Monthly Archives: January 2016

Your Bill Is Coming Due.

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PaymentDueThroughout this post, the JST ( http://centerplace.org/hs/iv/ ) is made use of instead of the KJV.

If you agree that Jesus spoke the words attributed to him in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible, and if you agree that by entering into the waters of baptism you have entered into a covenant to be obedient to him until the end of your life, or if you have partaken of the sacrament, then you have witnessed unto God, the Father, that you are willing to keep the commandments of the Lord.

Moroni 4:3 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

JST John 14

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;

17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

18 I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me; because I live, ye shall live also.

20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

22 Judas saith unto him, (not Iscariot,) Lord, how is it thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings; and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

If you love Jesus, keep his commandments.  You love Jesus if, and only if, you keep his commandments.  If you keep his commandments, he will come to you, and he will bring the Father to you.

Doctrine and Covenants 130:3 John 14:23—The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse, is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false.

The visit spoken of is literal, and in this world.

D&C 132

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to [my] glory.

22 For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me.

23 But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also.

24 This is eternal lives—to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law.

25 Broad is the gate, and wide the way that leadeth to the deaths; and many there are that go in thereat, because they receive me not, neither do they abide in my law.

Remember, the idea that one receives Jesus in one’s heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false.  To receive Jesus therefore means to take him into your home, or to embrace him physically.  If you do not thus receive him in the world, then you do not know him, and you do not receive exaltation.  If you thus receive him in the world, then you know him, and will receive exaltation.

Putting it all together, you love Jesus if, and only if, you keep his commandments.  If you keep his commandments, he will come to you, and you will take him into your home, or embrace him physically.  If you thus receive him, he will bring the Father to you, and you will receive your exaltation.

Doctrine and Covenants 82:10 I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.

If you do not keep his commandments, you have no promise of any of these things.

Doctrine and Covenants 130:21 [W]hen we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

So what are the commandments of the Lord?  For brevity, here is the shortest version.

JST Luke 6

20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are the poor; for theirs is the kingdom of God.

21 Blessed are they who hunger now; for they shall be filled. Blessed are they who weep now; for they shall laugh.

22 Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from among them, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.

23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for behold your reward shall be great in heaven; for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

24 But woe unto you that are rich! For ye have received your consolation.

25 Woe unto you who are full! For ye shall hunger. Woe unto you who laugh now! For ye shall mourn and weep.

26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

27 But I say unto you who hear my words, Love your enemies, do good to them who hate you.

28 Bless them who curse you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you.

29 And unto him who smiteth thee on the cheek, offer also the other; or, in other words, it is better to offer the other, than to revile again. And him who taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also.

30 For it is better that thou suffer thine enemy to take these things, than to contend with him. Verily I say unto you, Your heavenly Father who seeth in secret, shall bring that wicked one into judgment.

31 Therefore give to every man who asketh of thee; and of him who taketh away thy goods, ask them not again.

32 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

33 For if ye love them only who love you, what reward have you? For sinners also do even the same.

34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what reward have you? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great; and ye shall be the children of the Highest; for he is kind unto the unthankful, and to the evil.

36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.

38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again.

39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?

40 A disciple is not above his master; but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

41 And why beholdest thou the mote which is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam which is in thine own eye?

42 Again, how canst thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam which is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote which is in thy brother’s eye.

43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit;

44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is good. And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil; for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

46 And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like.

48 He is like a man who built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock, and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a rock.

49 But he who heareth and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

These teachings are repeated three times throughout scripture.  Three times.  Thrice.

 3 Nephi 12:20 Therefore come unto me and be ye saved; for verily I say unto you, that except ye shall keep my commandments, which I have commanded you at this time, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Are you keeping these sayings of Jesus?  Are you performing them daily?  Are you giving to every man that asketh?  Are you lending to all, not hoping to receive again?  Are you returning reviling for reviling, or are you patiently enduring abuse?

These are, after all, the things you witnessed unto God that you are willing to do.

And, remember further, great promises are offered to those who both do and teach.

JST Matthew 5:21 Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so to do, he shall in no wise be saved in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach these commandments of the law until it be fulfilled, the same shall be called great, and shall be saved in the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever breaks the least of these commandments, and teaches men to do likewise, are promised they shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven, while those who both do them and teach them are promised they shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

JST Luke 14

25 And when he had finished these sayings, he departed thence, and there went great multitudes with him, and he turned and said unto them,

26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, or husband, yea and his own life also; or in other words, is afraid to lay down his life for my sake, cannot be my disciple.

27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

28 Therefore, settle this in your hearts, that ye will do the things which I shall teach, and command you.

29 For which of you intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have money to finish his work?

30 Lest, unhappily, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish his work, all who behold, begin to mock him,

31 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. And this he said, signifying there should not any man follow him, unless he was able to continue; saying,

32 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand, to meet him who cometh against him with twenty thousand.

33 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an embassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

34 So likewise, whosoever of you forsaketh not all that he hath he cannot be my disciple.

He meant it.  And do not think to claim that by your loyalty to the prophets and apostles of the Church, or any others, that you can bypass the requirements Jesus has set.

35 Then certain of them came to him saying, Good Master, we have Moses and the prophets, and whosoever shall live by them, shall he not have life?

36 And Jesus answered, saying, Ye know not Moses, neither the prophets; for if ye had known them, ye would have believed on me; for to this intent they were written. For I am sent that ye might have life. Therefore I will liken it unto salt which is good;

37 But if the salt had lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

38 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dung hill; men cast it out. He who hath ears to hear, let him hear. These things he said, signifying that which was written, verily must all be fulfilled.

So likewise if you keep not his sayings, even while claiming loyalty to prophets, you are as salt that has lost its savor, a covenant people claiming Jesus for king yet not obeying the king’s laws, and therefore are covenant-breakers, good for nothing but to be cast out.

Those who teach you that you owe less to the Lord than you have covenanted to do are the unjust steward, who will be sharing lodging with you in everlasting habitations if you agree with them (see JST Luke 16).  Time is short, and your bill is coming due.

Therefore, do not procrastinate the day of your fulfillment of your own words, covenants, witnesses, or agreements, but begin today to keep the commandments of the Lord that he delivered by his own voice to his people, that you may be accounted faithful in all things.

 Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain [bring into your home] strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unaware.

And who knows but that the angel in disguise might be the Lord himself, seeing if you are one of his disciples.

Vision of the Abandoned Temple

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RuinedTempleI had not expected to write publically again. I thought my shared ministry was over. In my mind I had sealed my writings and closed the books. I even told the Lord so and felt His acceptance of my offering. Yet for the last three days, including this morning – it is now 5am as I start this – the Lord has been clear He wants this shared. I don’t know why. Perhaps it will be helpful to someone else. We shall see.

It took me ten minutes to relate it to Carol last night. I will try to condense it to a less time-consuming post. It has to do with dreams, specifically flying dreams. I’m not an expert on the subject, and my interpretation of these dreams is from years of pondering and praying. I have experienced flying dreams all my life. They have been the most common type of dream I have experienced for years and years.

Again, I had not expected to prepare this for public consumption, but for my journal. However, when it stays on my minds for three days in a row, I know there is something in it meant for someone other than myself. First a little background on how I interpret flying dreams. They come in four flavors or levels. Level one is the beginning’s level – baby steps. In each step, the flying action is accomplished through faith and your own will.

A little about flying dreams

In the first level of flying, you find you are able to leap up, take a few steps of simple will power to get yourself to some other place not far away, usually that can be seen. “Poof,” you’re there. Nine times out of ten you crash into things as you travel on your way, including bumping into people, chairs, walls and other obstacles. This is the level of “baby steps.” You may or may not turn horizontal in your short journey at this level.

In the second level, you have discovered you can exercise some level of control around obstacles and are able to do the “hop, skip and jump” type of flying that becomes progressively longer over time and with practice. In other words, you can go from one end of town to another with a willful amount of faith, without impaling yourself on the fireplug as you whiz by. It is a quick, but still a bit shaky mode of travel.

In the third level, you soar. It is glorious. You go high. You go far. You reach great distances in an instant. In fact, you can find yourself lost, because you are visiting areas you have never seen on the ground. You can look in airplane windows, skim the tops of clouds and mountains and – this is the especially neat part in my opinion – you can pause in mid-air, look down at a lighted city and discern things going on there.

Watch out for Imposed Limits

One big drawback of level three is the wires. There is something about high-tension electric wires that is simply catastrophic to this form of spirit travel (all taking place in your dreams). They represent severe limits and must be avoided at all costs. If you run through one you are severed in half and find yourself tumbling to earth in an uncontrolled, frightening descent with a painful landing require time to heal.

In the fourth level of flying, one could say you have mastered the skill and have it under control. You are capable of great bursts of speed and energy, but rarely use it because it is not needed here on earth. For the most part, it is for taking advantage of situations where a quick assessment of the territory would be helpful. With this background I can now give you an example, which is what I believe I’m asked to share.

I have had dozens of flying dreams over the years. They almost always come either after learning of some major change about to happen in my life or as a prelude warning or announcement of upcoming change. Up until two nights ago, all my flying dreams were of level three – look out for the wires. In my real life, I had either just received or was about to receive a promotion or complete some major intense project.

A Visit to the Dream-world

Two nights ago I experienced my first level four flying dream. I was with a group of about eighty other “servants” I will call them. The number is significant. There were four countries in my mission. We had about eighty missionaries in each country. On this day we were all together, something that in reality would never happen, but of course, in symbolic dreams, anything that is necessary can happen to you.

We were travelling through a “burned-out” district, and I mean physically burned out. Devastation and destruction surrounded us. The infrastructure was destroyed – no electric or phone communications, no roads – all broken up and buildings destroyed, burning or burned. There were also no people. They had all left – in a hurry – several days earlier. It was your typical post-apocalyptic scene but without zombies.

Large buildings had toppled, small buildings had burned. The only edifices still standing – and this was a point of great curiosity to our group – were temples. They were built in a short, squatty style, by which they were able to survive the devastation. These were sacred buildings of this culture – the timeframe could not be determined – modern, past 200 years, or whenever. Nor could we determine the location.

Dreams Can Be Symbolic

Those things were not important. Remember, dreams are symbolic. The key to interpreting dreams is to look for the symbolism, or rather to pray to have the symbolic elements revealed to you right away. In this case, I did so and you will understand why when we reach the end of the dream. In this particular vision, we found ourselves marching up a curved, ascending entryway to the doorway of a temple.

We were naturally drawn to temples because we were missionaries. We had been sent to this place and time on a particular mission, even though it was not revealed to me in the dream, I have an idea what that mission was, and perhaps may still be. We entered the temple. It was not lit. It was night. The light from fires burning outside the building through curtain-less windows allowed us to barely see our way around.

We immediately began to explore. Most stayed in a group, but we seemed to be in a hurry to want to know what had happened to the people who we hoped we would find in the temple. It was at this time I was either asked, volunteered or just knew my flying skills would come in handy and so I rose and began to rapidly move through the hallways. All the doors were open. Nothing was blocked, including stairs.

We Had Arrived Too Late

In an instant, or so it seemed, I was able to determine the building was devoid of inhabitants. I quickly returned to my group, hovering just about them and beckoned them to follow me. I led them because I had the flying gift and could get them to where we wanted to go in short order. I took them directly to the altar of the temple. Now I need to mention something about the feelings we shared in our group.

We were warriors as well as missionaries. We were like the first wave in some immensely important battle. We were chosen or had volunteered for this mission specifically because of our skills in a certain area, which I feel constrained to not mention at this time. However, imagine a group of missionaries, men and women, who, after many, many long years – perhaps fifty or more – had experienced no success.

We were sad. We were tired. Yet we were true to our mission and were about our duty. We were seeking a people who had a rare kind of understanding – a kind of empathy not found in the rest of the society. We had searched for these people for years, always just missing them as they moved ahead of us to stay away from the rest of the world that followed after them, trying to steal whatever they possessed.

We Can Be Visited In Our Dreams

As we passed on the way to the altar of the temple, we each noted this was not a brand new temple. It had been used for many years. The carpets were worn. The bannisters were in need of a coat of varnish. It was especially clear around the altars by the indentations of knees on the cushions. This was a building that had been used for many years and served some great purpose but now had been just abandoned.

We had failed. Our entire life’s mission was to find these people. We had searched for a lifetime in vain. We reached the main altar and, as if on a signal, but without a word, lowered our weapons, dropped to our knees, still clothed in our protective armor, surrounded the altar and bowed our heads in sadness. Nobody said a word, the Eldest of the warrior missionaries on one side and the youngest on the other.

This is the conclusion and then perhaps one of two interpretations of symbolism. As we knelt and from the side where the eldest of the warriors knelt, a soft presence began to be felt. Descending from the heavens were angels – no wings – golden in color. They gently came down and touched each warrior. As they did so the feelings that permeated the room transcended any joy they had ever felt in all their days.

Dreams Serve a Real Purpose

At this moment I awoke and found myself sobbing. That feeling was in my heart. Although but a dream, I knew I also had been touched by one of the golden angels. I had never felt such feelings before. They stayed with me for at least fifteen minutes as I cried and sobbed out of sheer exhaustion and joy. I knew my efforts had been appreciated, my work had been finished and I could now go home if I so desired.

As I shared at the beginning, this was originally intended to be a private journal entry. I have no idea how it will be received or why it needed to be shared. You decide who the warriors represented. You decide why the number was so small. Perhaps you can determine what their mission was and why they had been sent to find these people. What were they to do when they found them? What gifts did they have?

Incidentally, in the third level of flying, the wires represented bounds beyond which one should not go. They were there to protect the travelers / flyers from rising too high too fast and being burned by unseen or unknown forces. In my life these level three dreams have ALWAYS come just after I recognized for myself that I had achieved or mastered some new skill. The wires were a warning to practice humility.

Dreams Can Be Considered Visions

I’ll offer nothing more. I think that’s all I should share. I could tell you who the warriors are or rather who they represent, but those who are members of that group probably already got that right away. For some people this is nonsense and gobbledygook. That’s okay. I did not write this for them. I think the Lord wants those in the group of eighty to rethink the value of what they have been doing and have done.

By the way, my prayer that night before I retied to sleep with filled with pleadings to the Lord for help and direction in my career and my life. I am going through some big changes and challenges right now. Some are relationship-based, some have to do with feelings of security, some deal with anticipated future events, real and based on scripture. I believe this dream was an answer to that tearful prayer.

I pray you’ll forgive me for not being very responsive on my blog. In my mind, it is over. I left it up because I offered it to the Lord in a sacred prayer a couple of years ago. In a clear and unmistakable answer to that prayer – at least to me – he accepted the blog, used it for a season, and then released me from continuing. The cost of this blog has been high and painful in many profound and personal ways.

God bless. I love you all.