What Is the Great Work that Nehemiah and Ezra Were Doing?

 My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Ezra and Nehemiah in a lesson titled “I Am Doing a Great Work.” The following information introduced the lesson.

The Jewish people had been captives in Babylonia for about 70 years. They had lost Jerusalem and the temple, and many had forgotten their commitment to God’s law. But God had not forgotten them. In fact, He had declared through His prophet, “I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return” (Jeremiah 29:10). True to this prophecy, the Lord made a way for His people to return—both to Jerusalem and, more importantly, to their covenants.

And He raised up servants who accomplished “a great work” (Nehemiah 6:3): A governor named Zerubbabel oversaw the rebuilding of the house of the Lord. Ezra, a priest and scribe, helped the people turn their hearts back to the Lord’s law. And Nehemiah led the rebuilding of the protective walls around Jerusalem. They met opposition, but they also got help from unexpected sources.

Their experiences can inform and inspire ours because we too are doing a great work. And like theirs, our work has much to do with the house of the Lord, the law of the Lord, and the spiritual protection we find in Him.

The following principles are taught in this scripture block: (1) The Lord inspires people to accomplish His purposes (Ezra 1). (2) The house of the Lord is a place of joy (Ezra 3:8-13; 6:16-22). (3) God has an important work for me to do (Ezra 4-7; Nehemiah 2; 4; 6). (4) I am blessed when I study the scriptures (Nehemiah 8).

This essay will discuss principle #1 about God inspiring people to help accomplish His work. After Persia conquered Babylonia, the Lord inspired the Persian king, Cyrus, to send a group of Jews to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. God gave the following charge to Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4).

1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.

4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

God inspired King Cyrus to assist in the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. Cyrus was not a Jew; he was a Persian. There was no good reason The following verses tell us that Cyrus announced to his entire kingdom that he was sending Jews back to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. He called for all the Jews that could go to go. For those who could not go, the king asked them to donate gold and silver.

Can you think of any men or women, members of the Church and people who are not members of His Church, whom the Lord uses to help with His work? I would, of course, name prophets and apostles, ancient and modern-day. I would also name Johannes Gutenberg (printing press), Columbus, the Founding Fathers of the United States who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, and other great men and women.

After the U.S. Embassy was moved to Jerusalem, the Israeli government minted a Temple coin with the likenesses of Cyrus and Donald Trump on it. This means that the Jewish nation considers the work of Trump as great as that of Cyrus.

 

The nation of Israel minted this Temple Coin to commemorate the US Embassy being moved to Jerusalem

Are Young Women Responsible for Falling Marriage Rates?

Marriages are stronger when husbands and wives work together as equal partners, and strong marriages usually result in strong families, communities, states, and nations. Last Thursday night I posted a discussion about an article by Maria Baer and Brad Wilcox titled “Opinion: The Amazonian Trap.” Tonight’s discussion will be based on an article by McArthur Krishna in a rebuttal to the earlier article.

In her article titled “Opinion: Single women are no longer choosing shoddy marriages –what men can do about it,” Krishna explained that today’s young women are rejecting the idea that any marriage is better than none. 

Increasingly, single women are rejecting the idea that any marriage is better than no marriage. They are not turning away from love, commitment or family; they are turning away from marriages in which they are expected to obey, carry a disproportionate share of the work or have their voices routinely disregarded.

The question is not simply why fewer young women are choosing marriage. The more important question is: What kind of marriage do we hold up as worthwhile … and why is the onus on young women …?

Recent research suggests that many young women have good reason to be cautious. Across attitudes toward authority, the division of domestic labor and whose voice carries weight in a relationship, the evidence reveals persistent inequalities that can prevent marriage from being a place of mutual thriving.

For example, a recent study conducted by King’s College London of 23,000 participants from 29 countries found that almost one-third of Gen Z men thought that wives should always obey their husbands and that men should be the final decision-makers in a relationship.

Another prominent study from the University of Michigan found that when men marry, they gain an hour of discretionary time – and women lose seven. A more recent study by Pew Research found that even when women earn as much as their spouse, wives still contribute double the number of hours required to maintain a house and family.

Finally, a UCLA study found that wives incorporate relevant information from their spouse … while men do not.

Taken together, these studies and others indicate that flourishing marriages are in danger due to lack of partnership.

While both men and women are responsible for creating healthy marriages, the recent piece published in the Deseret News focused only on what women can do. Here, let’s talk about what men can do.

1. Men can show up as partners

Partnership marriages mean marriages where both partners’ needs and wishes are considered so all thrive. Decisions are made as equals rather than hierarchically. Resources such as time and money are split….

2. Men can contribute more to family life

Married men can evaluate their holistic contribution to married and family life. If they provide financially with a full-time job, what is contributed after those work hours? (A full-time parenting job is much more than 9-5.) This is an opportunity to learn about the concept of “mental load.” … Married men need to consciously choose to contribute to the domestic demands of family life.

For unmarried men, there’s an opportunity to learn the skills to successfully take care of your future family. Many men would do anything to protect their families — so start by learning to do laundry, cook, clean and communicate. (These activities keep your family healthy and strong!)

A comprehensive study from Europe found that when men participated in family life more, divorce dropped 34%.

3. Men can learn to listen to women

If your first instinct is to discount this information, you might wonder why. The Gottmans (the renowned husband-wife team that has done the most comprehensive research on healthy marriages … and what prompts divorce) say that respect is a key foundation to a healthy marriage. Listening to your partner and attempting to understand where they are coming from is an integral component of respect.

If we are serious about strengthening marriage, the solution is not to pressure young women to marry or to tell them their expectations are too high. The onus is not on one party.

The question is not whether young women are willing to choose marriage. The more valid question is: “Are men and women, together, willing to build marriages worth choosing?”

The goal is a divine marriage where both parties contribute to creating a relationship where joy, vitality and mutual thriving are present.

 

Will the 2026 Mid-Term Election Have Integrity?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns election integrity. President Donald Trump is insisting on honest and fair elections in the upcoming federal elections. On March 31, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order on voting in federal elections. The order, titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” would give overlapping responsibilities to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Postal Service. The order gave DHS the responsibility to compile a list for each state of U.S. citizens who will be at least 18 years old by Election Day, and the Postal Service the responsibility to transmit ballots from only voters whose names appear on the list.

As they usually do, 20 Left-leaning states, led by California, challenged the order, arguing that eligibility to vote is a states’ right issue under the U.S. Constitution. Emma Pitts at the Deseret News reported on the issue as follows. 

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani sided with the states on June 25, and [she] prohibited the federal government from implementing the order ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

“The States alone determine voter-eligibility requirements, subject only to the outer limits of the Constitution,” the Massachusetts judge ruled, adding, “This injunction does not bar the federal government from providing assistance with verifying citizenship or eligibility of any voter if the assistance is provided at the request of any State and within the framework provided by Congress.”

Talwandi refused the Trump administration’s request for a pause on her injunction, causing the defendants to then request a pause from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1^st Circuit. The appeals court ultimately refused to pause the lower court’s injunction:

“Were the EO (executive order) to take effect for the elections taking place in September and November, it would sow confusion and threaten disenfranchisement of many eligible voters. And given that the Government ‘make(s) no argument that (its) actions were legal on the merits,’ and ‘there is generally no public interest in the perpetuation of unlawful (government) action,’ the public interest does not favor a stay.”

In the federal government’s last attempt to lift the lower court injunction while the underlying appeal continues in the 1^st Circuit, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed to the Supreme Court.

The filing does not ask the Supreme Court to issue a ruling on the constitutionality of Trump’s election executive order right now; instead, it asks the justices to determine what rules should be in effect while that litigation continues.

“A stay – along with an immediate administrative stay – is also warranted because the injunction below imposes irreparable harm on the government,” Sauer argued. “Absent a stay, the government will be unable to obtain appellate relief from an order that bars implementation of a presidential policy that seeks to ensure voter integrity in the upcoming November 2026 election. Accordingly, both the irreparable harm factor and the public interest favor the government.”

On Tuesday, 12 states, headed by Alabama, sided with the Trump administration’s request to temporarily pause the 1^st Circuit’s order while litigation continues.

 

Articles of Faith: What Do Latter-day Saints Believe About the Fall of Adam?

Article of Faith 2

   We believe that men will be punished for their own sins,

                    and not for Adam’s transgression.

 This essay will begin a discussion about the Fall of Adam and Eve and the second article in my series on the Articles of Faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, before discussing the Fall, we should lay a proper foundation for the conditions under which Adam made his decision.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches as doctrine that Heavenly Father bestowed upon His spirit children certain inalienable rights while in the spirit world. Moral agency, or freedom to choose, is one of those rights. Elder James E. Talmage explained this doctrine as follows (Articles of Faith [1890], 52-55).

The Church teaches as a strictly scriptural doctrine, that man has inherited among the inalienable rights conferred upon him by his divine Father, freedom to choose the good or the evil in life, to obey or disobey the Lord’s commands, as he may elect. This right cannot be guarded with more jealous care than is bestowed upon it by God Himself; for in all His dealings with man He has left the mortal creature free to choose and to act, without compulsion or restraint beyond the influences of paternal counsel and direction. True, He has given commandments and has established statutes, with promises of blessings for compliance and penalties for infraction; but in the choice of these, men are untrammeled. In this respect, man is no less free than are the angels except as he fettered himself with the bonds of sin and forfeited his power of will and force of soul. The individual has as full a measure of capability to violate the laws of health, the requirements of nature, and the commandments of God in matters both temporal and spiritual, as he has to obey all such; in the one case he brings upon himself the penalties that belong to the broken law; as in the other he inherits the specific blessings and the added freedom that attend a law-abiding life. Obedience to law is the habit of the free man; the transgressor fears the law, for he brings upon himself deprivation and restraint, not because of the law, which would have protected him in his freedom, but because of his antagonism to law. [Emphasis added.]

The predominant attribute of justice, recognized as part of the divine nature, forbids the thought that man should receive promises of reward for righteousness, and threats of punishment for evil deeds, if he possessed no power of independent action. It is no more a part of God’s plan to compel men to work righteousness than it is His purpose to permit evil powers to force His childr4en into sin…. [Emphasis added.]

A knowledge of good and evil is essential to the advancement that God has made possible for His children to achieve; and this knowledge can be best gained by actual experience, with the contrasts of good and its opposite plainly discernible. Therefore has man been placed upon earth subject to the influence of good and wicked powers, with a knowledge of the conditions surrounding him, and the heaven-born right to choose for himself….

Samuel, a converted Lamanite [taught:] “for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death” (Helaman 14:30).

When the plans for creating and peopling the earth were under discussion in heaven, Lucifer [Satan; the devil] sought to destroy the free [moral] agency of man by obtaining power to force the human family to do his will, promising the Father that by such means he would redeem all mankind so that no one of them should be lost. This proposition was rejected, while the original purpose of the Father – to use persuasive influence of wholesome precept and sacrificing example with the inhabitants of the earth, then to leave them free to choose for themselves – was agreed upon; and the one to be known as the Only Begotten Son was chosen as the chief instrument in carrying that purpose into effect.

Heavenly Father gave each son and daughter an important and power gift when He bestowed moral agency upon everyone. However, the gift came with responsibility. Elder Talmage explained as follows (Articles of Faith [1890], 55-57.

Man’s Accountability for his individual acts is as complete as is his agency to elect for himself. The ultimate result of good deeds is happiness, the consequence of evil is misery; these follow in every man’s life by inviolable laws. There is a plan of judgment divinely foreordained, by which every man will be called to answer for his deeds; and not for deeds alone but for his words also and even for the thoughts of his heart…. John the Revelator was permitted to learn in vision something of the scenes connected with the last judgment; he wrote: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works….”

The execution of judgment is not always made to follow the acts of men immediately; good deeds may not be at once rewarded, nor evil be peremptorily punished; and this is according to divine wisdom, for were it otherwise the test of individual character and the trial of human faith, for which purposes this mortal probation was primarily ordained, would be greatly lessened: as the certainty of immediate pleasure or pain would largely determine human acts to secure the one and avoid the other. Judgment, therefore, is postponed, that every one may prove himself, the good man increasing in righteousness, and the evil-doer having opportunity for repentance and reparation….

It is the prerogative of Jesus Christ to judge mankind, and He will do it as His own purposes, which are the purposes of His Father, may be best served….

All the above information can be summarized as follows: Heavenly Father desires all His children to return to His presence to live with Him for eternity. However, He will not force any of His children to do so. In other words, He desires us to want to be with Him because we love Him –not out of duty or out of fear, but out of love. Wanting to be with Him is different than simple obedience to His commandments. If we genuinely love Him with all our heart, mind, might, and strength, we will live our lives in such a way that we will be worthy of returning to His presence. The choice is ours, but He stands ready to help us in repenting of our sins and overcoming our weaknesses.

 

  

Is America in a Revolution or a Counterrevolution?

Americans hear of revolutions and counterrevolutions in foreign lands but never consider they are happening inside the United States. Victor David Hanson says that America has “been in aggressive revolutionary cycle for about 50 years.” He explained that “most of the Democratic Party, and now the radical elements” have been striving for revolution. 

Hanson says that they are now accelerating their efforts “to accelerate that efforts as emblemized by the democratic socialists to take control of government, expand it, redistribute income so that many people in blue states especially are paying over 10% of their income, in addition to 38% of their federal tax or two or three percent in Obamacare tax and other add-ons.” Hanson continued as follows.

… And the welfare state, which has distributed over twenty trillion dollars since this started under the Great Society, is getting bigger and bigger, at least until Donald Trump.

And this progressive revolution doesn’t believe in borders. It has let in – we have now 53 million people that were not born in the United States, and in California, it’s over a quarter of the population. It’s all-time high percentage-wise, 16% foreign-born….

And so, the progressive project has given us a real revolution. We never imagined that there were going to be more than two genders or sexes. We never imagined that they would try to normalize biological men taking over women’s sports or dressing among young teenage girls. We never imagined that.

We never imagined that prosecutors would let out career felons who had committed violent acts the same day they were arrested. We didn’t know we were gonna empty the prisons because we felt that punishment, penal punishment was too mean.

We never really felt that our only real democratic country and ally in the Middle East, Israel, we would try to disassociate ourselves, and we would try to romanticize terrorists like Hamas.

But what I’m getting at, this was the progressive project. It was anti-American, it was anti-Western, and it glorified other modes of civilization, so to speak: socialism, communism, anarchism. And it was very critical of the very society who had enriched most Americans.

I say most – the middle class of America is the largest middle class in the world and the most affluent, and our poor are better off than most middle class and upper middle class in other places.

It’s important to remember that there has not been a counter-revolution. Ronald Reagan was the first and really last Republican president that had an economic counterrevolution. It was quite successful. He lowered the tax rate. He deregulated the economy, and by 1983-84, he was growing the economy at 7% GDP growth.

And then, of course, that was watered down in subsequent years. But the two Bushes, candidates like John McCain, Bob Dole, Mitt Romney, their agenda was to slow down the revolution, but not to try to overturn it….

And then came Donald Trump.

He was not – he’s surely not a revolutionary. We were in the middle of a revolution, but he was not a trimmer either. He was a true counterrevolutionary.

The first term, he was not familiar with Washington. He made appointments with people who did not agree with him – not just they did not agree with his methodology, but they didn’t agree with his counter-revolutionary agenda.

But it was still in places working. And what was the result? The result was COVID-19 and the COVID-19 lockdown, and it was aborted.

The second time he came around, he tried to finish the counterrevolution. So he pretty much demolished the subsidies for green energy and re-emphasized oil and gas production, and we became the greatest producer of oil and gas in the history of civilization.

[Trump] sort of said, “We’re not going to regulate AI and robotics, cryptocurrency, genetic engineering, drone. We’re not gonna legislate them out of business. We’re not gonna have antitrust and complete investigations of all these people. We’re gonna promote it. We’re going to promote these new innovations and new technologies.”

And lo and behold, we’re ahead of the Chinese in almost all of them now….

[Trump] did away with DEI [in the military] …. All of a sudden, we have met all of our recruitment figures….

[Trump] said, “I’m going to finish the wall [on the border]. I’m not gonna let anybody stop me. This time there’s going to be a wall, and we are going to deport people. We’re gonna deport a million people in my first year, and we’re gonna make sure a million others self-deport, and we’re gonna go after 500,000 with criminal records.” …

[Trump] went down and basically threatened Panama that we would take over the canal unless they honored our Panama Canal treaty and expelled the Chinese from trying to control the entry and exists of the canal.

[Trump] said to [Nicolas] Maduro, “You better stop because you’re exporting terror and communism and bullying your neighbors.”

[Maduro] didn’t, and Trump extradited him and ended that threat.

And now as we look at Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, I could go on, they’re mostly center right.

So, [Trump] staged a strong counterrevolution by reinforcing the Monroe Doctrine that had been rejected by the Left, and he made South America and Central America now a free market and, for the most part, a society that’s pro-American, with some notable exceptions.

For example, in Nicaragua, a beleaguered Daniel Ortega and a beleaguered Castroite government in Cuba that are both now for the first time in years isolated.

In addition to that, [Trump] made our allies stronger. He used unorthodox methods….

But nonetheless, he said to our allies, “We’re not gonna be in NATO unless you’re real NATO members. You’re not NATO members. You’re not arming yourself. You’re not abiding by your commitments.”

Same held true to Canada. And lo and behold, now we have much stronger allies, and the alliance is stronger than ever.

What am I getting at? Donald Trump is not a revolutionary. He’s a counterrevolutionary. And what is he trying to do? He’s trying to undo the entire half-century progressive project within four years. That’s an impossible task. And yet he’s trying to do it.

[Trump is] the first authentic counterrevolutionary since Andrew Jackson.

Who Is Sarah Huckabee Sanders?

My VIP for this week is Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. According to Star Parker Sanders “really care[s] about children and families, put[s] learning as their priority, and let[s] th4e marketplace work to give parents freedom to choose what they see as best for their kids.” 

Under the leadership of Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Arkansas set up its Education Freedom Accounts program, establishing a platform through which parents have available scholarship funding to use to choose where to send their children to school.

Data is now coming in for the program, now in its second year.

Per a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, students participating in the Education Freedom Account program “outperformed nearly 60% of students nationwide in math and English on standardized assessments.”

Further, per the report, there are almost 50,000 students now using these accounts and 81% of K-12 parents support the program – up 20 points from 2023.

The Education Freedom Accounts provided $6,684-$7,627 to each student for educational expenses.

Blue New York state has not opted in to the Education Freedom Tax Credit.

Investor Jeff Yass noted in the Wall Street Journal that, despite New York City spending $42,000 per student in its public schools, scores in math and reading are dismal.

Yass suggests to New York City socialist mayor Mamdani that the $42,000 be split in half, giving a scholarship voucher worth $21,000 for each child and the other $21,000 into a savings account in the child’s name. After 13 years, when the child graduates [from] high school, there would be $300,000 accumulated – assuming a paltry 2% annual interest rate – for college.

We celebrate America’s 250^th birthday with joy, even though a lot is not what it should or could be.

Freedom is precious and magnificent because it leaves the door perpetually open for renewal.

One party, Democrats, thinks that freedom is the problem.

Republicans know that freedom is the answer.

Young new Republican leaders such as Sanders are shining examples of the great potential ahead.

What Is the SAVE Database?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns election integrity and clean voter rolls. According to an article written by Fred Lucas and published at The Daily Signal, the federal government – the Department of Homeland Security—has a database to help identify dead people and noncitizens who are registered to vote. The program is the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database. 

Using the SAVE database, twenty-five states have “identified hundreds of thousands of dead people and noncitizens registered to vote.” However, only ten states “have fully processed the voter data through the … SAVE database.”

SAVE is primarily used by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to verify eligibility for government benefits. The Trump administration made it available to states to cross-reference voter registration data.

So far, 25 states have cross-checked more than 68 million voter registration records through SAVE and found 28,000 noncitizens and 400,000 dead people registered to vote. As more states finalize the process, the number will likely grow.

Among just those 10 states that completely process their voter data through the SAVE system, they found more than 10,000 noncitizens and more than 360,000 dead people on the voter rolls, according to DHS.

A DHS memo says, “These states are serious about ensuring that only US citizens vote in US elections.”

Georgia, in using the SAVE system, found that 2,540 noncitizens had at some point registered to vote. It also found 42,776 deceased people on the rolls….

Several other of the 10 states that completed the process corroborated the numbers referenced in the DHS memo.

Ohio identified only 769 noncitizens on the voter rolls, but 59,774 dead people were listed….

North Carolina’s review determined 34,622 deceased people and 1,599 noncitizens were on the voter rolls….

In Texas, the nation’s second-most populous state, there are 111,573 dead people and 2,296 noncitizens on the voter rolls, according to DHS.

Louisiana had 15,231 dead people on the voter rolls, and 419 noncitizens, according to DHS….

Alabama, using the SAVE system, found 33,165 dead people on the rolls, and 465 noncitizens, according to DHS.

Missouri had 10,660 dead people registered to vote, and 1,112 noncitizens. Kansas has 10,197 dead registered voters and 449 noncitizens on the voter lists, according to DHS.

Idaho had 4,328 dead people on the voter rolls and 49 noncitizens.