I was just thinking today about the movie City of Angels that starred Nicolas Cage.  I was thinking how at the beginning he was supposed to be an Angel that helped those who passed on move to the after life.  Then I was thinking how Hollywood uses these images to distort the truth.

We know that Angels are people like you and me.  We know that there is a difference between spirits and Angels, most people will believe that a Spirit is and Angel, but we know they are not. Spirits are those who have not yet received bodies.  And how horrible would it be if we were like those Angels, or anyone was like those Angles, that Nicolas Cage portrayed.

If you were you'd be doomed to never take a body.  You'd be doomed to never know the wonders of this world or the glories of living the laws of the gospel.  You'd never be able to progress or move on.  You'd be eternally stuck doing something that would be just plain sad, escorting the dead to their reward while being denied the opportunity to receive an eternal reward for yourself.  Amazing.

That people could think or believe that there are those out there that our Heavenly Father would leave in such a state.  A state of Eteranl UnHappiness.  That would just plain stink.

It also puts me in mind of movies like the Seventh Sign with Demi Moore.  This film would have you believe that when their are no more spirits left to receive bodies we all die so that Heavenly Father can start over unless someone sacrifices themselves for the rest of us.  Well, the sacrifice has already been made and when the Second Coming does happen it will be a good thing.  It will be the end to pain and suffering, the beginning of the Millenium and the next adventure.

Then you have series like Saving Grace that makes people believe that Heavenly Father will come and speak to an unrepentant sinner and guide them in their life.  Not to make their life a life like we're supposed to live, you know by following the commandments, but just a little bit more comfortable while you're living in sin.

I personally think that this is heinous, hope I spelled that right.  People being purposely misled and thinking that just maybe there's a little truth to what Hollywood is peddaling.  The truth is that they want the rest of us to think like them so they can justify how they live and excuse themselves from judgement.  I'm glad I'm not their judge but I know who is and I'm certain that he wont be as lenient on them as they wish he would be.  There's no do overs if you fail to repent now.

I feel saddened by anyone who wants to water the truth down to fit themselves and what they're really doing, in an off handed way, is saying, "Hey, I'm selfish, I'm guilty, but you should ignore how I live and forgive me because that's just how things are." 

I feel for them.  I'm saddened by it and hope they all repent before it's to late.

What do you think?

Tags: Spirit Spiritual Angels Life Falshoods Hollywood

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A friend of mine sent me an e-mail with the following in it:

allright brother,
 
so how do you keep your faith up?

I replied with the following:

Interesting question.  Personally, I hit my knees nearly daily, I keep a prayer in my heart, and when I talk in my head I’m usually talking with God.  I read scriptures daily, I actually read from three different books of scripture daily, one of them being Proverbs which I read twice a day.  I also read with the family daily.  In those readings we read from one book of scripture, one self improvement book, and from a nice historical fiction novel.  Then we pray together.  After that, and before we go to bed, my wife and I have prayer together.

Faith is something that happens step by step, here a little and there a little.  It comes over time.  It happens whenever you look out at a sunrise or a sunset and realize that none of this is a mistake, that all of this was created, and that you couldn’t have done it.  It happens when you look up at the stars at night and understand how little you know and how much is still out there for you to learn.  It happens whenever you look into your children’s eyes, or your wife’s, and see the love that is there and the love you have for them.  These are the tangible things.

Faith happens when you plant a seeds in the ground and some grow while others don’t.  At those times you realize that no matter what you do you are not in control.  Faith is believing in what you don’t see.  It’s seeing what you want somewhere out ahead of you and knowing that you will get there, someday.  It’s a journey that is filled with all the pitfalls of life.  But most of all it is in perseverance and not in giving up or giving in.  Faith is going on when everyone else tells you to quit.

Faith was when, during my darkest hour, when everyone else was telling me to quit and go home, I made a stand and although I lost a lot I’ve gained so much more.  Thanks be to God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.

Tags: Faith Hope Prayer Love Life

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I was writing back today to an e-mail I received from someone who has been a member of the church their entire lives.  In some ways I envy him.  He received a foundation that can be built on from his parents.  He received access to the teachings of the Prophets from the time he was born and he had access to so many peoples testimony.

People who grow up in the church seem to have those family ties that stretch through the entire ward or across multiple wards.  When they go to church everyone is familiar to them, they know just about everyone and are related to most of them.

Us Converts don't have that.  We didn't get that and sometimes we fell like outsiders sitting there in a pew being stared at.  Sometimes we feel like no one really wants to be our friends because they already seem to have all the friends in the world, or at least in the ward.

Most of it is our own fault of course.  We don't show up to a lot of functions because we're so used to doing the things we normally do.  We have our own habits, our own families, and we stand back and don't get to close sometimes.  That parts our fault.

Then there are cases where the members are clickish.  You weren't there at the beginning so you're left out.  I've even heard of a ward that was so clickish that a General Authority had to come down and re-organize the ward and chastise them for their behavior.  They were so bad that the missionaries couldn't bring new people to the meetings because they would be shunned.  That's also our fault as members.

I myself get so self concious sometimes that I fail to stick my hand out and shake the hand of strangers that I meet in church.  How dumb is that. 

In truth I really want to make new friends and meet new people.  It's my own fault that I don't do it often enough.  I should stick my hand out and say, "Hi," more often.  There's no reason why I can't.  I go and help out on service projects often enough, why can't I take just a little more time to be more friendly and talk to people?  Just because I'm afraid.  How dumb is that.

Tags: Conversion New Members Fellowshipping Friendship

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Hello All,

     I'm starting this blog as a Latter-Day Saint in business.  I have my own computer and networking business here in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming.  That means I literally drive all over the Basin to companies sites and fix thier computer and networking problems. 

     I've been in business since June of 2005 and we have been doing well.  I say we because my wife is involved in the book keeping/accounting end and my son does stuff for me every now and then.  We do not have a large clientel yet but it is growing.  We are getting more and more referal based business.  That's nice.

     I've run my business based on how I feel about the gospel.  Meaning, if it isn't a good principle that I've been taught in church we don't do it.  We operate off of Honesty first and always.  If I don't know something I tell people, "I don't know."  There's no shame in that and I can always learn new things.  That's how life goes.

     Today I just got a new customer.  Someone I compete against did them a bad turn and they called someone who told them to call me.  I drove out to the clients site and in about five minutes got them back up and running.  It was nice.

     Life is good but now it's time for bed.

Goodnight,

Dave

Tags: Business Work

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