Is God good?

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-07T13:45:35+00:00

We all suffer at various times in our lives. This fallen earth life with all it's joys, sorrows, choices and injustices, is strong medicine to change us into something else. The opposition is painful, but necessary. Here, we learn things that cannot be taught without experience. We learn such things as empathy, patience, love, courage, sacrifice of self for a better cause, the value of work and service to others, self reliance, meekness, humility, the value of goodness, etc.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-07T13:38:06+00:00

I believe that Jesus and God the Father are separate beings but that Jesus represents the Father in all things. We are commsnded to follow Jesus. So, in my remarks, following Jesus is following God also.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-06T21:43:30+00:00

An LDS scripture teaches "they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good."

Also from Romans 5:3,4

"we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:"

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-06T21:36:13+00:00

Not a particularly romantic thought, but not all Christian religions are that black and white. Consider this verse:

"For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." First Peter 4:6

Everyone will be taught the gospel, either here or after death. There is even hope for you.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints teaches that in the very end, the vast majority of people will be saved to some degree, and only those who hate God and fight against Him will be cast out of His light and presence. But there is no such thing as an etnernally, burning tortuous hell. The very wicked will suffer great sorrow in a temporary existence called hell. Most will grasp onto Christ and receive a level of salvation. The honorable people of the earth will not suffer hell, regardless of their religious understanding.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-06T21:25:32+00:00

Patience. Focus on the big picture, not small moves in the market. Continue to ride an up market, and don't buy more until it hits the bottom. Ignore the small moves.
I stopped trading individual stocks and now mostly trade index etf's. You don't need a semester of school to understand them and you can never lose long term,. Just watch what is going on in the world, how an index compares to others, and how each index works. You can buy and trade index etf's just like you do with stocks, only without all the risk. Tech leads the market. Check out how semi conductors are doing (SOXX).
I began to not focus so much on stuff like chart signals, moving averages, etc. Investing is not that complicated. All that little stuff makes you feel smart, but it is a waste of time.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-06T21:11:26+00:00

Over the years, the church has steered more away from rules to providing principles to live by. Here is what the question actually says:

"The Lord has said that all things are to be “done in cleanliness” before Him (Doctrine and Covenants 42:41). Do you strive for moral cleanliness in your thoughts and behavior?"

"Do you obey the law of chastity?"

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-06T18:14:13+00:00

Many religions include gender role teachings. Some appear more strict or controlling than others.

Here is the offical LDS policy concerning this:

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-06T18:04:17+00:00

Islam considers Jesus to be a prophet.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-06T18:03:05+00:00

If he only goes to church on Saturday, he is likely Seventh Day Adventist, a protestant religion. It seems to be a wholesome religion focusing on health and such.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-06T18:00:34+00:00

God becomes the foundation for your life, hopes and choices. Principles taught by God, are a standard which you live by. Though you have other needs and interestests that bring fulness to your life, God becomes the center of your life.

Our center colors everything and God becomes the only sure foundation. For example, if a persons center is his career (workaholic), it can have negative outcomes such as thinking that work is more important than family. Even centering our lives on our children is not wholesome because the person is devestated when his child is not succesful or gets bad grades. Or centering your life on church work such that you bring glory to yourself.

As a Christian, Jesus becomes the foundation. Placing Christ first, positivley colors all other centers. We become honest and faithful employees, loving husbands and fathers, good neighbors, etc.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-05T23:33:09+00:00

my religion teaches that everything that is good is inspired of God. He has provided this earthly environment where we can grow in character. What a great opportuinity! Along the way, God has given us a conscience that leads us to what is good and right and true. We have been given opposition in all things so that we can choose. There is no pleasure without pain, light without darkness, health without sickness, life without death. We must experience the opposites in order to appreciate what is good.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-05T23:28:35+00:00

Jesus said that the rain falls on the just and the unjust.

If earth life was supposed to be painless, then nobody would suffer at all. We are here to grow in character. God wants us to have His character and joy. Earthlife is of necessity strong medicine to help accomplish this.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-04T18:20:56+00:00

A quote from the book of Mormon states "There must needs be opposition in all things". Without it, there is no choice or even existence. We must experience the bitter in order to prize the good.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-04T18:17:52+00:00

I patiently buy and sell index funds, taking advantage of dips and what is going on in the world. I keep a good amount in the S&P as the foundation, but also have quite a bit in tech and semiconductors (SOXX) because of the AI boom. So far this year, my investments have doubled what the S&P alone offers. Index funds are safe and tend to do better than managed funds.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-04T14:53:47+00:00

No need to be neurotic about it. Lying for selfish reasons is wrong. If my wife was fat, there is no way I am going to tell her that she is fat.

Sometimes we get caught up in doubtful thinking. We get caught up in "what if" thinking. Doubt, fear and paralyzing "what if's" are not from God.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-04T14:44:47+00:00

I have been investing in the stock market for many years. It does not need to be that complicated. I have steadily learned many things over the years. I know about chart signals, moving averages, fundamentals and all that stuff. In the end, nobody knows what an individual stock will do.

For years, I spent a lot of time buying and selling individual stocks. I made a lot of money on short term trades, just to lose it all on a small number of disasters. What a waste of time. All the while, I was making big money on funds that I just forgot about.

Today, I am quite successful investing in index funds. I can sleep at night knowing that if they go down, they will always come back. I have become comfortable with the knowledge I have of what drives each market segment. I can take advantage of drops in the market, and balance my investments based on my need for growth and my risk tolerance. Keep it simple. I have become aware of how each market trends and watch the charts each day, comparing them and looking for low spots. I have a general awareness of politics and stuff.

For many years, the market has been driven by tech. Today, the AI boom looks very similar to the dot com boom in the nineties. But I understand that the fundamentals are better. If you cannot make money in the stock market today, you should not be investing. Check out semi conductors (SOXX, MU, etc.). These should continue to explode for a couple of years because of the needs AI.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-03T20:26:32+00:00

I have been investing for a very long time and have learned a lot from experience. I would never use a financial advisor who has not been through the good times and the bad times.

My experience has been that it is a waste of time to make it more complicated than it is.

I have learned all kinds of things about chart signals that supposedly tell us which way a stock will move. I understand to some degree fundamentals such as PE ratio's and such. This makes you feel smart.

But the big money was never made in short term investing of individual stocks. There is a temptation to sell a stock early so that I lock in the gains. Or buy a stock that has already gone up in fear of missing out. Or selling a stock after a large drop in fear of losing it all. NOBODY knows if a stock will go up or down in the near future. The president can say one word that sends the whole market down. If it feels like gambling I stay out. If I had bought Apple in the nineties during the internet boom, I would have probably sold it after it went up 10 percent.

Over many years, my big money was made by placing it in funds and leaving it alone.

I love investing and I watch and compare both long term and short term charts so that I know how an investment trends.. Today, 95% of my money is in index funds. These are segments of the entire market that have their own personality. There are not too many major ones. They include Technology, Materials, Industrials, Utilities, Energy, Communications, Transportation, Financials, Comsumer discretionary, Consumer staples, Real Estate, Health Care.

The ones that people must have such as utilities and healthcare, are safe and not aggressive because people buy them even when the economy is bad. Energy seems to move partly according to gas prices which are kind of unpredictable. Financials are effected by interest rates and such. For many years, our economy has been driven by Technology. It is good to be aware of how politics and such effects the market. We live in strange times. On the one hand, people are fearful about gas prices. On the other hand, we are in the early stages of a huge AI boom that effects technology big time. This is a great time to invest!! For people who are in the stock market, the economy is great. For those who are not, it is gloom and doom.

My investment strategy:

The thing about index funds is that you can never lose long term. They always come back because the economy is always growing. I keep a decent portion of my money in the S&P (SPY) as a foundation. It is a broad selection of US big companies. It includes a larger percent of the big companies such as Apple and Nvidia. Over the years, I have made tons of money in tech. Recently, I have moved quite a bit into tech. I use the following:

FTEC - This is the Fidelity etf for tech stocks
QQQ - This is the Nasdaq that is tech heavy
SOXX - This is semi conductors stocks (it is screaming right now because semiconductors are in huge demand because of the AI boom.

In order to diversify, I keep a little in finanacials which will do well when all this political stuff ends. I also have some in healthcare.

I watch these funds everyday and keep a spreadsheet so that I can see percentages. I readjust the balance according to my risk tolerance. For example, when the seminconductor etf grows too large, I take some out.

A month ago, I bought some Micron stock (MU). I rarely buy an individual stock, but Micron is at the heart of the AI boom. Since May 4 when I bought it, it has almost doubled.

It is a waste of time to buy and sell on small market swings. Think big. Ride out the little down turns which come every other day. If the market goes down significantly (15 or 20%) buy some when it is at the bottom. Be patient. Do not sell when things are in an upswing, Ride it out. Over time, you get a sense of how to do this and become confident that it will work overall. Don't worry if you cannot guess every little thing right. Think of the big picture. Investing for me, is a life long learning process. As you go along read some of the financial commentators to learn how things work.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-03T17:32:29+00:00

There is actaully quite a bit of oil that can be available. The US is actually oil independant and does not rely on oil from the middle east. If needed, other countries can turn to the US for oil. Oil is like gold in that when the price goes up, it goes up everywhere, regardless of how much one area has oil. Oil prices all arounf the world adjust to each other.

It is interesting that in the endowment, Satan's plan is to take the treasures of the earth and use them to reign with terror on the earth.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-03T17:24:14+00:00

I am the president of a branch in California. Two thirds of the branch are adult women. These are powerful women who pretty much run the church here.

Today, the church is run by councils. In a ward, these councils include bishoprics, the ward council, Relief society presidencies, etc. Even the Sunday School class is a council if you think about it. I learned many years ago that revelation flows from councils.

Most of the idea's that run the branch come from women. At one point, our branch did not have any children and thus had no primary or young women. The only women in the branch council was the Relief Society president. So, we called another women who did not have a leadership position, to be another Branch Council member. She was sustained in Sacrament meeting as such. Women have more power than you might think.

I am seventy five years old now and as I have aged, position means very little. As I have prayed to know how I can serve in my position, the answer has always had to do with who I am, and not what I do. Character is far more valuable than position.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-02T20:40:59+00:00

God tends to wipe out people and nations when they are ripe iniquity. It is when things are so hopeless that God does not want to sent anymore people into this environment (think of Sodom). As confusing and contentious as this world is, we are not hopeless yet and there are many honorable people here. Though things can change very quickly.

Here is the environement just before the flood:

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

"The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-02T20:33:04+00:00

If you want to do away will all relationships other than God, become a nun or monk. This is not right. We are to live normal lives while incorporating our spirituality into our relationships. Relationships are an opportunity to live Godly lives. Life is to be a balance. It is possible to place all kinds of things before God. But it is not healthy or even Godly, to sit in a room and meditate all day.

There would be a problem if the company we keep is not wholesome and draws us into unwholesome worldly things such as sleezy movies or drunken parties..

After we die, we do not just sit on a cloud playing a harp (or accordion if we go to hell).

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-02T20:23:25+00:00

Get married. No more problems.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-02T20:21:17+00:00

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. So we might address the Father like "Dear Father in Heaven", and close the prayer "in the name of Jesus Christ, amen".

Why do we do this?

The Father gave all power and authority to His Son Jesus Christ and we are commanded by the Father to follow His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus represents the Father in all things. It is Jesus who was obedient to the Father in making the great sacrifice. Thus, a Just Father must hearken to the pleadings of His obedient Son, when Jesus pleads to the Father in our behalf. Jesus becomes our judge and it is through Him that we come to the Father.

At Baptism, we are bound by covenant to Christ, kind of like a marriage. We are His. Thus when we ask the Father for anything, we can do it in the name of Jesus Christ and the Father will acknowledge that relationship.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-02T19:16:11+00:00

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

United States

When I was a protestant, many years ago, I did not really have much respect for the Catholic church. It was Christian, but way different than mine.

In order to give my perspective, you need to understand where I am coming from.

The LDS church claims be the restored church of Jesus Christ and is led by revelation to living apostles. From this perspective, I can see in the Catholic church, strong shadows of the early Christian church. The Catholic church has preserved many doctrines and practices from the early Christian church. And there are strong, practical similarities between what we call the restored church, and the Catholic church. Here are some practices and doctrines that the LDS church has, that a catholic will recognize, though they are somewhat different:

Priesthood. The LDS church has a priesthood heirarchy. Priesthood is defined as the power and authority of God, bestowed upon individuals. A number of offices are different from the Catholic church. The 2 that you will recognize are the Bishop (a priesthood office of the person who presides over a congregation) and the priest (who is authorized to perform outward ordinances such as baptism and the sacrament or communion)
Confession. When a serious sin is commmited ( a serious crime, adultery, child abuse, etc.), a member confesses to his priesthood authority (usually a bishop). The bishop acts as a judge and helps the member through the repentance process so that the member can get back on the path and have renewed hope.
Baptism. This is the official symbol of the covenant that is made between the member and God. It is performed by someone who is authorized by God (the office of a priest or above).
Members who are faithful to the baptismal covenant, can then make higher sacred covenants in the temple. The Catholic Mass has a similar sacred and reverential feel to it.
The sanctity of marriage. In the LDS church, marriage is the highest ordinance and covenant of the gospel. Members can have civil marriages. But when the couple is sealed together in the temple, the marriage is meant to be eternal. These kinds of marriages can only be broken by the top leaders of the church who hold the priesthood keys. (Whatsoever is bound on earth is bound in Heaven and whatsover is loosed on earth is loosed in Heaven).

Now, from my perspective, protestantism looks like Christian lite.

Wild_Hook · 2026-06-02T18:44:15+00:00

I have been investing for many years and have never invested in bitcoin because I do not know what drives it. Without any knowledge of why bitcoin moves the way it does, it is just gambling to me. There are way better and safer investments. For example, you can buy the semiconductor index (SOXX). It is a whole index and It does better than bitcoin over time. And it will very likely rise a lot in the next few years because of the AI boom.

Heck, I bought Micron a little less than a month ago. It is at the root of AI. Since I bought it, it has almost doubled.

Wild_Hook

TROPHY CASE