Jenamarie

The State of Texas had no right to remove those children simply on the basis of what they were being taught, unless they were being taught to kill people and/or themselves. It's a very fine line the government of Texas was walking, trying to make a case based on a group of people's BELIEFS and morals being equal to abuse. I personally shudder at the thought of the law trying to interfer with what is taught in my home, no matter how abhorrant other people might find it. The government has no right to my govern my thoughts or beliefs, or anyone else's.

Exactly. Just take that "new" Amazon tribe they got pictures of last week. They've never been contacted, we know *zippo* about them, AND THEY'RE STILL ALIVE!! I don't find it difficult at all to believe that entire ancient cultures could/can/have vanished without leaving a trace. Absense of proof is not proof of absense.

I wish I knew this guy's name , but I follow his blog, and he recently did one on "Reformed Egyptian". It's rather interesting. :) LDS Doctrine

Nah, if I do that it'll be of my son's freshly shaven head. He is in *dire* need of a haircut, but at 23 months a buzz cut is about all we can manage.

Great. I wish I'd read this BEFORE I got halfway through with shaving my head.

I went to his website and it didn't say anything on there about being in any commercials. There's also a message-board on his website for fans, and there are no posts about a Miller Lite commercial as I'm sure there would be if it were really him. I would be extremely disappointed if it were.

You can enter the Celestial Kingdom but not recieve Exaltation. You can have one without the other. But to recieve Exaltation, you must be Sealed to your spouse. Here's the chapter from the Gospel Principles book about Exaltation: LDS.org - Family Chapter Detail - Exaltation

The Lord will take care of it. That's all we really know of the "how". (but someone correct me if I'm wrong)

Everyone who qualifies for the Celestial Kingdom will have the blessing of living Eternally in the presense of the GodHead (God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost). Those who qualify for Exaltation will live in their presense and be granted the blessing of gaining our Father in Heaven's knowledge. Not all at once, but learning it over the Eternities. :)

From Pres. Kimball: LDS.org - Liahona Article - The Importance of Celestial Marriage

Wanderer, I'm looking for the quote right now. :)

You do not need to be married to enter the Celestial Kingdom, but you DO need to be married to recieve Exaltation. ETA: however, I do believe there are some Prophets who have said that if you do *try* to be married in this life, but just never find a suitable partner, then that will be taken care of in the hereafter. You need to remain open to the prospect of marriage though. I don't think someone who is a "sworn bachelor" who doesn't care at all about getting married would be able to recieve Exaltation, but someone who genuinly desired to be married, but just never found the right person would be given a chance later on.

One theory I've heard is because they were closer to Adam and Eve, who had "perfect" bodies when palced on this earth, and the Fall made their bodies corruptable, but not immediately corrupted. As generation after generation went by, more corruptions began seeping into the gene pool (not sure how, I guess genetic mutation?) causing the human body to age faster, and illnesses and such started cropping up, killing people off before their time. I don't personally believe it (not that I don't believe it's not possible, just that I haven't gained any Witness of it) but it's one of the more interesting theories I've heard. Another one is to look at the "years" as being months instead, and you find that the ages come down to be pretty much average when you do that.

The Brass Plates contained the book of Isaiah. The Nephites *had in their possesion* the book of Isaiah. Considering how wonderful of a book it is, and how much it testifies of Christ, why wouldn't Nephi be intimately familiar with it?

Your post was much more helpful than mine. Those are some awesome articles. (I've read them in the past. Obviously I did not read them all in the few seconds since you posted them )

Greeting HizWife. Indeed, there is no mention of Baptism for the Dead in the Book of Mormon, however, that does not mean it was not a practice among the Nephites. In the New Testament, the Sacrament (or Communion, or Lord's Supper) is mentioned only *once* after the Last Supper. Would any Christian take that to mean that it was an unimportant practice among the ancient Church?

The Creation story has always been interesting to me. It is the first example, in my opinion, of God's compliance with Laws. He likely did have the power to just say "Let there be Earth!" and poof, the Earth with all it's continents and oceans and plants and animal could have been created, but that's not how it happened. It happened in layers, and seemed to follow rather closely with laws of nature for sutaining life: first you need land for life to be on, then you need light, then water. After you have those three things you can sustain plant life. After you have plant life you can sustain animals. Then once you have plants and animals, you can sustain man, in mortal form. Line upon line. ETA: It also seems to follow Science's current understanding of the order in which things "evolved" on our planet. Cosmic dust combined to create the Earth and the Sun, then very slowly water was formed, then single-cell "plant" life could form, creating oxygen, then more evolved forms of life could develop, etc. etc.

I had the same Seminary teacher for all four years of HS (this was in California) and she'd been doing it for several years before that as well.

Jumping in kind of late into this, but I found this scripture in the NT today, and thought it applied pretty well to the slightly-off-topic topic of honoring our leaders within the church: 1st Thessalonians 5:12-13 12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves. Here's a link to the entire chapter, if you'd like to read it in context. :)

1st Corinthians 15:29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? Last time I checked my Scriptures, the dead do rise. (that's what the Ressurection is, after all, right? ) Therefore, they are baptized for the dead BECAUSE the dead will rise, and will have need of that ordinance. I don't really think the pronounce "they" is a rejection, or seperation of Paul from "those" people.

Perhaps because they're not our beliefs?? Is "we believe God had sex with Mary" (which we DON'T) on that list?

Prince Caspian is out in theaters now. I haven't had a chance to see it yet though.

Deleted post. Wrong Joseph.

Hey there YellowLight! Good to see you back. :)

I can't recall now the train of thought that lead me to contemplating this particular Bible story, but some interesting things came up as I thought about it. There's that infamous, pithy little phrase that gets thrown around a lot: "The church is true, the people aren't." I know it bugs a lot of people (and it bugs me sometimes too, but only because I have a strong dislike for "seminary answers" - the kind of answers you just pop out because it's the expected answer to a question, and so you don't spend any time actually thinking about the question that was asked). But anyway, what does that have to do with the Widow's Mite... When Christ was in the Temple and saw the widow cast in her mite the "church" at that time had departed from the pure religion Jehovah had given them. The religious leaders of the day had placed hedge laws around the Law of Moses, there were money changers and merchants crowding the courtyard of the Temple, and a large majority of the church was about to reject and kill the great Jehovah, the very Massiah they were claiming to be waiting so anxiously for. And yet, amid all that, the widow still cast in her mite. In the midst of all the corruption, SHE knew what the Gospel truely was, and was willing to give her last mite for it, even if the church in it's current state would cast it as naught. 41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. Now I'm not equating the Quorum of the Twelve with the Sanhedrain, but it helped me to understand that pithy little saying a bit more. It doesn't matter how corrupt the leadership of the church *may* be - my loyalty isn't to them. It's to my Father in Heaven and his gospel here on the earth. If I keep my eye single to the glory of God, then it doesn't matter what anyone else within the church has done, is doing, or will do in the future. I'll have done *my* part, and that is what the Lord will recognize.