“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God…And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” (Revelation 21:2-3, 22-23)

I actually had a dream about red jasper last night. I had several gemstones of it, small, about 1/4″ size, as if someone had cut up and polished pieces of it, and prepared it for a golden mount for a small necklace, but it had fallen out. (Some were flat on the back, like they needed to just be glued into the mount.) And I was picking up these pieces of precious red jasper from off the floor, collecting them in my hands. Some West Indian people were giving me and a few friends a tour, and they had ignored me as I was picking up the gems. I didn’t care, and they didn’t either, as if I were just an addition to the other folks they were more concerned about. Anyways…

I noticed in this verse, it says “And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper…”

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Interesting that you dreamed of Jasper, since it’s first on this list of Zion foundation stones and the traditional first sign of the zodiac is Aries.

We do have a book that has a bunch of crystals in it. We’ll have to compare notes.

I wonder if there is some significance to the Jasper belonging to a necklace…a missing necklace.

Also you atypical behavior was noticed, but not too far out of the norm to warrant any intervention. Some safety in that. Plus people too busy about what they feel is important business, than actually really developing Zion qualities. Your Jasper is foundational, but unimportant to them.

Western Indians, also seems like a symbol of Zion, as Joseph was trying to reach them.

Who’s going to dream of sapphire next? 🙂

Missing, discarded, neglected necklace, perhaps–that you were interested in recovering.
This person lists a few places where the Lord talks about making up his jewels.

https://afterthemannerofchemish.blogspot.com/2016/04/make-up-my-jewels.html?m=1

Maybe it’s a necklace because bedecking a person in jewels is kind of a way of saying they are worthy of them / being them.

Mormons believe that lds is the only way to return to God. 

Remnant broke away and now believe that the above truth rests solely on them now, and their vehicle to God.

The portal, in those 2 religions, to get people to heaven, if I’m understanding correctly, is a temple.

These are external buildings, using high cost materials, that take a lot of efforting and hoops set by external judges, not God, to get to. (I guess we have to wait and see about a remnant temple, but I’m certain you will have to be baptized through them and be a “covenant holder”).

Temples were a common, and central, element to basically all ancient civilizations. The only odd thing about Israel 🇮🇱, as a nation and civilization, is that it didn’t originally have a temple. No temple with Abraham, Issac, or Jacob. Not until Moses is there a semblance of a temple- a tabernacle, which was given them after they declined Gods offer to come up the mount. King David had a nation, but no temple. It was under his son Solomon that Israel finally got a temple. Sadly, within I think 70 years, the temple was destroyed. Even their 2nd temple was destroyed. What is the symbolism here?

Our western culture pretty much has no temple as part of their religion anymore. We have turned to the synagogue (church) for the most part, albeit some churches are gorgeous cathedrals.

Could the abandoned temple structure in western civilizations be seen as a symbol of (the central idea of lds’s term) apostasy? That not only have real, genuine attempts at seeking the face of God been lost, so has the ritualized attempt?

Or could it possibly be a symbol temple edifices are a mockery before God because, as he stated, we are the temple of God, and the earth his footstool? Is the loss of the temple an open invitation to personally seek the face of God?

If Joseph Smith ended the apostasy, if there was, indeed an entire apostasy, what exactly was ended? Was it temple worship? Was it personal relationship with God? Was it returning an ancient bloodline, through Hyrum then Joseph, back on the earth? Two temples were built during their time alive, both lost, one totally destroyed. Is there a symbol there? Should we be attempting to build a new one?

Just some thoughts and questions. I would to open up a discussion. I’m sure I’m missing a lot of other perspectives.

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Great points. I haven’t heard any compelling arguments that convince me that a temple is needed. Just a lot of “because I said so”. I’m still open to that possibility, kind of. Denver said once God’s “chosen” people are almost always an example of failure. Maybe the temple is a symbol of that. As Fred Volcano always quoted revelation where John said of Zion that he saw no temple there. Seems like something important, that he noticed the absence of something. Then there is the first martyr’s statement about temples being condemnatory.

The church was declared to be under condemnation, then three months later the Kirtland Temple was announced.
Found this that I put together in 2017. Has what I basically still think about temples.

http://www.abidein.me/Content/Detail/333

A couple thoughts. On temples.

Temples are earthly gates to heaven. They typically come in two forms; the form of the individual, or the form of a dedicated building.

The Testimony of Jesus is the desired end result of temple activity. The testimony of Jesus is where He, Jesus, Himself, reveals himself to the person and personally gives the individual this testimony.

When Jacob wrestled the angel, when Abraham encountered the cloud between his burnt offering, when Jesus was baptized, when Moses approached the burning bush – these were all temple experiences. This is where the gate of heaven opens and mysteries revealed. Because God appeared to Moses the place became holy , thus he removed his shoes.

The opposite is offered when one goes to a building called temple. The place is holy, not the person, and the place can hopefully pass holiness onto the person instead of the person passing holiness onto the place (as seen in the above personal experiences). Once in the temple the individual is asked to perform the inner workings on himself to receive the testimony of Jesus. As far as my knowledge extends this is a less likely way of going about opening the gate to heaven. A few Melchizedek priests from the first temple likely had the experience, and Zachariah (John the Baptist’s dad) did as well.

The only BoM temple, gate of heaven, testimony of Jesus, experiences I’m aware of happened outside temples, never in them. It wasn’t until after the Bountiful temple was destroyed that Christ appears to an entire people.

Christ was the ultimate temple experience. Because of Him the veil in the second temple, often thought of as the harlot by contemporary Judeans of the day, was rent from top to bottom. There is no separation and we can all, and are all, invited to the gate of heaven ourselves.

I hear an LDS temple has been announced for my hometown Tampa, FL as well as a temple in my current hometown Knoxville. Regardless of which type of temple/gate of heaven/testimony of Jesus experience one seeks; the religion of the fathers, or some modern version, I hope we all acquire the desires of our hearts.

Jesus was good. He was not nice. He was as kind as he could be without sparing a person’s feelings to contravene truth. He loved people, but love doesn’t mean he’s going to leave you suffering in the darkness and follies of your choices and just smile and wave some flags for you.

“And I have loved you, therefore, you must needs be chastened and stand rebuked before me.”

“Thy rod and thy staff [implements of often painful discipline] they comfort me.”

A hundred years ago being homosexual was abnormal. Whether they were “born that way”, whether they were molested, abused by a relative or were subjected to some other abnormal circumstances, we can set aside. They were human beings deserving of compassion. But society wasn’t and isn’t built that way. Society is built on group-think and prejudice and while some more enlightened are disposed to be kind, others only see something different from the norm and fear it.

Now we think the norm is something different.

We are living in a psychological war, under constant bombardment. Every media outlet (traditional, social, entertainment) public schools, our food and our medicine is the artillery, mustard gas, bayonets and knives piercing hearts and slitting throats of traditional war. We have been flanked and are completely encompassed and victory, in many quarters, has already been declared, all while we are oblivious to being in a war at all.

Have I had great experiences in public school? Yes, I have many fond memories of friends and teachers that I treasure and still reflect upon. Do you presuppose that some good experiences in one medium means that good experiences can’t be had in other mediums? Does having some good experiences in this medium mean I support sending our children to my enemies in this indoctrination camp?

Has the medical community helped me in distress? Yes, but it has also caused me great harm from infancy from which I am still working on recovering. In recent years it has had a policy of murder, while no one peeped and voices declaring it are silenced by a paid army of “fact-checkers”. Because I have been helped in some instances, does that mean I should support what has become of western medicine?

Do I enjoy movies and music? Yes, but I also know the ability to discern what is really happening among the vast majority of the population is nil, and the effect they’re having is working, as one being responded, “very well”.

Bill Maher speaks in hyperbole for effect, but his analysis is accurate.
Bill Maher: Along for the Pride

In this life we gain a tiny amount of wisdom through the things we suffer and sometimes the suffering we see in others. When given the opportunity to look back with a clear lens, we can see our folly. We can see its origins, we can determine to do better. But we don’t have to wait until some future day when our time here is over, we can look now. We can look that gift-horse in the mouth and see its disease before it infects and kills off a great many of our livestock. We can use our intelligence to decipher intent. Our minds can stretch to the utmost heaven and then reach into and contemplate the deepest abyss.

Fools are nice without being good. Fools pretend to love others while supporting their suffering. It is not love to encourage a person in their mental illness and to encourage more to likewise suffer.

The psychological war is so effective that it has produced a chemically induced “reality” that has altered what we think is real. Somewhat akin to an actual movie set where John McCain is the director and a fictional Al Qaeda and ISIS, through our aesthetic distance, are brought into being as a terrifying enemy and Karl Rove has a good chuckle at our “reality-based community”.

We can leave off speaking of individuals to see a broader picture. The lie of the whore, prevents us from seeing the greater trap being laid for us. The whore does not care about individuals, but it uses your lack of wisdom to plan the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues and people. While you’re embracing “love”, the devil is wrapping the earth in chains and laughing at how gullible you are.

Humans deserve compassion and love, but they don’t deserve the kind of “love” you’re giving them. Your mind has been conquered and you have surrendered to the foulest, most ruthless people on the planet that couldn’t care less about LGBTQ+, BLM or Ukraine except as an advantage it gives them to destroy you.

You will own nothing and be happy
You will eat bugs and be happy
You will cut off your genitals and be happy
You will live a life with zero self determination and be happy
You will be told what to think and be happy
You will commit adultery, kill your babies and call it “reproductive rights”

Slavery and misery redefined as “Happiness”. This is the result of being nice, and not good.

We think the norm is something different than it was a hundred years ago, and we think we’re brave to have the same opinion as everyone else.

We are not wise. More is expected of us, than to simply believe what we’re told, or even to form an opinion based on what seems to be reality.

🕊 Jesus Christ came as embodied flesh to this earth to set people free. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother. His law is LOVE and his gospel is PEACE!!!!

❄️ As a result of Christ’s teachings the hypocrisy of Judaism was exposed, and those who claim to stand between you and Christ/God (those who sit in Moses’s seat) were called vipers and condemned by Christ.

🦋 New friends were chosen to spread the good news, the testimony of Jesus, or literally the individual person’s knowledge and face to face experiences and interactions with Jesus.

🕊 Though different: Peter (Petrine Church), Paul (Pauline Church), John (Johannain Church), ect, Christ consciousness, or literally the one unified mind of God, referred to as the Pentecost, was poured out on the heads of the different believers.

🩸 Stephen died for Christ, Paul died for Christ, and the original Christians hid and gathered in secret. Different churches. Different practices. Different people. The One mind/love of Christ.

These people were truly free. Or they were experimenting with freedom and trying to figure it out. They were getting wrong, getting it right, and getting it wrong a little bit more and more and more. Less people were getting the testimony of Jesus, and more false prophets were pretending authority without power. This was/is an inversion. Christ had power yet exercised no authority.

Men had truth – they had Jesus. This happened less and less until they had none. The only thing left to do by then was the Nicean creed and the government religion. This represent all current denominations of Christianity.

I reject this. I’m looking for the testimony of Jesus. I have tasted of his excruciating love. It is incomprehensible and can’t be shared or explained. I now seek to see him face to face; to hear him call me by name, to touch the nail prints in his hands and feet, and eat with him as his guest.

dragon (n.)

mid-13c., dragoun, a fabulous animal common to the conceptions of many races and peoples, from Old French dragon and directly from Latin draconem (nominative draco) “huge serpent, dragon,” from Greek drakon (genitive drakontos) “serpent, giant seafish,” apparently from drak-, strong aorist stem of derkesthai “to see clearly,” from PIE *derk- “to see” (source also of Sanskrit darsata- “visible;” Old Irish adcondarc “I have seen;” Gothic gatarhjan “characterize;” Old English torht, Old High German zoraht “light, clear;” Albanian dritë “light”).

Perhaps the literal sense is “the one with the (deadly) glance.” The young are dragonets (c. 1300). Fem. form dragoness is attested from 1630s. Obsolete drake (n.2) “dragon” is an older borrowing of the same word, and a later form in another sense is dragoon. Used in the Bible generally for creatures of great size and fierceness; it translates Hebrew tannin “a great sea-monster,” and tan, a desert mammal now believed to be the jackal.

https://www.etymonline.com/word/dragon

All “knowledge” is finite because, by its very nature, it is a conclusion. Any conclusion regarding the infinite and eternal is also an exclusion, thus must be only a part, i.e., this is so but that is not so. Our natural minds, even with great revelations, cannot comprehend the whole. That is why the infinite light shines in the finite darkness and the darkness comprehends it not. – Max Skousen, Finding the Mark

If you have felt to draw conclusions about God, and think that you know His mind because of your understanding of His word, I suggest that you greatly suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect and that you overestimate your knowledge. You have sealed your mind off from light and live in darkness. -Breathewild

Someone asked me if there are consequences for unbelievers. The word “believe” is a poor translation of “pistevo” which means to wholly trust or surrender, not to have a mental adherence to something. Trusting in Christ is bigger than cultural indoctrination and identity. Just because you were born in the East and therefore identify with that culture you were shaped in and are therefore a Muslim or a Buddhist does not mean you do not trust Christ. Christ is bigger than belief system that was engrained into you by your culture and his Spirit is at work in all places everywhere.

Christ is not just the man from Nazareth that came into history 2,000 years ago, but as apostle John said he is the cosmic Logos that the whole universe is expressed through and who gives life and light to all humanity. Christ is the reason a universe unfolded towards consciousness, rationality, and intelligent beings, and furthermore why these beings live their lives through an assumption of truth and meaning reaching after fulfillment. Christ is enlightening everyone of us, but all on our own personal subjective journeys.

Some will recognize in this lifetime that the historical Jesus is this Spirit whom they have been seeking to follow all along, and some will not. But those who love are born of God, those who are peacemakers will be called sons of God, and those who manifest the fruit of the Spirit follow and trust in Jesus whether they know it or not. On the other hand, those who confess “belief” in Jesus but hate their enemies and have no desire for peacemaking or compassion don’t trust in Jesus or love him.

The historical Jesus, in his life, teaching, ethics, and revelation of God in his self-sacrificial and enemy-forgiving death, forever changed and is changing the world, even when people who claim exclusive ownership to his name by their “doctrinal rightness” sell him out to everything that he opposed. Many who allegedly reject Jesus, only reject a false Jesus that they were presented, all the while following his Spirit.

I believe everyone will eventually surrender to the self-giving love at the heart of the universe, that is, Christ. The self-sacrificial love that happened 2,000 years ago on Calvary is bigger than that one event, but is cosmic, universal as the truth of who God is and is within everyone of us, waiting to be unveiled. It is what propels the universe forward, and one day every knee will bow (submission of heart) and tongue acclaim (overflow of the heart in declaration) that Jesus is Lord, that this Personality of love is the true universal reigning power, to the glory of our eternal Father and Origin who fills all and is through all.

Jacob Wright

I had a dream last night. The first part had to do with a collapsing, abusive society. The second part was walking in a forest and associating with some higher beings. The third part was an attempt to escape from imminent destruction.

In the third part, I was assisted to quickly gather some basic belongings. As I looked out my window, I saw large decorations forming in the night. The decorations had the character of children’s drawings forming in the streets and on buildings: large glowing six foot flowers. This was a small, quick part of the dream, but it was the most disturbing. The destruction that was coming, was enabled by fairy-tale illusions only children could believe.

For they are a rebellious people, lying sons, sons who will not hear instruction; who say, “See not”; and to the prophets,

“Prophesy not to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more of truth.”

Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,

“Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely on them; therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a break in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse, whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant; and its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel which is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a sherd is found with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.”

Isaiah 30

🎩 🎸
Rock songs, criticized by religions, are themselves religious expressions of the soul.
🔥
One excess created the other.

I’d say it’s not so much “religious excess” as it is that the religious leaders lack wisdom, have no understanding and should never occupy the places they do (except God, in wisdom, has allowed impostors to remain for our own observation and benefit) and as a result the living fire of the soul will eventually surface and reject their abuse, violently, if necessary. In the practice of wisdom, there is no such thing as “excess” and the anger and fire of Rock music is encompassed within.