Miscellaneous

In response to comments:
The deaths of Joseph and Hyrum were necessary. The older brother as prophet-priest died first, and the younger brother as priest-king died second. The prophecies, including many of Jesus' parables about the end times, lay out two incompatible processes that were to happen.

In one, the gospel "net" extends to catch anything it can. This requires an aggressively marketed latter-day church whose sweep is non-exclusive and non-exclusionary. It must gather into itself "all manner of fish," some are good and some are bad.

In the other, the angels will pick through the "net" and gather out of it "the good" fish to be kept. It is exclusive and it is exclusionary. It comes only after the widely cast net has first gathered.

Doesn't matter if you read the parable of the Ten Virgins, or the vineyard, the theme is the same: There are two latter-day processes. If you didn't kill Joseph and Hyrum, and you left intact the process which would have created Zion, then the larger, public outreach seeking to gather anyone into the "net" would have ended. The smaller, more restrictive gathering by the angels of only "the good" would have been confined to so small a sample of humanity that the world could complain there wasn't enough of an opportunity given them.

The world was not ready for Zion. The angels were willing to begin the harvest, but then again, they would have been willing to do that in the New Testament times. (Matt. 13: 28.)
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The reason for the "offer" put up yesterday is to disabuse the notion I am an enemy to the church. I am not. I am its greatest friend. But the "Sunday School" educated saints, who long ago surrendered their minds to others to be controlled, find any effort to deal with the depth, height, width and breadth of the gospel to be frightening. These insecure folks want to complain, rather than stretch or stress themselves by searching into the things required to understand our faith and our faith's history. Church leaders are very understanding -  until they get alarming reports about people losing faith because of something someone has said or written.

I've thought about publishing a sample of the comments that come to me from those whose faith and church activity have been strengthened by what I've done, but that seems self-serving and offensive even to me; so I won't do that. Far, far more people have been helped than harmed by what I've written. But even if there is one, I'm willing to help to assist them in their crisis of faith. They deserve to be helped, and if I can help I'm willing to do so.

I got several reports about some of the "often in error but never in doubt" crowd of 'Mormon experts' who think I need to be "handled" by the church. At least one with a name you'd all recognize. The offer to meet with others was made to leave no doubt about my sincerity, faithfulness and willingness to do what I can to help keep people active, and inside the church.

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The "awful situation" in Ether 8: 24 certainly has a political, governmental and economic component. But these are all Babylon. They will fail. Fixing them is temporary. Focusing on them can be distracting. What will endure are the souls of men. They need to be reclaimed. That happens through repentance. If they will repent, then as a natural result they will end their involvement with the many political and economic conspiracies presently underway. Attacking them without saving men's souls is an exercise in futility. This is why I do not bother spending any time writing about them.

God sees their doings. Their secrets are not hidden from Him. To the extent that they revel in their great gains and well laid plans, they are destined for disappointment. We should not be trying to join them, nor to become part of their great system of benefits. Too much of that has distracted the church and its members already.

The cure lies in repentance. Not in politics. We aren't going to legislate or regulate salvation. The coming violence and captivity will help save men's souls.

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Prophecies are not given to enable us to understand details of the Lord's plans in advance. They are not designed to allow you to parse apart God's plans and know what He plans beforehand. They are only meant to be understood after they have happened. Then, when they have happened, you will understand what God was saying and that He was in control all along.

You should be very careful about settling on a final interpretation of any prophecy because they were not given with that in mind.

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Mortal man is responsible for fulfilling the Gospel. Until they rise up, everything remains unfulfilled. The "Davidic King" is not an identifiable person, nor will he be, until he has accomplished the tasks assigned to the role. Whether anyone will ever rise up to accomplish that is not a matter of destiny, but it is rather a matter of finally accepting and acting consistent with the Lord's will.

Every dispensation of the Gospel is the "last Dispensation" until it fails. Then another is sent and it is the "last" until it fails. This will continue for so long as man continues to fail. God is in no hurry. Apparently we are not either.