More development by the Church to the multi billion dollar City Creek Center. The Church plans to now take over the development and build a 24 story high rise office building on Main Street next to the City Creek Mall. This morning on Channel 2 news, it was reported that the 111 Office Building on Main Street which was originally being developed by Hamilton Partners will now be developed by the LDS Church's CCRI (City Creek Reserve Inc.)
The proposed 24 story office building will feature retail space, while the upper floors offer 440,000 rentable square feet of office area with the average floor size consisting of 21,000 square foot customizable sections, column-free design, floor-to-ceiling glass, with 9-foot ceilings and 16-inch raised floors throughout.
Read more about the building at 111 MAIN OFFICE TOWER
Mosiah 11:
ReplyDelete6 Yea, and thus [the priests] were supported in their laziness, and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which king Noah had put upon his people; thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity.
7 Yea, and they also became idolatrous, because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests; for they did speak flattering things unto them.
8 And it came to pass that king Noah built many elegant and spacious buildings; and he ornamented them with fine work of wood, and of all manner of precious things, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of brass, and of ziff, and of copper;
No worries, they don't use tithing money (at least not mine) to build these babylonian projects, and that makes it ok for the church to be in the real estate development business. Is this a part of the "building up of the Kingdom of God upon the earth and for the establishment of Zion"?
ReplyDeleteWonder where they get the Ziff for these great and spacious buildings?
JR
Wow. As if City Creek was not enough. Then they build in Philadelphia. Now they add more to City creek.
ReplyDeleteAnd there are faithful members who need help financially and a lot of Bishops will not give it because they are abusing their authority.
I lost my job when the greedy rich put this country into a depression about 8 years ago now. Still no job. It takes every penny we have to pay mortgage and other bills. We have cut out everything we could. I go to food banks every month. We have nothing left over for tithing so we do not have Temple recommends, even though we live the doctrine better than most who DO have recommends. I am punished and refused Temple blessings for being
poor.
Too bad the church does not believe in charity starting at home. Instead it is catering to the rich and famous.
If the church would lend money with low interest rates to members , especially to those who lost jobs, then members can better themselves in many ways. Imagine the possibilities.
You are denied a temple recommend because you fall into the group of people King Benjamin talked about who have enough to remain from day to day, and yet not enough to give, and who say in their hearts "if I have I would give", and were counted worthy? That's a new twist I hadn't heard of yet. I'm so, so sorry. :o(
DeleteTime was, the church was called upon to provide for those who were in straightened circumstances. It was considered a blessing to be able to do such. A joy to care for those in need.
If you ever want to brainstorm about things you might be able to do on your own (entrepreneurial stuff), stop by my blog and leave a comment so I can email you, and we can chat. May God bless you richly, and be close to you and yours and fill you with His sweet love and comfort through all of this.
@J: Excellent scripture reference.
ReplyDeleteMaybe members who are upset with the church's excess should anonymously mail the COB a copy of these verses.
lol Forget denial of service attacks. This would be a mail avalanche . . .
DeleteI would love to email the church that scripture reference and even add my name to the "amen" at the end! Well, the beginning of the end has to start somewhere…oh wait a minute,
ReplyDelete25 And upon my ahouse shall it bbegin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord;
26 First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have aprofessed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord.
Looks like the church needs to get Bonneville to roll out Heart Sell on you guys to get that burning in your bosom feeling so you can know that the dealings of the church are in line with the Lord's will.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to take a lot more than a "Heart Sell" to get my bosom to burn that the church's focus of real estate and development is the Lord's will to bring about Zion or to further build the Kingdom of God. Please show me in the scriptures where The Savior taught that shopping malls and high rises were "his will".
Delete-TA
If Thomas S Monson really is a prophet what would be more faith building to you and why, Thomas S Monson staying naked for three years like Isaiah did or the building expansion on the City Creek mall?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Isaiah...from the 3rd chapter of the "Ascension of Isaiah", referring to the latter-days:
ReplyDelete21. And afterwards, on the eve of His approach, His disciples will forsake the teachings of the Twelve Apostles, and their faith, and their love and their purity.
22. And there will be much contention on the eve of [His advent and] His approach.
23. And in those days many will love office, though devoid of wisdom.
24. And there will be many lawless elders, and shepherds dealing wrongly by their
own sheep, and they will ravage (them) owing to their not having holy shepherds.
25. And many will change the honour of the garments of the saints for the garments of the
covetous, and there will be much respect of persons in those days and lovers of the honour of this world.
26. And there will be much slander and vainglory at the approach of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will withdraw from many.
27. And there will not be in those days many prophets, nor those who speak trustworthy words, save one here and there in divers places,
28. On account of the spirit of error and fornication and of vainglory, and of covetousness, which shall be in those, who will be called servants of that One and in those who will receive that One.
29. And there will be great hatred in the shepherds and elders towards each other.
30. For there will be great jealousy in the last days; for every one will say
what is pleasing in his own eyes.
31. And they will make of none effect the prophecy of the prophets which were before me, and these my visions also will they make of none effect, in order to speak after the impulse of their own hearts.
*sigh*
ReplyDeleteI love continuing revelation and sometimes shopping, so I thank you lord for a prophet to build shopping malls in these latter days.
ReplyDeleteIf ever you are asked directions to City creek mall just sing "follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet, he knows the way"
ReplyDeleteWow. It's incredible. absolutely incredible.
ReplyDeleteThanks much for continuing yyour efforts here. How long can the madness continue. Not long. Cause what you reap is what you sow. Thanks again for your continued efforts.
came across this in my reading last night. Alma 31: 27-28 really the entire chapter on the Rameumptom.
ReplyDelete27 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.
28 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.
We are seeing the Zoramites in action today.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous@5:57
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget the second verse:
"Follow the profit, follow the profit, ..."
In their defense:
ReplyDeleteIf you really truly thought that the Lord's kingdom required money for building, and if you really thought that temples saved people, and if you really thought that you can't expand the church without building first world chapels, and if you really thought missionary work couldn't be done except with a very hefty budget
AND
You saw that North America tithing (and active membership), which according to Elder Nelson and others makes up the supermajority of tithing receipts in the world, was dropping precipitously, with no hope of developing nations making up the difference,
what would you do to perpetuate church income?
Although some of us believe God's word that says all things that are not by him or by his word will be shaken and destroyed prior to his coming, others believe he delayeth his coming, and so there is time for such investments.
I do not agree, but I see where they are coming from, and I pray for God to forgive their ignorance.
Mormonism is just another fraud. Joseph Smith even put his daddy's dream in the Book of Mormon as Lehi's dream among other things. Crazy that a whole religion was formed around Joseph Smith's storying telling. Go back into the history and you will find Joseph Smith adding angels to his stories years later to make his stories have more authority, such as the Peter, James and John story, they didn't show in the preisthood until 5 or 6 years later after claim preisthood aurthority, even Oliver Cowdry was surprised to that detail later on. Mormonism is full of details like that, it is just a bunch of fish stories that got better sounding with time, the history is there, just look at the time line facts. Denver Snuffer's re telling of history especially about Joseph Smith ignores sources and facts to think the best about Joseph Smith.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have been reading Lucy Mack Smith's book about the life of Joseph Smith (her original version, not the one the Church later doctored and put out) and I was shocked to hear that Joseph's father had the same dream of the 'Tree of Life', including the great & spacious building, etc. as Lehi did! That is front page news! Yet I have never heard one blip about it in all my 50 years in the Church. And the leaders of course must know about that, of course they never wanted to mention it. Wow, just wow. The more I study the more I can't believe how deceived I was by so many falsehoods and false prophets and imposters.
DeleteThe LDS Church is so completely opposite to Christ's Church and his teachings that only those who don't study or live Christ's teachings fall for it. Those who really believe in and follow Christ quickly see through all the vile precepts and practices of the Church.
No wonder Brigham was so upset Lucy's book had been published without is say and revising and that he tried to destroy all the copies of it.
ReplyDeleteI am currently studying the beginnings of Mormonism. It has never been what the claim was, this is a sickening feeling. I am taking the red pill and have started to search deeply into the history of the church especially Joseph Smith. I am still struggling with what I am learning, my heart is breaking. I want to ignore the truth of the details. I am not sure what I am going to do about what I am learning, for the current time I am going to go to my meetings and participate but I am going to continue to search for the truth, I do want the whole truth. I am obsess now because if the so many lies I am discovering. I am going to do my best to see through the pro and con bias that is everywhere. I hope everyone will have the courage to seek the truth no matter where that will take them. I am now questioning everything, even Denver Snuffer's claim who Joseph Smith was. I guess ultimately belief despite of facts is still a choice, I am not sure what I will do.
ReplyDeleteAny advice from those who have gone through a faith crisis?
God Bless you all.
To those above who are researching, and rightly so, but feel you are in a crisis of faith- take a deep breath and KNOW the Lord lives. I have been where you now are and i prayed with all my heart to know the truth REGARDLESS of where it took me. I was surprised that it lead me right back to the incredible Book of Mormon, the Bible and the D&C ( the bits before Joseph Smith died, for the most part).
ReplyDeleteIf i may, i'd like to give you analogy- i am a professional musician so please bear with my examples. When the average person who likes music listens to it, they hear a whole organism. A simple yet functional one. This is regardless of style or genre. A classical, rock, funk, reggae, blues, african, indian or jazz piece will affect most listeners with one of two things- the memorable-ness of the melody, or, the beat. That is the 2% of the incredible science and nature of music affecting the 98% of listeners for positive or negative.
The BoM, D&C, Bible, Book of Abraham and even other apochrophal books that didnt make it to the Bible, are no different. 98% of folks read it and are affected positively or negatively by 2% of it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, to a Leonard Bernstein or Zubin Mehta, a John Coltrane or Miles Davis, an Allan Holdsworth or John McLaughlin, or a Debussy or Jimi Hendrix, that perception of ANY piece of music, including those outside their own genre, is MILES (pardon the pun) deeper and light years ahead. It holds so much awe, so much depth and emotion, yet so much mathematical and scientific genius, that what the 98% of listeners view as something to party with or relax, or accompany them during their working day or in the car, is to these musicians without doubt, the very language of God and the angels. Timeless, unaffected by its environment, is how the 2% behold these intricacies that make up 98% of music's absolutely stunning properties, its organic material. Even more so, to a jazz musician or any improvising musician, the real-time improvisation is such a thrill to the spirit, that one simply cannot describe with words, it is impossible. Only by being part of that organism can one describe it, but in notes, rhythms, harmony and tone. Words are completely useless.
The scriptures are the same to those who truly dig in with the same passion as one of these 'genius, but mad surely' artists do with their art. And, before they can be totally free in expression with their art, they spend many years, hours at a time, sometimes with no sleep in near sight, and like those 2% digging for diamonds where the 98% just see formless earth, getting dirty and frustrated in hidden view from the 98%, dripping sweat at every pore for their CRAFT.
It is this CRAFT, without which the art cannot be understood nor expressed, that is the precursor. Those who write of music, the critics and scholars, in magazines and journals, books and conference debates, MTV and Rolling Stone etc, can never, i repeat NEVER, come close to describing in words what those who have paid the price in blood, sweat and tears for their craft and art, those who live and breathe and thus ARE the very organism of music themselves, are feeling. The truth is felt and understood in its entirety whilst for those in the 98% inc the critics, can only describe in assumptions and suppositions. They simply have never paid the price.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, those in the 98% who are scholars and critics, casual observers and those who have culturally inherited the Book of Mormon and all it has inspired. It cannot be felt nor understood by listening to those who critcize and are against it, nor by those who blindly find every which way to defend the 'Brethren' from Brigham down to Thomas Monson and their associates, like those who get paid to like FARMS and FAIR or anyone fron BYU. On the contrary, the thrill in the spirit, where it belongs, is felt by those who dig deep, working on their craft of HOW to study their scriptures, getting dirty and frustrated often. Those who (are trying to, anyway) be like a little child in the presence of the Almighty, Heavenly Father. Which one are you? Or will you ignore what you felt and understood at the spiritual level undeniably, just because of the fallen nature of leaders, the very arms of flesh the Book of Mormon continually warned against? Or lend your ear to the critics who know everything as they suppose, or the scholars who tell you a twisted version of the truth to appease those who send them their marching orders? Or will you ignore the pages of the BoM that tell you in no uncertain terms that these things would happen to us, the Gentiles?!
The Book of Mormon is incredible. I know it because of these things, and because of spiritual manifestations that followed. The layers and depths of the BoM etc, for these words are simply useless. There is as much connection between the Book of Mormon and the condemned, corrupt LDS Church (D&C124) as being the one true and living church by virtue of distributing the knowledge of the Gospel in the Book of Mormon, as there is of the Catholic Church being likewise based on their virute of doing the same with the Holy Bible. But that has no bearing on the Book of Mormon suddenly being false just because those who followed, corrupted the entire Gospel and broke the Everlasting Covenant within a few short years of Kirtland in the early 1830's. There is much hidden from your view by those who are meant to be the shepherds of the flock, both in doctrine and in history.
The LDS Church is a byproduct of the early Kirtland years, and of Brigham and his line of followers to the present day. I trust Moroni's declaration that 'every one' of our churches are corrupt and gone out of the way, transfiguring the Word of God and forgetting the poor, needy and widows while we build Babylon instead of Zion. It is all in the Book of Mormon, prophesied before it happened. The topic is astonishingly deep. So, instead of hijacking this thread i would like to direct you to the greatest place i know where you can find out for yourself the greatest scriptural and historical discoveries on why the Book of Mormon, D&C and the scriptures are unequivocally TRUE:
http://onewhoiswatching.wordpress.com/
My apologies once again for hijacking this thread. I deeply care when i read that the entire basket of apples gets thrown in the waste just because there was one or two blemished, and the wholesaler, distributor and retailer were all trying to hustle the innocent and hungry customer. I also care in a different way when the same hustlers take a decently packaged lot of candy-apples and tell you they're the same thing...just much more expensive. Worse are those who run up and scare you by telling you apples are now, after much research, 'proven' to be the pits (sorry, i couldn't resist!), all the while trying to sell you a Big Mac, Coke and fries.
May your journey to the truth begin,
Fusion
Loved loved loved your comments fusion. May we see eye to eye when brings again Zion!
DeleteNever mind what the history says UNTIL you know what the LORD says about whether or not Joseph Smith was a real Prophet, whether or not the Book of Mormon is true.
ReplyDeleteI promise you that if you ask, HE will tell you. THEN you can read history and filter it thru the prism that GOD has given you. Any other approach is going to lead to confusion and sadness in your life.
GOD LIVES and HE will answer your questions.
JR
You meaning Knowing like most Mormons claim? Or are you talking about a personal first vision experience?
DeleteIf you are talking a witness from the Holy Ghost then you have lost me. Most Mormons I have talk to about witnesses from the Holy Ghost in essence have described the Heart sell program that Bonneville.
He will answer you in a knowing (not like most people of whatever faith profession) kind of way if you will pursue Him with vigor and blood, sweat, and tears.
DeleteHe will answer you in a D&C 93:1 kind of way.
Keep moving to Him and cause yourself to evaluate your present condition through the lens of the teachings of Jesus and the revelations to Joseph (the real ones…go back to the early editions and useLectures on Faith and WPJS).
This is a different friend than above. Just know that He really is quite personal and responds. Don't be discouraged during your crisis of faith. It is part of the road. You will emerge intact if you use His words to you and disregard your own judgements (which are mostly wrong you will soon find). It is the real deal and so is He and so is our Lord.