"There is a war going on for your mind
Media mavens mount surgical strikes
From trapper keeper collages and online magazine racks
Covergirl cutouts throw up pop-up ads
Infecting victims with silicone shrapnel
Worldwide passenger pigeons deploy paratroopers
Now it's raining pornography, lovers take shelter
Post-production debutantes pursue you in NASCAR chariots
They construct ransom letters from biblical passages
And bleed mascara into the holy water supplies
There is a war going on for your mind
Industry insiders slang test tube babies to corporate crackheads
They flash logos and blast ghettos
Their embroidered neckties say "Stop snitching"
Conscious rappers and whistleblowers get stitches
Made of acupuncture needles and marionette strings
There is a war going on for your mind
Professional wrestlers and Vice Presidents want you to believe them
The desert sky is their blue screen, they superimpose explosions
They shout at you:
PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MEN BEHIND THE BARBED CURTAIN
Nor the craters beneath the draped flags
Those hoods are there for your protection
And the meteors these days are the size of corpses
There is a war going on for your mind"
I can't stand rap or artists that produce a lot of profanity in their music, but the above lyrics are one song from the Flobots that I actually like, because it tries to expose the voices out there constantly clamoring for your our attention. There's another one like it by Switchfoot called Selling The News.
I start this blog this way because there is, indeed so many influences, racing for your loyalty with a drunken and reckless haste. In the end of this, I'll be offering a way to perpetually escape their influence. In today's world, corporate giants, pundits, news personalities, advertisers, social media stars, life coaches, energy workers, athletes, movie and pop stars and others like them are going to extreme and deceptive lengths to either lull or shock you into mindless submission to their messages, and often because they themselves are also "marionettes" to these individuals.
Many throughout the world, however, are beginning to recognize their true intent in slightly greater numbers than before. My recent observations have shown me that the pendulum has begun to swing, globally, back towards Christian values, honesty and integrity. Many are beginning to recognize the drastic and dismal state of the world and realize how badly we need a return to the simple, the divine and the holy, but many have either totally or nearly lost hope in the possibility of a force persuasive enough to silence the noise long enough to create the peace and stillness needed to guide human souls back to the perfect joy and peace of Christ. One evidence of this was related by David A. Bednar.
"During a recent open house and media day for a new house of the Lord, I led a group of journalists on a tour through the sacred structure. I described the purposes of temples in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and responded to their many excellent questions.
Before entering the celestial room, I explained that this particular room in the house of the Lord symbolically represents the peace and beauty of the heavenly home to which we can return after this life. I indicated to our guests that we would not speak while in the celestial room, but I would be happy to answer any questions after we moved to the next stop on the tour.
After exiting the celestial room and as we gathered at the next location, I asked our guests if they had any observations they wanted to share. One of the journalists said with great emotion, “I have never experienced anything like that in my entire life. I did not know quiet like that existed in the world; I simply did not believe such stillness was possible.”
I was struck by both the sincerity and the starkness of this person’s statement. And the journalist’s reaction highlighted one important aspect of stillness—overcoming and tuning out the commotion of our external environment."
This recognition was a healthy one, but we still have a long way to go.
To anyone who reading this who feels depressed, stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, confused, annoyed, oppressed, scared, resigned, hopeless, distracted, useless or any other negative effect of plain and simply being too bombarded by the voices of the world, pay attention! There are voices remaining in the world that serve as a direct channel from God to carry His perfect peace, calm, confidence and joy to your heart, even if you are not sure about Him or your relationship with Him. To those who are in this category, who want more of the presence and influence of God (and even just more peace) in your life and unsure how to get it, there are plenty of people out there who understand what you are feeling. Thankfully, God has given us voices of His servants, the prophets to show us exactly how to have that.
I recently saw someone comment on a political page that claimed to be published by a Christian source, claiming we "don't need prophets" anymore. And there are a lot of voices like that who think that God's prophets aren't the answer. To them or anyone else reading this, I implore you to consider the following from Anthony D. Perkins in Feb 2022. He mentioned a few verses in the Book of Mormon that deal with this subject matter in a devotional that year at Ensign College. Quoting Helaman 13, he read,
"25And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out.
26 Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth, if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil.
27 But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet.
28 Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him."
He expounded on these verses saying:
"Samuel's words not only describe the Nephite days, but ours, in which the teachings of living prophets and apostles are mocked or disregarded. The mocking voices say 'the First Presidency and the 12 Apostles are too old, too distant from what is happening in the world, and the commandments they teach are too strict and outdated.' The disregarding voices even come from those who claim to be more active members of the church. They view prophetic teachings as a cafeteria or a buffet. They want to pick and choose what they think is right to follow and to disregard what they think is incorrect, both in temporal and in spiritual matters. When selective obedience is fashionable, how can your spiritual foundations stay firm? You can believe the prophets, then follow them."
I've heard a lot of people these days who, at the mere mention of the word "prophet" think that kind of stuff is all a bunch of foo-foo craziness. I would respond that the real craziness is what is happening with what the rest of the world is trying to accomplish, and miserably failing, without heeding God's prophets. As we have been taught by Ezra Taft Benson (summarized in this talk), prophets:
“will never lead the Church astray... [are] not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time... tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know... is not limited by men’s reasoning... can receive revelation on any matter—temporal or spiritual... and will not necessarily be popular with the world or the worldly.”
But we need their voices more than ever now. Their voices are the real conduits of God's mind, peace, joy and stability in our lives. To begin to wrap this up, this is a portion of a BYU Speech from Hugh B. Brown, "Profile of a Prophet" from October 1955 (surprising how timely it still is):
"I suggested [to an English gentleman, a member of the House of Commons] that we proceed at once and have an examination for discovery, which is, briefly, a meeting of the opposing sides in a lawsuit where the plaintiff and defendant, with their attorneys, meet to examine each other’s claims and see if they can find some area of agreement, thus saving the time of the court later on.
I said perhaps we could see whether we had some common ground from which we could discuss my “fantastic ideas.” He agreed to that quite readily.
I can only give you, in the few minutes at my disposal, a condensed and abbreviated synopsis of the three-hour conversation that followed. In the interest of time I shall resort to the question-and-answer method, rather than narration.
I began by asking, “May I proceed, sir, on the assumption that you are a Christian?”
“I am.”
“I assume you believe in the Bible—the Old and New Testaments?”
“I do!”
“Do you believe in prayer?”
“I do!”
“You say that my belief that God spoke to a man in this age is fantastic and absurd?”
“To me it is.”
“Do you believe that God ever did speak to anyone?"
“Certainly, all through the Bible we have evidence of that.”
“Did He speak to Adam?”
“Yes."
“To Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Joseph, and on through the prophets?”
“I believe He spoke to each of them.”
“Do you believe that contact between God and man ceased when Jesus appeared on the earth?”
“No, such communication reached its climax, its apex, at that time.”
“Do you believe that Jesus was the Son of God?”
“He was.”
“Do you believe, sir, that after Jesus was resurrected, a certain lawyer—who was also a tentmaker by the name of Saul of Tarsus—when on his way to Damascus talked with Jesus of Nazareth, who had been crucified, resurrected, and had ascended into heaven?”
“I do.”
“Whose voice did Saul hear?”
“It was the voice of Jesus Christ, for He so introduced Himself.”
“Then, my Lord—that is the way we address judges in the British Commonwealth—I am submitting to you in all seriousness that it was standard procedure in Bible times for God to talk to man.”
“I think I will admit that, but it stopped shortly after the first century of the Christian era.”
“Why do you think it stopped?”
“I can’t say.”
“You think that God hasn’t spoken since then?”
“I am sure He hasn’t.”
“There must be a reason. Can you give me a reason?”
“I do not know.”
“May I suggest some possible reasons? Perhaps God does not speak to man anymore because He cannot. He has lost the power.”
He said, “Of course that would be blasphemous.”
“Well, then, if you don’t accept that, perhaps He doesn’t speak to men because He doesn’t love us anymore and He is no longer interested in the affairs of men.”
“No,” he said, “God loves all men, and He is no respecter of persons.”
“Well, then, if He could speak, and if He loves us, then the only other possible answer, as I see it, is that we don’t need Him. We have made such rapid strides in science and we are so well educated that we don’t need God anymore.”
And then he said—and his voice trembled as he thought of impending war—“Mr. Brown, there never was a time in the history of the world when the voice of God was needed as it is needed now. Perhaps you can tell me why He doesn’t speak.”
My answer was: “He does speak, He has spoken; but men need faith to hear Him.”"
My friends, if you want a voice of stability and peace in a world that is more harried and disturbed than ever before, listen to and study the voice of the prophets. <---Please click that link and begin today if your haven't already!
