Women In Mormondom

I think this quote from Women In Mormondom is quite interesting, and does seem to go along with my other posts on Women in the Priesthood. 

"The Mormon women, as well as men, hold the priesthood. To all that man attains , in celestial exaltation and glory, women attains. She is his partner is estate and office....John the Revelator thus tells the story of The Church of the Firstborn 'And they sang a new song saying... "and hast redeemed us unto God...and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on earth."' Joseph the Revelator has given a grand supplement to this. He also saw that vast assembly of the new Jerusalem and heard that song. There was the blessed woman-half of that redeemed throng. The sisters sang unto the honor of the lamb. 'And thou hast made us unto our God queens and priestesses: and we shall reign on the earth!'

'But this is lowering the theme,' says the Gentile Christian, ' the theme descends from man--the paragon of excellence--to woman.["] Enough that she should be implied--her identity and glory absorbed in Man's august splendor! Enough that for man, woman was created. Not so the grand economy of Mormonism. In the Mormon temple, woman is not merely implied, but well defined and named. There the theme of the song of the new Jerusalem is faithfully rendered in her personality. If man is anointed priest unto God, woman is anointed priestess; if symboled in his heavenly estate as king, she is also symboled as queen....

And Motherhood was (before Fatherhood) first with God in this regeneration. Has egotistic man sufficiently cogitated over this fact? And does he fully comprehend the equally significant fact that woman was the first witness of the resurrection? And who began the regeneration of the race? Whose human nature was manifested in the work? The woman's! [Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created he them]...Paul, in the egotism of man's apostleship, commanded, 'Let the woman be silent in the church.' Yet the church is the type of woman. If she be silent, then will there be but little of saving gospel in the world. If woman's spiritual nature prevail not in the church, then is the church dead. If her faith expires, then is there left but a wretched form of Godliness. The prophet Joseph corrected Paul, and made woman a voice in the Church and endowed her with an Apostolic Ministry...Woman must regenerate the race by endowing it with more of her own nature. She must bring forth a better type of man, to work out with her a better civilization. It is blasphemy against the divine truth of the worlds coming redemption, and of woman's mission in it, to scoff at the Mormon women for holding such faith.  Woman shall leaven the earth with her own nature.  She shall leaven it in her great office of maternity, and in her apostolic mission." "Mrs. Prescindia Kimball [wife of two prophets, Joseph Smith an Heber C. Kimball] said 'The day is approaching when women shall be redeemed from the curse placed upon Eve, and I have often thought that our daughters in polygamy will be the first redeemed.'"  

(Women of Mormondom p. 487-542.  P.S. I copied this from a second hand source, so I hope that it is accurate.  I will try to find an original source and correct any inaccuracies.) 

In my post Mother's Day, I related a very sacred event of meeting and learning from my Heavenly Mother, even though I did not write in that post all the things that She taught me.  I could share amazing things!  I could share who Heavenly Mother really is!  I can share how Heavenly Father views his bride!  I would love to shout to all the earth the relationship that They have with each other!  I would love to express understandably the relationship that spouses here should have with each other.  I would love to teach the everlasting truth about the true nature of Heavenly Mother; about the true nature of Godhood!!  But alas, how would it be accepted, when so many cannot even accept the small amount that I do share?  Already, I have met with criticism and the loss of family and friends over sharing the love and relationship that our Heavenly Parents have for each other. 

Oh, how my soul yearns and echo's the feelings of Alma:  

1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!  

 2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. 

Go to your Heavenly Parents.  Go to them in person.  Get to know them in person.  Stand before them in person.  I am not talking figuratively!  I am saying that they are very real, tangible beings.  Talk to them in person.  Hug them!  They are intensely loving and kind! 

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An Elect Daughter Of God

The original intent of this blog was to show the spiritual gifts of following the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and although lately the posts have been leaning a little more toward doctrine, I assure my readers that there is a reason for this.  You see, unless we follow the correct doctrine, unless we have faith in a correct principle, then all the devotion in the world will not amount to anything.  If our faith is centred in false doctrine, we can strive for our whole lives and still not talk with the Saviour face to face in the flesh.  But if we follow correct doctrine, we will actually obtain the results of the Second Comforter.  This is a hard thing for most people to handle, because they like their false doctrines and they don’t want to give them up.  So they find all sorts of excuses to back up their reasons for continuing to follow their fruitless traditions.  But for those readers who are earnestly seeking to actually talk to the Saviour, I offer you correct doctrine that will actually bear fruit. 

One of the false doctrines that I would like to correct is the doctrine where people believe that a woman is a second class citizen in the eyes of God.  This is absolutely FALSE!!!!  This belief seems to be supported by several factions of the Mormon churches that oppress women and do not let them help in the work of the Lord (other than cleaning the house and caring for children).  Now, several Mormon factions say that this is the correct doctrine, but I say, then why does not the Lord support you in that doctrine and visit you in person in your affliction?  Why do you not have the miracles of Jesus happen among you?  Why are you happy to drink the swill that your leaders feed you, when they lie to you and tell you that God doesn’t visit the lowly member anymore? 

As long as you insist on sticking to your false beliefs, your faith is in vain and you will never see through the veil.  You can continue to argue doctrine and seemingly prove your point of view over and over again, but the bottom line remains the same; The heavens are as brass to you.  You are no better off than the sectarians whose only revelation is the false interpretations of scriptures.  They “hear” the voice of God in the scriptures and that is it.  You have reached your limit.  You are limiting yourself.  If you want to come to God, to come to the Saviour, then drop your false beliefs and come.  The way is open.  The way is clear.  Enter in at the strait gate and feast on eternal life; And this is life eternal, to know God in person, to follow His ways.  Repent of your sins, be humble and meek as a little child, be baptized for a remission of your sins, and start your life anew, completely devoted to Christ, and endure to the end, and you shall have eternal life. 

I would like to share with my readers an experience that just happened a few months ago in the autumn.  There is an elderly woman who has lived a very hard life.  She has been through many great and tragic abuses in her life.  Yet she has kept her faith in Jesus Christ and continues to be faithful.  A few months ago, Toni and I had a visit with her.  We visited for a few days, helping with menial things and with things not so menial.  This kindly old lady has been ostracized by several different Mormon churches and has a difficult time getting priesthood blessings and ordinances done.  So while we were visiting she asked, and I dedicated her home and administered the Sacrament, of which she had not had the privilege of partaking is such a long time.  Then she made another request. 

She requested that Toni and I give her a blessing.  Now this is a very old lady, and she remembers the old Mormon ways, ways that are long since forgotten these days, the faith of the ancients.  So Toni, my wife, anointed her head, and I sealed the anointing, and we blessed our elderly sister.  Toni stood on one side of her, and I on the other, and during the blessing, the Lord Jesus Christ came and took the place directly behind her, and her husband who has long since slept, stood in front of her. 

There was no fault in the faith of this elderly woman, nor was there any fault in a woman, Toni, administering to her.  The Lord Jesus Christ Himself came and gave His assent to that blessing.  They are pleased with her and have a place prepared for her.  She is an Elect Daughter of God, and no amount of false doctrine or naysayers will ever take that away from her. 

The gifts of God, and the presence of the Saviour, follow faith in correct principles, and no amount of arguing doctrine will change that.  If this doesn’t seem to fit your interpretation of the scriptures, then you are interpreting them wrong.  For the Lord said: 

“It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am”

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“And these signs shall follow them that believe;  In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” 

So, to the naysayers, if you are not getting the results that Jesus promised, then you are not following correct doctrine.  It is that simple.  

And to the honest in heart, correct your beliefs, follow Him, and seek Him with all your hearts, and you too will soon find yourselves in His embrace.  Don’t give up!  He is real, and He will come to you, just as He promised. 

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Why Don't I Have The Spirit Anymore?

How often has it been that people have looked back on their lives and ask, "Why don't I have the Spirit anymore?  I used to have it all the time, what happened?  Maybe it wasn't real, maybe I just imagined it?" 

It is often because they asked for guidance and felt the Holy Spirit, received several witnesses, but then didn't follow through.  The cares of the world, or the influences/ridicule of other people led them to second guess the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

The ridicule, advice, suggestions of other people have influenced you away from following the guidance of the Holy Spirit you once felt. 

The Spirit did not withdraw from you, you withdrew from the Spirit.  Return to the counsel of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will return to you.  And don't leave it, even if it is your own family members who are counseling you against the Spirit, against the witnesses that you have already received. 

Return to God, and He will return to you. 

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The Reality Of Hell

One of the responsibilities of a person to whom the Lord shows truth, is that person must now stand as a witness to that truth or be guilty of the sins of those who did not know better, yet could have done better because of the testimony of the one who saw. 

As a witness, I must stand against false doctrine, and declare the truth or I will not be found guiltless at the last day.  I have seen these things, and say with a perfectly clear conscience toward God, that Hell is a very real place and state of being. It is eternal in nature as are the consequences of our sins. Hell is as eternal in nature as is Heaven. 

Beware of the doctrine of the Scribes (scriptorians), they twist the scripture for their own gain, to lull away the hearts of men. They are the doctors of the law, the lawyers that argue points of doctrine, those people of whom Jesus declared woes. 

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Are We Prepared?

Remember ye the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.  

3 Nephi 25:4-6 

One of the reasons that we are still under a curse as a people and not establishing Zion, is that we are not keeping all the commandments.  We need to keep the Law given to Moses at Horeb.  The only problem is that many changes and traditions have been added over the millennia, which make it difficult to follow the original Law that God gave to Moses at that time.  It is a good thing that Christ came in the meridian of time to correct that Law. 

On the surface, Christ gave us six major corrections to that Law, all following a simple principle.  The principle is to take the Law and apply it to our minds and to our hearts.  For example, when the Law states; Honour our father and mother, we need to make it part of our internal make up, not just a physical act.  Physical laws are telestial, and if we are aiming for a celestial glory then we must live a celestial law. 

So, we not only take care of our parents as though they were of the highest stature, but we must also apply it to our minds.  We should be thinking about how to honour them, and coming up with ways to do so.  We should be planning ahead so that when our parents get old, we are prepared and ready to care for them.  Then we will have met the requirements of a terrestrial order.  Far more than just physically caring for them, now we are mentally prepared and invested, prepared for any eventuality so that we can undeviatingly honour our parents. 

But since we are still aiming higher yet, so we strive to apply the Law to honour our parents to our hearts.  It must become a part of us; it must be the core of our hearts; it must be that to which we turn for our own joy.  And if it is our joy to honour our folks, we have become one with them, then when would we ever not be prepared, or when would we ever not meet all the physical and temporal and psychological and emotional and spiritual requirements?  It is our greatest joy, and we have celestialized that Law.  Now, and not before, are we worthy for a portion of a celestial glory. 

The Law given at Horeb was not replaced at the coming of Christ, but it was corrected, made new and complete, fulfilled.  And it is the declaration of the Lord that we must live this law in it’s complete, correct, and full form to meet the requirements of the Holy City. 

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Adam Fell ??

Adam fell that man might be; men are that they might have joy. 

I read a comment about this statement that introduced the idea of a conundrum in the fact that disobedience had to take place in order for us to be here, but that obedience was needed for us to go back to God, which may forward the idea that disobedience is an acceptable evil and a good thing.  I have even heard insinuations that people should go and do evil, just so that they can experience the bad and therefore appreciate the good.  This, to me, seems ridiculously stupid, only a blatant justification to satiate their appetites for evil.  Those who behave this way will find an eternal loss at the end of the road. 

“Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if  we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.” 
~ Joseph Smith Jr. 

Adam did not fall in the sense that he committed any crime.  As I have said before, the scriptures were written for wicked people, who can’t think or understand beyond punishment and reward.  In reality, Adam made a clear, informed decision to leave his exalted state to enter mortality again for us. 

In the Garden of Eden, before entering this estate, Adam waited on Eve to decide when she was ready to enter this estate.  Eve chose the time, and entered first, then Adam also entered.  They did not sin, nor were they disobedient; they chose to become mortal so that their children may ascend. 

Adam laid down his exaltation that man might be; men are that they might be exalted. 

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Looking Beyond The Mark

It is amazing how many times in the scriptures that we are instructed to search out the mysteries of God.  (If anyone has taken the time to count, feel free to post it in the comments.)  I believe that it is imperative that we search out the mysteries of Godliness and that we approach God in person and receive divine instruction on those mysteries.  But are we asking about the mysteries of godliness or are we asking about details like what colour the paper that the record of life is printed on?  Are the questions pertinent to our efforts of entering back into the presence of God, or are we just interested in gathering facts and figures?  After all, when we learn something new from God, we are then under obligation to live up to that information. 

I am often asked very strange questions (At least questions that I consider strange), though everyone should ask questions about whatever topic interests them.  Some questions that I am asked are things like: what kind of commerce do they have in varying degrees of heaven; how do we use more of our brains, since we only use about 10%; what do people eat in heaven; how did the Gods first start????  All very valid questions, but to me, not all that important at this time.  In my view, those things are all second to our primary objective.  Sure they are important, but not really important until we have gotten our hearts in order and have repented of our sins and are progressing along the path of Christ. 

I think Christ said it best when he said that some people strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel (I am aware this saying applies to arguments over doctrine).  It is good to seek for knowledge, but it is also good to put first things first.  The question could be posed: Will this get me closer to my Saviour?  Will this information help me overcome the world and allow me to return to my Heavenly Father? 

By no means am I saying not to ask.  If it interests you then you should ask.  My only advice is to put first things first, and then all the other things will come. 

Just a few thoughts.

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Without Beginning Of Days, Or End Of Years

What an amazing statement. 

Recently a friend brought this phrase to my attention, along with similar topics in the conversation like: I am that I am; and that God always was, always is, and always shall be; and how we were with God from the very beginning.  The question was posed of, what is this priesthood, and what does ‘without father, without mother, without descent’ actually mean? 

When we look at the blessings that God has promised to the Fathers, we see that those blessings include things that only a God could accomplish.  When we take into consideration that level of priesthood, ‘without father, without mother, without descent’, how do we actually obtain that level?  What does it mean, ‘without beginning of days, or end of years’?  How did God actually obtain this priesthood?  Does it mean that only those who have it have it, and the rest of us are just out of luck? 

I would like to present the idea that “without beginning of days, or end of years” means that it already always exists inside us.  And we obtain it “without father, without mother, without descent” because it is already part of our divine make-up, always has been, always will be.  We do not obtain this priesthood by someone giving it to us, but by our realizing it, living up to the potential already inside us. 

To realize this potential we just need to follow the method that brings it out, and that is what God is trying to teach us.  That is why we are here.  The scriptures are full of the teachings of the Fathers, the methods that lead a person to realize godhood.  And all we need to do is follow the method that Christ taught and we will bring out that divine trait already inside us and realize our full potential.  Then we will have that priesthood like unto the Fathers, without beginning of days or end of years, from which all blessings flow. 

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Rumours, Lies, And Bearing False Witness

When Christ came He tried to lift the standard of morality by applying the commandments to the heart and mind, instead of just the outward physical acts.  For example:

Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, and it is also written before you, that thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment of God; 

But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 

If we apply the same principle to all the commandments we find that there is plenty of room for improvement, which is hopefully what we are all trying to do; to improve, to progress.  One of the commandments; Thou shalt not bear false witness, is easy to apply to the mind and to the heart.  If we follow the same pattern as Christ taught about not killing or even being angry, then we can see that those things that would lead a person to bear false witness, or precede bearing false witness, are also sin and should be avoided at all costs. 

Bearing false witness is often justified as only lying about someone in court, or at a trial, or in some legal way, though telling rumours or lies about someone is still bearing false witness even when not in court.  If a person were to say that they saw another stealing, yet they did not see the person steal, that lie is still false witness whether in court or not.  A false witness is a false witness.

Is the person who repeats a false witness, or an exaggerated account, or whatever other way spreading rumours not also contributing to that false witness?  Of course he is! 

For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory. 

And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory. 

And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory.  Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory. 

D&C 88:22-24

It is a harsh reality, that if a person cannot live the telestial law of not bearing false witness, that person cannot abide a telestial glory. 

As with sins of commission, there are sins of omission.  It is a personal responsibility to ensure the validity and truth of the information we pass on. 

Let’s be careful and cautious and raise our standards and strive with all our might to live up to the principles that Jesus taught.  Let us go forward and purify ourselves so that we too may stand in His presence and look upon His face and not be ashamed. 

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