Saints Alive November - February 2008 Newsletter

In my book, My Kingdom Come: The Mormon Quest for Godhood I made it quite clear that if the run for the presidency began to slip away, watch for Romney taking steps to place himself in line for the Vice Presidential position.

Romney Quits Presidential Race

Mitt Romney, with his wife Ann, in Boston
(Richard Perry/The New York Times)

Mitt Romney is suspending his campaign for president...
“If this were only about me, I’d go on,” he said during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.
“I feel I now have to stand aside for our party and our country.”

He stood next to McCain and called for all his followers and delegates to stand with him behind McCain.

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney announced Thursday that he is backing Sen. John McCain in his bid for the Oval Office.

"I am honored today to give my full support to Sen. McCain's candidacy for the presidency of the United States," Romney said in a joint news conference with Sen. McCain by his side.

"This is a man capable of leading our country in this dangerous hour." Romney said he had no doubt McCain should be the next president of the United States. After his announcement, Romney introduced McCain as a true American hero.

Things happen quickly. Within a week, Mitt Romney drops out of he race for the GOP nomination and lines himself up for the second spot and the Prophet dies, the man through whom God supposedly spoke. The church goes into a short time of mourning and a new prophet is selected, President Thomas Monson, the next in line for the office rolls up his sleeves and gets at it.

Here at Saints Alive, money is tight right now like it is inmost ministries, and the work is overwhelming as I slowly recover from illness, yet the blessings never end. My book, My Kingdom Come: The Mormon Quest for Godhood is selling well and many reports are coming back of lives changed.

I have been doing radio interviews on programs across the country on an almost daily basis and on several days have had as many as three interviews. Let me tell you where my heart is. It came in the usual pile of emails but explained how my inner heart works better than I could ever say.

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: January 28, 2008
(A short piece from her article)

"Gordon B. Hinckley, the president and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who led Mormonism through a period of global expansion, died Sunday at his home in Salt Lake City. He was 97. The church, which announced his death on its Web site, said a successor to Mr. Hinckley was not expected to be chosen until after his funeral. Mr. Hinckley spent 46 years in the church’s top leadership ranks, 12 of those as its 15th president. He was the oldest president in the church’s history."

2 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 Pet 2:1-2

23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. Matt 24: 23-25

Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. Rev 19:20-21

What does President Hinckley know about God? Asked if God was once a man, he said, “I don’t know that we teach it. I don’t know that we emphasize it . . . I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don’t know a lot about it, and I don’t think others know a lot about it” (Time Magazine, 8/4/1997, p.56

[Ed] “Yet, LDS Scripture says
22 The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us. D&C 130: 22

"God himself was one as we are now, and is an exalted man...I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form...like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man...He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth." Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 305.”

Article continued: Isn’t to know the character of God the first principle of the LDS Gospel? Did he fear taking a stand? Yet he wrote Standing for Something, including a chapter on honesty. Tracking more of his false statements in public, it does not match up.

God warns about the lake of fire for various evil people and even includes “liars” (Rev. 21:8). We need Jesus Christ for eternal life, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). Jesus saves.

Huckabee: Perceived anti-LDS comment taken out of context, misunderstood

WASHINGTON -- Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says it is "unfounded" for anyone to say he has alienated the Mormon community or that he used rival Mitt Romney's LDS faith as a wedge issue.

Huckabee, talking to reporters over breakfast in Washington Tuesday just two blocks from the White House, blamed a single remark he made to The New York Times Magazine last year -- when he asked whether Mormons believed Jesus and Satan are brothers -- as the cause of the angst in the Mormon community.

The LDS Church issued a statement following that remark that acknowledged the belief that Jesus and Satan were both children of God, as well as all of humanity. Still, Huckabee's comment was seen by many as pejorative.

The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the world was contested by one of the other sons of God. He was called Lucifer this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind." Milton R. Hunter, The Gospel Through the Ages, p. 15.

Ensign (official Church magazine), December, 1980, pp.3-5. "Jesus of Nazareth", Spencer W. Kimball, First Presidency Message: "His [Jesus'] trials were continuous. Perhaps his brother, Lucifer, had heard him say when he was still but a lad of 12, 'Whist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?'" (Luke 2:49) "...Then came the time when Satan thought to trip him. Their encounter in the previous world had been on more equal terms, but now Jesus was young and Satan was experienced."

Yet, the church denied publicly that
this was a doctrine
of the church!
Nonsense!!

As Anonymous battles against the Church of Scientology, some people sympathetic to the Church of Scientology raise the issue of religious freedom. What those who protest the Church of Scientology should keep clear is that they are protesting against an organization, not a system of belief. The distinction is commonly lost when people outside of a system of belief look in, and not just when Scientology is the belief system under consideration.

Religion vs. Organization

Mormonism has a similar interesting mixture of belief system and organization. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (or "LDS Church") is the organization in Utah, but there are many "Mormon Fundamentalist" groups who claim that the LDS Church has gone astray and that they better represent authentic Mormonism. Most people seem to realize that the actions of an occasional abusive polygamist should not be held against the LDS Church organization, but some assume that the LDS Church is 100% equal to Mormonism. Blogcritics is an online magazine, a community of writers and readers from around the globe. Publisher: Eric Olsen.

Just something that touched my heart

The Old Man and the Dog

by Catherine Moore

"Can't you do anything right?" Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn't prepared for another battle.

"I saw the car, Dad. Please don't yell at me when I'm driving." My voice was measured and steady, sounding far calmer than I really felt.

Dad glared at me, then turned away and settled back. At home I left Dad in front of the television and went outside to collect my thoughts. Dark, heavy clouds hung in the air with a promise of rain. The rumble of distant thunder seemed to echo my inner turmoil. What could I do about him?

Dad had been a lumberjack in Washington and Oregon. He had enjoyed being outdoors and had reveled in pitting his strength against the forces of nature. He had entered grueling lumberjack competitions, and had placed often. The shelves in his house were filled with trophies that attested to his prowess.

The years marched on relentlessly. The first time he couldn't lift a heavy log, he joked about it; but later that same day I saw him outside alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age, or when he couldn't do something he had done as a younger man.

Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. An ambulance sped him to the hospital while a paramedic administered CPR to keep blood and oxygen flowing. At the hospital, Dad was rushed into an operating room. He was lucky; he survived.

But something inside Dad died. His zest for life was gone. He obstinately refused to follow doctor's orders. Suggestions and offers of help were turned aside with sarcasm and insults. The number of visitors thinned, then finally stopped altogether. Dad was left alone.

My husband, Dick, and I asked Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust. Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation. It seemed nothing was satisfactory. He criticized everything I did. I became frustrated and moody.

Soon I was taking my pent-up anger out on Dick. We began to bicker and argue. Alarmed, Dick sought out our pastor and explained the situation. The clergyman set up weekly counseling appointments for us. At the close of each session he prayed, asking God to soothe Dad's troubled mind. But the months wore on and God was silent. Something had to be done and it was up to me to do it.

The next day I sat down with the phone book and methodically called each of the mental health clinics listed in the Yellow Pages. I explained my problem to each of the sympathetic voices that answered. In vain. Just when I was giving up hope, one of the voices suddenly exclaimed, "I just read something that might help you! Let me go get the article." I listened as she read. The article described a remarkable study done at a nursing home. All of the patients were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet their attitudes had improved dramatically when they were given responsibility for a dog.

I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon. After I filled out a questionnaire, a uniformed officer led me to the kennels. The odor of disinfectant stung my nostrils as I moved down the row of pens. Each contained five to seven dogs. Long-haired dogs, curly-haired dogs, black dogs, spotted dogs; all jumped up, trying to reach me. I studied each one but rejected one after the other for various reasons, too big, too small, too much hair. As I neared the last pen a dog in the shadows of the far corner struggled to his feet, walked to the front of the run and sat down. It was a pointer, one of the dog world's aristocrats. But this was a caricature of the breed. Years had etched his face and muzzle with shades of gray. His hipbones jutted out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that caught and held my attention. Calm and clear, they beheld me unwaveringly.

I pointed to the dog. "Can you tell me about him?" The officer looked, then shook his head in puzzlement.

"He's a funny one. Appeared out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought him in, figuring someone would be right down to claim him. That was two weeks ago and we've heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow." He gestured helplessly.

As the words sank in I turned to the man in horror. "You mean you're going to kill him?"

"Ma'am," he said gently, "that's our policy. We don't have room for every unclaimed dog."

I looked at the pointer again. The calm brown eyes awaited my decision. "I'll take him," I said.

I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me. When I reached the house I honked the horn twice. I was helping my prize out of the car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch. "Ta-da! Look what I got for you, Dad!" I said excitedly.

Dad looked, then wrinkled his face in disgust. "If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one. And I would have picked out a better specimen than that bag of bones. Keep it! I don't want it" Dad waved his arm scornfully and turned back toward the house.

Anger rose inside me. It squeezed together my throat muscles and pounded into my temples. "You'd better get used to him, Dad. He's staying!" Dad ignored me. "Did you hear me, Dad?" I screamed. At those words Dad whirled angrily, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes narrowed and blazing with hate.

We stood glaring at each other like duelists, when suddenly the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled toward my dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw.

Dad's lower jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw. Confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. The pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his knees hugging the animal.

It was the beginning of a warm and intimate friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne. Together he and Cheyenne explored the community. They spent long hours walking down dusty lanes. They spent reflective moments on the banks of streams, angling for tasty trout. They even started to attend Sunday services together, Dad sitting in a pew and Cheyenne lying quietly at his feet.

Dad and Cheyenne were inseparable throughout the next three years. Dad's bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many friends. Then late one night I was startled to feel Cheyenne's cold nose burrowing through our bed covers He had never before come into our bedroom at night. I woke Dick, put on my robe and ran into my father's room. Dad lay in his bed, his face serene. But his spirit had left quietly sometime during the night.

Two days later my shock and grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. I wrapped his still form in the rag rug he had slept on. As Dick and I buried him near a favorite fishing hole, I silently thanked the dog for the help he had given me in restoring Dad's peace of mind.

The morning of Dad's funeral dawned overcast and dreary. This day looks like the way I feel, I thought, as I walked down the aisle to the pews reserved for family. I was surprised to see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had made filling the church. The pastor began his eulogy. It was a tribute to both Dad and the dog who had changed his life. And then the pastor turned to Hebrews 13:2. "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers."

For me, the past dropped into place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen before: the sympathetic voice that had just read the right article...

Cheyenne's unexpected appearance at the animal shelter. . .his calm acceptance and complete devotion to my father. . and the proximity of their deaths. And suddenly I understood. Life is too short for drama & petty things, so laugh hard, love truly and forgive quickly. Live While You Are Alive.

As always, we urgently need your partnership, your prayers and your financial support. For the first time in a long time, we ended the year with a deficit - $18,000.

It is now down to about $10,000 but we need some heroes out there to go to our website front page and click on the "Donations" link and help us out with a one time special gift.
It will go 100% directly to the debt.