Wednesday, March 14, 2012

32: BEHOLD THERE ARE SAVE TWO CHURCHES ONLY

“Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God,
and the other is the church of the devil;
wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church,
which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.”
Nephi 14:10
Which church do you belong to?

I took the below photos today of some of the advertisements being used for next week’s  Grand Opening of the LDS Church’s City Creek Center. Enormous photographic ads have been blown up to cover entire buildings.  Slogans such as GO FOR IT, MAKE IT, DISCOVER IT are cleverly intertwined with the City Creek Center name. Many of you know that I have been critical of the billions spent on what I consider the great and spacious shopping center. Many have accused me of being too critical of the Church and their use of money.  They make apologies for those in charge as they are trying to beautify the surrounding areas of the temple. So my question is this. Are we really beautifying the Temple surroundings or actually distracting from it?
Here are a few of the images:
·         An attractive “Angelia Jolie” like woman showing her slender leg sporting stiletto heels.
·         A glamorous woman in a low cut black evening gown holding a glass of wine/champagne, (not to mention that the low cut dress is not “garment friendly”)
·         Large “building-sized” images of men who look like characters from the book Twilight (which used to be one of Deseret books best selling books).

If you were hoping to be one of the first to shop at City Creek Center, you will need to buy a ticket for $50.00 to attend the City Creek Center Charity Preview Gala which is the night before the red ribbon ceremony. However, I heard the tickets are all sold out.  Sounds like it will be quite the party since this is what is being offered:

·         Continuous Entertainment 
·         Food and Refreshments throughout the Center 
·         Access to the Hospitality Suite with music, Hors d' oeuvres, and Beer and Wine 
·         Shopping throughout the evening 

Did I read that correctly?… Beer and Wine? (Well you can’t accuse City Creek of false advertising, since the woman IS holding a glass of wine.) Here is the link to more information on the Charity Gala:  http://shopcitycreekcenter.com/events

In a few weeks, we will have our World Wide General Conference. We have come a long way since the early days of the Church. Yes, we can say, “ We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee.” That same phrase is used in the Book of Mormon. Here is the entire verse found in Alma 31: 27-28

“Behold, O God, they cry unto thee, and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride. Behold, O God, they cry unto thee with their mouths, while they are puffed up, even to greatness, with the vain things of the world.
Behold, O my God, their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are ornamented with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them, and yet they cry unto thee and say—We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee while others shall perish.”

It is not hard to see similarities to us today to the prideful Nephites in the Book of Mormon prior to their destruction. If a Samuel the Lamanite figure climbed on top of the wall surrounding the Salt Lake Temple and preached repentance and exposed our worldly ways.. would we also shoot arrows at him?  


Side note:
Last Friday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was honored by the Salt Lake Chamber for the City Creek Development. President Uchtdorf  and Bishop Burton both received and accepted the awards. One of the awards was a small statue of Brigham Young. Here is a link.

24 comments:

said...

Brigham Young at the Provo, Utah Bowery Conference in 1867 said:

"Brethren, this Church will be led onto the very brink of hell by the leaders of this people".

Anonymous said...

Thanks for taking the pictures. I don't live in Salt Lake.

Is this where our tithing money is being spent? It thought those were sacred funds. What about the widows mite? Will God open the windows of heaven if we sacrifice to support Babylon? I wonder if they will ask for more tithing during General Conference?

LJn said...

Anonymous, your tithing isn't being spent on this. The *interest* on your tithing is being spent on this type of thing. I suppose the rationale is that it isn't sacred funds if it's interest earned.

Anonymous said...

So much for interest belonging to the Lord.

"Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury." (Matt. 25:27)

holy roman empire rules today said...

Witchcraft Filmed at LDS CHURCH OWNED BYU
Brigham Young:
"And if He (The LORD) should suffer him (Joseph Smith) to lead the people astray, it would be because they ought to be led astray.
If He should suffer them to be chastised, and some of them destroyed, it would be because they deserved it." go to:
http://bookofmormonspeaks.blogspot.com/

Steve said...

How can the Church justify serving such and advertising in such a manner?

Inspire said...

Anonymous @ 8:31 - Yes, "rationale" is the word. The bottom line is that the money started as tithing, which I believe the most part of which should be used to help the needy. Instead, we are "grinding upon face of the poor" with these sacred funds. We build very nice churches, stake centers, temples and all manner of edifices. Sounds familiar:

They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.

Did you know that less than 1% of the church's "income" goes towards helping the poor? (Much less than a "tithe.)

Take note of the day this mall opens. The tornado that tore through downtown SLC during construction of the Conference Center was a warning shot across the bow. I think sometime after the grand opening, we can expect the Lord's "opinion" of this investment by the watchmen.

Now, the servants of the nobleman went and did as their lord commanded them, and planted the olive trees, and built a hedge round about, and set watchmen, and began to build a tower.

And while they were yet laying the foundation thereof, they began to say among themselves: And what need hath my lord of this tower?

And consulted for a long time, saying among themselves: What need hath my lord of this tower, seeing this is a time of peace?

Might not this money be given to the exchangers? For there is no need of these things.

And while they were at variance one with another they became very slothful, and they hearkened not unto the commandments of their lord.

And the enemy came by night, and broke down the hedge; and the servants of the nobleman arose and were affrighted, and fled; and the enemy destroyed their works, and broke down the olive trees.

Anonymous said...

To the author of this blog:

The Lord will soon set in order His church, as it has been totally corrupted and must be set in order to prepare the Lord's people for His return. The General Authorities will all be replaced. A small percentage of the members of the Church will embrace the fullness of the gospel when it is restored. The people must be thoroughly tested before they will be allowed to enter into Zion.

Get all the details of the coming Setting in Order at:
www.2bc.info

Anonymous said...

Your www.2bc.info site doesn't work in FireFox or Chrome :/

Anonymous said...

You are Nuts!

Anonymous said...

I think the church leaders justify themselves of being busy in and building up babylon by investing tithing funds into the markets (kings of babylon) for a period of 3 years, then take the interest to build their massive building projects. 3 years later, when the money has depreciated a bit, they spend it on things it was inteded for by their people. Didn't Solomon (in all his glory) get into a mass building project? Didn't societies of the past do the same, what happened to them in the past? Tower of babel?

Anonymous said...

"The construction of this center occurred during a challenging time in the world’s economy. But because of the Church’s commitment to driving on, the pain of the global recession was felt less severely here than in other communities. Because of the Church’s commitment, others were willing to invest." Excerpt from the Chamber of Commerce speech. This is another way of saying, "All is well in Zion, Zion prospereth" Wo to them who are ease in Zion.

Anonymous said...

This worldly mall is the least of our worries about the awful situation in the Church today.

If members can't see & haven't already woken up to all the more blatant evil happening in the Church today, no multi billion dollar mall will do it.

$amuel said...

Is that what they have told you? Did you know last year the LDS church in Canada donated 40 million dollars of tithing money to BYU? Now that money is no longer tithing and they can spend it any way they wish.
If they take "Tithing" and move it to another account, they simply say it is no longer tithing.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have any idea of what we as individuals can do once we've awakened to the truth? It seems that if we say anything, we're in danger of being shuffled out of the way through excommunication.

Anonymous said...

Anon. 3:01,

I would say that we must just follow the Spirit & share things with those who can already see some of the serious problems going on in the Church. If we just awake & prepare & inform ourselves & families & others as the Spirit directs that's all we can do.

But we should never be afraid of standing for the truth when we need to. No one in the Church has any power to really excommunicate a righteous person, for it would be just be invalid, nor can leaders take the Spirit & personal worthiness away from someone. Leaders make mistakes in judgment about members all the time. We should only care how we stand in God's eyes, not anyone else's, especially those who can't see things as they really are yet.

I would also suggest a closer study of the real truth about Church History, it's vital for our salvation that we do. We need to especially read & study the things Joseph taught & published while he was alive. We must never go by what other's, even Prophets, say he said & did. Joseph's public teachings & testimony & scriptures he brought forth while alive, always 'trump' anyone else's hearsay, rumor or claims. Prove all things & make sure you know for sure how Joseph felt about all doctrines in the Church.

Very vital information about the things Joseph Smith really said & taught, has been kept quiet for over 150 years & the wonderful truth is just now coming out, in preparation for Joseph & Christ's return.

LJn said...

$amuel. Wow!

Anonymous said...

The Lord will share His opinion on the use of Church funds. In due time, the Lord will shake the tree. Wait and see. The Lord will NOT be mocked.

Anonymous said...

well, sadly, I thank you for this information. Long ago I 'gave up' on the church, while remaining actively involved, especially in the gospel. I keep my temple recommend current, and I have a calling, and aside from posting anonymously on Mormon blogs, I only speak to my spouse and one sibling about these things. We all agree that this is in fulfillment of Book of Mormon prophecies.

In the meantime, it is important not to generalize. While there may be "general authorities" who truly seem to be asleep, there are probably others who are as deeply concerned as some of "us regular members" and who honestly do not know what to do. Also, there may be many people in our wards who are not asleep, who are just waiting and preparing. The important thing is not to cause strife, but to awaken ourselves and our close loved ones and teach our children the things they need to know to be spiritually safe. All is not lost, but it is still very sad to see.

Yet, why are we surprised? President Benson told the church that it was under condemnation.

Did he not?

Even Elder Packer, who is often maligned for being intellectually narrow, was not very happy with the conference center and spoke about it in conference.

While realizing the danger and acknowledging the evil around us, it is important that everyone be cautious in judging and do so righteously.

Jean said...

Make that $140 million donated to BYU from Canada.

Jean said...

Make that $140 million donated to BYU from Canada.

Anonymous said...

"If they take tithing and move it to another account then it is no longer tithing and can be used however they want"

And we all know what that is called...money laundering.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous- What can we do whenwe wakeup? Google NOM and get involved and stay connected to people like yourself.

Anonymous said...

I recently read Ezekiel 16, and verses 9-14 came back to my mind as I read this post:

“Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign Lord."

The Lord adorned Israel as a sign of His covenant with them . . . and when lovely temporal things come from Him (because we're living in His way), they are a reflection of the Lord's glory in our lives, and Him keeping His covenant with us. But when we strive in Babylon, and deny the poor, in order to grasp and achieve these things for ourselves, we greatly err.

I've been uncomfortable with the ad campaign (and worldly nature) of City Creek since I first saw it. I especially mourn that space in a church-owned property would be leased to a company like Vict0ria's Secre7 (sorry, obfuscated on purpose), the gateway drug of the worst plague sweeping our nation and culture. :(