When we learn the true definition of a word, especially if the word is found in scripture, our understanding increases. For example:
Unbelief doesn’t mean you don’t believe, it means the form of your belief is not correct (i.e. you have the wrong kind of understanding).
Vanity is not a slave to fashion, it means ineffective or lacking power. (i.e. your faith is vain)…
We have been warned and forewarned that wickedness will increase. We have been told that the Book of Mormon is a type and shadow for our day. Just reading in 3 Nephi gives us a the pattern for the Second Coming of the Lord.
- People become Wicked
- Righteous are holding on by their fingernails
- Social collapse occurs
- Nature responds to wickedness by destroying the wicked. Nature is an engine of destruction. Entire Cities are destroyed.
- Only a righteous few remain. Bountiful is still functioning. For 11 Months the people must suffer and be sanctified. This was required to prepare them to see the Lord.
- 11 Months after the destruction The Lord Jesus Christ appears.
Today, we use the word wicked and evil interchangablely. However, they are two completely different words. Evil is outward, and can be seen with the natural eye. Wicked is inward, and is usually hidden, and disguised. Evil produces fear, sorrow, distress, injury or calamity, Wicked produces a false hope in something that can not save you.
It is the religious who are convinced they know what is "right", are the ones who can be the most wicked. It was the religious, temple-working, Jews who crucified their Savior. Despite being a religious, moral, and chaste virgin, the five who do not know the Lord are called foolish and wicked. Doctrine and Covenants 63: 54 states, “And until that hour there will be foolish virgins among the wise; and at that hour cometh an entire separation of the righteous and the wicked.”. (a separation from the wise and the foolish)
Sidenote:
Disclaimer: I hestitated even posting the following. I am not recommending that you look at or watch the below videos, if you are sensitive things of a dark nature. (and BTW: I didn't number this post because of the below content)
The month of October is a time that many people like to dress up in costume. Some costumes that people choose to wear could be defined as 'evil'. Evil is defined as a malady, or depravity especially when regarded as a supernatural force. Commercial Haunted Houses use evil to create fear. People pay to go through these haunted house, others profit from them.
For the past several weeks the Deseret News has been running a full page ad for one of Utah's most visited tourist location, This is the Place Monument. This is a sacred location where the Saints entered into the Salt Lake Valley. There is a large monument of Brigham Young there.
During the month of October, you can pay to walk through what is usually a sacred historical site turned into a haunted village. I took a picture of the newspaper ad below of this full page ad:
(At least "This is the Place" is closed on Sundays to keep the Sabbath day holy.)
I originally embedded the videos but now just have the link.
Here is the link to the website for the This is the Place Haunted Village. LINK
Here is an online commercial for it LINK
................................................
Furthermore, The Polynesian Culture Center run by the LDS Church is one of the most (if not the most) visited tourist attractions in Hawaii. Also in the month of October, this popular location becomes "haunted".
Here is the website for the Polynesian Culture Center Haunted Lagoon. LINK
Here is a trailer for the Haunted Lagoon LINK
Here is the website for the Polynesian Culture Center Haunted Lagoon. LINK
Here is a trailer for the Haunted Lagoon LINK
I am not sure why this locations can't just decorate with pumpkins and scarecrows. These are important tourist attractions to promote the church and our sacred historical places.
We are studying the life of President George Albert Smith in Priesthood and Relief Society this year. He strongly cautioned, “If you cross to the devil’s side of the line one inch, you are in the tempter’s power, and if he is successful, you will not be able to think or even reason properly, because you will have lost the spirit of the Lord.”
"Abstain from all appearance of evil."
I Thessalonians 5: 22.
Thank you for those definitions it has helped me understand the seriousness of those words and your post goes along well with mine...though I never would have thought WICKED would describe us...I hate to think of it and what the Lord must feel, I am s sad, especially today.
ReplyDeleteI am also sad about those sacred places being used as they will be in a few weeks, we cannot serve two masters...but it seems we are.
So I just clicked the links...$15 person? WOW
ReplyDeleteAlso, call me extreme, but those costumes were not family friendly. Here in Australia the chapels and members get decorated more than Christmas time and there is not really a limit on what you can wear.
For our family we do not celebrate Halloween we dont even do 'Santa'.
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI don't get around much these days.
Had no idea the church was promoting these blatantly evil practices at their sacred sites.
I guess it should come as no surprise...over the past few years the church has opened the doors to great evil at BYU Provo by inviting the kings of babylon to commencement ceremonies and honoring them with honorary advanced degrees.
Just recently the church opened a 3-ring babylonian circus right next door to the sacred Salt Lake Temple, the very symbol of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
These things conflict powerfully with the message of goodness and salvation the Savior would have the church promote.
Sad times indeed...
JR
This is really . . . astounding. Not living in the 'west' I never dreamed that these sorts of things went on--
ReplyDeleteI've never been a Halloween person, but I can't control what choices my adult children make, and they love Halloween--
and are teaching my grandchildren to love it--
:(
We homeschooled our children; we always used Halloween as a time to hand out pencils and stickers to neighborhood children, make non-scary costumes and have chili and doughnuts as a family--
I don't understand the 'pull' of this--
I do know that Hawaii has a lot of unexplained supernatural things--
and the truth is that, due to polygamy, two of my ancestors died in Utah; one was hung; the other was murdered in a horrific way (won't go into details); one in the late 1850s, the other in the 1870s--
so to me Utah is haunted as well--
Our family is visiting Mesa Verde this week. Mesa Verde was built by Gadianton robbers, so I've been studying up on that. (I don't care for disgusting costumes, but I believe in knowing what I'm up against.) I've read the Gads were more occultist than masonic... really a false "religion" they had going... a great example of "unbelief" as you put it. I wonder... the Book talks a lot about the sorcerers and cursings and black magic that was going on... when will that return? What will that look like as times get closer? If I understand correctly, the devil can imitate all signs, up to but not including, raising the dead. Astonishing signs will surely throw some (with a more shallow understanding) for a loop.
ReplyDeleteI'm just wondering how anyone can know that Mesa Verde was built by Gadianton Robbers--
Deleteit seems that the Gadianton Robbers really did nothing creative, and it was quite creative to make a home in the rocks--
There could be other reasons for people to go into hiding--
I'm not saying it's not a possibility, but can it be proven?
Maybe not proven, but Pres's Grant and Kimball believed it. If you think about it, it lends itself to some good guerilla warfare techniques... there's a FARMS article... hang on... Here: http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=66&chapid=728
DeleteIt doesn't lend itself for raising kids or for caring for the elderly... not a "family-friendly" place at all.
Maybe it can't be proven, but I believe if you review the verses in the BOM about the robbers and do some "between the lines" reasoning, you'll come to the same conclusion as Kimball and others.
no offense intended or taken--
DeleteI'm thinking of these people:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarahumara_people
They live in a similar way; they have babies and old people, and how they live also doesn't 'lend itself' to comfort for old and young, and yet they have survived for centuries this way, in order to keep from losing their culture.
These people are not offensive; they have fought in the past, but fighting is not their aim--
but they hide in the canyons and in inaccessible areas in order to survive the outside world--
I've read about the Tarahumara before... very interesting people. I don't recall anything about them building cliff-dwellings similar to Mesa Verde, though. Places like Chaco Canyon I believe were righteous Nephite strongholds... and (my opinion) who/where the Los Lunas Decalogue stone came from.
DeleteAt any rate... no offense on my end, either. I love a civil and thoughtful discussion. Thank you.
I was in line at Lagoon once (amusement park) and I saw a man with a t-shirt with a grotesque figure on it. I said to myself, "Why would someone wear such a thing? How gross. How repulsive. How... Satanic!" Right then a voice whispered in my left ear, "You don't get it at all!"
ReplyDeleteSince then I don't put much thought into the morbid or disgusting. If Satan can make us think that's all he is, he has won. The toothless backwoods murderer... the bloody fingers... that's all fine and dandy, but he's so much more than that, we have no idea.
I picture him more in a 3-piece suit and Italian shoes (he shops at City Creek! LOL) driving a Mercedes SLK350 roadster.
He can be anything to anyone.
indeed--
DeleteAgreed.
DeleteSo you know from wikipedia about the management of the Heritage Park: 1992 through 1995 was a period of major expansion in which the Manti Z.C.M.I store was dismantled and reconstructed in the Park, a pioneer dugout home was constructed, 15 replica structures were built and the Hickman Cabin was relocated from Fairview to the Park The Utah Statehood Centennial Commission adopted the Park as its living legacy project. The legislature appropriated $2.4M for a new visitors’ center. In 1996, the park was designated This Is The Place State Park by the State Centennial Commission. In 1998, the state legislature approved the creation of a private, non-profit This Is The Place Foundation that would manage the Park.[2]
ReplyDeleteDedication ceremonies of the Emery County Cabin in June 2009
2000 through 2004 – Another expansion of the Park included construction of a large parking area east of the Monument and a plaza between it and the new visitors’ center. Other construction completed during this period involved the Cedar City Tithing Office, Snelgrove Boot Shop, John Pack home, William Atkin home, Brigham Young Academy, Heber C. Kimball home, P.W. Madsen Furniture Company and the Deseret Hospital. With this significant construction boom, the park’s finances were challenged, and the state legislature made an emergency appropriation to keep the park afloat. In 2006, the management of This Is The Place Foundation was changed, and with it the direction of the Park. Emphasis was placed on expanding the programming and access to the Park.[2] The Polynesian Cultural Center, however, is owned by the Church. Thanks so much for posting this.
Why am I not surprised. The Church is just once again showing it's true colors, but hardly anyone will question or see it. Congratulations for catching this.
ReplyDeleteAs if the history of what Brigham Young did isn't scary and evil enough, they need even more devils to add to the 'this is the place' park.
'Blind unquestioning obedience and support' is what the Church appears to be commanding today and everyone goes right along with it cause it's so much easier than having to 'search, ponder and pray' about everything. So much for Paul's 'prove all things'.
I guess Paul came from a time when prophets could still fall and teach falsehoods, didn't he know we today would have a guarantee they couldn't lead us astray? So we can just sit back and relax. For we are told 'all is well'. No need to do our own study or questioning, let alone 'proving' as Paul and Moroni put it.
Staying blind and dumb is a choice, which we will be accountable for.
Joseph said that we perish without knowledge (wonder why he didn't know about our guarantee that we don't need knowledge as long as we follow the prophet who can't lead us astray).
Interesting how Joseph constantly taught that we especially needed knowledge about the scriptures so we could 'test the correctness' of everything that even prophets do and say. For silly Joseph seemed to believe that even Prophets could be wrong and lead us astray.
Actually, Joseph, like ancient prophets, knew also, that studying true history can wake us up and help us learn from other's past mistakes, so we can 'be wiser than they have been'.
But today's church leaders don't seem to want us to research 'church' history especially (for we might learn the truth) and if we do they definitely don't want us to take seriously what Joseph Smith said and published in the scriptures while he was alive 'about polygamy', for he was only lying. Yeah right.
Even church leaders today know that true prophets don't lie and deceive the people, anymore than God does.
Those who fall for today's 'unquestioning mentality' deserve to be lead astray, as Joseph taught they surely will.
In most religions they always teach their people to have blind and unquestioning faith in their leaders, cause it helps keeps their membership, for if members questioned things and thought for themselves they may find out their or our church isn't teaching the truth.
So if we want to questioningly 'support our church leaders today' we should attend these Haunted Villages that they promote, for it will most likely help us be lead down the dark path they want us to go.
Coming soon: The Haunted Visitor's Center at Temple Square!
ReplyDeleteWe decided not to have a Halloween party for our ward this year and there was quite a stir. No trunk or treat, no costumes? Many people were surprised/upset. On a more uplifting note, there were also many people who were very pleased by the change. One person in our ward commented, why would we sponsor a church activity that was related to such a dark holiday?
ReplyDeleteSomeone mentioned above that Satan has an ability to be whoever he wants or needs to be. That is so true. Though, I find it quite sad when we have a hard time seeing him in the more obvious ways.
Thank you for posting this. I can't believe how timely this is, considering all that's transpired recently in our ward.
I personally have no problem with Halloween in and of itself. It's just another celebration that has been corrupted and marketed to the extreme. Pick a holiday, it's happened to them all. But the kids have fun with it, and I don't think the holiday itself leads to "Satanism."
ReplyDeleteNow follow me to the end with this next statement... you could consider going to the temple much like trick or treating. We dress up in apparel representing something, although the temple tells us implicitly that these are only symbols and not the real thing. In a sense, we are putting on costumes. Of course, we aren't saying "trick or treat," but we are invoking God for "blessings" as some sort of "treat" for our righteous works. We represent "the dead" through our ordinances. And the temple has become marketed as a means to further the growth of the church.
Maybe a stretch, but that's the thing with symbolism. It can go all over the place. What matters is the heart.
Sadly, it certainly appears that someone has taken the treasures of the earth and IS reigning with blood and horror (literally). Not only is he reigning … but we are dressing up for the occasion and getting in line to attend. I wonder whose appearance or “countenance” others will see in our eyes that night?
ReplyDeleteI see posts on your blog, such as this one and I am truly led to repent inside myself. I am not responsible for other’s behavior, but I can raise a caution, raise a question. Where are the humble followers of Christ, willing to say no to such activities? Yes, we should love in His church, serve others, forgive, seek ... but as “members” of His church prepare to receive "hell" (i.e. dress up for it, celebrate it, and charge tickets for it ...and of all places), charity should lead us to compassion … and compassion to reaching out. I don’t know what the spirit will individually lead each of us to do … but I pray that the spirit does lead us.
I want to testify, that there is nothing symbolic about Satan. There is nothing symbolic about evil or wicked men. There is nothing symbolic about the length to which Satan’s entire kingdom will go to in order to have one son or daughter of God. There is nothing symbolic about those who profess the name of Christ, while inward they are ravenous wolves. Anyone who has, or is truly seeking Christ and has experience hell, would never celebrate or embellish any worldly recognition of such.
Where do you read 11 months had passed between the destruction and the appearance of Christ? I've never seen or heard that before. THanks!
ReplyDeleteHere are some clues:
DeleteDestruction: FIRST MONTH on the Fourth day of the Month in the thirty and fourth year.
3 Nephi 8: 5
"And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land."
Christ visit.. END of the thirty fourth year (see footnotes of dates in scripture)
Unknown -- I have to disagree with your calculation of 11 months; I still believe it was only three days.
DeleteFrom 3 Nephi 8:23 -- "And it came to pass that it did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them."
Immediately thereafter, the Savior appears, as documented in 3 Nephi 9 and 10. Then, from 3 Nephi 10:9 -- "And it came to pass that thus did the three days pass away. And it was in the morning, and the darkness dispersed from off the face of the land, and the earth did cease to tremble, and the rocks did cease to rend, and the dreadful groanings did cease, and all the tumultuous noises did pass away."
Thus I interpret it as three days after the cataclysm did the Savior appear instead of 11 months. The date in the footnotes is merely the year that the events occurred, and not the specific time of the year.
This is actually an ongoing debate.
DeleteHere is a snippit from the Maxwell Institute ...
"Finally, one may wonder if Jesus appeared to the Nephites at an auspicious time or on a ritually significant occasion. The record leaves it unclear exactly when Jesus appeared at the temple in Bountiful. Was it shortly after Jesus' death and resurrection at the beginning of the Nephite thirty-fourth year, "soon after the ascension of Christ into heaven" (3 Nephi 10:18), or was it later in that year? Kent Brown and John Tvedtnes have both skillfully presented alternative arguments on this matter. The main question is how to understand the phrase "in the ending of the thirty and fourth year" that introduces the verse of 3 Nephi 10:18, and none of the proposed interpretations are conclusive.21 There are good reasons to think that Christ's appearance did not occur immediately after his resurrection, yet there are equally ample reasons for thinking that it was not at the very end of the thirty-fourth year either.
In light of the inconclusiveness and ambiguity here, it may be more fruitful to consider what kind of a gathering was likely involved instead of asking how long after the crucifixion Jesus' appearance in Bountiful was. Had the great multitude gathered together simply for an emergency civilian meeting, or had they assembled for another purpose? Since the Nephites had "gathered together . . . round about the temple" (3 Nephi 11:1) with "men, women, and children" (3 Nephi 17:25), one is reminded of King Benjamin's great covenant-renewal convocation assembly, when all his people gathered "round about" the temple, every man with his family in a traditional Feast of Tabernacles fashion (Mosiah 2:5; compare Deuteronomy 31:9–13)22 and had "the mysteries of God . . . unfolded to [their] view" (Mosiah 2:9).
Also, since the size of the crowd in 3 Nephi did not increase as the day went on, apparently all these Nephites had gathered for a specific purpose at the beginning of that day. Thus it seems likely that all the people in Bountiful had come to the temple on a scheduled religious festival or holy day. It is evident that these people would have been strict to observe their traditional religious laws, for they were among "the more righteous part of the people" (3 Nephi 10:12; compare 9:13), the wicked having been destroyed. Moreover, the fact that women and children were present supports the idea that their meeting was not simply an emergency session of the city elders to consider the mundane needs for construction repairs and debris removal.23 Although we cannot be sure what festival it might have been, it seems likely to me that some holy festival was involved at the time the Nephites gathered in 3 Nephi.
Traditionally, all Israelites (and hence Nephites) were instructed to gather at the temple three appointed times each year, namely, for the solemn feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles: "Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God" (Exodus 23:17); and "at the end of every seven years, . . . in the feast of tabernacles, . . . all Israel [must] come to appear before the Lord thy God" at the temple, "men, and women, and children" (Deuteronomy 31:10–12)."
You can find this discussion on the Maxwell Institute's websites at http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=113&chapid=1298.
I too think that the survivors were gathered to celebrate a religious holiday, but since we know so little about their customs, determining when this was becomes quite difficult.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahCLRNUroqA
ReplyDeleteMy take on the word wicked: http://upwardthought.blogspot.com/2012/11/words-we-do-not-understand-wicked.html
ReplyDelete