Many people blame the banking and financial mess that the United States is having on bad loans. I agree, but not how you might think.
The value of a loan is based on the value of the collateral that is used to secure the debt. In reality, money is created when loans are given. That may sound strange but it is the truth. So when a bank loans 160k for a house and the house drops in value to 140k the debt becomes worse, it becomes a non equity. If the housing and real estate value boom that was created by easy credit continued, we would not be having the crisis in the financial markets that we have today. In effect our money supply is hampered by debt that is overvalued. Our money is losing value as fast as the loans lose value.
So the cry is “oversight” “regulations” etc, etc. And I agree 100% but most people are fooled into believing that the free market is the cause of the mess, or that “golden parachutes” are the worst thing we have to worry about. The problem is at the bottom, not the top.
Our monetary system was BUILT to crash. It has never been sustainable since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913. Sure it has been milked along with all the ups and downs in the market, but it is rotten to the core. If you did a REAL study of the Great Depression you would see that it was caused by the Federal Reserve System. There was no drought, no national catastrophe; no other reason for our country to be in a financial mess other than the lack of money with value. Our problem is how money is CREATED in the first place. The “roaring twenties” caused the broke thirties. I still can’t figure out why they didn’t chuck the Fed during the depression. You can actually give partial blame to a Mormon named Merriner Eccles.
Money is created by the Federal Reserve loaning it out to the government, at interest. Just think about that for a minute. For every dollar they give out they expect one dollar and six cents (or more) back. And that is the ONLY source of money in the United States. Got it? The system is a spiral going up, and can never be leveled off because in order to pay the interest, they have to create more money, and that money is created by another loan. Inflation, or the quantity of money (and thus prices) going up, is necessary to keep the system afloat. Deflation, or prices going down, will always cause financial trouble in this system, ESPECIALLY in real estate, the largest loans out there.
But guess what, that is only the second worst problem with our financial system. The worst problem is the fact that the Fed only creates a small percentage of our money, the majority of the money is created by banks below the Fed lending out money they do not have. This is how they do it: For every ten bucks you deposit in a checking account at a bank, that bank can loan out nine (in a savings account they can loan out all of it). So your bank balance shows ten, but they loaned out nine of it, so in essence the money is in two places at once. That is what I mean when I say money is “created” when it is loaned out by a bank. This is what is called “Fractional Reserve Banking” Ten thousand people put ten bucks in the bank and ninety thousand is lent out. But if too many take their ten bucks out, and the bank doesn’t meet their reserve requirement at the end of the day, they have to borrow money from other banks overnight to be balanced. They can pay it back the next day with more deposits and/or not giving out loans. But guess what, when a bank is only required to keep ten percent “reserve requirement” it multiplies the problem. That ninety thousand that they loaned out does what? It gets DEPOSITED, and thus becomes added funds that they can use as part of their “reserve requirement” and then can LOAN out 90% of that as well! So for every $100 the Federal Reserve creates, the banks turn it into $1000.
And so the only real and true way to fix our monetary system is to RAISE the “reserve requirement” and create foundational money that is NOT interest bearing. It would be simple to do. The banking industry would need no more “oversight” than that; honesty.
Prior to Abe Lincoln and the Civil War, the government really had no influence on the value of money directly as is mandated in the Constitution, although they tried to control banks through regulation, and three times they allowed a Central Bank, they never before printed their own paper money, but only coined money from gold and silver. Abraham Lincoln, for one year in 1862, printed money based solely on the trustworthiness of the government, and this money had no ties to gold or debt. It was called the “greenback”, and is how he paid the vendors and soldiers of the Civil War. He and the Secretary of the Treasury read in the Constitution that congress could “coin” (print) money and regulate the value thereof, and so they did, independent of gold or debt. But after only one year, they ended the practice in an effort to tie it to gold. Thus began the system of Treasury debt backed money that we use today. The power to print paper money was given back to the large national banks, and greenbacks, (government money without debt), was replaced with banker debt money, and tied to gold only through the false perception that the banks printed money only as receipts for gold. The original greenbacks stayed in circulation for a long time, and their value was real on the same principle as banker credit money; and that is trust. In the greenback case, it was trust in the government to be prudent with that power. In the Treasury debt paper case, it was trust in the government to repay money they get from a trust that the bankers were rich (in gold) enough to loan it. Allowing banks (willingly or not through fractional reserve) to print money on that trust.
“Fiat” Money is money “by decree” or government money. Governments can gain money three different ways, one is to tax the people, two is to borrow, and the third it to create it by “fiat”. People who call gold the only “real” money are accurate in the sense that it is exchangeable without government or banks. But in reality gold is counterfeit money if the government does not accept it by fiat for payments to them, as is true now in the United States. The Current inflationary “fiat” money that we use is actually created by government indebtedness to the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve issues this “fiat” money by loaning it to the government. Because of this there is not enough money in circulation to cover all of the debt if you include the interest. To pay off the debt now would be to remove all of the money that is in existence twenty times over. The current ratio of debt to equity is 22:1 in the U.S. securities markets, where debt far outweighs value. If the Federal Reserve was REALLY part of the government, why doesn’t the government get all of the interest income?
The best way to fix the system is simple, and John F Kennedy attempted to start the process shortly before he was assassinated. Executive Order 11110 authorized the Treasury to issue Silver Certificates against the Silver that was in the governments “reserve”. The government can issue silver backed dollars, gold backed dollars, oil backed dollars, coal backed dollars, storable wheat backed dollars, and even real estate backed dollars; money that represents real tangible assets and not debt, stored to secure the value of the money. Just imagine the power Congress really has. I call it the “Storehouse” money system, REAL “supply side” economics. I would not doubt that it would end most inflation. They could even keep the Federal “Reserve” Bank, and make that bank be a storehouse.
A presidential candidate in 1844 proposed that we should make a Central Bank that was owned by the Government, with branches in each state and territory, each raising their own money and lending it at interest to private banks. Interest would be income for the government replacing most taxation. But that candidate was murdered. His name? Joseph Smith.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Scientheology
[This is my personal belief and may or may not be truth, I am always striving to learn and subject to correction]
All religion is the same in the belief that our individual identity does not cease when our bodies cease to have life in them. Without this belief then we are atheist, or believe that life does not exist except in a physical way. I believe both; the spirituality of the soul is physical beyond the visible body. Science has begun to grasp this through quantum physics, and quantum menchanics, but in their “String Theories” they try to exclude God. Microbiology does not have the technology to “see” what life is, life just “IS”. Life is made of refined and “invisible” subatomic matter, often referred to as “energy”
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity says Energy equals Mass (of matter) multiplied by the speed of light squared. Life is an energy matter mastered only by God, and His speed and energy is unobservable. Satan has much scientific prowess to sustain life, but his power and existence is energy based on anti-life, which is anti-energy, which is anti-matter. His “life” is dictated by the true life in God. Time is even relative to speed and energy. But time travel is impossible in reverse. The past can be seen, but cannot be changed from now or in the future; but the future can be seen and changed from now. Eternity is one continuous “now” leaving a trail called “the past”. Our Father in heaven is jealous of us because we are so naive about our own existence.
Our Father in Heaven is Eternal, He existed forever. Yet it is also true that we His children existed forever. Energy as matter of intelligence, or Life, Love, and the Spirit of God, is without beginning of days or end of years. Our Father and Mothers created us as individuals from the eternal energy called Life, and gave us our individual existence, our Spirit “me”. Life exists with or without individuality. We were created as individuals by God, but our life existed eternally, as did His. Our individual “Life” existence predates our life here, and when, how, and who we come here as is greatly influenced by our pre-life existence. God, who sits enthroned in Heaven is a resurrected and perfected physical and embodied “man”, we are created as earthlings in His “image”. He gained mastery over life through His perfected Love, His purification of the individual spirit and individual body that His parents gave to Him before he became God. We as His children either become “like” Him, or we will eventually lose progression and seek to be dissolved.
Inasmuch as there is death, there is eternal dissolution. The second death is the death of the body and the individual Spirit, which can be the only time that the soul ceases to “exist”. We were not created out of nothing, and thus we cannot be destroyed into nothing. Those who experience the second death will cease to exist as individuals, and shall be dissolved into the Life pool, or Life energy existence without individuality. Sometime later to be created again as an individual, perhaps a child of a god, or possibly as animal life, somewhere in eternity. Life, or the Spirit of God, has existed forever. Individual gods, or the spirit children of God called human’s, have not.
When we die we do not change from being who we are. We enter the world of Paradise, or Spirit World, waiting to be resurrected with the exact same character and weaknesses that we have here. When the resurrection occurs we are given our completed soul again, meaning our mind and body is restored to our spirit, and we are judged according to how we treated it. Then we are given a mansion in His house that we can appreciate, in the kingdom with those who are similar to ourselves. Those who are not worthy of the highest heaven will be separated from those who are. Two other Kingdoms will be created for those who are not worthy of the highest, but they will be visited and taught by those in the higher kingdoms. Those who are able to grasp the necessity of righteousness and “think NO evil” shall enter the highest kingdom, the school or Church of the gods, and become joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
All religion is the same in the belief that our individual identity does not cease when our bodies cease to have life in them. Without this belief then we are atheist, or believe that life does not exist except in a physical way. I believe both; the spirituality of the soul is physical beyond the visible body. Science has begun to grasp this through quantum physics, and quantum menchanics, but in their “String Theories” they try to exclude God. Microbiology does not have the technology to “see” what life is, life just “IS”. Life is made of refined and “invisible” subatomic matter, often referred to as “energy”
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity says Energy equals Mass (of matter) multiplied by the speed of light squared. Life is an energy matter mastered only by God, and His speed and energy is unobservable. Satan has much scientific prowess to sustain life, but his power and existence is energy based on anti-life, which is anti-energy, which is anti-matter. His “life” is dictated by the true life in God. Time is even relative to speed and energy. But time travel is impossible in reverse. The past can be seen, but cannot be changed from now or in the future; but the future can be seen and changed from now. Eternity is one continuous “now” leaving a trail called “the past”. Our Father in heaven is jealous of us because we are so naive about our own existence.
Our Father in Heaven is Eternal, He existed forever. Yet it is also true that we His children existed forever. Energy as matter of intelligence, or Life, Love, and the Spirit of God, is without beginning of days or end of years. Our Father and Mothers created us as individuals from the eternal energy called Life, and gave us our individual existence, our Spirit “me”. Life exists with or without individuality. We were created as individuals by God, but our life existed eternally, as did His. Our individual “Life” existence predates our life here, and when, how, and who we come here as is greatly influenced by our pre-life existence. God, who sits enthroned in Heaven is a resurrected and perfected physical and embodied “man”, we are created as earthlings in His “image”. He gained mastery over life through His perfected Love, His purification of the individual spirit and individual body that His parents gave to Him before he became God. We as His children either become “like” Him, or we will eventually lose progression and seek to be dissolved.
Inasmuch as there is death, there is eternal dissolution. The second death is the death of the body and the individual Spirit, which can be the only time that the soul ceases to “exist”. We were not created out of nothing, and thus we cannot be destroyed into nothing. Those who experience the second death will cease to exist as individuals, and shall be dissolved into the Life pool, or Life energy existence without individuality. Sometime later to be created again as an individual, perhaps a child of a god, or possibly as animal life, somewhere in eternity. Life, or the Spirit of God, has existed forever. Individual gods, or the spirit children of God called human’s, have not.
When we die we do not change from being who we are. We enter the world of Paradise, or Spirit World, waiting to be resurrected with the exact same character and weaknesses that we have here. When the resurrection occurs we are given our completed soul again, meaning our mind and body is restored to our spirit, and we are judged according to how we treated it. Then we are given a mansion in His house that we can appreciate, in the kingdom with those who are similar to ourselves. Those who are not worthy of the highest heaven will be separated from those who are. Two other Kingdoms will be created for those who are not worthy of the highest, but they will be visited and taught by those in the higher kingdoms. Those who are able to grasp the necessity of righteousness and “think NO evil” shall enter the highest kingdom, the school or Church of the gods, and become joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Cracked Pots
"A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
"For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfections, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.
"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."
"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work and you don't get full value for your efforts," the pot said.
"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work and you don't get full value for your efforts," the pot said.
"The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
"Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
"The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."
"Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table. In God's great economy, nothing goes to waste.
So as we seek ways to minister together and as God calls you to the tasks He has appointed for you, don't be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you, too, can be the cause of beauty in His pathway.
"Go out boldly, knowing that in our weakness we find His strength and that "In Him every one of God's promises is a Yes".
-Author Unknown
Thursday, October 2, 2008
From the Hill Commorah
It was dark, and raining, but I stopped by and took a picture anyway.
An angel from on high The long, long silence broke,
Descending from the sky, These gracious words he spoke:
"Lo, in Cumorah's lonely hill A sacred record lies concealed;
Lo, in Cumorah's lonely hill, A sacred record lies concealed."
Sealed by Moroni's hand, It has for ages lain
To wait the Lord's command, From dust to speak again.
It shall again to light come forth To usher in Christ's reign on earth;
It shall again to light come forth To usher in Christ's reign on earth.
It speaks of Joseph's seed And makes the remnant known
Of nations long since dead, Who once had dwelt alone.
The fulness of the gospel, too, Its pages will reveal to view;
The fulness of the gospel, too, Its pages will reveal to view.
The time is now fulfilled, The long expected day;
Let earth obedience yield And darkness flee away;
Remove the seals; be wide unfurled Its light and glory to the world;
Remove the seals; be wide unfurled Its light and glory to the world.
Lo, Israel filled with joy Shall now be gathered home;
Their wealth and means employ To build Jerusalem,
While Zion shall arise and shine And fill the earth with truth divine,
While Zion shall arise and shine And fill the earth with truth divine.
- Parley P Pratt
An angel from on high The long, long silence broke,
Descending from the sky, These gracious words he spoke:
"Lo, in Cumorah's lonely hill A sacred record lies concealed;
Lo, in Cumorah's lonely hill, A sacred record lies concealed."
Sealed by Moroni's hand, It has for ages lain
To wait the Lord's command, From dust to speak again.
It shall again to light come forth To usher in Christ's reign on earth;
It shall again to light come forth To usher in Christ's reign on earth.
It speaks of Joseph's seed And makes the remnant known
Of nations long since dead, Who once had dwelt alone.
The fulness of the gospel, too, Its pages will reveal to view;
The fulness of the gospel, too, Its pages will reveal to view.
The time is now fulfilled, The long expected day;
Let earth obedience yield And darkness flee away;
Remove the seals; be wide unfurled Its light and glory to the world;
Remove the seals; be wide unfurled Its light and glory to the world.
Lo, Israel filled with joy Shall now be gathered home;
Their wealth and means employ To build Jerusalem,
While Zion shall arise and shine And fill the earth with truth divine,
While Zion shall arise and shine And fill the earth with truth divine.
- Parley P Pratt
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Posts from "Me"
I wanted to have everyone read this from the I Percieve blog, a poster by the name "Me" said exactly what I think.
It is found HERE:
"How can a religious ceremony be called abuse? An FLDS marriage (or any marriage for that matter) is no more abuse than a baptism at 8 years old. Texas (or any other state) has no business governing people’s marriages. They are religious ceremony’s and held sacred to those entering them. In short, they are a commitment to God if done right.
With the government getting involved in marriage, it is nothing more than a business proposition now days. People get married to pay less taxes, or so they can have something to fall back on in a court of law to keep the children or earthly possessions if something should go wrong with their spouse or their marriage. Natural love or affection is becoming a thing of the past. It is all “what’s in it for me? ” rather than a man and a wife committing to live a life of sacrifice for each other, and stay together forever.
Government needs to step out of marriage, which is a religious institution, and concentrate on real crime. Even crime is being redefined by religious persecution. Now there doesn’t even have to be a call for help, or a victim to be considered a crime. Crime now is “you broke our laws! how dare you! so what if we passed them against your religion, you broke our laws! You are abusers!”
"Me" Then said:
"...the real lawbreakers are those who pass laws against the constitution, and thus the freedoms of the American people. I hope Americans are getting good and sick about all the corruption in our government and choose to go back to the good old days of 1776 when America was young and free."
And finally:
"Why is motherhood looked so down upon in America, as if motherhood in itself is abuse? “Oh, that’s terrible to be a mother at such a young age. Much better to spend your life in school to be a doctor or lawyer. Or if you choose to drop out of school be a rock star, or movie star. Motherhood is too much work, how terrible to want to be a mother. How fun it is to fool your life away, then settle down when you are too old to have children.”
"Without mothers, there would be no world. We are headed into depopulation with the current trend of gay marriages, and the outlawing of normal marriages, starting with polygamy, which was normal when the world began, and is still normal in 2/3 of the world.
"We Americans are so smart to depopulate ourselves. Can you not see at the current trend there will be NO Americans because of our laws? Wake up and be grateful for your mothers.
"Motherhood is the most glorious and sacred right a woman can have, but it is being trampled upon by this generation of Americans for so called “equal rights”. If God looked upon equal rights as we do, why did he ordain that only women could have children?
"The Lord made our bodies precisely as they should be, to create children at a young age while they are healthy and strong. Do we know better than Him?
"Is there any question that our government is pushing for depopulation? Why will government pay for abortions, but not for fertility? Why are they pushing for gay marriages, but trying to destroy the traditional family by taking their children away? Why is having many children looked down upon, as though a woman is brainwashed to believe in bearing children?
"We are in trouble America. Wake up for your own sakes. You are fighting against your own existence!"
This is exactly the truth, thanks to Me! :)
It is found HERE:
"How can a religious ceremony be called abuse? An FLDS marriage (or any marriage for that matter) is no more abuse than a baptism at 8 years old. Texas (or any other state) has no business governing people’s marriages. They are religious ceremony’s and held sacred to those entering them. In short, they are a commitment to God if done right.
With the government getting involved in marriage, it is nothing more than a business proposition now days. People get married to pay less taxes, or so they can have something to fall back on in a court of law to keep the children or earthly possessions if something should go wrong with their spouse or their marriage. Natural love or affection is becoming a thing of the past. It is all “what’s in it for me? ” rather than a man and a wife committing to live a life of sacrifice for each other, and stay together forever.
Government needs to step out of marriage, which is a religious institution, and concentrate on real crime. Even crime is being redefined by religious persecution. Now there doesn’t even have to be a call for help, or a victim to be considered a crime. Crime now is “you broke our laws! how dare you! so what if we passed them against your religion, you broke our laws! You are abusers!”
"Me" Then said:
"...the real lawbreakers are those who pass laws against the constitution, and thus the freedoms of the American people. I hope Americans are getting good and sick about all the corruption in our government and choose to go back to the good old days of 1776 when America was young and free."
And finally:
"Why is motherhood looked so down upon in America, as if motherhood in itself is abuse? “Oh, that’s terrible to be a mother at such a young age. Much better to spend your life in school to be a doctor or lawyer. Or if you choose to drop out of school be a rock star, or movie star. Motherhood is too much work, how terrible to want to be a mother. How fun it is to fool your life away, then settle down when you are too old to have children.”
"Without mothers, there would be no world. We are headed into depopulation with the current trend of gay marriages, and the outlawing of normal marriages, starting with polygamy, which was normal when the world began, and is still normal in 2/3 of the world.
"We Americans are so smart to depopulate ourselves. Can you not see at the current trend there will be NO Americans because of our laws? Wake up and be grateful for your mothers.
"Motherhood is the most glorious and sacred right a woman can have, but it is being trampled upon by this generation of Americans for so called “equal rights”. If God looked upon equal rights as we do, why did he ordain that only women could have children?
"The Lord made our bodies precisely as they should be, to create children at a young age while they are healthy and strong. Do we know better than Him?
"Is there any question that our government is pushing for depopulation? Why will government pay for abortions, but not for fertility? Why are they pushing for gay marriages, but trying to destroy the traditional family by taking their children away? Why is having many children looked down upon, as though a woman is brainwashed to believe in bearing children?
"We are in trouble America. Wake up for your own sakes. You are fighting against your own existence!"
This is exactly the truth, thanks to Me! :)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Universal Faith
There is a belief system that permeates all mankind, one that every citizen of the United States believes in, no matter whether they are at the bottom of faith in a higher power or at the top.
Everyone has faith in this belief system to one degree or another, no matter what other religion you ascribe to, the necessity of gaining faith in this doctrine is important to all functioning societies. I am talking about MONEY. Money is a reality based on imagination, faith, trust, and belief. The value of money is the collective faith that people have in it.
The US government this week is deciding on an emergency bailout of the banking industry, in reality this is the largest banking and money crisis since the depression. They just don’t have any faith, or money, without the government going further into debt. In other words, don't count on it fixing anything.
I have always disliked money, and I am sure that most do, or at least we say we do. Over the last three years I have been reading and learning what the stuff is that I get up and go to work for every day. I mean really, who thinks about what this green stuff really is that you spend an overwhelming amount of time trying to get?
Most people do not even realize what money is, or where it comes from. They just want it because they can buy stuff with it. But what is money? Well even the “experts” like to keep everyone confused, or are confused themselves. Money today is not a receipt for gold or silver as it once was, money today is a receipt for debt, and nothing else. The US money is the (privately owned) Federal Reserve Bank dollar, printed and exchanged for government debt, or faith in the government to pay it back with interest. Here are a few words the bankers use that all mean the same thing, debt: securities, bonds, paper, bills, mortgage, credit, etc. Whenever you hear or read theses terms in the news, they all are fancy words for “debt” Money is also debt, and yet there is this strange idea that money can pay off debt. The problem is that there is way more debt than there is money; at least ten times more. This may be surprising perhaps, and perhaps you think I am speaking some “conspiracy theory” That is what the bankers want you to think, the mystery gives power to your belief in the value to money.
“Above all, money is a function of faith. It required an implicit and universal social consent that is indeed mysterious. To create money and use it, each one must believe, and everyone must believe. Only then did worthless pieces of paper take on value. When a society loses faith in money, it was implicitly losing faith in itself…. The money process, nonetheless, still required a deep, unacknowledged act of faith, so mysterious that it could easily be confused with divine powers”
– William Greider, “Secrets of the Temple, How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country” pg 53
Everyone has faith in this belief system to one degree or another, no matter what other religion you ascribe to, the necessity of gaining faith in this doctrine is important to all functioning societies. I am talking about MONEY. Money is a reality based on imagination, faith, trust, and belief. The value of money is the collective faith that people have in it.
The US government this week is deciding on an emergency bailout of the banking industry, in reality this is the largest banking and money crisis since the depression. They just don’t have any faith, or money, without the government going further into debt. In other words, don't count on it fixing anything.
I have always disliked money, and I am sure that most do, or at least we say we do. Over the last three years I have been reading and learning what the stuff is that I get up and go to work for every day. I mean really, who thinks about what this green stuff really is that you spend an overwhelming amount of time trying to get?
Most people do not even realize what money is, or where it comes from. They just want it because they can buy stuff with it. But what is money? Well even the “experts” like to keep everyone confused, or are confused themselves. Money today is not a receipt for gold or silver as it once was, money today is a receipt for debt, and nothing else. The US money is the (privately owned) Federal Reserve Bank dollar, printed and exchanged for government debt, or faith in the government to pay it back with interest. Here are a few words the bankers use that all mean the same thing, debt: securities, bonds, paper, bills, mortgage, credit, etc. Whenever you hear or read theses terms in the news, they all are fancy words for “debt” Money is also debt, and yet there is this strange idea that money can pay off debt. The problem is that there is way more debt than there is money; at least ten times more. This may be surprising perhaps, and perhaps you think I am speaking some “conspiracy theory” That is what the bankers want you to think, the mystery gives power to your belief in the value to money.
“Above all, money is a function of faith. It required an implicit and universal social consent that is indeed mysterious. To create money and use it, each one must believe, and everyone must believe. Only then did worthless pieces of paper take on value. When a society loses faith in money, it was implicitly losing faith in itself…. The money process, nonetheless, still required a deep, unacknowledged act of faith, so mysterious that it could easily be confused with divine powers”
– William Greider, “Secrets of the Temple, How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country” pg 53
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
A Letter to my sister over a year ago
[Many private letters have become spectacles of the masses, and so I figured I didn't want to be left out, this is a letter to one of my youngest sisters]
Dear C-,
I write this letter to my sweet, beautiful sister C-. This is a letter of stories of some of my experiences with our Prophet, dear Uncle Warren that you asked for. I want to start by telling you my testimony of him.
I know that Our Heavenly Father lives, and that He hears and answers every prayer we breathe. He, our Father in heaven, loves us more than we can even understand. Go outside and look up into the sky, He is up there watching me and watching you, and He can see everything all at the same time. He sees what we do, He sees what we say, and He sees what we think! He is our Father, and He made for us this whole earth, just to give us the opportunity to become like He and our Heavenly Mothers are. How do we do that? through obedience to His teachings to us. Obedience is the most important thing in our lives. Not just little obedience, not just outward obedience, but the obedience to our Heavenly Father that makes His Spirit come to us. Obedience to HIM!
Well, my dear sister, if we really knew how much our Heavenly Father wants to bless us eternally, how much he wants us to have greater blessings that we could even imagine, we would never even hesitate in our obedience. If we could even imagine how much He loves us, we would start to see how much He wants us to obey. Well, what does He want us to do? What is the first and most important thing in our lives? Prayer. You will find in all the studies of all the wonderful men and women in this world’s history that they were the ones who prayed the most; they were the ones who loved to pray the most, they were the ones who did everything they did through prayer.
The most important thing in our lives is to get to know our loving Father in heaven through humble prayer. Prayer is the way we get Heavenly Fathers Spirit, there is no other way. Prayer is the number one thing Heavenly Father told our oldest parents in the Garden of Eden to do, and to pray is the very last thing we should be doing at the end of our lives. We can never pray too much! We think all the time, we must be praying. When you think of the words Keep Sweet, it means to pray always, and love to obey. All the good things that we want to become comes through prayer, and obedience. Prayer is a two way contract. Here is what our Prophet said:
“…be a person from this moment on that never disturbs the spirit of God. It will take an exertion of prayer to always keep sweet. A lazy mind can easily become a disturbed mind. And a lazy mind is a mind that doesn't pray. Our Heavenly Father created us through birth, his own nature was born in us. And he made us so that he could read our minds. We have to just think and he can hear us. Every time you pray and ask for his spirit you're also making a promise with him that you will obey him. You must do your part because every prayer is a contract with Heavenly Father, an agreement, a covenant. Do your part, he will for sure will do his part. If you suddenly find yourself disturbed in your feelings, you haven't done your part. You have rejected the spirit of God by holding on to thoughts, feelings or desires opposite to that sweet spirit.” (WSJ 1/28/2003)
So in reality, PRAYER IS OBEDIENCE. ALL good things that we can do come through Obedient Prayer. Love, Repentance, Humility, Faith, Hope, Charity, and everything else will become automatic through Obedient Prayer. Think through prayer, read through prayer, talk through prayer, work through prayer, and make our Heavenly Father the most important one in our whole lives, and then we will see how to love our Prophet, our Fathers, our Mothers, and anyone they ask us to obey. We will love Heavenly Father SOOOO much that there is no job too big, no job too small, and no one we do not love.
I have been called upon by my Heavenly Father, through His Prophet, to literally have the opportunity to do what very few others in history have been required to do, but in some way we will all be willing to do if we truly love Heavenly Father most. And that is to actually sacrifice ALL THINGS out of obedience to Him. At one point everything was taken from me. All I had in this whole world was the clothes on my back. WHAT an OPPORTUNITY! Every day that we live is a blessing, I am very ashamed of all the opportunity’s that I have wasted, and I never want to waste another. How very helpless and useless we are without the help of Him we pray to! Our side of the bargain is easy, His is where the real love comes in.
So to finish this little sermon from one who has no right to preach, I say: The true thing that our Prophet wants from each of us, is to love and obey our Father in heaven as much as he does. For in all my dealings ever with that great man, he has told me, he has shown me, he has done everything he possibly could for me; that I may understand what KEEP SWEET really means.
I first met Uncle Warren in 1985 when A- and I were starting the seventh grade. It was a few short months after the first and only time I ever shook Uncle Roy’s hand. (I also felt the top of his head because he was growing new hair).
Uncle Warren is very tall and very thin. The first thing I remember about him is the spirit he carried, it was almost like a glow. It was exactly like the one around Uncle Roy. I remember sitting with Father and A- as he explained to us the rules of the school. He was very humble, and very earnest at the same time. I still remember his handshake, very soft and very clean, almost fragile. I remember the first morning class that I went to. Sitting at Cafeteria tables in the big meeting hall in Uncle Rulon’s home and the first thing Uncle Warren said was about kneeling down to pray. He at first wanted the whole school to kneel down, but he realized there was not enough room for everyone to kneel. That is the only thing about that day that I remember with him.
I remember seventh grade very well, and that I was not a very good student. At the end of the previous year in public school I was on the honor roll second highest in the school, but in seventh grade I got an F. I don’t remember what was said, but I know that A- and I went to him to be corrected at least once. Needless to say, I would rather forget. But I do remember our class party at the end of the school year, we had a contest between the boys and the girls of filling a bucket with water we had to carry across the lawn with little yogurt cups carried on our backs. The loser had to lay down on the lawn while Uncle Warren hosed them down. Sure glad it was the girls who lost! A water fight broke out from that and the girls really wanted to douse Uncle Warren, but he had a suit on so only a couple of girls were brave enough to try. He ran into the building. Uncle Roy passed away near the end of 1986, and in 1987 at the very first Conference under Uncle Rulon’s administration Uncle Warren sang the solo part to “The Seer” with the choir.
Uncle Warren is probably the smartest person I have ever met. I cannot think of one time that he could not answer a question asked him. No math problem, no history question, no science question did he ever not answer, but he would always say that if he didn’t know, he wouldn’t guess, he would tell us he didn’t know. I don’t remember that ever happening! He would always know something about it, if not quite a bit. He also could remember everyone who he had as a student. He almost never forgot your name. Even all of the first graders, when they went to shake his hand, he would call each of them by name, and there were dozens of them. I know that he really wanted each of his students to succeed.
I well remember my first class with him as my teacher, ninth grade Algebra. The first thing he did was to write a “3” on the chalk board. Then he pointed to it and asked us what it was. It didn’t matter what we said, he would say, “Is it? Are you sure?” For many minutes did he make us think hard, never saying “Right” or “Wrong”, just “Is it? Are you sure?” No one was sure of anything. He really enjoyed teaching and there is no better teacher ever. The next thing he did was write the motto of Algebra on the chalkboard. “THINK SIMPLE” He sure loved to teach. He was always happiest when he was teaching young people. Later in the year in that class, he was teaching about geometry and he explained what a hexagon, pentagon, and finally what a polygon was. He said “poly means many” A- quickly raised his hand and asked “So what’s a Pollyanna?” I well remember Uncle Warren almost hitting his head on the desk in front of him as he bent over laughing. After a minute he said “A-, be grateful for the ones you don’t get.”
One of the most memorable events in my life with Uncle Warren was in Ancient Priesthood History class. I remember it like it was yesterday. He was teaching of the words of Abraham from the Pearl of Great Price, about the noble and great ones of the earth. Read it! (Abraham 3vs19-26). These were to be the prophets and great ones. In that song of Uncle Fred that our Prophet sings, this is what he is talking about. I knew from the first time Uncle Warren said it that I was in the presence of one of them. I knew Uncle Warren was one of the noble and great ones before this world was made. I have never thought differently since that day.
Of course I really enjoyed Chorus class, how Uncle Warren wanted us to learn how to entertain in the home. We really enjoyed the unpracticed skits he would have us do. He would stand up in front of the whole class and say “OK Al and A you two are moving men, and R- (his sister) is the housewife who can’t make up her mind where she wants to put the couch, so you move it” Once he said “Al, you are prince charming, B- Fischer, you are Cinderella, and you three girls in the front here are the ugly step sisters, OK come up here.” Sometimes he would just say “You four boys I’ll give you five minutes to think up a skit and come up here and perform it for us.”
Once in a while Uncle Warren would do one himself, I remember the one where he was the father of a rebellious daughter (his wife) who had to go to the principal (one of the students) to get corrected and she was mouthy and he slapped her mouth, and she slapped his back on stage. It was hilarious! Once he was teaching his wife how to drive a stick shift. He really wanted us to learn how to entertain our own families at home, so we wouldn’t need the entertainment from the world. How wonderful are the memories!
I remember one time just before we were to go tubing down the hill across the road, he asked all the girls if there were any who had never had their faces rubbed into the snow. B-[my sister] was the only one to raise her hand. Uncle Warren looked at A-[my brother] and said “A- is that true? You have never washed her face in the snow?” To which B- yelled out “If you ever do, I will shave your head bald in the middle of the night!” A- shrugged and said “See, now you know why” Uncle Warren and everyone laughed really hard at that.
Once A- was wearing some pants that had a whole bunch of pockets and one of the teachers stopped him in the hall and rebuked him for wearing them. Uncle Warren walked up after that and A- asked him if his pants were O.K. and Uncle Warren said “Yea, those are really neat, you could put your guns in these pockets, and your ammo in this one and grenades here, and all your pens and pencils and extra stuff in here.” Needless to say, A- stopped wearing them! One day Uncle Warren was walking down the hall of the little high school building and saw three girls walk out of the bathroom at the same time. He called out “Three girls at the same time?” Then he said, “Come on boys lets see if you can do better than that.” All of the boys crammed into a bathroom about 4 feet by 4 feet square. There was over forty of us crammed in there. Uncle Warren counted us as we came out.
Uncle Warren was very talented at everything he did. And yet he was so humble about it. I remember the time that he came to the gym in Draper and played basketball with the high school boys after school. He was very good at basketball too, he was the best one there. I remember at the school outing at the end of the year he and I were standing together watching some others play basketball, he smiled “They’re pretty good aren’t they?” I smiled “You and me could take ‘em” He laughed. I really enjoyed making Uncle Warren laugh. Once in history class he was explaining the story of Cain visiting the apostle David W Patton and I asked if Cain was Bigfoot. He laughed at that for a long time.
Uncle Warren was my school teacher for every class I had my senior year except two. He taught Devotional, Accounting, History, Chemistry, Algebra 2, and Chorus. I was so spoiled!
One day morning class started late because so many students were late. Uncle Warren had all of the people who drove to school to meet with him after morning class, as he excused us he said aloud “I have only one thing to say to Al and A- Holm, Don’t be late for the Celestial Kingdom!”
I have had many experiences with him since high school, I had the wonderful opportunity to go back and teach the very last year of Alta Academy. M- was in third grade. K- was in fourth, H- was in sixth and C- and C- were graduating. In the middle of the year Uncle Parley passed away, and our Prophet Uncle Rulon ordained Uncle Warren to be his first councilor in the Presidency of Priesthood. I am so very, very blessed to have been given a testimony of the calling and mission of Uncle Warren, he means so much to us. He will have a people, I know this. We will all be held accountable for the blessings that we are given. We must be as light as a feather to be lifted up. There will be a people who love and obey in every thought, word, and action. Anything that we let tie us down to this earth will keep us from being lifted up. We can be a part of the promises to Ephriam. All of the family of Israel will be blessed by those who KEEP SWEET no matter what. No matter what happens to me, our work is each our own. Follow Uncle Warren, he is like Enoch who prepared a city for God to dwell in. Obedience, Prayer, and a Joy that Heavenly Father is alive and well and loves us all makes us happy. If we do this no matter what, NO MATTER WHAT, then we can be a part of the people who will see heavenly Father when he comes again to this land. If you want to see grandfather Carl, Uncle Rulon, Uncle Roy, John Y Barlow, and Joseph Smith and all the prophets, they will be there. O pray for me! and I will pray for you. Smile all the while!
Your unworthy brother,
Al
Dear C-,
I write this letter to my sweet, beautiful sister C-. This is a letter of stories of some of my experiences with our Prophet, dear Uncle Warren that you asked for. I want to start by telling you my testimony of him.
I know that Our Heavenly Father lives, and that He hears and answers every prayer we breathe. He, our Father in heaven, loves us more than we can even understand. Go outside and look up into the sky, He is up there watching me and watching you, and He can see everything all at the same time. He sees what we do, He sees what we say, and He sees what we think! He is our Father, and He made for us this whole earth, just to give us the opportunity to become like He and our Heavenly Mothers are. How do we do that? through obedience to His teachings to us. Obedience is the most important thing in our lives. Not just little obedience, not just outward obedience, but the obedience to our Heavenly Father that makes His Spirit come to us. Obedience to HIM!
Well, my dear sister, if we really knew how much our Heavenly Father wants to bless us eternally, how much he wants us to have greater blessings that we could even imagine, we would never even hesitate in our obedience. If we could even imagine how much He loves us, we would start to see how much He wants us to obey. Well, what does He want us to do? What is the first and most important thing in our lives? Prayer. You will find in all the studies of all the wonderful men and women in this world’s history that they were the ones who prayed the most; they were the ones who loved to pray the most, they were the ones who did everything they did through prayer.
The most important thing in our lives is to get to know our loving Father in heaven through humble prayer. Prayer is the way we get Heavenly Fathers Spirit, there is no other way. Prayer is the number one thing Heavenly Father told our oldest parents in the Garden of Eden to do, and to pray is the very last thing we should be doing at the end of our lives. We can never pray too much! We think all the time, we must be praying. When you think of the words Keep Sweet, it means to pray always, and love to obey. All the good things that we want to become comes through prayer, and obedience. Prayer is a two way contract. Here is what our Prophet said:
“…be a person from this moment on that never disturbs the spirit of God. It will take an exertion of prayer to always keep sweet. A lazy mind can easily become a disturbed mind. And a lazy mind is a mind that doesn't pray. Our Heavenly Father created us through birth, his own nature was born in us. And he made us so that he could read our minds. We have to just think and he can hear us. Every time you pray and ask for his spirit you're also making a promise with him that you will obey him. You must do your part because every prayer is a contract with Heavenly Father, an agreement, a covenant. Do your part, he will for sure will do his part. If you suddenly find yourself disturbed in your feelings, you haven't done your part. You have rejected the spirit of God by holding on to thoughts, feelings or desires opposite to that sweet spirit.” (WSJ 1/28/2003)
So in reality, PRAYER IS OBEDIENCE. ALL good things that we can do come through Obedient Prayer. Love, Repentance, Humility, Faith, Hope, Charity, and everything else will become automatic through Obedient Prayer. Think through prayer, read through prayer, talk through prayer, work through prayer, and make our Heavenly Father the most important one in our whole lives, and then we will see how to love our Prophet, our Fathers, our Mothers, and anyone they ask us to obey. We will love Heavenly Father SOOOO much that there is no job too big, no job too small, and no one we do not love.
I have been called upon by my Heavenly Father, through His Prophet, to literally have the opportunity to do what very few others in history have been required to do, but in some way we will all be willing to do if we truly love Heavenly Father most. And that is to actually sacrifice ALL THINGS out of obedience to Him. At one point everything was taken from me. All I had in this whole world was the clothes on my back. WHAT an OPPORTUNITY! Every day that we live is a blessing, I am very ashamed of all the opportunity’s that I have wasted, and I never want to waste another. How very helpless and useless we are without the help of Him we pray to! Our side of the bargain is easy, His is where the real love comes in.
So to finish this little sermon from one who has no right to preach, I say: The true thing that our Prophet wants from each of us, is to love and obey our Father in heaven as much as he does. For in all my dealings ever with that great man, he has told me, he has shown me, he has done everything he possibly could for me; that I may understand what KEEP SWEET really means.
I first met Uncle Warren in 1985 when A- and I were starting the seventh grade. It was a few short months after the first and only time I ever shook Uncle Roy’s hand. (I also felt the top of his head because he was growing new hair).
Uncle Warren is very tall and very thin. The first thing I remember about him is the spirit he carried, it was almost like a glow. It was exactly like the one around Uncle Roy. I remember sitting with Father and A- as he explained to us the rules of the school. He was very humble, and very earnest at the same time. I still remember his handshake, very soft and very clean, almost fragile. I remember the first morning class that I went to. Sitting at Cafeteria tables in the big meeting hall in Uncle Rulon’s home and the first thing Uncle Warren said was about kneeling down to pray. He at first wanted the whole school to kneel down, but he realized there was not enough room for everyone to kneel. That is the only thing about that day that I remember with him.
I remember seventh grade very well, and that I was not a very good student. At the end of the previous year in public school I was on the honor roll second highest in the school, but in seventh grade I got an F. I don’t remember what was said, but I know that A- and I went to him to be corrected at least once. Needless to say, I would rather forget. But I do remember our class party at the end of the school year, we had a contest between the boys and the girls of filling a bucket with water we had to carry across the lawn with little yogurt cups carried on our backs. The loser had to lay down on the lawn while Uncle Warren hosed them down. Sure glad it was the girls who lost! A water fight broke out from that and the girls really wanted to douse Uncle Warren, but he had a suit on so only a couple of girls were brave enough to try. He ran into the building. Uncle Roy passed away near the end of 1986, and in 1987 at the very first Conference under Uncle Rulon’s administration Uncle Warren sang the solo part to “The Seer” with the choir.
Uncle Warren is probably the smartest person I have ever met. I cannot think of one time that he could not answer a question asked him. No math problem, no history question, no science question did he ever not answer, but he would always say that if he didn’t know, he wouldn’t guess, he would tell us he didn’t know. I don’t remember that ever happening! He would always know something about it, if not quite a bit. He also could remember everyone who he had as a student. He almost never forgot your name. Even all of the first graders, when they went to shake his hand, he would call each of them by name, and there were dozens of them. I know that he really wanted each of his students to succeed.
I well remember my first class with him as my teacher, ninth grade Algebra. The first thing he did was to write a “3” on the chalk board. Then he pointed to it and asked us what it was. It didn’t matter what we said, he would say, “Is it? Are you sure?” For many minutes did he make us think hard, never saying “Right” or “Wrong”, just “Is it? Are you sure?” No one was sure of anything. He really enjoyed teaching and there is no better teacher ever. The next thing he did was write the motto of Algebra on the chalkboard. “THINK SIMPLE” He sure loved to teach. He was always happiest when he was teaching young people. Later in the year in that class, he was teaching about geometry and he explained what a hexagon, pentagon, and finally what a polygon was. He said “poly means many” A- quickly raised his hand and asked “So what’s a Pollyanna?” I well remember Uncle Warren almost hitting his head on the desk in front of him as he bent over laughing. After a minute he said “A-, be grateful for the ones you don’t get.”
One of the most memorable events in my life with Uncle Warren was in Ancient Priesthood History class. I remember it like it was yesterday. He was teaching of the words of Abraham from the Pearl of Great Price, about the noble and great ones of the earth. Read it! (Abraham 3vs19-26). These were to be the prophets and great ones. In that song of Uncle Fred that our Prophet sings, this is what he is talking about. I knew from the first time Uncle Warren said it that I was in the presence of one of them. I knew Uncle Warren was one of the noble and great ones before this world was made. I have never thought differently since that day.
Of course I really enjoyed Chorus class, how Uncle Warren wanted us to learn how to entertain in the home. We really enjoyed the unpracticed skits he would have us do. He would stand up in front of the whole class and say “OK Al and A you two are moving men, and R- (his sister) is the housewife who can’t make up her mind where she wants to put the couch, so you move it” Once he said “Al, you are prince charming, B- Fischer, you are Cinderella, and you three girls in the front here are the ugly step sisters, OK come up here.” Sometimes he would just say “You four boys I’ll give you five minutes to think up a skit and come up here and perform it for us.”
Once in a while Uncle Warren would do one himself, I remember the one where he was the father of a rebellious daughter (his wife) who had to go to the principal (one of the students) to get corrected and she was mouthy and he slapped her mouth, and she slapped his back on stage. It was hilarious! Once he was teaching his wife how to drive a stick shift. He really wanted us to learn how to entertain our own families at home, so we wouldn’t need the entertainment from the world. How wonderful are the memories!
I remember one time just before we were to go tubing down the hill across the road, he asked all the girls if there were any who had never had their faces rubbed into the snow. B-[my sister] was the only one to raise her hand. Uncle Warren looked at A-[my brother] and said “A- is that true? You have never washed her face in the snow?” To which B- yelled out “If you ever do, I will shave your head bald in the middle of the night!” A- shrugged and said “See, now you know why” Uncle Warren and everyone laughed really hard at that.
Once A- was wearing some pants that had a whole bunch of pockets and one of the teachers stopped him in the hall and rebuked him for wearing them. Uncle Warren walked up after that and A- asked him if his pants were O.K. and Uncle Warren said “Yea, those are really neat, you could put your guns in these pockets, and your ammo in this one and grenades here, and all your pens and pencils and extra stuff in here.” Needless to say, A- stopped wearing them! One day Uncle Warren was walking down the hall of the little high school building and saw three girls walk out of the bathroom at the same time. He called out “Three girls at the same time?” Then he said, “Come on boys lets see if you can do better than that.” All of the boys crammed into a bathroom about 4 feet by 4 feet square. There was over forty of us crammed in there. Uncle Warren counted us as we came out.
Uncle Warren was very talented at everything he did. And yet he was so humble about it. I remember the time that he came to the gym in Draper and played basketball with the high school boys after school. He was very good at basketball too, he was the best one there. I remember at the school outing at the end of the year he and I were standing together watching some others play basketball, he smiled “They’re pretty good aren’t they?” I smiled “You and me could take ‘em” He laughed. I really enjoyed making Uncle Warren laugh. Once in history class he was explaining the story of Cain visiting the apostle David W Patton and I asked if Cain was Bigfoot. He laughed at that for a long time.
Uncle Warren was my school teacher for every class I had my senior year except two. He taught Devotional, Accounting, History, Chemistry, Algebra 2, and Chorus. I was so spoiled!
One day morning class started late because so many students were late. Uncle Warren had all of the people who drove to school to meet with him after morning class, as he excused us he said aloud “I have only one thing to say to Al and A- Holm, Don’t be late for the Celestial Kingdom!”
I have had many experiences with him since high school, I had the wonderful opportunity to go back and teach the very last year of Alta Academy. M- was in third grade. K- was in fourth, H- was in sixth and C- and C- were graduating. In the middle of the year Uncle Parley passed away, and our Prophet Uncle Rulon ordained Uncle Warren to be his first councilor in the Presidency of Priesthood. I am so very, very blessed to have been given a testimony of the calling and mission of Uncle Warren, he means so much to us. He will have a people, I know this. We will all be held accountable for the blessings that we are given. We must be as light as a feather to be lifted up. There will be a people who love and obey in every thought, word, and action. Anything that we let tie us down to this earth will keep us from being lifted up. We can be a part of the promises to Ephriam. All of the family of Israel will be blessed by those who KEEP SWEET no matter what. No matter what happens to me, our work is each our own. Follow Uncle Warren, he is like Enoch who prepared a city for God to dwell in. Obedience, Prayer, and a Joy that Heavenly Father is alive and well and loves us all makes us happy. If we do this no matter what, NO MATTER WHAT, then we can be a part of the people who will see heavenly Father when he comes again to this land. If you want to see grandfather Carl, Uncle Rulon, Uncle Roy, John Y Barlow, and Joseph Smith and all the prophets, they will be there. O pray for me! and I will pray for you. Smile all the while!
Your unworthy brother,
Al
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Revelation, Faith, and Infallibility
(The disclaimer here is this is my view, and is not from the
If everything comes from God, every truth is a "revelation", even the truth of the things we see with our own eyes are "revealing" truth. Revelation comes from light, the light of the sun, or the light of the mind, or the light of the spirit. In reading about the teachings of Jesus and the words of the prophets in the scriptures, you can see the "good" in them. That is revelation from God. So anything that makes you become enlightened spiritually is "revelation from God" Actually ALL increase in intelligence, whether spiritually or mentally is revelation from God. Whether your eyes and ears give it to you, or education gives it to you, or scripture gives it to you, or even your experiences give it to you, it all comes from the same source if it is good, and that is God. If it is not good it comes from the devil, and even what he commands is allowed by God to test us. Prayer, and obedience to God and righteous living is the path to higher spiritual revelation and intelligence.
People are all on different planes of spirituality, or quantity of the Holy Spirit and those who are on a lower plane, or have less of that peaceful spirit, cannot really understand those who are on a higher. They must either raise themselves up, which takes much prayer effort, or not. And often many fight them because they don’t want them to exist, out of envy or hatred. Freedom is the decision to choose. Some peoples "common sense" is different than other peoples "common sense", and which is right? Well, it comes from prayer and PERSONAL revelation; which IS true common sense. The devil has his version as well. All of us are somewhere between his version and God’s.
A prophet is a Father to ALL of the people, the highest authority in the FLDS Priesthood. In the FLDS church the men seek God through scripture, prayer, and those with Higher Priesthood for council in their lives, and call that council "Revelation". Higher Priesthood and the authority to guide comes from the higher plane, or the greater Spiritual Power. The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God, and without the Spirit of God, there is NO Priesthood. So in the FLDS you can tell when your leader has the authority to tell you what you should do if YOU have the Spirit of God, and that Spirit is making sense of the things you are being told. It is a matter of FAITH.
What is Faith? It is belief in something not seen, and the reason we do everything we do. EVERYONE is faith full. Everyone believes many things that they do not KNOW to exist.
9. From this we learn that faith is the assurance which men have of the existence of things which they have not seen, and the principle of action in all intelligent beings.
10. If men were duly to consider themselves, and turn their thought and reflections to the operations of their own minds, they would readily discover that it is faith, and faith only, which is the moving cause of all action in them; that without it both mind and body would be in a state of inactivity, and all their exertions would cease, both physical and mental.
11. Were this class to go back and reflect upon the history of their lives, from the period of their first recollection, and ask themselves what principle excited them to action, or what gave them energy and activity in all their lawful avocations, callings, and pursuits, what would be the answer? Would it not be that it was the assurance which they had of the existence of things which they had not seen as yet? Was it not the hope which you had, in consequence of your belief in the existence of unseen things, which stimulated you to action and exertion in order to obtain them? Are you not dependent on your faith, or belief, for the acquisition of all knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence? Would you exert yourselves to obtain wisdom and intelligence, unless you did believe that you could obtain them? Would you have ever sown, if you had not believed that you would reap? Should you have ever planted, if you had not believed that you would gather? Would you have ever asked, unless you had believed that you would receive? Would you have ever sought, unless you had believed that you would have found? Or, would you have ever knocked, unless you had believed that it would have been opened unto you? In a word, is there anything that you would have done, either physical or mental, if you had not previously believed? Are not all your exertions of every kind, dependent on your faith? Or, may we not ask, what have you, or what do you possess, which you have not obtained by reason of your faith? Your food, your raiment, your lodgings, are they not all by reason of your faith? Reflect, and ask yourselves if these things are not so. Turn your thoughts on your own minds, and see if faith is not the moving cause of all action in yourselves; and, if the moving cause in you, is it not in all other intelligent beings?
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense
'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
"Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge, and adults should not act like children).
"His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Marriage being criminalized while adultery was celebrated; reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
"Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted have an abortion.
"Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
"Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
"Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
"Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.'"
(sent to me from Val Jessop a while back)
"Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge, and adults should not act like children).
"His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Marriage being criminalized while adultery was celebrated; reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
"Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted have an abortion.
"Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
"Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
"Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
"Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.'"
(sent to me from Val Jessop a while back)
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