Helaman 3 - Salesmanship of the Wicked

I was reading Helaman 4 this morning. Gidianhi, the robber, had just sent a letter to Lachoneous, the chief judge demanding an unconditional surrender. Gidianhi swears that he will do things that he cannot do. In Helaman 3:8 we read,



" And behold, I a swear unto you, if ye will do this, with an oath, ye shall not be destroyed; but if ye will not do this, I swear unto you with an oath, that on the morrow month I will command that my armies shall come down against you, and they shall not stay their hand and shall spare not, but shall slay you, and shall let fall the sword upon you even until ye shall become extinct."



He can command his armies. He can command them not to stay their hand and spare not. But he goes further to predict the outcome of the battle. He is convinced as many visionary people are that he can predict the future when he says that his armies 'shall slay you...until ye shall become extinct.' Gidanhi has no way of predicting this outcome. Beware of people who strike fear in the hearts of others by predicting the outcome if you don't do what they say. Obama is dong this right now.

All In Common

Implementing an all in common system would be best done by the church. For some reason the Lord hasn’t prompted the Brethren to teach us about economic unity. We are currently consecrating our time and talents.

Read my blog about Alma’s Church. A few months ago I wrote down some of my ideas. It’s at http://greenscootersimplelife.blogspot.com/

I believe one of the foundations of any all in common system is that each individual in the order views his abilities, capacities, genius, etc. as gifts from God. Since his ability to make lots of money is a gift from God the surpluses of that gift should be shared like any other non-monetary gift. Without this foundation, people tend use their money to increase their personal wealth.

Another foundation principle is to believe that believing in Christ means that Christ really wants everyone equal. He really wants the poor exalted and the rich debased. He really wants the poor and the needy taken care of – perhaps better than the regular folk. Since I believe in Christ, I want to give my surplus to the priests to help the poor. This belief system, perhaps, is an order above the order that we current live in in the church.

The problem is that it is very hard to judge whether or not a person is walking in the pride of his heart. Alma tried to do it and ended up having to excommunicate anyone who wouldn’t stop wearing fine apparel (along with making a mock of his brother, etc.). How would that be implemented in the church today? It seems impossible.

I haven’t thought about family funds for a while. Perhaps we say in our heart and to our children, “everything I have is yours”, so they, as they get older, believe that everything they have is ours. We just don’t believe that we would better off if we amassed our resources together. We believe we would be the one losing out. We don’t trust that others would be following the ‘rules’ and we would get the short end of the stick.

The Wisdom of World Leaders

The Wisdom of our Leaders Stimulus package explained: "Sometime this year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is a very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q and A format: "Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment? "A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers. "Q. Where will the government get this money? "A. From taxpayers. "Q. So the government is giving me back my own money? "A. No, they are borrowing it from China. Your children are expected to repay the Chinese. "Q. What is the purpose of this payment? "A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy. "Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China? "A. Shut up."

They are trying to prime the pump. It seems like someone is trying to buy our votes like the Jaredite kings tried to do. Maybe its mob rule. We (the mob) steal money from our children. The economist in me says that China must spend their US dollars in the US so it somehow benefits the USA for the Chinese to purchase bonds. They just have paper. They don’t control anything. The problem is that we have to pay the bond back with interest. The bottom line is that we are in a convoluted, mixed financial system that breaks down sometimes. It will ultimately crash. It is based on money sloshing around (consumer spending). This basis is unsustainable. A better system would be based on provident living, saving and frugality. An even better system would be to overlay the current supply and demand system with an everything in common system. Then all those who choose to, would belong to the overlaid system, working at their jobs but contributing their surplus for the common good. We would then be living the laws of the Celestial Kingdom inside Babylon. The system would work beyond our expectations because God would bless it and everyone on it (a 100 fold or perhaps a 1000 fold).

Let me know what you think. Thanks for the email,

Scott

Always Behind the Eight Ball

Why am I always behind the Eight ball? I'm talking about the financial eight ball. I never quite succeed. Something always goes wrong or changes. I propose that there are two main reasons that many other reasons hinge upon: the religious/cultural tradition of getting married young and have children quickly and a traumatic upbringing.

I think that for many, getting married young and having children early created a situation where the couple could never quite get control of their financial life. The couple was forced to provide, purchase larger homes prematurely, down size career decisions and forfeit business opportunities. The couple stays in this predicament for 30 to 35 years trying their best to support their children so they might be in a better position than the couple was.

I talk about traumatic upbringing another day.

Spiritual Experience

James had lost is Ipod jumping on the trampoline in the snow. He went outside muliple time looking for it with no success. I helped him but with a foot of snow on and around the tramp, it seemed impossible to find an Ipod. Jame had given up. Later in the afternoon I went out one last time and started feeling the same hopeless feeling. I stopped and prayed asking for inspiration or guidance. I kept on working, moving snow with my snow shovel. As I was walking toward the fence to see if had somehow flown that far, a thought came into my mind, "It obviously fell through the springs". So, I started shoveling around the springs where I had already dumped snow from my previouis efforts. I went around the tramp with no success. It was getting dark. I decided to do one last scoop of snow under the tramp. I saw a black image in the grass! There it was, right below the springs covered by snow that I had moved. I like it when I have these small graces. It give me confidence that I can have faith and receive all kinds of help from my Heavenly Father.

Mimi came back!

Our cat, Mimi, came back a few days ago. She was gone for nine days. After analysing the situation we think she go stuck in the neighbor's shed (the Echeveria's). We come to this conclusion because of the tracks in the snow that lead to the whole in the fence behind their shed. Mimi was also dry and very skinny. We actually went over to the Echeveria's and Jaime checked the shed for us. But, he didn't see her. It actually snowed on Tuesday. The cat showed up at the same time the Echeveria's were shoveling their walkways. That might indicate that they opened their shed for the first time in nine days. The only question I have is how did Mimi survive without water? I will have to walk over to the shed and see if there is water or know accessible inside the shed.

Mimi is very hungry and very clingy. She is doing well. We are trying fatten her up.

Debt

We are going into debt with the pay cut and all. What can be done. I think I will put away my credit card. I just not sure that we have enough money coming in to make ends meet. It would be an interesting exercise to see what items have to go. Will it be food, gas, insurance, life insurance, internet? If I was to live with my means something will have to go. We should have sold the house a year or two ago. We would have been in a better situation now.

How do I apply faith in this mess of a situation? Do something and ask God for help. Stay positive and underwelmed by the stresses. Stay calm. Let the Spirit guide my next move. I can do one thing: put away the credit card. It would force to reevaluate the current expenditures.

1. talk to Knowles
2. drop life insurance
3. drop the internet
4. look for another job
5. do nothing until January
6. eat food storage, buy nothing
7. Put everything toward the credit card and only use the credit card