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Some time ago I wondered about the physical appearance of Christ. I thought it odd that many claim to know Jesus Christ but at the same time I wondered if they knew him well enough that they could pick him out in a crowd. I have a brother that I ski with, we meet at the ski resort. We know each other so well we do not even have to plan on where or when to meet. We can spot each other on the lifts or the slopes because we are so familiar with each other. When Jesus walked among us as a man there were some that immediately recognized him (even a rather impious heathen lady) and some that despite all the evidence could not recognize him (even the most respected pious among the Jews). I have come to believe physical appearance is likely not the best means of recognizing Christ. I speculate that Jesus is likely shorter than most men of this modern age. I have no idea concerning the pigment of his skin, the color of his hair or his eyes. I speculate that he does not look so much like me. Anciently there was a great King of the East that had spies in various areas (including in and around Jerusalem) that heard of Jesus and his miracles and teachings. I speculate this great King was of the sort that were among those that sought Christ from the star when He was born and also perhaps related to or was Prester John or of a line of Prester Johns. This great King was converted that Jesus was the Christ and knew of plots to kill Jesus. So, he commanded his spies deliver a letter to Jesus along with an artist that was commanded to draw a portrait of Jesus. It was believed that Jesus hand wrote a letter to this king that was delivered with the drawn portrait. Though the portrait was lost in time the letter was presumably preserved among “Christians” in the East that became to be known as Nestorian Christians. The letter that is claimed to be written by Jesus is the only original document text of possible sacred ancient documents known to exist today concerning the Christ. This document has been tested and proven to be written at the time of Jesus upon parchment available only around the Jerusalem area – thus extremely unlikely a fake. I am amazed that this document is not better known but what is more astonishing to me is how many “Christians” do not care about such a document just because it was not included in our (their) “Western” Bible. I am convinced that in this day and age – it is quite dangerous to know anything of the “man”hood of Christ – for a great many reasons, including some religious (Christian) reasons. The Traveler

Since this thread has been brought back up – I thought to add some more of my thoughts about the one and only true and “LIVING” church. In my mind the importance of the one and only true and living church is equivalent to or saying that there is only one true and living path or way. In a previous post of mine on this thread I used the metaphor of Kingdom that is often used in scripture in reference to the society of G-d. Obviously, there are many kingdoms that we encounter in mortality – we could also say governments or the structure of laws by which societies on earth are governed. Just as there is only one true and living G-d, there is only one true and living church structured with G-d’s laws (not man’s or man’s interpretations) and ordinances and commandments. Since there were no comments about divine kingdoms or governments my assumption was that this concept was not understood or considered of upmost importance. This leads me to believe somewhat that few are capable or interested in discussing the structure of laws by which G-d governs his Kingdom (which his Church is part). The one example I used in a previous thread pointed directly to the law given to Peter that would allow him to seal here on earth (perform functions) within the church on earth that were valid in Heaven or after we die. Of course, baptism is an example of such a function. As I said previously, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only organization I know of on earth that claim and/or attempt to insure all have opportunity to be baptized on earth and have that sacred law sealed in heaven. Many “churches”, rather than deal with such necessity as baptism claim that it is not all that necessary, despite the fact that Jesus himself, of necessity, was baptized. I would now point out that the scriptures bring to bear a second witness that there is a true and living Church in the giving witness of the “Path” or “Way” of G-d to salvation. The post that started this thread seemed to indicate (as I understood it) that there is no such thing as the only one true and living path or way – only a best path or way available at the time. I find no such witness in scripture. Rather I find comments like straight, and narrow is the way or path – implying only one path leads to salvation. Jesus said that he is the way. I understand that to mean that He is the Christ, and that Christ (Messiah) is the only means or path of salvation and exaltation and that he is not a Christ or Messiah of confusion but of clarity and exactness for all his disciples and followers. There is no other true and living path. If one is not convinced, they are on the one and only true and living path it can only be because they do not know the one and only true and living G-d nor His Son (Jesus Christ). It is not possible to know G-d without knowing His Son – the Son of G-d – Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and the one and only way that they have provided. There is a caveat that needs to be understood. Though the path is currently available to some in this life – it is not complete or completed in this life. One of the simple truths that was lost from scripture that was restored in the Book of Mormon is that there is of necessity a “time” between death and the resurrection to complete the way or path. There are spiritual echoes of this in the ancient scripture of Genesis that references the way or path to the “Tree of Life”. The Book of Mormon provides more concerning this path in what is known as “Lehi’s Dream” of the path and the “Tree of Life”. It is true that other churches (religions) have access to truths. It is possible that there are individuals in other religions and churches that know and better understand certain truths than some (even many) of the Latter-day Saints. Their understandings and efforts to appreciate and honor the truth they have received or discovered will be of their benefit when they leave this life and await the resurrection. Likewise, there will be many things individual Latter-day Saints will think they understand that will have to be adjusted for when they leave this life and await the resurrection. I do not believe we (LDS) have to convince anybody of anything in this life. Our job is to testify of Christ and teach the doctrine of Christ – particularly the doctrine of Christ that was lost and restored for us now in the Book of Mormon. There are great advantages in this life and the next to know and follow the path holding on to rod of iron (way), being aware of the fulness of the Gospel of Christ (or doctrine of Christ) that is in the Book of Mormon and take advantage of the Laws, Ordinances and Covenants of the only true and living Church of Christ. The Traveler

It's weird. I watched this movie, then 30 years of silence, and then I've seen this clip now twice in as many days. TikTok random #FYP vid, and now this thread. The aliens are tinkering with our algorithms!

Nicky nicky Jack Nicholson gets well and truly "nicked"*, and all the bullying bluster in the world won't save him this time! Tom Cruise was "meh". Demi Moore was OK. But Jack Nicholson was totally the star of this movie! * British slang "to be nicked" is to be arrested. Also to "nick" something means to steal it.

I'm a Spartan. No contest. Ironic.

What about hoarders and spartans? Show me your home screen and I’ll know what category you are in.

From personal experience, helping others is not only hard work, it is sometimes self-defeating. I've tended to focus my energies on trying to remove "clutter". We try to make things clearer by removing some of the confusing mess that life tends to throw at us. When things are clear, they can see truth. Then I notice two paths people tend to take: People don't notice that the clutter is gone. They've lived with it for so long, they don't even know how to behave without the clutter. So, they keep doing what they have always done because they had to deal with clutter. They've come to expect it, then embrace it. Some people are able to see clearly because the clutter has been removed. They make changes and begin to experience peace and happiness for a time. But eventually the clutter returns because... that's life. And they go back to their old habits because they've never learned to deal with the clutter in the first place. So, ideally, we'd find some way to show or explain to people what all the clutter is doing and how to deal with it. Sometimes we need to clear the clutter because that is the only way they can see clearly. But once they are able to see clearly, they need to see clearly despite the clutter. How to do that? I wish I knew.

I guess what I can't help but think is.... we always look at these sorts of things as if our job is to make it as easy as possible for others to return to God. To remove all obstacles. To lay out the red carpet, etc., etc. Obviously there is some correctness to this idea. And yet... Life is meant to be a trial. And how do we know that we aren't meant to be a trial for someone else? I mean....maybe God put someone in our path because He knew we'd rub them the wrong way in everything we say and do and they're being tested to see if they'll stay true to Him despite that? That doesn't mean we ought to go about being jerks to people on purpose with the idea that we're testing them. (Everything being relative. Because He has asked us to speak truth boldly and warned us that we will offend, and he that is ashamed because of the offense of the world is not worthy, etc., etc.) I just worry about second-guessing that because of OUR wisdom in what's offensive and what isn't. The simple matter-of-fact is that Christ offended. Constantly. Every where He went. He offended, and offended, and offended. They put Him to death for it. And we've been asked to take up the cross and follow Him. We should expect that doing so will EXTREMELY offend others. I've learned, sadly, that speaking the truth offends. And it offends badly and often. If we speak the truth, we will offend. I get what you're saying. I have, myself, often made changes in my communication methods to try and better align with what I believe God would have me do and say. But we also need to be careful to not hide away, fail to speak what is true and right, etc., because we fear offending others. There's obviously a balance there to be struck. And maybe some strike it easier than others. I struggle with it.

Sorry for revisiting this after a few months. But I want to EMPHATICALLY state I am NOT saying "bedside imperfections are key to other's damnation". I am saying we need to learn to speak when God has spoken, and be silent when he has been silent. I guess text just doesn't carry enough context. We don't need to look beyond what he has given us, but also we need to stand firm in what he has. I feel bad that I made this sound otherwise. I'm simply saying that we need to be careful in driving those away when going to far. But, it has to be said (as you and others have), we need to make sure we go far enough, else we do ourselves and others a disservice. I'm happy to leave it at that.

"Name them two by two, and it will surprise you what the Lord can do" (Not as amusing as "While shepherds wash their socks" or "Jingle bells, Batman smells")

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints_in_Nigeria

I live 3 hours South of the Medford Oregon Temple and 2 hours North of the Feather River Temple in Yuba city CA. We probably don’t deserve a temple in our nearby city as we only have 2 Stakes in the local area. And I doubt we could keep it busy enough even considering the draw from outlying smaller communities. But my patriarchal blessing says I will spend many hours officiating in the temple and performing genealogy work. I plan to continue taking community call and working for another 10 years before I retire. So it would be prohibitive for me to fulfill the blessing unless a temple is built here within the next 10 years. It will happen.

I am of the opinion that we are building the temples for a time of need. We may have a time in the near future where we will not be able to build them anymore. It is laying up for the future.

@NeuroTypical

Yes indeedily-doodily! Me too. I really caught the temple bug recently, so much that I've now got a spreadsheet that I'll update every General Conference and whenever there's a new announcement. The spreadsheet gives me this chart, which thrills the heck out of me: That there's what you call exponential growth. I last saw a chart like that, when we were looking at COVID infection rates. One person had it, then a dozen, then the whole world. And now the same sort of thing is happening with temples. The next 5 years are going to be a hoot. The open question is how long the exponential growth will continue. Someone did a plot - if it continues like it is now, we'll have ~2500 temples in 40 years.

Seems like a good place to put this. I enjoy visuals like this:

Don’t you have a Koala to feed down there? 😛

It’s complicated. Much more so than both sides want to admit. NPR knows who their audience is, and so does Fox. Neither side is going to go out of their way to show stories their audience doesn’t want to hear. NPR has a liberal bias in their reporting, but since we have 10,000 news sources, their power is virtually nil. So it’s not worth getting fussy over. Bernard Goldberg, himself no leftist, said it best. “Some conservatives think Al Roker is out to get them if he forecasts rain on the 4th of July.” If you are way far right wing (and yes, way far leftwing) you’ll make things up in your head or misread them to satisfy your own confirmation bias and reassure yourself that you are correct. It saves you from having to think or ask uncomfortable questions.

I believe the proper term for NPR (or any political commentary) – political activists (specific political party alignment) is narcissistic personality disorder. Though Trump is often called out for being narcissistic (for very good reason) it is a label that fits 99.9999% of those seeking elected political office. Explanation from the Mayo Clinic: The Traveler

Totally agree. My point is, NPR is on one "side", while the chart has it looking nice and centerist. It needs to be a big handful of pixles to the left, in order to have this chart accurately display NPR's bias. You don't get to be thought of as "Middle" when you: - Suppress stories that could impact an election and bias voters against the Democratic incumbent - Suppress stories from reliable science and news sources that jeopardize a nonconservative COVID narrative - Push shaky and groundless stories about the Republican candidate being a Russian schill - Refuse to admit any wrongdoing or apologize after the general public eventually catches up and catches on to the truth. Doncha think?

Another way of putting that is that a girl would never be alone with @LDSGator

Amazing how well the traditional seder can be slightly modified to include the gospel knowledge of the dispensation of the fulness of times. We cheated this year and my daughter baked a German Chocolate Cake. The coconut is very traditional though. My children have been talking about the Afikoman for weeks. We watched three movies today. Joseph: King of Dreams The Prince of Egypt The Ten Commandments Good stuff.

Two of my closest friends are women, and I totally agree. My wife is friends with them as well and we just had dinner with one of them and her brother on Sunday. I’m NEVER alone with a girl. It’s a combination of paranoia, common sense, and an understanding of our current climate.

Wow. I had a hard time believing that was written by a liberal. But I realized that it was an old school liberal who had not bowed to the woke mob. A lot of people have not changed their positions. But the parties have moved the needle.

Our side doesn’t do that either. Self critique is impossible when dealing with true believers.