Change My Brain!

Email Post from Hope of the World on Friday, June 11, 2021 :

Reposted from an email I received from Hope of the World: When a baby is born, his or her brain contains 100 billion neurons. Then the brain begins forming trillions of neural connections depending on the flood of information going on within it. The end result is that every brain is different having been molded by what we saw, heard, touched, remembered, or imagined. So it’s not just a matter of what kind of brain you have, but what you did with it. The Word of God tells us to put on the ‘mind of Messiah. Your brain actually changes depending on what you think about. The word for repentance in the New Testament, ‘metanoia,’ means to “change one’s mind.” It doesn’t matter if you have an impure mind – that can all change. Dwell on what is good – and you will end up with a pure mind. Choose to focus your mind on love, on salvation, on heaven, on God, and you’ll end up with a mind that is heavenly, loving, forgiving, and joyful. So you’re not happy with your mind? That’s okay. Start focusing your thoughts on God and the things which are above. And you know what? You’ll actually end up… changing your mind.

From Message #1081 – The Ten Minds

Scripture: Philippians 4:8

TODAY’S MISSION – Make up your mind today to memorize Phil. 4:8 – and think on those things instead of the impure.

My comments on this post:

It is mind bending to me how complex we are and how the systems in our bodies work together to allow us to move and think and choose. It is easy to get caught up in thoughts of sadness, or loneliness, but if we work on what we are thinking about and trust in God and think of how we can help others and seek for God’s guidance and love then we can allow God to pull us out of our negativity and into His light and allow Him to change our thoughts, our brains, and our nature. I like this quote from a previous LDS Church Leader, Ezra Taft Benson, that goes along with this post: “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.”

Philippians 4:8 says: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

So it encourages us to think on good things, to dwell on things that are lovely, honest and of good report. There is so much evil in the world and I think that dwelling on this will have an effect on us. I will try harder to only think on the good things of the world and the good things of God and hope that it will help lift my spirits and that it will in reality Change My Brain to one that is only focused on good and only desires to do good and to become like those people in the Book of Mormon that said the following: “Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty ^achange in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do ^bevil, but to do good continually.” (Mosiah 5:2)

Finally I would add what the Lord teaches us also in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 121: “

“Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.

“The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever” (vv. 45–46).”

Quite a promise for focusing only on virtuous things. I hope this can be my focus from now on and that I can gain that confidence in the presence of God instead of always feeling unworthy of His love and help.

Shalom!!

Nothing to Say

Today I do not feel like I have anything to say. So I will just say that. My sister, Melissa, posted a cool meme on Facebook yesterday, so maybe I will share that. It is about how we all seem to criticize each other instead of just accept:

I am way too hard on myself and that leads to negative self-talk and depression. It is hard not too do. I am my own worst critic and I always get in my way. Today I decided to not just take the easy route at night: plop in front of the TV and just veg. I made a list of things I would and would not do for the next few hours before I go to bed. They say “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” So I will plan and stick to my plan each day and see how I do. Writing in this blog was on my list of things to do, so BOOM! One thing checked off!

Now on to me focusing on my own programming project. I was going to have an interview with a company but they saw that I have a consulting company and wondered if I was going to stop doing consulting if I got the job with them. I have a consulting company active right now because my current contract did not want to make me an employee. So ludicrous. I think that is why they haven’t called me back because they thought that would interfere and yet they are a consulting company too. They just want a bunch of slaves working for them. I saw an interesting meme from Robert Kiyosaki:

3 of my 4 children did and so did I. I guess I am insane. #richdad I have to stop thinking in the mindset of get another job, no I want to build products that others can use. My job is in my way of doing that and starting another job is not going to solve that problem. I need to figure out what product could be useful for others then build it, then improve it, then sell it and then keep doing that until I get really good at it. That is why I have to focus on my own stuff in the evenings because working for the man during the day never gets me anywhere. That is Insane to work for the man.

Robert also tells us what F.O.C.U.S means and I love it! F.O.C.U.S. = Follow One Course Until Successful

So now I go to FOCUS on my product after I share this one other final thought from Kiyosaki that I saw recently:

So I better keep up the learning!

Until next time….

My Christian Rock Playlist

I have started this Christian Rock playlist on Spotify. What do you think? Leave comments of other songs to add:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2gyrAzDAiPvKmcHyexMTHu?si=CSZsGVabTv2hXnHYxHrO5g&utm_source=copy-link

New TinyUrl

Now I can share this tinyurl to bring others to this website: https://tinyurl.com/EternalBindings

Laus Deo

Praise be to God

It has been about 5 years since my last post. Time to start blogging again. I hope you will enjoy. Please feel free to share your comments.

Have you ever wondered how you came into existence? How can you think? How are you here? How do you have the ability to choose? How there are millions and billions of mechanisms inside of you all the time reproducing and carrying on various functions too many to fathom all in an effort to keep you alive. How they can mostly heal themselves and fight off disease for you? The vastness of the human complexity is mind boggling and yet, here you are.

I like to think of the age old question of which came first: The chicken or the egg? Whenever we build anything, what do we do? We plan. We think of what we want, we sketch it out, we give it all kinds of guidelines and get approvals on every aspect to ensure good structural quality, then we build. Didn’t something, or someone have to come up with a plan for both the egg and the chicken. They said: “We want the product to look like the chicken, but we need it to create more of itself; so we can have it produce eggs that can be fertilized and then create a brand new chicken over and over for generations of chickens.” But isn’t that how all of nature is at our level and at the atomic and sub atomic levels? Strategies of reproduction that despite the error that can be introduced are mostly perfect in their ability to carry on the reproductive cycles ad infinitum.

I believe that all of this is created and held in place by a being of such infinite power that nothing is outside of His purview. I don’t know how He is there but I believe we only know about Him because He has chosen to reveal Himself somewhat to us through holy men of His choosing. We will refer to them as God’s prophets since other uninspired persons could call themselves a prophet but I am only referring to individuals that have directly spoken to the creator of all things. We get tidbits and only if we believe will we get and understand more. He said it thusly:

“For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have” (2 Nephi 28:30) I hope He will choose to help me find more. 🙂

Here are a few thoughts I have had while pondering our creator, God:

1. If we are created in His image, where did that image first get its design? How like Him are we really?
2. He created this Earth to be a testing ground for us to live and then to die. He doesn’t die so He had to design death.
3. He had to design all the diseases so we could have trials and have a reason to want to have His help. If everything were easy, why would we turn to Him for help? Then He must have come up with all the other weaknesses, strengths, abilities, talents and everything else. These are all just what give us a way to serve Him and share ourselves with others, but it is all from His design.
4. He created prayer so we would have a way to contact Him always, and to ask for help for others. How does He maintain the contact back to us if His creations are as vast as the Universe? Does each person have angels from Heaven assigned to them to hear prayers and act accordingly? But I know that times I will pray and instantly receive a powerful message, so the prayer implementation is utterly divine and runs perfectly all the time.
5. I tried to fathom going back… way way back to try and see if it were possible to comprehend if God is a father, then He had a father, right? So us having children is like Him having children and that must have started somewhere 1.0 x 10 to the five million, million billion eons ago? Truth is things as they are, as they were, and as they are to come. How were things really that long ago? It makes me want to think that evolution started it and then some beings conquered their universe and were able to harness all the powers in it and learned to live forever and then they designed a way to create spirit offspring that could go through a life / death test and become like them forever; otherwise how did it start? It is not comprehendible to my feeble mind.
6. Why are there so many organisms? Does God have teams of angels that design new creatures to test on Earth’s? What is the destiny for all these other organisms? Do they each have an opportunity to live forever somewhere?
7. We can only see what God allows us to see through a dimly lit veil. What else has He created that we cannot even see? As if this universe and its hundreds of billions of galaxies wasn’t big enough…
8. Have you felt love that was so strong it could not possibly have originated from this world? Without a belief in God, how can you explain it?
9. Jesus said: “This is Life Eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” What does that mean to you? How do you get to know the true God, and His son, Jesus Christ? Are they reachable? Why would we need to reach them? Do they give your life meaning and purpose?
10. To me They are EVERYTHING! My whole goal is to praise, love, honor and serve them all the days of my life until I die here and then forever there because I am nothing without them. They created me, they cause that all the particles and organizations and organisms moving and reproducing inside of me continue to function enough for me to live and feel love and joy and pain and sorrow. I am nothing but grateful for this life They have given me. May I praise Them forever!!! And ever!!! And Ever!! Amen! Laus Deo!!

Seeking the Welfare of Zion

I started this blog as a tool to help me find peace and solace in this world. An LDS bishop encouraged me to write out my feelings. I never intended at that juncture that anyone would ever read but that this was more like my personal journal. That bishop read and commented from time to time in the beginning which was nice. A few others since then have found this blog and commented, some of those comments seem random enough to just be SPAM.

Later I found a company that claimed to help you learn how to blog in such a way as to monetize your blog by adding advertisements, writing about products, etc. I thought that would be nice. I invested in that business and made back all the money I had invested. I have since thought about blogging and what it represents, and advertising and its allure. Websites are the same, right. Read this scripture and see how it applies:

2 Nephi 26:29

29 He commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts; for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion.

Does this describe monetized blogs? Bloggers giving opinions, selling products? Or are they just attempting to sell a product?

This world is so twisted. So many trying to sell to each other. Where is the line between right and wrong when it comes to selling things? I am probably bitter because I never did well at either Network Marketing or Monetized Blogging, or maybe since I did not do well I became enlightened on the topic of how it is wrong to get gain and praise of the world and set yourself up for a light, but isn’t that what everyone knows the way to success is to be a subject matter expert and brand yourself that way you can charge more for your knowledge, etc. and people will flock to you because of your expertise? Praise of the word.. set themselves up for a light unto the world. Are monetized bloggers and successful network marketers just practicing priestcraft according to 2 Nephi 26:29?

Here is the last part again: “but they seek not the welfare of Zion.” Is that the caveat? We are told not to judge, but this scripture seems like a recipe to judge whether someone is practicing priestcraft or not. If they are popular in the eyes of the world, but are not seeking the welfare of Zion, then it is priestcraft, right? But then again, the scripture says that the “men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world.” Should we take that to mean that this is only in the context of religious speak and that it really does not apply to any other topic other than religion? If that is the case then I am sure a lot of bloggers could rest easy that they are not falling into this category of priestcraft. I mean, we still have to make a living, right? And who wants to let the big companies make all the money? That’s like saying that a corporation doesn’t have a soul, so it can spend millions on marketing to get us to buy its product without the fear of being judged as a “man” setting himself up as a light unto the world. But a direct result of how this affects humanity is when corporations take a stand on political and also religious topics. Where do we draw the line on religious topics that a corporation should or should not be allowed to comment? Here is the scary thing… the corporation has spent millions branding itself and setting itself up to be a light unto the world so that the world thinks highly of it and wants to buy its products, so then the world respects its opinion on political and religious matters. And yet we see corporations making statements of support for political policy occasionally based on an activist group within the corporation. A corporation is filled with people of mixed backgrounds, so to say that all the people within the corporation share the corporations view on a policy is nonsense. The view is only shared by a few who have convinced the board of directors that this is the view they should portray to the world. It is because of this type of marketing that politics are affected. Politics is getting into the changing of world views to circumvent the laws of God, so IT IS RELIGIOUS!

Isaiah spoke of this when he said “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)

I contend that we are bombarded by views contrary to the will of God by organizations and corporations and men that are setup as a light, branded and praised by men and they make lots of money doing what they do, yet they are often contrary to the will of God and hence do NOT seek for the welfare of Zion. Why? Because Zion is a concept and a place that seeks only to follow and obey the will of God. You cannot change the ideals, ideas, rules, laws, values or standards of Zion. Zion is heaven on earth. It’s as close to heaven as we can get. If evil is not allowed in heaven, then by heaven, evil will not be allowed in Zion.

To seek the welfare of Zion is to aspire to the ideals of Zion.

Here is a wonderful definition of what Zion is found in Moses 7:18-19:

 18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

 19 And Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion.

Long ago Enoch build a city of God called Zion. If we are to build a Zion, we have to have this one heart and one mind as Jesus taught we must become One with Him and with the Father and always and only seek Their will.

So when your blogging about anything, are you seeking God’s will? Are you seeking to benefit Zion? That is frankly between you and God and the people you are affecting by your blog. Are they being brought closer to Zion? I don’t know what the answers are. I make money but I don’t like to blog to get people to buy my services. I like to be hidden away. Some people cannot make money unless they market and I am not saying that marketing your services is bad. Perhaps this only has to do with how we are lead to believe about religion, but God is everywhere and we can be influenced everywhere to, so we have to constantly be vigilant about how we are being influenced so we can live always according to the will of God. I have no hidden agenda here. I have no products that I want you to buy. But the dichotomy is in what Jesus told His follows to do. He said “Let your light so shine that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” So we must let His light shine through us to glorify the Father, but not be the light to get gain and praise. Can we do that?  Is this the recipe:  buy whatever you need, help the downtrodden and the weary, glorify God the Father… Remember that Zion is a place where there are no poor and everyone is treaty equally. What a great place that will be. I believe that we will have Zion some day.

Joseph Smith taught in the 10th Article of Faith that:”We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.”  I hope that this prophesy of the future comes to pass in my day.

What are we doing to prepare for Zion? Seek to help the poor, live righteously, seek and do the will and mind of God and love Him with all of your heart, might, mind and strength. Maybe those things are the beginning of Zion.

May God bless you as you seek to do His will and prepare for His city and His coming in Great Glory, even the second coming of Jesus Christ prophesied and foretold since the beginning. Are you ready?

Some Scriptures to Consider

I just came across a couple of scriptures that I am sure I have read before, but now I see them again:

1 Corinthians 6:9-10

Don’t you know that those doing such things have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who live immoral lives, who are idol worshipers, adulterers or homosexuals—will have no share in his Kingdom. Neither will thieves or greedy people, drunkards, slanderers, or robbers.

Pretty clear who is not going to heaven, right?

Now read this:

Leviticus 18:22

Homosexuality is absolutely forbidden, for it is an enormous sin.

Someone on a site shared this essay about the Gay agenda: http://vcyamerica.snappages.com/swift-essay.htm

Not sure if that is the real agenda or not, but it makes me cringe when I think about how the gays just had to keep pushing and pushing until now they can have leaders in the boy scouts. Think of that while I quote from the above essay: “We shall sodomize your sons, emblems of your feeble masculinity, of your shallow dreams and vulgar lies. We shall seduce them in your schools, in your dormitories, in your gymnasiums, in your locker rooms, in your sports arenas, in your seminaries, in your youth groups, in your movie theater bathrooms, in your army bunkhouses, in your truck stops, in your all male clubs, in your houses of Congress, wherever men are with men together. Your sons shall become our minions and do our bidding. They will be recast in our image. They will come to crave and adore us.”

Now is it clear why they wanted into the boy scouts? Last week I was flabbergasted to my wits end. Backing up a few weeks ago the boys scouts (BSA) issued the decision that now gay men can be leaders. The response of the LDS church was shock and regret that the BSA had voted when they were not in their offices. They said they would need some time to consider their future with the BSA. Fast forward a few weeks and they come out with this statement: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said it’s decided to continue its affiliation with the Boy Scouts because of written and verbal assurances that the church can choose their own troop leaders according to their own religious and moral values “in word and deed and who will best inculcate the organization’s values through the Scouting program.”” But my argument is why the hubba bubba about allowing gay men in if they cannot be in the organization?  In my opinion the church should have left based on moral values of the association of what BSA is supposed to be about and what the bible teaches about Gay men and the abomination that homosexuality is. Let’s call a spade a spade.

But it didn’t end there. Someone posted an article about some supposed young women that were all restless and sleepless worried about the decision and hoping and praying that their leaders would stay with BSA despite the fact that there are other organizations and as if to say that the LDS organization could not somehow figure out how to create their own boy organization. I cannot find the article now but these girls were fearful that the boys wouldn’t learn how to camp and such. That is a load of crap. Boy Scouts is nothing but a bunch of silly things to learn and I can say that because I am an Eagle Scout, but they can have that back, I do not support their decision to allow Gay men to influence young tender minds, espcially after reading that tenant above.  I mean think about it, isn’t it in a real convert’s interest to help influence young men to avoid any kind of activity that would barr them out of the gates of heaven (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)? And if a program does not help one to pursue heaven, then to me it is not worthy to be a part of the program.

So here is my thought as to why the church sticks with the BSA:

1. The BSA named an award after the LDS Church’s leader
2. The BSA names a new building after the LDS Church’s leader
3. The LDS already helped pass a law in Utah to force others to allow gays into apartments and jobs, to go against this would be hypocrisy. The caveat to that law was to protect religious rights. How can you protect something when you are giving into liberty abuse at the same time? You are abusing the rights of these apartment owners and employers. (See what another has to say about this here.)

Now how are you going to leave an organization that has so adorned your leader with fame? Even if said organization will lead your youth to the gates of hell whence there is no return?  Anything that leads you away from living in heaven after this life is not worthy of your time nor your energy!! Mark my word, I bet it is only a matter of time until gay men do lead LDS scouting groups, even if it takes an act of congress. And what will the LDS church do then? I guess time will tell, but to avoid egg in the face I suppose they will have to succumb to Babylon and allow Gay men in.

I don’t hate gays, but I didn’t write the scripture that will barr and ban them from heaven. God did and if I do not uphold God’s law, then I will find myself outside of heaven too. Don’t you want to be in Heaven with Him?

Peace and Shalom,

Scott

Thoughts on The World is Not Going to End in Sept 2015

I like to contemplate whenever I am reading someone else post, so I am re-posting the following here and making my comments between the lines in italics:

Original Post: http://upwardthought.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-world-is-not-going-to-end-in-sept.html?m=1

Reposted here without permission, but unchanged, so that I can write in my thoughts.

The World is Not Going to End in Sept 2015

VERY many have made predictions that something big is going to happen next month. I have heard that there will be a financial collapse starting next month and leading into the winter that makes 2008 look like a walk in the park. I have heard other predictions.

My belief: Eventually, there will be extreme financial distress. There will be an end to value of money. There will be an end to the abundance of food that we enjoy. There will be food shortages that cause severe global instability, house to house instability, and martial law.

[EternalBindings]: Yes, I have this same belief, please do continue. This should be good. Though my hesitance is that we need to have the Holy Spirit enlighten us to truth. This post may or may not be wrong. It is up to us individually to find truth from God for ourselves. I agree that the world is not going to end, but will it be the beginning of the End. Have the tribulations really started yet that God foretold by John and Isaiah? I think we may be building up to the beginning, but not sure if it has really started yet.

My knowledge: God has shown me that the tribulations to precede the Second Coming, which have already commenced, will not occur in a flash. He showed me that one way he is warning the world of what is to come is by causing glimpses of the catastrophes to occur and stop short or to occur in miniature. In each case, it is only God’s mercy that provides the very unlikely avoidance of the full potential of the disaster. He will provide a specific warning for every type of calamity he will send before the Second Coming.

[EternalBindings]: Are there scriptures that validate that God will give specific warnings? I do see that 9-11 was like a warning of imminent destruction and the Ebola outbreak was a warning of imminent global sickness and plague. Are these the types of warnings God will give for each, or will he also send messengers to declare what specifically will happen like he did with Samuel the Lamanite?

The scripture given to me as an illustration of this principle is the following:

[EternalBindings]: Nice, scriptures exactly after I ponder if there are any, thank you blogger. 🙂

87 For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in blood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig tree.
88 And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.
89 For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.
90 And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.
91 And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people. (D&C 88)

A catastrophic earthquake is not a warning. It is a judgment. A catastrophic thunder is not a warning, it is a judgment. And so on. However, a miniature earthquake, tsunami, etc., serves as a warning.

[EternalBindings]: What is the “testimony of earthquakes” then? Sure it is a judgment, but it is a testimony too, not simply a warning. The warning is this scripture, that it is going to happen. D&C 88 is the warning. IMHO

One example is the Ebola epidemic. Many died globally, but many, many more should have. The fact is that the world responded beyond sluggishly. The airlines refused to close down flights. World governments stalled beyond measure in deploying mobile hospitals to Africa. The United States refused Russia’s offer of a vaccine proven effective against the disease. It was discovered that only 2 hospitals in the entire US have the capability to treat patients with deadly communicable disease. Their total number of beds is something like 10. The patients treated in the US unveiled the absolute lack of any protocols or training of US personnel. An op-ed by a prominent physician admitted that many (most?) doctors and nurses would abandon their posts rather than be infected in the event of an outbreak. And so on.

[EternalBindings]: Now that is scary. We will not be able to contain a severe outbreak and will only be able to trust in God to survive.

The ONLY reason Ebola didn’t ravage the United States is because God intervened. Only a miracle could explain the lack of an epidemic in the face of such absurd hubris and criminal negligence. The same goes for Africa (although many died, it could and should have been much, much worse).

[EternalBindings]: I agree

God has shown us very plainly that a biological threat could easily wipe out 25% or more of the earth’s population in very short time. Who has repented because of it?

[EternalBindings]: I am trying to repent. May God inspire others to wake up and repent too.

THREE AND A HALF YEARS
There will be a 3.5 year period of warning before God’s judgment is poured out on the earth. It is my current understanding that this period will begin with the closing of the LDS temples, probably due to government pressure to seal homosexuals there or risk substantial penalty. The 3.5 year period will end, according to my current understanding, with the performance of a homosexual sealing in an LDS temple.

[EternalBindings]: Where is this knowledge coming from? I know of 3.5 years described in Revelation, but that refers to tribulation, not a warning period? Is this taken from the fact that Isaiah went naked for 3.5 years in calling ancient Israel to repentance? It would be nice if we could therefore surmise that God would give us a 3.5 year period that we can plainly see, like you are suggesting, but the scriptural evidence that this is related as you suggest is very vague, and so I find it intoxicatingly dangerous to suppose that this is how things will roll, unless God has thus spoken to you and then authorized you to speak these things to us. I guess time will tell if you are a prophet or not and can or cannot predict the future.

Until the LDS temples close, I strongly believe that any disasters the US may face, including financial distress that could exceed that sustained after the 2008 collapse, will be very very minimal compared to what comes after the end of the 3.5 year period, though taken in abstract any of the warnings may seem quite extreme to those directly involved.

[EternalBindings]: I hope you are right, but there are many who believe that the extreme financial disasters will come long before what you are suggesting. I fancy to believe what you say and I hope there is more time and that this is how things will roll forward, but I am not going to hold off preparing by waiting for some forced intervention from gov’t to cause the LDS to close temples, we should be ready before that. Your talk may diffuse the preparations of some, and in that I tremble…

WHAT THIS DOES NOT MEAN
We do not know when the 3.5 year period will begin (though I am very confident it has not yet begun). What we do know is that, even if it began today, 3.5 years provides a substantial period of time to prepare oneself spiritually and temporally. This does not, however, mean that we should be slothful in our belief of or action on the Lord’s word. As God said about another topic, “let these things be done in their time, but not in haste; and observe to have all things prepared before you.” This is relevant and wise counsel. How many can say in that awful day, I did not have enough time to get my spiritual house in order? How many can say in that day, “Lord, please help me do what I need to to survive” when you had over 3.5 years to devote your time and energy to preparing, but you did nothing?

[EternalBindings]: Thank you, I agree that preparation should begin yesterday and continue today and as long as there is time. I love what you quote here: “Lord, please help me do what I need to to survive”. That should be our daily tactic to continue to ask Him what we can do next after we accomplish what He previously has asked us to do the day before. Yes, this is not in haste, but it is with the unending faith and determination that if we are to survive the coming dreadful days, then we must have a constant attitude of preparation. Thank you.

ANOTHER VISION
I don’t know that I have ever shared the following vision publicly, though I did make reference to it in the talk I gave in Colorado and have spoken privately with others about it. Zion will not appear out of nowhere one day. It will not consist of one large group that is directed to come together all at once. The Lord showed me in a day vision that Zion would form as a river does: First from small, almost imperceptible springs, converging into creeks, converging into tributaries, converging into a river. The flow of the water represents time. God will gather together small groups of like-minded and similarly prepared individuals. As a group, they will suffer through the experiences they need to overcome the specific weaknesses they possess. Over time, they will be led to combine with other groups with different strengths and weaknesses. Through the passage of time, there will be gathering and growth and unavoidable winnowing of those who choose not to learn what God is trying to teach them through the weaknesses and strengths of others. Gathering into a large group right away is a surefire recipe for disaster given the weaknesses endemic to modern people. The entire group will be immediately subjected to the weaknesses of the common denominators. Without sufficient charity, both the strong and the weak will fly to pieces, and Zion would be lost.

[EternalBindings]: Hmm, a very interesting idea and it makes sense especially given, as you say, “the weaknesses endemic to modern people”. We are so not ready for Zion, but I hope and pray that we can be led to prepare and learn to work together so that we someday can be ready for Zion. I long to be in that city. 🙂

I bring this up because (and this has not been the first time), the bloggers at 2ndwitness.com have nailed it with their own description of how Zion will come to be.  The original post is here.

SUMMARY
Don’t worry that everything is going to fall apart next month. Many will lose their jobs. Many will lose their houses. The “recovery” from this next recession will be worse than the recession itself due to the interventions the government will likely undertake. Yet, it is just a warning, and there is still plenty of time and plenty of resources to prepare for the real tribulation. In the meantime, don’t be sluggish in seeking the Lord for instruction on what to do and when to do it. The scriptures are a wonderful Urim and Thummim for obtaining this instruction. The books of Isaiah and Jeremiah are particularly beneficial.

[EternalBindings]: I emphasized “don’t be sluggish in seeking the Lord for instruction on what to do and when to do it.” I think that is Paramount in our ability to be ready, but I will hold my breath during Sept 2015 and see what happens. It could be much worse or much less than any of us have envisioned. 🙂 Thank you for your thoughts in this post. Let’s together keep preparing ourselves to someday build Zion! 🙂 Love it!

Building Zion

It rends my heart to pieces that fellow followers of Jesus are being killed in the world. When one of them dies, doesn’t the body of Christ suffer? We are the body of Christ, we that follow His Holy name and sing praises to it and rejoice in His glorious resurrection that He was able to accomplish because of His faithfulness and willingness to do God’s will and descend below all things that He might comprehend all things and discover the way to reconcile His followers. He is Wonderful! The Mighty God! Why should His followers suffer!?

I’ve been praying for those who are in the clenches of the death squad ISIS. One idea has filled my heart with exceedingly great joy to consider: Building Zion. Zion is a refuge from the storm. God has much to say concerning Zion in all the scriptures. Here are two witnesses that Zion will be built before the coming of Jesus Christ in Glory:

1)

• Psalms 102:16

  16 When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.

2)

• Moses 7:62

  62 And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem.

See, Zion will already be built when Jesus comes in His glory. So, the question of questions is: “When will it be built and who will build it?”

There are 187 scriptures in the Doctrine and Covenants that have the word Zion in them. Joseph Smith knew about Zion, what can we learn from him?

But why do I talk about Zion? How will that help these Christians that are suffering because of their religion. Look what it says here about how Zion will be protection for those who come:

• Doctrine and Covenants 45:70

  70 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.

Love it!! Want it! Need it! This is where we need to put all those who wish to practice their love of Jesus Christ without any fear of death. Now, let us please pray for Zion. Here is what it will be like in Zion – here is how God describes Zion:

• Moses 7:18

  18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

Sounds like a wonderful abode. This is where I want to live. Let us hope that God will help organize us soon to build this wonderful place.

May God bless you to pray that Zion will come forth soon!

And here is a hope for all those that fear ISIS. Please humble yourself and repent before God of all your sins:

• 1 Nephi 22:19

  19 For behold, the righteous shall not perish; for the time surely must come that all they who fight against Zion shall be cut off.

Let’s hope that this time comes sooner than later. 🙂

Shalom!

A Warning Message for Our Day

For the past 5 posts I have shared a chapter of ancient scripture that shows how God’s voice and power warned 300 people to repent and come unto him and then how those 300 people shared what they had both seen and heard and probably thousands were converted to the Lord in such a magnificent way that they laid down their weapons of war and changed from their false traditions and anger and turned to the Lord.

What an amazing story!

But, are there voices of warning in our day? I remember that the latest message to the church from the President Thomas S. Monson was this “The Future is as bright as your faith.” He does say that “Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments.” So, am I looking for more of a voice of warning. It is such a subtle message that God will comfort and sustain us, but here is the kicker “as we keep the commandments.” In a nice way he is saying: “Look, it is going to get really bad, but if you keep the commandments, God will comfort and sustain you,” but we might read it as, “Ah the future is going to be great!” This is an example of a subtle warning voice that lulls us back to sleep in a wicked world. The way his message is worded sounds like unicorns and rainbows.

I just watched a different warning voice that shows us specifically how 9/11/2001 was a warning from God that if as a nation we do not repent and turn back to him, we will bring upon ourselves our own destruction. Embedded in that terrorist act, unbeknownst to either the terrorists or us there were literally 9 warnings from God that we must repent. Here is a website to learn more: http://www.theharbinger-jonathancahn.com/

Did you know that on January 21, 2013 Johathan Cahn spoke at the Inaugural Breakfast before Barrack Obama was sworn into office for his second term. The message Johathan Cahn gives is both powerful and prophetic. He doesn’t pull any punches and his message is much more direct in that we must repent and come back to keeping the commandments of God or else our great nation will be destroyed.

Watch the video here. Amazing!

He basically is saying that George Washington and others during his time dedicated this nation of America to God and he warned future generations that if we turn from God and following in God’s ways that we would be destroyed as a nation and that the blessings of prosperity that God gives us would be removed. Jonathan also shows how during Abraham Lincoln’s time, Lincoln got the people to repent and return to God and that then the tied of the Civil War shifted and was later able to heal. He showed how we as Americans have reacted to the warning message of 9/11 and instead of repenting and turning to God we have gotten more defiant and this will lead us only on to destruction.

Though I think we are now beyond the point of no return, those of us who are repenting and coming unto Christ must realize that our future will be disrupted and it will be terrible and very difficult, but it is true that not withstanding this downpour of turmoil, God will comfort and sustain us, so we cannot give up on him. I know that was the message President Monson gave us, but I just wish He would help us understand that it is about to get ugly, really ugly and we must not give up Hope that God will see us through, if and only if we trust in and follow Him.

Shalom!