'Have you been saved?' 'Have you been forgiven?' Do you use the same vocabulary?

Starting point of division: Conception, perception and understanding of the nature, and characture of God.

The world teaches that god is a thing that is unknowable, unpersonable, and uninterested.
The world teaches that the church is a corrupt organization set up to:
- empower those within its structure, and protect them from any consequence of their wrong doing
- to stifle and oppress everyone else
- compete with any and every other benevelant organization that seeks to do good.

This as opposed to:
A god who created man in his image, is very knowable, is interested in man's wellbeing, and waiting and eager for a personal relationship with each man individually.
The church is an organization for:
- the teaching of the principles by which this interested God would have man live in peace and joy, then allowing each and all to govern themselves
- seeks to enoble and uplift all so far as each is willing to abide truth
- set a pattern and framework for serving and doing good.
- - -
It came to my attention while listening to a man on the radio that the LDS church does not have the same conception of Grace and Forgiveness and 'The Cross' that so many in the sectarian community appearantly do. That when asking if a member of the LDS church is 'forgiven' the LDS person cannot answer with faithful assurance that he has and is.
'They' are right, somewhat. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we do not emphaisize this doctrin as much as some suppose we should.

I am not versed in apologetics, and am not going to try to give a scholarly answer.

My perception of Grace, as taught in the LDS church and from the books we hold to be scripture is mainly two fold: 1) God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves, 2) God in his mercy giving to us what we do not in justice merrit.
'By grace ye are saved after all ye can do' is the phrase from the Book of Mormon. This is taught to mean that Jesus as the Messiah and arbitur of the atonement, or 'The Cross', has right and authroity to set the conditions of it. Which conditions are to:
- exercise faith in Jesus as the Savior
- repent of my sins
- recieve the ordinances and associated covenants from those who have the authority to administer them
- then live by those covenants seeking to be 'perfect as the Father which is in heaven is perfect.'
In return he will and does forgive my sins, he also empowers me to be and do greater good according to my obedience to the principles of the covenants from the ordinances.
I understand 'The Cross' to be sectarian vocabulary for 'the atonement of Jesus Christ' drawn from Paul's letters in the New Testament. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we understand this principle to essentually be:
- Jesus took upon himself the just punishment of all mankinds sins
- in this He redeamed Man from the Fall, and overcame the 'second death' or death of the spirit wherein man is forever cut off from God the Father.
- and then died and was resurected so that we may all be likewise resurected, and overcame the 'first death' or death of the body wherein man is left without a physical body.
Our understanding is that this did not just happen at the cross, but also in Gethsemany at the time when he sweat blood, and at the tomb. I.E. the whole passion, not just the cross.

Summary: when asked 'have you been saved?' or 'have you been forgiven?' the faithful Latter-Day Saint should automatically answer 'Yes.' Except that that is outside of our vocabulary.
Being outside of the vocabulary is not outside of the truth.
'Have I been forgiven?' meaning have I recieved the grace of god whereby I have been absolved of my sins? I try to be. But I am imperfect and keep adding to the burden, and have to go ask for more. Forgiveness in not a one-shot deal but a daily struggle coupled with the daily struggle of obedience. That is why The Sacrament is a weekly event. Have my past sins been forgiven? Yes. My future ones? Only if I repent of them, or don't make them.
This goes back to the 'second death' and being redeemed from the fall and from sin. Obedience to the law of repentance is Jesus' condition for this.

'Have I been saved?' meaning have I done all that Jesus requires of me to enter the Kingdom of God in this life and the one after the resurection? Yes.
This goes to the 'first death' or the seperation of the body and spirit. By the grace of god all recieve this gift who meet the condition. Which condition is to rcieve a physical body.

Should this difference in vocabulary be emphasized more? Perhaps.

XP vs Linux

My desktop computer's motherboard died 18 months ago.
My laptop has been running XP, but is too old in hardware to migrate to a newer version of Microsoft Virus OS.
So I am considering making the jump to Linux for my old hardware.
Money has been a chief consideration for the last years. Thanks to my being chronically underemployed i have not had the spare change to replace or upgrade my computers.

All my written documents are in .doc format, having resisted making the switch to the .docx. I have been paying with SketchUp, since my laptop can not run Maya. I have been playing with AutoCAD some. I have a bunch of stuff that i play with in Photoshop.

I understand that there is a comparable office suite, image manipulation program, and internet and email setup available. Autodesk has had a good relationship to Linux, so those programs are not a great hassle.

The problem is still money vs. license availability, for some of these programs.
Of course if somebody out there thought I was worth employing, my money issues might be a little different.

Either way, I am giving Linux a try.

Familiarity vs Proficency

Being familiar with a piece of technology means you can do with it what it was designed to do.

Being proficient with a piece of technology means you can do what it is capable of, beyond what it was designed to do.

Where do I go from here?

I have been having the feeling that I need to use my websites better than I have. but I don't really have a clear idea how. I have clues. I have observed how my sister and others use their Facebook. I have read Breitbart's book where he mentions using social media. I have seen other books on the subject and, receive annoying mails and notices about using my sites, which I have left fallow for some years.
I am an introvert, and a bit of a Luddite. I value my privacy and because of my experiences growing up am loath to show my work to others who I do not trust to appreciate it.
I have been un- and underemployed for the last three years. I do not see any jobs available that I am qualified for; some that I am overqualified for, most that I am under qualified for. People who generally fall into two categories: those willing but unable to help, who would like to be of service, but have no extra means at hand to do so; those who are able to help but unwilling, who are not willing to put themselves into a position of attracting government attention by helping others that they might otherwise be willing to assist and employ.
So how do I create employment for myself?
I've never been able to figure this out, and never recognized anyone trying to instruct me in this.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IS JUST SAYING "NO" TO THE DESOLATION OF OBAMA-NATION.

I will not sign up for Obama-care.
I did not Vote for Obama-nation.
This is not the change I hoped for.

I have been under-employed for two years, and unemployed for a year before that.
I do not have any current hope of faith in finding a job in this economy.

Square Deal, New Deal, Great Society, Raw Deal, Big Con

In the 1900’s Teddy Roosevelt started to give us a Square Deal.

In the 1930’s his cousin Freddy Roosevelt gave us the New Deal.

In the 1960’s Teddy Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson gave us the Great Society.

In the 1990’s Billy Clinton gave us the Raw Deal.

Now, in the 2010’s Barry Obama is giving us the Big Con.

How's the Hope'y Change'y thingy going for you?

There are those who say the current cultural and economic circumstances are a result of the current President’s incompetence, and the running rampant of his unbridled minions.

I don’t think so.

I believe the current President is deliberately working to sabotage the economy and political culture of the United States of America. And the Progressives in BOTH political parties are supporting him in doing so from wherever they are employed; be it in elected, appointed or bureaucratic government office, or in the private sector.

Their basic tactics: overwhelm the system and their political opponents by:

-          SPENDING: by government and otherwise, and in so doing, create the ‘too big to fail’ idea, requiring that the government step in and insure the stability of these organizations.

o       I submit this is why there has not been a Federal Budget submitted in any of the years of the Obama Presidency. Were the Budget submitted, then critics would have a measuring stick to gauge the spending against. With the raft of Continuing Resolutions, that measuring stick is not usable.

-          TAXES: confiscate and redistribute all wealth. As the government is the source and arbitrator of wealth and value, it cannot allow anyone to collect any wealth, and instead must collect all of it, and then redistribute it according to what the government decides is needful.

o       This is an application to the extreme of Morton’s Fork. — “A person who lives in luxury and has clearly spent a lot of money must obviously have sufficient income to pay as tax. Alternatively, a person who lives frugally and shows no sign of being wealthy must have substantial savings and can therefore afford to pay it as tax.” Named after John Morton, Tax Collector for King Henry VII of England.

-          ENTITLEMENTS: create government programs to distribute money, to create dependency. Then tell the recipients that they are entitled to this money. Then whenever anyone suggests that this program be modified in any way to reduce or eliminate the funding and program, scream about how that person is heartless and wants to hurt the dependents. As well create a shadow level of dependents, in the bureaucracy, who skim off their share of the money laundered through the system, as it travels from the taxed producers to the recipient dependents.

o       Continue to create new mandates and entitlements until every aspect of the economy is permeated by government influence.

-          DEBT: Run the system so deeply into the debt that it cannot rationally meet its obligations in any feasible situation while maintaining the level of spending and entitlements.

This is done with the expectation that the capitalist system will collapse under this burden. The people will then clamor for the government to save them and provide for them. But this is based on a few false preconceptions:

False conception 1: Judeo-Christian values are obsolete and oppressive.

False conception 2: Free Market Capitalism is immoral and unethical and therefore should be destroyed.

False conception 3: When a business collapses, a conservative will go crying to the government for help and relief.

1: Judeo-Christian values are timeless and based in truth, and when lived and practiced, ennoble and elevate all men and women in equity and justice.

-          The problem is not the values: the problem is not living completely by them.

2: Free Market Capitalism is moral in its foundation, and is the best method for allowing all men and women to provide for themselves and their families, and have extra to save for emergencies, and use to help their neighbors.

-          The problem is not the system: the problem is the immorality of the few who abuse it.

3: Conservatives response to a business collapse is they get back to work and rebuild. Their only cry to the government is to get out of the way.

Moral men and women will practice that morality in their religion, in their economics, and in their personal interactions.

The problem is not the system, or the values, but in the men who refuse to abide them.

I believe the current President refuses to abide these, and is deliberately surrounding himself, and installing into the system, people of similar stripe and allying with those already in place to destroy the American Economy and political system, to replace it with some form of totalitarian regime, with themselves at its head.

Question is, can these potentially treasonous people be removed by anything short of force of arms?

Can we erect a gallows on the National Mall, and use it to put these treasonous Progressives on permanent display?

Can we get an adult in charge please?

First:

The current international goings on are being handled by the current presidency in the same way that the domestic stuff is:

He calls for his preferred deliberative body to agree with him. When they don’t agree with him, he goes around them pronouncing them useless, and expands his unconstitutional imperial power.

Second:

The president said things that have now backed him into a corner. So he must act in a way he does not want to.

Personally I think it is time some adults stood up and told this spoiled little boy to go sit in a corner while adults clean up the mess he has made.

Problem is he has surrounded himself with yes-men and juveniles of like minded ideology.

Third:

I hear people on some radio shows talking about this being the end of days. But I think they miss two points.

a) The two witnesses in Jerusalem, as in Revelation and Isaiah. They are not yet in place, or the world would know about it. In tangent, admittedly the battle of Megiddo is not happening yet, either. Until they show up the world is on at least a three and a half year plus clock.

b) The gospel preached to all nations. There are some nations now where it is illegal to preach anything but the gospel of Muhammad.

The fulfillment of this one may be accounted for in a historic manor or here and now. But this depends on the answer to two questions:

-Is priesthood authority necessary to perform the ordinances of salvation?

-Where is it/who has it?

This is structured thus:

Q1 – “no” –go to Protestants.

“Yes” feed forward to Q2.

Q2 – “Maintained in the church for the last near 2000 years” – go to catholic, or orthodox of whatever stripe.

“Lost by historic church, need restoration from heaven.” – go to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

God is not the author of confusion, therefore the myriad of churches claiming to be his one true church cannot be by God’s doing, but by man or the devil.

So fulfillment of ‘all nations’: if historic, then the requirements for many of the now Islamic nations was met by the church in the centuries before Islam rose to prominence.

If current fulfillment, then there are many nations that need to allow the gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached in their nations.

In short there are many years yet to go. The sky is not falling yet, but 'Noah is building that ark, so watch out for rain.'

Forth:

It appears to me that according to the current ideology in the government 100% employment will be when everyone receives a government check.