Scripture Sunday 3 Nephi 18:11

Baptism  is many things, and this passage is a reminder of what they are. While it's true, baptism is a public showing of what you believe, I think that we often forget that baptism is a form or repentance. In some ways, it's asking for forgiveness from our previous lifestyle and wanting to change our ways. It is, of course, also a public witness of Jesus Christ-that's why baptism is in the open and not hidden somewhere where no one else can see it. 

Rose McGowan

So, apparently Rose McGowan changed her mind a bit when it comes to sexual assault. Before I go any further, I want to make a few things clear. Yes, sexual assault is horrible whenever it actually happens. Victims should be given support, perpetrators should be given lengthy sentences-when they are convicted. Men will usually believe the man, women will usually believe the woman, and the situation goes out of control when someone we don't like or agree with is accused of it. Bill Clinton and Donald Trump come to mind. Throw politics into the mix and things go out of control. 

McGowan obviously believed every victim without even thinking about the cases. It's obvious in her first Tweet dated November 17, 2017. Sadly though, when someone she knows is accused her opinion quickly changes and she decides to take the "wait and see" approach. This is obvious and it happens to everyone of course. Hopefully she can see the change and maybe apply it in the future to when someone else is accused. 

Album of the weekend

Anvil-Metal on Metal

I'm stunned that I haven't done this one yet, but after looking through the years of my Albums of the weekend, it looks like I haven't discussed this. My apologies if it's a duplicate-I still can't find it.

What do you say about one of your favorite albums of all time? I don't buy into the bull that you "never forget your first love"-but I'll never forget the first time I heard the song "Metal on Metal." I felt like I forgot everything I was doing and Anvil was playing for an audience of one person. It's not even the best song on the album. The best song is "Mothra", a classic monster metal song about the Godzilla based character. I don't think I ever knew what "Mothra" was until I heard this song. Like all good songs, it tells a story, and does so brilliantly. That's not it though. "March of the Crabs" is the best heavy metal instrumental out there. They've never done anything like it, and neither has any other band.

Anvil never gets the credit they deserve, and I understand why. They can be a hard band to take seriously, but this album deserves that. One of the best heavy metal albums of all time, bar none. 

General conference changes

Last April, there were a ton of changes to the structure of the LDS church that were announced during General Conference. Home teaching was sacked and mistering was announced. Priesthood quorums were combined. Those two were unexpected, and there are a lot of rumors going around the internet that there will be other changes coming up in October. While I do not claim to have to have a secret line to the Apostles, I wouldn't be surprised if this general conference announces even more changes.

President Russell Nelson is the youngest 90 year old in the world. He has the energy and stamina of a man forty years younger. He seems to be leading the charge to change things in the church, and I'm not sure he's done yet. There might be a change to the length of Sunday services. As of right now, LDS spend a staggering three hours in church on Sunday. Perhaps they'll remove an hour or so this October.

Whatever happens, I'm not sure it'll help attendance. The issue with changing doctrines and rules in churches is that it only applies to the people who follow the rules anyway. I'm not sure cutting back one hour in church will attract people who don't go in the first place.

Missing babies.

I was watching a true crime video on Youtube about a missing baby named Sabrina Aisenberg. I'm a bit of a true crime junkie, and I especially enjoy listening to podcasts on road trips. Yes, this story is decades old and no, I'm not going to dive in to the details. The hostess of the video said that one theory about the baby disappearing is that a childless person took the baby to raise as their own. I'm sure it's happened before, but I'm not sure it could happen in todays society.

I'm sure you know people who for whatever reason, don't have children. If these people suddenly showed up with a six month old out of the blue, it would be weird. If a six month old went missing in the next state over, it would be even weirder. Oh sure, you can adopt a baby at virtually any age, but wouldn't it at least be suspicious is a baby went missing and you suddenly saw your childless cousin and his wife posting pictures about their new baby on Facebook?

Once again, I'm sure it happens-someome kidnapping a child to raise it as their own-but I'm not sure it happens very often, especially in 2018.

Siblings of a Representative appearing in an ad against him....

Sadly, politics has become personal in this family. The siblings of representative Paul Gosar (no, I've never heard of him either) have banded together and created an ad against him.  Look, I'm not one to talk about politics being personal. There are political disagreements in my family that also have led to estrangement. That's sad, but it's kept quiet. Speaking only for myself of course, I can't imagine filming an ad against someone in my own family if they ran for office.

This crosses the line of good taste. Yes, they have the right to their opinion and yes, they can vocalize it. I also have the right to my opinion and I can also vocalize it. Dirty laundry should be kept at home.

Kavanaugh hearings

Good thing to remember-only people who I disagree with politically have skeletons in their closet. That's how it works, right? Of course it isn't, but that's how everyone thinks it works. I don't remember many people on the left demanding that John Edwards or Bill Clinton resign when they got caught screwing around. Oh sure, it's easy to say now that you were leading the charge to demand people you agree with resign, but in reality you were probably quiet.

The "evidence" for anything bad happening when Kavanaugh was younger is extremely weak. I get it, sometimes victims of a sexual assault wait a long time before they come out with the accusation, but it's more than a little odd that this woman waited until Kavanaugh was about to have a seat on the supreme court. 

And oh yeah-Google Keith Ellison and domestic violence. Unless you demand his resignation as well, you probably should shut up about Kavanaugh. 

Scripture Sunday Helaman 12:2

Prayer and worship are funny things. We often praise God and pray to him when things are going poorly, but I wonder how often we thank Him when things are going well. How quickly we turn to Him after prosperity when things go bad, and He must be used to it at this point. I'm just as guilty as this-during the good times in my life I also forget to thank Him, but expect Him to answer me completely when I'm going through hard times-but that's not how it should work. I'm sure that God doesn't care when you reach out to Him-the good times of the bad-but perhaps we should all work on making him the center of our lives more often. 

Prager University

The videos for Prager University are amazing. If you are conservative, you should watch them because it'll help you bolster your own argument. If you aren't conservative, you should watch them because it shows you conservatives think. Very, very few commentators are more reasonable and clear than Dennis Prager is. I used to listen to show all the time, but now I only catch it occasionally. He does host some of the videos, but there are a wide variety of other people who do as well. Some are famous commentators, some are actual professors, and some are random people just giving good advice on life.

Prager University gives real world, common sense advice on how the real world works and in some cases, how the real world should work. For the record no, I don't agree with everyone or everything the videos say, but they almost always make good points.

I strongly recommend the video on modern art, the video on being black, millennial and conservative,  and why I left the left.

Album of the Weekend

Judas Priest-Firepower

When one of your favorite bands creates a great album after a few mediocre ones, it's a fantastic feeling. To follow up on that album with another great album, that's like winning the lottery twice than being told that you don't have to pay taxes either. The latest album from Judas Priest is another classic. It's not as good as Redeemer of Souls, which I thought was among the best albums of the decade, but that's not saying it's bad. Instead of being an A+, it's a solid B.

Lightning Strike reminds me of Breaking the Law or Living After Midnight. It's such a good song that it can easily be compared to their classics. The quality of the songs decreases a bit as the album goes on, but that's not saying it's a bad album by any means. 

Finally, a farewell tour from Kiss. Again.

This time, I think it's serious. After all, these guys are well into their 60's.  Those of us who are paying attention know that Pauls voice is shot, and it's not going to get any better at this point. Seeing them preform at the America's Got Talent (a show I don't usually watch) was just sort of painful. One of my favorite songs by them is Detroit Rock City and Paul Stanley basically just talk sang though it.

Will I go see them? Yes, and I'll hate myself for saying that. I've seen them live twice before-thankfully when Paul could still sing a bit. While I don't collect their merchandise, I've spent a small fortune on their CD's and concert tickets, so the thought of giving them more money is depressing to me.  Like a drug addict though, I'll keep coming back for more.

Champagne Socialists

I have a rule. You lose the right to call yourself a socialist if you dress in clothes that that cost more than what a family of four spends on their entire clothing budget in a year. No, I'm not the first person to notice people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doing this, and no, I'm not the first person to speak out against these people. Sadly though, it seems like she fails to comprehend the irony of her choices in fashion.

We all know she's a coward. She won't debate Ben Shaprio, among the most reasonable and decent conservatives out there. Now, she becomes a hypocrite. All the cool kids are socialists until it hits them in their own personal checkbook.

Jon from 90 Day Fiancé

Yes, as my one regular reader knows, I'm a huge fan of reality TV, in particular 90 Day Fiancee. It's a show where Americans seek love out of the country, hopefully leading to marriage. This season, a woman from New Mexico has fallen in love with an Englishman named Jon. That's fine, except that Jon has a lengthy criminal record including over forty fistfights. He claims not to have a problem with violence. 

Are you kidding me? 

Men can be stupid sometimes. Especially young men, especially young men who drink. While I've never been in a fight in my adult life, I can understand how sometimes two guys have no option other than to fight. If John fights with Steve, it can be a personality conflict. Usually (key word, usually) the two men fight, one loses one wins, and they move on. Sadly, sometimes it escalates. 

If John fights with Steve, Marty, Joe, Mitch, Frank, Alan, etc then the problem is on John. 

And the problem is on Jon. Getting in so many fights shows that you can't control yourself or your emotions. It'll make a fool of you soon enough, and eventually you'll mouth off to the wrong guy. If you meet a guy who says he's "never lost a fight" you've met a compulsive liar. Jon has a violence problem, and he's in total denial if he thinks it is everyone else's problem other than his own. 

Sam Young officially excommunicated

It's official. Sam Young has been excommunicated.

No joy or happiness should come from this. Like a long term marriage ending in divorce, everyone loses in this. The church, Sam Young, and his cause. The church will go through some more media scrutiny, and Sam Young has sadly lost a huge part of his life.

This is just sad all around. At least it's over and the healing on all sides can begin.

Scripture Sunday 1 Nephi 3:7

It's almost become a Christian cliche to say this, but the Lord truly won't give you anything that you can't handle. Bad things are going to happen in our lives, and we can do nothing to stop them. If you'll notice though, in most of our lives the good out weighs the bad. If you only have bad things happen in your life than perhaps you are at least part of the problem. 

The Lord will also give you the tools to do anything He asks of you, which is what this passage is saying. He won't demand you to do something and then not assist you. LDS like to call the Lord our "Heavenly Father" and He is. Like a good father, He'll ask you to do something and then help you along the way. 

Nevada Professor shoots himself to protest Trump

A Nevada professor apparently shot himself to protest Trump.  I'm old school, I prefer self-immolation as a form of protest.

Trump derangement syndrome is real, so was Obama derangement syndrome and Bush derangement syndrome. We've turned into a nation of babies who can't seem to function if our guy/girl isn't in office. This professor takes it to a dangerous extreme, and I think we all know that a man with such serious mental problems shouldn't be teaching impressionable young people. He should be getting the treatment he desperately needs.

However, this is higher education. He'll probably be promoted to dean of students.

Album of the weekend

Stryper-Fallen

I've been on a Stryper kick for awhile now. Maybe it's because I live in the south and the culture seems a bit more friendly to Christianity, maybe it'e because I have a touch of Aspergers and go through phases easily or maybe it's just because they've once again produced an absolutely stunning album. I also saw them live in Orlando last night, so they are still on my mind. 

The best song is the title track, "Fallen" which I've been listening to all the time lately. It's heavy, raw, and once again proves that Stryper is the best Christian heavy metal band of all time. Emphasis on heavy and emphasis on Christian. Stryper also pushes the envelope too-with it's full frontal assault on how the media treats Christians with the song, "Big Screen Lies". 

Regarldess of what you believe, you owe it to yourself to download this album. 

Nike

Okay, I'll try not to make this about Kapernick. It's more about their idiotic slogan, "Believe in something, even it means sacrificing everything." Okay Nike. I want you to go ask an athlete who takes a stand for marriage being between one man and one woman-and can't get a job because of that-and ask if you would make them the face of your company. Or, let's say that JD Martinez loses his job with the Red Sox because of the pro second amendment Tweets. Nike will surely introduce his new line of shoes, right?

Sure, it's stupid slogan designed to sell more shoes, but the slogan itself is so full of garbage.

Serena Williams

Athletes are in a catch-22. If they show no emotion, then they lack passion and are playing just for money. If they show emotion, they can't control themselves and are immature. I'm not that much of a tennis fan but I do find the "outcry" over Serena Williams outburst amusing. Obviously, it depends on if we like the athlete or not. Athletes we like are showing their passion and arguing for truth, justice, the American way and all that is holy. Athletes we dislike are angry, unprofessional and nasty.

Referees are human and they make mistake. 99.9% of the time they are not targeting someone because of a personal vendetta. If I read the report correctly, Serena Williams apparently accused the referee of sexism-which is strange, because I'm pretty sure Serena Williams was playing against another female. I can't argue that actual call-but that does seem odd to accuse a referee of sexist behavior when both participants of the match are the same gender.

Never forget

Like sands through an hourglass, the Sam Young saga continues

And it looks like for now, he won't be excommunicated. That's good. Whenever anyone separates from the church, especially someone with so much history in it-it's always a little sad. Apparently he had a large group of people come out and support him during the excommunication trial. That's amazing. If I was ever excommunicated it wouldn't draw two people.

The decision has been postponed. I'm confident he'll be asked to leave/kicked out of the church. Does he want this? I'm not sure, only he can answer that of course. I sort of doubt that a former bishop who apparently still believes in the church (or at least certain aspects of it) would want to be excommunicated but I think it might be out of his hands at this point.

Scripture Sunday Alma 32:22

Mercy is one of those virtues that isn't talked about much anymore. Or if it is talked about, it's completely misunderstood. Mercy is often confused with compassion, but I believe the two are different. Mercy is indicates that someone is in a position of power above you-a judge can show mercy to a guilty defendant in a trial, even if the judge doesn't have much compassion towards them. Compassion seems to indicate that you understand where the person is coming from, while mercy does not.

MLM Schemes

I get it, some people need money and any job is better than being unemployed. However, selling in an MLM scheme, wether it be pearls, make up, "energy pills/patches", exercise, car insurance, essential oils, candles or clothing will be a huge drain on your time and no, you will not make money on it.

In Facebook groups I often see the "Do you want to work from home? Be your own boss? Make 5,000 dollars a month?" posts on public groups. It's all bullshit-no, you won't make $5,000 a month. Ask yourself this-if you could make $5,000 a month working from home, wouldn't everyone do it? It's not easy and with these scams, it's impossible.

With most of these "businesses" you are required to pay upfront for inventory. That's fine, but selling that inventory may seem quite difficult. Not many people want candles or Essential Oils that in reality, do absolutely nothing. It's also irritating to bother your friends and pester them to host parties or buy what you are selling. In some cases, it can damage a friendship.

If you want to make quick money, getting a legitimate job might be your best option.

Album of the weekend

The Scorpions-Love at First Sting

You've assuredly heard the biggest song by them, "Rock You Like a Hurricane. It's by far one of their biggest hits and one of the biggest rock songs of the 1980's. "Rock You Like a Hurricane" to me is their anthem, like "Rock and Roll All Nite" is to Kiss. This album has some other good songs on it though, like "Big City Nights" and "The Same Thrill"-but yes, "Hurricane" is their best song and the biggest reason the band established a following.

The Scorpions are one of the best selling hair bands in history, but few people seem to call themselves fans of them. After all, if you sell 100 million records, someone must be a fan somewhere. This album won't go down in history as one of the best albums of all time, but it's still a worth a download.

Final thoughts on the McCain funeral

In 2018, everything is political, including funerals. I shouldn't be surprised saying this, but I was shocked at how partisan and political the McCain funeral was. It seemed to be a celebration of life for John McCain-but also a "let's bash Trump every five minutes" event as well.

Political junkies know that McCain held grudges. That's fine, we're all human and we all have our faults and weaknesses. In the interest of total disclosure, I also hold grudges for long periods of time. McCain didn't like Bush, so when Bush was there at the funeral I was surprised. McCain also didn't like Obama-but Obama was there as well. I wonder if John McCain himself would have wanted this or if it was just more of the establishment mourning one of their own.

Testimony Sunday interruptions

Testimony Sunday occurs in LDS wards every first Sunday of the month. Basically, active LDS can choose to go to the podium and address how faith in Jesus Christ has effected them. While it's true, sometimes the testimonies talk about things other than Jesus Christ, most of the time He is the sole focus. Apparently, some people in Utah have hijacked testimony Sunday this week and used it for their own purposes. A video of one of these incidents is making the rounds.

Whatever your feelings are for the sex scandal that these interruptions are in regards to, interrupting a fast and testimony Sunday is not the best way to further your cause. I support the bishops 100% who asked the speakers to leave. Spouting off your personal problems with the church is not appropriate in  that setting in any way, shape or form.

My heart breaks for victims of sexual assault. I hope they get their day in court and if the perpetrator is guilty of it, then he should get the death penalty, depending on the severity of the assault. However, LDS churches are not courthouses. This was a grave lapse in judgment by the speakers this weekend.

Sam Young summoned to excommunication hearing

Sam Young, the former bishop who staged a hunger strike in Utah regarding bishops interviewing children and asking questions of a sexual nature, has been summoned to a disciplinary council and may face excommunication.

It's rare for incidents like this to make the mainstream news. In most cases, no one cares about Mormonism with the exception of Mormons themselves and perhaps former members. Sam Young, like John Dehlin and Kate Kelly, has become a news story. For the first time in several years I have people who aren't members asking about specific LDS people in the news-and no it's not Mitt Romney this time.

Will Sam Young be excommunicated? Probably. I'm not sure they'd bother to hold a tribunal if the outcome wasn't already predetermined. He's in public opposition to some of the church teachings, so in the eyes of the church, he's an apostate.

DeSantis vs Gillum

Florida had it's primary a few days ago, and the two winners of the gubernatorial primary races are Ron DeSantis, the republican and hardcore Trump supporter-and Andrew Gillum, the democrat and Bernie Sanders supporter. Both candidates knocked off more "moderate" challengers in the primary-Adam Putnam and Gwen Graham.

To call either Putnam or Graham "moderate" shows how extreme how politics has become. Graham might be a bit more moderate than the average democrat, but she hardly leans to the right. Putnam isn't moderate in the slightest-he's conservative in every way, but because he's held elected office before and isn't a Trumper, he's considered "establishment". So is Graham because of her family. In the interest of full disclosure, I voted for Putnam.

The GOP has held the governorship of Florida since Jeb Bush (!). That's over two decades ago. While I think Gillum is too liberal for the state in general, because the republicans nominated someone from the far right, I think my state will swing blue in November.

Scripture Sunday 2 Nephi 9:23

I'm not sure that we, as limited mortals, can understand the pain and suffering that Jesus went through when he died for us. In the movie the Passion of the Christ a devil asked Jesus, "Don't you think the pains of the entire human race are too difficult for one man to take on?" Christ said yes of course, and he suffered and died for all of us. Those that came before him, those that came after Him.

These verses remind me that for any of us who call into His name, he will take on their sins as well and He will swallow the pain of every living creature. Sure, that doesn't mean that we won't feel pain or sadness in this life, but it means that he felt them before-and he'll continue to feel them until the end of time.

Mollie Tibbets

The death of this poor girl is deeply tragic, and how its being politicized is absolutely disgusting. This woman has a family who loves her, and I'm sure they don't want her death to be used as a tool to achieve a political goal. Right now, we should be in mourning for her death, and we should prosecute the monster who did this. If he's found guilty of first degree murder, I have zero problem with him getting the death penalty.

We shouldn't judge all illegal immigrants for the action of one of them. We also shouldn't judge all gun owners for the actions of one of them either-but again, depending on what side of the political spectrum you fall under, that kind of thinking might not possible. Both sides are so focused on politics right now that they've forgotten that real, living people have suffered a great loss at this time.