POWER IN THE PRIESTHOOD - PROPER WEARING OF THE PRIESTHOOD GARMET

As I have read the Mosiah Hancock diary, I have grown to have quite an affinity for the man. I cannot wait to meet him along with quite a list of others. I liked this story from his diary about pure and abiding faith that his father had. Pure faith and simple faith. That is what will help usher us into God's kingdom:

Father had a great deal of opposition in Nauvoo. One day as father and I were walking down Water Street, and we came within twenty feet of the Mansion, an east window raised up, and Francis M. Higbee took deliberate aim with a rifle, and shot father in the left breast. I was walking on father's right side, and I saw the shot fired, and heard the thud as the bullet struck, but father stopped and picked up the bullet from the ground, and reaching it toward heaven with his right hand, said, "I thank thee, O God the Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, that thou didst destroy the power of this bullet". As soon as the shot was fired, the window was shut down. I suppose Higbee thought father was gone this time for sure, but father had been shot at many times by the mobbers and apostates. Father had had the temple in his care for sometime, and some were jealous of the honors conferred upon him.

Here is the link for those that liked this snippet from Mosiah's life history:

http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/MHancock.html

AND THEY WERE MARRYING AND GIVING IN MARRIAGE - A PRELUDE TO DESTRUCTION

My daughter found this and I thought it was instantly recognizable as something we should all be aware of:

BY JANET PORTER

How same-sex marriage points to end of the world
Posted: May 20, 2008
1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

What do May 17, 2004, and May 15, 2008, have in common? One judge and a redefinition of marriage against the will of the people.

Both the Massachusetts Superior Court and the California Supreme Court by a one-judge margin redefined what marriage has always been in every culture and every religion for more than 5,000 years of recorded history.

Why does this matter?

As I wrote about in my book, "The Criminalization of Christianity," Jeffrey Satinover, who holds an M.D. from Princeton and doctorates from Yale, MIT and Harvard, was on my radio program one day and I asked him about where we are in history. He explained that according to the "Babylonian Talmud" – the book of rabbis' interpretation of the scriptures 1,000 years before Christ, there was only one time in history that reflects where we are right now. There was only one time in history, according to these writings, where men were given in marriage to men, and women given in marriage to women.


Want to venture a guess as to when? No, it wasn't in Sodom and Gomorrah, although that was my guess. Homosexuality was rampant there, of course, but according to the Talmud, not homosexual "marriage." What about ancient Greece? Rome? No. Babylon? No again. The one time in history when homosexual "marriage" was practiced was … during the days of Noah. And according to Satinover, that's what the "Babylonian Talmud" attributes as the final straw that led to the Flood.

On my Faith2Action radio program on Thursday, Rabbi Aryeh Spero verified this to be true.

Rabbi Spero spoke of God's compassion before the Flood, in hopes people would repent and turn back to His ways. He showed patience for hundreds of years.

But, he said, the Talmud's writings reveal that "before the Flood people started to write marriage contracts between men, in other words, homosexual 'marriage,' which is more than homosexual activity – it's giving an official state stamp of approval, a sanctification … of homosexual partnership."

In fact, he said, "the writings indicated that it wasn't even so much the 'straw that broke the camel's back,' but that the sin in and of itself is so contrary to why God created the world, so contrary to the order of God's nature, that God said then and there 'I have to start all over … to annihilate the world and start from the beginning. …'"

Rabbi Spero went on to say, "Even in ancient Greece they did not write marriage contracts between men. There was homosexuality, and it was wrong, but there was not an official 'blessed' policy. … Marriage is 'sanctification' (not simply a partnership)." He said to confer the title of sanctification and holiness upon this behavior is "probably one of the greatest sins of all that one does against God's plan for this world."

The one time it happened was: "During the days of Noah." When I first heard this, my mind immediately went to a verse I've heard many times but never with such relevance. The verse is found in Matthew 24:37. It reads:

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. – Mathew 24:37 (NIV)

I used to read this verse and think: It was bad at lots of points in history; it doesn't necessarily mean now, but if these Jewish writings are true, we are uniquely like the "days of Noah" right now – and only right now.

But it can't be yet, you say. You have a lot going on in your life? You're getting married? Here's how the New Living Translation describes that very sentiment in Luke:

When the Son of Man returns, the world will be like the people were in Noah's day. In those days before the Flood, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat, and the flood came to destroy them all. – Luke 17:26-27

Happily going about as if everything was fine was what they did, too.

You don't like this possibility? Don't even believe in the Flood? Doesn't matter. Some things are true whether you believe them or not. How can you be sure? There's a way. Did you know that about one-fourth of the Bible is prophecy? A quarter of the Bible is a lot – it's a big book. And did you know God's standard? Perfection. That means that if even one of those prophecies is wrong, you can discount the whole thing. Kind of like a prophet who makes a false prediction – that made him a false prophet and a candidate for stoning. Did you know that 4,000 prophecies in that Bible have already come true down to the last detail? That leaves about 1,000 left to be fulfilled – those are the ones regarding the last days before the return of Christ, which are being checked off the list right now.

If 4,000 out of 5,000 prophecies have already occurred exactly as the Bible predicted they would, you might want to pay attention to the rest.

The good news is that 1.1 million people across California have signed a petition to bring marriage to a vote of the people through a state constitutional amendment (just like 27 other states have done). And guess what? An amendment to a state constitution trumps even the most out-of-control state judiciary. We'll likely know if these signatures are validated before this tyrannical ruling goes into effect, and I predict they will be since they gathered 400,000 more signatures more than they needed to qualify. Besides, they already voted – eight years ago where more than 61 percent of Californians declared marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Now they just need to turn that same language into a constitutional amendment.

I don't live in California, so why am I sounding the alarm? Here's why:

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. – Ezekiel 33:6

I'm praying and working to protect marriage in California (and the rest of the country) not only because I care about marriage, but because I care about civilization. And, if we obey God, he just may spare us from the judgment we deserve.

May heaven help this nation....

POWER IN THE PRIESTHOOD - CASTING OUT OF AN EVIL SPIRIT IN BRAZIL

I decided to enter some interesting spiritual experiences while an LDS missionary in Brazil (Fortaleza Mission) from 1988-1990.

Here is one of the most bizarre experiences - okay just one of many. How come it is that my life is just filled with these??

Here goes from my journal entry of 12/25/1988:

"We are here in Brazil in Natal in the NE state of Rio Grande do Norte. I'm going on 10 months on my mission (3 months in the MTC, 3 months in Anaheim waiting for my Brazilian visa) and just four months in Brazil. The time has gone by incredibly fast. Anyway, I had heard alot about the evil spirits they have down here so I had prayed at times in the MTC, in California, and even here to have an experience with an evil spirit so I would have the experience - and knowing I would have an experience thusly according to my patriarchal blessing.

Anyway, my companion (Elder Venancio) were in our house after Christmas letting the food from the Christmas dinner digest and me rejoicing in the fact that I got out of eating lambs feet that our dinner host (who is also our maid) offered me. I've gotten good at that here in Brazil.... Anyway, the neighborhood Mormon boy came into our home and asked if he could use us for a little while (or in other words, use our Priesthood) as he was only a Teacher at that point. He told us that the screaming and carrying-on that we heard was the neighbor lady possessed with a devil and that he wanted us to come and cast it out. I recognized this as a good chance to fulfill my desire and we left right away. We got to the house kitty corner to ours and the gal (about 30 years old) who lived there was on the ground, in the sand, screaming her head off and babbling at times after laughing hysterically. Quite frankly, I thought she was drunk or was having some kind of breakdown. There was a man holding her down and talking to her. I asked the man, who was holding on to her what was going on. He said she and her live-in boyfriend had been to the beach (drinking, etc) and as they were returning on the bus, a bad spirit entered her. I laughed to myself picturing her on a crowded bus carrying on like that - I bet she freaked some people out!

Anyway, they got her to the house and inside and tried to keep her inside by locking the front door. She went bezerk and five men could not hold her down. She got to the front door and ripped it right off of the door frame and was able to get back out side (this gal was about 85 lbs - very small build). The force required to rip the deadbolt out of the frame and spring the hinges would have taken at least four of me. Anyway, she was saying all the time that she wuold run our in the street and jump in front of a car to kill the body she was in. She said it once more as she was headed for the street and then she said "I can't do that!" or something to that effect and then she fell limp to the ground when the spirit left her for the first time. A little bit later the evil spirit returned to her and that's when Elder Venancio and I came upon the scene. I frankly thought she was just a drunk - which was partly true because she had been drinking at the beach with her live-in boyfriend. We observed for about 5 minutes. She was subdued somewhat now and just babbling. I was made a believer (to her condition) when I heard and understood what the spirit was saying over and over - "Ganhei um corpo..." = I got a body and that she was not going to let anybody take it away from her - and that she 'finally got her chance'. Freaky!!

After knowing that this was for real I started thinking of how Jesus Christ and the Apostles had cast out the devils and remembered the story of Jesus and Legion and the swine and so I asked the spirit's name. She said she didn't have to tell me because she already told the man who was holding her down. He had forgotten - and I was thinking 'Great, this is like the army where you only have to give your name, rank and serial number once!'. I talked with Elder Venancio and he seemed to think we should command it out as if we were giving a Priesthood blessing by the laying on of hands. He did so (laid hands of her head) but she just struggled to break loose - this devil didn't like anyone touching the new-found body! The crowd of around 30 people who had gathered around were getting pretty anxious to see these two guys in white shirts and ties cast the devil out - and then the boy who had called us to this started saying "Well, come on and use your Priesthood and cast it out!". So I'm going "Great! Group peer pressure to use the Priesthood. Of all the things I've ever seen!". I just sat there for two or three minutes about how my comp hadn't successfully cast it out and then I thought of how they'd successfully cast devils out in the New Testament. Finally, the Spirit said, "Now, do it now!". So I just raised my right arm to the square and proceeded to do the sloppiest prayer I had ever done in my life. It was part in English, part in Portuguese, but I got through it. It was the strangest feeling - doing an ordinance in public for a group of gawking spectators - and not really sure of what I was doing. Anyway, I got done and looked down at her and she was calm and was listening intently as if someone in the distance was calling to her or talking to her. Then she started saying "Alguem e me chamando" = 'Someone is calling me' - over and over. I was sure something had worked but a little flustered that the evil spirit hadn't left right away - like I thought it should have.

Alot more to come - this is alot of typing.....

CHILE EARTHQUAKE - HUGE EARTH MOVEMENT

While the earthquake in Indonesia moved land masses 100 feet and caused record tsunamis throughout the Indian Ocean basin, the recent Chilean earthquake had quite a movement of its own which led to its own localized tsunami.

Here is the article:

Quake city moved 10 feet west, scientists say

Global positioning satellite measurements taken before and after the quake showed a number of cities in South America had shifted.

By Thomas H. Maugh II

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — The massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck off the coast of Chile last month moved the entire city of Concepcion — the closest urban area to the quake's epicenter — at least 10 feet west, American researchers said Monday.

Chile's capital, Santiago, moved about 11 inches to the west-southwest, while Buenos Aires, all the way across the continent from the quake site, moved about an inch to the west, the researchers said. The cities of Valparaiso and Mendoza, Argentina, both northeast of Concepcion, also moved significantly.

The results were obtained from precise global positioning satellite measurements taken before and after the quake, which occurred off the Maule coast of Chile, according to earth scientist Mike Bevis of Ohio State University. Since 1993, Bevis has headed the Central and Southern Andes GPS Project, designed to monitor crustal motion and deformation in the region.

The project has detected surface displacements as far away as the Falkland Islands and Fortaleza, Brazil. Bevis and others are in Chile to install more GPS units at sites whose previous locations are accurately known and to monitor continued movement along the fault.

The quake region is in the "ring of fire" that encircles the Pacific Ocean. The February tremor occurred when the Nazca tectonic plate, which lies under much of the Pacific Ocean, was forced under the South American tectonic plate, a process known as subduction. The lifting of the South American plate as it rode over the Nazca plate was responsible for the tidal wave that did considerable damage along the South American coast.