By Rod Johnson

Rodric believes Moroni included special instruction for Modern times and wants to share his unique perspective the same way Moroni shared in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

Songs of the Righteous

A Prayer Unto Me (Jesus)
Emma Smith

During the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Lord Jesus Christ himself revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. that music is to be a part of Latter-day Saint culture, praise and worship.
In Doctrine and Covenants Section 25, the Lord reveals to Emma Smith, Joseph's wife, that it is her duty to put together a book of songs for the Saints of Zion to sing praises unto Him. Jesus instructs
A revelation I give unto you concerning my will... it shall be given thee... to make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is (verse 2)
pleasing unto me, to be had in my church. For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.

Is God Jealous of Maria Carey?

thatgrapejuice.net
Mariah Carey
God is not jealous of pop singers and celebrities. What. He is jealous of is his people whoring after other gods.
Now, you say, what are you talking about Rod. I listen to Praise Sirrius FM! Well, then I am not talking to you!
If 50 Cent is all we listen to--not the piece, but the rapper--we worship that.
The thing that we enjoy doing the most is that which we do all the time. We live in a world that increasingly tells us to focus on our own desires and wants above others.
Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975)
Source: www.fanpop.com
Government gives rights instead of them being natural rights given from deity. A crude sexual act that rhymes with luck is the new freedom of speech now instead of free expression of political choice.
Many preach that God does not care what religion we make up and force God into a box because all is free and love and blah!
A gansta rapper can attribute all his success to the glories of God, you know, that old spiritual Bleep the po-lice!! playing in the background while we are praying to our glorious God through the spirits in a bottle!
I remember when all of the good songs were about God. Songs still are about a god though. Sex is the god of this world now. The most sacred sacrament of mankind is now the most broadcasted act on the planet in music.
Listening to the radio is risky now because by the time it is turned off I have just listened to and viewed graphic pornography! My senses are stimulated and my mind is full of images that would make a good person cringe!
I get to bring sexy back and blame it on the alcohol! I cannot even screw in a bulb to a socket now without there being another meaning to screw!
We live in a world that glorifies another three letter word besides God and a world that teaches us to worship ourselves--our appetites and desires. If it is not sex, it is drugs, food and even exercise that we worship--not individually but collectively.
Source: www.cosmopolitan.co.uk

albuquerquepersonaltrainers.com

Being in shape now means being sexy! I have to show off some skin to show I am healthy. Why should I hide my eight pack and my lean muscles or my tiny waist and my firm bosom.
This is what I hear kids going about singing. This is what the young parents find cute when the three-year-old starts to employ the God-given need to sing! We justify it by saying no harm is being done, but harm is being done!
It is all music too. I have heard songs about being in love with God. Excuse me? Just because God is in a song does not mean it is a gospel song!
How inappropriate that gospel singers are becoming more secular. You cannot even tell the difference between gospel music and secular music anymore!
It is not just the words that give off the bad vibes, it is the beat, tempo and instruments. I am sorry, you cannot get your praise on to erotic music just because the singers say the name of the Savior!
I hear there is porn music! I am not sure about this one, but there is certain music that is specifically made just for porn! I wouldn't know it if I heard it because I avoid porn, but to know that I might listen to it by mistake sickens me.
How foolish I would feel rolling down the avenue with my kids in the care listening to porn music and being unaware!
No, God is not jealous of Mariah Carey, but the new god of music is named SEX.
Music is the way that humanity uses to express itself. There are many forms of this expression, but God calls it a prayer when the righteous make songs. If someone were to take your iPod right now and listen to the songs listed there, would you be convicted of being a Christian, a righteous person based on the songs that played?
I love boyzIIMen, but I'll Make Love to You is not the type of worship song that I want my kids to hear me listening to on the iPod. Such songs are for my spouse in private situations. I kissed a Girl, and I like it is also a song that I would not want people seeing on my iPod--again for my wife, and I more than liked kissing her!
Music has the ability to bring emotions out of us that incites hatred, passion, love, devotion, peace and any other emotion.
We are musical beings by nature. Even if we do not like popular music, the rhythmic sounds of nature or just the heartbeat brings satisfaction to some. Rhythm makes us live, the very lifeblood of our body has a beat!
The man or woman that cannot hold a tune or step in time to a song still has an awkward song or dance in the mind--the very elements of the body that testify of our melodious heritage.

          Luciano Pavarotti (Tenor)

orn: October 12, 1935, Modena, Italy Died: September 6, 2007, Modena, Italy
born: October 12, 1935, Modena, Italy Died: September 6, 2007, Modena, Italy
Source: www.scena.org

              Plácido Domingo (Tenor)

Born: January 21, 1941 (age 72), Retiro
Born: January 21, 1941 (age 72), Retiro
Source: www.laopera.com 

                   José Carreras (Tenor)

Born: December 5, 1946 (age 66), Barcelona, Spain
Born: December 5, 1946 (age 66), Barcelona, Spain
Source: atodazarzuela.blogspot.com
 

               Ne-Yo (Pop Star)

.fanpop.com
We do not have to sound like one of the Three Tenors, or croon as well as Ne-Yo to sing songs.
Granted, others might enjoy the songs of our hearts if we do sound like those talented people, but the point is we all have songs in our hearts
By what songs we listen to the most helps us to know whom and what we worship.

Make a Joyful Noise!

I am sure that when the translators of the Bible reached Psalms they did not intend for the songs to actually be unorganized noise.
Some of us sound like that even if we are trying not to sound that way. For personal singing, it is okay to sound horrible. I mean it.
We should be able to sound as horrific as we can when singing to God personally because he likes our righteous desires and he is listening to the desire more than the music.
Oh, my Mahalia though! Do not presume to sing a song about God as an expression of talent and expect me to like it!
If you sing a gospel song at a talent show, and you sound like hell instead of heaven, I will not be damned in the literal sense of the word! I will tell you.
Don't ask me if you sounded good because I will not go to hell for lying!
If we are at church, and you are singing a song of praise, I still want it to sound good, but I can handle it being a song for instruction--an expression of faith! I cannot disrespect the noise in that case. As a former choir director for my congregation, it is not about putting on a show in sacrament meeting but participating in worship music to help bring the spirit. I believe the sound must be good, but I also believe as long as you want to sing, come.
If you sound bad while singing, I will have you sing the melody. If that doesn't work I just tell the other singers to sing loudly and you to sing softly. I think everyone should sing.
If it is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir though, don't bother trying. We have Ward and Stake choirs to help edify the saints. When it comes to church choirs like the Mississippi Mass Choir or the ilk, you must come correctly!
No bad singers representing the church to the world! Sorry. I do not want to hear a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by a choir that sounds bad!
I digress. The fact that we are able to make a joyful noise is fine. Personally I don't want to hear the bad sounds, but God allows all of us to sing from the heart whether we sound like heaven or not.
I just let my sinful nature ring true in the words above. I do not like bad singing, but I love smiling faces of kids that sound loud and bad but look happy. I love to see adults open up and belt out a song that crushes my ears in relentless horror, but warms my heart in joy.
I said I like to see it--see being the operative word. God likes to hear it though.
Home for the Holidays
Home for the Holidays
Amazon Price: $10.44
List Price: $18.98
Amazon Price: $9.10
List Price: $13.98


Listen to Wholesome Music

Songs about family, pure love, happiness and God bring peaceful and loving feelings to our heart. I have never heard of a bank hyst group listening to hymns to help prepare for the psychological impact of committing a crime. Hard rock or acid can help set the mood for that.
Every song does not have to be a hymn, but music is not a light thing. It is a powerful influence for good and bad. Think about the music you enjoy and adjust it to help you draw closer to God.
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Race and the Priesthood Link On LDS.org!

Race and the Priesthood:

At the link above you will find a historic article on the official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding its policy of diversity presently and its disavowal of all the racist teachings about Blacks of African descent. 

 It has come much later than many have wanted, but acknowledgement that Blacks are not curse or the representation of Satan on the Earth is  big step in the right directions.

 Stated in the closing remarks of the long awaited article:
Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form. Race and the Priesthood:
The church generally has always taught that all people are equal before the Lord; however, the members of the church have interpreted what constitutes equality differently and from a majority point of view--White point of view.

 An entire culture exists because of the racism of White Europeans in America. This token of solidarity for Black Mormons is but a small gift of peace of mind to true believers in the restored Gospel--a welcomed gift nonetheless! 

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That's the Purpose of a Gun!


Guns Don't Kill, People do?

Both do! I understand the need for people to say that slogan as it were, so that many may feel justified in denying a huge problem that we have in this country!
I am all for my Constitutional rights, but knowing my rights and upholding them still does not solve the problem that we have today--almost like a disease of people killing people using guns as the weapon of choice.
The minority communities which many are indigent and have property listed in another person's name, suffer the most from this disease. Gun play occurs so often that municipalities are not aware of it anymore!
I say this because it seems society has become numb to the fact that thousands of people die from gun play with no police closure on investigations around the nation. A killing in the projects is no more noticeable than a blink of the eye.

The gun play goes unnoticed until it spills into the contained and supposedly safe communities. I live in one of those communities and I do not feel safe anymore. Will the day come that the suburbs will also be no more than a blink of the eye with gun violence?
We need to stop it at its source, but no one has decided to put the concerted effort into doing it. If it were so, there would be all out war in the streets with criminals!
To really get the drugs and guns off the street which are illegal, we would have to start a civil war with the bad guys. Unfortunately some of the bad guys have power and prestige in society. The minorities that kill each other are just foot-soldiers. What are we to do?

Instrument of Death

People claim that guns do not kill people. What purpose does any gun have that is semi-automatic? What other purpose are guns made for than to destroy lives? Those guns are not used to hunt!

During the time that the Constitution was written, it was common for a man to hunt for his food and there existed no regularly organized police. The only way a man could protect his family was to do so with a gun.
Since that time society has evolved, but the law has not caught up with it. What purpose does having a gun serve?
The people have lost its freedom to the federal government already. Citizens cannot speak against our government or change it if they think there is a need. Even with their arms they are powerless to make changes.
On paper Americans are free, but in life they are restricted by the laws of local, state and federal government. They elected the people in office who impose many laws on them.
They then vote them into office term after term as their rights are eroded. Guns are just the next issue that will be taken from the lawful, while the unlawful, who will menace society.
Disarm the unlawful first and then have a conversation with citizens regarding the type of guns the average citizen should have. Arm the lawful! Disarm the unlawful. Obama and gun owners will be at odds if legislation is proposed and passed to disarm the lawful.
President Obama needs to support a state-led effort to rid criminal activity from the government and imprison the criminals first. Guns in the hands of criminals are more important to rid than guns in the hands of law abiding citizens. Just because a nutcase shoots up a school does not mean Americans should give up their guns.a ed
It is a horrible tragedy what happened in Newtown, Columbine and other places; however, free ownership of a gun is a necessary risk in comparison when protecting against the criminals who will still posses these ill-begotten guns. The government is doing little to disarm the criminals. In fact, it may be true that criminals influence government officials!
Americans need to protect themselves! Citizens should be allowed to choose the types of guns they want to protect themselves.
Why would fear be placed against gun owners who have permits when there are so many out in society who have no documentation? When did the good guys become bad?
Society views gun possession backwards. Supporting the passage of laws that limit the lawfulAmerican to own guns may prove the further undoing of American freedom.

And the Truth shall free set you Free! It will not control your Gun!















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