Monday, May 30, 2022

Trespassers William

The title is not a typo. Some of you will recognize it comes from A.A. Milne's series of books about Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh. Specifically it refers to a sign that is posted near the beech tree that Piglet lives in. The sign is broken and reads, "Trespassers Will". Obviously it means that the property owner at the time was warning people that the could be shot or prosecuted. We can make a fairly good guess that it is one of the two. Piglet in his innocence makes up a story that it is the name of his grandfather, Trespassers William. 

All of us here on Earth are not in possession of all of the facts. At best, we only know a small part of the truth. We like to think we know a lot, and Mormons are notorious for thinking they know all or at least their leaders do. The higher up you go in Mormonism the more know-it-alls you find. There are humble Mormons at the bottom of the pecking order.

As a former Mormon I keep learning over and over that I know almost nothing in comparison to GOD. I am really only guessing at what the truth is. I may have some of it right, but it is most likely I have most of it wrong. 

All the religions of the world are like Piglet. Piglet creates a story to make himself look important. The problem is no one in his circle of friends realizes the story cannot be right. Religions have come up with a narrative that supports their world view. They use that story to control their members. The goal is to get money and power. The problem is not enough people figure out that their faith leaders are as clueless as Piglet. 

You then get 2 reactions to the story, acceptance or rejection. We now have a world made up of zealots and atheists. Few consider there could be a middle ground. Religion could have some truth, but there is no one true church. There is only a true GOD and that is JESUS, the literal son of the GOD MOST HIGH.

I will keep searching until I get more truth. I am like Piglet in comparison to GOD. The difference is that I know that I don't know, Piglet was blissfully ignorant. Become like a child and start asking questions assuming you know nothing. I know closer to nothing than a do to everything.

I really only know 3 things for sure:

1. I do not need a religion to find truth.

2. There is a GOD.

3. GOD is trying to save all His children, religious or not.

 

Saturday, May 14, 2022

Obey GOD and Grow, Ignore Him and Wither

After JESUS gives the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 his disciples ask him why He is teaching in parables. He responds according to the King James Version with,

    11. He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know 

    the mysteries of the kingdom of the heaven, but to  them it is not given.

    12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given,

    and he shall have more abundance;

    but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

(Matthew 13: 11-12)

I do not know about you, but that seems a little capricious to me. I also know that JESUS is not capricious so what does verse 12 mean?

Thanks to Joseph Smith's inspired work on the Bible we now know.

The JST takes verse 12 and splits it into two parts and changes the main verb.

    For whosoever receiveth, to him shall be given,

    and he shall have more abundance;

    But whosoever continueth not to receive, 

    from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

That sounds more like GOD to me. If you receive instruction from Him, and you follow it, you get more instruction. You grow. If you continue to trust GOD and follow his counsel, then eventually you can have your calling and election made sure. That is the best possible outcome for the test we are currently taking.

If you get information from GOD and ignore it or fail to heed it, then you wither. The risk is that is you do that enough without repenting you can die spiritually. Dying spiritually is infinitely worse than physically dying. 

GOD knows more than all of us put together, so we don't we just start listening to Him? He only has our best interests at heart. He loves us unconditionally, but HE cannot bless us equally, unless we all start doing what he advises us to do.

No one is going to get to the other side and say, 

"Boy, I sure regret following JESUS!"


    

 

Saturday, May 7, 2022

Genesis Chapter Zero, Verse One


The words of God which he spake unto Moses,

at a time when Moses was caught up into an exceeding high mountain,

and he saw God face to face,

and he talked with him,

and the glory of God was upon Moses;

therefore Moses could endure his presence.


You will not find the verse above or the information in it in any Bible other than the one Joseph Smith produced. I like to call the first chapter of Joseph's Bible, "Genesis Chapter 0."

Think of the knowledge restored in just that verse! People can talk to God face to face? By the way, the GOD here referred to is the Most High God, because later in the chapter this GOD refers to his Only Begotten (Jesus). I can see why the adversary  would not want that information getting out. Someone might read that and think, "if hot-headed arrogant Moses could talk to God, why not me?"

Critics of Joseph like to just say he merely plagiarized the King James Version of the Bible.There is no other Bible in the world that restores an entire chapter of material as an introduction to Genesis that is missing except the JST. According to BYU Professor Kent Jackson Joseph made roughly 3,600 changes and added 10,000 words that have counterpart in any other version!

You cannot plagiarize something that is original to your work. Actually original to Moses' work, but since it has not been seen for thousands of years we can dismiss any ridiculous notions of mere copying. 

If I were trying to create my own version of the Bible I certainly would not add thousands of new words, only a fool would do that.  The other possibility is someone with direct access to the Holy Spirit and permission from GOD could restore what has been lost. You decide, like the Book of Mormon, ask God if it is true. If you get a YES that does not mean you have to join the Mormon Church. It only means you should take the time to read it and learn what you cannot learn in any other translation.

I never get bored searching the JST. It starts with a thunder bolt.