Global Warming & Climate Change?

      Did Jesus preached about "Global Warming" and "Climate Change"?  Here is an example of Jesus preaching about global warming and a permanent climate change in Luke 16:22-24  "...the rich man also died, and was buried;  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame."   In Matthew 10:28 Jesus said,  "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."  Apparently this warming and permanent climate change is going to affect a lot of people.   In Matthew 7:13&14, Jesus said, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."  You only have to murder one person to be a murderer.  You only have to steal one time to be a thief.  You only have to tell one lie to be a liar.  You only have to sin one time to be a sinner.  James 2:10 says, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."  Have you ever coveted your neighbors property?  Exodus 20:17 says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."   Matthew 5:28 says, "...whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."  Matthew 5:22 says, "...whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment":.."whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."  Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;..."   Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  Is there any hope for the repentant sinner who wants to avoid this inclusive "hell"?  John 14:6 says, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."   Romans 5:8 expresses God's love for sinners, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Romans 10:9&10 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."  
      Please take the time to read for yourself Jesus' many messages on hell or global warming and permanent climate change.  Repent and turn to God that He may save your soul.

100 Trillion Plans - Creation/Evolution

      

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

      Were you created or did you evolve?  Were you designed by God or are you a product of time and chance?  In 1860, an agnostic named Thomas Huxley debated Samuel Wilberforce at Oxford on the theory of evolution.  Wilberforce stated that a watch implies the existence of a watch maker.  Similarly, design in nature implies the existence of a Designer.  Huxley argued that six eternal monkeys or apes typing on six eternal typewriters with unlimited amounts of paper and ink could, given enough time, produce a Psalm, a Shakespearean sonnet, or even a whole book, purely by chance that is, by random striking of the keys.  Huxley pretended to find the 23^rd Psalm among reams of typed gibberish produced by his six imaginary apes at their typewriters. His point was this:  molecular movement, given enough time and matter, would be able to produce Bishop Wilberforce himself, purely by chance and without the work of any Designer or Creator. (Creation.com)
     DNA was not discovered until 1953.  (Huxley and Wilberforce did not have the advantages of  modern science.)  Each cell in your body has DNA, a set of plans.  If there are 50 to 100 trillion cells in your body then you have trillions of plans in you.  You were not a product of "time and chance".  You were carefully planned with 50-100 trillion sets of plans.  That is so amazing!  

Psalm 139:17 &18 says, "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."

Sharing God's GLORY???

1 Nephi 20:11 says, "...I will not give my glory unto another."  Some people try to rationalize this away by saying God will not give His glory to people who go about it the wrong way.  They say that God wants everyone to be like Him.  However the context is not about overly ambitious people who go about it the wrong way.  We see in verse 9 that he is talking about people who are not cut off.  Verse 10 says, "...I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."  He is speaking to these people when He says He will not give His glory to another.  In verse 12 He speaks to Israel and says, "...I am the first, and I also am the last."  There was no God before Him that He had to share His glory with. And there is no god after Him that he will have to share his glory with. Isaiah 42:8 says, "I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."  Isaiah 44:8 says, "...Is there a God beside me?  yea, there is no God; I know not any."  Isaiah 44:6 says, "...I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."  Isaiah 45:5 says, "I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me:..."

All Religions Have Truth????

Can truth be found everywhere?  Do all roads lead to Rome?  Do all religions have truth?  If you study the Jews and Israelis in the Old Testament, you will see that they believed this.  They were involved in all the religions of their time. In the Old Testament, the Israeli's relationship with God was often compared to the relationship between a man and wife. The prophets many times referred to Judah and Israel as "harlot" sisters. Instead of being loyal to their God, they went after other gods like an unfaithful wife goes after other men.  Jeremiah 3:11 says, "And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more that treacherous Judah." That was the KJV.  The NIV paraphrases the verse this way: "The Lord said unto me, "Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. In other words, it is better to just follow other gods than to follow Jehovah God and other gods. It is better for a woman not to marry than it is for her to marry and follow after other men. Israel stopped following God from King Jeroboam on through their history. Judah had some righteous and some unrighteous kings. John 14:6 says, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." What a powerful verse. Not MY way - Jesus is the way.  Not my truth or what is relatively right for me - Jesus is the truth.

Priesthood Requirements - Exodus 29

The Bible requirements for becoming a priest are found in Exodus 29.  Please read the chapter for more details.
Priesthood Requirements - Exodus 29
1. Select one young bull and two rams that are without blemish.
2. Take unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil and wafers anointed with oil. 
3.  Put the food in a basket.  Bring the animals and food to the door of the tabernacle.
4.  The priests must be washed with water at the door of the tabernacle.
5.  The high priest must put on the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, the breastplate and the intricately woven band of the ephod.  Then the high priest must put on the turban and the holy crown of the turban.
6.  Take the anointing oil and pour it on the high priest's head and anoint him.
7.  Put tunics on the other priests.  Gird them with sashes and put hats on them.
8.  Bring the bull before the tabernacle and have all the priests put their hands on the head of the bull.
9.  Kill the bull by the door of the tabernacle.
10.  Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the alter with your finger.
11.  Pour all of the blood beside the base of the alter.
12.  Take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and burn all of it on the alter.
13. Take the flesh of the bull, with its skin and it's offal and burn it outside the camp as a sin offering.
14.  The priest must put their hands on the head of one ram.
15.  Kill the ram and sprinkle it's blood all around the alter.
16.  Cut the ram in pieces, wash the entrails and legs and then put it back together with its head.
17.  Burn the whole ram on the alter as a burnt offering to the Lord.
18.  The priests must put their hands on the head of the other ram.
19.  Kill the ram and put some of its blood on the priests' right ears, right thumbs and right big toes.
20.  Sprinkle the blood around the alter.
21.  Take some of the blood that is on the alter with some anointing oil, and sprinkle it on the priests and their garments.
22. Take the fat of the ram, the fat or the tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, the two right kidneys and the fat that is on them, the right thigh, one loaf of bread, some cake and wafers and put these in the hands of the priests.
23. Wave these things as a wave offering before the Lord and then burn them on the alter as a burnt offering to the Lord.
24.  Take the breast of the first ram and wave it as a wave offering.
25.  Consecrate the thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering.  These shall be from Israel for Aaron and his sons forever.
26.  The son of Aaron who becomes high priest must put on the holy garments for seven days when he ministers in the most holy place in the tabernacle of meeting.
27.  Take the ram of the consecration and boil its flesh in the holy place.
28.  The priests must eat the flesh of the ram and the bread by the door of the tabernacle.
29.  Eat the things with which the atonement was made.
30.  If any of the bread or flesh is left over in the morning, it must be burned with fire.
31.  The priests must be consecrated seven days.
32.  Offer a bull everyday for seven days as a sin offering for atonement.
33.  Clean the alter each day and anoint it to sanctify it.

In the Bible, you had to be a descendant of Aaron to become a priest.  It was not open to any other Israelites.

Evolution

 Photo by Meg Jerrard on Unsplash

      

      By law, public schools are required to teach the Theory of Evolution.  Many try to emphasis the "separation of church and state" idea.  Many want to change our Merry Christmas to "Happy Holidays".  But what if we go beyond all the talk?  Is the Theory of Evolution something we really believe in?  Do we believe it enough to actually practice it in real life?  When we apply it to real life, we run into some serious philosophical problems.
      In sports we refer to evolution when talk about "survival of the fittest".  We think about one person winning and the others losing a sports game.  In the theory, however, the weaker ones do not lose.  The weaker ones die off and only the strong survive.  Our country has a big problem with gangs.  The gang lifestyle is very similar to the survival of the fittest idea.  If guns were not used and the fighting was done without weapons, then the strongest gangs would survive and the weaker would be eliminated.
      We would not want to apply such a theory to our society because it would be completely inhumane.  What if we ended all medicare and social security for the weaker, elderly and sick people of our society and gave that money to our strongest people.  That would be promoting the Theory of Evolution and survival of the fittest but it would be completely disrespectful to those that deserve our help.
      Think about having a daughter.  She is looking forward to dating sometime in the future (possibly age 30).  Do you want her to date the guy that is evolution-minded?  The guy who believes in survival of the fittest, the strongest ones prevail and might makes right?  Would that date just be following his own animal instincts?  Or do you want her to date the guy that is creation-minded?  The one that believes that she was created by the wisest designer in the universe?  The one that believes she was created in the image of God himself?  The one that thinks he may have to answer to God some day for the way he treats her?  Obviously, what you believe can have a big impact on the way you treat others.
     Evolution has a value problem.  If you say someone is a super-evolved monkey, you are lowering their value from a human to an evolved monkey.  Saying someone is evolved from a small amoeba does not give them a sense of self-worth.  Comparisons to animals are usually used to lower ones value or insult a person.  If you say someone is a product of time and chance, you are inferring that they were not worth the time of being planned.  For a Christian, the most valuable being in the universe is God.  The Bible says that man was designed by this most valuable and wise being.  This gives man great value.  The Bible also says that man was created in the image of this most valuable being.  This gives us great value!
      We are often told that science has proved evolution to be true.  If we could prove that evolution is true, we would call it the LAW of evolution.  It is correctly called the theory of evolution.  It is just a theory.  If the theory of evolution is true we should see many new species evolving and coming to life.  Most scientists today are more worried about all the animals that are becoming extinct.
      The Theory of Evolution implies that time is a constant.  This concept is highly suspect.  The time on your cell phone usually differs from the time on your computer.  The time on one sign usually differs from the time on the next sign.  Some scientists believe that time ceases to flow at the speed of light.  So, if you were traveling at a speed that is close to the speed of light and you travel the distance of a light-year, perhaps it would only take you a few seconds.  It would not take a year.  Some scientists believe that time would nearly stop in a black hole which tends toward infinite density.  So we could stay young but we would be crushed by the tremendous gravitational pull.  To assume that time is a constant, as evolution does, may be erroneous.
      Romans 1:20 says, "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead: so that they are without excuse:"  Our visible world teaches us about the invisible world.  Our DNA is our blueprint.  We were planned.  We are not here by accident!!  We are not a product of time and chance.  Nature points us to what is beyond this world.  Our sun is a star.  When our sun burns out, life on earth will freeze and die.  However, Christians have a heavenly home that is being prepared by God himself.  This is exciting and gives us great hope!

Celestial, Terrestrial and Telestial???

      Today's teaching tells us that there is a terrestrial heaven and a telestial heaven for those who do not attain to the celestial heaven and reach exaltation.  However the Book of Mormon does not group people this way.  The book of Mormon only talks about those who repent and those who do not.  There is only a celestial heaven for those who hear the law and repent and a hell for those who do not repent.  Alma 34:35-36 says, "For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to he spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.  And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb."  Many believe that we will have more opportunities after this life.  Alma 34:33 answers this question:  "...I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until he end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed."  Alma 34:32 says the same thing:  "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors."  .
      Many have an "I'm OK, you're OK" attitude about eternity.  2 Nephi 28:21 warns us about this:  "And others will he (the devil) pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well - and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell."
      Some say that hell is just a mental state.  Others say that if we do not progress, become all we can be and return to God, then we will always be frustrated that we did not reach our highest - exaltation.  So we will be in torment, knowing we could have done better.  Some people who believe in hell, think it is a place where only a handful of souls will go.  2 Nephi 28:22-23 warns us about this:  "And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none; and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.  Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment." 
      Contrary to some modern teaching, the book of Mormon doesn't really have a gray area.  It is black and white.  Either you repent in this life time and are saved to the Celestial heaven or you do not repent and are headed for destruction.