Brethrenite, TBM, and Sheeple

Hello and Welcome:

I am one of the Sheeple, or one of the Brethrenites, or one of the simpletons that the Gnostics and the LDS Apostates love to point the finger at and mock.  I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I have created a few different blogs, each one catering to a different LDS Theme or Topic that is of interest to me.

Callings and Elections: http://callingsandelections.blogspot.com/

Women Ordained: http://allwomenordained.blogspot.com/

God and Goddesses: http://ofgodandgoddesses.blogspot.com/

Satire Because I Had Nothing Better to Do at the Time:
http://megasatire.blogspot.com/

This megasatire blog is one where I tried to defend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints against the apostates that I encountered on LDS Freedom Forum starting around January 2014. I did the best I could at the time, although some have told me subsequently that I employed many of the same tactics that the apostates often employ and that I should try to be better than that.

Some told me that I was too mean and that I should be nicer. Since then, I have tried to repent and change for the better.

Best wishes to all,

Mark My Words


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Update:  13AUG2014:

I have truly enjoyed Ed Goble's inclusive take on Book of Mormon Geography as expressed in his book "Resurrecting Cumorah" and on LDS Freedom Forum here:

http://www.ldsfreedomforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=7830&start=210#p509507

Hear him out, and choose to ignore the opposition until you have read his book and given him a proper hearing.  I feel that Ed's Inclusive Model of Book of Mormon Geography has merit and value.  Give it a look if the subject interests you.

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I have been counseled by my LDS guru friend to first seek the word of God before I start preaching the word of God.  During the past few weeks, I have started to collect a number of different LDS books; and, my intention is to reduce my online presence and instead spend my time feasting upon the Gospel of Christ.  Wish me luck.  It's a change of focus, and old habits are hard to break.

Around July 02, 2014, due to requests from moderators that I leave the LDS Freedom Forum and go someplace else, I went public on the LDS Freedom Forum asking people if any of them knew of another forum that is Pro-LDS, sustains the Brethren, supports the LDS Convert, and can help a person to gain a testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was looking for a forum or a place where the moderators and the participants were actually trying to convert people to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was looking for a different home. I was looking for a place that would support my growing conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Last I looked at the thread, I was being openly mocked and told that there is no place else to go.

As far as I can tell, that thread has been deleted. I can find no sign of it in the list of my posts. It's gone.

Meanwhile, an LDS friend has recommended Meridian Magazine as a new home that is Pro-LDS.

http://www.ldsmag.com/

I have started to take a look there. As far as I can tell, it doesn't have the contentious debating forum that so many of us love to participate in at LDS Freedom Forum; but, Meridian Magazine has blogs and columnists and editors who are Pro-LDS. From what I can see, it seems to be the perfect place to send a new LDS Convert, where the person can find the support and sustenance that he or she needs as they grow in the Gospel of Christ.

Meanwhile, I have gotten in the habit of backing up my posts on LDS Freedom Forum, because I never know when one of them might just disappear.

Best of Luck and Joy to You All,

Mark My Words


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http://www.ldsfreedomforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=34486

Archeology and Paleontology

Archeology and Paleontology:

Hugh Nibley liked to warn us about the pitfalls of Archeology and Paleontology. They are inexact sciences. They are filled with tons of personal speculation, personal interpretation, and guesswork. The archeologists and paleontologists are presented with a few pieces of the puzzle, and then they proceed to fill in all the blanks. (Other people do the same thing with the Callings and Elections made Sure, touching upon only one piece of the elephant and each touching upon a different piece of the elephant.)

Hugh Nibley constantly said that even a first grader can tell you in great detail all about the cavemen, how they lived, what they ate, what they did, how they hunted, and so forth. They go ahead filling in all the blanks using their brilliant imaginations, all the while not knowing that there were no Neanderthal Cavemen actually living in those caves but descendants of Adam and Eve painting in those caves instead.

When it comes to personal speculation, you do NOT want to draw a line in the sand and then stand behind it for the rest of eternity defending it. You want to stay mobile and keep constantly adjusting as new information comes your way.

Last I heard, there were over 100 different Models or Maps for the Book of Mormon geography here on the American Continents. What does that tell you? It tells you that there is a whole pile of personal speculation going on. And, when it comes to personal speculation, no one person's guesswork is any better than any other person's guesswork. All of these different contradictory Models for Book of Mormon geography can be extremely interesting to look at and study – I have sampled pieces from many different LDS apologists, and it can be a great deal of fun; but, I'm not willing to bet my salvation on any one particular Model actually being complete or 100% true. I have noticed that they each have interesting things to contribute, things that I have never thought about before, and some of the things they present in different Models feel good or plausible or inspirational. These different geographical Models for the Book of Mormon make the Book of Mormon authors seem more real to me.

The only real sadness that I see to any of this is when we find one LDS apologist actively and openly fighting another LDS apologist, because he has made his personal speculation a religion and because he is unwilling to learn, grow, and change his mind as new information comes his way. When an LDS apologist draws a line in the sand and refuses to go any further, then that's when personal growth comes to a halt for the individual.

I have noticed that some of the LDS apologists have multiple editions of their major works. What does that tell you? It tells you that they are adjusting as further information comes their way.

So, it's always good to me whenever I see intelligent or brilliant Latter-day Saints refusing to attack and ridicule other LDS apologists, but choosing to keep an open mind instead. If I understand correctly, to be contrite means to be teachable, and it's a requirement for salvation and exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom, no matter how smart we might get as we travel along the path towards the Tree of Life. I run into geniuses all the time who seem to be completely blind to some of the simplest realities of life. If they can be completely blind to certain things, then we can too.

Divine Inequality

Divine Inequality:

The younger generation has spent very little time thinking about Communism or studying Communism. What is Communism? Communism is enforced equality. Communism is militant atheism or enforced atheism.

They will kill you if you refuse to see things the way that they see them. They will kill you if you refuse to do things the way they do them. They will kill you if you have more than they do, or appear to have more than they do.

They literally killed all of the Doctors and Scientists in Cambodia because the Doctors and Scientists had more than the rest of the people had. That's the fruits of enforced equality. Enforced equality is a Satanic principle. Study Pol Pot and the Killing Fields to see the fruits of Enforced Equality.

A lot of time, effort, inspiration, potential, and life can be wasted by trying to enforce equality. Who is the one who wants us wasting time, effort, potential, and life? It’s Satan. The drive to enforce equality does NOT come from God. It comes from Satan.

And, just because we live in America, we are not automatically immune to the lures of enforced equality.

Every generation we always have some kind of equal rights amendment or some kind of program to make the sexes equal.

In contrast, God deliberately created us different and unequal, male and female, for a wise and glorious purpose. This was God’s Plan, to have us unequal and different. There are many many things that a woman can do that a man simply cannot do. There are also a couple of things that a man can do that a woman cannot do. A woman makes for a rather poor father to emulate, especially for a young man. A woman doesn’t have the mechanism needed to become a father, either.

Again, study the Parable of the Talents or the Parable of the Elections. Notice that some were given 10 Elections. Some were given a couple of Elections or a few Elections. And, some were only given one Election or one Talent. Notice that they were created unequal by God right from the very beginning. God did it this way so that we would actually have a need for each other. Together, we are greater than the sum of our unequal parts. Together, we can approach perfection, fullness, wholeness, unity, or completion. Standing alone, we will fall.

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Parable of the Ten Virgins:

The beauty of a parable is that it can have dozens of different interpretations, each of which is valid and useful. That's why some claim that it's useful to have the gift of the Holy Ghost while studying the parables, because the Holy Ghost will help you to see other possible and useful interpretations for the very same parable.

I latched onto the Joseph Smith Translation of the parable of the Ten Virgins, where Joseph equates the Ten Virgins to the Latter-day Saints. I personally took that to mean ALL baptized Latter-day Saints, from 1830 to the Second Coming. What is this Wedding Feast that the Ten Virgins are headed towards? It's the Celestial Kingdom. ALL baptized Latter-day Saints are ELECTED or qualified to go to the Celestial Kingdom (as are children under the age of eight).

Thus, I personally tend to interpret the Parable of the Ten Virgins to mean that, of all the people who are baptized Latter-day Saints (past, present, and future), half of them are going to apostatize, or turn apathetic, or stop keeping the commandments, or not have the Holy Ghost in them when Christ comes. There will be no oil in their lamps when the Bridegroom comes and they will be off doing something else. It's also possible that half of the baptized Latter-day Saints in the spirit world might actually remain in spirit prison, when Christ comes and when the oil-filled Latter-day Saints in Paradise are resurrected from the dead on the Morning of the First Resurrection.

Everyone tends to focus on the half of the Latter-day Saints who aren't going to make it. But, this parable tells us that half of the baptized Latter-day Saints (past, present, and future) will actually make it to the Wedding Feast or the Celestial Kingdom.

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Although it can be fun to run the numbers and to speculate, you don't want to make a religion out of it or bet the farm on it. God changes His mind all the time depending upon whether we choose to repent or not, or depending upon whether we choose to be baptized into the LDS Church or not, or depending upon whether we choose to sustain the Brethren or not.

If all ten virgins repent and keep oil in their lamps, then they will all be going to the Wedding Feast or the Celestial Kingdom, and the parable be damned.

God was going to destroy Ninevah, and God sent Jonah to Ninevah to warn them. But guess what? They repented, and the city was spared, much to Jonah's disappointment. Jonah didn't like them and wanted them to be destroyed, but they repented and God changed His mind.

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Deliberate rebellion against God the Father, His Plan of Salvation, His Church or Kingdom, His Ordinances, and His Priesthood is a SIN no matter when we commit that sin during our existence. One third of the hosts of Heaven were deliberately guilty of that sin or committed that sin in the pre-mortal world, and it put an end to their progress. Rebellion against God and His Kingdom or Church can have serious consequences.

In the pre-mortal world, the Brethren were God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. In the pre-mortal world apathy or a refusal to sustain the Brethren was also a reason why some of them were exiled from Heaven. A refusal to sustain the Brethren or God's Chosen Prophets can have eternal consequences as well, no matter when we chose to go that route during our eternal progression.

Any time we deliberately or knowingly rebel against God, His Kingdom or Church, and His Chosen One, it is a SIN; and, it will put an end to our progress unless we repent.

Some of the more valiant spirits or the great ones were Fore-Ordained to various Gifts or Elections while there in the pre-mortal world. We can rest assured that Mary was fore-ordained to be the mother of the Savior. I feel confident that Elijah in the Bible and Nephi in Helaman 7 were fore-ordained to receive the Sealing Power. Certainly others were fore-ordained to specific Callings, like Moses, Noah, Adam, Abraham, Enoch, Israel, Jesus Christ, and Joseph Smith. Some of them were fore-ordained, Elected, Gifted, or given a prior Election to be Seers in this life. This kind of tells me that they either sinned less or progressed further than I did in the pre-mortal realms.

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Equality is an illusion. It's a man-made concept. Some people have suggested to me that it is Satan who introduces to us the concept that we each should be equal carbon-copies of each other, in order to stir up jealousies within us when we can clearly see that we are not equal.

We each came to this earth with different Callings and different Elections or Gifts or Fore-Ordinations. Not all of us are going to receive the Sealing Power while we are here in mortality, because we were simply not fore-ordained unto to that particular Election or Gift from God. Not all of us are going to be Dispensation Heads, because only a few of us received that particular Election while in the pre-mortal world.

The idea that we were able to sin and rebel in Heaven, explains lots of things that we see going on around us here in mortality. Some of us progressed further in the pre-mortal life than others did. Some of us will deliberately choose to end our progress or progression while we are here in this mortal life; thus, it's not going to turn out equal in the next life for any of us. Even in the Celestial Kingdom there will be an unequal pecking order, and all of us who go to the Celestial Kingdom will be learning from those who are further along than we are.

The Sure Thing

Multiple Callings and Multiple Elections:

It amazes me how intelligent and cunning Heavenly Father really is. He won't allow Himself to be mocked or tricked or abused.

We have all been issued a Calling to come back to Heavenly Father. The associated Election or the Gift takes place when God grants and promises the recipient Eternal Life. It's supposed to be a comfort and a support to the individual, and it's supposed to open a New Door, New Possibilities, or New Callings that were not possible to the recipient before the Election or Gift was granted or given. It becomes truly Sure when the recipient of that particular Election actually steps into the Celestial Kingdom in the next life instead of going to Outer Darkness in the next life.

Some people are so focused on that one particular Gift or Election (the promise of Eternal Life) that they ignore all the others that God offers. They are so focused on becoming members of the Church of the Firstborn, that once they believe that they have achieved that particular Election then they think that they have graduated from the LDS Church and no longer need any of the other Blessings or Elections that God offers to us through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I sometimes wonder if God meant for it to be that way, in order to test the people's faith, loyalty, and staying power. Most people can't see that God offers more than one Election or Gift or Blessing through membership in the Church of Jesus Christ.

So many people get the one that they want, and then they leave the LDS Church and leave all of the other Elections and Blessings on the table fully satisfied that they got the one they wanted and that they don't need any more Blessings or Callings from God. Remember, there is more than one sin or shortcoming that Jesus Christ atoned for; and thus, there is more than one blessing or Election or gift that He offers to us.

We have each heard of the people who proudly announce to their Bishop or Hometeacher that they no longer need to attend the LDS Church and no longer have to accept any more callings in the LDS Church because they have had their Calling and Election Made Sure. They can't even see the fallacy or the flaw in their logic or declaration. They are confident that they know exactly what they are talking about and have received from God all that they need to receive. These people have been tricked by Satan who has gotten them to stop looking for any more Blessings from God. Satan doesn't want them to have any more Elections or Blessings from God and will even make their Calling and Election Sure so that they will stop looking for any more blessings or gifts from God.

Notice what happens next each and every time in the LDS Scriptures whenever a Prophet has an Election Made Sure or is Given a Gift from God. God issues a New Calling to the individual. Elections open New Doors or New Possibilities. Every time God gives an individual a Gift, that newly re-made individual can now do things that were impossible for him to do before receiving the Election or Gift from God. Every time God gives a person a Gift or an Election, God expects that person and Calls that person to go and use that Gift to feed Christ's sheep. What incentive does God have to give a person a Gift if God knows that that person has no intention of using that Election or Gift to feed Christ's Sheep? Study the Parable of the Talents or the Parable of the Elections. What happens when someone refuses to use a Gift from God to feed Christ's sheep? That Election or Gift or Talent is taken away from the individual and given to another individual who will use the Talent to feed Christ's sheep.

If a person says that he has had his Calling and Election Made Sure, yet that person received no New Calling from God and refuses to accept any new callings in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then that serves as a sign that the person either made it all up or that Satan made that person's Calling and Election Sure. Having one's Calling and Election made Sure has no value to a person if the gift came from Satan instead of God. Satan doesn't have the power to grant anyone Eternal Life or entry into the Celestial Kingdom.

Over the years, I have noticed some Latter-day Saints go public with the claim that they have received the Second Comforter. The ones that I have noticed who have gone public with such a claim are now years later making the claim that they no longer need the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because they have received such a wonderful Gift or Election from God and have now gone further than any living LDS Apostle has gone. As I see it though, the recipients of the Second Comforter should instead be asking, “What's next?” LDS Theology makes brief mention of a Third Comforter.

Each Election or Gift from God always opens a New Door to another possible Calling or Election. The LDS Scriptures counsel us not to be satisfied with the Gifts or the Elections that we have already received, and instead, counsel us to seek for even more. We are told to increase our Talents or to increase our Elections. We are told to covet the best gifts from God. This applies not only to Spiritual Gifts but also to the Best Callings and the Best Elections. There is only one time when it is righteous to covet, and that's when we are coveting to become even more like God the Father and Jesus Christ. If you receive an Election or Gift from God, the natural question to be asking is, “What's next?”

On various LDS forums and in LDS magazines, there is ongoing talk of a Second Endowment, a Second Anointing, a Second Washing, a New Calling, a New Name, and so forth. A simple Google search brings it all up, so we can see how it is all being ridiculed and mocked and distorted. I have periodically found myself asking, “Why is God doubling up and then tripling up on all of these things?” Then I read of those who have received The Second Comforter, and they have decided to leave the LDS Church or have been excommunicated from the LDS Church. I read of others who have received the Second Endowment or Second Anointing, and then they decide to leave the LDS Church for whatever reason. Then I suddenly have my answer as to why God is tripling up on some of these things. Those who don't figure out how to properly handle or incorporate the Second One will not be around to receive the Third One.

The Holy Ghost gives us our First One, of whatever Gift or Election it is that we receive in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our next Election in the series is given to us or sealed by Jesus Christ. The Third One in the series is handled by God the Father. It's a progression or a ladder. All throughout the process we have to remain a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, or the progression comes to an end. If you have received the First One in an Election or Gift series, you should be asking, “What's next?” If you have received the Second One in an Election series, then you should be asking, “What's next?”

It's all leading towards returning to God the Father. Until you have entered into the presence of God the Father to remain for the rest of Eternity, then you are NOT done or finished yet. What did the Resurrected Jesus Christ have to do before other people were allowed to touch Him? He had to return to the Presence of God the Father. Jesus had to be completed or finished by God the Father. In all things, we are told to do as Jesus Christ has done, including returning to the presence of God the Father one day for the final perfecting or the final completion. If that hasn't happened to you yet, then you are not done; and, you still have need for the Church of Jesus Christ. It might not need you, but you still need it.

Let me ask you a simple question. Have you stood in the presence of God the Father in a resurrected body and been completed or finished or perfected by God the Father? If not, then you are NOT done yet; and therefore, you still have need for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The truth is simple and plain. The Third Comforter, the Third Endowment, the Third Anointing, and the Third Election in any Election Series all take place in the Presence of God the Father. God the Father is the one who will complete you or finish you and make you perfect. With maybe the exception of the Third Comforter, all of these other “Third Elections” are only available after we have been resurrected from the dead. It's one thing to have the Holy Ghost or Jesus Christ promise you Eternal Life; but, it's a whole other ballgame when God the Father actually gives you Eternal Life.

My advice is not to apostatize from the LDS Church, until after you have received all of the possible Elections or Blessings from God that you can get through membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and know for sure that all of them are yours for the rest of Eternity. Don't jump over the cliff until you know that you have a safe place to land. You want to make Sure that you don't leave any Blessings or Elections behind when you decide to pack it all in and go someplace else. There's only one problem. How can you really be sure that you have received all of the Blessings and Gifts and Elections that God has available to give you through His Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? How can you be sure that you are not leaving something valuable behind when you decide to leave the LDS Church and never come back?

Remember, every day in the spirit world, people willingly and eagerly join the Church of Jesus Christ so that they can move from Spirit Prison into Paradise. Even they have a need for membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, even though they are no longer mortal. Remember, you are still going to have a need for your LDS Ordinances, LDS Temple Blessings, LDS Priesthood, and LDS Covenants long after you are dead and have found yourself in the spirit world. Any other Elections or Gifts from God that you have received from God will come in handy too, while you are in the spirit world, unless you have deliberately walked away from them in this life.

Scriptures to Consider:

2 Nephi 29: 9: And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.

Likening this Scripture unto This Topic:

2 Nephi 29: 9: And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I give forth my Gifts and Elections according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have given one Election ye need not suppose that I cannot give another Election; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man when he is no longer a mortal man but a Resurrected God, neither from that time henceforth and forever.

The Summation:

2 Nephi 31: 15-21:

15 And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.

16 And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.

17 Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

18 And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.

It's one thing when the Holy Ghost tells you that you are going to have Eternal Life. It's another thing when Jesus Christ tells you that you are going to have Eternal Life. It's a Third Thing when God the Father tells you that you are going to have Eternal Life. But, it's a Sure Thing when God the Father actually gives you Eternal Life.

Best wishes to all,

Mark My Words

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Doubling and Tripling Elections:

Whenever God the Father starts doubling up on and then tripling up on a single Election, then we know that God is trying to make that Election Sure. God is trying to perfect it. God is trying to perfect it in our lives. God is trying to make that Election an integral part of who and what we really are.

There's a progression going on here, like climbing a ladder to Heaven. One Election leads to the Next One, which leads to the Next One. And, all the Elections or Gifts from God lead to God the Father. You have to choose to climb the ladder to the Celestial Kingdom, and choose to keep climbing, or you will never reach the top of the ladder.

The Elections build upon each other. The current Election builds upon the previous Election, which builds upon the previous Election. You start with a proper foundation, and then you keep building until you have built your own Mansion in Heaven. The sad truth is that you can choose to stop building anywhere along the way, and thus your Mansion in the Celestial Kingdom will never be built.

There's nothing strange or new about any of this. This is the way God has been operating all along. Jesus Christ has told us all about it in the LDS Scriptures. It's there for those who are willing to look and see. The only thing strange is that people are unable to see it, mostly because they don't want to see it.

It seems to me that half of the Latter-day Saints are trying to figure out how to get excommunicated from the LDS Church rather than trying to figure out how to make their next Election Sure.

LDS Freedom Forum

LDS Freedom Forum:

I have spent five months posting on LDS Freedom Forum. I didn't know what I was getting into at the time. I was surprised at the negative response I received when I first started posting. I was trying to resist the anti-LDS bias on LDS Freedom Forum, or at least trying to provide a contrasting point of view. My mistake!

Over time, with the help of a few friends on LDS Freedom Forum, I came to see that LDS Freedom Forum is a misnomer.

The majority of the forum regulars and moderators on LDS Freedom Forum are excommunicated Latter-day Saints, non-LDS, Jack Mormons, or people on the verge of disciplinary action in the LDS Church. The active Latter-day Saints who try to defend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the Brethren are vigorously ridiculed and persecuted. There's really nothing LDS about LDS Freedom Forum.

LDS Freedom Forum has some of the most abusive and mean moderators that I have ever encountered on the internet. If you don't like the anti-LDS stance of the moderators or the forum regulars, the moderators will invite you to leave and go someplace else. The active Latter-day Saints are not free to defend the Brethren or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Latter-day Saints are not free to discuss the Gospel of Christ without concentrated ridicule from the forum regulars and some of the moderators. There is nothing liberating about LDS Freedom Forum, unless you are an LDS apostate or an excommunicated Latter-day Saint.

The moderators discipline and abuse and intimidate in public, instead of in private messaging, like it should be done. The moderators issue their demands to shut up and go away in public. Then, if the moderators are ever called on it, then they just delete their posts and deny that it ever happened. Meanwhile, they twist the words of the patrons, post that, and then use that as a reason to chastise or ban the participant that they don't like.

If the participants who have been chastised in public by a moderator respond in kind, then their messages are just deleted by the moderator, and they are issued a warning by the moderator. It has proven to be a very unpleasant environment for me and for my friends. Most everyone that I have corresponded with in LDS Freedom Forum has eventually written me a message telling me why they decided to leave LDS Freedom Forum and not come back, assuming that they weren't already banned from the forum. Their reasons for leaving are summarized in this message. I still have Private Messages out there that were never delivered; and, I learned later that the person had been banned for life from the forum.

The only part of LDS Freedom Forum that fits with the name is the fact that it seems to be a forum.

This past week or so, I realized that it would be impossible to gain a testimony of Jesus Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on LDS Freedom Forum. The forum doesn't cater to such a thing.

The only thing I think I could get from the moderators and the forum regulars on LDS Freedom Forum is a desire or a reason to apostatize from the LDS Church.

All of my friends and all of the people that I learned to trust on LDS Freedom Forum have been banned for life, or have left in disgust, or are too afraid to post. Some of them are not even responding to the Private Messages that I sent them. They are gone. I see no evidence that they intend to ever come back. The most recent thread I started has now been locked; so now it can fade away into oblivion as well.

It's also getting kind of boring over there on LDS Freedom Forum, unless you like Flame Wars. Most of the good, fun, enjoyable, and interesting LDS people have been banned or have been told to shut up and go away. A few of the others are just too afraid to post. It's an intimidating environment in which to start up a conversation. I think there is only one thread left that even interests me, and it was started by the nicest moderator of the bunch, and there is little or no activity in the thread. I can just copy the few pages to my hard drive, and come back in a couple of months to see if anything has changed.

LDS Freedom Forum has proven to be a nasty, unfriendly place; and, the great shame is that the forum uses the term LDS in it's name giving the incorrect impression that it is an LDS forum. There's really nothing free or liberating about the forum either, because one is not permitted to oppose the LDS Apostates and their doctrines. In my humble opinion, if it is going to keep the LDS claim in its name, then it really should be more accurately called the LDS Apostate Forum. It should be called what it is and not what it ain't.

Anyway, I'm no longer reading the LDS Freedom Forum. I'm taking a break from it all, until after I have gotten some more important things done. I'm just responding to email and personal messages that I have received through the forum. My life will be better if I'm not reading the rot and contention that goes on there, and just refuse to get embroiled in it.

I think the only good thing I got from LDS Freedom forum is a desire to read and study the LDS Scriptures and the Gospel of Christ. I haven't had any desire to do that for a many years now. So, while attempting to defend the Latter-day Saints on LDS Freedom Forum, it gave me a desire to study the LDS Church and the LDS Scriptures. I have learned a lot of things that I didn't know before, while trying to defend the Gospel of Christ against the ongoing attacks it is receiving at LDS Freedom Forum. For the first time in my life, the process of trying to defend the LDS Church has given me a desire and the courage necessary to proudly declare that I am a Latter-day Saint and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That's probably the best thing that I got from LDS Freedom Forum. It wasn't all wasted time.

Mark My Words

The Deceivers and the Deceived.

The Deceivers and the Deceived:

I was talking with an LDS friend about this subject. The person opened my eyes to a few things that I had never been able to see before. I noticed that the person is right because it conforms with what I have observed online; and, the Spirit told me that the person is right.

Whenever Gospel Subjects are being discussed online or in person, there are three types of people that you will encounter.

The first type of person that you can encounter is the Seer. This person has seen Heaven and the Spirit World and knows exactly what's going on there. This person has seen the mind and the will of God, and thus this person sees things the way that God sees them. This person has a sure knowledge of the Truth. I see and experience some of that in the writings and revelations of Joseph Smith. There are also occasional times when I encounter the writings or sermons of LDS Apostles and some of the Seventy who seem to have been given a peek behind the Curtain and know how things really are in Heaven and how things really work in Heaven. Some of them seem to know the mind of God and God's will concerning a wide variety of subjects. They have Seen.

The next group that you can encounter are the deceived. The baptized Latter-day Saints, many of the LDS Apostates, the atheists, the agnostics, and the non-LDS typically fit into this category.

The deceived can be like Saul, who truly and sincerely believed that he was doing God's work by killing the Christians. Saul believed that he was serving God whenever he killed a Christian. There are many people out there in the world who truly believe that they are serving God and doing God's work whenever they try to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are good sincere people doing what they believe God wants them to do.

There is another group of the deceived that I like to call the “rank and file” Latter-day Saints. These are people like me. Throughout our lives we have periodically been taught false doctrines and false ideas, and have come to believe that they are true. Thus, we will go online and sincerely preach lies and false doctrines all the while believing that they are true, because we don't know any better. When someone tells me that I have lied or that I need to retract some lie, I have no idea what they are talking about, because I can't see where I was lying. I'm just telling people what I have been taught and what I believe to be true. I can't see the falsehood unless somebody kindly points it out to me.

The non-LDS, the Atheists, the Agnostics, and so forth are another group of the deceived.

I have noticed that most people on LDS Freedom Forum fit within the classification of the deceived. We are each going along doing the best we can, telling it as we see it, and getting it wrong some of the time. We are the blind leading the blind, because NONE of us are Seers. But, since I have gotten the sense that there are NO Seers participating on LDS Freedom Forum, nobody who really knows God's mind and nobody who really knows how things are there in Heaven, I have been instructed to patiently allow people to make their mistakes and try to correct them where appropriate in a kinder and more pleasing manner than I have been doing.

There's a third group that we can encounter, and that's the deceivers. These people know the truth and they know the true doctrines of Christ, yet they deliberately choose to spread lies, false Doctrines, and falsehoods instead. They have chosen Satan as their god instead of Jesus Christ; yet, they will pretend to be servants of Christ and Prophets of Christ all the while mixing lies and false interpretations into the LDS Scriptures while quoting the LDS Scriptures. These people are the anti-Christs. They take the truth and twist it to serve their agenda; and, their agenda is typically to lead people away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I have periodically been asked why I chose to participate on LDS Freedom Forum. I have noticed that LDS Freedom forum is packed with disgruntled Latter-day Saints, deceived Latter-day Saints, Control Freaks, People Looking for a Friend, uneducated Latter-day Saints, LDS converts, LDS Apostates, Agnostics, Repentant Sinners, non-LDS scholars, unhappy people, confused people, depressed people, excitable people, sincere people, and people looking for a better way. These people are like me. I am them, and they are me. I have been where some of them are. I have been in hell, and I want to try to help them to get out of hell if I can.

I also want to try to help them to avoid the deceivers, because I would have been in a heck of a mess if I had started to take instruction from deceivers instead of the active Latter-day Saints, during my withdrawal from drugs and my recovery and reactivation. At the time, I was extremely vulnerable to deception, because I hadn't yet found my current group of LDS friends whom I have learned to trust. You don't want to fall into the hands of a deceiver while you are trying to find God. Falling into the hands of the deceived who are sincerely trying to help you will serve you fine enough; but, falling into the hands of a deceiver will bring you a whole new round of hell.

While I was going through the recovery process, I prayed and asked God who I could go to in order to get instruction from God and not be led astray. The names of a few Latter-day Saints in the ward repeatedly came to mind, one in particular. It has now been confirmed dozens of times that I had indeed received a revelation from God. I was told where to go to get the lessons and the instruction that I needed and desired from God.

Some people have asked me why I write such long posts. I learn by writing. I often receive revelations and insights from God while writing. That's just the way it works for me. So, when I write and post, I want it to be something that has some substance or meat to it. Therefore, my posts are not short. If I pick a topic to discuss, I like to cover it in full, if possible. I like to write whatever God is willing to give me to write.

I can also testify that it is infinitely more effective to discuss the Gospel in person face-to-face than it is do to it online. Where two or more people are gathered together in person in Christ's Name, the Spirit can actually be there to testify whenever truth is being spoken. You usually can't get that kind of thing online through the written word, because many of the people online are not gathered there in Christ's Name. They have their own agenda instead.

I can also testify that it has been extremely helpful to attend the LDS Church on Sundays, especially after having not done so for over a decade.

My message is to look to the LDS Prophet, the LDS Apostles, and the LDS General Authorities for the Gospel Knowledge that you seek. My message is to find some active Latter-day Saint in your ward that you can learn to trust and actually learn from. Some of them are Prophets and Seers and Revelators. It might be possible to find a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator in your own ward. My message is not to let anyone lead you away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Apostate

The Apostate:

If you follow me, then you are going to go to hell with me where I have spent a great deal of time in recent years. I'm trying to prevent people from going where I have gone. I apostatized from God and from the LDS Church. I can testify first-hand that it is no place you want to go. It is hell.

Look to the current LDS Prophet. Look to the current LDS Apostles. In this there is safety and peace.

--

I wrote this to BrianM, the Owner of LDS Freedom Forum:

I signed up for this forum (LDS Freedom Forum) as MegaManToo back when I was going through withdrawal and first started attending the LDS Church. My intention was to lurk, which is what I did for a year. Meanwhile, I was converted to the Gospel while attending Church and making friends with some Latter-day Saints. Then when Denver Snuffer and people on this forum started publicly attacking the LDS General Authorities, I knew they were wrong, and I couldn't remain in hiding any longer. I chose to champion the Brethren because nobody else seemed to be doing so at the time. After all, the local Brethren in my ward had been extremely kind to me during my recovery, and they didn't deserve the kinds of attacks that they were indirectly receiving here on LDS Freedom Forum.

After I accomplished that mission to my satisfaction, and as my testimony grew, I realized that I actually wanted to engage in some of the Gospel Discussions here on this forum; and, I thought it was insincere and disingenuous to do it anonymously, so I created an account under my own name, with the intention of letting the MegaManToo account and the Denver Snuffer issue just simply die. And, it was all dead for me for about a month, until people started resurrecting it again and commenting on what I had written as MegaManToo.

I have re-engaged to provide the clarification that I have been asked to provide, but I keep stating my intention to withdraw from the Denver Snuffer debate, which I still intend to do. I want to let Denver Snuffer and MegaManToo die. Over and over again, I keep saying that my intention is to just fade away into the sunset.

Meanwhile, the new convert to the LDS Church continues to function under his own name, which is the way that I now believe that it should be. I'm no longer hiding from the Latter-day Saints like I was a couple of years ago when I signed up as MegaManToo.

Mark My Words


--

BrianM (the owner of LDS Freedom Forum) told me that he was fine with people having more than one user account on LDS Freedom Forum.

--

Hindsight is 20/20. I can see now that it was unwise to create two separate user accounts; but at the time, it seemed like the correct and proper thing to do.

--

I hadn't gone to Church for over a decade, when I became addicted to many different prescription drugs.

When I was working through the withdrawal symptoms, I went back to the LDS Church on a dare from my wife.  I didn't believe in God, religion, or the afterlife at the time.  I had fallen so far that I didn't even know how to turn on the television anymore.  Nothing seemed real to me.  I later found out that the Psychiatrists had diagnosed me as having a drug-induced Schizophrenia.  I was Schizophrenic, but were fine now.

It was subsequent to this time, after I had basically completed the withdrawal process and was starting to think logically again, that I signed up as MegaManToo on LDS Freedom Forum.

I was trying to figure out who and what I was.  Marjorie Conder helped me to realize that I was a Cultural Mormon at the time.  That's a term that I identified with for nearly a year as I worked through the withdrawal process and the reactivation process.

Am I angry at the Doctors for getting me addicted to sleeping pills, benzos, anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, proton-pump inhibitors, and hormone treatments?

No.

They were only trying to help me at the time.  I had a severe physical illness at the same time that they were trying to help me to cope with the associated mental illnesses.  I think they each did the best that they could, given what they had to work with.

Looking back at that point in time as I hit rock bottom, I can see that I had all of the Doctors confused and stumped.  They didn't know how to help me, even though they wanted to help me; and, I came close to dying a few times.  It was as confusing for me as it was for them.

--

Ever since the Internet started, I have signed up all over the Internet under different anonymous handles. Why did I sign up anonymously? I intended to create chaos, destruction, and carnage everywhere I went. I intended to pwn them. I have been a very bad boy during my time.

As far as I know, the LDS Freedom Forum is the first and only forum where I actually created a user account under my own name. My intention was to repent of my evil ways, and I thought that using my own name would make my messages more genuine, sincere, and real. I have to freely admit that functioning under my own name is new to me and foreign to me. I have been forced to learn to do things in a different way. It's not natural for me to resist going on the attack; but, I'm getting much better at it, as some of my more recent posts on LDS Freedom Forum might attest.

http://www.ldsfreedomforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=34268

I still have a couple of messages to finish and post under the MegaManToo handle, but I have been in no real hurry to do so. Other things have intervened and taken precedence. Instead, I have taken to blogging under my own name.

http://ofgodandgoddesses.blogspot.com/

http://allwomenordained.blogspot.com/

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.

Mark My Words

The Cult of the Firstborn Revisited

Cult of the Firstborn Revisited:

Ever since Hirum Page started receiving revelations from Satan through the peep stone (D&C 28:11), there have been Cults of the Firstborn, or Secret Gnostic Groups, or Selective Clubs in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each one of these groups makes the claim that they have Special Knowledge from God or Secret Knowledge from God that the Apostles of God do not have.

During the Primitive Church of Jesus Christ, the Apostles of God were driven out of Congregations of the Church by Gnostics claiming to have Secret Knowledge from God that the Apostles of God did not have. Gnosticism in a sense killed the Primitive Church of Jesus Christ; and, it could kill the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints if we are not aware of that particular Satanic Trap.

I coined the phrase, “The Cult of the Firstborn”, so that I and my LDS friends would have a term that we could use in person and during Private Messaging to describe the phenomenon.

There is nothing new about the Cult of the Firstborn. While talking with one of my LDS friends last weekend, he told me that a decade or two ago, one of his friends had been captured by one these Gnostic Groups, led away from the LDS Church, and destroyed. The results can be devastating. Lives and families can be destroyed if we choose to fall for one of these Gnostic Groups.

I realize now that anyone who considers themselves to be a member of the Cult of the Firstborn might be offended by the term. Being called a Gnostic Group sounds a lot cooler, I must admit. After all, the Gnostics know things that the rest of the Latter-day Saints and the LDS Apostles don't know and can't know. So, it sounds a lot cooler to be a Gnostic than to just be a member of the Cult of the Firstborn.

One of my spiritual gifts is the ability to notice patterns or trends. These things just kind of jump out at me. I can see throughout the whole of LDS Church history all of these different Gnostic Groups or Cults of the Firstborn that rise up, flourish, and then slowly die out. There are hundreds and even thousands of them.

God the Father lost one-third of the hosts of Heaven to a Gnostic Group. One-third of the hosts of Heaven refused to sustain the Brethren (Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost). They thought that they knew better or were smarter than God the Father. They thought that they knew something that God did not know. They thought that they could do it their own way.

Joseph Smith tells us that the Ten Virgins represent the Latter-day Saints. According to the parable of the Ten Virgins, half of the baptized Latter-day Saints during the whole history of the Latter-day Saints are going to apostatize from the LDS Church or walk away from the LDS Church.

I personally have predicted that one-third of the Latter-day Saints will be lost to a refusal to sustain or accept the LDS General Authorities or the Local Leaders in their wards and stakes. If I am correct, a huge number of Latter-day Saints throughout the history of the Latter-day Saints will be drawn away to various Gnostic Groups or Cults of the Firstborn, because these Groups will claim superior knowledge and superior revelations than the knowledge and revelations that the Apostles of God are receiving.

I can see the pattern, and I can see the trend. My purpose in writing about it is to warn the active Latter-day Saints about it. Those who have already fallen for one of the many hundreds of different Gnostic groups will not receive any benefit from my warning, and might even take exception to it. That's the nature of issuing a warning. The LDS Apostles get the same result whenever they issue a warning. The Gnostics are here to stay, and so is the Cult of the Firstborn.

The Cult of the Firstborn

The Cult of the Firstborn:

While interacting online at LDS Freedom Forum, I slowly encountered a united group who are calling themselves the Church of the Firstborn. It was a strange, interesting, and surreal experience. I came to realize that they support, sustain, and back each other up. I wasn't aware of their existence until I started to disagree vigorously with some of their claims and doctrines; and then suddenly they came out of the woodwork as a united front against me. I also came to realize that they are looking for others to join their elite group; but, if you write anything potent that contradicts their religion or their beliefs, they will unite together and come down on you like a ton of bricks. Unitedly and collectively, they invited me to shut up and go away. That's how they handle dissent in their group and on the LDS Freedom Forum. I was in a sense excommunicated from their group, a concept that was familiar to me.

With the exception of two different individuals, the rest of them seemed to ignore my posts and pretended that I wasn't even there. It was only after I started to contend with their spokesman that I became aware of their existence, while they employed various different means to end my messages while continuing to support his. It was like trying to fight with my hands tied behind my back. The deck was stacked against me. It was a strange, confusing, and weird feeling, especially at first when I wasn't fully aware of what was happening. Thankfully, a couple of different people had mercy on me and told me what was happening, and then suddenly it all made sense. These people are an organized cult or a religion, and they are defending their religion and backing each other up. Since they have yet to give themselves a name (other than the Church of the Firstborn) and are still hiding their existence, I chose to call them the Cult of the Firstborn to distinguish them from the real Church of the Firstborn.

When I finally figured out who they are and what they are all about, I suddenly lost all desire to be a part of them and had no desire to associate with them any more. So, whether I was excommunicated from their group or left of my own free will and choice, it doesn't really matter, because the net result is the same. Now, about the only obligation that I feel towards them is a desire to expose their existence, their secrets, and their secrecy to the world, because they thrive on not having anyone know that they exist. I want to warn others about them as I was warned. Obviously, I wasn't the first person to encounter difficulties with this cult or group.

Their combined Cult of the Firstborn message that I and others were starting to perceive and understand is that once I am a member of the Church of the Firstborn, then I will no longer need my LDS Ordinances, my LDS Temple Covenants, the LDS Church, or the LDS General Authorities. When I become a member of their club or group, a member of the Church of the Firstborn, Jesus Christ will give me special dispensation; and thereafter, I can say and do whatever I please, because I am going to be saved and exalted in the Celestial Kingdom no matter what I say or do. It's a comforting religion, but only if you are a member of it.

Since the other members of the Church of the Firstborn that I have met in person outside of the LDS Freedom Forum seem to be a completely different group of people than the club or group that I met online, I have taken to calling the online group The Cult of the Firstborn, in order to tell the difference between the two and to keep everything straight in my head. The Cult of the Firstborn proved to be a strange and interesting group of Gods and Goddesses. They are not large enough yet to build Zion on their own, but I get the feeling that they believe that one day they will be. One day there is going to be 144,000 of them. Some of the Cult of the Firstborn believe that they are Heavenly Angels or Divine Messengers or missionaries for the Church of the Firstborn.

The Cult of the Firstborn are a secretive group, and they will often deny their existence and are reluctant to discuss their purpose or their mission. They want you to judge their message and not the messenger. They were often telling us to just let the messenger disappear from our minds, and listen only to the message. This was confusing at first, until I realized that some of them had been excommunicated from the LDS Church and that some of them were afraid of disciplinary action from the LDS Church. Then it made sense why they wanted us to focus only on the message and completely ignore the messenger.

The Cult of the Firstborn haven't completely consolidated their message or platform; but, there were a few things that started to become clear to me and to some of the others I associated with in Private Messaging. Some of the moderators at LDS Freedom Forum are members of this Cult of the Firstborn, so we were not fully permitted to publicly disagree with them or point out where they are wrong, so we had to take our comments private if we wanted to talk about them and compare notes. Our public messages would sometimes disappear if we were challenging or disagreeing with the Cult of the Firstborn.

The Cult of the Firstborn believe that they have had their Calling and Election made Sure, which means that they believe that they are part of the Church of the Firstborn, part of the 144,000, True Messengers from the Father, and have a special apostolic relationship with Christ. Many of them claim to have received the Second Comforter or to have entertained the Angels of God. They are an exclusive or an elite group, but they seem to be recruiting followers there on LDS Freedom Forum. They are looking for like-minded people to join them, and there's a grooming process that's going on. When it comes to the Cult of the Firstborn, they used to be LDS or came from the LDS Church; however, now they are no longer members of the LDS Church but are instead members of the Church of the Firstborn.

The Cult of the Firstborn are either secretive about what they believe or use an anonymous name so that they can freely tell the world what they believe, because if they were to reveal to their LDS Bishop or LDS Stake President what they truly believe, then they would be excommunicated from the LDS Church, if they haven't already been excommunicated from the LDS Church. Their Doctrines and Teachings are not in harmony with Official LDS Church Doctrine, and they will freely admit in private (and sometimes in public) that they have no interest in converting anyone to the LDS Church.

In general, the Cult of the Firstborn preaches that the LDS General Authorities and LDS Apostles are fallen prophets, have been rejected by Christ, and have lost their way. They will say that there hasn't been a True Prophet of God in the LDS Church since Joseph Smith. When you ask them what their goal or purpose is, they say that it is to bring you to Christ or to convert you to Christ. They make it clear that it is a sin and it is wrong to rely upon the arm of flesh, meaning the LDS General Authorities. The Cult of the Firstborn wants you to go straight to Christ and receive a special dispensation from Him. If you can do that, then you are a candidate to join their group. They want you to ignore or go past the LDS Prophets and go straight on to Christ.

Most of the Cult of the Firstborn seem to see little value in or need for the LDS Ordinances, LDS Standards, Church Attendance, the LDS Doctrine, the LDS Temple Covenants, the LDS Church, the LDS Apostles, the LDS mission, the LDS teachings, the LDS people, or LDS church membership. Their message to us is that we will need none of these things after we have established a direct personal apostolic relationship with Jesus Christ and have become members of the Church of the Firstborn. I believe that the majority of the Cult of the Firstborn that I have encountered have been excommunicated from the LDS Church, or they are no longer really members of the LDS Church in their hearts and minds. Their message is that you will not need the LDS Church or the LDS Apostles after you have had your Calling and Election made Sure, have established a direct Second Comforter relationship with Christ, and have entered into the Church of the Firstborn.

When it comes to the Cult of the Firstborn, their message is logical and it is enticing to anyone who has become dissatisfied with the LDS Church for whatever reason. You can still have salvation and exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom, as long as you receive special dispensation from Jesus Christ. They have found another way to enter into the Kingdom of God, a backdoor of sorts. If you are a member of the Church of the Firstborn, then you don't need the LDS Church, the LDS Ordinances, or the LDS Temple in order to be saved and exalted in the Celestial Kingdom. It sounds wonderful, actually. You can just go straight to Christ for your salvation and exaltation, and completely skip the LDS Church. Now you know why I call the Cult of the Firstborn an interesting and fascinating group.

Throughout my life, I have gone to hell many different times. I am learning to recognize what it looks like, what it feels like, and what it is. The more I interacted with the Cult of the Firstborn on LDS Freedom Forum, the more I realized that I was back in hell again. All of the signs were there. It became a very unpleasant experience, especially compared to the interaction that I have with the ordinary Latter-day Saints at Church on Sunday and throughout the week.

Even the non-LDS people that I interact with at school and work, the ones that everyone says are going to the Terrestrial Kingdom, are infinitely kinder and a whole lot more fun to be around than the Cult of the Firstborn. I eventually realized that I would much rather go to the Terrestrial Kingdom or go to hell than to go to the place where the Cult of the Firstborn are going and have to associate with the Cult of the Firstborn for the rest of eternity. It was a very unpleasant bunch of people, for me at least. But, they seemed to be happy with their club or group. They had found each other and were soul mates, and together, they had created what I call The Cult of the Firstborn. It was a club of the super elite or the super elect, and they are looking for Latter-day Saints who are willing to join their cause. Eventually, I elected not to go where they are going.

In the next life, if there is a next life (and I have no direct personal proof that there is a next life), I want to go to the place where my LDS Grandmother, Hugh Nibley, and an LDS bishop friend of mine went when they died. Those are the people that I want to see and meet again in the next life; and, those are the people that I want to associate with in the next life for the rest of eternity, if they will have me. I have said many times that it would be a shame and a loss to the whole universe if these people ceased to exist when they died. These are the first people I know that I have found myself praying to God and hoping that they continued to exist after they died. They are the people that I want to go to and associate with in the next life, even if they all ended up going to hell. They are my kind of people, and I learned to love them while they were alive. I want to be with them after I am dead.

Before my LDS bishop friend died, he came up to me after Gospel Doctrine class and said to me, “You are a Treasure.” I have been called lots of things in my life, most of them bad, but I have never ever been called a Treasure. That was a first and only. So, if there is an afterlife, I want to go where this friend went, because there I know that I will be treasured. I miss this person, and I want to see him again.

In contrast, I don't really care if I ever see, meet, or encounter any of the Cult of the Firstborn ever again. I don't want to spend the rest of eternity with them. Plus, they unitedly told me to shut up and go away, so it is quite clear that they don't want to spend the rest of eternity with me either. They got together and voted me off the island, so they won't allow me to go where they are going in the next life anyway. It was an interesting and memorable experience. I'm not a member of the Cult of the Firstborn, and apparently, I never will be. I was no longer free to openly and honestly say what I believe to be true while participating on LDS Freedom Forum. I was back in hell again.

They say that when it comes to your enemies, the only way that they win is if you give up and go away. Yet, when it came to the Cult of the Firstborn, I eventually realized that I would win and win big if I simply gave up and went away. That bridge got burnt. It was a good thing for me to light that particular fuse and watch it burn, as it was for them. We were all in agreement concerning that one particular thing, that it would be best for all involved if I were to just go away.

The beautiful thing about the Gospel of Christ is that we can repent, do a complete 180 and go the other direction. The Cult of the Firstborn invited me to go some other direction with my life, and I came to believe that it was right for me to do so. I had delivered my message, so now it was time to move on to a different group and a different mission. I chose to go back to the Latter-day Saints and the LDS Church. There I periodically find comfort and peace. There I find my kind of people. The Latter-day Saints haven't voted me off the island yet. These Latter-day Saints who live around me might not all be members of the Church of the Firstborn, but at least they are not the Cult of the Firstborn.