Here is a beautiful arrangement of an English carol that dates from the 16th century. Listen. I promise you’ll feel better when you do. Lyrics follow.
Good people all, this Christmastime,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done,
In sending His belovèd Son.
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day;
In Bethlehem upon the morn
There was a blest Messiah born.
Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep;
To whom God’s angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear.
“Prepare and go”, the angels said,
“To Bethlehem, be not afraid;
For there you’ll find, this happy morn,
A princely Babe, sweet Jesus born.”
I listened to the whole thing in one day (it’s 3 1/2 hours long). It’s downloadable by the way. I laugh out loud and cry every time I read or hear this book read. It’s an undeniable classic.
At a prison worship service today, I heard an inmate sing “What Child Is This?” Not a performance by a trained artist but sung from the heart, if not from an even deeper place. And yes, it was on key too. An act of pure worship by one of the most serene men I know.
This inmate spent nearly 20 years “in the hole” (solitary confinement), but now he’s a man of presence and peace. He’s redeemed. An expert of the soul. And he’s about to be released prison. I cherish the performance I witnessed today.
Here’s another beautiful performance of the song, followed by lyrics.
What Child is this, who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap, is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!
Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come peasant king to own Him,
The King of kings, salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise the song on high,
The Virgin sings her lullaby:
Joy, joy, for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!
In the Last Days is a basic guide for newcomers to the topic of the Second Coming of Christ, those who want to look at a wide variety of scriptural passages that also cast light on the Last Days, the Millennium, and the end of the world. Students of the Second Coming won’t find anything sensational, highly speculative, or particularly new or groundbreaking in this book, but rather a simple, scriptural foundation for the doctrine surrounding this sacred season.
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From the book description: “This book provides step-by-step instructions on how to write, edit, publish, and promote your book—from overcoming writer’s block to sharing your book on social media. (This book does not assert that you can create and publish a book in 24 contiguous hours, but rather in 24 elapsed hours.)”
If you’re watching the signs of the times, here’s one that’s pretty evident:
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (Matthew 24:12.)
There’s little more iniquity as cold hearted than what I am about to share, a signal that modern civilization is in jeopardy.
This isn’t a topic I want to talk about. It’s so perverse and sickening that I get physically and mentally messed up just thinking about it. It’s hard to imagine crimes worse than these, but in the near future, they will be spoken from the housetops, and we’ll likely be very surprised when we discover the perpetrators.
I am talking about human trafficking, especially child sex trafficking. Although illegal, human slavery is the worst it has ever been in terms of numbers of victims. It’s one of the great blights on our nation and the world.
According to a recent report by Time, human trafficking brings in $150 billion worldwide annually, two-thirds of which is tied to sex trafficking, with profits of $21,800 per victim sold into sex slavery, the highest of any form of exploitation.
The worst states in the US for human trafficking are California, Texas, and Florida—two of which are border states.
The statistics are staggering. It’s hard to think about the unbearable human suffering they represent, especially the suffering of innocents. It’s time to face it. This horrible crime is growing.
Okay, now for the hard part. I’ll do this in the form of questions. I’ll let you do your own research. The answers are very controversial which will distract from the message. You may be surprised by what you find with a few Google searches.
Given the profit per victim ($21,800), who can actually afford to “purchase” a sex slave?
Why are more and more sex crimes in the entertainment industry coming to light?
Why do California and Texas account for the largest arrests for trafficking in the United States? Think logically.
How could trafficking reach such an astounding rate? Who in the higher spheres of influence has the power to change this? Who has been turning a blind eye to it?
Why are the numbers of human trafficking arrests rising in the United States over the last two years?
What bill was signed into law in late 2017 that helps bring down human trafficking perpetrators?
There are those who would like to make this go away. Some media outlets don’t give it fair airtime because, well, you decide.
How can you help? You can get involved with or consider a monthly contribution to organizations like Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.) or India-based Prajwala. We can all take action, with a simple, daily prayer, or dedicating time to learning more about it, or making others aware of what is going on in our communities. It’s time to wake from the sleep of hell. We can all find ways to speak up and make a difference.
Learn more by watching The Abolitionists or Operation Toussaint. For a shorter introduction, watch Tim Ballard, founder of O.U.R. in this Talk at Google.
You wring mind and heart
Today, October 6 and tomorrow, October 7, 2018, you can download for free the Kindle version of 
If you’ve been wondering if the law of attraction is real, or if the ideas presented by secular teachers of this law have any relevance or foundation in the scriptures, The Law of Attraction and the Scriptures is for you. The book takes a simple approach of the law of attraction (also called the law of the harvest or the Royal Law), relying on the standard works accepted by Latter-day Saints—The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price—to illuminate its meaning.
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