THE REASON FOR THE BLOG

I was chatting with the guy I room with in Seattle.  We always have interesting chats and debates - but we diverged pretty heavily on a few things.

He made a deflected comment about people who state how much info they know to try and build themselves up in front of others, etc etc.  If I was reading things correctly, he was passive-aggressively referring to me.  There are extreme few people I know that read this blog that I deal with face to face.  To most readers, I am the nameless "man behind the curtain".  I get no money, I get very little praise (the criticisms often outweigh any gratification received through praise) and I get no higher standing by writing - in fact, when people discover that I write this thing (in the Church), I am usually shunned or relegated to "deluded, second class status" and marginalized.  If this stuff really were off-base, I would get that.  Maybe if I were talking about little green men with antennas who zip around Jetson-style in their intergalactic cruisers, I would understand.  I rarely say anything that detracts from doctrine - and, if so - it gets redacted.  I do hang with the Publicans and sinners - it is where much of the good material is found - and usually where the truth lies.  It always has after just a few short hundred years, or so, after it bursts upon the scene.  Apostasy is so pervasive and a constant fixture in any organization.  You cannot stop it from occurring on some level in a fallen world.  Even at the end of the 1000 years of the Millennium, the crap that is going on in the underbelly of Russia will most likely re-occur.  What is it with those Balkans, anyway??

The reason I do the blog is get as much info out there as soon as I can so that people can make correct and timely decisions.  If I can save another keister other than my family's/mine, then it was all worth it to me.  I just talked with a long-time friend and (non-LDS) manager here at Boeing.  He is VERY respectful (much more than about 98% of the LDS folk I talk to face to face) and he most likely will buy food storage and alternate means of water filtration in the next few weeks.  How is it that I have friends who are non-LDS who receive the message I have very well - and many others who are LDS who happen to be hostile to me?  I am baffled by this - EXCEPT for one thing:

I am not the Prophet.

I will say this.  They are right on one level - as I am not the Prophet.  What I am is an analyst of facts and data - and I think my basis for saying what I am saying is rock-solid and rational. 

The other problem is that we have a people who are Prophet-worshippers.  My roomie also happens to be the nephew of Elder Perry and I have pointed a few things out to him.  My wife and I are not immune to the tendency to develop "favorites".  We named our kid that died after Elder Oaks - we like the guy so much.  The problem is not in liking someone, it is in focusing so much on the cult of personality, that we miss the message that should be pointing the listeners to Christ and Christ-like living.  That is their job - PERIOD.  They have no special standing in my eyes - other than what is due.  The body cannot say it has no need of the eye, therefore plucking it out.  The eye is just as important as the brain.  In my humble calling in the Church, my job is point the listeners to Christ and Christ-like living.  That is my job - PERIOD.  I do not expect that people stand while I enter the room.  If it were done, I would ask the announcer to announce before my arrival that this would not be appropriate.  The focus is not on me, it should be on my message - regardless of my audience size.

Those, who are basking in the glory of the position over the weight of the calling, might well be removed.  Just a surmising.  Spencer spoke of several not making it through the EQ.  Most rejected his message outright with that thought.  People revere the GAs as demi-gods and you might as well say that Christ will die again, as one of them.  Folks, we are talking about mere mortals - same as you and me - except they hold the keys.  The Savior was constantly swatting down the cult of personality that was boiling over near the end of His ministry.  It is human nature to engage in it.  My roomie says that there is an unspoken rule that no more than four GAs are allowed at any single funeral (other than if a Prophet dies, I am sure), in order for people to not engage in bragging over those points.

Spencer pointed out that several GAs would not make it thru the EQ.  I am sure this will most likely be the case.  Why?  The shock of a mortal dying before will most likely shock most into a funky state of mind or despair that they might not recover from, but this kind of an event would break this stubborn tendency to move towards the cult of personality.  I believe Joseph Smith will arrive in order to re-establish the correct order of things - who will then direct the attention and proper adoration on our Savior - who then points to the Father who is the focal point of our worship and attention.   The practice of initializing the first name and using the middle name, most likely will cease.  It simply will be "Elder Bednar" or "President Monson" - so as to not draw too much attention to the office/person/authority, etc - and focus the due attention to message which should bring all the Church of the Firstborn and the Father/Son.  The statements about the Savior coming to Utah do point to the "Spencer"-style event of him coming naturally among the people that most would hardly notice it.  I can see the Savior in work gloves and ratted jeans.  Most cannot - saying something of this kind of mental picture would be high blasphemy.  Fiddle sticks.  Many were repulsed by the thought of Joseph playing with children.  Some left before even introducing themselves to him at that sight.  Obviously built up too much in their minds......  This, of course, was folly.

Here is a comment that someone wrote in defense of Spencer.  I have to say I agree whole-heartedly.  I would never leave the Church over anything - the Church (as Denver would say) is the vehicle and vessel which transports the perfect doctrinal set.  I can have complete and total hearburn over an individual in the Church - maybe even if they are at the top, but my testimony is not in a mere mortal; but in the keys that they might hold and in doctrinal set that they expound.  It is that - and that only.  Here is the blog comment from the post  http://woodyoubelieveit.blogspot.com/2014/01/another-attack-on-visions-of-glory.html :

Unbelievable... the LDS church still thrives on inducing FEAR in its members..
I know 'Spencer' & he is as humble and honest as a man could ever be. I have had many very sacred and spiritual experiences and since I could not share them or speak up in church I finally left as it was going against what God was leading me to learn and experience which was fulfilling and sweet. Why do you still think that one man or 12 have the only right to have visions or deep spiritual experiences? and why do you think we should all keep them hidden to ourselves? as if what God leads us to or answers are sincere prayers is wrong? REALLY? I think it is a crime and extremely arrogant of many leaders in the church to say that they are the only authority to say if something is true or not. Someone's heart is either true and good or not. Our church standing or prestige should NOT be the way you veto or discern the truth of sacred matters. All I see is Fear, Fear, & more Fear and you still tell your Dear members to be weary of anyones words that are not from the General Authorities. I think that is a disgrace and totally against our gift of Free Agency. I know and trust the Lord when I read something and feel the truth of it or not. There is a specific distinct feeling when something is of God and when it is not. So many of you do not have even the slightest bit of courage compared to 'Spencer'. If you did, you could have received a few visions of your own by now. Again if you read from the beginning he did not want to upset the General Authorities or or step on anyones power. He just relayed his experiences and there are MANY out there just like his and even from people from other religions! Yes by the way.. there are some pure hearted people who are NOT LDS, who have just the same sweet love and adoration of the Savior. I did not read anything that out of the ordinary from Spencer's accounts. not at all. You people who are scared of what he shared need to go a bit deeper into your own inquiry and faith and grow up a bit. God wants you to grow and experience... not live in Fear & depend on others to make decisions for you.