Obama, End Times & the Apocalypse

I'm afraid. When I let myself think about all of the frightening things that can happen in this country if the wrong person is elected president, I become very afraid. My own personal challenge is to allow myself to turn off the fear and lean on faith in the Lord. That is easier said than done.

This week Barack Hussein Obama took the lead in the race for the democratic nominee. Obama is charismatic and an engaging speaker, so was Jim Jones. He has been a life long community activist with little or no experience that would qualify him to run the most powerful country on Earth. And this week, his wife, the woman who would be our first lady said for the second time on the campaign trail that she has never been proud of her country. Only now that her husband is in the lead is she proud to be an American. I have heard both of her comments. Let me quote her on the latest one;

Michelle Obama said "Let me tell you something, I have never in my adult life been proud of my country until now." Her sentiments are supported by her husband - the would-be president of the United States of America. Is this the kind of family we want in the White House, people who are not proud of their country?

Yes it's true that he also has a brother who is a radical Muslim who supports Sharia Law - a system of Muslim laws that include the right to murder your wife, daughter or sister is she does not comply with the law. And although some rags state that Barack plans to enforce Sharia Law if elected president, I don't know that I agree with that. However it is common knowledge that his brother would support that.

I think the bigger problem is in trusting a president with strong Muslim ties to choose us, his country (which he has not been proud of) over his family and religious ties in the War on Terror. In fact he says he will instantly pull everyone out of Iraq. He isn't willing to be in a war against his family members.

So I'm afraid. I'm afraid that, this being the end times, we are in for a world of changes. I'm afraid that we are about to see a plethora of ancient and modern prophecies being fulfilled. And I fear for my family, my church family and our way of life.

But we all knew it would eventually come to this didn't we. President Hinkley regularly told us to be of good cheer. He told us that the fulfillment of prophecy was a good thing, that we need to be spiritually and physically prepared to deal with it. He often told us the importance of strengthening our families, our children and our homes so that we could stay close to the Lord during trying times.

So if I have faith in the Lord, if I am doing all that I can to live worthily, I should be able to replace my fears with faith. I know that one cannot live both in fear and faith at the same time, so I must choose which state of mind I will give my power to. The best thing I can do is to study the council of the prophets and to make all of the changes they have asked us to make.

Instead of worrying about how awful things might get, I need to make sure I and my family are prepared to endure whatever comes. I need to get my affairs in order, financially, spiritually and physically. That includes doing everything I can to strengthen my testimony. Because whatever happens, in the end, it is my testimony that will carry me through.

So, regardless of who is elected president, God knows how to take care of us. He knows what needs to happen in order for Jesus Christ to return to the Earth. He knows when each of us will return to him. And in the eternities, our little stay here on Earth will seem very far away. There will be joy in having our family with us for all eternity in the Celestial Kingdom. And that is nothing to fear.

Religious Bigots Come Out of Woodwork During Romney Campaign

This is an AP article about Anti-Mormon attacks on Mitt Romney and the church.

Romney Bid Was a Crucible for Mormons

By RACHEL ZOLL – Feb. 8, 08

Mitt Romney isn't the only casualty in his failed presidential bid. The Mormon church, yearning for broad acceptance, also took a beating.

Extremists denounced Romney's campaign as a Mormon plot to take over the country. Some Evangelicals feared that a Mormon in the White House would draw more converts to his faith.

Mormon practices were picked apart, even ones that had been abandoned long ago such as polygamy. Romney tried to focus on politics, but was often asked about sacred Mormon undergarments.

"It is prejudice," said Richard Bushman, an emeritus professor at Columbia University, who is a leading historian and devout Mormon. "Underlying all these questions is that these beliefs are basically crazy so you've got to explain them to us."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints anticipated some of the backlash and tried to get ahead of it. Well before the former Massachusetts governor officially announced his candidacy, Mormon officials started traveling the country, speaking with reporters and editorial writers about the LDS church and its political neutrality.

The goal was to protect the church. But nonpartisanship handicapped the denomination when it needed a vigorous defense.

"I'm not questioning the policy of neutrality. That's not in any doubt," said Michael Otterson, the church's media relations director. "But I think the very reality is that we've had to be very careful about choosing our words and not appearing to either be supporting or not supporting a particular candidate."

Before Romney ran, Mormons thought they were generally accepted in the mainstream, especially after their previous success in the world spotlight: the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.

Yet, in November, half of respondents to an Associated Press-Yahoo poll said they had some problems supporting a Mormon presidential candidate. Among white evangelicals, more than half expressed reservations about backing a Latter-day Saint.

"I was surprised at the level of intensity and sometimes flat out animosity," said Lowell C. Brown, a Los Angeles attorney who is Mormon. "I had no idea. I'm in my 50s, I've been a Mormon all my life, I've lived in L.A. for 25 years, and it floored me."

Many Christians said they were raising legitimate theological concerns, not Mormon-bashing.

The news service of the Southern Baptist Convention, which considers the LDS church a cult, ran a six-part series through December explaining why they don't consider Mormonism to be Christian. (They also profiled a distant Romney relative who is Protestant and manages a Southern Baptist-affiliated bookstore in Salt Lake.)

In just one example of the practices that set Mormons apart, LDS church founder Joseph Smith revised — and in his view corrected — parts of the Bible.

Brown said it was "nonsense" to consider questions about Romney's faith simply a dialogue about religion. Mormons were especially outraged when GOP presidential contender Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist pastor, asked whether Mormons consider Jesus and the devil brothers. Latter-day Saints say Huckabee's question is usually raised by those who wish to smear the Mormon faith rather than clarify doctrine.

"If you're making a decision about whether or not to vote for someone because of their religion, you're flirting with bigotry," said Brown. He monitored the commentary on his blog Article VI, named for the constitutional provision barring any religious test for public office.

Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, a prominent evangelical school in Pasadena, Calif., said some Christian conservatives consider Mormonism not just a questionable faith, but also a rival political force. He lived in Michigan in the 1960s, when Romney's father, George, was governor there. At that time, evangelicals weren't deeply involved in politics. Many supported George Romney.

"What's going on when his son runs and all of a sudden there's this overt hostility that came out, which did not come out toward his father," said Mouw, who is part of a group of evangelical and Mormon scholars who meet to discuss their theological disagreements. "I'm kind of ashamed of the way that a lot of traditional Christians have handled this."

Yet, Mormons say some good has come from the attacks. Romney's candidacy pulled the church even further into the public square.

Mormon leaders posted videos on YouTube explaining their faith. A church elder, recently speaking to Mormon college students, urged young people to post about the Latter-day Saints on blogs — a major move for a denomination with a history of quietly answering its outside critics. After Romney's Dec. 6 speech in Texas defending his faith, a Mormon leader went on al-Jazeera television, the Quatar-based network, to discuss the church.

"Gov. Romney has, perhaps without intending to do so, rendered the church a service," said Robert Millet, a scholar of the church and professor at the LDS-owned Brigham Young University. "It's served as a kind of wakeup call for Saints themselves to the fact that we're not as well understood as we think we are. How can it be the case that Gov. Romney and his feelings about Christ and his feelings about religion have been so little understood?"
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* Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: http://www.lds.org/

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The Book of Mormon in 97 Days - A Tribute to President Hinkley

Perhaps you have already heard but there is a website that is set up for those who want to honor President Hinkley by reading the Book of Mormon in 97 days - one day for every year of his life.

The website is nice and worth looking at whether you decide to join in the Book of Mormon challenge or not. Go to www.hinckleychallenge.com/warriors .php to log in and join the thousands who have already taken on the challenge.

President Hinkley understood how vital it is for each of us to gain our own testimony of the Book of Mormon. And those of us who took him up on his prophetic challenge to read the Book of Mormon before the end of 2006 have reaped countless blessings for doing so.

I teach seminary in my ward and I and my students have decided to take on this challenge as a way to keep President Hinkley's memory alive. It is giving us all a spiritual and fulfilling way to grieve the loss of someone we love so dearly.




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Thomas S. Monson Set Apart as new Prophet

President Thomas S. Monson is now the President, prophet seer and revelator for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the world. Today the announcement was made to the church and to the press announcing that President Monson has called Elder Eyring to be his 1st counselor and Elder Uchtdorf as his 2nd counselor in the first presidency. President Boyd K. Packer, is the new president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

President Monson is the 16th president of the church. he has served the church for most of his life and was called to be a Bishop at the early age of 22. He was made an apostle and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve at age 37. In the press conference this afternoon he said that he has worked with President Hinkley so closely for so long that he believes that they both have the same goals and hopes for the church.

I loved President Hinkley so much, and like most members of the church, I trusted him with my eternal welfare. But I also love President Monson and I feel certain that he is led by the Lord. As with all loss, we need to grieve the loss of a wonderful family member. At the same time let's embrace President Monson and determine to keep on keeping on.
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