bytor2112

Very true........

You mean your not....... ??

Sometimes my wife and I want to kill each other ....true love.......and sometimes 20 years of being together feels like eternity. Any regrets?? Nope. Looking forward to an interesting eternal relationship. I can't wait till I am perfected and have a 12 pack.....instead of a six pack:lol: .........not beer......

My eighth grade son is in advanced geometry......geometry in 8th grade???..... and in his 3rd year of spanish.?? How many kids sit through geometry and algebra I and are totally clueless as to why they are there and then go to college....take the ame classes and wonder the same thing. There is no shame in repairing air conditioners or owning and operating a lawn maitenance company or becoming a mechanic or learning how to repair wrecked cars. Not everyone is going to become a doctor or engineer and shouldn't feel pressured to do so for status. Telling kids they can be whatever they want is a bit deceptive....maybe telling them that they can be happy in life and that a job is what you do.....not who you are....IMO.

Perhaps the reason is that we now encourage everyone to go to college and get a degree. How many schools are full of kids that don't need to be there? How many programs have been created to accomodate athletes (not all athletes) and standards lowered for reasons of "fairness"? It is so obnoxious of businesses to require a four year degree to even apply or interview.......doesn't matter the type of degree....unless it is a specific field.I have been in sales for 18 years......(Financial Advisor) and some of the sharpest and most succesful people that I have met in my field do not have degrees and they are managing millions of dollars and paying taxes on over a million dollars in income per year. My wife just earned her Master's degree......she was shocked at how easy it was and the work amounted to busy work and how many people were going to recieve the same degree and were absolutely inept....yet they paid for it and showed up. Perhaps we should focus kids on career paths in high school or apprenticeships instead of selling them on why everyone should go to college......at least then every high school grad will have an employable skill.

We swallow a lot on faith and trust........ I have heard similar stories....like the one where a man visits a newly called Apostle who was his friend in a former ward and while at the Apostles office he comments on how beautiful the painting is of the Savior hanging on his wall and the Apostle replys, "Yes, it is beautiful, but it doesn't look anything like him." I wonder if the Savior wears longer hair and a beard as the paintings depict and a robe or is he clean shaven and short haired .....maybe dressed in.....what ever he wants??

How so? Compared to who...?

Curious how they cling to a few scriptures and ignore the rest.......

The Tab Choir is awesome......whenever we attend the Temple, my wife and I always listen to "Consider the Lillies".....can't imagine the angels in heaven sounding any more wonderful.

Is it true that members of the choir are set apart as missionaries? My neighbor has a former missionary companion in the choir and is always pointing him out to me....looks similar to Hijolly's description:cool:

Thankfully we understand that the fall was a necessary step in the plan of life and a great blessing for all of us. Nephi II 2: 22-25 22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. 23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. 24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. 25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. Moses 5: 9 and 11 9 And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will. 11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient. Moses 6: 48 48 And he said unto them: Because that Adam fell, we are; and by his fall came death; and we are made partakers of misery and woe.

Our faith is one of accountability and personal responsibility and we take literally the charge to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling and " if you love me, keep my commandments." This severely challenges their notion of "grace" only. In the Southern Baptist world....acceptance of Christ as your personal Savior is all that is required to be received back in the Lord's presence.....not activity, or obedience to commandments, or covenants....just being saved. It is a free gift. I am a former Southern Baptist and I was "saved".....and a Christian....though you would never have known it because I didn't attend church or live a Christian lifestyle.....but I was saved anyway and that was cool......because once your saved....your always saved. I could live as I chose and sleep well at night knowing that I was going to heaven.

I live in the deep south and Southern Baptist is the predominant religion here and they have some very strong opinions regarding our faith. Check this out:(from Media matters) Examples of conservative and evangelical rejections of Mormonism are numerous and widespread. One of the most public slights of Mormons by evangelicals occurred during the 2004 National Day of Prayer, when Mormons were barred from conducting services during National Day of Prayer ceremonies by the group's task force chairwoman, Shirley Dobson, the wife of Focus on the Family founder and chairman James C. Dobson. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), America's second-largest religious community after Catholicism, has declared Mormonism to be a cult. The SBC's North American Mission Board's web page of "free resources on cults & sects" contains a section on "Mormons and Mormon Doctrine." Mormonism is listed on the page alongside other supposed cults like the Nation of Islam and the Church of Scientology. The SBC's official news service, BP News, highlighted the denomination's rejection of Mormonism with a September 23, 2005, article that began: For the past 150 years Mormonism has been in conflict with biblical, historic Christianity. But leaders of Mormonism -- officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- have in recent years downplayed the cult's divergence from traditional Christianity and now portray it as merely another form of the biblical faith. Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network has also identified Mormonism as a cult. A 1992 CBN pamphlet entitled "Cults" reportedly declared: "A cult is any group that has a form of godliness, but does not recognize Jesus Christ as the unique son of God."....."One test of a cult is that it often does not strictly teach that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who Himself is God manifested in the flesh."......"Christian-oriented cults include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), the Worldwide Church of God, Christian Science, Unity, Unitarianism, The Way International, Rosicrucian Society of America, Bahai, Hare Krishna, Scientology, the Unification Church, and the Jehovah's Witnesses." In a "BreakPoint Commentary" delivered during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah -- an event directed by Romney -- ex-Watergate felon and Prison Fellowship Ministries founder Charles Colson criticized Mormonism as un-Christian. Colson concluded: ...Mormonism either affirms historic Christianity, or it doesn't. Since it doesn't, it can't call itself Christianity -- a fact that all the good will and public relations in Utah can't change. One of Mormonism's most strident critics is D. James Kennedy, pastor of the 10,000-member Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida and president of Coral Ridge Ministries, an evangelical television and radio outlet with a lobbying arm in Washington called the Center for Reclaiming America. Kennedy's homes in on Mormonism in his book The Wolves Among Us. A description of the book from Coral Ridge Ministries' Resource Center: It is a centuries-old problem: False prophets who lead the unwary astray with a perverted version of God's message to man. Dr. Kennedy presents three primary marks of a cult to help Christians understand, answer, and stop those who wear wool but inwardly are, as Jesus said, "ravenous wolves." In addition, The Wolves Among Us looks at Mormonism, the Unity School of Christianity, Unitarianism, Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Freemasonry.

Maureen.......thanks for the thoughtful response:) I too believe that their is one God. God the Father.....Jesus Christ.....and the Holy Ghost.....they are one God. How are they one? From John Ch. 17 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

I am an equal opportunity offender.....explosive words and mispelled names are my specialty!!

Sorry Ram.......spelling corrected!

Ceeboo.........I am feeling pretty bruised and battered right now.....caught a right cross from Carol and then a uppercut from Rameumpton... I am not sure it would be fair to the others if we teamed up...... -Bytor ( an insenstitive, monotheistic polytheist Mormon-Christian who enjoys the taste of his foot )

So your saying.....that if I would have wrote "taught to" rather than "foisted on" my mouth would be clear of my foot ? Well maybe......but either way it was a sincere inquiry and worded to evoke a bit of thought as to why it is accepted.....I didn't think it would be an "explosive" word. The question asked is "how do you know it was not something "foisted".....illegimately passed on.....exactly. It wasn't an accusation...it was a question....how do you know it wasn't something illegitimately passed on. Still haven't been answered.........

. Foot in mouth?????!! How so? I asked Maureen a question regarding how she knew it because millions think it monotheistic and not just because it has been passed down as doctrinal truth. Everyone is sooooooo sensitive:confused: Foist: 1. To pass off as genuine, valuable, or worthy

Carol.....with all due respect, it was just a question and not a denunciation of anyone's faith tradition. Of course other religious traditions have value :). I simply asked how Maureen knew it was true....how she personally discerned it. I was asking an honest question and hoping for a sincere reply. Please don't read more into the question than that. I am a convert to the LDS faith and once upon a time accepted the doctrine of the trinity as taught by orthodox christianity. I believed it....didn't understand it, but believed it because I was taught to believe it. Maureen made the comment that millions accept the trinity doctrine because it is monotheistic.......I said how do you know it is not accepted because it has been passed down through the ages and taught as truth? In other words....if I were asked..."how do you know the LDS doctrine of the Godhead is true and not just some contrived story made up by Joseph Smith"........I would be able to answer the question and not take offense at the inquirers question.

Do millions accept the doctrine of the Trinity because it is monotheistic or is it because they have been taught that they should believe it? I mean, how do you know that the Trinity is true and not just a very old misunderstanding of the Godhead foisted on Christians through out the past centuries?

Brenton..... I just read your chat with Katie....and I felt the same tearful emotions that you felt. That is the Holy Spirit and it touches us all in different ways at different times. Thanks for sharing....if you continue searching for God he will reach out to you and the experience you had will be just the beginning........it's a great journey that leads to all truth and fills us with a peace beyond description.

Repentance is to have a "mighty" change of heart. It is to become the type of person who would never have committed the sin to begin with.........you don't sound like that person...yet. But repentance is a process........we must have a broken heart and contrite spirit and a determination to never commit the sin again. I would definitely talk to my Bishop....even if I am not feeling broken hearted yet. He can help you to understand why the sin is so wrong and help you to not fall victim to this temptation again. Why is sin...any sin bad? 31 For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; But the really good news is...:) 32 Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven;

Philosophy was first brought into connection with practical life by Pythagoras of Samos (about 582-504 BCE), from whom it received its name: "the love of wisdom". Regarding the world as perfect harmony, dependent on number, he aimed at inducing humankind likewise to lead a harmonious life. His doctrine was adopted and extended by a large following of Pythagoreans, including Damon, especially in Lower Italy.-Encyclopedia of Philosophy

As a Latter Day Saint I love the Bible...especially the Gospels. I treasure all of the scriptures because they hold the keys to eternal life and are from God. The Book of Mormon is of special significance because it was preserved for our day and time and was brought forth to open the last and final dispensation of the fullness of times. It is our Fathers mission to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" and the Book of Mormon explains, clarifies and reinforces the message of salvation contained in the Bible and most importantly it is an additional witness of our Savior. It does not diminish the light provided by the Bible....it enhances it.