Quitting is for Cowards

 My beloved mother used to say "The Lord hates a quitter." She would bring out this bit of wisdom whenever my sister and I would attempt to quit something. She was right in 1970 and if she were still alive she would be just as correct in 2021.

This post is in response to the all fools trying to make US gymnast Simon Biles look heroic for quitting during the Olympics. This same girl, cost her teammates a gold medal through her cowardice. She's a girl, because a true woman would not quit.

Her waiting to bail out until after botching her first vault attempt also cost a deserving fellow American a spot on the team. Bad choices rarely just effect the individual. 

This is the same girl who has the letters "GOAT" stitched into her leotard. It is suppose to stand for "Greatest of all time." I think it is actually appropriately symbolic in terms of the sheep versus goat issue raised by JESUS. She is A goat, she is not THE GOAT.

Let's not lie to our children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces about how courageous Biles was to quit. She is a quitter, and my Mother was not wrong. If my Mom were a quitter, she would not be my Mother. She tried for years to have children, and finally did the heroic thing and adopted my sister and I rather than quit on the idea of Motherhood.

Satan is the ultimate quitter. In an attempt to make us just as miserable he would like us to give up. Do not give up on yourself, do not give up on your relationships, do not give up on GOD. Only a goat would do that.

Shame on you Simone. And will you be giving your millions of dollars of endorsement money back?

Thanks Mom for being the GMOAT. The greatest Mom of all time.

JESUS Died On His Mission

     Tragically, two LDS missionaries were killed this week in New Mexico. I am not writing this to minimize the devastation for their respective families. I am writing this to get a few people to a better understanding of reality.

I served in Bolivia and 2 missionaries were killed by a gas leak in their space heaters right before I got there. 2 missionaries were killed by terrorists right after I left.

I came within one great welfare sister (who was a registered nurse) from dying of amoebic dysentery. GOD probably let me live because I was such a jackass at the time, because I needed more time to become less of one. I am still alive 35 years later so that should give you an idea of my limited progress.

My point is that there are too many Mormons who believe that if you send your child on a mission GOD will watch over them and no harm can come to them. That would be true if you are like the people of Ammon and you have already shown GOD you would rather lay down your own life than kill an enemy. If you have not yet passed one of many Abrahamic tests on the way back to GOD, then please do not blame GOD if your son or daughter or cousin or parent or friend or neighbor dies serving a mission for the LDS church.

The key is that they are not serving GOD. They are serving a corporation. If the LDS were true then the apostles and seventies would be the ones out literally going door to door throughout the world. The whole world. This would include countries that do not allow missionaries of any kind. Real apostles would risk their lives to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Fake ones quote each other every 6 months in a weekend of boring meetings. True apostles would risk time in an earthly prison to get their fellow beings out of going to spirit prison.

We need to stop thinking the gospel is meant to shield us from death and adversity. It is time to wake up to the fact that if GOD's best child died while serving Him, then anyone is fair game. This does not point to a capricious Father in Heaven. It points to the difficulty in becoming like Him. He already died to save the first planet in His infinite creations. JESUS died to save this one. 

Blame Mormon Inc. if your 18 year old son or 19 year old daughter dies while serving Mammon. Or you could blame yourself for being so naive.

Robert Smith on Faith

      Robert Smith has written several books worth reading. He is the author of the controversial blog upwardthought.blogspot.com. He is controversial because he claims to have visited with CHRIST many times, and he believes salvation is an individual matter, not a collective one. 

     His latest book Faith can be downloaded for free at his blog. It is filled with light. Here is one idea that resonated with me, a sinner who has yet to see JESUS.

    

    Every person has within them a faint but pervasive memory of 

    God-planted deep within them from their interactions with him 

    before birth. 

    In a way, every desire we have- no matter how base or carnal-

    is an attempt to either satisfy or silence that deep drive to 

    reconnect with the divine.

(page 114)

There are a lot of things to learn about faith in this book. The first 113 pages are just as good as the one I quoted. I am not through with the book yet (There are 244 pages), but I felt like any honest truth seeker would want to at least check it out. I do not think you would be wasting your time to read any of Rob's books, but this latest one is especially worthy of your attention.

It has the best definition of Faith that I have ever come across.

The Poetry of Paul Toscano

Those of you who know who Paul Toscano is are probably surprised at the title of this post. He is not famous as a poet. He is infamous as the husband of one of the "September Six" Margaret Toscano. He was excommunicated in 1993 as well during that purge of people who were too smart and/or two Christ-focused to be trusted by Mormons Incorporated. Not to be confused with Murder Incorporated, which was much more merciful than the LDS church.

I was lucky enough to discover his writing roughly ten years ago. I was re-reading some of it today in a spare moment. He and I are polar opposites when it comes to politics. I would like to think he and I are kindred spirits when it comes to our ideas about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I cannot write anything like he can (obviously), but I can pass on some of his best work that has touched my searching soul.

In his book The Sanctity of Dissent Paul writes the following in the Prologue.

"The brethren were not chosen primarily to receive revelation for us, 

    but to teach us how to obtain revelation for ourselves."

None of the 15 Pharisees currently running the LDS church would ascribe to this. We all know that "Follow the prophet" has been the mantra for far too long. Seems to me like a recipe for following the prophet straight to hell.

Even the God of this world, JESUS did not tell his disciples, female and male, that all they had to do was trust Him. He told them in 2 different hemispheres, "be ye therefore perfect." 

Trust JESUS and then do what HE does and don't worry about mistakes. It is going to take an almost infinite amount of time to become like HE is. Because of CHRIST, and His father the MOST HIGH GOD, we get to keep trying until we get it right. 

Those bolded and bold words of Paul Toscano's are put in couplet form for a reason. They do not rhyme, and they are not in iambic pentameter, but they are poetry to me.

The Virtue of the Disproportional Response

     In my estimation the greatest TV show of all-time is The West Wing. I remember an episode early in the first season where Syrian terrorists shoot down a US plane filled with medical personnel and supplies. President Bartlett (played perfectly by Martin Sheen) is devastated his friend and doctor Morris was on board. The Joint Chiefs of the US Military come up with 3 scenarios that will be proportional and merciful and politically correct to respond to the attack. Bartlett rejects them initially and asks "what is the virtue of the proportional response?" In the end cooler heads prevail upon the President to merely bomb the Syrian Intelligence Headquarters rather than carpet bomb Damascus. 

Israel has learned that if the entire Muslim world would like to wipe you off the face of the earth, there is no virtue in the measured response. We are seeing this now. I do not know when this latest Palestine-Israel battle will end. I do know that it will end with far more dead Palestinians and tons more property damage in Gaza than Tel Aviv. 

The dementia-suffering leader of the free world thinks this is Israel's fault and that they should stop attacking targets in Palestine. This just proves he is dumber than anyone originally believed. Israel will not stop until they have sent an unforgettable lesson to the fools who are members of Hamas. Hamas will undoubtedly get upset about some future slight, shoot some more rockets into Israel or blow something up, and the ass-kicking will start anew. 

The Book of Mormon allows for defense of one's homeland if the other guys started it. It does not allow for wars of extermination. My beloved Mother hated bullies. She felt like you should punch them in the nose, and go from there. Most will back down at that point. 

One thing the arrogant leaders of this world need to remember, is that JESUS was a Jew. When all else fails He has promised to save His people from destruction, even though they do not deserve it. 

JESUS has also promised to save you and I, if we would just repent and do what he asks, even though we do not deserve it.

The Dangers of the Majority

There is no salvation or exaltation for those who are trusting in the safety of the majority. Or the safety of their religion, any religion. Since the days of Eve and Adam there has never been a time when 51 percent of the population loved GOD more than Satan. Most of the world may be religious, but most are not true followers of GOD.

JESUS did NOT follow the status quo, and if you would like any chance to go where He is after this life, you need to do the right even if it costs you now.

The way the world is now I am surprised only "a third part" of our former spirit brothers and sisters followed Satan. Most of the first- world countries are filled with sheep who are happy to do whatever they are told, as long as they are left alone to eat and sleep and watch TV.

The only people GOD could possibly be proud of are those people living in third-world countries and battling the same problems that HE was born into. 

Explain This To Me

 In 2020 if someone died of a heart attack, the cause of death was listed as COVID. 

In 2021 if someone recently "vaccinated" against COVID dies of a heart attack, the cause of death is cardiac arrest.

Strange times indeed.