SanctitasDeo

It could. It could also be a reference to his own Sermon on the Mount, where he says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."

Welcome to the boards.

I think that He is doing a couple of things here. First, as has been said, He is saying that to follow him, you must make His teaching and sayings a part of you. If you go through the earlier parts of the chapter, you can see that the Jews are misunderstanding what He is saying, which is why He uses such a shocking example. I like Blackmarch's example of verse 58. It hearkens back to Christ's conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well about the living water. He is talking about the same thing there. The important thing to understand is that the Jews (especially the Pharisees and Saducees) really believed that the Law (they called it the daughter of God) is the mediator and can give salvation. So when Christ said that everyone has to ingest Him, He was saying that salvation doesn't come through the Law, nor through the new Law/interpretation of the law that He was giving. He was saying that salvation comes through Him. That was unacceptable to many. Secondly, Christ makes a comparison between the earlier manna and the Bread of Life. I think that part of his purpose is to announce himself as Jehovah. Jehovah gave the Israelites manna in the wilderness. And here, instead of acting as Moses, facilitating the transfer of manna (and the law and revelation) from their God to the people, He is God. He is Jehovah, and the Jews had a very hard time accepting something like that. That was blasphemy punishable by death, from their point of view. So he wasn't watching those who misunderstood him walk away. They understood him very well, and could not accept what he said. That is why there is such poignancy at the end of the chapter when he asks the apostles if they will also go away. Peter's answer is amazing. He understands and has a witness through the Spirit that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

When I got to Russia, I knew grammar, several thousand words, and a little bit about the culture. Then we went to work. There is no special culture training or anything like that. Mostly, you just learn it all as you go, either from an missionary who has been there longer, or from situations you get into. There is a mission president and other missionaries that you can talk to at any time, and of course, most importantly, there is the Lord. Of course it's hard, but that is partly why it is so valuable. Learning to rely on the Lord, and not on other people, or tv, or whathaveyou. That is awesome! A lot of stuff happened to me (guns, drugs, etc.), but I was NEVER a murder suspect. Wow.

I like the idea of a plain English Book of Mormon. It would be interesting to see that translation. However, I do think a lot would be lost. It took more than a hundred years for us to find Nephi's poetic arrangements. What else have we missed that would be lost in translation? But I don't object to a plain English version, though I would probably stick with studying the original translation.

Gotcha. I have a friend in almost this situation right now, but I hadn't talked to him about that part of it. Thank you.

That is awesome. Probably the coolest date I have ever heard of. Wow.

Do women really never pay child support in any situation? Say both parents work and the mother is the primary wage-earner (she earns more). They get a divorce. The father is ruled to be the fit (or fitter) parent. She still makes more money than him. Does she pay child support? Why not? Because the man is the king of the household? Because he should be able to support the children just fine? I don't see how the sexes are equal under the law unless in the right situations women also pay child support.

What does this have to do with arranged marriages? I read the article and fail to see the connection. The addition of the phrase 'arranged marriage' to that paragraph is logically nonsensical.

Honestly, I didn't get it. I regret that because I could have done it, but didn't. But it isn't the end of the world. My brother received his and I am happy for him, but the point of the award is to assist Young Men learn certain skills and principles of the gospel. Those principles are what is important. The award merely organizes and perhaps motivates. If he is learning the gospel, I wouldn't worry about the program (Nephi didn't earn his Faith in God award either ).

"Sam Vimes sighed when he heard the scream, but he finished shaving before he did anything about it" (Night Watch, Terry Pratchett) Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov was the third son of a landowner from our district, Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, well known in his own day (and still remembered among us) because of his dark and tragic death, which happened exactly thirteen years ago and which I shall speak of in its proper place. (The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky--okay, not hard to guess)

Where do you suggest that they go? Did the Lord set up another church for such men somewhere else where the gospel can also be found? I think the gospel is simple, and many tend to make it too complicated. If a man is faithful and tries to the best of his ability, repenting of his mistakes along the way, then he will find a place with Christ.

I thought that was the official Texan position... (that's what everyone calls it here)

Well, thank you for your questions and posts. They started very informative discussions. I just returned from a mission in Russia, and I have thought a lot about the way branches and wards work because of some of the problems I faced there. There is a lot of valuable information and opinions here, and I hope to be better prepared for a future calling because of it.

Thank you for posting this topic, and tomk, thank you for posting that book excerpt. I think I have been looking for something like that, and I think I hadn't realized yet what I was looking for. But it's making me think.

I believe that we do have the agency to control our thoughts, but as we choose to think thoughts that we shouldn't, we give the devil greater power over them to the point where he can try to control them to. Recently, I have found myself more able to control my thoughts. I attribute this to repentance, and the power of God in my life. Also, unless you give Satan total control over your life, there is no way that all of your thoughts will be from him. The trick is to be able to recognize what is from the Devil, and to stay away from those thoughts and things to which they lead. Look at this from the flipside. If God has the power to put thoughts into our head, when we do good things or repent, is it because of our agency, or is it because we are being controlled? God will never take our agency, but Satan will try. However, Satan can only take it if we give it to him, and God will help us retain our agency.

I think no one is entitled to anything. Having the priesthood certainly doesn't entitle me to a good wife. However, having those same qualities that we are told we should have as priesthood holders will make us more attractive to women. It is not in the separation from the priesthood that women find men attractive. It is in the honoring of that priesthood by the man who holds it, which includes not assuming that it entitles one to marriage. That said, good luck, man. I hope you are successful.

I think that if evolution disagreed so much with LDS theology, BYU, the church's private university, would not have taught me about it in my science class last semester.

I text less than once or twice, but I realize that I am extremely abnormal that way. Our plan does not have unlimited texting, it costs, so I don't really use it. Even we did though, I don't think I would use it much more. Takes to long to say anything. Easier to talk over the phone, and generally if it is important it can wait. It can be useful, but we did get along without it just fine, and we still do.

Welcome.

It would be pronounced something like: ahna ah-hib ahboona.

I think that EPA would also rather dislike the pollution resulting from the many casseroles placed alongside the deceased.

You know, she said something like that once or twice . The problem is mostly that there are two many languages I want to learn, like Greek and Hebrew. Thank you. It might be something like: ana nun ana ana ha ba ana ba wow nun ta marbuta. There is probably a better word for Jesus than the one I used, though.

I thought I'd introduce myself, now that I've posted for a week or so. I am a 19 year-old college student waiting for the day when he will report to the MTC. It is actually soon now. I have been stranded between school, and this mission thing (I will be serving in Russia), so I am working in the meantime. I enjoy books of all sorts, music (listening and playing), roleplaying, board games, apologetics, languages, and watching movies. I have a girlfriend of about a year and two months. My current major is Middle East Studies/Arabic (I managed to take Arabic 101 last semester, and it is an amazing language). I suppose that is basically it.

I think it depends where you are at financially. If you already have the money for your money (from your parents or elsewhere), then go to school. It contributes a lot to your sense of independence and living away from home and all. If you don't have the money, then maybe you should work. My birthday was in December at the end of the semester. So, last fall, I went to BYU and began taking classes. I sent in my papers during the semester and found that I won't leaving until April. Too early to take another semester, but kind of a long time to wait. So I am home working until then. I ended up doing both, really. Oh and Blaine, that is a pretty good article. Thank you.