By Alan on Apr 18 in Blog tagged attack, body, commandments, eternity, Father, female, forgiveness, gender, Glory of God, God's plan, heritage, House of the Lord, Jesus Christ, male, marriage, mother, priesthood, proclamation, Proclamation To The World, responsible, selfishness, sexual purity, society, spirit, Strengthen, temple, The Family, together, transgression, under attack, warning, work | 1 Comment

By Alan on Apr 06 in Blog tagged Adam and Eve, body, choice, choose, commandments, enemy to God, eternal life, evil, God, good, Heavenly Father, Jesus, last days, multiply, natural man, overcoming, physical, physically, replenish, Satan, savior, spirit, spiritually, test, The Plan, The World, world | Comments Off

Overcoming The World

“The Lord created all things spiritually before he created them physically.” (Moses 3:5).

The fall of Adam and Eve was foreseen by God, our Heavenly Father, and “was a necessary step in the plan of life and a great blessing to all of us”. We lived as spirit children before this world and accepted this condition when we supported Heavenly Father’s plan of life.

Because of the Fall, we are were blessed with physical bodies, the freedom to choose between good and evil, and a commandment to ‘multiply and replenish the earth’ with the opportunity to gain eternal life. None of these privileges would have been ours had Adam and Eve remained in the garden.

“We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.” (2nd Article of Faith)

After Adam and Eve ‘fell’ from the presence of God and became mortal, we needed a Savior so we could live again and return to our Father in Heaven. Jesus Christ was chosen to be our Savior before the world was created.

In order to “choose between good and evil”, Satan, the father of lies who was denied a physical body, was allowed to exist here on earth and to tempt the souls of man to do evil and to live in everlasting misery with him thus completing the law of “opposites in all things”.  He teaches that there is no sin, that it’s natural and if it feels good, do it.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”  1 Corinthians 2:14

“Neither can any natural man abide the presence of God, neither after the carnal mind.”  D&C 67:12

“For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”   Mosiah 3:19

“And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of his probation—that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life, even as many as would believe.”  D&C 29:43

We are blessed to be living during these last days; often called “a great and dreadful day”.  My brothers and I wrote a song for “The Plan” album called “It’s Gotta Be The Last Days.” The lyrics of what “some day it will be”, have now all been fulfilled!  The fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all righteousness has now been restored to the earth and so has the fullness of all wickedness!

This life is a TEST!  Just as answers to a test at school must be hidden, our memory of our pre-exisence life was hidden ‘for a wise purpose’.  Our ‘test’ in life is about our  freedoms and in choosing good versus evil.  We all will make mistakes and Jesus knew it. Thus, He gave His life to pay the price for our sins if we would but with faith come unto Him and repent, be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost, and to endure to the end, controlling the natural man and woman.

Marriage is ‘ordained of God’ and a partnership with God. It is most important.  When the union of man and a woman co-create a life, one of God’s spirit children enters that child’s physical body as well giving it life.  This brings responsibility and accountability for that spirit.  The misuse in causing or terninating a life has serious responsibility and consequences!

God is “the same yesterday, today and forever” and so are His commandments.  With His ‘Plan of Happiness’, our spirit bodies will one day return back to heaven. The body cannot live without the spirit and so when it’s time to return, we will physically die; but, we continue to live spiritually. Jesus is the way and reason we all will be resurrected because of His atonement.  When we do, our spirits will be reunited once again with our physical bodies never to be separated again. We will be judged by our hearts and those choices we have made and will be assigned to dwell in one of God’s mansions in heaven or sent to outer darkness or hell with Satan.  Those who have taken upon themselves further binding covenants in the House of the Lord, will be reunited as families for all eternity.

I have enjoyed many years of sharing my music and talents with many people around the world. I have great memories of traveling with my family and making so many forever lasting memories and trusting friends.  I still love and enjoy music, creating live events, productions and publishing, and  feel it most important ‘at such a time as this’ to ‘not fear man, but to fear God’, and to be honest and share with everyone those truths that last forever that give purpose and reason for living.  I have always promised myself to be ‘a publisher of truth’. To fear God is to love God; which I do!

Our success and careers in life are important but most importantly is the success of the eternal assignments of life from within the family as a mother and a father. We are born, nurtured, educated, we explore, experience and learn; we fall in love, marry, and with the proper union of a man and a woman and a partnership with God, we are able to bring forth life that lasts forever; a posterity.  Besides being a commandment, this is ‘God’s work and glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man’, of which we are.   He is a Creator.  As a pony always becomes a horse, a chick a hen, and ‘like father like son’; ‘like mother like daughter’, we become like our heavenly parents; even creators of life.  This is why we are here.

We are not here by chance but by design.  As God’s spirit children, we experience life now housed within a physical body so we can create; learn good from evil, choose the way we wish to live, and work at overcoming the world ever progressing forward becoming more like our Heavenly Parents.  It is God’s Plan of Happiness.  Some may have trials in life and not get all of these opportunities and priveleges or be able to enjoy them but, God is mindful of everyone and as only He can, He has ‘the way’ and ‘the plan’ for them and all of us if we but trust in Him.  May we not lose our focus by only trying to succeed in life that we get caught up with the pleasures, honors, and greed of this world and forget why we are really here!

Ever since my brothers and I started performing music at a young age, we would always gather together and offer a word of prayer before we set foot on the stage and ask the Lord’s blessings to be with us and those in the audience.  We prayed that they might feel the love that we had for them and sence our purpose as a family in sharing the great message of the Lord through our lifestyle and music. As Suzanne and I publish various ways to help “strengthen the family”,  we ‘sanctify the Lord God in our hearts and are ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in us with meekness and fear’.

It is our prayer that we all will be seekers of truth, pray always, and “overcome the world” as we prepare for the second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Again, God is the same yesterday, today and forever and so are His Commandments.  Let’s pass this “TEST” of life and turn this “TEST” into a “TEST imony” of Jesus Christ that we may live eternally with Him once again.  God’s doctrines are true.  If one does not agree, it’s only that they don’t understand them.  May we each seek the Lord’s words and ways by reading the scriptures, knock on His door through prayer with any questions with humble tears asking for help with our challenges, and receive through the Holy Ghost those answers and guidance knowing that with faith all things are possible to those that love the Lord is my prayer.

May God be with you till we meet again,

Alan Osmond
“Strengthening The Family” – Spiritually

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”  Romans 1:16

By Alan on Feb 26 in Blog tagged children, commandments, Family, Father, God, home, legally and lawfully, man and woman, marriage, Merrill J. Baeman, mother, procreation powers, relationships, traditional | Comments Off

The Family – What Manner Ought We Be?

We are trying to preserve the traditional family—father, mother, and children—working together in love toward a common goal. In large measure we are succeeding against great odds.  

You are familiar with the fruits of broken homes.  ”I think the home is the answer to most of our basic social problems, and if we take care of things there, other things will take care of themselves.”   David Popenoe

We believe that society has a stake in marriage in that the physical, emotional, spiritual, and economic health of its citizens is determined by the quality and duration of marital relationships. We believe that procreation powers are sacred and are to be used only between a man and a woman legally and lawfully married. When they are used outside of marriage they may destroy relationships rather than build them.

In contrast, many people in the world treat marriage as merely an association by consenting adults. The association may or may not be based on a contract. Sexual relationships outside the association are widely seen as acceptable. Open marriages without a contract are more and more prevalent as young people live together on a trial basis. Some people are now asking that an association between partners of the same sex be recognized as marriage. It is clear that marriage is not considered a sacred relationship in many quarters. In fact, some argue that the state or society has no interest or stake in marriage.

What are the world’s views with regard to the family? There are many who assume that there is no plan because there is no God. Life is an accident. Marriage and the family are temporal associations. The association between consenting adults has as its purpose pleasure and individual satisfaction. If the association no longer serves that purpose, it should end regardless of the impact on one’s partner or children. Is it any wonder that marriages do not last given these views? More than half of all civil marriages in the United States end in divorce. Based on these philosophies, it is not difficult to propagate an argument recently heard in a Hawaiian court that children can be nurtured as well by two adults of the same sex as by the natural father and mother.  Also, if marriage is a temporary association that may end at any time, it is then simple to extrapolate that governments should assume primary responsibility for children’s training and education.

We believe that society has a stake in marriage in that the physical, emotional, spiritual, and economic health of its citizens is determined by the quality and duration of marital relationships. We believe that procreation powers are sacred and are to be used only between a man and a woman legally and lawfully married. When they are used outside of marriage they may destroy relationships rather than build them.

In contrast, many people in the world treat marriage as merely an association by consenting adults.  The association may or may not be based on a contract. Sexual relationships outside the association are widely seen as acceptable. Open marriages without a contract are more and more prevalent as young people live together on a trial basis. Some people are now asking that an association between partners of the same sex be recognized as marriage. It is clear that marriage is not considered a sacred relationship in many quarters. In fact, some argue that the state or society has no interest or stake in marriage.

A key purpose of God’s plan is the formation of eternal families. It is within the family that exaltation is achieved.  The family and its eternal nature are important. I am aware that some individuals do not have the opportunity to marry in mortality. For those who remain single on earth, there is still much that can be done to develop one’s talents, to help others, and to prepare for the blessings that will come. For the promise is that no blessing will be withheld eternally if a person is worthy (see Clyde J. Williams, ed., The Teachings of Harold B. Lee [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1996], p. 256).

When a man understands how glorious a woman is, he treats her differently. When a woman understands that a man has the seeds of divinity within him, she honors him not only for who he is but for what he may become. An understanding of the divine nature allows each person to have respect for the other. The eternal view engenders a desire in men and women to learn from and share with each other.

Men and women are created as complements. They complete one another. Paul told the Corinthians: “Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:11). Men and women complement each other not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. The apostle Paul taught that “the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband” and through them both the children are made holy (1 Corinthians 7:14). Men and women have different strengths and weaknesses, and marriage is a synergistic relationship in which spiritual growth is enhanced because of the differences.

The commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve to “multiply, and replenish the earth” remains in force (Genesis 1:28, Moses 2:28). Father and mother are important role models in nurturing and developing children. We believe that children’s self-respect and identity are partially determined by the love their father and mother have for each other.  “A father can do no greater thing for his children than to let them feel that he loves their mother”, said President David O. McKay.  My experience suggests that a child’s identity and feelings of security are threatened when parents argue and condemn one another. The home is the best place for children to experience the bonds of love and learn virtue, honesty, and good citizenship. The home is the primary place where children learn to treat others with respect.

Marriage is a sacred relationship. When performed in the right place by the right authority, an everlasting covenant is established between the man, the woman, and the Lord (see D&C 132:15–19). The covenant has the potential of creating an eternal unit.

The family is meant to be eternal. Each one of us may be part of an eternal family if we are obedient to gospel principles. A fullness of joy is found only within the framework of an exalted family. Some people may scoff at the seventh commandment, which requires chastity before marriage and fidelity afterward, but “political correctness” is not a substitute for the plan of happiness. Marriage is a sacred relationship between a man and a woman. May each of us live so that we may partake of the greatest blessing the Lord has in store for us, that of eternal life.  I ask these blessings on all of us in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Merrill J. Bateman

Merrill J. Bateman was the president of Brigham Young University when this devotional address was given on 6 January 1998.

For The Family

By Alan on Feb 12 in Blog tagged addictions, alchohol, beliefs, commandments, compass, drugs, Jesus Christ, laws of God, Lord, moral, Moses, movies, opposite, pornography, profanity, religion, right, sex, sin, society, standards, television, the Last Days, The Osmonds, troubled times, wrong | Comments Off

It’s Gotta Be The Last Days

“We have come to the earth in troubled times. The moral compass of the masses has gradually shifted to an “almost anything goes” position.

I’ve lived long enough to have witnessed much of the metamorphosis of society’s morals. Where once the standards of your religion and beliefs, and the standards of society were mostly compatible, now there is a wide chasm between us, and it’s growing ever wider.

Many movies and television shows portray behavior which is in direct opposition to the laws of God. Do not subject yourself to the innuendo and outright filth which are so often found there. The lyrics in much of today’s music fall in the same category. The profanity so prevalent around us today would never have been tolerated in the not-too-distant past. Sadly, the Lord’s name is taken in vain over and over again. Recall with me the commandment—one of the ten—which the Lord revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” I am sorry that any of us is subjected to profane language, and I plead with you not to use it. I implore you not to say or to do anything of which you cannot be proud.

Stay completely away from pornography. Do not allow yourself to view it, ever. It has proven to be an addiction which is more than difficult to overcome. Avoid alcohol and tobacco or any other drugs, also addictions which you would be hard pressed to conquer.

What will protect you from the sin and evil around you?

I maintain that a strong testimony of our Savior and of His gospel will help see you through to safety.”  Thomas S. Monson

“It’s Gotta Be The Last Days”

LISTEN: The Last Days

“It’s Gotta Be The Last Days”

“Nations take up their battle stations.
Patrons of zodiac revelations.
Lustations breaking family relations.
Litigation allowing shoot-up sensations.
That’s what they said
Some day it woiuld be.
Now just look around,
if that’s what we see…
It’s gotta be the Last Days.
Gotta be the Last Days.

People living lives of confusion.
Millions caught up in revolution.
Cities  lost in their own pollution.
Question, what is the constitution?
That’s what they said
Some day it woiuld be.
Now just look around,
if that’s what we see…
It’s gotta be the Last Days.
Gotta be the Last Days.”

Written and Sung by: The Osmonds
© 1972

Scriptural Warnings:

“For their laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening with destruction, for the laws had become corrupted.” Helaman 5:2

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God”.  2 Timothy 3:1-4

.
“I know of nothing in the history… of the world to compare with our present circumstances. Nothing happened in Sodom and Gomorrah which exceeds in wickedness and depravity that which surrounds us now. Words of profanity, vulgarity, and blasphemy are heard everywhere. Unspeakable wickedness and perversion were once hidden in dark places; now they are in the open, and even accorded legal protection. At Sodom and Gomorrah these things were localized. Now, they are spread across the world, and they are among us”.

Boyd K. Packer
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

For The Family

By Alan on Dec 27 in Blog tagged adversity, art, ceation, chance, choice, commandments, eternity, Family, gospel, happiness, joy, needs, ordinances, prophets, Temples | Comments Off

The Secret To Life Is Happiness

Our Heavenly Father desires that we find true, lasting happiness.

Our happiness is the design of all the blessings He gives us—gospel teachings, commandments, priesthood ordinances, family relationships, prophets, temples, the beauties of creation, and even the opportunity to experience adversity.

His plan for our salvation is often called “the great plan of happiness”.

He sent His Beloved Son to carry out the Atonement so we can be happy in this life and receive a fulness of joy in the eternities.

For The Family

By Alan on Dec 09 in Blog tagged agency, atonement, blessings, choices, Christ, commandments, deternal life, execute, free, Freedom, God, good and evil, Jesus, knowledge, laws, liberty, obedience, ordinances, power, restraints, sin, the Fall, truth | Comments Off

THE BLESSINGS OF FREEDOM

  “Because they are redeemed from the fall
they have become free forever”. 
2 Nephi 2:26

Without the Atonement, there could be no freedom: “We proclaim the atonement wrought by Jesus Christ . . . is to all people; it is the message of deliverance from sin and its sorrow, the decree of liberty, the charter of freedom.” James E. Talmage

As with each of the other blessings of the Atonement, this one does not stand alone.  It complements, supplements, and overlaps others. 

In truth, the freest of all beings is God himself.  “God could not make men like himself without making them free,” said David O. McKay.

It is a greater manifestation of divine power to make beings that can make themselves than to make beings that cannot, for the former are men and the latter are puppets, and puppets after all are only things.” Dr. Iverach, a Scottish philosopher.

GOD MAKES MEN FREE

Freedom is described as the power or agency to act for oneself.  “The Lord god gave unto man that he should act for himself” (2 Nephi 2:16) (D&C 29:35) (Moses 4:3)

Man could never enjoy the full powers of agency without the intervention of God.  Samuel told the people of Zarahemla, “Ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves,” and then he added, “He [God] hath made your free” (Helaman 14:30).  Under Christ ye are made free.  “And there is no other head whereby ye can be made free” (Mosiah 5:8) The Savior taught that true freedom comes “if the Son . . . shall make your free” (John 8:36).  Paul urged the saints of Galatia to retain their “liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Galatians 5:1).

THE FOUR COMPONENTS OF FREEDOM

How does God endow us with agency, and what part does the Atonement play in making us free?  This is best understood by dissecting freedom into its four principal components, namely the need for an intelligent being, a knowledge of good and evil, the availability of choices, and the power to execute or carry out such choices.

1. The need for an intelligent being.  Simply stated, there can be no freedom without a decision maker, an intelligent being.  Man is a conscious, thinking entity, thus fulfilling the first requirement for freedom.

2. The need for a knowledge of good and evil.  Man’s initial knowledge of good and evil was triggered at the time of the Fall.  The Lord said, “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil” (Genesis 3:22)  Eve said, “Were it not for our transgression we … never should have known good and evil” (Moses 5:11)  Absent that grant of knowledge, Adam and Eve would have been confined to a state of innocence.  It was a vital link, but it was the beginning – the gateway to knowledge.  The scriptures reveal that “the eyes of them both were opened” (Genesis 3:7).  This was essential, but it was only the commencement, not the end of the road.  With increased knowledge comes the opportunity for increased freedom.  The Savior’s testimony to the scribes and Pharisees: “Know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).  They retorted, “We . . . were never in bondage to any man” (John 8:33).  How wrong they were.  They had secular knowledge, but not the spiritual truth that makes man free.  The essence of freedom is to know the Savior and obey his truths.  As we do so, we become free from prejudice, falsehood, sin, contention, and every other injurious practice or evil nature known to man.  The Fall opened the gate to the road of knowledge, but it was the Atonement that provided the vehicle to proceed through the Atonement where we are cleansed in the waters of baptism, making us eligible for the gift of the Holy Ghost.  It is such a gift that “will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).  As we come to know the Savior and his truths we enlarge our capacity for freedom.  This is so because knowledge is power; and power, in its consummate expression is godhood; and godhood is the quintessence of freedom.

3. The third element of freedom is the availability of choices.  Only to the human being did the Creator say, “…thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee . . .(Moses 3:17)  Were it not for the Atonement, there would have been no choice between eternal life and eternal damnation. The Fall would have opened the gate to one road and one road only.  The Atonement is the means of deliverance, the means of freeing our bodies from the grave and our spirits from hell, of offering another road, another choice, another option.  The message is clear.  We can accept the Atonement, a choice that leads to eternal life (the ultimate in freedom); or we can choose the way of the Evil One, a choice that leads to destruction, chains, and captivity (the ultimate in bondage).  As we choose the Lord, he gives us more rope; as we choose Satan, he tightens the noose until we are in his grasp.  “Ye are free to act for yourselves – - to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life” (2 Nephi 10:23).  That freedom of choice comes through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

4. The one element yet lacking for a fullness of freedom is the power to execute or carry out the choices before us.  We may have knowledge of good and evil; we may even have choices placed before us; but unless we have power to execute, the power to fulfill, then our freedom is but a façade.  The issue is not choice.  The issue is simply power – the power to see and hear and do without restraint.  While God is certainly a proponent of earthly knowledge, he also wants us to know that powers of a higher source flow from the acquisition of spiritual truths.  It is this spiritual power that parted the Red Sea. That caused the sun to “stand still,” rivers to change their course, and mountains to flee (Exodus 14:21-29; Joshua 10:12-14; Moses 7:13)  This power is of such magnitude that it has penetrated and softened even the hearts of those who were known to be “a wild and a hardened and a ferocious people” (Alma 17:14) Both earthly and spiritual power (which ultimately are but one power) constitute the power of godhood, for gods “have all power” (D&C  132:20)  With each new power acquired, we develop greater control not only of the elements but of our destiny.  In this way, we become the driver, not the driven – - the cause rather than the effect.  We act for ourselves rather than being “acted upon” (2 Nephi 2:26) ; and in this manner we become free.  While knowledge is essential to the acquisition of power, there is yet another ingredient, often ignored, and sometimes even ridiculed, that is a prerequisite to receiving the “higher” powers – -  those powers necessary to enjoy a fullness of freedom.  It is obedience.

OBEDIENCE – A KEY TO FREEDOM

Some might contend that freedom comes when there are no laws or restraints.  They contend that freedom in its purest form is the right to do anything, anytime, anywhere, without consequence.  About twenty-five hundred years ago it was prophesied of those misguided souls who would teach, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us” (2 Nephi 28:7)  Does it not seem ironic that such a philosophy is authored by the master slave himself?  It was he who was cast out of heaven, who was deprived of a body, who will be bound a thousand years, and who will ultimately be banished to outer darkness.  The freedom he promises is illusory; it is a mirage on the desert; it is the very condition that has always eluded his grasp.  It was the same lie promulgated by Cain after he slew his brother Abel: “I am free” he said (Moses 5:33)  In truth, he was never in more bondage.  He was the servant, even the slave of sin.

How then does the Lord propose to make us free?  The answer is obedience.  Contrary to the belief of many, obedience is not the antithesis of freedom, but the foundation of it. There are two freedoms; the false where one is free to do what he likes, and the true where he is free to do what he ought. Commandments are no more restrictive to the spiritual man than street signs are to the motorist.  Neither prohibits our progress; to the contrary, they enhance it by serving as guideposts or directional signs to help us find and reach our destination.  “We are too inclined to think of law as something merely restrictive; the opposite of liberty.  But that is a false conception.  God does not contradict himself.  He did not create man and then, as an afterthought, impose upon him a set of arbitrary, irritation, restrictive rules.  He made man free – and then gave him the commandments to keep him free.  We cannot break the Ten Commandments.  We can only break ourselves against them – or else, by keeping them, rise through them to the fullness of freedom under God.”  Cecil B. De Mille.

Freedom requires a knowledge of good and evil, the availability of choices, and the power to execute or carry them out. Each of these is enhanced by obedience to God’s will.  As we obey God’s laws we receive increased knowledge of God’s plan, and with increased knowledge comes increased capacity for freedom.   Obedience broadens the lost of our choices. It generates power; power comes by obedience. We gain power over the elements as we obey the laws of God. Obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel brings increased knowledge, a multiplicity of choices and an enhanced power to execute, all of which results in added freedom.

The difference between the righteous and the sinner, eternal life or death, happiness or misery, is to those who are exalted where there are no bounds or limits to their privileges.

Now that is freedom!

Excerpts from: The Infinite Atonement
By: Tad R. Callister

For The Family

By Alan on Sep 01 in Blog tagged act, acted upon, all men, all things, America, ancient promise, bad, blessings, commandments, constitution, covenants, creation, death, faith, founding, founding fathers, from God, from the beginning, God, good, gospel destiny, hand of the Lord, happiness, holiness, insensible, judgments, just, Keep Commandments, land of promise, latter-day, life, life and death, messiah, miracles, misery, New Israel, no creation, no God, no happiness, no law, no misery, no punishment, no righteousness, no sin, oaths, opposites, opposition, promises, restoration, righteousness, sense, so will God, The American Covenat, this nation, unbelief, vanish away, wickedness, works | Comments Off

For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.

If not so, .. righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.

Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

Have you ever wondered why similar spiritual feelings permeate your soul whether you are reading the prayerful words of the Hebrew military commander Joshua . . . or General Washington? Or why your eyes get equally misty, and your heart similarly joyous, whether you are singing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing . . . or the The Star Spangled Banner? Yes, you know it is a “choice land” given by God, but have you ever considered that perhaps there is a deeper connection — even deeper than you ever imagined — between Heaven and America?

Open your eyes to this deeper connection and learn how and why ancient prophets — from Jacob (Israel), Joseph, Daniel, Jeremiah and Isaiah — foresaw the United States and knew of its divine ordination. Besides the advent of the Messiah, there were few things that almost all ancient prophets saw. America was one of them!

More astonishing, perhaps, is the idea that the fathers of this nation — from the Pilgrims to the revolutionaries, to the patriots of the Civil War — knew they had been seen by the ancients!

Why else did the early settlers insist they were the “New Israel?” Why was George Washington’s scripture of choice an Old Testament prophecy about the gospel destiny of America? Why did John Adams seek a “Restoration,” and why did Jefferson directly prophecy that it would occur shortly after his death and that it would land upon the foundation of the Constitution? Why (and how) did Abraham Lincoln, like a prophet of old, fulfill ancient and modern prophecy? And how did God prepare him for the work he accomplished. Learn why history has repeated itself in the founding of latter-day Israel, and why the Founding Fathers felt such a profound connection (in life and death) to “temple” worship?

These are but samples that reveal the true nature and purpose of America. Other evidences include symbolic images on our dollar bill, miracles in war, a prophet’s warning, a president’s prayer, scriptures with cryptic meaning hiding in plain sight — pieces, clues, words and symbols that actually fit perfectly together.  You may say, “How did I not see all this before?”

The key to assembling the pieces of unrest and in solving the puzzle, and to understanding the miracles that are found in an ancient promise from the God who created this nation is that there was and is The American Covenant.

For The Family 

By Alan on Jul 22 in Blog tagged America, Christ, commandments, covenant, eternal life, givts, land of liberty, promised land, promises, scriptures, serve Him, the American Covenant, The Book of Mormon, The United States of America | Comments Off

The American Covenant

If it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments . . . it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore they shall never be brought down into captivity.

2 Nephi 1:7

 Lehi’s Family built a ship, Left Jerusalem and came to America.

The story of the American Covenant begins with the God of Abraham directing chosen people to a promised land, known today as America.  His purpose behind this new nation and its covenant was to establish a socio-political foundation whereupon His children might fully exercise their agency to choose Christ and His gospel and thus qualify themselves for eternal life.  If we are to fully grasp the meaning behind all of this, we must first understand certain basic concepts.

What is a “national covenant?

Why is it improtant?

Why should we think to apply such a covenant to the United States of America?

And finally, what do the scriptures teach us about the stated promises and obligations of the proposed covenant in America?

When we consider what a covenant is, our minds rightly reflect upon personal promises made with our Heavenly Father.  We promise to keep His commandments and He promises us great gifts such as His Holy Spirit and Eternal Life.  There are far and away the most significant covenants, as they directly fulfill the purposes of God by assisting His children to fill the measure of their creation.    Timothy Ballard

“The American Covenant is a relevant today as it ever was.

Consider the following warning from President Gordon B. Hinckley – a prophet not only to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-dauy Saints, but to the nation and world – which he gave specifically to our American generation:

“For a good while, there has been going on in this nation a process that I have termed the secularization of America.  The single most substantial factor in the degeneration of the values and morals of our society is that we as a nation are forsaking the Almighty, and I fear that He will begin to forsake us.  We are shutting the door against the God whose sons and daughters we are . . .Future blessings will come only as we deserve them.

Can we expect peace and prosperity, harmony and goodwill, when we turn our backs on the Source of strength?  If we are to continue to have the freedoms that evolved within the structure that was the inspiration of the Almighty to our Founding Fathers, we must return to the God who is their true Author… God bless America for it is His creation.”

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The single most substantial factor in the degeneration
of the values and morals of our society is that we as a
nation are forsaking the Almighty.

For The Family

By Alan on May 05 in Blog tagged an attitude, commandments, creation, design of all blessings, enduring joys, family relationships, gospel teachings, happiness, hard work spiritual growth, Jesus Christ, joy, lasting, live the gospel. wholesome activities, meaningful service, miserable or happy, not wickedness, strong, Temples, temporary, the great plan of happiness, true and lasting, work | Comments Off

Happiness Is An Attitude.

We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong.  The amount of work is the same.

By Alan on Mar 26 in Daily Inspiration tagged atonement, commandments, cretion, experience adversity, family relationships, find true lasting happiness, fulness of joy eternities, Heavenly Father, just at different stages of life, live the gospel, man is that he might have joy, meaningful service, Plan of Salvation, priesthood ordinances, prophets, purpose, Temples, the truth, we are all living human beings | Comments Off

Life Is A Work In Progress

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For The Family

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