many have lost thousands of dollars; lost their homes and all they had, and some of the brethren have seen their wives and children lay down their lives because of the hardships they had to experience. . . The people have looked with astonishment at the willingness of the Latter-day Saints to suffer these things. Why do we do this? . . . What is it that enables us to endure these persecutions and still rejoice?”

President Snow then answered his own question. I suggest his answer still reverberates in the hearts of all true disciples over 100 years later: “It is because we have had revelations from the Almighty; because He has spoken to us in our souls and has given to us the Holy Ghost. . . This Church will stand, because it is upon a firm basis. It is not from man; it is not from the study of the New Testament or the Old Testament; it is not the result of the learning that we received in colleges nor seminaries, but it has come directly from the Lord. The Lord has shown it to us by the revealing principle of the Holy Spirit of light and every man can receive this same spirit.” (Conference Report, April 1900, 2–3, emphasis mine).

President Gordon B. Hinckley

President Gordon B. Hinckley, while touring the missions and stakes in Africa, made this assertion in 1998: "It isn't who we are and where we live. It is our attitude, our love and testimony, our faith and our conviction that make a difference in turning membership in this great and sacred Church."

He said that the membership [of the Church] will grow, "where there are now hundreds, there will be thousands, there will be tens of thousands. This gospel is true; it will spread over the earth.

"With 10 million members we've only begun. We've barely scratched the surface of what will come. I haven't the slightest doubt of that." (As reported 02/28/98 by John L. Hart, Church News staff writer, emphasis mine).

The take away from today's post? I hope it is this: You have time to live your lives in faith and anticipation for the Second Coming in the spirit of hope. There is still much to do before that day comes. So much, in fact, that it is a very long list of unfulfilled events waiting to transpire as we build Zion together.

Mormon eschatology is (or should be) clearly defined in our minds with no uncertainty.

Moral Imperatives and Penn State - Secrets Shouted from the Housetops

2011-11-12T07:57:00.007-07:00

The Savior warned us to never assume that our secrets would be safe. He prophesied they would be shouted from the housetops one day:

"For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." (Luke 12:2-3).

In light of developments at Penn State University last week, we would all do well to ponder that passage of scripture. We have all done and said things in secret, perhaps, that we would be all be embarrassed about if they were to be shouted from the housetops. In this age of digital communication, truly our every word can be instantly broadcast around the world. Our digital footprint is available to the world and on fully display. From any mobile phone, computer or other digital device we communicate instantly with others, and some of us actually still believe we can do whatever we do anonymously or in secret. As I suggested in an earlier post, not so!

Digital technology destroys our presumption of secrecy. WikiLeaks exposed thousands of classified government documents, embarrassing diplomatic leaders everywhere. How many of you know teenagers whose innocence has been betrayed when they were caught “sexting” to a friend? What they thought was innocent fun is suddenly broadcast everywhere, relationships are destroyed, and pain is inflicted.

Our deep dark secrets are harder and harder to hide. Sooner or later we are betrayed. If not in this world, doesn't anyone who believes in God have a sense of moral accountability before Almighty God? If what we do and say in secret is not revealed in this world, it will certainly be on full display when we stand before the judgment bar, won't it? How are we to assume we can hide from an omniscient God?

King Benjamin observed: "I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them. But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not." (Mosiah 4:29-30).

The question God poses to Adam in the garden after he has partaken of the forbidden fruit, "Adam, where art thou?" is not because God didn't know the answer. Rather, He was more interested in whether Adam knew the answer. I submit we must make every effort to speak, write, and act in greater purity before the Lord.

We are living in a very public world these days. As disciples of Christ, we are charged with bearing witness to His name in our lips, in our hearts and in our daily walk. I'm not as worried about what others think about me as I am about what my Savior thinks. His eyes are upon us all. He knows us. He will succor us in all things. The least we can do is reflect His glory in our lives in exchange for His atoning sacrifice on our behalf. Even though true disciples are not yet perfected, their diligence is required in eschewing the temptations with which we are beset.

Which brings me to the topic today. In the category of colossal moral lapses, cover-ups and hidden sins, the events at Penn State this last week are in a lamentable category all by themselves.

Former Penn State head football coach, Joe Paterno

In case you've been living under a rock, a storied football tradition at Penn State University came crashing back down to earth with the revelation that a defensive coach was in fact a serial child molester and had abused at least eight young boys under the noses of the university's top brass. After many years of head football coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham Spanier, acting in what they deemed to be the best interests of "the program," the board of trustees finally took action and fired both of them abruptly when the scandal blew up in their faces last week. The assistant coach who was allowed to retire without any of these sordid facts tainting his reputation, now stands arrested and will likely face the rest of his life in prison. The athletic director was put on administrative leave.

What a sad end to the career of college football's winningest coach. Whatever his legacy might have been in the future, it will now be forever tainted by his inability or unwillingness to prosecute swift justice against his assistant who was the perpetrator of the abuse against so many young and innocent boys. The scandal and his role in it will forever be the first item listed in his resume. How tragic!

"The failure of top university officials to act on reports of Sandusky's alleged sexual misconduct, even after it was reported to them in graphic detail by an eyewitness, allowed a predator to walk free for years — continuing to target new victims," said Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly. "Equally disturbing is the lack of action and apparent lack of concern among those same officials, and others who received information about this case, who either avoided asking difficult questions or chose to look the other way."

I have not read the court documents, but those who have waded through them describe Paterno's assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, as "a monster" at work under the safety and protection of a bureaucratic cover-up designed to protect "the program."

Even more troubling, perhaps, is the rioting on campus that ensued. I kept wondering as I watched those scenes unfold, "What are the parents of these students thinking about the lack of moral clarity in their children that they cannot distinguish between right and wrong?"

It's one thing to be loyal to an iconic football coach, but does that loyalty manifest itself inappropriately and is it out of step with reality when it supports the obvious lack of moral turpitude of those who were in a position to end the abuse but failed to?

Do crowds of college students taking to the streets in the middle of the night and overturning a media truck in fury for reporting the facts of the matter make the disclosure of the beastly conduct of one assistant football coach somehow acceptable?

Does defending the indefensible somehow trump the morality of basic human conduct?

When does football become more important than what is considered a reasonable, even minimal, standard of acceptable moral behavior?

Even in a godless society, does sexual abuse of young boys by an authority figure EVER become morally justified in the name of protecting "the program?"

Can anyone, even a casual observer, even begin to count the cost in the lives of those boys, their families and the sordid ramifications of their future lives in the wake of what was perpetrated upon their souls? I am a somber witness of what can happen to the life of an innocent child who is sodomized at a young age. The ripples in that pond can go on and on forever.

I sincerely hope the twisted thinking of school administrators at Penn State who looked the other way in this sordid series of events is not representative of what is going on nationwide in other schools, but there is evidence it is not unique to Penn State. The culture of the NCAA has contributed to these events, I am sorry to say. The quest for money, ever increasing amounts of it, while somehow proclaiming its amateur status is naive. You can't have it both ways.

The purity of the NCAA's amateur image is continually challenged as recruiting violations pile up, disclosures of under the table payments to star athletes by boosters are disclosed, and the list goes on and on. Those guilty of crimes are routinely slapped on the hands, then go on to sign multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts with professional teams. Purity and college (even high school) athletic programs are not often two words found in the same sentence. There is a distortion over what is right and what can be considered acceptable conduct when boosting your "program," it seems.

The stark revelations at Penn State are a reminder once again that what we think is true, we hope is true, because we seem to value sports figures so much in our society, is nothing more than a sordid sham of excessive proportions.

The moral question was put into sharp contrast for me when I read in The New York Times a statement of one of the rioters who said, "It's not fair. The board is an embarrassment to our school and a disservice to the student population."

Really? The board of trustees acted decisively and accurately when it ended the season of Paterno prematurely by firing him, along with the university's president. As leaders of the university, the lapse in their moral judgment was appalling. Where's the outrage for the abused? Students are angry because their beloved coach was fired?

The evidence suggests both knew what was going on for fifteen years right under their noses and they took no decisive measures to clean house. Now their reputations, whatever they were before the events of last week, will be forever tainted and attached to this scandal. Evermore, they will have to live with their complicit decisions to see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

And there is nothing supportive rioting students can do to alter that fact.

Mitt Romney, Daniel's Little Stone, and World Domination

2011-11-06T07:40:00.007-07:00

Because Mitt Romney is running for President of the United States in this campaign cycle, much attention is being focused on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Though he laid concerns to rest in the last presidential campaign about taking his instructions from 47 E. South Temple Street in Salt Lake City, much as John F. Kennedy would have to do when he was the first Catholic to run for the presidency, rumors and innuendo persist. What are the true aims of this upstart Mormon who would presume to have the American people put him in the White House? Is there a secret agenda among Mormons to control the world?

In a word, Yes. But it's not what you think.

In a previous post I discredited the infamous "White Horse Prophecy," and today I would make a further declaration now that Romney's candidacy has advanced to the point it has, making him the presumptive choice of the Republicans. It is this: With or without Mitt Romney in the White House, Daniel's prophecy about the little stone cut out of the mountain without hands will be fulfilled in its entirety. Mitt Romney or any other Mormon who runs and is elected to public office notwithstanding, the true prophecies and Daniel's interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream will come to pass. The little stone was interpreted by Daniel to be "a kingdom" that would begin rolling after being cut "from a mountain without hands" that would become larger as it rolled forth until it had filled the whole earth. (See Daniel 2:34-35, 44; D&C 65:2).

That little stone today is easily identifiable as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Orson Pratt, "Theocracy," JD 7:210). It began with six members in a log home in Fayette, New York, on April 6, 1830. Thus was born a "mini-nation within a nation." A branch of the house of Israel had been planted "in a good spot of ground" and would eventually flourish and spread forth. (See Jacob 5:25). It is the fulfillment of the promise made to Father Abraham, who was promised he would become the father of "many nations." (JST Genesis 17:8-9; Genesis 17:5).

President Gordon B. Hinckley

If the truth be told, with or without Mitt Romney, the Church has become a mighty empire, characterized in recent years by this statement by President Gordon B. Hinckley, who observed in 2005 the demise of the British Empire: "There is now another empire. It is the empire of Christ the Lord. It is the empire of the restored gospel. It is the kingdom of God. And the sun never sets on this kingdom. It has not come of conquest, of conflict, or war. It has come of peaceful persuasion, of testimony, of teaching, one here and another there." ("Opening Remarks," Ensign, November 4, 2005).

The enemies of Mitt Romney have nothing to fear. If they think for one minute by defeating him the little stone can be stopped in its tracks, or that it will alter or reverse its course by stopping his candidacy, they are sadly mistaken. With or without Mitt Romney in the White House, the destiny of the little stone's trajectory and the Church's role in it remains unchanged.

There was a time anciently when Israel was "a nation within a nation." (See Deuteronomy 4:34). By turning away from God's law, however, Israel lost her identity as a nation. (See Jeremiah 31:6). On April 6, 1830, however, Israel regained her status as a nation with the restoration of the gospel and the establishment of a latter-day kingdom. This kingdom was a spiritual kingdom in the beginning, not a political one, and not until the eventual return of the King of kings and Lord of lords will it become the universal nation referred to by Jehovah when He appeared to Abraham in Haran. (See Micah 4:3-7).

As early as 1832, in a revelation given September 22 and 23, we have this directive from the Lord:

And verily I say unto you, the rest of my servants, go ye forth as your circumstances shall permit, in your several callings, unto the great and notable cities and villages, reproving the world in righteousness of all their unrighteous and ungodly deeds, setting forth clearly and understandingly the desolation of abomination in the last days.
For, with you saith the Lord Almighty, I will rend their kingdoms; I will not only shake the earth, but the starry heavens shall tremble.
For I, the Lord, have put forth my hand to exert the powers of heaven; ye cannot see it now, yet a little while and ye shall see it, and know that I am, and that I will come and reign with my people.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Amen. (D&C 84:117-120, emphasis mine).

The kingdom of God on the earth today is now worldwide in its influence, and it will continue to grow. Nothing can stop its forward momentum. Today, already, it fills "the whole earth." Temples dot the globe, an eventuality long foretold. One day it will be found in all nations -- a "nation within nations." It is because truth and light cannot be suppressed.

Joseph Smith

Said Joseph Smith, writing in 1842 to John Wentworth, Editor of the Chicago Democrat:

The Standard of Truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame. But the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, until the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah will say, "The work is done.” (HC 4:535-40).

Even earlier in 1834, in Kirtland, Ohio, the Church still in its infancy, Wilford Woodruff told of the following event:

President Wilford Woodruff

On Sunday night the Prophet called on all who held the Priesthood to gather into the little log school house they had there. It was a small house, perhaps 14 feet square. But it held the whole of the Priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were then in the town of Kirtland. . . . When we got together the Prophet called upon the Elders of Israel with him to bear testimony of this work. . . . When they got through the Prophet said, "Brethren I have been very much edified and instructed in your testimonies here tonight, but I want to say to you before the Lord, that you know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother’s lap. You don’t comprehend it." I was rather surprised. He said "it is only a little handful of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America — it will fill the world.” (CR, April 1898, 57).

Two years later in dedicating the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet Joseph prayed, "that the kingdom, which thou hast set up without hands, may become a great mountain and fill the whole earth." (D&C 109:72).

Truman Madsen characterized another such audacious statement by Joseph Smith's successor, Brigham Young, in these words:

President Brigham Young

There is from the earliest records of this man's [Brigham Young's] vision, incredible grasp. Imagine walking into this valley [Salt Lake], one tree, and it is dead. Stands up on a wagon the day after they arrived, a hundred and something people, opening line, "Attention the whole world." And then (paraphrasing), "We have come here to fill these rocky mountains. We have come here to establish, never to be thrown down, the kingdom of God on the earth. From this place the power and word of God will reach all mankind." And a few other humble and minor predictions like that. Brigham had the vision. (Lecture Three by Truman G. Madsen, Life and Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Tape 2, Bookcraft, 1997).

President Heber J. Grant

President Heber J. Grant offered these insights on the future of the Church: "Our enemies have never done anything that has injured this work of God, and they never will. . . [A]nd all the disbelief of the world, all the opposition of all the world cannot stop it, God has established it and it will go on and on until it has fulfilled its destiny. . . The little stone cut from the mountain without hands is to roll forth and fill the whole earth." (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Heber J. Grant, 216).

President David O. McKay

The worldwide reach of the Church began to blossom and spread under the administration of President David O. McKay. In 1952, speaking in General Conference, he said: "God bless the Church. It is worldwide. Its influence should be felt by all nations. May his spirit influence men everywhere and incline their hearts toward good will and peace." (Gospel Ideals, 584, emphasis mine).

The promises made to Father Abraham have come to pass already, and will continue to expand in the days and years ahead. In every sense the promise that the Lord would "make of [Abraham] a great nation," and the promise that through his seed "all the families/nations of the earth" would be blessed are being fulfilled. The seed of Abraham have become a nation within all the nations.

We must make clear the stone cut out of the mountain without hands has already rolled forth. It has had an impact upon nations and kingdoms. Even in recent months kingdoms of tyrannical dictators have continued to fall in succession. Since the restoration of the gospel in 1830, none has fallen through any force or violence by the Lord's emissaries who are among the seed of Abraham or Israel. Rather, all power and influence in the kingdom of God is exercised through the righteous use of the priesthood, "by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge." (D&C 121:41-42). Priesthood power in this kingdom is something quite different than the abuses of power so prevalent in governments set up by men's hands. Richard L. Bushman put it well in his epic treatment of Joseph Smith, in these words: "The democratic concern about political power seemed beside the point when the power of the priesthood was the power of God." (Joseph Smith Rough Stone Rolling, 265-269).

The truth and light of the restoration of the gospel, now proclaimed by some 50,000 missionaries worldwide representing the Church, coupled with the light and majesty of the Constitution of the United States of America, are quietly and peacefully leavening the whole earth. (See Matthew 13:33; Mark 4:26-28; Luke 13:20-21; D&C 35:13-14).

People will push back on that statement that things are going forward "peacefully" since there is so much evidence of war and bloodshed. However, the Church has no control over the intrigues between nations, whether or not national borders are enforced. These conflicts have actually contributed to the spreading of the gospel among Abraham's seed and the spreading of Abraham's nation of believers within the nations in the midst of all the calamities that have befallen the world in the these last days. The days ahead will continue to add numbers to the ranks of those who will be weary of war, and they will increasingly turn to the stakes of Zion throughout the earth for safety. The City of Zion will someday be viewed as "terrible." "And it shall be said among the wicked: Let us not go up to battle against Zion, for the inhabitants of Zion are terrible; wherefore we cannot stand." (D&C 5:14; 45:70).

The leavening of the nations continues, and never discount the influence of the constitutional government the Lord established in America. It was brought forth by good and wise men whom the Lord raised up for that very purpose. Its influence will continue to roll forth because the land of America was foreordained to preserve and protect freedoms throughout the earth. (D&C 101:77-80; 109:54).

So where is this notion of world dominion by the Mormons coming from? On the one hand it is God's kingdom rolling forth in fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, but it is also a Satanic copycat at work here, a demonic imitation of the real thing. Satan is offering up a counterfeit, and its earmarks are now more easily discerned. Ultimately, Satan's dominions on this earth will collapse in upon itself, because it is unsustainable. The little stone will destroy what is not destroyed by the wicked among themselves. Read this projection of the future, and then ask yourselves, "Is 'world domination' by the Mormons (if that is their aim) really such an awful specter compared to what might happen if the forces of Satan's counterfeit are triumphant?" You be the judge:

Paraphrasing three contemporaries of the Prophet Joseph Smith regarding the role of the Constitution in the Millennium: The other three seem to say, that this form of government, which the Prophet called a glorious standard, this Constitution which cost, according to our own scriptures, the best blood of the [18th] century, . . . this Constitution, which is a canape of guaranteeing certain basic rights in a republican form of government, will ultimately extend its influence worldwide. Other forms of government will eventually crumble, and in that sense if I read him correctly, the Constitution will win by default.
The only stable society that eventually will obtain, even in this glorious country of America, unless we repent, and there isn't a lot of evidence of that at the moment, . . . the only people that will be secure in both the spiritual and temporal senses, call it safety if you want, because Joseph did, will be in the stakes of Zion. Temporal as well as spiritual survival, will depend upon peoples clustering who do continue to uphold the Constitution, and who also honor, love and serve the God of his land, who is Jesus Christ. But eventually, and especially in the Millennium, world government will be literally based upon the Constitution. (Joseph Smith, as quoted and paraphrased in Lecture Three by Truman G. Madsen, Life and Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Tape 2, Bookcraft, 1997, emphasis mine).

This great nation of Abraham will become more visible in the days ahead. We still have before us the building of the New Jerusalem. Among other things, Zion will be characterized as occupying all of North and South America. As it was in the days of Enoch, so shall it yet be: "The fear of the Lord was upon all nations, so great was the glory of the Lord, which was upon his people." (Moses 7:17). "The glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord also shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion." (D&C 45:66-71).

It will not occur overnight, the ultimate fulfillment of these prophecies. However, with the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the conversion of Judah, the return of the Lord in glory, and the establishment of two world capitols, one in Zion and one in Jerusalem, with the return of the inhabitants of the city of Enoch, it will someday be said that truly the nation of Abraham has been born "in one day." (Isaiah 66:7-8). This will just be the beginning of the physical kingdom over which the Savior will someday rule and reign when He comes again. In the meantime, all the priesthood keys that authorize the Abrahamic covenant now available to everyone on earth today without restriction, reside in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Every day of their lives, faithful Mormons are conspiring for the salvation of the whole human race. It is a conspiracy of love, and the participants are the covenant people of modern Israel, and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, even Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Promised Messiah. To the descendants of Ishmael he is Allah. When His true identity is someday known, He will be reigning and ruling among us.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Said Elder Bruce R. McConkie: "This kingdom is going to grow and increase, multiply and abound, and nothing can stop it, until the day comes that it will be both an ecclesiastical kingdom and a political kingdom, and it will govern in all things - spiritual, civil, temporal, and political." (CR, October 1958, 116).

Conclusion:

For all the printers' ink that is being spilled on Mitt Romney these days, and for all the people who fear those "cultists" - the Mormons - let it be known now and forevermore: The God of Abraham is doing everything within His awesome power to spread the truth about the salvation of God to every nation, kindred, tongue and people living on earth today. They are all His children. He would have them live in peace among one another, even if it means they will have to suffer mightily to learn the lessons that war can so cruelly teach. The land promised to the descendants of Abraham, including the children of Israel and Ishmael, will someday be cohabited in peace by Palestinian Arabs and Jews.

With or without Mitt Romney as the next occupant of the White House, the kingdom of God will roll forth until it has filled the whole earth. While Romney's candidacy is tantalizing to most members of the Church, he is doing everything he can to disavow how his presidency might be linked to the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have just outlined in broad brush strokes what that doctrine is.

But Mitt Romney, I emphasize, or any other elder of Israel, has little to do with its ultimate fruition. A true theocracy transcends the petty political machinations presently before us. What we are witnessing today is political theater, having little to do with the prophecies described in holy writ.

We as a Church are the little stone Daniel saw and interpreted in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. We are the lineal descendants of Abraham with all the birthright blessings of the covenants. As members of the restored Church we are almost all descendants of Joseph, the birthright son of Israel, through Ephraim and Manasseh. We invite all to come in at the expansive tent door of Abraham, and we do mean ALL. In the tent of Abraham there is room for EVERYONE. That's "world domination," Abraham-style.

And it has little or nothing to do with Mitt Romney's candidacy. It might matter to Mitt whether or not he's elected, but whether Mitt Romney is eventually elected as President of the United States or not will have little impact on the final victory of the family of Abraham, the establishment of Zion, and the triumphal Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

That knowledge of the final outcome has been "out of the bag" for a very long time, and it's no secret conspiracy.

Try Writing Your Six-Word Memoir

2011-11-05T10:03:00.001-06:00

Just when I think I've seen or heard everything, something new pops up on my radar. This week I stumbled across an idea that was something strangely unique:

Your life in a six-word memoir. Count them - only six words there. Then write paragraphs in six-word sentences. See how long you can go. It's an interesting exercise needing practice. Almost anyone can do it too. Once you start, you won't stop. But this paragraph will now end. Only six words, count them all.

Little did I know at the time there was a complete and well-developed genre for this kind of six-word exercise. Here's the web link to the original site where you'll find hundreds of examples in many categories of six-word expressions about nearly everything. Who knew?

So if you had to summarize your life to this point in six words, what would you say about yourself?

Here are some that jumped out at me for a variety of reasons, some serious, some funny, some whimsical, and some thought-provoking:

"Sharing smiles earning frequent happiness miles."

"Rediscovering why I married my wife."

"Happiness is an attitude of gratitude."

"Question that you would ask God?"

"Best advice for a new mother?"

"Could have used her advice today."

"America's naysayers outnumber the yes sayers."

"It's my home, I'll come back."

"This is America. Everything is improbable."

"Never thought I'd be this old."

"Have broken 6 Commandments, almost 7."

"Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!"

"Pain is temporary, hope is forever."

"Never made headlines, only wrote them."

"What's old is new again tomorrow."

"He who writes first writes best."

"Moms really are the best advice-givers."

"Considered suicide, but dinner was ready."

"Misunderstood, suicide, drugs, now Jesus freak."

"Facebook members knowingly commit privacy suicide."

"I'm the hero of my story."

So hopefully you've found a new word game here that will test your powers of condensation. I've learned many times as a writer that it's always harder to condense than it is to expand. For those who struggle with their journal writing and their aborted attempts at putting together a life story, this might be a useful exercise in overcoming the writer's block. Take a few periods of your life and write the headlines in six words.

Here are examples from my life (in six words):

"Life, more sweet than bitter mostly."

"Son first, then husband, father, grandfather."

"England to be missionary, got converted."

"Vietnam my generation's war, now al-Qaeda."

"Being Dad best gift from Patsy."

"New president needed in America. Who?"

"Snowy Pine Valley, Spring always follows."

"Staying here until Thanksgiving, then out."

"Missing Christmas, white and quiet here."

"No inversion up here, down there."

"Looking back occasionally, still pointed forward."

"If you're done changing, you're done."

"Repentance daily, good soul food forever."

"Holy scriptures, holy temple, holy people."

"Holey shoes, holey socks, holey economy."

"Jobs aplently, but you look harder."

"Fire's warm, snow's falling, beauty's everywhere."

"Herman Cain, unnamed women from NRA?"

"I remember when NRA meant guns."

"Mitt Romney, whooda thunk it? Us?"

"Newt Gingrich, next anti-Romney in Iowa."

"Jon Huntsman, China was more friendly."

"Rick Perry, Texas meteor flame out."

"Michele Bachmann, pint-sized in tall timber."

"Ron Paul, here's your sign: 'Fed-up!'"

"Rick Santorum, once a better Senator."

"Barack Obama, Marx and Keynes? Yup."

"Second Coming? More signs every day."

"Fig leaf watch includes Independence, Jerusalem."

"Don't hold your breath, hold fast."

"Be patient until I come. Someday."

"Follow Brethren, they know the way."

"Today's post, all about six words."

Try it, you'll like it. . . too.

A Mormon Defines Israel in Today's World

2011-10-29T08:38:00.009-06:00

As I have stated before, I do not speak for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), but I am a Mormon with an opinion. I have never been shy about sharing what I believe to be true.

Two facts this past week have prompted this post. 1) It was announced there will soon be 7 billion people living on planet Earth. Of course these numbers are difficult to nail down with precision, but "close enough" will have to suffice; and 2) according to a new poll by The Hill newspaper, 69 percent of Americans now believe the USA is in "decline." In addition, a whopping 83 percent indicate they are worried about America's future.

So how do those two seemingly unrelated facts intersect? They came together in my mind to suggest that very few people on planet Earth today understand, know or even believe these facts are part of the Grand Design of our Father in Heaven who knows the beginning from the end and has made ample provisions for His children because He loves them all and is no respecter of persons.

The Prophet Joseph Smith has delivered this plain and simple truth: "At the first organization in heaven we were all present and saw the Savior chosen and appointed and the plan of salvation made, and we sanctioned it." (TPJS, 181).

The "we" in his statement includes everyone currently living on the Earth today. Everyone. All 7 billion of us. In fact, it includes everyone who has ever lived on the Earth since the dawn of Earth's creation (more properly "organization," since matter is neither created nor destroyed, but is eternal - see D&C 131:7).

Unlearned Joseph Smith could not possibly have understood the first law of thermodynamics during his lifetime, but it was obviously revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, as he states below, and he shared this insight at a funeral for his good friend, a man named King Follett:

“Now I ask all who hear me, why the learned men who are preaching salvation, say that God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing? The reason is, that they are unlearned in the things of God, and have not the gift of the Holy Ghost; they account it blasphemy in any one to contradict their idea. If you tell them that God made the world out of something, they will call you a fool. But I am learned, and know more than all the world put together. The Holy Ghost does, anyhow, and He is within me, and comprehends more than all the world: and I will associate myself with Him.
“You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing; and they will answer, 'Doesn't the Bible say He created the world?’ And they infer, from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the [Hebrew] word baurau which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos — chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time he had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end.” (TPJS, 350-52).

Abraham was shown all these spirit children before we were born, and he saw that "among all these there were many of the noble and great ones." The Lord then said, "Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born." (Abraham 3:22-23). "The noble and great ones" were all of Abraham's future posterity - referred to as "the elect," those who would hold the priesthood, those who are Lord's "chosen people," those whom we know today in the broad definition as "Israel." Abraham would become "the father of the faithful." (D&C 138:41).

We learned there was a war in heaven, the theme was the contention over moral agency (or sometimes, "free agency.") Taught Joseph Smith: "The contention in heaven was — Jesus said there would be certain souls that would not be saved; and the devil said he could save them all, and laid his plans before the grand council, who gave their vote in favor of Jesus Christ. So the devil rose up in rebellion against God, and was cast down, with all who put up their heads for him. (Book of Moses — Pearl of Great Price, Chap. 4:1-4; Book of Abraham, Chap. 3:23-28.)" (TPJS, 357).

"The father of all lies" (see Moses 4:4, Ether 8:25, 2Nephi 2:18) is a perfect description of Satan. Notwithstanding his subtlety and brilliance, Lucifer lost the war in heaven, but he did not quit, nor did he surrender. Instead he took the hosts who followed him, denied the privilege of a physical body, and continues to wage the war against agency today on Earth. Those of us on Earth today saw through his craftiness because the evidence is we are here and we all have physical bodies - 7 billion of us.

At every stage of our existence, first as organized intelligences, followed by our existence as spirits during the war in heaven, then here on Earth today, and someday in the glorious world of spirits and the resurrection yet ahead, we are always granted that precious gift - our moral agency. We may choose freely without compulsion. Everything about our Heavenly Father's plan of salvation suggests it could not exist without moral agency. We are enlarged and our choices expand until they are as wide as all eternity if we are faithful in the correct use of our agency.

It was John who preserved this precious doctrine taught by the Savior: "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32).

If (it's a big IF these days) we learn the truth and obey it, we shall be free, even as free as God is.

President Harold B. Lee

President Harold B. Lee, in his pinnacle General Conference address (October 1973), said this:

"It would seem very clear, then, that those born to the lineage of Jacob, who was later to be called Israel, and his posterity, who were known as the children of Israel, were born into the most illustrious lineage of any of those who came upon the earth as mortal beings.
"All these rewards were seemingly promised, or foreordained, before the world was. Surely these matters must have been determined by the kind of lives we had lived in that premortal spirit world. Some may question these assumptions, but at the same time they will accept without any question the belief that each one of us will be judged when we leave this earth according to his or her deeds during our lives here in mortality. Isn’t it just as reasonable to believe that what we have received here in this earth life was given to each of us according to the merits of our conduct before we came here?
"Now there is another important understanding that we have from the scriptures. We are all free agents, which means to some people who manifest a spirit of rebellion that they are free to do anything they please, but that is not the correct meaning of free agency as the prophets have declared in the scriptures where free agency has been defined. I quote:
“'Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediation of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.'” (2 Nephi 2:27).

President Lee continued:

“Who are you? You are all the sons and daughters of God. Your spirits were created and lived as organized intelligences before the world was. You have been blessed to have a physical body because of your obedience to certain commandments in that premortal state. You are now born into a family to which you have come, into the nations through which you have come, as a reward for the kind of lives you lived before you came here and at a time in the world’s history, as the apostle Paul taught the men of Athens and as the Lord revealed to Moses, determined by the faithfulness of each of those who lived before this world was created." (Ensign, January 1974, 2-5).

Here's the important point as it affects Israel and all of God's children today: All God's children were of the foreordained spiritual family of Christ in the premortal world and were included in the broad family of Israel. They were all foreordained to join the eternal family of Christ during the days of their mortal probation. The gospel, it was agreed, would be preached to everyone, and they would all be given the opportunity to become the "chosen and the elect" during the days of their mortal probation. All these, we are told, "the Father had put into his [Christ's] power, and they were made by him." (D&C 76:42-43). All were good, and all were deserving of all the blessings they could obtain through their faithfulness in some degree of salvation.

All were given an opportunity to experience this second estate. The elect were foreordained to come into the world through the chosen lineage, and were foreordained to obtain eternal life. Significantly, and sometimes forgotten by all of us, everyone would be given an opportunity to obtain the very same blessings and promises to improve their station and to choose eternal life not only during the days of their mortal probation, but for as long as it took in the spirit world hereafter to fulfill the promises given to them in the premortal world. Whether by birthright lineage or eventual adoption into Israel, all were foreordained to exaltation who were worthy of a body in their second estate. Because God is no respecter of persons, ample opportunities are the sum and substance of His plan of salvation. The key is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Remarkable to me is that we perform all these ordinances vicariously for all in our family tree who have predeceased us. We give them the gift of the Holy Ghost vicariously here on Earth, so they may exercise its blessings in the spirit world where they reside. They are ordained vicariously to the priesthood so they may also minister to others in the spirit world as they advance in light and truth. All are alike unto God, and all have equal claim on all the blessings -- if they repent.

So what does all this mean about America's future? Freedom is the lynch pin that makes it possible for the gospel of Jesus Christ to exist on Earth today and to flourish in our lives. The United States of America is the bastion of freedom in the world today, so that all may come in at the front door of Israel's expansive tent. Yes, we are all kin to the state of Israel politically, but spiritually America's destiny is to provide and to protect freedom for all God's children living on the Earth today no matter where they reside on Earth. Zion is spreading forth globally. Satan's dominions, intimidating as they seem, are only an illusory passing night vision that will one day evaporate like the frost when the sun rises.

We may despair from time to time about America in decline, but truthfully, America will stand as long as the Earth itself stands, and as long as the hearts of freedom-loving people still beat in the breasts of those who reside in "the land of the free and the home of the brave," the outcome is assured.

The New Jerusalem is yet to be built before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and we know it will be established here in America and nowhere else. (10th Article of Faith; D&C 84:1-5).

All the doomsday talk notwithstanding, all the wars and rumors of wars, all the upheavals imaginable, all the filth and wickedness aside, the promises to the faithful remain:

"Zion shall be redeemed, although she is chastened for a little season." (D&C 100:13).

May we always prove worthy of the trust as the chosen seed of Israel and citizens of this great land of freedom as we build Zion together.

President Obama's Historic Approval Slide

2011-10-25T09:20:00.000-06:00

No matter who does the polling, it seems the once-wildly popular president who started with the mantra of "hope and change" has plummeted as the country has realized neither since his election.

I am one who never lays all the blame for everything at the feet of the current president whoever he is, but these numbers published today are certainly sobering and disheartening. No one wins when the president becomes this weak in the opinions of the most likely voters.

There's a poll out this week about the economy. The findings are not encouraging. The USA Today/Gallup poll says 35 percent of respondents assess the U.S. economy as no better than a year ago and 42 percent say it is worse.

Sixty-one percent said they expect the economy over the next year to be similar to now, or worse, Gallup said Wednesday. The findings are based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,004 adults conducted Sept. 15-18. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points.

Again, one man in America cannot solve all the problems. It's a popular myth, but the one thing one man can do is chart a course for everyone else. He can lead. He can work with Congress to find a path.

What is really unhelpful is someone who flaunts Constitutional checks and balances, goes over the head of Congress with "czars," travels the country on Air Force One at taxpayer expense, never stops campaigning and raising money for his own re-election, and is tone deaf to the expressed wishes of a majority of likely voters. His disdain for the electorate is now on full display and it is reflected in his historic slide in approval ratings. He has lost his connection with the people.

That one man is Barack Obama. I noticed in Steve Jobs' recently published biography that he expressly warned Obama he would be a one-term president unless he changed his course as a president who is profoundly unfriendly to business. He either has no idea how destructive his economic policies are, or he is malicious. Take your pick, the result is the same. . .

And it explains his historic slide in approval among common sense Americans.