Finrock

The last sealing that I attended was for some friends from my ward. They are converts to the Church with children so the whole family was sealed together at that time. I can't tell you how palpable the spirit was. I could hardly stand it. I can't think of a more sweet experience than what I experienced at this sealing. I know nothing about sterile, stiff, or anything missing when it comes to the temple and temple ordinances. -Finrock

How about orange and porridge? Or carnage? Regards, Finrock

Good Afternoon anatess. I hope you've been well! :) Revelation from the Spirit is not philosophy. Revelation from the Spirit is pure truth. Revelation from the Spirit is doctrine. That is all that I am suggesting. "We" have been believing in other people's interpretation of scripture or we have been allowing our own prejudices/assumptions/upbringing to make the case that "we don't know". "We" often don't know because we haven't asked or in many cases we aren't even interested in knowing. Many people know what the doctrine is concerning God the Father's origins and this knowledge is essential. Brigham Young's Adam-God teaching is not as weird and far out there as people think, but to truly understand what Brigham was talking about people need to let go of their prejudices and assumptions and allow the Spirit only to teach you. It is the only way we can truly know the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can't keep relying on other people's interpretations (including apostles). We need to get revelation for ourselves from the Holy Ghost. When we humble ourselves and truly search the sciptures, the scriptures will begin to unfold before our eyes. You will see and understand things like never before. Even scriptures you've read many times will suddenly become clear. God will make His truth manifest to those who humble themselves and search the scriptures. Searching the scriptures is not just reading them or even just studying them. I know this by experience. Of course everyone is free to believe what they wish, but noone can honestly claim that "we" don't know what the doctrine is concerning the origins of God. You can only say that you don't know. I know that God the Father was once a mortal man. One day, if and when I am exalted and become a God, I will begin to live God's life (Eternal Life). I will begin to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man. I will have at one point been mortal, yet I will be God. Jesus Christ is our example. But, as I've said, everyone is free to believe or not to believe in this, but this doesn't mean that they aren't responsible and accountable for finding out for themselves through the Spirit. Regards, Finrock

Knowing who God is, His character, His attributes, and what He is all about is not a trivial deep doctrine thing. It is a fundamental and essential component of our faith. We need to come to know who God is because without that knowledge we cannot know who we are. We will be confused as to what our purpose is. We cannot be saved without this knowledge. The world, over time, has corrupted the truth about God. God the Father is an exalted man. It is curious to me that Mormons have a problem with the idea that God was once a mortal man who had to work out His salvation. Why do we keep trying to shape our religion to match what the world says? Why do we try to accomodate the scientist and the philosophers of the world? I just want to stress that knowing God is a priority, not an afterthought. We can't fully live our religion if we believe in false notions about God. We can't have the fulness of the Spirit if we don't have an understanding of God. I repeat my last counsel. Get rid of any preconceptions, assumptions, or thoughts that come from man. Be as a child willing and ready to learn and to submit to God in all things. Be open and ready to receive revelation from God so that He can make these things known to you by the power of the Holy Ghost. Be believing and don't doubt the plain messages about God found in the scriptures. Many times the scriptures teach us plainly what the truth is but I have noticed in others and in myself in the past that we reject the plain meaning quite often. For instance, the sacrament prayers says that we should take upon us the name of Christ. Many people miss the direct and plain meaning of that phrase. Without adding anything to it or needing to infer, we are asked to become Christ, in name and in deed. We should take upon us that name Christ. Yet, so many Mormons reject that notion and they infer more or completely ignore this part of their covenant. This happens in many other cases too. So, the scriptures teach plainly but because of unbelief people will add or take away from the scriptures so that they feel more comfortable. I'm saying that we need never be afraid of the truth even if it will seem to the rest of the world to be blasphemous or wrong. God is not what the rest of the world's religions teach. All of their notions are corrupt in one way or another. Forget your previous notions about God and then get your answer from the Spirit. Then you will have pure, unadulterated, truth if you don't reject it because of unbelief. God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. We shouldn't allow the traidtions of mankind to keep us away from knowing God. And I agree with Traveller. We must look to Christ to know the Father. The life of Jesus Christ testifies of the nature of God. Jesus Christ did only those things He had seen His father do. Regards, Finrock

Good evening andypg. I hope you are doing well! :) My only advice to you and to anyone is to not lean on the understanding of Aquinas or any other philosopher. Ask God. Search the scriptures. Live the commandments. You can know through the Spirit what is true. We almost have to reset our assumptions, traditions, and ideas that stem from the world. That includes any and all worldly ideas, no matter how seemingly benign. We must become as a child, with no assumptions, no preconceptions, a blank sleight. When we become as a child and put away all of our traditions and then lean on the Spirit for understanding, the scriptures will unfold before your eyes and you will understand the things as God wants you to understand. You will know what the actual truth is regarding the question of God and eternal progression. Through the Spirit you can know the truth of all things. Regards, Finrock

Finrock says: I don't have any problems with how you are feeling. If you are worried about it, I would suggest that you don't be. I think in the intervening years many things can change, including what you want and what you desire. Whatever you do, do everything you can to be as close to God as possible. With the guidance of the Holy Ghost you can be led to all things needful for you in this life. Regards, Finrock

Good morning dahlia. :) There is a Heavenly Mother. I know this the same as I know anything else in the gospel. Regards, Finrock

Good morning dahlia. I hope you've been well! :) I say yes. Regards, Finrock

Good morning Maureen. I hope you are doing well! :) In between the suffering and even during the suffering. Its a matter of understanding who you are and what you are really doing here on this earth. It is a matter of having the Spirit with you. It is a matter of understanding that this earth life is a temporary condition and we are really just strangers on this earth. God blesses us when we suffer for His sake. As we cry on to God in our suffering and place our faith wholly in Him, He will make our suffering turn out for our good. He will lift our burdens and make them light. We can find joy in suffering for Jesus. Our suffering, if we suffer well (with faith, with gratitude), is the catalyst that causes us to put our trust completely in God. Our faith and resolve are tested through suffering. We become better men and women through our trials. Tithing is a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things and this is from someone who was living off 18K a year with three children at one point and still paid my tithing faithfully. We can't ever allow ourselves to forget that God has given us all that we have. It is His. Tithing helps us to remember that. On the flipside, if we don't exercise faith and if we allow our suffering to overcome us then suffering will be miserable and discouraging. If we don't know who we truly are and if we don't fully recognize why we are here, then suffering can seem like it is something to avoid at all costs. EDIT: I wanted to add a quote from Brigham Young: Regards, Finrock

We are sanctified through suffering. We ought not to be afraid to sacrifice because we may suffer. The point of the gospel is not necessarily to make it "easier" for people to obey. The point is to obey regardless of personal cost. That is God's way. It has always been His way. We must be willing to surrender everything, no matter the personal cost, for God's sake. The martyrs in the ancient Christian Church understood the principle of suffering well and sealed there testimony with their lives and blood. They did not fear the world, its inhabitants, or what the world could or did do to them. Tithing teaches us that we need to trust in God and be willing to submit to His will even when submitting doesn't make logical or rational sense insofar as us humans are able to reason. Regards, Finrock

Good Afternoon lds2. I hope you are having a good day! :) Thanks for posting these scriptures. A little off topic, but these scriptures apply to other ordinances and actions that we do in our religion or life. There have been times where I have thought, for instance, that as long as I was taking part in the physical act of taking the sacrament that I would receive a remission of my sins. Another good example is the temple endowment. I think, based on my experience, to include my own sentiments in the past, many believe that the physical act of going through the endowment is sufficient or all that they have to do in order to receive the promised blessings. However, as you stated so well about sacrifices, in the same way, in order for the ordinance of the endowment to have efficacy, the symbolism of the endowment and the covenants entered into, have to be reflected in our individual lives. Regards, Finrock

Good afternoon gem2477. I hope you are doing well today! :) The commentors on this forum are trying to assuage your concerns not necessarily provide justification for how the Church uses tithing money. In reality you have no right to know how the money is used. It isn't your money. It appears from the content of your posts that you don't like this answer or you don't believe it. In the end, if you are unwilling to live with the reality that the President of the Church is the steward of tithing and it is the President's prerogative as to how tithing is spent/reported, etc., then God will not force you to do that. You can choose to not pay tithing. However, understand that your disbelief doesn't alter reality and you will be robbing God of His money. Regard, Finrock

Although the covenants made in the endowment are real, the endowment itself is symbolic or it represents actions that we will need to eventual fulfill/make real/actualize. In my experience I have not been able to explain this in a way that most understand or then this concept is difficult to understand. It is NOT enough for us to just go through the endowment ritual. The endowment ritual is teaching us, symbolically, what we need to do in actuality in order to be brought to the presence of Jesus Christ. If we take the things we learn in the endowment and then begin to implement/make real/actualize them in our everyday life, then we will one day be brought to the actual, real veil where we will be tested. Once we have proven ourselves that we will be true and faithful to all of God's commands then we can have the privilege of seeing Christ and coming in to His presence. The covenants are real, but the endowment is not, in and of itself, sufficient for us in order to return back to the presence of the Son and through the Son, in to the presence of the Father. I hope that makes sense. Regards, Finrock

Everything that everyone has, belongs to God. Nobody owns anything that they have. This is a fact. You may not believe it. You may not like it. But it is truth. All of the money anyone ever makes, belongs to God. When He asks you to pay tithing, He is only asking you to give back to Him 10% of His money and He is allowing you to use the 90% for your stewardship. We have no "right" to it. But, God doesn't force us to give His money back. He allows us to steal it from Him, if we choose. We can make any choice we want but we ought to realize that if we don't pay tithing then it is the same as stealing money from your neighbor. You are a thief when you refuse to pay tithing. The Church is God's Kingdom on earth. The First President is the steward of the money God wants us to give back to Him. I don't question that stewardship. My faith, my belief and I don't ever feel bugged, bothered, or unhappy about it. I feel good about it. Regards, Finrock

Good evening deniallady. I hope you are doing well! :) Its hard but if you love him, love him unconditionally. Don't allow him to abuse you, but you need to understand that his addiction is a disease. You getting mad at him is like you getting mad at a paraplegic person because they can't stand up. He can't help his addiction. He is not in control anymore. That is why he needs help. He needs you to support him, to encourage him, and to love him. For yourself, get the help you need and don't forget about you doing what is right. Pray without ceasing. Read your scriptures. Fast and pray. Fast and pray some more. Strengthen your relationship with Heavenly Father and lean on the atonement of Jesus Christ. You need the Savior. You need the atonement. Ask God to take some of your burdens while you deal with this situation. He can make your load light. I know this by experience. Sincerely, Finrock

Hi CommandSouth. I hope you are doing well! :) I'd say I believe Jesus gave us everything we need to be saved but people rejected what Jesus gave and made up their own religions. What we ended up with was the philosophies of man, mingled with scripture. Finally, when the time and place was right, Jesus restored all that He had given to the original apostles through the prophet Joseph Smith. So now, all those things we need to be saved, are back. If you believe in Jesus Christ, then you will believe in the Book of Mormon, because it contains the words of Christ. Nothing has been added to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but instead, all the missing things have been restored. This is wonderful news! Jesus has visited the earth again. The Heavens are open and revelations, visions, dreams, powers, and all those wonderful gifts of the Spirit have been restored. He has given us back the apostles. We now have prophets again. We have all the truths that were missing, restored! We have the priesthood again. This isn't bad news. This isn't something to get upset about. This is something to have joy in! I invite you to investigate and find out for yourself. Regards, Finrock

I don't know if its because I'm ignorant, a fool, lack faith, am arrogant, or what, but I don't fear any of this stuff. I'm a big ol' skeptic. Its all kind of hokey to me. I believe God uses dreams and visions for the benefit of man. I believe God can whisk us away in spirit to places for His purposes. But, as far as being afraid of demons possessing my body and all of that, I'm just not afraid of that. Personally I believe most of the time these experiences are delusions, imaginations, or just a naturalistic phenomenon. Regards, Finrock

Good morning NightSG! I hope you are doing well today. :) To me these types of extreme scenarios are easy to resolve. You do what you can do to follow the guidelines and then don't worry about it. Extreme situations require exceptions that fit the circumstance and which are appropriate for the circumstance. In all other cases, we ought to follow the guidelines provided. In normal circumstances we should not be trying to do things outside of the guidelines just because we feel like we should be allowed to do it. In normal cirucmstances we should not be arguing/contending with the bishop (or presiding authority) about how the manual says this or that or how the scriptures say this or that. There is simply no place for it. Regards, Finrock

Hi Maureen! A Child Blessing is a little bit different than a Father's Blessing. A Child Blessing is done under the direction of the presiding authority in the ward or branch that it will be performed. Regards, Finrock

Good morning ElectofGod. I hope are having a good weekend! :) To be clear I have no issue with the doctrine of trusting in the Spirit. In the temple we are exhorted to give strict heed to counsel of the apostles. Why would we be given this charge unless God expects us to adhere to it? I don't dispute any specific part of your reply, but it does make the account in 1 Nephi and other such accounts seem spurious. Meaning, your response doesn't satisfy because it leaves unanswered the question: "Why did God want us to know that Nephi went to his father for guidance, even though his father was murmuring and even though Nephi was a prophet, seer, and revelator?" I don't think this account in the Book of Mormon is simply an "accidental" bit of information so that we can conclude that somedays God wants us to use intermediators and other days He doesn't. With such a conclusion, how do I liken that account to my life? Do you not think that Lehi being the patriach of the family had anything to do with Nephi's decision to go to Lehi for guidance? Clearly God has given us leaders. There are heads in the Church. Do you see how what you are saying has the potential of allowing a person to essentially come up with their own doctrine and have no accountability? It makes the President of the Church essentially ineffective. It makes all heads of the Church at every level ineffective and spurious. For example, suppose you are given direct instructions from your bishop to use the Ensign for HT because he feels inspired to give that counsel. Are you saying that you would deliberately and conscienciously defy your bishop on account of you receiving your own revelation? Do you not see that by doing so you have elevated yourself above the head and seek to usurp authority, even if you are doing so with the best of intentions? It seems to me that Nephi provided the correct attitude we should display towards our leaders. We should respect their position as heads and trust in their guidance and give strict heed to their counsels, even when they are living imperfect lives. Nephi showed deference to his head on earth. God blesses us for obeying our leaders, even when we disagree and feel that another way is better. The Spirit tells me to follow the apostles. When I follow the apostles, I am following the Spirit. You try to draw a distinction between following the apostles and following the Spirit. When God speaks we obey, whether He speaks by His own mouth or by the mouth of His servants, it is the same. God makes us use intermediaries to keep us grounded and humble. He established heads in the Church to maintain order and to provide a clear channel of doctrine. We should be doing everything we can to obey our leaders and the exceptions to those ought to be rare. The most significant issue that I have with your claim is that essentially your post is saying that following an apostle's counsel is not following God or the Spirit. Your position, which seems to incorrectly pit following the apostles versus following the Spirit, is a false dichotomy. Your position assumes that the apostle's knowledge or direction is not inspired. The reality is that when God speaks through His apostles it is the same as God speaking through His spirit. EDIT: Although I agree with you that being dependent on man is as bad as pride (because they are really the same thing too), I want to add that Nephi's example also showed that honoring your priesthood leaders does not mean you are "dependent". Btw, I am assuming by "dependent" you mean that one doesn't seek for personal revelation but relies on the revelation of others solely. This is another issue that I have with your position because it implies that those who seek to obey the guidance of the apostles are spiritually inferior and "dependent". It may be true in some cases, but not in all cases. Regards, Finrock

In ancient times the prohibition against idolatry was specifically because of the religious practices that attended idol worship. These practices included worship of the body and the worship of sex. Sex rites were a fundamental component of many of the heathen or pagan religions. Regards, Finrock

To the OP. Pray and ask Heavenly Father for guidance. Once you feel you know the right decision, go with that, regardless of what science, naysayers, or human wisdom dictates. The Spirit will reveal all things to you. This is an important decision and ultimately only you, your spouse, and God have a say in this. But, my main point is to trust in God and go with what feels right to you after you've received an answer. Regards, Finrock

It isn't following the spirit that is getting a reaction. Its the false dichotomy. Your post implies that the situation is one where only one of two options exist: Choose between (1) Follow the spirit or (2) Follow the Ensign. I'm saying you can do both. Again, your post here implies that if one uses the Ensign they haven't taken the time to study things out in their minds. This notion is false. One can use the Ensign and still study things out in their minds. An interesting account from the Book of Mormon that I think is pertinent: Why did Nephi (a prophet, seer, revelator) go to his father, who had been murmuring against the Lord, to know whither to go to obtain food? Why didn't he just trust the Spirit? Regards, Finrock

As horrible as his actions are God loves Ariel Castro with a perfect love. I hope he had/has an opportunity to repent. Regards, Finrock

Good evening ElectofGod. I hope you've been well! :) Or, use the Ensign and trust the Spirit. I believe God will bless us for humbly following the counsel of our leaders, even when it comes to going along with the various programs. In my life I have been able to trust in the Spirit while I implemented the programs provided by the Church or my local leadership. Even using the same Ensign lesson, each experience with a family I teach has been different because I have tried to rely on the Spirit. There have been cases where I've began with the Ensign article, but the Spirit took the conversation another way, which is just fine and as it should be. This way I can do the program and be blessed for obedience and also trust in the Spirit so that the right words are said to the right people. Regards, Finrock