Inside the Temple

Last week, I came across an article in the Salt Lake Tribune about Temple Worship. While the article was fine, the comment section was full of vile, bitter, sacrilegious offenses. I mean it seriously made me ill reading over it. There were things I hold sacred, written across the internet for all to see. Needless to say, it prompted me to my current topic this week, Sacred.

12 And it was because of the ^apride of their hearts, because of their exceeding ^briches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the ^cpoor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a ^dmock of that which was sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and of revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery, rising up in great contentions, and deserting away into the land of Nephi, among the Lamanites- [Hel 4:12]

And what happened after that? One only needs to read verse 13 to see,

13 And because of this their great wickedness, and their ^aboastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands. [Hel 4:13]

The often quoted, “is nothing sacred” seems to be a common mantra these days. TV, Movies, the written word – all seem to try their best at pushing the envelope of what they can get away with. We are bombarded with Satan’s corruption of what was once holy. Everything is fair game it seems, including what goes on in our Temples. It saddens me that people that knew better at one point in their lives, find it necessary to throw pearls before swine. Where is the respect, the courtesy?

My challenge for this week, and really it’s for the month – because I know how busy things can get during the week, is to add one extra temple session to your normal month’s routine. Use the opportunity to remove yourself from the world, and feel the love of Christ. Nothing is as refreshing as a visit to the Temple, for me.

Priesthood Blessing

Wherever we go, our priesthood goes with us.¹

A few years ago, I had this little fold out in my wallet. It was awesome, it had all the Melchizedek priesthood ordinances, including the sacrament prayers in a nice little laminated fold out. You keep it in your wallet and whenever you need it, there it was.

Well, since then, I’ve had a couple of different versions of it, most were homemade – I had heard at some point you could get them at the distribution center, but then someone had told me they no longer carried them.

Lately, I’ve been asked to participate more and more with ordinances, and blessings – and of course there’s the odd time getting tapped to take the sacrament around to shut ins and to a hospital down the street.

Of course, I’m getting better at remembering exactly what I’m suppose to say – but for awhile, I’d have to write it down or ask someone what I was suppose to say.

So I thought I would put together a quick and easy little fold out, for those – who like me, are willing to serve, but may not know what to say or remember exactly what to say.

Before I show it, I just want to say – I’m no print professional, if someone would like to update it – please do, just send me the files you use and the process so I can update it.

Alright, so really it’s 2 files – side A and side B. I did it this way for double sided printing. I don’t like a lot of extra width in my wallet, and so I tried to accommodate that.

The spacing isn’t perfect, and it’s gonna take good eye site – but it serves the purpose.

The files are in both Word 97/XP/2003 .doc format and Open Office Writer 3.0 .odt format. When you print, you’ll need to fiddle with it and figure out which way your printer prints. Face down, face up and so forth to get the double side printed right.

I went a step further and laminated mine. It adds a little bit of bulk when folding, but it’ll slim down after being in your wallet for awhile.

It covers:

1. Naming and Blessing a Child
2. Baptism
3. Consecrating Oil
4. Anointing with Oil
5. Father’s Blessing and Other Blessings of Comfort and Counsel
6. Confirmation
7. Sacrament (prayers only)
8. Administering to the Sick
9. Sealing the Anointing
10. Dedicating a Grave

Side A

Side B

So Men – let’s be completely prepared for those unknown moments when you’re called out of the blue and you’re needed for any type of ordinance, or you’re child’s baptism is coming up and you want that peace of mind right up till it’s time – this is for you! No excuses now…

Constitutional Convention

Alright, so I’m going to cheat a little bit here, some may have noticed that “Constitutional” doesn’t exist in the Topical Guide. It’s really more of a stretch verses a cheat. If you look up  the word Constitution in the Topical Guide, you’ll get referred to “Citizenship; Governments”, I chose Governments and ended up with a list of scriptures, one of which used the word constitutional. So you can see how I came to the word I am using.

Over the weekend, there was some discussion, or arguing depending on which side you were on, about what our prophets have said on the matter and what we’re suppose to be doing.

Why this topic stuck in my mind was due to a comment my father in law said that our Constitution was given to all people, not just America. That struck me, because I had never heard that nor ever really thought about it that way.

The verse that gave me constitutional also, I think answers that question. D&C 98:5 states:

5 And that ^alaw of the land which is ^bconstitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me.

It’s pretty plain, “belongs to all mankind“, but what does that mean to you or I?

I don’t want to go into a huge diatribe about all the ins and outs of this topic, it could be huge – but suffice it to say there are a number of talks given by our prophets on the subject.

But there is something more I want you to glean out of that of that verse and the one that follows it.

6 Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the ^aconstitutional law of the land;

We should be trying to learn as much as we can about our Constitution, our Government and the laws that are being made daily.

When the people shall have torn to shreds the Constitution of the United States, the elders of Israel will be found holding it up to the nations of the earth and proclaiming liberty and equal rights to all men and extending the hand of fellowship to the oppressed of all nations. This is part of the program and as long as we do what is right and fear God He will help us and stand by us under all circumstances. –John Taylor, JD 21:8, August 31, 1879

We have an obligation to learn and teach, and spread the word of this great document. We have been asked by our prophets if we are ready to take up the reigns, and if we are not then we are to be held accountable.

So the question remains, are you ready?

The goals for the week, learn the Constitution, learn about current laws being enacted, learn about our (LDS members) roll in keeping this nation free and what that really means.

Are You Still Learning?

Sometime ago, and yes I’ve forgotten what the name of the talk was – but I know who it was by. It was given by Cleon Skousen. It mentioned that David O. McKay wanted to have current events discussed in Priesthood meeting, but ultimately was afraid of the backlash it would cause. Then more recently, like yesterday I started reading (listening) to Jack Monnett’s book “Awakening To Our Awful Situation” that again made mention of being commanded in studying current events along with histories.

I really wanted to put some validation to this. While I have been unable to find much with what I heard from Cleon Skousen, I was able after a little while digging around the internets to put some validation to being commanded in continual learning.

Before I continue, I just want to take a moment to explain why it’s made such an impact and why I’m writing about this. As someone who wasn’t the most thrilled about school, learning, or even church in my younger years – I have grown into an adult who does actually like to learn. Whether it’s for my current career of web developer or my thirst for understanding the gospel better. I want to learn more! Even at the risk of putting my soul in jeopardy (I think I’ll explain this latter).

So, back to my discovery – some may already know this, or might even have different references to this, but I found this in a talk given by President Spencer W. Kimball entitled “Seek Learning, Even By Study and Also by Faith”¹

77 And I give unto you a commandment that you shall ^ateach one another the ^bdoctrine of the kingdom.

78 Teach ye diligently and my ^agrace shall attend you, that you may be ^binstructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;

79 Of things both in ^aheaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must ^bshortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the ^cnations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a ^dknowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—

80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to ^amagnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the ^bmission with which I have commissioned you.²

To study “things which have been” is to delve into history, a lifetime challenge. In addition, current events, or history in the making, should give us concern for careful study.

The “wars and perplexities of the nations” is a great concern to us now that the world is a large community. Perplexities afflicting one people affect the lives of others distantly removed.

And that brings me to my ulterior motive of this post, why should we learn about current events, histories, other countries, politics, etc. I’ll let President Ezra Taft Benson explain it in his straight forward, yet eloquent manner.

One of our most serious problems is the inferiority complex which people feel when they are not informed and organized. They dare not make a decision on these vital issues. They let other people think for them. They stumble around in the middle of the road trying to avoid being “controversial,” and get hit by traffic going both ways. In this mighty struggle each of you has a part. Every person on the earth today chose the right side during the War in Heaven. Be on the right side now. Stand up and be counted.³

I bring this up because of my current reading and other readings. We [LDS] have been warned of impending calamities. We’ve been warned of Constitutional failures, and Secret Combinations.

Are you doing anything? I don’t mean that as condemnation, the Lord(D&C 60: 2) takes care of that, and I’m more asking what can I do. I mean my family has passed this question around and sometimes one might get caught up in the idea of being one person, and what can one person do? I like to think (and I’m probably wrong) that my mass emails to family and friends about certain current events are something, while more likely woefully inadequate.

I look around my ward and wonder how many people in my ward actually understand what is happening in the world – beyond the MSM induced coma that we are presented through the TV. I worry about even bringing something up to them because people can get very sensitive to either something contrary to their brittle vision of the world, or being forced out of blissful ignorance, or even being told that even though they are active and participating LDS members they are guilty of letting things happen because of their lack of doing something.

Brethren, if we had done our homework and were faithful, we could step forward at this time and help save this country. The fact that most of us are unprepared to do it is an indictment we will have to bear. The longer we wait, the heavier the chains, the deeper the blood, the more the persecution and the less we can carry out our God-given mandate and world-wide mission. The war in heaven is raging on earth today. Are you being neutralized in the battle?⁴

Luckily, the scriptures offer a ray of sunshine on all this doom and gloom, found in D&C 58:27-28, we read:

27 Verily I say, men should be ^aanxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

28 For the power is in them, wherein they are ^aagents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their ^breward.⁵

Contention

It’s Tuesday again, that means another exciting installment of TOPICAL GUIDE TUESDAY (say it like those monster truck announcers). This week, and maybe this is going to be a continuing thing – but I’ve been thinking about my own issues, and I suffer from this affliction, so let’s talk about it and see if we can come up with something.

Did anyone remember to try and thank the Lord for our blessings from last weeks challenge? I did, and even though I didn’t make it all week, I consciously thanked him a number of times and noticed slight changes in myself. I still need to continue with that, but let’s move on and look at another topic.

I went looking for Contention’s definition but came across a number of them that really didn’t make contention out to be so bad. It was merely arguing or debating. So I went looking for it among the teachings and writings of our modern day prophets.

Another face of pride is contention. Arguments, fights, unrighteous dominion, generation gaps, divorces, spouse abuse, riots, and disturbances all fall into this category of pride.¹

It’s funny, last night my wife and I were discussing Pride, and I had made the comment that Pride is like a root to a number of problems, and look here – I was right. But it’s no laughing matter. In this day and age, there’s a lot of contention. In my life it’s progressively grown into a problem. Concerning politics and religion I’ve gotten to where I will usually avoid the conversation entirely and talk about something else because I can get so passionate.

Elder Russell M. Nelson says this, and remember this is back in 1989,

My concern is that contention is becoming accepted as a way of life. From what we see and hear in the media, the classroom, and the workplace, all are now infected to some degree with contention. How easy it is, yet how wrong it is, to allow habits of contention to pervade matters of spiritual significance, because contention is forbidden by divine decree:

“The Lord God hath commanded that men should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not steal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in vain; that they should not envy; that they should not have malice; that they should not contend one with another.” (2 Ne. 26:32.)²

While this may have been written 20 years ago, I think it’s just as pertinent today, probably more so. I see it being completely true – with today’s political and religious climates.

Where is this getting us? How does one deal with what you know to be wrong, when others think something else? How do you not contend, yet still hold your moral high ground?

Luckily, in the same talk he gives an answer.

Yet, mercifully, the anointed pray for those who attack them, knowing the sad fate prophesied for their attackers. (See D&C 121:16–22.)³

Alright, maybe not a specific answer, but you can read into that more. My problem is, and I know I do this often is to add that one little quip at the end, I’ll let them go with a “I understand your position” then give it that snide, contentious little “but your wrong” ending that just begs them to continue the debate.

So now comes the question, what can I (we) do about this?

The first suggestion from Elder Nelson, is to “control your tongue, pen, and word processor“, though I think you can replace or add blog, forum, twitter, etc.

Next, “Bridle the passion to speak or write contentiously for personal gain or glory“.

Then “respectfully disagree without being disagreeable“. While I need to work on all aspects of how to over come, I think here’s where I need to work the most.

And the last piece, which ties right back to pride – “Personal peace is reached when one, in humble submissiveness, truly loves God“.

So, the challenge this week, for me at least is to try and be a gracious person when it comes to disagreements, debates, or arguments when I don’t subscribe to what others think. I need to add this to my work on thanking the Lord for all my blessings and drop the pride, in all forms.

I hope you will try to make your life better by following the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the words of our Prophets and leaders.

Originally published on May 15th 2008

The Resurrected Savior

I don’t feel as though I completely understand the Atonement. Don’t get me wrong, I get the jist of it – but I feel like I’m missing pieces of it.

I looked up the Atonement under Gospel Topics on lds.org. There is a brief description of the atonement and some additional links for other information. I chose to look at Church Magazine Articles to see if there were some talks out there that might help me understand it in a more plain fashion.

Reading that the Atonement is “the most difficult to understand”¹, or “it is impossible for me to put into words the full meaning”² of the Atonement is not exactly what I needed to see. I need it easy!

But I figure I’m going to have to read a lot, if I want to get to a better understanding of it. We can start with the basics of it and what it does for us.

The Bible Dictionary states “Atone describes the setting “at one” of those who have been estranged, and denotes the reconciliation of man to God. Sin is the cause of the estrangement, and therefore the purpose of atonement is to correct or overcome the consequences of sin.”³

If you look it up through Gospel Topics, it says this “As used in the scriptures, to atone is to suffer the penalty for sins, thereby removing the effects of sin from the repentant sinner and allowing him or her to be reconciled to God. Jesus Christ was the only one capable of carrying out the Atonement for all mankind. Because of His Atonement, all people will be resurrected, and those who obey His gospel will receive the gift of eternal life with God.”⁴

In essence, Jesus is our rescuer, and he stands in our place. He was the only one capable. Because He was born of a mortal mother [could die] and of an imortal Father [overcome death]. ⁵

I’m still missing something though and I think it has to do with sin and the effects there of. What I mean is, if we commit sin that removes us from God – the opposite of atone [at one]. As a mortal we can only do so much, repent and obey. To complete the process [what we can't do] Jesus atoned for us, enabling us to return [at one] to God. It’s our choice.

Gordon B. Hinckley explained it like this

“a one room school house in the mountains of Virginia where the boys were so rough no teacher had been able to handle them.

“Then one day an inexperienced young teacher applied. He was told that every teacher had received an awful beating, but the teacher accepted the risk. The first day of school the teacher asked the boys to establish their own rules and the penalty for breaking the rules. The class came up with 10 rules, which were written on the blackboard. Then the teacher asked, ‘What shall we do with one who breaks the rules?’

“ ‘Beat him across the back ten times without his coat on,’ came the response.

“A day or so later, … the lunch of a big student, named Tom, was stolen. ‘The thief was located—a little hungry fellow, about ten years old.’

“As Little Jim came up to take his licking, he pleaded to keep his coat on. ‘Take your coat off,’ the teacher said. ‘You helped make the rules!’

“The boy took off the coat. He had no shirt and revealed a bony little crippled body. As the teacher hesitated with the rod, Big Tom jumped to his feet and volunteered to take the boy’s licking.

“ ‘Very well, there is a certain law that one can become a substitute for another. Are you all agreed?’ the teacher asked.

“After five strokes across Tom’s back, the rod broke. The class was sobbing. ‘Little Jim had reached up and caught Tom with both arms around his neck. “Tom, I’m sorry that I stole your lunch, but I was awful hungry. Tom, I will love you till I die for taking my licking for me! Yes, I will love you forever!” ’⁶

In this parable, I would hazard a guess that in the great counsel in heaven we all agreed on the rules. God is the teacher, we are Little Jim and Jesus is Tom. Jesus stepped in for us because as a mortal we can not bear the punishment alone.

I once asked a Stake President to help me understand the Atonement, and he went about it in an even simpler method taking his garbage can and putting it to the edge of his desk. Then telling me the items on his desk were our sins, wiped them into the garbage can. Back then I didn’t quite grasp that concept, I over thought it, but it makes sense. I can not forgive myself and be worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven – Jesus has got to help. He can take those red stains of sin and turn them white ⁷.

I understand now more so about why they counsel that it is hard to understand or to put into words the concept of the Atonement. There is a lot of pieces that are not known to me, suffice it to say that you keep digging deeper to learn as much as you can about it.

James E. Faust understood what was meant in Mosiah 4:6-7 when he said “Our salvation depends on believing in and accepting the Atonement.”

I’ll end this by saying that, I am not a LDS scholar, nor do I consider myself all that smart with the LDS Gospel. I’m trying to learn as much as I can, and so there may be errors in my thoughts. I’m not trying to pass anything off as official, but making sense of what I don’t understand. If you feel there are errors here, please let me know.

I got a comment from Doug -- who due to my own mismanagement didn’t have a contact form for him to use -- but that besides the point. He let me know of his site and what it was all about, Mormons Made Simple.

When I got home I got a chance to check it out, because the premise was, well, simple. At the time of writing this it looks like there is only a couple of videos available, but I’m excited for the release of “The Plan Of Salvation”.

Right now you can watch “Attending A Mormon Church Service” and “The Book Of Mormon”. Both are very easy to understand and actually explain quite a bit. They’re only about 3 minutes or so in length so watching them is quick.

I think Doug has a cool idea going on here, and I hope it grows.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention Doug!

Here’s the two videos

I got the idea of this from seeing MordernMolly’s “Book of Mormon Mondays – Humility“, which then morphed into going through the topical guide on Tuesdays, and discussing something out of there.

The Opposite of Pride

Today’s Topic – Pride.

Out of the numerous verses listed, I was drawn to the following verse. I think it speaks volumes of our current situations in the world. The surrounding verses enumerate a lot of cause and effects, and “wo unto’s”.

2 Ne. 9: 28 –   “O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.”

The “cunning plan”

Sometimes you have to think how easy it is for satan. I mean, he has the advantage. Not only does he know man’s weaknesses, but he knows us individually and our individual weaknesses. A whisper in the ear, a fleeting thought – how fast can one slip? I know for me it can happen in an instance. While I have been counseled in my own blessing to frequent the Temple for this very reason – it’s partly due to this reason I tend to not go as often as I should.

Quick note: I was looking for an image to add to this post, so I went to google and typed in “Pride”, it would seem now that the word pride is now synonmous with homosexuality – how ironic.

Vainness, frailities, foolishness

Why don’t people believe in God? I think you could actually answer that question with each of these words. Vanity or self-idolatry would put one’s self in the place of God – not needing anything else but yourself. Frail or weak, can lead to lead to resentments, covetous – even vanity (think of those who were shamed into going to great and spacious building). Foolishness, I think we could all agree we’ve made a foolish mistake or two – and really what is the motive behind that, could it be…..pride?

They are wise, but will perish

Of course they think they are, if you are proud and vain – you are the smartest man around. You know it all – you have all the answers. So let’s look at today’s world, what are some things that might change if people we’re so prideful?

I don’t want to act as if I’m not guilty of my own pride (whoa, wait – does that mean since I admit to it, I might not have such a problem? lol). I have my own issues with pride that I am striving to overcome. I’m fairly certain everyone does – otherwise, why would it be one of the deadliest of the 7 sins? But really I think a big key to breaking it down – the topic that ModernMolly spoke about – Humility.

So here’s the challenge – try to humble yourself. Even if it’s one little thing, saying thank you to the Lord for helping you pass a test, write a bit of challenging code, making the team, earning enough money to pay for your shoes – anything, then build on it – keep it up. With God, all things are possible – but remember to thank him for making it so!

Family

Originally published on May 25th, 2008

Recently, it seems my mind has been opened, and I’ve felt new needs. Today was no exception. We got on the topic of dedicating our homes.

I quickly picked up on that and it occurred to me, that even though we’d been in our home for nearly 2 years I don’t think it’s ever been dedicated. It may have been blessed by my wife’s father, but I had not taken up the yoke of my Priesthood responsibility to do so. Like I said, recently things have changed for me, call it a spiritual awakening, or a spiritual maturity – either way I feel very strongly that our home needs a change.

I love it [The Gospel], and let me put it in context of why I’m saying it right now. Our home has some issues – I mean that in our family. There’s something missing, and I think it goes along with how we treat each other and, well, the lack of family unity we experience occasionally. If I notice this, then I know my wife’s felt it a lot longer. But I believe this is why I picked up on the idea of dedicating our home so quickly. I knew I wanted to do it and I felt like it would actually be a great topic to write about too.

So I do what I always do when I want to talk about something, I visit lds.org and see what has been written on the subject. I did a simple search, “dedicate our home”.

The dedication of our home brought about a change of heart in our family.¹

That was the first line of the first item listed in the return of my search. Could it be any more connected, or in tune? I know that was a long way round in explaining one of the reasons I love the Gospel, but I just wanted to express it.

I’m actually glad that I ran across this article. It sums up exactly how I feel about what a home should be. The couple who wrote the article give a perfect example (which is one of my reasons too.)

We wanted to have the Spirit of God dwell in our home to help us shape the lives of our daughters.²

Of course for us, it’s not all daughters but sons and daughter and so the level of craziness can get high pretty fast. But this is something I want my family to have. I want a sanctuary, a “sacred edifice where the Holy Spirit may reside” ³.

The couple who wrote the article weren’t aware that you could dedicate your home. I feel that if we [men] take up the call and magnify our Priesthood that this is just one more piece to having a more spiritual family, and bringing our families closer to Christ. Not to mention all the side effects this can have that we might not even think of.

We discussed as a family that my wife and I thought it to be a great idea and something that we needed to do to help our family. We also explained that we would take the opportunity to straighten the house and perform it in the morning. I’m rather excited to be able to share my faith and testimony with my children so they can see how personal the Priesthood can be and how it can be applied to their lives. As my boys grow and gain the Priesthood themselves I want them to know how to magnify it, and my daughter should expect her spouse to be an active magnifier (is that a word?).

I’ll take just a quick moment to express my testimony that the strength of a family spiritually is so important in these days, to be a stronghold against the coming storms. It’s so important to keep active in building up the family and dedicate it [the family] to the Lord, so that His strength and Spirit is an active part of it.

Photo: Rosemary Masters

There was a discussion on an email sent around at a family dinner then other night that referenced a talk given by Gordon B. Hinckley¹, entitled “Living In The Fullness Of Time”².

The main reason I was interested is because in the email it was said that the “vision of Joel” had been fulfilled and since I get skeptical of emails that claim anything (especially LDS³ related emails), I had to verify it. Luckily the email, which I hadn’t seen and the person telling me about it couldn’t remember, did include the reference to the above mentioned talk.

The important bit on Joel(Joel 2:28-32) is this;

28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will ^apour out my ^bspirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall ^cprophesy, your ^dold men shall ^edream dreams, your young men shall see ^fvisions:

29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

30 And I will shew ^awonders in the ^bheavens and in the earth, blood, and ^cfire, and pillars of smoke.

31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into ^ablood, before the great and the terrible ^bday of the Lord come.

32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall ^acall on the name of ^bthe Lord shall be ^cdelivered: for in ^dmount ^eZion and in ^fJerusalem shall be ^gdeliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the ^hremnant whom the Lord shall ⁱcall.

[emphasis added]

It was the sun and moon bit that I didn’t recall, and got skeptical about. I mean that’s a pretty scary one right. But luckily with most things from the Lord, it’s followed closely with a light at the end of the tunnel, “that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered“. Awesome.

If you recall, September 2001⁴ was a tragic time, and this talk followed it during conference. The pillars of smoke, blood and fire – could be witnessed from around the world. In the big scheme of things, it doesn’t matter what caused it, or by whom, what matters is that the events occurred. Sure we’ve been warned for decades we were at the end days, and some are hard of hearing. But lately, with the current climate in politics and ethics, and such you’d think more people (members) might be listening a little closer.

Further in the talk he quotes verse from Paul (2 Tim. 3:1-5)

1 This know also, that in the ^a last days perilous ^btimes shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, ^acovetous, boasters, ^bproud, blasphemers, ^cdisobedient to parents, ^dunthankful, unholy,

3 Without ^anatural ^baffection, ^ctrucebreakers, ^dfalse accusers, ^eincontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 ^aTraitors, ^bheady, ^chighminded, lovers of ^dpleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a ^aform of godliness, but ^bdenying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Who can see where I’m going to go with this?

I’ll enumerate each verse here, with some opinions.

1. The last days will be perilous.

Look around us, while I don’t think it’s so bad you can’t step outside of your home, there are dangers out there more so then there use to be, even inside your home there are dangers, the TV, the internet, video games, etc. See, it doesn’t just have to be a physical danger, spiritual danger is everywhere. In that email, it also references a quote from Heber C. Kimball⁵;

Yes,’ said Brother Heber (by which name he was so familiarly known), ‘we think we are secure here in the chambers of the everlasting hills, where we can close those few doors of the canyons against mobs and persecutors, the wicked and the vile, who have always beset us with violence and robbery, but I want to say to you, my brethren, the time is coming when we will be mixed up in these now peaceful valleys to that extent that it will be difficult to tell the face of a Saint from the face of an enemy to the people of God. Then, brethren, look out for the great sieve, for there will be a great sifting time, and many will fall; for I say unto you there is a test, a TEST, a TEST coming, and who will be able to stand?’

[emphasis added]

While not all of you are from Utah, I think the gist here is that as a representation, if it fails in Utah, it all fails. No I’m not some Utah supremacist, I just think it’s a metaphor for the righteous people.

2. Lovers of themselves, etc.

Covetous: While this isn’t a new sin, and you know it’s a problem because it traces it’s roots all the way back to Cain, and maybe it’s just me, but I see a lot of ‘keeping up with the Jones’ going on. I myself have fallen prey, and I do struggle with it, I’m a tech junkie and I want new techno gadgets. Bless my wife who puts up with it and counsels me on the difference between need/want. But I pose the question, is a part of our economic woes due to this? Are their societal problems because of this?

Boasters/Proud: Have you ever heard of the pride cycle? Any reader of the Book of Mormon should be pretty familar with this concept. It would seem, like the bubbles of the past, our current pride bubble should be bursting sooner then later. Do you feel a lacking of humility in the world? How often are people responsible for their own actions these days? I think pride also leads one away from prayer, which leads one away from the Lord. Could boasting be applied to economic, and/or societal troubles today?

Blasphemers: While I would align blasphemers closer to Sons of Perdition because someone who doesn’t believe in the religion they blaspheme against, as a son of perdition would have to have absolute knowledge of God to sin against him. But I would hazard a guess they are the rank and file members of church. Those who have/had a testimony of Christ, yet choose to engage in actions that are quite contrary to him. Take proposition 8 and members who oppose it.

Disobedience to Parents:  Anyone of the reasons in these versus could cause this one. But it doesn’t just apply to Earthly parents. We have Heavenly parents that we can just as easily be disobedient to.

Unthankful: As some one who likes to reference as much information as I can, I also like to take the time to apply the correct information to those references. It’s the same way in life, I try to always thank those who have done something for me, but sometimes you can see how pride or covetousness could keep that from happening. In our home, for family prayer we try to make it a rule to come up with 10 things we are thankful for from God, but again because of other faults it sometimes may not be as easy to come up with even 10.

Unholy: It seems that as the days go by, this nation along with others move more and more towards a secular society. I watched a movie once where it was realized that the world would be a better place if their was no God at all, things would be better – because without God, their is no evil. How truly wrong they are. There’s more and more sacrilege happening, more and more removal of God from our lives. More and more replacing what is good with what is evil.

3. Against those who are good

I think as witnessed by the protests over proposition 8, the adjectives in this verse were very apparent, and still are. There is such a boiling hatred for those who stand up for God’s ways. I tell you, I was a little shocked at the fierceness they have.

4. Lovers of pleasure

I think we’ve all seen about enough of this going on lately. While I’m not against capitalism in it’s natural form, it’s disconcerting to see such blatant love of money over love of neighbor. I consider it a faux replacement for the light of Christ. I’ve been through it, where there is a feeling of missing something, and trying to use everything under the sun to fill it, when in reality only God’s love can fill it. I see a lot of empty people out there filling that whole the same way. Using worldly possessions and acquisitions to fill it up. Traitors, well to get all political, I think most of our politicians are traitors by definition. They sell out their own nation for wealth and power, they give away sovernty for supposed protection and influence. If we are to believe Washington, then it should be the office that picks the man, not the man who picks the office.

5. Denying the powers of God

It’s an old argument, God is almighty, but His powers are limited. The LDS know this isn’t true. We know his power is everywhere, and we know this because we are given the authority to work with that power. This entire universe speaks of that power, yet there are those that would have us believe He is no where to be found. He wasn’t part of it. I’ve always been a big believer in God and Science being reconcilable. It’s not God that doesn’t know this, or lacks knowledge, it’s us – we don’t know.

Now since I’ve really brought down the mood, let me use the words of Gordon B. Hinckley to pick it back up. I know, it’s frightening what’s going on in the world today. It’s scary stuff. But in his love of man, he closes he talk in his awesome fashion, there is light at the end of tunnel, there is a way…

We live in a season when fierce men do terrible and despicable things. We live in a season of war. We live in a season of arrogance. We live in a season of wickedness, pornography, immorality. All of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah haunt our society. Our young people have never faced a greater challenge. We have never seen more clearly the lecherous face of evil.

And so, my brothers and sisters, we are met together in this great conference to fortify and strengthen one another, to help and lift one another, to give encouragement and build faith, to reflect on the wonderful things the Lord has made available to us, and to strengthen our resolve to oppose evil in whatever form it may take.

We have become as a great army. We are now a people of consequence. Our voice is heard when we speak up. We have demonstrated our strength in meeting adversity. Our strength is our faith in the Almighty. No cause under the heavens can stop the work of God. Adversity may raise its ugly head. The world may be troubled with wars and rumors of wars, but this cause will go forward.

You are familiar with these great words written by the Prophet Joseph: “No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny