Sunday, February 22, 2009
Good VS. Evil......Tale As Old As Time
The true Christian has surely no right to wonder if he meets with the same kind of treatment as our blessed Lord. In fact, the more like he is to his Master, and the more holy and spiritual his life, the more probable is it that he will have to endure hatred and persecution. Let him not suppose that any degree of consistency will deliver him from this cross. It is not his faults, but his graces, which call forth the enmity of men. The world hates to see anything of God's image. The children of the world are vexed and pricked in conscience when they see others excelling in their Salvation than they have been able to muster themselves. Why did Cain hate his brother Abel, and slay him? "Because," says St. John, "his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." (1 John iii. 12.) Why did the Jews hate Christ? Because He exposed their sins and false doctrines; and they knew in their own hearts that He was right and they were wrong. "The world," said our Lord, "hateth Me, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil." (John vii. 7.) Let Christians make up their minds to drink the same cup, and let them drink it patiently and without surprise. There is One in heaven who said, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you." (John xv. 18.) There is a simple and plain reason why the whole world hates a man who sits humbly in prison and emphatically prays for us, that is simply because He hath exposed the wicked and blessed the righteous, let all them who do wickedly retrospect and see why they feel the wrath rising upon them of a condemned sin and let the righteous be sure they have the confidence of their God with them, knowing their course is pleasing. There will be those who hate Him on the one hand, and those that love Him on the other. Let them remember this and take courage. The time is short. We are traveling on towards a day when all shall be set right, and every man shall receive according to his works. "There is an end: and our expectation shall not be cut off." (Prov. xxiii. 18.)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Perspective
By Al Holm
I very often begin to write here and stop myself short. It is because I look up at the title of this blog and say Whoa! Is my “view” truly an FLDS view? And then reality hits me like a ton of bricks. Yes, the metaphor “a ton of bricks” for me it is more than literal, in fact “a ton of bricks” doesn’t do what I actually feel justice. Try to imagine a ton of bricks hitting you, and saying “well, that was much nicer”. I cannot begin to do justice for the truth of this religion and this humble man that I revere. But I proceed anyway, after a sincere look up with my head down. I proceed out of a desire to help those who really don’t want to be a part of the bigoted masses, and to counter the “hate cult” crusaders who prefer to believe lies; many of whom are in the government and the media.
True objectivity is a myth. Neutrality of opinion is not humanly possible. I can tell a dishonest person when I hear the words “I have no opinion one way or another”. I don’t mean that they are intentionally dishonest; perhaps they do not realize it is not possible, and "try" to be neutral, or perhaps they would rather not say and excuse themselves by claiming no opinion. Certainly I respect silence on any issue, especially when it is out of the lack of relevant true information. Tolerance is the opinion that even IF someone else is "wrong", they have that right to be wrong if they desire.
News reporters do not have the luxury often times to wait for the actual truth, even if they want it, which doesn't seem to be true all that often. The profession of journalism is not one that is based on truth, it is based more on getting attention, so certain things are portrayed as facts, or “newsworthy” when they are not true. Their paycheck is based on the amount of attention they get, so that is usually their main goal.
A journalist is telling the truth when they write “Joe said there are Martians in Texas”. The problem is the news reporter doesn’t know if Joe is telling the truth or not, and quite often the reporter will trust Joe because the reporter actually believes or agrees with Joe, and yet they both could be wrong. The credibility of Joe is not questioned just so long as the reporter doesn’t question it. And then there is the “editing” I have personally seen Mike Watkiss take an interview and chop it to smithereens in order to vilify the person he was interviewing. I have had the same thing done to me by a reporter out of Texas named Lisa Sandberg. They start with an agenda, and report only the information that fits their agenda, and cut out the parts that put the agenda into correct perspective. She even wrote without quoting me, but implied I was saying things that I was not. “He has struggled with whether Jeffs was the one man on earth with a direct connection to God” Which is a complete lie. I wrote about this. The same thing has happened to Ben Barlow. This “spin” is a lie because it portrays as a doctrine things that are only relatively true. “Barlow says its part of their religion for older men to marry underage girls.” He meant to say it is part of the religious belief to ALLOW girls to get married under 18. Marriage is important to the religion, not specific ages. Even in "good" stories, such as the recent CNN interview with Betty Jessop, the CNN reporter, Gary Tuckman, implies agreement with Carolyn by specifically quoting Carolyn's assertion that Betty is "afraid" to tell the truth. She did admit to "wanting" to break the law didn't she?
I have never seen a story in the news that was completely true about the FLDS people. Not one. But I realize and understand the truth from my own perspective, closely aligned with those I love.
I do know that of all the reporters out there, Brooke Adams of the Salt Lake Tribune has done the most admirable job of humanizing the FLDS people, especially since the raid in Texas last April. I do want to acknowledge her efforts to avoid the John Dougherty/Terry Langford style “reporting” for the most part. But I know she has a fairly strong bias against our leader. The recent dumping of sacred and private information on her blog by her and the Anti-FLDS crusaders is more proof to me. I wonder what she would think if her own fathers journal was stolen and critiqued publicly in such a way.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Brick
A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar.
He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door!
He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.
The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?"
The young boy was apologetic.
"Please, mister... please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do," He pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop... " With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.
"It's my brother," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."
Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts.
A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.
"Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger.
Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar.
The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message.
"Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!"
God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts.
Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us.
It's our choice to listen or not.
He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door!
He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.
The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?"
The young boy was apologetic.
"Please, mister... please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do," He pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop... " With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.
"It's my brother," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."
Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts.
A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.
"Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger.
Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar.
The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message.
"Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!"
God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts.
Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us.
It's our choice to listen or not.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Who Really Is Against Him?
I thought after Al's post I would post something from the book "Life Of Heber C. Kimball"
"But why careful, among so many friends, to select only a few as the recipients of such a favor? Would not the Saints have died to a man in defense of their Prophet -- God's seer and revelator? Alas, none knew so well as Joseph the frailty of man, the inherent weakness and wickedness of the human heart.---Excerpted From "Life of Heber C. Kimball" by Orson F. Whitney Page 321
"Many men," said he, "will say, `I will never forsake you, but will stand by you at all times.' But the moment you teach them some of the mysteries of the kingdom of God that are retained in the heavens, and are to be revealed to the children of men when they are prepared for them, they will be the first to stone you and put you to death.
"It was this same principle that crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, and will cause the people to kill the prophets in this generation."
What! would even the Saints have so done? Did not some of those who were Saints then, so do?
Had not Joseph said many times -- are not men now living who heard him say: "Would to God, brethren, I could tell you who I am! Would to God I could tell you what I know! But you would call it blasphemy, and there are men upon this stand who would want to take my life."
"If the Church," said he, "knew all the commandments, one-half they would reject through prejudice and ignorance."
No wonder, then, that he should choose his confidants, for their sakes no less than his own. For these also are Joseph's words:
"When God offers a blessing, or knowledge to a man, and he refuses to receive it, he will be damned."
The Vital Point
I have written about this before. Here and Here and Here Please read them again before reading this.
To clarify, it is part of the FLDS religion to have a prophet leader, and the way and reason he becomes the prophet leader is what qualified him to the FLDS PEOPLE. He doesn't have to qualify to you for him to be MY leader. We know his character, we know how much he has done FOR the purification of the people as a whole, and for Heavenly Father, (who IS COMING). We know how close he was to his father in all things, including perfect obedience. And we know what his goal, and purpose is, and the overriding point of why he has done what he has done. That is why none of us are worried, and why the crusaders, the CULT of bigots, have made the private words public, with their own evil spin. They actually think they can destroy our faith with them. That is the reason the government has arrested him and put him in jail, and that is the purpose behind all the persecution. To try to get his followers to stop. To me, all the crusaders do is make me feel sorry for them. They are only making themselves more dark and filled with hate. They only serve the devil in their crusade.They cannot harm my faith, or keep me from supporting this man, only I can do that.
I won't read the private words of my best friend, they are none of my business. I have already qualified him as my leader, and I will follow as long as the words he gives to me are the words that I believe correspond with the scriptures, and they do. I wont be listening to him through his (and thus my) enemies, if those are even his words.
These are commandments to the FLDS from God, to us. They are an important part of our religion.
“And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.” (Exodus 4:16)
“And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter [Warren], and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19)
“Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he recieveth them, walking in all holiness before me; For his word you shall receive as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith” (D&C 21:4-5)
“Cursed are all those that shall lift up the heel against mine anointed, saith the Lord, and cry they have sinned when they have not sinned before me, saith the Lord, but have done that which was meet in mine eyes, and which I commanded them. But those who cry transgression do it because they are the servants of sin, and are the children of disobedience themselves.” (D&C 121:16-17)
“For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye have received a commandment for a law unto my church, through him whom I have appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations from my hand. And this ye shall know assuredly- that there is none other appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations until he be taken, if he abide in me. But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none else shall be appointed unto this gift except it be through him; for if it be taken from him he shall not have power except to appoint another in his stead.” (D&C 43:2-4)
“Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was Aaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that sent me, and I have endowed him with the keys of the power of this priesthood, if he do anything in my name, and according to my law and by my word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him. Let no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph [Warren]; for I will justify him; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God.” (D&C132:59-60)
It is a benevolent dictatorship, this FLDS religion is. God is our leader, and he reveals His will through one man to us, and his name is Warren Jeffs. If you don't believe that, fine, go and enjoy your life, and do the best that you can, and live your own religion in peace. For just as the Prophet Joseph said to his own brother who had physically attacked him:
“As it regards what course you shall pursue hereafter, I do not pretend to say; I leave you in the hands of God and His Church. Make your own decision; I will do you good, although you mar me, or slay me. By doing so, my garments shall be clear of your sins. And if at any time you should consider me to be an impostor, for heavens sake leave me in the hands of God, and not think to take vengeance on me yourself.” (Joseph Smith DHC 2:343)
-Al Holm
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Context
Can you tell by the words I am saying, how I feel? Can you tell by what I wrote yesterday if I was laughing, crying, mad, or sad when I said it? No, you cannot. I have often been told that I should calm down when I was beyond calm when they said it. I have had this experience many many times. You cannot infer meaning from context you have no clue about.
My wonderful Tutoring teacher gave us a demonstration. She had her little tot in her arms and she spoke in a very kind and soothing motherly voice "You are the ugliest little monster ever" and the babe smiled.
Then she startled everyone by saying "I love you!" really loud with a gruff voice, and the child began to cry.
My point being, you cannot tell how one feels, or their intentions, by the written words you read from them, in a very great way. Most especially if you are reading what was never intended for you to read. You can tell that they actually said it, but you cannot understand intent unless you know who the person is, and what kind of person they are. I often write what I think, not expecting anyone else to read it, and later look at it and wonder what "I" was thinking!
Most people actually read what they want to believe INTO what they are reading. You cannot know without knowing the person, what their intentions are. You can only try to understand from their prospective, that is, if you WANT to.
-Pliggy
My wonderful Tutoring teacher gave us a demonstration. She had her little tot in her arms and she spoke in a very kind and soothing motherly voice "You are the ugliest little monster ever" and the babe smiled.
Then she startled everyone by saying "I love you!" really loud with a gruff voice, and the child began to cry.
My point being, you cannot tell how one feels, or their intentions, by the written words you read from them, in a very great way. Most especially if you are reading what was never intended for you to read. You can tell that they actually said it, but you cannot understand intent unless you know who the person is, and what kind of person they are. I often write what I think, not expecting anyone else to read it, and later look at it and wonder what "I" was thinking!
Most people actually read what they want to believe INTO what they are reading. You cannot know without knowing the person, what their intentions are. You can only try to understand from their prospective, that is, if you WANT to.
-Pliggy
Saturday, February 14, 2009
New Contributor
I wish to welcome and to thank "Love of the Truth" for writing the post below. I really appreciate it!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Why Are We Grateful For Our Trials?
"There is a great responsibility resting upon us, each and everyone. And it is my opinion that our greatest persecution, our greatest test rather, will not be from the outside people prosecuting or persecuting us, but our great test will come from within our own ranks. You can follow it throughout the history of the Church, and the great persecutions that came upon the saints in Missouri were agitated and caused more by those who had an insight into the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then apostatized. And those who were the cause of the Prophet's death were men who had stood by the side of him in the presidency and had walked with him in the Priesthood capacity, then left the Church and apostatized. The Spirit of God had left them and the spirit of persecution, of evil, took possession of their bodies. And that is what is going to happen in the future. The greatest persecution and the greatest test that will come to this people will be from those who have drawn away from the true line of Priesthood and accepted the priesthood of Satan as their guide and companion."---Quoted From LSJ Vol. 1 Pg 9
"There never has been a day for ages and ages, not since the true church was destroyed after the days of the Apostles, that required the faith and the energy of godly men and godly women, and the skill, wisdom, and power of the Almighty to be with them, so much as this people require it at the present time. There never was that necessity; there never has been a time on the face of the earth, from the time that the church went to destruction, and the Priesthood was taken from the earth, that the powers of darkness and the powers of earth and hell were so embittered, and enraged, and incensed against God and godliness on the earth, as they are at the present. And when the spirit of persecution, the spirit of hatred, of wrath, and malice ceases in the world against this people, it will be the time that this people have apostatized and joined hands with the wicked, and never until then; which I pray may never come".---Quoted From JD 4:326-327 Brigham Young
And last but not least from the Master Himself:
"There never has been a day for ages and ages, not since the true church was destroyed after the days of the Apostles, that required the faith and the energy of godly men and godly women, and the skill, wisdom, and power of the Almighty to be with them, so much as this people require it at the present time. There never was that necessity; there never has been a time on the face of the earth, from the time that the church went to destruction, and the Priesthood was taken from the earth, that the powers of darkness and the powers of earth and hell were so embittered, and enraged, and incensed against God and godliness on the earth, as they are at the present. And when the spirit of persecution, the spirit of hatred, of wrath, and malice ceases in the world against this people, it will be the time that this people have apostatized and joined hands with the wicked, and never until then; which I pray may never come".---Quoted From JD 4:326-327 Brigham Young
And last but not least from the Master Himself:
3 Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.
7 And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
8 And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
10 And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake;
12 For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.
13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
A Letter from the Prophet from Prison
-
"Dearly and beloved brethren,
"We see that perilous times have come, as was testified of. We may look, then, with most perfect assurance, for the fulfillment of all those things that have been written, and with more confidence than ever before, lift up our eyes to the luminary of day, and say in our hearts, Soon thou wilt veil thy blushing face. He that said "Let there be Light," and there was light, hath spoken this word. And again, Thou moon, thou dimmer light, thou luminary of night, shalt turn to blood.
"We see that everything is being fulfilled; and that the time shall soon come when the Son of Man shall descend in the clouds of heaven. Our hearts do not shrink, neither are our spirits altogether broken by the grievous yoke which is put upon us. We know that God will have our oppressors in derision; that He will laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh.
"O that we could be with you, brethren, and unbosom our feelings to you! We would tell, that we should have been liberated at the time Elder Rigdon was, on the writ of habeas corpus, had not our own lawyers interpreted the law, contrary to what it reads, against us; which prevented us from introducing our evidence before the mock court.
"They have done us much harm from the beginning. They have of late acknowledged that the law was misconstrued, and tantalized our feelings with it, and have entirely forsaken us, and have forfeited their oaths and their bonds; and we have a come-back on them, for they are co-workers with the mob.
"As nigh as we can learn, the public mind has been for a long time turning in our favor, and the majority in now friendly; and the lawyers can no longer browbeat us by saying that this or that is a matter of public opinion, for public opinion is not willing to brook it; for it is beginning to look with feelings of indignation against our oppressors, and to say that the "Mormons" were not in the fault in the least. We think that truth, honor, virtue and innocence will eventually come out triumphant.
............
"A fanciful and flowery and heated imagination beware of; because the things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity--thou must commune with God. How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts of God, than the vain imaginations of the human heart! None but fools will trifle with the souls of men.
"How vain and trifling have been our spirits, our conferences, our councils, our meetings, our private as well as public conversations--too low, too mean, too vulgar, too condescending for the dignified characters of the called and chosen of God, according to the purposes of His will, from before the foundation of the world! We are called to hold the keys of the mysteries of those things that have been kept hid from the foundation of the world until now. Some have tasted a little of these things, many of which are to be poured down from heaven upon the heads of babes; yea, upon the weak, obscure and despised ones of the earth. Therefore we beseech of you, brethren, that you bear with those who do not feel themselves more worthy than yourselves, while we exhort one another to a reformation with one and all, both old and young, teachers and taught, both high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, male and female; let honesty, and sobriety, and candor, and solemnity, and virtue, and pureness, and meekness, and simplicity crown our heads in every place; and in fine, become as little children, without malice, guile or hypocrisy.
"And now, brethren, after your tribulations, if you do these things, and exercise fervent prayer and faith in the sight of God always, He shall give unto you knowledge by His Holy Spirit, yea by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the world was until now; which our forefathers have waited with anxious expectation to be revealed in the last times, which their minds were pointed to by the angels, as held in reserve for the fullness of their glory; a time to come in which nothing shall be withheld, whether there be one God or many Gods, they shall be manifest; all thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and also if there be bounds set to the heavens, or to the seas; or to the dry land, or to the sun, moon or stars; all the times of their revolutions; all the appointed days, months and years, and all the days of their days, months and years, and all their glories, laws, and set times, shall be revealed, in the days of the dispensation of the fullness of times, according to that which was ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal God of all other Gods, before this world was, that should be reserved unto the finishing and the end thereof, when every man shall enter into His eternal presence, and into His immortal rest.
"But I beg leave to say unto you, brethren, that ignorance, superstition and bigotry placing itself where it ought not, is oftentimes in the way of the prosperity of this Church; like the torrent of rain from the mountains, that floods the most pure and crystal stream with mire, and dirt, and filthiness, and obscures everything that was clear before, and all rushes along in one general deluge; but time weathers tide; and notwithstanding we are rolled in the mire of the flood for the time being, the next surge peradventure, as time rolls on, may bring to us the fountain as clear as crystal, and as pure as snow; while the filthiness, flood-wood and rubbish is left and purged out by the way.
"How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven, upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.
"What is Boggs or his murderous party, but wimbling willows upon the shore to catch the flood-wood? As well might we argue that water is not water, because the mountain torrents send down mire and roil the crystal stream, although afterwards render it more pure than before; or that fire is not fire, because it is of a quenchable nature, by pouring on the flood; as to say that our cause is down because renegades, liars, priests, thieves and murderers, who are all alike tenacious of their crafts and creeds, have poured down, from their spiritual wickedness in high places, and from their strongholds of the devil, a flood of dirt and mire and filthiness and vomit upon our heads.
"No! God forbid. Hell may pour forth its rage like the burning lava of mount Vesuvius, or of Etna, or of the most terrible of the burning mountains; and yet shall "Mormonism" stand. Water, fire, truth and God are all realities. Truth is "Mormonism." God is the author of it. He is our shield. It is by Him we received our birth. It was by His voice that we were called to a dispensation of His Gospel in the beginning of the fullness of times. It was by Him we received the Book of Mormon; and it is by Him that we remain unto this day; and by Him we shall remain, if it shall be for our glory; and in His Almighty name we are determined to endure tribulation as good soldiers unto the end."
The Prophet Joseph Smith
'Liberty' Jail, Missouri March 1839
TPJS pg 132-139
"Dearly and beloved brethren,
"We see that perilous times have come, as was testified of. We may look, then, with most perfect assurance, for the fulfillment of all those things that have been written, and with more confidence than ever before, lift up our eyes to the luminary of day, and say in our hearts, Soon thou wilt veil thy blushing face. He that said "Let there be Light," and there was light, hath spoken this word. And again, Thou moon, thou dimmer light, thou luminary of night, shalt turn to blood.
"We see that everything is being fulfilled; and that the time shall soon come when the Son of Man shall descend in the clouds of heaven. Our hearts do not shrink, neither are our spirits altogether broken by the grievous yoke which is put upon us. We know that God will have our oppressors in derision; that He will laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh.
"O that we could be with you, brethren, and unbosom our feelings to you! We would tell, that we should have been liberated at the time Elder Rigdon was, on the writ of habeas corpus, had not our own lawyers interpreted the law, contrary to what it reads, against us; which prevented us from introducing our evidence before the mock court.
"They have done us much harm from the beginning. They have of late acknowledged that the law was misconstrued, and tantalized our feelings with it, and have entirely forsaken us, and have forfeited their oaths and their bonds; and we have a come-back on them, for they are co-workers with the mob.
"As nigh as we can learn, the public mind has been for a long time turning in our favor, and the majority in now friendly; and the lawyers can no longer browbeat us by saying that this or that is a matter of public opinion, for public opinion is not willing to brook it; for it is beginning to look with feelings of indignation against our oppressors, and to say that the "Mormons" were not in the fault in the least. We think that truth, honor, virtue and innocence will eventually come out triumphant.
............
"A fanciful and flowery and heated imagination beware of; because the things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity--thou must commune with God. How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts of God, than the vain imaginations of the human heart! None but fools will trifle with the souls of men.
"How vain and trifling have been our spirits, our conferences, our councils, our meetings, our private as well as public conversations--too low, too mean, too vulgar, too condescending for the dignified characters of the called and chosen of God, according to the purposes of His will, from before the foundation of the world! We are called to hold the keys of the mysteries of those things that have been kept hid from the foundation of the world until now. Some have tasted a little of these things, many of which are to be poured down from heaven upon the heads of babes; yea, upon the weak, obscure and despised ones of the earth. Therefore we beseech of you, brethren, that you bear with those who do not feel themselves more worthy than yourselves, while we exhort one another to a reformation with one and all, both old and young, teachers and taught, both high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, male and female; let honesty, and sobriety, and candor, and solemnity, and virtue, and pureness, and meekness, and simplicity crown our heads in every place; and in fine, become as little children, without malice, guile or hypocrisy.
"And now, brethren, after your tribulations, if you do these things, and exercise fervent prayer and faith in the sight of God always, He shall give unto you knowledge by His Holy Spirit, yea by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the world was until now; which our forefathers have waited with anxious expectation to be revealed in the last times, which their minds were pointed to by the angels, as held in reserve for the fullness of their glory; a time to come in which nothing shall be withheld, whether there be one God or many Gods, they shall be manifest; all thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and also if there be bounds set to the heavens, or to the seas; or to the dry land, or to the sun, moon or stars; all the times of their revolutions; all the appointed days, months and years, and all the days of their days, months and years, and all their glories, laws, and set times, shall be revealed, in the days of the dispensation of the fullness of times, according to that which was ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal God of all other Gods, before this world was, that should be reserved unto the finishing and the end thereof, when every man shall enter into His eternal presence, and into His immortal rest.
"But I beg leave to say unto you, brethren, that ignorance, superstition and bigotry placing itself where it ought not, is oftentimes in the way of the prosperity of this Church; like the torrent of rain from the mountains, that floods the most pure and crystal stream with mire, and dirt, and filthiness, and obscures everything that was clear before, and all rushes along in one general deluge; but time weathers tide; and notwithstanding we are rolled in the mire of the flood for the time being, the next surge peradventure, as time rolls on, may bring to us the fountain as clear as crystal, and as pure as snow; while the filthiness, flood-wood and rubbish is left and purged out by the way.
"How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven, upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.
"What is Boggs or his murderous party, but wimbling willows upon the shore to catch the flood-wood? As well might we argue that water is not water, because the mountain torrents send down mire and roil the crystal stream, although afterwards render it more pure than before; or that fire is not fire, because it is of a quenchable nature, by pouring on the flood; as to say that our cause is down because renegades, liars, priests, thieves and murderers, who are all alike tenacious of their crafts and creeds, have poured down, from their spiritual wickedness in high places, and from their strongholds of the devil, a flood of dirt and mire and filthiness and vomit upon our heads.
"No! God forbid. Hell may pour forth its rage like the burning lava of mount Vesuvius, or of Etna, or of the most terrible of the burning mountains; and yet shall "Mormonism" stand. Water, fire, truth and God are all realities. Truth is "Mormonism." God is the author of it. He is our shield. It is by Him we received our birth. It was by His voice that we were called to a dispensation of His Gospel in the beginning of the fullness of times. It was by Him we received the Book of Mormon; and it is by Him that we remain unto this day; and by Him we shall remain, if it shall be for our glory; and in His Almighty name we are determined to endure tribulation as good soldiers unto the end."
The Prophet Joseph Smith
'Liberty' Jail, Missouri March 1839
TPJS pg 132-139
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