I am sure this is a question that God wrestles with, or has to deal with at least, on a regular basis. How do you give the chilluns enough rope to hang themselves while not letting things go too far.
For example, do you let the Children of Israel deal with the depravity of the Canaanites in the surrounding cities, knowing they will drag those you have carefully nurtured down? Or do you send in the very people you are trying to nurture (dung about/transplant from one part of the vineyard etc) to do the deed of wiping out the excessively bad influence to the man, woman and child?
Do you allow the wicked ante-diluveans to just keep keepin' on with who knows what kind of depravity? Or do you pull the plug? What we (my wife and I) understand is that they began messing with the genetic makeup of the people (as we are today with mRNA tech) and so much else. This, at the behest of the devil, because he is the father of all lies and because he will never get the privilege of passing along his spiritual DNA, nor his physical DNA (yes, I believe there is both; and can you imagine being the mother who passed that spiritual DNA along? - with all due respect, it must have been heart-breaking in the extreme, let alone God; to know that your creation had crashed and burned so badly to the point that your own parents had to discontinue your line of authority and procreation because they had to save whom they could?).
So there are three cases there (and literally dozens of feet of rubble in the historical record showing where the plug was pulled on so many other situations that were in varying degrees of corruption, because a loving Father chose to give his remaining children a better chance and curtail their agency). No, I do not "celebrate" the agency of some to do whatever the hell they want so they can "explore" themselves. No more than (on a slightly different level), I want my pre-pubescent kid to just go out and figure whether he just has an overactive clitoris and is indeed a woman in embryo or whether he is a really a man in the making. Too much to decide or even comprehend for a 5 year old or even a 9 year old or even a 35 year old. What I want, is for the transgender agenda wolves to stay the hell away from my innocent kid until they are spiritually and intellectually mature enough (most trannies regret their impulsive decision later in life and rail on those who led them to a bad place).
In like manner, I verbally and almost to the point of physicality rail on those wolves out there (the adherents of the DoC and John Dehlin, etc) who prey on those who are still developing (spiritually) who may be confused because of this whole jab thing, polygamy or a host of other difficult topics to navigate without extreme spiritual acumen and a honed sense of discernment. Some topics are not to be handled by fools...but people still attempt to at their own peril.
I was asked by someone recently on what gives me the right to chime in on someone else's journey. My answer was; first of all, I am not passing final judgment. I only have to pass judgment on whether I choose to hang out with someone based on their actions. I know someone who knew a 16 y.o. girl who decided to run off with an 18 y.o. buffoon (predator) and started listening to his arguments on the WoW and chastity and soon found herself living in a trailer on the other side of the tracks and knocked up and subsisting on welfare. This person had to judge that the person was no longer a role model (when they had been in the past) and had left the common value set shared by a posse of friends. The smoking of pot, likely other drug use and drinking and so much else simply was too much for them. It actually ended up casting them into a relatively friendless zone as the original posse broke up due to a shattering of the value set by one or more people. But just the other day, the two ran into each other and there was still mutual respect and little or no judgment; probably just sorrow that a better outcome did not happen. It will be a hard row to hoe for that young mother. Opportunities squandered.
I am sure this is how God sees most all of us. Many squandered opportunities. Much sadness in this laboratory of life. Some utterly convinced they are on the right path until the lightbulb comes on for them. For many, far too little; far too late. As with the whole Daybell/Vallow mess, I am sure the allure of "knowing more than the Brethren" and having special knowledge led a predator (Chad is the mastermind, I assume) to leave his plain-Jane Librarian wife (more accurately, remove her from the picture) so that he could carry out his adulterous affair with the hottie that was giving him what he needed in life. Surely, they both thought they were on the "higher path" in their mental fog; when in reality, they were headed to additional murderous binges and eventually, a life of incarceration on this side of the veil and, I am pretty sure of (I do not hold the keys of judgment - just guessing here) a life of incarceration and hellish buffeting on the other side. Some will clamor at <--- this "condemnation" and "judgment" and HOW DARE I GIVE BREATH TO THAT!!! Well, let me tell you what. If you are inclined to do so, I dare say you are at least 50% of the way there yourself. Once we start condemning those who hold the standard aloft, we are already sliding down that slippery slope and the bottom is, honestly, not too far away. Once a palpable bottom is reached and the 4G touchdown is over, the dust has settled, the damage assessed, it is always a very painful realization. I am sure both Chad D. and Lori V. are in some stage of that process right now. It has to be one hell of a shock. I wonder if some tried to warn them while they were on their downward trajectory. It could have been back in the AVOW (A Voice of Warning) days, it could have been their friend that jumped ship just before the two teen-age kids of Lori were dispatched with (and I still wonder what she knew). All of them possessed "special knowledge" that was well beyond that of the "confused and mis-guided" Brethren. This is the arrogance. Most know much more than those who have been set apart and ordained to forge the path that we are invited to follow.
One of the DoC posse attempted to twist some statements in the Book of Mormon and statements since that time about the nature of God and roll back modern revelation to a single God who basically, is the false notion of the Trinity. Folks, that is doctrinal regression. And no, Jesus did NOT throw his body on a hook when He got done with the Atonement/Resurrection and only take it up when He had to go down and show off the prints in the hands and feet. This, folks, is pure poppy-cock; but some people have bought into it because they have a "higher knowledge" that a chocolatier in Provo is feeding them. And I am sure they have a plan on how they are going to wrap things up in Jerusalem (the two witnesses) and also make the gathering happen in the New Jerusalem (and the old Jerusalem, for that matter), just like they did for the physical gathering of the Jews (I am sure they sent the analog of Orson Hyde over to dedicate the land twice which set in motion the return of the Jews to their ancestral lands and completed the Lord's cursing on them (that they would be driven as a dumb ass basically until they were sufficiently humble to be ready to accept Christ)). If you are wise enough to call out the Lord's anointed, you had better have a better plan than what has been presented since 1834, because newsflash; the existing plan seems to be working quite well on a macro scale.
So, do we have our agency? You bet we do; but only to a limit. Satan found that out. We have enough case studies that we can assess that there are limits to it. Alma the Younger found that out - and was supremely grateful that Father cut his "agency binge" poppycock short with an intervention that was not too overpowering and (hopefully) not too impactful to his eternal salvation (as satan and others who did not qualify for a body, got). To declare that one finally has one's freedom (from the WoW, or tithing, or chastity or the "patriarchy" or anything else God has ordained is reminiscent of a snooty, rebellious teen.... Really?!? I mean, heck, let's just run it to it's logical conclusion until a disgusted spouse leaves to protect the remaining chilluns from the insanity and then get knocked up by some guy who tells him he loves you and then let's throw in an abortion to top it all off and to cover up the sin. If a person is going to go big, they really ought to go big... And in the end, let's throw in being deceived by an angel in true Korihor fashion. All the while with the words of Jesus ringing in the ears of "Any man, having put their shoulder to the plow, and looking back, is not fit for the kingdom of God." Then, very Vallowesque, after the wreckage and dust has come to a stop and settled down, they look up from their hell and beg for reprieve. No, I would rather warn them at the top of the slippery slope, than sort through the wreckage for body parts at the bottom of the slippery slope (or cliff, as the case might be...). If I did not give a damn, I would not say a thing.
Someone asked me recently how I could be judgmental. Do I think I am God? Nope, was my response. But I am an engineer and every single stinking little thing has to pass a smell test. Everything (including poisonous needles hanging out of arms) has to pass a logic test. All statements in scripture have to neatly fit. Every Conference talk has to pass muster. Every action in public and even those observed in private have to pass muster, especially where the bar is high. If it does not, I have to reject it. I also have the overwhelming notion that, if Jesus could do it, I can do it (it may just be on a more muted scale since I am 100% mortal, but I do possess the same authority and power). After all, spiritually, we were carved out of similar blocks of spiritual DNA (likely different mothers?). But, if principles were adhered to in scripture, and I follow them, I can (and do and will) have similar results. Not only can I, I have been commanded to have them. Very plain. Very simple.
If God judged a people because they rejected principles of Agency and the Savior's Plan of Happiness, then I need to act in similar fashion. Not final judgment - but judgment of how I should react and act in regards to them. And, if I choose a similar path, to say the ante-diluveans, that I can expect the same or similar outcome (being wiped out; but this time by fire instead of the original watery demise). See, being an engineer is both a blessing and a curse - but it simply puts God's ways in a ton of logic gates (IF; THEN and AND; OR statements). Once you set up the programming, all you have to do is plug in the inputs (history, scripture, statements by those who are acting under the Spirit and my own inputs given while under the direction of the HG) compare them against current events and the outputs are consistent and never fail. THIS is how you get His image written in your countenance. Your thought patterns simply become His thought patterns (at least they mimic them) and eventually, you even enjoy all the gifts that He enjoys (a fullness).
The opposite is true. If we begin to love and make a lie and begin to believe it, then the devil's contorted visage is written in our darkened countenance until we have no light in us. I read countenances. Not always very well. But I do rely on that. I will go through a person's historical pictures on FB, etc and will make assessments based on the rise or fall of their countenances. While considering my wife for an eternal companion, my only concern was her countenance. I pored over her photos not necessarily assessing whether she had a hot bod or whether she had cool 80's hair or if she was at the height of fashion (although I did and still do have to have that spark of physical attraction), but I was making sure the story written on her countenance matched with her story of virtue and adherence to gospel principle. If she had not shared with me the story of her abuse, it became apparent (when it all blew up in her mid-teens) with the sudden drop in grades and the troubled countenance she had at the time in her life as things exploded. Not of her own doing, but from the circumstances she was under.
So, to wrap this up. Do we judge? Do we assess and make value calls? Absolutely we do!! Not only that, we must. Do we pass final judgment? Never. It is not in anyone's purview or stewarship unless that person is capable of forgiving.
Can we declare cursings (or declare something will happen, based on the Law of the Harvest)? Absolutely, blessings and cursings over those whom we have stewarship and those we love. As well as those who do them harm, either wittingly or unwittingly. It is our duty (at least as males) to wield the sword (both physical and spiritual) of justice and truth to the dividing asunder of truth and error. I judge no man or woman; but based on the principles above, I know where those lines are and am glad to defend me and mine. It is my eternal duty to do so. Secondly, it is my duty to defend the Lord's anointed, whether it is the current person at the helm or Jesus or any other person (as mortal as they may have been) between here and the ministry of Jesus and then back to Adam.
Is this life some kind of a joke where we can flit about doing as we will with no consequence? Nope, it is in fact, quite serious in this phase of our existence. If you do not believe it, just ask satan or one of billions of minions whether it is some kind of a game. They are still taking their poor choice seriously and influencing countless people here to not take their privileges seriously. Privileges of temple blessings, blessing that come from adherence and performances related to keeping the commandments. Relaxing the grip on the iron rod (even for a moment in order to experiment like a mentally deficient teen - the brain is not fully developed until 25) is not a wise choice.
I actually have found it easier to love others the more I come to know Christ. The fleeting thoughts of what's wrong with someone pass by much quicker when I think of how much they too are loved by our Savior. —A.J.
ReplyDeleteThe deceptions I see are ones I could never have imagined. Where even the most faithful members of our church have been drawn into solidarity with the BLM, and the homosexual movement, posting their flags and signs on their homes and on social media, and usually are usually the ones to take the shots. They naively support parts of the Woke culture and ignore the more destructive parts. I saw this with the equal rights folks, they don't look at the perverted dark side that the leaders who's desire was much more than equal rights for women, it included homosexuality, propping up women through programs and diminishing boys and men in the process, and their part, to breaking down the family unit. Just look how media paints men as clods and women as the wise intelligent ones. This is communism, or I should say it comes from the satanic marxist playbook, but so many don't see it, they ignore or trivialize the negatives as with all these movements. Members can say I love Jesus all the day long and spout all the conference reports to their support, and it is all meaningless unless they are willing to stand by all truths uncompromised. I call them stupid, but the real word here is "Pride", they desire to be popular with the world as the leadership attempts to do in it's realm under the misplaced guise as to what love and tolerance is.
DeleteI found it interesting from a past post where the individual found that the most faithful members were more prone to take the jab than the more heathen like, whatever they are like. I am less impressed with those who have the appearance of religiousness as being more zealots to the Church Leadership and Popular media to the ignorance of their own conscience, if they were willing. I have to rethink the more cruder sort that are more in contact with their conscience than the so called religious.
But then, I am the oddball here. I don't consider myself on the same elevated religious plane as others, I am not at the point of looking for the face of Jesus with earnest but just looking for truth where ever I can find it and don't mind breaking down preconceived cultural traditions in my mind. It is false traditions in all things that prevent us from being able to see and hear more clearly. Joseph has told us learn of all things, not just the bible and standard works. I have had my head in so many things t
I liked the first comment short and sweet with so much truth.
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